OPTIMAL DIETARY BLENDING FOR HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA: LESSONS FROM PUBLISHED DATA

The study estimates the optimal dietary intake of Lagos State residents. Analysis of the available data indicates over-consumption of all nutrients which suggests that the common nutrition related health problems in Lagos State could be attributed to excessive nutrient in-take. Consumption at the optimal level would ensure adequate nutrients at a cost within people's income limitations. The results however revealed the inadequacies of using published data for the analysis. An independent diet recall survey is therefore recommended.Food Security and Poverty,

Keeping Products of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) of Relevance to the Industry: A Reason to Stay in Touch with Alumni

This paper aims to show how important it is for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to be involved in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of alumni. The authors provide a model to show the value added to the product by CPD. This paper proposes ways in which institutions can make the best of the relationship with the student at each level proposed in the model. The major findings were that HEIs should get involved in CPD for its Alumni and CPD provides increased value to products of HEIs. Implications were that HEIs have a role to play in the CPD of their Alumni.  This is the first study to introduce the Value- Adding CPD Knowledge Cycle Model. Keywords: HEI, Products, CPD, Students, Graduates, Alumn

Reference to the index of the personal and miscellaneous correspondence and papers relating to agriculture, forestry, hydro electricity, welfare, education, economics and politics of William Ebenezer Shoobridge (1846-1940)

W. E. Shoobridge was educated at Horton College, where he was introduced to the study of hydraulics, chemistry and electricity, which he continued to study after leaving school in 1860,thinking of becoming an engineer. However in 1864 his father had the chance of acquiring Bushy Park estate with its water resources and W. E. Shoobridge, with his brothers, helped to develop it,later purchasing also Kentdale and Glenora and forming the firm of E. Shoobridge and Sons(later Shoobridge Brothers). W.E.Shoobridge constructed an irrigation system for the hopfields on Valleyfield and later replanned and reconstructed the irrigation works on Bushy Park(originally made by the first settler of Bushy Park Mr Humphries). In 1908,with the help of his son, Marcus,who had trained in the Westinghouse Factory in Canada, W.E. Shoobridge installed a hydro-electric plant for the estate. W.E.Shoobridge was especially interested in the development of water conservation, irrigation and hydro-electric schemes for Tasmania. In 1914 he went on a trade mission to Canada and the United States to inquire particularly into hydro-electric power schemes and industries connected with them, including papermaking,and irrigation schemes forcloser settlement. He negotiated the transfer of the Hydro-Electric scheme from the Electrolytic Zinc Company to the State Government and also consulted Dr.Fortier of Berkley,California,about plans for the use of Tasmanian water although these were rejected by the Legislative Council.W. E. Shoobridge also did much to develop the fruit industry, not only in irrigation and methods of pruning to allow the sun to shine equally on all fruit,but especially in developing a ventilated coolstore system to prevent deterioration of apples through "brown heart"

Application of central-weighted essentially non-oscillatory finite-volume interface-capturing schemes for modeling cavitation induced by an underwater explosion

Cavitation resulting from underwater explosions in compressible multiphase or multicomponent flows presents significant challenges due to the dynamic nature of shock–cavitation–structure interactions, as well as the complex and discontinuous nature of the involved interfaces. Achieving accurate resolution of interfaces between different phases or components, in the presence of shocks, cavitating regions, and structural interactions, is crucial for modeling such problems. Furthermore, pressure convergence in simulations involving shock–cavitation–structure interactions requires accurate algorithms. In this research paper, we employ the diffuse interface method, also known as the interface-capturing scheme, to investigate cavitation in various underwater explosion test cases near different surfaces: a free surface and a rigid surface. The simulations are conducted using the unstructured compressible Navier–Stokes (UCNS3D) finite-volume framework employing central-weighted essentially non-oscillatory (CWENO) reconstruction schemes, utilizing the five-equation diffuse interface family of methods. Quantitative comparisons are made between the performance of both models. Additionally, we examine the effects of cavitation as a secondary loading source on structures, and evaluate the ability of the CWENO schemes to accurately capture and resolve material interfaces between fluids with minimal numerical dissipation or smearing. The results are compared with existing high-order methods and experimental data, where possible, to demonstrate the robustness of the CWENO schemes in simulating cavitation bubble dynamics, as well as their limitations within the current implementation of interface capturing.The authors acknowledge the computing time at Cranfield University Delta2 HPC facility

Factors associated with child mortality among antenatal care attendees in Ado-Odo/Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

study examined the determinants of child mortality among attendees at a government health care facility in Ado-Odo/Ota in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study, based on a descriptive cross-sectional study, used a mixed-methods research approach and utilized an interviewer-administered structured pretested questionnaire. A total of 1350 respondents constituted the sample size. Data analysis consisted of descriptive and regression analysis with STATA Version 12. Furthermore, the study employed focus group discussions to reinforce the quantitative results of the investigation. Results showed the place of delivery (P = 0.000), distance from house to health facility (P = 0.022), immunization status (P = 0.000), duration of breastfeeding (P = 0.000), cost of treatment at the health facility (P = 0.627), household waste disposal practice (P = 0.000), and ever used oral rehydration solution (P = 0.000) as being significantly associated with child mortality. The study created awareness of behavioral practices affecting child mortality and insights on possible interventions for reducing child mortality. We conclude that community-based educational strategies and the improvement of health facilities will reduce child mortality. (Afr J Reprod Health 2021; 25[5s]: 116-125)

Lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes management among migrants and ethnic minorities living in industrialized countries : a systematic review and meta-analyses

The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions to improve the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among migrants and ethnic minorities. Major searched databases included MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE (via Ovid) and CINAHL. The selection of studies and data extraction followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. In the meta-analysis, significant heterogeneity was detected among the studies (I 2 >50%), and hence a random effects model was used. Subgroup analyses were performed to compare the effect of lifestyle interventions according to intervention approaches (peer-led vs community health workers (CHWs)-led). A total of 17 studies were included in this review which used interventions delivered by CHWs or peer supporters or combination of both. The majority of the studies assessed effectiveness of key primary (hemoglobin (HbA1c), lipids, fasting plasma glucose) and secondary outcomes (weight, body mass index, blood pressure, physical activity, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, food habits and healthcare utilization). Meta-analyses showed lifestyle interventions were associated with a small but statistically significant reduction in HbA1c level (-0.18%; 95% CI-0.32% to-0.04%, p=0.031). In subgroup analyses, the peer-led interventions showed relatively better HbA1c improvement than CHW-led interventions, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.379). Seven studies presented intervention costs, which ranged from US$131 to US$461 per participant per year. We conclude that lifestyle interventions using either CHWs or peer supporters or a combination of both have shown modest effectiveness for T2DM management among migrants of different background and origin and ethnic minorities. The evidence base is promising in terms of developing culturally appropriate, clinically sound and cost-effective intervention approaches to respond to the growing and diverse migrants and ethnic minorities affected by diabetes worldwide

PHYSICO-MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BAUXITE RESIDUE-CLAY BRICKS

ABSTRACT This study is focused on consolidating knowledge on the application of Bauxite residue in the building industry. X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) reports of the bauxite and bauxite residue are given. Physico-mechanical properties of red mud (RM)-Clay (AC) bricks are also presented. The RM-AC bricks have compositions; 90%-10%, 80%-20%, 70%-30%, 60%-40%, 50%-50%, 40%-60% prepared and fired at sintering temperatures 800 o C, 900 o C and 1100 o C. The experimental results obtained showed that at each of the three stated sintering temperatures, bulk density increases as apparent porosity and water of absorption reduces. Bulk densities computed were within the range (1.3-1.8)g/cm 3 at 1100 o C sintering temperature. Maximum flexural strength was found to be associated with 50%-50% (Red mud-clay) composition at 1100 o C. And the compressive strength (3.2-12.5) MPa range found for all batches at 1100 o C sintering temperature. Generally, flexural and compressive strengths were increased with higher sintering temperature. The results obtained for various characterization analysis compares well with literature and hold potential in bauxite residue eco-friendly application as fired brick

Differentiating Peripherally-Located Small Cell Lung Cancer From Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Using a CT Radiomic Approach

Lung cancer can be classified into two main categories: small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which are different in treatment strategy and survival probability. The lung CT images of SCLC and NSCLC are similar such that their subtle differences are hardly visually discernible by the human eye through conventional imaging evaluation. We hypothesize that SCLC/NSCLC differentiation could be achieved via computerized image feature analysis and classification in feature space, as termed a radiomic model. The purpose of this study was to use CT radiomics to differentiate SCLC from NSCLC adenocarcinoma. Patients with primary lung cancer, either SCLC or NSCLC adenocarcinoma, were retrospectively identified. The post-diagnosis pre-treatment lung CT images were used to segment the lung cancers. Radiomic features were extracted from histogram-based statistics, textural analysis of tumor images and their wavelet transforms. A minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance method was used for feature selection. The predictive model was constructed with a multilayer artificial neural network. The performance of the SCLC/NSCLC adenocarcinoma classifier was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Our study cohort consisted of 69 primary lung cancer patients with SCLC (n = 35; age mean ± SD = 66.91± 9.75 years), and NSCLC adenocarcinoma (n = 34; age mean ± SD = 58.55 ± 11.94 years). The SCLC group had more male patients and smokers than the NSCLC group (P \u3c 0.05). Our SCLC/NSCLC classifier achieved an overall performance of AUC of 0.93 (95% confidence interval = [0.85, 0.97]), sensitivity = 0.85, and specificity = 0.85). Adding clinical data such as smoking history could improve the performance slightly. The top ranking radiomic features were mostly textural features. Our results showed that CT radiomics could quantitatively represent tumor heterogeneity and therefore could be used to differentiate primary lung cancer subtypes with satisfying results. CT image processing with the wavelet transformation technique enhanced the radiomic features for SCLC/NSCLC classification. Our pilot study should motivate further investigation of radiomics as a non-invasive approach for early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer

A Blueberry-Enriched Diet Attenuates Nephropathy in a Rat Model of Hypertension via Reduction in Oxidative Stress

To assess renoprotective effects of a blueberry-enriched diet in a rat model of hypertension. Oxidative stress (OS) appears to be involved in the development of hypertension and related renal injury. Pharmacological antioxidants can attenuate hypertension and hypertension-induced renal injury; however, attention has shifted recently to the therapeutic potential of natural products as antioxidants. Blueberries (BB) have among the highest antioxidant capacities of fruits and vegetables.Male spontaneously hypertensive rats received a BB-enriched diet (2% w/w) or an isocaloric control diet for 6 or 12 weeks or 2 days. Compared to controls, rats fed BB-enriched diet for 6 or 12 weeks exhibited lower blood pressure, improved glomerular filtration rate, and decreased renovascular resistance. As measured by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, significant decreases in total reactive oxygen species (ROS), peroxynitrite, and superoxide production rates were observed in kidney tissues in rats on long-term dietary treatment, consistent with reduced pathology and improved function. Additionally, measures of antioxidant status improved; specifically, renal glutathione and catalase activities increased markedly. Contrasted to these observations indicating reduced OS in the BB group after long-term feeding, similar measurements made in rats fed the same diet for only 2 days yielded evidence of increased OS; specifically, significant increases in total ROS, peroxynitrite, and superoxide production rates in all tissues (kidney, brain, and liver) assayed in BB-fed rats. These results were evidence of "hormesis" during brief exposure, which dissipated with time as indicated by enhanced levels of catalase in heart and liver of BB group.Long-term feeding of BB-enriched diet lowered blood pressure, preserved renal hemodynamics, and improved redox status in kidneys of hypertensive rats and concomitantly demonstrated the potential to delay or attenuate development of hypertension-induced renal injury, and these effects appear to be mediated by a short-term hormetic response