Candidate Selection and Assessment of The Benefits of Velocity Strings On The Dunbar Field

Imperial Users onl

In vitro evaluation of the comprehensive antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Curtisia dentata (Burm.f) C.A. Sm: toxicological effect on the human embryonic kidney (HEK293) and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines

Curtisia dentata is used in African traditional medicine to treat variety of infections. C. dentata leaves were collected from Buffelskloof Nature Reserve, South Africa. The ethanol, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone extracts were evaluated for antimicrobial activity using micro dilution assay against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Candida albicans and some clinical isolates of Moraxella catarrhalis, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus isolated from HIV patient. Acetone extract exhibited lowest MIC of 0.01 mg/ml against Candida albicans compared to other extracts. Besides lupeol, betulinic acid and ursolic acid, β-sitosterol was isolated for the first time from C. dentata leaves and exhibited antimicrobial activity with MIC values ranging from 0.20 to 6.25 mg/ml. Furthermore, the ethanol extract and the four isolated compounds revealed microbicidal effect, with MIC index of less than 4. Ethanol extract revealed the best total activity of 2400 ml/g against Mycoplasma hominis. Cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds was further investigated against the Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) and Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines using the MTT assay. Ursolic acid exhibited the lowest LD50 of 122.4 μg/ml against HEK293 cell line while lupeol exhibited LD50 of 278.8 and 289.4 μg/ml against HEK293 and HepG2 respectively. Lupeol exhibited low selectivity index. Ethyl acetate and acetone extracts were further investigated for antioxidant activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The acetone extract exhibited potent inhibition of DPPH compared to ethyl acetate extract. The findings of the current work validate the use of the plant species in the treatment of various human infections

Preparing primary care nurse practitioner students for abscess incision and drainage skill through clinical simulation

This project serves to develop, implement, and evaluate a simulation program to teach primary care nurse practitioners students incision and drainage skills. This program will opportunities for students to gain clinical competence on incising and draining an abscessed wound. Students would benefit from clinical preparation, since clinical autonomy is expected

Nigeria and the Organization of Islamic Countries; 2004-2021

The study examines the fluctuating scope of the Nigeria Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) from 2004 to 2020, a time of increased complexities both from within and beyond Nigeria. The study relied on secondary sources such as journals and newsletters and adopted a qualitative method for indepth analysis. The findings of the study suggest that while the relationships can be beneficial to Nigeria, Nigeria's political leaders must learn how to convey such an impression to its selective Christian community that it is not a ploy to convert Nigeria from secularism to an Islamic nation. Based on this, the study recommends that such scrutiny and skepticism towards Nigeria's membership should be enlightened to objectively evaluate the OIC's religious and socio-economic benefits, which Nigeria can take advantage of as a member

Outcome of nurses’ training on treatment of selected diseases, utilising integrated management of childhood illness module inagege local governemnt, Lagos State

Background: In developing countries, parents seek health care for their sick children daily at available health centers, pharmacies, hospitals and traditional healing centers, but the care received are not always adequate, this invariably result in use of obsolete ideas and regimens in the care of sick children. However, it was observed that some nurses do not treat sick children according to IMCI module hence the objective of the study is to explore the outcome of nurses training in the treatment of selected childhood diseases utilizing IMCI.Methods: The study utilized one group pre-posttest quasi experimental research design. Total enumeration was used to enroll 150 participants. Two research instruments were used to collect data with reliability index of 0.803 and 0.617. Inferential statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Data were collected over six weeks in three phases.Results: Results revealed significant differences between pre and post intervention mean scores of nurses knowledge in the treatment of malaria (t=22.626, p=0.00); pneumonia (t=19.760, p=0.00); and diarrhoea (t=19.608, p=0.00).Conclusions: The training package used in this study enhanced the knowledge in the treatment of selected childhood illness. It is therefore recommended that there is need to train all nurses working at the primary health centers on the use of integrated management of childhood illness module which will contribute to the reduction of infant morbidity and mortality rate in Ages local government area of Lagos State

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of Antimycobacterial agents from plant derived Betulinic acid, Oleanolic acid and their derivatives

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science and Agriculture in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Phd) in the Department of Chemistry at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2015Tuberculosis (TB) is a dangerous disease that has killed several millions of people globally in recent times. The available drugs for the treatment of the disease are not effective for complete cure and in most cases, usually come with side effects, as a result of which new set of potent drugs are needed. In a quest to develop potent hit/drug leads for TB, betulinic acid (BA) and oleanolic acid (OA) were isolated respectively from Curtisia dentata and Syzigum aromaticum. The 3-O- acetyl analogue of BA and OA were synthesized. The cinnamic acid conjugates at C-28 position of the four (4) synthesized compounds were all characterized using IR, MS and 1H and 13C NMR. Co-crystal compound synthesized from the isolated BA and OA with foremost first line antitubercular drug isoniazid (INH) was carried out for the first time. The co-crystal compounds were synthesized using three different conditions: I. Solvent evaporation method, II. Solvent drop method and III. Dry co-grinding method. The synthesized co-crystal compounds were characterized by P-XRD, TGA, and SEM. The isolated triterpenes and their synthesized derivatives were then evaluated for anti-mycobacterial activity (MABA test, against H37RV [ATCC27294] strain), cytotoxicity (MTT test using human embryonic kidney [HEK293] and human hepato-cellular carcinoma [HepG2] cell lines), and DNA polymerase β (pol β) inhibitor activity (with the POLB human ELISA kit). All the test compounds exhibited anti-TB activity, albeit to different levels of efficacy. The MIC values of the two pentacyclic triterpenes (BA and OA) against the mycobacterium ranged from >109.48 uM and 42.04 uM respectively. The acetylation of BA and OA at C-3 position did not observably improve their activity (MIC value of 39.70 uM and 100.26 uM) and neither did the cinnamic acid derivatives of BA and OA at C-28 position enhance the anti-TB activity (MIC value of >85.20 uM and 48.05 uM respectively). The di-substituted, 3-O-acetyl and 28- cinnamic acid ester of BA and OA however exhibited some enhanced anti-TB activity with MIC value of 17.88 uM. The co-crystallization of the triterpenes to INH drastically increased the efficacy of the triterpenes (MIC values in the range of 0.45 uM to 1.06 uM were obtained). The DNA polymerase β inhibitor activity of oleanolic acid and betulinic acid, their acetate derivatives, along with their cinnamic acid hybrid indicated that their inhibition of pol β was concentration dependent. The cytotoxicity of the test compounds to the two human cell lines (HEK293 and HepG2) was in the range of IC50 ≥ 300 μg, indicating low toxicity level. Conclusively, BA and OA may be explored as template for the syntheses of potent anti-TB drug hit/lead when combined with other compounds with known moderate anti-TB activity index

Applying Participatory Communication Principles in Covid-19 Health Message Dissemination in a Rural South African Municipality

During global pandemics such as COVID-19, authorities around the globe have the responsibility of disseminating preventive health messages as widely as possible to contain the crisis. However, often, as shown by earlier studies (see Molale, 2019; Williams, 2006), governments tend to apply top-down communication approaches and leave local citizens as passive receivers of messages they are required to put into practice. This qualitative inquiry examined how officials of Ratlou Municipality in North-West Province, South Africa, communicated COVID-19 messages to communities in the rural villages of Setlagole and Madibogo. Semi-structured interviews with four municipal officials and focus group interviews with 28 citizens were conducted. The findings suggest that active citizen participation is needed in the communication value chain so that citizens can have a meaningful role in addressing the pandemic. The study is significant in that it shows how linear communication methods are often employed by municipalities to interact with community members are futile, especially when citizens need to be persuaded to adopt new behaviour, such as during health emergencies like cholera, Ebola or COVID-19. Moreover, it adds to the growing corpus of research dedicated to advancing participatory communication as an anchor of citizen participation in South Africa’s local government and beyond

Antibiotics Sensitivity Pattern of Bacterial Isolates at the Health Centre, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State

Background: This study was a four years retrospective review of the records of the routine microbiological, culture and sensitivities of different samples (urine, aspirates, stool, semen, high vaginal swabs etc.) collected from patients(mainly staff and students) that attended the Health Centre of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko for treatments of bacteria related infections.Methodology: An ethical clearance was obtained from the committee saddled with the responsibilities with the assurance of the confidentiality of the identity of the patients. Clinical Laboratory records of 1008 cases of Samples taken through standard procedures were selected for the study to examine them for spectrum bacterial isolates, age and sex distribution of cases of infections and the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates.Results: Out of 1008 samples, 437(43.4%) did not give significant bacterial growth, while 571 (56.6%) gave bacterial growth of different species. Staph aureus has the highest occurrence of 22.4%, followed by E. coli 15.5% and Salmonella spp has the least. The antibiotics with very good in vitro sensitivity include the Quinolones, Nitrofurantoin, Gentamicin, Erythromycin Tobramycin and Clindamycin. Paradoxically Ceftriaxone did not show a remarkable sensitivity pattern.Conclusion: The most common bacterial isolates are Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli and the antibiotics identified as having the highest in vitro sensitivity pattern are recommended for first line management of septicaemia infections where they are indicated, in blind therapy. Keywords: Bacterial isolates, Antibiotic sensitivity, AAU, Akungba-Akoko

Temporal variation of groundwater resources in Ilesa West Local Government, Osun State Nigeria

The study was carried out to investigate the different groundwater resources and to generate the temporal differences over the different seasons in Ilesa West Local Government, Osun State, Nigeria. The LGA has not been provided with municipal pipe-borne water supply for over 30 years, hence they are exclusively using groundwater in form of boreholes, dugwells and springs. The physico- chemical and heavy metal parameters were determined over a period of one year covering the rainy and dry seasons. A total of 69 drinking water points which comprises of 63 dugwells, 5 boreholes and 1 spring were used for the study and they were selected to represent the built-up part of the entire study area adequately. Parameters analysed were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride, sulphate, nitrate, sodium, potassium (K), calcium, magnesium, hardness, alkalinity, bicarbonate using standard methods. Analysis of heavy metals (Fe, Cr) was carried out with atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and microbiological analysis was conducted using most probable number (MPN) of counting coliforms. The data generated were subjected to descriptive statistics and line graph. The analysis of the different groundwater resources revealed a good water quality but the values of pH, TDS, EC, K, were higher than the permissible range. The concentration of Fe and Cr is very high and could constitute some health hazards in some sources. The temporal variation of the water quality parameters did not follow any definite trend but the pH, NO3, TDS, HCO3, SO4, Fe, Cr were highest in the dry months of April and December, while Ca, Mg, K, Na, hardness, and alkalinity were highest in the rainy months of June and August. The percentage of microbial distribution was highest in the months of June in the boreholes and the spring but the distribution in the dugwells was entirely different. The water from the boreholes and dugwells were generally soft and should be checked for plumbo-solvency. It is recommended that a routine monitoring of all the sources should be carried out and a treatment that will reduce the heavy metals concentrations be enforced. Keywords: Groundwater resources, physico-chemical parameters, temporal variations, dugwells, boreholes and spring