A.O. Obembe, A.B. Antai, D.U. Owu, O.O. Okwari, M.U. Eteng and E.E. Osim
Chronic feeding with thermoxidized palm oil causes tissue damage. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether chronic feeding of oxidized and fresh palm oil affects biliary…
Abstract
Purpose
Chronic feeding with thermoxidized palm oil causes tissue damage. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether chronic feeding of oxidized and fresh palm oil affects biliary secretion.
Design/methodology/approach
Albino Wistar rats were divided into three groups of ten rats each. The first group was the control and were fed on normal rat chow, while the second (FPO) and third group (TPO) were fed diet containing either fresh or thermoxidized palm oil (15per cent (w/w)) for 14 weeks. Biliary secretion, bilirubin, electrolytes, cholesterol and serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase enzymes were measured.
Findings
Biliary secretion in TPO was significantly (p < 0.05) lower compared with the control or FPO. Electrolytes (Na+, Cl− and HCO3−) content of bile were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in TPO compared with control or FPO group. Conjugated and un‐conjugated bilirubin levels were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated in TPO compared with control or FPO. The levels of serum liver enzymes were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in TPO than control or FPO. The cholesterol level in the TPO was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than in control or FPO.
Research limitations/implications
The non‐clinical approach and use of experimental animals present limitations to the study.
Originality/value
These results suggest that long‐term feeding of thermally oxidized palm oil alters bile composition and decreases biliary flow due to its hazardous free radicals.
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Agona O Obembe, Emmanuel O. Ofutet, Atim B. Antai and Eme E Osim
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of chronic consumption of fresh palm oil (FPO) and thermoxidized palm oil (TPO) diet on gastric acid secretion, pepsin secretions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of chronic consumption of fresh palm oil (FPO) and thermoxidized palm oil (TPO) diet on gastric acid secretion, pepsin secretions, gastric mucus output and gastric cytoprotection.
Design/methodology/approach
Adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned into three groups, i.e. control, FPO and TPO groups (n = 10 in each). The control group was fed with normal rat chow only, the FPO group was fed on diet containing 15 per cent v/w FPO and the TPO group was fed with diet containing v/w of thermally oxidized palm oil. All animals had free access to feed and water, and the feeding lasted for 14 weeks. At the end of the feeding period, gastric acid secretion, pepsin secretion, mucus output and gastric ulceration were measured following standard methods.
Findings
There was increase in histamine-stimulated gastric acid output in the TPO diet-fed group (p < 0.01) compared with the control and FPO diet-fed groups. No significant change in the mucus output was observed across all the experimental groups; whereas, pepsin secretion was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the TPO diet-fed group (0.46 ± 0.27) compared with the control (0.14 ± 0.05) and FPO diet-fed groups (0.25 ± 0.01). Ulcer scores in the TPO diet-fed group (15.5 ± 0.33) was significantly higher (p < 0.01) compared with the control (10.0 ± 0.05) and FPO diet-fed (5.0 ± 0.04) groups.
Originality/value
Chronic consumption of TPO increased gastric acid and pepsin secretion (gastric-aggressive factors) without a change in the mucus output. This can bring about gastric ulceration; therefore, the liberal use of TPO should be discouraged.
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Akaninyene Ubong Ime, Elemi John Ani, Victor Udo Nna and Christiana Egong Obeten
A plethora of publications have reported several cytotoxic effects associated with chronic consumption of thermoxidized palm oil. This research aims to investigate the effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
A plethora of publications have reported several cytotoxic effects associated with chronic consumption of thermoxidized palm oil. This research aims to investigate the effects of garlic and Aloe vera on liver function and hepatic cytoarchitecture in rats fed thermoxidized palm oil diet.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty-five male albino Wistar rats weighing 150-180 g were used for this study. They were randomly assigned into five groups (n = 7): control, thermoxidized palm oil diet fed (TPO), TPO plus garlic juice (TPO + G), TPO plus Aloe gel (TPO + A) and TPO plus garlic/Aloe gel (TPO + G + A). The TPO diet was prepared by mixing 15 g of cooled thermoxidized palm oil with 85 g of rat feed. The juice and gel were orally administered at doses of 2.00 ml/kg and 19.12 ml/kg, respectively. After 3 months of feeding and administration, the animals were sacrificed using standard methods and blood collected via cardiac puncture for analysis.
Findings
Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase were significantly increased (p < 0.001) in the TPO group compared to the control. This increase was reduced (p < 0.001) in all the treated groups compared to TPO, with the greatest decrease (p < 0.001) seen in TPO + A. Total bilirubin was increased (p < 0.001) in the TPO group compared to the control, whereas there was a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in all the treated groups. Serum proteins and plasma fibrinogen were lowered (p < 0.001) in the TPO group compared to the control but increased progressively in all the treated groups. TPO induced prominent histopathological derangements of the liver tissues. However, there were marked improvements following treatment with garlic and Aloe vera.
Originality/value
The results obtained in this study have revealed that chronic consumption of thermoxidized palm oil is hazardous to health by inducing hepatotoxicity, as seen in increased ALT, AST and total and unconjugated bilirubin and decreased total protein. However, these debilitating effects were seen to be greatly ameliorated following garlic juice and Aloe vera gel administration. If these results are to be extrapolated to humans, then the chronic consumption of thermoxidized palm oil diet should be seriously discouraged.
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Esther Badugu Patrick, Sunday O. Otimenyin and Bukata B. Bukar
The purpose of this study is to determine the blood pressure (BP) lowing potential of some herbs used by the indigenous people of Zango Kataf, Kaduna State, Nigeria, to treat…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the blood pressure (BP) lowing potential of some herbs used by the indigenous people of Zango Kataf, Kaduna State, Nigeria, to treat hypertension.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 17 herbal healers and 15 hypertensive patients who use herbs to treat hypertension in Zango Kataf, Kaduna State, Nigeria, were consulted between 2019 and 2020. Participants were selected via purposeful sampling. BP was measured before and after the ingestion of a herbal preparation. Three plant preparations were screened: Newbouldia laevis, Hibiscus cannabinus and Pavetta crassipes.
Findings
H. cannabinus produced a significant decrease of 16, 12 and 14 mmHg in SBP at 2, 3 and 4 h, respectively (p = 0.001 at 2 h, p = 0.04 at 3 h, p = 0.01 at 4 h). While P. crassipes produced a significant decrease in SBP of 12, 15, 19 and 20 mmHg at 1, 2, 3 and 4 h, respectively (p = 0.04 at 1 h, p= 0.00 at 2 h, p = 0.00 at 3 h and p = 0.00 at 4 h). The findings for N. laevis were not reported due to incomplete information.
Research limitations/implications
The sample size of this study was small. The researcher could not meet with some hypertensive clients owing to the poor cooperation of some herbal healers. Further, some hypertensive patients rejected the offer to participate in the study.
Originality/value
This study reveals that treatment with H. cannabinus and P. crassipes significantly decrease BP in hypertensive patients.
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This chapter focuses on a study, which investigates the question: How do teacher education policies match teacher education practices in Anglophone West Africa? Teacher education…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on a study, which investigates the question: How do teacher education policies match teacher education practices in Anglophone West Africa? Teacher education policy in this chapter refers to action statements in verbal or written form made by national education authorities/agencies about teacher education, while teacher education practice refers to the work that teachers do. Using the method of research synthesis, multi-layered, purposeful sampling of various data sources, Boolean and non-Boolean search strategies, qualitative and quantitative analytical procedures, the study identified over a hundred documents. Out of these, 77 documents met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The distribution of research outcomes by Anglophone West African countries were as follows: 18.2% were on Gambia, 27.3% were on Ghana, 10.4% were on Liberia, 24.7% were on Nigeria, and 19.5% were on Sierra Leone. From this research synthesis, it is evident that there is a gap between teacher education policy and practice in Anglophone West Africa. Most teacher education policies are “add-on,” meaning that they were formulated as part of a larger national policy framework on basic, secondary and tertiary education. In addition, the research synthesis found that Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone are very similar in terms of their pre-service teacher training models, but differ in their in-service and professional development systems, while Liberia has a slightly different in-service model with varying durations. The limitations and implications of the findings for further comparative and international education research are discussed in the chapter.
Faruk Serin, Süleyman Mete and Erkan Çelik
Changing the product characteristics and demand quantity resulting from the variability of the modern market leads to re-assigned tasks and changing the cycle time on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Changing the product characteristics and demand quantity resulting from the variability of the modern market leads to re-assigned tasks and changing the cycle time on the production line. Therefore, companies need re-balancing of their assembly line instead of balancing. The purpose of this paper is to propose an efficient algorithm approach for U-type assembly line re-balancing problem using stochastic task times.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a genetic algorithm is proposed to solve approach for U-type assembly line re-balancing problem using stochastic task times.
Findings
The performance of the genetic algorithm is tested on a wide variety of data sets from literature. The task times are assumed normal distribution. The objective is to minimize total re-balancing cost, which consists of workstation cost, operating cost and task transposition cost. The test results show that proposed genetic algorithm approach for U-type assembly line re-balancing problem performs well in terms of minimizing total re-balancing cost.
Practical implications
Demand variation is considered for stochastic U-type re balancing problem. Demand change also affects cycle time of the line. Hence, the stochastic U-type re-balancing problem under four different cycle times are analyzed to present practical case.
Originality/value
As per the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that genetic algorithm is applied to stochastic U-type re balancing problem. The large size data set is generated to analyze performance of genetic algorithm. The results of proposed algorithm are compared with ant colony optimization algorithm.
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The study examines the spatial pattern of 101 destinations considered important in Nigeria by tourists, and categorised them into various grades, employing a questionnaire survey…
Abstract
The study examines the spatial pattern of 101 destinations considered important in Nigeria by tourists, and categorised them into various grades, employing a questionnaire survey of 634 tourists randomly selected from seven centres in Nigeria. A standard stanine rating scheme was used to evaluate the value of the 101 destinations in Nigeria for attracting tourists. The study revealed eight tourism regions in Nigeria, with two regions, Lagos and Yankari/Jos/Abuja emerging as primary attractive tourism regions, and four regions, the Western, Northeastern, Edo/Delta and North Central tourism regions emerging as secondary tourism regions. Destinations considered most important were mostly short distance or nearby, and associated with both cultural and natural resources, especially wildlife/games and beaches/water areas. The study concludes with implications for destination planning, development and marketing.
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Terngu Sylvanus Nomishan, Paul-Kolade Tubi and Dimas Solomon Gubam
The aim of this research is to discuss the effect of corruption on conventional management of cultural heritage (CH) resources in Nigeria. It identifies the means by which the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to discuss the effect of corruption on conventional management of cultural heritage (CH) resources in Nigeria. It identifies the means by which the effect can be curtailed to bring about proper management system in the CH sector and pave the way for economic/sustainable development through cultural tourism in the country.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws from both exploratory and comparative approaches. It took a study of selected locations and museums in the six geopolitical zones of the country, with a review of literatures on cultural heritage management (CHM). It also gives summarized information on the present overall effect of corruption in the CH sector of Nigeria.
Findings
The research reveals that there are some levels of mismanagement and destruction of CH resources in the country. This is manifested in acts of museum theft, illicit trafficking, unlawful possession and general mishandling of CH, as well as the deterioration of facilities in the sector. The research gathered that the problem came as a result of wrongful appointment of none heritage experts as heads of heritage-related institutions and agencies. It also results from lack of required attention by the government and other relevant stakeholders (such as community leaders/members, academics and law enforcement agencies, inter alia) toward CH preservation, protection, management and promotion for sustainable development. The research recommends that the government and other CH stakeholders (mentioned above) should make efforts to address the issues discussed, so as to improve the management of CH in the country for sustainable development.
Originality/value
Prior to this research, there has been no publication addressing the effect of corruption on CHM in this context and location. The article makes recommendations that call for action and also set grounds for future discourse.
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Asadu Glory Chinasa and Hale Ozgit
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, African students studying tourism and hospitality internationally had diverse experiences in their professional endeavours. This study seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, African students studying tourism and hospitality internationally had diverse experiences in their professional endeavours. This study seeks to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the career progression and perspectives of African undergraduate students specialising in higher education in the fields of tourism and hospitality.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised qualitative content analysis, which involves subjectively interpreting text data by systematically categorising and coding it to identify themes or patterns.
Findings
The findings deviate from how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the career advancement of African international students studying tourism and hospitality in North Cyprus. Consequently, most developing nations face an increased need for security measures. Tourists will pay higher prices to visit highly secure areas rather than risking their lives. This is one of the reasons why many students from developing nations choose to pursue their careers in developed countries.
Practical implications
It is imperative for the governments of developing nations to make substantial financial contributions to the development of their respective tourism sectors. Augmented investment has the potential to allure international tourists, thereby generating employment prospects for the host economies. The lack of investment forces young individuals to pursue their education overseas. Furthermore, it is imperative for developing nations to enhance their security infrastructure.
Social implications
Our findings suggest that policymakers should establish a diverse management team that includes student employees to develop suitable strategies for industry management. Insufficient student inclusivity can result in a lack of dedication, whereas involving them in management strategies can contribute to the industry’s prosperity.
Originality/value
The findings obtained from this research can stimulate the formulation of strategies within the tourism industry to tackle the intersection of career obstacles.