Toxicity study and effect of the leaf extract of Acacia nilotica on some biochemical parameters of Wistar albino rats

Plants are the primary source of human medications and knowledge on its toxicity is vital; this work evaluates the acute toxicity and effect of Acacia nilotica leaf crude extract on the liver and kidney functions. The mean lethal dose (LD50) was determined by Lorke’s method, while the crude extract effect was evaluated by biochemical and histo-pathological assessments. The LD50 value was 3807.89 mg/kg for both oral and intra-peritoneal route of administrations. An elevated serum urea above the normal reference value in both control and treated group upon administration of 1000 mg/kg of the extract with mean values of 7.92 ± 1.19 and 7.86 ± 1.14 mmol/l respectively was observed. The results of ALAT, ASAT, ALP, T.protein, Albumin, and bilirubin in all cases were within the normal values. The kidney and liver function parameters at higher extract concentrations of 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day and relative organ weight were statistically significant (p< 0.05) and correlates with mild effect indicted on the histopathology of the organs. This study showed that administration of A. nilotica extract at 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day for an extended period could prompt hepatic and nephron toxicity

Perceived Indications, Safety and Efficacy of Perinatal Use of Traditional and Spiritual Remedies among Mothers of Under-Five Children in Kano, North- Western Nigeria

Background: Herbal and spiritual remedies are increasingly being used in the management of perinatal conditions. Objectives: To determine the pattern of use of herbal and spiritual remedies during perinatal period, and the perceived indications, efficacy and safety of these remedies among mothers of under-five children in Kano. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive crosssectional design was used to study a random sample of 189 mothers. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 22. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used for univariate analysis.Result: The means of respondents’ age and their number of children were 33.3 ± 9.2 years and 4.7 ± 2.6 respectively. Three-quarters of the mothers (76.2%) used herbal and/or spiritual remedies within the perinatal period, mostly orally (97.9%); 63.2% used them in combination with orthodox medicines. The main indications were maintaining good health during pregnancy (39.6%); easy labour and safe delivery (39.6%); and treatment of common ailments (28.5%). Majority believed that herbal (66.1%) and spiritual (70.9%) remedies are very effective on pregnancy related problems; 57.1% and 78.8% believed that herbal and spiritual remedies are very effective on problems of labour and pueperium respectively. Most believed that spiritual remedies are safe during pregnancy (94.2%) and in labour and pueperium (97.9%); and herbs are safe during labour and pueperium (91.0%). Conclusion: Health authorities in Nigeria should institutionalize structures for censoring, training, regulation of TM practice and safety of remedies used.Keywords: Indications, Safety, Perinatal use, Traditional remedies, Northwestern Nigeri

A comparison of oral versus vaginal misoprostol for induction of labor at term, at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria

Background: The comparison of same,equal and low dose of misoprostol by the oral and vaginal routes for induction of labour at term requires further elucidation.Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of 25 micrograms (ug) of oral misoprostol with 25ug vaginal misoprostol for induction of labor at term.Methods: A randomised control trial that involved 169 consented women with indication for induction of labor. A total of 85 women had oral misoprostol while 84 women had vaginal misoprostol. The oral misoprostol dose (25ug) was repeated every 2 hours, while the vaginal dose (25ug) was repeated every 6 hours for a maximum duration of 24 hours or when need arose for intervention. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.Results: The mean induction-delivery interval was significantly shorter (18.48 +/- 2.01 vs. 22.82 +/- 2.50, P = 0.00), with more vaginal deliveries (88.2% vs. 85.7%, P = 0.00) in the oral group compared to the vaginal group respectively. The cardiotocographic abnormalities in the vaginal group were significantly higher than the oral group (8.3% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.03). There were more foetal distress and meconium stained liquor in the vaginal group but not statistically significant.Keywords: Efficacy; oral misoprostol; safety; vaginal misoprosto

Proximate and Quantitative Phytochemical Analysis of Detarium microcarpum (Sweet Detar) Fruit Pulp

The study was carried out to determine the proximate and quantitative phytochemical analysis of two species of Detarium microcarpum from Kano state, north-western Nigeria. Proximate composition of sample A shows a moisture content of 13.86±0.002, Ash content 3.73±0.030, lipid content 9.40±0.059, crude protein 21.20±0.360, crude fiber 4.52±0.038 and carbohydrate 47.50±1.06, while sample B shows a moisture content of 14.32±0.082, Ash content 2.27±0.360, lipid content 4.72±0.372, crude protein 17.88±0.102, crude fiber 4.46±0.062 and carbohydrate 5.48±0.338. Quantitative phytochemical screening of the fruit A shows 3.16% tannin, 10.73% saponin, 7.27% alkaloid and 8.56% flavonoid for sample while sample B contains 2.39% tannin, 11.2% saponin, 7.41% alkaloid and 7.63% flavonoid. Comparism between the samples shows specie A to be nutritionally rich compared specie B. Keywords: Detarium microcarpum; Fruit; Proximate; Phytochemical and Pulp. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-16-04 Publication date:August 31st 2021

Petty Trading and Household Livelihood among Women in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State

The main objective of the study was the determination of the impact of petty trading on household livelihood among women petty traders in Akwanga Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa state. This was achieved through two specific objectives – to determine the contributions of women petty trading on household income, and its role in attaining household living standard. The study relied on the use of primary data, obtained from a random sample of 343 women owners of petty businesses in Akwanga. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey involving the administration of copies of a structured questionnaire with closed-ended items forming each variable scale. The collected data was used to estimate a structural model using the PLS-SEM statistical technique, to test the pertinent formulated hypothesis and evaluate variable relationships. The result obtained showed that women petty trading businesses had positive and significant effect on household income and living standard.  in Akwanga. It was therefore, recommended that due to the importance of petty trading into our growing economy, government and non-governmental organization should encourage more women to go into trading by supporting them with adequate finances for development and women petty traders need to analyzed the kind of business they want to engage onto so as to reduce the magnitude of certain uncertainty in the future

Structural Determinants of Financial Sustainability of Listed Financial Companies in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of structural determinant of financial sustainability of listed financial companies in Nigeria from 2012-2021. The study adopted longitudinal research design with panel multiple regression model was used for the analysis. The study found that managerial ownership has a positive significant effect on financial sustainability, institutional ownership has negative insignificant effect on financial sustainability while foreign ownership has positive insignificant effect on financial sustainability of listed financial companies in Nigeria. Based on the finding, the study recommends that managers should be encouraged to acquire more shares since it will lead them to be more committed to the company’s operations that can increase financial sustainability of the company. Also, the banks should encourage foreign investors to acquire shares because the resultant distribution of ownership among different groups can impact on managerial opportunism, which subsequently has implications for managerial behavior and corporate performance. This, they will monitor and check the management behaviour whenever necessary

Antenatal blood donation: Perception of pregnant women in a rural community northwest Nigeria

Background: Reduction of maternal mortality from Obstetric haemorrhage requires a multipronged approach; however, availability of safe blood and transfusion is essential to it. Objectives: To evaluate pregnant women perception towards blood donation by their relatives/spouses for them during antenatal period and attitude towards compulsory blood donation. Method: A cross-sectional study using an interviewer-administered semi-structured pretested questionnaire was used to assess the perception of pregnant women to blood donation by their relatives/partner during antenatal care. The data was analysed using SPSS. Result: Four hundred respondents, ages ranged from15 - 45 years with a mean of 30.9 ± 5.80 years and parity ranged from 0 -12 with a median of 24(Interquartile range of 25,20;50, 24; 75, 29.8 ). Three hundred and eighty-six (96.5%) were married; 258 (64.5%) knew that they may need blood during childbirth of which 228 (88.4%) would rely on their relatives/partners to donate the blood. Three hundred and thirty-two (83.0%) were willing to ask their partners /relatives to donate blood for them during antenatal care, while 68(17.0%) opposed it for various reasons. Occupation, marital status, parity and age were found to be statistically significant(X2= 24.8 P = 0.0001; X2 = 8.18, P =0.0004 ; X2=15.39 P= 0.000 and X2= 22.14 P= 0.0001 respectively) Conclusion: Majority of the respondents were aware that they may require blood during pregnancy or childbirth for which they believed that their partners/relatives would donate blood for them if requested to do so; although one –fifth would rather wait until the need arises. Knowledge of voluntary blood donation is poor among the respondents. Public enlightenment would help to address these gaps

Awareness, perception and acceptance of malaria vaccine among women of the reproductive age group in a rural community in Soba, Kaduna State, North-west Nigeria.

Malaria vaccine is one of the novel strategies currently being evaluated for use in malaria control in children under five. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the awareness, perception and acceptance of malaria vaccine among women of the reproductive age group in a rural community in Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study and total population sampling was used to recruit 236 women aged between 15-49 years. The data were collected using an open data kit (ODK-1) mounted on android tablets and entered into International Business Machine Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 23 Software. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between the predictor and the outcome variables. Ap-value of less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Only 131 (56%) of the subjects ever heard about malaria vaccines. Of these, 95 (72.5%) knew that the vaccine could prevent malaria and 104 (96.8%) believe that the vaccine was necessary for the prevention of malaria. Further, 89 (67.9%) subjects among those aware of the vaccine would voluntarily allow their children to get vaccinated and 93 (71%), would recommend the vaccines for others. Similarly, 98 (74.8%) of those aware of the vaccine would recommend the vaccine for the National Program on Immunisation. Conclusion: The awareness of the malaria vaccine in the subjects was low while the perception and acceptability of the vaccine were high. None of the risk factors investigated was independently related to awareness of the vaccine. Public enlightenment and further qualitative studies to explore a context-specific perception of the malaria vaccines are recommended

Extremely low prevalence of erythromycin-resistant Streptococcus pyogenes isolates and their molecular characteristics by M protein gene and multilocus sequence typing methods

Background: Group A streptococci (GAS) are notorious bacteria causing a wide variety of clinical manifestations ranging from mild, acute streptococcal pharyngitis to chronic non-suppurative diseases and immunological sequelae. They are further complicated by the global rise on the emergence of macrolide resistance among these bacteria in which several M protein gene (emm) and sequence types are associated with invasive diseases. Objectives: The current study aimed at determining the erythromycin resistance patterns and molecular characteristics of GAS clinical strains by emm and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) methods. Methods: Thirty-five GAS clinical isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing by disk diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of erythromycin against GAS by E-test was determined. Clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI) guideline was used for the interpretation of results. Detection of ermA, ermB, and mefA genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed and emm typing was done by amplification and sequencing of emm genes per standard protocol. Allele and sequence type (ST) of GAS were obtained using the S. pyogenes MLST database. Results: All the isolates were sensitive to erythromycin, penicillin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, and vancomycin (100%). Resistance to tetracycline was 54.3%. The mefA gene was found in one erythromycin susceptible isolate. No other erythromycin resistance genes were detected in the isolates. Twenty different emm types were found and the most frequent emm types/subtypes detected were emm1, emm18.21, emm28.5, emm97.4, and emm102.2 (each 8.6%). However, no new emm type was detected. A total of 15 sequence types (STs), eight clonal clusters (CCs), and eight singletons were identified among 21 representative isolates. Three isolates exhibited CC1 (ST28/emm1). Conclusions: High susceptibility of GAS isolates against erythromycin could be due to low antibiotic selective pressure in Malaysian clinical settings. High diversity of emm and ST types revealed the heterogenic nature of the strains circulating in Malaysian hospitals. Continuous epidemiological monitoring by molecular typing methods is warranted to improve the management strategies of GAS infections in future

Assessing the Impact of E-Procurement on the Performance of Public Sector Organizations: Evidence from Nigeria

Electronic procurement is one of the emerging trends in procurement process especially in developing countries, and it represents an important achievement for organizations striving to triumph in health competitiveness. This study aims to assess the impact of e-procurement on the performance of public sector organizations in Nigeria. Data were obtained from sample of 50 involved employees from INEC, TETFUND and NBS that represents critical public organisations in Abuja through open-ended questionnaire. Using inferential and regression instrument of analysis, the findings suggest that e-procurement exerts a significant and positive impact on performance of Public Sector Organizations in Abuja, Nigeria. Other variables adopted are technological infrastructure, organization size and top management attitude. It also revealed that MDAs have adopted E-procurement process in  procurement activities. The study recommends for Government to continue to provide an enabling environment in terms of information technology Infrastructure and leadership to improve the procurement process. The study also reiterates the need for further research on the institutional responses to E-procurement adoption in Public Sector Organizations in Nigeria. Keywords: Electronic procurement, supply chain management, technological infrastructure,organization size, top management attitude, performance. 1ORCID- 0000-0002-5076-3204; 2CRCID /0000-0001-8273-9148         DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-13-04 Publication date:July 31st 202