Dupe T. Otolowo1, 3, Oluwaseun F. Akinmoladun2 et al. (6 contributing authors)
Zobo is an important healthy drink made from the dried calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa by boiling water extraction. An equal volume of the basal extract was flavoured separately with conventional strawberry essence (Zobo-S), alligator pepper (Zobo-A), and clove (Zobo-C) and evaluated for chemical and sensory properties using established methods. The obtained range of values for mineral (4.70-578 mg/L) and vitamins (0.05-0.29 mg/100 g) were in moderate amounts with potassium being the most abundant mineral element (ranged 522-578mg/L) and highest in Zobo-A (578 mg/L). Zinc, an antiviral and important element for the body immune system was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Zobo-C (13.34 mg/L) and Zobo-A (8.33 mg/L) than Zobo-S (7.14 mg/L) making Zobo with spices a better choice drink for a preventive measure against infectious viral-diseases like COVID-19. Total titratable acidity ranged from 0.93-1.06 g/100 ml and was highest in Zobo-S (1.06g /100 ml) implying the Zobo made with spices were less acidic. Also, tannin content was improved with the spices and highest in Zobo-C (0.44 mg/100 g) while Zobo-A was the most preferred in overall acceptability. Thus, the natural spices improved the minerals, phytochemical contents and sensory acceptability of Zobo drink. This could proffer potential health benefits to the consumers and encourage the use of natural spices in the preparation of food and drinks rather than the chemical-based conventional flavour essence.
Abimbola A. Ogundiran1, Obanla Bilikis Ololade1, Olusegun O. Ogundiran2 et al. (4 contributing authors)
This study focussed on the utilisation of both unmodified and acid modified snail shells as low cost adsorbents for the removal of Congo Red (CR) from aqueous solution using batch adsorption process. Different parameters such as pH, Contact time, temperature and adsorbent dose were varied. The kinetic studies using pseudo first order and pseudo second order of the adsorption were carried out. The adsorption of Congo Red (CR) was found to be dependent on the varied parameters. The optimum time for the uptake was 60 min, adsorbent dosage of 2 g and pH was found to be 2.0. The amount of CR removed (qe) rose from 2.445 to 19.230 mg/g when the contact time progressed from 5 to 60 min for unmodified snail shell and from 5.540 to 26.170 mg/g when treated snail shell was used. Pseudo-first- order model better described the kinetic of the adsorption process. The value of ΔH obtained was 42.20 kJ/mol with ΔS value of 20.30 kJ/mol) and this is an indication that the process of adsorption to be endothermic reaction. FT-IR characterization of the adsorbent before and after adsorption process revealed the probable functional groups present on the surface of the adsorbent to be –OH, C=O and C-H. Thus, snail shells can be deployed as low cost adsorbent for Congo Red removal from effluents.
Ceaser A. Moses1, Olumuyiwa A. Owolabi2, Ijeoma Okolo2 et al. (5 contributing authors)
Consumption of diets rich in vegetables and fruits protects the human body from acute and chronic diseases. This study determines the effect of blanching on some antinutritional factors and mineral content of Basella alba and Amaranthus hybridus using standard methods. The vegetables were blanched in deionized water for 5 minutes at 100oC. The phytate and oxalate contents of unblanched Basella alba were significantly (p<0.05) lowered when compared with unblanched Amaranthus hybridus. Blanching caused a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the phytate content by 22.3% and 32.8%, respectively when blanched Amaranthus hybridus and blanched Basella alba BBA were compared with their corresponding unblanched leaves. Also blanching elicited a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the oxalate level by 44.4% and 18.8%, respectively when blanched Amaranthus hybridus and blanched Basella alba BBA were matched with their unblanched counterparts. The mineral (Fe, Ca, Mg, Cu, and Zn) content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in unblanched Basella alba than unblanched Amaranthus hybridus, which decreases significantly (p<0.05) to varying extents after blanching in both vegetables. Blanching reduces the mineral content of Basella alba and Amaranthus hybridus leaves but makes them more bioavailable by reducing their phytate and oxalate. Hence, other processing techniques should be developed which reduce the antinutrient content only.
The enhancement of corrosion inhibition of galvanised steel by synergised leave extracts of Sida acuta (S.A.) and Jatropha curcas (J.C.) in 1.0 M HCl solution was investigated using the gasometric technique at 30 oC and 50 oC. Results obtained showed that complimenting plant extracts with galvanisation of steel enhanced the inhibition of Zinc in the protection of steel. Fourier transform infrared analysis confirmed the O-H functional group of alcohol at 3851 and 3436 cm-1 band. Surface morphology of the steel, synergised were studied with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Analysis revealed the protection of the internal grains of the metal from dissolution into corrodents provided by the adsorbed film the extract. Inhibition efficiency improved from 57.57 % to 95.45 %, corrosion rate 0.454 cm3 /hr to 0.093 cm3 /hr for zinc-coated steel only to extract enhanced-zinc coated steel. Langmuir isotherm best explained the adsorption mechanism of extract of zinc surface. Zinc coated steel has a half-life less than 0.04531539 x 1010 minutes, while effective enhancement of Zinc coated steel with extract gave a half-life of 0.075132088 x 1010 minutes. This implies that the enhancement of galvanised (Zinc coated) steel with synergised extract improved the inhibitory characteristics of the composites over that of zinc coat alone, which corrodes in place of steel.
Costus spicatus, an herbaceous plant, parts- leaves, rhizome, stem and root are used locally because of its medicinal properties. This study was carried out to compare the phyto- constituents of the Costus spicatus leaf and rhizome. The secondary metabolites of Costus spicatusleaf and rhizomewere determined qualitatively via standard phytochemicalscreening methods.Thechemicalcompositions of the aqueousextract ofCostusspicatusleaf and rhizome were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. The qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of Carbohydrate, Alkaloids, Saponins, Terpenoids, Phenols and Protein were detected in the aqueous rhizome extract while Carbohydrate, Alkaloids, Flavonoids and Proteins were detected in the leaf extract. The UV-yis scan of the aqueous rhizome and leaf extracts revealed the varying absorbance of the leaf and rhizome extract at different wavelengths and the spectrum shows the highest peaks at 200-214 nm and 220-227 nm respectively indicating the presence of organic chromophores. The GC-MS analysis of aqueous extract of Costus spicatus rhizome revealed the presence of Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (11.34%) and 10,13-Octadecadienoic acid, methylester (10.22%) for the leaf extract as the compound with the highest peaks. These results reveal that the rhizome extract contains more active organic compounds and therefore can be further explored in phytomedicinal researches.
F. A. Kasali, J. A. Balogun, O. D. Adekola et al. (4 contributing authors)
In the education sector, constructing a personalized timetable is an important aspect that should be given uppermost priorities when it comes to academic planning and implementation. Basically, in most schools, the timetable is done to encompass all courses, segregation only comes in departmentally, by faculty or by programs being studied by the students involved. This could be cumbersome especially for schools with numerous programs, departments or faculties as students and faculty members have to glance through such complex timetables before they are able to map out theirs. This could lead to resource wastage in terms of time, misinterpretation by students involved, clashing of courses being taken by students, poor utilization of available venues amongst other issues. In other to proffer solutions to some of the identified problems, a personalized and user-centric timetable system was designed for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), Mountain Top University, Ogun State, Nigeria. System design was specified using unified modeling language (UML) diagrams such as use-case, sequence and activity diagrams. The system was implemented using mobile application development technologies. The android based timetable system presented an administrative module who could schedule lecture periods, specify time amongst other constraints and overall management of course scheduling based on courses registered for by the students. Evaluation of the system was done using Post Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ) version 3 measuring tool and analysed using descriptive statistics with SPSS version 21. One hundred and twenty five (125) participants were chosen randomly and purposefully for the study. Results of analysis gave the perceived satisfaction score as 2.56, system usefulness with 1.98, information quality with a mean score of 2.72 while interface quality performed the lowest with a mean score of 3.19 since in PSSUQ analysis, the higher the mean score, the poorer the performance. The timetable system was basically designed to reduce the problem of accessibility and better convenience especially on the part of the students. Future works would also consider a fully automated system with the use of scheduling algorithms and the integration of examination and invigilation scheduling in the same system.
J. A. Balogun, F. A. Kasali, O. D. Adekola et al. (5 contributing authors)
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus and it primarily affects the liver. Hepatitis C often leads to liver disease and occasionally cirrhosis while in some cases, those with cirrhosis will develop complications such as liver failure. This study was aimed at developing a classification model for the classification of the survival of patients living with hepatitis C. The study collected data containing 19 attributes and 155 records from an online repository created by UCI machine learning repository following which C4.5 decision trees algorithm was adopted for developing the classification model. The results of the study showed that the decision tree is suitable for developing the classification model because of its structural representation of the classification of the survival of Hepatitis C disease. The evaluation of the model simulation process showed that the best performance using the percentage split was achieved using 90 percent for training and 10 percent for testing with an accuracy of 86.67% while using the k-fold cross validation was achieved using 10-fold with an accuracy of 83.87%. Overall, the best performance was achieved using 90 percent of the dataset for training and 10 percent for testing owing for an accuracy of 86.67%. The results also showed that a number of variables were extracted from the initially identified variables and were deemed more relevant for the classification of survival. The study concluded that the If-Then rules which were extracted from the decision tree proved effective in providing decision-support to experts due to its simplicity in interpretation thus mitigating deaths associated with hepatitis C disease.
Hepatitis Cclassification modelingsurvival classificationdecision trees algorithm.
Uzoma Ifeanyi Oduah,\r\nOnyedikachi Alanwoko and Shola Folarin
We hereby present an advanced road vehicle safety device. The device tackles the problem of loss of lives, arising from late medical attention to care for accident victims after an accident as a solution that enables fast response to persons involved in ghastly vehicle accidents. It uses ultrasonic sensor to detect the changes in the body of the vehicle due to a mechanical impact from an accident and sends a signal to the microcontroller which is connected to a buzzer. The buzzer in response to the signal triggers an alarm and simultaneously a Short Message Service (SMS) and recorded phone call are sent to registered contacts in the device. Arduino ATMega328P microcontroller monitors and activates the system when there is impact detected by the ultrasonic sensor. Then the buzzer outputs the warning sound to alert while the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) module sends SMS alert and places a call when there is significant impact on the vehicle. This device senses any Izod Impact causing up to 10cm penetration at the impact zone of the vehicle. The system has a response time of 0-3 seconds for activation of the buzzer and 5-10 seconds for the GSM module.
The synergistic effect of combining both Sida acuta (SA) and Jatropha curcas (JC) leaf extracts on steel in 1.0 M HCl solution was investigated using gasometric and conventional o o weight loss technique at 30 C and 50 C. Surface microscture of the steel with the mixed extract werestudied through Scanning electron microscope(SEM) and Electron dispersive X- ray spectroscopy (EDX) which revealed how the inhibitor hindered the attack of acid on the microstructures thereby preventing its dissolution into the corrodent. The presence of C=O -1 functional band at 1094 cm of ester was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared analysis. o o Synergism Parameter(S1) was at optimum at 2.09 and 2.65 at 30 C and 50 C respectively on steel pipe. This implies that synergism is favoured with increasein temperature. S1 greater than 1 confirmed that the mixture of the two plants produced synergised inhibitive effect. The inhibitory power increases with increase in extract concentration. Inhibition Efficiency -3 rangesfrom 60 % to 85 % with increasein extractconcentration of SAalonefrom 0.1 gdm to -3 o 1.0 gdm . When synergisedwith JC, itrangesfrom 77 % to 93 % for SA at 30 C forthesame concentration increase. Results obtained showed that thesynergeticeffects of the plantsextract complimented carbon constituent of the steel to enhanced the corrosion inhibition potential synergized plantextracts overunsynergized onthe steel.
The enhancement of corrosion inhibition of galvanised steel by synergised leave extracts of Sida acuta (S.A.) and Jatropha curcas (J.C.) in 1.0 M HCl solution was investigated using the gasometric technique at 30 oC and 50 oC.
