Serum urea and uric acid concentration in pregnant women in sub-urban commercial community in Africa

Serum uric acid and urea levels were determined in 27 pregnant and 17 non-pregnant blackAfrican women. Uric acid levels for the pregnant women were significantly raised, and the relationship between uric acidelevation and gestational proteinuric hypertensionwas discussed. In conclusion, we recommend that uric acid estimation should be included during routine antenatal clinics in normal pregnancy. That the use of uric acid levels should be encouraged for the diagnosis and management of gestational proteinuric hypertension in African pregnant women. The above recommendation will help to reduce prenatalmorbidity andmortality inAfrican pregnantwomen

Equipment Grafting in Telecommunication Industry (Case Study Nigeria Pstn)

The growth and pace of any industry is a veritable estimation of its viability. The telecommunications industry all over the world is ever burgeoning. Its growth is buoyed by development and technologies. These innovations do not necessarily have to instantaneously supplant the old rather they are procedurally applied to the existing network in the form of Upgrades and Expansion efforts. This paper appraises these grafting processes. It introduces the subject matter, highlights the performance capabilities and usage constraints of a variety of switching and transmission equipment. It also gives insight into the on-going grafting efforts in NITEL

FM Threshold and Methods of Limiting its Effect on Performance

This paper presents the outcome of the investigative study carried out on threshold effect in FM systems. The study gave a proper insight on how the threshold effect affects the performance of FM systems by giving detailed report on the occurrence. Performance evaluation shows that the threshold is the existence of large noise in the output of the system, which makes signal detection impossible. The effect, as was discovered through analysis, is more serious at very high frequencies as can be seen from the deviational effect noticed on the graph which depicts the presence of noise in the system and it is in-fact a confirmation that noise at that level is frequency dependent. Pre- emphasis and de – emphasis networks were discussed to show how the effect could be controlled in FM systems

Blood Glucose Levels in Hypertensive Patients During Treatment with Different Antihyperten-sive Agents

&#60;P&#62;Fasting blood glucose was determined in 27 adults with essential hypertension at four different periods during a 12-month treatment with doxazosin, an alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist, and in another set of 20 adult hypertensive patients, after 3 months treatment with amlodipine, a calcium antagonist. The mean fasting blood glucose levels at various determinations during doxazosin therapy did not show any significant variation from the pre-treatment value. Similarly, mean fasting blood glucose level remained the same after 3 months of amlodipine therapy. The findings, therefore, highlights the safety of doxazosin and amlodipine antihypertensive pharmacotherapies.&#60;/P&#62;</p

Lipid and Some Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors Assessment in a Rural Community in Eastern Nigeria

Background: Continuous re‑evaluation of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (cardiovascular diseases [CVDs]) in developing nations is imperative as it lays foundation for early preventive/intervention measures at grass root level to improve/prevent CVD morbidity and mortality in those nations where health indices still score below the standard.Aim: The aim was to assess CVD risk factors as a continuous re‑evaluation of these may underscore the need for early intervention measures at grass root level.Subjects and Methods: A total of 257 apparently healthy inhabitants aged 18–85 years were recruited in a rural community in South Eastern Nigeria by convenient sampling. Blood pressure, waist circumference and blood lipid analysis were done procedurally and data analyzed using SPSS 16.0 statistical software.Results: The males were older (59.41 [5.22]) than the females (53.31 [16.90]). 69.2% (133/192) were low level farmers, retirees and dependents. Total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and risk predictive index were higher in females while triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein and very LDL (VLDL) were higher in males. The middle aged and elderly respectively had higher TG and VLDL compared to the young. Aside hypertriglyceridemia, all lipid abnormalities were higher in females than males both singly (high TC: 28.9% [35/121] vs. 16.9% [12/71]; high LDL cholesterol: 52.0% [63/121] vs. 31.0% [22/71]) and in combination hypercholesterolemia with hypertriglyceridemia (42.9% [52/121] vs. 36.6% [26/71]). “Multiple risk factors” also occurred more in females with seeming further increase in older age.Conclusion: The chances of a female having CVD after menopause seemed to outweigh that of the male. CVD preventive measures should be focused at the primary/community level as a means to curtailing the increasing morbidity and eventual mortality from CVDs. Keywords: Blood pressure, Homogenous community, Lipids, Waist circumferenc

Blood Pressure and Obesity Index Assessment in a Typical Urban Slum in Enugu, Nigeria

Background: Rapid transition from rural to urban lifestyle in Africa has been associated with increasing cardiovascular disease burden and thus, the need for continuous reevaluation of cardiovascular risk factors in African slums which have been shown to harbor 40 to 80% of urban residents cannot be over emphasized.Objectives: To evaluate hypertension and obesity in a typical urban slum in South East, Nigeria.Design: Cross-sectional community based study.Setting: A typical urban slum in Enugu State, Eastern Nigeria.Subjects: One hundred and ninety one volunteers from the slum.Results: The mean age of the entire participants in this study was 44.1 ± 16.2 years while their mean BMI was 25.1 ± 5.2 Kg/m2. Their mean systolic BP was 128.8 mmHg ± 22.2 and 79.0mmHg ± 12.9 for mean diastolic BP. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) increased as age group increased peaking at the age group 55- 74 years and then dropping after 75 years. Mean BMI peaked at 35- 54 years and then started dropping as age increased. In the entire community, 29.3% of the participants had hypertension (males: 42.1 %, females: 23.9%), 25.1% had isolated systolic HBP (ISH) while 22.0% had isolated diastolic HBP (IDH). In the general population, the general prevalence of HBP and ISH increased as age group increased. IDH increased as age increased peaking at 55- 74 year age group (34.1%) and then dropped thereafter (≥75; ISH=10.0%). Among the females, HBP prevalence increased across board as age increased but among the males, it increased with age and peaked at 55-74 year age group (61.1%) and then dropped (≥75; HBP= 57.1%). The prevalence of obesity in the community was 13.1% (males; 5.3%, females; 16.4%). None of those ≥75 years had obesity. Obesity prevalence was highest in those 35-54 years old (17.6%) and least in those 15- 34 years old (9.1%). Generally and within all age groups, females had higher obesity prevalence than the males. For the males, Obesity was highest in those 55-74 years (11.1%) while for the females, it was highest in those 35-54 years (23.0%). Prevalence of HBP increased with BMI getting to more than double fold in those found to be obese. 26% of the participants (20.8% of males and 31.3% of females) who were found to have hypertension had prior knowledge of it.Conclusion: Hypertension and obesity are on the increase in Nigeria and degree of ignorance about these major cardiovascular risk factors has remained very high

Effect of Tractor Forward Speed on Sandy Loam Soil Physical Conditions During Tillage

Field studies were conducted at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM), Ilorin on a sandy loam soil to evaluate the effect of the imposition of different levels of tractor forward speed during tillage on some soil physical properties. The forward speed was varied from 1.0 to 10.6km/h: The depth of tillage was maintained constant at 20cm throughout the operations. The soil physical parameters measured were cone penetration resistance (cone index CI), shear strength (SS), bulk density (BD), moisture content (MC), and clod mean weight diameter (MWD).Results indicate significant differences in soil physical conditions arising from different levels of tractor forward speed. A forward speed of approximately 7km/h resulted in appreciable amelioration of soil structure as reflected in improvements in the soil strength properties and maximum reduction in clod mean weight diameter. Soil strength properties generally decreased with increasing speed but increased with depth of tillage. A predictive model depicting the most vital soil physical parameters affected by tractor speed was developed

Radio frequency and channel investigation using software defined radio in MATLAB And simulink environment

This paper is a four section investigation of various communication principles to demonstrate the capabilities of using MATLAB and Software Defined Radio (RTL-SDR R820T) to receive, decode, analyse and resample a radio frequency signal. A novel MATLAB model system is developed to identify signals based on the signal characteristics in the spectrum analysers. The bandwidth, frequency, modulation and demodulation techniques of the signal were also identified. The section two is a design developed around multiplex and down-conversion to baseband In-phase/Quadrature phase (IQ) for multiple channel Frequency Modulated (FM) and Amplitude Modulated Double Sideband Transmitted Carrier (AM-DSB-TC) signal received. The functional description of sampling, decimation and interpolation form part of the contribution of this paper. The final section of the paper presents a short research on the potential benefits and a survey into the future of Software Defined Radio (SDR).Keywords: Modulation, Decimation, Demodulation, Interpolation, Frequency, MATLAB/Simulin

The impact of declining vaccination coverage on measles control: a case study of Abia state Nigeria

Introduction: Efforts at immunizing children against measles was intensified in Nigeria with nation-wide measles vaccination campaigns in 2005 - 2006, 2008 and 2011 targeting children between 9 and 59 months. However, there were measles outbreaks in 2010 and 2011in Abia state Nigeria. This study seeks to find out if there is any association between measles immunization coverage and measles outbreak.Methods: This is a descriptive analysis of the 2007 to 2011 Abia state measles case-based surveillance data supplied to Abia state World Health Organization office and Abia State Ministry of Health by the disease surveillance and notification officers.Results: As the proportion of cases with febrile rash who were immunized decreased from 81% in 2007 to 42% in 2011, the laboratory confirmed cases of measles increased from two in 2007 to 53 in 2011.Of the laboratory confirmed cases of measles, five (7%) occurred in children &lt; 9 months, 48 (64%) occurred in children 9 - 59 months and 22 (29%) occurred in children &lt; 59 months old. Seventy five percent of all laboratory confirmed cases of measles occurred in rural areas.Conclusion: Efforts should be made to increase measles immunization in children between 9 and 59 months as most cases of measles occurred in this age group as immunization coverage dropped. In addition, further studies should be carried out to determine the cause of the disproportional incidence of measles in rural areas in Abia state bearing in mind that measles immunization coverage in urban and rural areas was not markedly differentKey words: Measles, Immunization, Nigeri

Predicting Suitable Field Workdays for Soil Tillage in North Central Nigeria

A simulation model was developed to predict suitable field workdays for tillage operations in North Central Nigeria. Predictions were made from a computer model which simulates daily soil moisture in the top 30 cm of soil depth using 6 years of daily meteorological records. The model was tested and validated by comparing its output with the observed workdays during the 1996 farming season on two soil types. Results show that there was good agreement between the observed and predicted values using established tractability criteria