Assessment of Nutritional and Microbiological Properties of Biscuit Supplemented With Moringa Oleifera Seed Protein Concentrate

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of Moringa oleifera seed protein concentrate supplementation on the nutritional composition of biscuit. Biscuit was supplemented with M. oleifera seed protein concentrate at 2, 4 and 6% and evaluated for the proximate composition, amino acid profile, mineral element composition, microbiological properties and sensory qualities. The proximate composition result showed that the biscuits contained: 8%, 58.92%, 6.45%, 0.32%, 0.97% and 26.32% moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash and carbohydrate, respectively. The essential amino acids were lysine (6.57%), leucine (6.02%), tryptophan (5.23%), valine (5.20%), phenylalanine (4.25%), threonine (4.10%), histidine (4.03%), isoleucine (3.34%) and methionine (2.94%). The proximate composition results showed a slight but progressive increase in crude protein content due to the supplementation while the overall quality acceptability did not show any statistically significant difference among the biscuit samples. The microbiological result also revealed that the biscuits were safe and the level of detection were within the safe range for baked products. It was concluded that supplementation of biscuit with M. oleifera seed protein concentrate is safe and the consumption of the biscuits may support growth and development of children who are the major consumers

Library Operation and Services as Determinants of Researchers’ Satisfaction in an Agricultural Research Institute in Nigeria

Operations and services provided by libraries are seen as social services with a responsibility to encourage society\u27s reading habits, especially in academic settings. The educational, economic, cultural, and recreational life of the whole population are strongly impacted by library services. A special library is known to offer services like interlibrary loan, reference and information, current awareness, selective information dissemination, user education, literature searching, bibliography compilation, indexing and abstracting, knowledge management, preservation and conservation, bindery, information literacy, and information media literacy. The research focuses on the following goals: discovering the library services offered by research libraries in Kwara State; identifying the services that are highly demanded by research libraries in Kwara State; gauging user satisfaction with Kwara State research libraries; and identifying potential obstacles that might endanger library delivery services there. The study used a descriptive survey, and 73 researchers from a Kwara State agricultural research institution make up the sample. Findings of the study show that; users are satisfied with the facilities and equipment of research libraries in Kwara State; users are satisfied with the attitude of staff at research libraries in Kwara State; and quality service has a positive and significant impact on use. User education programmes, volumes of text books and reference books, and personalised assistance provided by the library staff are services available in the special library. In order to address the difficulties discovered while conducting the study, recommendations were made

Patient characteristics associated with COVID-19 positivity and fatality in Nigeria: retrospective cohort study

Objective: Despite the increasing disease burden, there is a dearth of context-specific evidence on the risk factors for COVID-19 positivity and subsequent death in Nigeria. Thus, the study objective was to identify context-specific factors associated with testing positive for COVID-19 and fatality in Nigeria. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting: COVID-19 surveillance and laboratory centres in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory reporting data to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Participants: Individuals who were investigated for SARSCoV-2 using real-time PCR testing during the study period 27 February–8 June 2020. Methods: COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors independently associated with both outcome variables, and findings are presented as adjusted ORs (aORs) and 95% CIs. Results: A total of 36 496 patients were tested for COVID-19, with 10 517 confirmed cases. Of 3215 confirmed cases with available clinical outcomes, 295 died. Factors independently associated with COVID-19 positivity were older age (p value for trend<0.0001), male sex (aOR 1.11, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.18) and the following presenting symptoms: cough (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.32), fever (aOR 1.45, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.71), loss of smell (aOR 7.78, 95% CI 5.19 to 11.66) and loss of taste (aOR 2.50, 95% CI 1.60 to 3.90). An increased risk of mortality following COVID-19 was observed in those aged ≥51 years, patients in farming occupation (aOR 7.56, 95% CI 1.70 to 33.53) and those presenting with cough (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.41 to 3.01), breathing difficulties (aOR 5.68, 95% CI 3.77 to 8.58) and vomiting (aOR 2.54, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.84). Conclusion: The significant risk factors associated with COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality in the Nigerian population are similar to those reported in studies from other countries and should guide clinical decisions for COVID-19 testing and specialist care referrals

Meningococcus serogroup C clonal complex ST-10217 outbreak in Zamfara State, Northern Nigeria.

After the successful roll out of MenAfriVac, Nigeria has experienced sequential meningitis outbreaks attributed to meningococcus serogroup C (NmC). Zamfara State in North-western Nigeria recently was at the epicentre of the largest NmC outbreak in the 21st Century with 7,140 suspected meningitis cases and 553 deaths reported between December 2016 and May 2017. The overall attack rate was 155 per 100,000 population and children 5-14 years accounted for 47% (3,369/7,140) of suspected cases. The case fatality rate (CFR) among children 5-9 years was 10%, double that reported among adults ≥ 30 years (5%). NmC and pneumococcus accounted for 94% (172/184) and 5% (9/184) of the laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively. The sequenced NmC belonged to the ST-10217 clonal complex (CC). All serotyped pneumococci were PCV10 serotypes. The emergence of NmC ST-10217 CC outbreaks threatens the public health gains made by MenAfriVac, which calls for an urgent strategic action against meningitis outbreaks

Solvent extraction of polyphenolics from the indigenous African fruit ximenia caffra and characterization by LC-HRMS

CITATION: Oosthuizen, D., et al. 2018. Solvent extraction of polyphenolics from the indigenous African fruit ximenia caffra and characterization by LC-HRMS. Antioxidants, 7(8):103, doi:10.3390/antiox7080103.The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.comPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.Indigenous and non-commercial fruits can be an important source of antioxidant polyphenols; however, the identity and content of polyphenols from non-commercial fruits are often poorly described. The study aimed to extract, identify, and quantify polyphenols from the skin of the indigenous Africa fruit Ximenia caffra, using solvent extraction. Three solvents (hexane, acetone, and 70% v/v ethanol) over three extraction times (30, 60 and 120 min) were used in a 3² full factorial experimental design to determine effects on polyphenol recovery, and individual polyphenolics were characterised using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Ethanol was the most effective extraction solvent, and extracts had high levels of total phenolics and flavonoids (65 mg gallic and 40 mg catechin equivalents per gram dry sample respectively), and high antioxidant activity (18.2 mg mL-1 ascorbic acid equivalents). LC-HRMS positively identified 16 compounds, of which 14 were flavonoids including flavonoid glycosides, and indicated that concentrations of some flavonoids decreased for extraction times beyond 60 min. It was concluded that the fruit of Ximenia caffra is rich in natural polyphenolic antioxidants; the present work identified and quantified a number of these, while also establishing suitable solvent extraction conditions for the recovery of these potentially high-value compounds.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/7/8/103Publisher's versio