Factors Behind the Higher COVID-19 Risk in Diabetes: A Critical Review

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are public health issues worldwide, and their comorbidities trigger the progress to severe disease and even death in such patients. Globally, DM has affected an estimated 9.3% adults, and as of April 18, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 141,727,940 COVID-19 confirmed cases. The virus is spread via droplets, aerosols, and direct touch with others. Numerous predictive factors have been linked to COVID-19 severity, including impaired immune response and increased inflammatory response, among others. Angiotensin receptor blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 have also been identified as playing a boosting role in both susceptibility and severity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Specifically, in DM patients, both their control and management during this pandemic is herculean as the restriction periods have markedly hampered the maintenance of means to control glycemia, hypertension, and neuroendocrine and kidney diseases. In addition, as a result of the underlyin cardio-metabolic and immunological disorders, DM patients are at a higher risk of developing the severe form of COVID-19 despite other comorbidities, such as hypertension, also potentially boosting the development of higher COVID-19 severity. However, even in non-DM patients, SARS-CoV-2 may also cause transient hyperglycemia through induction of insulin resistance and/or pancreatic ß-cell injury. Therefore, a strict glucose monitoring of DM patients with COVID-19 is mandatory to prevent life-threatening complications.NC-M acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Horizon 2020 Program (PTDC/PSI-GER/28076/2017)

Biochemical changes in the kidney and liver of rats following administration of ethanolic extract of <i>Psidium guajava</i> leaves

Furtherance to a previous report on the anti-trypanosomal properties of Psidium guajava aqueous leaf extract in rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei, we have evaluated the effects of the daily intraperitoneal administration of P. guajava leaf extract to rats on the activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and acid phosphatase (ACP) in the kidney, liver and serum. The results obtained revealed that the administration of the extract produced significant increase in the serum activities of AST, ALT, ALP and ACP when compared with the control ( p &lt; 0.05). Also AST, ALT and ALP and ACP activities in the tissues of animals administered the extract revealed inconsistent changes ( p &lt; 0.05) relative to control. The increase in the serum activity of ALP may be an indicator that there was a likely compromise to the integrity of the plasma membrane as a result of the ethanolic extract administration. This could have caused leakages of the other enzymes investigated, which may explain the corresponding increases in the serum activities of AST, ALT and ACP observed. </jats:p

Compositional changes in banana (Musa ssp.) fruits during ripening

The compositional changes in banana (musa spp) fruits were investigated. Banana fruits were collected, dried, ground and ashed. The moisture content and mineral elements composition wasdetermined as ripening proceeds. The mineral elements analyzed included magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and cobalt (Co). Their composition was found to be 0.68, 0.66 and 0.60% inunripe, ripe and overripe banana fruits, respectively. The moisture content and ash values for the selected mineral elements were 73.47 and 0.68%; 77.19 and 0.80%; 79.22 and 0.78% in unripe, ripe andoverripe banana fruits, respectively. The results showed that the nutritional composition of banana pulp was diversely affected by ripening. Changes in mineral composition varied and were not consistent with the stages of ripeness. Bananas are considered a good source of Mg in the diet, and the data obtained herein support these assertions. Zn and Mn are other minerals of nutritional importance inbananas and this study has shown that their average values are adequate to support its nutritive value at the various ripening stages. The result obtained in this study showed that banana fruits at anyripening stage (unripe, ripe or overripe) can be a potential source of mineral elements supplement in the diet especially for Mg

Empirical modelling of solar radiation for selected cities in Nigeria using multivariate regression technique

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Forcasting Acha production in Nigeria: A comparison of grafted polynomial and linear models

Paucity of functional forms is one of the problems associated with forecasting economic time series data because not all economic time series correlate linearly to trend over an entire sample period. This paper attempt to investigate the performance of grafted polynomials in forecasting Acha production in Nigeria. The observed trend in Acha production in Nigeria from 1970-2004 provides the database for the study. A grafted model (Quadratic-Quadratic-Linear) was estimated to forecast Acha output for periods outside the sample. The estimated structural parameters gave an R squared values of 0.81 and 0.99 for the linear and grafted respectively. Forecast were generated to evaluate the predictive performance of the estimated models, the grafted model performed better than the linear because the forecast were closer in values to the observed values.Theil inequality coefficient of 0.015714 and 0.129091 was obtained for the grafted and linear respectively, this further reinforces the superiority of the grafted polynomial. It is better therefore to fuse the entire local trend in forecasting of this nature to achieve a better time series prediction.br> Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp.42-5

Inorganic nanoparticles kill Toxoplasma gondii via changes in redox status and mitochondrial membrane potential

Oluyomi Stephen Adeyemi,1,2 Yuho Murata,1 Tatsuki Sugi,1 Kentaro Kato1 1National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan; 2Medicinal Biochemistry and Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Nigeria Abstract: This study evaluated the anti-Toxoplasma gondii potential of gold, silver, and platinum nanoparticles (NPs). Inorganic NPs (0.01&ndash;1,000&nbsp;&micro;g/mL) were screened for antiparasitic activity. The NPs caused &gt;90% inhibition of T. gondii growth with EC50 values of &le;7, &le;1, and &le;100&nbsp;&micro;g/mL for gold, silver, and platinum NPs, respectively. The NPs showed no host cell cytotoxicity at the effective anti-T. gondii concentrations; the estimated selectivity index revealed a &ge;20-fold activity toward the parasite versus the host cell. The anti-T. gondii activity of the NPs, which may be linked to redox signaling, affected the parasite mitochondrial membrane potential and parasite invasion, replication, recovery, and infectivity potential. Our results demonstrated the antiparasitic potential of NPs. The findings support the further exploration of NPs as a possible source of alternative and effective anti-T. gondii agents. Keywords: antiparasite, drug screening, nanomedicine, toxoplasmosi

Performance and bone morphometry of two breeds of finishing broiler chickens reared on different housing systems

Adequate consideration of management systems is required to enhance the productivity of broiler chickens. This study was carried out to determine the effect of two housing systems on growth performance, carcass traits and bone morphometry of broiler chickens. A total of 180 unsexed one dayold Arbor Acre and Marshall breeds of broiler chickens were used for this study. The birds were brooded for 3 weeks and thereafter acclimatized for one week in their respective housing systems (deep litter and outdoor run). Each of the housing systems was allotted 90 chicks per breed with three replicates of 15 birds each. The birds were fed same quality and quantity of feed ad libitum and given water throughout the period of the experiment which lasted for four weeks. Data were collected weekly on weight gain and feed intake while feed conversion ratio was calculated. At the end of the study, 2 birds of representative weight in each replicate were selected for carcass analysis and bone strength determination. The experiment was arranged in a 2 x 2 factorial layout in a completely randomized design. The results of growth performance showed significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher final weight (2,012.06g/b), weight gain (48.45g/b/d) and feed intake (151.74g/b/d) in Arbor Acre breed compared with the final weight (1,890.15g/b), weight gain (45.82g/b/d) and feed intake (144.60g/b/d) obtained in Marshall breed. Significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher weight gain (49.70g/b/d) and better feed conversion ratio (2.92) was observed in broiler chickens reared on deep litter housing system while those reared on outdoor run had 49.11g/b/d and 3.01 for weight gain and feed conversion ratio, respectively. Birds managed on outdoor run consumed more feed compared to those kept on deep litter. Broiler chickens reared on deep litter were superior in retail cut (breast) and abdominal fat compared to those kept on outdoor run. Irrespective of breeds, birds reared on outdoor run had greater (p&lt;0.05) bone strength (14.61N/mm2) compared to those on deep litter (10.68N/mm2). The study concluded that, Arbor Acre breed of broiler chickens could be reared on deep litter housing system for better performance. However, outdoor run could be adopted to enhance better bone strength in both breeds of broiler chickens.Keywords: Broiler chickens, breeds, performance, carcass traits, morphometry, housing system