FUDMA JOURNAL OF SCIENCES

PERFORMANCE OF COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OF ACUTE MALNUTRITION OF UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN INVOLVED IN OUTPATIENT THERAPEUTIC PROGRAMME CASE STUDY OF PHC BABAN DODO ZARIA LGA, KADUNA STATE.

2022-01-27T23:41:04+00:00

This study was a clinic-based cross-sectional survey that was incorporated with quantitative and qualitative data collection. Information on sociodemographic characteristics of the caregivers was assessed with the aid of a validated semi-structured questionnaire. Weight, oedema, and Mid up Arm Circumference (MAUC) of the children were measured weekly to monitor the progress of the programme. This study shows that 8(26.67%) of the caregivers were aged 21 – 25 years and 26 - 30 years each, while 7 (23.33%) were 18 - 20 years of age, only 1(3.33%) of the caregiver was above 40 years. The mean age of the respondents was 27 years. Educational status shows that 17(56.67%) of the caregivers attended Secondary school as the highest level of education, 5(16.67%) had no formal education while only 1 attended tertiary institution. Occupation wise, 36.67% (n=11) of the caregivers were Artisan/Skilled Worker, followed by 10(33.33%) who were housewives. The result of the MUAC of the SAM children for 8 weeks shows that the mean value for the first week was 9.73. The boosters of the programme show 76.7% of RUTF, 10% of porridge beans, tofu and turn brown. The cost of transportation and distance as barriers was 60% and 26.7% respectively. The performance indicators show 77.8% cure rate, 8% default rate, 2.7% death rate and no recovery rate was 11.1%. Geographic coverage is 5.8% which when compared with the percentage standard is alarming. Therefore, geographic coverage in this study site was low and this would translate into low program effectiveness

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES AND TOLERANCE EFFICIENCY OF Spinacea oleracea L. UNDER HYDROPONIC Ni2+ STRESS CONDITION

2022-01-27T23:40:41+00:00

An indoor EDTA and HNO₃ enriched environment was created by an injection system with timing and varying concentration control. Spinacea oleracea was selected hydroponic plant exposed to various doses of Ni²⁺ (0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 mg/L) as Na₂EDTA at (0, 500 and 3000 mg/L) and (0,500 and 3000 mg/L) HNO₃ in different combinations for 6 days with 10-hour-treatment each day. This study used modified Hoagland nutrient culture in a screen house to provide an ideal environment for comparing the efficiency of chelate-assisted and unchelated phytoextraction of Ni²⁺ by S. oleracea. Changes in morphological characteristics including leaf damage rate to evaluate morphological resistance to Ni²⁺ uptake and proline contents was observed. Changes in fresh biomass were significant (p < 0.05) with respect to addition of EDTA and HNO₃ at different concentration to different concentrations of Ni²⁺ compared to unchelated treatments of same concentrations of Ni²⁺. The Ni²⁺ induced proline accumulation in shoots increased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing Ni²⁺ concentrations.

MARKETING ANALYSIS OF CHILLI PEPPER IN KANO STATE MARKETS, NIGERIA

2022-01-27T23:40:34+00:00

The study analyzed the marketing of chilli pepper in selected markets in Sumaila local government Kano State, Nigeria. The study focused on the socioeconomic characteristics of the chilli pepper marketers, profitability and marketing efficiency of chilli pepper as well as constraints of chilli pepper marketing. The result of socioeconomic characteristics showed that majority of the chilli pepper marketers (96.2%) were male and 46.2% were between the ages of 30-39years, and the majority of the marketers had attended various level of education in the study area which means they can read and write. The results showed that 69.8% of the sampled marketers have less than 10 people in their household. The result further revealed that 49.1% of the marketer’s haves less 10 years’ experience in the marketing of chilli pepper in the study area. Chilli pepper marketing was profitable venture with a net margin of 2,520.74 per 30kg of bag. Marketing of chilli pepper was found to be efficient in view of the high marketing efficiency obtained. The result revealed that the constraints faced by chilli pepper marketers were lack of uniform measure, poor credit facilities, transportation, inadequate storage facilities and poor market infrastructures. It can be concluded that pineapple marketing was profitable and efficient in the study area despite the constraints faced by the marketers. And therefore can be recommended that Construction of good road network to reduce damage of pineapple during transportation and plastics trays should be provided

ON THE STUDY OF CHAINS SOFT SETS, SOFT ORDERED SETS AND SOFT SEMILATTICES

2022-01-27T23:40:26+00:00

In this paper, we study the concept of chains soft sets and set-valued function of chains soft sets. The definitions of chains soft sets or linear order or total order soft set are given. The notions of binary relation of comparability of the elements of set-valued functions are also discussed. Linearization’s of a partial order soft set are also defined. The definition and some algebraic structure of soft semilattice are also given.

VERIFICATION OF THE CONSISTENCY OF THE PROPOSED TRANSFORMATION OF GLOBAL GEOID METHOD ACCURACY FOR LOCAL GEOID MODEL OF NIGERIA DETERMINATION

2022-01-27T23:40:19+00:00

The proposed transformation of the global geoid model method for the determination of the local geoid model of Nigeria has only been applied in part of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. To determine the consistency of the accuracy of the method for the intended purpose, there is a need to apply it in some other parts of the country. As a result, this study presents the verification of the consistency of the proposed transformation of global geoid method accuracy for local geoid model of Nigeria determination. DGNSS observations were carried out to obtain the coordinates of the used points. The processed global geographic coordinates were used with online software (GeoidEval) to obtain the EGM 08 geoid heights of the points. The global geographic coordinates, the global geoid heights of the points and the transformation parameters from WGS 84 to Minna datum were applied to obtain the transformed (local) geoid heights of the points using a Microsoft Excel program. The transformed geoid heights were compared with their corresponding geoid heights from the gravimetric-geometric local geoid model of the study area to obtain the model RMSE (accuracy). The obtained accuracy (2.0172 m) was compared with those of the gravimetric-geometric geoid model of the study area (0.675 m) and the transformation of global geoid heights when the method was applied in part of Abuja (0.0014 m). The comparison results showed the inconsistency of the accuracy of the proposed method. It is recommended that the method should not be applied for the intended purpose.

FITTING OF A TRANSFORMATION GEOID MODEL TO THE GRAVIMETRIC-GEOMETRIC GEOID MODEL OF BENIN CITY

2022-01-27T23:40:12+00:00

The application of the transformation geoid model in Benin City has necessitated its fitting to the existing gravimetric-geometric geoid model of the study area. The transformation geoid model was determined using the Kotsakis (2008) model for the transformation of global geoid heights to local geoidal undulations. To obtain its accuracy, the root mean square error (RMSE) index was applied. The computed accuracy is 2.0172 m. To apply the determined geoid model in the study area, as well as improving on the computed accuracy, the model was fitted to the gravimetric-geometric geoid model of the study area. The fitting result shows that geoid heights can be computed using the determined geoid model with an accuracy of 1.1041 m in the study area.

TOXIC IMPLICATIONS OF HEAVY METALS IN DRINKING WATER SOURCES OF LOKO AND MARARRABA IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

2022-01-27T23:40:05+00:00

Metals are substances with high electrical conductivity, malleability, and luster, which voluntarily lose their electrons to form cations. This study aimed at assessing the Toxic implications of Heavy Metals in Drinking Water Sources of Loko and Mararraba in Nasarawa using Micro Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (MP-AES). The results showed that, seven heavy metals along with their respective concentrations for both Loko and Mararraba in mg/L (Zn (0.19 and 0.23), Cd (0.00 and 0.00), Fe (0.05 and 0.04), Cu (0.01 and 0.01), Pd (0.01 and 0.01), Ni (0.003 and 0.002) and Mn (0.092 and 0.027)) respectively were present in the water samples. The Hazard Quotient (HQ) was all recorded to be lower than unity. The Hazard Index (HI) was also recorded to be 4.6x10^-4 and 5.7 x 10^-4 for both Loko and Mararraba respectively, value less than unity. This makes non-carcinogenic effects negligible. The total excess life cancer risk was found to be 36.1.4x10^-13 and 41.46x10^-13 for both Loko and Mararraba respectively, value less than that of U.S (1.0x10^-4 to 1.0x10^-6) and South Africa (5.0x10^-6). This makes carcinogenic effects negligible. Regular monitoring and evaluation of the water at the sample locations is recommended.

PROTEIN AND AMINO ACIDS PROFILE OF LIMA BEAN (PHASEOLUS LUNATUS) FOODS IN KADUNA STATE

2022-01-27T23:39:57+00:00

This study was conducted to determine the amino acids content of some lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) foods in Kaduna state, so as to provide nutritional basis for increased utilization of lima beans as a value-added product in households. The foods include lima bean porridge, lima bean-benniseed and lima bean-hungry rice. These foods were subjected to proximate and amino acids analysis using standard procedures and analytical methods. Amino acid composition of lima bean-benniseed recorded higher content of essential amino acids leucine (6.97g/100g), lysine (7.10g/100g), methionine (2.60g/100g), threonine (3.81g/100g), and also had higher content of non-essential amino acids, tyrosine (3.45g/100g), alanine (4.54g/100g), serine (3.94g/100g), glutamic acid (12.94g/100g) and aspartic acid (8.68g/100g). Lima bean-hungry rice food had higher content of isoleucine (4.04g/100g), phenylalanine (4.13g/100g), tryptophan (1.26g/100g). Proximate composition shows that the protein content of lima bean-benniseed food (8.33%) and lima bean porridge (8.30%) were significantly (P<0.05) higher than lima bean-hungry rice food while lima bean-benniseed food had higher content of crude fat (13.46%), ash (2.28%) and crude fibre (4.09%) compared to other foods. The carbohydrate content (24.58%) of lima bean porridge was significantly (P<0.05) higher than other foods. The study shows that lima bean foods have a good nutritional profile therefore; increase in the consumption of foods prepared with lima beans could serve as an addition to food-based strategies used in decreasing malnutrition and its effects

EVALUATION OF Bacillus thuringiensis FROM DIFFERENT HABITATS FOR LETHALITY AGAINST LARVAE OF SOME SPECIES OF MOSQUITO

2022-01-27T23:39:49+00:00

This work was aimed at evaluating the lethality effects of Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from different habitats against larvae of some species of mosquito. The isolated and identified microorganism from the different sampling sites were subjected to bioassay against different species of mosquito larvae at 0, 8.0 × 10⁹, 1.6 × 10¹⁰, 3.2 × 10¹⁰, 6.4 × 10¹⁰, and 7.2 × 10¹⁰cells/ ml. The result of the study revealed that B. thuringiensis isolated from compost manure had the highest bioactivity of 100% mortality against all the three species of mosquito larvae used in this work at the concentration of 3.2 × 10¹⁰ cells / ml while those isolated from garden soil, refuse, animal residue and dry leaf residue gave 100% mortality at 6.4 × 10⁹ cells / ml against the three species of mosquito larvae with the exception of that isolated from animal residue which gave 95% mortality against aedes larvae at 6.4 × 10¹⁰ cells/mls. Analysis of variance at P < 0.05 revealed a significant difference in activity of B. thuringiensis isolated against mosquito larvae belonging to different species. This indicated that Bacillus thuringiensis had higher lethal activities against culex and anopheles larvae than aedes larva.

ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF SOME TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES OF TWO LIGANDS DERIVED FROM AMINO ACIDS AND 2 – IMINO – 1 – METHYLIMIDAZOLIDIN – 4 – ONE

2022-01-27T23:39:42+00:00

Plant extracts are most of the time used for antioxidant and antimicrobial studies. The Present study was designed to evaluate the activity of metal complexes as antioxidant and against some selected bacterial and fungal isolates. The new metal complexes of Cr (III) and Zn (II) containing ligands derived from Tyrosine, Leucine and 2 – imino – 1 – methylimidazolidin – 4 - one were selected. The test compounds were evaluated for their possible antioxidant activity through free radical scavenging activity via using 1,1 – diphenyl – 2 – picryl – hydrazyl (DPPH) method. All the complexes exhibited good to moderate activity with Cr (III) complex (CrL₁) and (CrL₂) as the best radical scavengers having the % inhibition value of 67.74 and 65.33 respectively. The complexes were also screened for their antimicrobial activities against two bacterial isolates and one fungal isolate (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Aspergillus niger). The result showed that all the compounds have the moderate activity against the tested organisms.

STUDIES ON SURFACE RADIO REFRACTIVITY OVER SOME SELECTED CITIES IN NORTH-CENTRAL, NIGERIA

2022-01-27T23:39:35+00:00

This research investigated the variations of surface radio refractivity and its propagation effects on radio signal over the cities of Abuja and Ilorin, Nigeria. Six years (2015-2020) satellite data of Temperature, Pressure and Humidity both at the surface (12m) and at 100 m AGL, were used for the study. The data retrieved were used to determine the monthly, seasonal and annual surface radio refractivity values for the locations. Results show that the values of surface radio refractivity (Ns) in Abuja was slightly lower than Ilorin with average values of 335.62 and 351.07 N-Units obtained for the six years respectively. Average values of Ns, obtained during the dry season months in Abuja and Ilorin were 299.40 and 321.03(N-units) respectively while average values of 360.24 and 368.21 (N-units) were obtained during the wet season months in Abuja and Ilorin respectively. Higher values of Ns, were recorded generally during wet compared to the dry seasons’ months in all the years and study locations. The implication of this is higher attenuation of radio signal due to Ns during wet compared to the dry seasons’ months and as well as in Ilorin compared to Abuja. Correlation coefficients of -0.53, 0.98 and 0.53 were determined between (Ns) and; temperature, humidity and pressure respectively in Abuja while -0.30, 0.97 and 0.34 were determined between Ns and; temperature, humidity and pressure respectively in Ilorin. The overall findings of this work will be useful to radio engineers for the proper planning of reliable power budget over the study areas.

PRODUCTION AND PROPERTIES OF SEVEN ADHESIVES FROM GUM ARABIC (Acacia senegal)

2022-01-27T23:39:28+00:00

Adhesives are substances that are capable of holding materials via surface attachment that resist separation. They have wide applications in domestic and industrial areas. Seven different kinds of adhesives were produced using different reagents such (Na₂CO₃) with various concentration of 1%, 5%, and 10% designated as A,B and C, and caustic soda solution (NaOH) of 0.1M, 1M, and 5M concentrations designated as D1, D2 and D3 were prepared separately. Viscosity and drying rate of the adhesives were measured and holding capacity of each adhesive prepared were tested. From the result we observed that the seven adhesives produced has higher bonding ability on paper, wood and bank note compared to glass and ceramics since the adhesive produced are purely from the same natural resources

RESPONSE OF DIFFERENT TYPE OF FERTILIZERS ON GROWTH OF TWO GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) VARIETIES IN KATSINA A SUDAN SAVANNAH

2022-01-27T23:39:21+00:00

The experimental trial was conducted to evaluate the response of different types of fertilizers on the growth of two groundnut varieties in Katsina a Sudan savannah. The experiment was conducted during the 2020 and 2021 rainy seasons at Samaru farm Mani LGA, Katsina State, Nigeria. Treatments consisted of two varieties of groundnut (SAMNUT 25 and SAMNUT 26) and four different types of fertilizer (zero fertilizer, organic manure, NPK 30:30:30 and poultry manure) replicated three times. The treatments were factorized and laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The result shows that groundnut growth components such as: the number of leaves per plant, leaf area index and days to 50% flowering per plot was significantly influenced by different types of fertilizer and SAMNUT 25 (P≤0.05) outperformed SAMNUT 26. Different types of fertilizer Applications also recorded a significant (P≤0.05) effect on growth parameters. However, the Application of poultry manure significantly (P≤0.05) outperformed better on the number of leaves and leaf area index at 3, 6 and 9 WAS but during the 2020 growing season at 6 WAS organic manure recorded the highest (105) number of leaves. The study revealed that the application of poultry manure on SAMNUT 25 proves to promote better growth of groundnut in the study area.

LEVEL OF ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY ESTIMATION OF IRRIGATED TOMATO PRODUCTION UNDER KANO RIVER IRRIGATION PROJECT (KRIP), NIGERIA

2022-01-27T23:39:13+00:00

The focus of this study is to analyze the Level of Economic Efficiency of Irrigated Tomato Production under Kano River Irrigation Project (KRIP), Nigeria. A combination of purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select 213 irrigated tomato farmers. Primary data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and data. It was found that the medium and large scale farms emerged as farms with price-efficiency in terms of higher unit profit (0.43) respectively. It can be concluded irrigated tomato farmers in the study area were fairly allocative efficient, suggesting that opportunities for improvement in the allocative efficiency of the respondents. It is recommended that education should be encouraged by extension agents through effective and efficient dissemination of information.

DEVELOPMENT OF A FOUR-ROW-ANIMAL-DRAWN PRECISION MAIZE PLANTER

2022-01-27T23:39:06+00:00

Crop planting is an indispensable farm operation to increase production through the proper facilitation of optimum plant population per area as well as reducing unnecessary competition among crops. The excessive inaccurate placement of seed at a required depth and intra - row distance, low field capacity and seed damage due to metering all envisage the need for a locally developed and cost effective multi-row animal drawn precision seed planter. This study focused on the design, fabrication and performance evaluation of a four row animal drawn maize seed planter. The fabrication was carried out at the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Resources Engineering Workshop, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The machine was evaluated in the experimental field of the department during the 2019 raining season. Three levels of planting speed ‘S’, three levels of hopper seed quantity ‘W’ and two levels of planting depth ‘D’ were assessed. The field experiment was designed in a 3×3×2 randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results showed that the effects of planting speed, seed quantity and planting depth were significant on the planting performance of the machine. The highest mean seed spacing, germination counts, field capacity and seed delivery rate of 23.50 cm, 88.5 %, 0.54 ha/hr and 20.7 kg/ha respectively were obtained. The developed planter has successfully eliminated the limitations associated with manual planting method, most locally developed planters, imported tractor drawn planters as well as increasing the field capacity of the planting operation.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW NICKEL PHTHALOCYANINE (NIPC) COMPLEX CONTAINING 7-HYDROXYCOUMARIN AND EVALUATION OF ITS ELECTROCHEMICAL AND THERMAL PROPERTIES

2022-01-27T23:38:58+00:00

In this study, phthalonitrile derivative was prepared by a nucleophilic substitution reaction of 3-nitrophthalonitrile in the presence of K₂CO₃ as a base in a non-aqueous organic solvent. Cyclotetramerization of phthalonitrile in the presence of metal salt, Ni(II)) gave peripherally substituted metal phthalocyanine complexes. The structure of the synthesized compounds was characterized by different analytical tools such as ¹H NMR, UV-Vis, and FT-IR spectrophotometry and cyclic voltammetry. The disappearance of the C≡N stretching vibration from the IR spectra of phthalonitrile was observed at 2230 cm⁻¹. The FTIR vibration results for C=O, C=C and C-O were 1712cm^-1, 1615 cm^-1 and 1276 cm^-1 respectively. Solubility of metal phthalocyanine complexes was found to be very low in common laboratory solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF). The electronic spectrum of NiPc in dimethylformamide (DMF) showed intense Q absorption at 690 nm. UV-Vis spectra of phthalocyanines showed electronic spectra with two strong absorption bands, Q and B bands. The Q band was found in 600–750 nm and B at 300–400 nm for both. The thermal stability of the phthalocyanine derivative was checked by T.G.A and the degradation was observed to start at 309 ^oC, which showed that the complex could withstand relatively high temperature. It could therefore be concluded that the metal phthalocyanine prepared in this study showed suitably high thermal stability and can be used for various applications

OPTIMIZATION OF COAGULATION EFFICACY OF BANANA STEM JUICE IN WATER TREATMENT

2022-01-27T23:38:51+00:00

This work investigates the optimization of coagulation efficacy of banana stem juice as plant natural coagulant in treatment of raw water. Response Surface Methodology was used to optimize the process using Design Expert Version 10. Factors considered were; coagulant dosage (mg/L), retention time (min), and pH with fifteen experimental runs generated using Box Behnken Design method. The parameters analysed were COD, DO, TSS, TDS and Turbidity. Jar test laboratory scale studies was performed and the result analysed statistically to study the effects of pH, retention time and coagulant dosage on coagulation. The coagulation efficacy was achieved at pH 6.5 with percentage removal of 58.065 % after 60 minutes retention time with dosage of 7.5mL/L. Firstly, before carrying these processes, the raw water sample was characterized to ascertain the initial concentration of the parameters before the jar test. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the significance of the model and the variables. The model F-value was 12.06 which implies that the model is significant and that there is only a 0.68% chance that such a Model F-value could occur due to interference. Also, values of "Prob > F" were (0.0062) less than 0.0500 indicating that the model terms are significant. It could be concluded that Banana Stem Juice showed tremendous potential as a bio-coagulant for water treatment purposes and could be applied in the pre-treatment stage prior to secondary treatment.

FACTORS INFLUENCING ACCEPTANCE OF FARMER EDUCATION AND IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD PRODUCTION IN KWANAR ARE DAM – KATSINA STATE

2022-01-27T23:38:44+00:00

This study was aimed at analysing factors influencing acceptance and adoption of farmer education and irrigation technology for sustainable food production as a means of ensuring food security in rural settlement of Katsina State – Nigeria. It provided insight on the underlying socio-economic factors influencing farmer’s decision to adopt education and irrigation technologies in the study area. A structured questionnaire was administered for selected farmers. Results obtained revealed that 94% of farmers were small holders with low level of education indicating that farming in the study area is highly dominated by traditional farming system that results in lower yields. It also indicates 87% of farmers were within the economic active age of 20 – 50 years. Farming experience, fragmented land holdings and poor extension services were directly related to the acceptance farmer education and adoption of irrigation technologies. The study concluded that training and educating small-scale small scale farmers that form the bulk of farming community in Nigeria are viable solutions to securing household food security, diversification of source of income and reducing rural poverty

GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSE OF SESAME (SESAMUM INDICUM L.) TO BITTER LEAF (VERNONIA AMYGDALINA DEL.) LEAF, STEM AND ROOT AQUEOUS EXTRACTS

2022-01-27T23:38:37+00:00

This study was carried out to assess the effect of leaf, stem and root aqueous extracts of Vernonia amygdalina on seed germination, growth and yield performance of Sesamum indicum. The aqueous extracts of the three plant parts were applied at concentrations of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% to sesame seeds in petri dish and compared with seeds treated with distilled water (control). The percentage of germinated seeds and lengths of radicle and plumule were measure within 10 days of sowing. The different concentrations of leaf, stem and root extracts of Vernonia amygdalina were applied to the seedlings of Sesamum indicum grown in pots and arranged in Complete Randomized Design (CRD). Data were obtained for number of germinated seeds, lengths of plumule and radicle while number of leaves, height of plant, stem girth, leaf length and leaf breadth were taken at 2,4, 6 and 8 Weeks After Planting (WAP). All data pooled were subjected to one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) is used to separate means. Significant reduction in germination percentage of sesame seeds was recorded in sesame grown with 100% concentration of aqueous stem extracts of Vernonia amygdalina (78.33%) which indicates inhibitory effect of the extract at the concentration. 25% aqueous root extracts of Vernonia amygdalina significantly stimulated early growth of the shoot (1.70cm) and root (1.60cm) in sesame seed. In this study, growth and yield of sesame were enhanced by 50% root extract of Vernonia amygdalina. This suggests that intermediate concentrations of

EVALUATION OF THE LEVEL OF ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF IRRIGATED TOMATO PRODUCTION UNDER KANO RIVER IRRIGATION PROJECT, NIGERIA

2022-01-27T23:38:29+00:00

The broad objective of the study was to evaluate the Level of Economic Efficiency of Irrigated Tomato Production under Kano River Irrigation Project, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling techniques was used to select 213 irrigated tomato farmers. Primary data was used and were collected using well-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and data. The result of the analysis revealed that the average economic efficiency of the irrigated tomato farms was 67%. This indicates that irrigated tomato farms were economically inefficient. It can be concluded that all the three categories of irrigated tomato farms were economically inefficient with large irrigated tomato farms having the highest economic efficiency of 67% in the study area. It is therefore recommended that agricultural extension workers should be provided to disseminate research finding and educate irrigated tomato farmers on ways of improving their economic efficacy

ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL IONIZING RADIATION IN TWO TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS OF NIGER STATE

2022-01-27T23:38:22+00:00

Background ionizing radiation attributed to natural sources has over the years been at increase due to increase in infrastructural facilities and population inducing more human activities within campuses. This called for very great concern because of it effects on the human at higher exposure doses. Consequently, the Assessment of the Natural Ionizing Radiation was carried out at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL) and Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru (NSPZ) with approximate populations of 7000 and 5200 students respectively. A portable Geiger-Mueller dosimeter was used at 19 different locations within the two tertiary institutions. The results revealed the Dose Rate variation from 0.14 to 0.186 μSv⁄hr, at IBBUL, while at NSPZ the variation was from 0.12 to 0.158 μSv⁄hr. For all the locations the mean Dose Rate was 0.154 μSv⁄hr with a standard deviation of 0.0195 μSv⁄hr. Generally, average Annual Effective Dose Rate obtained is 0.27 mSv/annum which fell within the recommended alarming limit of 1 mSv/annum given by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) for non-occupational population exposure. This implied no adverse impact on the tenements within the two tertiary Institutions. However, part of the recommendations is that more work needs to be done on the soil to characterize the areas for possible radioactive source deposits which may be up to alarming magnitude in the near future.

A SURVEY OF IMAGE DENOISING FILTERS BASED ON BOUNDARY DISCRIMINATION NOISE DETECTIO

2022-01-27T23:40:56+00:00

Image denoising is an essential and complex activity that should be carried out before any other image processing because it checks for errors within the image(s) and rectifies them. There are ways to remove noise, the switching scheme is an outstanding method when equated to others, it initially segregates the noisy pixels and then filters them. Boundary Discriminative Noise Detection (BDND) is a type of algorithm that uses the switching method and is good for impulse noise detection, many works have been presented using several enhancements to detect noise from images using BDND. In this paper, we present a detailed outline of impulse noise and noise removal techniques by looking at over a decade of research conducted to establish a fundamental understanding of the Boundary discriminative noise detector algorithm used in image denoising. We analyzed 19 relevant papers through Google Scholar, focusing on three aspects: the methods for detecting noisy pixels, the type(s) of noise, and the major challenges. We found that many of the image denoising methods still use BDND and at least one algorithm is developed yearly except for 2017 to 2021, indicating the algorithm is significant in the field of image denoising. Furthermore, we wrap up the survey by highlighting some research challenges and offering a list of key recommendations to spur further research in this area.

AFLATOXINS IN FOOD GRAINS: CONTAMINATION, DANGERS AND CONTROL

2022-01-27T23:40:48+00:00

The most concern postharvest safety issue in food grains is aflatoxins production in contaminated stored grains. Consumption of aflatoxins contaminated grains can lead to complicated health issues that can lead to death. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites commonly produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. They were reported to disturb foetus development, causes changes in living cells, suppresses the immune system and causes many forms of cancers. Aflatoxin B₁ was classified under group I carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Aflatoxins contamination affects food security and can hinder international trade due to the strict ban enforce by many nations. Contaminations were reported in raw and processed grains (including ready-to-eat), milk and meat of farm animals and human breastmilk and blood. Major causes of grains aflatoxins contamination are wrong harvesting time and method, improper drying, poor storage and processing and higher moisture in the grains. Literature was gathered through an online search on Google Scholar, attention was given to the articles published in the last 5 years. Causes of fungal contamination, aflatoxins production and their control measures were deliberated, possible means of mitigating aflatoxins contamination through consumption of food grains were also recommended