Safety awareness of emergency among students of a State University in Northwestern Nigeria

Nigeria has had its own fair share of both natural and man-made disasters in recent times. Kaduna state is one of the states that have experienced such problems. The aim of this study is to elicit the socio-demographiccharacteristics, power of observation, personal safety measures, availability of some emergency facilities and ability to seek for assistance in an event of emergency or disaster. It was a cross sectional descriptive study carriedin March 2014. Majority (82.7%) of the respondents were male students of Kaduna State University, whose mean age was 22.6 ± 2.8 years and age range of 18 to 28 years. The power of observation among the students waspoor and so was the basic knowledge of first aid. Only 8.3% and 31.4% reported seeing fire extinguisher and buckets full of sand in and around  buildings. Similarly, only 29.0%, 31.0%, 14.8% and 6.5% of the students had the phone numbers of ambulance service provider, federal road safety office, fire service office and the chief security officer of the university. There is the need to create awareness and knowledge on  emergency/disaster as well as basic first aid practices amongst the students who can be change agents and are likely to influence others.Key words: Disaster, disaster preparedness, basic first aid, student

STUDY OF OUTWARD SIGNS, MICROSCOPY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WALNUT

Objective: Walnut is a medicinal plant that is widely used in traditional medicine. We believe that the study of the medicinal plant material of walnut-fruit in the stage of milky-wax maturity and walnut bark is relevant. We described outward signs and microscopy, the diagnostic features of both whole and grinded raw materials, powder bark of walnut and fruits of walnut in the stage of milky-wax maturity.Methods: Alcohol extraction which was derived from walnut bark is a transparent liquid of brown color and alcohol extraction which was derived walnut fruits in the stage of milky-waxy maturity is a transparent, green-brown liquid with a fragrant smell. We performed thin-layer chromatography for the walnut cortex and identified gallic acid.Results: A method of chromatography-mass spectrometry in alcohol extraction from walnut fruit in the stage of milky-waxy maturity allowed to identify 17 compounds belonging to different classes of biologically active substances. We identified sugars, flavonoids, phenolic compounds of coumarins and organic acids. In alcohol extraction from the walnut bark we identified marker substances

The filtering equations revisited

The problem of nonlinear filtering has engendered a surprising number of mathematical techniques for its treatment. A notable example is the change-of--probability-measure method originally introduced by Kallianpur and Striebel to derive the filtering equations and the Bayes-like formula that bears their names. More recent work, however, has generally preferred other methods. In this paper, we reconsider the change-of-measure approach to the derivation of the filtering equations and show that many of the technical conditions present in previous work can be relaxed. The filtering equations are established for general Markov signal processes that can be described by a martingale-problem formulation. Two specific applications are treated

Compulsory reduced working time in Belarus: Incidence, operation and consequences

This article examines compulsory reduced working time (CRWT) in five Belarusian factories, to assess its impact on employment relationships and evaluate arguments about ‘Soviet legacies’ and labour ‘patience’. Local use of CRWT increased between 2001 and 2012, and took a form more inimical to worker interests, thereby differing from official macro statistics. Managers expressed discontent at being pushed by state policy to use CRWT, but used it as a disciplinary tool. Workers perceived worsening work relationships and threats of collective response were in evidence. Arguments about ‘Soviet legacies’ and labour’s ‘patience’ therefore currently appear inappropriate

First measurement of the T-violating muon polarization in the decay K^+ --> mu^+ nu gamma

We present the result of the first measurement of the T-violating muon polarization P_T in the decay K^+ --> mu^+ nu gamma. This polarization is sensitive to new sources of CP-violation in the Higgs sector. Using data accumulated in the period 1996-98 we have obtained P_T = (-0.64 +- 1.85(stat) +- 0.10(syst))x10^{-2} which is consistent with no T-violation in this decay.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Interplay of microRNA-21 and SATB1 in epidermal keratinocytes during skin aging

YesNottingham Trent University, United Kingdom, UoA03 QR and Capital Funds (MIA), as well as by the grant from Amway, USA to VAB and NVB

The effect of participatory community communication on HIV preventive behaviors among ethnic minority youth in central Vietnam

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Vietnam, socially marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities in mountainous areas are often difficult to engage in HIV research and prevention programs. This intervention study aimed to estimate the effect of participatory community communication (PCC) on changing HIV preventive ideation and behavior among ethnic minority youth in a rural district from central Vietnam.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a cross-sectional survey after the PCC intervention, using a structured questionnaire, 800 ethnic minority youth were approached for face-to-face interviews. Propensity score matching (PSM) technique was then utilized to match these participants into two groups-intervention and control-for estimating the effect of the PCC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HIV preventive knowledge and ideation tended to increase as the level of recall changed accordingly. The campaign had a significant indirect effect on condom use through its effect on ideation or perceptions. When intervention and control group statistically equivalently reached in terms of individual and social characteristics by PSM, proportions of displaying HIV preventive knowledge, ideation and condom use were significantly higher in intervention group than in matched control counterparts, accounting for net differences of 7.4%, 12.7% and 5%, respectively, and can be translated into the number of 210; 361 and 142 ethnic minority youth in the population.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study informs public health implications both theoretically and practically to guide effective HIV control programs for marginalized communities in resources-constrained settings like rural Vietnam and similar contexts of developing countries.</p

Cymatics for the cloaking of flexural vibrations in a structured plate

Based on rigorous theoretical findings, we present a proof-of-concept design for a structured square cloak enclosing a void in an elastic lattice. We implement high-precision fabrication and experimental testing of an elastic invisibility cloak for flexural waves in a mechanical lattice. This is accompanied by verifications and numerical modelling performed through finite element simulations. The primary advantage of our square lattice cloak, over other designs, is the straightforward implementation and the ease of construction. The elastic lattice cloak, implemented experimentally, shows high efficiency