Copper, Nickel and Manganese Residues in Tissues and Organs of Rabbits Dosed with Edible Clay

The study examined the kinetics of Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni) and Manganese (Mn) in tissues and organs of rabbits treated with edible clay from Enyigba, Ebonyi state Nigeria. Clay samples were obtained from Enyigba mine. Fifty four of the sampled rabbits were grouped into 3: group 1 and group 2 were administered with 2000 mg/kg and 4000 mg/kg of edible clay respectively while group 3 served as control. Concentrations of these metals were detected in the brain, heart, kidney, liver, lungs, skeletal muscle and blood of each of the rabbits using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). One - way ANOVA was used in analyzing the concentrations with significant results (p < 0.05) recorded. The study results showed that while Cu concentrations were predominant in the liver (15.33±1.18 µg/g), kidney (8.25±1.18 µg/g) and heart (9.43±2.36 µg/g) of 2000 mg/kg treated rabbits on day 1 post-treatment, Ni concentrations were the highest among the three elements especially in the blood (221.59±17.05 µg/g) and skeletal muscle (153.41±19.68 µg/g) of 2000 mg/kg treated rabbits on day 1 post-treatment. Concentrations of Mn were mostly detected in the liver (13.99±4.85 µg/g) of 2000 mg/kg treated rabbits on day 1 post-treatment. Most of the concentration values increased in 4000 mg/kg treated rabbits on day 1 post-treatment. Elimination constants as well as half-life eliminations of the metals studied showed that absorbed elements were still present in most organs and tissues of treated rabbits. The study recommends research for possible microbial toxins that may be found in the edible clay studied

An Assessment of Entrepreneurship Involvement among Undergraduate Students of Cross River State University of Technology, Ogoja Campus, Cross Rive State

The study evaluated entrepreneurship involvement among undergraduate students of Cross River State University of Technology, Ogoja Campus, Cross Rive State. Data was obtained through the administration of a structured questionnaire to undergraduate students with personal business irrespective of the scale. Result indicated that family knowledge and natural ability did not determine students’ entrepreneurship involvement but the need for money, desire to become self-dependence and the desire to be employers of labour. The study identified University entrepreneurship internship programme and parental occupation as main sources of entrepreneurship awareness accruable to university students. Furthermore, fund from parents and personal savings were the main sources of capital used to start a business.  Pearson’s correlation showed a high, positive and significant association between students' involvement in entrepreneurship and income diversification (0.97, P<0.01). Independent samples test indicated that entrepreneurship motivation between male and female students differs (t = 12.767, P<0.05). The study based on the result obtained suggested that the universities in Nigeria should add more valves to their graduate by incorporating into their curriculum elements that enhance the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and self-efficacy. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Student involvement, Undergraduate students, Source of capita

Graves’ disease presenting as paranoid schizophrenia in a Nigerian woman: a case report

Paranoid syndromes in Graves’ disease are rare. The true incidence is lacking. Most reports have emanated from developed countries where medical investigations are readily available. No report of such has emanated from Nigeria. We report a 43-year-old female Nigerian with Graves’ disease associated with paranoid schizophrenia and review the literature

Formulation and evaluation of nanosized hippadine-loaded niosome : extraction and isolation, physicochemical properties, and in vitro cytotoxicity against human ovarian and skin cancer cell lines

Chemical compounds extracted from plants have been used in the development of many medicinal products. Hippadine is a compound extracted from Crinum jagus, a plant that has been widely used traditionally for the treatment of ailments such as asthma, malaria, depression, convulsions, and cancer. However, the therapeutic applications of hippadine is limited due to its poor solubility and bioavailability. In the context of drug delivery, nanotechnology has been employed widely to improve the bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds through the encapsulation and the delivery of these compounds to their target sites. This study aims to evaluate the cytotoxic activities on two human cancer cell lines of hippadine through its encapsulation into niosome nanoparticles which are a bilayer vesicle widely employed for drug delivery. Firstly, hippadine was extracted and isolated from C. jagus bulbs and encapsulated into niosome nanoparticles composed of span 60 (SP60) and cholesterol, prepared by microfluidic mixing. The prepared nanoparticles had spherical morphology, and were small, uniform, and monodisperse with an average particles size <150 nm when loaded or empty. The encapsulation efficiency was 36 ± 1%. Hippadine loaded niosomes showed superior cytotoxic effects over free hippadine as indicated by the significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the IC 50 values when tested in vitro on human ovarian carcinoma (A2780) and human skin cancer cells (A375). This is the first study that reports the use of SP60 niosomes for successful encapsulation and delivery of hippadine into cancer cells

Original Contribution RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME BODY MEASUREMENTS AND LIVE WEIGHT IN ADULT MUSCOVY DUCKS USING PATH ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT Weight and body dimensions (body length (BL), chest circumference (CC), thigh length (TL), shank length (SL) and neck length (NL) were studied using 215 fifteen weeks male and female Nigerian indigenous Muscovy ducks by path analysis. The result showed that the correlation coefficient between live weight and body dimensions on the other hand were 0.89, .94, .87, .88 and .75 (male) and .29, .59, .41, .37, -.10 (female) for BL, CC, TL, SL and NL respectively. The direct effect of chest circumference was higher in both male and female (0.616, .571) with the neck length having the least and negative direct effects on weight for both sexes. Indirect effect of body length through chest circumference was also the highest .chest circumference is the most influential variable and can be included in the model in estimating live weight of both male and female Muscovy duck at 15 weeks of age

Spectrum of heart diseases in a new cardiac service in Nigeria: An echocardiographic study of 1441 subjects in Abeokuta

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Echocardiography is a non-invasive, relatively cheap and useful imaging technique for the evaluation of cardiac diseases. The procedure has reliable levels of accuracy.</p> <p>Echocardiography commenced at the Federal medical centre Abeokuta on September 9, 2005.</p> <p>The aim of this study is to report our experience with the procedure, and to define the clinical cases seen in our setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected data. Echocardiography was performed using Aloka SSD 1,100 echocardiograph equipped with 2.5–5.0 MHz transducer</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the period of 18 months under review (September 2005–February 2007), 1629 procedures were performed. The reports of 188 echocardiograms were excluded due to poor echo-window, repeated procedure or incomplete report. 1441 reports were reviewed for demographic parameter, indications for the procedure and the main echocardiographic diagnoses.</p> <p>The mean age of the 1441 individuals studied was 54 +/- 14.3 years (15–90). There were 744 men and 697 women. Eight hundred and seventeen subjects (56.7%) had hypertensive heart disease, 53 subjects (3.7%) had rheumatic heart disease while 44(3.0%) had dilated cardiomyopathy. Pericardial diseases, cor-pulmonale, ischaemic heart disease, congenital heart diseases, diabetic heart disease, thyroid heart disease, sickle cell cardiopathy were present in 26(1.8%), 23(1.6%), 9(0.6%), 6(0.4%), 6(0.4%), 6(0.4%), 1(0.1%), and 1(0.1%) respectively. Four hundred and forty nine (31.2%) subjects had normal study.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Hypertensive heart disease was found to be the most prevalent cardiac condition in this study. The relatively frequent diagnoses of rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathies and pericardial diseases reflect the impact of infections and infestations on the cardiovascular health of adult Nigerians.</p> <p>We suggest that prevention and treatment of cardiac diseases in our setting should among other things focus on blood pressure control and early treatment of infections causing heart diseases.</p

Model for stimulating entrepreneurial skills through entrepreneurship education in an African context

The need to stimulate entrepreneurial skills in graduates as a strategy for tackling graduate unemployment has spurred the introduction of entrepreneurship education programs. The effectiveness of such entrepreneurship education programs from an African context is the focus of this paper. A modified model for evaluating the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education was derived from Fayolle, Gaily, and Lassa-Clerc; and was tested via structural equation modeling. Data were collected from randomly selected 750 participants who had undergone at least one compulsory entrepreneurship module at the university level. It was found that entrepreneurship education which is not well aligned with contextual peculiarities may not optimally yield the desired outcome. This paper, therefore, underscores the need for a thoroughly contextualized curriculum that encapsulates national, local, and very importantly, institutional factors

Characterisation of heart failure with normal ejection fraction in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The study aimed to determine the frequency and characteristics of heart failure with normal EF in a native African population with heart failure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>It was a hospital cohort study. Subjects were 177 consecutive individuals with heart failure and ninety apparently normal control subjects. All the subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography. The group with heart failure was further subdivided into heart failure with normal EF (EF ≥ 50) (HFNEF) and heart failure with low EF(EF <50)(HFLEF).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The subjects with heart failure have a mean age of 52.3 ± 16.64 years vs 52.1 ± 11.84 years in the control subjects; p = 0.914. Other baseline characteristics except blood pressure parameters and height were comparable between the group with heart failure and the control subjects. The frequency of HFNEF was 39.5%. Compared with the HFLEF group, the HFNEF group have a smaller left ventricular diameter (in diastole and systole): (5.2 ± 1.22 cm vs 6.2 ± 1.39 cm; p < 0.0001 and 3.6 ± 1.24 cm vs 5.4 ± 1.35 cm;p < 0.0001) respectively, a higher relative wall thickness and deceleration time of the early mitral inflow velocity: (0.4 ± 0.12 vs 0.3 ± 0.14 p < 0.0001 and 149.6 ± 72.35 vs 110.9 ± 63.40 p = 0.001) respectively.</p> <p>The two groups with heart failure differed significantly from the control subjects in virtually all echocardiographic measurements except aortic root diameter, LV posterior wall thickness(HFLEF), and late mitral inflow velocity(HFNEF). HFNEF accounted for 70(39.5%) of cases of heart failure in this study.</p> <p>Hypertension is the underlying cardiovascular disease in 134(75.7%) of the combined heart failure population, 58 (82.9%) of the subjects with HFNEF group and 76(71%) of the HFLEF group. Females accounted for 44 (62.9%) of the subjects with HFNEF against 42(39.3%) in the HFLEF group (p = 0.002).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The frequency of heart failure with normal EF in this native African cohort with heart failure is comparable with the frequency in other populations. These groups of patients are more likely female, hypertensive with concentric pattern of left ventricular hypertrophy.</p

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa

[Figure: see text]

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

Investment in SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences generated, now exceeding 100,000 genomes, used to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence domestically, and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround time and more regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and shed light on the distinct dispersal dynamics of Variants of Concern, particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron, on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, while the continent faces many emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century