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Some Vernonia species (Vernonia ambigua, Vernonia blumeoides and Vernonia oocephala) used in Northern Nigerian traditional medicine, were subjected to phytochemical screening using standard procedures. The antibacterial activity using the disc diffusion method as outlined by the NCCLS was carried out on Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynbacterium ulcerans, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysentriae, Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas fluorescence. The results of the antibacterial activity as indicated by zone of growth inhibition ranged from 14 to 27 mm for the crude ethanol extracts and chloroform fractions of the Vernonia species being studied. The activity of chloroform fraction of V. blumeoides was higher on C. ulcerans and K. pneumoniae (27 mm), while the chloroform fractions of V. oocephala and V. ambigua were more active on P. mirabilis (27 mm) and S. typhi (22 mm), respectively. It is worth of mention that the chloroform fractions of the three Vernonia species demonstrated activity (20 mm) against MRSA. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranged from 1.25-2.5 mg/mL for all the organisms tested. The MIC of 1.25 mg/mL exhibited by the chloroform fractions on both Gram positive and negative bacteria indicates broad spectrumactivity of the Vernonia species being studied. Phytochemical screening of the extracts/fractions revealed the presence of steroids/terpenes, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins and glycosides. The antibacterial activity exhibited in this study may be attributed to flavonoids, saponinss or sesquiterpene lactones. The overall results indicate that the extracts/fractions are potent antibacterial preparations at least in vitro. This lends credence to the use of these plants for the treatment of various infectious diseases.

We present a case of meningitis caused by Hemophilus influenzae type b in an immunocompetent 41-year-old Saudi lady. The patient was successfully treated with Ceftriaxone for 10 days. A review of Hemophilus influenzae meningitis in adults and the impact of conjugated vaccine on the epidemiology of the disease are given.

Original data consisted of 31,777 records of progeny of 1442 sires for calvings between 1975 and 1983. Unadjusted means for milk yield (kg), days in milk, days dry, calving interval, days carried calf, and age at calving were 4281, 267, 88, 421, 145, and 36.6. Estimated total variance for first lactation milk yield by Henderson's method 3 was 1,385,436 kg2 with sire and error variances accounting for 1.8 and 98.2%. Heritabilities for milk yield, lactation length, age at calving, and days carried calf were .07, .06, 2.59, and .01. High estimate for age was attributed to confounding of sires with season of calving. Genetic and phenotypic correlations between traits were milk and lactation length, .76 and .72; milk and age at calving, .17 and -.04; milk and days carried calf, -2.11 and .13; lactation length and age at calving, -.13 and -.06; lactation length and days carried calf, .87 and 16.; age at calving and days carried calf, -.60 and -.03. Sires with at least 10 daughters were evaluated by best linear unbiased prediction procedures. First lactation sire values for milk ranged from 359 to -340 kg with an average difference between sires of 12 kg. Sire values using all lactations ranged from 505 to -286 kg with an average difference between sires of 13 kg. Rank correlation between all and first lactation evaluations was .77.

Variance components and predicted sire values were estimated using 305-d projected and unprojected milk records of varying lengths. Original data consisted of 15,512 lactation records of daughters of 138 Jamaica Hope sires that calved between 1969 and 1981 in 38 commercial dairy herds in Jamaica. Classification of records had little effect on components of variance. Herd-year-season variance decreased from 36% using all lactations to 28% with first lactations only. Sire variance was consistently about 10%. Cow component of variance accounted for 17% of the total variation using all lactations and 36% using all lactations of cows with recorded first lactations. Heritabilities for milk by Henderson's method 1 were five to six times larger than estimated from method 3 due to sire by herd confounding. Predicted sire values were between +400 kg and -400 kg. Rankings of sires with at least 5 progeny were considerably influenced by record classification, especially for sires with highest predicted values. There was less influence on rankings when at least 10 progeny per sire were used while the range in predicted sire values was larger using first lactation records only.