A social history of midwifery practices in colonial Ibadan, Nigeria, 1893 - 1960
- Authors: Olorunnibe, Folaranmi Flourish
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Midwifery Nigeria Ibadan , Nigeria History 1900-1960 , Nigeria Politics and government To 1960 , Nigeria Social conditions To 1960 , Maternal health services Nigeria Ibadan , Ibadan (Nigeria) Colonial influence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408716 , vital:70519 , DOI 10.21504/10962/408716
- Description: This thesis examines the introduction and development of western medical practices in colonial spaces with particular reference to midwifery practices in colonial Ibadan, Nigeria, from 1893 to 1960. This has become necessary because of the importance placed on childbirth and maternal healthcare in the twentieth century. The trends and changes in midwifery and midwifery practices in colonial Ibadan are seen as reflections of other transformations in British African colonies at large. The study begins with a detailed historical analysis of the major metropolitan and local factors that informed the introduction and development of Western obstetrics in colonial Ibadan, Nigeria. It proceeds to examine the development of Western midwifery practices in colonial Ibadan; highlighting the contributions of the Ibadan people to the development of Western midwifery practices and emphasizing policies affecting development, and implementation of Western obstetrics. The thesis goes further to reveal the prejudiced nature of colonial medical policies, and the ways it shaped various responses especially from rural folks who were particularly marginalized since the 1920s when maternal healthcare policies was implemented in the urban areas till the 1950s when a reformed policy for rural medical service scheme was introduced to the rural folks. Thus, influencing the ways they imagined and appropriated ideas of western obstetrics alongside African traditional midwifery practices. The idea is to demonstrate in this thesis the extent to which the precincts in colonial medical policies, most especially the establishment of maternity hospitals, clinics and dispensaries, and the institutionalization of western obstetrics, inspired critical and ingenious responses from colonial doctors, colonial officials, the missionaries, patients, African trained midwives, traditional medical practitioners and the African population in general. Placing all of these historical events within a wider context, this thesis borrows insights from the social history of medicine in an attempt to reconstruct the colonial medical practices in Ibadan, Nigeria, through the sites of midwifery practices and maternal welfare services from 1893 to 1960. This is in addition to its dependence on a comparatively rich, but skewed historical evidence, including a plethora of annual medical reports, official reports of the department of medical and sanitary services, official correspondences within the colonial government in Ibadan and Nigeria, and between the colonial government and the colonial office in the United Kingdom. Details of African responses to medical policies were garnered from oral testimonies, newspaper publications and correspondences between the African public and the colonial government in Ibadan. In exploring this historical evidence, the thesis reveals very interesting details of colonial perceptions about African health and their underlining motives for introducing western medical ideas, the various medical schemes and policies used in driving colonial interest and the ways Africans imagined, re-imagined, and appropriated Western medical practices. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, History, 2022
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In silico substrate binding profiling for SARS-COV-2 main protease (mpro) using hexapeptide substrates
- Authors: Zabo, Sophakama
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease) , Peptides , Chymotrypsin like , Chymotrypsin , Proteases , Proteolytic enzymes
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365566 , vital:65760
- Description: COVID-19, as a disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection, and a pandemic has had a devastating effect on the world. There are limited effective measures that control the spread and treatment of COVID-19 illness. The homodimeric cysteine main protease (Mpro) is crucial to the life cycle of the virus, as it cleaves the large polyproteins 1a and 1ab into matured, functional non-structural proteins. The Mpro exhibits high degrees of conservation in sequence, structure and specificity across coronavirus species, making it an ideal drug target. The Mpro substrate-binding profiles remain, despite the resolution of its recognition sequence and cleavage points (Leu-Gln↓(Ser/Ala/Gly)). In this study, a series of hexapeptide sequences containing the appropriate recognition sequence and cleavage points were generated and screened against the Mpro to study these binding profiles, and to further be the basis for efficiency-driven drug design. A multi-conformer hexapeptide substrate library comprising optimised 81000 models of 810 unique sequences was generated using RDKit within the context of python. Terminal capping with ACE and NMe was effected using SMILES and SMARTS matching. Multiple hexapeptides were complexed with chain B of crystallographic Mpro (PDS ID: 6XHM), following the validation of chain B for this purpose using AutoDock Vina at high levels of exhaustiveness (480). The resulting Vina scores ranged between -8.7 and -7.0 kcal.mol-1, and the reproducibility of best poses was validated through redocking. Ligand efficiency indices were calculated to identify substrate residues with high binding efficiency at their respective positions, revealing Val (P3), Ala (P1′); and Gly and Ala (P2′ and P3′) as leading efficient binders. Binding efficiencies were lowered by molecular weight. Substrate recognition was assessed by mapping of binding subsites, and Mpro specificity was evaluated through the resolution of intermolecular interaction at the binding interface. Molecular dynamics simulations for 20 ns were performed to assess the stability and behaviour of 132 Mpro systems complexed with KLQ*** substrates. Principal component analysis (PCA), was performed to assess II protein motions and conformational changes during the simulations. A strategy was formulated to classify and evaluate relations in the Mpro PCA motions, revealing four main clades of similarity. Similarity within a clade (Group 2) and dissimilarity between clades were confirmed. Trajectory visualisation revealed complex stability, substrate unbinding and dimer dissociation for various Mpro systems. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
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