Data Analysis and Neuro-Fuzzy Technique for EOR Screening : Application in Angolan Oilfields

This study is sponsored by the Angolan National Oil Company (Sonangol EP) and the authors are grateful for their support and the permission to use the data and publish this manuscriptPeer reviewedPublisher PD

From the polling booths to the courtrooms : challenges of strict application of time frame in judicial contestation of election disputes in Nigeria

After her longest military interregnum spanning almost two decades since 1984, Nigeria returned to a democratic system of government in May 1999. By May 2019, five presidential and other national and sub-national elections were held in the country. Virtually all of these elections were characterized by intense political strives and electoral malpractices of varying degrees, leading to the challenging of elections in the election petition tribunals and other courts, long after the conclusion of the polls. This challenge has heightened the spate of judicialization of politics-the practice of excessive utilization of the courts for adjudication of core political matters in the country. But a significant by-product of judicialization of politics in Nigeria is the apparent relegation of substantial justice and possible miscarriage of justice arising from a resort to a technicality in the strict interpretation and enforcement of time frame for such adjudications. This paper, using a doctrinal research methodology of relying on primary and secondary sources of information, shows that the current strict interpretation of the constitutional provisions on the time limit for adjudication of electoral disputes defeats the essence of substantial justice and impacts negatively on the role of the judiciary in social engineering. For comparative constitutional purposes, the paper also juxtaposes the practice in Kenya, another country in Africa with electoral disputation experiences, with the practice in Nigeria. The paper concludes that a review of the law is imperative and then makes somerecommendations

Histomorphology of germ cell tumors at various anatomic sites: a 5 years study at a tertiary care centre

Background: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, which occur in the gonads, and at extra gonadal sites of the body. The aim of the study was to observe the different histopathological patterns of various GCTs in the body at all possible sites and to know their IHC staining patterns.Methods: The study was conducted for a period of 5 years from 2015 to 2019 and was an observational study. The recorded data was compiled and entered in a spreadsheet and then exported to data editor of SPSS Version 20.0. Continuous variables were expressed as mean SD and categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and percentages. Graphically the data was presented by bar and pie diagrams Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was applied for comparing categorical values. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All p values were 2 tailed.Results: A total of 93 cases were analyzed and the mean age of the patients was 27.8 years. Mature cystic teratoma was the most common histopathological variant and was mostly seen in the ovaries. There was a difference in age predilection of benign and malignant tumors. Most of the malignant GCTs were gonadal while EGCTs were likely to be benign. MGCTs (mixed GCTs) were mostly testicular in origin with only one MGCT being extragonadal.Conclusions: Mature cystic teratomas were the most frequent GCTs with frequent site being in ovaries. Out 0f 18 EGCTs only 2 were malignant, rest all were mature cystic teratomas.

Application of artificial intelligence for technical screening of enhanced oil recovery methods

Acknowledgment This study is sponsored by the Angolan National Oil Company (Sonangol EP) and the authors are grateful for their support and the permission to use data and publish this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Antimicrobial resistance of bacterial strains isolated from orange juice products

Forty samples of twenty brands of sachet orange juice products were examined microbiologically. All the products were contaminated with bacteria and yeasts. The organisms encountered include Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces sp, Rhodotorula sp, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Micrococcus sp. The resistances of thirty bacterial strains isolated from orange juice products to the commonly used antibiotics were studied. About 66.67% of the isolates were resistant to augmentin and amoxycillin; 63.33% to cotrimoxazole, 56% to cloxacillin, and 23.33% to tetracycline. Resistances of 10, 6.67, and 3.33% were obtained for gentamicin, erythromycin and chloramphenicol respectively. Among the eight antibiotics tested, seven patterns of drug resistance were obtained. Six out of these are multiple-drug resistance with number of antibiotics ranging between 2 to 8. While MIC of amoxycillin ranged between 10-25mg/ml for the strains of E. coli, MIC of 10-20mg/ml was obtained for the strains of S. aureus. The MIC for cloxacillin was 0.1-1.0mg/ml for E. coli strains, and 0.01-1.0mg/ml for S. aureus strains. In all, ten strains of the bacterial isolates had evidence for the production of &beta;-lactamases. Key words: Orange juice, antibiotics, resistance pattern, &beta;-lactamase, microbiological standard. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(6) 2004: 334-33

In-silico studies of HMG-Co A reductase inhibitors present in fruits of Withania coagulans Dunal (Solanaceae)

Purpose: To evaluate the antihypercholesterolemic effect of chemical constituents of W. coagulans by determining inhibitory effect of the compounds against HMG-CoA reductase, using in-silico methods. Method: Docking simulations of twenty-one chemical constituents, found in the fruits of W. coagulans were performed against HMGCR(PDB ID: 2Q1L) using Molegro Virtual Docker software. The best docked poses were then selected, based on the docking score and amino acids involved in the interaction within the ligand and active site of protein. Results: Five compounds viz. Coagulin D (comp no. 11), Ergosta-5,25-diene-3β,24ε-diol (comp no. 13), Withacoagulin (comp no. 15), and Withaferin (comp no. 16), showed the highest MolDock scores. These compounds with highest docking score, also formed hydrogen bond interactions with His (752), Lys (692, 735), Asp (690), Glu (559) within the binding site of HMG-CoA reductase, thus, halting enzyme activity. Whereas, Withanolide D (comp no. 17) with high MolDock score did not show hydrogen bonding interactions. Conclusion: The high MolDock score and maximum binding with catalytic region of the enzyme indicate that compounds selected from the fruits of W. coagulans are potential blockers of HMG-CoA reductase. Thus, the compounds may be useful for the management of hypercholesterolemia, which untreated, often leads to coronary artery disease. Keywords: Withania coagulans, Coronary artery disease, HMG-CoA reductase, Molegro virtual docker, Hypercholesterolemia, In silico studie