Armed rebellion and the future of self-determination in the Niger Delta

Armed rebellion has remained a constant decimal in the relation between the states and rebel groups in contemporary strategic discourse. The resolve by the Niger people of Nigeria to resort to arms and their agitations appear to have found deeper understanding within the context of history. This paper takes a historical look at the foundations of the agitations of the people of the Niger Delta and the ultimate decision to address their displeasure through the use terror or armed rebellion. It addresses the philosophy underpinning self-determination programmes of the Niger Delta militants and the responses of Nigerian state to the agitations of the Niger Delta militants. The paper therefore concludes that the use of arms as the ultimate ratio may remain the future of relationship in the Niger Delta because of the fundamental defects in the policies of the Nigerian state

Terror and insecurity: the impact of Boko Haram crisis on Nigeria's external image

The use of terror as a ratio for resolving internal fundamental differences is not uncommon in neo-colonial societies. This is not saying that flashes of same are not recogn ised in the developed environment. The prevalence of this alternative appears as old as the political history of Nigeria. This work underscores the theoretical and historical basis of rebellion in Nigeria primarily focusing on the rise, fundamental philosophy and the vision of the Boko Haramists. The central thesis of this work is that Boko Haram activities have negative effects on Nigeria’s external image and fundamentally, it exposes the nature and dynamics of Nigeria’s security problems. The work contributes in part to the literature on this issue but significantly, it situates the problems within strategic logic which amplifies the degeneration of the problems and the incessant rebellion against the Nigerian State

Functional and physicochemical properties of flours of six Mucuna species

Legume flours were prepared from six species of mucuna bean, M. Veracruz mottle, M. rajada, M. cochinchinensis, M. deerigeana, M. pruriens and M. veracruz white. Physicochemical and functional characteristics were carried out on full fat and defatted flours. Bulk density of the flours increasedfollowing defatting. Isoelectric point of the proteins lies between 4 and 5. Generally, solubility reduced as the pH increases until it reached isoelectric point, followed by progressive increase in solubility with further increase in pH. Defatted flours have higher water and oil absorption capacities compared with full fat samples and M. veracruz white recorded the lowest value (1.40 g/g) while M. veracruz mottle had the highest value (2.20 g/g). Gelation studies revealed that M. veracruz mottle and M. rajada recordedthe highest values (20%) while M. veracruz white and M. deerigeana had the lowest value (14%). The foaming capacity in full fat flours ranged between 9.6% in M. veracruz white and 19.23% in M. pruriens while the foaming capacity in defatted flours ranged from 50.0% in both M. pruriens and M. veracruz white and 84.30% in M. veracruz mottle. In addition, foaming capacities in full fat flours are lower than those of defatted flours. Emulsion capacity ranged between 78-90% in full fat flours and 56-68% indefatted flours

A novel peptide-enhanced drug delivery system for squamous cell oesophageal carcinoma

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of the Witwatersrand, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Johannesburg, South Africa. 2017.Cancer has been described as one of the major and leading causes of death worldwide. By the year 2030, it has been postulated that over 21.4 million new cases of cancer are anticipated, with 17 million cancer deaths annually and a total of 75 million people living with cancer within five years of diagnosis. Chemotherapy is the main therapeutic intervention for treating people living with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, drug resistance, non-targeted delivery, sub-optimal dosage at disease sites and side effects on healthy cells have rendered it inefficient and ineffective in combating the disease even after combination chemotherapy. The paradigm shift in cancer nanomedicine employs the use of short functional peptides and ligands, conjugated to the surfaces of nanoparticles, for direct and active drug delivery systems in in vitro and in vivo assays. Smart and intelligent nanosystems remain a proactive and promising treatment alternative to circumvent the anomalies of current convectional cancer chemotherapeutics and enhance their delivery for optimal anti-tumoral effects. Based on these modalities, the conceptualization, design, optimization and characterization of a smart peptide-enhanced ligand-functionalized nano-construct – referred to herein as a PEL nanosystem – capable of encapsulating, targeting and controlling the release of endostatin (ENT), was fabricated in this study. Physicochemical parameters that characterized the design of a smart nano-construct in cancer therapy including satisfactory size, shape and surface properties, cellular uptake and internalization by tumor cells, low cellular toxicity to healthy cells and enhanced anti-tumoral activity of the encapsulated drug informed the fabrication of the PEL nanosystem. An optimized PEG-PEI-CHT nano-conjugate was developed as predicted by the Box–Behnken design model and surface-functionalized with Ly-P-1, PENT and FA as targeting moieties. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis confirmed the successful grafting of the nano-conjugates while Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Dynamic Light Scathering (DLS) analyses confirmed the synthesis of PEL nanoparticles with an average size less than 100nm. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) results confirmed the morphology of the PEL nanosystem to be spherical with rough surfaces due to the attachments of the functionalized moieties. The release profile of the PEL nanosystem showed increased release of ENT at the acidic tumor micro-environment than observed at the physiological pH of healthy cells. Interestingly, the smart PEL nanosystem exhibited an enhanced targeted release of ENT for anti-tumoral effects on KYSE-30 cells relative to the unmodified nanosystem. The PEL nanosystem loaded with ENT showed a pragmatic inhibition of potent angiogenic factors including cell proliferation, nuclear apoptosis and necrosis, cell migration and invasion, as well as reduced expressions of both VEGF-C and MMP2 proteins as molecular makers for anti-angiogenesis. Athymic nude mice induced with OSSC xenografts showed a dramatic reduction in tumor volume with increased necrotic arears after treatment with the PEL ENT-loaded nanoparticles relative to the control. Overall, detailed in vitro, ex vivo cellular and in vivo experiments validated the fabricated PEL nanoparticulate systems as efficient delivery vehicles of ENT for enhancing its anti-tumoral activity by targeting the angiogenic pathway in KYSE-30 cells as presented in this study. While ENT was selected as a peptide-based anti-cancer model drug in this study due to its broad spectrum anti-angiogenic activities and limitations, the novel PEL nanosystem can be employed to incorporate alternative cancer chemotherapeutics for enhanced on-site delivery for an optimum therapeutic response in cancer therapy.LG201

Evaluation of the possible application of cowpea genotypes in the farming systems of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Characterization studies on the genetic diversity among cultivated cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) varieties are valuable tools to optimize the use of available genetic resources by farmers, local communities, researchers and breeders. Eight cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) genotypes ( Vegetable cowpea, Ivory grey, Okhalweni, Fahari, Fahari dark, 97K-1069-8, IT93K-73h, and 129-3) were subjected to molecular, morphological and agronomical characterization. DNA amplification fingerprinting markers were used to evaluate the genetic diversity among the eight genotypes. Nine random arbitrary primers were used to screen the eight genotypes to assess their ability to reveal polymorphisms in cowpea, and seven of them were selected for use in characterizing the total sample. A total of 43 bands were generated which are all polymorphic. On the average, the primers generated a total of 6.1 polymorphic bands. The resulting data-matrix included 43 analysed bands with a total of 344 characters. Neighbour joining analysis was used to generate the dendrogram, clustering the genotypes into two groups at an agglomerate coefficient of 0.30 irrespective of their geographical origins. The results also showed the presence of significant differences in morphological and quality traits among the genotypes. Fahari yielded the highest concentration of crude protein (46.51 mg/mg dry leaf) while Vegetable cowpea yielded the lowest (24.41 mg/mg dry leaf). The influence of manure was also found to be effective by increasing the crude protein content of the genotypes as shown by Fahari dark with an average of 53.53 mg/mg dry leaf as opposed to 39.85 mg/mg dry leaf without manure application. Although some small clusters grouped accessions of the same growth habits, a general lack of agreement between clustering and morphological features was observed. It can therefore be concluded that the significant differences between the molecular genetic analysis using DAF-PCR markers, morphologic characters and yield traits can be important tools to identify and discriminates the different cowpea genotypes

Structural bioinformatics analysis of the Hsp40 and Hsp70 molecular chaperones from humans

HSP70 is one of the most important families of molecular chaperone that regulate the folding and transport of client proteins in an ATP dependent manner. The ATPase activity of HSP70 is stimulated through an interaction with its family of HSP40 co-chaperones. There is evidence to suggest that specific partnerships occur between the different HSP40 and HSP70 isoforms. While some of the residues involved in the interaction are known, many of the residues governing the specificity of HSP40-HSP70 partnerships are not precisely defined. It is not currently possible to predict which HSP40 and HSP70 isoforms will interact. We attempted to use bioinformatics to identify residues involved in the specificity of the interaction between the J domain from HSP40 and the ATPase domain from the HSP70 isoforms from humans. A total of 49 HSP40 and 13 HSP70 sequences from humans were retrieved and used for subsequent analyses. The HSP40 J domains and HSP70 ATPase domains were extracted using python scripts and classified according to the subcellular localization of the proteins using localization prediction programs. Motif analysis was carried out using the full length HSP40 proteins and Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) was performed to identify conserved residues that may contribute to the J domain – ATPase domain interactions. Phylogenetic inference of the proteins was also performed in order to study their evolutionary relationship. Homology models of the J domains and ATPase domains were generated. The corresponding models were docked using HADDOCK server in order to analyze possible putative interactions between the partner proteins using the Protein Interactions Calculator (PIC). The level of residue conservation was found to be higher in Type I and II HSP40 than in Type III J proteins. While highly conserved residues on helixes II and III could play critical roles in J domain interactions with corresponding HSP70s, conserved residues on helixes I and IV seemed to be significant in keeping the J domain in its right orientation for functional interactions with HSP70s. Our results also showed that helixes II and III formed the interaction interface for binding to HSP70 ATPase domain as well as the linker residues. Finally, data based docking procedures, such as applied in this study, could be an effective method to investigate protein-protein interactions complex of biomolecules

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon, Haematological and Oxidative Stress Levels in Commercial Photocopier Operators In Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Human exposure to hazardous substances in the environment has been known to play an important role in the pathogenesis of some diseases. Photocopying machines have become a cheap source of self-employment in Nigeria. For obvious reasons the highest level of patronage is encountered in the campuses of educational institutions. However, the persons who operate the machines are always exposed to possible hazards associated with the job without protective devices.Objective: This study investigated the levels of oxidative stress, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and haematological parameters in blood samples of photocopier operators.Methods: The experimental procedure involved 50 consented subjects selected based on some criteria. The haematological parameters, oxidative stress and PAH levels were determined using standard methods.Results: The results showed no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) in the haematological parameters between the test subjects and the controls. However, there were duration on the job (yrs) dependent significant decrease in the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) of the photocopier operators compared with the controls (> 5 years p≤ 0.0001; 4-5 years p≤0.001). The level of reduced glutathione (GSH) was significantly decreased across all lengths of duration on the job compared with the controls.Conclusion: The findings in this study revealed increased level of oxidative stress in photocopier operators with no significant change in haematological parameters. The health implication of operating photocopiers call for quick health education and intervention tailored to monitoring and guiding the photocopier operators. This will help to prevent or manage continuous exposure to the hazards of photocopying machines.Keywords: Photocopier operators, oxidative stress, PAH, haematology, Nigeria

A modified predictive model for estimating gas flow rate in horizontal drain hole

Accurate prediction of the flow rate of horizontal gas well is necessary for economic feasibility, planning and development of gas field. Most of the early models assumed that the production from the horizontal well is infinitely conductive except few recent models. Some recent models reported in the literature for estimating flow rate in horizontal well where the pressure losses due to friction along horizontal drain hole was considered. An improved model that checks the impact of all possible well bore pressure losses on gas production rate of horizontal well is reported. The neglected impact of well bore pressure losses due to fluid accumulation and kinetic energy in the past models is thought to be a conceivable reason for the inconsistency between computed rates from the models and rates got from production tests. The new model was validated using the same field contextual investigation utilized by Guo et al. and outcome got from the new model yields more satisfactory results. A more realistic results that evident all flow phenomena in gas well include the initial unsteady, pseudo-steady and steady state flow condition hence flow rate at any given production time has been established for flow of gas along horizontal well. The outcomes of the study demonstrate that the percentage deviation of the new model at steady state flow condition is less than 5.0% compared with 11.05% acquired from Guo et al. model following by 259.7% from Furui's model, and 1118.2% got from Joshi's model. This work gives field operators a precise and helpful device for prediction and assessment of production in a gas horizontal well