Synthesis, characterization and anti-bacterial activity of Schiff Base and its mixed ligand complexes of Cr (II) and Co (II) containing vanillin and 2-aminophenol

Schiff Base are organic ligand that contained azomethine linkage (-HC=N-) which shows biological importance. Schiff Base from vanillin and 2-aminophenol was synthesized in 1:1 mole ratio. The complexes of Cr (II) and Co (II) from Schiff Base in 1:2 mole ratio metal-ligand (M-L) and the mixed ligand complexes from Schiff Base and 2-aminophenol in 1:1:1 mole ratio ligand-metal-ligand(L-M-L) were synthesized and characterized based on solubility, melting point, conductivity, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet (UV). The solubility result shows that, dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) dissolved all the complexes. The results obtained from melting point, conductivity indicated purity and non-electrolytic of the complexes respectively. In metal complexes, the infrared data showed the ligands is coordinated to the metal ion through azomethine nitrogen, oxygen in methoxyl group and oxygen in phenolic group. In mixed ligand complexes, the infrared data revealed the ligands is coordinated to the metal ion through azomethine nitrogen, oxygen in methoxyl group, oxygen in phenolic group and nitrogen in amino group. The results showed a six coordinate octahedral geometry for these complexes. The ligands and the metal complexes were examined for their antibacterial activity using agar well diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus pyrogens , Klebsiella pneumonia (gram - bacteria), and Bacillus sutilis, Staphylococcus aureus (gram + bacteria). In comparing the results, the complex of Co(HL1)2 has greater zone of inhibition against the tested organism than the free ligands as antibacterial agent

Comparative Assessment of the Levels of Some Metal Ions in Soil Rhizosphere of Onion and Onion Bulb (Allium cepa l) Cultivated in Danbam Local Government Area: North East Nigeria

Authors: Elisha Karu*, Buhari Magaji, Aishatu Umar Maigari and Fauziyya Aliyu Jibo Received 11 February 2021/Accepted 22 March 2021 Levels of some metal ions (Cd2+, Pb2+, Cr3+, Mn2+ and Mg2+) in the soil rhizosphere and onion bulb were determined by spectroscopic techniques (Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy AAS, and UV-Visible Spectrophotometry). Comparative analysis of the results by the two techniques used shows that Cr, Cd, and Pb were not detected by atomic absorption spectrophotometer in both the soil rhizosphere and onion bulbs but Mn was detected at concentrations ranges of 9 – 12 ppm and 2 – 13 ppm in the soil and onion bulbs. Concentration of Mg2+ was observed to range 6 – 10 ppm and 7 -9 ppm in the soil and onion bulb respectively. Much lower concentrations were detected by the spectrophotometric determinations of Cd, Mn, and Pb in both the soil and onion bulb samples with Pb having the highest concentration (0.002 – 0.005 ppm) in the four study sites. Cr was not detected by any of the two techniques used

Virtual screening for potential inhibitors of Lassa fever nucleoprotein

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(3): 391-402 Authors: Amaku James Friday, Kalu Kalu Igwe and Buhari Magaji Received 15 May 2020/Accepted 04 July 2020 The devastating impact of viral haemorrhagic fevers has deeply been felt in South America and Africa. This fever is caused by thearenaviruses Lassa and has posed a matchless fight. Meanwhile, no effective drug or vaccine has been reported. Here we used virtual screening and molecular docking approach to identify a series of novel inhibitors (ZINC64450313 (-10.7 kcal/mol), ZINC00658482 (-10.5 kcal/mol), ZINC40789449 (-10.5 kcal/mol), ZINC14551223 (10.0 kcal/mol) and ZINC73892903 (10.0kcal/mol)) that can exhibit significant binding affinity to Lassa fever nucleoprotein (PDB ID: 3mx5) than ribavirin (-6.7 kcal/mol). Swiss ADME web tools were used to assess the pharmacokinetics and drug-likeness characteristics of the lead molecule(ZINC64450313). This assay showed that ZINC64450313 obeyed Lipinski, Egan, Verber and Muegge rules. However, pharmacokinetics predictions indicated that CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 isoenzyme were not inhibited by ZINC64450313. Toxicity assay of ZINC64450313 was acquired with an average similarity index of 33.25% and predictionaccuracy of 23% on the ProTox-II webserver. The lead molecule has an LD50 value of 10 mg/kg and belongs to toxicity class 2. The frontier molecular orbital’s analysis revealed that ZINC64450313 is more reactive than ribavirin due to the possesionof better quantum chemical indices such as its the global hardness. Hence, an in vitro and in vivo assay of these molecules may proffer a pathway to finding effective inhibitors with the potential to truncate functional proteins responsible for the viral life cycle of arenaviruses Lassa.&nbsp

Biosynthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Solenostemon Monostachyus Leaf Extract and its Antimicrobial Activity

Communication In Physical Sciences 2020 ,66(1) : 699-705 Received 24 August 2020/Accepted 07 September 2020 A simple and rapid biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) obtained using Solenostemon monostachyus leaf extract. The ZnO NPs was characterised by UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy/Energy dispersed X-ray, Fourier Transform Infra-red and X-ray Diffraction techniques. The UV-visible spectrum showed a maximum absorption peak at 350 nm which is typical for ZnO NPs and was ascribed to the excitation of Surface Plasmon Resonance phenomenon. FTIR Spectroscopy revealed a broad peak around 3455 cm-1 which was attributed to OH stretching vibration (υOH) that is probably from alcohols, flavonoids and phenols. X-ray Diffraction studies were observed at 2θ = 11.1°, 13.8°, 16.7°, 25.1°, 28.9° and 44.0°. The X-ray spectrum indicated typical for crystalline nanoparticles. Calculated nano particle size was 23.06 nm and was within the literature range for nano zinc oxide. The synthesized NPs exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus but exhibited moderate activity against Klebsiella pneumonia and Salmonella typhimurium. Significant antifungal activity was also observed against Aspergellus niger and Candida albican

Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil Rhizosphere and Onion Bulbs Cultivated in Danbam Farmlands, North East, Nigeria

Authors: Elisha Karu*, Buhari Magaji, Aishatu Umar Maigari and Fauziyya Aliyu Jibo Received: 24 June 2021/Accepted 05 July 2021 This study was conducted to determine the levels of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Mn, and Pb) in soil rhizosphere and onion bulbs from four locations in the Danbam area of Bauchi State Spectrophotometry method were employed for the determination of the concentrations of the metals. The concentrations of all the heavy metals were found to be in the range 4.06 × 10-8 to 1.91 × 10-1 mg/kg which are below the permissible level (0.02, 500, and 0.3 mg/kg for Cd, Mn, and Pb respectively) set by FAO/WHO. The study also revealed that daily metal intake (DIM), hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard index (HI) were below unity and points to the nonexistence of potential public health. Calculated bioconcentration factors (BCF) suggested a higher concentration of heavy metal ions in the soil than in the onion bulbs and did not portray any risk to public healt

THERMODYNAMICS AND KINETICS ADSORPTION OF PHENOL RED ON CARBON-CuO NANOCOMPOSITE

The Carbon-CuO nanocomposite was synthesized and characterized using UV-Visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The nanocomposite was used as nanoadsorbent for adsorption of phenol red at the wavelength of 270 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer (model 6705). The effect of various parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, initial concentration, temperature and pH were evaluated. Carbon-CuO nanocomposite as nanoadsorbent removed 99.98% of phenol red at optimum conditions of adsorbent dose; 0.2, contact time; 40 min, initial concentration; 40 mg/L, temperature; 343K (70°C) and pH; 7. The experimental data was best fitted by the pseudo second order kinetic with R2 =0.979 than the pseudo first order with R2 =0.166. The free energy values for adsorption of phenol red on Carbon-CuO nanocomposite at various temperatures; 303, 313, 323,333, and 343 were found to be -16998.08, -17988.224, -18978.484, -19968.744, and -20959.004 J/mole respectively. The negative values of the free energy indicate that the adsorption of phenol on nanocomposite is spontaneous. The enthalpy and entropy change values obtained were 13006.914 J/mole and 99.026 J/Kmole respectively. The adsorption process was endothermic since the enthalpy value is positive. The adsorption was found to have increase in randomness at Carbon-CuO nanocomposite-phenol interface since the value of entropy change obtained is positive

Oral microflora of stray domestic cats (Felis catus) found in the premises of two human hospitals in Sokoto, Nigeria

A study was carried out to identify the various bacterial species in the oral cavity of cats in two human hospitals in Sokoto, Nigeria. The buccal cavities of 26 cats (14 from Hospital A and 12 from Hospital B were liberally swabbed for bacterial evaluation. The samples were enriched in peptone water, inoculated on McConkey and Blood agar, and incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24hrs. The isolates were Gram stained and subjected to biochemical characterization for identification. A total of 51 bacterial isolates were made. There were Staphylococcus aureus 18 (35.3%), Micrococcus spp. 9 (17.7%), Pasteurella spp. 5 (9.8%), Streptococcus spp. 5 (9.8%), Yersinia spp. 4 (7.8%), Bacillus spp. 4 (7.8%), Listeria spp. 3 (5.4%) and Corynebacterium spp. 3 (5.9%). Staphylococcus aureus has the highest frequency of isolation 18 (35.3%)