Ethnomedicinal Survey of Botanicals Used in Treating Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Ekiti State, Nigeria

This paper focuses on the botanicals used in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The authors identified 49 plants belonging to 30 angiosperm families that were being used by the natives of Ekiti State for the cure of sexually transmitted diseases. Most of the wild species were rare or not very abundantly distributed in nature. The proportion of cultivated to wild species, however, was relatively low. Species that were under cultivation by the natives were being grown largely for reasons other than medicinal value. The methods of extraction were mostly predatory and annihilative. Considerable proportions of the identified botanicals were obtained from the forest. The need for the conservation of most of the species cannot be over emphasized. Strategies towards the attainment of this goal were proposed

Diversity of yeasts involved in the fermentation of tchoukoutou, an opaque sorghum beer from Benin

Opaque sorghum beers are traditional alcoholic beverages in several African countries. Known as tchoukoutou in Benin, the beer is often obtained from an uncontrolled fermentation. It is consumed in an actively fermenting state and has a sour taste. The present study characterized and identified the yeasts involved in the fermentation process of this type of beer using the phenotypical approach. Of 12 beers from 4 different locations, the mean values of the pH, titratable acidity, dry matter content and refractive index were respectively 3.67, 0.70 (% as lactic acid) 18.08% and 7.00. Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were the predominant microorganisms involved in the fermentation of tchoukoutou. Their counts were respectively 9.1 log cfu/ml and 9.1 logcfu/g. Enterobacteriaceae were not detectable in the beer. Based on the phenotypic characters and the assimilation profiles of 40 isolated yeasts, four genera with seven species of yeasts were identified. The yeast species predominant in the Benin opaque sorghum beer tchoukoutou was Saccharomyces cerevisa

Partial replacement of fish meal by earthworm meal (Libyodrilus violaceus) in diets for African catfish, Clarias gariepinus

A seven-week feeding trial was conducted to examine the possibility of replacing fish meal with earthworm meal in the diets of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus fry. Fish meal protein was replaced by earthworm meal at 0% (D0); 15% (D15); 25% (D25); 35% (D35); and 50% (D50). The diets were isonitrogenous (54%) and fed thrice daily to triplicate groups of African catfish fry at 5% body weight. Diet had a significant effect on growth performance and feed utilization (p≤0.05). Final weight, weight gain, daily weight gain, and specific growth rate, were highest in fish fed diet D25. A similar pattern of growth was observed for length measurements. Fish fed diets exceeding 25% replacement of fish meal with earthworm meal had depressed growth. Feed conversion ratio was highest in fish fed D35. Mortality was not dependent on diet. It is concluded that fish meal can be substituted with earthworm meal up to 25% in the diet of C. gariepinus fry without adverse effects on growth and nutrient utilizatio

An attention-based channel estimation algorithm for next-generation point to point communication systems

Accurate and robust estimation of channel parameters is essential in establishing reliable communication with characteristic optimal resource utilization in next-generation communication systems. Traditional techniques have limitations, such as the need for additional bandwidth and decreased spectral efficiency. Thus, there is a need for novel techniques that enhance the accuracy and robustness of channel parameter estimation in next-generation communication systems. To address this need, we propose in this paper a recurrent neural network (RNN)-based attention mechanism, to improve channel estimation accuracy and robustness in next-generation communication systems. The attention mechanism selectively focuses on the most relevant features while ignoring noise and interference. The attention network weights are initialized and are constantly updated in the course of network training. The weight values determine the significance of the features before passing them to the channel estimator. This allows the algorithm to adapt to varying channel conditions and improve its accuracy in challenging environments. The proposed attention-based algorithm performance is compared with three baseline techniques: learned denoising-based approximate message passing (LDAMP), Wasserstein generative adversarial networks (WGAN), and maximum likelihood (ML). The result evaluations indicate that the attention-based algorithm performs better than the existing artificial intelligence-based channel coding algorithms, in terms of robustness and accuracy

Phytochemical, Proximate and Mineral Analyses of the Leaves of Gossypium hirsutum L. and Momordica charantia L.

The leaves of Gossypium hirsutum L. and Momordica charantia L. were analysed for phytochemical, proximate and mineral compositions. The qualitative phytochemical screening   from the two plants revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins and cardiac glycosides whereas terpenoids and steroids were absent. Subsequent quantification analysis revealed that G. hirsutum contained 12.20± 0.28% alkaloids, 2.63±0.04 % saponins, 11.90±0.4 % flavonoids, 2.73 mg/100g tannins and 1.62±0.00 mg/100g total phenol. Momordica charantia contained 13.60±0.00 % alkaloids, 2.30±0.00 % saponins, 7.20±0.00 % flavonoids, 1.37±0.00 mg/100g tannins and 0.74 ±0.00mg/100g total phenol. Proximate analysis revealed that carbohydrate had the highest percentage in G. hirsutum and M. charantia (46.66±0.31% and 57.92± 0.04 % respectively). Crude protein had the lowest percentages of 2.70±0.01% and 2.46 ± 0.03% in G. hirsutum and M. charantia. Mineral analysis revealed that potassium had the highest concentration of 38.61 mg/100g in G. hirsutum and 32.84mg/100g in M. charantia. The least concentration of minerals in G. hirsutum was sodium (3.37mg/100g) while magnesium (5.88mg/100g) recorded the least concentration in M. charantia. The high carbohydrate contents in both plants might justify the potentials of the plants as good source of energy. Keywords: Phytochemical, Gossypium hirsutum, Momordica charantia, Proximate, Mineral analyses

STATISTICAL OPTIMIZATION AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF RHEOLOGICAL MODELS USING CASSAVA STARCH

Models are sometimes employed to determine some parameters that can be used to distinguish between different types of food samples. Rheological models can be used to predict flow for severe conditions where it is difficult to determine the nature of the fluid flow, consequently it is essential to select the appropriate rheological models. This study aims to propose a rheological model that describes an ideal cassava starch rheological behavior and its influence on state variables such as concentration and temperature in order to validate the rheological models. In this study, five rheological models (namely; Power-law model, Robertson-stiff model, Herschel-Bulkey model, Prandtl-Eyring model and Bigham plastic model) were amended into various statistical model by adding the error variance (e). This study concludes that Herschel-Bulkley model and Robertson-stiff model closely explain the rheological patterns occurring during the production of cassava starch. The sensitivity evaluation of other rheological models demonstrate that the validity of Power-law model, Herschel-Bulkley model and Robertson stiff model is not notably influenced by changes in concentration and temperature of the cassava starch. Nevertheless, the Prandtl-Eyring and Bingham plastic models are noted to have less reliable prediction at lower temperature and higher concentration respectively

Knowledge, Practice and Willingness to Participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme among Households in Nigerian Capital City

Background: Health insurance is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed health services to persons on the payment of token contributions at regular intervals. The objective of the survey was to determine knowledge, practice and willingness of households in Nigerian Capital City to pay and participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme.Materials and Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was carried out using the multistage cluster sampling technique to obtain data from 300 selected household heads or main financial decision makers. The data was analyzed using EPI-INFO software package. Statistical significance of p < 0.05 and confidence limit of 95% was used.Results: The major findings showed that the level of awareness (13%) concerning Community Health Insurance (CHI) was found to be very low among the respondents. The general principles of CHI were also poorly understood by the respondents. Attitude to the programme was positive as many showed interest in participating and enrolling themselves (97.0%), some family members (96.3%) and entire family members (90.3%).  Borrowing money to settle medical bills in this study has occurred in 30% of instances. Majority of respondents were willing to pay premiums ranging from N450 (96.6%) to N1200 (72.5%) for simple packages that do not include surgery and hospitalization.Conclusions: The community members were willing to participate and enrol if the programme is brought to them. There is a need to adequately subsidize the premiums that respondents were willing to pay in order to meet up with the cost of treatment.Key Words: Willingness, Participate, Community Health Insurance

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase as a drug target in malaria and cryptosporidiosis

Malaria and cryptosporidiosis, caused by apicomplexan parasites, remain major drivers of global child mortality. New drugs for the treatment of malaria and cryptosporidiosis, in particular, are of high priority; however, there are few chemically validated targets. The natural product cladosporin is active against blood- and liver-stage; Plasmodium falciparum; and; Cryptosporidium parvum; in cell-culture studies. Target deconvolution in; P. falciparum; has shown that cladosporin inhibits lysyl-tRNA synthetase (; Pf; KRS1). Here, we report the identification of a series of selective inhibitors of apicomplexan KRSs. Following a biochemical screen, a small-molecule hit was identified and then optimized by using a structure-based approach, supported by structures of both; Pf; KRS1 and; C. parvum; KRS (; Cp; KRS). In vivo proof of concept was established in an SCID mouse model of malaria, after oral administration (ED; 90; = 1.5 mg/kg, once a day for 4 d). Furthermore, we successfully identified an opportunity for pathogen hopping based on the structural homology between; Pf; KRS1 and; Cp; KRS. This series of compounds inhibit; Cp; KRS and; C. parvum; and; Cryptosporidium hominis; in culture, and our lead compound shows oral efficacy in two cryptosporidiosis mouse models. X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations have provided a model to rationalize the selectivity of our compounds for; Pf; KRS1 and; Cp; KRS vs. (human); Hs; KRS. Our work validates apicomplexan KRSs as promising targets for the development of drugs for malaria and cryptosporidiosis