Novel manganese colorimetric chemosensing investigations of Indigofera macrophylla Schum (Thonn.) stem and leaf dye extracts

Purpose: To determine the chemosensor ability of dye extracts obtained from the stem and leaves of Indigofera macrophylla Schum (Thonn.), a scandent or climbing shrub belonging to the family Fabaceae.Method: The dye extracts were obtained from the stem and leaves of the plant after optimizing the method of extraction, the concentration of base for precipitation as well as the contact time between base and aqueous plant extracts. The dyes were investigated for their colorimetric chemosensor properties using procedures such as screening of metals and non-metals, selection of analytical wavelengths, optimization of solvents, reaction temperature and time. Validation was carried out for the determination of manganese from aqueous solution by preparation of calibration curve, accuracy and reproducibility. Interference liabilities of the new method for manganese were studied in the presence of common cation and anions.Results: The dyes were obtained in good yield and gave pink colours. Spot tests revealed the selective detection of manganese from the two dye extracts. These two dyes; the stems (DS and leaves (DL) dyes of Indigofera macrophylla) proved to be excellent colorimetric chemosensors for manganese in an aqueous solution. Linearity in Beer’s law plot were obtained within the concentration range of 10-50 μg/mL (r2 = 0.996 and 0.999 for DS and DL respectively). Accuracy gave relative errors generally less than 2.0% while for the precision, the relative standard deviations were less than 0.8%. There was no interference with common cations such as Cr3+, Cu2+, Zn2+ and anions such as CN-and NO2-Conclusion: The natural dyes obtained from Indigofera macrophylla could be excellent sources of chemical principles for the detection and determination of manganese in aqueous solutions.Keywords: Indigofera macrophylla, Natural dyes, Manganese, Colorimetric chemosensor, Interference studie

A Simulator for Testing Planar Upper Extremity Rehabilitation Robot Control Algorithms

In this study, we took advantage of the emergence of accurate biomechanical human hand models to develop a system in which the interaction between a human arm and a rehabilitation robot while performing a planar trajectory tracking task can be simulated. Seven biomechanical arm models were based on the 11-degree-of-freedom Dynamic Arm Simulation model and implemented in OpenSim. The model of the robot was developed in MatlabSimulink and interaction between the arm and robot models was achieved using the OpenSim API. The models were tested by simulating the performance of each model while moving the end effector of a simulated planar robot model through an elliptical trajectory with an eccentricity of 0.94. Without assistance from the robot, the average root-mean-square error (RMSE) for all subjects was 3.98 mm. With the simulated robot providing assistive torque, the average RMSE error reduced to 2.88 mm. The test was repeated after modifying the length of the robot links, and an average RMSE of 2.91 mm recorded. A single-factor ANOVA test revealed that there was no significant difference in the RMSE for the two different robot geometries (p-value = 0.479), revealing that the simulator was not sensitive to robot geometry

Nutritional evaluation of bitter leaf meal (Vernonia amygdalina): effects on performance, carcass and serum metabolites of broiler chickens

A study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemicals present in bitter leaf meal and to determine the effect of graded levels of bitter leaf meal (BLM) on performance, carcass quality, internal organs and serum metabolites of broiler chickens. A total of 72 one-day-old broiler chicks of Abor-acre breed were used for the trial and fed with diets supplemented with graded levels of bitter leaf meal (0%, 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%). The diets were isonitrogenous and iso-caloric. The chicks were grouped into 4 treatments (18 chicks per treatment) and teach treatment was replicated 3 times using a complete randomized design. The experiment lasted for 42 days. Results showed a relatively high proximate and mineral content while phytochemical screening revealed that BLM contains bioactive substances beneficial to broiler chickens with anti-nutrient concentrations below the critical levels. The final liveweight, carcass weight and dressing percentage at 1362.27g, 1138.85g and 75.22%, respectively improved in treated groups especially among birds fed diet containing 0.3% BLM. The improvement in the feed conversion ratio (FCR) at 2.56 resulted in improved muscle development. The inclusion of BLM at 0.3% reduced the level of cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, low density lipoprotein, creatinine at 70.67mg/dl, 34.67mg/dl, 10.33mmol/l , 7.67mg/dl and 0.12mg/dl, respectively, and increased the high density lipoprotein values at 90.33mg/dl. It was concluded that BLM is not deleterious to the growth and health status of broiler chicken rather it can be a good growth booster.Keywords: broiler chickens, bitter leaf meal, growth performance, serum metabolite

Nutrient and phytochemical composition of two traditional soups used by malaria patients and post partum mothers in Owo, Ondo State

Background: Indigenous tribes in Nigeria have been using herbal mixture such as soups for therapeutic purpose with limited knowledge on their nutrients and phytochemical components.Objective: The nutrients and phytochemicals composition of two soups consumed by postpartum mothers and malaria patients in Owo were investigated.Methods: Ingredients such as cotton seed, beef, fish, black pepper, calabash nutmeg, turmeric, scent leaf, garlic, palm oil, back of mahogany tree and octomeles sumatrana 'erima' seed were procured, processed and prepared according to local methods into two samples of soups. The ingredients for the cotton seed soup and scent leaf soup samples were similar except for sample cotton seed soup that contain, back of mahogany tree and cotton seeds. One hundred grammes of each soup samples were subjected to proximate, phytochemical and instrumental analyses (AAS for minerals and Vitamins with Gc-HP 6890 powered with HP chemstation Rev. A09.01 (1206) software. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyze data generated and t-test was used in Separation of meansResults: Findings showed that the protein content was significantly (P>0.05) higher in Scent leaf soup (21.85%) than in cotton seed soup (20.63%). No significant difference was observed in the minerals composition of the soups except for iron content of cotton seed soup (23.75mg/100g) that was significantly higher (P>0.05) than that of sent leaf soup (20.85mg/100g). There were significant differences (P>0.05) in the values of vitamin C (14.85 vs 3.04mg/100g), vitamin E (5.72 vs 8.72mg/100g), and vitamin B1 (8.61 vs 9.72mg/100g) of cotton seed and sent leaf soups. Phytate (8.24%) and alkaloid (1.61%) were significantly higher in scent leaf and cotton seed soup respectively.Conclusion: The high nutrients diversity and phytochemicals in the two soups might be responsible for their therapeutic effect on postpartum mothers and malaria treatment.Keywords: Traditional soups, Nutrients Composition, Postpartum, Malari