Rural water supply and sanitation development in Nigeria

Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) development began in Nigeria in earnest at the beginning of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (IDWSSD). This paper documents the development of RWSS from this period to date showing the lessons learned, current developments and the main challenges

Public water supply quality management in Nigeria

This paper examines the management of public water supply quality in Nigeria, reviews the major outcomes of a nation-wide study on this, outlines the main challenges and makes recommendations on the water forward

Reforming the Nigerian water and sanitation sector

Reforming the Nigerian water and sanitation secto

Effect of Photoperiod on the Germination and Seedling Development of Some (Acha) Digitaria Species

A glass house study was conducted at the Botanical garden, University of Jos, Jos Nigeria to study the effects of photoperiod on germination and seedling development of three Digitaria species (D. exilis, D. barbinodis, and D. iburua) using the Completely Randomized Design (CRD).The three species were subjected to photoperiods of 6, 8, 10, and 12hrs for 21 days. Results show that D. iburua had 30% germination while D. exilis and D. barbinodis had 80% germinatio

Correlation of acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain and blood of wistar rats acutely infected with Trypanosoma congolense

Objective: To investigate the neurotransmitter enzyme Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the brain and blood of rats infected with Trypanosoma congolense (T. congo). Methods: Presence and degree of parasitemia was determined daily for each rat by the rapid matching method. AChE activity was determined by preparing a reaction mixture of brain homogenate and whole blood with 5, 5-dithiobisnitrobenzioc acid (DTNB or Ellman's reagent) and Acetylthiocholine (ATC). The increase in absorbance was recorded at 436 nm over 10 min at 2 min intervals. Trypanosome species identification (before inoculation and on day 10 post infection) was done by Polymerase chain reaction using specific primers. Results: The AChE activity in the brain and blood decreased significantly as compared with the uninfected control. The AChE activity dropped to 0.32 from 2.20 μmol ACTC min−1mg protein−1 in the brain and 4.57 to 0.76 μmol ACTC min-1mg protein−1 in the blood. The animals treated with Diminaveto at 3.5 mg/kg/d were observed to have recovered significantly from parasitemia and were able to regain AChE activity in the blood but not in the brain as compared to the control groups. We also observed, that progressive parasitemia resulted to alterations in PCV, Hb, RBC, WBC, neurophils, total protein, lymphocytes, monocytes and eosinophil in acute infections of T. congo. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of infected blood before inoculation and on day 10 post infection revealed 600 bp on agarose gel electrophoresis. Conclusions: This finding suggest that decrease in AChE activity increases acetylcholine concentration in the synaptic cleft resulting to neurological failures in impulse transfer in T. congo infection rats

Synthesis and evaluation of the pharmacological activity of open analogues of cromakalim carrying urea and thiourea moieties

peer reviewe

Synthesis and characterization of Zn(1-x)NixAl2O4 spinels as a new heterogeneous catalyst of Biginelli's reaction

Zn(1-x)NixAl2O4 (x = 0.0-1.0) spinels were prepared at 800°C by co-precipitation method and characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The specific surface area was determined by BET. SEM image showed nano sized spherical particles. XPS confirmed the valence states of the metals, showing moderate Lewis character for the surface of materials. The powders were successfully used as new heterogeneous catalysts of Biginelli's reaction, a one-pot threecomponent reaction, leading to some dihydropyrimidinones (DHPMs). These new catalysts that produced good yields of DHPMs, were easily recovered by simple filtration and subsequently reused with persistent activity, and they are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. The optimum amount of catalyst is 20% by weight of benzaldehyde derivatives, while the doping amount has been found optimal for x = 0.1