A simple and efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of various 2-quinoxalinone-3-hydrazone derivatives using microwave irradiation technique. The series of 2-quinoxalinone-3-hydrazone derivatives synthesized, were structurally confirmed by analytical and spectral data and evaluated for their antimicrobial activities. The results showed that this skeletal framework exhibited marked potency as antimicrobial agents. The most active antibacterial agent was 3-{2-[1-(6-chloro-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)ethylidene]hydrazinyl}quinoxalin-2(1H)-one, 7 while 3-[2-(propan-2-ylidene)hydrazinyl]quinoxalin-2(1H)-one, 2 appeared to be the most active antifungal agent.

Aflatoxin (AF) contamination presents one of the most insidious challenges to combat, in food safety. Its adulteration of agricultural commodities presents an important safety concern as evident in the incidences of its health implication and economic losses reported widely. Due to the overarching challenges presented by the contamination of AFs in foods and feeds, there is an urgent need to evolve cost-effective and competent strategies to combat this menace. In our review, we tried to appraise the cost-effective methods for decontamination of AFs. We identified the missing links in adopting microbial degradation as a palliative to decontamination of AFs and its commercialization in food and feed industries. Cogent areas of further research were also highlighted in the review paper.

Diarrhoeal diseases collectively constitute a serious public health challenge globally, especially as the leading cause of death in children (after respiratory diseases). Childhood diarrhoea affecting children under the age of five accounts for approximately 63% of the global burden. Accurate and timely detection of the aetiology of these diseases is very crucial; but conventional methods, apart from being laborious and time-consuming, often fail to identify difficult-to-culture pathogens. The aetiological agent of an average of up to 40% of cases of diarrhoea cannot be identified. This review gives an overview of the recent trends in the epidemiology and treatment of diarrhoea and aims at highlighting the potentials of metagenomics technique as a diagnostic method for enteric infections.

In this study, water points in Canaanland, Ota, and nearby Iju River were analyzed for biological and physicochemical properties including heavy metal content. Water quality parameters examined were pH, alkalinity, salinity, conductivity, turbidity, total hardness, total solids (TS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (Do), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and chromium (Cr). All the water samples were slightly acidic (5.96 -6.54) except the bottled/ sachet Hebron water and Iju River water. The results were compared against drinking water quality standards laid by World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water (NSDW). The potable water samples were within the standards for consumable water and so are considered safe for human consumption. The surface waters, on the other hand, have high levels of total dissolved solids, conductivity and salinity. The BOD of the effluent water showed that the water was contaminated and the use of the water for domestic purposes by the inhabitants could lead to hazardous side effects.

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