Umaru Musa Yar'adua University

Classical inventory models are developed under the restrictive assumptions of time-varying demand combined with a fixed unit selling price throughout the inventory cycle. These assumptions rarely hold in practical settings. Specifically, the quantity of items displayed or available in stock affects how much customers buy. Higher inventory levels may signal product popularity or availability, thereby stimulating demand. Products with limited shelf life or seasonal characteristics often prompt promotional or bulk sales to reduce wastage. Moreover, once deterioration begins, retailers frequently adopt price discount strategies to accelerate sales and reduce holding costs. These strategies also attract additional customers and mitigate losses arising from spoilage. Motivated by these practical considerations, this study develops an inventory model for delayed deteriorating items that simultaneously incorporates stock-dependent demand, price discounting, and trade credit policy. The demand rate is stock-dependent before deterioration and constant afterward; price discounts are applied only after deterioration begins. The proposed model determines the optimal cycle length and order quantity that maximize the average total profit of the inventory system. Rigorous analytical results are derived. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the optimal solution are established. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the applicability of the model. A comparative analysis with an existing benchmark model shows that the proposed approach yields a higher average total profit per unit time. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the effects of key parameters on the optimal decision variables. Relevant managerial insights for profit maximization are also discussed.

Diabetes mellitus in Africa is undergoing a rapid epidemiological transition marked by rising prevalence, distinctive clinical phenotypes, and persistent health system and therapeutic challenges. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes contemporary evidence on the evolving landscape of diabetes across the continent, with particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa, and examines the urgent need for context-specific management guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Semantic Scholar, and other indexed databases, covering over 170 million research records. The search strategy addressed epidemiology, phenotype diversity, pathogenesis, therapeutic access, health system barriers, and intervention outcomes related to diabetes in Africa. Of 1,136 identified records, 555 were screened after de-duplication and 424 met eligibility criteria. Eighty-five high-quality and thematically relevant studies were included in the final synthesis. Diabetes prevalence in Africa is projected to rise from approximately 19 million to 47 million adults by 2045, representing the highest proportional global increase (129%) in sub-Saharan Africa. African diabetes exhibits distinct characteristics, including earlier onset (often before 50 years), lower body mass index at diagnosis, and predominant beta-cell dysfunction rather than classic insulin resistance. Atypical forms, such as ketosis-prone diabetes and malnutrition-related diabetes (now classified as Type 5 diabetes), affect 5–15% of patients in studied cohorts. Type 1 diabetes in Africa also differs from Western patterns, with later onset, lower autoantibody positivity (20–60%), and distinct HLA associations. Therapeutic gaps are substantial: insulin availability averages 33% across facilities, HbA1c testing is accessible in fewer than 25% of health centers, and two-year retention in care ranges from 30–50%. Workforce shortages are severe, with only 23% of facilities in Ghana reporting trained diabetes specialists. Existing clinical guidelines inadequately address African dietary patterns, prevalent comorbidities such as HIV and tuberculosis, and major resource limitations. Complications remain frequent, including a 13% prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers and extremely poor glycemic control among youth with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes in Africa presents unique phenotypic and systemic challenges distinct from Western contexts. Persistent therapeutic gaps and guideline mismatches contribute to poor outcomes. Urgent development of context-specific management frameworks, strengthened health systems, culturally adapted interventions, and innovative financing strategies is essential to address this escalating public health burden.

Aim: The study assess the nutritional impact of intestinal parasitic infections on schoolchildren in Mashi Local Government Area (LGA), Katsina, Nigeria. Study Design: A cross-sectional study carried out between February to July 2024. Methodology: Four hundred schoolchildren were randomly selected from four public primary schools. Faecal samples were examined using formol-ether concentration technique. Anthropometric indices were used as indicators of nutritional status. Results: The prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections was 38%. The species recorded were Schistosoma mansoni (29.4%), Hookworm (22.2%), Ascaris lumbricoides (13.1%), Strongyloides stercoralis (11.8%), Trichuris trichiura (11.1%), Entamoeba histolytica (7.8%), Hymenolepis nana (7.8%), Giardia lamblia (4.6%), Taenia species (2.6%), Cryptosporidium spp. (2.0%), Enterobius vermicularis (1.3%), and Balantidium coli (0.65%). 14.4% of infected children harbored more than one parasite, indicating polyparasitism. Nutritional status indicators showed chronic and acute malnutrition among the study participants, with all schools having negative Height-for-Age Z-scores (HAZ), Weight-for-Age Z-scores (WAZ) and BMI-for-Age Z-scores (BAZ) showed statistically significant variation across the schools. Stunting is the most critical problem, with 81.3% of the children stunted, followed by underweight 47.3%, Wasting is relatively less prevalent, affecting 14.3%. There was no variation between prevalence of the three types of malnutrition in infected and non-infected children. For stunting, 82.2% of infection-negative children and 79.7% of infection-positive children were stunted, with no significant difference (AOR = 0.87, p = 0.62). Similarly, the prevalence of underweight was virtually identical between infected (46.4%) and non-infected children (47.8%), with no significant association (AOR = 0.99, p = 1.00). For wasting, infection-positive children had a slightly higher prevalence (15.0%) compared to infection-negative children (13.8%), but the difference was not statistically significant (AOR = 1.04, p = 0.89). Conclusion: The study found moderate prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among the study population. High burden of malnutrition was observed, characterized by widespread chronic malnutrition as evidence by high level of stunting, presence of acute malnutrition reflected by wasting, with underweight highlighting the combined effects of both conditions. There was no association between the presence of intestinal parasitic infections and malnutrition in the study population. The findings highlight the need for combined deworming and urgent nutritional interventions.

This study examines the role of microfinance in shaping household vulnerability to banditry in Katsina State, Nigeria one of the epicenters of organized criminal violence in the country’s Northwest. Drawing on primary survey data from 612 households across 12 Local Government Areas, the study analyzes three distinct dimensions of microfinance: access to microcredit, participation in community-based savings groups, and financial literacy. Household vulnerability to banditry is operationalized through reported experiences of abduction, livestock theft, crop destruction, or extortion within the preceding 12 months. Using a probit regression framework with cluster-robust standard errors and controlling for socioeconomic, geographic, and institutional factors, the findings reveal that all three microfinance dimensions significantly reduce the likelihood of banditry victimization. Access to microcredit and savings group participation exhibit the strongest protective effects, while financial literacy plays a complementary role by enhancing households’ capacity for risk management and strategic decision-making. Robustness checksincluding instrumental variable probit estimation, propensity score matching, and alternative model specifications confirm the stability of the results and mitigate concerns about endogeneity. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that financial inclusion functions not only as a development intervention but also as a resilience-enhancing mechanism in contexts of economically motivated, non-ideological violence. The findings underscore the importance of integrating microfinance into broader security and development strategies aimed at addressing the structural drivers of banditry in fragile and conflict-affected regions.

This study explores the unique characteristics of talc ore sourced from the Ingawa Local Government Area in Katsina State, with a focus on its potential for diverse industrial applications. Representative samples were analysed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine elemental composition, mineralogical phases, and structural bonding. XRD analysis confirmed that the ore is a heterogeneous assemblage dominated by Talc (triclinic), with significant amounts of quartz and kaolinite. XRF analysis quantified the chemical composition, revealing deviations from stoichiometric purity, with high silica (SiO2, 37.23%) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3, 26.41%) content. Magnesium oxide (MgO) concentration was found to be (0.91%), which is lower than the theoretical standard for pure Talc of 31.8%. Iron oxide Fe2O3 was present at 10.99%, correlating with the observed light-to-dark brown coloration of the samples. A comparative assessment against industrial specifications indicates that the Ingawa deposit is low-to-medium grade. While the high quartz and iron content currently restricts its use in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, the raw ore is technically feasible for use as a structural filler in the rubber and plastics industries. Advanced beneficiation, specifically to reduce abrasive silica and chromophoric iron oxides, is recommended to upgrade the ore for high-value applications.

This study explored how non-cognitive psychological factors affect students' creative potentials in Katsina State Zonal Education Quality Assurance area. Guided by two objectives and hypotheses, a descriptive survey design was used involving 370 Senior Secondary II students sampled from 12,067 across 25 public schools. Data were gathered using validated and reliable motivation and self-concept questionnaires, then analyzed with pearson moment correlation and t-tests. The study found that motivation (p = 0.018) resulting in hypothesis rejection and self-concept (p = 0.308) resulting in hypothesis retention. Findings from the study recommends that educational psychologist, teachers, and school administrators provide students with targeted support, including counseling, motivation enhancement and professional development initiatives such as seminars and work shops. The study concluded targeted psychological support, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation strategies, professional development for teachers, and organized seminars to enhance students’ creative potential and academic performance.

Tumour neoantigens, which are products of tumour-specific mutations, are ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy because they are highly specific and have the potential to elicit a robust T-cell response. Nevertheless, clinical translation of neoantigen-based therapy is not uniform, and systematic analysis of the discovery, validation, and implementation plans is required. A systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Embase in July, 2025, to identify articles on neoantigen discovery and clinical use. In accordance with the PRISMA, 20 studies were included. Among the 20 original papers, 65% (13/20) were based on computational prediction, and only 35% (7/20) contained experimental validation, such as mass spectrometry-based immunopeptidomics or cell-based T-cell assays. Some studies used clinical translation, most of which used personalised vaccines and T-cell therapies, and, in some cases, immune checkpoint inhibitors. A high level of technological heterogeneity and inconsistent accuracy in neoantigen prioritisation were identified as critical limitations to clinical reliability. Neoantigen-based immunotherapy (immunotherapy) presents a high potential, but it is limited by the inaccuracy of predictions and low levels of validation. To enhance the chances of a successful translation, we suggest incorporating immunopeptidomics regularly, implementing AI-based models, expanding the global HLA sample, accelerating the manufacturing process, and standardising validation pipelines.

Natural products are widely acknowledged as a valuable source of bioactive compounds with potential anticancer properties. However, the discovery of new anticancer compounds from natural sources remains a laborious and resource-intensive process. Computational methods have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional drug discovery methods. The genus Knema, comprising evergreen trees and shrubs, has been extensively studied for its medicinal and pharmacological properties. This study aims to use computational techniques to predict the activity of natural products isolated from Knema species against a cancer cell line. Specifically, we aimed to predict the inhibitory activity of these compounds against estrogen receptor-α, a protein commonly overexpressed in breast cancer. This study presents the first comprehensive in silico screening of Knema species compounds against ER-α, identifying potential lead compounds for breast cancer treatment. Molecular docking simulations and in silico ADMET predictions were employed to identify lead compounds for further development. Our findings suggest that several compounds previously isolated from Knema species have better docking scores than gefitinib, a frequently used inhibitor in cancer treatment. Among these compounds, 7-hydroxy-3′,4′-methylenedioxyflavan (22) showed good binding affinity, drug-likeness, and ADMET properties. Furthermore, the ADMET prediction indicates that compound (22) has the ability to penetrate the blood–brain barrier, suggesting its potential for further investigation in Alzheimer’s disease research, alongside its estrogen receptor-α inhibitory activity. Overall, this research provides insights into the possible therapeutic applications of natural products from Knema species as sources of bioactive compounds for cancer research. The identification of compound (22) as a potential lead compound highlights the value of computational methods in guiding drug discovery from natural products, warranting further experimental validation.