bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of ethanol extract of <i>Aframomum angustifolium</i> seeds on potassium bromate induced liver and kidney damage in Wistar rats
Authors: Ebhohimen I.E. , Ebhomielen J.O. , Edemhanria L. , Osagie A.O. , Omoruyi J.I. 
Published: July 2020

The continued use of potassium bromate in some food and cosmetic products in Nigeria against regulatory provision has continually exposed Nigerians to its deleterious effect. The mechanism of bromate induced damage in the liver and kidney is through oxidative stress. Phytochemicals have antioxidant capacity and have gained research interest in the management of oxidative stress. In this study, the effect of the ethanol extract of Aframomum angustifolium seed on kidney and liver damage induced by exposure to an acute dose of potassium bromate was measured using appropriate biomarkers. Eighteen male Wistar rats, randomly divided into 3 groups were used for the study. Group I (normal control) received distilled H2O; Group II (positive control) received 400 mg/kgbw bromate once while Group III (test) received same acute dose as Group II but thereafter treated with an oral dose of ethanol extract (750 mg/kgbw) for 10days. Half the populations of each group were sacrificed on day 3 while the remaining was sacrificed on day 10 of treatment. Liver and kidney tissues as well as blood samples were collected for analysis. Biochemical parameters; malondialdehyde, creatinine, electrolytes (Na+ and K+) concentration as well as catalase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities were measured using standard spectrophotometric procedures. In the kidney tissue, malondialdehyde concentration increased significantly in all groups from day 3 to day 10 but was highest in Group II. A similar trend was observed in the liver tissue but only group III increased significantly. Catalase activity was inhibited in Group II in both kidney and liver tissues and was significantly lower than test group. Serum Na+ decreased and K+ increased respectively but Group III were comparable to the Group I. Creatinine concentration increased in all groups but was highest in Group II though it was not significant. ALP activity was significantly higher (p<0.05) in Group III on day 3 compared to Group I but was not significantly different (p>0.05) on day 10. The results of this study suggests that ethanol extract of Aframomum angustifolium seeds can accelerate the in vivo repair of bromate induced hepato- and reno- toxicity in Wistar rats.
Keywords: Aframomum angustifolium, bromate toxicity, malondialdehyde, antioxidant, phytochemicals.
Foraminiferal analysis and paleoenvironments of sediments in well -Aa, deepwater offshore, Niger Delta, Nigeria
Authors: Enamekere Umoh Ekaete , Oluwaseyi Fasina Peace 
Published: July 2020

Foraminiferal analysis was carried out on twenty five (25) ditch cutting samples from well -AA, offsore Niger Delta covering a depth interval of 9000ft-11025f. The study was aimed at age deduction, zoning the well, and interpreting the paleoenvironment of deposition. Lithostratigraphic description carried out on the sample revealed that the bulk lithofacies constitute shale with streaks of sand (fine-medium) between 9170ft - 9210ft and 9360ft -9380ft. The entire analysed interval was barren of planktonic foraminifera while depth 9960ft revealed a spot occurrence of Lagena spp,representing the only calcareous benthic foraminifera recovered in the entire interval. Few to common occurrences of deepwater agglutinated foraminifera were found in the well, dominated by some species of Haplophragmoides spp and Haplophragmoides narivaensis. Other foraminifera with rare and scattered occurrence includes, Cribrostomides spp, Bathysiphon spp, Troahammina spp, Cyclammina spp, Cyclammina cancellata, Valvulina spp, and Glomospira spp. The only microfaunal associated accessory recovered is ostracod at depth 1080ft. The analysed intervals was assigned a Middle – Late Miocene (N17 and older age) based on the FDO of Haplophragmoides narivaensis. The environment of deposition is based on the distribution of typical deep water arenaeceous foraminifera species recovered in the study. The predominance of the arenaeceous forms over calcareous forms suggest outer shelf environment of deposition.
Keywords: Foraminifera, Palaeoenvironment, Niger delta, Biostratigraphy.
Traditional Theatrical Practices in a Receding Economy: A Focus on TombianaEgbelegbeFestival of Rivers State
Authors: Ikiroma-Owiye Somieari Jariel 
Published: July 2020

Lack of cultural reality has often led to recession in most developing societies as perceived in cultural studies. However, traditional adaptations are often deployed to cushion and possibly reverse the severity of recession across time and space. Instances of such reversals include the Chinese reversal to Confucianism, the Indian resort to Hinduism and the traditional African invocation of ancestral myths, religious observances and festivals. From the re-enactment of the procreative Tombiana Egbelegbe festival we have seen that traditional value creates order and social cohesion in African societies. A reversal to these traditional means of social reengineering will endear these creative practices that create order and social cohesion in African societies. Thus, the theoretical position of Marxist cultural inquiry will be applied as the theoretical framework for this paper. The Methodology applied in this study is research participant observation and sources of data were primary and secondary sources. The findings revealed that consistently, festivals are efforts of man to alleviate human suffering, create order and control his environment through creativity and cultural resourcefulness in performance. It was recommended that given the reality that is subsisting in most Nigerian communities, agrarian festivals, innovative, resourceful and masked designs, costumes, make-up, craftsmanship, dance, and music, drum communication should be encouraged. It was thus concluded that continuous performance will lead to preservation, packaging, promotion and transmission of cultural values from one generation to another which will in turn lead to cultural tourism. Cultural tourism can lead nations out of recession and economic dependence as was experienced in the Indian and Chinese cultural revolutionary experience.
Key Words: Traditional theatrical practices, recession, human capacity development, TombianaEgbelegbe Festival
Tradition of Concubine Holding in Hausa Society (Nigeria), 1900 – 1930
Authors: Oladejo Mutiat Titilope 
Published: July 2020

This paper examined the tradition of holding women as concubine in Muslim societies of the Hausa. Concubine holding changed the status of women and was acquired by slavery. This paper analysed concubine holding as a phenomenon that challenged female status in Hausa society. It put into perspective, the trajectories of concubine holding from the legends in the tradition of origin. It analysed the rights and privileges accrued to a concubine. And by the beginning of the twentieth century, the question of concubine holding was conveniently desirable under Islamic law and while the British law attempted to change the practices as part of efforts to abolish slavery. Thus, the paper contended that; concubine holding was part of the accepted norms in the sexual notions, which specifically privileged women to change their status and negotiate power in Hausa society. The paper adopted the historical approach by analysing court records, archival materials of the Nigerian National Archives, Kaduna, as well as books and journals relevant to the theme.
Keywords: Concubine holding, British law, Islamic law, Hausa society
Nationalising Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nigeria for Optimised Cultural Tourism: The Zangbeto Model
Authors: Okure Dominic Uduakabasi 
Published: July 2020

This paper evaluates developments in the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) discourse with particular reference to Nigeria, with a view to identifying challenges to its proper conservation and management on the one hand, and projecting its potential for optimised cultural tourism on the other. Along with an overview of the ICH industry in Nigeria, the Zangbeto masked tradition of the Ogu of south-western Nigeria was proposed as an example of the nation’s many intangible cultural heritage models and expressions that could be engineered through nationalisation for enhanced cultural tourism, national development and unity, and international collaboration. Through a triangulation of the phenomenological and case study approaches, complemented by a hermeneutical investigation of some significant themes on the subject, this paper explored the background to the UNESCO Convention on ICH and the attendant conceptual developments and critical junctures in the ICH discourse. It also examined the issue of ICH’s under representation in micro and macro strategies for social and economic development, reconceptualise nationalisation to accommodate specific anthropological concerns, and went on to propose a nationalisation-based analysis and management framework for the celebration, evaluation, effective conservation, preservation and management of Nigeria’s ICH with the Zangbeto tradition as a cultural model.
Key Words: Nationalisation; Zangbeto; Intangible Cultural Heritage; Cultural Tourism;Analysis and Management Frameworks.
Amino acids profile of catfish, crayfish and larva of edible <i>dung</i> beetle
Authors: Oriolowo O.B. , John O.J. , Mohammed U.B. , Joshua D. 
Published: July 2020

Protein is an important nutrient for growth and development of humans and its quality depends on the types and composition of its amino acids. The amino acid profile of dung beetle larva was determined and compared with those of catfish and crayfish by HPLC using Applied PTH Biosystem amino acid analyzer. The data obtained were analyzed with inferential statistics of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means separated using LeastSignificance Difference (LSD). The results showed that there were significant differences in the samples for all the set criteria for amino acid quality: total amino acid (F = 219.9), percentage amino acid (F = 1095.4), 2, 6 2, 6 essential amino acid score (F = 2588.4), essential to non-essential amino acid ratio (F = 236.7) and predicted 2, 6 2, 6 protein efficiency ratio (F = 1049.4) all at P < 0.05. About 66.7% of the essential amino acids in dung beetle 2, 6larva satisfy human nutritional requirement while amino acids like tryptophan, histidine and threonine were significantly higher in dung beetle. The amino acid score of this insect was higher as it has the potential of over 100% protein synthesis as against 68.2% and 80.9% respectively for catfish and crayfish. Moreover, a consumption of 46 g of dung beetle larva can effectively satisfy the daily human amino acid requirement. The study concluded that the protein quality of insects especially dung beetle larva compared favorably with commonly consumed human protein diets like catfish and crayfish. Therefore entomophagy should be encouraged in the face of the present dwindling availability of animal protein food sources.
Keywords: Amino acid score, Entomophagy, Protein energy malnutrition, Dung beetle
Effect of activated carbons from rubber seed shell on Crystal Violet removal
Authors: Anegbe B. , Emeribe R.C. , Okuo J.M. 
Published: July 2020

Dyes are complex organic compounds which are used by various industries to add colour to their products. Water bodies are polluted when these industries dispose their effluents to the environment. In this study, powdered activated carbon was prepared from rubber seed shells (RSS) and was employed in the removal of crystal violet from aqueous solution. The rubber seed shell was first activated using ammonium chloride, shared into two portions and was carbonized at 500 and 300o C respectively. They were characterized in terms of bulk density, ash and moisture contents, surface area and IR Spectroscopy. Batch adsorption process which involved the use of these rubber seed shells was employed in the removal of crystal violet from aqueous solution. The effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, pH and dye concentration were investigated. The results showed that o maximum adsorption capacity of 500 C carbonized rubber seed shell was 97.93 % at 75 mins. The adsorbent dose, pH and optimum concentration were respectively 5.0 g, 10 and 10 mg/l. The maximum adsorption capacity of 300o C carbonized rubber seed shell was 96.73 % at 30 mins with an adsorbent dose of 5.0 g; pH of 10 and optimum concentration of 10 mg/l. The experimental data obtained were fitted into Freundlich,Langmuir, Temkin and Frumkin adsorption isotherms and was found to fit into the four isotherms. However, the rubber seed shell carbonized at 500o C was found to be more effective in the removal of crystal violet from o aqueous solution than that carbonized at 300o C. This might probably be due to the larger surface area.
Keywords: Activated Carbon, Rubber Seed Shell and Crystal Violet
Quantization of the one-dimensional free harmonic oscillator as an example of the application of the node theorem and the Macdonald-Hylleraas-Undheim theorem
Authors: Adegoke Kunle , Olatinwo A. 
Published: July 2020

Using heuristic arguments alone, based on the properties of the wavefunctions, the energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions of the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator are obtained. This approach is considerably simpler and is perhaps more intuitive than the traditional methods of solving a differential equation and manipulating operators.
Keywords: Time-independent Schrödinger equation, MacDonald-Hylleraas-Undheim theorem, Node theorem, Hermite polynomials, energy eigenvalues
Serum electrolytes and renal histology of Wistar rats treated with seed extract of <i>Citrullus lanatus</i>
Authors: Ovuakporaye Simon Irikefe , Enaohwo Taniyohwo Mamerhi , Mordi Joseph Chukwufumnaya , Naiho Alex Obidike 
Published: July 2020

Medicinal plants are frequently used in healthcare delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world because of their bioactive compounds, thus accounting for about 80% of African medicine. The kidneys are involved in one of the body’s most important homeostasis. This study evaluated the effects of Citrullus lanatus fruit juice on serum electrolytes and histology of the kidney in Wistar rats. Seventy (70) male Wistar rats were used for the study and categorized into four groups (n=9). Group 1 (control group) were fed with growers mash and water only. Animals in groups 2, 3 and 4 were given 2.5 mg/kg, 5 ml/kg and 10 ml/kg of the extract along with growers mash respectively. Findings showed a dose dependent increase in bodyweight (expressed in percentage) in all groups. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in serum Na+, Cl-, creatinine, HCO3 and urea in animals given watermelon seed extract (81.69±13.08; 85.22±8.25; 4.80±0.04; 27.78±5.48; 7.05±0.25) when compared with control group (102.62±7.40; 86.78±7.61; 26.90±2.46; 7.52±0.59; 28.26±5.24). However, there was significant increase in serum K+ level in animals given watermelon seed extract of 2.5 ml/kg group (3.77±0.12) when compared with control group (3.49±0.08). In addition, significant increase was observed in urea level in 2.5 ml/kg experimental animals (49.27±7.38) when compared with control (28.26±5.24). In conclusion, administration of Citrullus lanatus seed extract did not affect serum electrolytes level, except serum potassium, however, it caused an increase in the bodyweight of Wistar rats but show no significant alteration in histological architecture of the kidney when compared to control.
Keywords: Serum electrolyte; Renal histology; Citrullus lanatus
Quality assessment of brands of erythromycin stearate tablets marketed in Abuja, Nigeria
Authors: Mustapha Kudirat B. , Ekpo Marlene D. , Galadima Isa H. , Kirim Rukaiyatu A. , Odeniran Olubukola A. , Ache Theophilus A. 
Published: July 2020

Erythromycin is one of the most frequently prescribed antibiotics. With the increasing number of pharmaceutical industries, the possibility of purchasing a substandard product is on the high side. This makes it necessary to subject various commercially produced brands of erythromycin to quality evaluation in order to ascertain the quality. In this quality assessment study, six (6) brands of erythromycin tablets were subjected to physicochemical assay using standard physical methods and UV/VIS spectrophotometric analysis at 480 nm. The calibration curve for reference erythromycin was linear over a concentration range of 10-100 μg/ml with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.999. All the brands had standard deviation of weight greater than ±5 for the weight uniformity test. 66.67% of the brands passed the test for content of active ingredient. 83.33% of the brands examined passed the hardness test. All the brands failed the friability test because the percentage weight loss are greater than 1% as specified in the official book.
Keywords: Erythromycin stearate; Tablets; Brands; Pharmaceutical Industries
Gender and racial trauma in Angelou’s <i>I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings</i>
Authors: Adhikary Ramesh Prasad 
Published: July 2020

This paper analyses racial and gender trauma evoking the tormented state of the narrator, Maya in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Based on the cultural trauma, the researcher analyses the experiences of depressed African American women without identities. The narrator struggles to develop her dignified self and nonconformist outlook comes to block her after she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend Mr. Freeeman. The mysterious murder of her rapist creates the guilt, shame in her psychic as she thinks that she is responsible for his murder. The narrator suffering from the guilt and self-loathing results in her psychic turmoil. She stops speaking to people except her brother, Bailey. In the novel, Angelou tries to raise the voice of Black women to achieve dignified identity in the white racist and sexist America looking back on her childhood experiences. In this regard, this research aims to show reasons that cause the traumatic situation in the narrator due to several events that erupt in African American societies. Not only this, this research work explores issues related to the cause of racial and gender trauma and discusses how the narrator succeeds in working through trauma while in some cases the narrator just acts out it.
Key Words: Race, Gender, Cultural trauma, Psychic turmoil, identity, self
Effect of Salt Stresses on Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Camelina sativa L.
Authors: Yohannes Gebremedhn , Kidane Leul , Abraha Berhanu , Beyene Tadesse 
Published: July 2020

Camelina sativa is a promising low-input, high yielding biodiesel crop that can be suitable to grow on marginal lands and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. But, saltiness is an overall issue of agriculture that constrains the germination, development and productivity of plant because of osmotic and ionic poisonous quality impacts. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of salinity (NaCl and KCl) on germination and early seedling growth of Camelina sativa. Camelina sativa seeds were obtained from agricultural research sector of Wachemo University. In the laboratory, six salinity levels of NaCl and KCl (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 g/L) were prepared and arranged in completely randomized design with four replications. The result of the study revealed that C. sativa seedlings were differ significantly (p<0.05) on speed of germination, germination percentage, germination index, shoot length, root length, vigor index, root shoot ratio and seedling fresh weight, relative injury rates of NaCl and KCl, shoot height reduction and root height reduction. However, there is no significant effect between salt type versus salinity level and salt type in all parameters tested except shoot length and shoot height reduction at 5% significant level. The increase in both salts (NaCl and KCl) concentration in culture medium causes a significant decreases in speed of germination, germination percentage, germination index, shoot length, root length, vigor index, root shoot ratio and seedling fresh weight of the salt treated C. sativa seeds as compared with the control (C. sativa seeds watered with distilled water). Similarly, relative injury rates NaCl and KCl shoot height reduction, root height reduction were highly increased as salinity level increases. Generally, as the concentration of NaCl and KCl was increased the overall germination and early seedling performance of C. sativa decreased. The effect of salinity on physiology, molecular and biochemical of properties of C. sativa should be studied.
Keywords: Camelina sativa, Salinity effect, NaCl, KCl, Seed germination, Seedling growth.
MHD Partial Slip Flow and Heat Transfer of Nanofluids through a Porous Medium Over a Stretching Sheet with Convective Boundary Condition
Authors: Yirga Yohannes 
Published: July 2020

This paper investigates the boundary layer analysis for magnetohydrodynamic partial slip flow and heat transfer of nanofluids through porous media over a stretching sheet with convective boundary condition. Four types of nanoparticles, namely copper, alumina, copper oxide and titanium oxide in the ethylene glycol (50%, i.e., Pr = 29.86) and water (i.e., Pr = 6.58) based fluids are studied. The governing highly nonlinear and coupled partial differential equations are solved numerically using fourth order Runge-Kutta method with shooting techniques. The velocity and temperature profiles are obtained and utilized to compute the skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number for different values of the governing parameters viz. nanoparticle volume fraction parameter, magnetic field parameter, porosity parameter, velocity slip parameter and convective parameter. It is found that the velocity distribution of the nanofluids is a decreasing function of the magnetic parameter, porosity parameter, and velocity slip parameter. However, temperature of the nanofluids is an increasing function of magnetic field parameter, nanoparticle volume fraction parameter, porosity parameter, velocity slip parameter and convective parameter. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of the four nanofluids are compared. Moreover, comparison of the numerical results is made with previously published works for special cases and an excellent agreement is found.
Keywords: Magnetohydrodynamics, Partial Slip, Porous medium, Convective boundary, Nanofluid.
Second Degree Generalized Successive Over Relaxation Method for Solving System of Linear Equations
Authors: Hailu Firew , Gofe Gonfa Genanew , Muleta Chemeda Hailu 
Published: July 2020

In this paper, a second degree generalized successive over relaxation iterative method for solving system of linear equations based on the decomposition
A= Dm+Lm+Um is presented and the convergence properties of the proposed method are discussed. Two numerical examples are considered to show the efficiency of the proposed method. The results presented in tables show that the Second Degree Generalized Successive Over Relaxation Iterative method is more efficient than the other methods considered based on number of iterations, computational running time and accuracy. Keywords: Second Degree, Generalized Gauss Seidel, Successive over relaxation, Convergence.