Electrodeless electro hydrodynamic printing of personalized drug dosages

There is compelling evidence that variability in drug efficacy in individuals depends on their genetic fingerprints. These observations have given rise to the concept of personalized therapy whose ultimate goal is to develop medicinal agents designed for each niche of the population and individual patients according to their genetic background. The drawback in current pharmaceutical technologies is that most processes are designed to target large population and are unable to meet the demand of small-scale manufacturing of tailored therapeutics with diverse range of physical properties. One of the major challenges lie in developing efficient and cost effective methods of manufacturing personalized treatments. Noncontact drop-on-demand (DOD) systems (i.e., drops are formed only as required) appear to be the most promising platform technology for small-scale manufacturing of personalized treatments. As a digital technology, DOD dosing is able to deposit precisely controlled amounts of material at exact locations without waste, rendering it especially attractive for use with expensive pharmaceutical products. It would provide the capability to form an individual dosage unit by printing a vast array of predefined amounts of therapeutics arranged in a specific pattern on a carrier substrate to achieve a desired drug release profile. However, current DOD methods developed for chemically and thermally stable, low-viscosity inks are of limited use for pharmaceuticals due to fundamentally different functional requirements. In this dissertation, a recently developed DOD method for gentle printing of personalized medicines is presented. To eliminate adverse effects of electrochemical reactions at the fluid-electrode interface, the fluid was infused into an electrically insulating nozzle to form a pendant drop that served as a floating electrode capacitively coupled to external electrodes. A short voltage pulse was applied to the electrodes to stretch the drop into a liquid bridge that broke up creating a sessile drop on the substrate which could be post-processed into a final dosage form. Versatility was proved in experiments on fluids spanning over three orders of magnitude in viscosity and electric conductivity. This method can be used for printing fluids of different physical properties in pharmaceutical, biomedical, and biotechnology applications. Model for pendant drop and scaling analysis which captured the essential physics of electrodless electrohyrodynamic drop dynamics is presented. This analysis describes the characteristics of the operating regimes and provides critical design guideline. To demonstrate the capability of electrodeless DOD for printing personalized dosages, assembled unit dosages were prepared by precisely loading porous hydroxy methylcellulose film matrix with controlled drops of model drugs dissolved in lowly volatile polyethylene glycol carrier. Dissolution tests were performed following United States Pharmacopeia (USP) protocol, and the drug release data was analyzed to identify the underlying drug release mechanisms from the assembled unit dosages. Data showed that the DOD method met the reproducibility requirement critical for content uniformity and that the porous film rapidly disintegrated resulting in instant release of drug which could be useful in fast orally dissolvable medicinal film dosage forms

When Our Expectations Are Met: An Analysis of Voters’ Perception of the Media Coverage of 2011 General Elections in Nigeria

The foremost thrust of this study is to investigate how voters in Enugu State perceived the media coverage of the 2011 general elections in Nigeria.  To provide a compass for this investigation, research objectives, questions and hypotheses were raised. Among the questions raised in this study were: were voters exposed to electoral issues? how did voters perceive the media coverage of 2011 general elections? How did voters’ perception of the media coverage influence their participation in the 2011 general elections? The research hypotheses include: there is significant relationship between voters’ exposure to electoral issues in the media and their level of knowledge about the 2011 general elections; there is a significant relationship between voters’ perception of media coverage of the 2011 general elections and their participation in the elections.   A number of relevant literatures were reviewed to ascertain the state of the existing corpus of knowledge in this area and consequently establish the gap in literature. Explanatory mixed method design was used to achieve the objective of this study. Since this design allowed the use of two methods, questionnaire and in-depth interview techniques were used to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the study. The qualitative data were generated to shed more light on the quantitative data. The study concentrated on registered voters in the south-eastern part of Nigeria. The Australian calculator was used to derive the sample size which stood at 405. Cluster sampling method was used to select respondents randomly to represent the population. The three hypotheses tested in the study using Chi-square formula received empirical support which showed that voters’ exposure to electoral information in the media influenced their knowledge; their perception of the 2011 general election was influenced by their knowledge and their perception of media coverage of the 2011 general elections influenced their participation in the elections. The key findings of the study include that: radio remains a veritable means of reaching the electorates with information on electoral issues; the electorates have confidence in media reports; the electorates have high of knowledge of electoral issues; electorates’ exposure to the media influenced their participation. It was recommended that radio should be used in disseminating information about election in Enugu State since voters have confidence in their reports. Media literacy should be included as a general course in Nigeria’s  higher institutions of learning

Regulatory Environment and Media Coverage of Elections in Nigeria: A Review

The legal environment under which an election takes place, no doubt, plays a crucial role in determining the extent to which the election would be adjudged free, fair and credible. The 2011 general elections in Nigeria were widely acclaimed to be free, fair and credible both locally and internationally. This work, therefore, set out to ascertain the veracity of this claim by examining the legal atmosphere under which the elections were conducted. The review showed that the legal environment was adequate enough to guarantee a free, fair and credible elections. However, it was discovered that most of these legal provisions were not complied with and the offenders were not brought to justice by the relevant bodies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON). With regards to the ‘equal opportunity doctrine’ as contained in the Electoral Act, the ruling party at various level of government, dominated the airwaves giving the opposition party very limited opportunity to be heard. It was also observed that the law on campaign funding was not observed. The ruling party spent far above the provisions permitted by law. Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that the regulatory environment in Nigeria should be strengthened by ensuring that the provisions of the Electoral Act and other election related laws are adhered to by all concerned and enforced by the relevant regulatory bodies

Performance of the Website of the Postgraduate College of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

The aim of the study was to investigate the performance of the Postgraduate College of the University of Ibadan website by conducting a survey of the postgraduate students using the college portal, and other services. The study was guided by variables from WebQual4.0, DeLone and McLean’s (1992) Information System Success and UTAUT Concepts. The study shows that the postgraduate college website has helped many of the respondents to increase their proficiency in performing basic tasks on the website such as course registration, printing of receipts, upload of documents and so on. The study also shows that increased use of the college website has increased the proficiency level of the users in using the website for registration activities. The study also reveals that using the postgraduate college website has enhanced the respondents’ ability to perform some career related activities, which implies that the level of effectiveness of the Postgraduate College website is fairly high. Generally user experience and service quality have very correlations with user satisfaction

Maggot debridement therapy and innovation from myiasis - A review

Maggot debridement therapy is the introduction of live and disinfected fly larvae in a wound in order to aid cleaning and healing.  This technique was discovered as a beneficial effect of colonization of human tissue by fly larvae (myiasis).  This discovery was made during the World War I when it was observed that injured soldiers whose wounds were infested with maggots healed faster than their counterparts whose wounds were free from maggots. In this therapy, the larvae of Blow fly (Lucilia sericata) are used because they feed exclusively on dead tissues. There are two different ways through which these maggots are applied into the wound, namely, free range dressing and biobag dressing. The mechanism of action of the maggots during debridement involves secretion of digestive enzymes which breakdown the dead tissues, liquidizing it before ingesting the liquefied contents of the wound. They also secrete antimicrobials which inhibit microbial growth in the wound, thereby disinfecting it. This therapy has been successfully used in the treatment of leg ulcers, deep and diabetic wounds in humans. The advantages of maggot debridement therapy are enormous. The cost of using it is relatively low, it quickens healing of wounds, and it is painless. However, the patient may experience irritation and itching at the wound site which is associated with larval movement in the wound. The adoption of this therapeutic wound management is advocated as practical evidence show that it has proven effective in the management of diabetic wounds more than conventional medical practices

Spitting on a Blood Document: An Analysis of Nigerian Journalists Perception and Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act

This work is on Nigerian journalists’ perception of the implementation of 2011 Freedom of Information Act in the South East Nigeria. The researchers adopted survey research method in which questionnaire and oral interview were used as the means of data collection. A sample size of 237 was drawn from a total population of 580 using Taro Yamane formula. The data generated through the administration of questionnaire were presented and analyzed using tables and simple percentages. The qualitative data generated through the oral interview were also presented .At the end ,the researchers discussed  the results gotten from the tables and oral interview in line with the research questions and it revealed  that, the Nigerian journalists do not have a detailed understanding of the content of the F0I Act. It also revealed that the Nigerian journalists do not see F0I Act as an important legal document that has the capacity to strengthen investigative journalism in Nigeria. This study also revealed that the Nigerian journalists do not see the Act as capable of granting them protection in their day to day activities. Finally, the study as well revealed that access to information in Nigeria has not increased as a result of the F0I Act. Based on this, it was  recommended among others things that sensitization workshops on F0I Act should be organized by the NUJ of different states from time to time to enable them (journalists) embrace the provisions of this Act for a proper implementation. This will go a long way for a better kick-off on the implementation of the Act