Retrospective Catalogue Conversion in Selected Federal University Libraries in Southern Nigeria

This study examined the process of retrospective catalogue conversion (RCC) in selected federal university libraries in Nigeria. The specific purposes aimed identifying the resources for RCC, methods employed, competency possessed by the library staff for the process, problems associated with it and the appropriate strategies. The design of the study is descriptive survey, areas of the study were University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, University of Lagos, Lagos State and University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State and the population consisted of 42 professional and paraprofessional librarians. Findings reveal thus: basic resources are networked computers, scanners and printers; proficiency in use of computer is the basic competency; problems include inadequate computer systems, frequent change in technology and poor internet connectivity. It recommended that Nigerian university libraries will fare better when adequate computer systems are made available, as well as training of staff, dedicated internet bandwidth among others

A Standard Public Information Center for Effective National Development: The Study of Local Communities in Kogi State of Nigeria

The study was conducted by 700 communities’ dwellers in Kogi-West Constituency. The sample was made up 100 accessible local communities’ dwellers from each seven Local Government Area. They include Ijumu, Kabba-Bunu, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopamuro, Kogi, Lokoja. All the accessible respondents from each Local Government were used to determine whether the communities’ dwellers need public information center. The result revealed that, the dwellers need such center. Descriptive survey design were used, the instruments for data collection are questionnaire and interview to indicate the information needs and nature of information resources both print and electronic to be provided in the center after the establishment. Recommendations were provided to enhance the provision of the center and its effective managemen

Multi Hazard Risk Assessment Using GIS Techniques in the Mbo Area of Nigeria

The study area Mbo and environs of South Eastern Nigeria are experiencing frequent inundation by flood and erosion hence this research is aimed at generating vulnerability hazard and risk maps as decision support tools for policy makers. Rainfall, elevation, slope, soil association and hydrology were used as input layers to model the hazard layers while population density, vegetation and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were used to model the vulnerability layers. Risk maps were generated weighting and combining the Hazard and vulnerability layers using the Single Output Map Algebra function of Arcmap soft ware. The final multi hazard risk map , derived by combining the flood and erosion risk maps shoed that 119.62km2 (15.12%), 193.94km2 (24.52%), 292.33km2 (36.95%) and 185.20km2 (23.41%). The study, using GIS, has revealed an objective way of understanding and dealing with the impact of hazards in the study area

Temporal regulation of expression of immediate early and second phase transcripts by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes

Background: Endothelin-1 stimulates Gq protein-coupled receptors to promote proliferation in dividing cells or hypertrophy in terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes. In cardiomyocytes, endothelin-1 rapidly (within minutes) stimulates protein kinase signaling, including extracellular-signal regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2; though not ERK5), with phenotypic/physiological changes developing from approximately 12 h. Hypertrophy is associated with changes in mRNA/protein expression, presumably consequent to protein kinase signaling, but the connections between early, transient signaling events and developed hypertrophy are unknown. Results: Using microarrays, we defined the early transcriptional responses of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes to endothelin-1 over 4 h, differentiating between immediate early gene (IEG) and second phase RNAs with cycloheximide. IEGs exhibited differential temporal and transient regulation, with expression of second phase RNAs within 1 h. Of transcripts upregulated at 30 minutes encoding established proteins, 28 were inhibited >50% by U0126 (which inhibits ERK1/2/5 signaling), with 9 inhibited 25-50%. Expression of only four transcripts was not inhibited. At 1 h, most RNAs (approximately 67%) were equally changed in total and polysomal RNA with approximately 17% of transcripts increased to a greater extent in polysomes. Thus, changes in expression of most protein-coding RNAs should be reflected in protein synthesis. However, approximately 16% of transcripts were essentially excluded from the polysomes, including some protein-coding mRNAs, presumably inefficiently translated. Conclusion: The phasic, temporal regulation of early transcriptional responses induced by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes indicates that, even in terminally differentiated cells, signals are propagated beyond the primary signaling pathways through transcriptional networks leading to phenotypic changes (that is, hypertrophy). Furthermore, ERK1/2 signaling plays a major role in this response

Collection Development Policies of Electronic Resources in University Libraries in Southeast Nigeria.

This paper is an empirical study of collection development policy of electronic resources in university libraries in South East Nigeria. The study ascertains the types of policies guiding electronic resources collection development practices; identifies the tools used in making sound electronic resources collection development; and determines the criteria considered in the evaluation of electronic resources of university libraries in South East Nigeria. It employed a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 86 librarians in collection development, serials and digital library (e-library). All the 86 librarians working in collection development, serials and digital library units (e-library) were used hence the number is manageable. The survey used questionnaire and interview as instruments of data collection. Data collected were tabulated and analyzed using simple statistics of percentages and mean. The result revealed that the university libraries under study adopted traditional policies with 69 respondents representing (80.2%) of the respondents; that the libraries under study used all the five (5) items which include; the use of trial offers by mounting a link to their resources without cost; visits to similar libraries that already have the product and see it in action there; the use of vendor exhibits at conferences; the use of demonstrations from publisher /vendor in the library and demonstrate their resource and the use of reviews provided through electronic resources as tools used in making sound electronic resources. The criteria used by the libraries under study to evaluate their resources which include cost-effectiveness based on the number of searches; relevance of the research on campus and the curriculum of the library users; dissatisfaction with a resource; access criteria on the technical reliability of the content provider; the database can be ranked by acquiring statistics; comparing duplication in various formats or overlap in full-text resources. The study recommended that libraries should formulate and develop electronic resources collection development policy; efforts should be made by libraries to adopt a written electronic resources collection development policy which serves as a guide and for references and continuity among the librarians that are involved in e-resources collection development. Also, electronic resources should be evaluated on a regular basis by considering relevant factors to disclose those electronic resources that are of high and maximum utilization

Bioassay-guided optimization of lipid-based erythromycin microparticles

Purpose: To optimize erythromycin microparticles by in vitro bioassay methods based on its antibacterial activity. Methods: The microparticles were produced by high shear homogenization. The effects of different lipid-to-surfactant ratios were studied. The hydrodynamic size of the different batches was evaluated using dynamic light scattering while bioactive drug load per batch was assessed in agar using bioassay methods. The antimicrobial activities of selected batches were tested ex vivo by determination of reduction in bacteraemia following administration of the microparticles to infected animals. Results: All batches had particles with hydrodynamic sizes < 8.5 microns. Batch 7 with a 2: 5: 2.5 (drug: surfactant: stearic acid) ratio, represents the optimized batch with a hydrodynamic size of 2281 nm, a bioactive drug loading capacity (BLC) of 4.67 ± 0.70 % and bioactive drug entrapment  efficiency (BEE) of 10.51 %. The “microparticle MIC” against Staphylococcus aureus was 1.74 x 10-3 μg/ml. Despite containing lower amounts of erythromycin than the pure sample, the microparticles achieved comparable reduction in bacteraemia, with the optimized batch exhibiting lower variation in bacteraemia than the pure drug. Conclusion: Erythromycin microparticles have been successfully optimized with the aid of bioassay methods which has the advantage that only the bioactive drug concentration is factored in. This method eliminates problems posed by inadequate or non-discriminating chemical assay methods. Keywords: Microparticles, Erythromycin, Gastrointestinal, Bioavailability Antimicrobial, Bioactivity, Encapsulatio

Patient-Reported Barriers to Adherence Among ACEI/ARB Users from a Motivational Interviewing Telephonic Intervention

Purpose: Hypertension is a common comorbidity among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Despite the proven benefit of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in this population, poor medication adherence is prevalent, resulting in higher complications and mortality rate. Motivational interviewing (MoI) has demonstrated effectiveness in improving medication adherence and identifying barriers. This study aimed to assess and identify patient-reported barriers to adherence to ACEI/ARB from an MoI telephonic intervention conducted by student pharmacist interns. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted within an MoI intervention customized by past ACEI/ARB adherence trajectories for nonadherent patients with T2DM and hypertension enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Adherence barriers were extracted from the interviewers’ notes by two independent researchers. Descriptive analysis was performed to summarize the overall frequency of barriers as well as across trajectory groups, identified from the initial and follow-up calls. Results: In total, 247 patients received the initial MoI call from which 41% did not communicate any barrier for ACEI/ARB use despite having low adherence. About 59% of the patients reported at least one barrier during the initial call. The most common barriers included forgetfulness, discontinuation by physicians, side effects, multiple comorbidities, polypharmacy, lack of knowledge about disease/medication, and cost issues. The follow-up calls helped with uncovering at least one new barrier for 28 patients who previously communicated a different issue with their medication during the first call. Additionally, 18 patients with initial denial for having any barrier to adherence reported at least one barrier throughout the follow-up calls. Conclusion: This study summarized patient-reported barriers to ACEI/ARB adherence from an MoI telephonic intervention performed among nonadherent patients. Identifying specific barriers for patients may help to further design tailored interventions that address the barriers and improve adherence

Peer Group Influence, Teacher-Student Interaction, and Indiscipline as Predictors of Students' Dropout Tendency in an Evening Continuing Education Programme

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive relationship of peer group influence, teacher-student interaction and indiscipline to students' dropout tendency in evening continuing education programmes. The context of this study is the southern senatorial district of Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopted a predictive correlational research design, and the sample comprised 554 students randomly selected from 11 centres in the district. This represents 20% of the total population of students. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled: "Social Indicators and Dropout Tendency Scale" (SIDTS). The researchers collected the data that were analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple linear regression analyses at the .05 level of significance. The results revealed that peer group influence, teacher-student interaction and level of indiscipline collectively and individually predicted dropout tendency among students in evening continuing education programmes. It was recommended, among others, that the teachers discover diverse ways of making their teaching process lively by devising ways of engaging the students in the learning process by forming discussion groups that will promote healthy peer groups, which will increase their eagerness to come to school

DNA from Plant leaf Extracts: A Review for Emerging and Promising Novel Green Corrosion Inhibitors.

With growing global awareness and concern for environmental protection through the use of less hazardous and environmentally-friendly extracts of plant origin, there has been a plethora of green corrosion inhibitors research with far reaching contributions to the science of corrosion prevention and control. Attention has increasingly turned towards green corrosion inhibitors, compounds of natural origin with anti-oxidant activity towards metals and their alloys. Green inhibitors have been investigated for their corrosion and adsorption properties with good results. The findings from these research works provide evidence of the adsorption behavior of green inhibitors which was confirmed by the adsorption isotherms that were proposed. Adsorption is the first step of any surface reaction and since corrosion is a surface phenomenon the effectiveness of green corrosion inhibitors is related to their ability to adsorb on metal surfaces. This review proposes the potential of plant dna as an emerging and promising novel inhibitor for mild steel. It begins with a list of plants that have been used in studies to determine corrosion inhibition properties and moves on to establish the adsorption behavior of bio macromolecules; protein, polysaccharides (chitosan) and dna. It reviews studies and investigation of dna interaction and adsorption on inorganic surfaces before focusing on the use of salmon (fish) sperm dna and calf thymus gland dna as green corrosion inhibitors for mild steel. It concludes that plant dna is a promising candidate for green corrosion inhibitor given the similarity between the plant and animal dna structure and function, and the fact that the use of plant is more environmentally sustainable than animal-based produc