MODELING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON MALARIA PREVALENCE

 Malaria is believed to be one of the deadly killers of humans worldwide and a threatto one-third of the world’s population. Based on this assertion, this study is used to determine the effect of Ibadan climatic variability on Ibadan malaria prevalence proportion since the city has a holoendemic malaria transmission. Multiple Trigonometric regression model was used to determine the effects of rainfall and temperature on Ibadan malaria prevalence since it can be used to model series that exhibit two or more types of variations simultaneously. From the results, the residuals of the fitted multiple trigonometric regression model are not serially correlated based on the value of the Durbin Watson Statistics. The coefficients of the fitted model were used to establish that for every unit increase or decrease in Ibadan city rainfall and temperature, there might be an increase or decrease in the malaria prevalence proportion over the years. The values of coefficient of determination  revealed that Ibadan city monthly rainfall and temperature jointly explained the variations in Ibadan malaria prevalence proportion up to 61%. The fitted multiple trigonometric regression model as well as a good fit and high predictive power based on the value of the adjusted coefficient of determination Based on these results Multiple trigonometric regression model is suitable and adequate for modelling the effect of Ibadan monthly climatic variability on malaria prevalence proportion which can cause a high rate of morbidity and mortality if not curtailed or curbed

Analysis of Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Profit Efficiency of Maize Farmers in Oyo and Ogun States, Nigeria

This study evaluates the adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP) and its effect on the profit efficiency of maize farmers in Oyo and Ogun State of Nigeria. The use of a multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 174 and 196 maize farmers from Oyo and Ogun State respectively. Primary data were obtained through questionnaire administration. Analysis of data was done with descriptive statistics, Multivariate Probit Model and stochastic profit frontier model. The result of the study indicated that farmers’ mean age was 40 years, and were operating on a small scale of 5.1 hectares on average. Sustainable practices were adopted by less than half of the farmers. However, improved seed utilization was adopted by more than two third of the farmers. Age, educational level, size of household, extension contact, association membership, and farm size were the determining variables influencing sustainable practices adoption. Multivariate probit results indicated that significant correlations exist between adoption options. Rent on land (β = 0.9919, p<0.01), price of seed (β = -0.5583, p<0.10), price of labour (β = 1.1910, p<0.01), and price of herbicide (β = 0.1639, p<0.01) were the significant variables in the profit efficiency model. SAP factors affecting profit efficiency were the use of organic manure, cover cropping, and zero tillage. This study proved that policy strategies geared towards farmers’ adoption of sustainable agricultural practices should consider farmers’ specific socioeconomic factors and emphasize the complementarities and substitutability between different SAPs to broaden farmers’ options

Embryogenesis of Heterobranchus longifilis (Curvier and Valenciennes, 1840)

Studies on development of H. longifilis (Curvier and Valenciennes, 1840) were conducted at a temperature of 25EC ( 1Ec) in aquaria tanks continuous development were monitored with the use of wild Heerbrugy photomacroscope and length of yolk and larva were monitored using Stereo Olympus microscope with ocular micrometer. The division into animal and vegetal poles was observed 22 minutes after activation. The first cleavage occurred 65 minutes after activation while the second division which was perpendicular to the first line of division occurred 74 minutes after activation. This was quickly followed by the third and fourth cleavage at 80th and 82nd minutes after activation respectively. Morular stage was reached at 4 hours 20 minutes with formation of optic bud at 14 hours 35 minutes. (DBO) Developing embryo hatched after 27 hours of activation at a mean length of 6.63 and mean yolk length of 2.17. Yolk size decrease at an average rate of 38.5 % till the 5th day of total absorption. Growth of larvae proceeded faster in tail-anus region than in anus-snout portion of the body. The rate of yolk absorption and larva development (survival) as monitored in this work gives important information in Research and development programme for H. longifilis larva - an important aspect of Research development and implementation of appropriate technologies in small scale fisherie

Environmentally Friendly Agricultural Practices amongst Farmers in Ogun and Oyo States, Southwestern Nigeria

A good agro-environmental practice is necessary due to the recent resource constraint, poor soil fertility and nutrient depletion, degradation, low yield and poor resource extraction for short term gain. This study examined the preference of farmers for environmental friendly agricultural practices among farmers in Ogun and Oyo States of southwestern Nigeria using multistage sampling technique, structured questionnaire to collect data and analyzed using descriptive statistics, likert scale and random effect logit regression model. The results revealed that the use of crop rotation was ranked first which was followed by the use of cover cropping. Those that rarely use cover cropping and cover cropping constitute 11.76 and 50.0% respectively. The use of organic manure and mulching are not common among the farmers in the study area. The result of random parameter logit revealed that the Chi-square value (1326.76) was significant at 1%. This is associated with the log ratio (LR) that assessed whether the attributes of environmental friendly practices and socioeconomic factors of farmers provide a significant amount of information to explain farmers’ decision to embrace environmental friendly practices. The coefficient (β = 0.0004, p<0.01) of bid is significantly positive. The estimated coefficient for pesticide reduction at 20, 30 and 40% were positive, underlining that farmers prefer to reduce the use of pesticide. The estimated coefficient of crop rotation with legume (β = 0.8522; p<0.01) was also positive and significant to farmers’ decision to embrace environmental agricultural practices. The study recommends agricultural subsidy programme that will cover the use of eco-friendly agro-practice among farmers

The Effect of Age, Weight on Hypertensive Patients in State Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

This project work examines the contribution of age, weight and height to the blood pressure of 50 randomly selected individuals from medical record unit of the State Hospital, Osogbo, Osun state. The fitted mathematical model that represents the relationship among the variables is  16Y"&gt;  = 73.222 + 0 .075X1 - 0.044X2 + 12.178X3 . This implies that the rate of change in Y (Blood Pressure) due to X1 (age) is 0.075units, X2 (weight) is -0.044units , X3 (height) is 12.178 units. The estimation regression equation indicates that the mean of Y’s are expected to increase by 0.075 when X1 increased by one unit holding X2 and X3 constant, the mean of Y’s are expected to decrease by 0.044 when X2 increased by one unit holding X1,X3 constant , the mean of Y’s are expected to increase by 12.178 when X3 increased by one holding X1 and X2 constant. The negative coefficient of X2 indicates that blood pressure decreases as weight increases and vice versa. The F- test was used to examine the adequacy of the fitted model. The F- calculated (0.394) is not large enough for the rejection of the null hypothesis and that implies that the model is significant and adequate for prediction. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) and tolerance values computed from the data were examined to determine the presence and severity of multicollinearity. The tolerance values are greater than 0.1 and simultaneously, the Variance Inflation factors are all below 15 which is an indication of no multicollinearity in the data. Based on the findings, people who are becoming taller with respect to age should watch their blood pressure as the blood pressure is found to increase with increase in height and age. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/95-09 Publication date: November 30th 202

MARKETING OF FERMENTED CASSAVA FLOUR IN AKINYELE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

The study was carried out in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State on marketing of fermented cassava flour (lafun) with the objective of examining the socio-economic characteristics of cassava marketers, determining the profit margin, ascertaining effect of some variables influencing the supply of cassava flour and identifying associated constraints. Primary data used for the study was collected from 80 respondents using simple random sampling technique. The empirical evidence from the analy- sis shows that the traders are predominantly female (70%) and mostly married (62.5%). The study further reveals that the marketing of lafun is a profitable venture at both the wholesale and retail levels with a profit of N6,890.32 per month. The quantity of cassava supplied was significantly determined by transportation cost (P0.01), marketing experience (P0.05), years of education (P0.10) and cost of storage (P0.05).The markets were observed to face transportation, storage and packaging problems. As trans- portation cost increased, the quantity of lafun supplied to market was also found to increase. The study recommends the assistance of government in the provision of infrastructural facilities

Shelf Life Potential and Microbial Load of Varying Mixtures of Grass-Legume Pellets: A Dry Season Feed

The effects of storage duration (0, 6 and 12 weeks), storage medium (plastic container, polythene bag and jute sack) and varying mixture of grass-legume (60% Panicum maximum (6Pm); 30% Panicum maximum + 30% Lablab purpureus (3Pm3Lp); 40% Panicum maximum + 20% Lablab purpureus (4Pm2Lp); 40% Panicum maximum + 20% Stylosanthes hamata (4Pm2Sh) and 30% Panicum maximum + 30% Stylosanthes hamata (3Pm3Sh)) on shelf life and microbial load of grass-legume pellets were examined in the derived savanna zone of Nigeria (Latitude 80N, Longitude 40E) using a 3 x 3 x 5 factorial arrangement using completely randomized design with Microbial concentrations were significantly affected (p \u3c 0.05) with plastic container having the lowest counts of total coliform (0.73 x 104cfu/l), total bacteria (2.05 x 104cfu/g), total fungi (1.12 x 104cfu/g) and total microbial concentration (4.07 x 104cfu/g). The study revealed that grass-legume pellet has good storage value and can be fed to ruminants as dry season feed

Analysis of Income Diversification Strategies among Farm Households in Oyo State

Diversification of income sources is considered as a desirable option to augments income among small scale farmers. This study evaluates the income diversification among farm households in Oyo State of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 280 rural households. The data collected were analysed using diversity index and Tobit regression analysis. The results showed that all the respondents participated in arable farming and this accounts for 28.29 percent of the total income. 57.85 percent participated in tree crop income and this accounts for 11.95 percent of the total income, 60.36 percent of the households engaged in non-farm income and it accounts for 19.93 percent of the total income. The results of Tobit regression showed that education, household size, access to credit and extension contact were the factors increasing income diversification among the rural households in the study area. The study revealed that agriculture remains the major source of income among the respondents. Therefore, the study recommends improvement of agricultural activities through the distribution of agricultural inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and better extension services delivery in order to boost agricultural production. Keywords: Income diversification, Diversity index, Rural Household, Tobit regression

A Java Simulation-Based Performance Evaluation of Mobile Agent Platforms.

Mobile agents are emerging as a promising paradigm for the design and implementations of distributed applications .Manyof these Mobile Agent platforms have been developed, new one, and new versions of old agents, kept on appearing everyyear, so choosing the right or most suitable platform for a particular application area; based on their performance is achallenge for both the developers and the users. This paper carried out a qualitative comparison across three selected, Javabased Mobile Agent System, Aglet Tracy, and JADE. Two of them (Aglets and JADE) were selected for quantitativeevaluation on their time of transfer/retrieval of compressed data files. In our implementation, Aglet version 2.02 and JADE3.4.1 were used. A java simulation program was developed and used in measuring the performance of the two mobileagents, using transmission time and compressed time as performance metrics. In this paper work, a unique portnumber(2080) was chosen for the loading of classes and mobility of agents. Ten dummy data files (also refer to as Load orMessage) were created with sizes ranges from 100Kb to 1 Mb. A gzip compression tool was used to compress each of thesefiles and sent through the Aglet and JADE enabled network. The transmission time (in milliseconds) for each correspondingfiles size (in Bytes) in the two Mobile agents were recorded. We deduced from our qualitative results that, Tracy plug-infeatures give users room for reusability and extension. Aglets provide weak security and poorly scalable. JADE has astrong security, scalable and its multi agent feature will enrich its usage on the internet. Our quantitative results show thattransferring/retrieving of compressed data file is faster in JADE than in Aglets. The integrity of the files are also kept safe, inboth mobile agents, that is after decompressions they can still be reused.Keywords: Aglet, Gzip, JADE, Compression ratio, Mobile Agent Networ