The Theatre and Sustainable Human Development: Fumes of Fuel and Boundless Love as Paradigms

The performing Arts encompass a wide range of disciplines which are invariably synonymous with creativity, thus, creativity is the hallmark of performance. For the sake of clarity, Performing Arts comprise Theatre Arts, Music, Dance and Choreography and the electronic media of Radio, Television and film commonly referred to as the audio-visual or media arts. Development is invariably measured by performance using certain indices. It is also part of the function of the performing arts to project development as well be evidence of development themselves. For instance, it is a sign of development to produce a play before an audience, particularly an audience composed of persons saddled with the responsibility of showing the direction for the development of a certain society. This paper will use the plays, Fumes of Fuel and Boundless Love to expound on the relevance of the Performing Arts in human and societal development.Keywords: Performing Arts, Creativity, Development and Humanity

Epidemiology of lumbar disc herniations in adults with low back pain in Enugu, Nigeria

Background: Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is used to describe a spectrum of anatomical abnormalities involving disc extension beyond the interspace. It follows a tear in the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc. It is one of the most common causes of low back pain among adults. The study aims to assess the epidemiological pattern of lumbar disc herniations among adults with low back pain in Enugu urban.Methods: The study was a prospective study at National Orthopedic Hospital Enugu and Annunciation Specialist Hospital Enugu. Following ethical approval and written informed consent, patients who met the inclusion criteria were consecutively recruited. The MRI scans of the participants were viewed using DICOM® (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) software on laptop computer. The data included the patients’ demographics, functional disability index for back pain, weight, height, the anatomical level(s) and site(s) of the herniated disc among other parameters.Results: A total of 81 subjects who met the inclusion criteria were included and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The mean age of the subjects is 52.99±13.13 years. The most common affected age group is 51-60 years (27.2%). Majority of the subjects (68; 84%) had multiple level herniations which usually includes L4 level(74; 91.4%).Conclusions: That multilevel lumbar disc herniation is far more common than single level herniation with a prevalence of 84% among adults with low back pain in Enugu urban. That, there is statistically significant association of lumbar disc herniation and increasing age

Effects of Household Waste Generation, Disposal and Management on Farmers’ Health in Owerri Metropolis of IMO State, Nigeria

The study investigated the effects of household waste generation, disposal and management on farmers' health in Owerri metropolis. It specifically ascertained the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, identified the types and sources of waste in the study area, examined the waste disposal and management methods in the study area examined the effects of inappropriate waste disposal and ascertained the appropriate waste disposal methods used in the study area. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and eight farmers from the three Local Government Area in Owerri metropolis. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive statistics tool such as mean, frequency, percentage, and mean scores. Results show that waste is majorly generated from markets and residential homes. Waste disposal methods were mainly burning, landfills and open dumping. Its effects includes destroys the beauty of the environment, blocks gutters and drainage system, pollutes the environment among others. Subsequently, appropriate waste disposal methods in the study area includes burning of waste (29.17%), placing of bins at appropriate places (16.07%). The study recommends amongst others that waste management environmental agency should make waste dumps or receptacles accessible to residents, public campaigns should be embarked upon to educate the citizens on ills of dirty environment

Antidiabetic activities of chloroform fraction of Anthocleista vogelii Planch root bark in rats with diet- and alloxan-induced obesity-diabetes

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Anthocleista vogelii Planch is a medicinal plant traditionally used in West Africa for the management and treatment of diabetes mellitus. AIM OF THE STUDY: To determine the antidiabetic activities of chloroform fraction (CF) of Anthocleista vogelii Planch root bark in rats with diet- and alloxan-induced obesity-diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Inhibitory activities of CF against α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities were determined in vitro. Three weeks old rats were fed with high-fat diet for 9 weeks to induce obesity prior to further induction of diabetes using alloxan (150 mg/kg body weight, i.p.). Blood glucose levels and body weight were measured every 7 days throughout the experiment. Glucose tolerance was assessed in normal and CF-treated rats on day 21. Terminal blood samples were collected from sacrificed animals for the measurement of serum insulin levels. Pancreases were excised from treated and untreated animals for histopathological examination. RESULTS: LCMS/MS chromatographic profile of CF via positive and negative modes revealed 13 and 23 compounds respectively. Further analysis revealed quebrachitol (QCT), loganin, sweroside, oleoside 11-methyl ester and ferulic acid, which have been previously reported for their antidiabetic activities, as constituents of CF. CF inhibited activities of α-amylase (IC50 = 51.60 ± 0.92 µg/ml) and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 5.86 ± 0.97 µg/ml) in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of animals with obesity-diabetes with 100 and 200 mg/kg CF significantly improved glucose tolerance (P < 0.001) and enhanced serum insulin levels (P < 0.05) compared to diabetic control rats. CONCLUSIONS: Antidiabetic activities of CF might be mediated via inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities, elevation of serum insulin concentration, and enhancement of insulin and leptin sensitivity in obesity-diabetes rats. This study further substantiates the traditional use of A. vogelii in the management and treatment of diabetes in Africa and encourages further studies to investigate its mechanism of action

Social Media and Inclusive Human Development in Africa

This study investigates the relationship between social media and inclusive human development in 49 African countries for the year 2012. Social media is measured with Facebook penetration whereas inclusive human development is proxied by the inequality- adjusted human development index. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Tobit and Quantile regressions. Ordinary Least Squares provided baseline results, Tobit regressions account for the limited range in the outcome variable while Quantile regressions are engaged to control for initial levels of inequality-adjusted human development. From Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit results, Facebook penetration is positively associated with inclusive human development. Quantile regressions confirm this positive nexus and further establish that the positive association is slightly higher in magnitude in the above-median sub-sample. From a comparative assessment, it is apparent that with the exception of the resource-wealth sub-samples, higher levels of Facebook penetration are associated with comparatively higher levels of inclusive human development. Accordingly, the positive association between Facebook penetration and inclusive human development is: (i) a positive function of income levels and (ii) more apparent in Middle East and North African countries (compared to Sub-Saharan African countries), English common law countries (compared to their French civil law counterparts), and coastal countries (in relation to landlocked countries)