Exploration of the Chemistry and Biological Properties of Pyrimidine as a Privilege Pharmacophore in Therapeutics

The pyrimidine moiety is one of the most widespread heterocycles in biologically occurring compounds, such as nucleic acids components (uracil, thymine and cytosine) and vitamin B1. Due to its prebiotic nature to living cells in biodiversity, it is an highly privileged motif for the development of molecules of biological and pharmaceutical interest. This present work deals with the exploration of chemistry and medicinal diversity of pyrimidine which might pave way to long await discovery in therapeutic medicine for future drug design

Antibacterial and Morphological Studies of Electrospun Silver-Impregnated Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibre

Silver-impregnated polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibre was prepared through electrospinning process. Infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermo gravimetric analyses (TGA/DTA) were used to characterize PAN and PAN/Ag composites. The XRD results reflects decrease in the crystallinity of PAN as it is been modified with Ag. Antibacterial activity of PAN/Ag was also investigated

Dietary Fortification of Sorghum-Ogi using Crayfish (Paranephrops planifrons) as Supplements in Infancy

Malnutrition in neonates is a concern in developing countries where there is deficiency in nourishing foods for young ones. The utilization of fresh crayfish (Paranephrops planifrons) in enhancing the nutrient value of commonly used sorghum grain weaning food for infancy was investigated. The study was carried out using a 10 – 50 wt% mixture of sorghum grain and crayfish in three categories of soaked sorghum grains with unroasted crayfish (Case A); de-hulled roasted sorghum grains with roasted crayfish (Case B) and de-hulled, un-roasted sorghum grain with un-roasted crayfish (Case C). The proximate analysis, functional and pasting properties in addition to taste panel evaluation of the batch composition were determined. The result indicated beneficial fat and protein contents of the blend with increase addition of crayfish with Case B and Case C preferred. The overall acceptability at 5% confidence level of organoleptic evaluation identified Case B with over 70% acceptance value, while the amylograph pasting analysis indicated that crayfish blend improved the stability of sorghum-ogi, hence it is beneficial as weaning food for infancy

STUDIES ON THE ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTICORROSIVE PROPERTIES OF SYNTHESIZED HYBRID POLYURETHANE COMPOSITES FROM CASTOR SEED OIL

Castor seed oil (Ricinus communis) is a prominent feed stock towards the generation of renewable materials for industrial production. The reach presence of ricinoleic fatty acid at 87.5% provides pendant hydroxyl functional groups, which is an essential site for chemical formulations. This paper presents the synthesis, characterization, and evaluations on antibacterial and anticorrosive activities of synthesized hybrid composites from Ricinus communis seed oil. N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy ethyl)-12-hydroxy Ricinus communis oil fatty amide (HERCA) was synthesized via aminolysis polyol formation route. Upon reacting HERCA with succinic acid at a high temperature of about 145 ºC, a polyesteramide (RCPEA) was formed. This ester product undergoes urethanation and subsequently interfaced with modified hybrid material. The synthesized composites were characterized using spectroscopic methods such as FTIR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Selected physicochemical parameters were also carried out on the products. Coating performance on cured resins was examined

Improving Nutritive Value of Maize-Ogi as Weaning Food Using Wheat Offal Addition

The deficiency in affordable nourishing foods for neonates after weaning has been major concern in developing countries and this has contributed to increased malnutrition rate, illnesses and even children’s mortality rate. The addition of wheat offal to traditionally affordable ‘Ogi’ as an alternative approach for combating the threats of protein malnutrition in neonates was explored in this work. Wheat offal was added at increasing levels of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 w/w% as fortifying feed with prepared maize-Ogi as meal. Proximate analysis, pasting characteristics, sensory evaluation, nutritive and functional properties of the resulting blends was evaluated using standard methods. Results of proximate analysis showed an increased protein (2.787 – 34.064%), fat (2.282 – 9.015%) and ash (8.913 – 17.171%) contents with increased level of wheat offal from 20 to 100 w/w addition, while decreased carbohydrate content was observed with increased addition of wheat offal. The water absorption capacity increased also with level of wheat offal addition. The pasting characteristics result indicated up to 40% fortification of maize-Ogi with wheat offal as stable blend against retrogradation in terms of setback value and viscosity. The 40% level of fortification was preferred in terms of quality index of taste, texture, color, sourness and appearance. In conclusion, the nutritional indices investigated indicated addition level of wheat offal to 40% limit to solve protein-energy malnutrition and food security issues in neonates

BASIC ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION OF SELECTED STREAMS AND THEIR WATER QUALITY IN ADO-EKITI (SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA) AND ITS NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES.

Water samples were collected from ten (10) streams at different locations within Ado-Ekiti and its environ in Ekiti State, South Western Nigeria. The samples were evaluated for their physico-chemical properties. The samples under investigation has pH within the range 7.6 to 8.2; total hardness 8.0 mg/l to 196.0 mg/l; Calcium and Magnesium hardness 1.6 mg/l to 76.0 mg/l and 0.49 mg/l to 19.93 mg/l respectively; total solids 0.2 mg/l to 1.2 mg/l; total suspended and total dissolved solids 0.00 to 0.06 mg/l, 0.14 mg/l to 1.16 mg/l respectively; free carbondioxde 3.74 × 10-3 mg/l to 5.72 × 10-3 mg/l; phenolphthalein acidity 9.0 mg/l to 15.0 mg/l; conductivity 4.0 μScm-1 to 570 μScm-1. The metal analysis results from atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) are as follows: Sodium (2.7 mg/l to 60.1 mg/l), Potassium (4.0 mg/l to 52.0 mg/l), Zinc (0.80 mg/l to 1.51 mg/l), Calcium (1.60 mg/l to 76.0 mg/l), Iron and Lead were not detected in the sample considered

Nutritional and Physico-Chemical Evaluations of Moringa oleifera Seedlings and Oil

This work was intended to respectively examine the proximate analysis; mineral compositions and physico-chemical parameters of Moringa oleifera seeds and its extracted seed oil. Harvested seedlings of Moringa oleifera plant obtained from Chukwun community in Kaduna State of Nigeria presented an oil yield of 42.51%. Percentage values of 3.47, 6.84, 3.99, 26.48, 48.29 and 12.44 respectively represents the moisture content, crude fibre content, total ash, protein content, crude fat content and carbohydrate content of the seeds. The mineral elemental concentration carried out showed potassium having the highest concentration of 368.95 mg/kg while zinc concentration was the lowest (6.82). Physico-chemical examinations of its seed oil reveal 194.75 mg KOH/g sample, 68.41 gICl/100g sample, and 5.6 mg KOH/g sample respective values for saponification, iodine and acid values. The findings from this investigation show that Moringa oleifera seed and oil extracted from it could be consumed and its oil could be used as base materials for several industrial processe

Inhibitive properties of Carica papaya leaf extract on Aluminium in 1.85M HCl

The inhibition of aluminium metal corrosion in 1.85 M hydrochloric acid solution using extract of Carica papaya leaf was studied using gasometric technique. Aluminium coupons were immersed in test solutions of un-inhibited 1.85 M HCl and those containing extract concentrations of 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 % and 50 % (v/v) at room temperature. The volume of hydrogen gas evolved as a result of the rate of reaction between aluminium coupons and the acid extracts was recorded. The inhibition efficiency of the extract was determined and the adsorption isotherm of the process was estimated using Temkin, Freundlich, Frumkin and Langmuir adsorption theories. The microstructure examination was also determined. The result of the investigation induced that the Carica papaya leaf extract retarded the acid induced corrosion of aluminium with a reduction in the volume of hydrogen gas evolved per increasing extract concentrations. The adsorption studies revealed Langmuir isotherm as the best model for the adsorption of Carica papaya extract (R2 =1) on aluminium surface. The adsorption result with the microstructure of the coupons implied an involvement of chemisorption process in the interaction of the extract with aluminium metal

Modeling and Synthesis of Ag and Ag/Ni Allied Bimetallic Nanoparticles by Green Method: Optical and Biological Properties

In the quest for environmental remediation which involves eco-friendly synthetic routes, we herein report synthesis and modeling of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and silver/nickel allied bimetallic nanoparticles (Ag/Ni NPs) using plant-extract reductionmethod. Secondary metabolites in the leaf extract of Canna indica acted as reducing agent. Electronic transitions resulted in emergence of surface plasmon resonance in the regions of 416 nm (Ag NPs) and 421nm (Ag/Ni NPs) during optical measurements. Further characterizations were done using TEM and EDX. Antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles against clinical isolates was highly significant a

Evaluating the diesel biodegradation potential of wild microfungi isolat-ed from decaying wood in Nigeria

We evaluated the potentials of pure wild microfungi isolated from decaying wood in utilizing diesel as source of carbon/energy and monitoring of their physiological responses via OD and pH gradient fluxes. The fungi diversity was obtained by conventional enrichment culture methods. Pure cultures of tentative fungal species namely: SC1, SC2, SC3, YI and Y2 were tested for their ability to utilize diesel oil as carbon and energy source. From the cultur-al, morphological and biochemical characterization and comparison with respect to the standard reference of fungi, the wild microfungi tentatively named as SC1, SC2, SC3, YI and Y2 were seemingly the members of Penicil-lum, Aspergillus, Mucor, Candida and Cryptococcus species. The diesel de-pendent growth of the pure microfungi was assessed by monitoring the flux-es in the pH and Optical density OD of the minimal media slurry for 288 hours. There were fluctuations in OD as well as pH values for the different microfungi. The mean pH data 5.90 ± 0.01-7.01± 0.01 and the OD 0.349± 0.001 -1.232 ± 0.002 were obtained. The ability of our fungal isolates to tol-erate diesel and grow in it, suggests that the isolates can be employed as bioremediation agent