Recovery of pure slaked lime from carbide sludge: Case study of Lagos state, Nigeria.

Carbide sludge is the by-product of reaction between calcium carbide and water in the production of acetylene gas for welding purposes. This by-product is discarded as waste due to high content of impurities as a result of the reactants and reaction processes. In this research work an attempt was made at developing an appropriate process technology for the recovery of pure slaked lime from Nigeria’s automobile welders’ carbide sludge using solubilisation and evaporation process technology. The percentage purity of the slaked lime recovered through the process was 88%. The recovered slaked limes had pH of 11.93, were soluble in glycerol and dilute acid, insoluble in alcohol, and sparingly soluble in water. The optimum percentage yield was 78.2% at a ratio of 1:1000(w/v) of sludge to water held for 24 h at room temperature.Key words: Carbide, recovery, evaporation, sludge, technolog

Frequency and Pattern of Gynecological Cancers in Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Nigeria

Background: Gynecological cancers are common and are among the leading causes of cancer‑related deaths worldwide. Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the pattern and relative frequencies of gynecological cancers as seen at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A 2‑year retrospective study of female genital tract malignancies was conducted at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki. The case notes of patients admitted for female genital tract malignancy between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013 were retrieved from the ward admissions and discharge books and the operating theater record books. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), IBM SPSS statistics Version 20, IBM incorporation and licensors 1989,2011 New York USA and the results expressed in descriptive statistics by simple percentages. Result: A total of 1,178 women were seen during the study period, while 99 were found to have gynecological malignancy. The proportion of gynecological malignancies was 8.4%. Majority of the patients were in the 5th and 6th decades of life, most (60.6%) had cervical cancer, followed by ovarian cancer (19.2%), endometrial cancer (10.1%) vulva cancer (7.1%), and the least was choriocarcinoma (3.0%). Tumors of fallopian tube and vagina were not seen during the study period. Majority of the patients presented late and the common presentation was vaginal bleeding. Conclusion: Despite the preventable nature of cancer of cervix, it remained the most common female genital tract malignancy in Abakaliki, southeast Nigeria. Education and public enlightenment on the importance of routine screening and treatment of premalignant lesions of the cervix are necessary tools to reduce the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer.KEY WORDS: Abakaliki, cancer, frequency, gynecologic, gynecological cancer, Nigeria, patter

Saccharification of delignified sawdust from 20 different trees in the Lagos area of Nigeria

Sawdust produced during the chopping of trees is a major waste product causing pollution of air as well as of the Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria. Sawdust from 20 different trees processed in the wood industry has been delignified successively by the Kraft process and hydrogen peroxide followed by Trichoderma viride cellulose catalyzed bioconversion into glucose, a fermentable sugar. Sugars are also released from sawdust during each delignification procedure prior to enzymatic catalyzed bioconversion. A 654% increase in sugar formation was observed from Entada gigas and 422% increase from Nauclea diderrichii when exposed to both delignification procedures compared to the amount of sugar released during Kraft pretreatment only. Relative high amounts of glucose were released during bioconversion of these waste celluloses when subjected to both delignification procedures compared to the bioconversion of Kraft delignified sawdust. Both delignification procedures resulted in a 175% increase in sugar formation for both Erythrophleum suaveolens and Milicia excels wood species. Different glucose concentrations were released during biodegradation with the highest at 9.23 mg.ml-1 released from Lophira alata after Kraft pretreatment and 14.28 mg.ml-1 from E. suaveolens after both delignification procedures. The concentration of sugar produced during the cellulase catalyzed bioconversion of delignified sawdust was many folds higher than the amount of sugars released during the delignification procedures.Key words: Bioenergy, sawdust, Trichoderma viride cellulase, delignification, saccharification

Mechanisms of hypoxic up-regulation of versican gene expression in macrophages

Hypoxia is a hallmark of many pathological tissues. Macrophages accumulate in hypoxic sites and up-regulate a range of hypoxia-inducible genes. The matrix proteoglycan versican has been identified as one such gene, but the mechanisms responsible for hypoxic induction are not fully characterised. Here we investigate the up-regulation of versican by hypoxia in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDM), and, intriguingly, show that versican mRNA is up-regulated much more highly (>600 fold) by long term hypoxia (5 days) than by 1 day of hypoxia (48 fold). We report that versican mRNA decay rates are not affected by hypoxia, demonstrating that hypoxic induction of versican mRNA is mediated by increased transcription. Deletion analysis of the promoter identified two regions required for high level promoter activity of luciferase reporter constructs in human macrophages. The hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1 has previously been implicated as a key potential regulator of versican expression in hypoxia, however our data suggest that HIF-1 up-regulation is unlikely to be principally responsible for the high levels of induction observed in HMDM. Treatment of HMDM with two distinct specific inhibitors of Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), LY290042 and wortmannin, significantly reduced induction of versican mRNA by hypoxia and provides evidence of a role for PI3K in hypoxic up-regulation of versican expression

The identification of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans in archaeological human bones and teeth

Bone tissue is mineralized dense connective tissue consisting mainly of a mineral component (hydroxyapatite) and an organic matrix comprised of collagens, non-collagenous proteins and proteoglycans (PGs). Extracellular matrix proteins and PGs bind tightly to hydroxyapatite which would protect these molecules from the destructive effects of temperature and chemical agents after death. DNA and proteins have been successfully extracted from archaeological skeletons from which valuable information has been obtained; however, to date neither PGs nor glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains have been studied in archaeological skeletons. PGs and GAGs play a major role in bone morphogenesis, homeostasis and degenerative bone disease. The ability to isolate and characterize PG and GAG content from archaeological skeletons would unveil valuable paleontological information. We therefore optimized methods for the extraction of both PGs and GAGs from archaeological human skeleto ns. PGs and GAGs were successfully extracted from both archaeological human bones and teeth, and characterized by their electrophoretic mobility in agarose gel, degradation by specific enzymes and HPLC. The GAG populations isolated were chondroitin sulfate (CS) and hyaluronic acid (HA). In addition, a CSPG was detected. The localization of CS, HA, three small leucine rich PGs (biglycan, decorin and fibromodulin) and glypican was analyzed in archaeological human bone slices. Staining patterns were different for juvenile and adult bones, whilst adolescent bones had a similar staining pattern to adult bones. The finding that significant quantities of PGs and GAGs persist in archaeological bones and teeth opens novel venues for the field of Paleontology

Genome Sequence of a Lancefield Group C Streptococcus zooepidemicus Strain Causing Epidemic Nephritis: New Information about an Old Disease

Outbreaks of disease attributable to human error or natural causes can provide unique opportunities to gain new information about host-pathogen interactions and new leads for pathogenesis research. Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN), a sequela of infection with pathogenic streptococci, is a common cause of preventable kidney disease worldwide. Although PSGN usually occurs after infection with group A streptococci, organisms of Lancefield group C and G also can be responsible. Despite decades of study, the molecular pathogenesis of PSGN is poorly understood. As a first step toward gaining new information about PSGN pathogenesis, we sequenced the genome of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus strain MGCS10565, a group C organism that caused a very large and unusually severe epidemic of nephritis in Brazil. The genome is a circular chromosome of 2,024,171 bp. The genome shares extensive gene content, including many virulence factors, with genetically related group A streptococci, but unexpectedly lacks prophages. The genome contains many apparently foreign genes interspersed around the chromosome, consistent with the presence of a full array of genes required for natural competence. An inordinately large family of genes encodes secreted extracellular collagen-like proteins with multiple integrin-binding motifs. The absence of a gene related to speB rules out the long-held belief that streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B or antibodies reacting with it singularly cause PSGN. Many proteins previously implicated in GAS PSGN, such as streptokinase, are either highly divergent in strain MGCS10565 or are not more closely related between these species than to orthologs present in other streptococci that do not commonly cause PSGN. Our analysis provides a comparative genomics framework for renewed appraisal of molecular events underlying APSGN pathogenesis

Prospects of using whole rice husk for the production of dense and hollow bricks

One of the main reasons for the continued increase in the deficit of affordable housing in Nigeria is the high cost of brick made from sand and ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Finding a replacement for cement to assure sustainability is crucial as the raw materials used in making cements which are naturally occurring are depleting. Rice husk was milled and sieved to reduce the size to 0.020 mm. The moisture content of the rice husk was 9.98%, bulk density was 609.61g cm-3 and the ash content was 18.74%. Rice husk was wetted for 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 21 h and mixed with slaked lime at the ratios of 1:1, 3:1, 2:3 and 3:2. The composite was molded in cylindrical and rectangular mold using mechanical and hydraulic press. The compressive strength (CS) (N/mm2) was tested at ages of 7, 14 and 21 days. The results show higher compressive strength in 1:1 as the bricks ages and also greater strength when wetted for 15 h. For 15 h wetting, 1:1 had CS (N/mm2) of 2.59, 6.07 and 11.23. If well optimized, rice husk can be an excellent material for brick production thereby presenting a good alternative to OPC.Key words: Hollow bricks, dense bricks, rice husk, compressive strength, molds

Chemical constituents of the solvent extracted and hydrodistilled essential oils of African nutmeg (Monodora myristica) and turmeric (Curcuma domestica) from South West Nigeria

Investigations were conducted on the effect of solvents of extraction (n–hexane, chloroform and toluene) on the chemical constituents of the essential oils of two popular spices in Nigeria, namely; African nutmeg (Monodora myristica) and Turmeric (Curcuma domestica). Comparisons were made on the chemical constituents of these solvent extracts with the constituents from the popular hydrodistillation method. The analyses were made using a high-resolution gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The hydrodistilled essential oil of M. myristica contained a total of 61 chemical constituents with the major ones as alpha-phellandrene expoxide (3.20%), carvacrol (2.09%) and delta-cadinene (2.21%). The n-hexane extract contained 39 chemical constituents with the major constituents as hexadecanoic acid (3.96%), (Z, Z) 9, 12–octadecadienoic acid (3.77%), propyl oleate (3.45%), thiosulfuric acid (2.98%) and 2-hydroxycyclopentanedecanone (2.2%). The chloroform extract contained 38 components with p-cymene (6.0%), alphaphellendrene epoxide (3.23%), ethyllinoleate (3.79%), linoleic acid (4.36%), oleic acid (14.66%), (Z, Z) 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid (7.89%) and 3-hydroxypropyl oleate (4.09%) as the major constituents, while the toluene extract contained 30 chemical constituents with the major ones as p-cymene (4.6%), alpha–phellandrene epoxide (2.41%), linoleic acid (23.31%) and (Z, Z) 9, 12–octadecadienoic acid (7.02%). The hydrodistillated oil of C. domestica contained 31 constituents, with alpha-phellandrene (4.6%), 1, 8–Cineole (3.0%), p-cymene (3.7%), Ar-curcumene (5.1%), tumerol (15.2%), 1-(1,2-dimethyl propylidene, 4-methenylcyclohex- 2-ene) (2.5%) and ar-tumerone (8.4%) as the major constituents. The n-hexane extract contained 17 constituents with the major ones as neral (2.79%), geranial (3.59%), artumerone (26.53%) and alpha-tumerone (11.99%). The chloroform extract of C. domestica contained 17 constituents with the major ones as ar-tumerone (21.17%), beta-tumerone (14.99%) and alpha-tumerone (11.99%); while the toluene extract contained 17 constituents with alpha-tumerone (12.01%), ar-tumerone (20.06%) and beta-tumerone (14.9%). The results show that the type of extracting solvent affects both the chemical constituents extracted and their concentration. Keywords: turmeric, Curcuma, C. domestica, solvent extraction, essential oil, African nutmeg, Monodora, M. myristica Nigerian Food Journal Vol. 23 2005: 21-3

Effect of extraction methods on the stability of benniseed oil from Nigeria

The effect of extraction methods on the stability of benniseed oil was investigated. The samples of the benniseed oil were extracted by three methods namely: solvent, mechanical press and vegetable oil expeller. The indicators of stability used were free fatty acids (FFA) and peroxide values (PV). The free fatty acid (FFA) expressed as percentage oleic acid were 2.42mg KOH/g, 3.06mg KOH/g and 6.02mg KOH/g for the oil expeller, mechanical press and solvent freshly extracted oil samples respectively. The corresponding peroxide values were 1.47mg eq/g, 2.14mg eq/g and 2.89mg eq/g. The FFA for the oils after 4 mon storage were 2.46mg KOH/g, 3.22mg KOH/g and 8.30mgKOH/g, while the PV were 2.09mg The eq/g, 3.44mg eq/g, 6.50mg eq/g for expeller, mechanical press and solvent extraction respectively. After 8 mon corresponding PV were 3.51mg eq/g, 6.65mg eq/g, and 9.13mg eq/g for expeller, mechanical press and solvent extraction methods respectively. After the storage of the oil samples for a period of 12 mon, the FFA values were 2.68mg KOH/g, 3.99mg KOH/g and 12.14mg KOH/g for the oil expeller, mechanical press and solvent extraction respectively. The peroxide values were 3.94mg eq/g, 7.68mg eq/g and 10.12mg eq/g. The result of the investigation has shown that benniseed oil, despite its inherent anti-oxidative properties, can undergo some degree of auto-oxidation, which is dependent on the extraction method. The expelled oil was more stable on storage while solvent extracted oil was the least stable. The FFA values were 2.55mg KOH/g, 3.52mg KOH/g, and 11.02mg KOH/g.Keywords: Sesamum indicum, benniseed oil, storage stability; auto-oxidation, physicochemical properties Nigerian Food Journal Vol. 23 2005: 121-12

Evaluation of the physico-chemical properties of acid thinned cassava starch

The effect of acid hydrolysis on the physico-chemical properties of cassava starch was investigated. The acid hydrolysed (acid thinned) starches were prepared from cassava starch with 0.1M solution of hydrochloric acid. The acid hydrolysis of starch samples were carried out at 60°C in a thermostatically controlled water bath for 30 min, 1hr, 2hr and 3hr.The reducing number which is a measure of the degree of hydrolysis (increased aldehydic end-group) increased from 2.96 (raw starch), 3.20 (30min), 6.96 (1hr), 8.76(2hr) and 14.37 (3hr). The pasting (gelatinisation) temperature was found to increase with increase in acid hydrolysis from 6873°C (raw starch), 6265 °C (30min), 5863°C (1hr), 5560°C (2hr) and 5357°C (3hr). The setting (gelling) temperature was found to decrease progressively from 54°C (30min), 50°C (1hr), and 35°C (2hr). The flow properties of the pastes which is a measure of the viscosity increased with increase acid treatment as shown by flow rate of 0.8ml/sec (30min); 1.0ml/sec (1hr); 1.9ml/sec (2hr) and 2.3ml/sec (3hr). From the investigation, the acid modification of cassava starch at 60°C with 0.1M hydrochloric acid solutions for 1hr and 2hr gave pastes that are stable, and have workable viscosities and can form gel in food processing. Therefore, the results suggest that they are suitable for the food industry as food emulsifiers/stabilizers.Keywords: acid thinned starch, manihot esculenta, starch gelatinisation, cassava starch, and starch hydrolysis. Nigerian Food Journal Vol. 23 2005: 85-9