Assessing Wetland functions in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Until recently, wetlands were often viewed as wastelands, useful only when drained or filled. Every wetland is unique. One wetland on the north edge of town may perform different functions from another even though they may appear at first glance to be very similar. Not all wetlands perform all functions nor do they perform all functions equally well. The location and size of a wetland may determine what functions it will perform. It is against this background that the study examined wetland functions in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. The study used questionnaire instrument in collecting data. Seventy-two (72) questionnaires were retrieved out which fifty-five (55) respondents reported that they had undertaking wetland valuation assignment in time past and these were the ones used for analysis in the study. The study revealed that storm protection (RII = 3.65), shoreline stabilization (RII = 3.51), recreation and tourism (RII = 3.49) and climate change mitigation are four most important wetland functions in the study area. The study therefore recommends that Estate Surveyors and Valuers should pay particular attention to the functions provided by wetlands in the determination of their values especially for compensation purposes

Platelets in the Newborn

Platelets were first described in the mid-nineteenth century. Since then, their roles were identified in hemostasis and thrombosis, inflammation, leukocyte interactions, angiogenesis, and cancer growth. But there is little information about such platelet functions in the newborn. Several studies highlighted some platelet differences between newborns and adults. Yet, in spite of these differences, healthy newborns appear to be adequately protected. A number of factors, however, were reported to negatively affect neonatal platelets. These include maternal hypertensive disorders or infections, neonatal asphyxia or respiratory distress, therapies such as ampicillin or indomethacin, and treatment modalities such as ventilators, nitric oxide, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Their effects on newborn platelets are usually transitory, lasting from several hours to a few days or weeks. If these effects are well characterized, they could serve as reporters for diagnosis and monitoring during therapy. Careful studies of neonatal platelets are needed to improve the understanding of basic physiology and pathophysiology in this cohort and to identify possible targets for intervention and therapy

GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN REAL ESTATE EDUCATION: THE CASE OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, OTA NIGERIA

The value of quality formal education to the development of any nation is incontrovertible. Educational institution need the attendance of students (either males or females) to be able to perform its role both to the individuals and the nation at large. In general, the worth and efficiency of educational institutions can be measured by their students’ performance. Students’ academic performance is the most appropriate basis of assessing the quality and effectiveness of teaching and this has generated great attention over the years with regards to its measurement. Gender has been identified as one of the major factors affecting the students' educational attainment. Thus, this paper seek to carry out a comprehensive analysis of gender differences in the educational attainment of Estate Management students of Covenant University, Ota Nigeria using data for one set of graduates (2011 - 2015 Session) with a view to establish the relationship between gender and performance in the Grade Point Average (GPA) of the students. The result showed that female students performed better than their male counterparts across the five years regardless that they are fewer than the males and studying a discipline that is perceived to be dominated by the male gender. The different factors that could be responsible for this outcome are discussed. The conclusion from the study is that the result is consistent with the literatures reviewed which is that females places higher value on education and tend to be more focused and determined to succeed than their male counterpart. This is also consistent with the trend in students' academic performance in the University. The study recommended for the establishment of measures that will enhance better performance for the male students in the University

Assessment of wound contraction, re-epithelialization and histological changes in full thickness excision wounds of rats treated with different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide

Purpose: To investigate the impact of treatment with different strengths of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on healing of excision-type wounds in rats. Methods: Thirty-two (n = 8) adult wistar rats randomly assigned to four groups A - D were used for the study. Full-thickness excision-type wound was surgically made on each rat on day 0. While wounds in group A, the control, were treated with 0.9 % normal saline, wounds in groups B - D received 1, 3, and 5 % H2O2, respectively. Following the surgical wounding and treatment, the epithelialization time, wound contraction, and histological changes of the wounds were assessed. Results: On day 21, animals in group C recorded 100% wound contraction, whereas in groups A, B and D the contraction degrees of 68.75, 79.33 and 79.00 %, respectively, were reported on the same day. Group C animals treated with 3 % of H2O2 had significantly (p < 0.05) higher degree of wound contraction and epithelialization. Histologically, by day 14, wounds of animals in group C presented with a preponderance of fibrocytes over fibroblasts spread across organized connective tissue fibres. Group C treated animals also had significantly (p<0.05) faster epithelialization. No visible side effects were observed in this group following the treatments. However, the wounds of animals in groups A, B and D showed fibroblasts embedded in loose irregular connective tissue fibres with haemorrhagic lesions, alongside pronounced polymorphonuclear cell infiltration. Conclusion: When compared to other concentrations used in the study, the optimum strength of H2O2 for wound dressing is 3 % in terms of rate of wound contraction, epithelialization time, histological changes and physical tissue damage

Intimate Partner Survivors’ Help-Seeking and Protection Efforts: A Person-Oriented Analysis

Domestic violence advocates and researchers advocate for a survivor-centered approach for assisting women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), with individualized safety plans and services; yet little empirical work has been done to determine IPV survivors’ specific combinations of vulnerabilities and assets that might inform such an approach. Using latent profile analysis of a cohort of 448 survivors, five distinct subgroups were previously identified in terms of biopsychosocial asset and vulnerability profiles. The purpose of the current study was to apply person-oriented methodology for survivor-centered investigation of differences in help-seeking and protective actions according to subgroup membership within this cohort. Though not differing demographically, the subgroups were found to differ significantly and meaningfully in their patterns of IPV help-seeking and protective actions. Thus, reliance on population-aggregate linear relationships between IPV exposure and safety efforts may risk overlooking important variation by vulnerability and asset profile, and knowledge of distinct clusters among functioning profiles may help with understanding of survivors’ coping strategies. The authors outline service-need considerations across the subgroups and provide guidance for targeted outreach, locating IPV survivors and matching services to their needs

Platinum(IV)-Loaded Degraded Glycol Chitosan as Efficient Platinum(IV) Drug Delivery Platform

A new class of anticancer prodrugs was designed by combining the cytotoxicity of platinum(IV) complexes and the drug carrier properties of glycol chitosan polymers: Unsymmetrically carboxylated platinum(IV) analogues of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, namely (OC-6-44)-acetatodiammine(3-carboxypropanoato)dichloridoplatinum(IV), (OC-6-44)-acetaodiammine(3-carboxypropanoato)(cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylato)platinum(IV) and (OC-6-44)-acetato(3-carboxypropanoato)(1R,2R-cyclohexane-1,2-diamine)oxalatoplatinum(IV) were synthesised and conjugated via amide bonding to degraded glycol chitosan (dGC) polymers with different chain lengths (5, 10, 18 kDa). The 15 conjugates were investigated with 1H and 195Pt NMR spectroscopy, and average amounts of platinum(IV) units per dGC polymer molecule with ICP-MS, revealing a range of 1.3–22.8 platinum(IV) units per dGC molecule. Cytotoxicity was tested with MTT assays in the cancer cell lines A549, CH1/PA-1, SW480 (human) and 4T1 (murine). IC50 values in the low micromolar to nanomolar range were obtained, and higher antiproliferative activity (up to 72 times) was detected with dGC-platinum(IV) conjugates in comparison to platinum(IV) counterparts. The highest cytotoxicity (IC50 of 0.036 ± 0.005 µM) was determined in CH1/PA-1 ovarian teratocarcinoma cells with a cisplatin(IV)–dGC conjugate, which is hence 33 times more potent than the corresponding platinum(IV) complex and twice more potent than cisplatin. Biodistribution studies of an oxaliplatin(IV)–dGC conjugate in non-tumour-bearing Balb/C mice showed an increased accumulation in the lung compared to the unloaded oxaliplatin(IV) analogue, arguing for further activity studies

EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, PROXIMATE STATUS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF Gongronema latifolium (Benth) FRUIT

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition, proximate status, and antioxidant activity of ethanol extract of G. latifolium fruit. The chemical composition was determined using spectrophotometric method. Moisture, ash, lipid, and fibre contents were determined using gravimetric method, while crude protein and total carbohydrate were determined using kjeldahl and difference methods respectively. Acute toxicity study was carried out with eighteen albino rats using lorke’s method. The in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities, reducing power and inhibition of lipid peroxidation were determined spectrophotometrically. The results of phytochemical composition obtained are flavonoids(39.32±0.88mgCE/g), phenols(37.50±1.41mgGAC/g), tannins(31.45±0.46mgTAE/g), oxalates(3.45±0.41mg/g), saponins (2.91±0.53%), alkaloids (0.23±0.06%), phytates (0.14±0.00%), beta carotene (0.12±0.03%), and lycopene (0.09±0.02%). Total carbohydrate, crude protein, lipid, moisture, ash, and crude fibre obtained are 64.59%, 10.07%, 9.20%, 8.62%, 4.96%, and 2.85% respectively. The fruit extract has antioxidant effect with EC50 318.6

Quaternary Ammonium Palmitoyl Glycol Chitosan (GCPQ) Loaded with Platinum-Based Anticancer Agents—A Novel Polymer Formulation for Anticancer Therapy

Quaternary ammonium palmitoyl glycol chitosan (GCPQ) has already shown beneficial drug delivery properties and has been studied as a carrier for anticancer agents. Consequently, we synthesised cytotoxic platinum(IV) conjugates of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin by coupling via amide bonds to five GCPQ polymers differing in their degree of palmitoylation and quaternisation. The conjugates were characterised by 1H and 195Pt NMR spectroscopy as well as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), the latter to determine the amount of platinum(IV) units per GCPQ polymer. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the MTT assay in three human cancer cell lines (A549, non-small-cell lung carcinoma; CH1/PA-1, ovarian teratocarcinoma; SW480, colon adenocarcinoma). All conjugates displayed a high increase in their cytotoxic activity by factors of up to 286 times compared to their corresponding platinum(IV) complexes and mostly outperformed the respective platinum(II) counterparts by factors of up to 20 times, also taking into account the respective loading of platinum(IV) units per GCPQ polymer. Finally, a biodistribution experiment was performed with an oxaliplatin-based GCPQ conjugate in non-tumour-bearing BALB/c mice revealing an increased accumulation in lung tissue. These findings open promising opportunities for further tumouricidal activity studies especially focusing on lung tissue

Rubella vaccine introduction in the South African public vaccination schedule : mathematical modelling for decision making

CITATION: Motaze, Nkengafac Villyen et al. 2020. Rubella vaccine introduction in the South African public vaccination schedule : mathematical modelling for decision making. Vaccines, 8(3):383, doi:10.3390/vaccines8030383.The original publication is available at: https://www.mdpi.comBackground: age structured mathematical models have been used to evaluate the impact of rubella-containing vaccine (RCV) introduction into existing measles vaccination programs in several countries. South Africa has a well-established measles vaccination program and is considering RCV introduction. This study aimed to provide a comparison of different scenarios and their relative costs within the context of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) reduction or elimination. Methods: we used a previously published age-structured deterministic discrete time rubella transmission model. We obtained estimates of vaccine costs from the South African medicines price registry and the World Health Organization. We simulated RCV introduction and extracted estimates of rubella incidence, CRS incidence and effective reproductive number over 30 years. Results: compared to scenarios without mass campaigns, scenarios including mass campaigns resulted in more rapid elimination of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Routine vaccination at 12 months of age coupled with vaccination of nine-year-old children was associated with the lowest RCV cost per CRS case averted for a similar percentage CRS reduction. Conclusion: At 80% RCV coverage, all vaccine introduction scenarios would achieve rubella and CRS elimination in South Africa. Any RCV introduction strategy should consider a combination of routine vaccination in the primary immunization series and additional vaccination of older childrenPublisher's versio

HTLV-1 Tax Specific CD8+ T Cells Express Low Levels of Tim-3 in HTLV-1 Infection: Implications for Progression to Neurological Complications

The T cell immunoglobulin mucin 3 (Tim-3) receptor is highly expressed on HIV-1-specific T cells, rendering them partially “exhausted” and unable to contribute to the effective immune mediated control of viral replication. To elucidate novel mechanisms contributing to the HTLV-1 neurological complex and its classic neurological presentation called HAM/TSP (HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis), we investigated the expression of the Tim-3 receptor on CD8+ T cells from a cohort of HTLV-1 seropositive asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Patients diagnosed with HAM/TSP down-regulated Tim-3 expression on both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells compared to asymptomatic patients and HTLV-1 seronegative controls. HTLV-1 Tax-specific, HLA-A*02 restricted CD8+ T cells among HAM/TSP individuals expressed markedly lower levels of Tim-3. We observed Tax expressing cells in both Tim-3+ and Tim-3− fractions. Taken together, these data indicate that there is a systematic downregulation of Tim-3 levels on T cells in HTLV-1 infection, sustaining a profoundly highly active population of potentially pathogenic T cells that may allow for the development of HTLV-1 complications