Socio-Economic Benefits of Microgravity Research

Microgravity researches are conducted in low gravity environments. These low gravity environments can be achieved in a number of ways including parabolic aircraft flights, sounding rockets, drop towers, clinostat.  Gravity dominates everything on Earth, from the way life has developed to the way materials interact. The reduction of gravity causes significant changes in the chosen sample which could be cells, plants, micro-organisms and small samples from material sciences. The changes that occur as a result of the effect of microgravity have led to discoveries that have been found to be of socio-economic benefits. Socio-economic benefits involve benefits in wealth, health, economic, environment. Sustainable development in an economy includes economic growth, environmental protection and social equality. Space technology applications such as in microgravity stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life of people, in this way, it is beneficial to mankind.  Overall, products manufactured in microgravity environments have key properties usually surpassing the best terrestrial counterparts. Commercially, these products have attractive features that facilitate marketing. This review considers the various benefits of microgravity research in life-sciences such as in microbiology, pharmacy, and medicine

Mutations Affecting HVO_1357 or HVO_2248 Cause Hypermotility in Haloferax volcanii, Suggesting Roles in Motility Regulation

Motility regulation plays a key role in prokaryotic responses to environmental stimuli. Here, we used a motility screen and selection to isolate hypermotile Haloferax volcanii mutants from a transposon insertion library. Whole genome sequencing revealed that hypermotile mutants were predominantly affected in two genes that encode HVO_1357 and HVO_2248. Alterations of these genes comprised not only transposon insertions but also secondary genome alterations. HVO_1357 contains a domain that was previously identified in the regulation of bacteriorhodopsin transcription, as well as other domains frequently found in two-component regulatory systems. The genes adjacent to hvo_1357 encode a sensor box histidine kinase and a response regulator, key players of a two-component regulatory system. None of the homologues of HVO_2248 have been characterized, nor does it contain any of the assigned InterPro domains. However, in a significant number of Haloferax species, the adjacent gene codes for a chemotaxis receptor/transducer. Our results provide a foundation for characterizing the root causes underlying Hfx. volcanii hypermotility

Investigation of the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Hymenocardia acida Tul. (Hymenocardiaceae)

Hymenocardia acida Tul. (Hymenocardiaceae) locally called Orupa, is traditionally used for the treatment of inflammation, including arthritis, rheumatic pain and toothache. The potential antiinflammatory and antinociceptive activities of the aqueous leaf extract of this plant were evaluated in animal models. The extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly (P < 0.05) and dose - dependently inhibited carrageenan and egg albumin-induced rat paw oedema development compared with control group. At 3 h of post-carrageenan administration, the highest dose of the extract (200 mg/kg, p.o) inhibited oedema formation by 66.67%. The reference drug used, indomethacin (10 mg/kg, p.o), gave an inhibition of 72.22%. The inhibitory activity shown by the aqueous leaf extract of H. acida over a period of 6 h in the carrageenan and 3 h in the egg albumin-induced paw inflammation models was comparable to that exhibited by the reference drugs used, indomethacin and cyproheptadine (10 mg/kg, p.o). The extract elicited a significant analgesic activity in the tail immersion test as evidenced by the increase in latency time in seconds as compared with the control at the end of 20 min. In the acetic acid-induced writhing model, the extract showed a dose-dependent reduction in the number of writhes at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg when compared to the control group. The 200 mg/kg dose produced a complete protective effect, as no abdominal constriction was observed. The results obtained in this study provide some justification for the folkloric uses of H. acida as a remedy for relieving pain and  inflammation.Key words: Anti-inflammatory activity, antinociceptive activity, carrageenan, egg-albumin, Hymenocardia acida

Intraligamentary Extrauterine Pregnancy Delivered at Term: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Intraligamentary pregnancy is extremely rare. Preoperative diagnosis is often difficult. We report a case of a 33 year old female who had an ectopic pregnancy in the right broad ligament. The pregnancy remained viable till term, but unfortunately resulted in a perinatal death prior delivery. Diagnosis was not made until laparotomy and a well formed still born was delivered. A high index of suspicion and prompt therapeutic intervention are necessary to prevent adverse fetal and or maternal outcome. Keywords: Intraligamentary pregnancy, Full term fetus, Nigeria

Design and Construction of an Automatic Home and Office Power Control System

In homes and offices, it is very common for occupants to forget to switch OFF the lighting and fans when leaving the premises. This can be attributed to human forgetfulness and the epileptic power supply which causes interruption that results in users forgetting the state of their appliances (whether they are ON or OFF). Consequently, these appliances would continue to work whenever power is restored when the occupants might have vacated the premise. This action is not a small contributor to energy wastage in a country like Nigeria where there is an inadequate energy supply to go round the populace. In this work, a simple but robust automatic home and office power control system is developed to auto-detect the presence of an occupant in the room through the passive infrared (PIR) sensor and control the electrical appliances (lighting and fan source) in the room. Certain conditions must be met for the operation of lighting and the fan source. The lighting comes up when the PIR sensor senses the presence of an occupant and the room is in darkness, while the fan would work when there is an occupant and the temperature in the room is above 35 °C. These conditions are programmed to suit the need of the occupant but cannot be changed by the user. The device automatically switches OFF within five minutes after the last occupant leaves the room

Design and Construction of an Arduino - Based Solar Power Parameter-Measuring System with Data Logger

Accurate monitoring and measurement of solar photovoltaic panel parameters are important for solar power plant analysis to evaluate the performance and predict the future energy generation. There are always challenges of getting such data readily available due to huge amount of money to be spent on state of the art equipment or the purchase of reliable satellite weather data. This study aimed at the development of a cost-effective parameter-measuring system for a solar photovoltaic panel using Arduino microprocessor board. The systems measure five parameters, including voltage, current, light intensity, temperature, and pressure. The hardware circuit was designed to link different sensors with the Arduino board and the measured data were in turn were documented into a computer for further analysis. The accuracy of the constructed device was ascertained by comparing the measured parameters with that of conventional standard measuring instruments which shows good agreement. The measured parameters show that the output energy generation from solar photovoltaic panel largely depends on the solar irradiance and temperatur

Acute Kidney Injuries in Children with Severe Malaria: A comparative study of diagnostic criteria based on serum cystatin C and creatinine levels

Objectives: Serum creatinine levels are often used to diagnose acute kidney injury (AKI), but may not necessarily accurately reflect changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This study aimed to compare the prevalence of AKI in children with severe malaria using diagnostic criteria based on creatinine values in contrast to cystatin C. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed between June 2016 and May 2017 at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. A total of 170 children aged 0.5–14 years old with severe malaria were included. Serum cystatin C levels were determined using a particle-enhanced immunoturbidmetric assay method, while creatinine levels were measured using the Jaffe reaction. Renal function assessed using cystatin C-derived estimated GFR (eGFR) was compared to that measured using three sets of criteria based on creatinine values including the Kidney Disease: Improved Global Outcomes (KDIGO) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria as well as an absolute creatinine cut-off value of >1.5 mg/dL. Results: Mean serum cystatin C and creatinine levels were 1.77 ± 1.37 mg/L and 1.23 ± 1.80 mg/dL, respectively (P = 0.002). According to the KDIGO, WHO and absolute creatinine criteria, the frequency of AKI was 32.4%, 7.6% and 16.5%, respectively. In contrast, the incidence of AKI based on cystatin C-derived eGFR was 51.8%. Overall, the rate of detection of AKI was significantly higher using cystatin C compared to the KDIGO, WHO and absolute creatinine criteria (P = 0.003, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Diagnostic criteria for AKI based on creatinine values may not indicate the actual burden of disease in children with severe malaria. Keywords: Biomarkers; Acute Kidney Injury; Renal Failure; Glomerular Filtration Rate; Cystatin C; Creatinine; Malaria; Nigeria

Perceptions of Nigerian medical students regarding their preparedness for precision medicine: a cross-sectional survey in Lagos, Nigeria

Background Advances in precision medicine in Nigeria suggest improving genomics education and competency among healthcare practitioners to facilitate clinical translation. Due to the scarcity of research in this area, this study aimed to assess Nigerian medical students’ perceptions about their preparedness to integrate precision medicine into their future clinical practice. Methods This was an institution-based cross-sectional study of medicine and surgery students in their clinical years attending the two fully accredited colleges of medicine in Lagos, Nigeria, between April and October 2022 using an adapted tool administered via Google Forms. The survey assessed their awareness, perceptions about knowledge, ability, and attitudes toward precision medicine, ethical concerns, and perceptions about their education in precision medicine. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess factors associated with students’ perceptions of their knowledge, ability, and attitudes. Results A total of 300 students completed the questionnaires with a response rate of 40%. Awareness of genomic medicine terminology was high (92.0%). Responses to knowledge and ability questions revealed notable gaps, however, respondents had positive attitude scores overall. Higher medical school year was independently associated with lower knowledge (ptrend = 0.003) and ability (ptrend = 0.005) scores, and knowledge score was independently associated with a higher ability score (β: 0.76 95%CI: 0.67, 0.84; p Conclusion Despite high awareness of precision medicine terminology and overall positive attitudes, our findings highlight gaps in knowledge and ability to integrate genomics into the care of patients and a need to improve precision medicine education among Nigerian medical students

ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF THE SOLVENT FRACTIONS FROM BULBINE NATALENSIS TUBER

Bulbine natalensis Baker has been acclaimed to be used as an antimicrobial agent in the folklore medicine of South Africa without scientific evidence to substantiate or refute this claim. In view of this, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of solvent fractions (ethanol, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water) from Bulbine natalensis Tuber against 4 Gram positive and 12 Gram negative bacteria as well as 3 fungal species were investigated using agar dilution. The ethanolic extract, n-butanol and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited 75, 87.5 and 100% respectively of the bacterial species in this study. The ethanolic, n-butanol and ethyl acetate fractions produced growth inhibition at MIC range of 1-10, 3-10 as well as 1 and 5 mg/ml respectively whereas the water fraction did not inhibit the growth of any of the bacterial species. Again, it was only the ethyl acetate fraction that inhibited the growth of Shigelli flexneri, Staphyloccus aureus and Escherichia coli. The ethanolic, ethyl acetate and n-butanolic fractions dose dependently inhibited the growth of Aspergillus niger and A. flavus whereas the water fraction produced 100% growth inhibition of the Aspergillus species at all the doses investigated. In contrast, no growth inhibition was produced on Candida albicans. The growth inhibition produced by the solvent fractions of B. natalensis Tuber in this study thus justifies the acclaimed use of the plant as an antimicrobial agent. The ethyl acetate fraction was the most potent