Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Properties of Mangifera indica Leaf Extracts

There have been reports of increasing development of drug resistance among human pathogens as well as undesirable side effects of certain antimicrobial agents.It is therefore necessary to search for new agents that are better, cheaper and without side effects for treating infectious diseases especially in developing countries. In this study, phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Mangifera indica were investigated. Standard methods were employed to screen for the phytochemicals. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of M. indica leaves against seven different clinical isolates namely:Stapylococcus aureus, Micrococcus virians, M. leteus, Escherichia coli, Klebsellia pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a fungus, Candida albicans. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of active pharmacological components such as tannins, saponins, cardiac glycoside, flavonoid and alkaloids. Aqueous extract demonstrated a higher activity than the ethanolic extract. S. aureus showed highest sensitivity to the aqueous extracts with MIC 31.25mg/mL. Least sensitivity was observed in K. pneumoniae and Candida albicans with MIC 125mg/mL each in the two extracts.M. indica exhibited significant antimicrobial activity comparable to gentamicin which is used as control in this study

A Rule-Based Higher Institution of Learning Admission Decision Support System

Higher education management is key to the development of any nation. Some of the challenges that are often managed include examination, admission, and record problem. In this work, we focused on the admission system in higher schools of learning because it is fundamental to solving other problems. We studied the application of Decision Support Systems in Schools and came up with a new Decision Support Tool for admission processing. The system relied on rules generated from information gathered from admission administrators. The significant of the work lied in the fact that uncertainty in admission process and unnecessary time wastage are eliminated

Integration of geophysics and remote sensing techniques in mapping zones mineralised with disseminated gold and sulphide minerals in Lolgorien, Narok County, Kenya

Even though ground geophysical surveys (especially Induced polarization and resistivity) are applied in mineral exploration, their effectiveness in identification of mineralised zones is often enhanced by integrating other mineral exploration techniques such as remote sensing and geological investigations. Integrating different techniques helps in reducing uncertainty that is often associated with mineral exploration. The methods being integrated also depend on characteristics of mineralisation and those of host rock. In this study, geophysical survey methods (induced polarization and resistivity) were integrated with remote sensing and geological methods to delineate mineralised zones in Lolgorien beyond reasonable doubt. By integrating these methods, it was found that Lolgorien’s gold and sulphide minerals (disseminated minerals) are hosted in massive quartz veins and auriferous quartz veins hosted in Banded Iron Formations. It was also found that this mineralisation was controlled by faults which mainly trend in two directions (NW-SE) and (NE-SW). Keywords: hydrothermal alteration, chargeability, resistivity, band ratio, lineament densit

PREVALENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF FALCIPARIUM MALARIA AMONG INFANTS AND CHILDREN IN OTA, OGUN STATE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Studies were carried out to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection among infants and children (0-12yrs) in Ota, Southwestern Nigeria between April and December 2008. The two hospitals used were Ota General Hospital and Covenant University Health Centre, Canaanland, Ota. Thick and thin films were made and stained using standard parasitological procedures. Structured Questionnaires were distributed to ascertain the age, sex, drugs or insecticides used and state of health of the subjects before recruiting them into the study. Overall, 215 (80.5%) of the 267 children investigated were found to have malaria infection. Age group (0-5 years) had the highest frequency rate of 84.7% with mean parasite density of 900 and the difference between the age groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). Children of illiterates from suburb villages had the highest mean parasite density of 850 with 78.1% prevalence rate. 20% of the children were given local herbs and 22% used orthodox medicine as prophylaxis. Only 18% used insecticide treated mosquito nets while 24% of the parents spray insecticides to prevent mosquito bites. There is therefore need for more awareness on effective use of drugs and Insecticide Treated bed nets in malaria hyperendemic regions

Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Properties ofnMangifera indica Leaf Extracts

There have been reports of increasing development of drug resistance among human pathogens as well as undesirable side effects of certain antimicrobial agents.It is therefore necessary to search for new agents that are better, cheaper and without side effects for treating infectious diseases especially in developing countries. In this study, phytochemical composition and antimicrobial activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Mangifera indica were investigated. Standard methods were employed to screen for the phytochemicals. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of M. indica leaves against seven different clinical isolates namely:Stapylococcus aureus, Micrococcus virians, M. leteus, Escherichia coli, Klebsellia pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a fungus, Candida albicans. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of active pharmacological components such as tannins, saponins, cardiac glycoside, flavonoid and alkaloids. Aqueous extract demonstrated a higher activity than the ethanolic extract. S. aureus showed highest sensitivity to the aqueous extracts with MIC 31.25mg/mL. Least sensitivity was observed in K. pneumoniae and Candida albicans with MIC 125mg/mL each in the two extracts.M. indica exhibited significant antimicrobial activity comparable to gentamicin which is used as control in this study

Nutritional potential of underutilized gum arabic tree seeds (acacia nilotica) and locust bean seeds (Parkia biglobosa)

Acacia nilotica seed (ANS) and Parkia biglobosa seed (PBS) are underutilised legume found to have health benefits and functional properties. Th is study determined nutrient composition of A . nilotica and P. biglobosa seed s . ANS and PBS were collected and processed properly for c hemical analysis. The proximate, minerals, vitamins, essential amin o - acids, and antinutri ent composition were analyzed to ascertain nutritional attributes and its potential in promoting dietary diversity . The raw and fermented A . nilotica se eds contained in g/100 g , protein (12.88 to 15.3 8), fat (3.29 to 4.91), ash (5.24 to 6.84), dietary fibre (1.98 to 2.66) and available carbohydrate (69.63 to 71.73), whil e the FPB contained in g/100 g, protein (18.30), fat (9.20), ash (8.69), dietary fibre (2.61), and available carbohydrate (56.27). The fermented A . nilotica (FAN) seed contained all the nine (9) essential amino acids. The raw and fermented ANS contained in mg/100 g , iron (9.67 to 12.23), zinc (0.69 to 1.13), calcium (0.17 to 0.22), sodium (0.14 - 0.21 ) while the F PB seed contained 14.86, 1.59, 0.25, and 0.24 , respecti vely. FAN and FPB contained in μg/100 g, vitamin A (148.79 and 197.81), vitamin E (15.90 and 24.69) and vitamin K (1.41 and 1.63) , respectively. The levels of antinutrient factors in all the samples were not significant. Fermented A . nilotica seed contained adequate level of some micronutrients and essential amino acids. Consumption of the seed should therefore be promoted

Current Trends in Steroidal 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) Removal from the Environment: A Review

Emerging contaminants have posed major environmental and health challenges to human and aquatic lives. They include pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), persistent environmental pollutants and many more. EE2 is an example of an endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) increasingly gaining acceptance and used to augment the deficiencies of other reproductive hormones. EE2 constitutes environmental nuisance via discharge into aquatic bodies, thus, threatening aquatic lives and resulting in health defects in human. It is worthy of note that previous researchers have channeled their studies to identifying ways of expelling EE2 from the environment. However, they remain persistent in the environment. The current review examined biological, chemical, physical and nanotechnological approaches in expelling EE2 from the environment. All methods discussed have been efficient in EE2 removal. From the review, both independent and combinatorial approaches in EE2 removal has yielded efficient results