Activation of clay sample from Zaria L.G.A. of kaduna State and testing its bleaching performance on groundnut oil, palm oil and cottenseed oil

Clay samples from Zaria L.G.A. of Kaduna state was acid activated using hydrochloric acid in the concentration range of 5%, 10%, to 30% (v/v), at 90oC ± 2oC for 3 hours, and heat activated at 145oC for 30 minutes. The raw, acid and heat activated clay were tested on groundnut, palm and cottonseed oils. The per cent colour reduction was monitored spectrophotometrically. There was improvement in the decolourizing performance of the clay sample when acid or heat activated towards the three oil samples, but acid activation is more suitable for groundnut oil, while for palm and cottonseed oils the results obtained were similar for both methods. Keywords: Clay, Kaolinite, Bleaching, Zaria, Oi

Sexual Violence Against Female Undergraduates in a nigerian Tertiary Institution

Background: Worldwide, violence against women is becoming an  increasingly recognized pandemic issue necessitating eradication and elimination. It occurs in various forms with resultant physical, sexual orpsychological consequences. However, there is still denial and paucity of literature about the magnitude and pattern of this problem in Nigeria.Objective: This study was designed to determine the patterns of sexual violence among female undergraduates including their perceptions and attitude.Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire based study involving 388 female undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique using their halls of residence was used to select participants. The results were analyzed using statistical package for SPSS software version 16.0. The p-value was set at 0.05.Results: The mean age of respondents was 20 years and 382 (98.5%) of them were single. Only 31.2% were sexually exposed and the average age of sexual debut was 18 years. Most (78, 64.1%) cases of the first sexual intercourse occurred voluntarily. Two hundred and sixty two (67.6%) respondents had experienced at least one form of sexual abuse in the past. The commonest coercive sexual behaviour experienced was unwanted touching (53.4%). The perpetrators were mostly casual friends (63.7%) and most reported these incidences to friends. The respondents  demonstrated good knowledge but poor attitude about sexual abuse.Eighteen (10.7%) admitted to prior rape which was mainly perpetrated by strangers with half admitting it adversely affected their relationship with the opposite sex.Conclusion: Sexual violence occurs in this environment but mainly goes unreported. There is good knowledge about the issues of sexual violence but there is need for improved attitude and reporting by victims

Insights into the structure and dynamics of the upper mantle beneath Bass Strait, southeast Australia, using shear wave splitting

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. We investigate the structure of the upper mantle using teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements obtained at 32 broadband seismic stations located in Bass Strait and the surrounding region of southeast Australia. Our dataset includes ∼366 individual splitting measurements from SKS and SKKS phases. The pattern of seismic anisotropy from shear wave splitting analysis beneath the study area is complex and does not always correlate with magnetic lineaments or current N-S absolute plate motion. In the eastern Lachlan Fold Belt, fast shear waves are polarized parallel to the structural trend (∼N25E). Further south, fast shear wave polarization directions trend on average N25–75E from the Western Tasmania Terrane through Bass Strait to southern Victoria, which is consistent with the presence of an exotic Precambrian microcontinent in this region as previously postulated. Stations located on and around the Neogene-Quaternary Newer Volcanics Province in southern Victoria display sizeable delay times (∼2.7 s). These values are among the largest in the world and hence require either an unusually large intrinsic anisotropy frozen within the lithosphere, or a contribution from both the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle. In the Eastern Tasmania Terrane, nearly all observed fast directions are approximately NW-SE. Although part of our data set strongly favours anisotropy originating from “fabric” frozen in the lithospheric mantle, a contribution from the asthenospheric flow related to the present day plate motion is also required to explain the observed splitting parameters. We suggest that deviation of asthenospheric mantle flow around lithospheric roots could be occurring, and so variations in anisotropy related to mantle flow may be expected. Alternatively, the pattern of fast polarisation orientations observed around Bass Strait may be consistent with radial mantle flow associated with a plume linked to the recently discovered Cosgrove volcanic track. However, it is difficult to characterise the relative contributions to the observed splitting from the lithospheric vs. asthenospheric upper mantle due to poor backazimuthal coverage of the data

Anti-oxidative influence of butylated hydroxytoluene on chilled semen of Red Sokoto bucks and consequential conception rates in does

The anti-oxidative influence of Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) in three extenders on chilled semen of red Sokoto bucks and conception rates in does was evaluated. Twenty matured red Sokoto bucks were selected for this study. Two ejaculates were collected from each buck per week for a period of 4 weeks. Semen was collected from bucks using a battery-operated electro-ejaculator for semen analyses. Volume, colour, gross motility, concentration and percentage live spermatozoa were examined. A total of 10 ejaculates were further collected weekly from 10 selected bucks from the previous twenty good semen quality for 8 weeks. Semen was extended in tris egg-yolk (TEY), citrate egg-yolk (CEY) and tris-coconut water (TCW) extenders in test tubes, containing BHT antioxidant to obtain 0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mM/mL BHT. Sperm characteristics were determined at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours of storage. Twenty multiparous does divided into 3 groups (A, B and C), of 7, 7 and 6 does respectively. These does received 250 μg cloprostenol intramuscularly, twice, 11 days apart and insemination was conducted 48 hours after. Groups A, B and C were inseminated with semen stored for 72 hours containing 1.0 mM/mL of BHT extended in TEY, 1.0 mM/mL of BHT extended in CEY and 0.5 mM/mL of BHT extended in TCW respectively. Ultrasonography was used for pregnancy diagnoses 47 days after artificial insemination. From the findings of this study, it was concluded that semen of red Sokoto bucks stored in tris egg yolk + 1.0 mM/mL BHT and chilled for 72 hours had better semen quality and conception rates

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(++)

Structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Bass Strait, southeast Australia, from teleseismic body wave tomography

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. We present new constraints on the lithospheric velocity structure of Bass Strait and the adjoining landmasses of mainland Australia and Tasmania in order to better constrain their geological and tectonic relationship. This is achieved by performing teleseismic tomography using data from fifteen deployments of WOMBAT and BASS transportable arrays, which span southeastern Australia. The starting model for the teleseismic tomography includes crustal velocity structure constrained by surface waves extracted from ambient seismic noise data and a Moho surface and broad-scale variations in 3-D upper mantle velocity structure from the Australian seismological reference Earth model (AuSREM). As a consequence, we produce a model with a high level of detail in both the crust and upper mantle. Our new results strengthen the argument for a low velocity upper mantle anomaly that extends down to ~150 km depth directly beneath the Newer Volcanics Province in Victoria, which is likely related to recent intra-plate volcanism. Beneath Bass Strait, which is thought to host the entrained VanDieland microcontinent, upper mantle velocities are low relative to those typically found beneath Precambrian continental crust; it is possible that failed rifting in Bass Strait during the Cretaceous, opening of the Tasman Sea, extension of VanDieland during Rodinian break-up and recent plume activity in the past 5 Ma may have altered the seismic character of this region. The data nevertheless suggest: (1) the velocity structure of the VanDieland microcontinent lacks continuity within its lithosphere; (2) the Moyston Fault defines an area of strong velocity transition at the boundary between the Cambrian Delamerian Orogen and the Cambrian-Carboniferous Lachlan Orogen; and (3) there is a rapid decrease in mantle velocity inboard of the east coast of Australia, which is consistent with substantial thinning of the lithosphere towards the passive margin

The Influence of Gestational Age on the Loss of Maternal Measles Antibodies in Newborn Infants in North-Eastern Nigeria: A Call for a Review of Measles Immunization Schedule

Background: Maternal measles antibodies (MMA) are actively transferred in mother-infant pairs during third trimester of pregnancy. Gestational age (GA) affects the levels of MMA such that longer GA may result in infants starting out with high levels of MMA.Objective: To determine the influence of GA on the loss of MMA in newborn infants in North-Eastern Nigeria.Method: A prospective study was conducted on newborn infants at Maiduguri; sera were collected at birth and at six months of age. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure MMA while GA was determined using the last menstrual period, ultrasound scan reports and the Dubowitz criteria.Results: Seventy eight newborn infants were enrolled. Seventeen (89.5 %) preterm, 43 (95.6 %) term and 14 (100 %) postterm had protective levels of MMA at birth. Two (10.5 %) preterm, nine (20.0%) term and two (14.3 %) postterm had protective MMA at six months of age. Comparison of mean MMA at birth and at six months of age was significant (p = 0.005), however, it was independent of GA of the newborn infants.Conclusion: Significant decline of mean MMA levels was seen in these infants at six months of age, which was independent of their GA. These infants may be prone to measles at an earlier age (less than six months). Therefore, the current recommendation of measles immunization to infants at nine months of age may require reconsideration

An Effective Method for InSAR Mapping of Tropical Forest Degradation in Hilly Areas

Current satellite remote sensing methods struggle to detect and map forest degradation, which is a critical issue as it is likely a major and growing source of carbon emissions and biodiveristy loss. TanDEM-X InSAR phase height (hϕ) is a promising variable for measuring forest disturbances, as it is closely related to the mean canopy height, and thus should decrease if canopy trees are removed. However, previous research has focused on relatively flat terrains, despite the fact that much of the world’s remaining tropical forests are found in hilly areas, and this inevitably introduces artifacts in sideways imaging systems. In this paper, we find a relationship between hϕ and aboveground biomass change in four selectively logged plots in a hilly region of central Gabon. We show that minimising multilooking prior to the calculation of hϕ strengthens this relationship, and that degradation estimates across steep slopes in the surrounding region are improved by selecting data from the most appropriate pass directions on a pixel-by-pixel basis. This shows that TanDEM-X InSAR can measure the magnitude of degradation, and that topographic effects can be mitigated if data from multiple SAR viewing geometries are available