Sodium benzoate (SB) is a commonly-used food preservative, with a controversial report to its neurological benefit and toxicity. Zinc (Zn) is a trace element that plays a crucial role in memory, ...inflammation and oxidative stress. This study was to investigate the effect of SB on rat cognition and memory and the possible modulatory effect of Zn supplement. Twenty four male Wistar rats were divided into four groups of six animals each. Animals in groups 1–4 were treated with normal saline 1 ml/kg, SB 200 mg/kg, zinc sulphate 10 ml/kg and SB 200 mg/kg + zinc sulphate 10 ml/kg/day daily respectively for three weeks. After treatment, the animals were subjected to different behavioural tests, and then sacrificed. Their blood samples were collected for catalase(CAT), superoxide dismutase(SOD) and interleukin-1B(IL-1B) assay. Brain samples were also collected for nuclear factor-erythroid-related factor 2(Nrf2), and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) mRNA gene expression. The serum levels of CAT and SOD were (p < 0.0001; p < 0.0001) reduced in the SB only-treated group compared to the other groups. Nrf2 gene expression was totally shut down in the SB only-treated group but, up-regulated in the Zn-treated groups (p < 0.0001). The serum level of IL-1B was higher in the SB only-treated group compared to the other groups. SB-treated group spent longer time in the close arm (p = <0.0001), shorter time in the open arm (p = <0.0001) and had higher anxiety index (p = 0.0045) than the Zn-treated groups. Conclusively, Zinc improves memory deficit, has anxiolytic, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the levels of emergency
obstetrics care (EOC) signal functions in health facilities in a
developing setting with high maternal morbidity and mortality ...indices
and to determine if there are differences between public and private
health facilities in terms of availability of these signal functions. A
survey of health facilities was carried out in six of the 16 Local
Government Areas (LGAs) of Kwara State Nigeria. All health facilities
in these LGAs including public and private health facilities offering
some services to pregnant women were surveyed using an interviewer-
administered, facility-assessment questionnaire adapted from the
WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF international guidelines for monitoring the
availability and use of obstetric services. Frequency tables,
percentages and charts were used for presenting the data. Comparing
public and private facilities was done using chi-square tests. A total
of 258 health facilities that provide maternal health services were
surveyed in this study, out of which 76 (29.5%) were private facilities
and 182 (70.5%) were public sector facilities. Most of the UN
indicators were not met by the health facilities in Kwara state. The
availability of EOC facilities was more among the private sector and
this was statistically significant. This study shows that all
stakeholders involved in reducing maternal mortality have a big
challenge in the areas of availability, inequity in geographical
distribution of EOC facilities and poor utilisation of these EOC
services by women.
Sentiment analysis has recently drawn considerable research attention in recent years owing to its applicabilityin determining users’ opinions, sentiments and emotions from large collections of ...textual data. The goal ofsentiment analysis centred on improving users’ experience by deploying robust techniques that mine opinionsand emotions from large corpora. There are several studies on sentiment analysis and opinion mining fromtextual information; however, the existence of domain-specific words, such as slang, abbreviations andgrammatical mistakes further posed serious challenges to existing sentiment analysis methods. In this paper, wefocus on the identification of an effective discriminative subset of features that can aid classification of users’opinions from large corpora. This study proposes a hybrid feature-selection framework that is based on thehybridization of filter- and wrapper-based feature selection methods. Correlation feature selection (CFS) ishybridized with Boruta and Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) to identify the most discriminative featuresubsets for sentiment analysis. Four publicly available datasets for sentiment analysis: Amazon, Yelp, IMDB andKaggle are considered to evaluate the performance of the proposed hybrid feature selection framework. Thisstudy evaluates the performance of three classification algorithms: Support Vector Machine (SVM), Naïve Bayesand Random Forest to ascertain the superiority of the proposed approach. Experimental results across differentcontexts as depicted by the datasets considered in this study clearly show that CFS combined with Borutaproduced promising results, especially when the features selected are passed to Random Forest classifier.Indeed, the proposed hybrid framework provides an effective way of predicting users’ opinions and emotionswhile giving substantial consideration to predictive accuracy. The computing time of the resulting model isshorter as a result of the proposed hybrid feature selection framework.
•Focusing on the review of papers published since the concept of CDI reported.•Underlining factors affecting electrode material selection for optimal performance of CDI setup.•Presenting the effect ...of pore structure, wettability and conductivity on desalination.•Overviewing carbon based composite materials for enhanced conductivity.
A comprehensive review through few decades of capacitive deionization (CDI) ever since discovery of Carbon aerogel, including a brief theory and factors influencing along with detailed focus on various electrode materials explored till now is done. The importance of suitable pore structure, high surface area, good wettability, high conductivity and quantitatively adsorb ionic components are discussed for optimal desalination performance. Specifically, porous carbon bassed materials are extensively explored as electrode materials in CDI setup, attributable to their availability, low cost and stability. This review mainly discusses the current state of the art in carbon based materials for enhanced desalination performance. Also, in this review, various carbon-based composite electrode materials, including porous carbon, porous carbon–metal oxide, carbon–polymer and carbon–polymer–metal oxide nanocomposites, are systematically investigated. Moreover, a brief outlook on the challenges and new research directions in the CDI area is also presented for researchers toward designing the high performance carbon based CDI device.
The phishing attack is one of the most complex threats that have put internet users and legitimate web resource owners at risk. The recent rise in the number of phishing attacks has instilled ...distrust in legitimate internet users, making them feel less safe even in the presence of powerful antivirus apps. Reports of a rise in financial damages as a result of phishing website attacks have caused grave concern. Several methods, including blacklists and machine learning-based models, have been proposed to combat phishing website attacks. The blacklist anti-phishing method has been faulted for failure to detect new phishing URLs due to its reliance on compiled blacklisted phishing URLs. Many ML methods for detecting phishing websites have been reported with relatively low detection accuracy and high false alarm. Hence, this research proposed a Functional Tree (FT) based meta-learning models for detecting phishing websites. That is, this study investigated improving the phishing website detection using empirical analysis of FT and its variants. The proposed models outperformed baseline classifiers, meta-learners and hybrid models that are used for phishing websites detection in existing studies. Besides, the proposed FT based meta-learners are effective for detecting legitimate and phishing websites with accuracy as high as 98.51% and a false positive rate as low as 0.015. Hence, the deployment and adoption of FT and its meta-learner variants for phishing website detection and applicable cybersecurity attacks are recommended.
Bagging, Boosting, Ensemble, Functional trees, Machine learning, Meta-learning, Phishing websites, Rotation forest.
In building construction, seepage and dampness in walls present serious problems since they can cause structural failures and damage in both residential and commercial contexts. Finding more ...affordable options is necessary as mitigating these problems frequently requires expensive fixes. This study aims to evaluate the effects of solvothermal-treated polyethylene added at concentrations ranging from 0 to 1.0% on the mechanical properties of concrete and sandcrete blocks. In addition to assessing the workability, split tensile strength, and compressive strength of concrete samples at different levels of the polyethylene (PE) inclusion, the study looked into the water absorption capacity, density, and compressive strength of sandcrete blocks. The blocks’ compressive strength and water absorption capacity reduced as the amount of polyethylene additives rose, although there was a slight increase in the density. These changes remain well within the Nigerian Industrial Standards’ specified limits. Hardened concrete shows a drop in density, compressive strength, and split tensile strength with increasing polyethylene content, while fresh concrete's workability decreases as the percentage increases. 0.4% incorporation of the treated polyethylene achieved the target strength of 20 N/mm
2
while Sandcrete blocks with up to 1% of the solvothermal treated polyethylene had compressive strengths more than the 2.5 N/mm
2
minimum required for non-load-bearing walls. About 61% reduction in water absorption was achieved in 48 h by the blocks, presenting a promising and cost-effective solution for seepage-related issues in building construction.
HIV/AIDS has become a source of concern all over the world. The concern cannot be isolated from the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on economic, social, political and technological development of any ...nation with a high prevalence rate Nigeria is one of the countries with HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of over 4%. Despite this challenge, the patronage of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) is still very low. This study therefore examined the factors hindering the acceptance of VCT as expressed by youths in Kwara State. A total of 600 youths from the three Senatorial districts in the State were involved in the study. A survey instrument designed by the researchers was used to collect relevant information from the respondents. Among others, the study identified ignorance, poverty, inadequate number of VCT centres, stigma and discrimination as major factors responsible for the low patronage of VCT centres in Kwara State. Gender and religion had no significant influence on the respondents' views while place of residence had significant influence. The implications of the findings to medical practice and counseling were identified and discussed. Le VIH/SIDA est devenu une source d'inquiètude partout dans le monde. On ne peut pas séparer cette inquiétude des effets dévastateurs du VIH/SIDA sur le développement social, politique et technologique de n'importe quel pays qui a un taux de prévalence èlevè. Le Nigèria est un des pays qui ont un taux de prèvalence de plus de 4%. Malgrè ce dèfi, l'acceptation du CTV reste encore trés peu èlevèe. Cette étude a donc examiné les facteurs qui entravent l'acceptation du CTV, d'aprés les jeunes gens dans l'ètat de Kwara. Une population totale de 600 jeunes gens de trois districts sènatoriaux dans l'ètat ont fait partie de l'ètude. L'on s'est servi d'un instrument d'enquête façonnè par des chercheurs pour collecter l'information de la part des interviewèes. L'ètude a identifiè, entre autres, l'ignorance, la pauvretè , le nombre insuffisant des centres du CTV, la stigmatisation et la discrimination comme des facteurs responsables de la faible frèquentation des centres du CTV dans l'ètat de Kwara. Le genre et la religion n'avaient aucune influence considèrable sur les opinions des rèpondants alors que le domicile n'avait pas d'influence significative. Nous avons identifié et discuté les implications de nos résultats sur la pratique médicale et sur le conseil.
This study investigated various qualitative and quantitative indices of antimicrobial use (AMU) in companion animals (CAs) at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH-A) and its annex (VTH- B) from 2019 ...to 2021. For 694 documented animals, antimicrobial administrations (AADs) were 5, 278 times, of which 98.8% (5217) and 1.2% (61) were in dogs and cats respectively. At the VTH- A, oxytetracycline (1185 times, 22.5%) was mostly administered in dogs and metronidazole (26 times, 0.5%) in cats. Similarly, at VTH- B, oxytetracycline was administered 895 times (17.0%) in dogs while amoxicillin was given 7 times (0.1%) in cats. The prescription diversity (PD) was estimated at 0.73 and 0.82 in VTH-A and VTH-B respectively. The quantity of antimicrobials (AMs) used was 10.1 kg (A, 6.2 kg and B, 3.9 kg). Oxytetracycline administrations and quantity of metronidazole (P < 0.0001) were higher than other Active Ingredients (AIs). Furthermore, 16.5% of AIs were classified as Critically Important Antibiotics (CIA) with the highest priority, while enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin fell under the World Health Organisation (WHO) Watch group. The In-Depth Interview (IDI) indicated that the high frequency of oxytetracycline administrations was linked with being the first choice for blood parasite treatment by the clinicians at the hospital. The quantity of metronidazole used was perceived to be higher due to the clinicians' preference for the treatment of acute gastroenteritis, its wider dose range, and the frequency of administration (bi-daily). The study provides baseline data on AMU indices in CAs, for the development of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and communication training, and policy modifications to enhance antimicrobial therapy optimization in tertiary veterinary hospital care in Nigeria.
The effects of swine manure application and row spacing on dry matter yields of Cenchrus americanus (pearl millet) at 6 weeks after sowing and chemical composition, fermentative characteristics and ...in vitro gas production of silage produced from the forage were studied. The design was a 2 × 2 factorial with 2 row spacings (0.5 and1.0 m) and 2 levels of manure application no manure (Control) and swine manure at 5 t/ha (22% DM; 0.34% N on DM basis) replicated 3 times. Swine manure application had no effect (P>0.05) on dry matter yield but a row spacing of0.5 m produced higher (P<0.05) dry matter yields than 1.0 m spacing (mean 7.05 vs. 5.57 t DM/ha). Fresh forage from manured treatments had significantly higher crude protein concentration (114.9–124.2 g/kg DM) than from unfertilized plots (86.2–95.1 g/kg DM). After being ensiled for 42 days, CP% in the forage had declined by 16–18% but relative differences remained. Quality measurements indicated that silages from the various treatments were all of acceptable standard although CP% of silage from Control plots was barely high enough to provide a maintenance diet. This study suggests that, under the experimental conditions, planting of pearl millet at a spacing of0.5 m rather than 1.0 m would increase DM yields obtained in the first 6 weeks of growth, while application of swine manure would not affect yields but would increase CP% of forage produced. The laboratory study indicates that the forage produced could be ensiled successfully although there was significant loss of crude protein during the process. Since there were no significant increases in DM yields of forage, other benefits, e.g. increase in N concentration, improved soil organic matter, etc., would need to be considered in justifying the additional cost of drying and applying the manure.
Aims: This research was conducted to investigate the effects of Agbara abattoir wastes dumped into the Ologe lagoon.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Ologe lagoon in Lagos, ...Nigeria from September 2019 - December 2019.
Methodology: Water samples from the lagoon were collected monthly from three sites in the lagoon for four months. 30m before the entry site, the entry site of the abattoir wastes, and 30m after the entry site. After collection, the samples were analyzed for 13 parameters following the guidelines of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Results: The result showed that the conductivity ranged between 80.94 to 139.93 (µS/cm). The pH ranged between 7.84 to 9.23. The total dissolved solids ranged between 44.00 to 110.24(mg/l). The total suspended solids ranged between 20.12 to 70.82 (mg/l). The ammonia ranged from 0.01 to 0.04 (mg/l). The biological oxygen demand ranged from 50.72 to 107.41 (mg/l). The chemical oxygen demand ranged from 202.94 to 497.17 (mg/l). The chromium ranged from 0.04 to 0.06 (mg/l). The coliform level ranged from 33.62 to 82.50 (cfu/100ml). The Escherichia coli ranged from 1.20 to 3.30 (cfu/ml). The nitrate ranged from 2.74 to 4.55 (mg/l). The nitrite ranged from 0.22 to 0.69 (mg/l). The phosphate ranged from 6.89 to 11.33 (mg/l).
Conclusion: This research showed that the ologe lagoon is polluted and unfit for human consumption and aquatic life. Therefore measures should be put in place to ensure proper disposal of the abattoir wastes in other to increase the quality of the lagoon.
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