Chakanaka P. Mungwari , Babatunde A. Obadele , Cecil K. King’ondu
{"title":"Application of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) for bioactive compounds recovery from mimosa wattle tree (Acacia Mearnsii) bark using ultrasound-assisted extraction","authors":"Chakanaka P. Mungwari , Babatunde A. Obadele , Cecil K. King’ondu","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02934","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02934","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mimosa Wattle tree bark (MWTB) is a rich source of bioactive compounds known for their corrosion inhibition, medicinal properties, and use in leather tanning. The current study focuses on optimization of process parameters for extraction of these phytochemicals using ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), with the help of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN). The extraction process was optimized by varying three key factors: temperature (30–70 °C), extraction time (10–60 min), and solvent-to-solid ratio (0.075–0.125 mL/g). These parameters were evaluated based on extraction yield (EY) and total phenolic content (TPC). The optimum extraction conditions were determined to be 50 °C, 35 min, and a solvent-to-solid ratio of 0.1. Under these conditions, the RSM predicted an extraction yield (EY) of 27.61 % with a TPC of value of 81.84 mg GAE/g, while the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model predicted a yield of 26.88 % and a TPC of 83.33 mg GAE/g. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) ANN model was developed and trained using the back propagation algorithm, and the predicted values from the ANN model showed closer agreement with experimental data compared to the RSM model. Phytochemical profiling was carried out using UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02934"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Revisiting prediction takeover target on mergers and acquisitions","authors":"Justice Kyei-Mensah","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02889","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02889","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper empirically examined the financial characteristics of acquired and non-acquired firms using the UK data set from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2022 to verify whether there is considerable dissimilarity between these firms. Binary logit estimation predicts the probability that a firm will be acquired. The theory behind this model is that there can only be two possible outcomes for the event under consideration. A novel finding is that acquired firms have lower profitability than non-acquired firms and therefore serve as a basis for a takeover. It indicates that lower profitability acquired firms are more likely to be taken over, which is consistent with an efficient market for corporate control, where poorly performing companies are taken over and restructured. Findings show that acquired firms have higher financial leverage and lower liquidity than non-acquired firms’ complements. Finally, the non-acquired firm replaces inefficient management and removes inefficiencies in the acquired firm because the acquired firm cannot create value for its shareholders, compared to a non-acquired firm that makes value-enhancing acquisitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02889"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144924907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Landslide susceptibility mapping using geospatial technology in the case of the Gidabo watershed, Main Ethiopian Rift","authors":"Ebassa Dugasa Leta , Dechasa Diriba , Negede Abrha , Shankar Karuppannan","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02928","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02928","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Landslides are natural hazards that cause significant injury and loss of life<em>.</em> This study aims to generate a landslide susceptibility zonation map for the Gidabo watershed using geospatial technology, including geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing data. To delineate the landslide susceptibility of the study area, ten main factors -slope, rainfall, distance from rivers, elevation, lineament density, geology, land use/land cover (LULC), soil type, drainage density, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-were integrated in ArcGIS. The weight values of each factor that causes a landslide were determined and assigned using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. The study area's landslide susceptibility map (LSM) was created using an overlay weighted sum approach and is divided into four classes: very low (22.5 %), low (32.1 %), moderate (25.2 %) and high (20.3 %) susceptibility classes. The verification and validation of the LSM were also carried out using the field verification and the area under the curve (AUC). 76 % of landslide points belong to the high susceptibility class. The overall accuracy of the method is 84.3 %, showing very good accuracy. The findings demonstrate that the slope is a significant factor influencing landslide susceptibility, with the susceptibility pattern closely following the distribution of steep slopes. The result also shows that areas such as Teferi Kela, Abera, the eastern part of Wenago, Guanguwa, and Dilla are highly prone to landslides. The LSM of this study can be used as a tool for landslide mitigation, land use management, and planning, helping to identify and prioritize areas at risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02928"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alfred Said , Mwanaasha Ally Mzee , Eric Dominic Forson
{"title":"Modeling Groundwater vulnerability to pollution on the Southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania","authors":"Alfred Said , Mwanaasha Ally Mzee , Eric Dominic Forson","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02933","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02933","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The vulnerability of groundwater to contamination risks can be primly linked to unchecked impacts of anthropic activities in most potential groundwater areas. The Kahe aquifer, located on the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, is increasingly threatened by such activities. This study assessed the contamination risks associated with groundwater using the land use DRASTIC approach in a GIS environment. The approach entailed integrating eight influencing factors: depth to groundwater, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, the impact of the vadose zone, hydraulic conductivity, and land use/cover. These factors were processed and analyzed in a geospatial database to generate a groundwater Vulnerability model. The model revealed that the most vulnerable areas are concentrated in zones with high anthropogenic activities. This high vulnerability is primarily due to several contributing factors: a shallow water table, gently sloping terrain, the presence of alluvial formations, and the unconfined nature of the aquifer. We found a strong correlation, as most vulnerable zones were found to coexist with elevated nitrate levels, a key indicator of pollution. These findings are useful as they provide critical data for policymakers and water resource managers. The study highlights the urgent need for immediate and long-term protection measures in highly vulnerable areas and provides a foundation for refining groundwater management policies and strategies. The model and its results can be used for upscaling existing policies, prioritizing management efforts, and implementing immediate mitigation strategies to abate contamination risks and protect groundwater quality for the future.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02933"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amal S. Hassan , Eslam Abdelhakim Seyam , Said G. Nassr , Rokaya Elmorsy Mohamed
{"title":"Statistical Inference of Weighted Extropy Under Outlier Influence: An MCMC Approach with Data Applications","authors":"Amal S. Hassan , Eslam Abdelhakim Seyam , Said G. Nassr , Rokaya Elmorsy Mohamed","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extropy has recently become a focal point of study as a measure of uncertainty in probability distributions and serves as the dual complement to entropy. This paper suggests estimating extropy and weighted extropy for the power function distribution in the presence of outliers. Both Bayesian and conventional estimating methods are recommended. The Bayesian estimators for the extropy measures are produced for both symmetric and asymmetric loss functions using partially informative and non-informative priors. Bayesian estimates are calculated using a method called the Gibbs sampler, which is part of the Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. Extensive simulations evaluated with certain precision metrics display the results of empirical Bayesian and non-Bayesian extropy estimates when <em>k</em> outliers are presented. Under a symmetric loss function, Bayesian estimates of both extropy measures performed better than those under the linear exponential and minimal expected loss functions in the majority of simulation study situations. It can be concluded that Bayesian estimates based on the minimum expected loss function performed the poorest in both homogeneous (non-outlier) and outlier situations. According to the simulation research, larger sample sizes led to appreciable improvements in key accuracy metrics for all extropy estimates. Across all outlier and homogeneous case scenarios, the accuracy measures of the Bayesian estimates have the lowest values in the case of a partially informative prior compared to the others in the non-informative prior case. The effectiveness of the recommended methods is shown by applications to real datasets, such as failure times of air conditioning systems and lifetimes of electronic tubes. The aforementioned examples demonstrate the versatility and use of extropy and weighted extropy measures in simulating uncertainty and reliability in the field of reliability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"30 ","pages":"Article e02919"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145119389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isaac Newton Sarfo, Emmanuel Kofi Adjei, Prince Asamoah Boateng, John Paddy, Solomon Boateng Owiredu, Clement Osei Akoto
{"title":"Synthesis and anthelmintic assessment of 2-((Dimethylamino)methyl) cyclohexanone mannich base derivatives","authors":"Isaac Newton Sarfo, Emmanuel Kofi Adjei, Prince Asamoah Boateng, John Paddy, Solomon Boateng Owiredu, Clement Osei Akoto","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02921","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02921","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The emergence of drug resistance is driven by the evolutionary pressure of survival which presents a significant challenge to modern medicine. The continuous use of anthelmintic drugs could lead to long-term resistance to target proteins (receptors) and result in various side effects. There is a need to synthesize novel anthelmintic drugs with increased potency, enhanced specificity to a particular target site, and reduced or devoid of side effects. The present work aimed at using Mannich base (a class of structurally heterogeneous chemical compounds made from various substrates using the Mannich reaction) to synthesie and characterize (2-((dimethylamino)methyl) cyclohexanone, and its derivatives using column chromatography, spectroscopic (FTIR, NMR) methods, and assessing their anthelmintic activities. Anthelmintic (<em>Milsonia ghanensis</em> (earthworm)), assay was performed on the synthesized compounds (Mannich Base <strong>1</strong>, Derivatives <strong>3</strong> and <strong>5</strong>, and Model Compounds <strong>2</strong> and <strong>4</strong>) and cyclohexanone. The action of the synthesized compounds on <em>Milsonia ghanensis</em> worms was concentration-dependent, with the least concentration (0.5 mg/mL) paralyzing and killing <em>M. ghanensis</em> after the maximal exposure time. The synthesized compounds <strong>1, 2, 3, 4</strong>, and <strong>5</strong> not only exhibit high anthelmintic activity but also cause both paralysis and death of the <em>M. ghanensis</em> earthworms at a rate much higher than albendazole. The results indicate that 2-((dimethylamino)methyl) cyclohexanone and its derivatives have anthelmintic activities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02921"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Assessment of the impact of artisanal gold mining on agriculture and natural resources using Landsat imagery - A case study on Central Côte d'Ivoire","authors":"Salaha Assoumane Ayouba , Eboua Narcisse Wandan , Koffi René Dongo , Jacob Nandjui , Abdoulatif Abass Saley , Lipoublida Djagree","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With gold mining booming in Côte d'Ivoire, the environmental and socio-economic impacts have become a cause for concern. Between 2013 and 2023, the sub-prefecture of Kokumbo, in central Côte d'Ivoire, was subject to illegal and uncontrolled gold mining. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of this exploitation on natural resources (forests, savannahs, and water) and agriculture. To achieve this objective, Landsat satellite images were analyzed using machine learning algorithms to perform supervised classification. This approach was used to map and quantify changes in land use and land cover over the study period. The “random forest” algorithm provided the best classification and was used for the classification of the time series of Landsat images. The results indicated a regression of 14.64 % of forest areas, 7.12 % of savannah areas, 0.14 and 0.03 % of water bodies and an increase of 19.89 % of agricultural land. Approximately 89 ha (or 0.21 %) of the surface area of the Kokumbo sub-prefecture were converted into gold mining areas. This conversion concerned 40 ha of savannah areas, 21 ha of agricultural land, 14 ha of forest areas, 11 ha of inselbergs and 3 ha of bare areas. In conclusion, artisanal gold mining has been a key driver of land use change dynamics, affecting agricultural lands and natural ecosystems. These impacts could compromise ecosystem services on which local communities depend.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02922"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144917121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yenenesh Nigussie Adugna, Temesgen Abraham Gebreselassie
{"title":"Modern cadastral systems and sustainable land management in secondary cities: a geospatial performance assessment from Bale Robe, Ethiopia","authors":"Yenenesh Nigussie Adugna, Temesgen Abraham Gebreselassie","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02931","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02931","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid urbanization in secondary African cities intensifies pressures on land management, yet evidence gaps persist on how modern cadastral systems mitigate tenure insecurity and ecological degradation. This study addresses this through an integrated assessment of Bale Robe, Ethiopia, a high-growth city (21.75 % population increase, 2020–2024) experiencing escalating land conflicts and agricultural fragmentation. Employing the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model within a mixed-methods framework, the study triangulates geospatial analysis (Landsat 8 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Arc-based Geographic Information System), Inferential Statistics, and stakeholder insights (121 surveys, 25 Focus Group Discussions, 20 interviews) across 13 Kebeles. The results show that only five out of the 13 areas in Bale Robe use modern technology to manage land, which means only 14.07 % of the city, is covered. Non-covered kebeles experienced 1689 land disputes and 15.2 % informal settlement expansion (2020–2024), driving 2.42 % agricultural loss, while in covered areas land records are more accurate, land disputes are fewer, and land use planning is better. These findings demonstrate how fragmented cadastral coverage perpetuates institutional voids, escalating conflict risk in uncovered zones. This study advances a replicable model linking cadastral reform, conflict resolution, and environmental sustainability in African secondary cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02931"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144913030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chiganga S. Ruoja , Maranya M. Mayengo , Nkuba Nyerere , Farai Nyabadza
{"title":"Exploring the role of funding-driven vaccination in infection dynamics of TB: A mathematical modeling approach","authors":"Chiganga S. Ruoja , Maranya M. Mayengo , Nkuba Nyerere , Farai Nyabadza","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02894","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02894","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the impact of funding-driven vaccination on the transmission and spread of tuberculosis within the human population. To accurately capture the human behavior, a deterministic mathematical model is formulated, incorporating attitudes of patients towards hospital treatment. The well-posedness of the model is examined using the Lipschitz condition. An effective funding reproduction number <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>E</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> is derived via the next-generation matrix method. Model parameters for simulation reasons are estimated by fitting to real-world data. Both theoretical and numerical findings show that <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>E</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> decreases with increased vaccination funding and a higher proportion of patients exhibiting positive attitudes towards hospital treatment. These findings underscore the importance for policymakers to prioritize health by ensuring sufficient funding for vaccination programs, which is crucial for reducing disease burden in the community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02894"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On density and dentability in Hilbert spaces","authors":"Joseph Owuor Owino , Benard Okelo","doi":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02893","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02893","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for density and dentability in infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert spaces, demonstrating their fundamental connections to operator theory and optimization through a synthesis of spectral decomposition methods and compact operator approximations. The main result characterizes dentable closed convex subsets <span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>H</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow></msub><mo>⊂</mo><mi>H</mi></mrow></math></span> as precisely those whose extreme points form a weakly dense subset, leveraging the Radon–Nikodým Property of Hilbert spaces, and proves the preservation of dentability under countable intersections, finite tensor products, and Cartesian products. The technical framework integrates geometric functional analysis with operator theory, showing that every dentable subset contains a dense separable subspace and that convex dentable operator sets are densely defined. Applications include convergence analysis of gradient-based optimization in function spaces, as well as implications for quantum computing architectures, high-dimensional data analysis, and computational geometry. These theoretical developments also open new directions for spatial modeling and astrophysical density analysis via Hilbert space methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21690,"journal":{"name":"Scientific African","volume":"29 ","pages":"Article e02893"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}