LMIC facility-lighting limitation in Nigeria fully resolved by a novel frugal polite-light-bank technology

Epileptic grid electricity and frequent power blackouts in the night at LMIC neonatal centres hide behind frontline morbidities but contribute significantly to poor treatment outcomes at these centres. Power blackouts make it hard for clinicians and nurses to see clearly when attending to patients in the dark. Hence, many patients have lost their lives during the mistake-prone poor visual setting. This situation gets worse for centres located at more remote regions of LMICs, where power outages could last for many days. A recently published article on “neonatal-rescue-scheme” concept proposed the reversal in neonatal traffic, by taking the interventions to rural places where more needy neonates are to save them. Therefore, it becomes imperative to develop a reliable system of independent and sustainable technology that can guarantee dusk-to-dawn facility lighting based on solar energy at such remote location that may not have grid electricity. This was achieved by technology morphing of existing market products, recreating these to fit the LMICs’ peculiar environmental and cultural settings. The resulting construct, polite-light-bank (PLB), passed all rigorous testing of structural integrity under the weather and functionality stability under strenuous usage. For over a period of four years, the new construct provided over 95% reliability and nearly 100% satisfaction ratings from the initial five centres that used it and have continued to use this to date. This is a golden piece of work that any LMIC or similar settings must not ignore

Hepatocurative Potentials of Camel (Camelus dromedarius) Urine and Milk on Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Hepatotoxicity in Albino Rats

Damage to the liver cells caused by diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis can lead to dysfunction of the liver, which can later result in hepatic or liver failure. The present study was carried out to investigate the hepatocurative effects of camel urine and milk on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Three different treatments (camel urine, camel milk and a 1:1 mixture of camel milk and urine) were administered to three different CCl4-induced hepatotoxic rats (Groups A,B and C) and also to three different subgroups (D,E and F) of normal rats for two weeks. A positive control (Group G) was neither induced nor treated while negative control group (H) received no treatment after CCl4-hepatotoxicity induction. Serum Alanine Amino Transferase (ALT), Aspartate Amino Transferase (AST) and Albumin (ALB) and histopathological findings all confirmed liver steatosis forty eight hours after CCl4 hepatotoxicity induction on randomly selected rats. A significant weight gain was recorded for rats that received camel milk and urine mixture in the CCl4 induced hepatotoxic group (P<0.05).A significant decrease in serum AST was observed in all test groups (P<0.05). Groups that received 1:1 urine and milk mixture showed a significant decrease at p<0.05 in serum ALT, AST and ALB than when treatments were administered singly. Camel urine resulted in periportal inflammation; camel milk resulted in vascular congestion while the 1:1 mixture of the two eliminated these side effects. In rats that received no treatment after hepatotoxicity induction, the condition of the liver deteriorated from liver steatosis to fibrosis and onset of cirrhosis. All these indicated that camel urine, camel milk and to a greater extent a mixture of the two, may have hepatocurative effects on CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats. Keywords: Camel, Liver, Toxicity, Safety, Alternative medicine, hepatocurative

Prediction of annual rainfall pattern using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is a double stochastic process in which one of the stochastic processes is an underlying Markov chain, the other stochastic process is an observable stochastic process. Hidden Markov model is very influential in stochastic world because of its uniqueness, double stochastic nature and independence assumption between consecutive observations. A hidden Markov model to predict annual rainfall pattern has been presented in this paper. The model is developed to provide necessary information for the farmers, agronomists, water resource management scientists and policy makers to enable them plan for the uncertainty of annual rainfall. The model classified annual rainfall amount into three states, each with eight possible observations. The parameters of the model were estimated from the annual rainfall data of Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria for the period of 39 years (1977-2015). After which, the model was trained using Baum-Welch algorithm to attend maximum likelihood. The model is designed such that, if given any of the three rainfall states and its observation in the present year, it is possible to make quantitative prediction on how rainfall will be in the following year and in the subsequent years. The test HMM1 was able to make prediction with 75% accuracy in state and 50% accuracy in observations. The accuracy level of the model shows that, it is dependable and therefore, information from the model could be used as a guide to the farmers, agronomists, water resources management scientists and the government to plan strategies for crop production in the region.Keywords: Markov model, Hidden Markov model, Transition probability, Observation probability, Crop Production, Annual Rainfal

Electronic band structure and optical properties of titanium dioxide

In this work the Fritz-Haber Institute ab initio Molecular Simulation (FHI-aims) code was used to investigate and obtain the band energies and linear dielectric functions of the three naturally occurring phases of TiO2 (Rutile, Anatase and Brookite). The exchange-correlation interactions are treated by the PBE. The results of the band gap were obtained to be 1.76 eV for Rutile, 2.07 eV for Anatase and 2.33 eV for Brookite with Rutile having a direct band gap and indirect band gaps for both Anatase and Brookite. The obtained band gaps are in agreement with other theoretical work, especially on the rutile phase. The linear dielectric function was calculated using Random Phase Approximation (RPA) where the average static dielectric function at ω= 0 was obtained as 5.61 for Rutile TiO2, 4.29 for Anatase TiO2 and 2.23 for Brookite TiO2

Analisis Indikasi Geografis Kopi Arabika Gayo Ditinjau dari Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah Kabupaten

. Geographical Indication (GI) of Arabica Gayo coffee is a sign which indicates the origin of Arabica Gayo coffee, because geographical environments provide characteristics and quality of the product. The objectives of the study were: analyze suitability of Gayo coffee GI with altitude, analyze suitability of Gayo coffee GI with the region that has been designated as a cultivated area, and calculate deviations of Gayo coffee\u27s land use in the Gayo Highlands based on the Spatial Planning of Bener Meriah, Central Aceh and Gayo Lues Districts and Gayo coffee GI area. The method used in this research was descriptive. Spatial analysis was carried out by an overlay analysis method and added all the data and information from a ground survey with the help of Global Positioning System. The results showed that the region of Geographical Indications of Gayo coffee suitable with altitude in the Gayo Highlands was 160.856,70 ha. Gayo Coffee GI region suitable with the region that has been designated as a cultivated area in the Spatial Planning of Bener Meriah, Central Aceh and Gayo Lues Districts was 151.151,60 ha. Percentage deviation of Gayo Coffee GI in the Gayo Highlands based on the Spatial Planning of the Districts was 9.705,10 ha (6,03%)

Assessment of the Effects of Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) on the Output of Dry Season Rice Farmers before and after Scheme Participation in Sokoto State, Nigeria

The study assessed the effects of Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) on the output of dry season rice farmers before and after participation. A multistage sampling technique was used to select farmers for the study. Data for the study were collected from 250 farmers using structured questionnaire. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the showed that the age of the majority of the farmers fall between the ages of 30-39 years, married and had one form of education or the other. Based on the findings, the main source of information (46.8%) regarding the awareness of GESS programme was the district heads and majority (94.4%) of the farmers were registered with the scheme. About 40% of the farmers registered with the scheme because inputs provided by the scheme are supplied to only register farmers at a subsidized rate. The result of t-test analysis showed a significant difference (

Depositional environment of the Gombe Formation in the Gongola sub-basin of the northern Benue trough: Using grain size parameters

The depositional environment of the Gombe Formation was determined using grain size parameters in which sixteen sandstone samples and ninety nine pebbles were subjected to granulometric and pebbles morphometric analysis respectively. The granulometric analysis for the sixteen (16) samples of the Gombe Formation show an average graphic mean of 2.51ϕ (fine grained sandstone), mean standard deviation of 0.58ϕ (moderately well sorted sandstone), mean skewness value of 0.09ϕ (nearly symmetrical) and mean kurtosis value of 0.89ϕ (platykurtic). The Bivariate plot of standard deviation vs. skewness indicated dominance of fluvial environment. While the probability curves plots showed a dominance of three sand populations  indicating influence of marine processes. Environmental discrimination formulae for Y1, Y2 and Y3 indicated dominance of Aeolian, shallow agitated marine environment and shallow marine environment respectively. The plots of Y2 vs.Y1 and Y3 vs. Y2 showed a dominance shallow marine environment. The morphometric analysis indicates both fluvial and beach environment with dominance of fluvial environment.Keywords: Gombe Formation, Gongola Sub-Basin, Pebbles Morphology,  Granulometric analysis, grain siz

Statistical Model for Predicting Slump and Strength of Concrete Containing Date Seeds

Incorporating agro-based waste in concrete can reduce environmental pollution and lead to preserving the ecosystem. In order to reduce trial and error in achieving desired slump and compressive strength of concrete containing Date Seed (DS), this paper examines the slump and compressive strength of concrete using date seeds as a partial replacement for crushed granite. Preliminary tests were conducted on the aggregates to ascertain their suitability for concrete production. Concrete with DS-crushed granite ratios of 0:100, 5:95, 10:90, 15:85, and 20:80 were prepared using a mix ratio of 1:2:4 and a water-cement ratio of 0.5. Slump loss was used to estimate the workability of the fresh concrete. The freshly prepared concrete was cast in 150 x 150 x 150 mm and the compressive strength was determined after curing by full immersion in water for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Results showed that the slump of concrete increased with an increase in the content of date seed. The compressive strength was inversely proportional to the date seed content with a DScrushed granite ratio of 20:80 recording the lowest compressive strength (20N/mm2 ). Linear regression models for slump and compressive strength were developed and found to be sufficient in explaining the experimental data based on a Mean Square Error (MSE) of 0.37 and 0.029 and R2 of 88% and 99% obtained for slump and compressive strength respectively. The study has concluded that DS can be used as a partial replacement for crushed granite in concrete and a linear model is sufficient in predicting the slump and strength of concrete containing date seed