A pH-responsive amphiphilic hydrogel based on pseudopeptides and poly(ethylene glycol) for oral delivery of hydrophobic drugs

Oral administration is a noninvasive and convenient drug delivery route most preferred by patients. However, poor stability in the gastrointestinal tract and low bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs has greatly limited their oral administration. To address this problem, we report a pH-responsive, amphiphilic hydrogel drug carrier based on a pseudopeptide poly(l-lysine isophthalamide) (PLP) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The hydrogels were prepared by a simple N-(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)-N′-ethyl carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) coupling reaction, and the cross-linking was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analyses. Because of the pH-responsive conformational alteration of PLP, the hydrogels were relatively hydrophobic and collapsed at acidic pH, but became hydrophilic and swollen at neutral pH. The amphiphilicity enabled the hydrogels to well retain and protect hydrophobic model drugs in the simulated gastric fluid, but efficiently release them in the simulated intestinal fluid. These results suggested that the pH-responsive amphiphilic hydrogels are promising candidates for oral delivery of hydrophobic drugs

The Growth Performance of Triplochiton scleroxylon, Terminalia superba and Ceiba pentandra in Pure and Mixed Stands.

Plantation developers mostly prefer exotic to indigenous tree species in restoration of degraded forests due, perhaps to, inadequate information on indigenous tree plantations to enable them change in that direction. The study was conducted at the Jimira Forest Reserve in the Nkawie Forest District to compare the growth performance of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylonin their pure and mixed stands. Four plots, each divided into four subplots measuring 50m x 50m, of one hectare demarcated represented three pure stands of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon and one mixed stand of the three species. Simple random sampling was used to a subplot from each plotand diameter and height measurements were taken. The mean growth rates in diameter of Ceiba pentandra, Terminalia superba, and Triplochiton scleroxylon in the pure stands and the mixed stand were 1.73 and 1.61cm/year; 1.77 and 2.02 cm/year; and 2.70 and 2.57 cm/year respectively and those in height were 1.06 and 0.80 m/year; 1.16 and 1.25 m/year; and 1.98 and 1.59 m/year respectively. The statistical analysis carried out to determine the variations in tree diameter and height in the pure and mixed stands indicated no significant differences. Keywords: Growth Performance, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Terminalia superba, Ceiba pentandra, Pure and Mixed Stands. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-4-0

Appraisal of the efficacy of SP-IPTP in Aminu Kano teaching hospital – impact on maternal anaemia, malaria parasitaemia and clinical malaria in pregnancy.

Background: Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), is the malaria prophylaxis that is recommended in malaria endemic areas. Increasing reports of resistance to SP across the globe, make appraisal of its efficacy to be necessary in health facilities that use it.Objective: To determine the efficacy of SP – IPTp in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy using Proguanil chemoprophylaxis as the gold standard, in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria.Methods: In this prospective study, 300 primigravid women were enrolled and assigned by block randomization to SP – IPTp (cases) or proguanil chemoprophylaxis (control) group. Each group consisted of 150 women. Study variables of interest were packed cell volume (PCV) at recruitment and at 34 weeks gestation, peripheral malaria parasitaemia, severe anaemia at 34 weeks gestation, and the frequency of clinical malaria during the study period in the two groups. The data obtained were recorded using tables. Students't-test, Z-test and chi-square test were used to compare means and proportions respectively for statistically significant differences, setting the level of significance at P < 0.05.Results: There was statistically significant increase in the PCV between recruitment and at 34 weeks in each group (P < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in the PCV, peripheral malaria parasitaemia and frequency of clinical malaria between the two groups at 34 weeks gestation (P > 0.05).Conclusion: SP-IPTp has similar effectiveness as proguanil chemoprophlaxis. SP-IPTp is still effective in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.Keywords ; Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, proguanil, malaria, pregnancy

Laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in a Tertiary Hospital: A 4 year review

Objective: To determine various indications for laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in Aminu Kano Teaching, hospital (AKTH), Kano.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study conducted at the (AKTH, which involved all the patients who had laparoscopy and or hysteroscopy from January 2011 to December 2014 (4 year). Records of patients who had laparoscopy or hysteroscopy in AKTH within the study period were retrieved from the operation record book; their case files were retrieved, studied and recorded in a proforma. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.Results: The total number of patients who had diagnostic laparoscopy within the 4‑year study period was 221, but only 197 files were retrieved, giving a retrieval rate of 89.1%. The total number of patients who had diagnostic hysteroscopy was 28, but only 23 case files were retrieved, giving a retrieval rate of 82.1%. Five patients underwent both laparoscopy and hysteroscopy. The mean age and standard deviation of patients who had laparoscopy was 28.7 ± 5.8 years. The mean age and standard deviation of patients who had hysteroscopy was 32.3 ± 5.9 years. The most frequent indication for laparoscopy was for primary infertility 89 (45.2%), followed by secondary infertility 78 (39.6%). Asherman’s syndrome was the most common indication for hysteroscopy accounting for 52.1% of the procedure.Conclusion: Infertility is the most common indication for laparoscopy in this centre whereas Asherman’s syndrome is the leading indication for hysteroscopy. Nearly all the procedures were diagnostic endoscopy.Keywords: Anaesthesia; hysteroscopy; laparoscop

Reviewing Progress, Renewing Commitment: Progress report on the Kampala Declaration and Agenda for Global Action

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Competence and enterprise of management as drivers of early foreign listing of medium-sized emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) from Africa

YesEMNEs from Africa are missing in global places and spaces, and Africapitalism is also meagrely represented within the capillaries of international investments, relative to the opportunities offered by globalisation and Africa’s rich natural resource endowment. Using the Penrosian MNE growth theory, we investigate how African firms' managerial competence and entrepreneurial behaviours can be enhanced by engaging foreign executive directors during pre, early and post-internationalisation. We conduct our analysis by using data from 157 companies domiciled in 17 African countries. Our results show that whilst access to liquidity, foreign managerial know-how, and experience are key drivers of early foreign listing of African EMNEs, these factors have less effect on corporate outcomes during the 3rd and 5th year without the moderating effect of foreign executive directors. We contribute to the international business and international entrepreneurship literature by showing that African EMNEs can succeed in global spaces if they leverage the expertise of foreign executive directors as they bring idiosyncratic industry and market knowledge during early internationalisation. EMNEs intending to internationalise must use a polycentric governing board structure to reflect the intended destination country. Our results imply that early listing on the international stock markets is among the key strategies latecomers use to enter a global game they are just learning to play

The Success of the Construction Industry's Adoption of the Carbon Assessment Strategy PAS2050

PAS2050 was introduced in order to help combat the extremely high levels of emissions that the construction industry emits, as well as the large volume of natural resources they use, through the life cycle of a project. It was developed to create a consistent method of assessing the life cycle of Greenhouse gases as well as a method to increase understanding of where they arise from within a supply chain. This is essential in today's world as without change, the climate will continue to rise in temperature and contribute negatively to the already dramatic effects of climate change that have already been seen. By implementing PAS2050 the industry aims to allow stakeholders to realise the impacts and encourage movement towards a more sustainable future. This research aims to determine how well the construction industry has adopted the carbon assessment strategy covered by PAS2050 through informed opinions, data and case studies. Using journals and research, alongside a questionnaire which will be distributed to individuals within the industry, an informed decision will be made to determine how well the construction industry has adopted PAS2050. The results found that the industry is having difficulty in adapting to the change at all levels and scopes. The findings of this research show that the industry has only touched the surface and although the larger organisations are leading the charge, enough is not being done by smaller organisations and the supply chain

Host-derived viral transporter protein for nitrogen uptake in infected marine phytoplankton

This is the author's accepted manuscriptFinal version available from NAS via the DOI in this recordPhytoplankton community structure is shaped by both bottom–up factors, such as nutrient availability, and top–down processes, such as predation. Here we show that marine viruses can blur these distinctions, being able to amend how host cells acquire nutrients from their environment while also predating and lysing their algal hosts. Viral genomes often encode genes derived from their host. These genes may allow the virus to manipulate host metabolism to improve viral fitness. We identify in the genome of a phytoplankton virus, which infects the small green alga Ostreococcus tauri, a host-derived ammonium transporter. This gene is transcribed during infection and when expressed in yeast mutants the viral protein is located to the plasma membrane and rescues growth when cultured with ammonium as the sole nitrogen source. We also show that viral infection alters the nature of nitrogen compound uptake of host cells, by both increasing substrate affinity and allowing the host to access diverse nitrogen sources. This is important because the availability of nitrogen often limits phytoplankton growth. Collectively, these data show that a virus can acquire genes encoding nutrient transporters from a host genome and that expression of the viral gene can alter the nutrient uptake behavior of host cells. These results have implications for understanding how viruses manipulate the physiology and ecology of phytoplankton, influence marine nutrient cycles, and act as vectors for horizontal gene transfer.A.M. and T.A.R. are funded by the Royal Society, through Newton and University Research fellowships, respectively. This work is supported in part by research grants from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF5514), Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2014-147), and the University of Exeter. The University of Exeter OmniLog facility is supported by a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Award WT105618MA. Phylogenetic reconstructions were computed on the Data Intensive Academic Grid (National Science Foundation, MRI-R2 Project DBI-0959894)

Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Distribution in Surface Soils and Plants along the West Coast of Ghana

Onshore oil drilling activity is ongoing at Jubilee oil fields, Ghana. This activity could lead to heavy metal exposure with consequential adverse effects on public health in nearby coastal communities. Therefore, we assessed heavy metal levels and spatial distribution in soils and plants from the west coast of Ghana to obtain baseline values for monitoring heavy metal exposure. Surface soils were collected from six coastal communities, and analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, lead, selenium and zinc using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Mean heavy metal concentrations in soil samples were 2.06, 6.55, 0.016, 21.59, 0.18 and 39.49mg/kg for arsenic, copper, mercury, lead, selenium and zinc, respectively. Mean heavy metal concentrations in plants were 2.70, 17.47, 3.17, 91.74, 1.51 and 9.88mg/kg for arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, selenium and zinc, respectively. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and lead in plants exceeded WHO/FAO permissible limits. Enrichment factor for arsenic was significant and extremely high for selenium, while geoaccumulation index showed moderate pollution for selenium. Soil contamination factors for arsenic, lead, and selenium indicated considerable contamination. In view of these findings remediation methods must be adopted to safeguard the communities. The data will be useful for future monitoring of heavy metal exposure in the communities and to assess the impact of the ongoing crude oil drilling activity on the environment