Evaluation of Chemical Composition and the Comparative Wound Healing Effect of Natural Honey and Olive Oil in Rabbits

The phytochemical and elemental constituents of honey and olive oil and their relationships with wound healing were studied in New Zealand rabbits. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of Carbohydrates, monosaccharide, reducing sugar, terpenoid, saponin, saponin glycoside, flavonoids, and alkaloid in honey, while olive oil had only cardiac glycoside and terpenoids.  Elemental analysis showed the presence of higher concentration of potassium (288.3mg/l), and low concentration of manganese (0.04mg/l), iron (1.55mg/l), copper (0.66mg/l) and nickel (0.001mg/l) in honey than olive oil. However, olive oil has higher concentration of calcium (225.3mg/l) and zinc (5.22mg/l) than in   honey. The wound healing effects of honey and olive oil were determined by inflicting a 2 mm incisional wound on the thigh muscle of 18 New Zealand rabbits. The rabbits were grouped into six groups (A-F) which were topically administered of honey (A), olive oil (B), honey and olive oil mixture (C), iodine and methylated spirit (D) and penicillin (E).Group F was undressed and untreated and served as negative control.  Healing and scar tissue formation was monitored over a period of 10 days by measuring the wound closure daily. It was observed that group B and D had complete resolution with minimal scar tissues by day six. Other groups had a longer resolution time of up to 9 days post incision. The study therefore, showed olive oil alone and a combination of iodine and methylated spirit both aided greatly in dehiscence of uncontaminated surgical wounds in New Zealand rabbits

Hydrocarbon-Generating Potential of Eocene Source Rocks in the Abakaliki Fold Belt, Nigeria / Potencial za nastanek oglikovodikov v eocenskih izvornih kamninah nariva Abakaliki

Subsurface information on source rock potential of the Eocene shale unit of the Abakaliki Fold Belt is limited and has not been widely discussed. The total organic carbon (TOC) content and results of rock-eval pyrolysis for nine shale samples, as well as the one-dimensional (1D) geochemical model, from an exploration well in the Abakaliki Fold Belt were used to evaluate the source rock potentials and timing of hydrocarbon generation of Lower Eocene source rocks. The TOC content values of all the samples exceeded the minimum threshold value of 0.5 wt.% required for potential source rocks. A pseudo-Van Krevelen plot for the shale samples indicated Type II–III organic matter capable of generating gaseous hydrocarbon at thermally mature subsurface levels. The 1D burial model suggests that the Eocene source rock is capable of generating oil and gas at the present time. The modelled transformation ratio trend indicates that a fair amount of hydrocarbon has been expelled from the source rocks. The results of this study indicate that the Eocene source units may have charged the overlying thin Eocene sand bodies of the Abakaliki Fold Belt

Contribution of Foreign Direct Investment to Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria

Over the past few years, Nigeria has been faced with a series of policy changes and political instability that has somewhat led to the incidence of capital flight from Nigeria. This study sought to examine the contribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Agricultural Sector. The study made use of annual time series of some macroeconomic variables and agricultural productivity spanning the period 1990 to 2016. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Multiple Regression Model. The data was further tested for stationarity using the Augmented Dicky-Fuller unit root test where it was ascertained that the entire hypothesized variable were stationary were significant(p<0.01) at first difference. The study revealed that the amount allocated to agricultural sector declined steadily over the years with all-time highest in the 90's. Similarly, the determinants of agricultural productivity include exchange rate, interest rates, GDP and FDI inflow into the agricultural sector. The study therefore recommends that an enabling environment be created through stable macroeconomic policies (monitoring of interest and exchange rates) and political stability be promoted so as to attract both domestic and foreign investors to the country

Datumetine Preferentially Upregulates NMDAR Signalling Pathways in Different Brain Regions of Mice

Introduction: We previously reported that datumetine possesses binding affinity with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and that 14-day exposure to datumetine altered NMDAR signaling by mimicking glutamate toxicity. Here, we investigated the potential neuroprotective effect of a single shot of a low dose of datumetine administration in BALB/c mice.Methods: 30 male adult BALB/c mice were used for the study. The mice were randomly divided into three groups of ten mice each with an intraperitoneal injection of 0.1 mL of 10% DMSO for the Vehicle group, Datumetine group were administered 0.1 mg/kg body weight (bw) of datumetine and MK-801+Datumetine group were administered 0.5 mg/kg bw of MK-801 (to block NMDAR) followed by 0.1 mg/kg bw of datumetine after 30 minutes. 24 hours after administration, mice were euthanized in an isoflurane chamber followed by perfusion with 1X PBS. Brains were excised and stored at -200C till further processing. Mice designated for IHC were further perfused with 4% PFA and brain excised and stored in 4% PFA till further processing. NMDAR signalling molecules expression was evaluated in frozen brain samples and the fixed brain samples were stained for neuron, vGlut and NMDAR subtypes.Results: Relative to vehicle (Veh), datumetine downregulate calcium calmodulin kinase II alpha (CamKIIα) expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) but not in the cerebellum, cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) was also upregulated only in the PFC but phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) was also upregulated in three brain regions observed, while brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was only upregulated in hippocampus and PFC of Datumetine relative to vehicle (Veh). On the other hand, dizocilpine (MK-801) reversed some of the effects of datumetine in the observed brain regions. No major histological alterations were observed in the different brain regions immunohistochemically.Conclusion: We conclude that a low dose of datumetine moderately enhances NMDAR activity. This showed the neuroprotective potentials of low datumetine exposure