Bacteriological and elemental quality of Clarias gariepinus (cat fish) samples from River Lavun, Bida Niger state, Nigeria

Background: River Lavun, located near Bida is a source of domestic water for the populace. Fish from this river is consumed by general populace. Polluted river water contaminates its fish, it is therefore, necessary to evaluate bacteriological and elemental quality of fish from this river which have been reported earlier to be polluted.Objective: To evaluate the bacteriological and elemental quality of fish from River Lavun, with a view of assessing its potential health hazard.Methodology: Three live cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) were obtained from River Lavun monthly for six months for analyses. Using standard methods, microbial load was determined, while susceptibility profiles of the identified isolates was obtained using disc diffusion technique. Elemental contents of the fish were determined using  atomic absorption spectrophotometer.Results: Heterotrophic plate counts ranged from 1.5±0.3 to 5.4±0.6×105 (cfu/g) while faecal coliform counts ranged between 3.8±1.2 and 6.8±2.4×102 (cfu/g). The Enterobacteriaceae constituted 69.8% of the isolates comprising, mostly Klebsiella spp. (20.8%), Enterobacter spp. (17.0%), Escherichia coli (13.2%), Salmonella  spp. (9.4%) and Serratia spp. (5.7%). Staphylococcus spp. constituted as much as 30.2%. A high proportion of these organisms were resistant to erythromycin,  tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate and cefuroxime. However,  Staphylococcus spp. were generally susceptible to the test antibiotics. A high  number of isolates (67.9%) were multi-drug resistance. Three elements: Iron, Zinc and Nickel were above permissible limit in fish prescribed by FAO/WHO.Conclusion: Fish from this river is polluted with some pathogenic bacteria and  contains some elements that could be hazardous on consumption.Keywords: Bacteriological, contamination, resistance, elemental

Screening of West African plants for anthelmintic activity

Eighteen plants traditionally used for the treatment of human and animal helminthiasis in Africa were screened for anthelmintic activity using the Nippostrongylus - rat model. Aloe barteri, Terminalia avicennioides, Annona senegalensis, Cassia occidentalis, Anogeissus leiocarpus and Diospyros mespiliformis showed significant activity, giving deparasitizations of 92, 89, 75, 69, 60 and 58% respectively compared to untreated controls

Influence of preservation methods on ph and microbiological quality of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) milk

The deteriorating effect of microorganisms on tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) milk has hampered its large-scale production and profitability. To study the effect of preservation on the pH and microbiological quality of the milk, big yellow tiger nuts were soaked in 3 L of tap water at 60oC for 6 hours, additives such as coconut, date, cinnamon and ginger were added and blended. The extracted milk was divided into twenty five portions and subjected to the following treatments: pasteurization, sterilization, ultraviolet light, freezing and sodium benzoate. The pH and microbiological quality of both the fresh and preserved samples were investigated over 9-day storage period. The pH of the milk samples significantly decreased (p<0.05) over the period due to microbial activity. There were significant (p<0.05) decrease and increase in the pH values of the preserved samples with negative control (FTM) and positive control samples (TMA) respectively. The less acidic the products are the higher the bacterial load. The values of the total bacterial count for the preserved milk ranged from 5.19±0.06 to 6.84±0.03 log10cfu/ml. The values within this range were significantly lower (p<0.05) than FTM  (6.58±0.05log10cfu/ml) but higher than TMA (4.44±0.02 to 5.85±0.06  log10cfu/ml). The organisms isolated from the samples were Staphylococcus species (16%), Clostridium species (11%), Bacillus species (10%), Acinetobacter species (3%), Enterobacter species (6%), Corynebacterium species (4%), Neisseria species (1%), Vibrio species (1%), Micrococcus species (4%), Aeromonas species (5%), Saccharomyces species (35%) and Rhizopus oryzae (4%). The results suggest that ultraviolet light and sterilization methods were more effective at eliminating most of the bacteria implicated in milk spoilage.Keywords: Fresh, large-scale production, microbiological quality, preserved, tiger nut milk

Preliminary mortality and eclosion: dose-determining factors of aqueous extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa in Drosophila melanogaster

Background: This study investigated the toxicity of Hibiscus sabdariffa extract using simple end point assays (mortality and eclosion assay) in Drosophila melanogaster (Harwich strain) flies. Methods: The study was carried out in two phases (phases I and II) and in an array of concentrations of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/ml in phase I; 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000mg/ml in phase II for the period of 168 hours. Thirty (30) 4-day old flies were used in each concentration and mortality was recorded every 24 hours for the period of the study. Eclosion was scored after emergence of the adult flies. Results: There was no significant difference (p<0.05) in mortality and eclosion between the (experimental) concentrations and the control in the first phase of this study, indicating low/zero toxicity to the parent and the emerged flies. However, higher concentrations of 250 through 1000mg/ml of the second phase showed significant (p<0.05) increased mortality and decreased eclosion scores, indicating high acute toxicity to D. melanogaster. Conclusion: The LC50 of Hibiscus sabdariffa after 168 hours was 427.1mg/10g diet in Drosophila melanogaster and much eclosion was recorded at doses between 10 - 100mg/10g diet as compared with doses between 250 - 1000mg/10g diet. Eclosion can be considered a factor in the determination of LC50 in Drosophila melanogaster. Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster, Hibiscus sabdariffa, mortality, eclosion, concentratio

Roles of various virulence and resistance genes associated with Salmonella and methods of their identification

Salmonellosis is an infectious disease affecting human and animals. The virulence of Salmonella is a function of chromosomal and plasmid factors, many genes code for these factors. Salmonella genes can be classified as core (housekeeping) genes and accessory genes. The core genes of a species are those genes found in (nearly) all known members of the species and they include mostly genes that are necessary for the cell to survive and grow, these include gene encoding enzymes which function in biosynthetic pathways. Genes in the accessory genome are those unique to particular strains and are mainly in the following groups: genomic islands including Salmonella Pathogenicity islands (SPls), prophages, insertion sequences.Keywords: Genes, Pathogenicity, Resistance, Salmonella, Virulenc

Pemetaan Fungsi Platforn E-Portofolio Untuk Perkuliahan di Jurusan Kurikulum dan Teknologi Pendikan Fakultas llmu Pendidikan Universitas Negeri Jakarta

he purpose of this study is the to Mapping the three characteristic of the e- portfolios platform. This research was conducted by the design and development research method by using two methodologies: (1)Tool Use, (2) Model Development. This study collecting various types of platforms specialized to the development e- portfolios and will do a mapping of the function of the platform that has been ellected. To achieve the goal the first year will be used Expert Reviews surveys method The experts will give ratings to the three pieces of E-portfolio Platform installedin www.eportofolio.ac.id, namely Elgg, Moodle and Mahara. Based on these results, the researchers conclude Mahara Platform is the appropriate platform to be used in the learning process. It is supported ratings obtained from the experts

Chemical constituents and antimicrobial properties of Phyllanthus amarus (Schum & Thonn)

The chemical composition of the leave extracts of Phyllanthus amarus (Schum and Thonn) of the family Euphorbiaceae from Nigeria was analyzed by GC-MS. The extracts were also examined for their potential to inhibit the growth of clinical isolates following standard procedure. The major compounds identified in the hexane extract are a flavonoid, flavone 4’,5,7-triethoxy-3,3’,6- trimethoxy (20.23%) and a triterpenoid 17-(1,5-Dimethylhexyl)-6-hydroxy-5-methylestr-9-en-3-yl acetate (19.02%) while bufalin (18.71%) and tetratetracontane (12.91%) were the major compounds detected in the methanol extract. Steroidal triterpenoids are the major compounds present in the extracts as it accounted for 47% of the total detectable content in the hexane extract and 52% in the methanol extract. The steroidal triterpenoids which exist primarily as acetate in the hexane extract include cycloeucalenyl acetate, ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3-ol acetate, macdougallin, 17-(1,5-Dimethylhexyl)-6-hydroxy-5-methylestr-9-en-3-yl acetate, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol while the methanol extract contains 6,7-epoxypregn-4-ene-9,11,18-triol-3,20-dione, 11,18-diacetate, bufalin, olean-13(18)-ene, methyl ursolate, barringenol R1 and 7,8- epoxylanostan-11-ol,3-acetoxy. Hexane extract of the plant exhibited antifungal activity on Candida albicans while methanol extract revealed significant antibacterial activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus at all concentrations of the extract between 12.5 and 100 mg/mL, the activity being comparable to the standard antibacterial drug, Oxacillin. The leaves of Phyllanthus amarus is a potential source of steroidal triterpenoids which could serve as biomarker for the plant species. The extracts of the plant may also serve as a natural source of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of some microbial infections.Keywords: Phyllathus amarus, antimicrobial, phytochemicals, leaf extract

Production, Processes and Modification of Nanocrystalline Cellulose from Agro-Waste: A Review

Nanocrystalline cellulose is a renewable nanomaterial that has gained huge attention for its use in various applications from advanced biomedical material to food packaging material due to its exceptional physical and biological properties, such as high crystallinity degree, large specific surface area, high aspect ratio, high thermal resistance, good mechanical properties, abundance of surface hydroxyl groups, low toxicity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. However, they still have drawbacks: (1) sources of raw materials and its utilization in the production of nanocomposites and (2) high chemical and energy consumption regarding the isolation of macro-sized fibers to nano-sized fibers. The incorporation of hydrophilic nanocrystalline cellulose within hydrophobic polymer limits the dispersion of nano-sized fibers, thus resulting in low mechanical properties of nanocomposites. Hence, surface modification on nano-sized fiber could be a solution to this problem. This review focuses on the advanced developments in pretreatment, nanocrystalline production and modifications, and its application in food packaging, biomedical materials, pharmaceutical, substitution biomaterials, drug excipient, drug delivery automotive, and nanopaper applications