Maternal side effects of efavirenz‑containing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART): A comparative study of HIV‑positive pregnant and nonpregnant women in a tertiary hospital

Background: Efavirenz is now a first‑line non‑nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) though its use is fraught with maternal side effects, usually of the central nervous system (CNS) and fetal complications.Objective: The study aims to comparatively document the maternal side‑effect profile of an efavirenz‑containing fixed‑dosage HAART and compliance with its use in HIV‑positive pregnant and nonpregnant women at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi‑Araba.Methodology: A prospective study among HIV‑positive pregnant (40) and nonpregnant women (40) on efavirenz‑containing fixed‑dose HAART (Atripla®) who were recruited purposively at the antenatal clinic and AIDS Prevention Initiative Nigeria (APIN) clinics of LUTH. Data analysis was done with EPI Info 2014, and the results are presented in frequencies.Results: The mean age of respondents was 31 ± 5.7 years. Atripla® was the only fixed‑dose combination used. Fifty‑three percent and 62.5% of pregnant and nonpregnant HIV‑positive women, respectively, reported CNS side effects of Atripla® [odds ratio: 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.27–1.62]. Adherence to the use of Atripla® was 100% among HIV‑positive pregnant women. Women with baseline viral load values greater than 400 copies/mL reported more side effects to Atripla®.Conclusion: There are similar side‑effect profiles of Atripla® in HIV‑positive women irrespective of pregnancy. Education and counselling can help foster adherence, resulting in improved immunological and virological outcome.Keywords: Efavirenz; HAART; maternal; side-effect

Design and Implementation of a 30KVA Hybrid Inverter (Solar and Utility Supply)

The greatest desire of mankind is to have reliable and sustainable electricity. Over the years, conventional, non-renewable energy resources (e.g. coal, oil, fuelwood etc) had been harnessed to generate electricity. However, these resources are depleting with constant usage. This had initiated a switch in attention to renewable energy sources like wind, solar, tidal energy etc. This paper therefore, demonstrates the design and implementation of a 30KVA hybrid inverter using solar panels and utility supply as means of charging so as to generate reliable and sustainable electricity. To achieve this, hybrid inverter with solar battery charging system consists of an inverter powered by a 192V battery was installed. This inverter generates up to 240V AC with the help of driver circuitry and a heavy load transformer. This battery gets charged from two sources, first being the mains power supply itself. If the mains power supply is available, the relay switches to the connection using mains power supply to supply to the load. This power supply also charges the battery for using it as back up the next time there is power outage. The use of solar panel to charge the battery gives an additional advantage of surplus power in case the power outage of mains is prolonging. Thus, this inverter can last for longer duration’s and provide uninterrupted power supply to the user. While the solar panel converts solar energy to electric energy and charge up the batteries during the day with the help of MPPT charge controller, the charge controller was able to accommodate 200VDC from the solar panel and deliver an output voltage 192DCV while converting the excess voltage to current at 192V/100A to the battery. The DC output of the battery was also converted to the usable AC form the inverter. This made it possible for the system output to be used to power domestic appliances. The system design is considered for a residential building in Nigeria. During the test of the solar panels, the results obtained showed that the solar panels were more than sufficient to charge the 3200AH batteries that were connected in series and parallel arrangement for many hours especially during the day. Although, the 192VDC input required by the system to function would not be available at all times in a day, the use of a 192V battery as an auxiliary power source increased the length of time for which the system was available since 3200AH was all that was needed to power the system but another back up of 3200AH was incorporated to span the usage time. The system operate at minimum running cost, pollution free environment, noiseless, reliable and provide the convenient of a twenty-four hour power supply. With this system, energy efficiency was achieved

IMPACT OF GENERIC AND MULTIBAND POWER SYSTEM STABLIZER (PSS) ON ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM STABILITY

Sustained power system oscillation has become a serious problem for power system operation and control nowadays. Oscillations cause safety problems in electric power equipment and limit the transmission capacity of long-distance power transmission. Oscillations can reach an amount that can compromise the stable operation of the synchronous generator and the power system in general. One way to suppress oscillations is to use a stabilizer of the power system as an integral part of the excitation systems of generators. The task of the power oscillation stabilizer is to produce a torque damping component of the electromagnetic torque through the excitation systems. This paper reveals the impacts of Generic and Multiband power system stabilizers (PSS) to enhance the damping of low frequency oscillations in a two machine power system. The impact of the Multiband PSS was seen to be better that of Generic PSS on the two machine power system in Matlab Simulink. KEY WORD: Power, Stability, Simulation, Oscillations, Faults. DOI: 10.7176/CEIS/12-2-04 Publication date: April 30th 202

Microcontroller based Electronic Billboard using GSM

The Design of a Microcontroller Based Electronic Billboard using GSM was developed with two ATMAGE328P microcontrollers from Atmel. The microcontrollers provide all the functionality of the display with wireless control. The Display is obtained on a 16X36 Light Emitting Diode (LED) module display. A desired text message from a mobile phone is sent via a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) to the GSM module located at the receiving end of the system, the message is then stored in the Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM). The GSM module is connected through Integrated Circuit (74HC595 IC) to the ATMEGA328P microcontroller. The message that was stored in the EEPROM was then displayed on the billboard. This hardware uses regulated 5V power supply. A three-terminal LM7805 is employed for regulation of the voltage. A full wave bridge rectifier was used to rectify the AC output of the secondary of 230/12V step down transformer. The system was tested and recorded huge success

Analysis of Smart Grid Interoperability

The energy grid is currently undergoing a historical change of state from the traditional structure where a utility owns the generation, transmission and distribution services into an integrated smart grid in a monopolistic market which introduce consumers as active players in managing and controlling the power. This report provides an analysis of the methods applicable to smart grid interoperability tests. A systematic approach for developing smart grid interoperability tests was adopted by analyzing a house and an industries looking at the analysis of their active power. This analysis of active power gives the exact idea to know the range of maximum permissible loads that can be connected to their relevant bus bars. This paper presents the change in the value of Active Power with varying load angle in context with small signal analysis using wind, solar and generator (grid). The result obtained showed that, consumers can then choose the cheapest energy to be consumed

Prevalence, Awareness and Factors Associated with Glaucoma in a Rural Community of Ekiti State, South West Nigeria

Background: Glaucoma, a group of diseases that have optic neuropathy as a common end point, is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, accounting for 4.5 million blindness, which is about 12% of global blindness. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, awareness and risk factors associated with glaucoma in a rural community of Ekiti State. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted during a health outreach. All adults present during the outreach were enrolled into the study and screened for glaucoma and a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The validity of the questionnaire was tested at Ijero-Ekiti community before being used for this research. Data obtained was analysed using SPSS version 20 and p-value was predetermined at ≤ 0.05. Results: Majority of respondents were aged 60 years and above with a mean age of 55 ± 11.7. Majority (73%) were females and 41% had secondary education. Prevalence of glaucoma was 10.7%; 36% of respondents had heard about glaucoma; and 43.2% of those that had heard were not aware that it can lead to blindness. Increasing age, level of education, procurement of glasses from friends/relatives/roadside, using eyes drop not prescribed, history of previous eyes injury and family history of glaucoma were factors identified as having significant relationship with glaucoma. Conclusion: Glaucoma is prevalent in the community (10.7%). However, level of awareness about the disease (36%) was low. Factors, such as age, level of education, procurement of glasses from quacks, use of eye drops not prescribed, previous injury to the eyes and family history of glaucoma, were shown to have significant relationship with glaucoma. There is need to increase community awareness on glaucoma as a major cause of blindness and the risk factors associated with it. Community screening for people above 40 years for glaucoma is also recommended

The prevalence and determinants of helmet use amongst commercial motorcyclists in Ido-Osi local government area

Commercial motorcycle (CM) accidents constitute a major public concern in Nigeria. There is 8:10 chance that injuries resulting from these accidents are severe and debilitating including head and spinal injuries. This study is aimed at producing useful data on the prevalence, frequency, and determinants of helmet use among commercial motorcyclist in Ido-Osi Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive/cross-sectional study. A total of 360 respondents were selected by multi-stage sampling technique and interviewed using assisted self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Determinants of helmet use examined included age, educational level, marital status and religion. There was a 100% response rate. More than half of the respondents were within the age range of 20–29 years 164(53.6%) with the mean age of the study participants 29.9. The prevalence of helmet usage among commercial motorcyclist was 23.5%. The commonest reason for not using a crash helmet in this study was non-availability. The commonest reason for the non-availability of the welding helmet was the cost of the helmet. Less than half of the respondents were able to show or present helmet although some of the helmet presented were sub-standard (39.7%). The study also revealed irregular use of helmets among the respondents that used a helmet while riding a motorcycle as only 2.7% of them used it for all the five riding sessions assessed in this study. There was a statistically significant relationship between age, educational level, marital status and the use of helmets among respondents with p values of 0.005, 0.027, and 0.009, respectively. The prevalence of the use of helmets among the motorcyclist in this study is low despite the high level of awareness of legislation among the respondents on the use of helmets during riding. There is a need for the government to make provision for a safety helmet for this group of people at a subsidized rate if it cannot be given free of charge because of the economic situation of the country. There is a need to carry out behavioral change communication for this group of people

PERCEPTION AND WILLINGNESS TO THE UPTAKE OF COVID-19 VACCINE AMONG HOUSEHOLD-HEADS IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccine have been met with varying perceptions that may have both negative and positive effects on the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. The study is set to determine the perception and willingness of the household heads to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in a rural community in Southwestern, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 409 household heads selected through a multistage sampling technique. The instrument of data collection was a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using the Health Belief model constructs. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21.0 and Pearson's Chi-square test was used to determine the association between perception and willingness to uptake vaccine. P<0.05 was taken as significant at 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority of the unvaccinated respondents in the study were not willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine (60.1%). There was a poor perception of the susceptibility/severity of unvaccinated respondents to COVID-19 infection and a poor perception of the benefit/barrier to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. Perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 infection were statistically related to the willingness to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: There should be an increase in awareness campaigns to change the perception of people positively to COVID-19 infection and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine

Reinforcement of AA1237 with Al2O3 to form Metal Matrix Composite

The fabrication of advanced materials which possess an array of desired properties is a significant accomplishment of humanity. Composites are described as enhanced materials as they possess various advantages over conventional materials, which is why these composite materials are seen as viable alternatives in diverse engineering fields such as the aerospace, electronics and automobile industries. This work involved the fabrication of a metallic composite with the use of aluminium (AA1237) and crushed Al2O3 ceramic particles of 150nm and 600nm sizes as the reinforcement. The manufacturing of these composite samples was accomplished using the liquid phase process of stir casting, and they were subjected to various mechanical and electrical tests. For both hardness and tensile tests, the specimen Al/Al2O3/10p/150nm ( 10 per cent) had the highest values with 14.9 HBS and 124.41 MPa respectively. The electrical conductivity test affirmed the presence of non-conductive ceramic particles in the composite samples as the control (AA1237) had the highest conductivity value