Petrogenetic characterisation and paleo-climatic study of some clay occurrences over pre-Cambrian basement complex in Southwestern Nigeria

Bulk clay chemistry from specific areas underlain by Precambrian rocks composed of migmatitic gneiss, schist, charnockite and granite in Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria, was studied for their elemental compositions in order to assess petrogenesis and paleoclimatic conditions. Eleven representative clay samples were collected from various clay occurrences based on the underlying geology. The clay samples were prepared and analysed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The XRF data on eleven representative samples revealed major oxides (wt. %) and trace element (ppm) concentrations. SiO values ranged from 41.29 to 58.03 while Al2O3 and Fe2O3 values ranged from 15.86 to 36.61 and 0.27 to 13.05 respectively. Standard deviation (S.D) values of SiO2 (4.2), Al2 O3 (6.7) and Fe2O3 (4.8) suggested variable mobility. Average value of K2O (1.46) is observed to be lower than average Upper Continental Crustal UCC) value (3.39) and may be due to intense weathering. Average concentration values of Zr (634.53 ppm), Nb (76.45 ppm) and Ta (29.19 ppm) were higher than their corresponding average values reported for UCC. Average values of Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and Plagioclase Index of Alteration (PIA) (CIA, 70 and PIA, 73) showed moderate to high intensity weathering. Ba/Sr vs Y/Sr values discriminated the clay occurrences over schist from migmatitic gneiss and granitoids. Kaolinisation in moderate to high weathering intensities under a dominant oxic condition was inferred from the plots of A-CN-K and Ni/Co vs Mafic Index of Alteration (MIA)

Implications of highway development and expansion on urban resident in Nigeria: a case study of Abeokuta Metropolis

Roads remain the major tool for facilitating the mode of moving goods and people across the country to accelerate economic and business activities. Modern businesses, industries, trades and general activities depend on transport and transport infrastructure, the movement of goods and services from place to place becoming vital and inseparable aspects of global and urban economic survival. This study examined the implications of highway development and expansion on urban residents in Abeokuta city. Data was obtained from the administration of questionnaires to 545 residents of Abeokuta city, who were randomly selected. Simple descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed. The findings show that the traffic flow was found to be very smooth and free due to the wide and good condition of the highway; the residents stated that highway expansion allow increase in inflow of new residents, businesses and puts pressure on the existing houses thus there is increase in value of houses as a result of increase in demand; residents believe that the expansion of roads has opened up the area for more businesses which now causes high cost effect on rent and leases in the study area. The research suggests that all road designs, construction and rehabilitation work should be handled by competent engineers who must give guarantee on the roads for a specified period. The proper functioning of an urban area depends on an efficient transportation network; this contributes to the economy of Abeokuta directly through influx of people.Keywords: Sustainable, Transport System, Highway Development, Road Expansio

Aetiological profile of facial nerve palsy in north central Nigeria

Background: Facial nerve abnormalities represent a broad spectrum of lesions which are commonly seen by the otolaryngologist. The aim of this paper is to highlight the aetiologic profile of facial nerve palsy.Methods: A retrospective study of patients with facial nerve palsy seen in the Ear, Nose and Throat clinic for 5 years.Results: The study comprised of 25 patients, made of 16(64%) males and 9(36%) females (M:F = 1.7:1). The age ranged between 6months and 80years, mean of 32.1years (SD=16.38), with peak presentation seen in the 30-40years age group. Bell’s palsy 13(52%), road traffic injury 5(20%) and chronic suppurative otitis media 3(12%) are the commonest cause. The others are stroke 2(8%), measles infection 1(4%) and middle ear tumor 1(4%). Spontaneous recovery was observed in 40%.Conclusion: Bell’s palsy was the commonest cause of facial nerve palsy, however aetiologies cut across all age groups. male slightly more affected. This serves as data base for clinical evaluation of facial palsy in our environment

Pattern of ear diseases among older people

Background: The ageing process and the last stage of life is fulfilling for some and disappointing for others there is scarcity of information about the pattern of ear diseases in the older black African people, especially in Nigeria being the largest black African nation. This study aims to highlight the pattern of ear diseases among the older people to provide an objective basis for cost-effective health care planning for the increasing geriatric population in a developing country.Methods: A ten year hospital-based retrospective study at the ENT Department of University College Hospital, Ibadan. All patients aged 65 years or older were enrolled into the study. The biodata, clinical history and examination findings were retrieved.Results: A total of 507 older patients were included in the study. The male to female sex ratio was 1.1:1. Traders accounted for 200 (39.5%) of cases, 167 (32.9%) were pensioners, 100 (19.7%) were farmers and 40 (7.9%) being full-time housewives. The commonest ear disease was impacted cerumen with bilateral less than unilateral hearing loss (Presbycusis) in 93 (18.2%) of the patients. Among cases with infective ear diseases, chronic suppurative otitis media was diagnozed in 33 (6.5%) of which 26 (78.8%) were unilateral and 7 (21.2%) were bilateral. Other conditions included otomycosis in 27 (5.4%), Tinnitus in 58 (11.5%) and foreign body impaction in 2 (0.4%) of the casesConclusion: Impacted cerumen, hearing loss, and CSOM are the common diseases of the ear in elderly, thus regular Otoscopy should be part of general medical check up. Continuing medical education is recommended for the general practitioners for early recognition and referral

Aetiological profile of nasal trauma in Ilorin North-Central Nigeria

Background: The nose being the most prominent part of the face is easily traumatized in facial injuries and these has been found to be common among the Caucasians compared to the Africans and Asians. The aim is to ighlight the Aetiological profile of nasal trauma in Ilorin orth-central Nigeria. Method: A prospective study was carried out at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Ilorin, Ilorin, north central Nigeria over a period of one and half years of all trauma cases seen at the A/E department of the hospital and those with nasal trauma were further studied. The  data retrieved include demographic data, clinical presentation, and timing of presentation, examination findings, intervention offered and the outcome. Data were entered into SPSS 11.0 and analyzed descriptively. Results : A total of one hundred and six (106) patients with nasal trauma were seen during the study period with a prevalence rate of 7%. The age range 6months to 65years with the majority of the patients in the age range 21-34 years (35.8%). The Male to female ratio was 1.7:1.0 and most patients were students ( 28.3%), followed by the traders ( 22.6%) the least were children (8.5%).Road traffic injury (RTI) constituted the highest cause of the nasal trauma ( 57.5%),assaults (17%),falls from heights ( 8.5%) and others were 17%.Majority of the patients presented within 1-6hours of occurrence of the injury (61.3%) and only 24.5% presented less than an hour of the incidence. The common forms of presentation were epistaxis (40.6%), nasal lacerations and epistaxis (25.5%) and nasal fractures in only 10.4%.Involvement of both the passengers and the pedestrians was (57.5%) and most of them, 44.3% had surgical intervention and 40.6% had conservative treatment with a mortality rate of 0.9%. Conclusions: The prevalence of nasal trauma is 7% with RTI being the commonest cause in nearly two thirds of cases and cases of assaults only accounted for 17%.The commonest forms of presentation were epistaxis,nasal lacerations and nasal fractures in that order and most of them were surgically treated. Measures should be adopted to reduce incidence of RTI, with regulations enforced to protect pedestrians most of whom were the victims of these injuries.Key words: Nasal trauma, North-central, RTI, Epistaxis

Patients’ Perception of a Symptomatic Tinnitus among Nigerians: A multi-institutional study

Tinnitus is a very common otologic symptom presented by patients worldwide yet it’s a poorly understood disorder. This study is aimed at assessing the perception of patients of their tinnitus. A multi-center prospective study carried out in Ear, Nose and Throat Department of two tertiary health institutions in Nigeria over a period of 12 months using a semi-structured Modified Tinnitus Impairment Questionnaire (THI-12) from Greimel et al after an informed consent. Information collected is entered into SPSS statistical software version 16.0 and analysed descriptively and results presented in tables and figures.All consecutive adult patients who presented for the first time at these clinics with complaints of tinnitus were included in the study.A total of 168 patients with tinnitus consented to partake in the study comprising 38.2% males and 61.8% females with M: F ratio of 1:1.6. The age ranged from 18-80years, with a mean of 46.8 years. About 48.5% had tertiary education and 38.1% are self-employed, duration varied from 3 days to 25 years. The degree of discomfort experienced in the presence of tinnitus was said to be much in 16.2%, little in 63.2% while 17.7% experience no discomfort and no response in 2.9% patients. The degree of hearing loss varied with the severity of tinnitus however none had profound hearing loss.Tinnitus is still a problem among the sufferers as 16.2% describes it as bothersome, the need for proper evaluation of all medical problems and the need for a community-based programme to assess the degree of disability of clinical tinnitus in the population will go a long way in defining its gravity

Characteristics of Concrete Produced with Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean Water

Dwellers along the coastline area of Lagos state, Nigeria are exposed to abrmdant supply of the natural resources of Atlantic ocean and Lagoon water and may not have the privilege of having potable drinking water at their disposal for producing concrete. This study evaluates the characteristics of concrete produced with Atlantic ocean and Lagoon water. Concrete produced with tap water (regarded as potable drinking water) serves as the control experiment. Compressive strength, workability and density were used to evaluate the characteristics of concrete specimens. All the concrete samples have true shnnp with Lagoon water concrete having low workability and both tap and Atlantic ocean water concrete having medilllll workability. The concrete specimens produced with the three types of water fall into the category of normal weight concrete as their densities lie within the range of 2200-2600 kg m-3 specified. The 28th day compressive strength of concrete specimens produced with Atlantic ocean, tap and Lagoon water are 25.0 and 33.5 N mm-2 , 17.9 and 28.6 N mm-2 as well as 15.1 and 19.4 N mm-2 for mix ratios 1:3:6 and 1:2:4, respectively. It was concluded that tap water should be used in mixing concrete where strength is of major concern, Atlantic ocean water could be used where early strength is required and Lagoon water should only be used for general concrete works where strength is of less importance such as in mass concrete, floor screed and mortar

ANDROID-BASED ESTIMATING APP FOR BUILDERS ON CONSTRUCTION SITES

The discrepancies between the estimated quantities of building materials and the final quantities used during the construction process requires the need to use more accurate techniques in estimating building materials. The study aimed at developing an android-based estimating app for builders on construction sites with the view of increasing accuracy of estimated building materials. The study was carried out in two stages, whereby one part required a survey to ascertain existing practices while the other helped to develop the android application. A survey research design was utilized on Builders in Lagos state in the south-west of Nigeria. Mean scores and correlation matrix was used for the descriptive and inferential statistics. For the design of the android estimation application for Builders, an android studio and Java programming language was used in developing the app. The developed android app was run via the android emulator. The descriptive data revealed that most of the techniques presently used by builders in estimating building materials were traditional methods which were drawn from either manual-based or use of experiential knowledge. Using these techniques were hinged on several factors as identified in the study. An android-based estimating app was developed for Builders with the aim of estimating for concrete works, sandcrete blocks, ceramic tiles and mortar during the construction process. The study recommended the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in obtaining accurate building quantities needed during the construction process

Otological emergencies among the northern Nigerian children

Background: Swift recognition and prompt institution of management is very crucial to successful outcome of otologic emergencies. The aim and objective of the study was to determine the spectrum of pediatric otologic emergencies in northern Nigeria.Methods: A retrospective study to review of 1497 paediatric otologic emergencies aged one month to 14 years seen at National ear care centre, Kaduna between 2002 and 2006 inclusive was done. The records of all these patients were retrieved, studied and information collected analyzed. The data extracted for analysis included – biodata, clinical presentation diagnosis and treatment outcome.Results: There were 943 male and 554 female with M: F ratio of 1.7:1. Their ages ranged from 1month to 14 years with a mean age of 4.95years (SD=4.15). A total of 928 (62%) were infants and preschool age groups (under fives). Acute suppurative otitis media was found in 573 (38.3%), was the commonest otological condition diagnosed followed by acute otitis media in 22.6% and foreign body in the ear in 222(14.8%).The least frequent were CSF otorrhea, and ramsay hunt disease which constituted 0.07%.Conclusion: Acute suppurative otitis media, acute otitis media and foreign body insertion into the ear still constitute the common otological emergencies in Northern Nigeria. These are all preventable emergencies through community health education, training of community health worker to recognize the symptom and signs of ear disease with early referral

Management of seed-borne fungi in cowpea using leaf extracts and sodium bicarbonate

The study investigated the in-vitro antifungal activities of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and leaf extracts of Vernonia amydgalina (bitter leaf) and Azadirachta indica (neem) on fungal species isolated from two cowpea cultivars; IFE BROWN and Drum (a local cultivar). Concentrations of 1.95 mg/ml and 1.43 mg/ml were used for A. indica while 1.45 mg/ml and 1.15 mg/ml were used for V. amydgalina. Sodium bicarbonate was evaluated on all the isolates at 2.0 mg/ml and 3.0 mg/ml. The inhibitory effects of these antifungal agents were compared with benlate (a synthetic fungicide) on Potato Dextrose Agar. Benlate totally inhibited all the fungal isolates. Candida species isolated from the two cowpea cultivars were greatly inhibited by the antifungal agents while Trichoderma species isolated from IFE BROWN was the least inhibited. The inhibitory effects of NaHCO3 and A. indica on Candida spp. were not significantly different and values ranged from 74.5% to 84%. The two concentrations of A. indica had better inhibitory effect on Pythium spp. than NaHCO3. Vernonia amydgalina at 1.45 mg/ml inhibited A. niger and Candida spp. by 83.75% and 87.5% respectively while NaHCO3 at 2.0 mg/ml inhibited Rhizopus stolonifer isolated from Drum by 75%. The study concludes that the two plant extracts and sodium bicarbonate had broad spectrum activities on fungal species and are therefore recommended as alternatives to toxic and synthetic fungicides.Keywords: Cowpea, eco-friendly, fungicide, inhibitio