Study of Fish Weight Loss in Solar Dryer Across Different Agro-Ecological Zones of Nigeria

Drying sessions were conducted across Nigeria to study the interaction between fish weight loss and the meteorological parameters. Correlation analyses using weight loss values show that latitude is strongly related (r =+0.96) to weight loss of fish inside the dryer while altitude had a weak relationship (r = +0.24) with weight loss. The results show that New Bussa recorded more weight loss of fish than Jos, despite their uniform latitude. Weight loss records in Jos, was however better than those of Warri and Ibadan

Determinants of Change in Work Values in Rural Nigeria: Evidence from Ondo State

The study analysed the determinants of change in work values among rural dwellers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to ascertain the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents in the study area; identify the prominent work values among the respondents in the study area; and determine the key factors influencing the change in work values among the respondents in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed for data collection in this study. Primary data which were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and personal interview were used and a total of 120 respondents were sampled and interviewed for the study. Descriptive Statistics and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to analyse data collected in the study. The study revealed that the average age was about 57 years. The majority of the respondents were males and were married, with an average household size of 7 persons. Educational level was low in the study area. Farming was the dominant occupation practiced in the study area, with a low monthly average household income of N16, 888. The study concluded that commitment and dedication to work were the most prominent work values as identified by respondents in the study area......

Multimodal neuroimaging of vestibular and postural networks: Investigating the pathophysiology of idiopathic dizziness in older adults

Successful ageing - the preservation of good performance into old age, is an aspiration for many and a challenge for society. Modifiable factors which account for ageing-related functional decline should thus be identified and reduced. As life expectancy increases, brain ageing and its functional consequences become an increasingly important target for research and intervention. Cerebral small vessel disease, largely driven by vascular risk factors, has emerged as a strong contributor to cognitive and balance decline in late life. Though the early effects of cerebral small vessel disease on cognition are increasingly better understood, its symptomatic effects on other functional systems are not well characterised. In this thesis, I investigated the long recognised, but pathophysiologically enigmatic syndrome of dizziness in older adults, not accounted for by neurological disease or vestibular dysfunction. I considered the hypothesis that this ‘idiopathic dizziness’ is secondary to cerebral small vessel disease through its deleterious effects on white matter networks which subserve vestibular perceptual processes and/or the control of balance. I first defined the functional anatomy of the core human vestibular cortex by its functional connectivity (Chapter 3). I related the resulting anatomical subregions to behavioural and task neuroimaging data to define a vestibular network involved in self-motion perception. I proceeded to characterise the syndrome of idiopathic dizziness using clinical, cognitive and behavioural (vestibular function, balance and gait) data from patients and controls (Chapter 4). I combined this data with structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate the pathophysiology of idiopathic dizziness. I found that frontal white matter tracts relevant to the control of balance had lower integrity in patients with idiopathic dizziness than controls. These findings occurred in the context of excess vascular risk, and markers of cerebral small vessel disease. Additionally, I found vestibular function and perception were normal in patients with idiopathic dizziness. The results suggest disrupted balance control may underpin idiopathic dizziness in cerebral small vessel disease. I proceeded to investigate whether neural correlates of balance control were altered in idiopathic dizziness as a model for mild balance impairment in cerebral small vessel disease (Chapter 5). To do this, I applied electroencephalography during quiet standing and related brain activity to spontaneous sway. I showed idiopathic dizziness was linked to altered cortical activity in relation to balance control, and this cortical activity was influenced by the burden of cerebral small vessel disease. Additionally, patients with idiopathic dizziness uniquely engaged a low frequency postural connectivity network, consistent with a different mode of postural control. Overall, the results within this thesis show a relationship between idiopathic dizziness and vascular injury to frontal tracts involved in the control of balance in cerebral small vessel disease. Small vessel disease may disrupt the cortical control of balance as a basis for symptoms in this syndrome.Open Acces

Factors Affecting Oil Palm Production in Ondo State of Nigeria

The discovery of crude oil and the civil war adversely affected oil palm production in Nigeria. This has resulted in scarcity and high cost of palm products and palm oil. The study therefore investigated the factors influencing oil palm production in Ondo State, Nigeria. One hundred and fifty respondents were selected from predominantly oil palm producing areas through purposive sampling technique. The findings of the study showed that 13.3% of the oil palm farmers complained of planting adulterated seedlings obtained from MANR/ADP/NIFOR nurseries. More than half (53.3%) transplanted seedlings less than ten months of age. Regression analysis showed that only two of the variables; level of education attained (0.043), number of times the respondents attended training (0.054) were predicted to have significant relationship with the yield of oil palm. In conclusion, more than half of the oil palm farmers (53.3%) transplanted seedlings less than ten months of age while some of the seedlings obtained were adulterated. This study recommends that farmers should be assisted to obtain seedlings that have been established very well in the nursery which are ten months and above. Efforts should be made to create awareness to farmers on the need to establish the seedlings very well before transplanting by agricultural extension agents.Keywords: oil palm, scarcity, production and constraintsJournal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) Vol. 11, No. 1, 201

Design And Development Of Guardrail For Exclusive Motorcycle Lanes

The use of roadside barrier, especially W-beam guardrail has been demonstrated in various studies to have performed satisfactorily for protecting occupants of cars and trucks. However, its usage for motorcycle impact has been given little consideration. Thus, the safety of motorcyclists in relation to this barrier has become a major concern to road safety experts. Early studies have identified that motorcycle impact with this guardrail would result in severe injuries to the motorcyclists. However, relatively few studies have addressed the safety implication of this guardrail on motorcyclists. Presently, no studies have been reported to have specifically designed alternative guardrail for protecting motorcyclists especially along exclusive motorcycle lanes. In view of this problem, this study focuses on the design and development of safer guardrail system that can replace the existing W-beam guardrail being used along exclusive motorcycle lanes, as exists in Malaysia. This design required use of computer modelling and simulation as main tool and the conduct of a physical crash test to validate the baseline simulation model. Furthermore, the input parameters for the validated model were used for subsequent simulation of motorcycle crash on guardrail with 18 impact conditions. Results of this simulation were used to establish the design criteria. Based on the established design criteria alternative models were developed on the basis of achieving the design target; mainly to reduce potential injury risks to rider. The alternative models were combined to form 24 alternative models that were optimized in order to select the best model for the new guardrail design. The new guardrail design consists of metal plate (grade 13 steel) of 2.28 mm thick, wider and continuous surface that has a high degree of flexibility that enables soft redirection of the rider. It is also comparable to the existing guardrail in ease of construction and installation and can have a potential to utilize economical end-treatment techniques. The effectiveness of the new design was evaluated using the same computer simulation program – MADYMO. The outcome demonstrated that severity of head injury risk can be reduced significantly if impact of head to the ground can be prevented. The high flexibility of the new guardrail prevents the rider from having head impact with ground. Thus, the results show that HIC and head acceleration values could be reduced by 96% and 91% respectively for a typical crash scenario of 48km/h impact speed on the guardrail orientated at 45 degree and 4m post spacing. The major conclusions of the study are that modification of the configuration and material of the existing guardrail can significantly reduce potential injury risks to motorcyclists and that the new guardrail is safer to replace the existing guardrail along exclusive motorcycle lanes

Development of an efficient future energy storage system incorporating fluidized bed of micro-particles:English

This project focuses on the development of efficient energy storage systems by addressing problems commonly encountered in zinc bromide flow batteries. For example, the kinetics of charge, a discharge onto plane electrodes, can be slow, affecting the ability of such a cell to restitute energy quickly to an external load; zinc deposition is also prone to the formation of dendrites, which can become detached from the electrode substrate and reduce the storage capacity of the battery, while those dendrites can also be responsible for damage to the membrane, separating the anolyte and the catholyte. The project also incorporates both theoretical modelling and simulation two using different software packages (ANSYS and COMSOL). In this project, we design a novel fluidized bed electrode for the zinc-bromine (ZnBr2) flow battery, particularly concentrating on its anode. This is achieved by 1. Simulating electrolyte flow to identify reactor shapes and flow parameters that allow large electrolyte volumes to be processed and to support the fluidization of particles. 2. Fabricating an experimental rig from the identified geometry. 3. Carrying out extensive electrochemical testing (cyclic voltammetry, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, chronopotentiometry) to validate the model. The key component of the design is its use of a fluidized bed electrode where particles support the transfer of electron within the cell and provide a locus for electrodeposition of the zinc, improving the kinetics of electron transfer during the charging and discharging cycle. The particles used in the fluidized bed reactor possess intrinsic chemical resistance to the solution components and abrasion

Entrepreneurial Potentials of Insect Farming in Nigeria

Insects provide a wild variety of uses and benefits ranging from Agriculture to medicine, industries and research. They have been reared for food, feed, silk production and dye making. Recently, a lot attention has been drawn worldwide to the usefulness of insect in the food and feed industry because of their high nutrition contents and environmental sustainability. For these reasons, a lot of insect based entrepreneurs have sprung up in Africa in response to this development, but in Nigeria only few entrepreneurs are interested in engaging in insect farming due to information gap. This research aims to bridge the gap by identifying species of insects that can be farmed, for what purpose they are farmed, potentials embedded in insect product development, and  factors affecting edible insect entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Data were sourced by querying many research databases  outlets such as science direct, researchgates, google scholar, Ajol and so on. This research identifies palm weevil, crickets, grasshopper and pallid emperor moth as insect  that can be farmed with  high demand as food in Nigeria.  The maggot of housefly and Black soldier fly  are recommended for animal feed and silk warm for textile industry. The review recommends that  the government should encourage insect entrepreneurs in Nigeria through training and improve extension services. Keywords: Agribusiness; Entomophagy; Insects farming systems; Insect value chain. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-9-07 Publication date:May 31st 201

Applicability of the doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur in medical negligence in Nigeria

Medical negligence or malpractice is a recurrent challenge in the field of medical practice. This occurs as a result of failure to exercise due diligence in the acts or omissions of medical practitioners while discharging their duties in the treatment and care of their patients. Before a patient can obtain damages from the medical practitioner/doctor or hospital (defendant) for injury suffered, he has to prove that the defendant’s negligence is the cause of the injury. However, majority of medical negligence/malpractice cases are difficult to prove by the plaintiff, hence, the latter relies on the doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur which shifts the onus of proof to the defendant. Thus, this paper examines the elements of negligence in tort; and medical negligence; the concepts of vicarious liability, occupier’s liability, contributory negligence; and the principle of Res Ipsa Loquitur and its elements. It further discusses the synergy between Res Ipsa Loquitur and medical negligence; and finally concludes by making few recommendations.Keywords: Medical Negligence/Malpractice, Duty of Care, Breach of Duty, Damages, Res Ipsa Loquitur, Nigeri

Short Communication: Studies of antimicrobial activity and chemical constituents of Ximenia americana

Ximenia Americana is a plant that is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of malaria, leproutic ulcers and skin infections of mixed origin in Northern parts of Nigeria. To evaluate the scientific basis for the use of the plant, the antimicrobial activities of extract of the leaves were evaluated against six common bacterial isolates. Chemical constituents of the extract were also determined. The extract of was active against the test organisms including Escherischia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. Tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, anthrax-quinones, starch, general glycosides and bitter principles were found to be present in the extract. Key words: Antimicrobial activity; chemical constituents leaves extract; Ximenia americana Trop J Pharm Res, December 2003; 2(2): 239-24