Assessment of Food Insecurity among Almajiri in Sokoto Metropolis and Selected Environs (Gwadabawa and Kware), Sokoto State, Nigeria

This paper aimed to assess food insecurity among Almajiri in Sokoto metropolis and it’s environs using a structured questionnaire on 120 respondents. The respondents were Muslims, Hausa/ Fulani, males and Nigerians. The occupations of Almajiri fathers were ,farming (66.7%) , business ( 16.7%) , and 16.7% were doing nothing. 33.3% of their fathers were married to two wives, 25.0% married to three wives , 16.7% married to one wife each and , 16.7% married to four wives .33.3% of the Almajiri said their fathers have two children, 25.0% said their fathers have three children, and 8.3% have four kids ,and 8.3% have one child .None of the participants attended western school ,but only 25.0% admitted that they like " Boko " ( western education) ,while 75% said they don't like " Boko ".58.3% goes home only after one year stay at the school ,25.0% return after graduation , 16.7% return home after 3years stay at school. 50.0% said they always come with insufficient food from home, but 41.7% said they come with nothing.7.3% come with insufficient money from home, whereas, 41.7% come with nothing. 41.7% eat food thrice ,25.0% eat twice, and 16.7% eat once .58.3% earn through begging, 25.0% earn through domestic work ,and 16.7% earn through external work .75.0% eat tuwo ,and 16.7% eat Gari ,and others. All the respondents echoed that the system hurt them psychologically. The findings revealed that Almajiri children were unable to come with enough food or money to sustain them throughout their stay at school. Thus, this depicts food insecurity, which in turn can invariably lead to hunger.Parents should give sufficient provisions to their wards whenever sending them to Almajiri schools.The government, wealthy persons and relations should fully put hands on deck to help Almajiri child.Keywords: Food insecurity, Almajiri, child labour, domestic work

Assessment of heavy metal pollution in drinking water due to mining and smelting activities in Ajaokuta, Nigeria

Mining and smelting activities are the main causes for the increasing pollution of heavy metals from water sources. The toxicity of these heavy metals from the mining, milling and smelting companies can cause harmful and even lethal effects on the human health. The objective of this study was to investigate the level of As, Cr, Zn, Mg, Fe, Pb, Cd, Cu, Ag and Mn in well and tap water and assess the degree of pollution in the study area. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry investigation was carried out on 60 samples of water (Well and Tap) collected within and outside the mining and smelting area of Ajaokuta to determine the extent of these heavy metals contamination in their drinking water. The data of heavy metal concentrations reveal that the area has been slightly contaminated with the heavy metals, with As and Cr having the highest level of contamination. Correlation analysis between the selected heavy metals was conducted to further investigate the relationship between the metals. The result shows that these selected metals have common pollution sources related to the mining and smelting activities in the area.Keywords: Heavy metals, atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), smelting, pollution, well wate

Assessment of safety practices among modern barbers in Gwadabawa Local Government, Sokoto State, Nigeria

Many people attend barbing shops for personal care on frequent basis. Despite the frequent patronage of barbing shops, so many risks and hazards are possible. This paper intended to determine the safety practices of modern barbers in Gwadabawa local government, Sokoto state, Nigeria .A cross-sectional survey type of study was conducted. Therein, fifty respondents were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire and their shops were inspected. Summarily, poor safety practices among the respondents were revealed. It is pertinent that, the government, advocators, and health bodies, facilitate the training and regulation of barbing workers.Keywords: Barbers, bacteria, viruses, hair, haircut, safety practice

Analysis of containers used by fishermen at Lake Alau community in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria

Good handling of fish from the point of harvest to consumption is very essential and the quality of fish can only be maintained if only suitable containers are used in its processing, transportation, distribution and marketing. This study analyzed the different containers used by fishermen at lake Alau community in Konduga Local Government Area of Bomo State. The study was carried out in two prominent leading sites of lake Alau community which are kachalari and Abbari with the aid of questionnaires interview conducted with 50 randomly selected respondents fishermen. Both primary and secondary data were collected. The collected data were analyzed using the market cost of the various fish containers. The result shows that fish containers such as Metal basin, sacks, flat sacks and Metal trays have strong strength while Baskets, jerry cans and calabash have moderate strength the polythene bags, stationery and news print are very weak. Also baskets have the highest percentage of usage 20% while flat sacks, polythene bags and stationery have the highest percentage of 4%, which are the lowest. It can be concluded that, the different containers are afforded to fishermen but most of the containers are often kept dirty, which lead to poor hygiene, rough handling and invariably post-harvest losses and shortage in food supply. It can be recommended that, sheds should be provided at the landing sites to protect fresh fish the direct heat of the sun and enlightment of fishermen and traders on the minimum standard o fthe quality and hygiene for fish and fishery products

Tribo-corrosion mechanisms of stainless steel in soft drinks

Tribo-corrosion mechanisms of 316L Stainless Steel in slurries containing common household soft drinks have been studied through investigating the micro-abrasion-corrosion performance using a ball and disk apparatus which has been modified to measure the in-situ corrosion current during the abrasion process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pH and solution viscosity on the micro-abrasion-corrosion performance of the material. 316L Stainless Steel was selected because it is commonly used as a dental replacement material. This is an important area of work as the use of steel retainers as well as other stainless steel dental replacements is still widespread and the effectiveness of these devices will be determined by their tribological and tribo-corrosion performance. Additionally, an attempt has been made to investigate the importance of the pH and viscosity variables on the tribo-corrosive synergism, wastage and mechanism maps

Knowledge of Factors Contributing to Child Malnutrition among Mothers of Under-five Children in Sokoto Metropolis, North-West Nigeria

Background: Malnutrition remains a killer of children, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, malnutrition is among the top five killers of children under five years of age. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of factors contributing to child malnutrition among mothers of under-fives.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 347 mothers of under-five children who were selected using a multistage sampling technique from January to March 2018. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS® version 20.0. Descriptive statistics, crude and adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) in cross-tabulation and binary logistic regression analysis, respectively, were estimated.Results: More than half, 198 (57.0%) were aged 40 years and below. Most, 324 (93.4%) of the respondents were Hausas, with only 45 (13.0%) having tertiary education. Majority of the respondents, 326 (93.9%) knew that diarrhoea-causing diseases could lead to malnutrition. About two-thirds, 222 (64.0%) knew that deworming could protect a child from malnutrition. Less than half, 169 (48.7%) did not know that overeating starchy food can cause malnutrition. Overall, majority 216 [62.2% (95% CI = 56.9% - 67.4%)] of the respondents had good knowledge of factors associated with malnutrition. There were no statistically significant predictors of knowledge of factors contributing to malnutrition.Conclusion: Mothers of under-five children in Sokoto metropolis had a high level of knowledge of the factors contributing to child malnutrition. However, there is still a need to continue educating mothers of under-five children on the importance of maintaining proper nutrition for their children. Keywords: Awareness; Factors; Knowledge; Malnutrition; Mothers; Under-fiv

Electroosmotic flow of biorheological micropolar fluids through microfluidic channels

An analysis is presented in this work to assess the influence of micropolar nature of fluids in fully developed flow induced by electrokinetically driven peristaltic pumping through a parallel plate microchannel. The walls of the channel are assumed as sinusoidal wavy to analyze the peristaltic flow nature. We consider that the wavelength of the wall motion is much larger as compared to the channel width to validate the lubrication theory. To simplify the Poisson Boltzmann equation, we also use the Debye-Hückel linearization (i.e. wall zeta potential ≤ 25mV). We consider governing equation for micropolar fluid in absence of body force and couple effects however external electric field is employed. The solutions for axial velocity, spin velocity, flow rate, pressure rise and stream functions subjected to given physical boundary conditions are computed. The effects of pertinent parameters like Debye length and Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity which characterize the EDL phenomenon and external electric field, coupling number and micropolar parameter which characterize the micropolar fluid behavior, on peristaltic pumping are discussed through the illustrations. The results show that peristaltic pumping may alter by applying external electric fields. This model can be used to design and engineer the peristalsis-lab-on-chip and micro peristaltic syringe pumps for biomedical applications

Inhalation of the prodrug PI3K inhibitor CL27c improves lung function in asthma and fibrosis

PI3K activation plays a central role in the development of pulmonary inflammation and tissue remodeling. PI3K inhibitors may thus offer an improved therapeutic opportunity to treat non-resolving lung inflammation but their action is limited by unwanted on-target systemic toxicity. Here we present CL27c, a prodrug pan-PI3K inhibitor designed for local therapy, and investigate whether inhaled CL27c is effective in asthma and pulmonary fibrosis. Mice inhaling CL27c show reduced insulin-evoked Akt phosphorylation in lungs, but no change in other tissues and no increase in blood glycaemia, in line with a local action. In murine models of acute or glucocorticoid-resistant neutrophilic asthma, inhaled CL27c reduces inflammation and improves lung function. Finally, inhaled CL27c administered in a therapeutic setting protects from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, ultimately leading to significantly improved survival. Therefore, local delivery of a pan-PI3K inhibitor prodrug reduces systemic on-target side effects but effectively treats asthma and irreversible pulmonary fibrosis