Forcasting Natural Gas Consumption in Nigeria using the Modified Grey Model (MGM(1,1,⊗b))

Accurate prediction of the natural gas consumption in Nigeria is crucial to Gas management. This study utilizes the improved Grey model (MGM(1,1,⊗b)), which is an improvement of the modified Grey model (MGM(1,1)), to forecast the natural gas consumption of Nigeria for the year 2021 to 2025. A secondary data retrieved from the NNPC 2019 annual statistics bulletin was used to build a model for this prediction. Noting that MGM(1,1) model uses the Grey action quantity as a unique real number which do not reflect the uncertainty nature of Grey systems. A model (MGM(1,1,⊗b)) was developed such that it extends the MGM(1,1) model to retain the uncertainty nature of Grey systems. The new modified Grey model (MGM(1,1,⊗b)) was used to make prediction of the natural gas consumption of Nigeria and the results shows that the (MGM(1,1,⊗b)) model gives a prediction interval which the actual value is bracketed. This implies that natural gas consumption of Nigeria for 2021 to 2025 lies within the (MGM(1,1,⊗b)) model prediction values for the same year

Antimicrobial activities of Carica papaya leaf against diarrhoea causing agents

The advent of science to the search for antibiotics principally depends on medicinal plants as raw materials. This present study evaluated the antimicrobial effect of Carica papaya leaf extracts against bacterial and fungal agents that causes diarrhoea. Fresh tender roots and leaves of this plant was collected, air-dried, powdered and percolated in n-hexane, methanol and aqueous solvents. The antimicrobial activities of the extract against test organisms were tested by using agar well diffusion assay and the MIC, MBC and MFC values were determined by agar dilution assay. The results revealed that the crude methanol and aqueous extracts of Carica papaya had no anti-fungal activity, but have antibacterial activity. N.hexane extract of C. papaya had most activity than other solvents with MIC ranged from 25 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml and MBC ranged from 50 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml.These results suggest that paw paw leaf extract is recommended as a diarrhoea disease remedy

Oil Palm-Based Cropping Systems of the Humid Tropics: Addressing Production Sustainability, Resource Efficiency, Food Security and Livelihood Challenges

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq), is a crop of tremendous food, nutrition and economic importance in the tropics. Weather variability and extremes profoundly impact the establishment, survival and productivity of oil palm on the field. Alleys of palm trees in plantation are cropped with arables during early years following field establishment. Studies were conducted at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research, Benin City, Nigeria. Oil palm seedlings responded to shading, irrigation and AMF inoculation via enhanced water use efficiency, growth vigor and reduced seedling mortality in the nursery during dry season. Age of oil palm and intercrops of Cassava, Maize and Pepper affected mixture productivity and competitive functions in alleys of 2 to 6 years old oil palm fields. Fertilizers (inorganic/organic) promoted agronomic and physiological efficiencies of N use by alley species. Sole crops had higher N use efficiency compared with the intercrops across the fertilizers

Combination therapy with PEG-IFN-α and 5-FU inhibits HepG2 tumour cell growth in nude mice by apoptosis of p53

When the tumour suppressor p53 is activated by DNA damage, it stimulates the transcription of its target genes, which then induce cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Here, we examined the role p53 plays in the antitumour effect of combination treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which has been shown to effectively treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nude mice were injected subcutaneously with cultured HepG2 cells, in which p53 is functional. They were treated a week later with PEG-IFN and/or 5-FU for 7 weeks, after which we measured and examined their tumours. Combination groups showed significantly lower tumour volumes and higher tumour cell apoptosis than the other groups. Combination treatment and PEG-IFN monotherapy also significantly elevated the p53 protein and mRNA levels in the tumour but only combination treatment increased the degree of p53 phosphorylation at serine46 and induced p53-regulated apoptosis-inducing protein 1 (p53AIP1) expression. The antitumour effects of combination treatment is due in part to the elevation by PEG-IFN of p53 protein and mRNA expression and in part to the DNA damage that is generated by 5-FU, which induces p53 serine46 phosphorylation, which in turn upregulates p53AIP1 expression

Increasing frailty is associated with higher prevalence and reduced recognition of delirium in older hospitalised inpatients: results of a multi-centre study

Purpose: Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder delineated by an acute change in cognition, attention, and consciousness. It is common, particularly in older adults, but poorly recognised. Frailty is the accumulation of deficits conferring an increased risk of adverse outcomes. We set out to determine how severity of frailty, as measured using the CFS, affected delirium rates, and recognition in hospitalised older people in the United Kingdom. Methods: Adults over 65 years were included in an observational multi-centre audit across UK hospitals, two prospective rounds, and one retrospective note review. Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), delirium status, and 30-day outcomes were recorded. Results: The overall prevalence of delirium was 16.3% (483). Patients with delirium were more frail than patients without delirium (median CFS 6 vs 4). The risk of delirium was greater with increasing frailty [OR 2.9 (1.8–4.6) in CFS 4 vs 1–3; OR 12.4 (6.2–24.5) in CFS 8 vs 1–3]. Higher CFS was associated with reduced recognition of delirium (OR of 0.7 (0.3–1.9) in CFS 4 compared to 0.2 (0.1–0.7) in CFS 8). These risks were both independent of age and dementia. Conclusion: We have demonstrated an incremental increase in risk of delirium with increasing frailty. This has important clinical implications, suggesting that frailty may provide a more nuanced measure of vulnerability to delirium and poor outcomes. However, the most frail patients are least likely to have their delirium diagnosed and there is a significant lack of research into the underlying pathophysiology of both of these common geriatric syndromes

Advanced Extrauterine Pregnancy With Delivery of a Living Child: A Case Report

Although abdominal pregnancy had been well documented, such pregnancies exceptionally reach term but delivery of a live infant is rare. We report a case of abdominal pregnancy diagnosed at 25weeks and managed conservatively with the delivery of a live baby that weighed 2.8kg. The problems encountered in the management are highlighted. Key Words: Extrauterine Pregnancy, Ectopic Gestation. [ Trop J Obstet Gynaecol, 2004;21:180-182

Culture-based Social support to Older Adults in Nnewi, South-East Nigeria

Background: Old age usually comes with frailty and withdrawal resulting to dependence on various support systems for assistance. However, studies have shown that social support available for older adults from these support systems especially in south-east Nigeria is inadequate. This study therefore depicts some cultural activities as a form of social support system for older adults.Data and methods: Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with 40 older adults and their caregivers. Thematic analytic approach was adopted to analyse the data.Findings: Some of the prevailing cultural activities including village meetings, marriage ceremonies, child naming or dedications, funerals, postpartum care serve as veritable means of support to older adults. Conclusion: This study therefore suggests that older adults should be encouraged to participate in some of these activities in order to ensure satisfactory support. 

The BRPF1 bromodomain is a molecular reader of di-acetyllysine

Open access article. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) appliesBromodomain-containing proteins are often part of chromatin-modifying complexes, and their activity can lead toaltered expression of genes that drive cancer, inflammation and neurological disorders in humans. Bromodomain-PHDfinger protein 1 (BRPF1) is part of the MOZ (monocytic leukemic zinc-finger protein) HAT (histone ace-tyltransferase) complex, which is associated with chromosomal translocations known to contribute to thedevelopment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). BRPF1 contains a unique combination of chromatin reader do-mains including two plant homeodomain (PHD)fingers separated by a zinc knuckle (PZP domain), a bromodo-main, and a proline-tryptophan-tryptophan-proline (PWWP) domain. BRPF1 is known to recruit the MOZ HATcomplex to chromatin by recognizing acetylated lysine residues on the N-terminal histone tail region through itsbromodomain. However, histone proteins can contain several acetylation modifications on their N-terminus, andit is unknown how additional marks influence bromodomain recruitment to chromatin. Here, we identify theBRPF1 bromodomain as a selective reader of di-acetyllysine modifications on histone H4. We used ITC assays tocharacterize the binding of di-acetylated histone ligands to the BRPF1 bromodomain and found that the domainbinds preferentially to histone peptides H4K5acK8ac and H4K5acK12ac. Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC)experiments revealed that the monomeric state of the BRPF1 bromodomain coordinates di-acetylated histoneligands. NMR chemical shift perturbation studies, along with binding and mutational analyses, revealed non-canonical regions of the bromodomain-binding pocket that are important for histone tail recognition. Together,ourfindings provide critical information on how the combinatorial action of post-translational modifications canmodulate BRPF1 bromodomain binding and specificity.Ye