Phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial screening of crude extracts from the leaves, stem bark and root bark of Ekebergia senegalensis A. Juss

The leaves, stem bark and root bark of Ekebergia senegalensis, which has some traditional medicinal applications were investigated. Phytochemical analysis gave positive results for carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins, tannins and alkaloids. The crude methanol extracts showed growth inhibitory effects on Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of these extracts on the bacteriais 0.125 x 103 mg/ml for the methanol extracts. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) determination showed that a concentration of 0.03125 x 103 mg/ml of the methanol extract of the leaves could completely kill S. typhi. The petroleum spirit extract did not show marked antimicrobial activity

Maternal and child health interventions in Nigeria: a systematic review of published studies from 1990 to 2014

BACKGROUND: Poor maternal and child health indicators have been reported in Nigeria since the 1990s. Many interventions have been instituted to reverse the trend and ensure that Nigeria is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This systematic review aims at describing and indirectly measuring the effect of the Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) interventions implemented in Nigeria from 1990 to 2014. METHODS: PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge were searched from 1990 to April 2014 whereas POPLINE® was searched until 16 February 2015 to identify reports of interventions targeting Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Nigeria. Narrative and graphical synthesis was done by integrating the results of extracted studies with trends of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and under five mortality (U5MR) derived from a joint point regression analysis using Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data (1990-2013). This was supplemented by document analysis of policies, guidelines and strategies of the Federal Ministry of Health developed for Nigeria during the same period. RESULTS: We identified 66 eligible studies from 2,662 studies. Three interventions were deployed nationwide and the remainder at the regional level. Multiple study designs were employed in the enrolled studies: pre- and post-intervention or quasi-experimental (n = 40; 61%); clinical trials (n = 6;9%); cohort study or longitudinal evaluation (n = 3;5%); process/output/outcome evaluation (n = 17;26%). The national MMR shows a consistent reduction (Annual Percentage Change (APC) = -3.10%, 95% CI: -5.20 to -1.00 %) with marked decrease in the slope observed in the period with a cluster of published studies (2004-2014). Fifteen intervention studies specifically targeting under-five children were published during the 24 years of observation. A statistically insignificant downward trend in the U5MR was observed (APC = -1.25%, 95% CI: -4.70 to 2.40%) coinciding with publication of most of the studies and development of MNCH policies. CONCLUSIONS: The development of MNCH policies, implementation and publication of interventions corresponds with the downward trend of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria. This systematic review has also shown that more MNCH intervention research and publications of findings is required to generate local and relevant evidence

An investigation into agile manufacturing design

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN059386 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Profile distribution of phosphorus fractions in soils derived from basement complex rocks in South Western Nigeria

No Abstract. Nigeiran Journal of Soil Science Vol. 16 (2) 2006: pp. 52-5

Agile supply chain capabilities: determinants of competitive objectives

Changing customer and technological requirements force manufacturers to develop agile supply chain capabilities in order to be competitive. Therefore, several companies are stressing flexibility and agility in order to respond, real time, to the unique needs of customers and markets. However, the resource competencies required are often difficult to mobilise and retain by single companies. It is therefore imperative for companies to co-operate and leverage complementary competencies. To this end, legally separate and spatially distributed companies are becoming integrated through Internet-based technologies. The paper reviews emerging patterns in supply chain integration. It also explores the relationship between the emerging patterns and attainment of competitive objectives. The results reported in the paper are based on the data collected from a survey using the standard questionnaire. The survey involved 600 companies in the UK, as part of a larger study of agile manufacturing. The study was driven by a conceptual model, which relates supply chain practices to competitive objectives. The study involves the use of factor analysis to reduce research variables to a few principal components. Subsequently, multiple regression was conducted to study the relationship amongst the selected variables. The results validate the proposed conceptual model and lend credence to current thinking that supply chain integration is a vital tool for competitive advantage

Effects of aqueous leaf extract of Tithonia diversifolia (Mexican Sunflower) on semen characteristic and morphology in male Wistar albino rats

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of the aqueous extract of Tithonia diversifolia leaves on semen characteristics and spermatozoa morphology Wistar rats. The rats were divided into three groups (A, B and C) and treated daily with 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg of the aqueous extract of Tithonia diversifolia leaves respectively for 28 days while 5ml/kg of distilled water was given to the control group D. At the end of the experimental period, animals were sacrificed and sperm characteristics, histology of the testes and epididymis were assessed. Aqueous extract of Tithonia diversifolia leaves caused a dose- dependent decrease in the progressive sperm motility of the Wistar rats with a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the group dosed with 1600mg/kg (62.50±7.5) when compared with the control (93.75±1.3). It also cause a dose- dependent decrease in the sperm count with a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the group dosed with 1600mg/kg (69.75±0.5) when compared with the control (129.0±5.0). Some sperm abnormalities vise headless tail (321.5±0.3), tailless head (171.00±50.0) and bent tail (3766.0±320.5) were significantly increased in the group dosed with 1,600mg/kg while histopathological evaluation of the testis and epididymis revealed varying degrees of degeneration and necrosis of the germinal epithelia cell of the seminiferous tubules. Spermiostasis and complete epididymal aspermia were also observed. Tithonia diversifolia aqueous leaf extract has significant anti spermatogenic effects on adult male Wistar rats which could impair reproductive activities in these rats.Keywords: Tithonia diversifolia, Aqueous Leaf Extract, Semen Characteristics, Wista