Treatment with methanol root extract of Mirabilis jalapa suppresses postprandial hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in diabetic rats

The present study demonstrates the postprandial hypoglycemic effects of methanol root extract of Mirabilis jalapa. Alloxan induced diabetic rats were treated with 200 mg/kg body weight of the extract for 9 days at 12 hourly intervals. The experiment was designed to assess both fasting and 2 hour postprandial blood glucose levels. Lipid profile and liver function biochemical analyses were conducted using serum obtained from the experimental animals sacrificed after 10 days. The results showed a marked difference in blood glucose levels postprandial in the diabetic group treated with the extract (DTM) (11.02 ± 1.42 mmol/L) when compared with the diabetic untreated group (DU) (19.80 ± 5.37 mmol/L). Similar trends were observed for the fasting blood glucose which remained elevated in the DU group throughout the experiment but was maintained at comparable levels (4.70 – 6.82 mmol/L) between healthy control group (HU) and all other groups treated both with extract and standard drug metformin. Triglyceride levels of diabetic groups treated with the extract were also observed to fall within comparable limits with the HU group (30.79 ±4.76 – 65.95 ± 2.42 mg/L). In conclusion, treatment with methanol root extract of Mirabilis jalapa suppresses hyperglycemia postprandial and probably promotes slow progression to dyslipidemia in experimentally induced diabetes in rats.Keywords: Mirabilis jalapa, Diabetes mellitus, Hypoglycemia, metformi

LMIC facility-lighting limitation in Nigeria fully resolved by a novel frugal polite-light-bank technology

Epileptic grid electricity and frequent power blackouts in the night at LMIC neonatal centres hide behind frontline morbidities but contribute significantly to poor treatment outcomes at these centres. Power blackouts make it hard for clinicians and nurses to see clearly when attending to patients in the dark. Hence, many patients have lost their lives during the mistake-prone poor visual setting. This situation gets worse for centres located at more remote regions of LMICs, where power outages could last for many days. A recently published article on “neonatal-rescue-scheme” concept proposed the reversal in neonatal traffic, by taking the interventions to rural places where more needy neonates are to save them. Therefore, it becomes imperative to develop a reliable system of independent and sustainable technology that can guarantee dusk-to-dawn facility lighting based on solar energy at such remote location that may not have grid electricity. This was achieved by technology morphing of existing market products, recreating these to fit the LMICs’ peculiar environmental and cultural settings. The resulting construct, polite-light-bank (PLB), passed all rigorous testing of structural integrity under the weather and functionality stability under strenuous usage. For over a period of four years, the new construct provided over 95% reliability and nearly 100% satisfaction ratings from the initial five centres that used it and have continued to use this to date. This is a golden piece of work that any LMIC or similar settings must not ignore

Cloud Computing Adoption: A Cross-Continent Overview of Challenges

Cloud computing continues to dominate information and  communication technology (ICT) strategies globally through the provision of remote access to computing resources via the internet. With its inherent pay-per usage model, flexibility,  scalability and other features, cloud computing is also set to transform economic activities around the world. This paper  analyses and compares the challenges facing the adoption of cloud computing from a geo-regional context; Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. An institutional theory perspective is used as framework for analysis. Findings from Norway in Europe and Nigeria in sub-Saharan Africa show that there are several challenges to cloud computing adoption in both places that are similar but impact on adoption decisions in different ways. For instance, the key adoption issues used as bases for comparison in Norway viz.  security, privacy and trust, cost, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), government policies and regulations, and loss of control over data can all inhibit or pose as hindrances to cloud computing adoption. Contrarily, in Nigeria, these issues are not seen as inhibiting cloud computing adoption. Furthermore, the findings show the profound effect of normative and coercive pressures in Norway that can impact negatively on adoption decisions and theabsence of such pressures in Nigeria which seem to have a  positive influence on adoption at present.Keywords: Cloud Computing; Adoption; Europe; Sub-saharan Africa; Institutional Theor

Awareness of Trachoma Prevention among People of Bolori Community Maiduguri Metropolitan Council Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria

Background: Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness in the world. It is commonly found among cultural groups with poor hygiene. Its  controls include; Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness and Environmental Sanitation (SAFE). Potentially blinding and active trachoma are  monitored using trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in adults and trachoma inflammation-follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years respectively. A  community-based crosssectional study was conducted to assess the awareness of trachoma preventive measures among the people of Bolori, in the  metropolitan council of Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria. Methods: The study utilizes a descriptive research design and a multi-stage sampling technique, which involve both stratified random and  convenient sampling methods respectively. The instruments comprise a closed-ended questions and sections A and B. Section A: focus mainly on  sociodemographic data while section B; focuses on the research question. The researcher initially divided Bolori wards into 7 strata of which a  convenient sample technique was used to administer 53 questionnaires to 3 strata and 54 questionnaires to 4 strata, each daily which lasted 7 days.  Results: The majority of the respondents are aware of trachoma preventive measures. The majority (34.8%) of the respondents are between the  ages of 26 – 35 years, 37 (32.2%) of the respondents are between the ages of 36 – 45 years, 20 (17.4%) of the respondents are within the age range  of 15 – 25 years, and 46 years and above are 18 (15.6%) of the respondents. The Grand Total Mean for Knowledge of respondents was 57.4%, causes  and prevention 76.7%, the attitude of the people towards personal and environmental sanitation 76.8%, and SAFE strategy prevention is 51.5%.   Conclusion: Based on the data obtained from the research study, findings revealed that the majority of the respondents have a good awareness of  Trachoma prevention, especially on a good attitude toward environmental sanitation. Findings also revealed that there was low access to clean and  adequate water supply among the populace of the community

Evaluation of Hepatotoxic effects of Leaves Extract of Cassia italica (Mill.) Lam. ex F.W. Ander (Leguminosae) in Albino Rats

The hepatotoxic effect of aqueous leaves extract of Cassia italica on some liver function parameters was investigated in albino rats. Five groups of the rats were administered the following graded doses of the extract orally: 0, 300, 600, 1500 and 3000 mg/kg bw, for groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively, once daily for 28 days. The serum ALAT, ASAT and ALP levels were found to increase significantly (p<0.05) in all the groups when compared to the control; whereas the serum Albumin levels decreased significantly (p<0.05) in all the groups when compared with the control. There was also a significant increase in Total Bilirubin level (p<0.05) in the groups administered with 3000 and 1500 mg/kg bw, but the reverse was the case in the groups administered with 600 and 300 mg/kg bw of the extract, which showed significant decrease (p<0.05) when compared with the control. These results suggest that, the aqueous leaves extract of Cassia italica has adverse effects on the functional capacities of rat liver.Keywords: Hepatotoxicity, extract, Cassia italic, rat

Harnessing the Economic Potentials of Citrus Peel for Wealth Creation in Nigeria

Citrus processing generates high volumes of co-products namely, peel and pulp and the peel comprises approximately 25 % of total weight of the fruit. Because citrus peel is rich in nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, cellulose and vitamins, its reprocessing is becoming increasingly important. Products derivable from citrus peel include dried peel, peel powder, pectin, peel essential oil, citric and lactic acids, brandy spirit, feed yeast, vinegar, marmalade and candied peel. Growing consumer interest towards citrus oil and powder has fuelled the demand for citrus peels market. Food and Beverages, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics industries in Nigeria depend on imports to meet the essential oils, resinoids and other citrus extracts requirement. According to the Nigeria Customs Service, a total of 183,607 kg of essential oils of citrus worth ₦244.84 million was imported into Nigeria form 2016 to 2020. Nigeria produces about 4.1 million tonnes of citrus fruits annually thereby generating over 1 million tonnes of citrus peels. The growing demand for natural flavouring agents and functional food products are driving the growth in the global citrus peel extract market for industrial applications. Therefore, there is need to develop citrus peel value chain in Nigeria for job and wealth creation. Aggregation of small groups of women and youths in cooperative societies together with training on best practices for peel collection and drying method to get premium peel is recommended to strengthen the supply chain. Establishment of citrus peel processing outfits is also recommended as a viable option to add more value to the commodity, produce raw materials for the industry and curb importation. Keywords: Citrus peel, Citrus extract, essential oil, resinoids, value-chain, supply-chain DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-20-02 Publication date:October 31st 2021

Implementation of adaptive coding and modulation for satellite communication links in heavy rain region: an operators perspective

This contribution presents an implementation of adaptive modulation and coding (ACM) for the real operating satellite- based internet protocol (IP) communication system from the Nigeria communication satellite (NigComSat-1R) very small aperture terminal (VSAT) network. Specifically, different modulation schemes are chosen according to the weather conditions in order to achieve the highest available data rate and preserve the link availability. The experimental results indicate that at least a 24% bandwidth reduction can be achieved with the same data rate by implementing the ACM technique. Further work should focus on the ACM selection strategy based on the peculiarities of the meteorological characteristics in a specific area so that ACM implementation will lead to maximum efficiency in terms of radio resource management and exploitation

Gastropod Microhabitat Associations and Niches in Seagrass Ecosystems on Donrotu Island, South Jailolo District, West Halmahera Regency

Gastropods are included in the mollusk phylum which is known to be well-associated with seagrass ecosystems. The gastropod community is an important component in the food chain in seagrass beds and ecologically seagrass beds have an important role in the ecosystem. Seagrass ecosystems are habitats and food sources for fish and other aquatic biota. One of the biota commonly found in seagrass beds is Gastropods. This study was conducted to know the composition of gastropod species, types of gastropod associations, and gastropod microhabitat niches in seagrass ecosystems on Donrotu Island. Gastropod sampling was carried out at low tide. The gastropod samples found were then put into a plastic bag that already contained a label. Furthermore, the gastropod samples were brought ashore to count the number of individuals of each type and determined based on morphological characteristics such as shell shape, shell color, shell mouth opening, and spiral circle based on Dharma (1992) instructions. Based on the results of the study, the composition of the types of gastropods found in the seagrass ecosystem on the island of Donrotu was as many as 13 species. There were 13 pairs of gastropod types that had positive associations and 65 pairs of no associations. The type of gastropod that has the widest habitat niche is Cypraea tigris and the narrowest are Naticarius coillei and Pseudovertagus aluco

Taxonomic studies on the genus Indigofera Linn. (Indigofereae, Fabaceae) in parts of Katsina and Kaduna States, North-Western Nigeria

Indigofera is a large genus in the family Fabaceae comprising about 750 species. In Nigeria, particularly the northwestern savanna region, identification and naming of Indigofera species have been very difficult, ambiguous and controversial for a long time. Thus, proper identification and naming of the species within this genus are paramount. Several field surveys were carried out in the study area and twelve species were successfully collected and identified. Multivariate analyses (CA and PCA) were used to determine whether the species are distinct or not, and to identify the most useful characters for the identification of the species in the region. Fresh specimens were collected purposely for this work and herbarium specimens were used. The result of the cluster analysis revealed 12 distinct clusters (at an Euclidean distance of 0.08) with a cophenetic correlation coefficient value (r) of 0.89. The result of the PCA revealed 12 distinct groups. The character loadings indicated that number of seeds per pod, petiole length, leaflet length, internode, fruit length and leaflet width contributed the highest variation among the species, which could be more useful in delimiting the species. These characters can, therefore, be used in the identification and distinguishing of Indigofera species in the region. We provided a key for the identification of the species

DISTRIBUTION AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF MANGROVE IN DONROTU, GURATU AND MANOMADEHE ISLANDS, WEST HALMAHERA DISTRICT, NORTH MALUKU

Mangrove is an ecosystem that is a habitat for various both aquatic and terrestrial biota. This research aims at revealing the distribution and community structure of mangrove in Donrotu, Guratu and Manomadehe Islands, West Halmahera Regency, North Maluku. This work was conducted from April to June 2019. Data collection using the spot check method, while the analysis of mangrove distribution was carried out qualitatively. Community structures quantitatively include type density (Di), relative density types (RDi), frequency types (Fi), relative frequency types (Rfi), closing types (Ci), closure of relatively types (RCi), and Important value (VIi). The results showed that Rhizophora stylosa in the three islands (Donrotu, Guratu, and Idamdehe) had the highest species density and highest density values. Closing types and closures are relatively varied. The type of R. stylosa also has a higher importance in all three islands. The highest mangrove density was mainly found in Donrotu Island (0.96 ind/m2), then Guratu Island (0.46 ind/m2), and Idamadehe Island (0.32 ind/m2), respectively.Mangrove merupakan ekosistem yang merupakan habitat bagi berbagai biota perairan maupun di darat. Penelitian yang dilakukan ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan distribusi dan struktur komunitas hutan mangrove di Pulau Donrotu, Guratu dan Manomadehe Kecamatan Jailolo Selatan, Kabupaten Halmahera Barat, Maluku Utara. Pelaksanaan penelitian pada bulan April-Juni 2019. Pengambilan data dengan menggunakan metode spot check. Analisis data distribusi mangrove dilakukan secara kualitatif, sedangkan struktur komunitas secara kuantitatif meliputi kerapatan jenis (Di), kerapatan relatif jenis (RDi), frekuensi jenis (Fi), frekuensi relatif jenis (Rfi), penutupan jenis (Ci), penutupan relatif jenis (RCi), Nilai penting (VIi). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa mangrove jenis Rhizophora stylosa pada ketiga pulau (Pulau Donrotu, Guratu dan Manomadehe) memiliki nilai kerapatan jenis dan kerapatan relatif jenis yang lebih tinggi. Penutupan jenis dan penutupan relatif jenis bervariasi. Jenis R. stylosa juga memiliki nilai penting yang lebih tinggi di ketiga Pulau. Kerapatan mangrove tertinggi ditemukan di Pulau Donrotu (0,96 ind/m2), kemudian Pulau Guratu (0,46 ind/m2) dan Pulau Manomadehe (0,32 ind/m2)