Histogram-Based Texture Characterization and Classification of Brain Tissues in Non-Contrast CT Images of Stroke Patients

This chapter describes histogram-based texture characterization and classification of brain tissue in CT images of stroke patients using a case study. It explored texture analysis in medical imaging. In the case study, two radiologists independently inspected non-contrast CT images of 164 stroke to identify and categorize brain tissue into normal, ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes. Four regions of interest (ROIs) in each CT slice with lesion were selected for analysis; two each represented the lesion and normal tissue. Histogram texture parameters were calculated for them. Raw data analysis identified parameters that discriminated between normal brain tissue, ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke lesions. The artificial neural network (ANN) and k-nearest neighbour (k-NN) algorithms were used to classify the ROIs into normal tissue, ischaemic and haemorrhagic lesions using the radiologists’ categorization as the gold standard, and further analysed using the ROC curve. Three parameters namely mean, 90 and 99 percentiles discriminated between normal brain tissue, ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke lesions. With ANN and k-NN, the weighted sensitivity and specificity were above 0.9 while the false positive and false negative rates were negligible. The characterization and classification of brain tissue using histogram parameters were satisfactory and may be suitable for automated diagnosis of stroke

Normative ultrasound values of renal parenchymal thickness among adults in Enugu, South-East Nigeria.

Background: Reduction in renal length was found to be an insufficient independent indicator of chronic renal disease.Objective: To determine the ultrasound normative values of renal parenchymal thickness (RPT) among adults and correlate them with age and somatometric parameters.Methods: This was a prospective clinic based study involving 310 normal adults (135 males and 175 females) scanned at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu between August 2003 and November 2004. The RPT measurements were made from the outer renal cortical margin to the outer margin of the sinus echoes at the three major poles. The age, height, weight and body mass index were recorded for each subject.Results: The average RPT are 1.85 + 0.20 cm for the right kidney and 1.95 + 0.19 cm for the left kidney. RPT exhibited strong positive correlation with height, weight and body mass index and significant negative correlation with age. No significant difference in mean RPT of both kidneys between genders (p > 0.05). The mean RPT of the left kidney was found to be statistically higher than that of the right kidney (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Normal values of RPT are important in the evaluation of patients with chronic renal disease.Keywords: Adult, Kidney, Parenchymal thickness, 1Ultrasound

The Role of Microfinance Institutions in Financing Small Businesses

SMEs all over the world play a strong role in national development. This is attributed to the massive employment it provides to the citizenry of the country where it exists. The financing of these ‘’goose’’ which have being laying so many golden eggs has come under scrutiny by academics and practitioners. Due to the recognition accorded this very important sector, the Nigerian government established microfinance banks in the year 2007 to serve as mechanisms for financial sources for various SMEs. This study explored the roles of these micro finance banks and institutions on small and medium enterprises as well as the extent to which the small businesses have benefited from the credit scheme of microfinance banks. Primary data was obtained via interviews conducted in 15 small businesses across Lagos state with their responses summarized in tables. This study advocates the recapitalization of microfinance banks to enhance their capacity to support small business growth and expansion and also to bring to the knowledge of the management of microfinance banks and institutions the impact of the use of collaterals as a condition for granting credit to small businesse

Financing Women Entrepreneurs and Employment Generation – a Case Study of Microfinance Banks

Women are becoming increasingly important in the socio-economic development of both developed and developing economies. This is because they account for a significant percentage of the operators of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in virtually all aspects of the globe.Despite these success stories emanating from these economies, the Nigerian case have not been encouraging. The Nigerian women have for decades engagedin survivalist activities due to little or no encouragement from the government and the organised private sectors.This study examined, among others, the impact of financing women entrepreneurs and employment generationamong these groups within the Nigerian state. The study reports that financing women entrepreneurs hasincremental effects on employment generations and their efforts also results in multiple employment generations through improvement in their business activities, thereby increasing the numbers of selfemployed individuals in the country. The study recommends governmental intervention through the enactment of adequate policies tailored toward the encouragement and empowerment of women entrepreneur

Assessment of Indoor Radon Concentration Levels in Offices of University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria

Background: Indoor radon concentration levels are an essential component for assessing radiation exposure to populations. Indoor Radon levels have not been reported for offices of academic staff of The University of Nigeria, Enugu, which is located on a hilly rocky plain.Purpose: To establish potential for radiation hazards to persons using offices for extended periods of time.Materials and Methods: Four offices were randomly selected from each of the five faculties in the campus, making a total of twenty surveyed offices. Short term Electret Ion Chamber Technology (EIC) with the trade name E-PERMTM was employed for the measurement of radon concentration in the offices.Results: Average indoor radon concentration in the offices range between 2.5 Bq m-3 to 21.3 Bq m-3 with an arithmetic mean of 11.8 Bq m-3.Conclusion: Indoor Radon levels in University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus offices is currently within acceptable safe limits

Transactional Sex in Nigerian Universities among Female Students: Drivers and Safety Concerns

Freedom away from parents and guardians for students in higher institutions could have effects on their sexual decisions and behaviours, which when not guided could portend devastating consequences. Such a decision could lead to indulging in transactional sex (TS), a kind of sexual relationship that is adopted in exchange for material and non-material benefits. In this study, we underscored why female students are involved in TS in some Nigerian universities and offer potential remedies that could mitigate or prevent associated negative consequences. The study relied on a qualitative research methodology, adopting in-depth interviews to source data from 40 female students across 5 universities in southeastern Nigeria. Data were analysed in thematic categories that reflected the research questions. Family pressure/parental disconnectedness, gender, peer influence, poor economic background, greed, etc., influenced TS involvement. We also identified some psychosocial and health risks associated with TS. The roles of social service professionals were found to be of much importance, although the universities that were studied barely employed and/or utilised their services

Characterization and Classification of Brain Tissue and Stroke Lesions in Non-Contrast Computed Tomography Images of Stroke Patients Using Statistical Texture Descriptors and Artificial Neural Network

  Aim: To characterize and classify stroke lesions and normal brain tissue in computed tomography (CT) images using statistical texture descriptors. Patients and methods: Two experienced radiologists blinded to each other inspected CT images of 164 stroke patients to identify and categorize stroke lesions into ischaemic and haemorrhagic subtypes. Four regions of interest (ROIs) in each CT slice that demonstrated the lesion; two each representing the lesion and normal tissue were selected. Statistical texture descriptors namely, co-occurrence matrix, run-length matrix, absolute gradient and histogram were calculated for them.  Raw data analysis was performed to identify the parameters that best discriminate between normal brain tissue and stroke lesions. Artificial neural network (ANN) was used to classify the ROIs into normal tissue, ischaemic and haemorrhagic lesions using the radiologists’ identification and categorization as the gold standard, and further analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: Three parameters in each texture class discriminated between normal tissue, ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke lesions. The discriminating co-occurrence matrix parameters were sum average parameters namely S1-1 SumAverg, S1-0 SumAverg and S0-1 SumAverg.  For the run-length matrix, short run emphasis in horizontal, 1350 and 450 directions were the discriminating features. The discriminating absolute gradient parameters were gradient non-zeros, gradient variance and gradient mean. For the histogram class, the mean, 90th and 99th percentiles were the discriminating parameters. The ANN achieved a sensitivity of 0.637, specificity 0.753, false positive rate (FPR) 0.247, and false negative rate (FNR) 0.363 with co-occurrence matrix. With run-length matrix the sensitivity was 0.544, specificity 0.607, FPR 0.393, and FNR 0.456 while with absolute gradient the sensitivity was 0.546, specificity 0.586, FPR 0.414, FNR 0.454. With histogram, the sensitivity was 0.947, specificity 0.962, FPR 0.038, and FNR 0.053. Conclusion: The histogram texture features showed the highest sensitivity and specificity in the classification of brain tissue and stroke lesions using the artificial neural network.    &nbsp

Assessment of Background Radioactivity of Surface Soils in Ondo City, Ondo State, Nigeria

The natural radioactivity of surface soils collected from various locations in Ondo City were measured by means of well calibrated High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector, Canberra model coupled to a versatile Canberra Multichannel Analyzer, at the Centre for Energy Research and Development of Obafemi Awolowo University. Ile Ife. The soil samples were collected from the fourteen zones that constituted the town with four samples taken from each zone. The emission line spectra used in identifying the natural radioisotopes belong to 238U and 232Th decay series and that of naturally occurring 40K. The gamma activity obtained for 40K ranged from 212.1 Bq/kg to 895.7 Bq/kg with a mean value of 470.4 ± 26.8 Bq/kg. For 232Th, the gamma activity ranged from 30.2 Bq/kg to 72.4 Bq/kg with a mean value of 48.8 ± 8.4 Bq/kg, and from 3.6 Bq/kg to 14.2 Bq/kg with a mean value of 6.9 ± 1.2 Bq/kg for 238U. The mean absorbed dose rate in these locations amounts to 45.36 nGy/h which by approximate conversion gives an indoor annual effective dose of 0.223 mSv/year and outdoor annual effective dose of 0.056 mSv/year. These values constitute the baseline dose equivalent, which is below the 1.0 mSv/year recommended by the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP, 1990) as the maximum permissible dose equivalent for members of public. The results obtained showed that the study area is free from radiological contamination. Keywords: Radioactivity, Absorbed dose, Radioisotopes, Environment

SONOGRAPHIC REFERENCE LUMINAL DIAMETER OF THE ABDOMINAL AORTA AMONG SUBJECTS IN NIGERIA

Objective: The objective of the study was to develop a reference luminal diameter (LD) of the abdominal aorta (AA) in Abuja, Nigeria. Methods: The LD of the AA of 422 male and female healthy subjects was measured sonographically using standard protocol. The relationship between age, body mass index (BMI), gender, and the LD of the AA was determined in the subjects. Statistical analysis was performed by the Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient at p < 0.05 level of significance. Results: The values of the LD of the AA in the healthy subjects were 15.16 ± 0.55 mm in males and 15.15 ± 0.55 mm in females. The 5th and 95th percentile normal reference limits of the AA were 14.20–16.10 mm, respectively. There were no significant differences in the LD measurements in male and female subjects. Age correlated strongly positively with LD (ɼ=0.90) of the AA in both genders. BMI showed weak positive correlation with LD (ɼ=0.136) of the AA in female healthy subjects only. Conclusion: The reference LD of the AA in the study population was 15.16 ± 0.55 mm in males and 15.15 ± 0.55 mm in females. The LD of the AA increased proportionately with age

Credit Risk Management: Implications on Bank Performance and Lending Growth

This study is an empirical investigation into the quantitative effect of credit risk management on the performance of Nigeria’s Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Bank lending growth over the period of 17 years (1998- 2014). Secondary data for empirical analysis was obtained from CBN Statistical bulletin 2014 and World Bank (WDI) 2015. The study employed multiple linear regression model to analyze the time series data. The result showed that sound credit management strategies can boost investors and savers confidence in banks and lead to a growth in funds for loans and advances which leads to increased bank profitability.. The findings revealed that credit risk management has an insignificant impact on the growth of total loans and advances by Nigerian Deposit money banks. The study therefore recommends that DMBs in Nigeria should strictly adhere to their credit appraisal policies which ensures that only credit worthy borrowers have access to loanable funds. Banks are to ensure that funds are allocated to borrowers with decent to high credit rating