SUSTAINED RELEASE ARTEMETHER-LOADED SOLID LIPID MICROPARTICLES, BASED ON SOLIDIFIED REVERSE MICELLAR SOLUTION (SRMS)

Objectives: To prepare and evaluate sustained release artemether-loaded SLMs based on SRMS Material and methods: SRMS, consisting of mixtures of Phospholipon® 90H (P90H) and Softisan® 154 (1:1, 2:1 and 1:2) were formulated and characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The SRMS were used to formulate artemether-loaded SLMs by melt homogenization. The SLMs were characterized based on particle size and morphology, pH stability, encapsulation efficiency (EE%) and loading capacity. In vitro release was carried out in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF, pH 7.5). Results: Thermograms of the SRMS (1:1, 2:1 and 1:2) showed sharp endothermic peaks at 65.5, 64.4 and 62.3 oC respectively. Maximum EE% of 70.00 ± 1.50 % was obtained for SLMs formulated with SRMS 1:1 and 1 % artemether. Loading capacity ranged from 5.67 to 17.90 g drug/100 g lipid. In vitro release showed about 80 to 84 % drug release at 7 h. Particle size of artemether-loaded SLMs ranged from 18.60 ± 0.09 to 34.80 ± 0.30 µm. The pH decreased significantly at 60 days from 6 to 4.8 for batch A2 formulated with SRMS 2:1 and 3 % artemether (p < 0.05). Conclusion: artemether-loaded SLMs based on SRMS had good sustained release properties and could be used once daily in order to enhance patient's compliance.   Key words: Malaria, artemether, SRMS, lipids, sustained release SLMs Â

PRESERVING FEDERALISM, LOCAL AUTONOMY IN A RESOURCE DEPENDENT RURAL STATE: A CASE OF NIGERIA

Abstract The Paper explores the practical implications of the new political economy of federalism, Tiebout hypothesis and the subsidiarity principle all of which couched around the modern market system of federal governance. Focusing on Nigeria's experimentation, the paper casts a dissenting voice to the emergent converging proposition of the new political economy of federalism by arguing that federal governance is not merely a matter of market efficiency because the distinctive features of plural societies often require that both principles of good economics and federal governance be subordinated to political considerations. After exploring the practical implications of the Nigerian market preserving model of federalism in the light of its "three-player ethnic game," the inference is that, there is organic relationship between the logic of the market and state, and the contradiction between "competitive federalism" and "cooperative federalism" that undermines the centralizing tendencies and enhances federalism's perdition, and therefore predisposes the state to adopt both defective model of development and federal governance. Against the prevailing orthodoxy, the paper avers the need to move from a "market preserving federalism" that encourages "bargaining and compromise" at the cost of social equity to an institutional dimension and makes a case for yet another experimentation with the social market economy model of the East Asian and the Nordic nations which lays greater emphasis on social equity and participative aspects of delivery as well as encouraging of freedom of choices, political, social, economic and cultural freedom within the rule of law. Finally, as an alternative to the prevailing nominal modern market system of federal governance in Nigeria, the paper concluded by noting that the concept and practice of market preserving federalism had to be deconstructed to reflect the extension of the concept of market into politics and original idea behind federalism as a model of political organization

Cross-cultural invariances in the architecture of shame

This set of experiments shows that in 15 traditional small-scale societies there is an extraordinarily close correspondence between (i) the intensity of shame felt if one exhibited specific acts or traits and (ii) the magnitude of devaluation expressed in response to those acts or traits by local audiences, and even foreign audiences. Three important and widely acknowledged sources of cultural variation between communities—}geographic proximity, linguistic similarity, and religious similarity{—}all failed to account for the strength of between-community correlations in the shame{–}devaluation link. This supplies a parallel line of evidence that shame is a universal system, part of our species{’} cooperative biology, rather than a product of cultural evolution.Human foragers are obligately group-living, and their high dependence on mutual aid is believed to have characterized our species{’} social evolution. It was therefore a central adaptive problem for our ancestors to avoid damaging the willingness of other group members to render them assistance. Cognitively, this requires a predictive map of the degree to which others would devalue the individual based on each of various possible acts. With such a map, an individual can avoid socially costly behaviors by anticipating how much audience devaluation a potential action (e.g., stealing) would cause and weigh this against the action{’}s direct payoff (e.g., acquiring). The shame system manifests all of the functional properties required to solve this adaptive problem, with the aversive intensity of shame encoding the social cost. Previous data from three Western(ized) societies indicated that the shame evoked when the individual anticipates committing various acts closely tracks the magnitude of devaluation expressed by audiences in response to those acts. Here we report data supporting the broader claim that shame is a basic part of human biology. We conducted an experiment among 899 participants in 15 small-scale communities scattered around the world. Despite widely varying languages, cultures, and subsistence modes, shame in each community closely tracked the devaluation of local audiences (mean r = +0.84). The fact that the same pattern is encountered in such mutually remote communities suggests that shame{’s match to audience devaluation is a design feature crafted by selection and not a product of cultural contact or convergent cultural evolution

Solidarity and Social Behaviour: how did this help communities to manage COVID-19 pandemic?

Purpose – During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns, stay at home or work from home, many have argued that the westernised non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) do not provide remedial in low-income countries like Nigeria, where informal job seekers, street traders, informal labourers and artisans depend mainly on the informal economy. By applying social solidarity (SS) and community-based approach (CBA), the authors evaluate individual acts (trust, altruism and reciprocity) during the lockdown and how these practices evolve from individual approaches to collective actions. Design/methodology/approach – This study reflects on pragmatism research paradigm that enables researchers to maintain both subjectivity in their reflections and objectivity in data collection and analysis. The authors adopt a qualitative method through purposeful and convenience sampling procedure. Data were analysed thematically to identify elements of SS, individual acts, collective or community actions and perceptions. Findings – The findings reveal that COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact (lack of food and a fall in daily income) on workers, informal job seekers, informal businesses operators and the poor households. As such, the study developed a reflective model of solidarity exhibited by individual acts and collective acts (practices of resource pooling, information sharing, women empowerment, distribution of palliatives and donations) within trusted circles that helped people cope with the lockdown experiences. Practical implications – Solidarity represents beliefs, practices of values and norms. The SS exhibited by people through NPI would have implications on planning and monitoring the effectiveness of public health programmes during a pandemic in the future. Social implications – The findings of citizens and community actions have implications related to the process of building communities – coming together – and solidarity that enhances social development with implications on community health policy agenda during disasters, emergencies and health pandemic. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to analyse the relationship between trust, altruism, reciprocity, SS and CBA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it seems reasonable to clarify the concept of SS given the lack of clarity about the definitions from previous studies

Women’s preferences for men’s facial masculinity are strongest under favorable ecological conditions

International audienceThe strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women's preferences for men's testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women's facial masculinity preferences. We report women's preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality and where national health indices and human development indices are higher, while no associations were found between preferences and indices of intra-sexual competition. Our results show that women's preferences for masculine faces are stronger under conditions where offspring survival is higher and economic conditions are more favorable