Effects of Petrol Exposure on Glucose, Liver and Muscle glycogen levels in the Common African toad Bufo regularis

This study investigated the effects of exposure to petrol on blood glucose, liver and muscle glycogen levels in the common African toad Bufo regularis. A total of 126 adult toads of either sex weighing between 70-100g were used for this study. The experiment was divided into three phases. The phase 1 experiment the acute toxicity test consisted of animals divided into six groups of 10 toads per group and were exposed to water (H2O), H2O + Tween 80, 2ml/l, 3ml/l, 5ml/l, and 10ml/l of petrol respectively for 96 hours using the static renewal bioassay system. In the Phase 2 experiment, the animals were exposed to H2O, H2O + Tween 80, 0.14ml/l, 0.3ml/l, 0.6ml/l, and 1.13ml/l of petrol respectively for 3 days; while in phase 3 experiment they were exposed to petrol solutions for 14 days. After the various exposures, the blood glucose, liver and muscle glycogen contents were determined using standard methods. The results of the study showed that the median lethal concentration of petrol (96 hours LC50) was 4.5ml/l and sub-lethal concentration of petrol caused mortality of animals. Exposure to petrol solutions for 3 days had no significant effect on blood glucose level of the animals but caused significant decrease in the liver and muscle glycogen levels at high concentrations. In the animals exposed to petrol solutions for 14 days, there was a significant increase in glucose levels and significant reduction in liver and muscle glycogen levels at high concentrations when compared with the control. The results show that sub-lethal concentrations of petrol can cause mortality of animals, hyperglycemia and reduction in liver and muscle glycogen levels. The effects of petrol exposure on carbohydrate metabolism depend on the concentration and duration of exposure.Keywords: Petrol, Blood glucose, Liver glycogen, Muscle glycoge

Effects of magnetic treatment of water on the growth, yield and quality of maize

This study was conducted to determine the effect of magnetic treatment of water on the growth, yield and quality of maize. Three magnetic flux densities of 443, 319 and 124 gauss (G) produced by the electromagnet were used to treat the water and they were lablelled as T1, T2 and T3, respectively. The water was called magnetically treated water (MTW) after passing through magnetic field and a control experiment (Tc) was irrigated with non–magnetically treated water (NMTW). The maize was planted in 20 buckets in a transparent garden shed for 90 days and irrigated with magnetically treated water. A completely randomized design (CRD) experimental layout was used in this study in which each treatment was replicated five times. The heights of maize plant irrigated with MTW and NMTW (Tc) T1, T2 T3, and Tc after 66 days were 860, 750, 662 and 605 mm, respectively. The yields after 90 days for T1, T2 T3, and Tc (control experiment) were 556.6, 472.6, 469.7 and 383.6 g, respectively. The effect of MTW on the yield was statistically significant.Keywords: crop booster, irrigation, magnetic treatment of water, magnetized water, maiz

Design and Development of Agricultural Waste Shredding Machine

After the harvest of most agricultural products, the waste generated is in large quantity. In most cases, this waste is either completely abandoned, destroyed or burnt. There is a need to look for alternative ways through which these wastes can be converted and useful for other purposes. This work developed a shredding machine using locally available materials. The machinecan shred these agricultural wastes into smaller pieces that can be used for animal feed. The machine consists of the following parts the machine frame, the feeding unit, and the transmission section; the materials used in constructing these parts include sheet metals, angle irons, shafts, bolts, and pulleys. The machine performance was evaluated using rice straw. The evaluated parameters include the efficiency of the machine and throughput capacity. The operational speed during the testing includes 350rpm, 650rpm and 970rpm,respectively. Maximum shredding efficiency of 90% was achieved when the shredding speed was 970 rpm. The maximum value of throughput capacity of 2.77kg/min was obtained at a shredding speed of 970rmp, while 1.92kg/min was obtained at a shredding speed of 350rmp. The machine demonstrated good performance and was cost-effective and relatively cheap for small and medium farmers

Effects of Vernonia amygdalina Leaf Powder on Growth Performance of Clarias gariepinus

Fish is a vital high quality protein necessary for growth and development. It is affected by biological and chemical substances that pollute the body of water and affects its growth during production. This often leads to the use of different antibiotic growth promoters which have residual effects on consumers of fish while sometimes continual or sub-optimal use leads to development of antibiotics resistant pathogens. This growing concern for antibiotic growth promoters in animal nutrition has elicited the need to search for phytobiotic growth promoting agents. Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) has been of use as antioxidant and growth promoter in man and some animals. The study examined the growth enhancing potential of Vernonia amygdalina leaf powder in Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) production. Two hundred and forty juvenile catfish were allotted to six treatment groups identified as A, B, C, D, E and F consisting of two replicates with twenty fishes per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Treatment A serve as the control, B was administered 1.5ml of known antibiotics (Florphenicol) and served as positive control while treatments C, D, E and F were administered 10, 20, 30, and 40g/15litres of water respectively for 3hours after which the water was changed. The fishes were fed 3% of their biomass twice daily 800-900 h and 1500-1600h with Durante feed containing 42% crude protein for the 8 weeks experimental period. Twenty fishes were selected per treatment and blood samples were collected by caudal vessels puncture into bijou bottles containing ethylene diamine tetracetic acid (EDTA) as anticoagulant. The result indicated that feed intake, condition factor, mean final weight, protein efficiency ratio and weight gain were significantly higher (p<0.05) in treatments B, C, D, E, F than the control (A). However, feed conversion ratio, initial weight, specific growth rate and survival percentage were not significantly different (p>0.05), though it numerically increase with the treatments. Red blood cell (RBC) and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the control, while the test substance did not significantly affect other hematological parameters measured. The water quality parameters such as pH, hardness, dissolved Oxygen and Nitrate was within the recommended range and not significantly affected. Vernonia amygdalina could be used in improving fish growth and the 40g/15litres of water for 3hours was the best.Keywords: Bitter-leaf, Antibiotics, Phytobiotics, Growth-promoter