L-arginine mitigates cardiac lipid and glucose accumulation through leptin modulation and enhancement of PIK3 activities in high fat-fed male Wistar rats.

Background And Aim: Insulin resistance and other metabolic risk factors are associated with increased cardiovascular diseases in animals fed with high fat diets (HFD). L-arginine is a semi-essential amino acid produced both endogenously and taken in the diet as supplements. It has been documented to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been considered a plausible candidate for the management of metabolic disorders.

Short-term germinated legume flours as functional ingredients in food products.

Unlocking the potential of legumes through short-term germination offers an innovative approach to improving the functionality of the resultant flour. This review examines the multifaceted benefits of short-term germinated legume flour, emphasizing the enzymatic activities that breakdown complex legume compounds into simpler forms and reduce anti-nutritional factors. This process improves digestibility, nutrient bioavailability, and health-promoting properties.

Clinical symptoms and faecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA among hospitalized COVID-19 patients: Implication for transmission.

SARS-CoV-2 shedding in human stool has been suggested as a probable route for faeco-oral transmission of the virus due to the availing evidence on the infectivity and pathogenicity of similar highly infectious respiratory viruses. Determining association of SARS-CoV-2 shedding in stools and presenting clinical status might be useful for prediction of the viral transmission spectrum and disease outcome. This study involved a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 91 consenting hospitalized, confirmed COVID-19 patients in Infectious Disease Isolation Centre, Oyo State, Nigeria.

APOLIPOPROTEIN E GENE POLYMORPHISMS AND PLASMA LIPIDS IN PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background And Objective: A major modifiable risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is abnormalities in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism which are frequently seen in HIV as well as its treatment. Apo-E is a protein that is important in plasma lipid homeostasis and its genetic alleles have been shown to contribute to lipid abnormalities. We examined for the effect of Apo-E gene polymorphisms on plasma lipid levels in PLHIV on protease inhibitor therapy.

Quality of life assessment among ethnically diverse Black prostate cancer survivors: a constructivist grounded theory approach.

Purpose: Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common cancer in Black men (BM), and the number of Black CaP survivors is rapidly increasing. Although Black immigrants are among the fastest-growing and most heterogeneous ethnic groups in the USA, limited data exist regarding their CaP experiences. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and model the experiences of ethnically diverse Black men with CaP.

Association of depression and anxiety with uncontrolled hypertension: A cross-sectional study in Southwest Nigeria.

Background: Hypertension is a medical condition of public health concern that increases the risk of chronic noncommunicable diseases and mortalities. In recent years, understanding its coexistence with other comorbidities has been the focus of better management. However, the relationship between hypertension and depression or anxiety has been contentious issue, with diverse findings reported by different studies.

Quality of Life Assessment Among Ethnically Diverse Black Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach.

Purpose: Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common cancer in Black men (BM), and the number of Black CaP survivors is rapidly increasing. Although Black immigrants are among the fastest-growing and most heterogeneous ethnic groups in the US, limited data exist regarding their CaP experiences. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and model the experiences of ethnically diverse Black men with CaP.

Physicochemical properties, anti-nutritional and bioactive constituents, in vitro digestibility, and techno-functional properties of bioprocessed whole wheat flour.

This study investigated the impact of bioprocessing techniques (germination, solid-state fermentation, the combination of germination, and solid-state fermentation) on the physicochemical properties, anti-nutritional and bioactive constituents, in vitro digestibility, and techno-functional properties of whole wheat grains were investigated. Bioprocessed whole wheat flour (WWF) samples and the raw flour (control) were prepared using standard procedures. Proximate, anti-nutritional, mineral and amino acid (AA) compositions, protein digestibility, antioxidant activities, starch characteristics, and techno-functional properties were studied using standard methods.

Genomic analysis of Nigerian indigenous chickens reveals their genetic diversity and adaptation to heat-stress.

Indigenous poultry breeds from Africa can survive in harsh tropical environments (such as long arid seasons, excessive rain and humidity, and extreme heat) and are resilient to disease challenges, but they are not productive compared to their commercial counterparts. Their adaptive characteristics are in response to natural selection or to artificial selection for production traits that have left selection signatures in the genome. Identifying these signatures of positive selection can provide insight into the genetic bases of tropical adaptations observed in indigenous poultry and thereby help to develop robust and high-performing breeds for extreme tropical climates.

Invariant Molecular Representations for Heterogeneous Catalysis.

Catalyst screening is a critical step in the discovery and development of heterogeneous catalysts, which are vital for a wide range of chemical processes. In recent years, computational catalyst screening, primarily through density functional theory (DFT), has gained significant attention as a method for identifying promising catalysts. However, the computation of adsorption energies for all likely chemical intermediates present in complex surface chemistries is computationally intensive and costly due to the expensive nature of these calculations and the intrinsic idiosyncrasies of the methods or data sets used.

Glucoregulatory effect of butyrate is associated with elevated circulating VEGF and reduced cardiac lactate in high fructose fed rats.

Background: High fructose diet has been linked with impaired body metabolism and cardiovascular diseases. Sodium butyrate (NaB) was documented to improve glucoregulation and cardiometabolic problems associated with high fructose diet (HFrD) but the mechanisms behind it are unclear. As a result, the purpose of this study was to look into the effects of NaB on VEGF and cardiac lactate in HFrD-induced dysmetabolism.

Benchmarking the Accuracy of Density Functional Theory against the Random Phase Approximation for the Ethane Dehydrogenation Network on Pt(111).

The Random Phase Approximation (RPA) is conceptually the most accurate Density Functional Approximation method, able to simultaneously predict both adsorbate and surface energies accurately; however, this work questions its superiority over DFT for catalytic application on hydrocarbon systems. This work uses microkinetic modeling to benchmark the accuracy of DFT functionals against that of RPA for the ethane dehydrogenation reaction on Pt(111). Eight different functionals, with and without dispersion corrections, across the GGA, meta-GGA and hybrid classes are evaluated: PBE, PBE-D3, RPBE, RPBE-D3, BEEF-vdW, SCAN, SCAN-rVV10, and HSE06.

Severe Acute Malnutrition: The Potential of Non-Peanut, Non-Milk Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods.

Purpose Of Review: This review provides information on the prospect and effectiveness of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) produced locally without the addition of milk and peanut.

Recent Findings: The foods used in fighting malnutrition in the past decades contributed little to the success of the alleviation program due to their non-effectiveness. Hence, RUTFs are introduced to fight malnutrition.

Differential effects of carbamazepine and levetiracetam monotherapy on reproductive endocrine function in Nigerian women with epilepsy.

Objective: This study is aimed at comparing differential effect of Levetiracetam (LTC) monotherapy and Carbamazepine (CZP) monotherapy in W omen with epilepsy (WWE) on gonadal hormone.

Methods: 87 WWE were recruited comprising randomly of 46 and 41 on CZP and LTC group respectively with diagnosis and classification based on International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). Reproductive hormones (Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle stimulating hormone, progesterone, estradiol and testosterone) were assayed.

Effects of frozen of marula fruits on chemical, antioxidant activities, and sensory properties of marula fruit juice.

This study determined the effects of frozen storage on physicochemical, phenolic content and antioxidant activities of fruit juice extracted from frozen marula fruits. The marula fruits were frozen for zero to eight weeks after which the frozen marula fruits were thawed between 10 and 12 h and the juice extracted manually. There was 36.

Distinct monkeypox virus lineages co-circulating in humans before 2022.

The 2022 global mpox outbreak raises questions about how this zoonotic disease established effective human-to-human transmission and its potential for further adaptation. The 2022 outbreak virus is related to an ongoing outbreak in Nigeria originally reported in 2017, but the evolutionary path linking the two remains unclear due to a lack of genomic data between 2018, when virus exportations from Nigeria were first recorded, and 2022, when the global mpox outbreak began. Here, 18 viral genomes obtained from patients across southern Nigeria in 2019-2020 reveal multiple lineages of monkeypox virus (MPXV) co-circulated in humans for several years before 2022, with progressive accumulation of mutations consistent with APOBEC3 activity over time.

Community perception and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine in South-West Nigeria: an online cross-sectional study.

Background: The development of COVID-19 vaccines holds great potential for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Vaccines, irrespective of the disease are generally fraught with hesitancy, and Nigeria has a history of vaccine hesitancy.

Objective: This study aimed at determining the perception of community members about the COVID-19 vaccine and their readiness to accept the vaccine in South West, Nigeria.

Ameliorative effect of ethanolic extract of leaves on hyper-cholesterolemic rats: The egg yolk induced model.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading killers in the world today, and hyperlipidemia is one of the main risk factors. The prevalence of hyperlipidemia is rising dramatically worldwide and is mostly felt in poorer nations. The majority of communities and individuals in Africa are known to turn to ethnomedicine for their medical requirements.

Systematic review of women's experiences of planning home birth in consultation with maternity care providers in middle to high-income countries.

Aim: To synthesise findings from published studies, which reported on women's experiences of planning a home birth in consultation with maternity care providers.

Design: Systematic Review DATA SOURCES: We searched seven bibliographic databases, (Ovid Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL plus, Scopus, ProQuest and Cochrane (Central and Library), from January 2015 to 29 April 2022.

Review Methods: Primary studies were included if they investigated women's experiences of planning a home birth with maternity care providers, in upper-middle and high-income countries and written in English language.