The Blessing of Abraham: Seeking an Interpretive Link between Genesis 12:1-3 and Galatians 3:13-16

God promised to bless not only Abraham, in Genesis 12:1-3, but to also bless all the families of the earth through him. And in Galatians 3:13-14, Paul relates this blessing as being bestowed upon the Gentiles through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Many prosperity preachers interpret the Abrahamic blessing as prospering in material and financial abundance. They also assert that it is salvation through Jesus Christ that gives Christians, who are Abraham’s spiritual children, access to the Abrahamic blessing. But when these biblical passages mentioning the Abrahamic blessing were interpreted within the context of Paul’s understanding of the blessing and using a theological method of biblical interpretation that incorporates a synchronic method of biblical exegesis with the sub-method of lexical and syntactic analysis, it was found out that the blessing is that of sonship through Jesus Christ by virtue of the gift of the Holy Spirit and not material or financial blessing.Keywords: The Blessing of Abraham; Prosperity Preachers; Genesis 12;Galatians 3; Paul’s theolog

Appraisal of Natural Durability of a Lesser – Known Boscia anguistifolia (A. Rich) Wood Using Ground Contact Test

The optimal utilization of lesser-known wood species is dependent on their natural durability. In this study, the natural durability of a lesser-known wood species (Boscia anguistifolia) using ground contact test was carried out. Wood blocks of Boscia anguistifolia and Ceiba petandra (reference species) with dimensions of 20 x 20 x 300 mm were obtained from the axial and radial direction of the trees. The wood blocks were conditioned and their moisture content determined before exposure to ground contact for 12 weeks after which their weight loss was determined. Data obtained were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 probability level. The moisture content of B. anguistifolia and C. petandra ranged from 12.80 – 18.02 % and 12.73- 16.63%, respectively while the weight loss of B. anguistifolia and C. petandra ranged from 5.10 – 69.11% and 37 – 50 % respectively along the axial position. It was observed that the core wood in the base portion of B. anguistifolia has the lowest weight loss value of 5.10% while the reference species has a value of 39.73%. Conclusively, B. anguistifolia is moderately durable at the base part of the species when compared with the reference non-durable species used in this study

Geospatial Investigation of Nigerian Honey and Detection of Anti-Enteric Biomarker

Geospatial mapping and antibacterial biomarkers were investigated in Nigerian honey used for therapeutic purposes in several communities affected with prevalent antibiotic-resistant enteric bacilli. Randomly collected enteric bacilli from faecal samples were biotyped and phenotypically assayed for antibiotic resistance and profiled for R plasmids. R plasmid molecular weight and multiantibiotic resistance index (MARI) relatedness were evaluated for resistance among phylogroups. Honey cidal activity, time kill kinetics, and bioactive markers were determined and analysed for geospatial distribution. More than 30% enteric biotypes were resistant to cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline at MIC ≥16 μg/ml (P � 0.004). Two unrelated cluster complexes with diverse antibiotic resistance indices expressed high molecular weight plasmid (14.17 kbp) with 0.73 MARI to two classes of antibiotics. Among the resistant bacilli, only 24.3% (MIC90 500 mg/mL) and 8.1% (MBC90 1000 mg/mL) were susceptible to honey with evidence of 14.85% and 5.94% significant viable reduction at 2 × MIC to less than 2.50 Log10 CFU/mL (P < 0.05). Only alkaloids significantly regressed (P � 0.028) with susceptibility of resistant bacilli significantly correlate with bacteria inhibition (r � 0.534, P � 0.049) at optimal cutoff limit of 0.32 mg/ml. Antibacterial honey with significant alkaloid biomarkers was detected at 3°10′0–3°30′0E and 6°30′0–7°30′0N of Southwest Nigeria. Spatial mapping evidently indicated variation in honey physicochemical and bioactive compounds and identified geographical locations suitable for production of anti-enteric honey rich in alkaloids marker required for prevention and treatment of resistant enteric bacilli infections

Geospatial Investigation of Nigerian Honey and Detection of Anti-Enteric Biomarker

Geospatial mapping and antibacterial biomarkers were investigated in Nigerian honey used for therapeutic purposes in several communities affected with prevalent antibiotic-resistant enteric bacilli. Randomly collected enteric bacilli from faecal samples were biotyped and phenotypically assayed for antibiotic resistance and profiled for R plasmids. R plasmid molecular weight and multiantibiotic resistance index (MARI) relatedness were evaluated for resistance among phylogroups. Honey cidal activity, time kill kinetics, and bioactive markers were determined and analysed for geospatial distribution. More than 30% enteric biotypes were resistant to cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline at MIC ≥16 μg/ml (P=0.004). Two unrelated cluster complexes with diverse antibiotic resistance indices expressed high molecular weight plasmid (14.17 kbp) with 0.73 MARI to two classes of antibiotics. Among the resistant bacilli, only 24.3% (MIC90 500 mg/mL) and 8.1% (MBC90 1000 mg/mL) were susceptible to honey with evidence of 14.85% and 5.94% significant viable reduction at 2 × MIC to less than 2.50 Log10 CFU/mL (P<0.05). Only alkaloids significantly regressed (P=0.028) with susceptibility of resistant bacilli significantly correlate with bacteria inhibition (r = 0.534, P=0.049) at optimal cutoff limit of 0.32 mg/ml. Antibacterial honey with significant alkaloid biomarkers was detected at 3°10′0–3°30′0E and 6°30′0–7°30′0N of Southwest Nigeria. Spatial mapping evidently indicated variation in honey physicochemical and bioactive compounds and identified geographical locations suitable for production of anti-enteric honey rich in alkaloids marker required for prevention and treatment of resistant enteric bacilli infections

Chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Osogbo Nigeria: efficacy of amodiaquine + sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and chloroquine + chlorpheniramine for treatment

Chloroquine (CQ) resistance in Plasmodium falciparum contributes to increasing malaria-attributable morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite a change in drug policy, continued prescription of CQ did not abate. Therefore the therapeutic efficacy of CQ in uncomplicated falciparum malaria patients was assessed in a standard 28-day protocol in 116 children aged between six and 120 months in Osogbo, Southwest Nigeria. Parasitological and clinical assessments of response to treatment showed that 72 (62.1%) of the patients were cured and 44 (37.9%) failed the CQ treatment. High initial parasite density and young age were independent predictors for early treatment failure. Out of the 44 patients that failed CQ, 24 received amodiaquine + sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine (AQ+SP) and 20 received chlorpheniramine + chloroquine (CH+CQ) combinations. Mean fever clearance time in those treated with AQ+SP was not significantly different from those treated with CH+CQ (p = 0.05). There was no significant difference in the mean parasite density of the two groups. The cure rate for AQ+SP group was 92% while those of CH+CQ was 85%. There was a significant difference in parasite clearance time (p = 0.01) between the two groups. The 38% treatment failure for CQ reported in this study is higher than the 10% recommended by World Health Organization in other to effect change in antimalarial treatment policy. Hence we conclude that CQ can no more be solely relied upon for the treatment of falciparum malaria in Osogbo, Nigeria. AQ+SP and CH+CQ are effective in the treatment of acute uncomplicated malaria and may be considered as useful alternative drugs in the absence of artemisinin-based combination therapies