Business and Technical Education Delivery in the 21st Century: The Challenge of Quality and Functional Skills.

The study explored the question of quality and functionality in the delivery of Business Education in Nigeria. Attempt was made to unravel the definitional flux around business education pointing out the broad goals and objectives of Business Education.  The paper critically examined the issue of quality and functional skills in education with special emphasis on the parameters for measuring quality and the various dimensions of the educational system quality. The impediments to quality Business Education and even the way forward were not left out.  The paper concluded with a proposal of a model captioned the “School Work Mix” Model of Business Education”. The model is an integrated 5 – stage activity leading to efficiency, excellence and effectiveness in the delivery of Business Education in Nigeria

The Impact of Nigerian Educational Policies on Business Schools and Entrepreneurship Education

This paper discussed the need in Nigeria to create a synergy between Education with entrepreneurial skill acquisition and self-employment through integrated national policies. This would serve as a panacea for solving the massive unemployment problem, diminish rural poverty and empower a larger percentage of the citizens economically. During the colonial era in Nigeria, the educational policy was geared towards meeting the needs of the colonial administrations. In the post-independence period, the national policy on education changed and the emphasis was put as "education for paid employment" rather than education for self-employment. For a long time also, there was utter neglect of small Enterprises in the industrialization policy. The combination of the above two scenarios have no doubt contributed to the problems of massive unemployment and rural poverty now facing the nation. Since the 1970s attention has been shifted to small and medium scale industries by both the federal and state governments due to the realization of the potentials of this sector in terms of employment generation poverty reduction, rural development, and mobilization of domestic savings. A lot of government and institutional support has therefore been directed to this sector in terms of credit facility, entrepreneurship development etc. What remains to be done is to link educational policy with industrialization and employment policies through formal education intervention in entrepreneurship development. Such a planned integration of polices will foster skills, attitudes and values amongst the youth (while still in school) appropriate to starting owning or working in successful business enterprise. Keywords: Educational policies; entrepreneurial Education; industrialization; self-employmen

Molecular characterisation of pathogenic fungi of maize grains

Fungi differ from each other phylogenetically, ecologically, metabolically, biochemically, physiologically and morphologically. Despite industrial, medicinal and agricultural importance of fungi, their identification remains daunting for young mycologists. A study was conducted to identify the common fungal pathogens causing post-harvest contamination of stored maize grains purchased from the Rumuokoro daily market in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Fungal cultures were isolated and morphologically identified using both standard blotter method and Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) media. The DNA of the most common fungal isolate, coded M-11, was molecularly characterised using Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS-1) molecular marker. The M-11 isolate DNA sequence was aligned using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool for nucleotide (BLASTN) 2.8.0 version of the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The amplified DNA sequence of the millet isolates yielded 569 base pairs. The results indicated that the M-11 isolate sequence was 89.34% identical to Aspergillus flavus var. flavus strain CSS 130026 and 88.11% identical to Aspergillus flavus isolate AA 133. The above outcome shows that one of the causal organisms associated with stored maize grains is Aspergillus flavus. It is anticipated that these results will improve on the current information available, provide information for developing effective disease control strategy for alleviating the post-harvest losses caused by Aspergillus flavus and also provide a foundation for further study of potential mycotoxic effect of consuming diseased maize seeds

Membrane lipid interactions in intestinal ischemia/reperfusion-induced Injury

Ischemia, lack of blood flow, and reperfusion, return of blood flow, is a common phenomenon affecting millions of Americans each year. Roughly 30,000 Americans per year experience intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR), which is associated with a high mortality rate. Previous studies of the intestine established a role for neutrophils, eicosanoids, the complement system and naturally occurring antibodies in IR-induced pathology. Furthermore, data indicate involvement of a lipid or lipid-like moiety in mediating IR-induced damage. It has been proposed that exposure of neo-antigens are recognized by antibodies, triggering action of the complement cascade. While it is evident that the pathophysiology of IR-induced injury is complex and multi-factorial, we focus this review on the involvement of eicosanoids, phospholipids and neo-antigens in the early pathogenesis. Lipid changes occurring in response to IR, neo-antigens exposed and the role of a phospholipid transporter, phospholipid scramblase 1 will be discussed

Myosin Light Chain Kinase Mediates Intestinal Barrier Disruption following Burn Injury

Background: Severe burn injury results in the loss of intestinal barrier function, however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation mediated by MLC kinase (MLCK) is critical to the pathophysiological regulation of intestinal barrier function. We hypothesized that the MLCK-dependent MLC phosphorylation mediates the regulation of intestinal barrier function following burn injury, and that MLCK inhibition attenuates the burn-induced intestinal barrier disfunction. Methodology/Principal Findings: Male balb/c mice were assigned randomly to either sham burn (control) or 30 % total body surface area (TBSA) full thickness burn without or with intraperitoneal injection of ML-9 (2 mg/kg), an MLCK inhibitor. In vivo intestinal permeability to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran was measured. Intestinal mucosa injury was assessed histologically. Tight junction proteins ZO-1, occludin and claudin-1 was analyzed by immunofluorescent assay. Expression of MLCK and phosphorylated MLC in ileal mucosa was assessed by Western blot. Intestinal permeability was increased significantly after burn injury, which was accompanied by mucosa injury, tight junction protein alterations, and increase of both MLCK and MLC phosphorylation. Treatment with ML-9 attenuated the burn-caused increase of intestinal permeability, mucosa injury, tight junction protein alterations, and decreased MLC phosphorylation, but not MLCK expression

Potent Antioxidant and Genoprotective Effects of Boeravinone G, a Rotenoid Isolated from Boerhaavia diffusa

Background and Aims: Free radicals are implicated in the aetiology of some gastrointestinal disorders such as gastric ulcer, colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. In the present study we investigated the antioxidant and genoprotective activity of some rotenoids (i.e. boeravinones) isolated from the roots of Boerhaavia diffusa, a plant used in the Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Methods/Principal Findings: Antioxidant activity has been evaluated using both chemical (Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy, ESR) and Caco-2 cells-based (TBARS and ROS) assays. DNA damage was evaluated by Comet assay, while pERK 1/2 and phospho-NF-kB p65 levels were estimated by western blot. Boeravinones G, D and H significantly reduced the signal intensity of ESR induced by hydroxyl radicals, suggesting a scavenging activity. Among rotenoids tested, boeravinone G exerted the most potent effect. Boeravinone G inhibited both TBARS and ROS formation induced by Fenton's reagent, increased SOD activity and reduced H 2O 2-induced DNA damage. Finally, boeravinone G reduced the levels of pERK 1 and phospho-NF-kB p65 (but not of pERK 2) increased by Fenton's reagent. Conclusions: It is concluded that boeravinone G exhibits an extraordinary potent antioxidant activity (significant effect in the nanomolar range). The MAP kinase and NF-kB pathways seem to be involved in the antioxidant effect of boeravinone G. Boeravinone G might be considered as lead compound for the development of drugs potentially useful against those pathologies whose aetiology is related to ROS-mediated injuries