Comparative Analysis of Profitability and Technical Efficiency of Fish Farming Using Different Rearing Techniques in Nigeria

In Nigeria, fish farming has emerged as a fast growing sector and a viable alternative to declining capture fisheries. The paper attempts to evaluate and compare the profitability and technical efficiency of different rearing techniques among fish growers in Lagos State, Nigeria using budgetary technique and Stochastic Frontier production model. Concrete tanks system is the dominant form for rearing fish, occupying 58.3% of the total tank and pond area. All the rearing techniques show some level of appreciable profit with concrete tanks delivering the highest net profit. The benefit: cost ratios for different techniques varied between 0.82 in earthen pond to 5.20 in concrete tank. The mean technical efficiencies are 0.84, 0.86, 0.95 and 1.0 in plastic tank, concrete tank, earthen pond and fibre tank respectively. Adhering strictly to the recommended fish management practices were found to be critical for improved fish farming in the country. Efforts should be directed in reducing cost of feed by removing tariffs on imported feed or production of locally fish meal which formed the main cost component of fish feed. This study also compares the technical efficiency of four different rearing techniques. The results of analysis indicate variation in the distribution patterns of technical efficiency estimates from the four techniques. The mean levels of technical efficiency are 86%, 95%, 84% and 100% for concrete tanks, earthen pond, plastic and fibre tanks respectively

Tourism Planning and Development: A Panacea to Economic Recession in Nigeria

The current economic recession in Nigeria has come down heavily on the nation’s economy in no small way. Even though crude oil still remain the mainstay of the nation’s economy, diversification of economy and exploitation of potentials of tourism resources are seen as a panacea to the current economic meltdown in the country. This paper therefore identified various tourism potentials and resources readily available in the country. This ranges from water tourism resources, vegetal tourism resources to land scape tourism resources and anthropogenic cultural tourism resources. The authors observed that tourism planning and development in Nigeria is under- exploited despite the enormous potentials. Thus, the paper suggests strategies to adopt by the government, private sector, host communities as well as workers in the tourism industry to alleviate the poor state of tourist centres in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the tourism sector has very huge potentials which if fully supported and the menace of terrorism and kidnapping is curtailed in Nigeria, will contribute significantly to the economic diversification everybody is yarning for and Nigeria will bounce back from the two edged sword of economic meltdown ravaging the country. Keywords: Economic recession, Economic diversification, Tourism development, Public-Private partnershi

Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment at Ipinsa-Okeodu Area, Near Akure, Southwestern Nigeria, using GODT

Aquifer vulnerability assessment has been undertaken at Ipinsa and Oke-Odu area, southwestern Nigeria using geoelectrically derived GODT model. One hundred and two (102) vertical electrical soundings (VES) data utilizing Schlumberger array were carried out at half-current electrode separation (AB/2) varied between 1-150 m. Qualitative interpretation of the VES data using partial curve matching and computer-aided inversion techniques yielded geo-electric parameters (layer resistivity and thickness) that were used in delineating the aquifers in the area and evaluating their vulnerability to pollutants. The geoelectric sections revealed that the area is underlain by three to four geo-electric layers namely the topsoil, weathered layer, partly weathered/fractured basement and fresh basement. The weathered layer and partly weathered/fractured basement constitute the major aquifers in the area. The GODT vulnerability model depicts that the area is characterized by four vulnerability zones which are very low, low, moderate and high vulnerable zones. According to the model, about 10% of the area is highly vulnerable while about 35% is of moderate rating. The low and very low ratings constitute 40% and 15% of the area respectively. Keywords: Aquifer vulnerability, GODT model, vertical electrical sounding and geoelectric parameters

Bacterial agents and antibiotic resistance in febrile neutropaenia in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Febrile neutropaenia (FN) is an oncology emergency, but there is a paucity of data on it in Africa. Aim: This study aimed to review and aggregate data on FN in the context of antibiotic resistance. Methods: Published original articles between 1991 and 2024 were systematically searched in Google Scholar, PubMed, and African Journals Online databases (grey literature excluded). ‘Febrile neutropenia’ was combined by Boolean terms ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ with individual countries for the searched terms. Data aggregation on bacteria isolates and antibiotics was done using Microsoft Excel. Results: Of 16 637 articles retrieved, 15 (from nine countries) with 1216 non-duplicate isolates were included in the analyses after exclusion of irrelevant and duplicate articles. There were 57.0% (698/1225) Gram-positive and 43.3% (527/1225) Gram-negative bacteria. Aggregated resistance to antibiotics for Gram-positive bacteria was 71.8% (163/227), for ampicillin, 74.3% (226/304), for cefoxitin, 64.1% (25/39), and 54.0% (47/87) for oxacillin, while that of Gram-negative bacteria was 35.5% (184/519) for ciprofloxacin, 60.6% (168/277) for ceftriaxone, 65.9% (89/135) for cefuroxime, and 38.2% (153/401) for imipenem. Staphylococcus aureus had 68.8% (22/32) resistance to oxacillin/methicillin and 10% (1/10) resistance to vancomycin. Klebsiella spp. was 50% (9/18) resistant to quinolones, 75.9% (22/29) resistant to third-generation cephalosporins, and 25.0% (4/16) resistant to carbapenems, while Acinetobacter spp. was 85.7% (6/7) resistant to gentamycin. Conclusion: This review highlighted the paucity of data and the emergence of multidrug resistance in FN in Africa. There is a need for antibiotic-resistance surveillance and antibiotic stewardship to optimise therapy in FN in Africa. What this study adds: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of FN in Africa in the context of available laboratory resources across the African regions

HISTOGRAM NORMALIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR PREPROCESSING OF DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHIC IMAGES

Digital mammogram has become the most efficient tool for early breast cancer detection modalities and pre-processing these images requires high computational capabilities. Pre-processing is one of the most important step in the mammogram analysis due to poor captured mammographic image qualities. Pre-processing is basically used to correct and adjust the mammogram image for further study and classification.  Many image pre-processing techniques have been developed over the past decades to help radiologists in diagnosing breast cancer. Most studies conducted have proven that a pre-processed image is easier for radiologist to accurately detect breast cancer especially for dense breast. Different types of techniques are available for pre-processing of mammograms, which are used to improve image quality, remove noise, adjust contrast, enhance the image and preserve the edges within the image. This paper acquired 20 digital mammograms from Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) database and uses Histogram Normalization algorithm for pre-processing of the mammograms. A percentage of 95% was obtained. It was observed that the pre-processed mammographic images displayed breast abnormalities clearer with little or no noise

Mandatory adoption of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless and e-payment policy: implications for bank customers

This study seeks to uncover the projected gains and challenges of a cashless and epayment policy in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on the wellbeing of bank clients, and to examine the extent to which the promised benefits of the policy were realized eight years down the line of implementation. Researchers provided copies of a research questionnaire to selected bankers and bank customers in Ogun and Lagos states of Nigeria to find perceptions of the two stakeholder groups regarding the subject matter. Three hypotheses formulated were tested using ANOVA. The paper reveals that the cashless banking initiative in Nigeria has significantly enhanced bank customer satisfaction; the implementation of the cashless banking structure in Nigeria has not led to a significant reduction in the level of cash fraud in Nigerian banks; and the adoption of a cashless economy practice in Nigeria has significantly improved the management of bank customer funds in terms of spending and saving. The paper, in particular, recommends that bank regulators constantly and widely cooperate with all key stakeholders in the system in the fight against cybercrime. This will make the electronic space safe and reliable for use in doing banking in Nigeria and beyond

Meat qualities of rabbits fed diets containing dried watermelon rinds as an energy source

The silent competition between humans and livestock for maize has brought about the recent researches on the use of unconventional feed ingredients, such as dried water melon rinds (DWMR), as an inclusion in livestock feed. This study was therefore conducted to assess the effect of diets containing graded levels of DWMR on rabbits’ meat quality. Eighty (80) crossbreed, unsexed weaner rabbits with the mean weight of 630g were used for this study, allocated on weight equalization basis into four (4) treatment groups (0%, 5%, 10% and 15% of DWMR inclusion levels, representing T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively and further divided into five (5) replicates of 4 rabbits. A total of 24 rabbits, 6 from each treatment were slaughtered for meat quality assessment. Results revealed a significant (P<0.05) influence of DWMR in the fat and crudefibre (within the negligible range of 1-2%) contents of the meat. Fat was highest (14.21%) in T3 while fibre was highest (1.11%) in T4. Cooking loss, refrigeration loss, water absorptive power and colour of meat from rabbits were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by DWMR. Although lipid profile was not significantly (P>0.05) affected by DWMR, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in the levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), Gluthatione (GSH) and Catalase (CAT). MDA level was least at the 5% DWMR treatment group while the 0% and 10% DWMR treatment groups had the highest level of GSH and CAT respectively. Meat from rabbits fed 15% DWMR recorded the highest score for tenderness in sensorial profile. It was then concluded that up to 15 % of DWMR in rabbits’ diets had no negative effect on the quality of their meat

Ethical and legal implications of whole genome and whole exome sequencing in African populations

BACKGROUND: Rapid advances in high throughput genomic technologies and next generation sequencing are making medical genomic research more readily accessible and affordable, including the sequencing of patient and control whole genomes and exomes in order to elucidate genetic factors underlying disease. Over the next five years, the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Initiative, funded by the Wellcome Trust (United Kingdom) and the National Institutes of Health (United States of America), will contribute greatly towards sequencing of numerous African samples for biomedical research. DISCUSSION: Funding agencies and journals often require submission of genomic data from research participants to databases that allow open or controlled data access for all investigators. Access to such genotype-phenotype and pedigree data, however, needs careful control in order to prevent identification of individuals or families. This is particularly the case in Africa, where many researchers and their patients are inexperienced in the ethical issues accompanying whole genome and exome research; and where an historical unidirectional flow of samples and data out of Africa has created a sense of exploitation and distrust. In the current study, we analysed the implications of the anticipated surge of next generation sequencing data in Africa and the subsequent data sharing concepts on the protection of privacy of research subjects. We performed a retrospective analysis of the informed consent process for the continent and the rest-of-the-world and examined relevant legislation, both current and proposed. We investigated the following issues: (i) informed consent, including guidelines for performing culturally-sensitive next generation sequencing research in Africa and availability of suitable informed consent documents; (ii) data security and subject privacy whilst practicing data sharing; (iii) conveying the implications of such concepts to research participants in resource limited settings. SUMMARY: We conclude that, in order to meet the unique requirements of performing next generation sequencing-related research in African populations, novel approaches to the informed consent process are required. This will help to avoid infringement of privacy of individual subjects as well as to ensure that informed consent adheres to acceptable data protection levels with regard to use and transfer of such information