Physicians and AIDS care: does knowledge influence their attitude and comfort in rendering care?

Adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and feeling of comfort are important factors in providing compassionate care to patients. The purpose of this study was to assess physicians' knowledge, attitude and global comfort in caring for patients with AIDS (PWA), to determine the sociodemographic variables that could influence physicians' attitude and global comfort, and to identify any relationship between their knowledge, attitude and comfort. Consultants and residents (N=211) in two Nigerian teaching hospitals were surveyed using a two-part questionnaire. Part I elicited sociodemographic and previous AIDS encounter information, and Part II assessed knowledge, attitude and global comfort with AIDS patients care. Nigerian physicians showed satisfactory knowledge, but they harbored negative attitude and low level of comfort in caring for PWA. Previous AIDS care experience, age and being a consultant or a senior resident influenced attitude, while male gender and knowing someone with AIDS influenced global comfort. Knowledge is weakly but positively associated with attitude, while attitude is modestly associated with comfort. The study reinforced the need for an ongoing education focused on experiential learning, and professional socialization in order to influence physicians' attitude and enhance their feeling of comfort when caring for PWA. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 14 (1-2) 2007: pp. 37-4

EFFECTS OF NaOH MODIFICATION ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BAOBAB POD FIBER REINFORCED LDPE COMPOSITES

In order to improve properties of natural fibers as reinforcement, different treatment methods have being adopted by researchers. However, the use of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for the treatment of baobab pod fiber as reinforcement in low density polyethylene is sparsely reported. Therefore, this study, investigated the effect of 2 wt%, 4 wt% 6 wt%, 8 wt% and 10 wt%  concentration of NaOH on baobab pod fibers as reinforcement for low density polyethylene (LDPE). Two roll mill machine and hydraulic press at a pressure of 10 kN and temperature of 120oC aided the production of the composite. FT-IR was used to analyze the functional groups of the treated and un-treated fibers. The result showed the disappearance of the peak 1550 cm-1 corresponding to lignin after modification. Further, the composites were characterized for the following tensile strength (TS), modulus of elasticity (MOE), elongation at break, impact strength and water absorption. Preliminary studies on the effect of loading of the unmodified baobab fiber in the LDPE matrix showed desirable properties at 10 wt%, where fiber content was in the range of 5 wt% to 30 wt% at interval of 5 wt%. The composite produced from the 8 wt% NaOH modified fiber had the highest tensile strength, MOE, elongation at break. At this modification level, the tensile strength, MOE and elongation at break were about 75.48%, 92.18% and 28% respectively higher than the composite produced from unmodified fiber. Composite produced with 10 wt% NaOH modified fiber exhibited least water absorption of 1.80%, which was 50% lower than unmodified. These showed that the modification of the fiber improved the composite properties. These properties compared favorably with some reported properties for natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i1.1

Evaluation of microbial systems for bioremediation of petroleum refinery effluents in Nigeria

The potential of various organisms to catabolize and metabolize organic compounds has been recognized as potentially effective means of disposing of hazardous wastes. Phenolic compounds has long been recognized as one of the most recalcitrant and persistent substance in petroleum refinery effluents. This is a cause of some concern because of the high toxicity and of this compound. Bioremediation of phenolic compounds has been recognized as a potential solution for the disposal of phenolic compounds due to its scale ability, cost effectiveness and simplicity. The two species of Pseudomonas, P. aeruginosa and P. fluorescence were studied for their bioremediation potential on Refinery effluent with respect to phenol biodegradation in a batch reactor. Phenol was degraded completely by the two species. While P. aeruginosa completely mineralize phenol at the 60th hour of cultivation, only 75% (23 mg/l) of phenol was degraded by P. fluorescence; complete degradation was achieved at the 84th hour of fermentation. There was highly positive correlation between phenol biodegradation and the microbial growth. (r = +0.994 and r = +0.980 at

MeciFace: Mechanomyography and Inertial Fusion based Glasses for Edge Real-Time Recognition of Facial and Eating Activities

The increasing prevalence of stress-related eating behaviors and their impact on overall health highlights the importance of effective monitoring systems. In this paper, we present MeciFace, an innovative wearable technology designed to monitor facial expressions and eating activities in real-time on-the-edge (RTE). MeciFace aims to provide a low-power, privacy-conscious, and highly accurate tool for promoting healthy eating behaviors and stress management. We employ lightweight convolutional neural networks as backbone models for facial expression and eating monitoring scenarios. The MeciFace system ensures efficient data processing with a tiny memory footprint, ranging from 11KB to 19KB. During RTE evaluation, the system achieves impressive performance, yielding an F1-score of < 86% for facial expression recognition and 90% for eating/drinking monitoring, even for the RTE of an unseen user.Comment: Submitted to Nature Scientific Report

iFace: Hand-Over-Face Gesture Recognition Leveraging Impedance Sensing

Hand-over-face gestures can provide important implicit interactions during conversations, such as frustration or excitement. However, in situations where interlocutors are not visible, such as phone calls or textual communication, the potential meaning contained in the hand-over-face gestures is lost. In this work, we present iFace, an unobtrusive, wearable impedance-sensing solution for recognizing different hand-over-face gestures. In contrast to most existing works, iFace does not require the placement of sensors on the user's face or hands. Instead, we proposed a novel sensing configuration, the shoulders, which remains invisible to both the user and outside observers. The system can monitor the shoulder-to-shoulder impedance variation caused by gestures through electrodes attached to each shoulder. We evaluated iFace in a user study with eight participants, collecting six kinds of hand-over-face gestures with different meanings. Using a convolutional neural network and a user-dependent classification, iFace reaches 82.58 \% macro F1 score. We discuss potential application scenarios of iFace as an implicit interaction interface.Comment: Accepted by Augmented Humans 202

Knowledge and use of emergency contraception by medical doctors on internship in a tertiary healthcare facility in Nigeria

Context: Emergency contraception (EC) is widely used to prevent unwanted pregnancy and it is largely adopted in many countries as over the counter drug to improve access.Aims: To determine and compare the correct knowledge, attitude and current use of EC among newly graduated medical doctors (MDs).Settings and Design: A cross.sectional study conducted among 255 newly graduated MDs at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A pretested self.administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from consenting participants.Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable analyses were performed, and statistical significance was set at 0.05. Statistical Package for Social Science version 15.0 (Chicago, IL, USA) software was used.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 27.2 years (standard deviation = 2.1). The commonest indication for emergency contraceptive use mentioned was rape.96.5%. About 70% support EC in Nigeria, while about a quarter (26.9%) routinely counsel women about ECP use. About 21% of respondents currently use EC. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant results for gender [odds ratio (OR) =3.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) OR = 1.31.10.01), religion (OR = 0.26; 95% CI OR =  0.11.0.630) and marital status (OR = 0.19; 95% CI = 0.07.0.56). Conclusion: The correct knowledge and professional disposition toward EC as a form of contraception is low. We recommend that in.service training  should focus more on EC to improve the quality of their knowledge and  attitude towards it.Key words: Emergency contraception, knowledge, Medical Doctor, Nigeri

Obstetric fistulae repair in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution; Lessons learnt from the outcome of care

This was a hospital based retrospective study of one hundred and fifty-five women managed for obstetric vesicovaginal fistula at the University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria from 2000 till 20006. The objective of the study was to document the types of obstetric vesico-vaginal fistula and also describe factors that may influence the outcome of successful repair.The pattern of the fistulae managed were Midvaginal (45.8%),  juxtacervical (38.7%) and juxtaurethral (15.5%). Gynaecologists performed 61.7% of cases using the vaginal route while urologists repaired the rest abdominally. Bivariate analysis showed that younger age at presentation, gravidity, VVF type (Anatomic and Kees Waaldijk), number of previous repairs, and presence of rectovaginal fistula and duration of urinary incontinence prior to repair were statistically significantly related to outcome of repair. Multiple logistic regression models revealed age at presentation (95% CI OR = 1.18 – 9.09) and duration of incontinence (95% CI OR = 1.39 – 13.64) as significant predictors. It is recommended that early presentation for repair and capacity building of specialist trainees will assist in the effective management and other interventions to eliminate obstetric fistula. Above all, governments at all levels should either subsidize or make antenatal care free so as to reduce the incidence of childbirth complications including vesico-vaginal fistula.Keywords: Obstetric fistula, vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF), obstructed labou

Study of physico-chemical characteristics of the westernmost part of the barrier Lagoon complex, Western Nigeria

Some physico-chemical parameters of Badagry Creek and Ologe Lagoon in the Barrier Lagoon Complex of western Nigerian coastal zone were measured on quarterly basis from June 2011 to May 2012. Water samples were collected and analyzed using standard methods at five stations in each of the two water bodies. A brackish condition was observed in Badagry Creek with salinity range of 2.00 ± 3.8 ‰ to 3.85 ± 4.48 ‰ while entirely freshwater condition was recorded in Ologe Lagoon. Surface water temperature, pH, alkalinity, nitrate and phosphate at every station in the two water bodies were within the normal ranges considered suitable for tropical aquatic life. However, high levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) were recorded at a station in Badagry Creek (8.15 ± 1.66 mg/l) and two stations in Ologe Lagoon (16.9 ± 10.46 and 9.40 ± 7.56 mg/l), where untreated municipal wastes are being discharged into the water bodies. These stations also had relatively low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (3.30 ± 0.22, 1.08 ± 0.96 and 3.68 ± 3.2 mg/l respectively). Relatively high levels of lead were also recorded at these stations (0.50 ± 0.42, 0.85 ± 0.07 and 0.35 ± 0.35 mg/l respectively). The implications of the physico-chemical conditions on bio-communities as well as the imperativeness of regulating the discharge of untreated wastes into the water bodies for their sustainable management and conservation are discussed.Keywords: Physico-chemical parameters, Badagry Creek, Ologe Lagoon, untreated waste discharge, Organic pollution

Biochemical alteration in Nigerian children with acute falciparum malaria

This study was undertaken to establish data on the effect of acute falciparum malaria on plasma levels some biochemical parameters in the pathology of malaria in Nigeria children. We estimated the levels ofNa+, K+, HCO3, Ca++ , inorganic PO4 =, bilirubin, total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine and glucose in the plasma of 250 parasitaemic and 150 non-parasitaemic Nigerian children. Inorganic PO4 =, urea, creatinine and bilirubin levels were significantly elevated in the acute falciparum malarious children than in the non-parasitaemic controls. Acute falciparum malaria resulted in significant reduction of HCO3 -, total protein, albumin and glucose levels in the malarious children. There was no significant difference in the mean values of the biochemical parameters between malarious children with relative parasite count of 1-10 asexual form of parasite in 100 high power field (hpf) of thick blood film (+) and those with 11-100 asexual form of parasite in 100 hpf of thick blood film(++)

InMyFace: Inertial and Mechanomyography-Based Sensor Fusion for Wearable Facial Activity Recognition

Recognizing facial activity is a well-understood (but non-trivial) computer vision problem. However, reliable solutions require a camera with a good view of the face, which is often unavailable in wearable settings. Furthermore, in wearable applications, where systems accompany users throughout their daily activities, a permanently running camera can be problematic for privacy (and legal) reasons. This work presents an alternative solution based on the fusion of wearable inertial sensors, planar pressure sensors, and acoustic mechanomyography (muscle sounds). The sensors were placed unobtrusively in a sports cap to monitor facial muscle activities related to facial expressions. We present our integrated wearable sensor system, describe data fusion and analysis methods, and evaluate the system in an experiment with thirteen subjects from different cultural backgrounds (eight countries) and both sexes (six women and seven men). In a one-model-per-user scheme and using a late fusion approach, the system yielded an average F1 score of 85.00% for the case where all sensing modalities are combined. With a cross-user validation and a one-model-for-all-user scheme, an F1 score of 79.00% was obtained for thirteen participants (six females and seven males). Moreover, in a hybrid fusion (cross-user) approach and six classes, an average F1 score of 82.00% was obtained for eight users. The results are competitive with state-of-the-art non-camera-based solutions for a cross-user study. In addition, our unique set of participants demonstrates the inclusiveness and generalizability of the approach.Comment: Submitted to Information Fusion, Elsevie