Anti-tuberculosis activities of the crude methanolic extract and purified fractions of the bulb of Crinum jagus

Summary: Tuberculosis (TB) is of great public health burden globally especially in developing countries of Africa and Asia . Current TB regimen involves multiple therapies and of long duration leading to poor patient adherence. There is also the challenge of multidrug resistant TB. Hence, there is a need for discovery of new anti- TB drugs. This study was designed to investigate the in –vitro activity of the crude methanolic extract and chromatographic fractions of the bulb of Crinum jagus against Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. The extracts were screened for anti- TB activity against three different M. tuberculosis isolates and a drug susceptible reference strain H37Rv using Lowenstein Jensen (L-J) medium and Middlebrook 7H10agar. The crude extract was prepared using soxhlet extraction apparatus while the purified fractions were obtained by column chromatography. The two media were inoculated with M. tuberculosis strains, after which the crude and purified extracts were added. After 4-6 weeks incubation, colony forming units were counted and percentage inhibition calculated. The crude extract and the purified fractions showed inhibitory activity on all the isolates tested including the reference strain. Fraction 3 showed the highest inhibitory percentage (86%) among the extracts. At a concentration of 1.0mg/ml, the percentage inhibition of fraction 3, rifampicin and isoniazid against M. tuberculosis strain 3 were 83%, 95% and 86% in L-J medium respectively while 86%, 96% and 89% were obtained respectively in Middle brook medium. Results showed that the crude methanolic extract and the purified fractions of the bulb of Crinum jagus exhibited anti-mycobacterial activity which is an indication of promising potential of this plant for the development of anti-tuberculosis agent.Keywords: Crinum jagus, Chromatographic fractions, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, In-vitr

Electrical Resistivity Measurements of Downscaled Homogenous Rocks for Network Model Validation

Knowledge of electrical resistivity for reservoir rocks is crucial for a number of reservoir engineering tasks such as the determination of oil-in-place and the calibration of resistivity logs. Those properties can now be predicted by numerical calculations directly on micro-CT images taken from rock fragments typically having a bulk volume of 100 mm3. The experimental data used to validate those predictions are obtained on conventional cores having bulk volumes of the order of 10,000 mm3. A better validation of micro-CT technique would be to use the same core size for both imaging and flow experiment. Experimental data for electrical resistivity measurements using micropore membrane and centrifuge desaturation techniques are presented for cores having bulk volumes from 10,000 mm3 down to 100 mm3. Both 2- and 4-electrode techniques were applied to measure the resistivity index. Simple fluids like brine and air were used for clear wettability. Homogeneous sandstone cores (Berea and Bentheim) and a carbonate core (Mount Gambier) were used in the experiments. The results demonstrate that reliable experimental data of resistivity index can be obtained for the small cores of homogeneous porous rocks at sensitized frequency. Such data are of immense interest for validating the predictive value of network models based on micro-CT imaging of rock fragments with bulk volumes as small as 100 mm3

Massive subgaleal haematoma in a 5 year old child – A case report

Subgaleal haematoma (SH) is a collection of blood between the bony skull and the loose connective tissue. It is almost a diagnosis confined to the neonatal age group with very few occurring beyond the age. Presentation could be sudden or chronic as deterioration in the cardio pulmonary status,shock, skin changes, airway obstruction and neurological sequealae.While assisted delivery with birth trauma are recognized causal factorsin the neonate, trauma to the head and blood related disorders have been reported to be major causes in older children and adults. Usually, the Small SH resolves spontaneously while the massive ones require active management; often with neuro surgical intervention. It also needs identifying the cause so as to treat and prevent a recurrence. We present a case of massive SH in a 5 year old mentally subnormal child with seizure disorder with a favourable outcome

Prevalence of brucellosis in food animals slaughtered at Damaturu Abattoir, Yobe State, Nigeria

Serological survey of brucellosis in slaughtered food animals was carried out in 318 cattle, 300 sheep and 400 goats slaughtered in Damaturu, Yobe state in arid zone of north eastern Nigeria, from the month of July to October, 2007. Sera collected from the animals were tested using both Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT) and Serum Agglutination Test (SAT). The results obtained from both RBPT and SAT were comparable. The prevalence rates of 5.7%, 6.0% and 4.0% with RBPT for cattle, sheep and goat respectively were obtained in the study and were significantly associated (

The Role of GIS And Remote Sensing in the Control of Malaria

Effective control of mosquito requires adequate knowledge of not just the breeding sites but also the habitats and all other environmental factors relating to the Anopheline vector’s life. This is not just to avoid the nuisance they cause but most importantly to curtail the spread of the diseases they transmit. This paper identified environmental factors being chiefly responsible for the proliferation of the vector with Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) as viable tools in the control of the diseases they transmit. Effective application and utilization of the spatial technologies also forms a major aspect in the Malaria Early Warning System (MEWS). GIS and RS technology explore all minute details related to the environment, thus it remains a vibrant tool in the epidemiological studies of vector borne diseases

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ABstRAct Background: The advent of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs has transformed HIV/AIDS into a chronic manageable disease and strict adherence is required for the medication to be effective. However, factors influencing adherence to ARV therapy (ART) vary from country to country. A f fi l i a t i o n s: