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Background: Antibiotic resistance has remained a global concern. Food pathogens that carry resistance genes will cause public health threat irrespective of their pathogenicity, as this pool of resistance genes are disseminated via food chain. The antibiotic susceptibility of E. coli isolates to different antibiotics were investigated and resistance genes were genetically identified by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The study aimed to determine the phenotypic antibiotic resistance pattern of the E. coli isolates and characterize the antibiotics resistance genes in the E. coli isolates from the Cow milk and milk products. Results: The study showed that the E. coli isolates were Multidrug resistant (MDR) to several antibiotics with resistance pattern of four to ten combinations of antibiotics and the antibiotics resistance occurred mostly in three classes of antibiotics, namely: β-lactams, Amphenicol and Tetracycline. The antibiotics resistance genes expressed in the multidrug resistant E. coli isolates were tetA 22(78.6%), dfrA1 9(32.1%), blaCITM and blaSHV 3(10.7%), tetB and blaTEM 1(3.6%), qnr 0(0%) and aac (3)-iv 0(0%). Conclusion: The study showed that the cow milk and its products sold on the streets of Abuja are contaminated with resistant E. coli that can pose health risk to the consumers. Monitoring and screening for resistant food pathogens in food especially of animal origin is vital to mitigate the prevalence of antibiotics resistance.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli have been identified as an emerging foodborne pathogen which portends serious risk to human health. Cow milk and its products are potential sources of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. A relatively small number from the family of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli are pathogenic. It becomes necessary that Cow milk and milk products are regularly screened for the presence of virulence genes in microbes. The study aimed to genetically determine the presence of virulence genes that are characteristic of Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in 600 milk samples. The E. coli isolates were recovered from the milk samples (n=35), biochemically examined and genetically screened for virulence genes by multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The results of the molecular profiling revealed that (stx2) was detected in 17(60.7%), (hlyA) 11(39.3%) and eae genes 8(28.6%) of the E. coli isolates respectively, while (stx1) was not detected. The results indicated a high prevalence of virulent shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in the milk samples. Priority attention should be given to this microbe as it will demand stringent steps in the detection given that they are known to be rigorous in identification.

The functional components - phytochemicals, vitamin, proximate, mineral and fatty acid compositions of three different species of sesame seeds: S. orientale, S. radiatum and S. V. Ex. Sudan were evaluated to establish use as functional food. Also the impact of boiling in water as a method of food processing was investigated on the alkaloid and flavonoid as well as vitamin compositions at varying times. The results revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavanoids, saponin, tannin and phenol of which S. radiatum recorded the highest percentage of flavanoid (25.333±1.528%) and least percentage alkaloid (35.333±0.577%). The highest vitamin C concentration was observed in S. V. Ex. Sudan (0.0062±0.0002) and vitamin E was highest in S. radiatum (0.1781±0.0006) which also had the highest lipid content of 58.9 + 0.75% indicating highest oil content compared to the other two species. Sesamum V. Ex. Sudan had highest crude fibre of 8.5 + 0.92%. Sesamum radiatum contained highest calcium, magnesium, zinc copper and iron while S. orientale had highest sodium and cobalt. The oil extracted with ethanol contains more different types of fatty acids than the manually extracted oil. There were more different unsaturated fatty acids than saturated ones in the seeds. The Saturated fatty acids (SFA) identified in the oil samples were caproic acid (C6:0) found only in the oil extracted with ethanol but not in the manually extracted one; palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0), arachidic acid (C20.0), behenic acid (C22.0), and lignoceric acid (C24.0). Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) identified in the samples were myristoleic acid (C14:1) which was found only in the oil extracted with ethanol; palmitoleic acid (C16:1) oleic [C18.1(9)], vaccenic acid [C18.1(11)], eicosenoic acid (C20.1) and erusic acid (C22:1). Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) identified in the oil samples were linoleic (C18:2),, alpha linolenic acid (C18:3),, eicosadienoic acid (C20.2), arachidonic (C20.4), dihomo-Y-linolenic (C20.3) and docosahexaenoic (C22:6) acids. The oil samples were rich especially in oleic [C18.1(9)] and vaccenic acid [C18.1(11)]. More so, considerable amount of alkaloid, flavanoid and vitamins contents were recorded after a maximum boiling time of thirty minutes for the cooked samples. The presence of these components predisposes these sesame seeds as valuable functional food.

Presence of BTEX compounds in water is a global concern. The effectiveness of HDTMA and TMPA cations intercalated Bentonite, corresponding to 100% of CEC in the removal of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX) in aqueous solution was assessed. Batch experiments were conducted to determine the influences of contact time and adsorbate concentration on the adsorption efficiency. FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and XRD were used to determine the adsorbent properties. Results showed that surfactant modification of the adsorbent led to structural changes and fractional attainment to equilibrium showed that equilibrium was reached after 120mins. The sorption of BTEX by Bt-HDTMA and Bt-TMPA were in the order of B

Heavy metals are among the largest contaminants of food products. Once metals are present in vegetables, their concentrations are rarely modified by industrial processing techniques, although in some cases washing may decrease the metal content. In this study, levels of heavy metals in tinned, sachets, tomato pastes and fresh tomatoes sold in markets in Umuahia, Nigeria were evaluated by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The result obtained for tinned tomatoes were: iron, 0.03 -2.78 μg/g; lead, 0.01-0.18 μg/g; chromium, 0.03-0.05 μg/g; copper, 0.01-0.04 μg/g; nickel, 0.03-0.1 μg/g; zinc, 0.06 0.11 μg/g; calcium, 0.04 -0.8 μg/g and cadmium, 0.00-0.01 μg/g. The mean values for sachet tomatoes were: iron, 0.38-0.84 μg/g; lead, 0.03-0.18 μg/g; chromium, 0.03-0.04 μg/g; copper, 0.02-0.04 μg/g; nickel, 0.03-0.08 μg/g; zinc, 0.049-0.14 μg/g; calcium, 0.4-1.02 μg/g, while cadmium was not detected. The mean concentration values in fresh tomatoes sold in markets and farm land were: iron, 0.025-0.075 μg/g; lead ranges between 0.03-0.19 μg/g; chromium, 0.00-0.27 μg/g; copper, 0.002-0.10 μg/g; nickel, 0.00-0.15 μg/g; zinc, 0.05-013 μg/g; calcium, 0.24-0.74 μg/g; while cadmium was not detected in all fresh and farm land samples. These values indicate that levels of investigated metals in the analyzed tomatoes were below the permissible levels of metals recommended as dietary intake in tomato.

Diarrhoea is one of the foremost public health problems worldwide especially among Children under five years in developing countries. Only few studies have investigated the epidemiology and virulence of Escherichia coli pathotypes in South-Eastern and South-Western Nigeria leaving the Northern part of the country unstudied. In this study, a total of 100 isolates of E. coli (45%) were obtained from the stool of 222 diarrhoea patients who were children below five (5) years attending Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, and Institute of Child Health, Banzazzau; an annex of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria, Nigeria. The isolation and Original Research Article Sani et al.; BJMMR, 7(1): 17-24, 2015; Article no.BJMMR.2015.303 18 biochemical identification of the E. coli isolates were performed using standard microbiological procedures. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to differentiate the five (5) major diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes (EHEC, ETEC, EPEC, EIEC and EAEC) in one reaction condition, by using different diarrhoeagenic E. coli primers for different virulent genes found in E. coli. From the result obtained, only one (1) percent of the isolates was found to harbor the virulence gene out of the 100 E. coli isolated from the diarrhoea stools of children employed in this study.

Aims: To compare the efficiency of Sorghum Hull of two different particle sizes, different concentrations modified with mercaptoacetic acid and the effect of each on the heavy metal removal to obtain optimum conditions for sorption process. Study Design: The concentrations of the metal ions were monitored using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the Industrial Chemistry laboratory, Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, University of Port Harcourt between February and August 2013. Original Research Article Imaga et al.; IRJPAC, 5(4): 318-330, 2015; Article no.IRJPAC.2015.025 319 Methodology: The Sorghum Hulls (SH) (Sorghum bicolor) obtained from a Brewery, were washed and air dried, crushed to smaller particles and sieved to obtain particle sizes of 106 μm and 250 μm. They were activated by soaking in excess of 0.3M HNO3 solution for 24 h, filtered through a Whatman No.41 filter paper, rinsed with deionised water and air dried for 24 h. The air-dried activated sorghum hulls were divided into three parts, one part was left unmodified and the other two parts were modified by 0.5M and 1.0M mercaptoacetic acid (HSCH2COOH). Equilibrium sorption of Ni (II), Cu (II) and Zn (II) were carried out for each adsorbent (106 μm and 250 μm) at pH of 6.0 and temperature of 28°C to find the effects of initial concentration on the sorption process by preparing stock solutions of 1000 mg/L of Cu (II), Ni (II) and Zn (II) ions from CuSO4, Ni(C2H3O2)2, and ZnSO4 respectively. Working concentrations of 10, 20,30,40,50 mg/L were obtained by serial dilutions. The concentrations of these solutions were confirmed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The difference in the metal ion concentration of the solutions before and after sorption gave the amount adsorbed by each adsorbent. Results: Sorption efficiency followed the trend Cu 2+ >Ni 2+ >Zn 2+ and Ni 2+ >Cu 2+ >Zn 2+ for 106μm and 250μm, respectively. This was influenced by factors such as ionic radii, ionic charge, hydration energy, initial metal ion concentration, contact time, adsorbate pH and extent of acid modification. Sorption capacity followed the sequence: 1.0MSH>0.5MSH>USH. Equilibrium sorption of the three metals on the adsorbents using coefficient of determination (R) showed that sorption of Zn on 250μm size and sorption of Ni 2+ on 106μm size followed Langmuir isotherm; sorption of Zn 2+ on 106μm mesh and sorption of Cu on 250μm size by Freundlich isotherm and sorption of Cu on 106μm size and sorption of Ni 2+ on 250μm mesh by Temkin isotherm. Sorption on 1.0MSH gave the highest value of constants: (qmax = 121.814 mg/l, KF = 1.5281 mg/l and bT = 0.245 kJ/mol) and (qmax = 148.932 mg/l, KF = 1.7246 mg/l and bT = 0.262 kJ/mol) for 106 μm and 250 μm size, respectively, for Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms respectively. Conclusion: Therefore, Sorghum Hulls were found to be good adsorbent for Ni, Cu and Zn ions with mercaptoacetic acid modification increasing the sorption capacity.

Effects of n-butanol fraction of Gongronema latifolium leave extract on some biochemical parameters in carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative damage in Wistar albino rats were assessed. Fifty-four (54) Wister albino rats were divided into treatment group and LD50 groups. Group A (normal control) was given feed and water, Group B (vehicle control) was injected with olive oil intraperitoneally, while the rest groups (C, D, E, F and G) were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of CCl4 (148 mg/kg) as a 1:1 (v/v) solution in olive oil and all the animals were fasted for 36 h. This was repeated once every week for a period of four (4) weeks. At the end of 28 days of treatment, liver marker enzymes studies showed that there was significant (p 0.05) difference of these liver marker enzymes and bilirubin levels between the normal control and induced treated groups. Kidney function studies showed that there was significant (p 0.05) difference between the normal control and induced treated groups. Also, the kidney and liver antioxidant study revealed significant (p

Palm oil is one of the two most important vegetable oils in the world's oil and fats market. The extraction and purification processes generate different kinds of waste generally known as palm oil mill effluent (POME). Earlier studies had indicated the possibility of using boiler fly ash to adsorb impurities and colour in POME treatment. The adsorption treatment of POME using boiler fly ash was further investigated in detail in this work with regards to the reduction of BOD, colour and TSS from palm oil mill effluent. The amount of BOD, colour and TSS adsorbed increased as the weight of the boiler fly ash used was increased. Also, the smaller particle size of 425µm adsorbed more than the 850µm size. Attempts were made to fit the experimental data with the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms. The R² values, which ranged from 0.8974-0.9898, 0.8848-0.9824 and 0.6235-0.9101 for Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms respectively, showed that Freundlich isotherm gave a better fit followed by Langmuir and then Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm. The sorption trend could be put as BOD > Colour > TSS. The apparent energy of adsorption was found to be 1.25, 0.58 and 0.97 (KJ/mol) for BOD, colour and TSS respectively, showing that sorption process occurs by physiosorption. Therefore, boiler fly ash is capable of reducing BOD, Colour and TSS from POME and hence could be used to develop a good adsorbent for POME treatment.

The potentials of cocoa pod husk to adsorb Cu (II), Cd (II), Pb (II) and Fe (II) ions from aqueous solutions was investigated in a batch system. The effects of contact time, initial metal ion concentration and adsorbent dose on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent were examined. The percent adsorbed increased as initial metal ion concentration, contact time and adsorbent dose was increased until equilibrium was reached. Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order models were used to analyse the equilibrium and kinetic experimental data respectively. Equilibrium experimental data of Cu (II), Cd (II), Pb (II) and Fe (II) adsorption onto cocoa pod fitted well to Langmuir model and the kinetic data also fitted well to the pseudo-second order model, as indicated by the correlation coefficients. The maximum sorption capacity (qmax) ranged as 4.16, 4.42, 4.69 and 4.83 mg/g for Fe (II), Cd (II), Cu (II) and Pb (II) respectively. This study demonstrated that the waste cocoa pod could be used as a potential adsorbent for toxic metals such as Cu (II), Cd (II), Pb (II) and Fe (II). Keywords : Adsorption isotherm, Adsorption Kinetic, Cocoa pod, Langmuir isotherm, Pseudo-second order model

Effects of n-butanol fraction of Gongronema latifolium leave extract on some liver function and histological parameters in CCl4-induced oxidative damage in Wistar albino rats were assessed. Fifty-four (54) Wistar albino rats were divided into treatment group and LD50 groups. Group A (normal control) was given feed and water, Group B (vehicle control) was injected with olive oil intraperitoneally, while the rest groups (C, D, E, F and G) were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of CCl4 (148 mg/kg) as a 1:1 (v/v) solution in olive oil and all the animals were fasted for 36 hours. This was repeated once every week for a period of four (4) weeks. At the end of 28 days of treatment, liver marker enzymes studies showed that there was significant (p 0.05) difference of these liver marker enzymes and bilirubin levels between the normal control and induced treated groups. Antioxidant assay on the liver homogenate showed that there was significant (p 0.05) difference between the normal control and induced treated groups. These findings suggested that n-butanol fraction of methanolic leave extract of G. latifolium may have anti-hepatotoxic and antioxidative effects against CCl4-induced liver damage in rats.

The desorption of Ni2+ from three oil palm fruit fibre adsorbents (UOPF, 0.5MOPF and 1.0MOPF) using five desorbing solutions showed a desorption efficiency following the trend, 0.1M HCl > 0.1MH2SO4 > 0.1MHNO3 > 0.1MNaOH >hot deionized H2O. The Elovich desorption constant, β values for the 0.1MHCl desorbent were: 6.45 X10-1, 5.57 x 10-1 and 4.34 x 10-1g. mg-.min-1 for UOPF,0.5MOPF and 1.0MOPF adsorbents respectively. The surface residence time ح values for the 0.1MHCl desorbent were; 32.3, 28.6 and 26.8 seconds for UOPF, 0.5MOPF and 1.0MOPF adsorbents respectively. Kinetic modeling analysis of the Elovich and pseudo-first order desorption equations, indicates that the latter model described the desorption of Ni2+ better.Keywords: Nickel, desorption, modeling, kinetics, Elovich, oil palmJournal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, Volume 8, 2008

Aims: Diabetes mellitus is associated with bone loss, increased fracture rate and reduced bone healing. Accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) and associated overexpression of the receptor for AGE (RAGE) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of bone disease in diabetes. Although the AGE-RAGE interaction is well known for the sustained induction of inflammatory process, the physiologic role of RAGE in bone tissue is not clear. Remarkably, RAGE deficiency induces a proinflammatory phenotype in bones and osteoblasts. Therefore, we aimed to study the mechanism of underlying inflammatory processes in RAGE deficient osteoblasts as well as to reveal the intricate signaling events that link RAGE deficiency and inflammation in bones from RAGE knock-out (RAGE-/-) mice. Methods: Osteoblasts from wild type (WT, C57BL/6) and RAGE-/- mice were transiently transfected with different plasmids and siRNA. Reporter gene assay, western blotting, PCR, immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation techniques were employed to study the expression and interactions of transcription factors and coactivators involved in the signaling pathways. Results: The proinflammatory phenotype in the bones and osteoblasts from RAGE-/- mice was associated with reduced protein and gene expression and intranuclear translocation of the anti-inflammatory nuclear receptor PPAR-a. Moreover, PPAR-a activation by Wy14643 reversed inflammation in osteoblasts from RAGE-/- mice, suggesting that the lack of PPAR-a in RAGE deficiency is responsible for the proinflammatory phenotype. We therefore analyzed the PPAR-a promoter, which contains a series of Sp1 binding sites, to understand the regulation of PPAR-a gene expression. PPAR-a promoter driven reporter gene expression was much lower in RAGE-/- osteoblasts compared to WT osteoblasts. In addition, Sp1 overexpression significantly increased PPAR-a promoter activity in WT osteoblasts, but had only marginal effects in RAGE-/- osteoblasts. Sequential promoter deletions confirmed the strong Sp1 dependency in WT osteoblasts, which was largely blunted in RAGE-/- osteoblasts. However, suppression of Sp1 by siRNA transfection decreased PPAR-a promoter expression by around 50% in both WT and RAGE-/- osteoblasts. Remarkably, endogenous Sp1 gene and protein expression was similar in osteoblasts from WT and RAGE-/- mice, suggesting that a cofactor for PPAR-a gene expression is missing in RAGE-/- osteoblasts. Noteworthy, preliminary data show that the PPAR-g coactivator-1a (PGC-1a) is markedly reduced in RAGE-/- osteoblasts compared to WT osteoblasts. Conclusions: RAGE deficiency induces a proinflammatory phenotype in bones and osteoblasts through PPAR-a insufficiency. Transcription factor Sp1 is a strong regulator of PPAR-a expression however this regulation is inadequate in RAGE deficiency most likely due to the absence of an essential cofactor such as PGC-1a.

Mixed ligand metal complexes of 1-ethyl-6-fluoro-7-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)-4-oxo-quinoline-3-carboxylic acid (pefloxacin) and ascorbic acid were synthesized using Fe(II) and Co(II). The mixed ligand complexes were characterized by IR, UV-Vis., 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopy to determine the complexation behaviour of the metal ions towards the mixed ligand. The yield, melting point, colour and solubility were determined. Electronic spectra of the mixed ligand complexes show intra ligand charge transfer, ligand to metal charge transfer and d-d transition. Based on the spectroscopic data obtained, the mixed complexes were proposed to have the formulae: [Fe(PfAs)] x and [Co(PfAs)]; Pf = pefloxacin and As = Ascorbic acid. The spectral studies of the mixed ligand complexes suggest that in the complexes, pefloxacin and ascorbic acid behaved as tridentate ligands coordinating through the two carbonyl oxygen atom and oxygen atom of the hydroxyl group in pefloxacin, while ascorbic acid coordinated through the oxygen of the carbonyl and enolic C-2 and C-3 hydroxyl groups. Octahedral structure was proposed for [Fe(PfAs)] x and [Co(PfAs)] x . The antibacterial activity of the ligand and the mixed ligand complexes was carried out against both gram positive and gram negative bacterial species which include; Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli., Bacillus subtilis, Pseudominas Spp. and Candida Spp . at 0.1g. The zone of inhibition of the pefloxacin-ascorbic acid mixed ligand complexes were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the free ligands.

The need to clean-up heavy metal contaminated environment can not be over emphasized. This paper describes the adsorption isotherm studies of Cd (II), Pb (II) and Zn (II) ions from aqueous solution using unmodified and EDTA-modified maize cob. Maize cob was found to be an excellent adsorbent for the removal of these metal ions. The amount of metal ions adsorbed increased as the ini- tial concentration increased. Also, EDTA - modification enhanced the adsorption capacity of maize cob probably due to the chelating ability of EDTA. Among the three adsorption isotherm tested, Dubinin- Radushkevich gave the best fit with R2 value ranging from 0.9539 to 0.9973 and an average value of 0.9819. This is followed by Freundlich isotherm (Ave. 0.9783) and then the Langmuir isotherm (Ave. 0.7637). The sorption process was found to be a physiosorption process as seen from the apparent ener- gy of adsorption which ranged from 2.05KJ\mol to 4.56KJ\mol. Therefore, this study demonstrates that maize cob which is an environmental pollutant could be used to adsorb heavy metals and achieve cleanliness thereby abating environmental nuisance caused by the maize cob.

The pollution and toxicity problems posed by arsenic in the environment have long been established. Hence, the removal and recovery remedies have been sought, bearing in mind the effi- ciency, cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness of the methods employed. The sorption kinet- ics and intraparticulate diffusivity of As (III) bioremediation from aqueous solution using modified and unmodified coconut fiber was investigated. The amount adsorbed increased as time increased, reach- ing equilibrium at about 60 minutes. The kinetic studies showed that the sorption rates could be described by both pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order process with the later showing a better fit with a value of rate constant of 1.16 x 10 -4 min-1 for the three adsorbent types. The mechanism of sorption was found to be particle diffusion controlled. The diffusion and boundary layer effects were also investigation. Therefore, the results show that coconut fiber, both modified and unmodified is an efficient sorbent for the removal of As (III) from industrial effluents with particle diffusion as the pre- dominant mechanism.

The use of unmodified and carboxymethylated granular activated carbon (GAC) for adsorption of Hg2+ and Ni2+ from aqueous solutions was assessed in this work. The effect of concentration and modification by carboxymethyl group on the adsorption of these metal ions was studied in batch process. The adsorption data were correlated with Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich and Temkin isotherm models. Results show that Freundlich model gave the best description for the adsorption process followed by the Langmuir model. Langmuir adsorption capacity corresponding to sites saturation was found to be 20.83 mg g-1 and 19.05 mg g-1 for adsorption of the Hg2+ and Ni2+ respectively onto the unmodified adsorbent and 19.72 mg g-1 and 17.01 mg g-1 for adsorption onto the carboxymethylated substrate. The apparent energy values obtained from the Dubinin-Radushvich model further indicates that the forces of the adsorption follow physical mode. Modification by carboxymethyl group generally caused a decline in the adsorption capacity by the adsorbent. Results obtained generally showed that Hg (II) ions were better adsorbed onto both adsorbents as compared to Nickel (II).

The extent of metal and radionuclide contamination in the world is immense. In soils, metals and radionuclide can be dissolved in solution, or ion exchanged in reaction, complexed with soil organics or precipitate as pure or mixed solids. Soluble contaminants are subject to migration with soil water, uptake by plants or aquatic organisms or loss due to volatilization. Lead, chromium, zinc, arsenic and cadmium are the most frequently identified inorganic contaminants in soil and ground water. Unlike degradable organic contaminants and ever short-lived radionuclides that can become less toxic over time, metals can be considered conservative. However, many metals, especially radio-sensitive elements such as arsenic and chromium can undergo transformation or sorption reaction that alter both mobility and relative toxicity. This paper therefore, makes a review of these behaviours of radionuclides and heavy metals in soils, in connection to soil contamination and their effects on plant growth.