PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF PROTEASE EXTRACTED FROM “YATSIN BIRI” GINGER (Zingiber officinale) CULTIVAR OF NORTHWESTERN NIGERIA

enzymes for cheese making and related processes have ignited a flame of scientific enquiries on the possibility and suitability of their substitution by other enzymes of plant sources. In this study, ammonium sulphate fractionation, characterization and milk clotting activity (MCA) of protease extracted from YatsinBiri ginger rhizome cultivar of the family Zingiberaceae from northwestern Nigeria were analysed. The protease extracted showed optimum activity at 50 °C and pH value of 5.5. Relative activity of the enzyme was also observed within a broad pH range of 4.5 to 7.0 accordingly. The enzyme was completely denatured at 100 °C and alkaline pH of 11.5. The milk clotting property of the protease indicated 2.83 and 1.81 folds of MCA and MSCA respectively in relation to commercial calf rennet with MCA/PA ratio of 2.18. These properties of YatsinBiri ginger protease, especially its milk clotting activity, broad pH ranges and moderately elevated temperature of 50 °C, may favour its suitability as substitute calf rennet in the food industries, especially incheese making and related product

Enhancing Computer Science Students’ Retention through Video, Animation and Audio Voice Thread Modes in Colleges of Education in North-Central Nigeria

Achievement in a subject is more meaningful when a learner is able to retain the knowledge gained for a longer period of time. This study therefore focused on the need to enhance college of education students’ retention through video, animation and audio voice thread modes in North-central Nigeria. Three research questions raised were answered and three null hypotheses were also tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a quazi-experimental design in which intact classes of students in participating schools were used. A multi-stage sampling technique was used and a total of 210 students constituted sample size of the study. Intact classes of students were randomly assigned to experimental group I (voice thread video mode), experimental group II (voice thread animation mode), and the control group (voice thread audio mode). Voice thread modes were used as treatment instrument while computer science achievement test which was administered at posttest and retention test was used for data collection. The instrument was satisfactorily subjected to validation and reliability checks. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance statistics. Findings that emanated from the study revealed that the retention ability of both male and female students were enhanced by video and animation voice thread modes better than the audio mode. It was recommended that these two modes should be integrated in teaching and learning in colleges of education for improved retention of students in computer science

Level of heavy metals in soil and some vegetables irrigated with industrial waste water around Sharada Industrial Area, Kano, Nigeria

The level of some heavy metals in soil and plant samples from Sharada Industrial Area was analyzed. Plants absorb contaminants through root systems and store them in the root biomass and/or transport them to the stem and/or leaves. The waste water generated by industries was used to irrigate plants; onion (Alium cepa), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), okra (Hibiscus esculentus), Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) and carrot (Daucus carota) which are consumed locally. The level of heavy metals in these plants differs with plant species. Level of lead (Pb) ranged from 10.21±0.20-17.14±0.10μg/g in okra and onion respectively, and the level in soil was found to be 28.00±2.00μg/g. The level of heavy metal was higher in soil than in plants studied. Accumulation of heavy metals varied from plant to plant. The soil levels of copper (Cu) was found to be 9.00±2.00 μg/g with onion having the highest value (8.00±0.10 μg/g) compared to other plants. The uptake of cobalt (Co) by plants varies with plant species. Moringa oleifera had highest concentration of cobalt (14.00±8.00μg/g) and onion had the least concentration of Co (5.00±2.00μg/g). The high values of these metals might be attributed to the use of untreated effluents from industries by farmers for the irrigation of these plants. Thus, the high values of these metals in the plant samples could put the consumers of these vegetables at health risk, since the levels of these metals in plants and soil samples are all above WHO permissible limits.Keywords: Accumulation, Heavy metals, Irrigation, Industrial effluents, Vegetable

Patterns of Street-Begging, Support Services and Vocational Aspirations of People Living With Disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study investigated patterns of street-begging, support services and vocational aspirations of people living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive survey design. Purposive random and stratified sampling techniques were used in selecting street-beggars living with disabilities. The target population of this study was all street beggars living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. A total 131 male and female street-beggars including both young and old who are blind, hearing impaired (deaf), crippled, intellectually disabled, emotionally disabled etc were randomly selected from Ilorin, Nigeria. The results revealed that the street-begging among people living with disabilities occurred mostly at the entrance of stores, super markets and petrol stations, while the support services were derived from the family, and friends. It was recommended among others that in order to eradicate the incidence of street-begging in Nigeria, rehabilitation and vocational training centers should be established across 774 Local Governments Areas in Nigeria. It was also recommended among others, that street-begging should be banned in Nigeria

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications

Effect of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Borreria verticillata Species of Sudano-Sahelian Savanna on CCl4 Induced Hepatotoxicity

Preliminary phytochemical screening of Borreria verticillata species of Sudano-Sahelian savanna and the effect of aqueous leaf extract of the plant were studied in CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity rats. Screening of the aqueous extract indicates the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, sterol and saponins. While athraquinone was absent. Serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total protein (TP) and bilirubin (BL) were analysed in rats intraperitoneally administered with 100 mg/kg CCl4 followed by oral treatment with 300mg/kg of aqueous leaf extract of B. verticillata for 48 and 96hrs. The rats treated for 48 hours after had serum AST, ALT, ALP, TP and BL levels not statistically different (P>0.05) compared to both normal control and positive control (treated with 100mg/kg standard drug) although the value of positive control was slightly lower than the test values. However, the test values were statistically lower compared to toxicity control at P< 0.05. The serum AST, ALT, ALP, TP and BL levels when the treatment was extended to 96 hours showed similar pattern to 48 hours treatment. Even though the test values with respect to the enzymes activity were slightly lower in the extended treatment. This result indicates the hepatocurative properties of aqueous leaf extract of B. verticillata on CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity rats, which could be attributed to its phytochemical contents. Keywords: Borreria verticillata, Hepatotoxicity, Hepatocurative, Aqueous leaf extract, CCL

Comparative Evaluation of Mobile Forensic Tools

The rapid rise in the technology today has brought to limelight mobile devices which are now being used as a tool to commit crime. Therefore, proper steps need to be ensured for Confidentiality, Integrity, Authenticity and legal acquisition of any form of digital evidence from the mobile devices. This study evaluates some mobile forensic tools that were developed mainly for mobile devices memory and SIM cards. An experiment was designed with five android phones with different Operating System. Four tools were used to find out the capability and efficiency of the tools when used on the sampled phones. This would help the forensic investigator to know the type of tools that will be suitable for each phone to be investigated for acquiring digital evidence. The evaluation result showed that AccessData FTK imager and Paraben device seizure performs better than Encase and Mobiledit. The experimental result shows that, Encase could detect the unallocated space on the mobile deice but could retrieve an deleted data

Modelling the impact and cost-effectiveness of combination prevention amongst HIV serodiscordant couples in Nigeria

Objective: To estimate the impact and cost-effectiveness of treatment as prevention (TasP), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and condom promotion for serodiscordant couples in Nigeria. / Design: Mathematical and cost modelling. / Methods: A deterministic model of HIV-1 transmission within a cohort of serodiscordant couples and to/from external partners was parameterized using data from Nigeria and other African settings. The impact and cost-effectiveness were estimated for condom promotion, PrEP and/or TasP, compared with a baseline where antiretroviral therapy (ART) was offered according to 2010 national guidelines (CD4+ <350 cells/μl) to all HIV-positive partners. The impact was additionally compared with a baseline of current ART coverage (35% of those with CD4+ <350 cells/μl). Full costs (in US $2012) of programme introduction and implementation were estimated from a provider perspective. / Results: Substantial benefits came from scaling up ART to all HIV-positive partners according to 2010 national guidelines, with additional smaller benefits of providing TasP, PrEP or condom promotion. Compared with a baseline of offering ART to all HIV-positive partners at the 2010 national guidelines, condom promotion was the most cost-effective strategy [US$1206/disability-adjusted-life-year (DALY)], the next most cost-effective intervention was to additionally give TasP to HIV-positive partners (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio US $1607/DALY), followed by additionally giving PrEP to HIV-negative partners until their HIV-positive partners initiate ART (US$7870/DALY). When impact was measured in terms of infections averted, PrEP with condom promotion prevented double the number of infections as condom promotion alone. / Conclusions: The first priority intervention for serodiscordant couples in Nigeria should be scaled up ART access for HIV-positive partners. Subsequent incremental benefits are greatest with condom promotion and TasP, followed by PrEP