Seroprevalence of HIV and frequencies of haemoglobin genotypes, ABO and Rh blood groups among premarital couples in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background: Premarital screening is fast gaining grounds as a pre-requisite condition for the solemnization of holy matrimony by many faith based organizations in Nigeria yet there is scanty literature on the subject. Methods: Fifty (50) premarital heterosexual couples (50 males and 50 females) were screened for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), haemoglobin genotypes, ABO and Rh blood groups using standard laboratory procedures. Results: The prevalence of HIV in this study was found to be 2.0%. The frequencies of the haemoglobin genotypes were as follows; HbAA (72%), HbAS (26%) and HbAC (2.0%) while that of ABO and Rh blood groups were: group A (22%), B (14%), AB (0%), 0 (64%), Rh ‘D' Positive (96%) and Rh ‘D' Negative (4.0%). The distribution of these variables between the sexes was statistically significant. (&#967;2 = 21.630, p< 0.01). The frequencies of the haemoglobin genotype combinations of the intending couples were as follows; HbAA/AA (52%), AA/AS (36%), AA/AC (4.0%) and AS/AS (8.0%). This distribution pattern was also found to be highly statistically significant (&#967; 2 = 38.957, p < 0.0001), the mean ages of the participants were 35.48 ± 12.26 years for men and 26.32 ± 7.31 years for women (t = 10.538, p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study observed a low prevalence of HIV among the premarital couples and a relatively high frequency of HbAS/AS couples. ABO and Rh blood groups were found to be stable and consistent with previous reports. For the prevention of hereditary blood diseases, haemolytic disease of the newborn and transmission of HIV to off springs, premarital testing should be encouraged South African Family Practice Vol. 49 (2) 2007: pp. 1

The Expected Mass Function for Low Mass Galaxies in a CDM Cosmology: Is There a Problem?

It is well known that the mass function for_halos_ in CDM cosmology is a relatively steep power law for low masses, possibly too steep to be consistent with observations. But how steep is the_galaxy_ mass function? We have analyzed the stellar and gas mass functions of the first massive luminous objects formed in a \Lambda CDM universe, as calculated in the numerical simulation described in Gnedin (2000ab). We found that while the dark matter mass function is steep, the stellar and gas mass functions are flatter for low mass objects. The stellar mass function is consistently flat at the low mass end. Moreover, while the gas mass function follows the dark matter mass function until reionization at z~7, between z=7 and z=4, the gas mass function also flattens considerably at the low mass end. At z=4, the gas and stellar mass functions are fit by a Schechter function with \alpha ~ -1.2 +/- 0.1, significantly shallower than the dark matter halo mass function and consistent with some recent observations. The baryonic mass functions are shallower because (a) the dark matter halo mass function is consistent with the Press-Schechter formulation at low masses n(M) M^-2 and (b) heating/cooling and ionization processes appear to cause baryons to collect in halos with the relationship M_b M_d^4 at low masses. Combining (a) and (b) gives n(M_b) M_b^-5/4, comparable to the simulation results. Thus, the well known observational fact that low mass galaxies are underabundant as compared to expectations from numerical dark matter simulations or Press-Schechter modeling of CDM universes emerges naturally from these results, implying that perhaps no ``new physics'' beyond the standard model is needed.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 17 pages including 6 figure

Stress Among Academic Staff in a Nigerian University

This study investigated the factors associated with stress among academic staff in a Nigerian university. Also, it ascertains if there is significant difference between stress and selected socio-dynamic variables of academics staff. Data was collected from 313 randomly selected academic staff from a research population of 1442. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that all tested variables: academic workload, student-related issues, research and career development, interpersonal relationship and administrative-related issues were significantly associated with stress among academic staff. The results also showed that there is no significant difference in the level of stress among academic staff with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and academic rank. However, signifi cant difference was observed in the level of stress among academic staff with respect to marital status. The study recommended among others that the university authority should establish an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to provide professional services and assistance to academic staff suffering stress-related problems

Design and Construction of an Affordable Potable Water Treatment Unit for Domestic Usage

An affordable potable water treatment unit was designed and constructed. The components were coagulation unit, sedimentation unit, slow sand filter unit, utraviolet unit and the storage unit. Filtrate from the chamber was compared with International acceptable standards. The result showed that the treatment chamber proved effective and can produce at least 100 litres of portable water per day. The physical and chemical parameters monitored were reduced to the acceptable limit by WHO (World Health Organisation), NAFDAC(National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) Nigeria and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ). However, coliform was not totally removed but the count was reduced by 99.4%

Pulsational Analysis of the Cores of Massive Stars and its Relevance to Pulsar Kicks

The mechanism responsible for the natal kicks of neutron stars continues to be a challenging problem. Indeed, many mechanisms have been suggested, and one hydrodynamic mechanism may require large initial asymmetries in the cores of supernova progenitor stars. Goldreich, Lai, & Sahrling (1997) suggested that unstable g-modes trapped in the iron (Fe) core by the convective burning layers and excited by the $\epsilon$-mechanism may provide the requisite asymmetries. We perform a modal analysis of the last minutes before collapse of published core structures and derive eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions, including the nonadiabatic effects of growth by nuclear burning and decay by both neutrino and acoustic losses. In general, we find two types of g-modes: inner-core g-modes, which are stabilized by neutrino losses and outer-core g-modes which are trapped near the burning shells and can be unstable. Without exception, we find at least one unstable g-mode for each progenitor in the entire mass range we consider, 11 M_{\sun} to 40 M_{\sun}. More importantly, we find that the timescales for growth and decay are an order of magnitude or more longer than the time until the commencement of core collapse. We conclude that the $\epsilon$-mechanism may not have enough time to significantly amplify core g-modes prior to collapse.Comment: 32 pages including 12 color figures and 2 tables, submitted to Ap

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection among TB patients in Port Harcourt Nigeria

The joint statement by the American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends that all patients with tuberculosis (TB) undergo testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection after counseling. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of HIV infection among 120 patients diagnosed with microbiologically proven TB aged 18 to 54 years with a mean age of 39.5 years (standard deviation 6.75). The subjects studied were 36 male (30%) and 84 females (70%). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods were used to screen for HIV infection among the subjects. Of the 120 TB patients tested 30 (25%) were positive for HIV infection. The prevalence of HIV was higher in females 24 (80%) compared to males 6 (20%) and among singles (66.7%) compared to married subjects (33.3%) (χ2 = 83.5 and χ2 = 126.2, respectively P = 0.001). HIV-1 was the predominant viral subtype. HIV prevalence was significantly higher in subjects in the 38–47 year and 28–37 year age groups (both 40%) followed by the 18–28 year age group (20%) (χ2 = 42.6, P = 0.05). The mean CD4 lymphocyte count of the HIV-infected TB subjects was significantly lower (195 ± 40.5 cells/μL) compared to the non-HIV infected (288 ± 35.25 cells/μL P = 0.01). This study has shown a high prevalence of HIV among TB patients. Reactivation of TB among people living with HIV can be reduced by TB preventive therapy and by universal access to antiretroviral therapy

Core-Clickable PEG-Branch-Azide Bivalent-Bottle-Brush Polymers by ROMP: Grafting-Through and Clicking-To

The combination of highly efficient polymerizations with modular "click" coupling reactions has enabled the synthesis of a wide variety of novel nanoscopic tructures. Here we demonstrate the facile synthesis of a new class of clickable, branched nanostructures, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-branch-azide bivalent-brush polymers, facilitated by "graft-through" ring-opening metathesis polymerization of a branched norbornene-PEG-chloride macromonomer followed by halide-azide exchange. The resulting bivalent-brush polymers possess azide groups at the core near a polynorbornene backbone with PEG chains extended into solution; the structure resembles a unimolecular micelle. We demonstrate copper-catalyzed azide-alkre cycloaddition (CuAAC) "click-to" coupling of a photocleavable doxorubicin (DOX)-alkyne derivative to the azide core. The CuAAC coupling was quantitative across a wide range of nanoscopic sizes (similar to 6-similar to 50 nrn); UV photolysis of the resulting DOX-loaded materials yielded free DOX that was therapeutically effective against human cancer cells

Adding Environmental Gas Physics to the Semi-Analytic Method for Galaxy Formation: Gravitational Heating

We present results of an attempt to include more detailed gas physics motivated from hydrodynamical simulations within semi-analytic models (SAM) of galaxy formation, focusing on the role that environmental effects play. The main difference to previous SAMs is that we include 'gravitational' heating of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) by the net surplus of gravitational potential energy released from gas that has been stripped from infalling satellites. Gravitational heating appears to be an efficient heating source able to prevent cooling in environments corresponding to dark matter halos more massive than $\sim 10^{13}$M$_{\odot}$. The energy release by gravitational heating can match that by AGN-feedback in massive galaxies and can exceed it in the most massive ones. However, there is a fundamental difference in the way the two processes operate. Gravitational heating becomes important at late times, when the peak activity of AGNs is already over, and it is very mass dependent. This mass dependency and time behaviour gives the right trend to recover down-sizing in the star-formation rate of massive galaxies. Abridged...Comment: replaced by accepted version to ApJ, some sections have been dropped and text has been added to others to include the referee's comments, several typos have been correcte

OPTIMALISASI PROSES PEMBUATAN COCOFIBER DENGAN MERANCANG DAN MEMBUAT MESIN PENGURAI SERAT SABUT KELAPA

OPTIMALISASI PROSES PEMBUATAN COCOFIBER DENGAN MERANCANG DAN MEMBUAT MESIN PENGURAI SERAT SABUT KELAP