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Patients with surgical wounds have been reported to be at high risk of MRSA carriage and infection. The prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of this organism in the orthopaedic ward of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria-Nigeria, a 547-bed Nigerian hospital, were thus studied. A total of 185 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were confirmed from 217 samples taken from the orthopaedic wards of the hospital using standard isolation methods. Out of these, 44 (23.8%) were from the wounds of patients and 70 (37.8%) from the skin. The remaining 65 (35.1%) and 6 (3.2%) were from their beds and the atmospheric air, respectively. Out of these, 33 (75%), 36 (51.4%), and 48 (73.8%) from wounds, skin, and bed, respectively, were found to be methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using the disc-sensitive test methods. None was detected from the atmosphere. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern results showed the level of resistance to be ampicillin 100% in all the three sites, pefloxacin 90.9%, 72.2%, 66.7%, ceftriaxone 69.7%, 72.2%, 70.8%, gentamicin 54.5%, 52.8%, 37.5%, and ciprofloxacin 51.5%, 47.2%, 35.4% at the wound, skin, and bed sites, respectively. Results confirm that MRSA continues to pose a threat to the hospitalized patients, especially those with bone and wound infections.

Bread samples were baked using wheat flour substituted with milled brewers' dry grain (BDG) at levels of 5, 10, 15 and 25%. The bread produced from wheat flour without BDG substitution served as control. The chemical composition, functional characteristics, microbial content and sensory attributes of the products were determined to ascertain their general acceptability. Results obtained showed an increase in the range of 8% for moisture, 3.5% for fat, 1.7% for Ash, 5.45% for crude fibre, 3.07% for protein and a decrease in carbohydrate content by 20.38%. Results of the functional properties analyzed showed that the water holding capacity increased with BDG substitution from 2.11(g) to 4.79(g) while the water binding capacity increased from 0.78(g) to 0.90(g). There were no differences in values for the oil holding and binding capacities obtained. The average loaf volume decreased by 41% in the BDG substituted breads while the pH values showed a reduction with BDG substitution, Results also showed that the bread sample without (added) BDG contained more microbes during storage than the ones with BDG. Generally, bread with BDG substitutions were nutritionally superior to normal bread while normal bread had better overall sensory scores than the BDG bread.

Phytochemistry, elemental analysis and Infra red spectroscopy were used in combination to confirm the bioactive compounds encountered in the aqueous fraction of the extract of the stem bark of Parkia biglobosa. Bioautography results obtained confirmed the activity of these compounds singly and in combination against Staphylococcus. aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa -all organisms of medical and pharmaceutical importance. All results obtained brings us closer to the real identity of these compounds. Work is going on in our laboratory for the structure elucidation of the compounds.

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