Savanna ecosystems are shaped by complex interactions among disturbances, climate extremes, and management, yet quantitative assessments of their structural and floristic characteristics in Nigeria remain limited. This study, therefore, examined the present status of protected areas (PAs) within the savanna ecological zone of Northern Nigeria, focusing on tree species diversity, abundance, stand structure, density, and distribution patterns with the view of providing information for management and conservation purposes. Data were collected from five randomly selected PAs: Yankari Game Reserve and Sumu Wildlife Park (Bauchi State), Kainji Lake National Park and Borgu Game Reserve (Niger State), and Marhai Forest Reserve (Nasarawa State). A systematic line-transect sampling technique was used, with four 50 m × 50 m plots established at 250 m intervals in alternate directions within each site. All trees with DBH ≥10 cm were measured and identified. A total of 1,051 trees, 71 species and 22 families were recorded. Tree density ranged from 68 to 275 trees ha⁻¹. Combretaceae and Fabaceae were the most dominant families, while Combretum micranthum, Anogeissus leiocarpa, and Vitellaria paradoxa were the most frequent species. Despite low population density, Adansonia digitata contributed substantially to basal area and volume. Kainji recorded the highest Shannon index (3.21), evenness (0.95) and Margalef's index of species richness (6.87). Tree density and height varied significantly (p<0.05), but basal area and DBH did not differ. Strong correlations between structural variables and diversity indices highlight the need to conserve and protect large-tree growth in the Nigerian savanna.

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains such as Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus has necessitated the search for alternative antimicrobial agents, particularly from plant sources. This study investigates the phytochemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of leaf extracts from Acacia senegal medicinal plant traditionally used in the treatment of infectious diseases. Crude extract was obtained via ethanol maceration and subsequently fractionated using solvents of increasing polarity. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, terpenoids, phenolics, steroids, and saponins in A. Senegal. Antibacterial activity was assessed using the agar diffusion method against clinical isolates of S. typhi and S. aureus. The results demonstrated that chloroform and hexane extracts of A. senegal exhibited strong inhibitory effects against S. typhi (zones up to 24.5 mm). (43 mm at 100 mg/ml) Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assays confirmed the potency of the extracts, particularly methanol and ethanol fractions. Bioactive compounds were isolated and characterized using thin-layer chromatography (TLC), column chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H & ¹³C NMR). The major compound isolated from A. senegal was identified as lupeol, a pentacyclic triterpenoid, based on characteristic NMR signals (δC 151.01, 109.33, 79.03 ppm; δH 5.30–5.35, 4.95–5.05, ~3.35–3.60 ppm). These findings validate the ethnomedicinal use of the plant and suggest its potential as sources of novel antibacterial agents

Hypocalcaemia during pregnancy is a significant public health concern in many developing countries and is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. This study assessed the incidence and predictors of hypocalcaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in some selected hospital in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study design was adopted involving 400 women recruited from antenatal clinics. Data were collected using structured questionnaires covering socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history, dietary practices, and clinical symptoms related to calcium deficiency. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regression analysis were used to identify predictors of hypocalcaemia. The majority of respondents were aged 20–30 years (48.3%), and most attended antenatal care during the second trimester (55.2%). Clinical manifestations commonly associated with calcium deficiency were widely reported, including headache (53.5%), vomiting (47.0%), muscle cramps (42.3%), and dizziness (40.5%). Although dietary diversity among respondents was relatively high, the intake of calcium-rich foods such as milk and dairy products was inconsistent. Chi-square analysis showed no statistically significant association between hypocalcaemia and most socio-demographic variables, although occupation, calcium supplement use, and milk consumption showed marginal associations. Logistic regression analysis further indicated that none of the variables independently predicted hypocalcaemia at the 5% level of significance. The findings suggest that maternal hypocalcaemia in the study population may be primarily influenced by inadequate dietary calcium intake rather than demographic factors. Strengthening maternal nutrition education and improving access to calcium-rich foods and antenatal supplementation programs are therefore recommended.

In this study, the principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple regression were adopted to examine the sectoral determinants of household food consumption expenditure (as proxy to food security) in Nigeria. Annual data from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin spanning 1996 to 2021 were used. The results showed that the correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships among the sectoral variables, implying the presence of multi-collinearity. The outcomes of PCA indicate that the first principal component (PC1) represents 93.58% of the total variance, whereas the second and third components are 3.96 and 1.56, and this fact confirms the fact that the data is characterized by only one underlying economic structure. The PCA loadings show that all sectors have a positive contribution to PC1 with average contribution of approximately 13%, which implies that sectors have a balanced and interconnected influence in household’s consumption. Nevertheless, the energy sector pushes the second major element by nearly 60%, which shows a structural role. The individuals plot also indicates three different clusters, showing the difference in time on sectoral performance. The regression findings demonstrate that the relationship between agriculture and household consumption expenditure is positive and statistically significant ( = 0.5886, p < 0.05) and water supply and ICT are not significant. The model describes 94.98% of the change in household consumption expenditure ( = 0.9498), which shows a great fit in the model. This result shows the sectoral interactions, especially agriculture, strongly influence household consumption, supporting policies that enhance welfare and food security.

L-asparaginase is an enzyme used to treat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia due to its ability to break down external L-asparagine necessary for the growth of cancer cells. This work investigated the optimisation of L-asparaginase production and the effect of various factors on the activities of the produced enzyme. An L-asparaginase-producing bacterium collected from the Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory was identified using 16S rRNA. The production of L-asparaginase was optimised using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), and the experimental design was validated. The effect of environmental factors on L-asparaginase was determined. The L-asparagine-producing bacterium was identified as Priestia megaterium GAFA with an accession number PP390497. Optimal production (10594.1 U/mL) was validated using glucose as a carbon source, L-asparaginase only as a nitrogen source, fermented at pH 7.76 for 73 hours with an inoculum load of 7.7%. The Ca²⁺ ion significantly increased L-asparaginase activity by 76% compared with the control at p<0.05. The enzyme was active over a wide pH range (4–8), with maximum activity at pH 6.0. The highest activity was observed at 60 °C after 1 hour of incubation. The production of L-asparaginase by Priestia megaterium GAFA was optimised, and environmental factors influenced its activity.

The liver is essential for metabolism and detoxification but is highly vulnerable to drug-induced injury. Aspirin has been reported to induce hepatic alterations, particularly at prolonged or high doses, primarily through oxidative stress mechanisms, while Alstonia boonei possesses documented hepatoprotective properties. This study evaluated the hepatoprotective effects of A. boonei against aspirin-induced hepatic toxicity in albino rats. Thirty rats were assigned into six groups (n = 5). Group I served as control; Group II received aspirin (10 mg/kg); Group III received A. boonei (1000 mg/kg); Groups IV-VI received aspirin (10 mg/kg) combined with A. boonei ethanolic extract (1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/kg), orally for 14 days respectively. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05). Liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP), total and conjugated bilirubin were assessed, and hepatic tissues were examined histologically. Animals were weighed before and after experimentation including organ weight. Aspirin administration produced mild biochemical alterations characterized by reduced serum AST (12.67 ± 2.67 U/L), ALT (11.00 ± 0.58 U/L), and ALP (52.67 ± 15.71 U/L) compared with control values of 36.00 ± 24.00 U/L, 17.50 ± 5.50 U/L, and 56.00 ± 2.00 U/L, respectively. Total bilirubin showed a slight increase (0.37 ± 0.07 mg/dL), while conjugated bilirubin remained unchanged (0.10 ± 0.00 mg/dL). Histology showed mild hepatocellular stress after aspirin, with cytoplasmic granulation and sinusoidal prominence. A. boonei co-treatment improved hepatic structure dose-dependently, with near-normal architecture at the moderate dose and minimal stress at the highest dose, indicating hepatoprotective potential.

This study examines the impacts of flooding on residential infrastructure and community well-being in riverine settlements. Armchair analysis and review of recent literature were used to extract relevant information for the study. The review identifies four key impact dimensions: structural damage and material degradation, indoor environmental quality deterioration, socio-economic implications, and community resilience challenges. Findings demonstrate that flooding leads to structural damages and drastic decrease of property value of the degraded structures, compromised indoor air quality with mold spore concentrations 200-40%. The study also highlights critical gaps in insurance coverage affecting 70% of 500% above baseline, households and substantial socio-economic burdens, particularly on vulnerable populations. Additionally, the study explores the socioeconomic implications of flood-related housing damage, including property devaluation, increased maintenance costs, and insurance challenges. The paper concludes by proposing evidence-based recommendations for flood-resilient housing design, policy interventions, and community-level adaptation strategies to enhance housing sustainability in flood-prone areas. This comprehensive analysis contributes to the growing body of knowledge on climate change adaptation and sustainable urban development in vulnerable riverine settlements. Key recommendations for enhancing community resilience were advanced, including implementing flood-resistant construction strategies, updating building codes, developing comprehensive emergency response networks, and establishing financial assistance programs.

Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) plays a vital role in various real-world applications, from mental health diagnostics to human-computer interaction. This research examines the integration of Stacked Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and Hidden Markov Models (HMM) for SER, addressing the limitations of traditional models like Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). While GMMs and SVMs offer decent performance, their inability to model temporal dynamics limits their accuracy in detecting complex emotions. The proposed hybrid model leverages LSTM’s strength in handling sequential data and HMM’s ability to model emotional transitions, making it highly suitable for real-world noisy environments. Preprocessing techniques such as MFCC and LPCC are applied to enhance feature extraction, and benchmark datasets like IEMOCAP and RAVDESS are used for evaluation. Finally, The Systematic review highlights the superior role of the hybrid model's performance on SER and sets the stage for a significant shift in future research in addressing bias and fairness in SER systems by combining LSTM and HMM as hybrid model. In recent studies, context-aware emotion recognition models are commonly evaluated using existing datasets such as IEMOCAP, MELD, DailyDialog, and SEMAINE, which provide conversational and multimodal emotional data. Features used often include acoustic features as MFCCs, spectrograms, prosodic features, linguistic features as BERT or transformer embeddings, and visual cues such as facial landmarks or video frames. Many models also incorporate contextual embeddings from transformers, graph attention networks, or sequential memory modules to capture speaker history and emotional shifts.

Leaf blight of maize and purple blotch of onion are economically important foliar diseases that significantly reduce crop yield and quality in tropical and subtropical agro-ecosystems. This study comparatively investigated the fungal communities associated with leaf blight symptoms of maize (Zea mays L.) and purple blotch symptoms of onion (Allium cepa L.) in Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria. Diseased leaf samples were collected from farmers’ fields and analyzed using standard mycological techniques. Fungal isolates were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) supplemented with chloramphenicol and identified based on macroscopic and microscopic characteristics. The frequency of occurrence of each fungal genus was determined, and diversity indices were calculated to assess community structure. Three fungal genera were isolated from maize: Helminthosporium, Colletotrichum, and Fusarium, while onion samples yielded Alternaria, Botrytis, and Fusarium. Fusarium was the only genus common to both crops. The Jaccard similarity index (0.20) indicated low similarity between the fungal communities, despite the similarity in disease symptoms. Shannon diversity indices revealed moderate and comparable fungal diversity in both crops. Molecular identification and pathogenicity assays are recommended to confirm the causal roles of the isolated fungi and improve disease management strategies.

Breastfeeding is a cornerstone of child survival, growth, and development, yet exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates in Nigeria remain suboptimal. This cross-sectional study assessed breastfeeding practices among 242 lactating mothers in Nassarawa Local Government Area, Kano State. Data were collected using a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS (version 25). Descriptive and inferential statistics, including chi-square tests, were applied at a significance level of p<0.05. Findings revealed that 61.6% of mothers, initiated breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, while 67.8% fed their infants colostrum. Approximately 79.3% practiced exclusive breastfeeding, though only 65.1% sustained it for the recommended six months. Responsive breastfeeding practices were mixed: 80.6% practiced rooming-in, but only 47.9% breastfed on demand. Prelacteal feeding was reported by 21% of mothers, primarily involving water, honey, and herbal preparations, contrary to WHO/UNICEF guidelines. Significant associations were observed between breastfeeding practices and maternal socio-demographic factors, including age, parity, education, income, and occupation. Mothers with higher education and stable occupations were more likely to initiate early breastfeeding, sustain EBF, and avoid harmful practices. Despite relatively high initiation and colostrum use rates, EBF duration remains below the WHO target of 50% coverage by 2025. Cultural norms, socioeconomic conditions, and maternal employment were key barriers. This study underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to address socio-cultural and economic barriers to optimal breastfeeding. Strengthening community education, healthcare counseling, and workplace breastfeeding support can significantly improve child nutrition outcomes in the study area.