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

Seed germination and seedling growth of Ceiba Pentandra (L) as influenced by different soil types in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Ceiba pentandra is a fast growing multipurpose tree with great socio-economic potentials. It is known to be used majorly for timber and its fibre. Lately, it has been documented to have medicinal properties as it has been used to treat leprosy, conjunctivitis, fever, trypanosomiasis among others. Its high value in plywood manufacturing has caused its increased rate harvesting. Natural regeneration efforts have been found to be insufficient and minimal information is available on its nursery requirements. This study was conducted to evaluate the effort of sowing media on its germination and early seedling development. Viable C. Pentandra seeds were sown in polythene bags filled with 5kg each of topsoil (TS), Clay soil, Humus Soil (HS) and Sterilized river sand (RS). The sterilized river sand (RS) served as control. Four weeks after sowing (4WAS), thinning was done and data taken up to a period of 6 months. Pots filled with sterilized River Sand (RS) showed the first radical emergence 3 days after sowing (DAS) followed by the topsoil (TS) which emerged on the 4th day. The first 1radical emergence occurred in clay soil (CS) 7 days after sowing (DAS) while it occurred in humus soil (HS) on the eighth day. All the sowing media gave 100% germination at the end of 14 days. This study showed that both humus and top soils are the best media to use in the nursery establishment of C. pentandra. Keywords: seed germination, sowing media, effect, nurser

Dry matter accumulation and growth analysis of Jatropha curcas L. as influenced by application of poultry manure and cow dung in Nigeria

Growth and yield of Jatropha curcas are low due to poor soil fertility and agronomic practices. An experiment was conducted at the Crop Garden of the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology (CPEB) University of Ibadan on dry matter accumulation and growth analysis of Jatropha curcas as influenced by application of manure. Poultry Manure at 10, 20 and 40 t/ha and Cow Dung at 10, 20 and 40 t/ha (P5, P10, P20, P40 and C5, C10, C20, C40) with control (0 t/ha, M0) were evaluated (5 kg soil; 1 plant/pot)in a Completely Randomised Design. Dry weight and leaf area were obtained at monthly intervals to calculate: Relative Growth Rate, Net Assimilation Rate, Leaf Area Ratio and Leaf Area Duration using the formulae of Roderick (1978).The result showed that treatments P40, C40, P20 and C20 had the highest leaf dry weight (47.67g, 48.71g, 48.91g and 48.11g), while control had the least(23.30g), P40 had the highest stem dry weight (89.13g) which was not significantly higher than stem dry weight of C40 (86.56g), P20 (85.95g) and C20 (80.85 g) and control had the least stem dry weight of 51.78g.Treatment C40had the highest root weight (40.50g) and control had the least value of 25.41g.The net assimilation rate (NAR), relative growth rate (RGR), leaf area ration (LAR) and leaf area duration (LAD) showed that the RGR were higher between 6 and 8 weeks across all the levels. The NAR increased as the level of manure increased. Leaf area duration increased as the plant grew older across all levels while P5, C5 and control had the least. Leaf area ratio was 20.14(cm2/g) on control and 33.49(cm2/g) and 39.54 (cm2/g) on P40 and C40 respectively at last observation. Application of manure up to 20t/ha increased the dry matter accumulation and growth of Jatropha curcas.Keywords: Jatropha curcas, Organic manure, Biodiesel, Environmental sustainabilit

Management of Knee Osteoarthritis: Knowledge and Adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines Among Physiotherapists in Selected Hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria

Osteoarthritis of the knee joint (OA) is one of the most common conditions resulting to chronic disability predominantly in elderly population. The management of knee OA has been characterized by variations among physiotherapists within Lagos state, Nigeria. However, there is a need for physiotherapists as a whole to embrace evidence –based clinical practice guidelines in the management of this condition. This study was aimed at determining if the physiotherapist’s characteristics (such as age, highest educational attainment, year of induction, years of experience and setting of practice) influence the knowledge and adherence to clinical practice guidelines in knee OA management and to find out if there is a need to develop clinical practice guidelines in the management of knee OA. This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey involving 104 physiotherapists from selected health care facilities in Lagos state. They were required to complete a 33-item questionnaire which collected information on socio-demographic data, work experience, treatment activities and their knowledge and adherence to knee OA clinical practice guidelines. Only a small percentage (16.30%) of the respondents were knowledgeable about knee OA clinical practice guidelines while even a smaller percentage (14.40%) of the respondents adhere to knee OA clinical practice guidelines. Knowledge and adherence were influenced by setting of practice (p=0.001, p=0.027). Majority (93.30%) of the respondents recommended the need for knee OA clinical practice guidelines in Nigeria. A small population of the respondents is knowledgeable and adheres to knee OA clinical practice guidelines. Some of the characteristics of the physiotherapists influence the knowledge and adherence to knee OA clinical practice guidelines. However, findings show that there is a need to develop a knee OA clinical practice guideline in Nigeria in other to standardize and improve effective treatment outcome in patient care

Egg Hatch Assay and Lavicidal Activity of Piliostigma Thoningii Pod Extract and Fractions on Haemonchus contortus

The inhibitory effects of Piliostigma thoningii pod extract and fractions were carried out on Haemonchus contortus, a gastrointestinal nematodes of small ruminants (sheep and goats). Egg hatching and larvicidal inhibitory effects of pod extract and fractions of P. thonnigii pods were determined using the egg inhibition assay (EIA) and larval development inhibition assay (LDIA) assay. The assay was tested in 96-flat bottom microtitre plate, using different concentrations of 0.78, 1.56, 3.125, 6.25 and 12.5 mg/ml of the experimental extracts with three replicates. The plant extract showed higher anthelmintic activity after exposing H. Contortus to the EIA and LDIA assays. It was observed that at 12.5 mg/ml, the crude extract and albendazole had 100% inhibitory effects on the ovicidal and larvicidal activities of the parasites, showing no significant difference (p>0.05) when compared, while n- butanol had significant (p<0.05) inhibitory effects on the hatching of eggs and n- butanol, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether and aqueous had significant (p<0.05) inhibitory effects on the larval development when compared with albendazole. However, the fractions tested on H. Contortus at the concentrations of 0.78, 1.56, 3.125 and 6.25 mg/ml possessed anthelmintic activity that produced above 90% ovicidal and larvicidal inhibition of the parasite. The anthelmintic effect of P.thoningii on H. contortus in this study is further subjected to confirmation through In vivo and toxicity profile studie

Seeds germination pre-sowing techniques and growth performance of some selected savanna agroforestry tree species

The study was conducted at Forest Nursery Unit of Federal University Dutsin-Ma to assess seeds germination pre-sowing techniques and growth performance of some selected savanna agroforestry tree species. A 5 x 5 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used for this experiment in four replicates. The factors were agroforestry tree seeds (AFTS); Acacia nilotica (AN); Parkia biglobosa (PB); Diospyros mespiliformis (DMk); Detarium microcapum (DMt); Adansonia digitata (AD) and presowing treatments; Seeds soaked in 60 % diluted Tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4) (A); mechanical scarification (Ms); hot water at 600 C (HW); seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (W); control (C). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at p = .05. Days of emergence was observed to start on 6 days after sowing (DAS) in AN seed treated with H2SO4 for 5 minutes (AAN) and DMk seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (WDMk). AN seed soaked in H2SO4 for 5 minutes (AAN) and DMtseeds soaked in H2SO4 for 5 minutes (ADMt) gave the highest (60 % and 50 %) germination percentage respectively. AN had significantly higher values (19.58 and 22.78) on plant height (PH) at 8-10 weeks of sowing (WAS) respectively. There was no significant difference among the pre-sowing treatments on PH across the period of experiment. AD had consistent significantly higher values (207.73, 217.66, 226.67, 232.49 and 237.25) on leaf area (LA) at 2-10 WAS. In conclusion, AN and DMt seeds soaked in H2SO4 acid for 5 minutes were the best performing seeds, while, the use of acid was an effective technique to break dormancy for improved seedling growth in the nursery