SELECTED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BAMBARA GROUNDNUT SEEDS UNDER COMPRESSIVE LOADING

Knowledge of mechanical properties of agricultural materials is useful in the development of equipment for processing and handling them.Selected mechanical propertiesnamely rupture force, maximum deformation at rupture point, hardness and toughness of cream and light brown varieties of Bambara groundnut (BGN) seeds were determined at four moisture levels (5, 15, 25 and 35% dry basis) under compressive loading alongaxial and longitudinal orientations.Rupture force, deformation, hardness and toughness of BGN seedswere within the ranges 45.58-438.55 N, 0.31-5.71 mm,14.61-448.55 Nmm-1 and0.01-1.02J, respectively. Rupture force, deformation and toughnessof the seeds had interplay of increasing and deceasing trends while hardness decreased consistently as moisture content increased from 5% to 35%.The cream variety withstood higher rupture force and deformed more without failure than the light brown variety within moisture content range of 5-25% along both loading orientations.Bothvarieties demonstrated greater hardness when loaded along the longitudinal orientations than the axially loaded samples. All the investigatedproperties were dependent on moisture content andorientationof loading. Predictive mathematical models forestimating the investigated properties at different moisture contents with reasonable accuracy were also established in this study

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analyses of Energy and Exergy in Thin Layer Drying of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Slices using Centre Shaft Rotary Tray Cabinet (CSRTC) Dryer

This paper presents a simulation of the drying process of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) in a Center Shaft (CS) Rotary Tray Cabinet Dryer using three drying temperatures (50, 60 and 70 °C). ANSYS 14.5 Workbench was used to simulate the dryer model in 2D (2 Dimensional). The detail of the CFD simulation was utilized to investigate the energy and exergy of the dryer. The ANSYS Design Modeler was used to model the 2D representation of the dryer and the meshing was done using ANSYS ICEM. ANSYS Fluent CFD solver was then used to calculate the alternative using the normal turbulence-realizable k-epsilon model in a steady-state system with improved wall temperature treatment. The simulation outcome was used in calculating the dryer's exergy and energy analysis based on the thermal efficiency. It was noted that the simulated temperature from the experiment is greater than that of the experiment. The results indicated that the experimental energy utilization (EU), energy utilization ratio (EUR) and energy efficiency increased from 14.1 to 57.93 J/s, 0.15 to 0.20 and 18.89 to 33.98 percent, while the simulated energy utilization ratio increased from 23.91 to 57.68 J/s, 0.19 to 0.20 and 26.21 to 33.40 percent, respectively, and as the drying air temperature increased from 50 °C to 70 °C. Experimental exergy inflow, outflow, exergy loss and exergy efficiency increased from 4.01 J/s to 6.98 J/s, 1.83 J/s to 1.9 J/s, 3.18 J/s to 5.07 J/s and 21 to 27%, while simulated air temperatures increased from 5.01 J/s to 7.49 J/s, 1.33 J/s to 2.20 J/s, 3.66 J/s to 5.29 J/s and 27 to 29% respectively with respect to the drying air temperature range (50–70 °C). Model equations were derived from the plotted graphs to express the energy and exergy parameters as a function of drying temperature

Evaluation of Full Text Search Retrieval System

With a number of search engines on the web and each with different indexing and ranking methods and different coverage, finding the one that gives the best results for a query becomes a bit challenging. The main problem however, that existing Search engines have to deal with is how to avoid irrelevant information and to retrieve the relevant ones. This current work presents a new approach for retrieving relevant information on the Web, by adopting breadth-First search algorithm. The implementation result of the retrieval system was analysed using recall and precision model for three departments at Elizade University. By learning from users’ behaviour, the approach can return very high quality search results, with a strongly reduced computing load

Traumatic Tympanic Membrane perforation: An aetiological profile

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane may be due to direct or indirect source. The aim of the study is to profile the various aetiologies of traumatic tympanic membrane perforation in Ilorin, north central Nigeria.</p> <p>A retrospective review of 64 patients seen at the University of Ilorin Teaching hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria over a ten year period (January 1998 to Dec 2007) with history of traumatic tympanic membrane perforation from various causes, these also included multiply injured patients with bleeding from middle ear as part of their presentations. The data retrieved included the biodata, the clinical presentations, source of injury, the clinical findings and the treatment outcome. The data were entered into an SPSS version 11 computer soft ware and analyzed descriptively.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Sixty four (64) ears were analysed, Age range 6 months to 50 yrs, mean age of 29.2 yrs 7.9% of them were ≤5 years, 29.7% between 21-34 years, and 37.7% were 35 years and above. The male to female ratio was 2.5:1.0. Commonest aetiology was from slaps, then road traffic injury (RTI) in 35.9% and 23.5%, Majority of the slap injury were from fights (30.5%), security agents, senior students and cultists at schools (17.4% each). Sudden hearing loss was a typical presentation (95.3%), majority of the patient defaulted from follow up once the symptoms of bleeding and pain subsided. Only 7.8% had neomembrane formation on follow up</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane is an uncommon injury that is under-reported, there is the need to educate on alternative punitive measure among students and security agents, unskilled removal of foreign body, early identification, evaluation and referral of patients reduces the attendant morbidity.</p

Cotton bud: usage, presentation, complications, and management among otorhinolaryngology patients

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Cotton bud usage is a common bad health practice among many patients despite associated complications. This study aimed at determining the cotton bud: usage, presentation, complications, and management among otorhinolaryngology patients in developing country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective hospital-based study of cotton bud usage. The study was carried out over a period 6 months between June and November 2017. Verbal consent was obtained from consented patients. Interview-assisted questionnaire was administered to obtain data. Data obtained were collated and statistically analyzed by using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: Prevalence of cotton bud usage was 83.4%. There were 45.7% male respondents and male to female ratio of 1:1. Common reasons for cotton bud usage were personal hygiene in 25.5%, itching in 23.9%, water in ear in 11.7%, and dirty/earwax in 11.3%. Cotton bud usage for ear cleaning was by self in 54.6%, parent in 32.8%, friend in 6.7%, and spouse in 5.8%. Bilateral ears were most commonly cleaned by cotton bud in 57.1%. The right ear in 25.2% was more common than left ear in 17.8%. No complications were in 37.7%. There were 28.2% injury to external ear, 23.9% impacted cotton bud, and 10.1% traumatic perforated tympanic membrane. On patients’ understanding on danger of cotton bud usage, dangerous, not dangerous, and not sure were 28.5, 60.4, and 11.1%, respectively. Common clinical features were earache, itching, hearing loss, and dirty/earwax 33.7, 19.6, 19.0, and 18.7%, respectively. Long-time (chronic) cotton bud usage accounted for 63.8% while short-time (acute) ear cleaning accounted for 36.2%. Frequency of cotton bud usage in these patients was daily in 54.9%, weekly in 20.9%, monthly in 4.9%, and occasionally in 19.3%. The most common diagnosis of cotton bud usage was personal hygiene in 25.5%. Other diagnosis of cotton bud usage was allergy in 18.7%, otitis externa in 18.1%, earwax impaction in 13.2% foreign body impaction in 11.3%, and hearing impairment in 8.3%. No information, information from family, and information from neighborhood were 31.6, 43.6, and 24.8%, respectively. Treatments offered were health education in all the patients, conservative/medical treatment in 88.7%, and cotton bud removal in 11.3%

A viscosity iterative technique for equilibrium and fixed point problems in a Hadamard space

[EN] The main purpose of this paper is to introduce a viscosity-type proximal point algorithm, comprising of a nonexpansive mapping and a finite sum of resolvent operators associated with monotone bifunctions. A strong convergence of the proposed algorithm to a common solution of a finite family of equilibrium problems and fixed point problem for a nonexpansive mapping is established in a Hadamard space. We further applied our results to solve some optimization problems in Hadamard spaces.Izuchukwu, C.; Aremu, KO.; Mebawondu, AA.; Mewomo, OT. (2019). A viscosity iterative technique for equilibrium and fixed point problems in a Hadamard space. Applied General Topology. 20(1):193-210. https://doi.org/10.4995/agt.2019.10635SWORD193210201K. O. Aremu, C. Izuchukwu, G. C. Ugwunnadi and O. T. Mewomo, On the proximal point algorithm and demimetric mappings in CAT(0) spaces, Demonstr. Math. 51 (2018), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1515/dema-2018-0022M. 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Effects of Climate Change on the Health of Rural Farming Households in Oyun Local Government Area, of Kwara State Nigeria

This study examined the impacts of climate change on the health of rural family households in Kwara State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 farmers for the study. The data collected through structured questionnaires and interview schedules was analyzed using mean, percentages, and Chi-Square. The findings revealed that the common effect of climate change on health is heat stress (M =4.1), malaria (M=3.76), depression (M=3.43), hunger (M=3.37), and death (M=2.88). Moreover, the coping strategies to ameliorate the effect of climate change were good medical care (16.7%), personal hygiene (25.0%), proper sanitation (13.3%), planting of trees to replace felled trees (16.7%), and prayer to God (6.7%). The major constraints to adaptation were lack of information and credit. Respondents’ age (x2= 10.50. ) and educational status (x2= 14.97) were positively significant factors determining the adaptation strategies' choice. The study, therefore, recommends that free health care facilities should be given to farmers while extension services should help in increasing the awareness campaign on the best method to cope with the effects of climate change. Keywords: Climate change coping strategies, health, farmer

Epidemilogical Profile of Speech and Language Disorder in North Central Nigeria

Background: Speech-language pathologists/Otolaryngologists recognize high prevalence of speech and language disorder among children. The aim of the study is to find out the epidemiological profile of speech and language disorder in north central Nigeria. Method: A five year retrospective review of all referral to speech and language therapy unit ENT Department between January 2005 and December 2009. Information retrieved and analysed included bio-data, clinical presentation and diagnosis of the patients.Descriptive analysis of these data were done. Results: A total of 146 patients were seen out of which 89 (61%) were under five, 32 (21.9%) were between 5-10 years, 20 (13.7%) in the range of 11-20 yrs and 2 (1.4%) were between 21-34 yrs. None was observed in the elderly. Male preponderance was noted with male to female ratio of 1.9:1.0. The commonest diagnosis was deaf-mutism in 84 (57.5%) followed by delayed speech development in 31(21.2%) patients. The least diagnosis was aphasia in 2 (1.4%) patients. Conclusion: Speech and language disorder was commonest among the under five’s with non in the elderly, There was a higher prevalence amongst males and deaf-mutism was the commonest observed

Serospatial epidemiology of zoonotic Coxiella burnetii in a cross section of cattle and small ruminants in northern Nigeria

The persistent and highly transmissible Coxiella burnetii is a neglected infection that negatively affects reproductive parameters of livestock. It is also of zoonotic importance and has been reported to cause devastating human infections globally. Domestic ruminants represent the most frequent source of human infection. Data from Nigeria are very few and outdated. There is a significant gap in up-to-date information on the exposure, spatial distribution and risk factors of infection of this important disease. The exposure to C. burnetii was determined using sensitive serological assays in cattle and small ruminants. A total of 538 animals made up of 268 cattle and 270 small ruminants were sampled from three northern Nigerian states. The proportion of cattle sampled that were seropositive from the study locations were: Kwara 14/90 (15.6%; 95% CI: 8.8–24.7); Plateau 10/106 (9.43%; 95% CI: 4.6–16.7) and Borno 4/72 (5.56%; 95% CI: 1.5–13.6) states. Lower seroprevalence was recorded among the small ruminants sampled, with positives recorded from sheep and goat sampled from only Kwara state 6/184 (3.3%; 95% CI: 1.2–7.0); while none of the small ruminants sampled from Plateau were seropositive. The results of the bivariate analysis showed that none of the tested independent variables (village, age group, sex, breed of cattle, presence of ticks, reproductive status, and management system) were statistically significant factors associated with seropositivity of cattle for antibodies to C. burnetii. Stakeholders involved in animal husbandry should be duly educated on proper disposal of birth products as well as bodily fluids in order to reduce environmental contamination, persistence and human infection

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE STUDY OF AN ELECTRONIC BODY MASS INDEX INSTRUMENT

The design and construction of an electronic Body Mass Index (BMI) has been carried out in this study. The design calculates the BMI automatically by overcoming marginal errors. The design incorporates the functions of PING))) sensor, digital weight sensor into the system. C programming code was writing in programming a microcontroller that controls the whole design. The measured height and weight are processed by the programmed microcontroller which then generates BMI being display on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The designed system was used to estimate the BMI of eight individuals of different gender. The performance evaluation of the system was compared with the four groups category cited by World Health Organization in the BMI chart