Mycoflora and Aflatoxin Contamination of Some Foodstuffs

Analysis was made of the mycoflora and aflatoxin contamination of Rice (Oryza sativa), Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), Corn (Zea mays), and Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) sold in four different markets in Sango-Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria. Sixty four samples comprising of four samples of each foodstuff from four food vendors in four different markets was assayed. The samples were contaminated with different species of fungi to include Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus tamarii, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus nigricans, Rhizopus oryzae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus parasiticus, Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium verticilliodes, Aspergillus ochraceus, Cladosporium cladosporioide, Mucor spp, Trichodema spp, Rhizopus arrhizus and Aspergillus fumigates. Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium spp had the highest rate of occurrence among the isolated fungi. Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 were found associated with the samples at concentration ranging from 9 - 25 ppb, 8 - 12 ppb, 6 - 21 ppb, 4 - 8 ppb respectively. The fungal counts were between 6.3 x 102 to 7.0 x 103 cfu/g. The moisture content and the pH of samples were between 10.9 to 28.0% and 6.20 to 6.66 respectively. Effective storage and adherence to HACCP principles will help prevent contamination of foodstuffs with aflatoxigenic fungi

Profile of limb amputations in UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, South- Western, Nigeria

No Abstract

Combined administration of Spondias mombin and Ficus exasperata leaf extracts stall Indomethacin-mediated gastric mucosal onslaught in rats.

Background: Despite the rapidly changing concept of gastric ulcer management from conventional vagotomy, H2 receptor antagonists and antacids to proton pump inhibitors, gastrointestinal toxicity remains an impediment to their application in clinical practice. Combined administration of two or more plant extracts with therapeutic efficacy may proffer solution to this menace. This study investigated the combined gastroprotective effects of Spondias mombin and Ficus exasperata leaf extracts against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats.Materials and Methods: Thirty rats were randomized into six groups of five animals each and ulceration was induced by a single oral administration of indomethacin (30 mg/kg body weight). Ulcerated rats were orally administered with Spondias mombin, Ficus exasperata at 200 mg/kg body weightand esomeprazole (a reference drug) at a dose of 20 mg/kg body  weight once daily for 21 days after ulcer induction. At the end of the experiment, gastric secretions and antioxidant parameters were evaluated.Results: We observed that the significantly increased (P < 0.05) ulcer index, gastric acidity, malondialdehyde level and pepsin activity were markedly reduced following co-administration of S. mombin and F. exasperata. The extracts also effectively attenuated the reduced activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as pH, mucin content and reduced glutathione level in the ulcerated rats.Discussion and Conclusion: These findings are indicative of gastroprotective and antioxidative attributes of the two extracts which is also evident in the % protective index value obtained. The available evidences in this study suggest that the complementary effects of S. mombin and F. exasperata proved to be capable of ameliorating indomethacin-mediated gastric ulceration and the probable mechanisms are via antioxidative and proton pump inhibition.Key words: Esomeprazole; Gastroprotective; NSAIDS; Proton pump inhibitor; Ulceration

Treatment Outcomes among Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Tuberculosis Co-Infected Pregnant Women in Resource Poor Settings of South-western Nigeria

The complex interactions between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) infections may be magnified, in the presence of another potentially stressful condition like pregnancy. Though co-infection among pregnant women is rare, treatment outcomes may depend on accessibility to comprehensive treatment modalities. The objective of this study is to determine treatment outcomes among pregnant HIV and TB co-infected pregnant women in Lagos, South-western Nigeria. This retrospective, analytical study was carried out among ninety four (94) eligible pregnant women co-infected with HIV and TB at selected health-care facilities in Lagos state between January, 2008 and December, 2009. A standard checklist for data collection was used and analysis was carried out using the EPI info software. Mean age of respondents was 30.8 (±3.9) years. Sixteen (17.1%) TB cases were clinically diagnosed for tuberculosis. Among tuberculosis cases identified through sputum microscopy, 60(63.8%) were acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive and 21(22.3%) were identified in the first trimester. The mean percentage adherence to anti-retroviral drugs was 95.9% (±5.3). None of the participant smoked cigarette. Seventy three {73 (77.7%)} had contact with TB infected or suspected person in the last three months. Treatment outcome in mother showed that 74(78.7%) were cured, 8(8.5%) relapsed while 12 (12.8%) had treatment failures. Among the babies, 83(88.3%) were born alive. Women with both poor adherence (<90%) and with positive TB contact, but neither factor alone, were half-fold less likely to be cured compared with women with both good adherence (>95%) and no TB contact (OR=0.59, CI=0.45-0.95 and p=0.014). Cure rate was substantially lower in this study. This calls for extra strategies such as routine TB screening in antenatal clinics, strict adherence to national guidelines in the treatment of HIV/TB co-infections, focused antenatal care and comprehensive Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) care and treatment

What Are You Looking At? Team Fight Prediction Through Player Camera

Esport is a large and still growing industry with vast audiences. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs), a sub-genre of esports, possess a very complex environment, which often leads to experts missing important coverage while broadcasting live competitions. One common game event that holds significant importance for broadcasting is referred to as a team fight engagement. Professional player's own knowledge and understanding of the game may provide a solution to this problem. This paper suggests a model that predicts and detects ongoing team fights in a live scenario. This approach outlines a novel technique of deriving representations of a complex game environment by relying on player knowledge. This is done by analysing the positions of the in-game characters and their associated cameras, utilising this data to train a neural network. The proposed model is able to both assist in the production of live esport coverage as well as provide a live, expert-derived, analysis of the game without the need of relying on outside sources

Anticipatory cash transfers for climate resilience: Findings from a randomized experiment in northeast Nigeria

This paper presents the findings from an experimental study designed to assess the impacts of one-time large lump sum cash transfers on welfare and coping strategies of smallholders in climate-risk and conflict-affected communities in northeast Nigeria. This pilot intervention was supported by Google.org and implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The central hypothesis of the intervention is that when climate vulnerable communities have timely access to information and the financial and social resources to act upon that information, they will avoid negative coping strategies and build more diversified and climate resilient livelihoods. The project transferred a lump sum of cash to a treatment group of randomly sampled households when triggered by the climate data risk thresholds. An equal number of comparable households in a control group received the same amount of cash post flooding shock. The main purpose of the study was to assess the impacts of anticipatory cash against the traditional humanitarian post-shocks supporting mechanism. We collected baseline and endline data from a sample of 1450 experimental households (725 ‘treatment’ and 725 ‘control’) and analyzed the data using econometric models. Several outcome indicators including food security, climate adaptive and resilience actions, and wellbeing measures were used to assess the intervention. The results indicate that anticipatory cash has significant impacts on reducing negative coping strategies, increasing the number of pre-emptive climate adaptive actions, and increasing investment in productive assets that could enhance future resilience. On other hand, anticipatory cash transfers do not seem to have significant impacts on short-term food and non-food consumption expenditures compared to post-shock cash transfers. Our findings indicate that one-time large sum anticipatory transfer could lead households to build their climate resilience capacity, and hence a promising intervention to reduce the vulnerability of households to future climate shocks. Based on the findings we have two key recommendations: (1) Given the generally positive findings on household’s welfare and climate resilience capacity, we suggest humanitarian agencies and governments to consider anticipatory interventions (such as pre-shock cash transfers) as a mechanism for both meeting basic needs and improving climate resilience of households provided that quality data and analytics exist to predict a high probability of climate shocks. (2) As climate shocks continue to worsen and humanitarian funding needs remain unmet for both emergencies and early recovery, anticipatory approach may be critical to meeting the short- and long-term needs of climate and conflict-affected households

The eEF1γ Subunit Contacts RNA Polymerase II and Binds Vimentin Promoter Region

Here, we show that the eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 gamma (eEF1γ) physically interacts with the RNA polymerase II (pol II) core subunit 3 (RPB3), both in isolation and in the context of the holo-enzyme. Importantly, eEF1γ has been recently shown to bind Vimentin mRNA. By chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, we demonstrate, for the first time, that eEF1γ is also physically present on the genomic locus corresponding to the promoter region of human Vimentin gene. The eEF1γ depletion causes the Vimentin protein to be incorrectly compartmentalised and to severely compromise cellular shape and mitochondria localisation. We demonstrate that eEF1γ partially colocalises with the mitochondrial marker Tom20 and that eEF1γ depletion increases mitochondrial superoxide generation as well as the total levels of carbonylated proteins. Finally, we hypothesise that eEF1γ, in addition to its role in translation elongation complex, is involved in regulating Vimentin gene by contacting both pol II and the Vimentin promoter region and then shuttling/nursing the Vimentin mRNA from its gene locus to its appropriate cellular compartment for translation

A Comprehensive Model for Developing SME Net Zero Capability Incorporating Grey Literature

SMEs collectively account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions and so there is a need for urgent action to be taken by SMEs in the journey to achieve net zero. In this article, we provide a comprehensive conceptual framework for SMEs to draw from in the journey towards net zero by synthesizing the academic and grey literature. By bringing together key strands of the literature, we derive a conceptual model that provides a clear pathway for SMEs to embark on their net zero journeys. The framework we invent involves understanding the position of the SME in the value chain, understanding the pressures from stakeholders, undertaking greenhouse gas accounting to measure current levels of carbon emissions, undertaking internal changes towards the net zero agenda, undertaking external facing changes towards the net zero agenda, uncoupling, community participation, and updating business activities regularly. This model acts as a progressive decision-making and continuous improvement framework that will be an asset to SMEs as they undertake net zero activities. Overall, the paper contributes to the sustainability literature by being the first to synthesize the academic and grey literature to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for SMEs to attain net zero.</jats:p