Clean energy generation using groundnut oil mill effluent with microbial fuel-cell

Microbial system that converts organic matter to energy is proposed in this paper. An attempt is made, to examine the potential of using groundnut oil mill effluent (GOME) as substrates to Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). A methodology was developed to obtain a power density in batches by varying the feed rate of continuous flow in the MFC. The results obtained show that GOME produces higher energy per unit area compared to other mixed culture reported in scientific literatures. The minimum and maximum power densities obtained are 160 mW/m2 and 217 mW/m2 at low feed rate of (400 litre/hr) with cell potential of 625 mV and high feed rate of (420 litre /hr) with cell potential 727 mV respectively. Furthermore, the findings of this research work showed that MFC could produce higher power density at continuous flow process mode (160 mW/m2) compared to batch process (54 mW/m2). Thus, this study demonstrates the potential of generating clean energy via GOME, with by-products of carbon dioxide and water.Keywords: Clean energy, Fossil-fuel, Renewable energy, Fuel-cell, Groundnut Oil Mill Effluent (GOME

Mycological Quality of Powdered Herbal Medicinal Preparations Packaged for Human Consumption in North Western Nigeria

The increase in the consumption of natural drugs have made their use a public health problem due to its poor quality, presence of  fungal contamination and the risk of the presence of mycotoxins. This investigation was designed to throw light on the mycological and aflatoxigenic status of powdered herbal medicinal products marketed in North Western Nigeria. A total of four hundred and thirty two(432) powdered herbal medicinal preparations consisting of twelve(12) each from six(6) localities in each of the six(6) states’ metropolis of the North Western Nigeria were obtained. These samples were subjected to various analyses. The parameters measured were grouped as follows: level of fungal contaminations of fungi; frequency of distribution of  fungi and  mycoflora type present in the herbal preparations. Results indicated that all the four hundred and thirty two herbal medicinal preparations assessed did not comply with the maximum acceptable limit of 2x102 cfu/g for fungal load. The study showed that samples from Kaduna and Kebbi  had  a significantly  higher  mean fungal count (1.09x105cfu/g and 1.05x105cfu/g respectively) that were not significantly different (p?0.05), hence suggesting higher contamination with fungi. The least was observed in Zamfara state with the lowest mean value of fungal load. The statistical analysis showed that fungal load in Katsina, Sokoto, Kano and  Zamfara  states were  not the same but not significantly different (p?0.05). This suggested low level of contamination with fungi when compared with samples from Kaduna and Kebbi state. In terms of fungal distribution in  herbal medicinal preparations, this study indicated that  fungi of the genus Aspergillus spp and Penicillus spp were the most frequently isolated and were found to be higher in frequency of occurrence. Out of one thousand and ninety five (1095)  total frequency of occurrence of fungi in the herbal medicinal preparations, the total frequency of occurrence of Aspergillus spp in this study is seven hundred and seventy five(70.77%), Penicillium spp (n=190;17.35%); Fusarium spp (n=86;7.85%)  and Rhizopus spp (n=44;4.02%). In this finding it could be suggested that Aspergillus spp and Penicillium spp are the major contaminant of herbal drugs. In all the samples screened from the six states, higher level of contamination with Aspergillus spp were found. Among  the Aspergillus spp observed,  A. flavus, A. paraceticus, A. niger were the most frequently occurred fungi in the herbal medicinal samples suggesting that these type of fungi are the major contaminant of the herbal medicinal products in all the six states of the North West of Nigeria. The highest frequency of occurrence of fungi observed in samples from Kaduna 151(69.59%), Kano139 (72.02%),sokoto135 (73.37%), Kebbi127 (66.49%), Kastina112 (70.89%) and Zamfara111 (68.52%)  may be as a result of poor harvesting, processing and storage practice of the handler of the herbal products. The  means of  frequency of occurrence of fungal isolates in herbal preparations from the North Western Nigeria also showed that incidence of  Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus paraceticus, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium spp were not significantly  different at p<0.05 but significantly higher than Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus versicolor. The result obtained also indicates that Fusarium spp and Rhizopus spp were significantly the lowest. This result suggests that the samples of herbal medicines obtained in the North Western Nigeria is heavily contaminated with the fungal species of Aspergillus spp and Penicillium spp. Keywords:  herbal medicines, fungal contamination, North Western Nigeri

Extraction and purification of phosphorus from the ashes of incinerated biological sewage sludge

Phosphorus depletion represents a significant problem. Ash of incinerated biological sewage sludge (BSS) contains P, but the presence of heavy metals (e.g., Fe and Al) is the main issue. Based on chemical characterization by SEM-EDS, ED-XRF and ICP-OES techniques, the characteristics and P content of bottom ash (BA) and fly ash (FA) of incinerated BSS were very similar. On BA, P extraction carried out in counter-current with an S:L ratio of 1:10 and H2SO4 0.5 M led to better extraction yields than those of a similar test with H2SO4 1 M and an S:L ratio of 1:5 (93% vs. 86%). Comparing yields with H2SO4 0.5 M (S:L ratio of 1:10), the counter-current method gave better results than those of the crossflow method (93% vs. 83.9%), also improving the performance obtained with HCl in crossflow (93% vs. 89.3%). The results suggest that the purification of the acid extract from heavy metals with pH variation was impractical due to metal precipitation as phosphates. Extraction with H2SO4 and subsequent treatment with isoamyl alcohol represented the best option to extract and purify P, leading to 81% extraction yields of P with low amounts of metals

PROJECTION OF CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANTS EMISSION FROM ON-ROAD VEHICLES IN THE MEGACITY OF LAGOS, NIGERIA

The increase in the mode of transportation has become a serious environmental threat that has resulted in the emission of criteria air pollutants (CAPs) into the atmosphere. These CAPs are sulphur oxides (SOx), particulate matter (PM), lead (Pb), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). This study examined the emission of CAPs from road traffic use in Lagos State. Data for the inventories of the production of these five sources were taken from 1997–2011 and were used to forecast CAPs emissions from 2012–2030. The petroleum products consumption data were sourced from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Five categories of CAPs were studied and their corresponding emissions from 1997–2011 were computed as follows: SOx: 209–15,358t, NOx: 2,038–25,692t, CO: 24,996–186,202t, PM: 155–995t, Pb: 0.8 4.5t. Projection and forecasting of CAPs emissions from 2012 to 2030 were carried out using the Box Jenkins ARIMA method. There were close similarities between the observed and forecast values. The predicted CAPs emissions between 2012 to 2030 will be 309t for SOx, 22,600 – 41,300t for NOx, 100,000 – 300,000t for CO, 414t for PM, and 0.7t for Pb. The study concluded that there is tendency for these CAPs emissions to increase if the authorities and stakeholders do nothing. Several mitigation measures aimed towards reducing future CAPs emissions in Lagos State were recommended for the various sources

Carriage of linezolid-resistant enterococci (LRE) among humans and animals in Nigeria: coexistence of the cfr, optrA, and poxtA genes in Enterococcus faecium of animal origin

Objectives: In contrast to increasing reports of the emergence of linezolid-resistant enterococci (LRE) emanating from many countries in Europe, Asia, and North America, data on its status and dissemination from the African continent remain scarce, with the information available limited to countries in North Africa. This study investigated the carriage of LRE and the genetic mechanism of resistance among Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis strains recovered from humans and animals in Makurdi, Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between June 2020 and July 2021 during which 630 nonduplicate human and animal faecal samples were collected and processed for the recovery of LRE. The genetic mechanisms for resistance were investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing. Results: Linezolid-resistant enterococci were recovered from 5.87% (37/630; 95% CI: 4.17–8.00) of the samples, with the prevalence in animals and humans being 6.22% [(28/450); 95% CI: 4.17–8.87] and 5.00% [(9/180); 95% CI: 2.31–9.28], respectively. All isolates remained susceptible to vancomycin. No known point mutation mediating linezolid resistance was detected in the 23S rRNA and ribosomal protein genes; however, acquisition of one or more potentially transferable genes (cfr, optrA, and poxtA) was observed in 26 of the 37 LRE isolates. Co-existence of all three transferable genes in a single isolate was found in four E. faecium strains of animal origin. Conclusion: This study provides baseline evidence for the emergence and active circulation of LRE driven majorly by the acquisition of the optrA gene in Nigeria. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to report a co-carriage of all three transferable linezolid resistance determinants in E. faecium. Active LRE surveillance is urgently required to understand the extent of LRE spread across sub-Saharan Africa and to develop tailored mitigation strategies

Aflatoxin Total and Microbial Contamination of Grains, Oil Seeds, Yam Chips and Fish Sold in Maiduguri Market

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of fungus Aspergillus flavus and closely related species that infects severalagricultural commodities. The consumption of contaminated commodities adversely affects the health of humansand animals and also a cause of significant economic losses to producers. This study surveyed the aflatoxincontamination level of cowpea, maize, melon, groundnut, yam chips and fish sold in Maiduguri metropolis.Samples from each product (250 g) were bulked and thoroughly mixed using coning and quartering method to geta representative sample for analysis. Laboratory observations were carried out regarding microbial analysis,proximate composition and aflatoxin content. Samples for aflatoxin detection were classified into three; unsortedsamples, sorted samples and sorted/washed dried samples. Fish had the highest bacterial load 2.48 x 106 cfu/ml andAspergillus species were found to be the predominant fungi identified. Maize and groundnut with moisture contentof 5.63 and 5.62 had the highest total aflatoxin contamination (320.51 μg/kg and 236.3 μg/kg respectively) both inthe unsorted group. Total aflatoxin reduction of (58.82 - 99.99%) was observed in all the sorted samples andsorted/washed dried samples. It can be concluded that commonly sold food in Maiduguri had fungal and Aflatoxincontamination. Food should undergo several rounds of sorting to remove discoloured grains and grains that showsevidence(s) of deterioration to reduce the ingestion of food contaminated with aflatoxin

Seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 and its clinical effect among anaemic SCA patients in Northeastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a globally widespread genetic disorder affecting 5% of the world's over 6 billion people. Parvovirus infection and the resulting aplastic crisis is a recognised complication in individuals with SCA. Aplastic crisis increases the need for blood transfusion and its attendant risk of Transfusion Transmissible Infection (TTI). Hence there is a vicious cycle in which Parvovirus B19 causes aplastic crisis which in turn causes increased transfusion need; and transfusion increases risk of transfusion transmissible infection in which parvovirus B19 is included in certain parts of the world. Sickle cell anaemia is associated with foetal death and infection with parvovirus B19 increases the risk to early mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 among SCA and compare with that of controls in the study area. Furthermore clinical and laboratory profile of subjects were analysed to identify possible correlation with parvovirus B19 seropositivity and explore the possibility of involvement of white cell and platelets. A total of 90 subjects comprising 45 consecutive SCA case subjects and 45 age-and sex-matched non SCA controls were studied in a cross sectional comparative study. Ten millilitres of blood was drawn from the antecubital fossa of each subject after obtaining informed consent. The 10mls of blood was divided into two aliquots, 4.5 mls was added into EDTA anticoagulated bottle and was used for basic complete blood count (CBC), while the remaining 5mls was added into a plain specimen container allowed to clot and serum obtained to test for anti-parvovirus B19 IgG and IgM using an immunochromatography based technique specifically BIOCARD TM Parvo B19 diagnostic test kit. There was male preponderance in the study. The SCA subjects comprised 26 males and 19 females (male to female ratio = 1.4:1), while the non-SCA controls comprised 25 males and 20 females (male to female ratio 1.3:1).. The analysis of anti-parvovirus B19 IgG antibody revealed a prevalence of 23.3% among SCA cases with 18.9% among controls. The haematological profile is not affected by IgG seropositivity. However pregnancy outcome revealed that the total number of stillbirths is 12 among IgG seropositive SCA cases which is higher than the 6 encountered in IgG seronegative SCA subjects; the difference is statistically significant (p=0.04)

Evaluation of clustering algorithms for gene expression data

BACKGROUND: Cluster analysis is an integral part of high dimensional data analysis. In the context of large scale gene expression data, a filtered set of genes are grouped together according to their expression profiles using one of numerous clustering algorithms that exist in the statistics and machine learning literature. A closely related problem is that of selecting a clustering algorithm that is "optimal" in some sense from a rather impressive list of clustering algorithms that currently exist. RESULTS: In this paper, we propose two validation measures each with two parts: one measuring the statistical consistency (stability) of the clusters produced and the other representing their biological functional congruence. Smaller values of these indices indicate better performance for a clustering algorithm. We illustrate this approach using two case studies with publicly available gene expression data sets: one involving a SAGE data of breast cancer patients and the other involving a time course cDNA microarray data on yeast. Six well known clustering algorithms UPGMA, K-Means, Diana, Fanny, Model-Based and SOM were evaluated. CONCLUSION: No single clustering algorithm may be best suited for clustering genes into functional groups via expression profiles for all data sets. The validation measures introduced in this paper can aid in the selection of an optimal algorithm, for a given data set, from a collection of available clustering algorithms