Nigeria’s recent population censuses: a Benford-theoretic evaluation

Context: Population censuses in Nigeria have been plagued with under- or over-enumeration, as well as outright manipulation. This paper examines the claim of manipulated results of Nigeria’s 1991 and 2006 population censuses.Data Source & Method: Data on both censuses were obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics and analyzed via fitting Benford’s probability distribution. The overall census data, as well as aggregate data for the six geopolitical zones of the country were examined to determine the level of conformity with Benford’s distribution, using the Chi-square goodness of fit test.Findings: The conformity analyses showed that the overall counts differed significantly from Benford's in both censuses. The North-West region had the highest deviation in both censuses, while the North-East and South-West had the lowest deviation in 1991 and 2006 censuses, respectively. Significant conformity was observed in the sizes of the local government areas and the population density for the 2006 census.Conclusion: Some datasets with built-in minimum and maximum values may still conform to Benford’s distribution provided the range of values of the first significant digit span digits 1 to 9. Census results should be scrutinized on the basis of Benford’s distribution as an additional check on the quality

Medicine use among HIV/Aids patients in public hospitals, Kwara State

Background: The prognosis of HIV/AIDS and HIV-related comorbidities has been revolutionized by the use of medicines. However, World Health Organization reported that 50% of patients do not use their medicines as prescribed.Objective: To assess HIV/AIDS patients’ knowledge of the use of medicines dispensed to them.Method: This study was conducted in seven public hospitals in six local government areas, Kwara State. Exit interviews of 780 eligible HIV/AIDS patients were conducted through use of structured questionnaire. Additionally, there were exit observational checks of medicines dispensed to these patients. Descriptive statistics and Fisher Exact test were used for data analyses.Results: Of the 780 study participants, 36.1% had no formal education, 99.9% knew the ‘quantity’ of medicines to be administered, while 99.2% knew the frequency of administration. All the patients knew the route of administration, 96.7% and 94.3% knew the general precautions to avoid concomitant use of dispensed medicines with alcohol or herbal products respectively, while 93.7% of those who received co-trimoxazole knew of the precaution to use “plenty of water” as the vehicle for its administration. There were no significant associations between the patients’ knowledge of these precautions and duration of antiretroviral therapy (P>0.05). However, the patients lacked knowledge of specific precautions of some dispensed medicines.Conclusion: Most of the patients knew of the administration and the general precautions of dispensed medicines. However, lack of knowledge of specific precautions of some dispensed medicines calls for intervention.Keywords: HIV/AIDS patients, Medicine use, Duration of antiretroviral therapy, Public hospitals, Kwara Stat

Investigation of the Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Masonry Mortar Made with Seashell Particles

In order to study the mechanical and microstructural properties of masonry mortar, combined particles of cockle and scallop seashell wastes were incorporated and analysed through destructive and non-destructive tests. River sand was replaced with the combined seashell particles (SPs) at seven mixes, viz., 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% with a 0.5 constant water-to-cement ratio (W/C). A mortar mix design of M4-type of BS EN 1996-1-1 was adopted with a target compressive strength of 5.17 MPa at 28 days. The physical, chemical and mineralogy properties of the SPs were analysed through BS standard sieving, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The hardened SP-based mortars were subjected to direct compressive strength, rebound hammer, ultrasonic pulse velocity tests, and nonevaporable degree of hydration analysis. The XRF, SEM, and XRD analysis results of the SPs showed over 86% calcium oxide content, irregular and needle-like particles, and hydroxyapatite/calcium silicates, respectively. The direct compressive strength and the non-destructive test results revealed that up to 30% sand replacement with SP in masonry mortar, an improvement of 45% compressive strength could be attained over the control sample. The nonevaporable water method of the degree of hydration analysis showed that after 28 days, hydration increased considerably for the SP-blended mortars over the control, especially the SPM-30 with 30% sand replacement. Therefore, the study concludes that the investigated SPs in blended masonry mortar could benefit an eco-friendly environment and conservation of natural resources