Nitrogen and weed management in transplanted tomato in the Nigerian forest-savanna transition zone

Weed infestation and inherent low soil fertility are among primary reasons for low yields of tomato in Nigeria. Field trials were carried out during the wet season of 2015 and 2016 to evaluate yield response of tomato to nitrogen (N) application and weed control methods in the forest-savanna transition zone of Abeokuta, Nigeria. Positive relationship exists between growth of weed species and increase in N application. Across the years of study, increase in N up to 90 kg/ha increased weed density by 11–25%, however, the increased N gave the transplanted tomato competitive advantage and thus enhanced weed smothering. Pre-transplant application of butachlor (50% w/v) or probaben® (metolachlor 20% w/v+prometryn 20% w/v) each at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after transplanting (WAT) significantly reduced weed density by at least 15% and increased fruit yield of tomato by at least 32%, compared to use of the pre-transplant herbicides alone, across both years of study. The greatest tomato fruit yield of 12.2 t/ha was obtained with pre-transplant application of butachlor at 2.0 kg a.i/ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAT, averaged for both years. In general, this study suggests that increased application of N up to 90 kg/ha, and complementary weed control by pre-transplant herbicide and hoe weeding at 6 WAT would improve yield of tomato in the forestsavanna transition zone of Nigeria

Opinions of a selected population of Nigerian dental surgeons on the preferred management of unerupted maxillary canines

Objective: To assess the survey opinions of Dental Surgeons working in one of the Nigerian Teaching Hospitals on their preferred management of unerupted maxillary canines. Method: The setting was the Dental Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan. The participants were 46 Dental Surgeons working within the selected Teaching Hospital. The instrument of study was a questionnaire which consisted of 10 open ended questions, for information on questionnaire, sociodemographic characteristics. Data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed and frequencies were generated. Result: Four main types of treatment were preferred by participants: 23(54.7%) of the dental surgeons preferred alignment with orthodontic treatment to all other forms of management, 12(28.6%) preferred surgical extraction, 5 (11%) preferred transplantation and 2 (4%) preferred observation and monitoring . Conclusion: Opinions of dental surgeons surveyed indicated that most dental surgeons would prefer orthodontic alignment of the unerupted maxillary canine above other dental treatment

Knowledge, perception and preventive practices of COVID-19 among Primary Health Care workers in Ogun State, Nigeria

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the COVID-19 knowledge, perception, and preventive practices among primary health care workers in Ogun state.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 339 primary health care workers in Ogun state using self-administered questionnaires. Knowledge of COVID-19 was graded as good with a minimum score of 75% while perception was graded as good with a score greater than the mean scores. Preventive practices were categorized as good with minimum scores of 75%. Associations between knowledge,  practice, and categorical  variables were assessed using the chi-square test with the level of significance set at p < 0.05Results: The mean age of respondents was 42.30 ± 8.73 years. The major source of information on COVID-19 was health training (99.7%). A total of 50.7% had good knowledge of COVID-19 while 42.8% had a good perception of COVID-19. The majority (92.9%) had good COVID-19 preventive practices. Length of years in service was significantly associated (p=0.024) with knowledge of COVID-19.Conclusion: About half of the health care workers had good knowledge of COVID-19 while the perception of COVID-19 was poor. However, preventive practices carried out among the healthcare workers were good. Efforts should be made to further improve the knowledge and perception of primary health care workers as they play a vital role in the delivery of health care services in the state

Design of Pre-Dumping Ring Spin Rotator with a Possibility of Helicity Switching for Polarized Positrons at the ILC

The use of polarized beams enhance the possibility of the precision measurements at the International Linear Collider (ILC). In order to preserve the degree of polarization during beam transport spin rotators are included in the current TDR ILC Lattice. In this report some advantages of using a combined spin rotator/spin flipper are discussed. A few possible lattice designs of spin flipper developed at DESY in 2012 are presented.Comment: Talk presented at the International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders (LCWS15), Whistler, Canada, 2-6 November 201

Material Selection for Crusher Jaw in a Jaw Crusher Equipment

There have been reported cases of the crusher jaw failure due to the high level of impact, tear and shear stresses experienced by the crusher jaw during service. The purpose of this paper is to select a suitable candidate material for the design of crusher jaw that can sustain fracture by any of the three modes of failure – tear, shear and impact at low cost using CES EduPack

IEEE 802.11ac wireless delivery of 4kUHD video: The impact of packet loss

This paper examines the 4kUHD video quality from streaming over an IEEE 802.11ac wireless channel, given measured levels of packet loss. Findings suggest that there is a strong content dependency to loss impact upon video quality but that, for short-range transmission, the quality is acceptable, making 4kUHD feasible on head-mounted displays

Finite Element Analysis to Predict Temperature and Velocity Distribution in Radiator Tubes

Automobile radiators are heat exchangers that are used to transfer thermal energy from automobile engine to the surrounding atmosphere for the purpose of cooling the engine. Over 33% of heat energy generated by the engine through combustion is loss as heat dissipated in the atmosphere. The method of solution employed in this project work to solve the governing equations is the Galerkin-integral weighted-residual method, which is achieved following the steps of transforming the governing equations into Galerkin-integral weighted residual weak form, determination of interpolations functions, determination of element properties, assemblage of elements equations into domain equations and imposition of boundary conditions and solving of the assembled domain equations.          The results showed that for temperature and velocity distributions in the radiator tubes and inlet hose to radiator as the number of elements is increased the more the finite element solution approximates the analytical solutions. Temperature values are observed to decrease, with increase in length, from 150oC to 80oC in the radiator tubes for finite element analysis, analytical, and ANSYS software used; and the finite element solutions exactly approximate analytical solutions at the nodes and agree with the ANSYS result. For velocity distribution in the radiator tube diameter, at the tube walls the no-slip boundary conditions are satisfied with velocity increasing from the wall at velocity of 0 to the midsection at velocity of 50.195m/s; while for the inlet hose diameter, velocity increases from wall at velocity 0 to the maximum at the midsection velocity 669.269m/s. Finally, the finite element analysis method can be used to determine how temperature will be distributed during radiator design stage in order to improve on its efficiency

INFLUENCE OF INTER-ROW SPACING AND WEED CONTROL METHODS IN GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogeal (L.)

Weed competition has been identified as one of the major obstacles in crop production. The produc-tion of groundnut is limited by high weed infestation resulting in yield losses ranging from 50 - 80% in Nigeria. Hence, the need to evaluate integrated weed control in its production. Field trials were there-fore conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (7o 20’ N, 30 23’ E) to evaluate the influence of inter-row spacing and weed control methods on growth and yield of groundnut during the wet seasons in 2009 and 2010. The experiment was a Randomised Complete Design (RCBD) laid out in a split plot with three replications. The main plot treatment con-sisted of three inter-row spacings of 60 cm, 75 cm and 90 cm while the subplots included five weed control treatments of commercial formulation of metolachlor plus promethyne mixture (codal) at 1.0 kg a.i/ha, codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 weeks after sowing (WAS), codal at 2 kg a.i./ha, hoe weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS and a weedy check. Inter-row spacings of 60 cm and 75 cm reduced weed growth with consequent higher yields compared to the inter-row spacings of 90 cm in the early season of 2009. Application of codal at 1.0 kg a.i./ha followed by supplementary hoe weeding at 6 WAS combined with 60cm inter-row spacing gave effective weed control and higher groundnut pod yield than hoe-weeded control in both years of experimentation

Ursodeoxycholic acid prevents ventricular conduction slowing and arrhythmia by restoring T-type calcium current in fetuses during cholestasis

Background Increased maternal serum bile acid concentrations in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) are associated with fetal cardiac arrhythmias. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been shown to demonstrate anti-arrhythmic properties via preventing ICP-associated cardiac conduction slowing and development of reentrant arrhythmias, although the cellular mechanism is still being elucidated. Methods High-resolution fluorescent optical mapping of electrical activity and electrocardiogram measurements were used to characterize effects of UDCA on one-day-old neonatal and adult female Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. ICP was modelled by perfusion of taurocholic acid (TC, 400μM). Whole-cell calcium currents were recorded from neonatal rat and human fetal cardiomyocytes. Results TC significantly prolonged the PR interval by 11.0±3.5% (P<0.05) and slowed ventricular conduction velocity (CV) by 38.9±5.1% (P<0.05) exclusively in neonatal and not in maternal hearts. A similar CV decline was observed with the selective T-type calcium current (ICa,T) blocker mibefradil 1μM (23.0±6.2%, P<0.05), but not with the L-type calcium current (ICa,L) blocker nifedipine 1μM (6.9±6.6%, NS). The sodium channel blocker lidocaine (30μM) reduced CV by 60.4±4.5% (P<0.05). UDCA co-treatment was protective against CV slowing induced by TC and mibefradil, but not against lidocaine. UDCA prevented the TC-induced reduction in the ICa,T density in both isolated human fetal (−10.2±1.5 versus −5.5±0.9 pA/pF, P<0.05) and neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (−22.3±1.1 versus −9.6±0.8 pA/pF, P<0.0001), whereas UDCA had limited efficacy on the ICa,L. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that ICa,T plays a significant role in ICP-associated fetal cardiac conduction slowing and arrhythmogenesis, and is an important component of the fetus-specific anti-arrhythmic activity of UDCA

Autism spectrum disorder in a community-based sample with neurodevelopmental problems in Lagos, Nigeria

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a globally prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder for which early diagnosis and intervention is the mainstay of management. In the African continent, limited data is available regarding the non-clinic based samples. Lack of information available to caregivers and inadequate skilled manpower often limit early detection and access to the few available though under resourced services in the community. Community based screening can be an important drive to create awareness and improve information dissemination regarding services available for those living with this disorder. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study utilizing data obtained from participants of a community-based autism screening exercise. The surveillance exercise was part of the annual Orange Ribbon initiative for autism awareness and screening held in 2014. Data was obtained from 85 participants involved in the Autism Surveillance screening exercise within the Lagos community. Community public service radio announcements state wide and word of mouth were used to invite and enroll eligible participants to the screening and consultation exercise. A second stage screening and a brief sociodemographic questionnaire followed by a third stage clinical interview and evaluation using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 5 Edition (DSM 5) were used. Appropriate consultation and referrals to services in the community were given. Participants had a mean age of 7.53 years (SD 4.35). Twenty-nine (34.5%) met the diagnosis of ASD. Other diagnosis included attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), language and speech disorder, intellectual disability (8.3%) and learning disorders (9.5%). Main health concerns to caregivers were poor language development in all (100%), of which 11 (40.7%) were non-verbal; gaze avoidance was seen in 14 (48.3%) and challenging behavior in 12 (42.9%). Comorbidities included seizure disorders (3.4%) and ADHD (6.9%). Persons with autism had history of ASD behavior more often when compared to the other neurodevelopmental disorders and these findings were statistically significant. Referrals were given to caregivers to engage in services within the community. As seen in this study, community understanding of ASD is poor in such locations, in which many persons with other neurodevelopmental disorders are often presented as having autism. Caregivers in the study location are distressed by many symptoms associated with autism and their comorbid conditions. Currently there is an evident role for frequent large scale community based screening and autism awareness exercises possibly using inter-sectoral collaboration as a strategy.Yewande O. Oshodi, Andrew T. Olagunju, Motunrayo. A. Oyelohunnu, Elizabeth A. Campbell, Charles S. Umeh, Olatunji F. Aina, Wellington Oyibo, Folusho E.A. Lesi, Joseph D. Adeyem