ABSTRACT

Rosiglitazone ( C18H19N3O3S ) is an anti-diabetic drug that reduces insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes. The parameters (bond lengths and bond angles), HOMO, LUMO, HOMO-LUMO energy gap, dipole moment, thermodynamic properties, total energy and vibrational frequencies and intensities of the Rosiglitazone molecule in gas phase and in solvents (Water, Ethanol, DMSO and Acetonitrile) were calculated based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) using standard basis sets: B3LYP/6-31G(d,p), B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p). Windows version of Gaussian 09 was used for all the calculations. From the results obtained, the solvents have little influence on the optimized parameters of the molecule. The highest HOMO value of -5.433 eV was found in gas phase showing that the molecule will best donate electron in the gas phase, followed by ethanol in comparison with other solvents. The values of the HOMO were observed to increase with the decrease in dielectric constants of the solvents across all the basis sets used. The lowest LUMO energy of -1.448 eV was found to be in ethanol which shows that the molecule will best accept electron in ethanol compared to the gas phase and other solvents. The largest HOMO-LUMO gap of 4.285 eV was found in water which shows its higher kinetic stability and less chemical reactivity compared to other solvents and in the gas phase. The chemical softness of the molecule was found to decrease as the dielectric constants of the solvents increased namely from ethanol to water. The chemical hardness was found to slightly increase with the increase in dielectric constants of the solvents. The highest value of the dipole moment of 4.6874 D was found in water indicating that the molecule will have the strongest intermolecular interactions in water compared to other solvents and in the gas phase. The total energy increased as the dielectric constants of the solvents decreased from water to ethanol. The vibrational frequencies and intensities increased as the dielectric constants of the solvents increased from ethanol to water. The results confirmed the effects of solvents on the structural, electronic and thermodynamic properties of the studied molecule and will be useful in the design and development of rosiglitazone as an anti-diabetic drug.

Tetracene is an organic semiconductor with chemical formula C 18 H 12 used in organic field effecttransistor (OFET) and organic light emitting diode (OLED). In this work, the molecular geometry (optimized bond lengths and bond angles), vibrational frequencies and intensities, HOMO-LUMO Energy gap and Atomic charge distribution of the Tetracene molecule in gas phase and in solution were calculated and reported. Restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) with different basis sets were employed for the task. Windows version of Gaussian 03 software was used to perform all the calculations. The results obtained show that the bond length obtained using RHF has the lowest average value of 1.072Å and that obtained using DFT has the lowest average value of 1.085Å in gas phase. In Methanol, it is observed that at RHF level, the lowest average value was 1.075Å and at DFT level was 1.087Å. This shows that the values are a bit higher in methanol than in gas phase which implies that the bonds will be slightly stronger in gas phase than in methanol. The strongest bonds in tetracene molecule are those of C20-H28, C23-H29 and C24-H30 in both gas and methanol. The weakest bonds are those of C6-C12 and C6-C14.The bond angles were found to be so closed to 120 0 at both levels of theory for all basis sets used suggesting that the molecule is planar benzene in which the C atoms are hybridized. The calculated HOMO-LUMO energy gap shows that the molecule will be slightly more stable in chemical reaction in gas phase than in methanol. DFT values of the energy gap appeared to be closer to the reported experimental value of 2.6eV than those obtained by RHF. The atomic charges distribution was found to be very sensitive to the basis sets which presumably occur due to polarization. From the results obtained for vibrational frequencies, it shows that tetracene molecule would be more stable in gas phase that in methanol as a result of no imaginary frequency found in gas phase. This confirms the stability of the molecule as stated in the results of HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The calculated vibrational frequencies show that the most intense frequency was obtained to be 924.9862cm -1 at 146.7973KM/mole by RHF/3-21G in gas phase while at B3LYP/3-21G, it has the most intense frequency of about 474.1260cm -1 at 390.1077.2845MK/mole in methanol.

Cryptosporidium is one of the most important protozoan parasitic pathogens and it is a common cause of diarrhea in humans, domestic animals, and wild vertebrates and has serious public health threats. A cross-sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in raw-eaten vegetables in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere Local Government Areas (LGAs). A total of 400 samples were collected from four (4) different locations, namely: Tashan Bama, Gomboru, and Monday Markets (n = 100), while fifty (n = 50) each from 202-Vegetable-Vendors and Unimaid Commercials. A total of 16 visits were conducted in all the sampling areas (twenty-five samples per visit). The Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected using the Modified Ziehl-Neelsen Staining Technique. The locations, sources, and types of raw-eaten vegetables were also assessed. The oocysts were confirmed (×100) as bright pink spherules. Data generated were analyzed using IBM-SPSS V23.0 and p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Out of the total samples (n = 400) analyzed, Cabbage appeared to have the highest number of 10 (12.5%) of Cryptosporidium oocysts detected, while Tomato and garden egg had 9(11.3%) and 1(1.2%) respectively. There was a statistically significant association (χ2 = 12.5, P = 0.014) between the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in raw-eaten vegetables and vegetable types. Among the sources of the vegetables sampled; Alau had the highest number 15(12.5%) of Cryptosporidium oocysts, then followed by Kilari Abdullahi and Zabarmari sources with 4(10.0%) and 4(5.0%) respectively. However, Jetete appeared to have the least number 2(2.5%) of oocysts and there was a statistically significant association (χ2=10.4, P = 0.034) between the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts and the sources of vegetables and fruits. The study concludes that the raw-eaten vegetables sampled from Maiduguri Metropolis were contaminated with Cryptosporidium oocysts. The study recommends that all raw-eaten vegetables should be from cleaned sources and washed before consumption. Consumers should be enlightened on the hygienic measures to be taken in the food chain in line with the HACCP principles.

Stanene is a 2D hexagonal layer of tin with exceptional electronic and optical properties. However, the semiconductor applications of stanene are limited due to its zero band-gap. However, doping stanene could lead to a band gap opening, which could be a promising material for electronic and optical applications. In this work, optimized structure, electronic band structure, real and imaginary parts of the frequency-dependent dielectric function, electron loss function, and refractive index of stanene substitutionally doped with alkaline earth metal (beryllium) were analyzed using density functional theory (DFT) calculations as implemented in the quantum espresso and yambo suites. A pure stanene has a zero band gap energy, but with the inclusion of spin-orbit coupling in the electronic calculation of pure stanene, the band-gap is observed to open up by 0.1eV. Doping stanene with beryllium opens the band-gap and shifts the Dirac cone from the Fermi level, the band gap opens by 0.25eV, 0.55eV, and 0.8eV when the concentration of Beryllium is 12.5%, 25%, and 37.5% respectively. The Dirac cone vanished when the concentration of the dopant was increased to 50%.  The Fermi level is shifted towards the valence band edge indicating a p-type material. The material absorption shows that SnBe absorption ranges in the visible to the ultraviolet region, The refractive index in stanene doped beryllium (SnBe) was found to be higher than that of pristine stanene, the highest refractive index was 9.2 at SnBe25%. In a nutshell, the results indicate that stanene can be a good material for electronic and optical applications if doped with beryllium.