Isolation and Identification of Air Borne Fungal Spores and Fragments in Buildings Within Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria

- Indoor air contains a complex mixture of microorganisms, microorganism fragments, and by products such as molds, bacteria, endotoxins, mycotoxins, and volatile microbial organic compounds. Airborne fungi and bacteria can be toxic, allergenic and/or infectious. A research was conducted to determine the number and types of airborne fungal spores in Buildings of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Nigeria. Five (5) areas were chosen within the University for the Survey, these were student Hostel, Staff Quarters, Botanical garden, Microbiology laboratory and city campus of Usmanu Danfodiyo University. . A total number of fifteen (15) petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar each were vertically placed in each sampler and exposed at end of each height and site for 10 and 20 minutes respectively. A total of thirteen (13) different fungal specie were identified namely; Aspergillus Niger, A. flavus, A fumigates, A. ustus, A. terreus, Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum, Alterneria altenata, Rhizopus oryzae, R. stolonifer, Helminthosporum sp., Penicillum candidum and Absedia corymbifera. Aspergillus Niger had the highest frequency of occurrence of (14.9%), Helminthosporus species had the least frequency of occurrence of (1.5%). Conclusively it was observed that the concentration of fungal spores was high in the upper surface than the ground level at the time of the survey

Relationship between Juvenile Delinquency and Background of Children in Remand Home in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, Nigeria

The study examined the relationship between juvenile delinquency and background of children in remand home in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, Nigeria. The four objectives of the study are to determine relationship between juvenile delinquency and age of children in Maiduguri remand home, relationship between juvenile delinquency and education background of the children in Maiduguri Remand Home, relationship between juvenile delinquency and the causes of delinquency among the children in Maiduguri remand home and  relationship between juvenile delinquency of children in Maiduguri remand home and their gender in Borno State. Correlation research design was used. The population for the study consists of the 103 juvenile delinquents that were in Maiduguri remand home; therefore, all the 103 delinquents were used in the study. The research instrument used was proforma which was designed by the researchers to collect data from the records of the delinquents that were in Maiduguri remand home. Data collected were analyzed using chi-square, followed by computation of contingency coefficient to find out the relationship between the variables. The study revealed that, children’s education level, age and gender were significantly related to juvenile delinquency in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Counsellors, Educational Psychologists and Teachers should identify delinquent behaviours among children in school and home and counsel them on the consequences of such acts. Parents’ should provide the basic needs of their children and should supervise them. Parents should develop effective parenting model that would enhance good behaviour and should communicate freely with their children. Children should be engaged academically in school, they should be given assignments and home work frequently by the teachers and they should be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities such as clubs and sporting activities. Fathers should be closer to boys and mothers to girls and they should be good models by showing them good examples. Parents and other members of the society should build good discipline and character in the children irrespective of gender, so that they can fit into adult life successfully. Parents should stay together for the sake of their children, and should discourage them from comparing themselves with their peers who have parents with high occupation. Parents should monitor the friends and activities of their children because peer group exposes children to more delinquent behaviours. Keywords: Juvenile, Delinquency, Background, Children, Remand Hom

Parental knowledge and impact on growth in children with congenital heart diseases in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital

Abstract: Objectives: Parental knowledge of a child’s heart disease, treatment and prevention of complications may promote a better health related behavior towards the care of the child. Most of these children often present with failure to thrive which the parents may not associate with the disease. This study is aimed at determining the knowledge of parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and the impact of the disease on their growth.Methods: This was a cross sectional study consisting of parents and children with CHD attending the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Relevant information was gotten from pre-tested questionnairescontaining data such as age, anthropometric parameters, educational level of parents and knowledge of their children’s cardiac defect.Results: Out of the one hundred and three parents recruited in this study, ninety-one (88.3%) of the parents knew the correct cardiac diagnosis. which had no statistically significant association with their educational status. There was statistically significant association between maternal educational status and ability to name the medications (X2= 27.01, df=12, p=0.008). A total of sixty nine (67%) children have a WAZ score of ≤−2 and <3 while forty five (43.7%) have an HAZ of ≤−2.Conclusion: Adequate knowledge will ensure better compliance to medications which can reduce morbidity and early mortality before surgical intervention. Therefore continuous patient/caregiver education is imperative for their long time survival because even surgery may not completely eliminate all complications associated with it.Keywords: Congenital heart disease, Parental knowledge, growth

Regression Models for the Prediction of Strength Properties of Waste Tyre Ash (WTA) - Mortar

Sustainable development is an emerging political and social issue of global significance, Environmental scientists are generally of the view that Portland cement is not particularly environmentally friendly. Thus, the challenges of producing and using concrete, is aggravated by the high need and consumption of cement which is causing the using concrete, is aggravated by the high need and consumption of cement which is causing the environmental threats as outlined by the environmentalists. The background of this study emanates from this development and forms the basis for conducting the research. Waste Tyre Ash (WTA) is the ash residue that is obtained after slices of waste or scrap tyres are burnt at a temperature of 5000C for a period of 5 hrs.  Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of using WTA as a partial replacement of cement in WTA-Mortar and to develop models for the prediction of strength properties. Cement was partially replaced with WTA at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% by weight. The findings showed that WTA decelerates setting time of cement and strength development in mortar. Compressive strength and flexural strength of mortar increases with increase in WTA up to 20% and 15% replacement of cement respectively. Strength predictive models for WTA-Mortar have good correlations with experimental data with average of R2 of 0.91, RMSE of 0.57 and COE of 0.66.  Statistical models drawn from the results of this research will also provide a means to predict WTA mortar strengths and behavior

Performance of metakaolin based geopolymer concrete at elevated temperature

Due to the carbon dioxide emission arising from the production of cement, alternative concrete that is environmentally friendly such as metakaolin geopolymer concrete have been developed. However, the performance of metakaolin based geopolymer concrete (MKGC) when exposed to aggressive environment particularly elevated temperature has not been investigated. Therefore, this paper assessed the performance of MKGC exposed to elevated temperatures. MKGC cube specimens of grade 25 were produced using a mix ratio of 1:1.58:3.71.After preparing the specimens, they were placed in an electric oven at a temperature of 60oC for 24 hours. Thereafter, the specimens were stored in the laboratory at ambient temperature for 28 days. The specimens were then exposed to elevated temperatures of 200, 400, 600 and 800oC. After exposure to elevated temperatures, the MKGC specimens were subjected to compressive strength, water absorption and abrasion resistance tests. Results show that at 600 and 800oC, the MKGC lost a compressive strength of 59.69% and 71.71% respectively. Higher water absorption and lower abrasion resistance were also observed. Keywords: Cement, Compressive Strength, Metakaolin Concrete, Elevated Temperature

Attitude of Hausa ESL Secondary School Students Towards Spelling and Writing in English

Writing skill is described as an essential language tool for students. Studies have shown that Hausa ESL secondary school students commit various errors in their writing in English. Various factors have been identified as responsible for the problems. However, the students’ attitude towards spelling and writing has not been investigated. It is believed that students’ attitude plays an important role in motivating and influencing their second-language learning. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the attitude and perception of Hausa ESL secondary school students towards English spelling and writing. The study adopts a survey research design where an intact class of 75 students from a secondary school in north-eastern Nigeria was selected. To collect the data for the study, a questionnaire was employed. The questionnaire comprises two sections: (i) attitudes toward English spelling and (ii) attitudes toward writing in English which include four writing purposes: (a) School Use, (b) Social Use, (c) Official Use, and (d) Creativity. Findings of the study revealed that the participants have a moderate positive attitude and perception towards English spelling and writing. The findings also indicated that the students’ attitude toward the School Use of English is the highest, whereas their Creativity in writing has the lowest means among the four purposes. In addition, the study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between the participants’ attitude towards spelling and writing. To enhance students’ creative writing and thinking skills, the study suggests that literature in English should be made compulsory to all secondary school students. Story-reading and creative writing should be incorporated into the curriculum. Other extracurricular activities such as spelling completion should be organised to help the students

Dyslipidaemic, oxidative stress and immunoinflammatory alterations in a rat model of late-night eating

Background: Modern-humans have adapted a 24/7 active and feeding lifestyles with consequential eating at odds with the circadian system that threatens to pose a pandemic of metabolic diseases. Since nocturnally restricted feeding promotes growth and metabolic fitness and that adlibitum feeding disturbs diurnal rhythms and metabolic health in rodents, the use of adlibitum controls in metabolic researches can have doubtful extrapolative conclusions. Here, we simulated human late-night eating using feed restricted controls with the primary aim of exploring possible dyslipidaemic, oxidative stress and immunoinflammatory alterations of Late-night eating in Wistar rats. Methods: Sixteen (16) male Wistar rats (aged 8-10 weeks) were randomly assigned into control or late-night eating group (n=8). Fasting weight and blood glucose were obtained and Lipids were analyzed using their respective Randox kits. Malondialdehyde, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were assayed while Full blood counts and CD 4+ Tcells were determined using automated analyzers. Data were analyzed using SPSS V20.0, compared using Student’s t-test and significance set at p≤ 0.05. Results: Our findings have demonstrated that late-night eating is associated with an overall significant decrease in total feeds intake, Fasting blood glucose, High density lipoprotein, catalase, and CD4+ cell counts. On the other hand, Cardiac risk ratio and Atherogenic coefficient are marginally raised, while Platelet lymphocyte ratio, Monocyte lymphocyte ratio and Monocyte High density lipoprotein ratio are insignificantly higher among the late-night eating rats than in controls. Conclusion: Although our finding could not demonstrate an elevated risk of obesity or diabetes, it has uncovered the dyslipidaemic, oxidative stress and immunoinflammatory alterations associated with late-night eating. Keywords: CD4 lymphocyte count; Complete blood count; Late-night eating; Lipid ratios; Oxidative stress

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Analysis of Heavy metals in water at Daura Gypsum Mining Site, Yobe State, Nigeria

This study was designed to detect heavy metals level in water collected from Daura gypsum mining site, Yobe State, Nigeria. Samples were collected and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The level of Pb, Ni, Cd, As, Cu and Zn, were assessed. Also the conductivity of the water samples detected using Conductivity meter. The result shows significant level of As at 0.0382 mg/l, Cd at 0.06-0.18 mg/l and 0.9852 mg/l for Ni which exceeded the WHO limit (0.01 mg/l). Cu, Zn, and Pb were detected at 0.95mg/l, 1.77 mg/l and 0.244 mg/l respectively. Cu, Pb, and Zn were found below the WHO, USEPA limits. This may bring kidney related risk to the people over a long period of time, Therefore , incorporation of ion exchange, reverse osmosis or adsorption in water sources will help reduce the heavy metals burden of the public in the area

Integrating community pharmacy into community based anti-retroviral therapy program: A pilot implementation in Abuja, Nigeria

Background The landscape of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic control is shifting with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 benchmarks for epidemic control. Community-based Antiretroviral Therapy (CART) models have improved treatment uptake and demonstrated good clinical outcomes. We assessed the feasibility of integrating community pharmacy as a task shift structure for differentiated community ART in Abuja-Nigeria. Methods Stable patients on first line ART regimens from public health facilities were referred to community pharmacies in different locations within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for prescription refills and treatment maintenance. Bio-demographic and clinical data were collected from February 25, 2016 to May 31st, 2017 and descriptive statistics analysis applied. The outcomes of measure were prescription refill and patient retention in care at the community pharmacy. Results Almost 10% of stable patients on treatment were successfully devolved from eight health facilities to ten community pharmacies. Median age of the participants was 35 years [interquartile range (IQR); 30, 41] with married women in the majority. Prescription refill was 100% and almost all the participants (99.3%) were retained in care after they were devolved to the community pharmacies. Only one participant was lost-to-follow-up as a result of death. Conclusion Excellent prescription refill and high retention in care with very low loss-to-follow-up were associated with the community pharmacy model. The use of community pharmacy for community ART is feasible in Nigeria. We recommend the scale up of the model in all the 36 states of Nigeria

Capacity Building for Primary Stroke Prevention Teams in Children Living With Sickle Cell Anemia in Africa

Background: Nigeria has the highest proportion of children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) globally; an estimated 150,000 infants with SCA are born annually. Primary stroke prevention in children with SCA must include Nigeria. We describe capacity-building strategies in conjunction with two National Institutes of Health–funded primary stroke prevention trials (a feasibility trial and phase III randomized controlled trial) with initial hydroxyurea treatment for children with SCA and abnormal transcranial Doppler (TCD) velocities in Nigeria. We anticipated challenges to conducting clinical trials in a low-resource setting with a local team that had not previously been involved in clinical research and sought a sustainable strategy for primary stroke prevention. Methods: This is a descriptive, prospective study of challenges, solutions, and research teams in two trials that enrolled a total of 679 children with SCA. Results: As part of the capacity-building component of the trials, over eight years, 23 research personnel (physicians, nurses, research coordinators, a statistician, and a pharmacist) completed a one-month research governance and ethics training program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA. A lead research coordinator for each site completed the Society of Clinical Research Professionals certification. TCD machines were donated; radiologists and nonradiologists were trained and certified to perform TCD. A scalable E-prescription was implemented to track hydroxyurea treatment. We worked with regional government officials to support ongoing TCD-based screening and funding for hydroxyurea for children with SCA at a high risk of stroke. Conclusions: Our trials and capacity building demonstrate a sustainable strategy to initiate and maintain pediatric SCA primary stroke prevention programs in Africa