Prospective Teacher Educators\u27 Knowledge Development Through the Creation of Multimedia Case Studies of Practice

Despite the importance of teacher educators in influencing the quality of teacher education and by extension, the teacher quality, teacher educator preparation and professional development has received little attention from researchers and its pedagogical knowledge domain is often generalized from that of teachers. This study therefore explored the knowledge development of prospective teacher educators through creating multimedia case studies of practice. The study was based on the analysis of data collected previously through a teacher development experiment with eighteen prospective teacher educators during a two-semester course for doctoral students in several teacher education programs. I adopted Cochran-Smith and Lytle\u27s theorizing about relationships of knowledge and practice that makes distinctions among three prominent conceptions of teacher learning - Knowledge-for-practice, knowledge-in-practice, and knowledge-of-practice – to describe essential knowledge for teacher educators. I used the constructivist grounded theory approach as a data analysis strategy to explore the participants\u27 experience in creating multimedia case studies to develop theories that were useful to understanding their knowledge development. The results revealed that through the creation of multimedia case studies of practice, the prospective teacher educators developed greater appreciation of the complexity of teaching and learning, appreciated the importance of reflection as a task of teaching and learning, got the opportunities to think in new ways about their own learning and developed better understanding of linking theory and practice. The pedagogical implications of these findings generally indicate that prospective teacher educators need professional development opportunities that would lead them to confront and break their previously held conceptions about teaching and learning while embracing research-based developments in education. Key words: prospective teacher educators, knowledge development, multimedia case studie

The contribution of the language use in the outdoor advertisements: evidence from SMEs in Dar es Salaam

Purpose: This study focused on the contribution of language use in outdoor advertisements through analysis of both linguistics and paralinguistics features.Design/Methodology/Approach: An explanatory research design was employed to enable the researcher to integrate both quantitative and qualitative data to explain the contribution of language use for effective outdoor advertisements. Data were collected through observation, questionnaires, and interviews. The sampling technique was stratified where forty outdoor advertisements were identified from four clusters of SMEs: macro, micro, medium, and large enterprises, and 12 respondents for both interviews and 108 respondents for questionnaires.Findings: The findings prove that both small and micro enterprises place their outdoor advertisements along the road and near their working place (bus stands), while medium and large enterprises go for billboards and wall painting. Linguistic features found are adjectives, exaggeration, repetition, assonance, slogans, commands, and catchy phrases. While paralinguistics founds were colour, images, names, size, and numbers. The appropriate use of language attract, influence, assure, and encourage customers to act by purchasing, seeking clarity, concentrating, or others. Finally, the study established that language uses contribute to the effectiveness of outdoor advertisements by enabling a message to be well sent to the customers.Research Limitation: The researcher found some problems such as unwillingness to respond to the questions which reduced the number of respondents.Practical Implication: The findings will encourage SMEs to use appropriate language for better output and customers will have the assurance of the product.Social Implication: This study will add new knowledge to producers, suppliers, and customers.Originality/Value: This study assessed the contribution of language use in an outdoor advertisement by focusing on both linguistics and paralinguistic features. The finding provides evidence of the influence of language use on attracting customers to purchase or ignore the product or service

Physicochemical, biological and β-haematin inhibiting activity of pyrido-dibemequines, pyrido[1,2-α]benzimidazoles and their derivatives

There is an urgent need for new antimalarials following the emergence of Plasmodium falciparum strains with reduced sensitivity to the currently used artemisinin combination therapies. Classical aminoquinoline-based drugs inhibit the formation of haemozoin (HZ) thereby causing parasite death from the cellular accumulation of toxic 'free' haem. Coincidentally, this immutable pathway also exists in Schistosoma mansoni, and presents a vulnerable target for drug design in these haematophagus organisms. Therefore, it would be of interest to explore novel scaffolds that can inhibit HZ formation as well as exploit the merits of established drugs via structural modifications that would harness their pharmacological and pharmacokinetic advantages while circumventing their therapeutic shortcomings. This project investigated the physicochemical, biological and mechanistic profiles of pyrido-dibemequine (pDBQ) and pyrido[1,2-α]benzimidazole (PBI) derivatives whose structural motifs were informed by previously synthesised prototype molecules. Specifically, the aqueous solubility, membrane permeability, lipophilicity, metabolic stability and potential for cardiotoxicity of seven pDBQs, their metabolites and ten PBIs were tested through computational and experimental methods. In addition, their antiplasmodial and antischistosomal activities were determined and correlated with their respective physicochemical properties. As regards mechanistic evaluation, their ability to inhibit formation of abiotic HZ, β-haematin (βH), was assessed and intracellular inhibition of HZ formation probed. The pDBQs constitute reversed chloroquines with a 4-aminoquinoline nucleus hybridised to a dibenzylmethylamine side group that serves as a chemosensitising moiety. The pDBQ derivatives showed moderate to high solubility (52 - 197 μM) and permeability (LogPₐₚₚ: -4.6 - -3.6) at pH 6.5. Their lipophilicity, indexed by cLogP, ranged between 3.7 and 5.6 while the mean LogD at both cytosolic (7.4) and vacuolar (5.0) pH was 3.15 and 0.93, respectively. The compounds also showed low-nanomolar range antiplasmodial activity against both chloroquine (CQ)-sensitive (CQS) and resistant (CQR) strains (IC₅₀ range CQS: 14.4 - 126.6 nM, CQRᴰᵈ²: 44.5 - 162 nM and CQR⁷ᴳ⁸: 69.6 - 307.1 nM), with no discernible cross-resistance with CQ and the antiplasmodial activity directly correlated with lipophilicity. Mechanistically, all the pDBQs inhibited βH formation (IC₅₀: 13 - 25 μM) and haem-pyridine fractionation profiles revealed they produced a CQ-like dose-dependent increase in toxic 'free' haem with corresponding decrease in HZ levels. Predicted human-Ether-a-Go-Go-Related Gene (hERG) channel inhibition pIC₅₀ ranged between 6.2 and 6.6, and correlated strongly with the cLogP and molecular weight. The derivatives were also highly susceptibility to microsomal metabolism, with N-dealkylation identified as the main biotransformation route. The pDBQ metabolites exhibited solubility and membrane permeability profiles similar to the parent compounds at pH 6.5, albeit with reduced lipophilicity (cLogP range: 2.3 - 3.5). Their βH inhibition activity (IC₅₀: 15 - 24 μM) was also comparable to the parent compounds as were the haem-pyridine fractionation profiles. However, they showed greater antiplasmodial activity, with 4/7 derivatives exhibiting IC₅₀ < 80 nM against PƒDd2 (CQR strain). The metabolites had reduced hERG channel inhibition potential (pIC₅₀: 5.0 - 5.7) and significantly improved metabolic stability upon incubation with mouse and human liver microsomes. The PBIs comprise molecules with structural likeness to CQ, including a planar heterocyclic moiety and a basic amine side group. PBI analogues showed low to moderate solubility (<5 - 80 μM) and were moderately lipophilic (mean LogD7.4: 3.04). Although most of the derivatives were stable in liver microsomes, their predicted hERG channel inhibition potential was higher (pIC₅₀: 6.11 - 7.50), presumably due to their high molecular weights. All but one derivative had submicromolar activity against CQS and CQR strains, with analogues bearing halo-substituents on the left of the PBI core showing the best antiplasmodial activity (mean IC₅₀: CQS = 26.7 nM and CQR = 30.0 nM), highest selectivity (188 - 341) as well as complete cures in P. berghei-infected mice. The PBIs also inhibited βH formation (IC₅₀: 6.8 - 120 μM) but did not all display intracellular inhibition of HZ formation. All derivatives were active against juvenile (mean IC₅₀: 1.97 μM) and adult (mean IC₅₀: 4.38 μM) schistosomes, with the 3, 4-dichloro-substituted analogue exhibiting 48% reduction of worm burden in vivo. In summary, the pDBQs evaluated in this project constitute potent antiplasmodial inhibitors of HZ formation but whose activity is compromised by metabolic and hERG liability while their metabolites seem to possess improved biological and physicochemical features. The observed activity of the PBIs against P. falciparum and S. mansoni complements the already-established broad antimicrobial potency of this chemotype

Anti-inflammatory Properties of Cowpea Phenotypes with different Phenolic Profiles

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a highly nutritious, drought tolerant crop with several agronomic advantages over other legumes. This study demonstrated the association of different cowpea phenotypes with specific phenolic profiles, antioxidants activity, anti-inflammatory properties on non-malignant colonic (CCD18co) cells challenged with a lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the effect of boiling on their individual and total flavonoid content. Only the black and green phenotypes had detectable anthocyanins; and their levels were highest in the black IT95K-1105-5 variety. The red cowpea phenotypes had the highest level of flavonols (858 - 941 micrograms/g cowpea flour) and white Early Acre variety had the least. Quercetin derivatives were the major flavonols detected, followed by myricetin derivatives. Monomeric, dimeric and polymeric procyanidins also made up a large proportion of cowpea phenolics. The light brown 09FCV-CC27M cowpea variety had the highest average flavan-3-ol content (13,464 micrograms/g cowpea flour); whereas white and green varieties did not contain detectable levels of flavan-3-ols. Thus, seed-coat color was a good indicator of the accumulation of specific flavonoids in cowpeas. The black, red and light-brown cowpeas had the highest antioxidant activity measured by ORAC and ABTS methods, correlating with their higher total phenol content (TPC) and condensed tannin content (CTC); whereas the white and green varieties had the least. Boiling significantly affected the phenolic profiles, TPC and CTC of all cowpea varieties studied, as well as the antioxidant activity associated with these compounds. The net reduction in antioxidant activity after boiling was less than the net TPC reduction, indicating that the heat-induced phenolic products may still have radical scavenging capacity. Overall, proinflammatory genes regulation, intracellular ROS inhibition, and modulation of miR-126 and its target gene VCAM-1 by cowpea were found to be dependent on cowpea variety, phenolic composition and concentrations. The underlying mechanism by which cowpea induced miR-126 may be associated with inhibition of ROS and down-regulation of transcription factor NF-These results emphasize the importance of the cancer inhibitory potential of phenolic compounds from cowpea and their possible role in preventing anti-inflammatory disorders. Further in vivo studies with cowpea diets are required to validate their clinical relevance to human health

Review of Joshua Obuhatsa’s Values Education, African Tradition and Christianity

No abstract availabl

Investigations into the Role of Humic Acid in Biomembrane Permeability and the Effects of Naturally Formed Gold and Silver Nanoparticles on These Interactions

The mechanism and kinetics of the interaction of humic acids (HAs) with a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-Sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) large unilamellar vesicle (LUV) model biomembrane system were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. All three HAs studied induced a perturbation to the biomembrane bilayer structure at pH 4.8. Concentration dependence studies revealed that biomembrane perturbation increased with increasing HA concentrations for Suwannee River HA (SWHA) from 0 to 20 mg C/L. For both Leonardite HA (LAHA) and Florida Peat HA (FPHA) aggregation influenced biomembrane perturbation at concentrations above 5 and 7.5 mg C/L, respectively. Temperature studies over the environmentally relevant ranges of 10 to 30 °C revealed that biomembrane perturbation increased with decreasing temperature for all three HAs studied. Kinetic data established that adsorption and absorption occurred within seconds to minutes and the complex absorption process consisted of both fast and slow components. The slow component was fitted to first order kinetics; however, the fast component could not be fitted with either first or second order kinetics. A mechanism based on “lattice errors” within the biomembranes was proposed to explain the fast and slow components as well as the concentration and temperature findings. The aromatic moieties within HAs were shown to be responsible for the interactions of HAs with biomembranes and the major biomembrane disruptors for the chemically edited HAs studied. Au and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using the same chemically diverse and chemically edited HAs at environmentally relevant temperature and pH conditions. Stable particles with narrow size distributions for Au NPs and wider distributions for Ag NPs were formed. The NPs synthesized with HAs at pH 4.8 were polydisperse while the NPs synthesized with HAs at pH 7.6 were monodisperse. The interactions of Au and Ag NPs, synthesized and stabilized by chemically diverse HAs, with POPC LUVs contributed to greater biomembrane perturbation at pH 4.8 compared to 7.6, as observed by fluorescence leakage experiments and cryo-TEM imaging

Judicial Landmarks in Modern Governance: The Contemporary Constitution in a Common Law Medium

Governance institutions evolve within historically-marked ‘frontiers’, but the judicial sector more so, in view of its sharper normative design. The motions of courts are shown to rest upon legal principles and patterns that draw cast and moulding from inputs of scholars and jurists nurtured in the common law tradition, and their heritage has constantly attended upon the conception and formulation of the modern codified Constitution, which constantly draws upon the same for its effectuation. The Constitution, therefore, rests upon the people’s sovereign mandate, and the direct legislative signals, just as it remains predicated upon regular interpretation and re-definition by the values of the judicial order, largely evolved under the common law tradition – and thus, dependent upon the inspirational works of ages, of distinguished jurists in that tradition