Mineralogical and Geochemical Assessment of Clay Properties of Edda, Afikpo Sub Basin Nigeria for Possible Use in the Ceramics Industry

Clay samples from selected part of Edda were analyzed to identify the clay mineral types present, their chemical and physical properties with a view to appraising their industrial suitability as ceramic materials. The mineralogical and geochemical analyses were done using the principles of X-Ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence respectively. A total of seven clay samples were used for the study, other tests such as plasticity, bulk density, shrinkage, loss on ignition (LOI) and water absorption capacity was carried out to determine the amount of water absorbed under specified conditions. The basic industrial properties assessment showed that more than 70% of the clays are fine-grained. The clays exhibited low to moderate plasticity, moderate shrinkage and bulk density, low to moderate values of both loss on ignition and water absorption capacity. The clays are buff to yellowish in colour. The results of x-ray fluorescence revealed that the mean concentration of major oxide in the clays is shown as follows: SiO2 (62.78%), Al2O3 (20.25%), total Fe (6.09%), CaO (0.56%), MgO (3.21%),Na2O (0.47%), K2O, (1.44%) and TiO2 (0.52%).The samples have high silica content, low alumina and low oxide content. The results of x-ray diffraction revealed that kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral with illite and montmorillonite occurring in subordinate amounts, while quartz and feldspar are the non-clay components present. The characteristics of the clays for each parameter were compared with industrial standards.These properties are appropriate for the Afikpo clays to be useful in the manufacturing of ceramics. However, since the silica content of the clays is high further beneficiation is recommended

Microplastics in silver catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) from new Calabar River in Niger Delta, Nigeria

This study investigated the ingestion of microplastics by silver catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) from New Calabar River in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Microplastics from the guts of 45 fish were examined with microscope after dissolution with potassium hydroxide. Microplastics, mostly fragments were found in about 56% of the samples at an average of 3.87±5.97 particles per fish. This study highlights the consequences of plastic pollution in freshwater environment and the potential risk to aquatic and human life. This also shows a potential threat to public health and therefore needs attention from health and environmental policy makers

Correlation between building characteristics and associated energy consumption: Prototyping low-rise office buildings in Shanghai

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. The enormous building energy consumption in Shanghai necessitates the identification of standard buildings to offer guidance for the adequate design of retrofitting strategies in order to promote a sustainable built and architectural environment. In this regard, this study develops a methodological approach to establish prototypical buildings using performance index system (PIS) founded on an on-site survey. Emphasis is focused on low-rise office buildings in Shanghai. A total of 10 office parks containing 136 single low-rise office buildings in Min Hang District were systemically selected for survey and data collection. The proposed PIS includes building orientation, number of floors, window/wall ratio, heat and cold source type, plan form, and construction year. Using cluster and correlation analysis, the surveyed buildings are classified based on the impact of each PIS on the annual building energy use intensity. Based on this approach, the most influencing indexes are construction year, the number of floors, window-wall ratio and building orientation. This result refines the surveyed building samples to four prototypical buildings as representative standards for low-rise office buildings. Subsequently, typical buildings representing each of the prototypical buildings were defined. The stipulated approach provides a systematic framework for building classification, characteristic-based evaluation of building energy performance and identification of key performance index for building retrofit purposes

Qualities of Learning activities and Illustrations Provisions in the Recommended Chemistry Textbooks for Nigerian Secondary School Students

This study aimed at assessing the qualities of learning activities and illustrations in Nigerian Chemistry textbooks used at the penultimate grades. Five Chemistry textbooks were purposively selected from twenty-two approved and recommended Chemistry textbooks in which evaluation research design was used involving two research questions. The 5 selected Chemistry Textbooks were the instrument for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using QACEST proforma. Results of the study revealed a number of inadequacies in the learning activities and illustrations in these textbooks. It was also observed that none of the Chemistry textbooks emphasized learner centered approach of teaching and the constructivist approach writing

Efficacy of Reflective Questioning Instructional Strategy on Students’ Achievement in Gas Laws Contents of Secondary Schools Chemistry

This study investigated the efficacy of reflective questioning instructional strategy on students’ achievement in gas laws contents of secondary schools Chemistry. A pre-test-post-test, control group quasi-experimental research design was adopted in the study. The participants were 129 students (72 females and 57 males) of four intact classes sampled from two government owned secondary schools in Nigeria using multi-stage sampling procedure. Two intact classes each were assigned to experimental and control groups respectively. Data collection was done using a 25-item gas laws achievement test (GLAT). Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The result showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups indicating that reflective questioning instructional strategy enhances students’ achievement in gas laws. Also, there was no significant influence of gender on the mean achievement scores of students in gas laws and there was no significant interaction effect of questioning instructional strategies and gender on students’ achievement in gas laws. Chemistry teachers and pre-service teachers should be trained on how to adopt reflective questioning instructional strategy in the classroom instructions.

Proteome Profiling of Breast Tumors by Gel Electrophoresis and Nanoscale Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

We have conducted proteome-wide analysis of fresh surgery specimens derived from breast cancer patients, using an approach that integrates size-based intact protein fractionation, nanoscale liquid separation of peptides, electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics. Through this approach, we have acquired a large amount of peptide fragmentation spectra from size-resolved fractions of the proteomes of several breast tumors, tissue peripheral to the tumor, and samples from patients undergoing noncancer surgery. Label-free quantitation was used to generate protein abundance maps for each proteome and perform comparative analyses. The mass spectrometry data revealed distinct qualitative and quantitative patterns distinguishing the tumors from healthy tissue as well as differences between metastatic and non-metastatic human breast cancers including many established and potential novel candidate protein biomarkers. Selected proteins were evaluated by Western blotting using tumors grouped according to histological grade, size, and receptor expression but differing in nodal status. Immunohistochemical analysis of a wide panel of breast tumors was conducted to assess expression in different types of breast cancers and the cellular distribution of the candidate proteins. These experiments provided further insights and an independent validation of the data obtained by mass spectrometry and revealed the potential of this approach for establishing multimodal markers for early metastasis, therapy outcomes, prognosis, and diagnosis in the future. © 2008 American Chemical Society

Building the capacity to solve complex health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa : CARTA’s multidisciplinary PhD training

Objectives: To develop a curriculum (Joint Advanced Seminars- JAS) that produced PhD fellows who understood that health is an outcome of multiple determinants within complex environments and that approaches from a range of disciplines is required to address health and development within the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa. We sought to attract PhD fellows, supervisors and teaching faculty from a range of disciplines into the program. Methods: Multidisciplinary teams developed the JAS curriculum. CARTA PhD fellowships were open to academics in consortium member institutions, irrespective of primary discipline, interested in doing a PhD in public and population health. Supervisors and JAS faculty were recruited from CARTA institutions. We use routine JAS evaluation data (closed and open ended questions) collected from PhD fellows at every JAS, a survey of one CARTA cohort and an external evaluation of CARTA to assess the impact of the JAS curriculum on learning. Results: We describe our pedagogic approach arguing its centrality to an appreciation of multiple disciplines and illustrate how it promotes working in multidisciplinary ways. CARTA has attracted PhD fellows, supervisors and JAS teaching faculty from across a range of disciplines. Evaluations indicate PhD fellows have a greater appreciation of how disciplines other than their own are important to understand health and its determinants and an appreciation and capacity to employ mixed methods research. Conclusions: In the short-term, we have been effective in promoting an understanding of multidisciplinarity resulting in fellows using methods from beyond their discipline of origin. This curriculum has international application

Infant and young child feeding practices among adolescent mothers and associated factors in India

Adequate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) improve child survival and growth. Globally, about 18 million babies are born to mothers aged 18 years or less and have a higher likelihood of adverse birth outcomes in India due to insufficient knowledge of child growth. This paper examined factors associated with IYCF practices among adolescent Indian mothers. This cross-sectional study extracted data on 5148 children aged 0–23 months from the 2015–2016 India National Family Health Survey. Survey logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with IYCF among adolescent mothers. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, early initiation of breastfeeding, timely introduction of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, and minimum acceptable diet rates were: 58.7%, 43.8%, 43.3%, 16.6%, 27.4% and 6.8%, respectively. Maternal education, mode of delivery, frequency of antenatal care (ANC) clinic visits, geographical region, child’s age, and household wealth were the main factors associated with breastfeeding practices while maternal education, maternal marital status, child’s age, frequency of ANC clinic visits, geographical region, and household wealth were factors associated with complementary feeding practices. IYCF practices among adolescent mothers are suboptimal except for breastfeeding. Health and nutritional support interventions should address the factors for these indicators among adolescent mothers in India

Gene expression profiles in human HepG2 cells treated with extracts of the Tamarindus indica fruit pulp

Tamarindus indicaL. (T. indica) or locally known as asam jawa belongs to the family of Leguminosae. The fruit pulp had been reported to have antioxidant activities and possess hypolipidaemic effects. In this study, we attempted to investigate the gene expression patterns in human hepatoma HepG2 cell line in response to treatment with low concentration of the fruit pulp extracts. Microarray analysis using Affymetrix Human Genome 1.0 S.T arrays was used in the study. Microarray data were validated using semi-quantitative RT–PCR and real-time RT–PCR. Amongst the significantly up-regulated genes were those that code for the metallothioneins (MT1M, MT1F, MT1X) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTA1, GSTA2, GST02) that are involved in stress response. APOA4, APOA5, ABCG5 and MTTP genes were also significantly regulated that could be linked to hypolipidaemic activities of the T. indica fruit pulp

Frequency, prognostic impact, and subtype association of 8p12, 8q24, 11q13, 12p13, 17q12, and 20q13 amplifications in breast cancers

BACKGROUND: Oncogene amplification and overexpression occur in tumor cells. Amplification status may provide diagnostic and prognostic information and may lead to new treatment strategies. Chromosomal regions 8p12, 8q24, 11q13, 17q12 and 20q13 are recurrently amplified in breast cancers. METHODS: To assess the frequencies and clinical impact of amplifications, we analyzed 547 invasive breast tumors organized in a tissue microarray (TMA) by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and calculated correlations with histoclinical features and prognosis. BAC probes were designed for: (i) two 8p12 subregions centered on RAB11FIP1 and FGFR1 loci, respectively; (ii) 11q13 region centered on CCND1; (iii) 12p13 region spanning NOL1; and (iv) three 20q13 subregions centered on MYBL2, ZNF217 and AURKA, respectively. Regions 8q24 and 17q12 were analyzed with MYC and ERBB2 commercial probes, respectively. RESULTS: We observed amplification of 8p12 (amplified at RAB11FIP1 and/or FGFR1) in 22.8%, 8q24 in 6.1%, 11q13 in 19.6%, 12p13 in 4.1%, 17q12 in 9.9%, 20q13(Z )(amplified at ZNF217 only) in 9.9%, and 20q13(Co )(co-amplification of two or three 20q13 loci) in 8.5% of cases. The 8q24, 12p13, and 17q12 amplifications were correlated with high grade. The most frequent single amplifications were 8p12 (9.8%), 8q24 (3.3%) and 12p13 (3.3%), 20q13(Z )and 20q13(Co )(1.6%) regions. The 17q12 and 11q13 regions were never found amplified alone. The most frequent co-amplification was 8p12/11q13. Amplifications of 8p12 and 17q12 were associated with poor outcome. Amplification of 12p13 was associated with basal molecular subtype. CONCLUSION: Our results establish the frequencies, prognostic impacts and subtype associations of various amplifications and co-amplifications in breast cancers