Exergetic analysis of breakfast cereal production in Nigeria

This work comprehensively studied energy and exergy analyses of breakfast cereal production in Nigeria. The process analysis method of energy accounting wa s used to evaluate the energy requirement for each of the five defined unit operations. The total energy used in the operation is 1,287.94 MJ. The types of energy used in breakfast cereal production were electrical, thermal and manual and the respective pe rcentages are 48.87%, 50.53% and 0.60%. It was estimated that an average energy intensity of 11.27 MJ/kg was required for the production of breakfast cereals. The most energy intensive operation was identified as the mixing operation followed by milling with energy intensities of 665.10 MJ/kg and 383.04 MJ/kg, respectively. The exergy analysis revealed that the roller dryer was responsible for most of the inefficiency (over 65.94%) followed by the wet mixer (27.40%). Suggestions for energy saving which will help in the reducing the high expenditure on energy and thus improve the profit margin were provided. Keywords : Energy, Exergy, Efficiency Breakfast Cerea

Hysterosalpingographic findings in infertility – what has changed over the years?

Background: Prior studies on Hysterosalpingography (HSG) have shown that pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) related tubal adhesions accounted for 30 – 50% of female infertility, with as high as 80% reported in some studies. With improved access tocontraceptives, antibiotics and promotion of safe practices, the abnormal findings in HSG may have reduced or altered.Objective: To document the imaging findings in the HSG of participants and to compare current findings with prior studies done nationally and internationally.Method: A retrospective evaluation of 974 HSGs done at the tertiary diagnostic center over a 7-year period was conducted and analyzed using diagnostic accuracy tables.Results: Tubal pathologies were the most common abnormality in this study, (35.1% of the cases), comprising tubal blockage and hydrosalpinges; followed by uterine masses seen in 223 (22.9%) of the clients. Tubal occlusion was higher in clients with multiple abnormal findings; .while normal sized and large uterine cavities had a higher percentage of bilateral tubal patency.Conclusion: Tubal factors remain the most common abnormality seen in the HSGs of infertile women in this study, though with lower prevalence compared with prior older studies. Forty seven (47%) of the cases of female factor infertility had normal HSGs with bilateral tubal patency.Keywords: HSG, infertility, female, Africa, tubal factors, uterine masses

Doppler ultrasound features of ophthalmic artery in diabetic retinopathy in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by elevated blood glucose level due to impaired insulin secretion, insulin action or both with diabetic retinopathy being the most common microangiopathic complication. A comparative, cross- sectional study aimed at evaluating Doppler blood flow indices in the ophthalmic artery in diabetic retinopathy and non-retinopathy patients when compared to normal controls in a Nigerian tertiary hospital.Methods: Data were collected over 7 months (April 2017-October 2017) in Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba Lagos, Nigeria. Sixty-five diabetic retinopathy patients, 65 diabetic patients without retinopathy and 65 non-diabetic controls had their ophthalmic artery Doppler indices assessed for comparison.Results: The end diastolic velocity (EDV) of the ophthalmic arteries in the diabetic patients were significantly lower than those of control group (EDV=5.84±2.59 cm/s, p<0.001 bilaterally). In diabetic patients with retinopathy, the end diastolic velocity of the ophthalmic arteries was significantly lower than those of diabetic patients without retinopathy (EDV=5.84±2.59 cm/s right eye, EDV=5.75±2.39 left eye, p<0.001 bilaterally). The resistivity index (RI) of the ophthalmic arteries was significantly higher in both diabetic patients with retinopathy and those without retinopathy compared to control group (RI=0.92±0.07 right eye, p=0.044 right eye, p<0.001 left eye) with resistivity index of diabetic retinopathy respondents significantly higher than the diabetic patients with no retinopathy.Conclusions: The study showed that Doppler is a useful screening parameter in identifying eyes at risk of developing sight threatening proliferative disease in diabetic patients. Significant differences exist in ophthalmic artery Doppler flow indices of diabetics with retinopathy compared to the healthy controls.

Heterogeneous catalytic conversion of 4-chlorophenol via atomic hydrogen substitution induced by size-controlled polydisperse nanocobal

Hyroconversion of 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP) was induced via atomic hydrogen substitution and 0.5–2 M polydisperse cobalt nanoparticles (40–500 d.nm) which were synthesized via a modified-polyol route. The cobalt nanoparticles and hydrogen incursion in the 4-CP helped to enforce the hydroconversion (HDC) reaction of 4-CP. The reaction runs were conducted based on an initial 4-CP wastewater effluent concentration discharged from a pesticide company, different particle sizes, and reaction time. Also, NaOH was added as a proton scavenger to the reaction mixture in order to avoid catalyst-deactivation. Samples from the reactor were collected at different times in order to monitor the hydroconversion process. The Co-catalyst reduced the activation energy of the reaction, initiated the hydro-substitution reaction at an earlier time, as well as enhanced 4-CP hydroconversion. Of all the catalysts, the 2 M polydisperse-cobalt nanoparticles (PD-CoNPs) gave the best performance with a description that fits the desorption mechanism whose keqd value = 0.079

MutDB: update on development of tools for the biochemical analysis of genetic variation

Understanding how genetic variation affects the molecular function of gene products is an emergent area of bioinformatic research. Here, we present updates to MutDB (http://www.mutdb.org), a tool aiming to aid bioinformatic studies by integrating publicly available databases of human genetic variation with molecular features and clinical phenotype data. MutDB, first developed in 2002, integrates annotated SNPs in dbSNP and amino acid substitutions in Swiss-Prot with protein structural information, links to scores that predict functional disruption and other useful annotations. Though these functional annotations are mainly focused on nonsynonymous SNPs, some information on other SNP types included in dbSNP is also provided. Additionally, we have developed a new functionality that facilitates KEGG pathway visualization of genes containing SNPs and a SNP query tool for visualizing and exporting sets of SNPs that share selected features based on certain filters

Gene therapy for sickle cell disease

Geneeskunde en GesondheidswetenskappeSentrum vir Bewysgebaseerde GesonheidsorgPlease help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected]

Migrated IUCD Resulting In Increased Urinary Frequency

Missing Intrauterine contraceptive devices can migrate to various regions intra-abdominally. Plain radiography usually confirms that the devise is still within the abdominal cavity, while other specific studies may define its relationship with the organ imaged. This is a case of a Migrated IUCD resulting in urinary symptoms. Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol. 17 (2) 2007: pp. 67-6

Clinical approach to non-responsive pneumonia diagnosed in the primary care office: a retrospective feasibility study

Background/significance: Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is commonly diagnosed in the primary clinical setting and often successfully treated. Treatment failures occur in 6-7% of patients treated in the ambulatory setting. However, the management of non-responsive pneumonia has been poorly studied and is not clearly understood. Purpose: The aim of our study was to determine the feasibility of use of the Aurora data warehouse to characterize clinical features and clinician approach to NRP. Methods: This is a retrospective study of medical records taken from the Aurora Health Care database based on ICD9 codes for pneumonia (codes 480-486). Patient visits from 10/5/2006 to 9/30/2011 were reviewed. Our initial target sample size was 200 cases and 200 controls. We requested records seeking a clinical or radiographic diagnosis of pneumonia, which was initially made in an outpatient setting or urgent care clinic by a primary care provider. We excluded individuals who initially presented to an emergency room or specialist. Cases were those patients diagnosed with pneumonia which failed to improve within 10 days of antibiotic prescription or worsened after the fifth day following the prescription of a course of antibiotics. Controls were those with acute pneumonia, not meeting NRP definition. Variables included: race, gender, age, smoking, co-morbid conditions, duration of cough, fever, antibiotics given, change in antibiotics, and type/ duration of symptoms. Categorical data were analyzed utilizing t tests and the Mann-Whitney test; categorical variables were analyzed by chi-square or Fischer exact tests. Statistical significant was defined as p values less than 0.05. Results: Review of 339 records revealed 15 cases of NRP and 13 controls. Duplicate cases accounted for 28/339, 153 records were non-pneumonia (frequently Chlamydia [code 1 digit off]) and 12 were unknown diagnosis. Excluded pneumonia cases included 68 incomplete records and 50 specialist/ED/hospital admission. Cases were younger than controls (59 vs. 46 years, p=0.02). There were no other significant differences. Sample size was limiting. Conclusion: Discrepancies in diagnosis and the incomplete records found in the data warehouse during this time period precluded efficient obtainment of adequate sample size for this study. Use of Smart Chart for data retrieval may significantly improve efficiency. Older age is a risk for NRP in this population

Hysterosalpingographic findings in infertility \u2013 what has changed over the years?

Background: Prior studies on Hysterosalpingography (HSG) have shown that pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) related tubal adhesions accounted for 30 \u2013 50% of female infertility, with as high as 80% reported in some studies. With improved access to contraceptives, antibiotics and promotion of safe practices, the abnormal findings in HSG may have reduced or altered. Objective: To document the imaging findings in the HSG of participants and to compare current findings with prior studies done nationally and internationally. Method: A retrospective evaluation of 974 HSGs done at the tertiary diagnostic center over a 7-year period was conducted and analyzed using diagnostic accuracy tables. Results: Tubal pathologies were the most common abnormality in this study, (35.1% of the cases), comprising tubal blockage and hydrosalpinges; followed by uterine masses seen in 223 (22.9%) of the clients. Tubal occlusion was higher in clients with multiple abnormal findings; .while normal sized and large uterine cavities had a higher percentage of bilateral tubal patency. Conclusion: Tubal factors remain the most common abnormality seen in the HSGs of infertile women in this study, though with lower prevalence compared with prior older studies. Forty seven (47%) of the cases of female factor infertility had normal HSGs with bilateral tubal patency. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.9 Cite as: Omidiji OAT, Toyobo OO, Adegbola O, Fatade A, Olowoyeye OA. Hysterosalpingographic findings in infertility \u2013 what has changed over the years? Afri Health Sci.2019;19(2): 1866-1874. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.