Thermal Properties of Deng-Fan-Eckart Potential model using Poisson Summation Approach

The Deng-Fan-Eckart (DFE) potential is as good as the Morse potential in studying atomic interaction in diatomic molecules. By using the improved Pekeris-type approximation, to deal with the centrifugal term, we obtain the bound-state solutions of the radial Schr\"odinger equation with this adopted molecular model via the Factorization Method. With the energy equation obtained, the thermodynamic properties of some selected diatomic molecules(H2 , CO , and ScN ) were obtained using Poisson summation method.. The unnormalized wave function is also derived. The energy spectrum for a set of diatomic molecules for different values of the vibrational n and rotational l are obtained. To show the accuracy of our results, we discuss some special cases by adjusting some potential parameters and also compute the numerical eigenvalue of the Deng-Fan potential for comparison sake. However, it was found out that our results agree excellently with the results obtained via other methods.Comment: 29 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables, 4902 word

Burns in pregnancy: Five-year experience in a tertiary hospital in southeastern Nigeria

BackgroundBurns in pregnancy is often associated with high maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality especially when the total burn surface area (TBSA) involved is high. This study aims to review management outcome of cases of burns in pregnancy at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA).MethodsA five year retrospective study of all pregnant women that presented at AE-FUTHA with burn injury between April 2014 and March 2019. Information was collected from the medical records using a proforma and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) using descriptive statistics.ResultsA total of 222 cases of burns were managed but only 8 were pregnant, giving an incidence of 3.6%. The commonest causes were flame (62.5%), scald (25%) and friction (12.5%) occurring mostly during the harmattan season. The median age of participants was 25-34 years. The burns affected 12.5% of the patients in the first trimester and 62.5% and 25% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively. Most patients (62.5%) had superficial burns while 25% had other associated injuries in addition to burns. About 87.5% had term spontaneous vaginal delivery. There was no maternal death but, there was an early neonatal death.ConclusionThe good outcome observed in this study with a 100% survival, could be explained by inter-disciplinary management approach given, even as most cases were minor degrees of burns. Early involvement of obstetricians in all burns affecting pregnant women is advised especially in burn centres where obstetricians are hardly in the employ

Safe prescribing training provision for junior doctors: is this optimal?

Background The aim of this study was to determine the training provisions in practical safe prescribing for foundation doctors in NHS hospitals located in the South Thames region. Methods A web-based questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to all 1762 foundation doctors in the South Thames Foundation School (STFS) region. In addition, a separate questionnaire was distributed to prescribing training Leads at 15 NHS Hospital Trusts. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis was performed on qualitative data. Results Trainers: 10 Prescribing Leads (67 %) responded. Of the 9 NHS Trusts that offered safe prescribing training in their induction programme, 5 included a practical prescribing session. By the end of the foundation year, 6 NHS Trusts had provided at least one dedicated practical prescribing session for F1s compared with 2 NHS Trusts for F2s. Trainees: A total of 124 foundation trainees (7.2 %) responded (69 F1s and 55 F2s). 87 % of F1s received dedicated training in safe prescribing at their Trust induction (n = 60) in comparison to 49 % of F2s (n = 27). 80 % of F1s (n = 55) had a practical prescribing session during induction versus 27 % of F2s (n = 15). The difference was significant, X2 (1, N = 124) = 34.23, p <0.0001. Emerging themes from qualitative data included, recognition of medical education as a continuum, importance of working relationships with pharmacists and neglect of F2s. Conclusions There appears to be a lack of emphasis on the training of F2 doctors in practical safe prescribing compared with F1 doctors. There should be standardisation of safe prescribing training provisions, particularly in the induction period and for F2 doctors

Phytochemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Potentials of some Indigenous Plants in Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria

Twenty four ethanol leaf and stem bark extracts of 17 indigenous plants were examined for their phytochemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Phytochemical compositions were analysed with GC-MS while antimicrobial activities on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated by the agar well diffusion method. The antioxidant activities were determined with Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total phenolic content (TPC) and 2, 2,-dihenyl-1-picryhydazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays. The antibacterial activity was more towards the gram positive S. aureus than the gram negative P. aeruginosa for all the plant extracts.  A wide range of phenolic concentrations among the aqueous plant extracts which varied from 28.04 to 500.26mg GAE per gram were observed.  Inhibition percentages of DPPH ranged from 19.13 to 95.77% showing effectiveness in radical scavenging. GC-MS characterization of the plant extracts showed a total of 18 components including alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, terpenoids, steroids and glycosides. Irvingia gabonensis leaf (IGL) extract and Tamarind stem bark (TSB) exhibited excellent ferric reducing abilities of 2.11 and 1.56 respectively while Voucanga Africana leaf (VCA) extract indicated the lowest ferric reducing power of 0.50. Extracts of IGL and TSB exhibited the highest antioxidant capacities and therefore could be the main sources of natural antioxidant. An important relationship between total phenolic content was observed showing that the major contributor to the antioxidant properties were phenolic compounds