Vulvovaginal candidasis among female patients attending Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital and Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital Kaduna

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a major cause of lower genital infections in women, especially in developing countries and cause significant morbidity and financial burden on the already weak economy. The objective was to isolate and identify Candida spp responsible for Vulvovaginitis. Two hundred (200) vaginal swabs were collected from female patients 15years and above, attending Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital (YDMH) and Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital (BDSH) all within Kaduna metropolis. The samples were analysed for the presence of Candida spp using standard procedures of microscopy, culture and biochemical identification. The overall incidence of VVC was 79.5% (159/200), with higher incidence among patients attending Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital 84.8% (117/138), than Barau Dikko Memorial Hospital 67.7% (42/62).  Four (4) yeast species were isolated and identified which include Candida krusie, Candida parapsilosis and Candida glabrata. C. krusie had the highest percentage occurrence of 42.5% (39/159), while C. parapsilosis had the least percentage occurrence of 11.3% (18/159). Higher incidence was recorded among age group 40 and above 92.8% (13/14) and lowest among age group 31-40 76.5% (39/51). Highest incidence was also recorded among widow 100% (18/18) and lowest among married 76.8% (109/142). The high percentage of positive samples is an indication that there is a high incidence of candidiasis among the study population. There is need for regular screening of women for VVC and other sexually transmitted infections. Key words: Incidence, Vulvovaginal Candidiasis, Isolation, Kaduna

Pozzolanic and mechanical properties of Date Palm Seed Ash (Dpsa) concrete

This paper presents the findings of a research work conducted on how to improve the mechanical properties of concrete using Date Palm Seed Ash (DPSA) as partial replacement of cement. The DPSA used was obtained by controlled burning of date palm seed in a kiln at a maximum temperature of 630oC for eight hours and air cooled afterwards. The ash obtained was sieved through 75μm sieve and its oxide composition analysed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) procedures. DoE method of mix design was used to produce concrete ingredients for grade 30N/mm2 giving a water-cement ratio of 0.53. The effect of partial replacement of cement with DPSA on cement paste and concrete using 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 20% DPSA was investigated through consistency and setting times tests, workability test, compressive strength test (at 7, 21, 28 and 56 days curing duration), pozzolanic activity index evaluation and water absorption test. Results show that DPSA has high silicon dioxide (45.50%), aluminum oxide (20.75%) and Iron oxide (7.25%). Findings indicate that the consistency and setting times of cement-DPSA paste increased with increase in the replacement of cement with DPSA. The workability of DPSA concrete decreased with increase in cement replacement. Compressive strength test results show that cement can be replaced with DPSA up to 10% as the compressive strength at 10% replacement is 31.5N/mm2 as against the 31N/mm2 of the normal concrete, at 56 days. The pozzolanic activity index result also show that DPSA concrete meets up the minimum requirement of 75% specified by ASTM C618-15. Also, the water absorption capacity of DPSA concrete at the highest replacement (20%) is 11% less than that at 0%. Keywords: Cement, Compressive strength, Concrete, Date palm seed ash, Partial replacement, Pozzolan

Effect of Double Skin Facade Air Cavity and Orientation on Energy Efficiency in Hot-Dry Clime Buildings

Institutional buildings are very important facilities that contribute to the development of every nation. Previous studies indicated that energy efficiency is the key challenge in hot dry climate buildings. This is due to the nature of building form, orientation and the risk of exposing building envelope to solar radiation, which attracts consumption of energy in tropical climate. This study aims at employing double skin facade to reduce the level of energy consumption for cooling in hot-dry climate buildings. The study examined energy performance of double skin facade with respect to effect of different horizontal distances in air cavity and orientation. Experimental study was conducted through Ecotect simulation software to study energy performance of double skin facade in hot dry clime using weather data of the same climate region. The study established that 900mm double skin facade air cavity depth reduced cooling energy by 31% in hot-dry climate and designing double skin facade on south orientation in hot-dry climate reduced cooling energy consumption by 4%

Seroprevalence of measles virus infection among children in Zamfara state

Measles is a highly contagious disease characterized by fever, malaise, coryza, conjunctivitis, cough and maculopapular rashes. Although it is a vaccine preventable disease, it however continues to be one of the present day scourges of the developing world The study is a cross sectional involving children 10 years and below who were randomly selected by multistage cluster sampling from hospital each in local government areas from the three geopolitical zones of Zamfara state, Nigeria to determine the seroprevalence of measles specific IgM antibodies and the possible risk factors associated with the acquisition of the infection. Following informed consent a total of two hundred and twenty four (224) blood sample was collected. Study subjects were interviewed using self-structured questionnaires. Serum samples were analyzed using ELISA IgM kit (Diagnostic Automation and Cortez, Calabasas, CA, USA), in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines. Of the 224 serum samples screened 43.3% were positive for measles virus specific IgM antibodies indicating an active infection. The results shows decrease in sero-positivity with age, with the highest prevalence recorded in age group 0-2years (49.1%) and lowest among 8-10 years (25.0%). Males had slightly higher prevalence 44.2% compared to females 42.3%, though the result was not statistically significant, (P>0.05). Previous exposure to measles and crowded environment revealed significant association (P< 0.05).However no association was observed in relation to vaccination status and contact with infected individuals (P>0.05). This study confirms the presence of measles and indicate measles endemicity in the study area. However the study shows a reduction in measles burden among vaccinated children. Its presence among unvaccinated children might be an indication of insufficientKEY WORDS: Measles, IgM, Antibody, Elisa, Prevalence, Zamfara

Sero-prevalence of measles ICg antibodies among nursery and school children in Kaduna State, Nigeria

No AbstractKeywords: Measles, virus, Antibody, IgG, ELIS

An enhanced algorithm for scheduling dependent tasks in cloud computing environment

Cloud computing is a model that aims to deliver a reliable, customizable and scalable computing environment for end-users. Cloud computing is one of the most widely used technologies embraced by sectors and academia, offering a versatile and effective way to store and retrieve documents. The performance and efficiency of cloud computing services always depend upon the performance of the execution of user tasks submitted to the cloud system. Scheduling of user tasks plays a significant role in improving the performance of cloud services. Accordingly, many dependent task scheduling algorithms have been proposed to improve the performance of cloud services and resource utilization; however, most of the techniques for determining which task should be scheduled next are inefficient. This research provided an enhanced algorithm for scheduling dependent tasks in cloud that aims at improving the overall performance of the system. The Dependent tasks were represented as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) and the number of dependent tasks and their total running time were used as a heuristic for determining which path should be explored first. Best first search approach based on the defined heuristic was used to traverse the graph to determine which task should be scheduled next. The results of the simulation using WorkflowSim toolkit showed an average improvement of 18% and 19% on waiting time and turnaround time were achieved respectively

Textural analysis demonstrates heterogeneous [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in radiologically normal lung in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has revealed increased [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]-FDG) uptake in areas of the lungs that appear normal on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT). We hypothesised that “microscopic” disease identified using PET would be heterogeneous because IPF is characterised histologically by patchy fibrosis. We applied textural analysis to PET scans to evaluate heterogeneity of [18F]-FDG uptake in lung regions that appeared normal on HRCT. We identified six textural features that demonstrated significantly more heterogeneous [18F]-FDG uptake in radiologically normal lung in IPF patients compared with controls. Textural analysis of lung PET-CT imaging is a novel approach to study early changes in IPF before HRCT abnormalities are apparent

Prevalence of anxiety and depression among the general population in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis

202205 bckwVersion of RecordOthersHong Kong Special Administrative Region Government; InnoHKPublishe