Studies have shown that site sanitation practices are capable of improving the health and safety (H&S) performance of construction companies. In spite of this, evidence has shown that the level of compliance to these practices by construction firms is still poor. This study evaluated the effect of site sanitation on the safety performance of workers on construction sites. Data were obtained through a well-structured questionnaire. Analysis of data was done using Relative Importance Index (RII), Mean Item Score (MIS) and Spearman’s Rank Correlation. It was found that provision of first aid facilities is the measure most complied with on sites (RII = 0.96); relationship between level of compliance to good sanitation measures and accident rate is not significant; and provision of Personal Protective Equipment is the most effective strategy for minimising rate of accidents (MIS = 4.95). It was concluded that the effect of site sanitation on safety performance of workers on construction sites in Minna is not significant. It was thus recommended that construction firms should always comply with the measures for enhancing good sanitation on sites, especially “Provision of drinking water”, in order to improve safety performance on site. Key words: Construction, Safety, Sanitation, Performance, Workers.
This study was carried out to determine the fatty acid composition and sensory quality of Clarias gariepinus from different culture enclosures (plastic, sandcrete tanks and earthen ponds), at the Teaching and Research Farm of Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The comparative work was carried out to find out if habitat could influence the nutrient composition of the fish. Standard procedures were used in the analysis of tissue nutrient. Sensory evaluation study revealed differences in taste and texture indices considered for C. gariepinus reared in plastic, sandcrete tanks and earthen ponds (p<0.05). Fatty acid profiles of C. gariepinus were determined using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The percentage of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids was higher (49.99%, 23.17%) in earthen pond cultured C. gariepinus than the plastic and sandcrete tanks. The study revealed that C. gariepinus raised in earthen pond possess fatty acid composition and sensory quality advantages over the plastic and sandcrete tanks. Keywords: Fatty acids, Sensory evaluation, Culture enclosures, Clarias gariepinus
This study investigated the antibacterial activity of Ocimum gratissimum leaf extracts on antibiotic resistant bacteria from stool samples of diarrhea patient attending specialist hospitals in Ondo State, Nigeria. O. gratissimum leaf extracted with acetone, methanol and hot water solvents were assayed for qualitative and quantitative phytochemicals. Bioactive extracts were partially purified using standard chromatographic techniques. The crude and purified acetone extract had inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli (13.00±0.58 and 26.67±0.33 mm) according to CLSI, 2014 standard. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of purified acetone extract were 12.5 and 25 mg/ml respectively. Saponin had the highest quantity (42.50±0.32 mg/ml) on acetone extract while tannin had the lowest (1.29±0.01 mg/ml). O. gratissimum leaf acetone extract could be promising candidate in the treatment of diarrhea infection which is a major concern in paediatric medicine. Keywords: Diarrhea, Ocimum gratissimum L., Antibacterial
The study assessed carbon sequestration potential of the identified trees {Gmelina, Mango, Neem, Masquerade, Step and Cassia} along the five selected roadsides in Abeokuta metropolitan. Leaves of the identified trees were plucked, digested in triplicate and analysed for chlorophyll (Ch) A, B and A+B contents using UV-visible spectrophotometer. Obtained data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics while correlation analysis for relationship between the analysed leaf Ch contents. Results indicated that leaf chlorophyll contents varied. The ranking of tree to metropolitan vehicular emission along roadsides was Neem < Gmelina < Mango < Masquerade tree. Correlation matrix analysis indicated that production of the Ch contents across the roadsides tree species was not alike and might be due to their specific reactions to vehicular emission. In conclusion, the order of Ch contents might be the tree species potential to withstand vehicular pollutants.
Lagos lagoon has received wastewater discharged from different anthropogenic sources. Therefore, this study determined the water quality and identified its pollution status. Water quality index (WQI), several heavy metal pollution indices as well as single factor and comprehensive pollution indices were applied. The obtained data revealed that physicochemical parameter varied between 24.00±1.41 and 27.00±0.71°C for temperature; 2.50±2.83 and 10.50±0.71‰ for salinity; 3.90±0.99 and 4.60±0.85 mg/l for dissolved oxygen; 7.26±0.25 and 8.38±0.66 for pH; 3.50±0.71 and 10.00±7.07mg/l for BOD. The results also revealed that sulphate, phosphate and nitrate had means of 10.00±10.45mg/l, 0.85±1.04mg/l and 11.11±17.88 mg/l respectively while Pb, Zn, Cu and Hg had means of 0.25±0.49mg/l, 25.49±44.27mg/l, 1.88±2.94mg/l and 0.00±0.00mg/l respectively. SPI classified pH, BOD, Cu and Zn within the ‘medium pollution’ category while nitrate and phosphate indicated heavy pollution of the lagoon. The PI revealed that Cu and Zn had moderate and slight effect on the aquatic environment respectively while Pb and Hg had no effect on the ecosystem. The mean WQI revealed that the lagoon was classified to be good for aquatic biota despite that HEI and Cd revealed that there was high pollution of heavy metals in the lagoon. The CPI described the lagoon as slightly polluted.
The need for the possibility of producing calcium carbonate crystals by the evaporation method within five minutes and the growth of different calcium carbonate polymorphs on chitin whiskers within the same time frame at room temperature necessitated these report. Chitin whiskers (CHWs) were used as insoluble substrates, while poly (acrylic) acid (PAA) is used as soluble additive. The crystals were grown in chitin whiskers, Poly (acrylic) acid and CHW/PAA composites. The volume fractions for aragonite, vaterite, and calcite are 0.10, 0.25, and 0.65, respectively, in the absence of chitin whiskers or Poly (acrylic) acid. Calcite and aragonite volume fractions decrease in favour of vaterite when PAA and or CHWs were added. SEM images in the absence of CHWs and PAA shows rhombohedral calcites that display steady and step like plane appearances with an average edge of between 1.3 and 1.4 μm. In the presence of only CHWs, the SEM images show a mixture of ellipsoidal and spherical shape vaterites. The spherical vaterites have smooth, rough, and some irregular surfaces. Rod-like aragonite polymorphs were seen when only PAA was used as the template. In the presence of both PAA and CHWs, the rhombohedral shape showed roughness with irregular faces. Keywords: Chitin whisker, Calcium carbonate, Calcium, vaterite aragonite, Polymorph, Mole fraction
This study examined the effects of land rights on investment decisions of farmers and determinants of land rights as well as the impact of land rights on farm productivity in Southwest Nigeria. Multistage sampling process was used in the selection of 320 respondents for the study. Two-stage conditional maximum likelihood (2SCML) approach of multivariate probit regression model and Endogenous switching regression (ESR) model were used for the analysis of the collected data. The results of Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) estimates from ESR revealed that land rights increase farm productivity. This study further confirmed the importance of land rights in facilitating investment in soil-improving measures which subsequently leads to higher productivity. One of the policy implications emanating from this study suggests that having use and transfer rights as against use only rights goes a long way in enhancing investment in soil-improving or conservation measures. Keywords: Crop, Investment, Land, Multivariate Probit Regression Model, Rights, Two-stage Conditional Maximum Likelihood.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are increasingly becoming popular due to their ability to multiply data rates without any expansion in the bandwidth. This is critical in this era of high-data rate applications but limited bandwidth. MIMO detectors play an important role in ensuring effective communication in such systems and as such the performance of the following are compared in this paper with respect to symbol error rate (SER) versus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR): maximum likelihood (ML), zero forcing (ZF), minimum mean square error (MMSE) and vertical Bell laboratories layered space time (VBLAST). Results showed that the ML has the best performance as it has the least Symbol Error Rate (SER) for all values of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) as it was 91.9% better than MMSE, 99.6% better than VBLAST and 99.8% better than ZF at 20db for a 2x2 antenna configuration., it can also be deduced that the performance increased with increase in number of antenna for all detectors except the V-BLAST detector.
A study on light fraction organic matter was carried out on soil where leafy biomass of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (ENCY), Treculia africana (TRAF), Anogeissus leiocarpus (ANLE), Gliricidia sepium (GLSE), Leuceana leucocephala (LELE) were used as mulch. Soil samples were collected in each plot at two auger points 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm and then homogenized for laboratory analysis. ANLE was observed to have significant higher values (6.37, and 6.52) on soil pH, and at day 28 on soil pH respectively. Light fraction organic carbon (LFC) also experienced significant higher value (3.48 g/kg) at day 28 in ANLE leafy biomass. However, LELE had the significant highest values (0.37 g/kg, and 1.44 g/kg) on light fraction nitrogen (LFN), and at day 42 on LFN respectively, while, microbial population count (MP) was highest in ENCY (183516667 cfu/g), and (726666667 cfu/g) at day 14 respectively. It is therefore concluded that the leafy biomass investigated had improving positive effects on light fraction organic matter. Keywords: Organic matter, Soil content, Light fraction, Leafy biomass, Tree species
In this study, the effects of different steeping methods on the microbial quality of ‘ogi’ produced from Sorghum bicolor (Linn.) grains were carried out. The sorghum grains were divided into four parts; the first part (Sample A) was steeped with cold water at 30+ 2oC for 72 h and washed with water before milling, the second part (Sample B) was steeped with cold water at 30+2oC for 72 h but was not washed before milling, the third part (Sample C) was steeped with hot water at 30+2oC for 24 h and washed before milling, while the fourth part (Sample D) was steeped with hot water at 30+2oC for 24 h and was not washed before milling. The processed raw ‘ogi’ samples were subjected to standard microbiological techniques to enumerate the microorganisms present. The highest bacterial count of 3.5 x 103cfu/ml was observed in sample B, the highest fungal count of 2.5 x 104 sfu/ml was observed in sample B, while sample C yields the lowest bacterial count of 8.0 x 102 cfu/ml and fungal count of 4.0 x102 sfu/ml. Good hygienic conditions during the processing of the ‘ogi’ must also be employed to reduce the chances of microbial contamination.
Native flour of sweet potato has limited industrial applications. This study investigated effect of soaking sweet potato root in hot water and citric acid concentrations on flour properties. Sweet potato root was soaked at temperatures of 50oC, 60oC and 70oC for 2 h; citric acid concentrations of 1%, 3% and 5% for 1 h, and combination of best samples in each of the first two modification treatments in 50:50 proportions. Treated root was processed into flour using standard procedures. Proximate, functional and pasting properties of the flours were determined using standard methods. The flour was used as major ingredient in production of baked snacks. Treatments had significant effect on proximate, functional and pasting properties of the flour. Moisture content ranged from 6.5 to 9.7%, protein content 1.6 to 3.0%, ash content 0.1 to 3.15%, fiber content 3.6 to 4.2%, and carbohydrate content 82.1 to 84.7%. Water and oil absorption capacities ranged from 2.2 to 3.0 ml/g and 0.8 g/ml to 1.8 g/ml respectively, swelling power (4.32 to 9.23 g/g) and bulk density (0.77 to 0.95 g/ml). Snack produced with flour gotten from 60oC soaked root for 2 h was best in sensory ratings.
This study examined gender participation in fisheries and sustainable livelihood in the coastal areas of Ondo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents and the study area. Data were collected from 100 fisher folks from Ilaje and Ese-Odo Local Government Areas (LGAs), using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Kruskal Wallis test (KWt) was used to determine the level of livelihood diversification among the fisher folks. The most prominent roles of men in the study area are fishing both offshore and inshore (66%), boat owners (61%), and gear preparation (56%). On the other hand, the participation of women in fisheries is mostly sorting of fish caught (81%), salting for processing (79%), washing of fish and fishing gears (69%), and smoking (66%). Women also dominate fish distribution and marketing activities which include transporting of fish from home to the market place, display and bargaining. The result of the Kruskal Wallis test (KWt) revealed that the main occupation of the different groups is fishing, where the married class was the most predominant group. For gender, fishing remains the most engaged main occupation with more male than female at 0.01 level of significance. Key words: Sustainable Livelihood, Fisheries and Gender
The transition from analogue to digital television promises an enormous digital dividend that can translate to spectrum resource provision for other services. In this work, the size of the spectrum that can be released as dividend after digital switchover in some selected States of Nigeria is estimated. First, the present analogue television (ATV) network coverage is compared with predicted digital terrestrial television (DTTV) network coverage during a simulcast period, and after ATV switch-off. The predicted DTTV network is initially planned with a multi-frequency network (MFN) and analysis showed that DTTV had a 12.5% improvement in spectrum utilization compared to ATV while achieving a better coverage probability of 95.3%. This work predicted further spectrum savings with the use of a single-frequency network (SFN) design for DTTV network planning. The analysis done showed that 87.5% of the ATV spectrum could be saved for other services after the transition to DTTV using SFN. Keywords: Digital television, SFN, MFN, Spectrum, dividend
Piper guineense fruits were purchased, sun-dried (30±2oC) for 10 days and ground into fine powder. Fifteen (15) pieces of Clarias gariepinus (300 ± 5.0 g) were procured and smoke-dried in the laboratory using a charcoal-powered smoking kiln at 65oC for 10 hours. Each smoke-dried fish sample was placed in a plastic container with perforated lids covered with muslin cloth and Piper guineense fruit meal was sprinkled at varying quantities (0.0 g, 2.5 g, 5.0 g, 7.5 g and 10.0 g). Ten (10) adults of Dermestes maculatus bred from highly infested smoke-dried fish samples were introduced into each container and covered air-tight for seven (7) days. Mortality of D. maculatus was significantly different (p = .05) in all treatments and increased with an increase in the quantity of P. guineense and number of days. Mortality ranged between 73.33 and 100 % in treated groups while none was recorded in the control. Chemical compositions in treatments showed an increase in crude protein, lipids and lower moisture content at higher inclusion levels. This study showed that P. guineense can prolong the shelf-life of smoke-dried C. gariepinus against D. maculatus while retaining its nutritional composition. Key words: Dermestes maculatus, Piper guineense, smoke-dried, Clarias gariepinus
The focus of this paper is to examine the behavior of under and over-reinforced concrete slender beams at failure. The total number of the beams were five, with the provision of the following percentage of tension reinforcements: 1.01% for beam 1 (B1), 1.51% for beam 2 (B2), 2.01% for beam 3 (B3), 2.62% for beam 4 (B4) and 3.01% for beam 5 (B5). The beams were loaded with point loads at the center, with shear span/depth ratio of 3.8. The actual ultimate load of the experimental beam B1 was 141% of the estimated ultimate, while for beams B2, B3, B4 and B5, the actual ultimate loads were between 68% and 87% of the estimated ultimate loads for the beams respectively. The reinforced concrete beams B1, B2 and B3 had the capacity to sustain large deformation under constant loads before their ultimate failure, hence will give warning about the impending failure. For beams B4 and B5, although failed at higher loads had limited rotation capacity, hence will not give warnings about the impending failure. Therefore, 2.01% tension reinforcement is recommended as the maximum to be provided, so that the beam section can behave as a ductile section.
We have used ionosonde data from Ouagadougou (Geo. Lat.12.40 N, Long. 358.50, Magnetic declination -5.1320) to study the morphology of M(3000)F2 and to investigate the performance of IRI-12 during 1991 and 1995, years of high and low solar activities respectively. Results show that M(3000)F2 exhibits diurnal and solar cycle characteristics with no distinctive monthly/seasonal features. The two peaks which characterize the diurnal M(3000)F2 during high solar activity (HSA) are reduced to just one (the sunrise peak) during low solar activity (LSA). The study also shows that IRI-12 gives good representations of the observed values of M(3000)F2 with high correlation coefficient, R ranging between 0.9 and 0.95 during LSA and 0.94 and 0.99 during HSA. The model gives its best performance in the months of April irrespective of the solar activity. It either under-estimates or over-estimates the observed values of M(3000)F2 during other months.
This study evaluates the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Glassphalt aimed at increased bonding effect of bitumen, reduced stripping and increased in stability and strength. Control mix were prepared with bitumen content of 5.0, 5.5, 6, 6.5 and 7% to determine the optimum bitumen content (OBC). Optimum glass content (OGC) was obtained from samples prepared with glass content of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% replacement by weight of fine aggregates. The OBC and OGC were used prepare samples with PET content of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% by weight of the OBC. The optimum PET content had a higher stability value of 5.8kN and higher air void of 3.8% when compared to the control mix. Stripping value tests showed that PET modified glassphalt had 0% stripping after a period of 48 hours. Waste PET of 6.6% in 16% glassphalt is recommended for use as an anti-stripping agent.
The problems of adulteration in the vegetable oil and fat have been the major draw backs in the food products formulation, in spite of the various adulteration detection methods in different applications that have been reported. However, the detection tools that can be fast and reliable for the routine analysis necessitated the current work. The two groups of three different samples: vegetable fat containing sample (Blue Band, Golden Penny, La Prairie Classic) and animal fat containing samples (Kell Salad Cream, Crosse & Blackwell and Nola) was used for the purity check using the reversed phased - thin layer chromatographic (RPTLC) method of analysis were developed. The average Rf ratio of 0.95 and 0.92, found for the vegetable and animal fat groups were reported, respectively. The Rf = 0.03 difference between the two groups indicated the presence of sistosterol (plant sterol) and cholesterol (animal sterol), an improvement over color detection methods to screen oils and fats to ascertain purity. Keywords: Sistosterol, Cholesterol, Adulteration, Animal fat, Vegetable oil
This paper focused on assessing the viability of promoting made in Nigeria leather products on electronic commerce platforms using the leather products produced in Nigeria Institute of Leather Science and Technology, Zaria (NILEST) as a case study. The paper acknowledged the quality and competitive market value of NILEST leather products. Promoted leather products were purposively selected and arranged for a photographic session. Each of the leather works are photographed from different angles. The photographed product images were enhanced on the computer and uploaded for promotion into an existing e-commerce platform. The opinions of one hundred thirty (130) e-commerce shoppers were sampled through a closed questionnaire. The outcome showed that appealing display of leather works from all sides on an e-commerce platform gives shoppers a convincing grasp of the promoted products, and this can influence patronage of the leather works. It was recommended that the leather industry should explore the limitless capabilities offered by e-commerce to leverage an impressive market acceptance transcending geographical barriers. Also, makers of leather products must embrace best practices in their chain-value of production to churn out appealing leather works that attract patronage online. Keywords: Nigerian Leather, Promotion, Merchandizing, Colour Ecommerce Platform
The African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is an important fresh water fish consumed by a large percentage of the populace globally and it may be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella sp. In this study, a total of fifteen (15) samples of African catfish were collected from different markets in Lokoja, Nigeria. The Salmonella sp. were isolated from the catfish samples by pre-enrichment in peptone water and subsequent inoculation on selective medium namely brilliant-green agar (BGA), bismuth sulphite agar (BSA) and Salmonella-Shigella agar (SSA). The Salmonella isolates were tested for susceptibility to 10 different commercially available antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. A total of thirty-four Salmonella species was isolated. The percentage occurrence of Salmonella sp. in the catfishes examined was very high (80%). The incidence of Salmonella sp. in the intestine (86.7%) of the catfish was higher than for the gills (66.7%) and the skin (73.3%). Majority of the isolates were resistant to Amoxicillin, Sulfomethoxazole-trimethoprim, Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and Streptomycin. This study therefore demonstrated the occurrence of Salmonella species in African catfish with some exhibiting antibiotic resistance. Thus, there is a potential risk of transmission of drug resistant Salmonella species to man when contaminated catfish is consumed. The use of antibiotics in fish farming should be regulated so as to decrease antibiotic residues in fish.
