Summary:The effects of fresh and thermoxidized palm oil diets on some haematalogical indices in the rat were investigated in albino rats (Wistar strain). The animals were divided into three groups namely, the first group fed on thermoxidized palm oil (TPO) diet, a second group fed on fresh palm oil (FPO) diet and a third fed on normal rat feed (control) only respectively for 14 weeks. Each of the palm oil diets contained 15% (w/w) thermoxidized or fresh palm oil. The packed cell volume (PCV) of the TPO group (44.87 + 0.8%) was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than that of the FPO group (52.50 + 0.4%) and control group (54.75 + 1.3%). The haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of the TPO group (11.66 + 0.8g/dl) was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than that of control group (13.14 + 0.4g/dl) and the FPO group (12.88 + 0.8g/dl). The red cell count (RBC) of the TPO group (6

Some chemical properties of soils around the Calabar Cement Company operational area were studied from three profile pits sited at the crest, upper slope, and middle slope topographic positions. The results showed that the soil pH was moderately to slightly acid (mean 5.8), organic-matter content was moderate (mean 2.54%), total N (N) content was low (mean 0.04%), and available phosphorus (P) was high (mean 87.43 mg/kg). Exchangeable calcium (Ca) content was moderate to high (3.02 to 7.44 cmol/kg) in the surface soil; most samples had low magnesium (Mg) content (mean 0.25 cmol/kg), medium concentration of exchangeable potassium (K) (mean 0.10 cmol/kg), and medium to high exchangeable sodium (Na) (0.27 to 1.38 cmol/kg). The exchange acidity was low (mean 1.58 cmol/kg), and effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) had low to medium (2.50 to 15.17 cmol/kg) values. The percentage of base saturation was high with most soils having values greater than 50% (mean 70.8%). The moderate to high content of Ca and the favorable pH in the soils of the study area are uncommon in the coastal plain soils of southern Nigeria; these, therefore, were readily attributable to the continuous deposition of cement dusts on the surface and leaching into deeper horizons.

Samples of petroferric materials with a very wide range of chemical and morphological characteristics were obtained from Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand, and the USA. A prominent feature of all samples is a high content of Fe and/or Al oxides, relative to other constituents. Free Fe oxide is present mainly as goethite or hematite with very small amounts of lepidocrocite in some samples. Soil sample color is related to the Fe oxide mineralogy; the reddish colored samples have a high content of hematite while the yellowish samples have a high goethite content. Also, samples with a low active Fe ratio tend to have a reddish color while those with a high active Fe ratio are yellowish in color. The active Fe ratio is not predictable from a knowledge of the crystallinity or particle size of goethite present, but the presence of lepidocrocite generally increases the oxalate‐extractable Fe. Both hematite and goethite in the samples contain Al up to about 25 atom percent. Treatment of the samples with boiling 5M NaOH decreased the Al‐content of some but not all hematites and goethites.

Briquets composed of sand (0.05–2.00 mm) silt (0.002–0.05 mm), and clay (<0.002 mm) mixtures were hardest when dominantly clay and/or sand and softest or least hard when dominantly silt. Where soils had equal amounts of clay, those with highest amounts of sand, with one exception, were the hardest. Low surface area of sand requires much less clay “mortar” to cement the fewer sand grains per given volume than do the more numerous, smaller silt particles.

No abstract