Assessing the Efficacy of Azadirachta indica Seed Extract on Fusarium Oxysporum

Global population pressure has posed great challenge on food security with over 800 million people having no access to adequate food and about two billion faced with hunger and malnutrition. Banana (Musa spp.) is the world’s fourth most important global food crop after rice, wheat and maize in terms of production. The cultivation of banana is however threatened by pests and diseases and diverse anthropogenic activities which have influenced and changed the climate. Generally, climate change impacts on agriculture and food security across the globe decreasing crop productivity while extreme weather conditions such as flooding, drought, hurricanes etc. increase disease transmission. Fusarium oxysporum, a soil borne fungus affects banana production, causing vascular wilts and damage to banana plantations by infecting plant roots, cortex and stele. Several fungicides have been employed to curb these losses. Plant extracts have, however, played significant role in the inhibition of seed-borne pathogenic F. oxysporum. Eco-friendly Neem (Azadirachta indica) extracts have been reported to gain prominence over inorganic fungicides. This study investigated the effectiveness of Neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extract at varying concentrations of 10, 20 and 50% against F. oxysporum in Potato Dextrose medium for 120 h. using pour plate and cork boring methods. The results obtained showed inhibited growth of the test fungus with 50% having the greatest percentage inhibition. This indicates that A. indica seed extract has fungicidal effect on F. oxysporum and has the potential to curb banana losses and hence enhance banana production and thus ensure food security

Antihyperlipidaemic and Antioxidant Potential of Fermented Citrullus vulgaris Seeds (Thunb.) on Tyloxapol-induced Hyperlipidaemic Rats: A Comparison With Fluvastatin

Globally fermented foods form an integral part of the staple diet of people. Fermented Citrullus vulgaris (FCV) (ogiri) seeds is a nutritious natural fermented condiment that features frequently in West African diets as a spice.This study investigated the antihyperlipidaemic potential of this condiment in tyloxapol-induced hyperlipidaemic rats with reference to that of fluvastatin, a standard antilipidaemic drug. The antioxidant potential of the condiment was also examined using different relevant in vitro assays. Albino rats were divided into six groups (n=5), based on the diet and treatment received. The groups were standard feed (control); FCV supplemented feed; standard feed with tyloxapol administered at the end of the experimental period (tyloxapol control); FCV supplemented feed and tyloxapol at the end of the experimental period; standard feed with fluvastatin sodium (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg body weight separately) followed by tyloxapol. The results revealed that administration of tyloxapol induced significant (p < 0.05) increase in total-cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG). These lipid increases were significantly mitigated in groups initially pre-fed with supplemented FCV feed. Plasma TC decreased by 69.38% (p < 0.05); TG by 80.58% (p < 0.05); LDL-C by 7.80% (p < 0.05) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels increased by 78.61% (p < 0.05). FCV showed appreciable antioxidant activities in vitro in a dose dependent manner. Histomorphological examination of the liver suggested that the FCV possessed hepatoprotective potential. These results suggest that FCV consumption may be a possible dietary measure for the control of dyslipidaemia

Effect of Taurine on Chronic Restraint Stress Induced Behavioural Deficits in Rodents

Stress is an aversive stimulus capable of altering physiological homeostasis and the ability to cope with such stressful stimuli is a crucial determinant of health and disease. Taurine (2-aminoethanesulphonic acid) constitutes about 0.1 % of body weight, it is a sulphur-containing amino acid present in virtually all cells throughout the animal kingdom. It is an important ingredient used in energy drinks. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of taurine in preventing the restraint stress induced memory deficit in passive avoidance test, spatial learning, motor coordination and exploratory behaviour. Three different doses of taurine were administered (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) to rodents subjected to chronic restraint stress (6 h/day for 21 days). The treatments were administered once daily by oral gavage. Twenty four Wistar rats were divided into four groups of six rats each also; twenty four mice were divided in to four groups of six mice each. Learning and memory in the chronic restraint-stressed Wistar rats was assessed using step down passive avoidance test, learning and memory in mice was assessed using elevated plus maze for memory, exploratory activity was assessed using hole board apparatus and motor coordination in mice was assessed using beam walk assay method. In the present study it was observed that taurine improved learning and short-time memory in chronic restraint-stressed rodents it also improved motor coordination and increased exploratory behaviour in mice. Keywords: stress, taurine, deficit, exploratory, oral gavage, memor

GNG5 Controls the Number of Apical and Basal Progenitors and Alters Neuronal Migration During Cortical Development

Cortical development is a very complex process in which any temporal or spatial alterations can give rise to a wide range of cortical malformations. Among those malformations, periventricular heterotopia (PH) is characterized by clusters of neurons that do not migrate to the correct place. Cerebral organoids derived from patients with mutations in DCHS1 and FAT4, which have been associated with PH, exhibit higher levels of GNG5 expression in a patient-specific cluster of neurons. Here we investigate the role of GNG5 during the development of the cerebral cortex in mice and human cerebral organoids. GNG5, highly expressed in progenitors and downregulated in neurons, is critical for controlling the number of apical and basal progenitors and neuronal migration. Moreover, forced expression of GNG5 recapitulates some of the alterations observed upon downregulation of Dchs1 and Fat4 in mice and human cerebral organoids derived from DCHS1 and FAT4 patients, suggesting a critical role of GNG5 in cortical development

E-INVIGILATION: PANACEA TO EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN NIGERIA

e- Invigilation is the use of remote-controlled terminals that are linked with the main servers of any institutions. E-invigilation is very important in managing both offline and online invigilation of examinations. This is vital for eradicating examination malpractice on the part of the students. There is a disenchantingly slow evolution of ICT use in the invigilation of students in the Nigerian educational school system. The main roles of ICT in education are to provide the prospects and trends of integrating communication technology into the educational processes. Hence, one of the vital areas of incorporating ICT is in the invigilation of examination in order to bring to fore its effectiveness. In reality, an efficient and effective system of the invigilation process is essential in increasing the credibility of the entire educational assessment in Nigeria. This fundamental area constitutes an inevitable reality in modern education, especially with security of examinations in mind that attracts the law of morality. The method of data analysis incorporates both descriptive and logistic regression modeling. Therefore, Invigilation should not be played down with regard to the issues of assessment. The study proposes a model that is relevant for e-invigilation, discusses the pros and cons of einvigilation in system of education in Nigeria and makes policy recommendations towards incorporating e-invigilation in the educational system of higher education in Nigeria

Role of the different copper species on the activity of Cu/zeolite catalysts for SCR of NOx with NH3

The SCR of NOx with NH3 has been studied by using different Cu zeolite catalysts, prepared both with ZSM5 and BETA zeolite supports by ionic exchange or by impregnation. The catalysts were characterized by ICP-AES, N2 adsorption at −196 °C, XRD, TEM, XPS and H2-TPR. The catalysts characterization confirmed the presence of different Cu(II) species on all catalyst (CuO and Cu(II) exchanged on tetrahedral and octahedral positions of the zeolites framework). Clear evidences of Cu(I) or Cu(0) species were not obtained. CuO was more abundant in high copper-content catalysts and in ZSM5 catalysts, due to its lower ionic exchange capacity, while isolated Cu(II) ions are more abundant in low copper-content catalysts and in BETA catalysts. It was concluded that CuO catalyzes the oxidation of NO to NO2, and this favors the reduction of NOx at lower temperature (the NH3-NO2 reaction is faster than the NH3-NO reaction because NO2 is much more oxidizing than NO), whereas isolated Cu(II) ions maintain high NOx conversion at high temperatures.Financial support provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTQ2012-30703), the Basque Government (IT-657-13) and the UPV/EHU (UFI11/39). One of the authors (UDLT) wants to acknowledge to the Basque Government for the PhD Research Grant (BFI-2010-330)

Trends and ethnic disparities in oral and oro-pharyngeal cancers in South Africa, 1992-2001

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in the epidemiology of oral and of oro-pharyngeal (OAP) cancers in South Africa for the latest period available. METHODS: Data were obtained from the South African pathology- based National Cancer Registry. All new cases of OAP cancers diagnosed and confirmed histologically from 1992 to 2001 are included for the ICD-10 sites C00 to C14, excluding those involving the major salivary glands (C07- C08) and the nasopharynx (C11). OAP cancer incidence is reported by demographics (gender, age, race/ethnicity) and the anatomical sites involved. The analysis on anatomical sites was restricted to squamous cell carcinomas. RESULTS: Overall, males had a much higher OAP cancer incidence rate (world age-Standardised incidence rate [ASIR]= 7.01/100 000 per year) than females (ASIR=1.99). However, among Asian/Indian South Africans, OAP cancer incidence was higher among females (ASIR=4.60) than among males (ASIR=3.80). OAP cancer, excluding those involving the lip, was highest among Coloureds (ASIR=5.72) and lowest among Blacks (ASIR=3.16). OAP cancer incidence was stable overall, but incidence rates increased significantly among Coloured South Africans over the period under review (p≤0.05). Cancer specifically involving the oro-pharyngeal was most common among Coloureds and showed an increasing trend during the period under review. CONCLUSIONS: Variations in the incidence of OAP cancers by gender, race/ethnicity and anatomic site indicate a need for culturally-targeted reductions in major risk factors, including promoting tobacco cessation and prevention of risky alcohol use. The implications of the role of the human papillomavirus (HPV) in the prevention of squamous cell carcinomas involving the oro-pharyngeal in South Africa require further investigation.The authors thank Patricia Kellet for her valuable support in extracting the data and the National Cancer Registry for making the data available.http://www.sada.co.zaam2013ay201

E-Govemance and E- Participation: Panaceas for Effective Mobilization of Manpower and Resources in Selected Local Governments in Ogun State.

E-governance and e-participation are important stages in the advancement of government processes. They both offer great opportunities as well as new challenges despite the opportunities they offer; they also introduce new challenges especially in Nigeria with emphasis on selected local governments in Ogun State. Egovernance is a new phenomenon in African countries and Nigeria is fast aligning into it, with the aim of addressing many challenges attached to development in Nigeria. AdoOdo/ Ota, Sagamu, Yewa South, Abeokuta South and Ijebu Ode local governments function primarily along the traditional colonial administrative system. Features of this system are bureaucracy, nepotism top-bottom chain command structure, et cetera. Hence, problems of this age long governance are legion which e-governance presumably appears to solve. Under a full-fledged e-governance, system optimization of resources is paramount. Despite all known benefits of e-governance, many challenges are embedded in the system. Changes are often hindered, due to lack of confidence in the process and there is the perceived displacement of personnel through application of information communication technology (ICT). This study considers sectoral aggregation of local government systems such as personnel, community development or relations, Infrastructural needs, spatial environment, etc. Structured and unstructured interviews will be conducted and questionnaires were administered in order to gather data in areas of education, health, recreation, electricity, water supply, empowerment, waste management, traffic control and security. This study specifically evaluated the personnel's understanding of ICT application in governance and community or public participation and exercise of civic responsibility. The research design utilized both descriptive and survey approach in its method of data collection. In order to realize the objectives of the current study, the method of data analysis involved both descriptive analysis with the use of frequencies and percentage distributions in analyzing the basic information of the targeted audience. The formulated hypotheses were subjected to statistical validation using multivariate regression analysis. This methodological approach enabled us ascertain whether there exists any significance relationship between eGovernance and effective mobilization of manpower and resources considering the selected local government areas for this study. Judgmental sampling procedure wer