Numerical estimation of moisture content in spray dried juice powder

The moisture contents of powders is an important parameter that affects the quality and commercial value of spray dried products. The utility of predicted moisture content values from two droplet drying models were compared with experimental data for spray dried pineapple juice, using the Ranz-Marshal and its modified variants for the heat and mass transfer correlations. The droplet Diffusion model, using the Zhifu correlation, gave estimates with errors of about 8 at 165 °C, 9 at 171 °C, 26 at 179 °C and 2 at 185 °C. The Ranz-Marshal correlation also gave comparable results with this model while results using the Downing and modified Ranz-Marshall correlations widely diverged. The Energy balance model predicted completely dried juice particles, and short drying times, in contrast to the experimental data. The small error sizes of the Diffusion model improves on the wide error sizes of an earlier process model, making is useful as a first approximation choice, for spray drier design and simulation, especially for juices under comparable operating conditions

Biology of human respiratory syncytial virus: a review

Acute lower respiratory tract infection is one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in young children worldwide. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the single most important viral cause of lower respiratory tract infection during infancy and early childhood worldwide. Respiratory syncytial virus belongs to the Pneumovirinae subfamily of the Paramyxoviridae family of enveloped single stranded negative sense RNA viruses. The virus accounts for approximately 50% of all pneumonia and up to 90% of the reported cases of bronchiolitis in infancy. It is a common community–acquired respiratory pathogen without ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, age or geographic boundaries. Moreover, the epidemiological and ecological relationships between Human Respiratory syncytial virus, man and environment have aroused increasing interest in this viral, specie. The present review looks at the nature of this virus with the view to provide more information about its biology which may be useful to the present and future researchers

Factors influencing the utilization of public primary health care facilities in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria

This study is concerned with the examination of factors responsible for the utilization of public primary healthcare services in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State. Primary health care (PHC) can be considered the first level of contact between the patient and the health care system. The Andersen Model of Healthcare Utilisation was used as theoretical guide and frame of analysis in the study. The model is a conceptual framework developed and used to understand health behaviour and possible reasons for utilization of available healthcare facilities and services. The study is a survey research design. A total of 295 respondents were sampled for the study. These include 285 members of the public who were sampled through a multi stage cluster sampling for questionnaire administration and 10 other respondents (Doctors, Nurses, and Community Health Extension Workers) who were purposively sampled for in-depth interview. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative instruments for data collection. The findings revealed that awareness has influence on the utilization of PHC services in the study area. It also revealed that even though there is high rate of patronage of PHC facilities in the area, respondents reported facing problems associated with availability of drugs, healthcare personnel for effective PHC delivery. It recommended that the government should ensure compliance with the WHO benchmark for PHC delivery.Keywords: Primary health care, Awareness, Availability, Access, Health workers behaviou

Seroprevalence of human parainfluenza virus type 2 infection among children (1-5years) in Zaria, Kaduna state, Nnigeria

Serological survey was carried out to determine the level of Human Parainfluenza virus type 2 (HPIV-2) IgG antibodies in children aged 1-5 years. Blood samples were collected from 379 children who met the selection criteria in selected hospitals in Zaria. Serum IgG antibody level for Human Parainfluenza virus type 2 was measured using commercial ELISA Kits obtained from VIRION-SERION ELISA Classic GmbH Germany. Of the total number of 379 samples, 176 (46.4%) were seropositive for parainfluenza virus type 2 antibody. There is statistical significance between age and seropositivity. Highest seropositivity (69.0%) was seen in the sera of those in age group 4- 5 yearss and lowest seropositivity (23.2%) in age group 0 – 1 year (X2 = 38.734; P.value 0.05). There was no association between the presence of cough and catarrh/running nose with seropositivity (P >0.05). The results also showed that there was no association between the presence of sickle cell disease and parental smoking with seropositivity (P >0.05). Preventive programs against HPIV – 2 infection should be promoted especially in younger children and research why reinfection occurs even in the presence of neutralizing antibodies should be undertaken

Process simulation of pineapple juice spray drying

Pineapple juice is one of the known natural sources of bromelain, a bioactive compound beneficial to health. The dried powder has potential commercial value and is a convenient source of the juice drink. The quality of spray dried pineapple juice is dependent on the powder moisture content. Spray dried pineapple powders with low moisture contents were produced in a lab-scale spray dryer in this study. Powder production of 25% of total solids were obtained by use of DE6 maltodextrin to solids ratio of 0.41:0.59. A heat and mass transfer model of the spray drying process was implemented in Matlab and solved to determine its predictive utility. The simulation results showed agreement with experimental data at high inlet air temperatures but widely diverged at other air temperatures. The error size in predicted product moisture varied from 73% at 165 oC to almost zero at 185 oC while that for the predicted exit air temperatures varied from about 38% to zero over the same temperature range. Accuracy can be improved if transient heat effects, and sub models for the feed drying are included in the model

Comparative evaluation of the quality characteristics of composite flour bread produced from wheat-root tuber and wheat-grain legume flour blends

Adoption of composite flours for baked and non-baked goods has been trending and the underlying reasons include economic consideration, nutritional enhancement and amelioration of noncommunicable diseases through consumption of functional foods. Comparative study of the performance of popular food crop flours in bread making is not well documented although a lot work abound in the literature concerning specific blends from wheat and crop flours studied separately. But in the present study, comparative effects of 30% substitution of wheat flour with two common root tuber flours: sweet potato (Ps) and cassava (Ca) and three common grain legume flours in Nigeria: soybean (S), cowpea (Co), bambara groundnut (B) on bread quality were studied. Soybean, cowpea, and bambara groundnut were soaked and decorticated, toasted mildly and milled to obtain flours. Cassava and sweet potato roots were peeled, chopped, oven dried, milled and sieved. All purpose wheat flour was used to form blends with non-wheat flours on a constant ratio of 70:30 replacement weight basis, a total of five flour blends were obtained while 100% wheat flour served as the control. Bread were prepared using straight dough method of AACC. Thereafter, standard procedures were used to evaluate the proximate composition of the blends and bread, as well as the bread physical and sensory properties. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance and mean values ±SE were reported. Consistently, soybean and bambara groundnut flours had significant higher content of protein, ash, crude fat and crude fibre than cassava and sweet potato flours which contained higher level of carbohydrates. The moisture contents of the flours were low and comparable. The moisture, crude protein, crude fat, total ash, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents of the flour blends and the refined wheat flour varied significantly (p<0.05) from 8.08-10.27%, 7.52-13.93%, 2.08-4.06%, 0.81-1.85%, 2.11-4.51% and 67.75-76.66% respectively. The same trend was repeated in the proximate composition of the composite flour breads although the calorific values decreased due to decrease in carbohydrate contents (58.00-47.64%), protein (6.37-11.98%), and increase in moisture (26.71-29.75%), relative to the values observed in the flour blends. Bread weights (196-223g) were comparable but the bread volumes (429-988ml) and specific loaf volumes (2.24-4.82ml/g) varied significantly (p<0.05) and wheat bread had the highest and legume flour treated breads had the least. Organoleptic properties of the wheat bread were rated better in some attributes however not significantly (p<0.05) different from those of 30% sweet potato and cassava breads. It was concluded that although nutritional value of legume containing breads were greater yet their bread volumes were depressed more, the higher protein of grain legume flours not withstanding confirming the fact that quality not quantity of the protein is the determinant factor in bread making potential of flours

Systematic review and meta-analysis of tuberculosis in animals in Nigeria

Animal tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious and chronic disease caused by mycobacteria belonging to theMycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in domestic and wild animals. MTBC strains infection has been confirmed in many animal species in Nigeria, including captive wildlife, cattle, dromedary camels, goats, and pigs. Despite widespread infection and the potential impact of the disease on public health, active surveillance and control strategies are absent in Nigeria. This study aimed to conduct the first comprehensive meta-analysis to assess the distribution of tuberculosis and analyze the potential moderators of infection in animals in Nigeria. Eligible studies (sixty-one (Cadmus et al., 2014) [61] prevalence and seven (Menzies and Neill, 2000) [7] case reports) were retrieved and included in the analysis. The analyses showed an overall pooled TB prevalence of 7.0% (95% CI: 6.0-8.0) comprising of infection distributed in cattle (8.0%, 95% CI: 7.0-8.0), goats (0.47%, 95% CI: 0-1.2), sheep (0.27%, 95% CI: 0.14-0.46), camels (13.0%, 95% CI: 0-47), and wildlife (13.0%, 95% CI: 9-16) respectively. The occurrence of infection was significantly moderated by the publication periods, geographical location, sample size, and detection methods. TB prevalence was heterogeneous across several predictors, with the year of publication exhibiting a higher rate (46%) of the detected heterogeneity. These findings should provide policy-relevant information to guide the design and establishment of prevention and control measures amenable to the local situations in Nigeria. © 2023 The Author(s

FACTS Devices as a Solution to Power Industries Problems: A Review

With an ever-increasing demand for power and establishment of new industries with high load demand, the need to for constant upgrade of powers system network is high. Such transmission networks are prone to external disturbances from loads, environment and other sources which leads to low power quality. Sudden application or removal of large loads. Large loads are known to draw more reactive power than the generated reactive power which lead to reactive power imbalance which can lead to total system collapse. In this paper, a critical review of how Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices are used to mitigate such issues to ensure power quality is done. Previous work on the integration of different FACTS devices were review to establish the advantage of FACTS devices over conventional solutions to power transmission problems.&nbsp

Assessment of Orange (Citrus Sinensis) Supply Chain Activities in Kano State

The study focused on the handling system of orange in Yanlemo Market of Kano State. A field study was conducted with structural questionnaires that targeted the orange supplies, traders and agricultural equipment suppliers/fabricators. Result obtained reveals that the orange handling activity is dominated by male traders. Average of 2 to 5 bags of oranges are usually handled by about 53.3% of the respondents, while 8.3% handle more than 10 bags of the oranges daily. Dan Tivi was found to be the commonest orange variety in the study area. Some other varieties established in the study area are; Dan Nassarawa, Dan Ondo and Dan Delta representing about 8.3, 1.7 and 1.7% of the varieties handled in the study area respectively. The mode of transportation, sorting, and washing was found to be manual with a lot of challenges. The predominant manual handling of the orange established in the study area could be amongst the major reasons for the high losses usually recorded by the traders on a daily basis. Thus, useful suggestions that could be employed by researchers and policymakers to provide improvements in the supply chain activities to prevent such losses are presented.  Keywords— Orange, Assessment, Supply Chain, Handlin

Influence of Dy3+ in physical and optical behavior of calcium sulfate ultra-phosphate glasses

To examine the influence of trivalent dysprosium ion (Dy3+) on physical and optical properties prepared by melt quenching method. The samples composition of 20CaSO4 (80 - x) P2O5 - xDy2O3, where x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5mol% were prepared and analyzed. Materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy, amorphous nature of the samples was confirmed by X-ray diffraction technique, UV-Vis for optical measurement and luminescence for excited state dynamics. The UV absorption spectra of the glass sample correspond to 6H11/2 (1673 nm), 6H9/2 (1262 nm), 6F9/2(1087 nm), 6H5/2 (899 nm), 6F5/2 (796 nm), 6F3/2 (753 nm), 6G11/2 (422), 4I13/2 (384) and 6P7/2 (347).The physical properties comprise of glass density, molar average molar volume, ion concentration, dielectric constant and molar refractive index was determined. The band gap (Eopt), Urbach energies (ΔE) and refractive index lie in range and decreases with increase in Dy3+ concentration. Therefore, Dy3+ compositional changes were examined and indicate that dysprosium phosphor could serves as a potential candidate for optical application as laser is included