Effect Of Leptin Status On Neuroendocrine- Reproductive Regulation And Maternal-Fetal Nutrient Transfer In Wistar Albino Rats

Effect of leptin status on neuroendocrine-reproductive regulation in wistar rats was studied. Ten wistar rats weighing between 170-280g were randomly assigned into two study groups. The animals in Group 1 (the control) received a placebo of 5.0ml distilled water while those in Group two were treated with 100mg insulin/kg body weight of rat via gastric intubation. The experiment lasted for 21 days. One day after the final exposure, the animals were euthanized by inhalation of over dose of chloroform. The brain of each rat was harvested and processed into whole homogenate, and was used for some biochemicals assays (i.e isolation and purification of RNA, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and leptin assay). The results showed that insulin increased the secretion of leptin, which in turn, reduced feed intake, and energy balance, leading to increased MRNA expression, suggesting that leptin may beinvolved in the control of appetite and maturation of luteneizing hormone secretory axis, which may be associated with development of the neuroendocrine axis (i.e neuroendocrine signal transduction). The study may suggest that leptin may serve as effectors that link mechanism that regulate reproduction and energy balance, thus playing an importantrole in reproduction and energy balance; modulating maternal nutrient partitioning inorder to optimize the provision of nutrients for fetal growth

Using and improving the PHISICC paper-based tools in the health facility laboratories: examples of Human Centered Design taking systems thinking into practice, in Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria

BackgroundHealth workers in low- and middle-income countries are increasingly demanded to collect more and more data to report them to higher levels of the health information system (HIS), in detriment of useful data for clinical and public health decision-making, potentially compromising the quality of their health care provison. In order to support health workers' decision-making, we engaged with partners in Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Nigeria in a research project to conceive, design, produce, implement and test paper-based health information tools: the PHISICC tools. Our aim was to understand the use of PHISICC tools by health workers and to improve them based on their feedback.MethodsThe design Health Facility Laboratories (HF Labs) in Côte d'Ivoire and in Nigeria were set up after months of use of PHISICC tools. Activities were structured in three phases or 'sprints' of co-creative research. We used a transdisciplinary approach, including anthropology and Human Centered Design (HCD), observations, shadowing, structured interviews and co-creation.ResultsHealth workers appreciated the standardization of the tools across different health care areas, with a common visual language that optimized use. Several design issues were raised, in terms of formats and contents. They strongly appreciated how the PHISICC registers guided their clinical decision-making and how it facilitated tallying and counting for monthly reporting. However, adherence to new procedures was not universal. The co-creation sessions resulted in modifications to the PHISICC tools of out-patient care and postnatal care.DiscussionAlthough health systems and systemic thinking allowed the teams to embrace complexity, it was the HCD approach that actually produced a shift in researchers' mind-set: from HIS as data management tools to HIS as quality of care instruments. HCD allowed navigating the complexity of health systems interventions due to its capacity to operate change: it not only allowed us to understand how the PHISICC tools were used but also how to further improve them. In the absence of (or even with) an analytical health systems framework, HCD approaches can work in real-life situations for the ideation, testing and implementation of interventions to improve health systems and health status outcomes

Bound state solutions of Schr&#246dinger equation for Rydberg potential energy function

The arbitrary angular momentum solutions of the Schrödinger equation for a diatomic molecule with the Rydberg potential energy function D {1 +ar}exp(ar) has been presented. The energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions are calculated analytically by the use ofNikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method which is related to the solutions in terms of Jacobi polynomials

SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS OF Lao.9MnO3 BY COMBUSTION METHOD

The Lao.9MnO3 has been synthesized from lanthanum acetylacetonate, manganese acetylacetonate and urea by combustion method at 800oC. The analysis of the synthesized Lao.9MnO3 show it to be a semi-conducting nanopolycrystalline material having orthorhombic geometry with unit-cell parameters: a = 5.50335Ao; b = 5.7250Ao; c = 7.70028Ao and with Mn4+ content of 12%. The mean-size of the particles of Lao.9MnO3 was obtained from TEM analysis at 80nm. KEY WORDS: Lao.9MnO3, acetylacetonate, nanopolycrystalline, combuston method, semi-conductor. Global Jnl Pure & Applied Sciences Vol.10(1) 2004: 121-12

The Study Of Corrosion Inhibition Of Mild Steel In Hydrochloric Acid Solutions By Methyl And Phenyl Derivatives Of Thiosemicarbazone Using Thermometric Method

The corrosion behaviour of mild steel (98%) in water – 2- acetylpyridine – (4 – phenylthiosemicarbazone) PTSC) and water–2 – acetylpyridine – (4 - – methylthiosemicarbazone) MTSC) mixtures containing HCI has been studied using thermometric method. The composition of the medium was varied between 0.1 x 10-4M to 5.0x 10-4M of PTSC AND MTSC AT 2, 3 and 4M HCI solutions. PTSC and MTSC were found to be effective inhibitors and mild steel in HCI solutions. The maximum percentage reduction in reaction number recorded was 66.7%. Generally, inhibition was found to increase with increase in inhibitor concentrations, decrease in corrodent concentrations and duration of experiment. Journal of Applied Chemistry and Agricultural Research Vol. 1 (1) 1994: pp. 12-1

The management of industrial glass waste and its impact on the Nigeria environment

No Abstract.Global Journal of Environmental Sciences Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 19-2