Family Background and Entrepreneurial Intention of Fresh Graduates in Nigeria

This study seeks to assess, empirically, the impact of family background on the entrepreneurial intention among fresh graduates in Nigeria. The family as a social institution remains resilient in its psychological functions in Nigeria. It is a source of finance and human resources, social and cultural values, and role modeling.  While studies have shown that family background is one of the numerous determinants of entrepreneurial intention, we know little about the role which family background plays in the promotion of entrepreneurial intentions in Nigeria, especially among the fresh graduates.  This study, therefore, seeks to test the hypothesis that family background has significant influence on the entrepreneurial intention among fresh graduates in Nigeria. We draw a sample of 250 corps’ members, currently serving with the Nigerian Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in Bayelsa state, using a simple random sampling technique. With the aid of the primary data collected, our findings are quite revealing. Following the preliminary conclusions drawn from this study, we offer suggestions for further studies. Keywords; Entrepreneurial intention, perception of feasibility, perception of desirability, family background, and Problem-Based Learning

Quality of sleep in an HIV population on antiretroviral therapy at an urban tertiary centre in Lagos, Nigeria

Aim. To determine the prevalence of sleep disturbance and its associated characteristics in HIV-positive outpatients on HAART using the PSQI. Methods. Using a cross-sectional design, 300 patients attending the outpatient HIV/AIDS clinic at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital were recruited. Baseline data obtained included the participants’ demographic data, educational qualification, and marital status. Their treatment history, including duration since HIV diagnosis, the most recent CD4 cell count, and current antiretroviral therapies, was obtained from their case records. Each participant completed the PSQI questionnaire and those with scores ≥5 were diagnosed with poor sleep quality. Results. The participants were made up of 70.7% females and 29.3% males. Their ages ranged between 18 and 74 years with a mean of 38.9 ± 10.3 years. According to the PSQI, 59.3% reported poor sleep quality. The mean score of those with poor quality sleep (9.2 ± 3.3) was comparable to that of those with good quality sleep (1.26 ± 1.4). \u1d443 < 0.001. Significant differences were observed in all the individual components of the PSQI (\u1d443 < 0.001). On multivariate analyses, the independent associations with sleep quality were the duration since HIV diagnosis (\u1d443 = 0.29), efavirenz based regimen (\u1d443 < 0.001), and lower CD4 cell count (\u1d443 < 0.001). Conclusions. Sleep disturbances are quite common in the HIV population even in the era of HAART. Early recognition via routine assessment and effective treatments could prevent the resultant complications and improve quality of life

Chest X-ray findings in HIV- infected Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) - naïve patients

Introduction: Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection frequently present with a wide spectrum of pulmonary and cardiaccomplications from the virus, opportunistic infections and neoplasms that may be associated with a high mortality rate. Diseases of the respiratorytract account for about half of deaths from AIDS, while cardiac diseases account for more than a quarter of deaths from AIDS. This study aimed atdetermining the prevalence of pulmonary and cardiac diseases using a chest radiograph in HAART-naïve HIV-infected patients. Methods: Thisstudy was conducted at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) HIV clinic between September 2010 and August 2011 amongst allregistered HAART-naïve HIV/AIDS patients. Patients had posterior-anterior chest radiographs done in full inspiration. Participants were asked andaided to fill the structured questionnaires to obtain demographic data. Results: Out of a total of one hundred and two recruited for the study, 54 (52.94%) had a normal chest radiograph, while 48 (47.06%) had abnormal chest radiograph .The abnormal findings included, 27.45% who hadbronchopneumonia, 6.86% cardiomegaly, 5.88% pulmonary tuberculosis, 5.88% radiological features of congestive cardiac failure, and 0.98%bronchitis. Conclusion: It appears that more than half of HAART–naïve HIV-infected patients have normal chest radiographs. Bronchopneumonia(27.5%) is the commonest pulmonary abnormality associated with HIV infection, while the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis is 5.88%.Key words: Chest X-ray, HIV-infected, HAART-naïve

The Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease in Nigeria: A Case Report and Literature Review

The Kikuchi-Fujimoto is a rare, self-limiting disease, which is characterized by regional lymphadenopathy. It occurs worldwide with a higher prevalence among Asians and women below the age of forty years. We present 41-year-old Nigerian woman who was investigated extensively for unilateral left cervical lymphadenopathy. She was eventually diagnosed as having the Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease and was managed conservatively thereafter. We describe a case report and review of literature for better awareness of the disease amongst medical practitioners and pathologists in Africa

Investigating the potential of Calophylluminophyllum plant base oil for oil and gas drilling mud operations

The environmental and cost advantage of non-edible plant oil for potential base oil in oil and gas drilling mud formulation is a drive for its use. The seed of Calophylluminophyllumthe plant oil was processed, pulverized, and oil extracted using chemical method. The extracted plant oil and commercial synthetic oil was used to formulate drilling mud and comparative analysis were made using the physicochemical properties of the oil samples, mud rheological properties under sixteen hours and 240 °F aging and non-aging effect for a 7 and 9 g viscosifier, and rheological models in describing the mud. The commercial synthetic oil and Calophylluminophyllum oil shows a flash point of 101 ± 0.1 and 164 ± 0.1; density of 108 and 172 ��� �3� ; viscosity index of 192 and 163; acid value of NIL and 24.24; and oil yield of NIL and 71 % respectively. The rheological properties of Calophylluminophyllum oil-based mud were higher than the synthetic oil-based mud. It was also observed that the increase in temperature and viscosifer decreases and increases the rheological properties respectively of all mud samples. The synthetic and Calophylluminophyllum oil-based mud increased in the rheological properties after aging test. In the overall estimation of the root mean square error (RMSE) values, coefficient of determination (�2) values, and the fitted plots analysis. The Herschel Bulkley and the Sisko model had a much better description in predicting the experimental data for the synthetic oil-based mud. The hyperbolic, Herschel Bulkley and Sisko model had good description for the experimental data of the Calophylluminophyllum oil-based mud

High-speed Si resonant cavity enhanced photodetectors and arrays

Over the past decade a new family of optoelectronic devices has emerged whose performance is enhanced by placing the active device structure inside a Fabry–Perot resonantmicrocavity [P. E. Green, IEEE Spectrum 13 (2002)]. The increased optical field allows photodetectors to be made thinner and therefore faster, while simultaneously increasing the quantum efficiency at the resonant wavelengths. We have demonstrated a variety of resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) photodetectors in compound semiconductors [B. Yang, J. D. Schaub, S. M. Csutak, D. J. Rogers, and J. C. Campbell, IEEE Photonics Technol. Lett. 15, 745 (2003)] and Si [M. K. Emsley, O. I. Dosunmu, and M. S. Ünlü, IEEE J. Selected Topics Quantum Electron. 8, 948 (2002)], operating at optical communication wavelengths ranging from 850 nm to 1550 nm. The focus of this article is on Si photodetectors and arrays. High bandwidth short distance communications standards are being developed based on parallel optical interconnect fiber arrays to meet the needs of increasing data rates of interchip communication in modern computer architecture. To ensure that this standard becomes an attractive option for computer systems, low cost components must be implemented on both the transmitting and receiving end of the fibers. To meet this low cost requirement silicon based receiver circuits are the most viable option, however, high speed, high efficiency siliconphotodetectors present a technical challenge. Commercially reproducible silicon wafers with a high reflectance buried distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) have been designed and fabricated [M. K. Emsley, O. I. Dosunmu, and M. S. Ünlü, IEEE J. Selected Topics Quantum Electron. 8, 948 (2002)]. The substrates consist of a two-period, 90% reflecting, DBR fabricated using a double silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. Resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) Si photodetectors have been fabricated with 40% quantum efficiency at 850 nm and a FWHM of 29 ps suitable for 10 Gbps data communications. Recently, 1×12 photodetector arrays have been fabricated, packaged, and tested with silicon based amplifiers to demonstrate the feasibility of a low cost solution for optical interconnects