Prevalence of traumadic dental Injuries among new orthodondic patients seen at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries among new orthodontic patients. Method: The dental records of 150 patients consisting of 57 males (38%) and 93 females (62%) with a mean age of 18.4 ± 7.6 years who presented for orthodontic treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital Dental Centre were assessed for data relating to traumatic Injuries to the permanent anterior teeth. The causes and types of dental trauma, type of tooth involved and number of affected teeth were evaluated with patients\u27 histories, study casts and pretreatment radiographs. Descriptive statistics were performed for the study variables, age and gender differences In the frequency of traumatized teeth were evaluated with the chi-square test. Result: The results revealed dental trauma prevalence of 21.3% among the new patients before the onset of their orthodontic treatment. The prevalence of dental trauma was significantly higher in males (p<0.05) and most frequently observed In patients aged 6 to 10 years. Falls was the commonest cause of dental traumatic Injuries among the patients  (37.5%). The most common type of trauma to the teeth was enamel fracture (46. 9%) followed by avulslon (28.1 %). Most traumatic Injuries affected the right and left maxillary central Incisors. Frequency of trauma to only one tooth was observed in 68.8% of the patients and multiple teeth Involvement seen In 31.2%. Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of traumatic dental injuries among new patients seeking orthodontic treatment at Benin City, Nigeria. An early orthodontic evaluation and interceptive therapy where appropriate is recommended to reduce risk of dental trauma in Nigerian young population. &nbsp

Characterization of train brake-blocks composite reinforced with aluminum-dross

Brake blocks are usually made from asbestos, metals and ceramics. It has been realised that asbestos discharges dangerous gases which can be harmful. This problem necessitated the search for human-friendly materials. Therefore, this paper studies the production and characterization of train brake blocks produced from clay reinforced with aluminum dross. This was done by producing samples of composite using clay from a deposit at Osiele and aluminum dross from Tower Rolling Mill Otta, both in Ogun state. The percentage composition of aluminum dross was varied from 0% to 25% to produce brake samples. Their wear rate, tensile strength, compressive strength, hardness, thermal conductivity and microstructure were analysed. The results from this project such as Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 7.4Mpa, Impact energy 6.92J, Hardness 28.8 HV, wear rate 0.0071g/sec and thermal conductivity of 0.01075 indicate that, with 5% aluminium dross it is possible to develop brake block that exhibits property recommended by Rail Industry Safety and Standard Board (RISSB). Keywords: Train, Brake blocks, Clay composite, Aluminum Dross, Mechanical properties

STUDIES ON PECTINOLYTIC AND PROTEOLYTIC ENZYMES FROM DETERIORATED GRAPES (Vitis vinifera)

The ability of microorganisms to cause grape (Vitis vinifera) fruit deterioration by production of pectinolytic and proteolytic enzymes to degrade the plant cell was carried out in the Microbiology laboratory of the Department of Biological Sciences, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. A bunch of grape fruit was purchased from a local market in Ikeja, Lagos, South West, Nigeria. These samples were allowed to rot for five days in a clear packaging bag. The grape samples were disinfected and cultured on nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar for bacterial and fungal isolates respectively. The morphological and microscopic characteristics of the isolates in combination with a series of biochemical tests were used to identify them. The isolates were tested for their ability to produce pectinolytic and proteolytic enzymes. Aspergillus sp, Mucor sp, Rhizopus sp., Micrococcus sp., and Bacillus sp. were the organisms isolated from this study. The results of this investigation revealed appreciable pectinolytic, and proteolytic enzymes by Aspergillus niger and Bacillus sp. These organisms can be utilized as good sources of industrial enzymes.Keywords: Grape (Vitis vinifera) fruits; Pectinase, Protease, Fungal isolates and Bacterial isolate

Perception of Appropriateness of Nigeria’s Computer Science Students’ Curriculum in Providing Technical Skills and Knowledge for the Labour Market

This study examined the perception of students on the contents of the computer programme’s curriculum, describing the extent to which they perceived the course content to be up-to-date, industry relevant and adequate. Also, the determining factors for choosing Computer Science as a discipline among the students were examined. The study further investigated the relationship between their perception of the curriculum and how the curriculum has been able to build their technical skills. Two hundred and eighty-three final year students responded to a survey from four selected universities in South west, Nigeria. Spearman Rank correlation shows a significant relationship between student’s perception of their course curriculum and technical skills acquired. Also, students reported reputation and personal interest as the most rated factor that influenced the choice of their course of study while social activities and advice were the least ranked factors that influenced their choice of the discipline. This study concludes that the curriculum is relevant to the technical skills requirement of the students and the industries. The paper recommends an inclusive-based approach to curriculum design and development to guarantee industry uptake after graduation

STUDIES ON PECTINOLYTIC AND PROTEOLYTIC ENZYMES FROM DETERIORATED GRAPES (Vitis vinifera)

The ability of microorganisms to cause grape (Vitis vinifera) fruit deterioration by production of pectinolytic and proteolytic enzymes to degrade the plant cell was carried out in the Microbiology laboratory of the Department of Biological Sciences, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. A bunch of grape fruit was purchased from a local market in Ikeja, Lagos, South West, Nigeria. These samples were allowed to rot for five days in a clear packaging bag. The grape samples were disinfected and cultured on nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar for bacterial and fungal isolates respectively. The morphological and microscopic characteristics of the isolates in combination with a series of biochemical tests were used to identify them. The isolates were tested for their ability to produce pectinolytic and proteolytic enzymes. Aspergillus sp, Mucor sp, Rhizopus sp., Micrococcus sp., and Bacillus sp. were the organisms isolated from this study. The results of this investigation revealed appreciable pectinolytic, and proteolytic enzymes by Aspergillus niger and Bacillus sp. These organisms can be utilized as good sources of industrial enzymes

Antibiotics resistance of a strain of Escherichia coli isolated from bore hole in Ile Ife, Osun state, Nigeria

Abstract:Escherichia coli were isolated from water from two boreholes in Ile Ife, Osun state, Nigeria. This was an indication of faecal contamination. These strains of Escherichia coli were Gram negative short rods, Catalase positive, Methyl red positive, Voges Proskaeur negative. The strains could ferment glucose galactose, sucrose, lactose, mannitol and maltose with the production of acid and gas but could not hydrolyze starch. A particular strain was resistant to sulfamethoxazole, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, cephaloridine, streptomycin, carbenicillin, sulfafurazole and tetracycline but sensitive to gentamicin, colistin, nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin and colistin sulphat

Green Synthesized Optically Active Organically Capped Silver Nanoparticles using Stem Extract of African Cucumber(Momordica charantia)

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized by a rapid facile plant-mediated green route. Sustainable and renewable stem extract of locally sourced African cucumber acted as reducing/capping agent, an alternative to toxic chemicals. The phytochemical screening indicated the existence of saponins and alkaloids in the stem extract of M. charantia. Unprecedented nucleation and growth of Ag NPs commenced within 5 minutes of the reaction. The mechanism of reaction was considered to be diffusion controlled Ostwald ripening process. Optical property of the as prepared Ag NPs was characterized by high intensity of absorption, revealed by narrow intense peaks, stipulating confinement of excitons.Surface Plasmon Band (SPB) of Ag NPs appeared at 400 - 460 nm. Photoluminescence (PL)excitation of the Ag NPs at 329 nm exhibited excitonic emission at 440 nm. The Ag NPs portrayed quasi-spherical shapes, with a mean size of 27.81 ± 1.64 nm from Transmission Electron Micrograph (TEM) measurement. XRD measurement showed peaks indexed to fcc Ag with a particle diameter of 25 nm, which corroborated TEM measurement. Elemental mapping of the nanoparticles showed an orientation of the Ag NPs, an evidence of capping by the biomolecules which stabilized the newly formed Ag NPs. Fourier Transformed Infra-red (FTIR) analysis showed the presence of hydroxyl groups (−OH) stretching, (−CH) stretching,C=C stretching and C−N group (in the phytochemicals) at 3237, 2913, 1620 and 1021 cm-1 respectively. It can be inferred that the as prepared Ag NPs is an optically active material

Detection of Molecular Markers of Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Plasmodium Falciparum from South-Western Nigeria

The widespread of drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum has led to a rise in malaria-associated mortality most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Falciparum malaria was confirmed by microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood samples of patients who presented with fever in selected State Hospitals in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Molecular methods were employed to detect the markers of resistance of P. falciparum to Chloroquine, sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine,and artesunate in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. DNA was extracted from patient blood using the QiaAmp DNA Blood Minikit extraction method. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction followed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (PCR/RFLP) were used for the detection of P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt), P. falciparum multidrug resistance 1 (pfmdr1), P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr), P. falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (Pfdhps) and P. falciparum sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium-dependent ATPase (SERCA) PfATPase6 genes. Pfcrt (K76T ) Pfmdr1 (mdr 1 ) Pfdhfr (S108N), and Pfdhps (K540E) resistant genes were detected among the isolates whileresistant SERCAPfATPase6 gene which codes for artemisinin resistance was not detected in the population.Keywords: Plasmodium, resistance, molecular markers, genes, detectio

PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF GRAIN AMARANTH (Amaranthus spp.) ACCESSIONS FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE BY MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUE

Ciljevi ovog pokusa bili su usporediti različite pokazatelje tolerantnosti na sušu za predviđanje tolerantnosti na sušu i procijeniti trideset potomaka zrnatog amaranta (Amaranthus spp.) na tolerantnost na sušu primjenom nekoliko pokazatelja tolerantnosti na sušu. Sjeme trideset (30) potomaka zrnatog amaranta sakupljeno u Nacionalnom poljoprivrednom istraživačkom institutu (NIHORT) u Ibadanu selekcionirano je 2011. godine u Selekcijskom centru NIHORT-a. Sjeme je uzgajano u rasadniku tri tjedna i zatim presađeno u polietilenske vreće. Uveden je vodeni stres 4, 6 i 8 tjedana nakon presađivanja (WAT), a kontrola je provedena u 100% terenskim uvjetima. Pokus je bio potpuno randomiziran plan (CRD) postavljen u faktorijalnom rasporedu 4 x 30 u tri ponavljanja. Upotrijebljeni su agronomski podaci i pokazatelji tolerantnosti na sušu za procjenu performance zrna amaranta. Obavljena je analiza varijance (ANOVA) da se ustanovi značajan učinak (P0,05) je smanjio visinu biljke, te broj listova i grančica amaranta. Amarant je u terenskim uvjetima dao značajno (P<0,05) veći prinos sjemena od amaranta pod stresom od 8 WAT-a (54 odnosno 25 gbiljaka-1) Prinos sjemena bio je u znatnoj pozitivnoj korelaciji s duljinom korijena (r=0,86++), suhom težinom izdanka (r=0,79**), STI (r=0,96**, GMP (re=0,97** i HM(r=0,95**), ali ne sa SSI. Analiza klastera je pokazala da su potomci imali tendenciju kategorizacije u tri skupine na razini 96% sličnosti, potomci AMES 5647, PI576464, PI576483 i PI576483 imali su najviši STI, GMP, MP, HM i prema tome su smatrani najpoželjnijim klasterom u oba uvjeta. U zaključku, ovaj je rad pokazao da se selekcija na tolerantnost na sušu može temeljiti na STI, GMP, MP i HM na osnovi njihove značajne pozitivne korelacije s prinosom zrna.The objectives of this experiment were to compare different drought tolerance indices for drought tolerance prediction and evaluate thirty accessions of grain amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) for drought tolerance using several drought tolerance indices. Seeds of thirty (30) accessions of grain amaranth collected from National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan were screened in 2011 at the screen house of NIHORT. Seeds were raised in nursery for three weeks and later transplanted into polyethylene bags. Water stress was imposed at 4, 6 and 8 weeks after transplanting (WAT) and the control was maintained at 100 % field capacity. The trial was a completely randomized design (CRD) laid out in a 4 × 30 factorial arrangement replicated three times. Agronomic data and drought tolerance indices were used to assess the performance of grain amaranth. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to establish significant effect (P ≤ 0.05; F-test) of the treatments on the parameters taken, significant means were separated using standard error of the difference of means in post ANOVA t-tests. Result of the experiment showed that grain amaranth stressed at 4 and 6 WAT died before reaching maturity, water stress significantly (P < 0.05) reduced plant height, number of leaves and branches of grain amaranth. Grain amaranth at field capacity produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher seed yield than those stressed at 8WAT (54 and 25 gplant-1 respectively). Seed yield had significant positive correlation with root length (r = 0.86**), shoot dry weight (r = 0.79**), STI (r = 0.96**), GMP (r = 0.97**) and HM (r = 0.95**) but not with SSI. Cluster analysis indicated that the accessions tended to be categorized into three groups at 96 % similarity level, accession AMES5647, PI576464, PI576454 and PI576483 had the highest STI, GMP, MP, HM and was thus considered to be the most desirable cluster for both conditions. In conclusion, this study showed that selection for drought tolerance could be based on STI, GMP, MP, HM based on their significant positive correlation with grain yield