Grief Reactions of Bereaved Spouses in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria

Spousal death is one of the most traumatic events that can occur in marital experience and most times, engenders different reactions. The paper investigated the grief reactions of bereaved spouses in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State. A total of 395 bereaved spouses were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected from the respondents using an instrument titled "Grief Reaction of Bereaved Spouses Questionnaire" (GRBSQ). The research questions raised were answered with percentages while the hypotheses generated were analysed using t-test statistics and three-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study indicated that (90.6%) of bereaved spouses in Kwara state have positive grief reactions, while 37 (9.4%) have negative grief reactions. The study further revealed significant differences in the grief reactions of bereaved spouses in Ilorin metropolis based on age at bereavement, nature of death and length of years of loss. Based on these findings, recommendations were made on the desirability of establishing counselling centres in governmental and non-governmental organisations aside from the conventional ones in schools and hospitals. The study also stresses the need for bereaved spouses to be exposed to grief counselling to help them adjust better to their bereavement and educated on the adverse effect of complicated grief as a result of poor adjustment

Social Networking Individual vs. Crowd Behavior (Connected Intelligence)

The study of Human behavior is much more complicated in various situations, especially on the spectrum of Social Networks. The study of individual behavior cannot be replicated for a group/crowd behavior which can have many social and behavioral dimensions. In the connected world where intelligence is shared among individuals and groups, there exists another kind of complexity which needs to be examined.The complexity of human behaviors as an individual or as a group on the social networks is much more versatile and erratic. The research work studies and analyzes these behaviors in a connected networked intelligent environment and as to how these behaviors are reflected towards Connected Intelligence. Consequently it defines how they can affect the intelligent analytical outcomes. Finally it comes up with a generic model which can be applied in any setup

Assessment of Parking Spaces in Mixed-Used Buildings in Kano State

Man has been a wanderer right from time inception, moving about in search of food and shelter. Building as a shelter is as old as man, also different buildings perform different functions or uses to man. Some buildings have only one function, while some have multiple functions and they are known as ‘Mixed-use building’. One major problem encountered with these type of structures is the issue of parking, caused as a result of either; the design, the building occupying the whole site, the residents/users of the building, or standard laws (rules and regulation) guarding the area. This paper aims at assessing the efficiency parking space in mixed-use buildings, which can be achieved through analysing the quantity and sizes of the parking spaces provided, estimating the number of car users’, and ascertaining the perception of users’ on the available parking space. The methodology employed involves a purpotive sampling method, where the sample population to be studied were selected due to the mixed-use criteria met by the selected buildings. Data was collected through questionnaires and personal observation. Recommendations were made that various means of achieving an efficient parking space in a mixed-use building or development, such as; the provision of the right parking spaces to the functions performed ratio, during the design stage, also, the issue of shared parking in order to reduce too much usage of scarce land for parking lots should be well planned. Keywords: building, design, mixed-use, parking facility, shared parkin

Digitizing radiology films using flat-bed scanner and produce a multimedia digital teaching file in musculoskeletal radiology

Digital images have been long established in radiology department. Despite this, most radiology teaching films has been film-based. The drawback of this conventional system is that it consumed space, only one user can use at any one time and expensive. Analogue radiology films were digitized using flatbed scanner with transparency adaptor and digital camera. Digital-based teaching files using personal computer (PC) should be encouraged as this will reduce space for storing, can be distributed without much cost, inexpensive, many users can use at the same time and others can use even though at different place using the internet. The teaching file was prepared using HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) as this can be used using any web browser. It is now available in University Sains Malaysia, Kelantan Campus Branch (USMKCK) intranet

AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIATIONS IN PROVISION OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND PAYMENT OF PROPERTY TAX IN IBADAN NORTH-EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NIGERIA

The provision of Infrastructural facilities is the reponsibilty of any governemnt within any jurisdiction. The use of property tax to finance the provisions of infrastructure has been globally accepted. However, the problem is that where there is no known form of property taxation to apply, residents cannot determine the benefit derivable from the infrastructure provided. The research methodology therefore adopted System random sampling in  Ibadan North East Local Government to examine the 0.0035% of the resident population. Thus the occupier of the residential property within location formed the sample frame. The result presented in Tabular form indicated that while  about 58.6% of the population  reside in areas with low infrastructure , the existing form of property taxation has created social injustice  since similar amount is being paid across the locations inrespective of the level of infrastructure provided. The use of Improvement of land was therefore recommended as the basis for determining property tax.Keywords:  Property tax, Local Government, taxation, Infrastructure, System random sampling

Evaluation of wheat by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

In this study 15 wheat varieties namely Nacozari-76, Ouqab, Tatar-96, Bakhtawar-92, Yecura-70, Raj, Bakkar, Sulilman-96, Pirsabak-05, Maria, Khyber-87, Fakhr-e-Sarhad, Pirsabak-04, Inqulab-91 and Rawal-87 were evaluated for analysis of variability in seed storage proteins by using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophorogram for each variety were scored and presence or absence of each band noted and was entered in a binary data matrix. Based on the data of SDS-PAGE gels cluster analysis was performed to check the variations among varieties. The overall result shows low degree of heterogeneity however different varieties reveal differential protein banding pattern. It is concluded that SDS-PAGE analysis of wheat endosperm protein is useful for evaluation of genetic variability and cultivars identification that help in wheat breeding program

Self-Medicated Broad Spectrum Antibiotics in Rural Communities in Kano-Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abuse of antibiotics through self-treatment is of public health concern, especially in rural communities of low income countries. This study evaluates the prevalence of self-medication with five broad spectrum antibiotics (ampiclox, amoxillin, co-trimoxazole, metronidazole and tetracycline) commonly used to treat infections among non-health workers living in rural communities in Kano, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey of 300 randomly selected adult villagers was conducted with self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of self-medication with at least one of the antibiotics was 70.3%. The most self-medicated antibiotic is ampiclox followed by tetracycline, amoxicillin, co-trimoxazole and metronidazole. Over 50% of the respondents purchased substandard antibiotics, which cost between $0.1-0.5 per dose from illegal drugs sellers in their communities. While only 29 respondents ever completed the dosage of the self-medicated antibiotics, about 22% took the antibiotics for 2 days and 41% took only 1 dose. A total of 154 (51.3%) self-used tetracycline and metronidazole for treating diarrhea, while 30.6% and 62% used ampiclox and amoxicillin to treat undiagnosed urinary tract infections and typhoid fever respectively. Only 33% have used antibiotics previously prescribed by health care workers, but the majority used them as a result of family and friends’ recommendations. Surprisingly, only 19 out of 300 believed that self-medication is a problem, but the majority (168) has contrary believe and 35 have no idea. Self-medication with five commonly used broad spectrum antibiotics is very high in rural communities and will require the development of a viable antibiotic stewardship programs to arrest the situation

Characterization of wheat varieties by seed storageprotein electrophoresis

Wheat grains of thirteen varieties were collected from different ecological regions of Pakistan. The variability of seed storage-proteins was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophorogram for each variety were scored and Jaccard‘s similarity index (JSI) was calculated. Genetic diversity of wheat was evaluated by constructing the dendrogram for high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) gluten subunit bands. It is concludedthat seed storage protein profiles could be useful markers in the studies of genetic diversity and classification of adapted cultivars, thereby improving the efficiency of wheat breeding programs in cultivar development especially in a developing country like Pakistan

Band gap engineering for improved photocatalytic performance of CuS/TiO2 composites under solar light irradiation

ABSTRACT. Nanoparticles of CuS, TiO2 and CuS/TiO2 composites were prepared by template free hydrothermal method. Prepared nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to confirm the formation of nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was applied to investigate the morphology and particle size of the nanoparticles which were measured in the range of 30–40 nm. Photocatalytic performance of CuS, TiO2 and Cus/TiO2 were measured by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under solar light irradiation. Coupling of n-type TiO2 (3.2 eV) with p-type CuS (1.9 eV) showed efficient degradation of the contaminants under the solar light irradiation. Photocatalytic performance of CuS/TiO2 composite improves 1.4 times than CuS for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) under solar light irradiation.               KEY WORDS: CuS/TiO2 composites, Photocatalytic performance, Hydrothermal growth, Solar light, Irradiation Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(3), 561-571.        DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i3.1

Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST)- sitting-up vs lying-flat positioning of patients with acute stroke: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background Positioning a patient lying-flat in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke may improve recovery and reduce disability, but such a possibility has not been formally tested in a randomised trial. We therefore initiated the Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST) to determine the effects of lying-flat (0°) compared with sitting-up (≥30°) head positioning in the first 24 hours of hospital admission for patients with acute stroke. Methods/Design We plan to conduct an international, cluster randomised, crossover, open, blinded outcome-assessed clinical trial involving 140 study hospitals (clusters) with established acute stroke care programs. Each hospital will be randomly assigned to sequential policies of lying-flat (0°) or sitting-up (≥30°) head position as a ‘business as usual’ stroke care policy during the first 24 hours of admittance. Each hospital is required to recruit 60 consecutive patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS), and all patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) (an estimated average of 10), in the first randomised head position policy before crossing over to the second head position policy with a similar recruitment target. After collection of in-hospital clinical and management data and 7-day outcomes, central trained blinded assessors will conduct a telephone disability assessment with the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. The primary outcome for analysis is a shift (defined as improvement) in death or disability on this scale. For a cluster size of 60 patients with AIS per intervention and with various assumptions including an intracluster correlation coefficient of 0.03, a sample size of 16,800 patients at 140 centres will provide 90 % power (α 0.05) to detect at least a 16 % relative improvement (shift) in an ordinal logistic regression analysis of the primary outcome. The treatment effect will also be assessed in all patients with ICH who are recruited during each treatment study period. Discussion HeadPoST is a large international clinical trial in which we will rigorously evaluate the effects of different head positioning in patients with acute stroke. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02162017 (date of registration: 27 April 2014); ANZCTR identifier: ACTRN12614000483651 (date of registration: 9 May 2014). Protocol version and date: version 2.2, 19 June 2014