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A large, urban London teaching hospital has a strategic objective of “develop all our diverse staff to deliver their potential and foster talent” (trust intranet, updated march 04, 2022). In drafting the new strategy, the words “commitment to equality and diversity” were suggested. Was there any change created by the strategy? Do such words on a website stop racist discrimination, bullying and harassment within departments?

Moringa oleifera is an under-utilized vegetable plant known for its nutritional and medicinal properties. Current post-COVID-19 pandemic realities necessitate increased utilization of Moringa, with minimal postharvest losses. Thus, this study was conducted to compare the effect of different drying conditions on microbiological safety and assess shelf stability of dried Moringa leaves of Nigerian ecotype. Freshly harvested leaves were divided into four (4) parts and dried differently; sun-drying at day temperature of about 42 °C for 7 hours, oven-drying at 45 °C for 6 hours, shade-drying for 2 days while the last part was combined sun-shade drying. A second batch of fresh leaves was sun-dried and double-packaged in polythene pouches into rigid plastic plates that were subsequently stored in the dark at room temperature. Microbial enumerations of all freshly dried samples and the stored samples were conducted at monthly interval for five (5) months. Proximate composition, chlorophyll, iron and ascorbic acid contents were determined using standard methods. The results showed no growth on all freshly dried samples, irrespective of drying methods. Similarly, the result of shelf stability indicated acceptable levels of microbial growth throughout storage period. Proximate composition result indicated that storage length significantly (p < 0.05) affected the proximate composition of the samples. Moisture content increased with increasing storage time from 4.18±0.28 to 6.33±0.29 g/100 g; while protein, ash (total minerals), crude fibre, fat and carbohydrates contents all decreased to varying degrees with increasing storage time, from 36.10±0.51 to 35.40±0.50 g/100 g, 4.45±0.17 to 4.10±0.00 g/100 g, 6.55±0.40 to 6.13±0.05 g/100 g, 3.85±0.11 to 3.67±0.00 g/100 g and 44.87±0.44 to 44.37±0.44 g/100 g, respectively. This decrease is within acceptable standard that compares favourably with the levels that are found in other leafy vegetables. The chlorophyll content decreases with increasing storage length from 110.24±6.21 to 56.37±2.24 mg/100 g, with similar trend in iron and vitamin C contents. Hence, these results indicate that Moringa leaves can actually be dried using easily available methods of sun-drying, oven-drying and shade-drying for storage; while still maintaining acceptable standards of food safety and nutrient status. Therefore, dried Moringa leaves and powder can be exploited for commercial purposes in areas of abundant production for continuous distribution in Nigeria.

Quality evaluation of bread from wheat flour using avocado paste as substitute was investigated. Wheat flour and avocado paste were substituted at different ratios. The chemical composition, physical properties and sensory evaluation of the bread samples were carried out. The results revealed that the moisture, protein, fat, fiber, ash, carbohydrate and energy ranged from 31.04- 36.39%, 6.47-9.92%, 2.60-8.84%, 0.69-2.99%, 44.03-54.69% and 272.35-283.73 Kcal/100g respectively. The protein content decreased while the crude fat, crude fiber and total ash increased significantly (p

In this research, we estimated the total organic carbon and presented a paleo depositional model of the Paleocene Patala Formation from the western Salt Range of Pakistan. Results shows, during the Paleocene period, the Patala Formation was settled in barrier-island or in back-barrier depositional environments. This evidence is on the basis of lithofacies analysis and TOC determination data from measured stratigraphic sections. According to lithofacies analysis and the TOC estimation of the Patala Formation, the carbonaceous shale deposits of Western Salt Range at Khairabad, Chitta Wahan, and the Kalri area were deposited in back-barrier marshes. In the study area, the Patala Formation 16 meter thick. Based on detailed outcrop investigation, we have divided the Patala Formation into five different lithofacies, i.e., grey shale, carbonaceous shale, sandstone, limestone, and a mixture of sandstone and shale facies. The TOC was measured with the help of a wet combustion titration method. Carbonaceous shale and grey shale lithofacies contain an average of 3.64 % and 1.39 % of TOC value, respectively. Results show moderate to very good TOC values in the shales of Patala formation, which indicates that Patala Formation in the Western Salt Range has a good source rock potential to generate hydrocarbon.

A decline in conventional petroleum reserves has resulted in the study of unconventional reservoirs. Techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing, permit new types of reservoirs to be developed. Organically rich shales are the prime horizons for the exploration and development of unconventional oil/gas. The Talhar Shale is a unit of the Lower Goru Formation (Cretaceous), mainly composed of dark grey-black shale with minor siltstone and sandstone. In the study area, the Talhar Shale is 70–90 m thick. This research primarily focuses on the geochemical evaluation of the Talhar Shale to evaluate its shale oil and gas potential by using total organic carbon, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vitrinite reflectance, and maceral analysis. Talhar Shale has moderate to good hydrocarbon potential (0.43–10.73 mg HC/g rock). The laboratory results of the TOC reveals a good match with the Δlog R technique relative to the CARBOLOG technique. Biomarker data of the studied samples exhibit the dominance of C19 tricyclic terpanes, C30 pentacyclic triterpanes, and C27 steranes. Maturity parameters (Tmax, and vitrinite reflectance) suggest that the Talhar Shale is thermally peak-late mature, consistent with biomarker maturity parameters (steranes and hopanes). Oxic environmental conditions prevailed during the deposition of these Cretaceous sediments, and the organic matter was mainly mixed (primarily derived from terrigenous sources). This interpretation is based on various biomarker criteria, e.g., elevated Pr/Ph values, a large amount of C24TeT comparative to C23 TT, the lower amounts of C29/C30 17α(H)-hopane, etc. Organic petrographic analysis exhibits vitrinite as the dominant maceral group. However, solid bitumen, inertinite, and liptinite macerals were also observed. The van Krevelen diagram and the HI vs. Tmax indicate the presence of mixed type II/III kerogen. Various geochemical parameters, e.g., Tmax, n-alkanes carbon preference index (CPI), sterane parameters (20S/20S + 20R, ββ/ββ+αα), and the hopane Ts/(Ts + Tm) and C31 22S/(22S + 22R) suggest the orgaic matter (OM) in Talhar Shale is thermally mature. Based on XRD, the Cretaceous Talhar Shale contains a high percentage of quartz. Additionally, the crossplot between TOC and quartz content displays a positive association that suggests the quartz content in Talhar Shale might be from the biogenic origin, which supports a brittle nature and could be favorable for hydraulic fracturing. Moreover, it has a lower value of Poisson's ratio and moderates to high Young's modulus, indicating favourability for hydraulic fracking. Cretaceous sediments from the Lower Indus Basin of Pakistan are chiefly considered as oil and gas-prone horizons. Geochemical properties of the Talhar Shale compared with other major unconventional shale reservoirs around the globe (United States, Germany, Canada, and China) exhibits suitable average organic matter abundance (2.19 wt %), mixed type II/III kerogen, an adequate level of thermal maturity, massive shale thickness, burial depth, and high porosity. These characteristics of the Cretaceous Talhar Shale in the Lower Indus Basin compared to other global unconventional reservoirs may indicate its possibility as a favorable target for unconventional energy exploration.

Quinazolinone derivatives are the versatile nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds displaying a wide variety of biological and pharmacological activities like antibacterial, anthelmintic,neuroleptic,antitubercular,platelet,antiaggregating,antifungal,anticancer,anti-inflammatory,antiviral,CNSdepressant activity,antiparkinson,bronchodilator etc. Recently several scientists have elucidated that Quinazolinone system possesses variable sites like position 2 and 3 which can be suitably modified to yield new potent chemotherapeutic and pharmacotherapeutic agents. Further, Schiff bases are use as substrate in the preparation of number of industrial and biologically Active compound via ring closure, cyclo addition and replacement reactions.Morever,Schiff b a s es d e r i v e d from various heterocycles have been reported to posses cytotoxic, anticonvulsant, antiproliferative,antimicrobial, anticancer and antifungal activities. In view of the above mentioned facts and in continuation of our interest in the synthesis of heterocycles to identify new candidate, that may be value in designing new, potent, selective and less toxic chemotherapeutic agents, the synthesis of some novel structure hybrids incorporating suitably substituted quinazolinone moiety with long aliphatic dicarboxylic acids hydrazides and finally converting them to Schiff bases by reacting with substituted benzaledhydes to yield title compounds. These are then evaluated for antitubercular activity by Micro plate alamar blue assay method(MABA) and MIC were determined for each drug.During the present investigation 1,3,4-benzoxazinone was prepared from anthranilic acid and acetic anhydride by known method. Various dihydrazides were prepared from aliphatic α, ω-aliphatic dicarboxylic acids by following literature method. N-3 substituted quinazolinone derivatives were prepared from the equimolar reaction of 1,3,4-benzoxazinone with various dihydrazides to yield the compounds 1AB1 to 1AB5. These are then reacted with substituted benzaledhydes to form Schiff bases 2B1 to 2B5. The homogeneity of all the derivatives was established by TLC technique. The structures of the compounds were successfully established by means of IR, Proton NMR and Mass spectral studies.All the compounds were evaluated f o r a nti tu b erc ula r activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv by micro plate blue assay method (MABA).One of the compound 2B5 has shown excellent antitubercular property by having lowest MIC of 3.125µg/ml were as the other compounds also exhibited significant growth inhibiting properties against the mycobacterium tested. Key words: Quinazolinone, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, antitubercular activity.

Clinics that provide pediatric care are frequently confronted with family group appointment requests, where parents desire their children to be scheduled simultaneously or consecutively. This is potentially beneficial to the family by minimizing the number of trips to the provider’s office. However, offering prescheduled group appointments have the risk of reducing provider utilization, particularly if the entire group fails to meet their scheduled appointment. Similarly, reserving appointment slots for same day group appointment requests may also decrease utilization and impact profitability. This paper explores the impact of family group appointments on clinic performance in terms of provider utilization and profit. A finite-horizon, stochastic dynamic programming problem is presented to determine the optimal scheduling strategy given both individual and group appointment requests can be tactically accommodated via overbooking. On the basis of a computational study, we quantify the risk to clinic profitability and productivity resulting from the no-show behavior of prescheduled appointments. We also characterize the behavior of the optimal scheduling strategy as a function of prescheduled appointment allocations among the patient classes.

This study reports the fungal and bacterial metabolites associated with natural contamination of 38 composite samples of locally processed rice from five Agro-ecological Zones of Nigeria (AEZs). The samples were evaluated for the presence of microbial metabolites with the Liquid Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technique. Among the identified metabolites, 63 fungal and 5 bacterial metabolites were measured at varying concentrations and occurrence levels. Fusarium toxins had the highest incidence of 79% but occurred in low amounts with fumonisin B1 (FB1) having the highest percentage incidence of 39.5% and a mean of 18.52 µg/kg. Among the Aspergillus toxins, aflatoxins (AFs) occurred in 36.9% of the rice samples with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) having the highest occurrence level of 18.4% and a mean value of 5 µg/kg. About 12 metabolites had incidence levels >50%, including beauvericin (BEA) and tryptophol which had occurrence levels of 100%. Among the emerging toxins under evaluation by international organizations such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), citrinin, sterigmatocystin (STER) and beauvericin were detected with maximum values of 207, 125 and 131 ?g/kg respectively. This paper also reports the first documented evidence of the contamination of Nigerian rice by bacterial and Alternaria metabolites, nivalenol, kojic acid, STER, moniliformin, fusaric acid, fumonisin B3, citrinin, 3-nitropropionic acid, andrastin A, cytochalasins, emodin and physicon.

Phytochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of n-butanol, petroleum ether and ethanol extracts of the leaf of Chrysophyllumalbidum were investigated. Antioxidant activity was carried out using various tests which include; 2, 2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, total antioxidant activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total flavonoid content and the total phenolic content. The antimicrobial test was conducted on the following micro-organisms; Salmonella dysenteriae, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhi, Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiellapneumoniae, Penicillum spp., Aspergillusflavus, Fusariumverticoides, Aspergillus tamari and Aspergillusparasiticus using the agar well diffusion method. Results revealed that petroleum ether gave the highest extract yield (16.8%) while butanolic extract had the least yield (4.6%). At 250 µg/ml extract concentration, petroleum ether extract demonstrated the highest (73.57%) DPPH scavenging activity followed by ethanol extract (59.32%) while butanolic extract had the least scavenging activity of 32.02%, and these were significantly different (P

This study reports the distribution of fungal isolates and fungal metabolites that naturally contaminate locally processed rice from five agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. The fungal species were isolated by the dilution plate technique and identified by appropriate diagnostics, while metabolites were determined by a liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method. Aspergillus and Penicillium species were the predominant isolates found in the rice samples while Fusarium spp. were not isolated. The mean fungal count differed significantly (p

Much of the appointment-scheduling literature has characterized the impact of no-show rates with respect to individual appointment requests. However, little is known about the impact of appointments that are grouped by household. This study is concerned with understanding the prevalence of these family group appointments and identifying the appointment characteristics that significantly influence no-show rates. Using historical data from one public and one private pediatric clinic, multiway frequency analysis is used to characterize the association between appointment characteristics and appointment size. A logistic regression model is also developed to identify the factors that contribute to no-show rates for both clinics. The results of the study indicate that more than one-third of the appointments scheduled by both clinics were associated with batch appointment requests. In addition, no-show rates for batch appointments in the public clinic were higher than those of the private clinic. We identify appointment size as a significant predictor in determining no-show rates for both public and private clinics. Since no-show rates adversely impact clinic efficiency, scheduling coordinators should consider the impact of grouping-related appointments when determining how to best allocate resources.

The antimicrobial effect of Corn Steep Liquor (CSL) was investigated over a five day period. The pH and titrable acidity of the liquor were determined, while the antimicrobial effect on some diarrhoea causing organisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteriditis, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus was also determined. Using well diffusion method, 0.1 ml (100 μl) of the liquor effectively inhibited the growth of the test organisms with zones of inhibition ranging from 4.00 ± 0.28 to 20.20 ± 0.14 mm. The zones of inhibition increased with increasing number of days of fermentation of the filtrate on which is the CSL. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the antimicrobial properties of the liquor on day 3 and 4 for S. enteriditis, S. aureus and V. parahaemolyticus. The zone of inhibition on day 5 was significantly different (P

This paper proposes a novel obstacle avoidance algorithm for autonomous mobile robot control. The proposed approach brings a solution to the problem of robot traversal in critical shaped environments and offers several advantages compared to the reported approaches. The algorithmic approach, named as, Intelligent Follow the Gap Method (IFGM) is based on improved Intelligent Bug Algorithm (IBA) and Follow the Gap Method (FGM). The robot field of view is taken into consideration. The IBA avoids obstacles by following their edge and scanning the path to destination, thus making the approach goal-oriented avoiding local minimum problem. To characterize the performance of IFGM, various scenarios of obstacles are considered. These scenarios range from having obstacles defined by simple and symmetrical shapes to critical shaped obstacles. The simulation results demonstrate that the algorithm results in safer and smoother trajectories in the presence of obstacles. It offers fast convergence and does not suffer from local minima. Finally, the performance comparison of the proposed algorithm with that of the reported approaches in terms of distance-time plots confirms the efficacy of the presented approach. The proposed algorithm lends itself to future implementations in the navigation of mobile and industrial robots, especially in applications exhibiting crucial time and critical obstacles including disaster management, spy, elderly people assistance and soccer games.

A research work was carried out to evaluate the functional properties and quality of “Kokoro” blended with defatted Beniseed cake. Maize flour and Beniseed cake were mixed thoroughly in various proportions; AZO- (100%Maize), MBK-(90:10), EJT-(80:20),SIL-(70:30) and LMA-(60:40) Maize: Beniseed seed cake, respectively. The blends were each made into a thick paste, manually shaped into a noodle shape of about 3 mm diameter and deep fried in hot vegetable oil (170°C) for 5 min. Chemical, functional and pasting properties of the blended flour were evaluated. The result showed that the crude protein increased with increase in the proportion of the Defatted Beniseed flour (DBF) in the “Kokoro” samples AZO 5.32 ± 0.08e to LMA 13.42 ±0.11a. Results revealed that a significant difference (P

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by a haemoflagellate Leishmania, transmitted to humans through bites of female sand fly. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of leishmaniasis in Abbottabad and nearby areas including villages of Nawanshehr, Dhodial, Gamavan, Sheikhulbandi, Kakul and Malikpura.This was a retrospective study carried out in Pathology Department, Women Medical College and Benazir Bhutto Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from 2005 to 2009. The diagnosis was based on intracellular and extracellular amastigote forms of Leishmania donovani in the bone marrow aspirates.We diagnosed 61 cases of visceral leishmaniasis, mostly from Nawanshehr (32.78%), in children below 5 years of age with febrile splenomegaly.The disease is gradually spreading southwards in the country. A high index of suspicion should be kept in mind for all cases coming from Northern Areas of the country where the frequency is quite high. Local health authorities should take drastic action against this spreading disease.

Conflicts of Interest: Confirmatory test kits were supplied by Ora-sure Technologies. Gilead Sciences prodded a training grant. Funding/Support: The Routine Screening Campaign is funded by the District of Columbia Department of Health: $224 371 is allocated for personnel (2 full-time testers, 1 project coordinator/tester, 1 data manager/tester, and 1 part-time program manager/tester) and $153 262 for supplies and rapid test kits ($20 each). This amount does not include confirmatory testing: HIV Western blot ($271 each). Background: Approximately 232 700 (21%) of Americans are unaware of their HIV-seropositive status; this represents a potential for virus transmission. Revised recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for HIV screening promote routine screening in the health care setting. We describe the implementation of a hospital-wide routine HIV screening program in the District of Columbia. Methods: Rapid HIV testing was conducted at Howard University Hospital on consenting patients at least 18 years of age using the OraSure OraQuick Advance® Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test. The study population includes Howard University Hospital patients who were offered HIV screening over a 12-month period at no cost. Screened patients received immediate test results and, for those patients found to be preliminarily reactive, confirmatory testing and linkage to care were offered. Results: Of the 12 836 patients who were offered testing, 7528 (58.6%) consented. Preliminary reactive test results were identified in 176 patients (2.3%). Overall, 45.5% were confirmed, of which 82.5% were confirmed positive. Screening protocol changes have led to 100% confirmation since implementation. Conclusions: Hospital-wide routine HIV screening is feasible and can be implemented effectively and efficiently. The HIV screening campaign instituted at Howard University Hospital identified a substantial number of HIV-positive individuals and provided critical connection to follow-up testing, counseling, and disease management services.

Within an open-access scheduling system, there is an associated risk of managing the clinic's capacity with the expected daily demand. This involves a process of limiting the likelihood of no-shows with prescheduled appointments, while ensuring there are enough available slots for same-day appointment requests. A preliminary discrete-time, discrete-space, stationary infinite-horizon Markov decision process (MDP) model is used to study the impact that batch arrivals have on an open-access scheduling system. The model will assist pediatric dental care providers in determining whether or not to accept batch appointments, where patient demand is dependent on one another. The underlying assumption is that the number of patients within the batch appointment is equal to half of the clinic's total capacity. The objective is to maximize clinic's revenue, while also maintaining timely access to care for patients.

Exposure to weightlessness is known to alter physiological processes in humans and animals. As a result of these changes, hepatic drug metabolism may be altered as well. Indeed, short term simulated weightlessness in the rat has been shown to increase oxidative metabolism.Simulated weightlessness will increase Phase II drug metabolism in the rat during short-term tail suspension.The tail-suspended rat model was used to simulate weightlessness. Rats were subjected to 1, 3, 7, or 10 d of tail-suspension in order to mimic the effect of exposure to a microgravity environment. One additional rat group was not suspended and served as a control. On the final day of the study, rats we administered a single intravenous bolus dose of acetaminophen 25 mg x kg(-1) through an implanted jugular catheter and serial blood samples were taken for 90 min. Serum acetaminophen concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined by using standard model independent methods.The results show that simulated weightlessness in the rat has no effect on Phase II drug metabolism, using acetaminophen as a marker compound.These data support the hypothesis that simulated weightlessness in the rat modulates oxidative metabolism, but not drug conjugation to glucuronide or sulfate metabolites. These data offer insight into the physiological changes and variability seen in hepatic metabolic profiles in humans and animals following actual spaceflight.