An Assessment of Adherence to Professional Ethics and Practices among Medical Radiographers in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Background: Radiography practice integrates scientific knowledge and technical skills which has to be complemented by regular exercise of sound professional and ethical judgment in order to ensure qualitypatient care and acquisition of useful diagnostic information. This study investigated the extent of adherence to professional ethics and practices by practicing radiographers in Lagos state, Nigeria.Methodology: A structured, self administered questionnaire was randomly distributed to two hundred practicing radiographers in various public and private healthcare facilities in Lagos state. The respondents were broadly assessed on ethical handling of patients, adherence to continuous professional development & training, and participation in other professional responsibilities. The completed questionnaires were verified and corroborated by substantiated proof of claim by each respondent. Data analysis was by a statisticalsoftware Epi-Info.3.5.1 version.Results: Majority (85%) of the respondents rated ethical handling of patients excellent. However, none of the respondents had regular implementation of quality assurance on their equipments while only 28.8% of the respondents attended at least one mandatory continuous professional development programme within the past one year. The adherence of the participants to other evaluated professional and ethical issues was found to be 51.6%.Conclusion: The adherence of Radiographers to professional ethical handling of patients was rated excellent. However, implementation of quality assurance programmes on equipments and adherence to continuous professional development were grossly low. It is recommended that efforts towards increased emphasis on the importance of practitioner adherence to professional/ethical issues during training in continuous development programmes, conferences, seminars and short courses or direct enrolment in further postgraduate degrees, be intensified

Haematology and Serum Biochemistry Evaluations of Broiler Chickens Inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis and Treated with Phyllanthus amarus Leaf extract

A 21-day experiment was conducted to study the effects on haematology and serum biochemistry of broiler chickens inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) and treated with methanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus leaf (PALM). A total of 60 Abor-Acre unsexed 5 week old broiler chickens were randomly allotted to four treatments including T1 = Ordinary water (control), T2 = SE inoculated (107 CFU, PO), T3 = SE inoculated + PALM (150 mg/kg) and T4 = SE inoculated + Enrofloxacin (10 mg/kg). Each treatment was replicated thrice (n = 5) and the birds allotted to treatments in a completely randomized design. SE was inoculated at 5 weeks of age to T2 – T4. One hour prior to inoculation, T3 and T4 received PALM and enrofloxacin respectively which continued for another 4 days (ie 5 days in all). At the end of 3 weeks, one bird/replicate from T1 – T4 was randomly selected and 4 mL of blood aseptically drawn for haematological and biochemical analyses. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and means compared with Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. The haematological and biochemical values were not affected (p<0.05) except the monocytes where T1 and T2 were different (p>0.05) from T3 and T4 and ALP that significantly differed (p>0.05) from others. Meanwhile, PALM stabilized the parameters, particularly the liver enzymes in the event of negative effects due to SE inoculation.  It can therefore be concluded that PALM can be used to stabilize haematological and biochemical values in the event of negative alteration in quantities mainly due to microbial assault in broiler chickens

Assessment of remediation Potentials of maize (Zea mays) on sites co-contaminated with Pb and antracene

Phytoremediation is a promising technology for the remediation of sites co-contaminated with inorganic and organic pollutants. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the remediation potential of Z.mays in soil co- contaminated with Pb and antracene. Pristine sandy loam soils were polluted with Pb chloride salt and antracene at three different levels (50mg/kg of Pb, 100mg/kg of Pb, and 100mg/kg of Pb+100mg/kg of antracene) and laid out in completely randomized design with 3 replicates. Shoot dry matter weight was significantly reduced (p≤0.05) when compared with control treatments by 40% when exposed to100mg kg-1 of Pb. There was a 48% inhibition of shoot dry matter of Z.mays relative to control treatments when 100 mg Pb kg-1 was mixed with 100 mgkg-1 antracene. Root and shoot metal concentration in Zea mays increased with increasing concentration of Pb. The average Translocation Factor (TF < 1 (0.69) obtained suggests that Zea mays predominantly retains Pb in the root portion of the plant. There was a 5% increase in shoot Pb concentration when soil was contaminated with Pb and antracene. The extractable antracene decreased significantly (p≤0.05) in soil planted with Z.mays as well as in pots without maize plant. This accounted for 65 and 72% of antracene dissipation in planted soil and 40-46% dissipation in unplanted soil. This result suggested that Zeamays is a promising candidate for uptake Pb and dissipation of antracene in co-contaminated soils

The Modulatory Activity of Justicia carnea in Plasmodium Infected Mice

The study investigated the antiplasmodial potency of Justicia carnea in plasmodium infected mice. The aqueous leaf extract of Justicia carnea was subjected to phytochemical screening using GC-FID. The suppressive, prophylactic and curative activity of the studied plant was accessed after oral administration of standard drugs (5mgkg-1 choroquine and 4mgkg-1 artesunate) and 400-800mgkg-1 of the extract. The effect of the aqueous leaf extract of the studied plant was also explored in the activities of liver enzymes, oxidative stress markers and hematological indices of plasmodium infected mice using spectrophotomertic methods and a hematology auto analyzer (BC 5300 Mindray England) respectively. The aqueous leaf extract of Justicia carnea showed considerable dose dependent antiplasmodial activity in the suppressive, prophylactic and curative test conducted. The suppressive activity of (92%) of the aqueous leaf extract of the studied plant at 800mgkg-1 was comparable to the standard drugs used while the mean survival time of plasmodium infected mice at 800mgkg-1 was beyond the mean survival time of the infected untreated group. The aqueous leaf extract of the studied plant also exhibited significant improvements in the activities of liver enzymes, oxidative stress markers and some hematological parameters at 800mgkg-1 of the extract when compared with the infected and untreated group. The results of the study exhibited the antiplasmodial activity of the studied plant, nonetheless, the crude extracts of the studied plant can be further purified for synergistic use with other potent antimalarial drugs to combat and achieve total clearance of plasmodium resistant infections

Improving the Drug Bioavailability Property of Myricetin through a Structural Monosubstitution Modification Approach: an In-Silico Pharmacokinetics Study

Myricetin belongs to the members of polyphenolic compounds that make up the flavonoid class, which possess antioxidant properties. Myricetin is mostly obtained from vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, tea, and is also found in red wine. It is also similar structurally to quercetin, fisetin and luteolin and is known to possess similar functions as the other members in the flavonol class of flavonoids. The health benefits of myricetin cuts across being an anticarcinogen compound to its antiviral, antithrombotic, antidiabetic, antiatherosclerotic, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties among others. It also plays a role as a cyclooxygenase 1 inhibitor, an antineoplastic agent, an antioxidant, a plant metabolite, a food component and a hypoglycemic agent. It is a hexahydroxyflavone and a 7-hydroxyflavonol. The 2D structure of myricetin was obtained from the PubChem database while the MarvinSketch software was used to effect the various structural modifications on the compound. The structural modifications entails the substitution of the OH group attached to the C1 of myricetin with different functional groups such as the C=O, C2H5, CH3, CHO, CONH2, H and OCH3 which were saved as mrv files. The saved mrv files for each 2D structures were converted into canonical SMILES with the aid of the Open Babel software while the pharmacokinetic parameters for each compound was predicted using the SwissADME server. Results from this study showed that the C2H5, CH3 and H analogues of myricetin showed a higher gastrointestinal absorption rate compared to their C=O, CHO, CONH2 and OCH3 counterparts. This result shows that the C2H5, CH3 and H analogues of myricetin might be more orally bioavailable compared to myricetin and the other modified analogues. Preclinical studies on these compounds are therefore recommende

The prevalence and determinants of female serodiscordance among HIV positive pregnant women attending PMTCT clinic in Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus sero-discordance is high among heterosexual couples in Africa. However, only few studies have explored the factors that are associated with the prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of female sero-discordance among HIV positive pregnant women in Owerri and to assess its possible associated factors.Methods: A cross sectional study of pregnant women (and their partners) who tested positive to HIV I and II at the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) clinic from December 2015 to May 2016 in Federal Medical Center Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria.Results: A total of 106 HIV positive pregnant women (and their partners) were studied. The prevalence of female serodiscordance was 63.2% (67/106). Pre-marital serodiscordance contributed about 52.2% (35/67) female serodiscordance among couples in the study. Sero-discordance rate for the lower, middle, and upper classes were 50% (28/56), 76.1% (35/46) and 100% (4/4) respectively and was statistically significant (p<0.01). Condom use was significantly associated with female serodiscondance (P<0.01). CD4+ count of the female partner at booking was also found statistically significantly associated with female serodiscordance (P<0.01).Conclusions: There is high prevalence of female serodiscordance among HIV positive pregnant women in Owerri. Pre-marital serodiscordance contributed significantly to high level of female serodiscordance among couples. Higher social class, condom use and high female- partner CD4+ count are significantly associated with female sero-discordance

Studies on the Lipid Profiles of Wistar Rat Models Treated with Aqueous and Methanolic Leaf Extracts of Alchornea Cordifolia and Thaumatococcus Daniellii

This study aims at establishing the effect of T. daniellii and A. cordifolia leaf extracts on the lipid profile of experimental rat models. A total of twenty five (25) adult male wistar rats were used for the study. The rats were divided into five groups of five rats each. Group I (normal control) was administered with 2ml/kg distilled water p.o. Group II was administered with 200mg/kg aqueous leaf extract of T. daniellii p.o. Group III was administered with 200mg/kg methanolic leaf extract of T. daniellii p.o. Group IV and V were administered with 200mg/kg aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts of A. cordifolia respectively. Administration of extracts lasted for 14 days after which animals were sacrificed and serum developed from blood samples was collected and used for analysis to evaluate the lipid profiles of experimental models using standard methods. Results obtained from the study show that the highest level of Low Density Lippoprotein (LDL) (31.21±0.04 mg/dL) was recorded on Group II and was not significantly different from the control group (33.20±0.10 mg/dL). However, for High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), the highest level was recorded on Group IV (48.14±0.08mg/dL). Similarly, this was not significantly different from the Control group (51.80±0.10mg/dL). Group II presented the highest level of Triacylglyceride (TG) (48.80±0.02mg/dL), which however, was considered not significantly different from the control group (51.17±0.08mg/dL). For Total Cholesterol (TC), highest level (64.64±0.49mg/dL) was recorded on Group II and value was not significantly different from that recorded on the normal control (63.83±0.10mg/dL). In conclusion, it can be deduced from this study that extracts of T. daniellii and A. cordifolia lacks the potential to alter the lipid profile of patients depending on them for one medicinal use or the other and may thus be considered potential candidates for drug development