Thymoquinone inhibits Neuroinflammatory mediators and vasoconstriction injury via NF-κB dependent NeuN/GFAP/Ki-67 in hypertensive Dams and F1 male pups on exposure to a mixture of Bisphenol-A analogues.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) analogues seem inevitable components of numerous domestic products, but these have been identified as agents of teratogenic disorders. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of thymoquinone (TMQ) on the striatum of hypertensive female rats and their F1 male offsprings, on exposure to a mixture of Bisphenol-B, Bisphenol-F and Bisphenol-S (MBFS). Female rats were divided into normotensive and hypertensive groups; and both were treated with MBFS only, MBFS + TMQ, and TMQ only.

Advancements and progress in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: A Review of pathophysiology and treatment.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic clinical condition characterized by arthritic features in children under the age of 16, with at least 6 weeks of active symptoms. The etiology of JIA remains unknown, and it is associated with prolonged synovial inflammation and structural joint damage influenced by environmental and genetic factors. This review aims to enhance the understanding of JIA by comprehensively analyzing relevant literature.

Barriers and shortcomings in access to cardiovascular management and prevention for familial hypercholesterolemia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a hereditary condition caused by mutations in the lipid pathway. The goal in managing FH is to reduce circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and, therefore, reduce the risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Because FH patients were considered high risk groups due to an increased susceptible for contracting COVID-19 infection, we hypothesized whether the effects of the pandemic hindered access to cardiovascular care.

A review of current trends in HIV epidemiology, surveillance, and control in Nigeria.

The HIV epidemic remains a public health challenge in Nigeria, with about 1.9 million people living with the virus in 2020. Despite progress in controlling the epidemic, challenges remain, including inadequate funding and limited access to prevention and treatment services for key populations.

Trend Analysis of Maternal Mortality in Kenya: Post-Devolution Empirical Results.

Introduction: Kenya has taken significant steps to improve Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) services, with a vision to prevent preventable deaths of women and newborns. This study seeks to fill a crucial gap in understanding the dynamics of maternal mortality in Kenya, post-devolution.

Materials And Methods: The study spans all the 47 counties of the Republic of Kenya, using county as the unit of analysis.

Experimental and molecular docking studies of quercetin and vitamin E with diabetes-associated mitochondrial-ATPase as anti-apoptotic therapeutic strategies.

Purpose: Researches have shown the relevance of antioxidants in the management of several diseases. In the present study, the effects of quercetin and vitamin E were investigated on the mitochondrial functions in vivo and in silico.

Methods: Structures of quercetin and vitamin E were docked against mitochondrial Adenosine triphosphatase (mATPase), and cytochrome c cavity.

Stochastic process and tutorial of the African buffalo optimization.

This paper presents the data description of the African buffalo optimization algorithm (ABO). ABO is a recently-designed optimization algorithm that is inspired by the migrant behaviour of African buffalos in the vast African landscape. Organizing their large herds that could be over a thousand buffalos using just two principal sounds, the /maaa/ and the /waaa/ calls present a good foundation for the development of an optimization algorithm.

The status of natural radioactivity in Nigerian environments.

Proper documentation of baseline radiation data of different environments is an important step toward adequate environmental monitoring, and it provides quick means to quantitatively check and determine possible radionuclide contamination by anthropogenic sources. Besides, such documentation is useful for decision making processes, assessment of dose rates to the public, epidemiological studies, and environmental regulations. This review summarizes the results of studies conducted on radioactivity in Nigerian environments.

An integrated assessment of land use impact, riparian vegetation and lithologic variation on streambank stability in a peri-urban watershed (Nigeria).

Bank erosion is an important source of sediment and phosphorus to inland fluvial systems and is generally responsible for more than half of the total watershed sediment export. Numerous studies have quantified bank erosion and the spatio-temporal variation of sediment flux in different watersheds. However, there is sparse research to date on the linkages between bank erosion/accretion and sediment export under different land uses, especially in rapidly evolving peri-urban watersheds.

Practice, Perceptions, and Prospects of Mammography Screening in Nigeria: Insights From a National Survey of Female Health Workers.

Background: Mammography, the most preferred tool for breast cancer screening, has very poor uptake in Nigeria, even among health workers. No nationwide study has been done to ascertain this. This study sought to determine the current perceptions and practices of Nigerian female health care practitioners on mammography screening across different types and levels of health care institutions in the country's 6 geopolitical zones.

Emergence of species in ticks from free-ranging domestic animals in Raymond Mhlaba local municipality, South Africa.

Ticks infestation and diseases associated with it, are becoming a major life threatening concern to wildlife, domesticated animals and human health in general. Besides causing skin damage, ticks infestations have become a growing burden in food security and transmission of multiple pathogens. There is paucity of data on the occurrence of etiologic agents of tick-borne diseases in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa.

Quercetin and vitamin E ameliorate cardio-apoptotic risks in diabetic rats.

Apoptosis is upregulated in all forms of diabetes, and the mitochondria act as target in diabetes pathophysiology. Quercetin and vitamin E have both shown usefulness in the delay of progression of diabetes-induced complications. However, their effect on the apoptotic process in diabetes mellitus is unknown.

Sequence analysis reveals asymptomatic infection with and possibly leads to infertility in females: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Genetic evidence of asymptomatic () and () infection associated with infertility among females is lacking because suitable high throughput molecular methods have not been applied.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the occurrence of and in the genital tract of females with asymptomatic infection and infertility as well as determine their genetic relatedness.

Materials And Methods: The study group included 100 asymptomatic females and 31 females diagnosed with infertility.

Combating Lassa fever for sustainable development: Interplay of perceived behavioural control and current preventive practices in most endemic States in Nigeria.

Lassa fever has become a recurring incidence in Nigeria with high case fatality rates recorded in recent times. Given that total compliance with standard hygiene is recommended as a fundamental ingredient for the prevention of Lassa fever, this study investigated the influence of perceived behavioural control and current household and environmental hygiene practices for Lassa fever prevention among residents of selected Lassa fever endemic states in Nigeria. Data collected from primary sources through a mixed-methods approach, using self-administered structured questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) was used for analysis and drawing of inferences.

Mental health and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of unemployed and employed people in Nigeria.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly disrupted human activities all over the world. Despite this, little or nothing is known about mental health and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic among the unemployed and employed people in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was an effort towards bridging this knowledge gap.

Anaemia in Children and Adolescents: A Bibliometric Analysis of BRICS Countries (1990-2020).

Background/objectives: Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa have prioritized cooperation regarding health, including malnutrition. Anaemia in children, adolescents and women of reproductive age has been on the increase in these countries, placing a huge strain on healthcare systems. This study aimed to map the scientific perspective and research publications on anaemia in children and adolescents in the BRICS countries.

A Comparative Performance Analysis of Computational Intelligence Techniques to Solve the Asymmetric Travelling Salesman Problem.

This paper presents a comparative performance analysis of some metaheuristics such as the African Buffalo Optimization algorithm (ABO), Improved Extremal Optimization (IEO), Model-Induced Max-Min Ant Colony Optimization (MIMM-ACO), Max-Min Ant System (MMAS), Cooperative Genetic Ant System (CGAS), and the heuristic, Randomized Insertion Algorithm (RAI) to solve the asymmetric Travelling Salesman Problem (ATSP). Quite unlike the symmetric Travelling Salesman Problem, there is a paucity of research studies on the asymmetric counterpart. This is quite disturbing because most real-life applications are actually asymmetric in nature.

Effectiveness of Yoruba language radio jingles in promoting knowledge, attitude and practices regarding Lassa fever among women in Ondo state, Nigeria.

Background: Lassa fever is one of the known Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that plague some states in Nigeria. Radio jingles in indigenous language have been adopted as a veritable risk communication approach to promote public knowledge in the bid to reduce the incidence of Lassa fever outbreaks in Ondo state which has recorded the highest number of victims in recent times. Given the high level of women's contribution in home keeping, food storage as well as maintenance of environmental hygiene practices, their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP), is fundamental for the control of Lassa fever.

Energy transition in a lockdown: An analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on changes in electricity demand in Lagos Nigeria.

In this study, we analyse the role of forced lockdowns on electricity consumption behaviour and its effect on momentary transition in electricity use. Electricity consumption data for residential, commercial and industrial consumers within the Lagos metropolis representing 259 electrical feeder locations were collected and analysed under three scenarios: first, we analyse a business--usual scenario without a lockdown; secondly, we analyse the case of a partial lockdown; and finally, we analyse the case of a total lockdown. The study revealed that aside government announcement of the lockdown, certain social practices triggered changes in electricity consumption and use leading to momentary energy transition.

Evaluating the Relationship between Duty Hours and Quality of Life of Nigerian Early Career Doctors.

This study explored association between early career doctors (ECDs) duty hours and their quality of life (QoL). Information was collected on socio-demographics, duty hours and QoL of 391 Nigerian ECDs. Results showed median of 70 duty-hours weekly, 10 call-days monthly and 6 sleep-hours daily.

ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY IN MAIZE AND ESTIMATION OF CONCOMITANT DOSE TO NIGERIAN VIA INGESTION PATHWAY.

Uranium, thorium and potassium are the most abundant naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) found in soils and other environmental media including foodstuffs. Since the human exposures to NORMs is an unavoidable phenomenon, in such a way that they can easily find their way to human being via food chain, detailed knowledge on their presence in foodstuffs is necessary to assess the radiation dose to the population. Thus, the present study concerns the assessment of natural radioactivity in maize, a staple foodstuff for Nigerian, via HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry.

Burden of diabetic foot ulcer in Nigeria: Current evidence from the multicenter evaluation of diabetic foot ulcer in Nigeria.

Background: Nigeria bears the greatest burden of diabetes prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a serious and potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes. Significant improvements in diabetic foot incidence and outcomes have been recorded in many Western countries in the past decade.