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There are currently more than 10.000 cryptocurrencies available to buy from the online market, with a vast range of prices for each coin it sells. The fluctuation of each coin is affected by any social events or by several important companies or people behind it. The aim of this research is to compare three cryptocurrencies, which are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin, using Social Network Analysis (SNA) by visualizing them using Business Intelligence (BI Dashboard). This study uses the SNA parameters of degree, diameter, modularity, centrality, and path length for each network and its actors and their actual market price by crawling(data collecting process) from Twitter as one of the social media platforms. From the research conducted, the popularity of cryptocurrencies is affected by their market price and the activeness of their actors on social media. These results are important because they could help in the decision-making to buy cryptocurrencies with high popularity on social media because they tend to retain their value over time and could benefit from price spikes from influential people. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-02-09 Full Text: PDF

Purpose: The study examined the profitability of sesame (Sesanum indicum) production in Yobe State, Nigeria. Methodology: One hundred and eighty (180) sesame farmers were sampled from 12 villages spread across three Local Government Areas in Yobe State using multistage sampling procedure. The descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and mean were used to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers and constraints associated with sesame production. The inferential statistics employed was the Gross margin (GM) which was used to estimate the profitability of sesame production. Findings: The result of socioeconomic characteristics revealed that majority (77.77%) of the respondents were aged between 21-60 years old and all (100%) of the respondents had one form of education or the other. The result of profitability of sesame production revealed that the gross margin (GM) was N157,519.00 and the average return per Naira invested was N2.07. Some of the major constraints faced by farmers in sesame production are inadequate fund (88.7%), inadequate extension services (72.0%), problem of pest and disease (66.1%) among others. Recommendations: the study recommended that strategies to improve profitability should focus on improved farmer access to institutional credits and improved infrastructural facilities such as access roads for easy linkage to markets. Also, In order to cope with the problem of inadequate and high cost of seed, the government and research institute should make improved seed available at the right time and also at subsidies rate to the farmers. Keywords: sesame production, profitability, constraints, gross margin, Yobe State

Aims: Sesame productions are constantly bedeviled with menace because of inadequate supply of quality seed, extension services, credit facilities, presence of inefficiencies among others. The capacity of sesame producers to accept new innovation and achieve sustained production relies upon the level of profit efficiency, generally dictated by variable input and output prices including the cost of fixed factors of production. Physical profitability contemplations such technical, allocative and economic efficiency are significant in improving production proficiency but profit efficiency will result to higher profit to sesame farmers. This paper examined the profit efficiency of sesame production in Yobe State, Nigeria. Research Methods: Multistage sampling procedure is utilized to choose the farmers. A structured questionnaire is administered to 180 respondents spread across 12 Local Government Areas to acquired essential information. Descriptive statistics used includes mean, frequency and percentage. The inferential statistic used is stochastic translog profit function. Findings: The result of levels of profit efficiency shows the mean profit efficiency of 0.8828. The result of the translog profit function indicates the sigma square to be 0.249 and variance of 0.909. All the cost variables has negative coefficients and significant at one percent level except for cost of farmlands. The inefficiency variables levels of education, Access to Extension Services, Access to credits among others reduce inefficiency while off-farm income and access to market information increase inefficiency. Conclusion: It can be concluded that inefficiency exist in the utilization of resources. All the input cost variable decreases profit efficiency and all the socioeconomic characteristics decreases profit inefficiency with the exception of, off-farm income and access to market information which were found to increase profit inefficiency.

Purpose: The study analyzed the determinants of poverty among farmers in Southern Part of Borno State, Nigeria.Methodology: Using multistage sampling technique, 120 farming households were sampled from 20 villages spread across five Local Government Areas in Southern part of the State. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on households’ income, expenditure, value of free natural resources and information on the household livelihood-related factors. The data were analyzed using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) model and Probit regression model.Findings: A poverty line of N8588.48 was estimated and was enough to provide household with basic requirements per month for existence (food and non-food). Based on the poverty line of N8588.48, the FGT measure showed that 64% of the farming households in the study area were poor; the average depth of the poor households from the poverty line was 48%, while 22% of the poor farming households were severely poor. The probit regression revealed that age of the household head (0.083) and number of dependents (0.063) were both positive and significant. On the other hand, education (-0.062), farming experience (-0.069), farm size (-0.097), annual income (-0.061) and access to formal credit (-0.030) were all negative and significant.Recommendations: The study therefore recommended that there is the need for policy makers and managers of poverty alleviation programmes to identify the poor at community levels so as to direct poverty alleviation programmes and projects towards them

The study analyzed the effects of land degradation on poverty among farmers in Southern Part of Borno State, Nigeria. Using multistage sampling technique, 120 farming households were sampled from 20 villages spread across five Local Government Areas in Southern part of the State. The households’ expenditure, value of free natural resources, causes of land degradation and information on the household livelihood-related factors dominated the bulk of the data. The data were analyzed using Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) model and Probit regression model. A poverty line of N8588.48 was estimated and was enough to provide households with basic requirements per month for existence (food and non-food). Based on this poverty line of N8588.48, the FGT measure showed that 64% of the farming households in the study area were poor; the average depth of the poor households from the poverty line was 48% of the poverty line, while 22% of the poor farming households were severely poor. The probit regression revealed that quantity of fire-wood collected (0.061), duration of grazing (0.010), burning of crop residues (0.023), soil erosion (0.091) and flooding (0.051) were all positive and significant. On the other hand, fallowing period (-0.032) and knowledge of conservation (-0.087) were both negative and significant. The study therefore recommended that policies should be geared up towards minimizing fuel wood consumption through establishing alternative energy sources such as technologies that utilizes ample solar and wind energies.

A World Health Organization survey indicated that about 70-80% of the world population rely on non-conventional medicine mainly of plant sources in their primary healthcare. In Ethiopia over 85% of the population relies on traditional medicine for the fight against various diseases. Syzygium guineense is one of such medicinal plants in use. It is traditionally used as a remedy for diarrhea, stomach pain and intestinal cramps. The toxic effects of these plants are often not put into considerations when they are being used. In this study we attempted to investigate the toxic effect of Syzygium guineense. On the histopathology of the liver of mice we choose the Liver because it is the major metabolic organ. Chronic administration of the aqueous of the extract of Syzygium guineense was found to be toxic to the hepatocytes as the micrograph showed increase vaculations, and shrinkage of the hepatocytes. There was also a general decrease in body weight and enlarged liver.

The susceptibility of 4th instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus to dieldrin, dichlovos and cypermethrin were evaluated in laboratory. Larval mortality was assessed 24 hour afterexposure. The result showed that the LD50 values for Aedes aegypti exposed to dieldrin, dichlovos and cypermethrin were 0.48, 37.09 and 0.29 μg per liter respectvely. The LD50 values for Culex quinquefasciatus of exposed to dieldrin, dichlovos and cypermethrin were 0.11 10.05 and 005 μg per liter respectively. Keywords : Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus , LC50, Dieldrin, Dichlovos, Cypermethrin. Animal Research International Vol. 3 (1) 2006 pp. 407-409

The focus of this work is on the nitrogen starvation stress responses operating in a plant symbiotic fungus. A cDNA array profiling analysis was conducted on N-limited mycelia of the mycorrhizal ascomycete Tuber borchii. Fifty-one unique transcripts, out of 2062 redundant arrayed cDNAs, were differentially expressed by at least 1.5-fold in response to N deprivation. Only two N assimilation components-a nitrate transporter and a high-affinity ammonium transporter-were found among differentially expressed genes. All the other N status responsive genes code for as yet unidentified hypothetical proteins or components not directly involved in N assimilation or metabolism, especially carbohydrate binding proteins and oligosaccharide as well as lipid modifying enzymes. A subset of cDNA array data were confirmed and extended by Northern blot analysis, which showed that most of the latter components respond not only to nitrogen, but also to carbon source depletion.

The transition from vegetative mycelium to the fruit body in truffles requires differentiation processes which lead to edible ascomata consisting of different cell and tissue types. The identification of genes differentially expressed during these developmental processes can contribute greatly to a better understanding of truffle morphogenesis. A cDNA library was constructed from vegetative mycelium RNAs of the white truffle Tuber borchii and 214 cDNAs were sequenced. Up to 58% of the ESTs were coding for known genes. The majority of the identified sequences represented 'housekeeping' proteins, i.e., proteins involved in gene/protein expression, cell wall formation, primary and secondary metabolism and components of signaling pathways. We screened 171 arrayed cDNAs by using cDNA probes constructed from mRNAs of vegetative mycelium and ascomata to identify fruit body-regulated genes. Comparisons of signals from vegetative mycelium and fruit body, bearing 15% or 70% mature spores, revealed significant differences in the expression levels for up to 33% of the investigated genes. The expression level of six highly regulated genes was confirmed by RNA blot analysis. Expression of glutamine synthetase, 5-aminolevulinic acid synthetase, isocitrate lyase, thioredoxin, glucan 1,3-ß-glucosidase and UDP-glucurosyl transferase were highly up-regulated suggesting that amino acid biosynthesis, glyoxylate cycle pathway and cell wall synthesis are strikingly altered during morphogenesis.

In order to investigate extra virgin olive oil acceptance, preference tests were carried out on two olive oil consumer groups, representative of two different cultures and traditions. The first consumer group consisted of 20 South Italian families from Potenza. The second group consisted of 152 Northern Individual consumers tested in Milan. These tests were carried out on 6 oils (2 Greek, 2 Spanish and 2 Italian) produced during the 1992-93 season. Similar methods were employed in both tests but they were carried out under completely different environmental conditions. For our testing of the 20 families we tried to ensure that the consumption conditions remained as traditional as possible. On the contrary, the test carried out on the 152 consumers was more standardized and allowed a direct comparison between the samples. The responses to preference tests were processed using the PREFMAP statistical method. The preferences of Southern Italian consumers are sharply differentiated: what is considered to be optimal for a consumer may be unacceptable for another one. Whereas the preferences expressed by the consumers of a city in Northern Italy is more homogeneous.Therefore, for both Southern and Northern Italian consumers, the sensory profile of extra virgin olive oil should be programmed and standardized. This allows maximum acceptability to be obtained and consumer expectations to be fulfilled.