University of Nigeria, Nsukka

About: University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a education organization based out in Nsukka, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 10211 authors who have published 13685 publications receiving 138922 citations.

Preparation and evaluation of mucin-gelatin mucoadhesive microspheres for rectal delivery of ceftriaxone sodium

Abstract: Soluble mucin (S-mucin) processed from the small intestines (ileal region) of freshly slaughtered pigs via homogenization, dialysis, centrifugation and lyophilization and its admixtures with type A gelatin were dispersed in an aqueous medium and used to formulate ceftriaxone sodium-loaded mucoadhesive microspheres by the emulsification cross-linking method using arachis oil as the continuous phase. The release profile of ceftriaxone sodium from the microspheres was evaluated in both simulated gastric fluid (SGF) without pepsin (pH 1.2) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) without pancreatin (pH 7.4). The microspheres were further evaluated as possible novel delivery system for rectal delivery of ceftriaxone sodium in rats. Release of ceftriaxone sodium from the microspheres in both release media was found to occur predominantly by diffusion following non-Fickian transport mechanism and was higher and more rapid in SIF than in SGF. The results obtained from this study may indicate that ceftriaxone sodium could be successfully delivered rectally when embedded in microspheres formulated with either type A gelatin alone or its admixtures with porcine mucin; hence providing a therapeutically viable alternative route for the delivery of this acid-labile third generation cephalosporin.

Protein binding and ivermectin estimations in patients with onchocerciasis

Abstract: We measured ivermectin in plasma, urine, and saliva of nine patients with onchocerciasis. The aim was to establish pharmacokinetic parameters and to assess the most facile medium for use in monitoring compliance. Binding of ivermectin to plasma proteins in vitro was also investigated. The mean (+/- SEM) plasma values for the nine subjects were as follows: weight, 66.3 +/- 2.8 kg; dose, 11.11 +/- 0.4 mg; half-life, 56.50 +/- 7.01 hours; clearance, 142.5 +/- 22.6 L/kg; volume of distribution, 9.91 +/- 2.67 L/kg; area under the plasma concentration-time curve, 1545.3 +/- 190.5 ng/ml.hr; time to reach maximum concentration, 4.7 +/- 0.5 hours; and maximum concentration, 38.2 +/- 5.8 ng/ml. Ivermectin was not detected in the urine of any of the nine subjects. Low levels were found in saliva. Blood specimens remain the only reliable biologic fluid for assessment of compliance after ivermectin oral administration. Ivermectin binds specifically to human serum albumin.

Does CSR contribute to the development of rural young people in cultural tourism of sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from the Niger Delta in Nigeria

Abstract: Handicrafts are key cultural products consumed in the Nigeria’s tourism industry. Owing to low entry barriers, as handicrafts require a low level of capital investment, there is potential to develop viable linkages between tourism and local handicrafts sectors that create economic opportunities for local artisans. Thus, we assess the impact of a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) model of multinational oil companies on the development of rural young people (RYP) in cultural tourism in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Six hundred RYP were sampled across the rural Niger Delta region. Using the logit model, results indicate that RYP have remained widely excluded from the General Memorandum of Understandings (GMoUs) interventions in cultural tourism projects due to the traditional beliefs that cultural affairs are prerogatives of elders, a caveat to the youths. This implies that if the traditions of the communities continue to hinder direct participation of the RYP from the GMoUs cultural tourism project interventions, achieving equality and cultural change would be limited in the region. The findings suggest that since handicrafts are key cultural products consumed in the tourism industry, GMoUs can play a role in helping to create an appropriate intervention structure that will be targeted towards youth empowerment in the area of traditional handicraft. This can be achieved if the Cluster Development Boards (CDBs) would focus on integrating rural young artisans into local tourism value chains and ensuring that they benefit economically from the sector. The CDBs should aim at creating space for the views of rural young indigenous people’s handicrafts; emphasizing the value of indigenous knowledge, particularly on arts and crafts for tourists and expatriate in multinational corporations in Nigeria.

Application of 3-algorithm ANN programming to predict the strength performance of hydrated-lime activated rice husk ash treated soil

Abstract: Artificial neural network (ANN) method has been applied in the present work to predict the California bearing ratio (CBR), unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and resistance value (R) of expansive soil treated with recycled and activated composites of rice husk ash. Pavement foundations suffer from poor design and construction, poor material handling and utilization and management lapses. The evolutions of soft computing techniques have produced various algorithms developed to overcome certain lapses in performance. Three of such algorithms from ANN are Levenberg–Muarquardt Backpropagation (LMBP), Bayesian Programming (BP), and Conjugate Gradient (CG) algorithms. In this work, the expansive soil classified as A-7-6 group soil was treated with hydrated-lime activated rice husk ash (HARHA) in varying proportions between 0.1 and 12% by weight of soil at the rate of 0.1% to produce 121 datasets. These were used to predict the behavior of the soil’s strength parameters (CBR, UCS and R) utilizing the evolutionary hybrid algorithms of ANN. The predictor parameters were HARHA, liquid limit (wL), (plastic limit (wP), plasticity index (IP), optimum moisture content (wOMC), clay activity (AC), and (maximum dry density (δmax). A multiple linear regression (MLR) was also conducted on the datasets in addition to ANN to serve as a check and linear validation mechanism. MLR and ANN methods agreed in terms of performance and fit at the end of computing and iteration. However, the response validation on the predicted models showed a good correlation above 0.9 and a great performance index. Comparatively, the LMBP algorithm yielded an accurate estimation of the results in lesser iterations than the Bayesian and the CG algorithms, while the Bayesian technique produced the best result with the required number of iterations to minimize the error. And finally, the LMBP algorithm outclassed the other two algorithms in terms of the predicted models’ accuracy.