Assessment of the physicochemical and bacteriological qualities of Nono - a fermented cow milk

Nono is a spontaneously fermented yoghurt-like milk product consumed is a staple food commodity in parts of the Sub-Saharan West Africa. Nono is usually consumed along with 'Fura' as 'Fura da Nono' in Nigeria. Studies on physicochemical and bacteriological qualities were carried out on samples of Nono obtained from 5 different sources in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. The Nono samples were found to be nutritious, containing moderate levels of ash, crude fat, crude protein and carbohydrate. The pH of the Nono samples was relatively low (4.04 ±0.04), while the density and specific density were close to that of distilled water at room temperature. Total aerobic plate count of Nono samples was 1.8 ±0.02 × 106 CFU.mL-1. A total of 15 bacteria species namely Eubacterium nodatum, Bacillus subtilis, Chromobacterium violaceum, Propionibacterium acnes, Amycolatopsis benzotilytica, Tropheryma whipplei, Moraxella catarrhalis, Campylobacter gracilis, Neisseria sicca, Vibrio natiensis, Photobacterium damselae, Corynebacterium kutsceri, Corynebacterium xerosis, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus casei were isolated from the Nono samples. The gram-positive bacterial isolates were resistant to all antibiotics tested with the exception of Erythromycin where 40% susceptibility was obtained, while the gram-negative bacteria showed high resistance to the tested antibiotics, but with 80% susceptibility to Ofloxacin. The nono samples were observed to exhibit antibacterial activity against cultures of Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 29929 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29293. Most of the bacteria isolated were of less public health importance, but the high prevalence of multi-drug resistance is of great concern

Factors associated with risky sexual behaviour among clients undertaking HIV testing and counselling services at a secondary referral hospital Lagos, Nigeria

Background: This study determined the prevalence of risky sexual behaviour and its associated factors among clients who accessed HIV counselling and testing services at a secondary referral hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective review of clients’ records was conducted. The Client Intake Form of people who accessed HIV counselling and testing services at Mainland Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria between July 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017, were reviewed. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine the associated factors of risky sexual behaviour. Results: A total of 4273 client’s records were analyzed, 3884 (90.9%) reported having sex before HIV counselling and testing (HCT). The prevalence of risky sexual behaviour among clients was 41.5%. More males and HIV positive clients had unprotected sex with a casual partner three months before HIV counselling and testing (p < 0.05). More singles than the married had unprotected sex with casual partners (p <0.001) and multiple sexual partners (p =0.002). The prevalence of risky sexual behaviour reduced with advancing age. Being single and having an HIV infection were associated with risky sexual behaviour in this study. Conclusion: Age, marital status and HIV status were associated factors of risky sexual behaviour. Keywords: Risky sexual behaviour; associated factors; HIV counselling; testing

ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL QUALITIES OF NONO – A FERMENTED COW MILK

Nono is a spontaneously fermented yoghurt-like milk product consumed is a staple food commodity in parts of the Sub- Saharan West Africa. Nono is usually consumed along with ‘ Fura ’ as ‘ Fura da Nono ’ in Nigeria. Studies on physicochemical and bacteriological qualities were carried out on samples of Nono obtained from 5 different sources in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. The Nono samples were found to be nutritious, containi ng moderate levels of ash, crude fat, crude protein and carbohydrate. The pH of the Nono samples was relatively low (4.04 ±0.04), while the density and specific density were close to that of distilled water at room temperature. Total aerobic p late count of Nono samples was 1.8 ±0.02 × 106 CFU. mL -1 . A total of 15 bacteria species namely Eubacterium nodatum , Bacillus subtilis , Chromobacterium violaceum , Propionibacterium acnes , Amycolatopsis benzotilytica , Tropheryma whipplei, Moraxella catarrhalis, Campylobacter gracilis, Neisseria sicca, Vibrio natiensis, Photob acterium damselae, Corynebacterium kutsceri, Corynebacterium xerosis, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus casei were isolated from the Nono samples. The gram-positive bacterial isolates were resistant to all antibiotics tested with the exceptio n of Erythromycin where 40% susceptibility was obtained, while the gram-negative bacteria showed high resista nce to the tested antibiotics, but with 80% susceptibility to Ofloxacin. The nono samples were observed to exhibit antibac terial activity against cultures of Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 29929 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29293. Most of the bacteria isolated were of less public health importance, but the high prevalence of m ulti-drug resistance is of great concer

Computational design of cyclic peptides for the customized oriented immobilization of globular proteins

The oriented immobilization of proteins, key for the development of novel responsive biomaterials, relies on the availability of effective probes. These are generally provided by standard approaches based on in vivo maturation and in vitro selection of antibodies and/or aptamers. These techniques can suffer technical problems when a non-immunogenic epitope needs to be targeted. Here we propose a strategy to circumvent this issue by in silico design. In our method molecular binders, in the form of cyclic peptides, are computationally evolved by stochastically exploring their sequence and structure space to identify high-affinity peptides for a chosen epitope of a target globular protein: here a solvent-exposed site of β2-microglobulin (β2m). Designed sequences were screened by explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations (MD) followed by experimental validation. Five candidates gave dose-response surface plasmon resonance signals with dissociation constants in the micromolar range. One of them was further analyzed by means of isothermal titration calorimetry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and 250 ns of MD. Atomic-force microscopy imaging showed that this peptide is able to immobilize β2m on a gold surface. In short, we have shown by a variety of experimental techniques that it is possible to capture a protein through an epitope of choice by computational design

Prevalence of rifampicin resistant tuberculosis and associated factors among presumptive tuberculosis patients in a secondary referral hospital in Lagos Nigeria

Background: Nigeria is one of the 30 high burden countries for drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). This study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with rifampicin resistant tuberculosis (RR-TB) in a secondary referral hospital in Lagos State Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective review of presumptive TB register of patients screened for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and RRTB using Xpert MTB/RIF assay at Mainland hospital between January 1 2012 and December 31 2016 was conducted. Results: A total of 2497 clients were screened for MTB and RR-TB during the study period. The majority (51.4%) were between 25 \u2013 44 years. Male: Female ratio was 1:0.8. Of the 2497 clients screened, MTB was detected in 942 (37.7%) out of which 220 (23.4%) had RR-TB. Age (AOR 1.8, 95%CI 1.3- 2.6, p = 0.001), symptomatic contact with DR-TB patients (AOR 3.3, 95%CI 2.1-5.1, p <0.001) and type of TB (AOR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7 \u2013 5.0, <0.001) were associated with RR-TB after adjusting for age, gender, HIV status and symptomatic contacts with DR-TB patients. Conclusion: The prevalence of RR-TB in new and previously treated TB patients was high in this study. Urgent steps are needed to avert an impending RR-TB epidemi

Does the Pecking Order Hypothesis Explain the Dividend Payout Ratios of Firms in the UK?

This study tests the pecking order hypothesis on data of 224 firms in the UK over the period 1993-96 inclusive. Evidence observed supports the prediction of the hypothesis that there is a negative interaction between the long term value of dividend payout ratio and investment. The evidence also indicates that financial leverage has a positive interaction with dividend payout ratio but no significant interaction with investment. While investment has a significant positive influence on financial leverage, financial leverage does not have a significant influence on investment. It is also observed that irrecoverable advance corporation tax (ACT) has a positive, albeit weak, influence on dividend payout ratio and that overseas profit has a negative influence on the ratio. The results of the study agree with the previous evidence with regard to the influence of dividend payout ratio on investment and financial leverage, and the influence of investment on financial leverage. However, the results contradict the previous evidence reported by Baskin (1989) and Allen (1993) about the influence of financial leverage on investment. While the previous studies observed that financial leverage has a positive influence on investment, this study finds that financial leverage does not have a significant influence on investment. The main contributions of the study are that (1) it provides some evidence that there is a negative interaction between dividend payout ratio and investment and a positive interaction between dividend payout ratio and financial leverage, (2) it provides some evidence about the effects of overseas profit and irrecoverable ACT on dividend payout and (3) its results suggest that the recent abolition of the refund of ACT is justified on the ground that it may affect investment and growth in the UK. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.

DNA NANOBRUSHES FOR ENZYMATIC REACTIONS, PROTEIN RECOGNITION, AND BIOMARKER DETECTION VIA ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

DNA nanotechnology is an emerging field that provides tools to design and create programmable, spatially\u2013resolved, functional nano-scale devices with potential application ranging from synthetic biology to theranostics. The first part of this thesis addresses the fundamental question of whether it is possible to study the function and the recognition of proteins in an in-vitro milieu that is similar to intracellular conditions, in terms of crowding, confinement and compartmentalization, without the use of crowding agents and obtain information that are triggered by localized and nanoscale crowding. To this end, we design and construct surface-bound functional, sequence-dependent DNA nanoreactors with distinct inherent heterogeneity and homogeneity in their molecular structure, using two approaches: an atomic force nanolithography (AFM)-based technique termed nanografting and the spontaneous formation of self-assembled monolayers of pre-hybridized double stranded (ds)DNA molecules. These nanoreactors then serve as test-bed for understanding the functions and interactions of DNA with protein. With such a tool, we studied the recognition and the specificity of a highly stringent, site-specific endonuclease called BamHI, an enzyme with high specificity for its cognate site and well-defined crystallography structure that is routinely used as protein model and for cloning engineering. Our results show an unprecedented digital behaviour of BamHI triggered by nanoscale crowding within highly dense non-cognate spatially resolved DNA nanostructure. The second part of this thesis aims at developing a computation-based strategy to optimise cyclic peptides with inherent affinity and selectivity that mimic those of a single loop of an antibody (\ub5M range affinity). Using a combination of molecular dynamics simulations and Monte Carlo algorithm (tagged algorithm 1), our theoretical collaborators have improved the binding affinities of peptides designed to recognize Beta-2-microglobulin (\u3b22m), a biomarker over-expressed in ovarian cancer type 1 (OVA 1). The affinity of the designed peptide to the target of interest is further characterized by developing a label-free experimental validation, which utilizes DNA-directed immobilization (DDI) combined with nanografting to form nanopatches of spatially-oriented DNA-cyclic peptide able to recognize the solvent-exposed binding site on \u3b22m. Using AFM height measurement, we obtained a micro-molar range binding affinity towards \u3b22m. Subsequently, our theoretical collaborators, Dr Miguel Soler and Dr Sara Fortuna, employed a new computer-based protocol, which allows the identification of possible binding sites on \uf0622m (tagged algorithm 2). Following the generation of peptides, they screen the peptides based on their predicted binding energies, distance between \uf0622m and peptides, and the hydrophobic surface areas. With such computation strategies, pep331 was selected for experimental validation. Afterwards, we selected one peptide (pep381) from the pool of peptides designed by our collaborators using algorithm 1, and the pep331 generated using algorithm 2, and we set up an AFM based experimental validation, to determine the sensitivity of both peptides. Our results show that both peptides bind \uf0622m with sensitivity of ~7 \ub5M. These results give us a benchmark preliminary data to design surface-bound synthetic bidentate peptides with possible application in biomarker detection and discovery

Application of machine learning in cement price prediction through a web-based system

Cement is one of the most common building materials in the construction industry. Simultaneously, its price fluctuation can affect the success or failure of the construction project's performance. The study aimed to develop a web-based platform that uses machine learning algorithms on historical data of cement prices, petrol prices, diesel prices, interest rate, and exchange rate to predict future prices of cement products. The web-based learning platform was developed using hypertext markup language (HTML), cascading style sheet (CSS), MySQL, and hypertext preprocessor (PHP). For building a reliable machine learning model, python language was used to train the system. The front end, the back end, and the machine learning model were integrated with a flask python framework. A system block diagram was designed to show the web-based learning platform's interfaces. The web-based learning platform's system implementation led to the login page, the home page, database page, and cement price analytics interface. In training the machine learning model to make reliable cement price predictions, the study obtained an 80% fitted model in the linear regression. The web-based machine learning platform was able to predict the prices of cement. The rationale behind the machine learning prediction shown by the scatter plot diagram revealed that the cement increases by 250 naira biannually

Spiritual intelligence in the workplace: is there a dark side?

Purpose: Practitioners and management researchers have chorused the salvific tendencies of spiritual intelligence. Whilst the emergence of spirituality and its derivatives in the workplace is widely acclaimed, the conflict that exists between spiritual ideals and the capitalist ethos of modern organisations raises questions about dark manifestations. This incongruence necessitates the consideration of the misuse of spiritual intelligence. Design/methodology/approach: This paper adopts conceptual lens and theoretical arguments to interrogate the assumption of absolute constructiveness that is accorded spiritual intelligence in its framing and discusses the potential of a dark side. Findings: The dark side of spiritual intelligence is its deployment to achieve self-serving purposes, to harm, rather than to help others. More practitioners and management researchers must acknowledge that spiritual intelligence and workplace spirituality may have dark manifestations and incorporate this reality in the assessment of organisations and the individuals within them. Originality/value: This exploratory article joins the sparse extant literature on the dark side of spiritual intelligence and workplace spirituality. It contributes to the literature by offering critical insights into spiritual intelligence and the need to integrate the potential for misuse in the existing models.</p