Federal University Of Technology Research Articles

Microbial load and aflatoxin content of street foods sold around Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) campus

The microbial density and diversity, as well as the presence of aflatoxin in selected street vended-foods sold in FUTA campus was investigated in this study. Seven selected food samples viz; cooked rice, raw rice, garri, eba, peanut, suya and pap, were purchased from vendors at four popular locations around the school campus. The microbial load and diversity in the foods were analyzed using standard methods. The bacterial counts ranged from 3.1 x 104 CFU/ml to 4.9 x105 CFU /ml, with peanut sample having the highest count and cooked rice having the lowest count. Bacterial isolates belonging to eleven genera (Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Campylobacter, Listeria, Bacillus, Clostridium, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Escherichia) were obtained from the food samples. Mean Fungal counts of food samples ranged from 3.2 x 104 to 1.29 x106 SFU/ml. The fungi isolated include species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Cladosporium, Cryptococcus and Candida. The high count of microorganisms coupled with the presence of Salmonella typhimurium and aflatoxins in some of the food samples portend danger to the consumers of such foods.

Management and Preservation of Theses in Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, Challenges and Way Forward

Management and Preservation of Theses in Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, Challenges and Way Forward

Investigating academic researchers' perceptions of a recommender system for mentor-to-mentee matching

The importance of mentoring among researchers cannot be overemphasized, and to this effect, several recommender systems have been presented in the literature to find experts for collaborations. However, matching researchers as mentors to their respective mentees has not been looked into. Earlier works suggest that expert-finding recommender systems primarily use metadata from experts' publications for making recommendations. Meanwhile, when matching for mentorship, more emphasis should be placed on the areas and major areas of both the mentors and mentees as intended in our proposed system. It is observed that many authors co-author in some areas in which they are not major, which may not certify them as experts in such areas. This research attempts to investigate the views of researchers about mentoring and also to determine the perceptions of the researchers on the need to develop a recommender system that can match researchers for mentorship. The study was conducted in two universities in south-western Nigeria, namely; Federal University of Technology, Akure, and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaires using both online and paper surveys. The collected data were analyzed using frequency tables and charts. The results show that 99% strongly agreed and 1% agreed that mentorship is essential among researchers in academia. 98% strongly agreed and 2% agreed that there is need for tools that can help users get personalized items in all areas of life. 56% strongly agreed, 42% agreed, and 2% were indifferent that building a recommender system for matching researchers for mentorship is important. As can be seen from the results, the majority of the respondents acknowledged the importance of mentorship among academic researchers and the need to develop a recommender system to match these researchers for mentorship.

The Pattern of Career Aspirations among Chemistry Students in Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State

The Pattern of Career Aspirations among Chemistry Students in Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State

Comparison of Inclusion of Skimmed Milk and Edible Insects on the Nutritional, Sensory and Microbial Qualities of Enriched High Energy Rice Biscuits

Aims: The growing world population, carbon foot prints of rearing conventional protein sources, issues of protein malnutrition (particularly in developing nations) and the urgent needs of protein-rich food relief materials in crisis situations may necessitate the utilisation of underutilised sustainable, nutritious protein sources. The study was conducted to investigate the possibility of using indigenous food crops and substituting milk powder with edible insects’ powder as a sustainable alternative protein source in high energy rice biscuits.
 Study Design: Biscuits were produced following the standard USAID recipe for HEB and comparisons were made with the insect biscuits and STD.
 Place and Duration of Study: Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, between January 2018 and August 2018.
 Methodology: The high energy biscuits was evaluated for proximate composition, total sugars using Anthrone reagent, micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), physical properties such as spread ratio, weight, width etc. Microbial and sensory quality of the biscuits were also determined using standard methods.
 Results: From the findings of the study, rice biscuits with silkworm pupae had outstanding protein (12.76 g/100 g), fat (15.78 g/100 g) and energy (451.38 Kcal/100 g) contents while biscuit with migratory locust powder had slightly higher total ash and CHO. The spread ratios of the biscuits were within acceptable range. In terms of mineral composition, all the insect biscuits were significantly superior to the milk biscuit except for calcium. However, all the rice HEB exceeded the minimum USAID specifications for nutritive elements. The insect biscuits had more than quadruple the recommended pro-vitamin A content (1200. 67 and 2390.05 μg/100 g) and impressive amounts of vitamin C (94.19 and 52.39 mg/100 g). The microbial assessment revealed HEB with remarkable quality signifying wholesome raw materials and hygienic sample preparation. All samples received good sensorial ranking, but HEB with migratory locust was preferred.
 Conclusion: The results demonstrated that edible insects could serve as alternative protein source in the production of a nutritious high energy biscuit with good organoleptic and microbiological qualities.

Preliminary Identification of Bacterial Species Contaminating Okra Fruits in Some Selected Markets in Owo, Nigeria

In spite of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) cultivation relevance in the society, management of its post-harvest disease has stand out as major issue to plant pathologists. This study therefore reports findings on the spoilage bacteria associated with Okra fruit during post-harvest storage. Okra sample was purchased from three (3) local markets (Ogwagbe market, Areghona market and Oba market) in Owo local government and taken to the Plant Pathology Laboratory of the Department of Crops Soil and Pest Management, Federal University of Technology, Akure. About 2g of deteriorated Okra fruit sample was sterilized and aseptically transfer into the sterile 20cm2 beaker. The bacteria isolated were incubated at 37+ 20c for 24hours in a Nutrient Agar (NA) plate. At the end of incubation period the Colonies forming units from violet bacteria cells were counted and recorded appropriately per gram of each of the deteriorating Okra sample. Pure culture of individual isolates was kept at 40c for biochemical test and isolates were identified. A total of 26 bacteria were isolated and identified from the Okra sample from the 3 local markets on the basis of colony morphology and the staining characteristics. Location A has the highest population of bacteria isolate while location B and C had lowest bacterial population. The highest occurring genera can be found in Micrococcus, Bacillus and Staphylococcus followed by Alcaligenes, Pediococcus, and Erwinia. Alcaligenes odorans and Bacillus pumilus are the most occurring species of bacteria isolated from the market. Total viable counts ranges from 1.20 X 10-8 (cfu/g) to 1.72 X 10-8 (cfu/g). The highest average coliform forming unit occurs in Location A (1.52 X 10-8 (cfu/g)) while the least average coliform forming unit occurred in Location B (1.23 X 10-8 (cfu/g)). Alcaligenes odorans Bacillus pumilus and Micrococcus spp. had the highest frequency of occurrence (67 %). The presence of these bacteria on Okra fruit are potential threat to its production most importantly coliforms, pose a serious threat to consumers' health as the bacteria could produce toxins, which are poisonous when consumed. Proper handling methods should be adopted by both farmer and consumers to minimize the bacterial deterioration of okra fruit in the study area.

Optimizing Mini Dam Placement for Sustainable Water Management in FUTA: A GIS-MCDA Approach

Addressing the increasing demand for water resources at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) due to the growing population requires a data-driven solution. This study determined the suitable locations for the siting of mini-dams as an alternative solution to the problem of water scarcity in FUTA using a Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach by integrating five thematic factors: drainage density, slope, elevation, land cover and soil texture. Preference values were assigned to the criteria based on their importance to a dam. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assign weights to these criteria, and they were combined using a weighted sum to produce a mini dam suitability map within the study area. The suitable areas were divided into five classes: highly suitable (9%), suitable (18%), marginally suitable (30%), least suitable (26%) and not suitable (17%). The suitability map was validated against the locations of existing dams in the study area. This study contributes to the efforts to manage water resources for a growing population in FUTA and to evaluate the GIS-AHP approach for dam siting for a small study area.

Artificial intelligence research in Nigeria: Topic modelling and scientometric analysis

<p><span lang="EN-US">In developing countries such as Nigeria, artificial intelligence (AI) research has the potential to drive rapid advancement in various aspects of development, including the economy and technology. However, it is crucial to understand the focus of Nigerian AI researchers and identify unexplored areas of research that could lead to unprecedented development. To address this need, we used natural language processing, machine learning, and statistical algorithms to investigate the main areas of interest of Nigerian AI researchers. We identified ten topics and used scientometric analyses to reveal key concepts, keyword co-occurrences, and authorship networks. Our study found that Covenant University was the most prolific institution, with 375 publications, followed by the Federal University of Technology with 135 publications and the University of Ibadan with 121 publications. Overall, our research provides valuable insights into the structure and progression of AI research in Nigeria and highlights areas for improvement.</span></p>

Influence of the Implementation of Nigerian University Commission Library Parameters on Accreditation Readiness for Academic Programmes in Federal Universities of South-East, Nigeria

The study investigated the influence of the implementation of Nigerian University Commission library parameters on accreditation readiness for academic programmes in Federal Universities of South-East, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 161 academic librarians in the five federal universities located in the South-East zone of Nigeria. These are; University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Michael Okpara University, Umudike, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo. The census sampling technique was adopted for the study since the total number of academic librarians in the five universities was within a manageable size. The sampling method was considered appropriate because it allows statistical enumeration and participation of all members of the population in the study. Data was collected using questionnaire and analysed using regression analysis. Findings show that libraries are under staffed in most universities in the South East of Nigeria and the libraries had information resources to a great extent, but still needed to widen their services given the growing student population and new courses offered. The study therefore concluded that it is imperative for university administrators through the governing councils to employ more library staff in all cadres (professionals and para-professionals) as well as support staff. Also, the academic library environment should be made more conducive to attract clienteles to the library at all times and maintenance of furniture and equipment at libraries should be standardized, while upgrade and expansion services should also be done systematically.

Assessment of Soft Competencies Strategies Among Information Professionals’ in Selected Academic Institutions in South West, Nigeria

The library is a service-focused organization. As a result, in addition to having technical expertise, an information professional heading a library needs soft skills to deliver high-quality services to stakeholders and improve performance. This essay is the outcome of research done in academic institutions in South West, Nigeria, to identify the soft skill attributes that information professionals need in order to efficiently and successfully manage libraries, as well as to look at the soft skill attributes in information professionals. Studying the soft skill performance was done with stakeholders including students, non-teaching personnel, and teaching staff in mind. Questionnaires were distributed in the institutions located in six geographical location which University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti. From each institution 5 teaching staff, 5 non-teaching staff and 10 students were identified for the study and were asked to rate soft skill performance of Information professional of their respective institutions. The findings demonstrated that there are no appreciable differences in the soft skill performance of information professionals across the Southwest Nigerian academic institutions. Additionally, the study's conclusion said that there is a positive association between information professionals' performance in soft skills as reported by stakeholders and the soft competencies that all stakeholders from the institutions demand. The authors have provided some recommendations to enhance the performance of information professionals in the institutions with respect to soft skills based on the study's findings.

Effect of Metacognitive Instructional Techniques on Students’ Achievement and Interest in Basic Science and Technology

The study adopted quasi-experimental design. The study was carried out in Secondary Schools in Niger State. The population of the study consists of seven Secondary Schools in Niger State. The sample of study was two hundred and forty seven (247) JSS II, Basic science and technology students in Secondary Schools in Niger State. Basic science and technology Achievement Test (BSTAT) and Basic science and technology Interest Scale (BSTIS) were used as the instrument. The two instruments were validated by three experts from the Department of Industrial and Technology Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to compute results of the trial testing after test re-test instrument administration and the results indicated positive correlation coefficients of 0.85 and 0.88 for BSTAT and BSTIS respectively. The researcher administered the instrument with the help of two research assistants. Data for the study were collected through pre-test and post test using the Basic science and technology Achievement Test (BSTAT) and the Basic science and technology Interest Scale (BSTIS). Data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the two research questions while Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) was used to test the two null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. From the findings, the study revealed that Metacognitive instructional techniques enhances students’ achievement in Basic science and technology in junior secondary schools more than the lecture method. The finding also revealed that Metacognitive instructional techniques promotes students’ interest in Basic science and technology in junior secondary schools more than the lecture method among others. The study therefore concluded that students’ poor achievement and interest in Basic science and technology informed the need for the study on the effect of Metacognitive instructional techniques on students’ achievement and interest in Basic science and technology in Niger state.

INVOLVEMENT OF UKRAINE IN THE PROCESSES OF GLOBAL INTERACTION

Objective. The objective of the article is the analysis of the level of involvement of Ukraine in the processes of global interaction in the period of 2017-2021. Methods. The following cognitive methods and techniques are applied in the research process: theoretical generalisation and comparison, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, tabular and graphical methods. Results. It is established that globalization is the main mega trend at the current stage of development. It is determined that one of the most representative and authoritative indicators of globalization in general, the inclusion of countries in the processes of global interaction in particular, is the KOF Globalisation Index, which, from 2002, is systematically calculated and published by the Swiss Institute of Economics at the Federal University of Technology in Zurich. It is identified that the KOF Globalisation Index is detailed by indicators of economic (trade and financial globalisation), social (interpersonal globalisation, information globalisation, cultural globalisation) and political globalisation, each of which is given in three dimensions: average value, de facto value (actual level of globalisation - the real level of global interaction) and de jure (politics and other factors contributing to the development of globalisation; varies within 0-100, where 0 is the minimum value, 100 is the maximum). It is substantiated that in 2017-2021 Ukraine is a country that is actively involved in the processes of global interaction, which is reflected both in the dynamics of the actual participation of the country in the processes of international cooperation, and in the further development of institutions, facilities and other components of the pool of determinants of the development of international cooperation of countries. It is established that in the analysed period Ukraine achieved the greatest success in the sphere of political and social globalisation. It is proved that in the sphere of economic globalisation Ukraine is most actively involved in the processes of global trade interaction, in the sphere of social globalisation - in information interaction. It is established that in most spheres the level of de jure globalisation of Ukraine is higher than the similar de facto indicator (the exception is the sphere of economic globalisation, where the opposite situation is observed - the level of economic globalisation of Ukraine is de facto higher than the de jure indicator).

Employee Coordination Practices and The Job Performance of Secretaries in Federal Universities in South-West, Nigeria

The study investigated employee coordination practices and the job performance of secretaries in federal universities in South-West, Nigeria. the. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Population of the study comprise 500 secretaries in the six federal universities in South-west, Nigeria. These universities are: University of Ibadan, Ibadn, Oyo State, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State. The stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to select 217 using Krejcie and Morgan sample size table. The instrument that was used for data collection in this study was questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.93 for Job Performance; 0.93 for Employee Coordination Practices. A total of 217 copies of the questionnaires were administered to the respondents while a total of 215 were retrieved from the field and this represents 99.0% of response rate. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, simple percentages, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse Research Questions 1, 2, inferential statistics (regression analysis) was used to test the hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. The level of job performance of secretaries in federal universities in South-west, Nigeria is moderate (Mean = 2.14), roles and responsibilities, participation in decision making and transparency are the employee coordination practices that exist among secretaries in federal universities in South-west, Nigeria, there was a significant influence of the independent variable (employee’s coordination practices) on job performance, F (3, 211) = 67.476, P<0.05, employee coordination practice combined accounted for 48.2% (Adj.R2= .482) variance in the prediction of job performance. it was concluded that employee coordination practices contribute significantly to job performance of secretaries in federal universities in South-west based on the findings it was recommended employee coordination practices should be properly implemented among universities for the secretaries to be effective in their job performance.

Effects of seed size and nursery media on the germination and seedling growth of Plukenetia conophora

Research on the effects of seed size, soil-based and soilless media to determine the best condition for increased seedling production of African walnut was carried out at the green house of Department of Crop Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Seed size was categorized into 10.23 to 10.31g (for large seeds) and below 10.23g (for small seeds). Soil-based nursery medium was sawdust mixed with topsoil volume by volume (v/v) 1:1, while soilless was sawdust alone. The experiment was a 2×3 factorial in a complete randomized design with 6 replications. Data were collected on number of days to emergence, plant height at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after planting (WAP), and number of leaves at 4, 8, and 12 WAP. Data collected were tested with analysis of variance (ANOVA), and treatment means were separated with Fishers least significant difference at 5% level of probability. Result showed that large seeds planted on soil-based media performed best in all the assessed traits. The inference is that high quality seedlings of African walnut can be produced by planting large seeds in soil-based media.

Assessment of Rice Husk-Based Activated Carbon as Adsorbent in Domestic Wastewater Treatment

Indiscriminate discharge of wastewater into the environment is of utmost concern, especially in developing countries. This study evaluated the efficiency of rice husk based activated carbon in wastewater samples harvested from a students’ hostel and a restaurant within the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The adsorbent used was produced from rice husk using hydrogen tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4) as the activating agent. The aim of this study was to assess rice husk-activated carbon for the reduction of physicochemical parameters such as hardness, pH, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solid (TDS), total suspended solid (TSS), and heavy metals which include chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe). The wastewater samples were treated using activated rice hush ash of particle size (180 µm) at four different doses (30, 35, 40, 45 grams/400 ml). The results showed that the different doses of activated carbon had different removal efficiency. It was observed that the optimum dosage was 40g for DO, COD, BOD, and TDS while 30g was optimum for Hardness. It was also observed that an increase in the concentration of rice husk adsorbent led to an increase in the removal efficiency for the heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Pb, and Fe). The maximum percentage removal of DO, COD, BOD, TDS, and TSS, with rice husk was 21%, 58%, 72%, 21%, and 57% respectively. After the treatment of the domestic wastewater and comparing with the WHO standard, the treated wastewater quality was found to be safe for direct discharge into surface water bodies and irrigation purposes.

Development of a modified propagation model of a wireless mobile communication system in a 4G network

<span lang="EN-US">Pathloss is a key element that causes signal deterioration in the channel as the signal power reduces inversely with propagation distance, this deterioration experienced by the channel is majorly as a result of reflection, absorption, and scattering of the signal. This study however takes into consideration the radio path loss for precise base station (BS), frequency, and power adjustment prediction evaluated over a frequency of 2.3 GHz. With a distance range between 0.1 and 1.5 km for collection of data on the measured received signal strength (MRSS), five empirical models and a modified model were used to validate the measured data to determine their suitability for pathloss prediction at Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo state, Nigeria. The results shows that the root mean square error (RMSE) for the Okumura-Hata, COST 231-Hata, Ericsson model, Lee, Stanford University Interim (SUI), ECC-33, and modified models are 14.33, 9.73, 25.79, 48.4, 33.76, and 8.31 dB respectively. Additionally, the Ericsson model provided 0.498 dB, the COST 231-Hata recorded 0.733 dB, and the modified model provided 0.453 dB for mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Therefore, the improved model produces the best results, consequently, be deployed to approximately predict path loss for mobile radio coverage in Owerri, Nigeria.</span>

Dyslipidemia Protective Effect of Resistant Starch-Based Dough Meals on Diabetes-Induced Rats

Aim: The adoption of functional foods as healthy diet therapy for the management of metabolic disorders such as diabetes is in vogue in the present world where many are no longer consuming carbohydrate or starchy foods. This study investigated the effect of resistant starch-based dough meals on dyslipidemia in rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes.
 Place and Duration: Functional Foods Laboratory and Animal House of Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure, from July 2022 to February 2023.
 Methodology: Flour samples were prepared by dispersing the flour into boiling water and turning and being allowed to cook for 15 min to obtain dough meals: PLD – (100% Plantain flour), used as a control sample; PLPRD – plantain flour: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); PSPRD – native plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); AP1SPRD – acetylated plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); AP2SPRD – acetylated plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (70.67:18.15:11.18). The weight gained, food intake, haematological parameters, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile of the resistant starch-based dough meal were compared with the commercial flour product, CRD (100% Cerolina flour: wheat and soybean) and the DM (untreated high-fat diet–STZ-induced diabetic rats) and NC (Normal control rats).
 Results: The weight gained and food intake ranged from 50.98±0.53 g to 180.12±1.07 g in NC and 33.98±1.64 g to 140.87±1.80 g in DM. The feed conversion ratio to the feed efficiency ratio was 0.28:0.25 and 4.15:3.53 in NC and DM respectively, which attributed to the food product to weight loss. The values of the haematological parameters (PCV, RBC, HB, MCV, MCH and MCHC) confirmed that the experimental rats had no trace of infection due to the generation of antibodies by WBC and differential counts (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes and lymphocytes). Rats fed with DM+AP1SPRD showed a decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol and triglyceride, and an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HLDL-C).
 Conclusion: A resistant starch-based dough meal was significant for the production of short-chain fatty acids with lots of benefits on health. The intervention of resistant starch-based dough meals, AP1SPRD and AP2SPRD used in this study, almost normalized metabolic profiles in the experimental rats, similar to the control group by reducing the total cholesterol, total triglycerides and LDL-C while increasing HDL-C.

Effect of Allium cepa (Onion) Bulb and Annona muricata (Soursop) Pulp Juices on Body Weight, Prostate Weight, Selected Hormones and Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) in Testosterone and Oestradiol-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Albino Rats

Aim: This study investigated the effect of soursop pulp and onion bulb juice samples on body weight, prostate weight (PW), percentage prostate increase inhibition (PPII), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), testosterone (T), prolactin and PSA levels in testosterone and oestradiol-induced BPH in albino rats.
 Study Design: The simple random design was used in this study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Dave Research House, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, between April 2022 and July 2022.
 Methodology: Fifty-four (54) male albino rats were randomly distributed into 9 groups (A-I) of 6 rats each, with B to I induced with 10 mg/kg b.w of exogenous hormones (1:1) every 2 days. They were treated as follows: A (normal control), B (BPH control), C (standard control), D (10 ml/kg b.w soursop), E (10 ml/kg b.w onion), F (10 ml/kg b.w, 1:1 soursop and onion), G (20 ml/kg b.w soursop), H (20 ml/kg b.w onion), and I (20 ml/kg b.w, 1:1 soursop and onion), for 28 days. The rats were weighed weekly. At the end of the treatment, they were euthanized, prostate and serum samples were collected for further assessments.
 Results: The results showed that at low dose, the body weights of the rats were maintained. The single samples at low dose improved PW and PPII better. DHT and T levels reduced in all test groups, and the standard control. The single samples reduced DHT levels with increase in concentration, while the soursop juice and combination samples decreased testosterone levels with increase in concentration. Prolactin levels significantly (p<.05) reduced in the test groups and standard control when compared with the BPH control. While, PSA levels also decreased in the test groups, but were not significantly (p>.05) different from the controls.
 Conclusion: The study suggested that soursop pulp and onion bulb juices exerted ameliorative effects on BPH, especially individually, and at the low dose studied. Hence, their consumption by older males should be encouraged.

Evaluation of the Medicinal Potentials of Soursop (Annona muricata Safford) Leaf Extracts against Eimeria tenella Infection in Broiler Chickens

Aims: Poultry industry in Nigeria has recorded considerable expansion in recent times but not without poultry diseases as one of the major threats to boosting poultry production. Protozoa cause the majority of parasitic infections and cause high mortalities. Parasitic diseases such as coccidiosis are of particular importance because of their high incidence in poultry occasioned by the tropical environmental conditions under which the farmer operates. The resistance to common anticoccidial drugs has led to exploring other natural sources for prophylaxis and therapy. This research evaluated the therapeutic efficacies of Annona muricata at different dosages of 100, 125, 165mg/kg body weight using 120 broilers at 4 weeks of age. 
 Place and Duration of Study: Animal Parasitology and Microbiology Research Unit, Department of Animal Production and Health, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, between September and December, 2022.
 Methodology: 120 broilers of 4 weeks old were used for this study using completely randomized study design. The birds were infected with sporulated Eimeria tenella oocysts at week 4. Treatment with ethanolic extract of Annona muricata was administered orally at week 5 using different dosages of 100, 125, 165mg/kg body weight for five consecutive days. Treatment commenced after the isolation of Eimeria oocysts in the faeces and onset on coccidial clinical signs as parameters to confirm manifestation of the infection. Blood parameters, faecal oocysts count and biochemical assays were conducted.
 Results: Results revealed that therapeutic administration of Annona muricata leaf extracts at minimum dose 100mg/kg body weight had significant reduction (P<0.05) on excreted Eimeria oocysts counts without any significant deviation from normal haematological and biochemical indices of the broilers.
 Conclusion: This study suggests the use of Annona muricata in the treatment of coccidiosis in broiler chickens. It is therefore recommended that its extracts be further explored for actual phytochemical constituents responsible for the displayed anticoccidial properties.

Effects of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) on Body Weight and Pathology of Vital Organs in Pathogenic Staph Infection

Aims: Oyster mushroom is rich in secondary metabolites of pharmacological importance. This study evaluates the effect of ethanolic extract of Oyster mushroom on the vital organs of Staphylococcus aureus infected Wistar rats after seven days of administration.
 Study Design: Completely randomized design was used in the study.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the Microbiology, Parasitology and Ethnoveterinary medicine Unit of the Department of Animal Production and Health, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, between March and December 2022.
 Methodology: The mushroom was processed using a cold extraction technique. A bacterial suspension of Staphylococcus aureus was inoculated via oral route into the experimental animals, which were randomly distributed into six groups of five. Group 1: normal control; group 2: positive control; group 3: negative control, inoculated but received no antimicrobial; and group 4 to 6 were inoculated, and administered with 625, 1250 and 2500 mg dose of the extract respectively. The treatment was administered for seven days, after which blood samples were cultured for the bacterial count and vital organs were analysed for pathological changes.
 Results: The colony count was significantly raised at 625 mg dose while the dose ranging from 1250 to 2500 mg yielded insignificant bacterial growth (P<0.01). The percentage weight gain was significantly lower (P<0.01) in 1250 mg extract in comparison with the negative control after 7 days complete treatment but there was no statistical variation in the 7 days post-treatment percentage weight gain and the relative organ weight (P<0.01).The histological sections showed no variation from normal controls except 625 mg liver that showed some vacuolations within the hepatocytes.
 Conclusion: The organ-body mean weight was proportionate, and the histological sections of the liver, kidney, skin, lungs, heart and spleen were indicative of no anatomical variations as compared with the normal control tissues. The beneficial effect of P. ostreatus on the vital organs was further established by the active clearing of S. aureus infection at 1250 to 2500 mg dose with no observable pathological change in the tissues. The bioactive agents inherent in P. ostreatus were effective against S. aureus infection. The vacuolations observed in the low dose liver sections unveiled the ill effect of under-dose treatment and its consequence on the liver cells. The histopathological investigations were suggestive of the safety and tolerance of P. ostreatus to the body system. Nevertheless, further studies should be carried out on its toxicological profiles.