9 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Item Seroprevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Toxoplasma Gondii Infection among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, Nigeria(International Journal of Innovation Scientific Research and Review, 2021) DANUAN, M.B.; DAKUL, A.D.; ADELEKE, E.A.; LUMI, E.B; CHUNDUNG, N.DToxoplasmosis has been famously described as a cosmopolitan disease caused by the zoonotic parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii with the capacity to induce miscarriage and congenital defects during pregnancy. Despite its public health significance, there is a dearth of information about the epidemiology of the infection in pregnant women in Nigeria, consequently this study aimed to determine the burden and risk factors associated with T. gondii infection in pregnant women attending Ante-Natal Clinic (ANC) at Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, Nigeria.3mls venous blood was collected from 268 pregnant women within the reproductive age groups of 15 to 50 years. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and Toxoplasma infection risk related data. Sera were assayed using a commercial ELISA kit (Novo Tec Immunodiagnostica® Germany). 46 out of the 268 women were positive with an overall prevalence rate of 17.16%. The highest prevalence was recorded among women within the age group ≤20 years (28.00%), urban settlers (18.18%), women in their second trimester 18.75%, those who owned cats (25.00%) and those who have contacts with cat’s faeces (29.10`%). There was a significant association (p < 0.05) between the prevalence of T.gondiiantibodies (IgG) with age, ethnic group and blood transfusion history. While other factors show no significant relationship (p>0.05). Asymptomatic Toxoplasmosisis common amongst pregnant women thus it is imperative for policy makers and caregivers to consider introducing routine screening of toxoplasmosis especially as part of antenatal program for pregnant women.Item Parasitic Infection of Edible Terrestrial Gastropods in Benue and Plateau States, North-Central Nigeria(2022) Adeleke Ezekiel Abayomi; Otokpa Ocha JulietAn alternative to red meat due to cholesterol level has made large terrestrial snails a target. they could serve as a good replacement and source of protein but their mode of life especially feeding and locomotion makes them prone to parasitic infections. This study was aimed at investigating the parasitic infection of edible terrestrial snails in relation to specie in some parts of North-Central Nigeria. a total of 579 edible land snails were collected during the wet and dry seasons. Seven snail species belonging to three generals were identified. Out of the 579 collected snails, 447 (77.20%) were positive for parasitic infections. All infected snails showed multiple infections. Infection rates of 82.88%, 77.69%, 67.12% and 53.85% were recorded from Agila, Jos, Utonkon and Wadata respectively. However, no significant difference in snail infection in relation to location. (χ2= , p > 0.05). Parasitic infection of snail species revealed that A. fulica was most infected (90.10%), this was followed by L. flammea (79.31%), A. marginata (77.42%), A. saturalis (75.58%). L. aurora (74.73%), A. achatina (72.09%) and A. ovum (65.39%). No significant difference was observed amongst snail species infection (p > 0.05). S. stercoralis recorded 100% infection rate in all snails, A. cantonensis 76.73%, while Entamoeba sp. recorded the least (1.70%). Different parasites were also recovered from in the tissues/organs of the snails bserved. Public awareness on the public health implications of consuming terrestrial snails should be emphasized by public health workers especially when eaten raw or undercooked. Snail farms should be encouraged rather than consumption of snails gotten from the wild.Item Prevalence and drug-resistance profile of plasmid borne extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLs) resistance genes in multidrug resistant Escherichia coli from HIV-1 positive individuals in Jos, Nigeria(2020-09-10) Murna Ahmed Ali; Ocheme Julius Okojokwu; Ujeh Anthony Augustine; Chad Achenbach; Joseph AjeAnejo-Okopi; Patricia MankoLar; Godwin Imade; Atiene Solomon SagayProduction of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) can lead to treatment failures when the antibiotics are used. This study detected ESBLs genes on Multidrug Resistant Escherichia coli from HIV-infected individuals attending some hospitals in Jos. Eighty (80) isolates of multidrug resistant (MDR) E. coli were screened for plasmids. ESBLs genes including bla-CTX, bla-TEM and bla-SHV were detected on the plasmids using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with 100 bp DNA ladder as DNA molecular weight marker. Out of the total 38 plasmids tested, ESBLs genes occurred in 13 (34.21%), with the bla-TEM dominating [7 (53.85%)] over the bla-CTX [4 (30.77%)]. Two (15.38%) of the isolates carried both genes. None of the isolates carried the bla-SHV gene in our study. All the strains showed resistance to SXT, AMC and CTX. Resistance was most frequently observed against SXT (13), AMC (13), CTX (13), CFM (12), F (8), NA (6), GN (5), CRO (4), OFX (2) and CIP (1). None of the ESBLs-bearing strains showed resistance to IPM. Result showed 34.21% prevalence of ESBLs and suggested the need to be more cautious with the clinical use of third generation Cephalosporins especially for the treatment of acute infections caused by E. coli due to the high resistance recorded.Item EFFECT OF AQUEOUS SOYABEAN EXTRACT AND METFORMIN ON SOME BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS IN ALLOXAN- INDUCED DIABETIC RATS(IJBPAS,, 2026-07) LUKA CD; TIJJANI HSoya bean is a staple food with great nutritional value. In this study, the effect of aqueous soya bean extract was carried out in Alloxan induced diabetic rats for 7days. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenes, steroids, phenols and resins. Diabetic rats exhibited high blood glucose, cholesterol, Triglyceride (TG) and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) while High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) was very low. The continuous administration of extract at150 mg/kg b.wt. for 7 days significantly (P˂0.05) reverse these effects on cholesterol, TG, HDL and LDL while a similar result was also observe for metformin (14.2 mg/kg b.wt) treated group. The extract had no significant effect (P˃0.05) on serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) while serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly increasing (P˂0.05) when compared to the control. Although the extract could not significantly lower the blood glucose when compared to the control, a gradual reduction was observed on day7. The present study revealed that aqueous soya bean extract can effectively control some of the metabolic disorders that are associated with diabetic.Item Ascertaining the Bacteriological Quality of Water Drawn from Cast and Non-cast Wells in Zaria, Nigeria(International Journal of Pathogen Research, 2020) Danjuma, Florence Yachim; Onaji, Ajegba Innocent; Ocheme Julius Okojokwu; Danladi Yakubu PapiLack of access to safe drinking water is a threat to public health and wellbeing of the people as it exposes them to risk of waterborne diseases. This study assessed the bacteriological quality of well water samples obtained from Zaria communities and compared the level of contamination between wells with internal wall casting (cast wells) and wells without internal wall casting (non-cast wells). Water samples from 142 wells were collected for a period of six months encompassing both rainy and dry seasons (July to September for rainy season and November to January for dry season). The water samples were collected and analysed for faecal contamination using membrane filtration technique. The water samples contained high density of bacterial counts ranging from 1.73x103±2.73x102 – 2.02x102±1.85x102cfu/100ml during the raining season and 4.17x102±3.07x101 – 1.39x103±3.27x102cfu/100ml during the dry season. Coliforms and E. coli were present in all the samples with total coliform counts ranging from 1.06 x 103 – 2.12 x 104 cfu/100 ml and E. coli counts ranging from 5.10 X 102 – 5.0 X 104 cfu/100 ml Counts were higher during the raining season in all the locations compared to the dry season. Faecal coliform counts were higher in wells without casting (91.9%) compare to wells with casting (91.2%) while E. coli counts were higher in wells with casting (77.9%) compared to wells without casting (66.2%). There was no significant difference in the bacterial counts between cast and non-cast wells (p-values were all greater than 0.05).A total of 168 organisms were isolated from this study and they include; E. coli(48.3%), Klebsiella pnuemonaie(11.8%), Klebsiella ozanae(13.2%), Enterobacter agglomerans(11.8%), Enterobacter gergoviae(14.7%), Enterobacter aerogenes (8.8%), Citrobacter freundii(8.8%), Proteus mirabilis (5.9%), Serratia liquefaciens(10.3%) and Acinetobacter lwoffii (2.9%). E. coliwas isolated more frequently (48.3%) compared to other species and was more frequent in non-cast wells (50.0%) compared to cast wells (47.1%). Other species were more frequent in cast wells. The bacteria isolated from this study are mostly of enteric origin; these organisms acquire public health significance under certain conditions, therefore, their removal in drinking water should be given moderate priority. The wells in this study fail to meet the minimum standard for safe drinking water and are therefore not safe for domestic purposes especially for drinking purpose without adequate treatment.Item An Adaptive Method using the L-Weno Reconstruction(International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2021-10) Mrumun C. Soomiyol; Terhemen Aboiyar; Nathaniel M KamohIn this work, an adaptive formulation of the Legendre - Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (L-WENO) method is used to solve some problems of two-dimensional linear conservation laws on unstructured triangular mesh. The mesh adaptivity is used to improve the performance of the method. Although the results with the L-WENO method gets better as the mesh is refined, the mesh adaptation algorithm was able to improve the quality of the numerical approximation and reduce computational cost by refining and coarsening the computational mesh based on some specified criteria.Item Physicochemical and Bacteriological Evaluation of Sachet Water Sold in Minna Metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria(International Journal of Advanced Chemistry Research, 2023) Ibrahim Mohammed; Muhammad Taoheed Bisiriyu; Rasaq Bolakale Salau; Asmau Omowumi Suleiman; Hamidu Abdullahi; Cyril Ogbiko; Gungshik John Rople; Rabiat Lawal AbdullahPhysical assessment of the package labels (product name, manufacturing address, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) registration number, manufacturing and expiry date and batch number on the labeling) and quality evaluation of the physicochemical and bacteriological properties of the water samples collected was assess and analyzed in relation to level of compliance with package water recommended standards. Four (4) clusters were considered in which three samples were collected from vendors in each cluster making up a total of twelve (12) samples. Physical examinations revealed 100% compliance to standards in terms of the product name, manufacturing address and NAFDAC registration number but zero percent compliance for manufacturing and expiry dates but only about 17% of the samples had a batch number on the labeling. The physiochemical parameters show appreciable compliance to standards with an ambient temperature of 28 °C, pH range of 6.5 to 8.5 and conductivity values ranged between 104.67 - 225.67 μS/cm still lower compared to the maximum range of 1000 μS/cm by Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS). Samples turbidity results recorded zero value for SWA1, SWB2, SWC3, SWE5, SWG5, SWH6, SWI7, SWJ8 and SWK9 except for sample SWD10, SWF11, and SWL12 with a turbidity of 2.00, 2.00 and 3.00 NTU, respectively and were still within NIS/WHO limit of 5 NTU. Total dissolved solids (TDS) values ranged from 70.20 - 171.67 mg/L but still within the threshold limit of 500 mg/L recommended by NIS. The bacteriological parameters gave total bacterial count (TBC) ranged between 1 - 16.50 cfu/cm3 accounting for SWB2=2.00, SWC3=1.50, SWD4=2.00, SWE5=1.00, SWF6=5.50, SWG7=4.00, SWH8=5.00, SWI9=13.00, SWJ10=8.50, SWK11=16.50,and SWL12=16.00 cfu/cm3 above the WHO limit of zero cfu/cm3 except SWA with 0.00 cfu/cm3 in conformity with the standard limit while TCC ranged from 1-1.50 cfu/cm3 for SWC3=1.50, SWD4=1.00, SWE5=1.00, SWG7=1.00, SWH8=1.50 and SWK11=1.50 cfu/cm3 which is all above the WHO limit of 0.00 cfu/cm3except six samples (SWA1, SWB2, SWF6, SWI9, SWJ10 and SWL12) having 0.00 cfu/cm3 accounting for 50% samples compliance with the tolerance limit. The concentration of Pb, Zn, Fe, and Cr in the samples was below the WHO/SON tolerant level of 0.01 mg/L for Pb, 5 mg/L for Zn, 0.3 mg/L for Fe and 0.05 mg/L for Cr except for samples SWF6, SWG7, and SWJ10 with Pb concentration of 0.04, 0.032, and 0.050 mg/L respectively, above permissible limits of WHO/SON. The corrosion of pipes used in the water processing may account for the Pb concentration hence, regular assessment of the sachet water products should be ensured by the regulating agencies to promote both water and health safety.Item Reformulated Adomian Decomposition Method for the Approximation of Special Linear and Nonlinear Two-Point Boundary Value Problems(SCIENCE FORUM (JOURNAL OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES), 2021-08-12) Joshua Sunday1; Joshua A. Kwanamu; Nathaniel M. Kamoh; Yusuf SkwameBoundary value problems (BVPs) of higher order have been found to be potentially applicable in hydro-magnetic stability, hydrodynamics, chemical reactions, heat power transmission theory, and the boundary layer theory in fluid mechanics. In this research, a method which decomposes the solution into the series which converges rapidly shall be derived. We shall call this method the reformulated Adomian decomposition method (RADM). This method is an improvement over Aadomian decomposition method (ADM). The RADM is derived in such a way that on imposing the boundary conditions on the approximant, a system of equations is obtained which in turn is solved for the undetermined constants. On substituting the resulting constants into the solution function, we obtain a series solution to the problem. The RADM is applied on some linear and nonlinear two-point BVPs and from the results obtained, the method is said to be computationally reliable.Item Keratin Degradation by Penicillium purpurogenum Isolated from Tannery Soils in Jos, Nigeria(2021-07-27) Nwadiaro, P. O. Chuku, A. Onyimba, I. A. Ogbonna, A. I. Nwaukwu, I. A. Adekojo, D. A.Background: Tannery soils are very rich in keratinous materials such as fur, wool and hair that are by-products of the tanning industry where hides and skins are processed. A keratinase producing fungus belonging to the genus Penicillium was isolated from soils containing tannery wastes in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The fungus produced extra cellular protease on skim milk casein agar as an indication for keratinase production. The species had maximum proteolytic and keratinase activities in a Submerged Fermentation (SmF) using liquid basal medium supplemented with skim milk, chicken feathers and human hair as carbon and nitrogen sources. Results: The Spectrophotometric assay of the proteolytic and keratinolytic activity of Penicillium purpurogenum, showed that it had the highest activity (13.5 U/ml) on chicken feathers. This was followed by human hair with activity of 12 U/ml. The least activity of 11.9 U/ml was observed in skim milk medium. It was observed that incubation temperature had an effect on the enzyme activity, with an optimum temperature of 37°C for both protease and keratinase. Conclusion: This non-dermatophytic keratinolytic fungus may have potential use in biotechnological processes involving keratin hydrolysis. The results of this work reiterated that keratinolytic activity is relatively widespread among common fungi and may have an important role in keratin degradation in the natural environment