Assessment of regulation compliance and quality of sachet water factories In Ibadan North Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeria

Provision of clean drinking water is one of the basic human necessities for healthy livelihood. In Nigeria, many people relied on sachet waters as an alternative source of clean drinking water. However, complaints abound regarding lack of proper water quality standard being used which is a major health concern. This study assessed the regulatory compliance of some sachet water production companies and water quality standard in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered on factory’s organisational structure and staffing; facilities and equipment; water treatment processes and sanitation practices, Also, Sachet water samples were analysed for the contaminants of Turbidity, Colour, Odour, pH, Nitrate, Chloride, Iron, Electrical conductivity and E-coli count. From the questionnaire analysis, the adherence level with the regulations was poor as majority (60%) of the sachet water factories have poor organisational structure and only 33% have adequate facilities and equipment. However, water quality analysis showed that most of the sachet water parameters tested were within the standard range except for pH values and E Coli count which majority (70%) falls below standard for both. The study concludes that most sachet water brands produced are unsafe for human consumption. There is need for proper monitoring by relevant agencies towards ensuring sachet water factories continuously complied with standard operations for better public health in the study area

ABH secretor status of students in the college of medical sciences, University of Maiduguri by inhibition method

Background: ABH blood group and secretor status of individuals are inherited independently although both may be associated with diabetes, autoimmune diseases and heart diseases. Aim: A cross-sectional study was employed to determine the ABH blood group and secretor status of students in the University of Maiduguri. Methodology: Two ml blood and 3ml saliva were collected from each study participants and were assayed independently. The ABO blood group and secretor status were determined by tube method and haemagglutination inhibition technique respectively. Results: A total of 235 apparently healthy students of the College of Medical Sciences participated in this study. Of the 235 participants, 97.4% are ABH secretors whereas 2.6% are ABH non-secretors. One hundred and nineteen 119(50.6%) of the subjects are males, of which 115 are secretors while 4 are non-secretors. Among the 116(49.4%) females who participated, 114 are secretors while 2 are non-secretors. The distribution of ABO blood group among the subjects shows that 21.3% were group A, 20.8% group B, 8.5% group AB and 49.4% group O. Conclusion: In this study, Blood group O is the commonest while AB was the least among the subjects. Overall, there are more secretors than non-secretors among the subjects. However, the study suggests that the ability to secrete ABH substances is independent of ABO blood group genes. The analysis also helps in revealing the prevalence of secretor status among the students. With the associations of disease and secretors, the secretor status of individuals may play a role in the diagnosis and management of diseases. Keywords: ABO blood group; secretor status; ABH antigen

Effect of Imbibition Time on Hormonal Changes of Germinating Tamarindus indica and Prosopis juliflora

Imbibition time and hormonal changes play a significant role in seed germination. This study, evaluated the effects of some phytohormones; indole acetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin and cytokinins) and imbibition time (0, 48 and 96 hours) on Tamarindus indica and Prosopis juliflora. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the concentrations of the hormones. Results indicated significantly higher and faster in P. juliflora than T. indica. The germination rate was 4.1 - 68.1% and 4.0 - 61.4%, and model for inhibition time 28.256ln(x) and 25.791ln(x), respectively. Similarly, results also expressed highly significant variable changes in the concentrations of the four studied phytohormones between T. indica (0.491 - 0.705 mg/ml) and P. Juliflora (0.109 - 1.130 mg/ml). The concentrations of IAA and ABA were significantly higher by 60.6% and 77.7% in the seeds of T. indica than P. juliflora, respectively. P. juliflora had 37.6% and 12.5% higher cytokinin and gibberellin than T. indica, respectively. Cytokinin (0.7951 - 1.0939 mg/ml), gibberellins (0.535 - 0.757 mg/ml), IAA (0.363 - 0.419 mg/ml) and ABA (0.250 - 0.335 mg/ml) also varied significantly over the periods. In general, cytokinin and gibberellins increased by 8.1 - 27.3% and 22.9 - 23.0%, while that of IAA and ABA decreased 13.6 - 15.4% and 26.4 - 34.0%, over the imbibitions time of 0-96 hours. In conclusion, higher germination of P. juliflora is attributed to cytokinin and gibberellins, and the lower germination in T. indica to the higher inhibitory effects of IAA and ABA

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PHASE BEHAVIOR OF AN AQUEOUS SYSTEM THAT CONTAINS A POLYAMPHOLYTE AND POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)

The phase behavior of aqueous two-phase polymer system containing poly(ethylene glycol) and a synthetic polyampholyte in 0.1 N KCl was studied as a function of pH. The top phase was poly(ethylene glycol)-rich and the bottom phase was polyampholyte-rich. The binodal curve was found to move towards lower concentrations of polymers with increasing pH as a result of decreased solubility of the polyampholyte. Phase compositions were correlated using a model based on Flory- Huggins theory. Also, a model based on excluded volume theory was used to correlate the binodal curve

Cytotoxic prenylated xanthone and coumarin derivatives from Malaysian Mesua beccariana

Our recent research on the phytochemical constituents of the stem bark of Mesua beccariana gave one new xanthone, beccarixanthone T (1) and one new coumarin, beccamarin T (2) together with three known xanthones mesuarianone (3), mesuasinone (4), 1,5-dihydroxyxanthone (5) and four known terpenoids, friedelin (6), stigmasterol (7), beta-sitosterol (8) and gamma-sitosterol (9). The structures of these compounds were elucidated and determined using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR and MS. The cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-4 as well as the crude extracts were tested against two cancer cell lines, Hep G2 (liver cancer cell line) and HT-29 (colon cancer cell line) using MTT assays. Mesuarianone (3) gave a significant activity on the HT-29 cell line while mesuasinone (4) gave moderate activity against HT-29 cell line

MFG-E8 Regulates the Immunogenic Potential of Dendritic Cells Primed with Necrotic Cell-Mediated Inflammatory Signals

Dendritic cells (DC) manipulate tissue homeostasis by recognizing dying cells and controlling immune functions. However, the precise mechanisms by which DC recognize different types of dying cells and devise distinct immunologic consequences remain largely obscure. Herein, we demonstrate that Milk-fat globule-EGF VIII (MFG-E8) is a critical mediator controlling DC immunogenicity in inflammatory microenvironments. MFG-E8 restrains DC-mediated uptake and recognition of necrotic cells. The MFG-E8-mediated suppression of necrotic cell uptake by DC resulted in the decreased proinflammatory cytokines production and activated signal components such as STAT3 and A20, which are critical to maintain tolerogenic properties of DC. Furthermore, the DC-derived MFG-E8 negatively regulates the cross-priming and effector functions of antigen-specific T cells upon recognition of necrotic cells. MFG-E8 deficiency enhances an ability of necrotic cell-primed DC to stimulate antitumor immune responses against established tumors. Our findings define what we believe to a novel mechanism whereby MFG-E8 regulates the immunogenicity of DC by modulating the modes of recognition of dying cells. Manipulating MFG-E8 levels in DC may serve as a useful strategy for controlling inflammatory microenvironments caused by various pathological conditions including cancer and autoimmunity