Characterization of moulds associated with processed garri stored for 40 days at ambient temperature in Makurdi, Nigeria

Characterization of moulds associated with processed white and yellow garri stored at ambient temperature for 40 days was investigated. The moulds isolated from white garri (%) were: Aspergillus spp 35.3, Penicillium spp 23.53, Fusarium spp 2.94, Mucor spp 17.65, Alternaria spp 5.88, Cladosporium sp 2.94 and Rhizopus 11.76%. For yellow garri: Aspergillus spp 37.04, Penicillium spp 23.53, Fusarium spp 7.41, Mucor spp 18.52, Rhizopus spp 14.81, Alternaria spp 0% Cladosporium sp. and Aspergillus spp had the highest frequency of occurrence in both white and yellow garri. Higher moulds species were isolated from white garri (34) compared to yellow (27) samples. The mean total fungal counts from the three hostels were 6.22 × 103, 7.22 × 104 and 9.67 × 105 CFUg-1 in white garri, and 3.56 × 103, 4.22 × 104 and 5.78 × 105 CFUg-1 in yellow garri. There were significant differences in total mean fungal counts in the various dilutions of white and yellow garri at p < 0.05. Results also revealed that the longer the storage time, the higher the pH and moisture content. Proper storage is recommended owing to the public health concern due to mycotoxins, food safety, shelf life and biostability of this product.Keywords: Garri, moulds, storage, pH, moisture contentAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(5), pp. 673-677, 29 January, 201

Effect of Liquidity on Performance of Deposit Money Banks

The study examines the effect of liquidity management on the performance of DMBs in Nigeria. The objective of the study is to determine the extent of relationship that exists between liquidity mechanism and DMBs performance in Nigeria from 2000 to 2015. The study employs Augmented Dickey Fuller Unit Root Test, OLS regression and Granger Causality. The result of the study revealed that liquidity mechanism is not significantly related to DMBs performance in the short run and long run. The granger result proves that liquidity mechanism hinder DMBs performance within the period under review in the study. Hence, the study recommends that DMBs should be given leverage of plugging back funds into investment to booster profitability while maintaining a level of liquidity ratio. Keywords: DMBs, Liquidity, Banks Performanc

Comparative analysis of urinary schistosomiasis among primary school children and rural farmers in Obollo-Eke, Enugu State, Nigeria: Implications for control

AbstractObjectiveTo determine the prevalence, sex-age related intensity of urinary schistosomiasis and to compare such parameters among rural school children and rural farmers in selected communities in Obollo-Eke located in Southeast, Nigeria.MethodsA cross-sectional survey involving 1 337 school children and farmers was conducted in Obollo-Eke community between September 2006 and July 2007. Demographic data of subjects was collected using a questionnaire prepared for this purpose. Urine samples were collected and examined for haematuria and ova of Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) using Medi-test Combi 9 and sedimentation technique respectively.ResultsThe prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis based on microscopic examination of the urine sediment for the ova of S. haematobium was 17.5% while the prevalence of haematuria was 15.6%. Infection intensity varied from light to heavy. In general, the prevalence was higher among males (20.8%) than females (14.6%; P>0.05) and was slightly higher among primary school children (18.0%; n=762) than farmers (16.9%; n=575; P>0.05). The age-specific prevalence of schistosomiasis among the study subjects ranged from 8.3% to 21.2% in 0-5 years and 11-15 years age groups respectively.ConclusionsHaematuria and mean egg/10 mL urine (r = 0.95; P<0.01) showed that both procedures are reliable for the diagnosis of the disease and can be used to ascertain the prevalence of the disease in any community. The comparative analysis of urinary bilharziasis among primary school children and rural farmers demonstrated that the infection is moderately high in these two risk population groups at Obollo-Eke. A robust intervention strategy is clearly needed

RPS19 and TYMS SNPs and Prevalent High Risk Human Papilloma Virus Infection in Nigerian Women

High risk HPV (hrHPV) infection is a necessary cause of cervical cancer but the host genetic determinants of infection are poorly understood. We enrolled 267 women who presented to our cervical cancer screening program in Abuja, Nigeria between April 2012 and August 2012. We collected information on demographic characteristics, risk factors of cervical cancer and obtained samples of blood and cervical exfoliated cells from all participants. We used Roche Linear Array HPV Genotyping Test® to characterize the prevalent HPV according to manufacturer's instruction; Sequenom Mass Array to test 21 SNPs in genes/regions previously associated with hrHPV and regression models to examine independent factors associated with HPV infection. We considered a p<0.05 as significant because this is a replication study. There were 65 women with and 202 women without hrHPV infection. Under the allelic model, we found significant association between two SNPs, rs2305809 on RPS19 and rs2342700 on TYMS, and prevalent hrHPV infection. Multivariate analysis of hrHPV risk adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking, age of menarche, age at sexual debut, lifetime total number of sexual partners and the total number of pregnancies as covariates, yielded a p-value of 0.071 and 0.010 for rs2305809 and rs2342700, respectively. Our findings in this unique population suggest that a number of genetic risk variants for hrHPV are shared with other population groups. Definitive studies with larger sample sizes and using genome wide approaches are needed to understand the genetic architecture of hrHPV risk in multiple populations

Probiotic potentials and antiHIV-1 activity of gastrointestinal lactic acid bacteria isolated from\ud apparently healthy individuals

This research study aimed to screen existing culture collections and new isolates for functional and probiotics properties that are consistent for the selection of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LABs) that may also have anti-HIV activity, which in further studies may be\ud developed and formulated eventually into food product which when consumed may augment the benefits of highly active antiretroviral therapy in treating HIV/AIDS infection in\ud developing countries. At first we evaluated 37 lactobacillus species for antagonistic activity against reference indicator strains of enteropathogens, foodborne pathogens and spoilage microorganism on by agar well diffusion bioassay technique. The synergism with the isolates was demonstrated by time kill assay. A total of ninety four other lactic acid bacteria were isolated between September and November 2010 from faecal samples of twelve apparently healthy adults in the age group of 27 to 65 years in Cameroon. Standard identification protocols of the bacteria were carried out by conventional physicochemical methods and sugar fermentation profile on API 50 medium. The identity of the isolates was confirmed by\ud molecular techniques that relied on bacteria genomic extraction, universal primer amplification of the 16S rRNA followed by sequence analyses. The diet habit of the\ud Cameroonian population from where the strains were isolated was determined by the 24h recall questionnaires and direct interview of secondary school students. We relied on the\ud standard criteria and guideline for selecting probiotics intended for oral administration to select potential probiotics Lactobacillus. The methods include test for tolerance to gastric juice, acidic medium, and bile acid. Adhesion properties of the LABs were tested by cell surface hydrophobicity to hydrocarbon, auto and coaggregation. Antimicrobial and preliminary antioxidant activity was also tested, in addition safety issues demonstrated by\ud susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics. Compatibility of the strains when used is as a mixtures and hydrogen peroxide production were tested as well. The LABs primary\ud application would be on people living with HIV/AIDS in developing nations and so the antiHIV-1 activity was evaluated for virus capturing, anti-infectivity and anti inhibition. The assay assessed the reduction of viral load in plasma positive sera as well as the prophylactic\ud and treatment effect on C8166 T lymphocytic cells challenged with live HIV-1IIIB. Our results demonstrated strain specific antimicrobial activity against the reference pathogens. More than one LAB from either the Cameroon or Italians origin inhibited the bacteria and fungal pathogens namely strains of intestinal (Escherichia coli ATCC13706, Salmonella enterica sup. enterica DSM 14221, Enterococcus faecium DSM 13590) oral (Streptococcus mutans DSM 20523 and Candida albicans ATCC 10261) and foodborne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Listeria monocytogenes 306, Bacillus cereus DSM 345) and\ud contaminants (Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 1117 and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633) with diameter of zone of inhibition between 7.00mm and 32.00mm. The LABs showed both synergistic and additive effects against the pathogens. There was high diversity in new LAB isolates with eighteen dominant species. Lactobacillus acidophilus was the predominant specie with percentage frequency up to 13%. We report here for the first time, the isolation of six new strains of Weissella cibaria from 6 out of the 12 subjects. The high percentage (50%) of Weissella cibaria in the population was completely missed by the API 50 protocol. The\ud strains’ identity was captured by molecular technique. Diet is a factor in shaping the composition of gut microbiota and we hypothesise that the Cameroonian diet rich in natural\ud plant food products may have influenced the type and high cell count up to 1012cells/gram of faeces found among the inhabitants. So many of the new LABs showed variable probiotics properties from which four strains were selected for further based on their high performances across the selection assay criteria. These include Lactobacillus brevis 4C; 2 = Lactobacillus acidophilus CD10; 3 = Weissella cibaria CD2 and 4 = Lactobacillus plantarum LP2. We did not observe a statistically significant reduction in HIV-1 infectivity on C8166 T cells yet we are encouraged with the percentage inhibition of 17% reduction exhibited by Weissella cibaria 15H and Lactobacillus plantarum CD1 in addition to 8.82% and 2.65% cellular protection by Enterococcus sp. 16F and Lactobacillus rhamnosus 11I respectively. The cell free supernatants from these LABs were not toxic to the T-cells at the concentrations that\ud yielded the above inhibition (0.125 -0.063 mg/mL). Similar antiviral and anti-infectivity assay should be performed with the live and dead bacteria because the inhibitory agents from these bacteria could also be located on their membranes. The public health impact of the study are the benefits that would be derived from possible use of the potential probiotic strains to prevent diarrhea which results from the colonization of gut of people living with\ud HIV/AIDS by enteropathogens similar to the species used in this study. Moreover, dysbiosis in this group of people may be prevented with the use of the probiotics owing to the fact that they can selectively exclude disease causing pathogen in the gut. Probiotics show specific and non specific mode of immune stimulation and modulation in the gut, there their use will be of immense benefit to HIV/AIDS patients whose immunity is compromised. We have therefore\ud characterised potential probiotic strains of Lactic acid bacteria that have shown little but not statistically significant antiHIV-1 infectivity and protection against susceptible T-cell

Understanding learners’ type and their preferences towards the utilization of web 2.0 to improve teaching and learning in tertiary institutions in Nigeria: Utilization of web 2.0 to improve teaching and learning in tertiary institutions in Nigeria

Learners have their dominant intelligence which gave rise to the different learning styles, a dominant mode of information reception, processing, and storage. The study will determine the extent each learner group perceives the use of Facebook for learning as useful and easy to use. 213 students purposively sampled from five departments which participated in an e-learning initiative of a federal university in Southeastern Nigeria constitute the study sample. The study adopted a survey design. Barsch Learning-Style Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were used to collect data for learner profiling, while a TAM questionnaire was used to measure learners’ perceived usefulness, ease of use and behavioral intention to use Facebook as a learning tool. Findings from the study showed that there were more visual leaners among the study sample than other learner groups. Also, all learners irrespective of the learning style agreed that Facebook was useful and equally agree to have the intention to adopt it as a potential learning tool. It recommended that as web 2.0 technologies are being increasingly adopted and adapted for educational purposes, learners should be profiled according to the learning styles to determine which learner group would benefit most from a particular technology

Enhancing Italian traditional foods through the enrichment of functional ingredients

A formulation of synbiotic microgranules comprising vegetable oils and fats matrices, SYNBIO (TM)(R) (1:1 mixture of Lactobacillus rhamnosus IMC 501 (R) and Lactobacillus paracasei IMC 502 (R)) and Xylo-oligosaccharide were delivered into Buffalo Yoghurt, Buffalo "Mozzarella" cheese, "Ricotta" cheese, "Pecorino" cheese and "Ciauscolo" salami (cured pork meat product) to improve cell survival and bioavailability of bioactive ingredients. The prebiotics significantly stimulated >50 percent increase in the growth of probiotics during in vitro studies (P = 0.006). The viability of the probiotics was high with cell count ranging from 7.1 to 7.5 Log cfu/g of food at various temperature and times during the shelf-life of finished products. There was no significant change in the sensory profile of these synbiotic enriched foods. The functionality of Italian traditional foods was enhanced with this microgranulation technology

Understanding learners’ type and preferences towards utilizing web 2.0 to improve teaching/learning in Nigerian tertiary institutions

Learners have their dominant intelligence which gave rise to the different learning styles, a dominant mode of information reception, processing, and storage. The study will determine the extent each learner group perceives the use of Facebook for learning as useful and easy to use. 213 students purposively sampled from five departments which participated in an e-learning initiative of a federal university in Southeastern Nigeria constitute the study sample. The study adopted a survey design. Barsch Learning-Style Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were used to collect data for learner profiling, while a TAM questionnaire was used to measure learners’ perceived usefulness, ease of use and behavioral intention to use Facebook as a learning tool. Findings from the study showed that there were more visual leaners among the study sample than other learner groups. Also, all learners irrespective of the learning style agreed that Facebook was useful and equally agree to have the intention to adopt it as a potential learning tool. It recommended that as web 2.0 technologies are being increasingly adopted and adapted for educational purposes, learners should be profiled according to the learning styles to determine which learner group would benefit most from a particular technology.</p

SNPs tested for association with hrHPV infection among Nigerian women.

<p>CI  =  Confidence Interval.</p

Distribution of hrHPV types among Nigerian women.

<p>Distribution of hrHPV types among Nigerian women.</p