ANTIMICROBIAL PROPERTIES OF LEPTADENIA HASTATA (PERS) DECNE LEAVES EXTRACT

Objective: This study was carried out with an objective to investigate the antibacterial potential of five leaf extract of Leptadenia hastata plant on some bacteria.Methods: Leptadenia hastata extracts were evaluated for potential antimicrobial properties. The leaves of the plant were extracted with n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanol and then vaporized to give respective extracts. Antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, salmonella typhi, staphylococcus aureus and Klebsielia pneumonia, was determined by an agar well diffusion method. The optical density of the broth using UV mini spectrophotometer and zone of inhibition by the crude extract were determined.Results: The results showed that of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and methanol extracts of Leptadenia hastata, methanolic and chloroform extracts displayed more activity with 1.10±0.10 mmab and 0.97±0.06 mmab where aSignificantly (p<0.05) higher compared to different extract at the same concentration bSignificantly (p<0.05) lower compared to the control, than others at 25-1000 ppm per well of the extracts tested.Conclusion: The present results showed the potential of the medicinal plant used by traditional herbal medical practitioners as natural antimicrobial agents, thus can be further used to determine the bioactive products that may provide as leads in the development of new drugs

Antifungal potential of Leptadenia Hastata against some pathogenic fungi

The objective of this study was to evaluate if the plant extract could provide antifungal potential against some pathogenic fungi. Extract of Dichloromethane solvents was used for disc diffusion assay. The inhibitory concentration of the extract was performed by broth dilution method and zone of inhibition was studied by disc diffusion method at the concentration of 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000ppm in DMSO. Fluconazole was used as the reference control for antifungal study. The extract showed maximum inhibition potential of zone of inhibition against most of the pathogen (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Candida tropicalis and Fusarium oxysporium) used at concentration 25ppm to 250ppm with zone of inhibition (3.45±0, 3.33±0.12, 3.07±0.05 and 2.97±0.10mm respectively). The extract showed minimum inhibition potential against Fusarium oxysporium in all the concentration when compared with the control as well as to the other pathogens. Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus was found to be more sensitive to Dichloromethane leaf extract followed by Candida tropical and lastly fusarium oxyspurium. The Present study indicates the potential usefulness of Dichloromethane leaf extract of Leptadenia hastata as antifungal agent. © 2018 Isaac John Umaru, Fasihuddin A. Badruddin, Henry Y. Wakawa, Hauwa A. Umaru and Kerenhappuch I Umaru

The Health of Gashaka Gumti National Park using SWOT Analysis

Biodiversity conservation has witnessed a tremendous growth as several scholars from different jurisdictions have directed their attention toward this subject matter. The aim of this study is toasses the health of Gashaka Gumti National Park using SWOT Analysis. The study design combines both quantitative and qualitative research, this research was to develop a questionnaire as a means to collect primary data from sampled subjects. The purpose of this data is to achieve the research objectives. This study used both construct validity and content validity and the questionnaire seeks responses on health of the national park. The participant (households) opinion was sought on threats (e.g., poaching, logging, farming etc.) on Gashaka Gumti National Park (GGNP) and require to indicate YES or NOas wellas likert scale. This study makes several contributions to knowledge in terms of methodology, empirical evidence and as well as theoretical. This findings open new research page for in-depth discussions on weakness and strengths, threats and opportunity of National parks. The study applied to identify appropriate variables to predict the cases. The contribution is that tourism development and biodiversity literature is enhanced by the findings of this work

Influence of Tourism Development and Community Participation Factors on Opportunity of Gashaka Gumti National Park

National parks are storehouse for wildlife and habitat and endowed with potentials. Although local community participation and tourism development can enhance the potentials of national park, identifying the significant factors influencing outcomes of maximizing opportunity of the Gashaka Gumti National Parks is important. Based on the backwards selection method of community support for tourism development, help to local community, tourism development bring job opportunity and community conservation initiative significantly contributes to the likelihood of maximizing opportunity of Gashaka Gumti National in conserving biodiversity. Thus it can be concluded that local community involvement and tourism development are more likely to impact biodiversity conservation in Gashaka Gumti national Parks than strict conservation

Alpha amylase and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory potential of aqueous extract of Azanza garckeana fruit

Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are common diseases affecting a lot of people. Alpha amylase and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are used to treat type II diabetes and hypertension respectively. This study investigated the alpha amylase and ACE inhibitory potential of Azanza garckeana fruits. Phytochemical screening, α-amylase and ACE inhibitory potential of the aqueous extract of A. garckeana fruit was determined using standard procedures. The mode of inhibition of α-amylase by A. garckeana fruit was determined from the Lineweaver-Burk plot. Alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, steroids, tannins, phenols and terpenoids were present in the aqueous extract of A. garkeana fruit. The percent inhibition of α-amylase  was greater than 50%. The IC50 values were 2.6 ± 0.02 and 0.04 ± 0.09 for the extract and acarbose (standard drug) respectively. The Lineweaver-Burk plot showed that extract Vmax did not change when compared to the no inhibitor (no extract) but the km increased. The percent inhibition of ACE by A. garckeana was also greater than 50%. Its IC50 was 0.625 ± 0.03 while that of the standard drug (captopril) was   0.875 ± 0.07. Thus A. garckeana inhibited  α-amylase and ACE and can be used to treat type II diabetes and hypertension. It is a competitive inhibitor of α-amylase

Review of the Sedimentological and Geochemical Approaches for Environmental Assessment of River Sadong, Samarahan-Asajaya District Sarawak, Malaysia

This paper presents an overview of the implication of geomorphology and sedimentology on the chemical characteristics of sediments of River Sadong, Malaysia. There is limited published work on the effect of topography, climate, soil and geology on the sediments lying in the River Sadong. Studies have been undertaken around Kota Samarahan and Asajaya areas whereby some heavy metal constituents and their environmental effects were determined. The study entails the description of the depositional processes alonggside with physical and geochemical changes, without neglecting natural and anthropogenic effects

Rapid outbreak sequencing of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone identifies transmission chains linked to sporadic cases.

To end the largest known outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa and to prevent new transmissions, rapid epidemiological tracing of cases and contacts was required. The ability to quickly identify unknown sources and chains of transmission is key to ending the EVD epidemic and of even greater importance in the context of recent reports of Ebola virus (EBOV) persistence in survivors. Phylogenetic analysis of complete EBOV genomes can provide important information on the source of any new infection. A local deep sequencing facility was established at the Mateneh Ebola Treatment Centre in central Sierra Leone. The facility included all wetlab and computational resources to rapidly process EBOV diagnostic samples into full genome sequences. We produced 554 EBOV genomes from EVD cases across Sierra Leone. These genomes provided a detailed description of EBOV evolution and facilitated phylogenetic tracking of new EVD cases. Importantly, we show that linked genomic and epidemiological data can not only support contact tracing but also identify unconventional transmission chains involving body fluids, including semen. Rapid EBOV genome sequencing, when linked to epidemiological information and a comprehensive database of virus sequences across the outbreak, provided a powerful tool for public health epidemic control efforts

Phytochemical Screening of Essential Oils and Antibacterial Activity and Antioxidant Properties of Barringtonia asiatica (L) Leaf Extract

Objective. To ascertain the essential oil phytochemicals of the leaf and to test for the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of dichloromethane crude extract of Barringtonia asiatica leaf. Methods. The phytochemical screening of essential oils, extraction by hydrodistillation using the Clevenger apparatus, and analysis performed by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Antibacterial activity and the inhibition rate (mm) were determined using the agar disc method against four bacterial strains using tetracycline as positive control. The antioxidant potential of dichloromethane crude extract was investigated spectrophotometrically using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. Results. The essential oil properties were reasonable with major phytochemicals like uncineol 30.9%, eicosane 27.4%, eicosane 21.6%, and 4-propyl-guaiacol 14.05%. The antibacterial activity of the dichloromethane crude extract showed broad-spectrum activity against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae with inhibition value ranges between 2.50 ± 0.10 mm and 5.00 ± 0.06 mm. The dichloromethane crude extract exhibited strong antioxidant activities when compared to the standard. Conclusions. These results suggest that the leaves of Barringtonia asiatica is composed of essential compound as well as antibacterial and antioxidant properties from the crude extract; these are possible due to the presence of some bioactive compounds in the crude extract. The species also showed a reasonable amount of natural products in the essential oils from the hydrodistillation which can as well be used in the cosmetics and food industries