ABSTRACT Within persons infected with HIV worldwide, almost 10% have chronic HBV infection, and about 6% of all HBV infected patients are co-/superinfected with HDV, resulting in accelerated progression of hepatitis towards end stage liver disease. Even though within HIV/HBV infected patients, an increase in HDV infection has been observed, there is inadequate information on HDV prevalence as well as virologic profile in Ghana. This study sought to determine the presence of HDV in HIV/HBV co-...
ABSTRACT Depletion rates of three triazine herbicides, atrazine, simazine and ametryne and two urea base herbicides, diuron and metobromuron, under laboratory conditions have been investigated in soil samples collected from GAEC, a coastal savannah soil, and KNUST, a forest zone soil. Two hundred grammes of the soil samples were treated with herbicides standard solution to generate herbicide-soil concentration of 10 pg/g and incubated at room temperature for 12 weeks. TLC methodology was used...
Mushroom is a macro-fungus with a unique fruiting body, that can be easily seen with the naked eye and large enough to be picked by hand, which can be either epigeous or hypogenous (Chang and Miles, 2004) Macrofungi are lower plants that lack flowers and fruits of the higher orders (Adejumo and Awosanya, 2005; Ayodele and Akpaja, 2007). There are two major groups of macrofungi which are toadstools and mushrooms. Mushrooms locally known as ‘olu’ in the Southwestern Nigeria are a grou...
ABSTRACT Fermentation of sugared tea with a symbiotic culture of acetic acid bacteria and yeast (tea fungus) yields kombucha tea which is consumed worldwide for its refreshing taste and beneficial effects on human health. It is claimed to prevent various types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, promote liver function, and stimulate the immune system. The antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of tea kombucha and unfermented tea were, therefore, investigated in this study. The cytoto...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Despite being thought to be a group of rare disorders, the incidence of autoimmune conditions like Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroiditis are on the rise in Ghana. Autoimmune disorders result from a breakdown of immunologic tolerance leading to an immune reaction against self-autoantigens. Antinuclear antibodies are a group of autoantibodies that mediate the pathogenesis of several autoimmune conditions es...
The quest to boost dietary protein production from readily available and affordable sources is ever increasing in developing countries. The indigenous edible Pleurotus species (oyster mushrooms), which grow naturally on wood wastes, are potential protein supplements. However, little information is available on the usage of selected tropical trees for optimum mushroom cultivation. Therefore, this research was designed to investigate the growth and yield of oyster mushrooms on sawdust of s...
ABSTRACT The Akosombo dam is Ghana‟s main source of energy. Considering the current increase in the demand for electricity in the country, where an increase in demand implies more pressure on the dam, it is therefore very important to investigate the tail behaviour of the water levels of the dam. This is necessary because the level of water in the dam determines the amount of electricity generated. The study investigated this problem using Univariate Extreme Value Theory. Both the Generaliz...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Hearing loss makes a large contribution to the global burden of disease, which substantially adversely affect social and economic development in communities and countries. Due to this, WHO therefore promotes surveys and gathers data for measuring the burden of deafness and hearing impairment. At KBTH, data on the prevalence of hearing impairment is lacking. There is therefore the need for accurate prevalence studies to be carried out in Ghana to enable health organization...
Conventional protein ingredients are expensive, thus necessitating the use of alternative sources of the nutrient. Feather Meal (FM) is high in Crude Protein (CP) but poorly digested by monogastric animals due to the presence of keratin. Poultry requires exogenous enzymes to break it down to its constituent amino acids. Information on digestibility of CP of FM in broilers is scanty. Therefore, ileal CP digestibility of FM supplemented with protease in broiler chickens was investigated. ...
Unsustainable forest land use practices have resulted in land degradation in the northern part of Nigeria leading to low crop yield. Agroforestry is a viable option for reversing dwindling crop yields through proper soil management practices. There is notably no sufficient published information on the contributions of agroforestry to food production in Katsina State. The practices of agroforestry and its potential to slow down the pace of soil degradation and boost food production in Ka...
Nigeria has a population estimated at about 183.5 million people with an average annual growth rate of about 2.75% {United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2012). In order to adequately cater for this population, there is the need to diversify the economy from its perennial mono-economic status depending mostly on crude oil to multi-economic structure with the development of more sectors especially the industrial and agricultural sectors. Industrial revolution in Nigeria has been gra...
Life depends on the Earth's thin layer of soil. This natural body supports plant life in varying degrees of efficiency depending on its productivity potential and nutrient status. Without soil, there would be no plants without plants, there would be no food; and without food animals could not survive. Thus, soil is the beginning of the soil-plant-animal food chaim
The level of Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in fish and sediments of Rivers within the Kaduna South Jndustrial Zone were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The HN03 - I-1202 digestion .. .. system was used to digest the fish sample far trace m etals determination. Tire HN03 - H202 digestion method gave good recoveries which vCiries within 80-95% for Cd, 85-97% for Co, 81-99% for Cu, 79-97% for Mn, 81-93% for Ni, 87- 98% for Pb Clnd 77 - 98% for Zn in a fish smnple. T...
The toxicities of single antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, sulfathiazole and amoxicillin and their quaternary mixtures in different ratios were examined on three organisms Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus luteus all isolated from Nworie River from three different points including the point of effluent discharge of a hospital. Toxicity of antibiotics and mixtures was assessed using inhibition of total dehydrogenase assay method. Result obtained from the study...
Studies on toxicological and sedative effects of Datura innoxia plant parts (leaf, seed, stem, pod and root) on Clarias gariepinus fingerlings were conducted under laboratory conditions using the static bioassays and continuous aeration. The aim was to develop an effective anaesthetic from an indigenous plant material that will be available at low cost to aquaculturists and which would be non-toxic to the fish and consumers. The active ingredients and their compositions in the plant par...