Phytochemical and antimicrobial screening of the crude petroleum spirit and methanol extracts of the stem bark, leaves and roots of Ficus thoningii (blume)

Ficus thoningii which has some traditional medicinal uses was investigated. Phytochemical screening of the stem bark, leaves and roots gave positive results for carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins and alkaloids. Antimicrobial screening of the crude petroleum spirit and methanol extracts showed activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Providencia stauti and Bacillus subtilis but no activity was observed against Salmonella typhi. The crude petroleum spiritextracts of the leaves and stem bark of the plant had minimum inhibitory concentrations at 50 mg/ml while the roots had no minimum inhibitory concentration at the test concentration. The crude methanolextracts of the various plant parts showed minimum inhibitory concentration at 50 mg/ml on all the pathogens tested for

Assessment of Informal Settlements Growth in Greater Karu Urban Area (GKUA) Nasarawa State, Nigeria

The proliferation of informal settlements in developing countries have become a major concern to governments and professionals in the built environment in recent years. This paper assessed informal human settlements in a rapidly urbanizing and growing urban area; the Greater Karu Urban Area (GKUA) in Nasarawa State of Nigeria. Information for the paper were obtained through the administration of a questionnaire on the residents and from published and official records. Data was collected from 4 out a 17 identified informal settlements; Mararaba, Masaka, New Nyanya and Kuchikau in GKUA. Questionnaires were administered to 10% (253) households’ randomly selected based on their availability and willingness to participate in the study. From 241 (95.4%) questionnaires that were returned, two types of informal settlements were identified: inner core (traditional slums) and the peri-urban informal/unplanned settlements/slums. The inner core slums showed very severe challenges pertaining to minimal and inadequate social amenities and infrastructure, poor sanitation, narrow winding road networks while the absence of social services and infrastructure, unplanned and uncontrolled development, and substandard housing of mixed quality characterised peri-urban slums. Residents perceived that internal and external drivers contributed to the rapid growth of informal settlements in GKUA. A Comprehensive and holistic spatial vision of the area that could promote and sustain physical, social, economic and environmental planning policies in a coordinated manner is urgently needed

An EISCAT UHF/ESR Experiment That Explains How Ionospheric Irregularities Induce GPS Phase Fluctuations at Auroral and Polar Latitudes

A limitation to the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for precise and real-time services is introduced by irregularities in the ionospheric plasma density. An EISCAT UHF/ESR experiment was conducted to characterize the effect of electron density irregularities on temporal fluctuations in TEC along directions transverse to GPS ray paths in the high latitudes ionosphere. Two representative case studies are described: Enhancements in temporal TEC fluctuations originating (a) in the auroral ionosphere following auroral particle precipitation and (b) in the polar ionosphere following the drift of a polar patch as well as particle precipitation. The results indicate that the origin of enhancements in TEC fluctuations is due to the propagation through large-to-medium scale irregularities (i.e., ranging from few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region) and occurring over spatial distances of up to approximately 400 km in the E region and up to approximately 800 km in the F region with a patchy distribution. Furthermore, the results indicate that enhancements in TEC fluctuations produced by polar plasma patches and particle precipitation occur over similar temporal scales, thus explaining the overall observation of higher phase scintillation indices in the high-latitude ionosphere. The similarity in the temporal scales over which enhancements in TEC fluctuations occur in the presence of both particle precipitation and plasma patches suggests an intrinsic limitation in the monitoring and tracking of plasma patches through ground GNSS observations

Performance of GPS Positioning in the Presence of Irregularities in the Auroral and Polar Ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR Measurements

Irregularities in the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density introduce temporal fluctuations in the intensity and phase of radio signals received from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The impact of phase fluctuations originating from irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres on GPS positioning was investigated on three days in March 2018 in the presence of quiet-to-moderately disturbed magnetic conditions by combining measurements from GPS and EISCAT UHF/ESR incoherent scatter radars. Two different positioning solutions were analysed: broadcast kinematic (BK) and precise static (PS). The results show that the propagation through irregularities induced residual errors on the observables leading to an increase in the positioning error, in its variability, and in the occurrence of gaps. An important aspect emerging from this study is that the variability of the 3-D positioning error was reduced, and the presence of gaps disappeared when the positioning solutions were evaluated at a 1 s rate rather than at a 30 s rate. This is due to the transient nature of residual errors that are more significant over 30 s time intervals in the presence of irregularities with scale size between few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region

Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements

Irregularities in the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density introduce temporal fluctuations in the intensity and phase of radio signals received from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The impact of phase fluctuations originating from irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres on GPS positioning was investigated on three days in March 2018 in the presence of quiet-to-moderately disturbed magnetic conditions by combining measurements from GPS and EISCAT UHF/ESR incoherent scatter radars. Two different positioning solutions were analysed: broadcast kinematic (BK) and precise static (PS). The results show that the propagation through irregularities induced residual errors on the observables leading to an increase in the positioning error, in its variability, and in the occurrence of gaps. An important aspect emerging from this study is that the variability of the 3-D positioning error was reduced, and the presence of gaps disappeared when the positioning solutions were evaluated at a 1 s rate rather than at a 30 s rate. This is due to the transient nature of residual errors that are more significant over 30 s time intervals in the presence of irregularities with scale size between few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region

Neighborhood characteristics definitions.

Recognizing challenges faced by people living with HIV is vital for improving their HIV treatment outcomes. While individual-level interventions play a crucial role, community factors can shape the impact of individual interventions on treatment outcomes. Understanding neighborhood characteristics’ association with HIV treatment outcomes is crucial for optimizing effectiveness. This review aims to summarize the research scope on the association between neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes. The databases PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Embase (Elsevier), and PsychINFO (EBSCOhost) were searched from the start of each database to Nov 21, 2022. Screening was performed by three independent reviewers. Full-text publications of all study design meeting inclusion criteria were included in the review. There were no language or geographical limitations. Conference proceedings, abstract only, and opinion reports were excluded from the review. The search yielded 7,822 publications, 35 of which met the criteria for inclusion in the review. Studies assessed the relationship between neighborhood-level disadvantage (n = 24), composition and interaction (n = 17), social-economic status (n = 18), deprivation (n = 16), disorder (n = 8), and rural-urban status (n = 7) and HIV treatment outcomes. The relationship between all neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes was not consistent across studies. Only 7 studies found deprivation had a negative association with HIV treatment outcomes; 6 found that areas with specific racial/ethnic densities were associated with poor HIV treatment outcomes, and 5 showed that disorder was associated with poor HIV treatment outcomes. Three studies showed that rural residence was associated with improved HIV treatment outcomes. There were inconsistent findings regarding the association between neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes. While the impact of neighborhood characteristics on disease outcomes is highly recognized, there is a paucity of standardized definitions and metrics for community characteristics to support a robust assessment of this hypothesis. Comparative studies that define and assess how specific neighborhood indicators independently or jointly affect HIV treatment outcomes are highly needed.</div

PRISMA flow diagram for the screening process.

Recognizing challenges faced by people living with HIV is vital for improving their HIV treatment outcomes. While individual-level interventions play a crucial role, community factors can shape the impact of individual interventions on treatment outcomes. Understanding neighborhood characteristics’ association with HIV treatment outcomes is crucial for optimizing effectiveness. This review aims to summarize the research scope on the association between neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes. The databases PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Embase (Elsevier), and PsychINFO (EBSCOhost) were searched from the start of each database to Nov 21, 2022. Screening was performed by three independent reviewers. Full-text publications of all study design meeting inclusion criteria were included in the review. There were no language or geographical limitations. Conference proceedings, abstract only, and opinion reports were excluded from the review. The search yielded 7,822 publications, 35 of which met the criteria for inclusion in the review. Studies assessed the relationship between neighborhood-level disadvantage (n = 24), composition and interaction (n = 17), social-economic status (n = 18), deprivation (n = 16), disorder (n = 8), and rural-urban status (n = 7) and HIV treatment outcomes. The relationship between all neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes was not consistent across studies. Only 7 studies found deprivation had a negative association with HIV treatment outcomes; 6 found that areas with specific racial/ethnic densities were associated with poor HIV treatment outcomes, and 5 showed that disorder was associated with poor HIV treatment outcomes. Three studies showed that rural residence was associated with improved HIV treatment outcomes. There were inconsistent findings regarding the association between neighborhood characteristics and HIV treatment outcomes. While the impact of neighborhood characteristics on disease outcomes is highly recognized, there is a paucity of standardized definitions and metrics for community characteristics to support a robust assessment of this hypothesis. Comparative studies that define and assess how specific neighborhood indicators independently or jointly affect HIV treatment outcomes are highly needed.</div

The conceptual model for this review adapted from the Social Ecological Model.

The conceptual model for this review adapted from the Social Ecological Model.</p