Biology Education and Bio Entrepreneur Opportunities in Nigeria

Nigeria has been experiencing various socioeconomic and environmental challenges such as unemployment, poverty, insecurity and climate change within the past few decades. These challenges are traceable to a lack of synergy between capital and nature.  Knowledge and skills in various fields of biology such as Bioeconomics and Bio-entrepreneur are potent tools for building a strong synergy between capital and nature to enhance sustainable socio-economic development in the nation. This paper focuses on how biology education can be utilised to develop and promote Bio-entrepreneur opportunities among Nigerian youths for sustainable national development. The paper provided overviews of concepts such as biology education, bio-entrepreneur, bio-economics and so forth. The millennium development goals and the 21st-century skills within the context of sustainable development in Nigeria. Finally, the paper advocated for urgent realignment of biology and science education for sustainable national developmen

Analysis of diagram errors in selected Nigerian secondary school practical biology textbooks

Evidence abounds in science education literature that science textbooks are not alwayserror-free and that inaccuracy in diagrams creates confusion, misconceptions, and hinders meaningful learning. Therefore, in this textbook research study, an attempt was made to identify, analyse, and classify diagram errors in four selected Nigerian biology practical textbooks. The purposive sampling technique was used to select four widely used practical biology textbooks. Two instruments designed by the researchers namely, Compendium of Practical Biology Textbooks (CPBT) and Diagram Error Identification Proforma (DEIP) were used for data collection. Each diagram in the four selected textbooks was carefully analyzed for the identification of errors. The identified errors were analysed, classified, coded, and subjected to statistical analysis. Results indicated that diagrams in the four textbooks were rife with spelling, labeling, and technical errors and that there was a significant difference between the numbers of diagram errors in the four selected textbooks in favor of Textbook C. It was concluded that the selected Nigerian practical biology textbooks were laden with various types of diagram errors that could impact students’ performance negatively. Urgent revision of the textbooks was recommended to stem the negative impacts of the diagram errors on students’ performance

Comparative effect of quercetin and rutin on α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and some prooxidant-induced lipid peroxidation in rat pancreas

Staff PublicationThis study was designed to investigate the effect of quercetin, its glycosylated conjugate rutin and various combinations of the two flavonoids on carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes associated with type 2 diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) in a bid to understand the possible mechanisms of action by which quercetin and rutin could be used in the prevention/management of the degenerative condition. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of quercetin, rutin, and various combinations of the two flavonoids on α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities and the ability of the flavonoids to inhibit some pro-oxidants-induced lipid peroxidation in rat pancreas. The effect of the flavonoids on α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities as well as pro-oxidant (Fe2+ and SNP)-induced lipid peroxidation in rats’ pancreas homogenates was investigated. Rutin (IC50 = 0.048 μΜ) exhibited a significantly (P < 0.05) higher inhibition of Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation than quercetin (IC50 = 0.075 μΜ). Furthermore, rutin had a stronger inhibition of α-amylase (IC50 = 0.043 μM) and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.037 μM) activities than quercetin [α-amylase (IC50 = 0.061 μM); α-glucosidase (IC50 0.038 μM)]. A combination of 25 % quercetin and 75 % rutin showed the strongest inhibition (P < 0.05) of α-amylase activity (IC50 = 313.87 μg/L) while 100 % quercetin showed the least inhibition of α-amylase (IC50 507.61 μg/L) activity and same trend was followed for α-glucosidase activity. This study revealed that glycosylation increased the inhibitory ability of quercetin on key enzymes linked to type 2 diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase), and combination of quercetin and rutin had higher synergistic inhibitory abilities on the enzymes than the individual flavonoids, suggesting that a combination of food sources rich in these flavonoids could be very effective in the management/prevention of type 2 diabetes

Inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities by ethanolic extract of Amaranthus cruentus leaf as affected by blanching.

This study investigated the inhibitory effect of Amaranthus cruentus leaf on key enzyme linked to type- 2 diabetes (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) as well as assessing the effect of blanching (a commonly practiced food processing technique) of the vegetable on these key enzymes. Fresh leaves of A. cruentus were blanched in hot water for 10 min, and the ethanolic extracts of both the fresh and blanched vegetables were prepared and used for subsequent analysis. The inhibitory effect of the extract on α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities as well as some antioxidant parameter was determined in vitro. The result revealed that extract of unprocessed A. cruentus leaf reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ and also inhibited α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities in a dose dependent manner. However, blanching of the leafy vegetables caused a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the antioxidant properties but decreased their ability to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities. This antioxidant properties and enzyme inhibition could be part of the mechanism by which they are used in the treatment/prevention of type-2 diabetes. However, the blanched vegetable reduced their ability to inhibit both α-amylase and α-glucosidase activity in vitro

Conversational artificial intelligence in the AEC industry: A review of present status, challenges and opportunities

The idea of developing a system that can converse and understand human languages has been around since the 1200 s. With the advancement in artificial intelligence (AI), Conversational AI came of age in 2010 with the launch of Apple’s Siri. Conversational AI systems leveraged Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand and converse with humans via speech and text. These systems have been deployed in sectors such as aviation, tourism, and healthcare. However, the application of Conversational AI in the architecture engineering and construction (AEC) industry is lagging, and little is known about the state of research on Conversational AI. Thus, this study presents a systematic review of Conversational AI in the AEC industry to provide insights into the current development and conducted a Focus Group Discussion to highlight challenges and validate areas of opportunities. The findings reveal that Conversational AI applications hold immense benefits for the AEC industry, but it is currently underexplored. The major challenges for the under exploration were highlighted and discusses for intervention. Lastly, opportunities and future research directions of Conversational AI are projected and validated which would improve the productivity and efficiency of the industry. This study presents the status quo of a fast-emerging research area and serves as the first attempt in the AEC field. Its findings would provide insights into the new field which be of benefit to researchers and stakeholders in the AEC industry

Conversational artificial intelligence in the AEC industry: A review of present status, challenges and opportunities

The idea of developing a system that can converse and understand human languages has been around since the 1200 s. With the advancement in artificial intelligence (AI), Conversational AI came of age in 2010 with the launch of Apple’s Siri. Conversational AI systems leveraged Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand and converse with humans via speech and text. These systems have been deployed in sectors such as aviation, tourism, and healthcare. However, the application of Conversational AI in the architecture engineering and construction (AEC) industry is lagging, and little is known about the state of research on Conversational AI. Thus, this study presents a systematic review of Conversational AI in the AEC industry to provide insights into the current development and conducted a Focus Group Discussion to highlight challenges and validate areas of opportunities. The findings reveal that Conversational AI applications hold immense benefits for the AEC industry, but it is currently underexplored. The major challenges for the under exploration were highlighted and discusses for intervention. Lastly, opportunities and future research directions of Conversational AI are projected and validated which would improve the productivity and efficiency of the industry. This study presents the status quo of a fast-emerging research area and serves as the first attempt in the AEC field. Its findings would provide insights into the new field which be of benefit to researchers and stakeholders in the AEC industry

Novel <i>GREM1 </i>Variations in Sub-Saharan African Patients With Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate

Objective: Cleft lip and/or cleft palate (CL/P) are congenital anomalies of the face and have multifactorial etiology, with both environmental and genetic risk factors playing crucial roles. Though at least 40 loci have attained genomewide significant association with nonsyndromic CL/P, these loci largely reside in noncoding regions of the human genome, and subsequent resequencing studies of neighboring candidate genes have revealed only a limited number of etiologic coding variants. The present study was conducted to identify etiologic coding variants in GREM1, a locus that has been shown to be largely associated with cleft of both lip and soft palate. Patients and Method: We resequenced DNA from 397 sub-Saharan Africans with CL/P and 192 controls using Sanger sequencing. Following analyses of the sequence data, we observed 2 novel coding variants in GREM1. These variants were not found in the 192 African controls and have never been previously reported in any public genetic variant database that includes more than 5000 combined African and African American controls or from the CL/P literature. Results: The novel variants include p.Pro164Ser in an individual with soft palate cleft only and p.Gly61Asp in an individual with bilateral cleft lip and palate. The proband with the p.Gly61Asp GREM1 variant is a van der Woude (VWS) case who also has an etiologic variant in IRF6 gene. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that there is low number of etiologic coding variants in GREM1, confirming earlier suggestions that variants in regulatory elements may largely account for the association between this locus and CL/P. </jats:sec