Perceived Relative Factors Influencing Nurses’ Practice of Health Promotion for Women in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Socio-cultural factors negate the health of women. Therefore, health promotion as a focus of nursing practice aimed at capitalizing on the inherent capacities of women to establish health priorities, goals and strategies to improve their health. A descriptive survey with the purpose of ascertaining the influence of culture, social and health policies on nurses’ practice of health promotion was undertaken. Three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A sample of one hundred and thirty six nurses participated in the study. A validated questionnaire with a test-retest reliability coefficient (r) of 0.79 was used for data collection. Correlation analysis was carried out to test hypotheses. The results revealed that 132 (97.1%) participants were female with a mean (SD) age of 40 ± 7.29. Many participants 58 (42.6%) perceived that social policies have high influence on their practice of health promotion. The results also showed significant negative correlation between culture and practice of health promotion (r = -0.532; p = 0.01) while the practice of health promotion was significantly and positively correlated with social policies (r = 0.515; p = 0.01). It was recommended that negative cultural practices be addressed through social policies and health education of women on negative cultural practices in order to enhance the practice of health promotion for them

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND COMPACTION CHARACTERISTICS OF MODIFIED STARCH OF DISCOREA ALATA USING DICLOFENAC SODIUM TABLET

Objective: This work focused on evaluating the micromeritic and compressional properties of pregelatinized African water yam (Discorea alata) starch and its modified forms with comparison to pregelatinized corn starch and microcrystalline cellulose.Methods: Two modifications of the water yam starch were prepared; acetone dehydrated pregelatinized form (DSA) and an admixture of DSA and pregelatinized corn starch (CDSA). A third form of starch is the acetone dehydrated pregelatinized corn starch (CSA). These were used to form batches compacted as tablets using diclofenac sodium as the active moiety. Physicochemical and flow characteristics of the starch powders were elucidated, and the drug starch compatibility studies done using the Fourier transform Infra-red (FTIR) technique. Compaction studies were investigated on tablets formed at different compression pressures and Heckel plots were prepared.Results: The slope of the straight line (K) of 0.8959 was greatest for F1 while yield pressure (Py) value of 10.965 was highest for F3. These values from the Heckel plot suggest that while the tablets of control batch of microcrystalline cellulose (F4) and a batch of pregelatinized corn starch (F2) formed harder compacts, less likely deformed plastically, the Discorea alata batch (F1) and the admixed batch (F3) were likely to deform plastically. Also, the binding efficiency of the compact was significantly high (47.81%Kgscm-1) for F4 at 56.5Kpas compaction pressure, higher than that obtainable for any of the other formulations at the compaction pressures under consideration. All starches formed had similar moisture content (of 10%) despite the different sources but the interaction between the water molecule and pregelatinized water yam starch improved as revealed by viscosity(7.18mPas), hydration capacity(3.27%) and swelling index (250%) of CDSA.Conclusion: It could be concluded that pregelatinized water yam starch could be used as a substitute for corn starch or microcrystalline cellulose as a pharmaceutical excipient (binder/filler) in tablets formulation

Awareness and practive of health promotion for women in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Aim: A descriptive survey was undertaken to ascertain nurses’ awareness and level of practice of health promotion among women in Calabar. Background: Women’s health is affected by array of factors; nurses could have a major impact in increasing women’s capacity to exercise increased control over their lives and determinants of health. Method: One hundred and thirty six nurses drawn from the ante-natal clinics of primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities in Calabar participated in the study. A questionnaire with a content validity index of 0.91 was used for data collection. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was (r) 0.79. Ethical issues were addressed. Data were analyzed with statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 15. Findings: Majority 110 (80.9%) of the participants were highly experienced, 96 (70.6%) were managers while only 52 (38.2%) had 1st degree and above. Health education was the most mentioned strategy of health promotion by participants 136 (100.0%) while specific protection was the least mentioned 3(2.2%). Only about half of the respondents 68 (50.0%) practiced health promotion appropriately. Nurses’ rank and years of working experience were significantly associated with appropriate practice. Conclusion: Nurses averagely practice health promotion. It was therefore recommended that Nurse Managers should provide learning opportunities to fill observe gaps in knowledge and motivate junior nurses to engage in women’s health promotion at every opportunity

Emulsifying Properties of Hemicelluloses

This chapter focuses on the emulsifying properties of hemicelluloses. Hemicelluloses are gummy polysaccharides of complexity between gum and cellulose. Based on the major monosaccharide constituents of their backbone, hemicelluloses can be classified into xylans, mannans, xylogalactans and xyloglucans. Their sources include seeds, husks, straws, leaves and wood. Hemicelluloses bring about emulsification by viscosity modification and by formation of multilayered films around each globule of the dispersed phase. They have strong emulsifying power but are somehow limited by batch-to-batch variation and susceptibility to microbial and chemical degradations. These limitations are overcome by the use of purified and semisynthetic derivatives. Hemicelluloses and derivatives herein considered for their emulsifying properties include those from barley straw, wheat straw, corn fiber, locust bean, guar, soy bean, konjac, prosopis seed and afzelia seed. Hemicelluloses, as plant polysaccharides, are only second to cellulose in terms of abundance. They have superior emulsifying properties compared to the typical gums. They are amenable to many chemical modifications for the enhancement of stability and for the improvement of emulsifying properties. Hemicelluloses were not given adequate attention in the past; but this chapter shows that they are potentially useful emulsifying agents

EVALUATION OF CALLINECTES CHITOSAN AS A SUPERDISINTEGRANT IN METRONIDAZOLE TABLET

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate callinectes chitosan as a superdisintegrant in tablet formulation; superdisintegrants are incorporated into tablets at concentrations below 5% of tablet weight to effect prompt break-up of tablets after administration.Methods: Chitosan was extracted from shells of Callinectes gladiator. The polymer was characterized and then used as a disintegrant (in comparison with Ac-Di-Sol® and corn starch) at concentrations of 2, 4 and 8% for the formulation of metronidazole tablets. The micromeritic properties of granules; and mechanical and release properties of the tablets were studied.Results: A yield of 36.7% chitosan having degree of deacetylation of 62.7% was obtained from the crab shell. Fourier Transform Infrared absorption bands at 1495 and 3240 cm-1 typical of N-H bending and stretching respectively; and endothermic peak of 159 °C typical of melting of chitosan were obtained. No adverse interaction between the chitosan and metronidazole was observed. The disintegration times of tablets containing 2, 4 and 8% chitosan were 12.2, 10.4 and 9.3 min respectively.Conclusion: Callinectes chitosan is suitable for use as a superdisintegrant in tablets. It appears to be superior to corn starch as disintegrant although less effective compared to Ac-Di-Sol®. However, the relative cheapness and ready availability of chitosan would make it to be preferred to Ac-Di-Sol®

Studies on the Charge-TransferInteraction Between TamoxifenCitrate and Chloranilic Acid: Charge-transfer between tamoxifen and chloranilic acid

The complex formed as a consequence of the interaction between the electron-acceptor P-chloranilic acid and an electron donor tamoxifen citrate was employedin the assay of the drug in pure powder and tablets. Chloranilic acid was found toform a charge-transfer complex in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio, with tamoxifen citrate.The wavelength of maximum absorption for the complex was found to be 550 nmwhile the absorbance was linear over the concentration range of 2-100 g/ml.Evaluations of the various thermodynamic parameters by means of the Scottequation was carried out and were found to decrease with increase in temperature.The free energy change (ΔG°) and the enthalpy of formation (ΔH°) as well as theentropy (ΔS°) were determined for various interactions. Results obtained suggestthat the proposed method may be conveniently applied in the analysis ofcommercially available tamoxifen citrate tablets with a high degree of accuracy andreproducibility