Effect of Sowing Dates, Intra-Row Spacings and Nitrogen Fertilizers of the Productivity of Red Variant Roselle (Hibiscus sabdarifa L)

Field experiments were conducted during the rainy seasons (June - Odober) of 1999 and 2000, at the research farm of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria to study the effects of some agronomic practices on the growth and yield of roselle. Three agronomic practices (sowing dates, intra-row spacing and nitrogenous fertilizer levels) at three levels each, were factorially combined to give a total of 27 treatment combinations. These were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Most of the results obtained were highly significant (P50.01). Sowing dates (June) gave the highest mean calyx (2035.15 kg/ha) and seed (2391.19 kg/ha) yields in both years. Intra-row spacing (80 em) gave the highest mean calyx (1651.11 kg/ha) and seed (2024.40 kg/ha) yields. Also, application of 60 kg N/ha gave the highest mean calyx (1671.99 kg/ha) and seed (2067.36 kg/ha) yields. It is evident from the results of this experiment that, the earlier the sowing of dates, the wider the intra-row spacing and the higher the nitrogenous fertilizer level, the higher the productivity of red variant roselle. Sequel to these facts, roselle sown in June at intra-row spacing of 80 em should be applied with 60 kg N / ha for optimum productivity in the study area

Abdominal adiposity in six populations of West African descent: Prevalence and population attributable fraction of hypertension

Objectives: The objective of this investigation was to examine the prevalence of abdominal adiposity and its association with the prevalence of hypertension among African descent populations in Nigeria, Cameroon, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Barbados, and the United States (US). Research Method: The data for this investigation were obtained from the International Collaborative Study on Hypertension in Blacks. Hypertension was defined as mean diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg or current treatment with prescribed antihypertension medication. Abdominal overweight was defined as waist circumference (WC) ≥94 and ≥80 cm for men and women, respectively. Abdominal obesity was defined as WC ≥ 102 and ≥88 cm for men and women, respectively. We estimated the site-specific prevalence of abdominal overweight and obesity across age and body mass index cut-points. We also calculated the population attributable fraction (AF) of hypertension due to abdominal adiposity. Results: The prevalence of hypertension in these populations was tightly linked to abdominal adiposity. Increases in abdominal overweight accompanied an increasing degree of Westernization, rising from 6.4% and 26.3% in Nigeria, 16.5% and 62.8% in Cameroon, 15.8% and 58.6% in Jamaica, 14.3% and 62.1% in St. Lucia, 21.4% and 70.3% in Barbados to 38.9%, and 76.4% in the US for men and women, respectively. The corresponding values for abdominal obesity were 1.6% and 12.3% in Nigeria, 5.1% and 38.9% in Cameroon, 5.5% and 34.0% in Jamaica, 2.7% and 40.7% in St. Lucia, 7.8% and 44.7% in Barbados to 21.7% and 54.1% in the US for men and women, respectively. Body mass index-adjusted estimates of AF suggest that in most of these populations, especially in females, avoidance of abdominal overweight or obesity would help to curb the development of hypertension. Discussion: An important public health challenge is to clarify how lifestyle factors influence risks of abdominal adiposity and ultimately the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Copyright © 1999 NAASO

Diurnal Patterns of Gene Expression in the Dorsal Vagal Complex and the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala - Non-rhythm-generating Brain Regions.

Genes that establish the circadian clock have differential expression with respect to solar time in central and peripheral tissues. Here, we find circadian-time-induced differential expression in a large number of genes not associated with circadian rhythms in two brain regions lacking overt circadian function: the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). These regions primarily engage in autonomic, homeostatic, and emotional regulation. However, we find striking diurnal shifts in gene expression in these regions of male Sprague Dawley rats with no obvious patterns that could be attributed to function or region. These findings have implications for the design of gene expression studies as well as for the potential effects of xenobiotics on these regions that regulate autonomic and emotional states

Effect of Nitrogen on the Nutritional Quality and Microbial Load of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L)

The effect of nitrogen concentration on the nutritional quality and microbial load of samples of Hibiscus sabdariffa were studied. Samples of calyces harvested from three different nitrogen levels viz; 0 kg N / ha, 30 kg N / ha and 60 kg N / ha were used. Nutritional composition and the microbial counts of the calyces were determined. Highest significantly (P = 0.01) different crude protein and nitrogen value of 12.06% and 1.93 % were obtained from calyces fertilized with 60 kg N / ha. Ascorbic acid content of the calyces increased with increase in nitrogen levels. For the microbial load analysis, there was no significant influence of nitrogen on the microbial load. However, the least bacteria (2.6 x 104 cfu / ml) and fungi (5.68 x 105 cfu / ml) counts were obtained from calyces fertilized with 30 kg N / ha. Therefore, inorganic nitrogen fertilizer of up to 60 kg N / ha can be applied to Roselle plant in order to increase some of the nutritional constituents but should not exceed 30 kg N / ha for the purpose of reduced microbial load

Predicting tuberculosis drug resistance with machine learning-assisted Raman spectroscopy

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world's deadliest infectious disease, with 1.5 million annual deaths and half a million annual infections. Rapid TB diagnosis and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) are critical to improve patient treatment and to reduce the rise of new drug resistance. Here, we develop a rapid, label-free approach to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains and antibiotic-resistant mutants. We collect over 20,000 single-cell Raman spectra from isogenic mycobacterial strains each resistant to one of the four mainstay anti-TB drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, moxifloxacin and amikacin) and train a machine-learning model on these spectra. On dried TB samples, we achieve > 98% classification accuracy of the antibiotic resistance profile, without the need for antibiotic co-incubation; in dried patient sputum, we achieve average classification accuracies of ~ 79%. We also develop a low-cost, portable Raman microscope suitable for field-deployment of this method in TB-endemic regions

AWARENESS, ADOPTION AND PERCEPTION OF WHATSAPP CUSTOMER SERVICE CHATBOTS IN THE BANKING SECTOR: PERSPECTIVES FROM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

In an attempt to accentuate the role of chatbots in customer service, this study investigates awareness, use, and perceived usefulness of WhatsApp chatbots in banking operations and their performance outcome. The study participants consisted of 362 undergraduate students purposively selected from three tertiary institutions in Lagos state, Nigeria. Results of the cross-sectional survey suggested inadequate awareness and little usage of WhatsApp chatbot services among the study population. Specifically, there is a widespread negative perception of WhatsApp chatbot as a viable alternative to traditional customer service delivery. This was reflected in the low level of perceived usefulness of the chatbots (50%). These results raise concerns over human resources, time, and cost reduction in banking operations through digital customer service. Based on these findings, we recommend a substantial public awareness campaign to educate existing and potential customers about the existence and the benefits of using chatbot/virtual customer assistants and incentives as motivation for the customers to use the virtual customer support option

Affordable housing issue: Experimental investigation on properties of eco-friendly lightweight concrete produced from incorporating periwinkle and palm kernel shells

In recent times, sustainable production of concrete is now considered a major issue due to continuous depletion of raw resources. Thus, this current study investigates the physical and strength performance of eco-friendly concrete produced with the combination of periwinkle (PWS) and palm kernel shells (PKS) used as an alternative for granite. Two mix ratios of 1:2:4 and 1:1.5:3 (cement: sand: granite) were considered with a 28-day target strength of 20 N/mm2 and 25 N/mm2, respectively. A total number of 144 cubes were produced with PWS and PKS was used as partial replacement for granite in the concrete mixes considered. Physical properties of the materials were determined, while the hardened concrete samples were tested for their density and compressive strength. Obtained results showed that both PWS and PKS are lightweight materials compare to granite, thus significantly influence the concrete density. The results revealed a decreasing trend in the strength development for the mixes. The compressive strength decreases as the combined content of PWS and PKS increases in the concrete mixes. However, concrete containing PWS and PKS produced from mix-ratio of 1:1.5:3 exhibited some comparable strength compare to the control. The results showed that PWS and PKS can be combined equally and used in the production of lightweight concrete at an optimum of 5%. This implies that low-cost lightweight concrete can be produced using a combination of palm kernel and periwinkle shells, thus helping to provide affordable housing and also preserving raw materials

Correction of respiratory artifacts in MRI head motion estimates

Head motion represents one of the greatest technical obstacles in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human brain. Accurate detection of artifacts induced by head motion requires precise estimation of movement. However, head motion estimates may be corrupted by artifacts due to magnetic main field fluctuations generated by body motion. In the current report, we examine head motion estimation in multiband resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study and comparison \u27single-shot\u27 datasets. We show that respirations contaminate movement estimates in functional MRI and that respiration generates apparent head motion not associated with functional MRI quality reductions. We have developed a novel approach using a band-stop filter that accurately removes these respiratory effects from motion estimates. Subsequently, we demonstrate that utilizing a band-stop filter improves post-processing fMRI data quality. Lastly, we demonstrate the real-time implementation of motion estimate filtering in our FIRMM (Framewise Integrated Real-Time MRI Monitoring) software package

Expenditure, Coping, and Academic Behaviors Among Food-Insecure College Students at 10 Higher Education Institutes in the Appalachian and Southeastern Regions

Background A number of studies have measured college student food insecurity prevalence higher than the national average; however, no multicampus regional study among students at 4-y institutions has been undertaken in the Appalachian and Southeast regions of the United States. Objectives The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of food insecurity among college students in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, and to determine the association between food-insecurity status and money expenditures, coping strategies, and academic performance among a regional sample of college students. Methods This regional, cross-sectional, online survey study included 13,642 college students at 10 public universities. Food-insecurity status was measured through the use of the USDA Adult Food Security Survey. The outcomes were associations between food insecurity and behaviors determined with the use of the money expenditure scale (MES), the coping strategy scale (CSS), and the academic progress scale (APS). A forward-selection logistic regression model was used with all variables significant from individual Pearson chi-square and Wilcoxon analyses. The significance criterion α for all tests was 0.05. Results The prevalence of food insecurity at the universities ranged from 22.4% to 51.8% with an average prevalence of 30.5% for the full sample. From the forward-selection logistic regression model, MES (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.40, 1.55), CSS (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.21), and APS (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91, 0.99) scores remained significant predictors of food insecurity. Grade point average, academic year, health, race/ethnicity, financial aid, cooking frequency, and health insurance also remained significant predictors of food security status. Conclusions Food insecurity prevalence was higher than the national average. Food-insecure college students were more likely to display high money expenditures and exhibit coping behaviors, and to have poor academic performance

Diurnal Patterns of Gene Expression in the Dorsal Vagal Complex and the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala - Non-rhythm-generating Brain Regions

Genes that establish the circadian clock have differential expression with respect to solar time in central and peripheral tissues. Here, we find circadian-time-induced differential expression in a large number of genes not associated with circadian rhythms in two brain regions lacking overt circadian function: the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). These regions primarily engage in autonomic, homeostatic, and emotional regulation. However, we find striking diurnal shifts in gene expression in these regions of male Sprague Dawley rats with no obvious patterns that could be attributed to function or region. These findings have implications for the design of gene expression studies as well as for the potential effects of xenobiotics on these regions that regulate autonomic and emotional states