Media Reportage of Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War in Nigeria by Sun and Chronicle Newspapers

Corruption in Nigeria has been an endemic problem with public officers unscrupulously using their official positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the country and its citizens. In May 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of his administration’s ten-point agenda, vowed to fight against the “pervasive corruption” which had crippled human and infrastructure development for decades. Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perception Index released in January 2017 placed Nigeria as 136th out of 176 countries, thereby seeing her outside the 10 most corrupt countries in the world for the first time in 16 years! This paper assessed the media reportage of the anti-corruption war in Nigeria, using two newspapers – the privately-owned Sun, and Cross River State Government-owned Nigerian Chronicle. The study was limited to the first six months of 2017. Content analysis was the research instrument used in generating data; while the composite week sampling technique was adopted in choosing the sampled newspaper copies. Content categories of corruption used were bribery, forgery/perjury, fraud, misappropriation and mismanagement, while the units of analysis were news, features/opinions/columns, editorials, photographs/cartoons, and letters to the editor. Attention score was on prominence, depth, frequency, and slant. The theory adopted for this study was Kotler and Zaltman’s social marketing theory. Findings from the study included that Nigerian media adequately and prominently projected the issue of anti-corruption; and that mismanagement had the highest prevalence in relationship with the other categories of corruption namely fraud, misappropriation, forgery/perjury, and bribery. Recommendations made were, among others, that the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 should be fully implemented; mass media should work more closely with civil society; media employers should ensure that journalists are well trained and remunerated; and government should see the media as allies in the fight against corruption. Keywords: Anti-corruption, anti-corruption war, corrupt practices, mass media, reportage

Phytochemical and antibacterial potentials of Tecoma stans and Costus afer

Phytochemical composition and antibacterial potential of ethanolic extract of leaves/roots of Tecoma stans and leaves of Costus afer evaluated were collected at Malabo Campus, University of Calabar, Calabar and from Eman-Uruan local government area, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria respectively. Fresh leaves of both plants and roots of Tecoma stans collected were washed, dried on laboratory surface and milled into powder. They were separately extracted in 80% ethanol and the extracts concentrated in vacuo at 37-40oC to obtain semi solid dark green and brown concentrates respectively used for the evaluations. Phytochemical composition was determined using standard methods. The agar-well diffusion technique as described by Irobi et al, 1994 was employed for screening antibacterial activities. Five (5) bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsilla pneumoniae , P.speceis, Shigella sonnei, Morganella morganii,and Maraxella catarrhlis were obtained from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar. They were maintained on nutrient agar at 4oC in the refrigerator.The result showed that the leaves/roots of T.stans and leaves of C.afer contain Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Saponins and Glycosides. The MIC of leaves of T.stans showed 5.21mg/ml for S.aureus, 10.4mg/ml for E.coli, 83.3mg/ml for Proteus speies. The roots of T.stans showed 75mg/ml for S.aureus. The MIC for C.afer showed 5.2mg/ml for S. aureus and 312.5mg/ml for M. morganii. The results indicate that both plants can be used to achieve significant inhibitory effects as antimicrobial agents for treatment of bacterial infections in the absence of orthodox medication

E-Health Applications in Healthcare Delivery: Lessons for Africa

Recent developments in digital technology have revolutionised the modes and patterns in which we communicate, collaborate and share information. It has advanced with years, and has changed the way we purchase products, the way we live, the way we travel, the way we learn and the way we receive medical attention or treatment, etc. In the healthcare sector, technological advances have expanded rapidly over the years to a point where consumers and patients are directly reached through information and communication technologies. In this article, we examine how the healthcare systems in Africa can be developed from an e-health perspective. Facts gathered show that digital health technologies can help boost the development of this sector in Africa by providing the needed assistance required in a sector that is in dire need of manpower and equipment. Consequently, it is recommended that there should be promotion of national, political commitment and awareness of e-health and the mobilisation of financial resources for e-health development in Africa. Keywords: Digital Health, Development, Developing Countries

Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Quercetin: A Review

Quercetin, one of the most taken flavonoid with diet, belongs to the family of flavonols. Quercetin occurs as a glycoside or as an aglycone and is gotten from various dietary sources such as apples, berries, onions, kale. Quercetin is being reviewed based on its bioavailability, metabolism and anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is the body's immune response to an irritant; this could be a pathogen or foreign object. An inflammatory response is either acute or chronic depending on the duration of inflammation and prolonged inflammatory response can lead to various diseases that are harmful to the body. Studies have shown that quercetin exerts good anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-allergic activity by acting on leukocytes, targeting signaling kinases as well as membrane proteins crucial for an inflammatory response and acts as a scavenger of free radicals. Quercetin also down regulates the expression of pro-inflammatory factor while up regulating the expression of anti-inflammatory factor and this aids in maintaining homeostasis. Although poorly bioavailable due to its rapid metabolism, quercetin is an effective modulator of inflammation. Keywords: Quercetin, inflammation, antioxidants, flavonols, free-radical

FLORISTIC COMPOSITION, ABUNDANCE, AND DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF WOODY PLANTS IN A TROPICAL SAVANNA IN NORTHERN GHANA

Volume: 3Start Page: 309End Page: 31

Implications for conservation assessment from flux in the botanical record over 20 years in southwest Ghana.

Funder: Clarendon Fund; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100014748Funder: King's College Cambridge, University of Cambridge; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000648Funder: Merton College, University of Oxford; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010352Funder: Overseas Development Institute; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000669Funder: Oxford University Expeditions CouncilAt best, conservation decisions can only be made using the data available at the time. For plants and especially in the tropics, natural history collections remain the best available baseline information upon which to base conservation assessments, in spite of well-documented limitations in their taxonomic, geographic, and temporal coverage. We explore the extent to which changes to the plant biological record over 20 years have changed our conception of the conservation importance of 931 plant taxa, and 114 vegetation samples, recorded in forest reserves of the southwest Ghana biodiversity hotspot. 36% of species-level assessments changed as a result of new distribution data. 12% of species accepted in 2016 had no assessment in 1996: of those, 20% are new species publications, 60% are new records for SW Ghana, and 20% are taxonomic resolutions. Apparent species ranges have increased over time as new records are made, but new species publications are overwhelmingly of globally rare species, keeping the balance of perceived rarity in the flora constant over 20 years. Thus, in spite of considerable flux at the species record level, range size rarity scores calculated for 114 vegetation samples of the reserves in 1996 and 2016 are highly correlated with each other: r(112) = 0.84, p < .0005, and showed no difference in mean score over 20 years: paired t(113) = -0.482, p = .631. This consistency in results at the area level allows for worthwhile conservation priority setting over time, and we argue is the better course of action than taking no action at all

Antiplasmodial and Genotoxic Study of Selected Ghanaian Medicinal Plants

Ethnopharmacological Relevance. Development of resistance to antimalarial drugs by Plasmodium falciparum is still rampant, and there is an urgent need for novel drugs to either standalone or to partner artemisinin for treatment of malaria. Traditionally, plants have, over the years, been a good source of antimalarial drugs. Efficacy and safety of such plants need to be scientifically authenticated. Aims, Materials, and Method. This study investigated the in vitro antiplasmodial activity, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity of aqueous extracts of Acanthospermum hispidum DC, Alstonia boone (De Wild), Cocos nucifera L, Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf, Morinda lucida Benth, Psidium guajava, Phyllanthus niruri L, and Senna siamea Lam. Results. Five out of the eight plants, A. boonei stem bark, S; siamea Lam root, M. lucida Benth leaves, P. niruri, and A. hispidum DC whole plants, showed varying degrees of antiplasmodial activity against the asexual stage of the parasite. The most active extract against chloroquine-sensitive (3D7) and chloroquine-resistant (Dd2) P. falciparum strains is the A. hispidum extract which yielded a mean inhibitory concentration at 50% (IC50) of 3.66 µg/ml and 3.71 µg/ml for 3D7 and Dd2, respectively. This was followed by S. siamea Lam with 3.95 µg/ml for 3D7 and 4.47 µg/ml for Dd2. The IC50 values of the A. boonei extract against 3D7 and Dd2 P. falciparum parasites were 5.13 µg/ml and 3.62 µg/ml, respectively. For the M. lucida Benth extract, the least IC50 value was 6.46 µg/ml. All five extracts exhibited dose-dependent antiplasmodial activity. Assessment of the genotoxic effects the A. hispidum extract by the comet assay revealed substantial damage to P. falciparum DNA. Conclusion. This study demonstrates that the crude extract of A. hispidum DC, one of the plants used traditionally to treat malaria, inhibits the growth of P. falciparum in vitro and could be a potential source of antimalarial drug. The report has highlighted genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of the selected plant extracts on human leukocytes as well