A review of the roles of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules in infections

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus is a group of genes located on the short arm of chromosome 6 in human that code for proteins on the cell surface. They have important roles in immune response by the cells of immune system. Using a comprehensive search method on Google Scholar and PubMed databases, literatures on MHC published in English until 2021 were searched with the terms; “MHC”, “HLA”, “MHC antigen presentation” and “MHC roles in infections”. Relevant publications were identified, screened for duplicates and selected per eligibility. The review highlights the different haplotypes of the MHC that either enhance or depress the body immune system to some important viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. The possibility of utilizing this knowledge in genetic engineering and immunomodulation, to prevent infectious diseases and cancers, are discussed

Livelihood Diversification among Arable Farm Households in the Forest Zone of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study assessed the livelihood diversification strategies among the arable farm households in the forest zone of Oyo State, Nigeria. A 3-stage random sampling technique was used to select a total of 160 arable farm households around some selected forest reserves for the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used for the collection of data. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics, livelihood index, and logistic regression model. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were male (57.5%), educated (81.2%), married (71.9%), and had a household size of about 7 members. Non timber forest products (NTFP) gathering (39.38%) was the most preferred livelihood diversification strategy followed by transportation business (16.88%), petty trading (13.75%), artisanal work (12.5%), firewood sales (6.25%), wage employed (4.38%), charcoal production (3.75%), timber sales (1.88%), and hunting (1.25%) in that order respectively. The forest-related livelihoods accounted for 52.5% of the predominant livelihood strategies, whereas, non-forest-related livelihoods accounted for 47.5%. The significant predictors of the probability of engaging in forest-related strategies include; primary education, and secondary education (10% each); tertiary education, and household size (1% each), and age of household head (5%). The study recommends the intensification of local capacities of the farmers such as access to education and training facilities to enable them access and process information, and credit to enhance their livelihood and minimize forest dependence

Early Growth Response of Azanza garckeana (Exell & Hillc) as Influenced by Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers

Thespesia garckeana (also known by its synonym Azanza garckeana) is a tree in the family Malvaceae, found throughout the warmer parts of Southern Africa. The use of organic and inorganic fertilizer is a way of providing adequate nutrition to growing seedlings, while improving their quality, resistance and adaptation. The study was carried out at the screen house and laboratory of the Department of Soils and Tree Nutrition of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Ibadan (FRIN). The experiment was a completely randomized design (CRD), with sixteen (16) treatments and replicated 4 times. The data collected include; stem girth (mm), plant height (cm) and number of leaves at interval of 2 weeks for a period of 16 weeks, while plant dry matter were obtained at the 16th week. Data collected were subjected to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GenStat 9th Edition, while significant different means were separated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% probability level. The result showed that the experimental soil was loamy sand with low nutrient status, while the combination of compost and NPK 15:15:15 at ratio 1:2 (T13) in the soil showed a significantly higher mean height at the end of the study. Treatment T6 (NPK 15:15:15 at 125kgNha-1) maintained the widest stem diameter of 7.33mm among all the treatments and was significantly wider than that of T14 (NPK 15:15:15 at 33.3kgNha-1 + AC at 66.6kgNha-1) with 5.24mm stem diameter, which was the least. The dry matter yield for the plant’s stem showed a significant higher influence from treatment T13 (NPK 15:15:15 at 66.6kgNha-1 + AC at 33.3kgNha-1) with 1.84g, while treatment T6 significantly influenced root production (6.80g) compared to those of treatments T14 and T16 (0.39 and 0.12g respectively) with a combination of  both organic and inorganic fertilizers. As shown in this study, a combination of NPK 15:15:15 at 66.6kgNha-1 + AC at 33.3kgNha-1 (T13) significantly increased plant height and stem dry matter yield compared to all other treatment combinations. Likewise, higher rate of inorganic fertilizer as seen in treatment T6 also significantly increased plant’s stem growth and root dry matter yield, while NPK 15:15:15 at 50 kgNha-1 + AC at 50kgNha-1 also increased plant leaves dry matter yield. Therefore, for a productive early growth response of Azanza garckeana, the use of the combinations of NPK 15:15:15 and Aleshinloye compost is recommended

Pattern of Maxillofacial Trauma in the Nigerian Population

Introduction: The pattern of trauma to the maxillofacial region differs in various parts of the world. Studies have shown that not only does it differ from one continent to the other, it differs from one country to another within the same continent and from one zone to another within the same country. These have been ascribed to the prevailing socioeconomic, cultural and environmental factors in the study area. It is important that patterns of maxillofacial injuries should be continuously evaluated so that efforts should be put in place to reduce the incidence. The aim of the present study is therefore to describe the patterns of maxillofacial injuries in the Nigerian literature.Methods: The MEDLINE was used to conduct a computerized literature search using for publications on maxillofacial trauma in Nigeria. For this search, the medical subject headings on "maxillofacial fractures" or "mandible fractures" or "middle-third fractures" or "facial fractures" or "zygoma fractures" were combined with "Nigeria". Also, the publications cited in these articles to look for additional important articles but were not found on MEDLINE were searched for.Results: Most of the studies were retrospective while the commonest geopolitical zone where studies were done was the South West region. The commonest cause of maxillofacial injuries was road traffic accident while the commonest age group was the 21-30 years.Conclusion: Road traffic accident is the commonest cause of maxillofacial injuries. It is therefore recommended that the appropriate authorities should enforce seat belt and helmet laws. The government should provide street lights, good roads, pedestrian bridges and traffic lights to reduce vehicular/vehicular and human/vehicular/human collisions.     &nbsp

A Model for Determining the Effect of Irregular Power Supply on Machining Foundry Products in a Developing Economy

In this paper, profit is maximized (or production cost is minimized) by developing an Integer programming (IP) model to determine, at a given respective unit cost, optimal numbers of outputs obtainable per production cycle (time) using public electricity generated from national grids and alternate electricity from generators subject to production output capacity or demand constraint. The results obtained showed that production cycle time has a great impact on the determination of optimal outputs for the respective conditions. Also, increase in cost of public electricity per unit product has an upper limit beyond which it has negative effect on the profitability. The results served as determinant factors for production industry in establishing the level of outputs that sustained the profitability by providing optimal cost of public electricity to operate without having any effect on the profit, at a given cycle time. Keywords— Constraint, cycle time, integer programming, optimal number, mode

The Thermal Analysis of Fuel Fired Crucible Furnace Using Autodesk Inventor Simulation Software

The reasons for failure of locally made furnace in the foundries were as a result of cycles of operating temperatures that they were subjected to, which caused thermal stress and strain on the furnaces. This paper studied the simulation of thermal analysis of Fuel fired Crucible Furnace to predict the effect of thermal stress and strain on it

Thermal Properties and Energy Utilization of Cassava Meal in Conductive Rotary Drying

Abstract In this study the thermal properties and drying behaviour of cassava meal in a conductive rotary dryer was investigated. Cassava flour and gelatinized gari were produced at drying temperatures of 70°C and 90°C, respectively. The activation energy of cassava meal was 49.52 kJ/mol, and the effective moisture diffusivity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity increased with temperature from 1.74x10 -10 to 4.51x10 -10 m 2 /s, 0.329 to 0.344 W/m°C and 1.804 to 1.901 kJ/kg°C, respectively. With increase in bulk density of cassava meal from 379.50±2.55 to 464.79±30.38 kg/m 3 , thermal diffusivity and specific energy consumption decreased from 4.81x10 -7 to 3.89x10 -7 m 2 /s and 618.88 to 456 kJ/kg, respectively. The thermal efficiency of the dryer was greater than 31% for both cassava flour and gari. Compared with previous works, performance of the conductive rotary dryer was satisfactory and upgrade of its design will make it suitable for application in the cassava processing industry

Optimizing Compressive Strength Properties of Binary Blended Cement Rice Husk Concrete for Road Pavement

Different supplementary cementitious materials are often blended with cement to produce sustainable concrete. More often than not, the strength of blended concrete is compromised, if the constituent materials are not carefully selected. In this study, optimization of strength properties of blended cement-rice husk ash (RHA) was carried out to determine the best mix ratio that produced binary blended concrete of high strength. Different mix ratios of cement and RHA were studied at a water cement ratio of 0.4 to produce concrete specimens. RHA was produced by burning 700 ℃ for an hour and its chemical composition was determined using the X-Ray Fluoresce (XRF) technique. RHA produced was used to replace cement at replacement levels of 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 %, and was used as binder. The compressive strength of each concrete mix was determined at 7, 28, and 56 days. Approximately 250 concrete cubes were tested and the results were subjected to statistical analysis. The results showed that compressive strength and internal structure varied with RHA as a replacement for cement. Optimal strength was achieved for a concrete mixture, prepared at a water: cement: aggregate ratio of 1:1.5:3, respectively, and a RHA replacement ratio of 5 %. HIGHLIGHTS Cement is the most utilized construction material. The energy-intensive processes that are involved in its production contribute up to 10 % of total global CO2emissions, with potentially adverse environmental implications. It is however possible, that energy and cost efficiency can be achieved by reducing on the amount of clinker, and in its place utilising supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) or pozzolans Currently, most sustainable concrete uses either GGBS (slag) or PFA (fly ash) to reduce the quantity of cement used in construction and highways applications. GGBS and PFA come from industries (steel and coal waste respectively) which are in decline that should not be relied upon in the long term. Therefore, for long term sustainability it is imperative to focus attention on other alternative pozzolans This report shows that cement in concrete can also be replaced with rice husk ash (RHA) which actually enhances the mechanical properties. Findings show the usage of up to 5 % rice husk ash as a partial cement replacement can enhance the strength of concrete whilst reducing the embodied CO

Awareness of warning signs among suburban Nigerians at high risk for stroke is poor: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, there is no information on awareness of its warning signs. This study was designed to assess awareness of stroke warning signs in Nigerians at increased risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in southern Nigeria. Patients with a diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes or both were interviewed for the warning signs of stroke in the outpatient clinic by trained interviewers. The main outcome measure was ability to identify at least one stroke warning sign.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 225 respondents with a mean age of 58.0 ± 11.7 years. Only 39.6% could identify at least one stroke warning sign while the commonest sign identified was sudden unilateral limb weakness (24.4%). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, male sex (β = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.14–0.39, p < 0.001) and 11 or more years of education (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.03–0.29, p = 0.02) emerged the independent predictors of ability to identify at least one warning sign.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Awareness of stroke warning signs is poor among Nigerians at increased risk for the disease. Efforts should be made to improve on the level of awareness through aggressive health education.</p