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The nutrients requirement for Cucurbita pepo L. (summer squash) for optimal yield and quality fruits production can be achieved through adequate nutrient supply. A field experiment was carried out during the cropping season of 2015 and 2016 at Landmark University Teaching and Research Farm, Omu-Aran, Nigeria to investigate the impact of Tithonia diversifolia, poultry manure and NPK fertilizer on the growth, yield, mineral and vitamin C content in the fruit of C. pepo. The experiment consisted of T. diversifolia at 30 tons ha−1, poultry manure at 10 tons ha−1, T. diversifolia at 30 tons ha−1 + Poultry manure 10 tons ha−1, T. diversifolia at 30 tons ha−1 + NPK (20:10:10), NPK (20:10:10) and control (no amendment of any kind) arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The growth and fruit yield of C. pepo using the mean of the two years was increased by 68% and 2% respectively by T. diversifolia + poultry manure as compared to control due to an increase in nutrient availability in the soil with the amendment used. Also, Vitamin C content and Mg value of the fruit was increased by application of T. diversifolia as soil amendments as compared to the control. While the application of NPK fertilizer alone significantly increased the Ca, Mn and Fe contents of fruits. Fruit content of K was increased by 39 % by the application of T. diversifolia + NPK. Therefore, for the purpose of growing squash for the quality of fruits (vitamin C), the use of T. diversifolia at 30 tons ha−1 as organic fertilizer is sufficient for the cultivation, while for growing the crop with interest in quantity, application of T. diversifolia at 30 tons ha−1 + poultry manure at 10 tons ha−1 is recommended.

Infected skin wounds are common in pet animals. Following an infected severe bite wound in a dog with marked necrotic aftermath, natural honey was successfully used alongside systemic antibiotic therapy to hasten healing. The condition improved with speed and regeneration of skin tissue, avoiding sloughing. The wound took 168 days to heal and to form a scar. Natural honey can be considered as a wound management tool, as it is both highly effective, can render a low cost therapy and less managemental expenditure compared to other specialized therapies and techniques.

Prolonged use of antiretroviral agents has been clearly associated with nephrotoxicity, suggesting deterioration of renal function in patients receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART). The present study was designed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of resveratrol (RV) in the treatment toxins-induced renal impairment. Twenty-four adult male Wistar rats weighing 70-90 g were divided into four groups and subjected to the following treatments: Control A (distilled water), B (HAART), C (RV-2.5 mg/kg), D (RV- 2.5 mg/kg) + HAART. Assessment included renal histological examination; renal function indicators such as serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen; serum electrolyte levels including sodium, chloride, potassium, bicarbonate; and oxidative stress biomarkers such as malondialdehyde, catalase and glutathione and superoxide dismutase. Adverse effects of HAART include adverse histological changes, such as tubular atrophy, vacuolization, tubular granular degeneration and glomerular capillaries abnormalities. Compared to the other treatment cohorts, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), sodium, chloride and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly increased, while antioxidant enzyme activities such as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) levels were notably decreased. Renal structure remained largely unchanged after RV administration, with some recovery in histological abnormalities. Visible improvements, including reduced inflammation, reduced necrosis, reduced vacuolization and improved tubule and glomerular configuration, were also observed. In addition, RV notably increased antioxidant enzyme levels (SOD, CAT, and GSH) and decreased BUN, serum creatinine and MDA levels. RV helped mitigate HAART-induced structural abnormalities and renal dysfunction, while improving renal morphology. However, further investigation of these mechanisms is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diarrhoea has been rampaging with high mortality, among children of five years and below most especially, in developing countries. Although, orthodox drugs for diarrhoea are available but with side effects and not within the reach of poor, hence, the use of medicinal plants such as guava (Psidium guajava) for its management. In vitro antioxidative effects and antidiarrhoeal potential of hydro-ethanolic extract of stem bark of guava (Psidium guajava) in castor oil-induced diarrhoeal albino rats were investigated in this study. Bioactive compositions, its effects on oxidation together with diarrhoea in Abino rats were also investigated. The extract contained phytochemicals such as phenols, tannins and flavonoids in relatively large quantity while alkaloids were completely not detected. HPLC analysis further revealed bioactive compounds such as kaempferol, chlorogenic acid, apigenin and guajiverin among others. The extract also showed high antioxidant potentials in vivo. Furthermore, the frequency of stooling, intestinal contents movement and enteropooling were reduced significantly (P < 0.05) in Albino rats treated with aqueous-ethanol stem bark extract of guava (Psidium guajava). In addition, the there was a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in N+ -K+ ATPase activity while an increase in the concentration of nitric oxide in the blood of diarrhoeal albino rats was also observed. However, these pharmacological properties of the extract are concentration-dependent with the highest dose having the best results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antidiabetic activity of Triticum aestivum seed–based diet on alloxan-induced diabetic rats was investigated. Forty-eight male and female albino rats of four groups were used for this study. Rats were sacrificed on day 28 and organs of interest were excised. Triticum aestivum seed–based diet significantly (p <.05) reversed the levels of fasting blood glucose, albumin, globulin, bilirubin, urea, creatinine, Na+, and K+. In addition, diabetic rats fed Triticum aestivum seed–based diet had significantly (p <.05) increased insulin and glycogen concentrations, activities of hexokinase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase and the levels of hematological parameters studied. Diabetic rats fed on Triticum aestivum seed had significantly (p <.05) reduced activities of glucose-6-phosphatase and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase and concentration of MDA and reversed activities of AST and GGT; ALP and regeneration of liver, kidney, and pancreas tissues compared favorably with the control group from histological examination results. Consumption of this diet may be useful for diabetes mellitus patients in ameliorating diabetes mellitus and its complications [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus continues to increase alarmingly in spite of years of intensive research. The need to explore alternative therapy such dietary and phytotherapy has been gaining attention in the management/treatment of diabetes mellitus. OBJECTIVE: The present research work was carried out to investigate the biochemical indices in the liver and kidney of alloxan-induced diabetic rats fed with Artocarpus altilis fruit based-diet. METHODS: Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (150 mg/kg) in albino rats. A total of thirty two albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) were grouped into four; control (non-diabetic rat), diabetic untreated rats, diabetic rats administered with metformin daily and diabetic rats fed with Artocarpus altilis fruit based-diet groups. Biochemical indices in the serum, liver and kidney were determined. RESULTS: The results shows significant (P < 0.05) decrease in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, urea, creatinine and lipid peroxidation of diabetic fed with Artocarpus altilis fruit based-diet. Also diabetic rats fed with Artocarpus altilis fruit based-diet demonstrated significant increase (p < 0.05) in albumin and total protein concentrations as well as antioxidant enzymes activities when compared with diabetic untreated rats and diabetic rats administered with metformin daily. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study demonstrated that consumption of Artocarpus altilis fruit based-diet may ameliorate the liver and kidney function indices of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the use library electronic information resources (EIR) by academic staff at the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Topics covered include the transformation of traditional libraries into digital libraries due to advances in information and communication technology (ICT), the academic staff's computer skills and awareness of EIRs, and the constraints in using EIRs.

The article discusses library and information science in Nigeria as of April 2012, with a focus on faculty members in Nigerian universities and their use of electronic information sources (EIS). Topics include access and retrieval of digital information, online public catalogues (OPAC) and electronic learning (e-learning), and effective search strategies for online databases. Additional information is presented on EIS preferences among faculty members, descriptive statistical techniques, and questionnaires.

Background: Studies suggest that medicinal plant extracts can help reduce the neuron degeneration associated with diabetes. In this study, the neuroprotective effect of the alkaloid-rich extract from the leaves of Lannea egregia was assessed in rats with diabetes induced by streptozotocin (STZ)., Methods: Lannea egregia alkaloid-rich analysis was carried out via a known procedure. The rats were randomly assigned into five treatment groups (n = 8): normal control, diabetic-induced rats (45 mg/kg STZ), and diabetic rats treated with low doses of Lannea egregia leaf alkaloid-rich extract (50 mg/kg b.w, LEL) and high (100 mg/kg b.w, LEH) (300 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg), and metformin (200 mg/kg). On 22nd day of the experiment, animals were sacrificed, and their blood and brains were collected for neuro-biomarker analysis., Results: Diabetic-induced rats that received metformin, LEL and LEH exhibited considerably reduced levels of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, NO, MDA, and AChE, BChE activities when compared to untreated diabetic animals. Additionally, rats with diabetes that received treatment with metformin, LEL and LEH displayed a noticeable increase in ENTPDase, Na/K ATPase, GST, CAT, GPx, and SOD activities when compared to the untreated diabetic rats. Histological examination revealed improved brain architecture in the treated groups in contrast to those in diabetic-induced rats., Conclusion: The alkaloid-rich extracts of Lannea egregia might be effective in normalizing brain damage caused by complications of diabetes mellitus., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare that they no known financial interests that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (© 2024 The Authors.)

Long-term antiretroviral drug toxicity may exacerbate the impact of HAART-Cyperus esculentus (C. esculentus) interactions on testicular function in HIV-infected individuals. This study examined the ability of C. esculentus plants to treat testicular dysfunction, which is thought to be a probable side effect of antiretroviral toxicity. Adult Wistar male rats weighing 90-110 g were divided into six groups and administered the prescribed treatments. In addition to testicular histology and stereological parameters, testosterone levels, follicle-stimulating hormone levels, antioxidant markers, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione levels were also evaluated. The adverse consequences of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) include considerable loss of germ cells, enlargement of the tubular lumen, widening of interstitial gaps, and severe hypocellularity. Compared to the other treatment groups, MDA levels dramatically increased, whereas GSH and antioxidant enzyme (SOD) levels significantly decreased. Testicular architecture was largely conserved after treatment with C. esculentus, with a notable increase in the cellular densities of germinal and interstitial cells and a notable decrease in the tubular lumen. Vacuolation, architectural malformations, and hypoplastic changes were reduced. Significant improvements were also observed in C. esculentus in terms of elevated antioxidant SOD and GSH levels and decreased MDA levels. C. esculentus reduced architectural distortions and testicular dysfunction caused by HAART, and improved testicular morphology. Further exploration of these pathways is required.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the Dalbergiella welwitschia alkaloid-rich extracts on liver damage in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Hence, to induce diabetes, 45 mg/kg body weight of streptozotocin was intraperitoneally injected into the Wistar rats. Subsequently, 5 % (w/v) of glucose water was given to the induced animals for 24 h. Thus, the animals (48) were grouped into five groups (n = 8), containing normal control (NC), diabetic control (DC), diabetic rats placed on low (50 mg/kg body weight) and high (100 mg/kg body weight) doses of D. welwitschi alkaloid-rich leaf extracts (i.e. DWL and DWH respectively), and diabetic rats administered 200 mg/kg body weight of metformin (MET). The animals were sacrificed on the 21st day of the experiment, blood and liver were harvested, and different liver damage biomarkers were evaluated. The results obtained demonstrated that diabetic rats administered DWL, DWH and MET significantly (p < 0.05) increased hepatic AST, ALT, albumin, SOD, CAT, GSH, and GPX levels when compared to DC with no significant (p > 0.05) different when compared with NC. Also, diabetic rats administered DWL, DWH and MET revealed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in GGT and MDA levels, as well as, fragmented DNA and protein carbonyl levels when compared to DC with no significant (p > 0.05) different when compared with NC. In addition, histological examination revealed that diabetic rats placed on DWL, DWH and MET normalized the hepatocytes. Consequently, it can be inferred that alkaloid-rich extracts from D. welwitschi leaf could be helpful in improving liver damage associated with diabetes mellitus rats., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest We hope if published it will be helpful for type II diabetes mellitus worldwide. This manuscript is solely submitted to this your reputable journal. All authors have contributed significantly to this manuscript and agreed on the content of the manuscript. In addition, the authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Fallowing is considered an important management strategy for the restoration of soil productivity. Therefore, a three-year fallow of pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan ), mexican sunflower ( Tithonia diversifolia ) and elephant grass ( Pennisetum purpureum ) was established at Landmark University, Nigeria between 2016 - 2019. Leaf nutrient concentrations of maize ( Zea mays ) planted with soils taken from each fallowed plots after three years were also determined. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Soil samples were collected from each fallow plots for physical and chemical analysis (bulk density, porosity, moisture content, particle size, dispersion ratio, soil erosion loss, soil organic matter (SOM), total N, available P, exchangeables K, Ca, Mg, CEC and pH.) before and at the end of the experiment. Means of data collected were separated using Tukey's HSD test at p = 0.05. Tithonia fallow improved soil properties and leaf nutrient concentration of maize compared with Pennisetum and Cajanus fallows. The order was Tithonia > Pennisetum > Cajanus . This was adduced to the regular return of plant residues to the soil in Tithonia fallow which resulted in high SOM ( Tithonia increased SOM by about 23%, 7.5%, and 20%, respectively, compared with the initial soil, Pennisetum and Cajanus fallows) and increases soil N, P, K, Ca, Mg, CEC and pH and also stabilized soil structure by increasing porosity, moisture content and reducing bulk density, dispersion ratio, and soil loss. Therefore, plant species of high nutrient contents and high return of biomass to the soil are necessary for quick restoration of soil productivity in a derived savanna ecology., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

The liver is vulnerable to alcohol-related injury because it is the primary site of alcohol metabolism. Additionally, a number of potentially dangerous by-products are generated as alcohol is broken down in the liver. However, dietary supplements may prevent or relieve some of alcohol's deleterious effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the prophylactic effect of aqueous extract of Sesamum indicum (SI) on ethanol induced toxicity in rats. Male Wistar albino rats were divided into control, ethanol, pre-treatment, simultaneous and post-treatment groups. In the prophylactic experiment, Sesamum indicum, (200 mg/kg body weight) was administered by oral gavage for 28 days; two hours before, simultaneously with or two hours after ethanol exposure. Toxicity was induced by administering 45% ethanol (4.8 g/kg bw) by oral gavage. Lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and gluthathione-S-transferase (GST) activities were then determined in the liver, serum triglyceride (TG) levels, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities were monitored and histological examination was carried out. The results revealed that ethanol administration led to significant elevation of TBARS level while depleting in the level of GSH as well as CAT, GPx, SOD and GST activities. Similarly, TG level and ALT and AST activities were elevated. The SI pre-treated group significantly inhibited TBARS, restored GSH level, enhanced CAT, GPx, SOD and GST activities and significantly decreased the elevated level of serum TG, ALT and AST activities. SI treatment (simultaneously with ethanol) exhibited similar effects to those of the SI pre-treated groups, while the SI post-treated group did not show the same protection as the Pre-treated group. S. indicum possesses antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties, that eliminate the deleterious effects of toxic metabolites of ethanol.

Aging reactions in soils can influence the lability and hence bioavailability of added metals in soils through their removal from labile pools into pools from which desorption is slow (non-labile pools). The aims of this study were to examine the effect of aging reactions on the lability of soluble molybdate (MoO(4)(2-)) added into soils with varying physical and chemical properties and develop models to predict changes in the labile pool of MoO(4)(2-) in soils with incubation time. Soils were spiked with soluble MoO(4)(2-) at quantities sufficient to inhibit barley root growth by 10% (EC(10)) or 90% (EC(90)) and incubated for up to 18 months. The labile pool of MoO(4)(2-) (E value) was observed to decrease in soils with incubation time, particularly in soils with high clay content. A strong relationship was observed between measures of MoO(4)(2-) lability in soils determined using E and L value techniques (R(2)=0.98) suggesting E values provided a good measure of the potential plant available pool of MoO(4)(2-) in soils. A regression model was developed that indicates clay content and incubation time were the most important factors affecting the labile pool of MoO(4)(2-) in soils with time after addition (R(2)=0.70-0.75). The aging model developed suggests soluble MoO(4)(2-) will be removed into non-labile pools more rapidly with time in neutral to alkaline clay soils than in acidic sandy soils. Labile MoO(4)(2-) concentrations in molybdenum (Mo) contaminated soils was found to be <10% of the total Mo concentrations in soils., (Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The chemical forms of phosphorus in organic amendments are essential variables for proper management of these amendments for agro-environmental purposes. This study was performed to elucidate the forms of phosphorus in various organic amendments using state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques. Anaerobically digested biosolids (BIO), hog (HOG), dairy (DAIRY), beef (BEEF), and poultry (POULTRY) manures were subjected to sequential extraction. The extracts and residues after extraction were analyzed by solution (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and synchrotron-based P 1s X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopies, respectively. Most of the total P analyzed by inductively coupled plasma- optical emission spectroscopy in the sequential extracts of organic amendments was orthophosphate, except POULTRY, which was dominated by organic P. The labile P fraction in all the organic amendments, excluding POULTRY, was mainly orthophosphate from readily soluble calcium and some aluminum phosphates. In the poultry litter, Ca phytate was the main P species controlling P solubility. The recalcitrant fraction of BIO was mainly associated with Al and Fe. Those of HOG, DAIRY, and POULTRY were calcium phytate, which were identified only as organic species in the XANES spectra. The combination of the three techniques-sequential chemical extraction, solution (31)P NMR spectroscopy, and P 1s XANES-provided molecular characterization of P in organic amendments that would not have been possible with just one or a combination of any two of these techniques. Therefore, P speciation of organic amendments should use solid-phase and aqueous speciation techniques as deemed feasible.