Status of policies on fish hygiene in Nigeria

An examination is made of fish health policy formulation in Nigeria. Such policies are necessary to protect fish a living aquatic resources and also fish food at harvest because of the immense nutritional, social and economic benefits derivable by man from fish. Fish health policies must recognize the implications of aquatic environment pollution, the dangers of bad fishing methods and application of harmful fishing gears and appliances and post-mortem handling practice

Impact Of Hepatitis C Co-Infection On CD4 Cell Count In HIV Infected Subjects

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection is reported to be common among HIV infected subjects due to share routes of transmission. The fact that HCV infection may act as cofactor for HIV disease progression has been suggested.\ud Objective: To determine if HCV and HIV co-infection affect the immunocompetence (CD4) of the infected subjects and response to Highly Active Anti Retroviral therapy.\ud Subjects and methods: Fifty HIV/HCV co-infected and fifty HIV monoinfected adults were retrospectively studied. Their baseline CD4 cell counts were done using Dynal beads technique before commencement of HAART and repeated after six months.\ud Results: The CD4 cell counts of co-infected subjects were lower than the mono-infected subjects. Sixty eight percent of the co-infected subjects had CD4 cell count less than 200cells/uL, and they responded poorly to HAART therapy than the mono-infected subjects (P<0.05). Those with CD4 cell count greater than 200cells/uL responded better to treatment than those with CD4 cell count less than 200cells/uL (P<0.001)\ud Conclusion: HCV/HIV co-infection affects the immunocompetence of the patients and HCV may acts as cofactor for HIV disease progression. It is needful to screen all HIV positive subjects for HCV antibody as this will improve their clinical management and outcome

Electrochemical Reduction of Hexavalent Chromium in Acetonitrile using Glassy Carbon Electrodes

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI), a form of chromium mainly generated through industrial processes, has attracted great research interests due to its severe toxicity to biological systems. A common way to remove hexavalent chromium from industrial wastes is through reduction to the non-toxic trivalent state. To this end, methods such as chemical reduction, chemical precipitation and coagulation have been used. However, these methods are limited by poor removal efficiency, formation of secondary pollutants (sludge), and are mostly applicable to aqueous solutions. Recently, electrochemical methods have been investigated for reducing hexavalent chromium, but there is a lack of data on the reduction of hexavalent chromium in nonaqueous media. This is a challenge considering the possibility of Cr(VI)-contaminated nonaqueous industrial wastes ending up in water bodies. Therefore, it is crucial to develop methods of treating such wastes before disposal. In this research, an electrochemical method that involves the use of a nonaqueous solvent is presented. Using glassy carbon electrodes and acetonitrile-based electrolyte, a reproducible method of collecting data was established. With the aim of achieving an energy-efficient reduction and making the reduction process electrocatalytic, the effect of Brønsted acids on the reduction process was investigated. In addition, the process of finding suitable electrocatalysts was initiated. Results obtained show reproducible response of glassy carbon electrodes toward hexavalent chromium in acetonitrile and that Cr(VI) reduction proceeds via proton-coupled electron transfer processes

Sustainable Industrial Development Programmes of International Donor Agencies in Africa: An Analytical Perspective

The study identified some of the sustainable development programmes of international agencies in Africa and assessed their impact on the economic development of the sub region. Data were randomly collected from primary and secondary sources. Data from secondary sources included reports from government and international agencies. Descriptive statistics, including percentages were used for analyses. The result showed that International Donor Agencies&#8223; projects were evenly spread across Africa and such projects include Policy Research Institutes that support the national government in floating qualitative polices for the industrial sector. In Nigeria, an entrepreneurial research centre which had been instrumental to the development of small and medium scale enterprises was established by UNIDO in conjunction with the federal government at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife . UNIDO also continues to spend billions of US dollar on the capacity building of women support enterprises across the continent. The identified support programmes included weaving, textile, leather, food processing, dairy and other technology based industries. The study concluded that Donor agencies like UNIDO have been instrumental to the ongoing economic restructuring to increase annual growth rate of manufacturing value added in the sub region. However, more insightful corporate entrepreneurship programmes with improved infrastructural and electric power facilities should be encouraged. Increasing support to firms through diverse channels would boost rapid economic development of the sub region.Key words: Sustainable programmes, economic development, infrastructure, and value added