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Effect of Aqueous Extract of Senna occidentalis Leaves on Haematological and Liver Biochemical Parameters in Wistar Rats
Get PDFThis study evaluated the effect of aqueous extract of Senna occindentalis leaves on some biochemical parameters in Wistar rats. Twenty albino rats equally divided into four experimental groups were used. One group served as control and received the carrier solvent treatment. Three test groups were treated with S. occidentalis extract at 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg body weight respectively. The experiment lasted for 14 days after which the rats were sacrificed and blood collected for biochemical and haematological evaluation. Liver-body weight ratio was computed and liver histoarchitecture was investigated. The results showed that all haematological parameters were significantly (P<0.05) affected except the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular volume. There were also significant (P<0.05) alterations in the activities of gamma-glutamyl transferase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase, as well as the levels of total protein, albumin and globulin in the serum. No significant (P>0.05) alterations were observed in the computed liver-body weight ratio but marked alterations in histoarchitecture of the liver cells were present. These alterations in the haematological parameters, liver function enzymes and histological evaluation suggest a selective toxicity of the extract on the animals.
Keywords: Senna occindetalis, aqueous extract, gamma-glutamyl transferase, haematology, histolog
Purification and Partial Characterization of Cellulase Produced by Aspergillus niger Cultured on Vitellaria paradoxa shells
Get PDFThis research investigated the purification and partial characterization of cellulase produced by Aspergillus niger cultured on Vitellaria paradoxa shells. Cellulase (endoglucanase) from A. niger was produced under optimum fermentation conditions at 35 °C, pH 4.7, V. paradoxa, 4 g/L, inoculum size of 10 mm and the fermentation media incubated for 120 hours. The crude endoglucanase obtained were partially purified by subjecting to ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis and gel filtration chromatography for further purification. The effect of temperature and pH on the activity of purified endoglucanase was determined. Cellulase was purified to 734.33 folds by Sephadex G-100 column chromatography with a specific activity and yield of 4.406 U/mg and 63.03% respectively. Fractions 4 and 7 contained the highest endoglucanase activity out of 18 fractions collected and the two fractions were pooled for further analysis. The activity of purified endoglucanase was optimum at a temperature of 40 °C and pH 5. Therefore, the purified endoglucanase produced may be explored in detergent industry.
Keywords: Aspergillus niger, endoglucanase, Vitellaria paradoxa, purification, partial characterizatio
An Analysis of Women’s Electoral Participation in Nigeria’s 2011 and 2015 General Elections in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria
Get PDFAbstractGlobally, women are marginalised and grossly underrepresented in the area of public life where important decisions which affect their lives are taken. Interestingly the trend still persists. The study examined the trend of women’s electoral behaviour between 2011 and 2015 using Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State as the study area. Descriptive survey design was used with data collected through questionnaire, indepth and key informant interviews. Findings revealed that women’s participation in electoral politics is highly observable only at the spectatorial and transitorial levels. Climbing the electoral ladder and expressing themselves as political gladiators remain difficult for many of them. While women have participated actively in electoral politics, such participation has been as voters and support staff. They are however not rewarded with positions of power in political parties. Political party and legislative gender quotas should be adopted to immediately enhance the attempt of women at becoming political gladiators. Keywords  Election, electoral behaviour, politics, wome
The Politics of Mass Mobilisation in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the Administration of President Muhammad Buhari
Get PDFAbstractGovernance is such a daunting task that requires reciprocal efforts of both the governors and the governed. This explains why governments in all political systems develop legitimation strategies aimed at enlisting the support of the people for their ‘developmental projects’. This study examines legitimation efforts of successive administrations in post-colonial Nigeria through Mass Mobilization initiatives. The study, which adopts historical cum comparative methods of investigation and analysis, finds that while successive regimes in Nigeria have resorted to mobilization strategies including creation of agencies to earn legitimacy, certain regimes politicized their mobilization programmes turning them into instruments of political vendetta thereby negating the stated objectives of the mobilization efforts. The study concludes by proposing some measures capable of enhancing the integrity and effectiveness of mobilization strategies in Nigeria.  KeywordsNigeria, politics, mass mobilisation, governing elites, anti-graft agencie
Gender and Access to Land in Bodija Market, Nigeria
Get PDFAbstractGender is a critical and central social constructivity with definitive implications for access to and control of crucial resources in human societies. Gender is therefore very deterministic relative to veritable access to power, resources and positions and ultimately influences people’s life chances. Nigeria, like other African countries, is patriarchal. Nigerian societies give more chances and priviledges to one gender than the other and this tend to manifest across institutions of societies with implications for national and continental development. Since gender systems and structures of Africa appear to remain immutable in demonstration and consequences, it is important to continue to interrogate their contours, implications and manifestations. It is against these backdrops that this article adopted Bodija market’s case to examine how gender hinders or enhances access to land for male and female traders in the market. This article engaged the elements of intricacies of market entry and produce sales based on gender. Data were gathered through thirty-eight (38) in-depth interviews (IDIs) and data were content analysed and presented as blended narratives and ethnographic summaries. Important findings were made and presented in this article. Keywords  Gender, land access, Bodija market, Ibadan, Nigeria, Afric
Mass Media and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime in Nigeria
Get PDFAbstractQuestions and concerns have been raised about the fear-generating potentials of mass media in Nigeria in the face of the rising rate of crime in the country. The public, it is argued, suffer from hysteria about crime fanned up by newspapers and television.Hence, the influence of the mass media in escalating crime for the purpose of impacting on public policies has continued to be the focal point of discussion by criminologists. This paper contributes to literature by expanding knowledge on the relationship between fear of crime and media consumption in Nigeria. The main objective of the paper is to examine the modifiers of the relationships between media and fear. The suitability of cultivation theory in accounting for the influence of the media on the social perception of fear in the country was also examined. The study draws on the literature of risk perception and risk communication, as well as secondary data on the aetiology of fear and public beliefs about crime in a survey of Criminal Victimisation and Safety conducted by CLEEN Foundation. It concludes that most Nigerians do not have scientific foundation for their belief about crime as they are often fed with information about crime from media sources that may not appreciate nor care about the (in)accuracy of that information and that may use crime to entertain sell, advertise, exploit, or win patronage. Given the ubiquity of messages about crime in our society and the costs of inaccurate information, the study proposes that criminal justice officials- the police and other security agents should provide the mass media and by extension, the public with reliable information about crime, including information about the risk of victimisation for different criminal offences. KeywordsCrime, cultivation theory, fear, risk, victimisatio
The Impact of Export and Import on Economic Growth in Nigeria: Evidence from VAR Approach
Get PDFAbstractThe paper examines the impact of import and export on economic growth in Nigeria using Vector Autoregressive (VARs) technique through various types of structural analysis of Granger causality tests, impulse response functions, and forecast error variance decompositions to examine the dynamic effects of various shocks on macroeconomic variables. The results of VAR show that the predominant sources of Nigeria economic growth variation are due largely to “own shocks†and import-export trade innovations. While Johansen Cointegration results showed that there is a stable, long- run relationship between import-export and economic growth, but the magnitude is minimal. In conclusion, the study agreed that government should always embark on policies that will encourage exports with proper implementation of import control measures. KeywordsImport, export, economic growth, exchange rate, inflation rat
The North and Oil: A Dependency That Refuses To Go
Get PDFAbstractOil as a resource has always introduced a departure to the international structure. This is because the Northern developed nations are deficient in reserves and production of oil vis-à -vis the Southern developing nations. In essence, the North is dependent on the South, in a particular relationship between them, thus representing a totally new dimension in North-South relations. In view of the very important fact that the North was not particularly comfortable with the change in status-quo, there have been repeated efforts at reducing, if not totally eliminating, an oil dependency on the South. It has continued to be necessary that the extent at which the dependency is still in place be investigated and rigorously analysed. KeywordsNorth-South relations, oil, politics, dependenc
Nutrient and Antinutrient Compositions of Some Edible Insect Species in Northern Nigeria
Get PDFNutrient and Antinutrient Compositions of Some Edible Insect Species in Northern Nigeria. The nutrient and antinutrient compositions of Moth caterpillar (Cirinaforda), Termite (Macrotermes nigierensis), Cricket (Gryllus assimilis) and Grasshopper (Melanoplus foedus) were determined. The proximate compositions were analysed using the methods of the Association of official Analytical Chemist while minerals were estimated using Atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The fatty acid profile of the oils extracted from the insects was determined by Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry method. The vitamin and antinutrient composition of these insects were determined using standard laboratory methods. Termite was found to contain the highest amounts of moisture (4.50 ± 0.12%), ash (8.00 ± 0.12%) and fats (40.83 ± 0.03%) while moth caterpillar was found to have the highest amount of crude fibre and carbohydrate (13.25 ± 0.21%). Grasshopper was found to have the highest amount of crude protein (75.08 ± 0.91 %) while termite contained the least amount of protein (43.75 ± 0.03%). The Metabolisable energy of the insects were generally high and ranged from 392.83 ± 0.35 kcal/100g in grasshopper to 554.00 ± 3.40kcal/100g in termite. Potassium was the most abundant mineral in all the insects. Palmitic acid was found in high amounts in termite (25.78%), moth caterpillar (20.78%) and grasshopper (21.15%) while cricket had the lowest palmitic acid content (1.69%). The essential fatty acids found in the insects were linolenic acid and linoleic acid. Moth Caterpillar had the highest amount of linolenic acid (28.69%) while grasshopper had the highest amount of linoleic acid (17.2%). Vitamin E was found to be the most abundant vitamin while vitamin B2 was the least abundant in all the insects analysed. Antinutrients in all the insects were within permissible limits and may not pose any threat to their usage as sources of food. These results have thus justified the consumption of these insects as food.
Keywords: Edible insects, Nutrients, Antinutrients, Vitamin, Mineral, Fatty acid
Degradation of Cocaine and Benzoylecgonine in Sewage Sludge Batch Tests
Get PDFThe degradation studies of cocaine and its principal metabolites, benzoylecgonine, as emerging pollutants were carried out using various sludge types collected from the RAF Molesworth Sewage Treatment Work (STW) to determine their distribution and persistence in aquatic environment. The methodology, initially characterized the various sludge types before the laboratory batch tests were carried out at different temperatures and times. The results, after 3 hours equilibration of batch samples, showed the removal rates for cocaine and benzoylecgonine to be 91.0% and 90.6%, respectively. The partition coefficients (Kd) for the two substances ranged from 2.7 – 31.9 Kg L-1. Degradation of compounds was found to be both biotic and abiotic and the two processes produced many short chain compounds and several metabolites that include cocaethylene and ecgonine methylester. Also at 4 ± 0.5o C, the degradation of substances occurred slowly, at 5 and 10 % but was relatively greater at 19 ± 0.5o C. Compounds degradation was also influenced by both extracellular and intracellular enzyme activities. The batch study is an innovative method in calculating degradation rates of compounds from sewage treatment works. The capabilities of generating removal rates of drugs have also been clearly demonstrated in this work and can be applied to any organic compounds in real life (STWs) situations.
Keywords: Wastewater, Biodegradation, Intracellular, Extracellular, Sewage treatmen