Challenges and Prospect of Arabic Schools in Yorubaland in the Modern Time

This paper attempts to examine the challenges facing the Arabic schools in Yorubaland in the modern time. This study was undertaken to investigate into what could be the solution to many problems facing Arabic schools ranging from European intrusion, societal stereotype, poor patronage, lack of finance, lack of qualified personnel to mention but few. The prospect of Arabic schools therefore lies in their ability to integrate western education into their system by adopting one of the three recommended models. It begins with an introduction, traces the historical origin of Arabic in Yorubaland and gives the manifestations of serious interest in Arabic among Yoruba Muslims. This is followed by having a look at some of the challenges confronting Arabic schools and their prospect in the light of integration models as well as their features, merits and demerits that will make them compete favourably with western education.  Afterwards, the paper ends with a conclusion and provides certain recommendations. Keywords: challenge, prospect, Arabic school and modern tim

Working Capital Management and Firm Profitability: Evidence from Nigerian Quoted Companies

This study examines the relationship between working capital management and firms’ profitability of twenty-five Nigerian quoted companies for the seven-year period 2005-2011. Data used in the study were sourced from audited financial statements of the companies. Multiple Regression analysis was used to analyze the data and results showed a negative relationship between working capital management (Cash Conversion Cycle) and firm profitability (ROA). This finding is consistent with prior empirical studies and provides evidence in support of aggressive policy of working capital management. Keywords: Working Capital Management, Cash Conversion Cycle, ROA, Nigeria

A two-dimensional perspective of healthcare leadership in non-Western contexts

As we witness an alarming change in the delivery of healthcare worldwide, there is a need for transformational leadership that can inspire and empower healthcare professionals, and patients alike. Due to the lack of economic, infrastructural and human resources especially in developing countries, the organisation and delivery of healthcare services is even more challenging. Hence, the focus of leadership development in resource-limited environments should be to facilitate knowledge building, interprofessional collaboration, empowerment and inclusion. In this paper, we use two exemplary cases to illustrate the impact of, and the challenges facing leadership capacity building in non-Western contexts with special reference to India and Curacao. These cases demonstrate that there is a place for validated medical leadership models in developing countries with promising outcomes for the collective health status of communities at large. Such models, however, need to be contextualised to fit the individual country's economic and sociopolitical context. Also, the stakeholders should be prepared to create healthy professional cultures that embrace respect (for self and others) and focus on effective communication practices within their local environments

Clinical Leadership as an Agent for Change:A Health System Improvement Intervention in Curacao

Introduction: The healthcare system in Curaçao is complex, fragmented, and poorly organized and typifies a system in a resource-limited environment. Deficits in competencies and local cultural barriers are factors that hinder sustainable healthcare in such settings and a failure to meet WHO sustainable development goals. This study reports the potential cost-effectiveness and improved health outcomes of the first stage of a healthcare improvement project. The intervention, which is a multidisciplinary team-based leadership training program (MLP), reflects a promising strategy to tackle local healthcare needs. Methods: A Multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals in St. Elisabeth hospital, Curaçao, was selected to 1) participate in the MLP and 2) co-design a healthcare pathway on the management of decubitus ulcers. Using a qualitative research methodology, we conducted interviews to assess the perceived leadership growth, teamwork, and the barriers to the introduction of the new care pathway in their setting. Six themes were identified that explained the perceived leadership development and interprofessional collaboration. These included 1) Professional background, 2) Healthcare pathway design, 3) Resources, 4) Personal development, 5) Collaboration 6) Execution. Conclusion/Implication: The participants valued the interdisciplinary approach of this health improvement project and acknowledged the added value of a training program that also addressed personal growth. This study shows how MLPs for health professionals can also serve as catalysts for health improvement efforts in resource-limited environments

Global health education in the Dutch Caribbean:50 years of a unique Groningen-Curaçao clinical clerkship program

The globalization of healthcare has had a significant impact on healthcare delivery and human workforce development in many countries. Consequently, many educational institutions have had to revise the content of their medical curricula to focus on training and preparing future doctors to effectively cater to the needs of the “modern patient”. The focus covers broader aspects of medicine that include environmental and professional culture and the impact of socioeconomic inequalities on the delivery of healthcare. Therefore, in most global health (GH) education programs described, students undertake a specific part of their clinical rotation in a foreign (non-western) educational setting to facilitate authentic learning experiences within a resource-constrained environment. In this paper we present a unique Global Health program for medical interns between the University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands and the Sint Elisabeth Hospital, Curaçao, Dutch Caribbean that has, for more than 50 years, been providing a one-year internship program as part of the formal Groningen curriculum. The program we describe, illustrates the essential requirements for best practice in GH education that fully complies with recently proposed GH program objectives and competencies. The characteristics of our long running program show the basic requirements necessary for sustainable and successful health education collaboration between institutions in high- and low/middle income countries. Finally, this program, which is part of a Dutch medical curriculum, not only provided unique global health learning experiences for the interns, but importantly also contributed to improving the general healthcare delivery services on the island of Curaçao as well.</p

Phytochemical, proximate and sedative properties of henna (Lawsonia inermis) on the opercula ventilation rate of Tilapia zilli fingerlings

The high cost of conventional anesthetics and the deleterious effects of prevailing chemical sedatives used in aquaculture have justified the search for natural plant alternative that is cosmopolitan, biodegradable, less toxic with short withdrawal period, and economically affordable. The Phytochemical, proximate and sedative properties of the aqueous crude leaf extract of Lawsonia inermis and its effect on the opercula ventilation rate in Tilapia zilli fingerlings were conducted using standard procedures. Mixed sexed fingerlings of T. zilli of mean weight and length of 42.64 ± 0.82 g and 11.14 ± 0.22 cm respectively were randomly distributed in batches of five fish/per experimental tank. The tank with no test material (0.00g/L) served as the control; while, tanks with test materials at concentrations of 1.50, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00 and 3.50g/L served as test tanks. The qualitative phytochemical analyses of L. inermis revealed the presence of varying proportions of alkaloid, tannin, saponins, cardiac glycosides phenolic and resins, while, the proximate composition includes moisture content (33.2%), crude lipid (12.0%), ash (29.9%), crude fibre (21%), crude protein (3.38%) and nitrogen free extracts (0.52%). There was significant (p&lt;0.05) dose- dependent increase in the induction of sedation and recovery time of T. zilli exposed to L. inermis aqueous crude Leaf extract as well as marked dose-related decrease in the opercula ventilation rate compared to the control group. No mortality was recorded at low concentrations of 1.50-2.50g/L of the plant extract; in contrast with 50 and 100% mortalities in concentrations of 3.00 and 3.50g/L respectively. In conclusion, the present investigation revealed that L. inermis aqueous crude leaf extract seemed to contain diverse phytochemical constituents that caused sedation with adverse consequences on fish opercula ventilation.Keywords: Qualitative analyses, Crude content, Henna, Respiratory rate, Freshwater Fis

Antibacterial Activity of Vanillic Acid against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, and Proteus mirabilis

Aim. This study investigated the efficacy of vanillic acid against selected pathogenic bacteria obtained from clinical samples. Method. The antibacterial efficacy of vanillic acid against selected pathogenic bacteria collected from clinical samples was studied using a broth macrodilution method. The minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by treating each isolate with increasing amounts of vanillic acid ranging from 150 to 2000 µg/ml. Results. The lowest inhibitory concentrations found were 600 µg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, and Salmonella Typhi, and the time-kill susceptibility test also demonstrated a significant reduction in viable cells of the bacterial isolates investigated in this study. The findings of this study confirmed the antimicrobial effect of vanillic acid on bacterial growth and its activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, and Salmonella Typhi. Conclusion. Vanillic acid may provide a solution for alternate therapeutic choices for diseases caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, and Salmonella Typhi

Supporting clinician educators to achieve “work-work balance”

Clinician Educators (CE) have numerous responsibilities in different professional domains, including clinical, education, research, and administration. Many CEs face tensions trying to manage these often competing professional responsibilities and achieve “work-work balance.” Rich discussions of techniques for work-work balance amongst CEs at a medical education conference inspired the authors to gather, analyze, and summarize these techniques to share with others. In this paper we present the CE’s “Four Ps”; these are practice points that support both the aspiring and established CE to help improve their performance and productivity as CEs, and allow them to approach work-work balance

Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle for the Adsorptive Remediation of Petrochemical Effluents

The zinc oxide nanoparticle was synthesized via precipitation method. It was characterized using SEM-EDX, FTIR and TEM for morphology, elemental, functional groups and internal structure respectively. The physicochemical behaviour of a refinery effluent was assessed. The untreated raw refinery effluent from the point of discharge contained very high concentrations of pollutants for all the parameters, ranging between, pH (6.52-6.82), Turbidity (10-12 NTU), conductivity (266-289μs/cm), COD (116-138 mg/l), BOD (14-18.5 mg/l), DO (7.5-15.6 mg/l), TDS (436-486 mg/l), TSS (127-133 mg/l), Oil and grease (14.8-16.3 mg/l), sulphate (113-125 mg/l) and chloride (240-280 mg/l). The effluent was treated with ZnO nanoparticle and reduced the pollutants to the normal permissible limit set by WHO, FEPA and NESREA standard for portable water. The treated effluent sample showed values ranging between, pH (6.55-6.6), Turbidity (4.2-4.5 NTU), conductivity (245-246 μs/cm), COD (39-40 mg/l), BOD (10 mg/l), DO (5.6-10.4 mg/l), TDS (151-183 mg/l), TSS (24-28 mg/l), Oil and grease (7.3-9.5 mg/l), sulphate (100 mg/l) and chloride (200 mg/l). The heavy metals profile that was investigated are Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr of which were found above the WHO and FEPA permissible limit, however, on the contact with the adsorbent therefore reduced the metals to the permissible limit. It can be ascertain that ZnO nanoparticle can be used as an effective adsorbent for the treatment of petrochemical effluent

Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil Using Maize (Zea mays) and Mycorrhiza Inoculation

The phytoextracting capacity of maize (Zea mays) on soil contaminated with brewery waste was determined. The method used was based on the responses of the maize plants grown on four different soils (inoculated and uninoculated, with and without brewery waste) tagged M+B+, M-B+, M+B- and M-B-. These were analysed for mid-rib growth, neurosis, and heavy metals uptake in the plant in addition to soil and pH analysis. Results showed that maize (Zea mays) planted on soil of type M+B+ had a rapid increase in mid-rib size (55.3cm) while the plant grown on the control sample had the lowest size (47.0cm). There were initial increases in plant with neurosis in the inoculated samples which either stabilised or increased while the number in the uninoculated samples reduced with time. The plants grown on inoculated soil had greater heavy metal uptakes of 54–83% except for Cd where the uptake was 33–40% while those grown on uninoculated soil had metal uptakes of 19–52% except for Zn where the uptake was 80–81%. The investigation concluded that maize has the capacity of removing heavy metals from brewery waste and suggested revegetation of the soil to reduce wind and water erosions. &nbsp