Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) and 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), with Schlumberger and Wenner electrode array configurations respectively were employed to investigate the groundwater potential of Laderin Housing Estate located at Oke-mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun state, southwestern Nigeria. The area is underlain by the basement complex of the southwestern Nigeria. The research aimed at determining the aquifer/groundwater zone and characterizes the lithology of the study area. The geophysical survey involving nine VES and four profile of 2-D ERT lines with lengths varying from 100 m to 150 m were carried out. The field data from both the ERT and VES were processed and interpreted using RES2DINV and WINRESIST software respectively. Geometrical effects from the pseudo-section were removed and an image of true depth and true formation resistivity were produced. Three to four geo-electric layers were revealed in all, which are; topsoil, weathered layer, fractured and fresh basement rock. The result of 2 D inversion provide lithologic unit, weathering profile and geological structure favourable for groundwater potential. The results show that the basement rock was delineated with resistivity values that range between 701.3 Ωm and 9459.3 Ωm. The bedrock topography has a variable thickness of overburden between 3 m and above 16.4 m, which is fairly shallow. The geophysical survey show that VES 2, VES 3, VES 4, VES 5, and VES 6 are possible location for groundwater extraction. The difficult terrain, where thick overburden are located are also promising target for groundwater development.
Generalized Chain ratio in regression type estimator is efficient for estimating the population mean. Many authors have derived a Generalized Chain ratio in regression type estimator. However, the computation of its Mean Square Error (MSE) is cumbersome based on the fact that several iterations have to be done, hence the need for a modified generalized chain ratio in regression estimator with lower MSE. This study proposed a modified generalized chain ratio in regression estimator which is less cumbersome in its computation. Two data sets were used in this study. The first data were on tobacco production by tobacco producing countries with yield of tobacco (variable of interest), area of land and production in metric tonnes as the auxiliary variables. The second data were the number of graduating pupils (variable of interest) in Ado-Odo/Ota local government, Ogun state with the number of enrolled pupils in primaries one and five as the auxiliary variables. The mean square errors in the existing and proposed estimators for various values of alpha were derived and relative efficiency was determined. The MSE for the existing estimator of tobacco production gave six values 0.0080, 0.0079, 0.0080, 0.0082, 0.0087 and 0.0093 with 0.0079 as the minimum while the proposed estimator gave 0.0054. The MSEs for the existing estimator for the graduating pupils were 20.73, 11.08, 7.49, 9.96, 18.50 and 33.10 with 7.49 as the minimum while the proposed was 6.52. The results of this study showed that the proposed estimator gave lower MSE for the two data sets, hence it is more efficient.
This paper looked at practical ways in which pasture and range management (P&RM) can benefit from application of spatial technologies; namely Satellite Remote Sensing, Global Positioning System and Geographical Information Science. Brief mention of these spatial technologies’ components and ways of their integrations (linear, interactive, hierarchical and complex models) were discussed with specific reference to P&RM. The paper also dwells on salient principles of applied remote sensing and geospatial technics in P&RM using examples and case studies revolving around rangeland management, spatial decision support and resource conservation. Specifically, the relevance of hyper spectral imageries and vegetation indices in cattle population and range roaming determination, grazing land and paddock site-specific management were demonstrated. It is hoped that the review will create awareness for the inclusion and use of remote sensing and geospatial technics in many areas of livestock management in Nigeria.
The measurement of the energy consumed by residential and commercial buildings by utility provider is important in billing, control, and monitoring of the usage of energy. Traditional metering techniques used for the measurement of energy are not convenient and is prone to different forms of irregularities. These irregularities include meter failure, meter tampering, inaccuracies in billing due to human error, energy theft, and loss of revenue due to corruption, etc. This research study proposed the design and construction of a microcontroller-based electric energy metering system using the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) network. This system provides a solution to the irregularities posed by the traditional metering technique by allowing the utility provider have access to remote monitoring capabilities, full control over consumer load, and remote power disconnection in the case of energy theft. Proteus simulation software was used to model the system hardware and the software was obtained by using embedded C programming and visual basic. It was observed that the system could remotely take accurate energy readings, provided full control over consumer loads and execute remote disconnection in case of energy theft. The system provides high performance and high accuracy in power monitoring and power management.
Aflatoxin levels in nuts and fruits pose a great threat to food storage and availability. This study aimed at determining the mycoflora and aflatoxin level in stored walnut under various conditions. Freshly harvested walnuts were stored for 90 days in three different media: jute bags, Plastic containers and sterile polythene bags under room (37ᵒC) and refrigeration (4ᵒC) temperature. After 90 days of storage, the stored walnuts were examined for fungal growth at one month interval after which colonial and morphological characterization were carried out to identify the fungi present. Proximate analysis and aflatoxin content of the walnut samples were determined by standard methods. Fungi isolated from the walnuts include; Aspergillus niger, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Penicillum notatum, Aspergillus sydowi, Fusarium oxysporium, and Rhizopus stolonifer. Walnuts stored in plastic container at room temperature had the lowest aflatoxin level of 0.002 ng/kg while that stored in polythene bags had the highest (0.054 ng/kg). Proximate analysis also revealed that walnuts stored in polythene bag reduced significantly (p<0.05) in protein, ash content, fat, fibre, moisture and carbohydrates while samples stored in jute bag and plastic container remained unchanged. This study shows that storage methods contributed to the overall quality, shelf life and aflatoxin content of walnut and hence care should be taken during post harvesting process.
This research focused on laboratory tests that was conducted using locally available 10mm washed all-in gravel, quarry dust with varying water cement ratio. The research was carried-out using 108 (150 x 150 x 150) mm standard cubes that were all tested from three designed concrete mixes. In the present study, the role of water-cement ratio in compressive strength of concrete was investigated. The mixed concrete samples with water-cement ratios of 0.3, 0.35 and 0.40 were experimented for 3, 7, 21 and 28 days of curing. The results of compressive strength experiment showed that due to increase in water-cement ratio from 0.3 to 0.40, the compressive strength improved from 22 N/mm2 to 24.33 N/mm2 for 1:1.5:3 design mix, the compressive strength improved from 22.88 N/mm2 to 24 N/mm2 for 1:2:1 design mix, while compressive strength improved from 24 N/mm2 to 25.3 N/mm2 for 1:1:2 design mix respectively. The results for compressive strength experiments showed that the 0.4 water-cement ratio resulted in the optimum compressive strength for all three design mixes.
This study assessed urban flood impact, flood water quality and vulnerability around Olodo area of Ibadan region, Nigeria. The study employed remote sensing and GIS techniques in creating vulnerability and risk maps. Digital terrain model (DTM) was used to get the topography of the study area. Footprints of buildings along the Egberi riverbank and flood plain in Olodo were created in the GIS environment from high resolution satellite imagery. Buffering operation was conducted to classify the buildings into risk zones based on closeness to the riverbank using ArcGIS 10.0. The study revealed that 326 buildings were within the very vulnerable and vulnerable zones because they were less than 15.2m away from the riverbank. The characteristics of water quality change during the flood and non-flood periods. TSS, DO, NOD, and COD were all higher during the flood event. Microbial analysis showed that water quality levels in the floodwater exceeded water quality standards (e.g., the coliform excess from 10 to 10,000 times), and thus this may be a health risk for local people during flood events. Concentration of Escherichia coli (E. coli) ranged from 484 to 1290 cfu/100 mL during flooding compared to 192 to 295 cfu/100 mL after flood. Salmonella was found to be high ranging from 659 to 1840 cfu/100 mL during flooding compared to 530 to 1034 cfu/100 mL after flooding.
Researchers have reflected on personal traits that may predict Social Networking Sites (SNS) addiction. However, most of the researchers involved in the findings of personality traits predictor for social networking addiction either postulate or based their conclusions on analytical tools. Moreso, a review of the literature reveals that the prediction of social networking addiction using classifiers have not been well researched. We examined the prediction of SNS addiction from a well-structured questionnaire consisting of sixteen (16) personality traits. The questionnaire was administered on the google form with a response rate of 95% out of the 102-sample size. Additionally, a three (3) variant sigmoid transfer feed- forward neural networks was developed for the prediction of SNS addiction. Result indicated that pertinence (β = 0.251, p 0.01) was the most powerful predictor of social networking addiction in general and less obscurity addiction (β = 0.244, p 0.01). Experimental results also showed that the developed classifier correctly predict SNS addiction with 98% accuracy compared to similar classifiers.
Abattoir wastewater is high in organic content, the waste recovery and treatment facility is expensive and this results in indiscriminate dumping into streams without adequate treatment. The effectiveness of using a two-stage subsurface flow constructed wetland to treat abattoir effluent was examined in this study. Diluted abattoir wastewater from Lafenwa Abattoir, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria was fed into a two-stage Vegetated Subsurface Bed Constructed Wetlands (VSBCW). The VSBCW consisted of 500 mm deep 10-15 mm diameter granite with 150 mm thick overlay of well graded sand planted with locally available Vetiveria nigritana. Grab samples were collected at selected points along Ogun river and measurement of physico-chemical parameters such as: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Total Suspended Solid (TSS) of the influent and effluent from the VSBCW were carried out. Irrigation with water and diluted abattoir wastewater to examine the variation in plant growth rate was also investigated. The results revealed a pollution load reduction as the wastewater moves away from the discharge point but inadequate to meet the FEPA (1991) standard for wastewater discharge into rivers. The VSBCW was observed to reduce the concentration of BOD5, COD, EC, TDS and TSS in the abattoir wastewater by 88.71, 87.28, 45.72, 56.89 and 72.27 % respectively. The growth rate of the V. nigritana reduced by 1.9% when irrigated with abattoir wastewater. The study revealed that locally available V. nigritana in VSBCW is effective in abattoir wastewater treatment and could be use to curtail the pollution caused by discharge of untreated wastewater into rivers.
This study was conducted to compare two culture methods for the isolation of Campylobacter spp from commercial layer chickens and subsequently confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction assays (PCR). Furthermore, the antimicrobial resistance profiles of PCR positive Campylobacter isolates were determined.Cloacal swab samples (550) from chickens randomly selected from five poultry farms in the four geographical zones in Ogun State were cultured for Campylobacter using modified charcoal Cefoperazone deoxycholate agar (MCCDA) and an improved culture method involving Preston broth pre-enrichment and subsequent subculture on Mueller Hinton agar with Campylobacter growth supplements. Putative isolates were later confirmed by PCR assay and sequencing analysis.Other isolates that grew on MCCDA and confirmed by sequencing analysis are Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichis coli, Comamonas kerstli and Pseudomonas aeroginusa . The antibiotic resistant profile of all the isolates were evaluated genotypically for resistance genes to tetracyclines (tetO), multiclasses (cmeB), aminoglycosides (aphA-3-1) and β-lactams (Blaoxa-61) using multiplex PCR (mPCR), and phenotypically for chlortetracycline, tylosin, streptomycin, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin resistance by microbroth dilution method which correspond to the antibiotic resistance genes. The apparent prevalence of Campylobacter was 16.8% by MCCDA while none of the isolates was positive to PCR. Meanwhile, prevalence rate of 26% was obtained using Preston broth pre-enrichment and Mueller Hinton agar with Campylobacter growth supplements, of which 11/50 (22%) of the isolates was confirmed positive by PCR. Genotypic characterization of PCR positive isolates showed 10/11(90%) were C. coli, 1/11(10%) other Campylobacter species and 0% C. jejuni. All the isolates carried both tetO and cmeB resistant genes. The results of minimum inhibitory concentration presented all PCR positive isolates had resistance of 10/10(100%), 9/10(90%), 6/10(60%), 9/10(90%), and 8/10(80%) to tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, spectinomycin and tylosin respectively. In addition, all isolates carried multiple resistance to most antibiotics tested which are commonly used in poultry practice in Nigeria. Campylobacter spp in the study areas showed diverse genotypic characteristics, and gene mediated multidrug resistance.
Commercial interactions between merchants and customers pose a significant concern as they are associated with a large volume of data and complex information, especially when there is a need for switching requirements. This paper presents an agent-based analysis of e-payment transactions with the switching operations. The model adopts an inter-bank transaction network and consists of a terminal point of sale (POI) and three essential players in e-payment: customer, bank (merchant), and the Switch. This study analyses the various payment interactions using agent technology. The agent coordinates movement while the negotiation protocol serves as an internal control of the payment agreements, while the interactive hosts are the platforms that determine the status of transactions. Each agent host is equipped with a Certification Authority (CA) to secure communication between the merchant and the customer. Different transactions that agents could make are examined with formal descriptions. The implementation is achieved in Jade and compares with the object serialization mechanism. The simulation results show higher quality adaptation of agent systems and evidence of agentisation of e-transaction with Switch.
Pneumonia is a major economic threat to swine industry worldwide, however, there is still dearth of information on the pathology and associated pathogens in Nigeria, and these were therefore investigated. Lungs from 408 slaughtered pigs were randomly collected from abattoirs in Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos. The lung samples were cultured for bacterial pathogens using standard techniques, while formalin-fixed tissues were processed for histopathological examination. Grossly, the most consistent lesion was bronchopneumonia (35.3%). The main histopathological findings were lymphoid hyperplasia of bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) (88.2%), suppurative bronchopneumonia (63.6%), suppurative bronchitis and bronchiolitis with concurrent epithelial hyperplasia (57.1%), as well as thickened alveolar septa due to cellular infiltration consisting predominantly of neutrophils (54.1%). Ten different species of bacteria were isolated from the lung samples in which two or more pathogens were isolated from each sample (82.7%). Pasteurella multocida was the most frequently isolated bacterium (54.8%). Among the bacteria isolated, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in the frequencies of isolation of β-haemolytic Streptococci, P. multocida, Haemophilus species and Escherichia coli between the pneumonic lungs and apparently normal lungs. The results of bacterial culture, gross and histopathological changes recorded in this study are consistent with bacterial pneumonia possibly caused by most of the bacteria identified in the present study.
Statement of the Problem: Tuberculosis remains a serious public-health threat in developing countries though it has been eradicated in some advanced countries. This disease constitutes a significant threat to global health, being the second highest cause of morbidity and mortality resulting from infectious agents. Prompt diagnosis of active TB facilitates timely therapeutic intervention and minimizes community transmission. Aim: This study aimed at determining a ‘Point of Care’ diagnostic tool for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) by comparing the efficiency of four different PTB diagnostic tools for different age groups. Methodology: Zeihl Nelson (ZN) staining, culture, Gene xpert (GX) and Lipoarabinomanan (LAM) assay were employed in this study The culture method was used for confirmation. Sputum and urine samples were collected from each of 100 patients symptomatically diagnosed of PTB. Findings: Fifty-seven percent of the population was male while 43% were female. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from 9 (9%) of 100 patients. Similarly, GX detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 9 (9%) of the patients while the rate of detection using LAM was 10% and with ZN it was 7%. Gene xpert produced no true or false positive and negative result, LAM had one false positive result and ZN had two false negative results. The maximum time frame to generate result was 25 minutes for LAM, two hours for Gene xpert, eight weeks for culture and two days for ZN. Two positive isolates were observed at the same frequency for age group 21-30 and 31- 40 while age groups 1-10, 10-20, 41-50, 50-60 and above has 1 positive result each. Gene xpert had 98.11% sensitivity while LAM had 96.23% and ZN had 86.79%. The choice of ‘Point of Care’ diagnostic tool is of great concern to clinicians and the general public. Conclusion & Significance: This study identified LAM assay as suitable ‘Point of Care’ diagnostic and an add-on tool for PTB diagnosis because of its relatively high sensitivity and short maximum time frame to generate result compare to other three diagnostic techniques.
Flood is a seasonal phenomenon which is natural in it hazardous implication and occurs when there is relative high flow over the banks of the streams as a combine consequence of high recorded data of hydro-climatic related variables in a given geographical area. Yola North LGA, of Adamawa state had experienced an unprecedented flood in the year 2012 over the past decade which might have been influenced by some hydro-climatic variables and caused devastating effects on lives, properties, farmland and buildings respectively. This study focused on the impact assessment of substantive hydro-climatic variables on 2012 flood event in Yola -North and its environs. The hydro-climatic variables data were obtained from Meteorological station at UBRBDA, Yola for a decade. The amount of rainfall experienced was found to be highest (1085.2mm) in the year 2012 than any other year under consideration (2008-2017) except that of 2016, number of rainy days was highest (81 days) in the year 2012. Similarly, in the month of August in the year 2012 evaporation rate was lowest with about 69 mm than any other month of August in the decade, the annual value of water discharge was highest in the year 2012 over the decade with about 6,340(m3/s), the gauge height was found to be highest with about 7.33 m in the year 2012 and the water level was highest in the month of June, July and September with the corresponding values of 3.37 m, 3.49 m and 6.58 m compared to similar months in the years of the decade respectively. These increased changes in some hydro-climatic data analyzed might be the fundamental natural factor that causes the unique flooding than any other factor in the year 2012 in the study area and over time posed negative impact on agricultural lands. Therefore, the study recommends the urgent need to carry out a comprehensive seasonal hydro-climatic data record simulation analysis and variations with a view of taking them as a recipe and strategies of forecasting and predicting the reoccurrence of such phenomenon. The additional meteorological station should be provided by the government agencies in all agricultural zones of the state for adequate and wide range of hydro-climatic data recording for appropriate prediction of weather indices in future.
A virus-infected leaf of Mucuna pruriens was collected and tested for an incidence of a virus through biological properties using various plant host range inoculation tests, longevity-in-vitro, dilution-endpoint, thermal-inactivation point and electron microscopy. Results of host range inoculation tests showed the following plant species to be susceptible to the virus; Nicotiana tabacum, N. rustica, N. benthamiana, N. glutinosa, N. occidentalis, N. Sylvesris (Speg and Comes) and others. No plant in the family Convolvulacaee, Cucurbitaceae was found to be infected with the virus. However Chenopodium quinoa and C. murale in the family Chenopodiaceae were infected with symptoms of mottling and necrotic lesions. In the family Fabaceae, hybrid cowpea line TVu 76, IT84S – 2114 were infected with mosaic, leaf crinkling and severe leaf curl respectively. The virus had a dilution-end-point of 10-6-10-7, thermal-inactivation-point of 95°C in crude sap of TVu 76. The virus is of agricultural importance because of its incidence on seed coats of legumes which are freely exchanged between agricultural stakeholders.
Street food has been implicated in adverse health outcomes among consumers. The safety of food and hygiene practice of street food vendors are major contributing factor to these health outcomes. This study was carried out to assess food safety and hygiene practice of street food vendors in Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted. A validated interviewer-administered structured questionnaire adapted from Nutrition related knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire was used to obtain information from 50 respondents. Information obtained are: personal and socio-economic characteristics, food safety, personal hygiene, food hygiene and sanitary, water sanitation and environmental sanitation practices. Chi-square test was used to determine association among variables at p<0.05 using statistical package for social sciences. All the respondents were females, 68% were within 30-49 years, about half 52% were literate and earned between N10,001– N20,000 daily. Majority (62%) of the respondents used brick as vending site while 92% were stationary vendors. Majority of the respondents had adequate food safety, personal hygiene, food hygiene and sanitary practices but moderate water and environmental sanitation practices. Daily income of respondents had significant association (p<0.05) with environmental and water sanitation practices. Type of vending site had significant (p<0.05) association with food safety and environmental sanitation practices. Respondents had adequate food safety and hygiene practices in this study and this may have positive impact on the safety of the food they are vending.
This study evaluated some quality attributes of pancakes from peeled and unpeeled sweetpotato flours and cassava starch. Cassava starch was substituted up to 30% of the total composite flour. The proximate composition, colour, carotenoid and functional properties of the different flour blends were determined. The flour blends were processed into pancakes and the proximate composition and sensory acceptability of the pancakes were determined. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance. The result showed that they were significant differences (p<0.05) in the functional properties of the flour blends. Bulk density, Water absorption capacity, Oil absorption capacity, swelling capacity ranged from 0.70 to 0.78 g/ml, 1.87 to 2.30 g/ml, 1.02 to 1.40 g/ml and 5.18% to 6.66% respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the proximate composition of the pancake samples. The values ranged from 42.76 to 45.53%, 2.13 to 3.98%, 9.06 to 10.34%, 5.01 to 7.18%, 3.75 to 6.01% and 29.19 to 35.33% for moisture, ash, fat, protein, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents, respectively. Pancake produced from 100:0 peeled and unpeeled sweetpotato flour had the highest score for overall acceptability which can compare favorably, with pancakes from wheat flour which is the control sample. In conclusion, sweetpotato flour blended with cassava starch at different ratio gave good proximate and functional properties which resulted in pancakes of good quality attributes.
The task of storing items to allow for fast access to an item given its key is an ubiquitous problem in many organizations. Treap as a method uses key and priority for searching in databases. When the keys are drawn from a large totally ordered set, the choice of storing the items is usually some sort of search tree. The simplest form of such tree is a binary search tree. In this tree, a set X of n items is stored at the nodes of a rooted binary tree in which some item y ϵ X is chosen to be stored at the root of the tree. Heap as data structure is an array object that can be viewed as a nearly complete binary tree in which each node of the tree corresponds to an element of the array that stores the value in the node. Both algorithms were subjected to sorting under the same experimental environment and conditions. This was implemented by means of threads which call each of the two methods simultaneously. The server keeps records of individual search time which was the basis of the comparison. It was discovered that treap was faster than heap sort in sorting and searching for elements using systems with homogenous properties.
Biosurfactants are one of the microbial bioproducts that are naturally synthesized and are applicable for many industrial purposes. In this study, antibacterial, stability and antibiotic susceptibility of biosurfactant was evaluated. Biosurfactants produced from different substrates (groundnut cake, cassava flour waste, pome, cooking oil, engine oil, cassava waste water, molasses, cassava peel, potato) by Pseudomonas taenensis were evaluated for antibacterial activity using agar well diffusion method. Antibiotics susceptibility of Pseudomonas taenensis was carried out using different antibiotics (augmentin, ofloxacin, tetracyclin and ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, pefloxacin, amoxylin, ceftriazone, nitrofuranton and gentamycin). The stability of the biosurfactant was evaluated by adjusting the biosurfactant to: pH (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) using 1M NaOH and 1M HCl, temperature (4, 30, 37, 55, 75 and 100 °C) and NaCl (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 %). Results showed that only biosurfactant produced using cassava waste water as substrate was sensitive to Escherichia coli while biosurfactant produced using cassava flour waste, pome and molasses were sensitive to Staphylococcus aureus. Biosurfactant-producing isolate (Pseudomonas taenensis) was sensitive to four antibiotics (augmentin, ofloxacin, tetracyclin and ciprofloxacin) and resistant to six antibiotics (cotrimoxazole, pefloxacin, amoxylin, ceftriazone, nitrofuranton and gentamycin). Biosurfactant was stable over all the wide ranges of pH, temperature and sodium chloride concentrations investigated. This study therefore revealed that biosurfactant have good stability, thus, could survive environmental stress; Not all biosurfactant and biosurfactant producers have antimicrobial and antibiotic property.
This study examined the effect of substitution of maize with cassava flour at varying moisture contents on heat pump drying and some quality attributes including strength properties, durability index, micro-structure and floatability. The samples identified as S1- S6, were prepared from various levels of cassava flour before being extruded at steady state at 3 moisture contents (30, 35, and 40% db) in a single screw cooking extruder. Drying was done with an open loop heat pump dryer while a scanning electron microscope (FEG-SEM) was used to study the microstructure of the fish feeds. Results showed that drying rates and pellet durability were proportional to the source and concentration of starch in the samples. Some of the samples floated in water. The Coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump used for the drying decreased with increase in ambient temperature; the average COP being 4.77. The thermal efficiency of the heat pump dryer was 92.45%. The scanning electron microscopy indicated that cassava substituted samples lack some elements required of fish feed. Also, extrusion cooking resulted in changes in mineral composition of fish feed blends.
