Kogi State University

Green chemistry is defined as a set of principles that reduce or prevent the use or generation of hazardous substances during the design, production, and utilization of chemical products. The vision of such a paradigm shift in the chemical sciences is that the concept of being green is directly introduced to the molecular design process and is centered on atom economy and the prevention of waste. This review examines the principles of green chemistry in relation to agro-industrial waste valorization, with specific reference to the ecological and economic conditions of India, where approximately 350 million metric tons of annual agro-residues have become a source of serious environmental management issues, such as greenhouse gas emissions through open burning, leachate waste generation through landfills, and effects on the health of the population through poor disposal practices. The analysis summarizes the latest developments in nanotechnology-based catalytic systems, new solvent platforms (ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and supercritical fluids), and integrated biorefineries, and critically reviews the scalability limitations and commercial feasibility. It also discusses more recent developments, such as systems based on nanotechnology, catalyst transformations (homogeneous, heterogeneous, and biocatalysts), and the creation of alternative solvents, such as ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and supercritical fluids. The virtues of agri-industrial residues and biomass-based feeds are given particular attention in terms of their role in models of the circular economy and the generation of value-added chemicals, fuels, and materials. By illustrating how green chemistry can minimize the environmental footprint of traditional processes and create safer and more economically viable alternatives, this review makes it clear why green chemistry has become a revolution in the field of industrial practice. Lastly, the paper addresses contemporary issues of scalability, economic competitiveness, and regulatory integration and outlines opportunities that will make green chemistry the foundation of sustainable, resource-efficient, and environmentally responsible chemical companies.

Abstract Most cases of malaria, one of the most dangerous and common tropical parasite infections, occur in developing nations. Recent years have seen the emergence of novel treatment techniques, and numerous medication candidates are currently undergoing clinical research. One noteworthy outcome of combining an artemisinin derivative with a companion medication (in this case, mefloquine) using an alternative method of action is that it inhibits the growth of medication resistance and stops the spread of P. falciparum. Resistance to currently available antimalarial drugs is prevalent due to several factors, including the rate of parasite mutation, the total parasite load, the potency of the chosen drug, treatment compliance, inadequate adherence to malaria treatment guidelines, incorrect dosing, poor pharmacokinetic properties, and the use of low-quality antimalarials that may contribute to and exacerbate resistance. There are three types of malaria vaccinations: blood-stage vaccines, erythrocytosis-mimicking vaccines, and vaccines that stop the disease from spreading. This article examines various approaches to creating antimalarial medications in an attempt to solve the problem of drug resistance.

The high mortality and morbidity rates associated with lung cancer pose serious health burden globally. This worrisome circumstance is aggravated by challenges of non-specific targeting, drug resistance, among others. This has necessitated a deliberate search for newer alternatives. In this study, a validated QSAR model (R2train = 0.901, R2adj = 0.870, Q2CV = 0.852, R2Test = 0.813) was used to design potent pyridineamide-based inhibitors of EGFR through structural optimization of the most active member of the dataset selected as template molecule (Tm). The new ligands were found to bind more spontaneously to the receptor with average Gibb’s free energy change (∆G) that ranges from − 9.7 to − 10.3 kcal/mol. When compared with ∆G value of − 7.1 kcal/mol calculated for Erlotinib (Erlo), an approved anti-lung cancer drug used herein as positive control, the design ligands form more stable complexes. Additionally, the designed ligands display sound pharmacokinetics and toxicity profiles. Thus, they could be potential sources of novel drug candidates against lung cancer. Hence, they are recommended for further in vitro and in vivo investigations.

This study comparatively analyses the coverage of rural and urban communities in Nigerian newspapers to substantiate the claim of quantitative and qualitative imbalance in the coverage of rural Nigerian communities that are considered to be in urgent need of development. Three widely read national newspapers-The Guardian, The Punch and Vanguard-were studied between January and December 2023. The unit of analysis included news reports, editorials and articles. Categories analysed were the quantity of rural and urban stories, issues reported, slant of the reports, and depth and prominence given to the stories. Thirty-six editions were randomly selected across the three newspapers using Stempel's constructed week procedure. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data, and T-test to test statistical differences be24tween the averages of rural and urban coverage. The findings contradicted long-held evidence of an imbalance in reporting rural areas by Nigerian newspapers and found that while there is a quantitative imbalance, there is no evidence of qualitative imbalance in rural coverage by the Nigerian press. Any observed qualitative imbalance is because the urban areas have a greater number of stories appearing in the newspapers. A serious commitment to establishing indigenous media in rural areas of Nigeria is advised.

Despite Nigeria's abundant human and natural resources endowments, and sustained investments in education and health, the country's growth performance remains volatile and structurally imbalanced, raising concerns about the efficacy of human capital accumulation in translating these resources into sustainable and inclusive growth across sectors. This study therefore investigates the impact of human capital development on aggregate and sectoral economic growth in Nigeria by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach and the Toda-Yamamoto modified Wald causality test to annual time series data spanning 1981-2023. Economic growth is proxy by aggregate real gross domestic product (RGDP) and its sectoral components of agricultural (AGDP), industrial (IGDP) and Services (SGDP) while human capital development is proxy by human capital index (HCI), life expectancy (LIFE) and mortality rate (MOTA). The control variables include total factor productivity, gross fixed capital formation, population growth, institutional quality and exchange rate. Findings indicate significant short-run and long-run impacts with notable sectoral asymmetries. Human capital index significantly stimulates AGDP and made positive short-run impact on RGDP, IGDP and SGDP, though its lagged impact on SGDP is negative. Life expectancy made insignificant positive impact on RGDP and negative impact on sectoral growth while mortality rate undermines aggregate and sectoral growth, highlighting persistent health constraints. Causality results reveal that HCI causes aggregate and sectoral growth, LIFE causes IGDP whereas MOTA causes aggregate and sectoral growth. These results support human-capital led growth hypothesis and underscore the need to complement uniform growth policy interventions with sector-specific growth policy strategies so as to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Nigeria.