Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) Journal
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Fatty Acid and Amino Acid Compositions of the Edible and Inedible varieties of Air Potato Yam (Dioscorea bulbifera).
No full textThe fatty acid and amino acid compositions of the edible and inedible varieties of Dioscorea bulbifera were investigated. The results revealed the presence of only two fatty acids; oleic (5.82%) and linoleic (94.18%) in the edible variety and three fatty acids; palmitoleic (54.00%), oleic (37.47%) and linolenic (8.52%) in the inedible variety. The edible variety lacked linolenic acid while the inedible variety lacked linoleic acid. The edible yam variety had a total amino acid composition of 68.82g/100g. This value is slightly lower than the value of 76.65g/100g for the inedible variety. The inedible variety had higher values of all the amino acids than the edible variety. Both varieties had aspartic and glutamic acids as the predominant amino acids and methionine as the most deficient amino acid. The edible yam variety had a total essential amino acid value of 31.27g/100g protein while the inedible variety had a total essential amino acid value of 34.82g/100g protein. These values represent 45.44% and 45.43% respectively of the essential amino acid compositions. However, the inedible variety had higher values of all the essential amino acids than the edible variety. The branched chain amino acids; valine, leucine and isoleucine made up 13.66g/100g (19.85%) protein of the edible variety and 15.03g/100g (19.61%) protein of the inedible variety. The sulphur-containing amino acids; methionine and cystine made up 1.61g/100g (2.34%) protein of the edible variety and 1.91g/100g (2.49%) protein of the inedible variety. The inedible variety had higher values of threonine and valine than their respective FAO/WHO/UNU reference standards. The edible variety had lower values. Both the edible and inedible varieties had higher values of leucine, isoleucine and phenylalanine+tyrosine than their respective FAO/WHO/UNU reference standard values
Effective School Leadership and Time Management in Secondary Schools
No full textThis paper discussed the concept of leadership in relation to time management in secondary schools. It specifically discussed the theories and forms of leadership, norms for effective staff management, tasks of school principals and their role in ensuring judicious use of time. The paper recommends that school administrators should work hard to inculcate time-conscious habits in their staff and students, avoiding distractions that inhibit effective use of time. In agreement with several researchers, school principals must possess professional and administrative qualities that manifest in effective communication, caring, creating opportunities, quality time management ascribable to credible leaders. They must lead by example to discourage lateness to work and absenteeism. Also, school leadership should delegate responsibilities to capable subordinates with relevant backgrounds who will ensure timely delivery of services to parents, students and the general public. Participation in workshops for training in current management practices is also recommended
Prevalence of Trypanosomes in Intensively Managed Pigs in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
No full textThis study was carried out in Umuahia, Abia state with the aim of finding out the prevalence of trypanosomes in pigs reared under strict intensive farming system. A total of 160 intensively reared large white pigs were used. Blood samples collected were examined for trypanosomes using wet mount, buffy coat and thin smear stained with Geimsa. The study revealed zero prevalence of trypanosomosis. The questionnaire survey also revealed that majority (71.4%) of the pig farmers were males and all were educated. 57.1% of the farmers had SSCE, while 42.9 had tertiary education. It was also observed that most of the farmers had up to 10 – 15 years of experience in pig farming. The survey also showed good management practices by the farmers which may have contributed to the zero prevalence obtained in this study
Financing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), Human Capital Formation and Economic Growth in Nigeria
No full textThis study examines the impact of commercial banks’ credit to small and medium scale enterprises and human capital formation on economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1981 to 2013. An augmented growth model was estimated via the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) techniques. The variables were tested for stationarity and co-integration analysis was carried out using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller estimation procedure. The study reveals that government expenditure on education has positive and significant effect on gross domestic product, while government expenditure on health had positive but insignificant effect on GDP. Similarly, commercial banks’ credit to the SMEs sector and gross national savings yielded positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth in Nigeria. Finally, Lending interest rate and the domestic inflation in Nigeria have inverse and significant effect on growth of the domestic economy. The study recommends capacity building for SMEs personnel to ensure proper business management and record keeping. Furthermore, there is need to encourage entrepreneurship by promoting investment in the domestic economy and by diversifying the economy to manufacturing, production and agricultural sectors
Agricultural Education Lecturers’ Brainstorming: Postgraduate Students Research Abilities Quality Assurance Assessment Tool in Nigerian Universities
No full textThis study determined quality assurance of lecturers of Agricultural Education in utilizing brainstorming for effective assessment of postgraduate students’ abilities in research in Nigerian universities. Two objectives guided the study. Two research questions were answered by the study. Survey research design was adopted for this study. The study was conducted in 8 Nigerian universities offering postgraduate programme in Agricultural Education. The population of the study was 33 lecturers. The entire population was involved in the study. An instrument called: Lecturers’ Quality Assurance Utilizing Brainstorming Questionnaire (LQAUBQ) was used for data collection. Three experts validated the LQAUBQ items. A Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.92 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and Improvement Need Index (INI). The study revealed that lecturers of Agricultural Education have low quality assurance on 19 and 15 competencies in utilizing brainstorming as a formative and summative assessment tool respectively for postgraduate students’ abilities in research in Agricultural Education in Nigerian universities. It was recommended among others that professors of Agricultural Education in Nigerian universities should use the findings of this study to organise seminar or workshop for lecturers in Agricultural Education on the use of brainstorming as an assessment tool in research
The Haematological and Biochemical Parameters Of Apparently Healthy Adult Male and Female Horses in Kaduna, Nigeria.
No full textThis study was conducted to determine the baseline data of haematological and biochemical parameters of adult horses in Kaduna, Nigeria. Twenty horses consisting of 10 males and 10 females aged 15 years and above were used for the study. The mean red blood cell counts, packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentration were lower than the mean reference values but fell within the normal range. The mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were higher than those recorded in other veterinary books. The mean white blood cell counts and white blood cell differential counts fell within the range recorded in other parts of the world. Mean aspartate aminotransferase and creatine kinase enzyme values were lower than the reference values while other mean serum biochemical values evaluated did not differ from normal values reported in other clinically healthy horses in different parts of the world. In conclusion, the generated data may serve as reference values for old horses in Nigeria in order to assess their health status
Evaluation of Insecticidal Activity of Some Oils and Clay against Callosobruchus Maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae) On Stored Cowpea
No full textThe efficacy of clay, Jatrophacurcas (L.) seed oil and palm oil in the control of cowpea bruchid, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) on stored cowpea was studied in the laboratory of the College of Crop and Soil Sciences of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. Five pairs of male and female C. maculatus (1-2 days old) were introduced into each experimental unit of 250ml plastic vials containing 20 grams cowpea seeds of Ife Brown cultivar, which had been thoroughly admixed with formulations of clay, J. curcas seed oil and palm oil. These formulations and a synthetic insecticide permethrin dust (0.6%) were applied at the rates of 0g (control), 0.1g, 0.2g, 0.3g, 0.4g, 0.5g and replicated three times. This experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and data were collected on the percentage adult mortality at 24 hours, 48 hours, 5 days, and 7 days post infestation, oviposition, and adult emergence of C. maculates and percentage seed germination after three months of storage. The results obtained showed that all the treatments had significantly higher adult mortality (P≤0.05) than the control, significant lower oviposition and adult emergence with higher seed germination. Applications of these formulations at 0.4g and 0.5g per 20g of cowpea seeds were not significantly different (P≤0.05). Clay at all levels had a higher efficacy than the synthetic insecticide (P≤0.05). Therefore clay at the rate of 20g per kilogram of Cowpea could be recommended for use in the control of cowpea storage pest C. maculatus
Insecticidal Effects of Some Plant Leaf Extracts and Cypermethrin against Eggplant Shoot and Fruit Borer Leucinodes Orbonalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Infestation on Eggplant
No full textField trials were conducted on the damage assessment of L. orbonalis and effect of application of some plant leaf extracts and Cypermethrin on yield of eggplant at the Vegetable Research Farm of National Horticultural Research Institute, Mbato Substation, Okigwe, Imo State during the cropping seasons of 2013 and 2014. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates of fourteen plots each. Treatments consisted of ethanolic leaf extracts of Moringa oleifera (Lam.), Azadirachta indica (A. Juss), Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) and Ocimum gratissimum (L.) each at 50%, 75% and 100% concentrations. Cypermethrin (12.5% E.C.) was used as a standard check and distilled water as control. Eggplant seeds were sown in the nursery and six weeks after sowing, seedlings were transplanted at a spacing of 1m × 1m on the experimental plots of 9m2. Data were collected on the population of L. orbonalis, number of fruits of S. gilo, number of punctures on fruits and number of damaged fruits (% fruit damage). Results obtained indicated significant differences (P<0.05) between the treatments and control on the mean number of damaged fruits, with Cypermethrin recording the lowest (2.46%) and 100% M. oleifera extract (3.03%) for the two seasons. Mean number of fruits per plot significantly increased in all the tested plant extracts and Cypermethrin compared with the control at P<0.05. Their application reduced the L. orbonalis number and also caused increased fruiting, although their efficacies varied with plants that received 100% Moringa oleifera extract producing the highest (187.70) number of fruits/plant/plot and corresponding greater yield of 7033.33kgha-1 while the control recorded highest (20.60) number of damaged fruits. Results also showed that the plant extracts applied as bio-insecticides were effective against L. orbonalis as their application significantly reduced the insect pest population, which resulted in the reduction in the number of holes/punctures on fruits compared to the control
Measuring the Volatility of Stock Returns in Nigeria
No full textThere is quite an extensive literature documenting the behaviour of stock returns volatility in both developed and emerging stock markets, but such studies are scanty for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Modelling volatility is an important element in pricing equity, risk management and portfolio management. For these reasons, this study investigates the behavior of stock return volatility of the NSE returns using GARCH (1,1). Monthly All Share Indices as a proxy for stock return of the NSE from January 1998, to December 2015, provided the empirical sample for investigating volatility persistence and asymmetric properties of the series. The results of GARCH (1,1) model indicate evidence of volatility clustering in the NSE return series. Overall results from this study provide evidence to show volatility persistence for the Nigeria stock returns data. The study recommends that timely disclosure and appropriate dissemination of company specific information to the investors will improve the efficiency of the stock market in Nigeria
The high level of resistance of nalidixic acid and tetracycline as observed from isolates from food animals in this study reaffirms the need to strengthen the collaboration between veterinary and public health sectors on appropriate detection and reportin
No full textThe study was aimed at evaluating the antimicrobial resistance patterns and profile of Salmonella isolated from poultry farms in Abia and Imo State. A total of 2020 samples were randomly collected from egg, cloacal swab and chicken litter and comprise1420 from Abia and 600 from Imo states, respectively. Disc diffusion method was used for the antibiotic sensitivity test. Eleven different antibiotics were used for the study. Rappaport-Vassiliadis (RV) was used as enrichment broth at 42OC while MacConkey and deoxycholate agar were used as selective media for isolation. The Salmonella isolation rate in Abia and Imo states were 1.97% and 2.00% respectively. There was no significant difference (P> 0.05) between the Salmonella isolation rate in Abia and Imo States. Ciprofloxacin, cephtriaxone and levofloxacine were least resistance to the Salmonella isolates at 0.0%, 0.0% and 7.7% while ampicillin, streptomycin, nalidixic acid and tetracycline were the most resisted by 100%, 100%, 91 and 87.5% respectively.....