Sub-Acute Hepatoxicity of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in Rats

Sub–acute toxicity study of the aqueous leaf extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was carried out on albino rats. Doses of 250mg, 500mg, 750mg and 1000mg per kilogram body weight of the extract were administered orally for 21 days. The activities of Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and the concentrations of total protein, and unconjugated bilirubin in the serum of the experimental rats were determined. The results obtained showed no significant difference (P>0.05) when compared to the control rats that were not administered the extract in all the parameters determined. The results indicated that, aqueous leaf extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis may not have any toxicological effect at the administered doses.Keyword: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, unconjugated bilirubin

Effect of oral administration of aqueous leaf extract of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) on serum glucose, and lipid profile in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Momordica charantia (bitter melon) has been used extensively in herbal medicine as remedy for many disease conditions. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of Momordica charantia (MC) aqueous leaf extract on serum fasting blood glucose (FBG) and lipid profile (total cholesterol TC, triglyceride TAG, high density lipoprotein HDL, low density lipoprotein LDL) in alloxan-induced diabetic rat. The extract was administered orally at the dose of 200mg/kg, 400mg/kg, and 600mg/kg body weight either for a period of 2 or 4 week. A significant (p<0.05) improvement in the biochemical parameters such as FBG, TC, TAG, HDL, and LDL levels was observed in MC treated rats as compared to diabetic control rats. The response to treatment was gradual and dose-dependent with maximum effect at higher dose of 600mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks.Keywords: Momordica charantia, blood glucose, Lipid profile, Diabetes

Quality Assessment of Sachet Water Packaged Around Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

Thirty brands of sachet water packaged within Kano metropolis were analysed for physico – chemical characteristics; colour, taste, odour, alkalinity, total hardness, pH, chloride, sodium, potassium, calcium, lead, zinc, chromium, copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese using standard methods. All samples were tasteless, colourless and odourless. The mean pH value fall within the range of 4.68 – 8.81, of which 20% were acidic. Alkalinity and total hardness are within WHO (1983) permissible limit, the value ranged between 3.33 to 31.67 and 0.00 to 66.8 mg/l respectively, except for a sample from site A that has no hardness. The concentration of sodium, potassium and calcium was found to be within the acceptable limit and the chloride of most of the sample (ranging 123 to 166 mg/l) is above the WHO acceptable limit (125mg/l). Of the heavy metals analysed lead, chromium, and nickel concentrations were found to be above the WHO permissible limit, while concentrations of copper and zinc were below the WHO (1983), permissible limit. Manganese concentration was found to fall within WHO permissible limit in 70% of the total samples, while 17%of the samples have concentrations above the WHO standard and four of the samples have concentration below the WHO recommendation.Key word: Physico-chemical characteristics, Sachet water, Kano Metropoli

Hemodialysis, plea of availability versus adequecy gezira experience

Objectives: This is a prospective cross sectional study carried out in Gezira Hospital for Renal Diseases and Surgery (Sudan) to assess the adequacy of hemodialysis in 206 patients with end stage kidney disease on regular hemodialysis twice per week using.Methods: Pre and post hemodialysis blood sample were obtained from the study group, spKt/V and urea reduction ratio were calculated.Results: Mean Kt/v was found to be 1.19 and urea reduction ratio was 59.55%. None of the patients in this study group achieved the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) recommendations for adequate hemodialyis, since it requiresthree hemodialyis sessions per week and our patients are receiving two sessions per week.Conclusion: In order to improve the situation herewith we recommended increased number of sessions from two to three times per week and \or increase the duration of hemodialysis session, increase blood flow rate and dialysate flow rate. Moreover, decrease the number of patients onregular hemodialysis by encouraging the patients to take the other renal replacement therapy (peritoneal dialysis and renal transplantations)

Pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction secondary to bilateral aberrant vessels and renal stones – case report.

Obstructive uropathy is one of the causes of morbidity and mortality in children because it may lead to renal dysfunction. Pelvi-ureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction secondary to concomitant aberrant vessels and renal stones is uncommon. Method: We describe an adolescent patient with a bilateral obstructive uropathy secondary to renal stones and bilateral aberrant blood vessels crossing the lower poles of the kidneys. Conclusion: Co-existence of aberrant crossing blood vessels and renal stones as a cause of obstructive uropathy in children is rare and when left untreated for a prolonged period of time can lead to chronic kidney disease

Effect of homogenates of avocado pear (Persea americana) seeds and fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) leaves coadministered with anti-tuberculosis drugs on liver enzymes of albino rats

This study evaluated the effects of aqueous homogenates of avocado pear (Persea americana) seeds and fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) leaves co-administered with anti-tuberculosis drug on liver enzymes of albino rats. Twenty (20) albino rats were divided into five (5) groups (of four rats each) designated as I, II, III, IV and V (which is the normal control). A dose of 5.14mg/kg body weight of a first line anti-tuberculosis drug (a combination of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) was administered orally to two (2) rats in group I, II, III, and IV for seven (7) days and the remaining two rats in each group for fourteen (14) days. The homogenates of avocado pear seeds (at a dose of 250mg/kg body weight), fluted pumpkin leaves (at a dose of 250mg/kg BW) and a mixture of avocado pear seeds and fluted pumpkin leaves (at a dose of 250mg/kg BW, and 125mg/kg BW respectively) were co-administered with the anti-TB drug to groups II, III and IV respectively. Group I rats served as the positive control (i.e. treated with only 5.14mg/kg BW of anti-TB drug). The results indicated that the activities of serum AST, ALT and ALP were significantly higher (P<0.05) in rats administered with 5.14 mg/kg BW first line anti-TB drugs only when compared with that of the rats co-administered with the same anti-TB drug and 250mg/kg BW plant homogenates (avocado pear seeds, fluted pumpkin leave, and a combination of the two homogenates). The mean serum AST, ALT and ALP activities were found to have decrease (P<0.05) in groups II, III, and IV rats from the beginning to the end of the treatment periods. Similarly, mean serum activities of AST, ALT and ALP in group III rats decreased (P<0.05) significantly when compared with that of group II rats. Moreover, the serum activities of these enzymes were significantly lower (P<0.05) in group V rats compared to that of groups II and III rats. The rise in the mean serum activities of liver enzymes in group I rats when compared to that of group V rats indicated that the anti-TB drug is hepatotoxic. The findings of this research work predicts that the aqueous homogenates of both avocado pear seeds and fluted pumpkin leaves have hepatoprotective abilities but, the combination of these plant parts shows more hepatoprotective function (i. e. exhibits synergy).Key words: Avocado pear, fluted pumpkin, homogenates, anti-tuberculosis, isoniazid

Influence of Anti-Plasmodial Metal Complex on Rumen Microbial Populations and Serum Parameters in Sheep

A locally synthesized transition metal complex, cobalt-lumefantrine was assessed through laboratory and feeding trials to ascertain its usefulness as an agent for manipulation of the rumen in sheep grazing tropical pasture. The antimicrobial properties of the metal complex were examined on fresh rumen fluids at different concentrations (0, 0.010, 0.025 and 0.050 mg metal complex/50 ml) to estimate the optimum dosage for the sheep. Thereafter, twelve adult male sheep (11.27 ± 0.62 kg, initial body weight) were divided into three similar treatment groups. Sheep were drenched individually with 2.5 mg metal complex/head dissolved in 10 ml distilled water, either once or at two-week interval over 28 days. The control group received water without the metal complex. Total protozoa population was lowest (P < 0.05) when 50 ml rumen sample was incubated with 0.025 mg cobaltlumefantrine metal complex. Serum alanine amino transferase, ALT (23.73 and 18.16 vs. 16.92 μg/L) and cholesterol (0.94 and 1.18 vs. 1.40 mmol/L) levels were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the antiplasmodial metal complex treatments (single and repeated treatments vs. the control). It was concluded that 2.5 mg cobalt-lumefantrine complex treatment had no adverse effects on rumen pH, favourably modified rumen microbial populations and improved serum cholesterol level in the sheep.Keywords: Antiplasmodial, metal-complex, rumen, sheep

Effects of pretreatments of Napier Grass with deionized water, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide on pyrolysis oil characteristics

The depletion of fossil fuel reserves has led to increasing interest in liquid bio-fuel from renewable biomass. Biomass is a complex organic material consisting of different degrees of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, extractives and minerals. Some of the mineral elements tend to retard conversions, yield and selectivity during pyrolysis processing. This study is focused on the extraction of mineral retardants from Napier grass using deionized water, dilute sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid and subsequent pyrolysis in a fixed bed reactor. The raw biomass was characterized before and after each pretreatment following standard procedure. Pyrolysis study was conducted in a fixed bed reactor at 600 o�C, 30 �C/min and 30 mL/min N2 flow. Pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) collected was analyzed using standard analytic techniques. The bio-oil yield and characteristics from each pretreated sample were compared with oil from the non-pretreated sample. Bio-oil yield from the raw sample was 32.06 wt% compared to 38.71, 33.28 and 29.27 wt% oil yield recorded from the sample pretreated with sulfuric acid, deionized water and sodium hydroxide respectively. GC–MS analysis of the oil samples revealed that the oil from all the pretreated biomass had more value added chemicals and less ketones and aldehydes. Pretreatment with neutral solvent generated valuable leachate, showed significant impact on the ash extraction, pyrolysis oil yield, and its composition and therefore can be regarded as more appropriate for thermochemical conversion of Napier grass

A Novel Rank Aggregation-Based Hybrid Multifilter Wrapper Feature Selection Method in Software Defect Prediction

The high dimensionality of software metric features has long been noted as a data quality problem that affects the performance of software defect prediction (SDP) models. This drawback makes it necessary to apply feature selection (FS) algorithm(s) in SDP processes. FS approaches can be categorized into three types, namely, filter FS (FFS), wrapper FS (WFS), and hybrid FS (HFS). HFS has been established as superior because it combines the strength of both FFS and WFS methods. However, selecting the most appropriate FFS (filter rank selection problem) for HFS is a challenge because the performance of FFS methods depends on the choice of datasets and classifiers. In addition, the local optima stagnation and high computational costs of WFS due to large search spaces are inherited by the HFS method. Therefore, as a solution, this study proposes a novel rank aggregation-based hybrid multifilter wrapper feature selection (RAHMFWFS) method for the selection of relevant and irredundant features from software defect datasets. The proposed RAHMFWFS is divided into two stepwise stages. The first stage involves a rank aggregation-based multifilter feature selection (RMFFS) method that addresses the filter rank selection problem by aggregating individual rank lists from multiple filter methods, using a novel rank aggregation method to generate a single, robust, and non-disjoint rank list. In the second stage, the aggregated ranked features are further preprocessed by an enhanced wrapper feature selection (EWFS) method based on a dynamic reranking strategy that is used to guide the feature subset selection process of the HFS method. This, in turn, reduces the number of evaluation cycles while amplifying or maintaining its prediction performance. The feasibility of the proposed RAHMFWFS was demonstrated on benchmarked software defect datasets with Naïve Bayes and Decision Tree classifiers, based on accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC), and F-measure values. The experimental results showed the effectiveness of RAHMFWFS in addressing filter rank selection and local optima stagnation problems in HFS, as well as the ability to select optimal features from SDP datasets while maintaining or enhancing the performance of SDP models. To conclude, the proposed RAHMFWFS achieved good performance by improving the prediction performances of SDP models across the selected datasets, compared to existing state-of-the-arts HFS methods

Developing and Validating Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for Rheumatology Fellowship Training Programs in Saudi Arabia: A Delphi Study

Laila A Alharbi,1 Mohamed Cheikh,2 Manal E Alotaibi,1 Amal A Alkhotani,1 Hussam M Alim,1 Fahd Almalki,1 Mohammed S Samannodi,1 Hadeel A Khadawardi,1 Ahmad A Imam,1 Yosra A Turkistani,1 Fozya B Bashal,1 Abdullah Tawakul,1 Adeeb A Bulkhi,1 Mohammad S Dairi,1 Rania Zaini,3 Hani M Almoallim1 1Department of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medicine, Al Salama Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Community Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), Makkah, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Hani M Almoallim, Department of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Email [email protected]: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) define the core tasks that a graduating rheumatologist needs to perform independently in practice. The objective of this study was to develop and validate EPAs for rheumatology fellowship training programs in Saudi Arabia.Methods: Experts met to develop an initial set of potential end-of-training EPAs by conducting a comprehensive literature review of EPAs and studying the Saudi rheumatology fellowship curriculum. Then, to validate the EPAs, we conducted two rounds of the modified Delphi technique among rheumatology experts in Saudi Arabia. A response rate of 80% was considered and the minimum number of experts needed to be 25 to 30. Descriptive statistics were utilized to describe participants’ demographic characteristics and group responses to each statement in all rounds. The experts were asked to rate the relevancy of each EPA using a 5-point Likert scale in both Delphi rounds.Results: In the preliminary phase, four rheumatologists developed an initial set of 36 core EPAs for rheumatology training program in Saudi Arabia. For the two-rounds Delphi techniques, 32 experts were invited to complete the study. The response rate of the first and second round were, 78.12% (25) and 93.75% (30), respectively. The first-round Delphi resulted in a robust consensus on 31 EPAs for rheumatology training. Five EPAs were excluded, and one new EPA was proposed. In the subsequent round, all 32 EPAs achieved strong consensus. The eliminated EPAs likely fell short in one or more of the following areas: relevance to rheumatology practice in Saudi Arabia, overlapping with other EPAs, or practical challenges in the implementation.Conclusion: We have developed and validated a core set of EPAs for rheumatology fellowship training programs in Saudi Arabia. Mapping and identifying milestones for these EPAs are essential steps to follow to enhance workplace curriculum development.Keywords: entrustable professional activities, EPAs, rheumatology, training programs, fellowship, Saudi Arabia, curriculum, workplac