A review of viral hepatitis in HIV positive patients using UBTH as case study

Introduction: Nigeria belongs to the group of countries highly endemic for viral hepatitis, unfortunately little is known about the burden of co-infection in HIV positive patients and the interaction between these two viruses as it affects the natural history of viral hepatitis, management and prevalence.Methods: This work was based on the review of medical records of 200 HIV positive patients, (130 females and 70 males). Ages: 17-80years at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin city, Nigeria.Results: HCV/HBV infection is more serious in HIV- infected patients and this leads to liver damage more quickly. It aggravates the risk of antiretroviral (ARD) associated hepatotoxicity. HIV is also linked to “sero-silent” HBV infections, which present a problem with diagnosis. Prevalence of co-infection of 26.9% for HBV which is higher than in HIV negative patients with a prevalence of 14.3%. HCV had a prevalence of 5.7%. The prevalence of the test done was found to be 25.5% for HBV and 3% for HCV. A prevalence of 17.64% for HBV in HIV positive patients and 16.7% for HCV was estimated.Conclusion: The study confirms that HIV and HBV/HCV interact to a large extent. Therefore there is need to sensitize health workers in Nigeria on the need to take cognizance of this fact and improve on the current low level of test conducted on HIV positive patients and vaccination done. Early diagnosis and vaccination can prevent mortality due to co-infection. It is also necessary that studies be carried out on the interaction between HIV and Hepatitis virus infection as it affects HAART.Keywords: Viral Hepatitis; HIV; HCV; HBV

Expert System-Based Exploratory Approach to Cost Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Office Building

Expert system is a conventional method that is in use in cost modeling, considering its advantage over traditional regression method. It is based on this fact, that this study aimed at deploying neural network in cost modeling of reinforced concrete office building. One hundred (100) samples were selected at random and divided into two; one part was used to develop network algorithm while the second part was used for model validation. Neural network was used to generate the model algorithm; the model is divided into 3 modules: the data optimization module, criteria selection with initializing and terminating modules. Regression analysis was carried out and model validated with Jackknife re-sampling technique. The colinearity analysis indicates high level of tolerance and -0.07403 lowest variation prediction quotients to 0.66639 highest variation quotients. Also the Regression coefficient (R-square) value for determining the model fitness is 0.034 with standard error of 0.048 this attest to the fitness of the model generated. The model is flexible in accommodating new data and variables, thus, it allows for regular updating

Evaluation of Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Gram-positive Bacilli Isolated From Ready-to-Eat Vegetables Sold in Ota Metropolis, Nigeria

In most Nigerian cities, ready-to-eat (RTE) vegetables are purchased directly from street vendors and consumed immediately without necessarily having to cut, peel or rinse them as they have already been presumed to be processed by the vendors. However, the microbiological safety of these vegetables is of special concern due to the possible microbial contamination from incoming raw produce from farms, workers hygiene and handling practices, and the condition of the environment and equipment used to process the vegetables for distribution, marketing and sales. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Gram-positive Bacilli on RTE vegetables; Cabbage, Carrot, Cucumber and Lettuce from two local produce markets within Ota Metropolis. Pure cultures obtained by repeated streaking and identified based on cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility tests. The total aerobic bacteria present in the RTE vegetable samples Cabbage, Cucumber, Lettuce and Carrot ranged, respectively, from 1.84×106 - 2.24×106 cfu/g, 1.72 x106 - 2.48 x 106 cfu/g, 1.51x106 – 1.97 x 106 cfu/g and 1.69 x 106 – 2.42 x 106 cfu/g. A total of sixteen bacterial isolates from the RTE vegetables were tentatively identified as Bacillus brevis (30%), Nocardia spp. (18%), Bacillus spp. (12%), B. subtilis (12%), B. megaterium (6%), B. circulans (6%), B. sphaericus (6%) and B. pumilus (6%). Although, these bacteria are mostly causative agents of food spoilage and sometimes secondary infections, it is alarming that more than 80% of the bacterial isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics including erythromycin, cloxacillin, cotrimoxazole, augmentin and streptomycin. The results of this study raise the spectre of antibiotic-resistance in normal soil microbes derived from RTE vegetables with potential impact on humans through the food chain and environmental exposure

Suboptimal Utilisation of Resources in Sub-Saharan African Higher Education Institutions: the Case of Teaching Space at Makerere University

Many higher education institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa are underfunded.Consequently, they are operating with encumbering resources constraints that threaten quality assurance. Accordingly, they are working to expand the availability of these resources. Notwithstanding, it is taken for granted that once available, these resources are optimally utilized and that, in instances expanding their availability is not possible, compromising on some elements of the quality of higher education is inevitable. The problem is that this presumption could disguise inadequacies in the utilization of the resources, with the consequence that the institutions’ need for the resources is exaggerated. Preoccupation with expanding the availability of resources could also stifle the innovation of creative ways of making the best use of the resources available. This means that the institutions need to evaluate their utilization of these resources—to pinpoint their need for the resources and potential for quality assurance. This paper reports the findings of a study that responded to this need, taking the case of teaching space at Makerere University. The objective ofthe study was to verify the hypothesis that the University is teaching space constrained. The findings were that the resource is overly underutilized albeit this was disguised by occasional overutilization of the same space, a concomitance that only multidimensional evaluation could unearth. Accordingly, the study gives credence to the hypothesis that shortages of resources at the University, and similar institutions, are ostensible. Therefore, it is recommended that these institutions subject their utilization of resources to rigorous evaluation.Keywords · Resources management · Higher education funding · Educational administratio

Cost Entropy and Expert System Approach to Modeling Cost Smoothing System in Reinforced Concrete Office Building Projects Procurement

The main aim of this research work is to develop an expert system approach to cost smoothing model in reinforced concrete office building project procurement. An econometric model which incorporates exigency escalator and inflation buffer, with entropy threshold for a typical reinforced concrete office building, useful at tendering and construction stages of building projects was developed in this study. As built and bill of quantity value of twenty (20) building projects initiated and completed within 2008 and 2009 were used at random. Elemental dichotomies within the context of early and late constructible elements with speculated prediction period was used, taken into consideration the present value of cost. This attributes would enable a builder or contactor load cost implication of an unseen circumstance even on occasion of deferred cost reimbursement with the aid of average entropy index developed for each project elements. The model was further validated with new samples and discovered to be of high Eigen and contingency coefficient values. The model could help in cost smoothing at different stages of reinforced concrete office building which could further aid cost overrun prevention

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activities of 1-((5-Chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide

A new 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide was synthesized from methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate and ethylamine. The compound methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate was synthesized from methyl pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate and 5-chloro-4-chlorosulfonyl-1-ethyl-2-methyl-imidazole. The compounds were characterized based on FTIR, 1H, 13C NMR, and DEPT 135 analysis. Antimicrobial activities of the 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide against Gram-positive (methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis), Gram-negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae), and Candida albicans were carried out using the standard microbiological method. The newly synthesized 1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide had no activities against the tested organisms. Keywords:    1-((5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl)-N-ethylpyrrolidine-2-carboxamide; methyl-1-[(5-chloro-1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylate; L-proline; ethylamine

Factors Affecting the Performance of Labour in Nigerian Construction Sites

The paper identified some factors perceived to be negatively affecting the performance of construction labour and also examined how these factors vary from site to site in the Nigerian construction industry. To achieve this, structured questionnaires were administered on contractors and labour (operatives) on forty construction sites in the study area to sample their opinions. A Likert statistical technique was employed for the analysis in this perspective. The result indicated that unfair wages (RI = 0.89), negative influencing factors (RI = 0.85) and lack of motivation (RI = 0.79) were ranked high by the labour while the contractors ranked lack of training (RI = 0.84), poor communication (RI = 0.79) and inclement weather (RI = 0.71) as being affecting the performance labour in this respect. It was recommended, among other things, that contractors must study the peculiarities of their workers and identify their main motivator

Evaluation of a cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assay test for rapid detection of cryptococcal infection in HIV-negative patients in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: A number of studies have been conducted in Nigeria on the prevalence of cryptococcal infections mostly on HIV-infected patients using culture, India ink and/or latex agglutination tests. These tests are either laborious, time-consuming and expensive or have low sensitivity, thus limiting their use. Cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assays (LFA) were introduced in the last decade as rapid user-friendly tests for diagnosis. In this study, we sought to determine the diagnostic accuracy of an LFA kit for the detection of cryptococcal antigen in the serum of HIV-negative patients with or without cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke in University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.Methodology: The diagnostic accuracy of Dynamiker CrAg LFA was tested against BiosynexR CryptoPS on serum samples of 100 HIV-negative patients with and without stroke. Samples were tested and results interpreted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and positive and negative likelihood ratios of the Dynamiker CrAg LFA were calculated by comparing with the BiosynexR CryptoPS as ‘gold standard’.Results: Overall, a total of 98 valid patient sample results were analysed; 17 samples (17.3%) were positive with Dynamiker CrAg LFA cryptococcal antigen and 16 samples (16.3%) were positive with BiosynexR CryptoPS. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of Dynamiker CrAg LFA compared to the BiosynexR CryptoPS were 100%, 98.8%, 94.1% and 100% respectively, while the positive and negative likelihood ratios were 82 and 0 respectively.Conclusion: In comparison to the BiosynexR CryptoPS, the Dynamiker CrAg LFA is a highly sensitive and specific test for the detection of cryptococcal antigen in serum. The test kit should be considered as a screening device for cryptococcal infection both in outreach and clinical settings, especially in antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres. Keywords: Cryptococcus; evaluation; lateral flow assay; HIV-negative; strok

Synthesis of anisotropic 3D nanomagnets for magnetic actuation and sensing in piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride towards magnetic nanogenerator device fabrication

The 3D geometry and anisotropic properties of magnetic nanostructures has been found to have a direct impact on their magnetization properties due to spatial coordinates and larger surface areas, which sheds new light on next-generation materials for advanced applications in magnetic energy harvesting. Our work presents novel pathways for the synthesis and assembly of multifunctional anisotropic 3D nanomagnets with various shapes and sizes with key attention to their anisotropic morphologies. We investigated the excellent properties of these new anisotropic 3D nanomagnets for the design of magnetic actuator systems and nanogenerators by embedding the 3D nanomagnets in a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer matrix. The 3D nanomagnets-PDVF composites were found to exhibit the highly electroactive β-phase with enhanced piezoelectric sensitivity. Further, the 3D nanomagnets-PDVF thin films have outstanding magnetic responsiveness and actuation capacity ideal for the fabrication of magnetic nanogenerators. These types of materials have a great deal of potential to generate sustainable alternative energy sources through harvesting and conversion of ubiquitous and residual low-frequency environmental magnetic noise into usable electricity

Synthesis of anisotropic 3D nanomagnets for magnetic actuation and sensing in piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride towards magnetic nanogenerator device fabrication

The 3D geometry and anisotropic properties of magnetic nanostructures has been found to have a direct impact on their magnetization properties due to spatial coordinates and larger surface areas, which sheds new light on next-generation materials for advanced applications in magnetic energy harvesting. Our work presents novel pathways for the synthesis and assembly of multifunctional anisotropic 3D nanomagnets with various shapes and sizes with key attention to their anisotropic morphologies. We investigated the excellent properties of these new anisotropic 3D nanomagnets for the design of magnetic actuator systems and nanogenerators by embedding the 3D nanomagnets in a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer matrix. The 3D nanomagnets-PDVF composites were found to exhibit the highly electroactive β-phase with enhanced piezoelectric sensitivity. Further, the 3D nanomagnets-PDVF thin films have outstanding magnetic responsiveness and actuation capacity ideal for the fabrication of magnetic nanogenerators. These types of materials have a great deal of potential to generate sustainable alternative energy sources through harvesting and conversion of ubiquitous and residual low-frequency environmental magnetic noise into usable electricity