African Concept of Time, a Socio-Cultural Reality in the Process of Change

This paper is a defence for African thought system. We quite agree with Professor Olusegun Oladipo that African philosophers are in the best position to carry out coherent reflections on Africans philosophical issues and ideas. It is unfortunate and disgusting that many people across the world today still think like E. Ludwig, that “Africans are incapable of any philosophical conception”. Some, who are more liberal, opines that, Africans are capable of reasoning intelligently, but at the lowest ebb of thought. This is sad, evidences abound that Africans compete favourably with counterparts across the globe; in world universities like Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford etc. This work has therefore reflected on African thought system on time conception. It captured the pre-scientific period, the colonial period and the post colonial period. It has effectively justified that not only that Africans, even from pre scientific time, have their conceived ideas about time, but that their time conception is highly philosophical and thought provoking. It stretches beyond the physical world of reality even to the time eternity. Keywords: Socio- Cultural Reality, Event

Incessant Building Collapse in Nigeria: A Framework for Post-Development Management Control

This study investigates post-development management approach of properties and how it could be improved to stem the tide of building collapse in Nigeria. Extant literatures were reviewed and primary data collected with the use of structured questionnaires administered on occupants of one hundred and fifty residential and seventy-five commercial properties across Lagos State, Nigeria. Data was analysed with basic descriptive tools such as frequency, percentage, Likert scale and weighted mean score. Findings reveal abuse of property management functions by property owners and non-professionals alike in the management of various properties. Findings also show a high level of dissatisfaction with the services provided mostly by the non-professionals and that integrity assessment is rarely carried out by the professionals and non-professionals alike. The study therefore recommends that post development property management services become an exclusive preserve of professional property managers. The study further recommends that properties must be subjected to mandatory integrity assessment and subsequently, recommended for similar exercise based on the report of routine management inspection. The proposed framework for carrying out the structural integrity assessment and appropriate recommendations for the outcome of routine inspection or integrity assessment is a key contribution of this study to existing literatures on building collapse in the country. Keywords: Building collapse, Post-Development, Property Management, Framework, Structural Integrit

Molecular and phenotypic identification of Candida isolates from pregnant women in Ogbomoso, Southwestern Nigeria

Background: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), often referred to as a yeast infection is a common gynaecologic disease, affecting 3 out of 4 women in their lifetimes. More than 40% of affected women will have 2 or more VVC episodes, and infection occurs more frequently in pregnant women. This study was carried out to provide information on the appropriate diagnostic method required to differentiate the causative agents of VVC among pregnant women.Methods: In this study, vaginal specimens were collected from one hundred (100) pregnant women aged between 17-44 years and of gestation age of 14-36 weeks who were attending antenatal clinic at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso. The species identification was performed using chromogenic medium, induction of fungal germ tube formation, and PCR using universal primers of internal transcriber spacer (ITS1 and ITS4); (ITS1 [5′-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3’] and ITS4 [5′-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3’]) and Candida albicans-specific primers [5’-GGTTTGCTTGAAAGACGGTAG-3’] and [5’-AGTTTGAAGATATACGTGGTAG-3’] that target sequences site of the intergenic spacer region (ITS) of the fungal rRNA genes (18S and 28S) were used for this assay.Results: Forty (40) Candida species from 100 specimens were isolated in Saboraud dextrose agar (SDA) medium. Of 19 strains of C. albicans that were identified by chromogenic agar (CHROMagar), 17 were confirmed as true positive by PCR while 2 were false positive. The CHROMagar had 89.4% sensitivity and 90.4% specificity. In comparison, GTT was better in correctly identifying those strains that were confirmed as C. albicans by PCR (Sensitivity=94%) while CHROMagar was better in identifying the strains that were not confirmed as C. albicans by PCR (Specificity=90.4%).Conclusions: The combine uses of chromogenic agar and PCR have the advantage of efficient differentiation and identification of Candida species

ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL EMISSIONSFROM BIODIESEL PRODUCED FROM GROUNDNUT AND SOYBEAN OILS

Biodiesel an alternative fuel to fossil fuel) does not only require production at commercial level, but the production process also needs to be a clean and environmental friendly. This research aim at assessing the potential emissions form the biodiesel produced from the trans-esterification of groundnut oil and soybean oil, using KOH homogenous catalyst. The impact assessment of the potential emissions wasanalysed, quantified and characterized using Simapro 8.2.3.0. Comparatively, soybean biodiesel produced higher yield of biodiesel compare to yield obtained from groundnut oil biodiesel, under same experimental conditions. Also, high yields of biodiesel observed (97.1 % using both soybean oil and 92.1 % using groundnut oil) were at experimental conditions of 52.5oC and catalyst concentration 0.9 wt/wt%, at constant methanol/oil mole ratio of 6 and reaction time of 1 hour. The impact assessment of the emissions from the biodiesels obtained from the two oils revealed that groundnut oil biodiesel has the potential to release more fresh water toxic substances, terrestrial toxic substances and human toxic substances

A comparative evaluation of fermentable sugars production from oxidative, alkaline, alkaline peroxide oxidation, dilute acid, and molten hydrate salt pretreatments of corn cob biomass

Production of high value-added products from lignocelluloses is an economically sustainable alternative to decreasing dependence on fossil fuels and making the chemical processes environmentally friendly. In this study, different methodologies of alkaline (Ca(OH)2 and NaOH), dilute acid (10%w/w H2SO4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), alkaline peroxide oxidation (H2O2/Ca(OH)2 and H2O2/NaOH), and molten hydrated salt (MHS) mediated (ZnCl2.4H2O) pretreatments were employed in the hydrolysis of corncob amenable to enzymatic hydrolysis. Optimal enzyme hydrolysis temperature (considering 45 and 50 ℃) and time (2, 24, 72, and 96 h) were investigated for each pretreatment procedure to ascertain the concentrations of glucose, xylose, and total sugar present in the corncob. At 45 ℃ and 96 h, NaOH alkaline pretreatment achieved the best optimum total sugar production of 75.54 mg/mL (about 54% and 88% increments compared to dilute acid pretreatment (35.06 mg/mL total sugars) and MHS (9.32 mg/mL total sugar) pretreatment respectively). In this study, total sugars production increased appreciably at 45 ℃ and longer hydrolysis period (96 h) compared to hydrolysis at 50 ℃ (with maximum total sugars production of 18.00 mg/mL at 96 h). Scanning electron microscopic imaging of the untreated and treated samples displayed cell wall distortion and surface disruptions.Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.http://www.aimspress.com/journal/energypm2021Chemical Engineerin

Internet application for online cadastral services : a case study in Nigeria

The new innovative of technology by (GIS) Geographic Information System, (LIS) Land Information System and (CIS) Cadastral Information System has been playing a leading role in the development of cadastral and land administration in this study area. The Customary ways and approach to the land titling and registration in the time past has resulted in the delay in the processes of obtaining title to the land. Land administration system in Nigeria includes the processes of land registration, cadastral mapping, land valuation and land inventory. Most of developing nation particularly Nigeria is faced with the problem of poor land administration and management. Technology is paramount in acquiring a proper technological development in land administration. This study tried to encourage land title registration by providing web technologies that are faster and suitable with a low rate and minimum delay. The need to develop a dynamic web for the processes in the land registration arises from the dynamic relationship to the land of the people. The delay in time and process of land registration couple with the exploitation in land related activities has called for the urgent intervention of all the stakeholders in land administration. PHP programming language was used as a server side scripting languages together with MyAdmin SQL, a website was developed for the processes involved in the land registration having examined the fastest way to solve the problem. A robust dynamic database that is reliable and easy to use was also developed which is capable of accommodating several numbers of applicants. The applicants, monitoring agency and the government have the advantage of checking all the processes on line without any contact with the officers working on the certificate

Willingness of Family Caregivers to Consent to Relative’s Postmortem Examination that Die Suddenly in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

BACKGROUND: Postmortem examination is necessary to diagnose the cause of sudden death, and family caregivers are expected to consent to this examination. This study assessed knowledge, attitude, practices and willingness of family caregivers to consent to postmortem examination of their relative if they die suddenly in a Nigerian tertiary hospital.METHODS: Descriptive cross-sectional study of family caregivers of our patients that completed an interviewer administered semistructured questionnaire assessing their knowledge, attitude, practices and willingness to consent to postmortem examination of their relative if they die suddenly. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.RESULTS: A total of 224 caregivers were interviewed. The mean age (SD) was 34.95 (11.74), ranging 22-75 years. They were parents (32.6%), siblings (37.9%), spouses (11.2%) and other relatives (18.3%). Only 17% had adequate knowledge, 44.6% positive attitude and 11.2% good practices to postmortem examination of sudden death. The majority (75.9%) would consent to postmortem examination of their relatives if they die suddenly. Sociodemographic variables associated with willingness to consent to postmortem examination after relative’s sudden death include being male (AOR 3.61; 95%CI 3.09-8.92; p=0.001), having tertiary education (AOR 4.83; 95%CI 1.01-8.29; p=0.034), Christianity (AOR 2.59; 95%CI 1.25-5.35; p=0.010) and skilled worker (AOR 1.43; 95%CI 1.33-3.80; p=0.020).CONCLUSION: Some family caregivers would not consent to postmortem examination of their relatives when they die suddenly. Sensitization programs targeting family caregivers are necessary to increase knowledge and enhance prevention of sudden death as well as improve willingness to consent to postmortem examination when their relatives die suddenly

Immunological insights into COVID-19 in Southern Nigeria

Introduction: One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic was the relatively low levels of morbidity and mortality in Africa compared to the rest of the world. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, accounted for less than 0.01% of the global COVID-19 fatalities. The factors responsible for Nigeria's relatively low loss of life due to COVID-19 are unknown. Also, the correlates of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and the impact of pre-existing immunity on the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa are yet to be elucidated. Here, we evaluated the natural and vaccine-induced immune responses from vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria throughout the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. We also examined the pre-existing immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 from samples collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used spike RBD and N- IgG antibody ELISA to measure binding antibody responses, SARS-CoV-2 pseudotype assay protocol expressing the spike protein of different variants (D614G, Delta, Beta, Omicron BA1) to measure neutralizing antibody responses and nucleoprotein (N) and spike (S1, S2) direct ex vivo interferon gamma (IFNγ) T cell ELISpot to measure T cell responses. Result: Our study demonstrated a similar magnitude of both binding (N-IgG (74% and 62%), S-RBD IgG (70% and 53%) and neutralizing (D614G (49% and 29%), Delta (56% and 47%), Beta (48% and 24%), Omicron BA1 (41% and 21%)) antibody responses from symptomatic and asymptomatic survivors in Nigeria. A similar magnitude was also seen among vaccinated participants. Interestingly, we revealed the presence of preexisting binding antibodies (N-IgG (60%) and S-RBD IgG (44%)) but no neutralizing antibodies from samples collected prior to the pandemic. Discussion: These findings revealed that both vaccinated, non-vaccinated and convalescent individuals in Southern Nigeria make similar magnitude of both binding and cross-reactive neutralizing antibody responses. It supported the presence of preexisting binding antibody responses among some Nigerians prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, hybrid immunity and heterologous vaccine boosting induced the strongest binding and broadly neutralizing antibody responses compared to vaccine or infection-acquired immunity alone

Seismic Data Conditioning and Inversion with Bayesian Methods and Dynamic Time-Warping

Seismic studies are carried out with the aim of delineating resolved images of the subsurface, however as the wave propagates through the earth, energy and resolution diminish. Amplitude attenuates and velocity disperses due to earth’s viscoelasticity resulting in distorted images of the subsurface stratigraphic layers and geological structures. Deconvolution (statistical or deterministic) is typically applied to correct for this distortion. The process for amplitude compensation is unstable at greater depths (or traveltime) due to the exponential function of time and frequency that boost ambient noise masking lower frequency signals. Absorption compensation is posed as an inverse problem and stabilized with the L1-norm deterministically and stochastically with two sparsity-promoting hierarchical prior distributions (Normal-Jeffreys and automatic relevance determination). The Normal-Jeffreys prior computes a sparse model that estimates observational noise variance which regularizes the solution. Moreover, Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) processing workflows are carefully designed to preserve relative amplitude between offset gathers in preparation for reservoir characterization studies. But in the event where these traces are not aligned or production effects from a time-lapse causes time-shifts, offset traces can be re-adjusted with a dynamic time-warping (DTW) algorithm which is superior to linear time-shifts such as windowed-cross correlation. DTW re-alignment reveal the better correlation of elastic attributes when compared with upscaled well-logs. Seismically-derived elastic properties alone are not useful to a reservoir scientist. Often interest lies in rock-physics models that can quantify elastic property variation with effective pressure at all porosities. Proposed moduli-velocity model in conjunction with Gassmann model is utilized to invert for dynamic petrophysical properties (water saturation and pressure changes). A computationally-efficient mixture density neural network (MDN) which finds optimal parameters of a Gaussian mixture model is utilized for the 3D petrophysical analysis of the Norne field time-lapse dataset. The saturation inversion volume shows a decrease from the survey 2003 to the survey 2006.Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department o