Influence of Social Media on Public Relations Practices in Universities in South-East, Nigeria

This study examined the influence of social media on public relations practices in universities in South-East Nigeria Qualitative research design was used to study eight public relations practitioners purposefully selected from eight universities in the zone In-depth interviews conducted face -to -face and through telephone conversations were used to generate information from respondents The study discovered that the use of social media by the public relations practitioners has changed the traditional methods of information dissemination in the universities It was however discovered that the frequency which the PR practitioners use the social media was not enough to generate backlinks needed to improve the global ranking of their universities The study recommended that universities should employ personnel dedicated to managing their social media platforms under the supervision of their public relations unit

Corrosion inhibition of carbon steel by eucalyptus leaves in acidic media: An overview

This paper concerns the overview of previous studies on the corrosion and inhibition of carbon steel that is allowed to degrade in a corrosive medium by the extract of the eucalyptus plant, with an emphasis on the extract's adsorption behaviour. Many researchers have largely employed eucalyptus plant bark, oil, and leaf extracts to prevent the corrosion of mild steel in acidic environments under various temperature settings. According to the results, when the bark extract of the eucalyptus plant was added to HCl (5%) at a concentration of 900 ppm, the inhibitor's maximum efficiency was 98.2 %. The leaf extract, on the other hand, had the maximum inhibitory efficacy of 93.09 % at 600 mg/L extract concentration in the H2SO4 (0.5 M) medium. The extracts' potency was shown to diminish with increasing temperature. The mechanism for eucalyptus extract's protection of carbon steel from corrosion in diverse corrosive situations was largely associated with the adsorption of the extract's inhibitive components on the steel's surface to reduce the interaction between the metal and the corrosive surroundings. The majority of the reported inhibitive behaviour of the eucalyptus extract was consistent with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model

Treatment outcome of Tuberculosis and HIV Co-infection at a Tertiary Health Facility in Southeastern Nigeria

Introduction: The management of tuberculosis is an important public Health issue. TB is a reemerging disease linked with HIV infections. It is necessary to compare the treatment outcome of patients with only Tuberculosis with those with HIV/AIDs co-infection. This study will also provide baseline information on treatment outcome on the DOTS eight month regimen and guide decisions in review of the regimenObjective: To determine the treatment outcome of the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) in patients with tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV co – infection.Design: A retrospective descriptive study of records of DOTS patients from January 2009 to December 2010 was compiled. Treatment outcome (cured, completed, failure, died, defaulted, transferred out) and HIV status were reviewed.Results: A total of 575 cases of tuberculosis were assessed and126(22%) were HIV positive. From the total of 293(51%) new smear positive cases,53%(n=155) had only TB and 42%(n=123) had TB/HIV coinfection. Cure rate for new smear positive TB and TB/HIV co-infection was 83 %(n=129) and 74%(n=90) respectively.HIV positive cases were more likely to have higher mortality (17% vs 7%). The difference in all other outcomes (treatment failure, defaulted, transferred out) were not statistically significant.Conclusion: HIV co-infection resulted in a poorer outcome. Community oriented programmes, early diagnosis and treatment of HIV and isoniazid preventive therapy are essential to improve treatment outcome.Keywords: Treatment Outcome, Tuberculosis, Co-Infection, HI

Empirical Relationship between Stock Exchange Transactions and Key Macroeconomic Variables in Nigeria

The study determined the influenced of some macroeconomic variables on the government stock, industrial/equities stock and total stock transactions in the Nigerian stock exchange market. Time series data were used in the study that covers the period 1970 to 2010. Unit root test (Augmented Dicker Fuller test) conducted on the data shows that some were stationary at levels and some were not. Double log multiple linear models were specify and estimated using ordinary least squares technique. The empirical results reveal that inflation; domestic savings, nominal exchange rate of N/$, value of total import and liberalization period are significant macroeconomic variables affecting the value of industrial/equities trading in the Nigerian stock exchange market. Also, external debt, nominal exchange rate, external reserves, and industrial capacity utilization rate are significant macroeconomic variables that affect the value of government stock transaction in the stock market. The study further reveals that the value of total stock transaction is significantly affected by inflation rate, domestic savings, oil revenues, and industrial capacity utilization rate. The result calls for a long term policy package that should focused on stabilization of real and monetary policy variables in the Nigerian economy. Also, institutional and operational reforms in the country's capital market are inevitable in a bit to increase the subsector's efficiency

Chemotaxonomic Significance and Environmental Implications of the Phytochemical Constituents of four Mussaenda L. (Rubiaceae) taxa in Nigeria

This work investigated the phytoconstituents of some Mussaenda taxa (Rubiaceae) collected from Nsukka (Derived Savanna) and Uyo (Tropical Rainforest) ecological zones of Nigeria to establish their contribution as possible taxonomic and environmental monitoring markers. Fresh leaf samples used in this study were collected from plants of the same age, air-dried, and made into powder for further use. Histochemical and phytochemical tests were carried out by following the standard procedures. Results of the comparative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, hydrogen cyanide, reducing sugars, soluble carbohydrates, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, and tannins in varying proportions. Results of the phytochemical constitute analysis revealed the presence of the cystoliths from the M. elegans (MEL) and M. erythrophylla (MER) which were absent in Mussaenda “ Doña Aurora” (MDA) and Mussaenda “Doña Luz”(MDL). Further, the presence of the Raphides was unique to MEL while Gum and mucilage were reported only in MDA. Quantitatively, MEL had the highest value of terpenoids (650.88 mg/100g) while MDA had the highest values of phenols (899.27 mg/100g), alkaloids (311.01 mg/100g), reducing sugars (967.35 mg/100g), steroids (2.89 mg/100g), soluble carbohydrates (27.68 mg/100g) and tannins (393.16 mg/100g), and MDL was richest in glucosides (339.64 mg/100g), flavonoids (69.34 mg/100g) and hydrogen cyanides (1.34 mg/100g). The cluster analysis based on obtained phytochemical data revealed three (3) distinct clusters with MEL in cluster 1; MDA and MDL in cluster 2 while cluster 3 had MER.  The evolutionary closeness of the two infraspecific and exotic species (MDA and MDL) were confirmed and their taxonomic relationship with the indigenous infrageneric taxa (MEL and MER) was established. The results also highlight the opportunity of employing plant metabolomics in ecological studies and environmental monitoring.&nbsp

Overview of corrosion behaviour of ceramic materials in molten salt environments

This study reviewed previous studies between the years 2015 and 2021 on how ceramic materials degraded in the presence of molten salt environments. The processes of corrosion resistance of various ceramic compositions subjected to various molten salt compositions and temperatures were also scrutinized. The results offer important new insights into the variables affecting ceramics' corrosion behaviour and the production of corrosion products.  The reported result reveals that the ceramic material with the composition (Sm0.5Sc0.5)2Zr2O7 performed better than that of Sm2Zr2O7 in terms of hot corrosion resistance in molten salt (V2O5 + Na2SO4). It has also been reported that corrosion behaviour is influenced by particle size. Notably, zirconia (n-YSZ) with nanoscale grain sizes was more susceptible to hot corrosion, which was explained by increased specific surface areas. On the other hand, sintering and additives have been found to enhance corrosion resistance. The Y-Y2Si2O7 ceramic's resistance to corrosion in (V2O5 + Na2SO4) molten salt was enhanced by the addition of alumina. The results of these investigations help us understand how corrosion works and what influences ceramic materials' susceptibility to deterioration in molten salt media. This information can direct the creation of more corrosive-resistant ceramic materials for use in high-temperature environments or molten salt-based energy systems, among other corrosive uses

Chemically bound gold nanoparticle arrays on silicon: assembly, properties and SERS study of protein interactions

A highly reproducible and facile method for formation of ordered 2 dimensional arrays of CTAB protected 50 nm gold nanoparticles bonded to silicon wafers is described. The silicon wafers have been chemically modified with long-chain silanes terminated with thiol that penetrate the CTAB bilayer and chemically bind to the underlying gold nanoparticle. The silicon wafer provides a reproducibly smooth, chemically functionalizable and non-fluorescent substrate with a silicon phonon mode which may provide a convenient internal frequency and intensity calibration for vibrational spectroscopy. The CTAB bilayer provides a potentially biomimetic environment for analyte, yet allows a sufficiently small nanoparticle separation to achieve a significant electric field enhancement. The arrays have been characterized using SEM and Raman spectroscopy. These studies reveal that the reproducibility of the arrays is excellent both between batches (< 10% RSD) and across a single batch (< 5% RSD). The arrays also exhibit good stability, and the effect of temperature on the arrays was also investigated. The interaction of protein and amino acid with the nanoparticle arrays was investigated using Raman microscopy to investigate their potential in bio-SERS spectroscopy. Raman of phenylalanine and the protein bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, BPTI were studied using 785 nm excitation, coincident with the surface plasmon absorbance of the array. The arrays exhibit SERS enhancements of the order of 2.6 x 104 for phenylalanine, the standard deviation on the relative intensity of the 1555 cm-1 mode of phenylalanine is less than 10% for 100 randomly distributed locations across a single substrate and less than 20% between different substrates. Significantly, comparisons of the Raman spectra of the protein and phenlyalanine in solution and immobilized on the nanoparticle arrays indicates that the protein is non-randomly orientated on the arrays. Selective SERS enhancements suggest that aromatic residues penetrate through the bilayer inducing conformational changes in the protein

Recent findings on corrosion of ferritic stainless steel weldments: A review

This study covers the review of the degradation of ferritic stainless-steel weldments between 2015 and 2022. The industrial and automotive sectors make extensive use of ferritic stainless steel (FSS) due to its superior oxidation and corrosion resistance, low price, high thermal conductivity, and low thermal expansion. However, it has been reported that ferritic stainless steel is harder to weld than austenitic stainless steel and that doing so would probably result in a weaker welded joint owing to the coarsening of grains high welding temperatures. According to past research, the amount of heat applied during the welding procedure affected how soon the FSS (409 M) weldment degraded after being exposed to NaCl (3.5%) medium. The coarsening of the grains was considered to be the cause of this. When the shielding gas' CO2 content increased, the intergranular corrosion of the FSS weld metal was found to increase. Welds made with the ER430LNb filler metal had significantly lower intergranular corrosion of FSS (AISI 441) than those made with the ER430Ti filler metal. It was discovered that boiling Cu-CuSO4 - 50% H2SO4 solution increased the corrosion rate for the FSS (AISI 430) weldment more than boiling 40% HNO3 Solution. Weldments made of FSS (AISI 430) were found to be negatively affected by the CuCuSO4 - 50% H2SO4 environment in terms of intergranular corrosion attack

An overview of anti-diabetic plants used in Gabon: Pharmacology and Toxicology

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ethnopharmacological relevance: The management of diabetes mellitus management in African communities, especially in Gabon, is not well established as more than 60% of population rely on traditional treatments as primary healthcare. The aim of this review was to collect and present the scientific evidence for the use of medicinal plants that are in currect by Gabonese traditional healers to manage diabetes or hyperglycaemia based here on the pharmacological and toxicological profiles of plants with anti-diabetic activity. There are presented in order to promote their therapeutic value, ensure a safer use by population and provide some bases for further study on high potential plants reviewed. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical studies were sourced using databases such as Online Wiley library, Pubmed, Google Scholar, PROTA, books and unpublished data including Ph.D. and Master thesis, African and Asian journals. Keywords including ‘Diabetes’ ‘Gabon’ ‘Toxicity’ ‘Constituents’ ‘hyperglycaemia’ were used. Results: A total of 69 plants currently used in Gabon with potential anti-diabetic activity have been identified in the literature, all of which have been used in in vivo or in vitro studies. Most of the plants have been studied in human or animal models for their ability to reduce blood glucose, stimulate insulin secretion or inhibit carbohydrates enzymes. Active substances have been identified in 12 out of 69 plants outlined in this review, these include Allium cepa and Tabernanthe iboga. Only eight plants have their active substances tested for anti-diabetic activity and are suitables for further investigation. Toxicological data is scarce and is dose-related to the functional parameters of major organs such as kidney and liver. Conclusion: An in-depth understanding on the pharmacology and toxicology of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is lacking yet there is a great scope for new treatments. With further research, the use of Gabonese anti-diabetic plants is important to ensure the safety of the diabetic patients in Gabon.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Molecular Docking and Anti-inflammatory Studies on Extracts of Prosopis africana (Guill. & Perr.) Taubert and Parkia biglobossa (Jacq.) Benth (Fabaceae)

Context: Prosopis africana&nbsp; and Parkia biglobossa &nbsp;have been used since ancient times in Sierra Leone, Mali, Uganda and Nigeria in the treatment of anti-inflammatory related diseases. Aims: To evaluate the anti-inflammatory potentials of methanolic extracts and fractions of Prosopis africana, and Parkia biglobosa using in vivo and in silico methods. Methods: Their pulverized stem barks were extracted with methanol using Soxlet extraction technique. The crude extracts, CMEPR and CMEPK were partitioned into n-hexane, ethylacetate and methanol fractions. The extracts and fractions were subjected to anti-inflammatory studies using egg albumin and Xylene inflammatory models. Molecular docking was carried out on compounds identified via GC-MS with the aid of Vina. Molecular interactions between outstanding compounds and target enzymes was viewed using Discovery Studio Visualizer, 2020. The phytochemical analysis was carried out using standard method. Results: The results obtained from both egg albumin and Xylene inflammatory models revealed dose dependent inhibition of edema in both plants with the greatest inhibition observed at higher doses. CMEPR: 23.65%, 35.89%, 69.23% (egg albumin model); 48.65%, 64.86%, 78.38% (Xylene model), CMEPK: 33.33%, 46.15%, 73.08% (egg albumin model); 67.57%, 78.37%, 91.89% (Xylene model) for 100,200 and 400 mg/kg respectively. The ethylacetate fraction of Parkia biglobosa exhibited the highest edema inhibition (94.59%) comparable with the standard drug Piroxicam (89.18%). Molecular docking revealed l-(+)-ascorbic acid 2,6-dihexadecanote as a potent inhibitor of both cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) with a binding affinity of -12.6 and -9.0 kcal/mol respectively compared to standard drugs. Conclusions: This study revealed that methanolic extracts of Prosopis africana, and Parkia biglobosa possess promising anti-inflammatory properties with a mechanism of action that may involve the inhibition of Cox-2 and TNF-α. Further research is needed to identify the active compounds responsible for the activities observed