Provision Of Low Vision Service In The Department Of Ophthalmology University Of Calabar Teaching Hospital

No Abstract Keywords: Low vision services, Residual vision, Low vision assessment, Retinal dystrophie

Banks and Economic Growth in Nigeria

The study examines the contribution of banks in Nigeria to the growth of the economy. It used bank savings mobilization and credit to the real sector as proxy for banks contribution while gross domestic product growth rate proxies’ economic growth. Before correlation analysis and regression were used to test hypothesis, diagnostic tests were carried out on the variables to ensure stationarity and examine the cointegration properties of the model. Augmented Dickey-Fuller test was used to test stationarity while Trace statistic and Eigenvalue test were used to assess cointegration. Results show an insignificant impact of banks intermediation variables on economic growth. The study therefore concludes that the poor performance of these variables indicate that other variables such as human resources, social infrastructure, political stability and technology may play more robust role in economic growth in Nigeria than banks. In the light of this, urgent improvement in social infrastructure especially power supply and reversal of the decline in education were recommended

Darier-White Disease with Sensorineural Hearing Loss – A Case Report

Darier-White disease (keratosis follicularis) is a rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis characterized by hyperkeratotic papules and plaques in seborrheic areas, often presenting with nail abnormalities and occasionally mucous membrane changes.It has been associated with neurocognitive/psychiatric disorders, ankylosing spondylitis, hidradenitis suppurativa and nephritis. Affected individuals also have an increased tendency to cutaneous infections. However, a thorough literature search showed no association with sensorineural hearing loss. We herein report the case of a 34-year-old Nigerian man with disfiguring Darier-White disease (DWD) associated with spondyloarthropathy and sensorineural hearing loss. We affirm that early diagnosis, prompt and appropriate therapy and adequate patient education can avert undesirable outcomes

Parturients’ Awareness and Perception of Benefits of Breast Feeding in the Prevention of Infant and Childhood Oral and Dental Diseases

Background: Breastfed babies have a better chance of improved oral and dental health than their counterparts that were artificially-fed. Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitude of postnatal mothers on the benefits of breastfeeding in prevention of oral and dental diseases. Materials and Methods: A cross – sectional descriptive survey of 206 mothers attending the postnatal clinic of theUniversity of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar on the knowledge and attitude of breastfeeding in prevention of oral diseases in infants.Results: Initiation of breastfeeding was early within 3 days of childbirth in 90.3% of mothers. The lack of awareness or knowledge of specific childhood dental/ oral disorders prevented by breastfeeding by majority (89.3%) of the respondents was statistically significant. Actual willingness to breastfeed baby for longer periods after instruction on specific oral health benefits of breastfeeding was elicited in 180 (87.4%) mothers.Conclusion: There is a need to improve the knowledge of specific benefits of breastfeeding in prevention of dental diseases. This calls for education of the health professionals beside the dental practitioners who handle the mothers for themselves to be aware.Funding: The study was funded by the authors.Keywords: Breastfeeding, prevention, oral, dental, disease

Dietary and physical activity habits of All Saints University College of Medicine Students, St Vincent and the Grenadines

Background: The purpose of this research was to assess the dietary and physical activity habits of All Saints University College of Medicine students to determine if they were meeting the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines government’s dietary guidelines and to ascertain the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the students.Methods: Data were collected from the participants using a survey concerned with demographics, and self-assessment on dietary and physical activity habits. Descriptive statistics was used to report and analyse the data.Results: Study subjects consisted of 76 students. Eighty three percent of them were between the ages of 16 and 25 years. Sixty–one percent were female and 39% were male. The majority of the student respondents (76%) were aware of the importance of eating healthy and being physically active each day, and 50-66% of the respondents engaged in and enjoyed physical activity, achieved the recommended daily amount of vegetable intake, were at a normal body mass index (18.5-24.9 kg/m2) and reported satisfaction with their weight. However, majority (80%) of the respondents consumed fast food; about a third of them did not consume fruits nor exercise regularly, reporting lack of time, interest and self-discipline as major reasons.Conclusions: The results indicate that the majority of All Saints University Medical College students had high level of knowledge of overweight and obesity and were involved in some healthy behaviours that helped them achieve normal BMI. However, the poor nutritional and physical activity habits of many of the students could benefit from intervention programs to moderate the tendency for overweight and obesity in the student population

EFFECTS OF PROCESSED HORSE EYE BEAN (MUCUNA URENS L.) ON THE HORMONAL MILIEU OF MALE RATS

ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the effect of processed horse eye bean (Mucuna urens L.), a soup thickener on serum level of some sex hormones: testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone/interstitial cell stimulating hormone (LH/ICSH), estradiol and prolactin in male rats. Methods: Twenty male albino rats of 12 weeks old with similar body weights were assigned to four groups of 6 rats each and treatment with processed horse eye bean at 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight respectively daily for 8 weeks. Blood samples collected through cardiac puncture were assayed for levels of hormones. Results: There were dose-dependent effects of the processed horse eye bean on the serum concentration of the hormones. The treatment significantly reduced the levels of testosterone and FSH in the serum while it significantly increased the levels of estradiol, LH/ICSH and prolactin. Conclusions: Processed horse eye bean had strong capability to disrupt hormonal functions. Hence, its indiscriminate use as soup thickener could increase the risk of infertility in males

Bioanalytical assay development and validation for the pharmacokinetic study of gmc1, a novel fkbp52 co-chaperone inhibitor for castration resistant prostate cancer

Background: GMC1 (2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-N-[(Z)-(4-methoxyphenyl) methylideneamino] acetamide) effectively inhibits androgen receptor function by binding directly to FKBP52. This is a novel mechanism for the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Methods: an LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated to quantify GMC1 in plasma and urine from pharmacokinetics studies in rats. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system equipped with a Waters XTerra MS C18 column was used for chromatographic separation by gradient elution with 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and methanol. A Sciex 4000 QTRAP® mass spectrometer was used for analysis by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive mode; the specific ions [M+H]+ m/z 340.995 → m/z 191.000 and [M+H]+ m/z 266.013 → m/z 234.000 were monitored for GMC1 and internal standard (albendazole), respectively. Results: GMC1 and albendazole had retention times of 1.68 and 1.66 min, respectively. The calibration curves for the determination of GMC1 in rat plasma and urine were linear from 1–1000 ng/mL. The LC-MS/MS method was validated with intra-and inter-day accuracy and precision within the 15% acceptance limit. The extraction recovery values of GMC1 from rat plasma and urine were greater than 95.0 ± 2.1% and 97.6 ± 4.6%, respectively, with no significant interfering matrix effect. GMC1 is stable under expected sample handling, storage, preparation and LC-MS/MS analysis conditions. Conclusions: Pharmacokinetic evaluation of GMC1 revealed that the molecule has a biexponential disposition in rats, is distributed rapidly and extensively, has a long elimination half-life, and appears to be eliminated primarily by first order kinetics

Bioanalytical assay development and validation for the pharmacokinetic study of gmc1, a novel fkbp52 co-chaperone inhibitor for castration resistant prostate cancer

Background: GMC1 (2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-N-[(Z)-(4-methoxyphenyl) methylideneamino] acetamide) effectively inhibits androgen receptor function by binding directly to FKBP52. This is a novel mechanism for the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Methods: an LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated to quantify GMC1 in plasma and urine from pharmacokinetics studies in rats. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system equipped with a Waters XTerra MS C18 column was used for chromatographic separation by gradient elution with 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and methanol. A Sciex 4000 QTRAP® mass spectrometer was used for analysis by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive mode; the specific ions [M+H]+ m/z 340.995 → m/z 191.000 and [M+H]+ m/z 266.013 → m/z 234.000 were monitored for GMC1 and internal standard (albendazole), respectively. Results: GMC1 and albendazole had retention times of 1.68 and 1.66 min, respectively. The calibration curves for the determination of GMC1 in rat plasma and urine were linear from 1–1000 ng/mL. The LC-MS/MS method was validated with intra-and inter-day accuracy and precision within the 15% acceptance limit. The extraction recovery values of GMC1 from rat plasma and urine were greater than 95.0 ± 2.1% and 97.6 ± 4.6%, respectively, with no significant interfering matrix effect. GMC1 is stable under expected sample handling, storage, preparation and LC-MS/MS analysis conditions. Conclusions: Pharmacokinetic evaluation of GMC1 revealed that the molecule has a biexponential disposition in rats, is distributed rapidly and extensively, has a long elimination half-life, and appears to be eliminated primarily by first order kinetics

Bioanalytical assay development and validation for the pharmacokinetic study of gmc1, a novel fkbp52 co-chaperone inhibitor for castration resistant prostate cancer

Background: GMC1 (2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-ylsulfanyl)-N-[(Z)-(4-methoxyphenyl) methylideneamino] acetamide) effectively inhibits androgen receptor function by binding directly to FKBP52. This is a novel mechanism for the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Methods: an LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated to quantify GMC1 in plasma and urine from pharmacokinetics studies in rats. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system equipped with a Waters XTerra MS C18 column was used for chromatographic separation by gradient elution with 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water and methanol. A Sciex 4000 QTRAP® mass spectrometer was used for analysis by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) in positive mode; the specific ions [M+H]+ m/z 340.995 → m/z 191.000 and [M+H]+ m/z 266.013 → m/z 234.000 were monitored for GMC1 and internal standard (albendazole), respectively. Results: GMC1 and albendazole had retention times of 1.68 and 1.66 min, respectively. The calibration curves for the determination of GMC1 in rat plasma and urine were linear from 1–1000 ng/mL. The LC-MS/MS method was validated with intra-and inter-day accuracy and precision within the 15% acceptance limit. The extraction recovery values of GMC1 from rat plasma and urine were greater than 95.0 ± 2.1% and 97.6 ± 4.6%, respectively, with no significant interfering matrix effect. GMC1 is stable under expected sample handling, storage, preparation and LC-MS/MS analysis conditions. Conclusions: Pharmacokinetic evaluation of GMC1 revealed that the molecule has a biexponential disposition in rats, is distributed rapidly and extensively, has a long elimination half-life, and appears to be eliminated primarily by first order kinetics