Exploration of Benefits of NDDC Road Projects on Household Income in Rivers State

Development projects that support and improve the socio-economic conditions are essential because they motivate innovations, which in turn create jobs, improve quality of life and sustainable development. This belief prompted the need to evaluate the impact of rural roads on household income. This study proceeded to determine the socio-economic circumstances of the beneficiary and non-beneficiary communities of the road projects. A multistage random sampling was used to select 3007 respondents from the study area. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and propensity score matching technique. The study revealed that households in NDDC road project communities experienced increased income of about N 5,768.437. Based on this, the study recommended that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should sustain the infrastructural development particularly road projects by increasing the annual budget provisions. Research efforts need to be carried out in other states of Niger Delta Region to ascertain the benefits of rural development projects.  It is therefore important to further ascertain the influences of other development projects on socio-economic conditions in Rivers State. The study provides an empirical analysis of the benefits of rural road projects such as that of NDDC projects across Rivers State on the income of households. It also raised the questions what is a sustainable level of impact on average household income? Could the impact have been higher if adequate needs analysis has been carried out prior to the road construction? Keywords: Propensity Score Matching, Socio-economic Conditions, Rural Road Projects, NDDC, Incom

Experiencing Cancer in Appalachian Kentucky

Nothing tells the story of people working together better than a community quilt. A diversity of talents, colors, and materials brought together through skill and shared purpose. Perhaps never before have we as Americans needed a stronger reminder that many hands make short work of big problems. The work presented here by the L.A.U.N.C.H. Collaborative offers a new framework for health care that could be compared to a digital quilt, powered by community-based participatory design, with lived expertise and the newest advances in broadband-enabled connected health solutions. This work demonstrates the value and need to engage local communities and what can be learned when beneficiaries and traditional caregivers work together to develop healthcare solutions

Barn-Raising on the Digital Frontier: The L.A.U.N.C.H. Collaborative

A meta-analysis of oncology papers from around the world revealed that cancer patients who lived more than 50 miles away from hospital centers routinely presented with more advanced stages of disease at diagnosis, exhibited lower adherence to prescribed treatments, presented with poorer diagnoses, and reported a lower quality of life than patients who lived nearer to care facilities. Connected health approaches—or the use of broadband and telecommunications technologies to evaluate, diagnose, and monitor patients beyond the clinic—are becoming an indispensable tool in medicine to overcome the obstacle of distance

Chemical Information from GCMS Analysis of Acetone Extract of Piper guineense Leaves. Part 1

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(4): 437-445 Received 25 June 2020/Accepted 29 July 2020 Applications of plant leaves for various purposes is based on its chemical constituents which may include proximate, elemental, phytochemical, toxicant, amino acid and other toxicants. Knowledge of phytochemical constituents is significant for their pharmaceutical/medicinal values. This study was carried out to investigate the chemical constituents of acetone extract of Piper guineense leaves through phytochemical screening and GCMS analysis. Results obtained from phytochemical screening indicated the major constituents (those whose concentrations were greater than 1%) to include ,6-dimethyloxazolo(5,4-c)pyridazin-4-amine (31.80 %), 3-(1-methylethyl)-cyclohexene (20.99 %), 4-methoxy-N-(4-nitrobenzyl)-benzamide (12.82 %), alpha bisabolene (7.33%), 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,8a-octahydro-7-methyl-4-methylene-1-(1-methylethyl)-napthalene (4.42 %), 3,7-diacetamidophenoxathin (4.10 %), 1,3,3-trimethyl tricyclo{2,2,1]heptane (2.98%), 3H-indazol-3-one (2.11%), 1H-indene,octahydro-1,7a-dimethyl-4-(1-methylethenyl)-1,4-methano-1H-indene (1.98%), piperidine (1.97%),2,4-disopropenyl-1-methyl-1-vinyl (1.70%), n-hexadecanoic acid (1.68%), eudesdma-4[14],11-diene (1.27%). The pharmaceutical values of the identified constituents were also analsed. The study reveals that acetone extract of Piper guneense contains constituents that are not visible with some other solvent

Chemical Information from GCMS Analysis of Acetone-Ethanol Ex-tract of Piper guineense Leaf. Part 2

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(4): 470-481 Received 25 June 2020/Accepted 29 July 2020 The need to know the different constituents of Piper  guineense  leaf extract through the use of different solvent is remarkable because solvents play significant role in the constituent that can be extracted from planr materials. GCMS analysis of Acetone-ethanol extract of  Piper guineense leaves indicated twenty one peaks which represented  2,3,6,7,7a-hexahydro-7a-methyl-5H-indene-5-one, alpha-cubebene, 1-ethenyl-1-methyl-2,4-bis(1-methylethenyl)-cyclohexane, caryophyllene, alpha caryophyllene, megastigma-7(E),9, 13-triene, eudesdma-4(14),11-diene, azulene, epsilon muurolene, di-t-butylacetylene, -cyclopentene -1-ethanol, 2,24-trimethyl, 2,6,6- trimethyl-3-(phenylthiol)cyclohep-4-enol, hexadecenoic acid, nonadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, cyclohexylidenecyclohexane,, pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridine-4(5H)-one, 4,5-dihydrobenzo[1,2-c:3,4-c’]bis[1,2,5]oxadiazole, piperidine, 3,7-diacetamidophenoxathin and 4-(6-methoxy-3-mythyl-2-benzofuran)-3-buten-2-one respectively. The most abundant components of the extract was di-t-butylacetylene (17.36%) and ,5-dihydrobenzo[1,2-c:3,4-c’]bis[1,2,5]oxadiazole (12.95%). Most of the  identified compounds were reported to possess strong biological activities. Compounds that has not been reported from GCMS analysis of the plant leaves using other solvent were also observed which confirmed that the missed  solvent (acetone-ethanol) is more effective in extracting phytochemicals in Piper guineense leaves than either of the solven

Wood Saw Dust as Adsorbent for the Removal of Direct Red (DR) Dye from Aqueous Solution

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2019, 4(2): 160-166 Authors: Nsor Odo Alobi* and Onyeije Ugomma Chibuzo Received 29 October 2019/Accepted 20 December 2019 Current researches in adopting or synthesizing materials for water purification through adsorption are targeted on those ones that are renewable or those that have great potentials of reducing waste in the environment. Attempt was made to utilized wastes from the wood industry (wood sawdust) as adsorbent for the removal of Direct red dye from aqueous solution. The results indicated maximum percentage dye removal approaching 100 %. The adsorption of the dye tends to increase with adsorbate dosage and with increase in the initial dye concentration. The adsorption efficiency also increases with time upto 60 minutes after which, further increase in time did not reflect corresponding increase in time. The mechanism of physical adsorption was established for the adsorption of Direct red dye unto the surface of the wood due to decrease in extent of adsorption with increase in temperature, observed values of standard free energy and heat if been less than the threshold values required for the mechanism of chemical adsorption). Langmuir, Temkin and Dubinin-Raduskevich adsorption models were sufficient to explain the adsorption characteristics of wood sawdust for the removal of Direct dye from aqueous solution. Application of pseudo first order kinetics fails with respect to the adsorption of Direct dye on wood sawdust. However, pseudo second order kinetic was established in addition to the freedom of intra particle diffusion model as a controlling factor

NRF2 Activation by Nitrogen Heterocycles: A Review

Several nitrogen heterocyclic analogues have been applied to clinical practice, and about 75% of drugs approved by the FDA contain at least a heterocyclic moiety. Thus, nitrogen heterocycles are beneficial scaffolds that occupy a central position in the development of new drugs. The fact that certain nitrogen heterocyclic compounds significantly activate the NRF2/ARE signaling pathway and upregulate the expression of NRF2-dependent genes, especially HO-1 and NQO1, underscores the need to study the roles and pharmacological effects of N-based heterocyclic moieties in NRF2 activation. Furthermore, nitrogen heterocycles exhibit significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. NRF2-activating molecules have been of tremendous research interest in recent times due to their therapeutic roles in neuroinflammation and oxidative stress-mediated diseases. A comprehensive review of the NRF2-inducing activities of N-based heterocycles and their derivatives will broaden their therapeutic prospects in a wide range of diseases. Thus, the present review, as the first of its kind, provides an overview of the roles and effects of nitrogen heterocyclic moieties in the activation of the NRF2 signaling pathway underpinning their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions in several diseases, their pharmacological properties and structural–activity relationship are also discussed with the aim of making new discoveries that will stimulate innovative research in this area