Chemical Targeting of Specific Cell Types in Living Brain Tissue

This thesis details our early efforts towards the discovery of polymeric and macromolecular platforms for the targeted delivery of sensors and actuators to specific cell types in the living brain tissue. Chapter 1 of this thesis discusses the small molecule tropane tag chosen as a homing ligand and the dopamine transporter (DAT) chosen as a cellular target, as well as the synthesis of new tropane-based molecular tags for evaluation in cultured human DAT (hDAT)-expressing cells and targeting in brain tissue. Chapter 2 discusses the results obtained from evaluation of the new tropane tags in hDAT-expressing and hNET-exressing cells, including early results from the first example of a DAT-specific voltage sensing dye. In Chapter 3, we discuss the principles governing molecular targeting of probes in the living brain tissue. Part I of Chapter 3 gives important background necessary for understanding some of the complexities involved in targeting chemical probes to specific sites in living brain tissue. Part II of Chapter 3 discusses early results obtained from targeting of our tropane tags in living brain tissue. We provide, perhaps, the first example of a binding-site barrier effect in healthy tissue and demonstrate successful delivery of a moderate-sized protein, neutravidin, to dopaminergic axons. Chapter 3 also discusses preliminary results demonstrating the behavior of our small molecule tag and tagged quantum dot construct in the living mouse brain. Studies of our tagged polymers in cultured cells and our work thus far in the brain suggest which polymers may be most effective as delivery platforms for chemical targeting to specific cell types in living brain tissue

Chemical Targeting of Specific Cell Types in Living Brain Tissue

This thesis details our early efforts towards the discovery of polymeric and macromolecular platforms for the targeted delivery of sensors and actuators to specific cell types in the living brain tissue. Chapter 1 of this thesis discusses the small molecule tropane tag chosen as a homing ligand and the dopamine transporter (DAT) chosen as a cellular target, as well as the synthesis of new tropane-based molecular tags for evaluation in cultured human DAT (hDAT)-expressing cells and targeting in brain tissue. Chapter 2 discusses the results obtained from evaluation of the new tropane tags in hDAT-expressing and hNET-exressing cells, including early results from the first example of a DAT-specific voltage sensing dye. In Chapter 3, we discuss the principles governing molecular targeting of probes in the living brain tissue. Part I of Chapter 3 gives important background necessary for understanding some of the complexities involved in targeting chemical probes to specific sites in living brain tissue. Part II of Chapter 3 discusses early results obtained from targeting of our tropane tags in living brain tissue. We provide, perhaps, the first example of a binding-site barrier effect in healthy tissue and demonstrate successful delivery of a moderate-sized protein, neutravidin, to dopaminergic axons. Chapter 3 also discusses preliminary results demonstrating the behavior of our small molecule tag and tagged quantum dot construct in the living mouse brain. Studies of our tagged polymers in cultured cells and our work thus far in the brain suggest which polymers may be most effective as delivery platforms for chemical targeting to specific cell types in living brain tissue

Assessing pesticide use, Human exposure and environmental fate in Nigeria

Over the years, oil has been the major source of revenue in Nigeria. Agriculture has been recommended as an alternative viable option, for this to be achieved the sustainable use of pesticides has to be key. Pesticides are used by farmers to ward off pests in farms, however it has been reported that these pesticides are inappropriately used which could adversely affect the environment and could potentially endanger humans exposed to them through their consumption of fruits and vegetables. This research aimed to investigate pesticide use among farms and its impact on the environment. 486 farmers in Akwa Ibom state were interviewed and 185 farmers representing the geo political zones of the country were equally interviewed. Field observations were also done and among other things, it revealed some farmers did not receive training on pesticide application. Soil samples were analysed to ascertain their levels of concentrations. It was found that pesticides usage is high as almost every farmer made use of pesticides, the chemicals were mostly misused. Farmers are constantly exposed to chemicals and levels of concentration of the pesticides were generally within the maximum residue levels and below the WHO recommended maximum limits and impliedly did not pose any significant threats. There is also a tendency that the area considered as ‘non-farm’ is not the case as some sections of those areas used to have farms situated in them and may not reflect the current practice, hence reasons for of the concentration levels found therein. The reported concentrations of the metabolites of DDT suggest that it is from either historical usage or the illegal usage of these pesticides or even a case of both factors. The research showed that most farmers did not receive training on pesticide application and the authorities mandated with carrying out enforcement in this regard by regulating the way it is used, need to do more

Influence of crude extract of root of Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) on the cytoarchitecture of the rat kidney and body weight

The effect of crude extract of root of Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) was investigated on the kidney of adult wistar rats. The crude extract of pumpkin root were given both intraperitoneally and orally to rats respectively.The control group received distilled water throughout the duration of experiment. The administration lasted for seven days and on the eight day, the animals were sacrificed. Morphologically, there was decrease in the body weight, loss of appetite, weakness and death of some animals in the experimental groups. Histologically, the architecture of the kidneys in the experimental animals treated with pumpkin root extract orally and intraperitoneally showed enlarged tubules, distorted glomeruli and Bowman’s capsule, shrinking of proximal and distal convoluted tubules compared with the control. These results suggest that the root of Telfairia occidentalis may be nephrotoxic in wistar rats.Keywords: crude extract, root, Telfairia occidentalis, kidne

Staff Education on Identifying Burden and Burnout in Family Caregivers

AbstractThe aging population in the United States continues to grow and, along with it, the need for informal caregivers. Informal caregivers provide ongoing assistance with activities of daily living to a friend or relative. Due to the sole responsibility of providing ongoing care, these individuals may experience burden and burnout, which has been defined as a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. Given the role that informal caregivers provide as part of the healthcare delivery system, caregiver burden and burnout are a public health issue. Nurse practitioners play a significant role in identifying caregiver burden and burnout, especially among those who provide care to the aging population. Guided by Watson’s theory of human caring, this project was conducted to determine if an educational intervention would increase knowledge among primary care nurse practitioners. Members of professional organization were targeted for this project, and 103 nurses volunteered to participate in the educational intervention. Following a pretest survey, participants reviewed a PowerPoint presentation on burden and burnout and completed a posttest survey. A dependent t-test indicated an increase in knowledge among nurse practitioners who participated in the educational intervention (t = – 17.06, p \u3c 0.001). Additionally, there was increase in the nurse practitioners’ willingness to apply the Zarit Burden Scale to their practice (t = –4.25, p \u3c 0.001) and an increase in the perceived impact of the Zarit Burden Scale on identifying burden and burnout in informal caregivers (t = –2.37, p \u3c 0.05). This project contributes to social change by increasing the ability of nurse practitioners to identify burden and burnout among informal caregivers, which can lead to improving quality of life

State, capital and labour in Nigeria: an historical overview of the productivity problem

That low productivity is a crucial problem in the Nigerian economy is well supported by empirical evidence. Industrial factories fail to produce at optimum. Agriculture, once the prop of the economy, has decreased in importance. Food, consequently in short supply, has become disproportionately imported. Hence, food trade debts now increase already huge national debts to foreign creditors. Yet the combined volume of imported and local food does not sustain the increasing population. This, sometimes, is at the very basic level of subsistence. Therefore, malnutrition and low life expectancy do occur in the economy. These have combined with unemployment, excessive inflationary trends, and low investment rates. The economy, thus, is clearly one under stress. This is basically because it is an under-producing economy. The stress on the economy has lingered for a long time. However, it has been most marked in the three decades beginning from the Independence year, 1960. Several attempts have been made to analyse the problem. Most of these, however, have been neither conclusive nor convincing. Sometimes, factors in the innate personality of the worker have been posited to account for this problem. At other times, indigenous management skills have been criticized. Additionally, what often is described as Nigeria’s 'Economic environment' has been regarded as the primary factor responsible for the problem. The present study provides a distinctly sociological explanation of the problem. Generally, ill-miotivation among Nigerian workers has become widely regarded as the prime factor that explains the problem. Ill motivation among the workers is seen to be due to perceived discrepancies between the satisfaction of the workers’ needs and the attainment of the goals of their workplaces. It is deemed imperative, therefore, to cut a path ensuring that workforce needs and workplace goals are simultaneously met Productivity, thus, would rise. This Path-Goal hypothesis is a point of departure for the approach adopted here. The former is regarded as reductionist in maintaining that the problem, in all its complexity, could be solely understood by reference to the human need-satisfying nature of Nigerian workers. In contrast, the present study emphasizes the need to trace the roots of the problem to its structural sources. It locates these in the conflicts between the State Government and Private Capital in Nigeria. It holds the contest between the State Government, Private Indigenous Capital and Private Foreign Capital for control over the Nigerian economy chiefly responsible for low productivity in the economy. Labour, it maintains, contributes to this problem through its resistance against attempts to impose control over it by the protagonist State and Private Capital. Therefore the problem, it holds, is not primarily one of an ill-motivated workforce. In this frame, Chapter I defines the problem in greater detail. It also discusses some earlier approaches to the problem. Chapter II examines various general intellectual approaches to the overall productivity question. These date from the early productivity studies initiated in the U. S. and Britain before the First World War to the recent attempt to resolve the problem in Nigeria on the basis of social psychology. Chapter III is a critique of this social psychological approach. An alternative approach based on an emphasis on the structural sources of the problem is given in Chapter IV. This Chapter examines some general elements in the Nigerian social structure including: Geography, Politics, Religion, and Ethnicity. It stresses the important role played by these factors in the Nigerian social structure. However, Chapter V argues that the contradictions between the State Government and Private Capital are more important than these in understanding the Nigerian social structure. Chapter VI underlines the significance of structural contradictions particularly for productivity in the economy with an analysis of the relations between the State and labour. What is concluded is that these conflicts and contradictions cause and exacerbate low productivity in the economy. Labour is not seen to be primarily responsible. Chapter VII is a brief summary of this conclusion

Color Costs: Intersections of Gendered Skin Tone Discrimination, Racial Contexts, and Well-Being among Black Americans.

Skin tone differences among African Americans have been associated with experiences with upward mobility and discrimination. Gender also matters because men and women are not socialized identically, thus, they react to skin tone biases differently. This three-paper dissertation examined dark-, medium-, and light-skinned African American men and women separately in their appraisals of how Blacks and Whites treat them because of their skin tone, its consequences to their self-esteem, and women’s health. The three papers compared results from the Detroit Area Study to the nationally representative National Survey of American Life. In Chapter 2, men’s experiences were examined. In their reports of discrimination from Whites, dark-skinned men reported the most discrimination and light-skinned men reported the least. In men’s reports of discrimination from Blacks, both dark- and light-skinned men reported substantial discrimination while medium-skinned men reported the least. Additionally, interviewer-rated skin tones were not associated with men’s self-esteem, yet discrepancies between self-rated versus interviewer-rated skin tone were associated with lower self-esteem. This challenged previous assumptions that self-esteem was not linked to men’s complexions. Chapter 3 examined women’s experiences. Women’s reports of skin tone discrimination from Whites were higher as skin tone darkened (Chapter 2). Interviewers’ ratings of skin tone were associated with low self-esteem among dark-skinned women. However, discrepancies in self- versus interviewer-rated skin tones were not associated with women’s self-esteem. These gender differences were interpreted in light of theories of femininity that suggest that women were vulnerable to self-esteem threats when their communities devalue their appearance. Chapter 4 examined women’s health in light of double burdens of sexism and racism. Using subjectively measured (self-rated) health, there were no differences across skin tones. However, objective measurements of health revealed that dark-skinned women had the poorest health, followed by medium- and light-skinned women; this association was mediated by their beauty. Further, dark-skinned women were also the most obese. Implications for policy interventions were addressed as findings illustrated that lived experiences of oppression differ across skin tones and gender.PhDPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108952/1/ekeoma_1.pd

Sugar Spectra of Syrups Produced from Different Tuber Starches via Crude Enzymes and Amyloglucosidase Sources

Syrup production was done via enzyme hydrolysis. Enzymes used were crude enzymes from malted sorghum, wheat and millet and exogenous enzyme by name amyloglucosidase (AMG) which hydrolyzed Cassava (Manihot esculenta,), water yam (Dioscorea alata) and potato white (Ipomoea batatas L) starches. Syrup sugars were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the sugar profile found are fructose; glucose, sucrose, maltose, D-xylose, and D-Raffinose which manifested as a result of the interaction between starches and enzymes. The sugar Fructose was in the range of 17.34 ± 0.651 g/l to 28.16 ± 0.982 g/l, Glucose sugar was in the range of 6.09 ± 0.165 g/l to 177.04 ± 1.229 g/l. The highest glucose yield (177.04 ± 1.229 g/l) was observed in Cassava starch reaction with the commercial enzyme –AMG. Sucrose content was in the range of 5.78 ± 0.180 g/l to 21.59 ± 0.536 g/l, Maltose (23.71 ± 0.125 g/l to 48.04 ± 0.125 g/l) was the most predominant sugar in all syrups gotten from the starch and crude enzymes interaction. The hydrolysis of starches using different enzyme sources yielded sugar spectra of different sugars concentrations with each starch source predisposed to the natural activity of the enzyme peculiar to their variety or cell structure. D-xylose and D-Raffinose were in the range of 0.004-0.225 g/l which is very small in quantity compared to other sugars seen while no D-stachyose was detected