Radiological Effects of Iron-Ore Mining and Processing at Itakpe, Kogi State.

Gamma spectroscopy was employed in the analysis of soil samples collected from the mine site, industrial plant site, and mill tailing dumps site of National Iron-Ore mining Project (NIOMP), Itakpe, Kogi State. The mean measured activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th  were 207.6±39.4(ND-515.0), 17.6±2.4(ND-31.5), and 31.7±8.6(ND-118.0)Bqkg-1, respectively, which are all less than the world mean of 370.0, 25.0, and 25 Bqkg-1 for 40K, 226Ra, and 232Th, respectively. The calculated outdoor mean effective doses for the sites were respectively74.8±20.0µSv, 47.0±7.0µSv and 17.0±1.0µSv for industrial plant, mining waste and mill tailing deposit sites. These values are comparable to the control mean value of 74.3±46.2µSv (obtained from unmodified environment soil samples) which in turn is comparable to the world mean of 60µSv, thus suggesting that the mining company does not constitute radiological problem to its workers and the public. The calculated activity index, I, for the company mill tailings is 0.122, the value which is equivalent to an excess gamma dose of 0.122mSv/year over that received outdoors if used as a building material

How Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election outcome was forecasted with geodemographics and public sentiment analytics

In 2015, Nigeria held one of the most fiercely contested presidential elections in the nation’s recent democratic history. The outcome of the election was expected to exert significant influence on democratic practices on the African continent. The stiffness of the contest also meant that it was difficult to predict the likely winner of the election. This paper summarizes how an empirical approach was used to forecast the outcome of the election by modeling public sentiment data-set using a geodemographic framework. Results indicate that the main electorates that determined the outcome of the election were situated in thirteen battleground states. Additionally, results showed that two years before the presidential election, Goodluck Jonathan’s public approval ratings on corruption, insecurity, and the economy (the main drivers of the 2015 election) had nose-dived across many of the battleground states. This eventually contributed toward his loss

Genomic analysis of microRNA time-course expression in liver of mice treated with genotoxic carcinogen N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been previously observed in human cancer tissues and shown promise in defining tumor status. However, there is little information as to if or when expression changes of miRNAs occur in normal tissues after carcinogen exposure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To explore the possible time-course changes of miRNA expression induced by a carcinogen, we treated mice with one dose of 120 mg/kg <it>N</it>-ethyl-<it>N</it>-nitrosourea (ENU), a model genotoxic carcinogen, and vehicle control. The miRNA expression profiles were assessed in the mouse livers in a time-course design. miRNAs were isolated from the livers at days 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 120 after the treatment and their expression was determined using a miRNA PCR Array. Principal component analysis of the miRNA expression profiles showed that miRNA expression at post-treatment days (PTDs) 7 and 15 were different from those at the other time points and the control. The number of differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) changed over time (3, 5, 14, 32, 5 and 5 at PTDs 1, 3, 7, 15, 30 and 120, respectively). The magnitude of the expression change varied with time with the highest changes at PTDs 7 or 15 for most of the DEMs. In silico functional analysis of the DEMs at PTDs 7 and 15 indicated that the major functions of these ENU-induced DEMs were associated with DNA damage, DNA repair, apoptosis and other processes related to carcinogenesis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results showed that many miRNAs changed their expression to respond the exposure of the genotoxic carcinogen ENU and the number and magnitude of the changes were highest at PTDs 7 to 15. Thus, one to two weeks after the exposure is the best time for miRNA expression sampling.</p

Survey Of Gross Alpha And Beta Radioactivity In Well Water From Zaria And Its Environs

Thirty –two samples of well water were drawn at random from wells in and aound Zaria Township, Kaduna State. Two drops of concentrated nitric acid were added in two liters of the sampled water for preservation. The samples were later evaporated and counted for gross alpha and beta in an eight-channel-gas-filled proportional counter. Results show that the range of alpha activity in water in the area is 0.58-43.19 Bq/m3, with geometric mean, 6.35&+-61617;0.45 Bq/m3. The range of beta activity is 3.58-622 Bq/m3 with geometric mean, 75.34&+-61617;1.53 Bq/m3. Further statistical analyses of the data show that both alpha and beta activities are skewed towards low values and the contour analyses show three area of elevated activity for both alpha and beta. The overall results show that the alpha and beta activities do not necessarily come from the same source and their values are below the WHO practical screening level of radioactivity in drinking water. Keywords: Radioactivity, alpha, beta, drinking water Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 19 (1) 2007: pp. 39-4

[18F]Fluciclovine PET discrimination between high- and low-grade gliomas

Abstract Background The ability to accurately and non-invasively distinguish high-grade glioma from low-grade glioma remains a challenge despite advances in molecular and magnetic resonance imaging. We investigated the ability of fluciclovine (18F) PET as a means to identify and distinguish these lesions in patients with known gliomas and to correlate uptake with Ki-67. Results Sixteen patients with a total of 18 newly diagnosed low-grade gliomas (n = 6) and high grade gliomas (n = 12) underwent fluciclovine PET imaging after histopathologic assessment. Fluciclovine PET analysis comprised tumor SUVmax and SUVmean, as well as metabolic tumor thresholds (1.3*, 1.6*, 1.9*) to normal brain background (TBmax, and TBmean). Comparison was additionally made to the proliferative status of the tumor as indicated by Ki-67 values. Fluciclovine uptake greater than normal brain parenchyma was found in all lesions studied. Time activity curves demonstrated statistically apparent flattening of the curves for both high-grade gliomas and low-grade gliomas starting 30 min after injection, suggesting an influx/efflux equilibrium. The best semiquantitative metric in discriminating HGG from LGG was obtained utilizing a metabolic 1 tumor threshold of 1.3* contralateral normal brain parenchyma uptake to create a tumor: background (TBmean1.3) cutoff of 2.15 with an overall sensitivity of 97.5% and specificity of 95.5%. Additionally, using a SUVmax > 4.3 cutoff gave a sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 97.5%. Tumor SUVmean and tumor SUVmax as a ratio to mean normal contralateral brain were both found to be less relevant predictors of tumor grade. Both SUVmax (R = 0.71, p = 0.0227) and TBmean (TBmean1.3: R = 0.81, p = 0.00081) had a high correlation with the tumor proliferative index Ki-67. Conclusions Fluciclovine PET produces high-contrast images between both low-grade and high grade gliomas and normal brain by visual and semiquantitative analysis. Fluciclovine PET appears to discriminate between low-grade glioma and high-grade glioma, but must be validated with a larger sample size