Drug use among people who patronize beer parlours: The function of big five personality factor s and self-monitoring

This study investigates big five personality factors and self-monitoring as predictors of drug use among people who patronize beer parlours within Ibadan metropolis. The study adopted expost facto design. Two hundred and twenty eight (228) people who patronize beer parlours were sampled using purposive sampling technique. The participants responded to Big five personality, self-monitoring and drug use scales with their demographic information. Two hypotheses were tested using multiple regression and independent t-test. Extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness and self-monitoring jointly predicted drug use. Agreeableness, conscientiousness and self-monitoring independently predicted drug use. Gender difference was found in the level at which participants use drugs. It is concluded that personality factors suchas extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness and self-monitoring are relevant in understanding the dynamics of drug use in Nigeria. Men use drugs more than women.Key Words: Drug use, big five personality factors, self-monitoring, beer parlours

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) antibodies in pregnant women in Anyigba, Kogi State, North Central Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health concern. The aim of this study was  to ascertain the seroprevalence and risk factors of HCV antibodies among pregnant women in  Anyigba, Kogi State North Central Nigeria.Materials and methods:Blood samples (5mls) were collected from one hundred and thirty consenting pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Grimad hospital and eighty non-pregnant women from the out-patient clinic were screened for the presence of HCV antibodies. This was done by Skytech diagnostic  laboratory rapid strip (USA) and confirmed by ELISA method.Results: Out of 130 pregnant women 9(6.9%) were confirmed to be positive to HCV antibodies. Also out of 80 non-pregnant women of the same age group, used as control, 4(5.0%) were positive.Conclusion: A prevalence rate of 6.9% calls for urgent attention by policy makers and healthcare providers to begin massive enlightenment of this problem. All pregnant women should be screened for early detection.Keywords: Hepatitis C Virus, Pregnancy, Screening, Transmission

Antihyperglycaemic and Antilipidaemic Activities of the Methanol Seed Extract of Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa) in Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rats

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antihyperglycaemic and antilipidaemic effect of methanol extract of seeds of Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Alloxan was administered as a single dose (120mg/kg, b.wt) to induce diabetes mellitus. Thirty albino rats were randomly divided into six groups of five rats each. Group I served as normal control. Group II served as diabetic control. Group III served as diabetic rats treated with oral hypoglycemic agent glibenclamide (2.5mg/kg). Groups IV, V and VI were diabetic rats orally administered with extract of the seeds (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg). The study was carried out for 28 days. On the 29th day, after an overnight fast, blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture under inhaled chlorofoam anesthesia for the determination of the fasting blood glucose (FBS), serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and high density cholesterol (HDL-C). The low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), atherogenic index (AI) were also calculated. The extracts of the seeds at the dose of 100, 200 and 400mg/kg reduced the blood glucose level by 46.89%, 52.13% and 57.52% respectively as compared to standard drug glibenclamide (2.5mg/kg) which showed 66.18% reduction in the diabetic rats. The extract also reduced the elevated lipid profile parameters such as TG, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and TC, increased the reduced level of HDL-C. The result suggests that methanol extract of the seeds of Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa possesses antihyperglycaemic and antilipidaemic properties. Keywords: Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa., Antihyperglyceamia., Antilipidaemia., Alloxan., Glibenclamide

Effect of Moringa oleifera marinade on microbial stability of smoke-dried African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus)

The study examined the antimicrobial effect of Moringa oleifera marinade on smoke-dried catfish stored at ambient temperature (37±20C) for two months. The experimental treatments are the control, 1%, 2% and 3% (w/v) Moringa oleifera Marinade (MOM) and 5% Brine (w/v) solutions. Seventy-five fishes of average weight of 260±8g were gutted, washed and randomly assigned to the treatments. Thereafter, the fishes were soaked in the treatments for 2 hours and later hot smoked for 12hours. After smoking, the fishes were stored in netted boxes and placed on laboratory shelves for two months. Microbial counts were conducted at 7-day interval while biochemical tests were conducted on the 8th week. Seven bacterial species namely; Staphylococcus sp, Bacillus sp, Klebsiella sp, Corynebacterium sp, Pseudomonas sp, Escherichia coli and streptococcus sp and six fungal species namely; Penicillium italicum, Cladosporium sp, Neurospora crassa, Candida sp, Aspergillus niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were observed in the study. There was a general increase in microbial load as storage progressed. However, the increment was pronounced in the control and brine treated fish samples. In all levels of MOM and 5% Brine, there was decrease in the bacterial and fungal counts as compared with the control samples. 3% MOM exhibited the highest antibacterial potency while 5% Brine exhibited the highest antifungal potency. Moringa oleifera marinade could be use to protect stored smoke-dried catfish from microbial spoilage thus limiting economic loss and possible heath risk to consumers.Key words: Moringa, marinade, bacteria, fungi, catfish, smoke-drie

Acute and Subchronic Toxicity Study of Methanol Seed Extract of Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa) in Albino Rats

The present study investigates the toxicological properties of the methanol seed extract of Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa. For the acute toxicity study, a limit test dose of 5000mg/kg was used while in the sub-chronic toxicity study, the treatment groups received a daily oral dose of the extract at 1000, 2000 and 3000 mg/kg for 28 days. The acute toxicity study revealed that the extract was safe up to 5000mg/kg. Results of sub-chronic toxicity study revealed significant (p<0.05) increase in body weight at the dose of 3000mg/kg. Neutrophils in all the treatment groups were significantly increased (p<0.05) while all the other haematological parameters tested showed no significant difference with the control group. The extract also showed mild to moderate deleterious effects on some biochemical parameters. ALT, ALP. AST and GGT levels were significantly increased (p<0.05) with mild distortion of hepatic architecture in the liver of the group that received the highest dose (3000mg/kg).  No pathological changes in the kidneys were observed at the various doses. This suggests that the extract should be used with caution with increasing dose. Keywords: Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa, acute toxicity study, sub-chronic toxicity study, haematological parameters, biochemical parameters

Comparative Chemical Analysis, Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activities of the Rinds, Seeds and Juice of (Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa) Passion Fruit

In this study, an attempt had been made to determine the proximate composition and anti-nutritional factors of the juice, rind and seed of passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa. Crude lipid was determined by Soxhlet extraction, crude protein by microkjeldahl method and crude carbohydrate by difference. The result of proximate composition showed that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in fibre, protein, lipid, and moisture content between the rind, juice and seed.  The oxalate, phytate, tannin and cyanide content of the rind, seed and juice were low but differed significantly. The methanol extract of the rind, seed and juice of Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa were screened for the presence of secondary plant metabolites and tested for antimicrobial activity. Flavonoids, alkaloids, volatile oils and balsam were detected in all the extracts. Saponins and steroids were detected in seed and juice extracts. Glycosides and saponin glycosides were detected in seed and peel extracts. The antibacterial activity was tested against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by well-in agar method. The rind and seed showed significant antibacterial activity against the test organisms at all the concentrations tested (30, 60 and 90 mg/ml). The juice extract showed moderate activity. The rind, seed and juice showed antifungal activity. The fungus isolate used was Aspergillus niger using agar incorporation method. The methanol extracts of seed and rind showed extremely significant differences (p<0.05) against the Aspergillus niger, while juice extract considered not quite significant (p>0.05). The result showed a significant increase in the activity of the extracts at all the concentrations tested (10, 20, 40, 70 and 100 mg/ml). The observed result may be attributed to the presence of detected phytochemical constituents. It can be concluded that Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa possess antimicrobial activity and is also nutritionally relevant and could serve as a rich source of nutrients. Keywords: Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa, Comparative, Chemical, Antinutritional. Phytochemical, antimicrobial

Effects of menotrophin and chorulon on superovulation in Red Sokoto does

The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of menotrophin, chorulon and their combinations in superovulation in Red Sokoto does. Fifteen healthy does weighed  between 14 and 25 kg were divided into 3 groups of 5 (n=5) each. All does in the 3 groups were synchronized with CIDR for 14 days. Superovulation was performed as follows: Group 1 were treated with 37.5 IU menotrophin for three days, group 2 were treated with 500IU chorulon for 1 day and group 3 were treated with 18.75 iμ  menotrophin for 3 days and 250IU chorulon for one day. The mean SEM superovulatory response in group 1, 2 and 3 was (2.6 0.92, 3.2 0.58 and 9.4 0.68) respectively. The superovulatory response showed no significant differences between group 1 and 2  however, there were statistically significance differences (p<0.01) between groups 1 and 3 and between 2 and 3. These result showed that the combination of Menotrophin and Chorulon effectively produces multiple ovulations as a result the use this  combination is advocated.Keywords: Chorulon, CIDR, Doe, Menotrophin, Sokoto, Superovulatio

Modelling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based cellular automata and SLEUTH models: the case of Sana'a metropolitan city, Yemen.

An effective and efficient planning of an urban growth and land use changes and its impact on the environment requires information about growth trends and patterns amongst other important information. Over the years, many urban growth models have been developed and used in the developed countries for forecasting growth patterns. In the developing countries however, there exist a very few studies showing the application of these models and their performances. In this study two models such as cellular automata (CA) and the SLEUTH models are applied in a geographical information system (GIS) to simulate and predict the urban growth and land use change for the City of Sana’a (Yemen) for the period 2004–2020. GIS based maps were generated for the urban growth pattern of the city which was further analyzed using geo-statistical techniques. During the models calibration process, a total of 35 years of time series dataset such as historical topographical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imageries was used to identify the parameters that influenced the urban growth. The validation result showed an overall accuracy of 99.6 %; with the producer’s accuracy of 83.3 % and the user’s accuracy 83.6 %. The SLEUTH model used the best fit growth rule parameters during the calibration to forecasting future urban growth pattern and generated various probability maps in which the individual grid cells are urbanized assuming unique “urban growth signatures”. The models generated future urban growth pattern and land use changes from the period 2004–2020. Both models proved effective in forecasting growth pattern that will be useful in planning and decision making. In comparison, the CA model growth pattern showed high density development, in which growth edges were filled and clusters were merged together to form a compact built-up area wherein less agricultural lands were included. On the contrary, the SLEUTH model growth pattern showed more urban sprawl and low-density development that included substantial areas of agricultural lands

Improved annotation with <i>de novo</i> transcriptome assembly in four social amoeba species

Background: Annotation of gene models and transcripts is a fundamental step in genome sequencing projects. Often this is performed with automated prediction pipelines, which can miss complex and atypical genes or transcripts. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data can aid the annotation with empirical data. Here we present de novo transcriptome assemblies generated from RNA-seq data in four Dictyostelid species: D. discoideum, P. pallidum, D. fasciculatum and D. lacteum. The assemblies were incorporated with existing gene models to determine corrections and improvement on a whole-genome scale. This is the first time this has been performed in these eukaryotic species. Results: An initial de novo transcriptome assembly was generated by Trinity for each species and then refined with Program to Assemble Spliced Alignments (PASA). The completeness and quality were assessed with the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) and Transrate tools at each stage of the assemblies. The final datasets of 11,315-12,849 transcripts contained 5,610-7,712 updates and corrections to >50% of existing gene models including changes to hundreds or thousands of protein products. Putative novel genes are also identified and alternative splice isoforms were observed for the first time in P. pallidum, D. lacteum and D. fasciculatum. Conclusions: In taking a whole transcriptome approach to genome annotation with empirical data we have been able to enrich the annotations of four existing genome sequencing projects. In doing so we have identified updates to the majority of the gene annotations across all four species under study and found putative novel genes and transcripts which could be worthy for follow-up. The new transcriptome data we present here will be a valuable resource for genome curators in the Dictyostelia and we propose this effective methodology for use in other genome annotation projects