Mixed Ligand Complexes of Cobalt (II) Barbitone in Aqueous Medium and their Biological Activities

Complexes of cobalt (II) barbitone and thiocyanate ion mixed ligands have been synthesized and characterized by a direct mixing method on the basis of their solubilities, melting points, elemental analyses as well as the spectroscopic analyses. Biological evaluations of the solid metal complexes and the free ligand were screened against the selected bacteria pathogens viz: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and bacillus subtitis and fungi species which include Sclerotiania trifoliorun, Fusarium oxyporium, Stemania paradoxa and Botrytis cinerea. The results of the metal complexes analyses have revealed that cobalt ions coordinated bidentately with the ligand through the ring carbonyl oxygen and nitrogen atom of the amide group, and also found to be soluble in ethanol and dimethylsulphuroxide and non-electrolytic in nature/character. The biological activities of metal complexes revealed that they were toxic to the selected fungi but not effective as antibacterial agents except in the mixed ligand metal complexes. However, complexes were more potent than the free ligand.   Keywords: Barbitone, mixed ligand, cobalt and biological activities

Effects of Zinc Supplement on Rabbits Performance and Growth Rate

Improvement on the quantity and quality of non traditional animal protein sources has become necessary in order to meet the need for adequate food and nutrition action plans of government at all level to ensure consistent and continuous supply of basic health need such as protein, vitamins and energy food. Dietary supplementation of rabbits with zinc was carried out to determine its effects on reproduction performance and growth rate of rabbits. Fifteen adult does were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 5 rabbits per group: the control group and two treatments groups. The control group was not supplemented with zinc while treatment groups A and B were supplemented with zinc of 20μg and 40μg respectively for 60 days. Zinc enhanced increase in litter size of treatment groups that recorded 25 and 22 kittens for 20μg and 40μg respectively against 7 kittens for the control. The difference was statistically significant at P <0.001. Though, there was geometric increase in size and weight in all the groups following weaning but the growth rate was independent of zinc treatment. Mortality was 60% and 81.87% among kittens kindled by does supplemented with 20μg and 40μg of zinc respectively against 42.86% of the control does. It is not unlikely that adaptive immunity from mammary gland of does fortified with zinc impacted the kittens and improved their survival rate

Enterprise Survival and Growth: Classification, Structures, and Policy Development in Nigeria.

Due to copyright the full text of the three papers is not included in the thesis.Research on Informal Economy (IE) has advanced over recent years and gained increasing popularity. Despite this interest, there is a dearth of research exploring the institutionalisation of Informal Economy Entrepreneurs (IEEs), particularly enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and implications for the institutional environment. This research begins to address the deficit by conceptualising the establishment of Nano Enterprise (NE) business classification as an enabler for the institutionalisation of IE enterprises in SSA. Institutionalisation should eliminate barriers to access resources in the formal economy (FE) as survival and growth of IE enterprises is inherently challenging as informality creates resource-constraints. Using quantitative methods, the study used logit and ordered logit regression analysis to analyse survey data from 398 Nigerian entrepreneurs selected through purposive regional cluster sampling to theorise the interconnected impact of key formal institutions on the choice of venture creation in the IE. The study finds non-registration precludes IEEs future access to resources from formal institutions for survival and growth. Contrary to the counterproductive labels in extant literature, business registration was found to be pivotal for access to otherwise constrained resources for survival and growth of IEEs. Furthermore, the study finds positive and significant relationship between informality and support for the establishment of NE classification for nonemploying entrepreneurs conceptualised as an enabler for institutionalising IE enterprises. The study further provides empirical evidence that informality is positively and significantly related to the willingness of IEEs to register under NE business classification. In addition, specific government policies targeting non-employing entrepreneurs and access to government financial incentives were found to have significant effect on the willingness of IEEs to register under the proposed business classification. These findings provide important implications for academic conceptualisation of the IE, entrepreneurship as practice, and policy development for enterprise survival and growth in developing countries such as Nigeria

East Midlands Top 500 Companies 2020

The East Midlands Top 500 Companies 2020 is a new index which celebrates the business success of the East Midlands as a region with a remarkably strong, diverse and resilient range of firms. The Top 500 is based on historic data from Companies House accounts submitted between July 2017 and June 2018. These are accessed from the Financial Analysis Made Easy FAME database supplied by Bureau Van Dijk. This is supplemented from other publicly available sources of business information. The report includes analysis of the significance, an overview of the regional business economy, and a series of company case studies. The index represents the strength and diversity of firms based in the East Midlands. The Top 500 Index provides a continuing baseline for comparison in future years, since it comprises data predating the effects of Brexit and COVID-19. This will be updated yearly. It includes companies with their registered offices located in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. All these businesses have been included in the ‘Top 200 Companies’ 2019 for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, featured in the ‘Business Live’ coverage by Reach Media

The Prevalence of Malaria Parasitic Infections in Cord Blood: Association with Some Socio Demographic Profile

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between some selected socio demographic profile and malaria parasitic infections in cord blood. It involved 100 cord blood samples of newly delivered babies at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State. Samples were subjected to microscopic examinations following standard protocols and the prevalence of malaria parasitic infections in cord blood were identified using thick and thin blood films. Plasmodium species and packed cell volume were identified and determined using rapid antigen techniques and microhaematocrit respectively. Results showed that malaria parasite was present in 9.0% of samples and was higher in babies with weights ≤1.0kg (66.70%) and PCV of 25.50% (15.40%). As regards species distribution, Plasmodium falciparum had the highest prevalence (6%). Based on the methods used, microscopic method had higher prevalence (9%) over rapid detection technique (6%). On the methods used, malaria parasitic infections was also higher among the age 36-40 years (12.5%), primigravidae (15.6%), rural dwellers (16.1%), unskilled labour (22.2%), educational status ≤SSCE (12.5%) and mothers that do not use prophylaxis (45.5%). Overall, the prevalence of malaria parasites in cord blood is low in the studied area, yet the associated consequence of mother-to-child transmission can not be ignored.Keywords: Babies, Cord blood, Demographic profile, Malaria parasites, Relationship

THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF AFRICAN NUTMEG (Myristica fragrans) IN BROMATE-INDUCED SPLEEN AND CARDIAC TISSUE TOXICITIES USING MALE WISTAR ALBINO RATS

This study was aimed at investigating the toxic effects of potassium bromate on the spleen and heart of Wistar albino rat and to evaluate the protective effects of aqueous extract of African nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) against potassium bromate induced toxicity in the two organs. Twenty-four (24) male wistar albino rats weighing between 180g and 200g were divided into four groups of six animals each. Group I animals were served with rat feed and water as the control group, group II were administered daily with 30mg/kg bw potassium bromate while groups III and IV animals were administered with 0.5mL of 20% and 40% aqueous extracts of nutmeg seed in addition with 30mg/kg body weight potassium bromate respectively for two weeks. The animals were kept at optimum temperature within a 12 hours light/dark cycle while the experiment lasted. Enzyme biomarkers such as Aspartate Transaminase, Alanine Transaminase, Alkaline Phosphatase; antioxidant enzymes such as, Superoxide dismutase, Catalase; reduced Glutathione; some lipid profiles like Cholesterol, Triglyceride and malondialdehyde were measured in the spleen and heart homogenates of the animals in all the groups. Results of this study showed that potassium bromate exerted significant (P < 0.05) toxic effects on the spleen and heart homogenates while the administration of aqueous extracts of African nutmeg seed caused a marked reversal in the toxicity in a dose dependent manner. However, the results of this study showed that aqueous extract of the seed of African nutmeg is a potential antioxidant against potassium bromate toxicity in the two organs.    Keywords: Toxicity, Potassium bromate, Myristica fragrans, Cardiac tissue, Antioxidan

Enterprise survival and growth: A conceptual exposition of entrepreneurial activities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Research on Informal Economy has advanced over recent years and gained increasing popularity. Despite this interest, there is a dearth of research exploring the institutionalisation of informal economy enterprises (IEE), particularly enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and implications for the institutional environment. This chapter begins to address the deficit by conceptualising the establishment of a Nano Enterprise (NE) classification as an enabler for the institutionalisation of informal economy enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa. The survival and growth of IEE would be inherently challenging as informality creates resource-constraints. We argue that the establishment of a Nano Enterprise classification as an enabler for institutionalisation should operationally enhance the legitimacy and prospect of survival and growth among IEE in Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, that the nature of the context and institutionalisation pressures will equally impact any outcome. Finally, the chapter explores new avenues for entrepreneurship researchers to empirically test the institutionalisation proposal presented in this study

Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial evaluations of mixed ligand complexes of sulphamethaxole and metronidaxole with some transistion metals (Zn, Co, Cu and Fe) in water methanol medium

Sulfamethoxazole and metronidazole are antibiotics use for the treatment of various bacterial infections. Their use as ligand is very prominent in formation of metal complexes. The transition metal complexes are synthesized by reaction of Sulfamethoxazole and metronidazole with metals such Mn(II), Cu(II), Fe(II) and Ni(II). The synthesized metal complexes are tested as antibacterial and antifungal. The antimicrobial activity of the complexes displays good potency against some microorganism such as Xanthomonas axonopodis, Streptococcus faecalia, Salmonella entrica, Claribacter michiganense, Xanthomonas phaseolin for bacteria and S.roofisii, M.phonoides, C.lindimuthianum for the fungi, it is revealed that all copper complexes show stronger antibacterial activity than the free drugs. The spectroscopic properties of the complexes were investigated using UV/visible and FT-IR which show metal-charge from 3d to 3s transition in which the transition state shows that they are octahedral geometry and their coordination site respectively. Their percentage yield was moderately high and producible. The complexes synthesized have higher inhibitory activities than the free ligand. The drug resistance in microbes is resulting in the incompetence of available drugs to care for the infections. The thermal analysis shows that the complexes are stable