Properties of Concrete Produced with Waste Bottle Caps (WBC) as a Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate and Orange Leaves Powder as Plasticizer

Green building is an increasingly important global concern and a critical way to conserve natural resources and reduce the amount of materials going to our landfills. Large quantities of metal waste are generated from empty metal cans and bottle caps of juices and soft drinks. This is an environmental issue as metal waste is difficult to biodegrade and involves processes either to recycle or reuse. Today the construction industry is in need of finding effective materials for increasing the strength of concrete structures with low cost, and with less environmental damage. This research is aimed at addressing such issues by investigating the possibility of using waste bottle caps (WBC) to partially substitute for coarse aggregate and using orange leaves powder as plasticizer in concrete production. The slump, demoulded density, split tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength properties at different percentages replacement of coarse aggregate with waste bottle caps were investigated in the laboratory. The work shows that compressive strengths of 83.88%, 76.25% and 63.17% of the control (0%) can be achieved at the 28-day by replacing coarse aggregate with 5%, 10% and 15% of the waste bottle caps respectively. The research also indicates that optimum result in terms of compressive strength is between 5% and 15% of gravel replacement given a value of 35.85N/mm2 and 27N/mm2 respectively. Keywords: Landfills, Green building, Compressive strength, Flexural strength, Waste Bottle Caps, Construction industry and Biodegrad

Amputation‑Related Phantom Limb Pain in Nigeria: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a common and distressing complication of limb amputations. Literature on PLP in Nigeria and indeedAfrica is scant despite the high rate of amputations in published works. We sought to highlight the burden of PLP among Nigerian amputeesin order to improve awareness and care by health‑care providers. Patients and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, consecutive limb amputees were recruited and relevant data were collected by in‑person interview at 1 week postamputation and subsequently by telephone survey at 6 months and 12 months. The sociodemographic and clinical   information of the amputees were recorded, as well as presence of PLP and the treatment offered by the attending physician. The Chi‑square test of statistical significance and multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression were used in the analysis, and the level of statistical significance was determined by P < 0.05. Results: One hundred and fourteen consecutive limb amputations were carried out in 113 patients over a 1‑year period. The period prevalence of PLP was 63.6%, and of these, only 8.6% had this documented in their medical record. No predictor of PLP was identified in the cohort. Conclusion:  PLP is highly prevalent among limb amputees in our cohort. We call for improved awareness and practice relating to PLP among  health‑care providers and partners, considering the vast population of amputees in the region. Keywords: Africa, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status grade, amputees, phantom limb pai

Kinetics and Equilibrium of Crude Oil Sorption from Aqueous Solution Using Borassus Aeothopum Coir

In this study, Borassus aethopum coir (BAC) which is an abundant, cheap, readily available and biodegradable agricultural waste was modified by acetylation using acetic anhydride and NBS catalyst at room temperature. This was to increase their hydrophobic properties and improve their sorption capacity in aqueous environment. The crude oil sorption kinetic data were fitted by intra-particle diffusion and pseudo-first order for raw BAC but the pseudo-second order kinetic model best fits crude oil sorption data for acetylated BAC.  The Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to elucidate the sorption behaviour of crude oil with raw and acetylated BAC. Freundlich isotherm gave the best fit for the equilibrium crude oil sorption data for acetylated BAC and raw BAC. Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscope analyses showed clear evidence of successful acetylation. The results presented and discussed in the study suggests that acetylated BAC (ABAC) is more suitable for crude oil sorption than raw BAC, therefore, possesses more potential for application and further development in treatment of oil spillage. Keywords: acetylated borassus aethopum coir, kinetics, crude oil sorption, sorbents, sorption capacity. DOI: 10.7176/CMR/11-2-02

Evaluating the management outcomes of gynaecological emergencies at a tertiary hospital, Abakaliki Southeast, Nigeria

Background: Gynaecological emergencies are common causes of emergency hospital presentation/admission. Majority of the emergencies are mostly pregnancy related and pose threat to two lives as well as the women’s future reproductive careers. There is therefore need to evaluate them to make better preparations in managing them. Methods: This was a 10 year (from 01 January 2012 to 31 December 2021) retrospective study of gynaecological emergencies managed at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AEFUTHA), evaluating their management and outcomes. Results: The commonest cause of gynaecological emergency at AEFUTHA was miscarriage accounting for up to 69.1% out of which incomplete miscarriage contributed 70.8% and majority had manual vacuum aspiration with good outcome. Ruptured ectopic pregnancies were the commonest surgical emergencies with the incidence of 7.1% and all had laparotomy and partial salpingectomy. Gestational trophoblastic diseases accounted for 2.0% of gynaecological emergencies. The commonest non-pregnancy related gynaecological emergency was acute pelvic inflammatory diseases which accounted for 9.3% of cases. Other gynaecological emergencies reviewed were ovarian accidents (2.9%), abnormal uterine bleeding (3.9%), gynaecological malignancies (2.3%), coital laceration (1.5%), sexual assault (2.4%) and Bartholin’s abscess (0.2%). Factors that affected the outcome were the age of the patients, marital status and disease type and were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: Management outcomes of gynaecological emergencies were optimum. Mortality occurred in 1.3% of cases, with gynaecological malignancies accounting for 81.4%. There is usually a good prognosis when prompt, accurate diagnosis and treatment are administered

Contextual factors predicting compliance behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A machine learning analysis on survey data from 16 countries

Voluntary isolation is one of the most effective methods for individuals to help prevent the transmission of diseases such as COVID-19. Understanding why people leave their homes when advised not to do so and identifying what contextual factors predict this non-compliant behavior is essential for policymakers and public health officials. To provide insight on these factors, we collected data from 42,169 individuals across 16 countries. Participants responded to items inquiring about their socio-cultural environment, such as the adherence of fellow citizens, as well as their mental states, such as their level of loneliness and boredom. We trained random forest models to predict whether someone had left their home during a one-week period during which they were asked to voluntarily isolate themselves. The analyses indicated that overall, an increase in the feeling of being caged leads to an increased probability of leaving home. In addition, an increased feeling of responsibility and an increased fear of getting infected decreased the probability of leaving home. The models predicted compliance behavior with between 54% and 91% accuracy within each country’s sample. In addition, we modeled factors leading to risky behavior in the pandemic context. We observed an increased probability of visiting risky places as both the anticipated number of people and the importance of the activity increased. Conversely, the probability of visiting risky places increased as the perceived putative effectiveness of social distancing decreased. The variance explained in our models predicting risk ranged from < .01 to .54 by country. Together, our findings can inform behavioral interventions to increase adherence to lockdown recommendations in pandemic conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A comprehensive candidate gene approach identifies genetic variation associated with osteosarcoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteosarcoma (OS) is a bone malignancy which occurs primarily in adolescents. Since it occurs during a period of rapid growth, genes important in bone formation and growth are plausible modifiers of risk. Genes involved in DNA repair and ribosomal function may contribute to OS pathogenesis, because they maintain the integrity of critical cellular processes. We evaluated these hypotheses in an OS association study of genes from growth/hormone, bone formation, DNA repair, and ribosomal pathways.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated 4836 tag-SNPs across 255 candidate genes in 96 OS cases and 1426 controls. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twelve SNPs in growth or DNA repair genes were significantly associated with OS after Bonferroni correction. Four SNPs in the DNA repair gene <it>FANCM </it>(ORs 1.9-2.0, <it>P </it>= 0.003-0.004) and 2 SNPs downstream of the growth hormone gene <it>GH1 </it>(OR 1.6, <it>P </it>= 0.002; OR 0.5, <it>P </it>= 0.0009) were significantly associated with OS. One SNP in the region of each of the following genes was significant: <it>MDM2</it>, <it>MPG</it>, <it>FGF2</it>, <it>FGFR3</it>, <it>GNRH2</it>, and <it>IGF1</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that several SNPs in biologically plausible pathways are associated with OS. Larger studies are required to confirm our findings.</p

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared to the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing: Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges