Search

Depression is one of the most worrisome disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, more researchers have delved into studying the links between the gut microbiota and psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairments such as amnesia. With this novel angle came the research into probiotics, the gut microbiota-modifying bacteria. This study was therefore designed to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of specific probiotic strains on chronic unpredictable stress induced depressive symptoms in mice. Thirty-five mice (20-30 g) were shared into five groups randomly. Groups 1 and 2 received vehicle (10 mL/kg), groups 3 and 4 received probiotics (10 mL/kg), and group 5 received fluoxetine (10 mg/kg). Only groups 2, 3 and 5 were exposed to an unpredictable order of chronic mild stress daily for twenty-one (21) days. Afterward, behavioural, and biochemical assays were carried out. The results revealed that chronic unpredictable stress caused significant (p<0.05) elevation in depressive-like behaviours, increased the production of proinflammatory cytokines and even signalled hippocampal neurodegeneration. However, a significant (p<0.05) reversal of these effects was observed in the probiotics-treated groups as effectively as the fluoxetine group. It can be concluded that anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of lactobacillus strains may contribute to its antidepressive-like action against CUS-induced depression in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cassava crop is vital economically and nutritionally, but its returns and usage have been continually low in farmers' fields in Oyo State. The socioeconomic characteristics of vitamin A cassava varieties (VAC) with other improved cassava varieties (OIC) farmers, profitability, and production constraints under the two production practices were evaluated. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state were selected based on high intensity of cassava production. Simple random sampling was employed to choose three communities from each of the three LGAs. Inputs-output data was sourced from sixty respondents each from three LGAs, resulting into a sample size of 180 respondents. Gross margin and Return on Investment (ROI) were used to analyse the data collected. The results showed that OIC and VAC farming were smallholder enterprises where farmers used their personal savings for cassava production and incurred high labour production cost, hence they had low returns. The OIC farms were more profitable than VAC farms with gross margins of ₦139,900 and ₦132,250/ha and ROI of 1.16 and 1.01, respectively. Constraints include inadequate finance, expensive stems, low market demand, high labour cost and grazing of farmland by herders. It is recommended that farmers develop saving culture, multiply stems, employ labour saving technologies and establish cattle ranches. The farmers are also advised to allocate more resources on the production of other improved cassava varieties as it is a more profitable venture than Vitamin A cassava varieties production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study evaluated the potential of recycling treated industrial effluent for groundwater quality and quantity restoration using a laboratory--scale soil aquifer treatment (SAT) simulator. SAT has the potential to reverse groundwater level decline being experienced in the North-eastern part of Nigeria and saltwater intrusion and groundwater quality deterioration in the coastal zones of the country. Soil column depth (SDC) and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) were optimized for the best treatment performance. Results show that HLR of 14.6 mm min-1 at an SCD of 1.5 m gave maximum removal efficiency for all parameters (hydrogen ion concentration (pH), temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO), bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total hardness (TH), chloride (Cl-), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+) and bacterial count (BC)) tested in comparison with HLR 16.98 and 20.37 mm min-1 and SCD of 0.5 and 1.0 m. This renders the wastewater adequate for aquifer storage and subsequent reuse. Further evaluation of the results indicates that surface spreading system will be best suited for the Sudan and Sahel Savannah areas of the country, while direct injection into wells is recommended for the southern and coastal areas. Given that Nigeria has a vast potential for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), the implication is that the implementation requires policy and regulatory frameworks to enable bulk wastewater producers to put their effluents to positive use and thus to enhance environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research work reports on the food security status of rural farming households in selected Local Government Areas (LGA's) of Osun State in the South-west Geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The objectives were to estimate extent and magnitude of food insecurity in the study area and determine factors that affect household food security. Three of the thirty LGA's were selected using stratified random sampling method, based on the geographical location, extent and number of rural population and variations in the socio-economic characteristics of households. The LGA's were Iwo, Ayedaade and Ayedire. Fifty rural households were then selected from each of the local governments using the random sampling method. One hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were administered out of which 103 fully completed and certified responses were used as representative samples for the study area. Food security status of the households was analyzed based on the calorie requirement for all household members. The food security measures applied in this research were Head Count Method, Food Insecurity Gap and Squared Food Insecurity Gap to capture successively more detailed aspects of the food insecurity status of the households. It was found that majority of the rural farming households in the area were food insecure as most of them subsist below the food security line which is 2,280 Kcal in this study. Using the recommended calorie approach, it was discovered that 69.9% of the population were food insecure. In comparison to food insecure households, food secure households have a small family size, earn a high monthly income and make use of modern farm inputs. It is, therefore, advised that food security policy strategies to be put in place by the government should consider the socio-economic characteristics of households in order to achieve more than a marginal reduction in the number of food insecure households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of fish in meeting the nutritional requirements of the body for good health and a better standard of living cannot be overemphasized. The average consumption of protein in Nigeria is below 62 gm per day and a larger proportion of this is of plant origin. This has been found to be below the 70 gm minimum recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and hence adequate consumption of fish would go a long way in correcting the protein intake shortfall. This research looked into the consumption pattern of fish among households in Ibadan North Local government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. This is with a view to examining the various factors of social and economic importance affecting the level of consumption of fish and other protein foods in the study area. Stratified sampling technique was used to group the 12 wards in the study area into three. Structured questionnaires were used to collect information from the heads of the 40 randomly selected households in each of the three groups. Data collected from 100 fully completed questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression and Chi-Square tests. The descriptive statistics result shows that majority of the consumers were male (67%), with a mean age of 35.5 years. The mean amount of money spent on fish per month by the households was N3, 672.60 ($24.48). The regression result reveals that the total monthly expenditure on fish was positively affected by monthly expenditure on food and total monthly expenditure on animal protein. The coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.682 implies that 68.2% of the variation in the household monthly expenditure on fish was explained by the variables in the regression model while the Chi-Square (X²) calculated value of 77.7234 establishes the significant relationship between the respondents' income and their expenditure on fish. It is expected that with the potentials of wide acceptability of consumption of catfish, fish farmers should take advantage of the market, explore better means of increasing its production and add value to their product. There is also the need for survey on the current level of fish consumption at the states and national levels. This could assist in enhancing policy formulation to increase production, sustain and improve on the current level of consumption in order to reduce the incidence of nutrition-induced health problems particularly among the low income consumers in the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]