PERFORMANCE OF COFFEE LEAF EXPLANTS IN SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS

Explants of four coffee genotypes: T169,C111, C314 and D57 were cultured and maintained at 27±2oC for 14 to 42 days. Calli observed were then transferred to the embryo development (ED) medium and incubated for 90 days, Matured calli were then cultured in appropriate growth media to generate secondary somatic embryos. Varying concentrations of casein hydrolysate in 1000ml ED medium were thereafter separately tested against the resulting six-leaf explants of each of the clones. Overall results showed that clones C111, C314 and T169 responded well to embryogenesis while D57 did not. Techniques used in this study can therefore be used to develop somatic embryos for the micropropagation of some Nigerian premium coffee genotypes

Prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis among primary school pupils in Kirfi L.G.A Bauchi State

Background: Schistosomiasis is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world and is caused by the Schistosoma genus of the fluke. The form of Schistosomiasis affecting the urinary tract is caused by Schistosoma haematobium.Aim: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis among primary school pupils at Kirfi Local Government Area.Methodology: Two hundred mid-stream urine samples were collected from two hundred subjects from four randomly selected primary schools.Result :The overall prevalence of S. haematobium infection was 27.5% (55/200) and was significantly higher among subjects enrolled for Baba primary school and Badara central primary school (ᵡ2= 26.76, df = 3, p = 0.000066). There was no significant difference in prevalence among age groups (ᵡ2 = 1.33, df = 2, p = 0.51), both sexes studied (ᵡ2 = 2.20, df = 1, p = 0.138) and class of the subjects (ᵡ2 = 1.99, df = 5, p = 0.85). Subject that sourced their bathing water from river/stream had highest prevalence of 73.3% (11/15) (ᵡ2=25.6, df = 3, p = 0.000011).Conclusion: Conclusively prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis among primary school pupils at Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State is relatively high and requires attention. Thus, mass de-worming of pupils and de-contamination of the water are recommended

Antibacterial activities of leaf extracts of Brassica oleracae var. capitata. (Brassicaceae) against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates in Maiduguri

Brassica oleracae var. C. green cabbage, a herbaceous biennial plant with leaves that form a compact head, is an edible vegetable used historically as a medicinal herb for a variety of purported health benefits. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibacterial activities of ethanolic and methanolic leaf extracts of Brassica oleracae var. C. against clinical isolates of pathogenic bacteria (S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumonia and P. aeruginosa) by agar well diffusion method. The extraction was carried out by cold marceration and qualitative phytochemical analysis was conducted. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids and reducing sugars. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts demonstrated a concentration-dependent antibacterial activity against S.aureus, E.coli, and P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of B. oleracae demonstrated antibacterial activities and these findings could contribute to effective use of the plant.Keywords: Antibacterial, Brassica oleracae, Clinical isolates, Multi-drug resistant, Phytochemical constituent

Assessment of radioactivity and radiological hazards in commercial ceramic tiles used in Ife-Central, local government area of Osun State, Nigeria

AbstractThe activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides (40K, 232Th and 238U) in ceramic tiles use in homes and offices in Ile-Ife were investigated using a NaI (Tl) detector as the detecting device for gamma spectrometry. The gamma absorbed dose rate (DR), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), annual effective dose (Ad), activity concentration index (I), external radiation index (Hex), internal radiation hazard index (Hin), alpha index (Iα), activity concentration index (Iγ), excess lifetime cancer risk (EC), and annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGd) associated with the radionuclides were evaluated in order to assess the radiation hazard of ceramic tiles used in Ile-Ife. The mean activity concentrations of 850, 24, and 128 Bqkg−1 were obtained for 40K, 232Th, and 238U, respectively. These resulted in an annual effective dose that ranged from 0.07 to 0.2 mSvy−1 with a mean value of 0.14 mSvy−1. The results showed that all the calculated radiological parameters are within the recommended safety limit, hence, do not pose significant radiological hazard when used as building materials.In order to determine the similarities and correlations among various samples, all the radiological variables above were subjected to correlation analysis

Comparative study of efficacy of artesunate plus cotrimoxazole and artesunate plus chloroquine in the treatment of malaria in Nigerian children: a preliminary report

Background & objectives: The study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of cotrimoxazole plusartesunate and to compare the efficacy of this combination with that of artesunate plus chloroquinein the treatment of acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria in children.Methods: Children aged between 0.5 and 12 yr with clinical and parasitological evidence ofPlasmodium falciparum malaria were randomized to receive either artesunate plus cotrimoxazoleor artesunate plus chloroquine. They were followed-up with clinical and parasitological assessmentfor a period of 14 days.Results: In all, 57 out of 81 (31 in the artesunate plus cotrimoxazole group and 26 in artesunateplus chloroquine group) completed the study as per protocol and were evaluated. Pre-treatmentclinical and parasitological parameters were similar in the two treatment groups. The time to clearfever and other symptoms were similar in the two groups 1.0 + 0 vs 1.14 + 0.38 (p > 0.05).Parasite clearance times were also similar; 1.65 + 0.49 days vs 1.58 + 0.67 days respectively forartesunate plus cotrimoxazole and artesunate plus chloroquine (p > 0.05). The cure rates on Day14 were 100% for both artesunate plus cotrimoxazole and artesunate plus chloroquine groups.Both drug combinations were well-tolerated in the small population of children.Conclusion: These results indicate that artesunate plus cotrimoxazole has similar efficacy toartesunate plus chloroquine in the treatment of acute uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria inchildren resident in an endemic area of south-west Nigeria

Predictors of asymptomatic malaria in pregnancy

Summary: A number of studies have described malaria parasitaemia in pregnancy as mostly an asymptomatic condition, however information about predictors of asymptomatic malaria is largely lacking. We investigated the prevalence of symptoms and potential predictors of asymptomatic malaria in pregnant women attending Ante-Natal Clinic (ANC) of two public maternity hospitals in Ibadan, Southwest-Nigeria. Demographic data, history of previous and present pregnancy were obtained from the subjects and blood smears were examined for malaria diagnosis by light microscopy. Seventy – seven parasitaemic pregnant women attending antenatal clinic were evaluated for presence or absence of symptoms that may be associated with malaria. Thirty-seven women (48%) were asymptomatic whereas 40 (52%) presented with symptoms such as weakness, headache and general body ache and fever. Parasite density was significantly higher in symptomatic patients (P = 0.042), while asymptomatic patients had low level parasitaemia but significantly higher gametocyte carriage (P = 0.035). In conclusion, parasitaemic pregnant women resident in hyper- or holo-endemic malaria region are likely to be symptomatic with increasing density of the parasitaemia

Assessment of radiological hazard of quarry products from southwest Nigeria

AbstractThe term “quarry products” comprises different natural rocks with different mineral contents, crushed into various sizes at quarries. The concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides 40K, 238U and 232Th in quarry products from southwest Nigeria have been measured using gamma ray spectrometry. The gamma absorbed dose rate (DR), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), annual effective dose (Ad), activity concentration index (I), external radiation index (Hex) and internal radiation hazard index (Hin) associated with the radionuclides are evaluated in order to assess the radiation hazard of quarry products used as building materials. The results showed that a few of the calculated radiological parameters are higher than permissible limit, hence, may pose a radiological hazard when used as building materials.All the radiological variables above were subjected to correlation analysis to determine the similarities and correlations among various samples. The data sets consist of 10 measured variables. The principal component Analysis (PCA) yields a two component representation of the acquired data, in which 93.3% of the total variance is explained

Investigation of gamma radiation shielding capability of two clay materials

The gamma radiation shielding capability (GRSC) of two clay-materials (Ball clay and Kaolin)of Southwestern Nigeria (7.49°N, 4.55°E) have been investigated by determine theoretically and experimentally the mass attenuation coefficient, μ/ρ (cm2g−1) of the clay materials at photon energies of 609.31, 1120.29, 1173.20, 1238.11, 1332.50 and 1764.49 keV emitted from 214Bi ore and 60Co point source. The mass attenuation coefficients were theoretically evaluated using the elemental compositions of the clay-materials obtained by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) elemental analysis technique as input data for WinXCom software. While gamma ray transmission experiment using Hyper Pure Germanium (HPGe) spectrometer detector to experimentally determine the mass attenuation coefficients, μ/ρ (cm2g−1) of the samples. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations of WinXCom software. Linear attenuation coefficient (μ), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) were also evaluated using the obtained μ/ρ values for the investigated samples. The GRSC of the selected clay-materials have been compared with other studied shielding materials. The cognizance of various factors such as availability, thermo-chemical stability and water retaining ability by the clay-samples can be analyzed for efficacy of the material for their GRSC. Keywords: Clay materials, WinXCom, Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), Gamma radiation shielding capability (GRSC