BackgroundDengue and malaria have similar symptoms and arthropod vector and their mode of transmission coupled with differential diagnosis. Though typhoid fever differs from dengue and malaria by not having arthropod vector and different mode of transmission, it shares differential diagnosis with Dengue and Malaria which make misdiagnosis possible. This misdiagnosis of these three diseases has since been a major concern towards therapeutic administration because of their co-occurrence in many cases. MethodsThis study focused on the misdiagnosis of dengue fever for malaria or typhoid fever since the three have differential diagnosis and could co-occur. 741 samples were collected from malaria patient and 333 samples for typhoid fever outpatient at the health department facilities in rural communities of South West Nigeria. The samples were tested for dengue virus (DV) NS1 protein, anti DV IgM, anti DV IgG and RT-qPCR. ResultOf all the samples tested 315 (29.4%) were positive to DV NS1 while 50 (6.7%) and 13 (3.9%) of 714 malaria samples and 333 typhoid samples respectively had Dengue fever co-infection. Co-infection of the three types of fever occurred in 5 (0.5%). A total of 54 (5%) DV cases were wrongly diagnosed for malaria while 14 (1.3%) DV cases was wrongly diagnosed as typhoid. ConclusionConclusively, there was significant number of misdiagnosed cases of DV for either malaria or typhoid, hence it is recommended to include DV screening into routine hospital test especially in cases of malaria and typhoid negative by rapid diagnostic testing.

This study aimed at the examination of nutrient enrichment of cassava peels and corn cob through mannanase treatment. Mannanase production was conducted using Locust Bean Gum (LBG) as the sole carbon source; moisten with mineral salt solution and enzyme activity determined by dinitrosalicylic acid. Crude mannanase was concentrated by ammonium sulphate. The samples were hydrolyzed with concentrated mannanase within a sealing system. The chemical compositions of enzyme treated-samples were determined according to standard chemical methods. The mineral compositions of the enzyme-treated samples were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer method. The result obtained showed an increase in crude protein from 5.34±0.17% in non-enzyme treated corn cob to 9.61±0.98% in enzyme treated corn cob. The enzyme treated samples showed a markedly reduction in crude fiber by 13.75 and 29.70% for cassava peels and corn cob respectively. The lignin (9.49%), cellulose (68.75, 33.06 and 10.82%) and hemicellulose (55.38 and 9.64%) contents decreased in enzyme treated samples for cassava peels and corn cob. Cyanide decreased significantly in all the mannanase-treated samples. Mineral composition varied significantly with treatment type and the substrate treated. The treatment of cassava peels and corn cob with mannanase resulted in the degradation of the complex carbohydrate fractions in the samples to increase its crude protein and certain minerals contents.

The present investigation was conducted to generate catabolite activation mutants of Aspergillus flavus through UV mutagenesis. Mutants of A. flavus were generated by exposure of spores suspension to UV irradiation at a distance of 13 cm in dark from the centre of germicidal lamp (240 nm). Quantitatively, mannanase activity was determined using dinitrosalicylic acid method, while protein content was determined by Lowry method. Mannanase production by the mutants varied with time of exposure to UV irradiation. All the mutants except for mutant designated AFUV90 showed higher specific mannanase activity in comparison with the parent strain. The isolated mutants were screened for catabolite activation studies in the presence of different mannose and glycerol concentrations (1 and 1% w/v) as carbon sources. The supplementation of 0.1 and 1% (w/v) mannose in the fermentation media caused activation of mannanase biosynthesis in 100 and approximately 91% of the mutants, respectively. The inclusion of 0.1 and 1% (w/v) glycerol induced an improvement in approximately 82 and 55% of the mutants, respectively in terms of mannanase biosynthesis. The generation of catabolite activation mutants through UV mutagenesis might be considered as a break through in the industrial production of mannanase.

Abstract:Walnuts locally called 'asala'or 'awusa' are eaten after boiling and maize which is fermented in the production of gruels called 'ogi' a widely utilized complementary food, shows qualitative and quantitative deficiency in protein content. The objective of this work is to co-ferment raw maize and walnut and also cooked walnut and maize to get low cost infant complementary foods of improved nutritional quality which might address malnutrition in infants. The mixture was prepared by co-fermenting 300g cooked walnut with 700g raw maize w/w (CWM) for 72h at 30 O C. After 72h each product was wet-milled, sieved and dried at 60 o C. Resultant flour was analyzed for: Proximate composition, minerals, anti-nutrients, amino acids, fatty acids, phospholipids, sterols contents and consistency using standard methods. The pH of (RW/M) dropped more drastically from 6 to 5 at 12h to 72h than that of (CW/M). RW/M had higher values of ash (0.98), moisture (12.74), crude protein (10.72), crude fiber (4.63), ether extract (2.53), CHO (68.4) and energy (2824) than CWM. Cooking reduced the proximate composition. RWM was more enhanced in most amino acids, minerals, mystric, stearic, and linoleic acids. CW/M had more reduced values of oxalate, saponin, alkaloid, flavanoid and higher phytate. Phytin than RW/M. The values of total phenol in both samples were comparable. RW/M could serve as infant complementary food of improved nutritional quality. Bacillus pumilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Leuconostocmesenteroide and Saccharomyces cerevisiaewere isolated from the fermented foods.

No abstract