Effects of combinations of ethanolic extracts of Blighia sapida and Xylopia aethiopica on progesterone, estradiol and lipid profile levels in pregnant rabbits

The effects of ethanolic extracts of Xylopia aethiopica fruits and Blighia sapida roots, used by some rural dwellers in western part of Nigeria for arbortifacient purposes, were investigated using pregnant rabbits. A combination of X. aethiopica and B. sapida in a ratio 1:1 at concentrations of 10.0 mg/ kg body weight (group B) and 50.0 mg/ kg body weight (group C), and X. aethiopica alone at 50.0 mg/kg of body weight (group D) were administered by gastric intubations for a period of 14 days from the 12th to 25th day of gestation after which they were fasted for 18 h. Serum levels of reproductive hormones (progesterone and estradiol) and lipids (triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL- cholesterol) were determined at the end of the treatment. Results showed significant reductions (p < 0.05) in progesterone and estradiol levels, significant elevations of triglycerides (p < 0.05) and no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in the levels of total cholesterol in all the treated groups compared with the control (group A). There was a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the levels of HDL-cholesterol in Group B, a significant increase in group C and no significant reduction in group D compared with the control (group A). The levels of LDL-cholesterol in all the treated groups did not differ significantly (p < 0.05) from the control (group A). The results suggest that ethanolic extracts of X. aethiopica alone or in combination with B. sapida may actually lead to termination of pregnancy due to reduction of progesterone and estradiol. The results also suggest that there is increased risk of hypertriglyceridemia in the users of these plants but this may not predispose them to arteriosclerosis because of the insignificant differences in the levels of LDL-cholesterol in all the treated groups compared with the control

Effects of combinations of ethanolic extracts of Blighia sapida and Xylopia aethiopica on progesterone, estradiol and lipid profile levels in pregnant rabbits

The effects of ethanolic extracts of Xylopia aethiopica fruits and Blighia sapida roots, used by some rural dwellers in western part of Nigeria for arbortifacient purposes, were investigated using pregnant rabbits. A combination of X. aethiopica and B. sapida in a ratio 1:1 at concentrations of 10.0 mg/ kg body weight (group B) and 50.0 mg/ kg body weight (group C), and X. aethiopica alone at 50.0 mg/kg of body weight (group D) were administered by gastric intubations for a period of 14 days from the 12th to 25th day of gestation after which they were fasted for 18 h. Serum levels of reproductive hormones (progesterone and estradiol) and lipids (triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDLcholesterol) were determined at the end of the treatment. Results showed significant reductions (p < 0.05) in progesterone and estradiol levels, significant elevations of triglycerides (p < 0.05) and no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in the levels of total cholesterol in all the treated groups compared with the control (group A). There was a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the levels of HDL-cholesterol in Group B, a significant increase in group C and no significant reduction in group D compared with the control (group A). The levels of LDL-cholesterol in all the treated groups did not differ significantly (p < 0.05) from the control (group A). The results suggest that ethanolic extracts of X. aethiopica alone or in combination with B. sapida may actually lead to termination of pregnancy due to reduction of progesterone and estradiol. The results also suggest that there is increased risk of hypertriglyceridemia in the users of these plants but this may not predispose them to arteriosclerosis because of the insignificant differences in the levels of LDL-cholesterol in all the treated groups compared with the control

Mechanical performance and microstructural characterisation of titanium alloy-alloy composites built by wire-arc additive manufacture

A first stage study has been performed to investigate the potential for exploiting high deposition rate WAAM to print dual-alloy microstructures. Samples were built using alternating feed wires of commercially-pure Ti and Ti–6Al–4V. A high level of dilution occurred during deposition accompanied by effective liquid-phase mixing, producing a regular distribution of solidified melt tracks of approximate bimodal composition each less extreme than that of their respective constituent feed wires. The yield strength of the dual alloy composite material was approximately midway between that of the two alloys from which it was produced and exhibited a double inflection yield behaviour. Overall, because of the relatively coarse length scale there was not a significant property advantage in tensile loading above that of a chemically homogenous material, thus the main advantage of printing alternate alloys at this length scale is likely to reside more with increasing crack path tortuosity during fracture or fatigue loading. Importantly, the deposited material was found to have a refined β-grain structure suggesting that the composition gradients introduced by dual-alloy printing can disrupt the epitaxial columnar growth normally seen in WAAM deposits

Antimicrobial activities of Carica papaya leaf against diarrhoea causing agents

The advent of science to the search for antibiotics principally depends on medicinal plants as raw materials. This present study evaluated the antimicrobial effect of Carica papaya leaf extracts against bacterial and fungal agents that causes diarrhoea. Fresh tender roots and leaves of this plant was collected, air-dried, powdered and percolated in n-hexane, methanol and aqueous solvents. The antimicrobial activities of the extract against test organisms were tested by using agar well diffusion assay and the MIC, MBC and MFC values were determined by agar dilution assay. The results revealed that the crude methanol and aqueous extracts of Carica papaya had no anti-fungal activity, but have antibacterial activity. N.hexane extract of C. papaya had most activity than other solvents with MIC ranged from 25 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml and MBC ranged from 50 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml.These results suggest that paw paw leaf extract is recommended as a diarrhoea disease remedy

Deep Learning Based Visual Automated Sorting System for Remanufacturing

Remanufacturing is a crucial component of the circular economy concept which emphasises sustainable consumption habits. This study proposes a novel automated sorting system for remanufacturing which is based on deep convolutional neural networks(CNN). To demonstrate its applicability, the proposed deep learning (DL) system was used to distinguish among dry, wet, oily and defected surfaces. The test was conducted on four locally sourced 3" x 6" plates. Sample image data were captured using a USB webcam. The network training was done with 75% of the data while the balance data were used for testing. In this preliminary study, the DCNN classified the features with up to 99.74% accuracy on validation data and above 96% accuracy on live video feed; demonstrating that it can accurately sort components. This study is the first to propose a low-cost sorting system for remanufacturing based on the deep CNN and logic gates. The results show that the method is an accurate, reliable, cost-effective and fast technique that can potentially outperform existing sorting systems in the remanufacturing industry

Selection and use of reference panels: a case study highlighting current gaps in the materials available for foot and mouth disease.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals describes a diverse array of assays that can be used to detect, characterise and monitor the presence of infectious agents of farmed livestock. These methods have been developed in different laboratories, at different times, and often include tests or kits provided by the commercial sector. Reference panels are essential tools that can be used during assay development and in validation exercises to compare the performance of these varied (and sometimes competing) diagnostic technologies. World Organisation for Animal Health Reference Laboratories already provide approved international standard reagents to help calibrate diagnostic tests for a range of diseases, but there remain important gaps in their availability for comparative purposes and the calibration of test results across different laboratories. Using foot and mouth disease (FMD) as an example, this review highlights four specific areas where new reference reagents are required. These are to: reduce bias in estimates of the diagnostic sensitivity and inter-serotypic specificity of tests used to detect diverse strains of FMD virus (FMDV), provide bio-safe positive controls for new point-of-care test formats that can be deployed outside high containment, harmonise FMDV antigens for post-vaccination serology, and address inter-laboratory differences in serological assays used to measure virus-specific FMD antibody responses. Since there are often limited resources to prepare and distribute these materials, sustainable progress in this arena will only be achievable if there is consensus and coordination of these activities among OIE Reference&nbsp;Laboratories.</p