Data in support of high rate of pregnancy related deaths in Maiduguri,Borno State,Northeast Nigeria

Pregnancy relateddeaths(PRD)arepublichealthconcerninmost developing countriesandNigeriainparticular.Despitetheefforts put inbytheconcernedauthorities,PRDremainsanintegralpart of maternalmortalityormaternaldeathsinNigeriaingeneraland Borno stateinparticular,asevidencedfromtherecordsobtained from UmaruShehuHospital,Maiduguri(astatehospitalinthe state capital.ThedatacontainsfrequencyofPRDinmonthsand grouped intogynaecology,ante-natalandpost-natal,andlabour obtained frommid-2009tomid-2017.Thestatisticalanalysisof the datamayrevealtheextentofincidenceorepidemiologyof PRD isinthestat

Integrated atomistic process and device simulation of decananometre MOSFETs

In this paper we present a methodology for the integrated atomistic process and device simulation of decananometre MOSFETs. The atomistic process simulations were carried out using the kinetic Monte Carlo process simulator DADOS, which is now integrated into the Synopsys 3D process and device simulation suite Taurus. The device simulations were performed using the Glasgow 3D statistical atomistic simulator, which incorporates density gradient quantum corrections. The overall methodology is illustrated in the atomistic process and device simulation of a well behaved 35 nm physical gate length MOSFET reported by Toshiba

Review of urological cancers in Damaturu, Nigeria

 Background: Urological cancers (UC) remain a major global burden and a significant cause of high morbidity and mortality. In other to plan and tackle this burden, there is need to audit the pattern of these malignancies in our locality which is currently lacking.  Hence, the objectives of our study were to describe the histological pattern, frequency and demographic characteristics of urological cancers seen in Damaturu.Methods: The reports of all the urological specimens that were histologically diagnosed as malignant between November 2017 to October 2019 in the histopathology department of Yobe state university teaching hospital, were analyzed. The department keeps newly established cancer registry for the state.Results:  Fifty-five UC were diagnosed, with male to female ratio of 13.8:1. These UC constitute 34.1% of the 161 urological specimens assessed and 26.4% of all types of medical cancers diagnosed in the period of study. Prostate cancer dominates the UC (41; 73.8%), followed by bladder cancers (11; 19.8%) and the remaining kidney, penis and testicular cancers (1; 1.8%) each.Conclusions: Urological cancers are very common in our region, particularly prostate cancers in which majority were poorly differentiated. This report though analyzed few cancers, the proportion of UC is high. Urothelial cancer of the bladder is now more frequent than squamous cell carcinoma. This study can serve as basis for future epidemiologic studies targeting at the risk factors, awareness and prevention of UC

Factors associated with seizure severity among children with epilepsy in Northern Nigeria

Objective: To describe how seizure severity in children with epilepsy may be affected by certain socio-demographic and clinical variablesDesign: A cross-sectional studySetting: At the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, NigeriaParticipants: Sixty children and adolescents who were being followed up for seizure disorder at the child neurology clinicIntervention: Information on socio-demographic characteristics was obtained with a questionnaire, details of neuro-logical co-morbidities were extracted from the participants’ records, and seizure severity was assessed with the Na-tional Hospital Seizure Severity Score 3 tool.Main Outcome Measure: Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between categorical variables, while the Independent t-test was used in describing the differences between means. Simple linear regression was calculated to assess the predictability of seizure severity.Result: The median age was ten years (IQR = 6-13 years), with a male dominance (1.5:1). The Seizure Severity Score (SSS) ranged between 3 and 24 units, with a mean of 12.22 ± 4.29 units. The only characteristic that had a significant association with SSS on bivariate analysis was the “presence of co-morbidities” (p=0.019). A simple linear regression revealed that the presence of a neurological co-morbidity predicted an increase in the SSS by 2.67 units. [R2 = 0.091, F (1, 58)= 5.837, p = 0.019. ꞵ = 2.67, t= 2.42, p= 0.019.]Conclusion: This study shows that neurological co-morbidities predict worsening seizure severity. This knowledge may influence prognostication and the charting of a treatment trajectory

In vitro antimicrobial and radical scavenging activities of Adenanthera pavonina stem bark fractions

The present investigation deals with the in vitro antimicrobial and radical scavenging activities of four different fractions obtained from the stem bark of Adenanthera pavonina. Phytochemical screening of the fractions revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, phenol, protein, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids. Evaluation of the extracts against three different bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus) showed that the ethyl acetate fraction (F4) possess the best antimicrobial activity with good zones of inhibition. While antifungal activity against (Aspagillus flavus, Candida albican and Mucor) further indicate F4 has the best activity. Lastly, the radical scavenging activity revealed that the F1 (ethanol extract) and F4 (ethyl acetate fraction) demonstrated promising antiradical power on diphenylpicrylhydraxyl (DPPH) with an excellent percentage scavenging effect. At 1000 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL the DPPH activity of the ethyl acetate fraction was 97.9 and 71.3% respectively. While it was observed to be 94.9 and 69.6% for ethanol at 1000 and 10 μg/mL respectively. These values are found to be higher than that of the standard reference (ascorbic acid) which was 96.4 and 58.4 % at 1000 and 10 μg/mL respectively. This shows that the assay for DPPH free radical scavenging activity is concentration dependent. This strengthens part of the ethnomedicinal claims on the plant, Adenanthera Pavonina as a curative agent of different diseases of clinical concern.Keywords: Adenanthera pavonina, Alkaloid, Antimicrobial, Ethyl acetate, Phytochemical, Radica

Numerical modelling of copper composite thin films for solar control filter

Performance of solar control filter depends strongly on the individual layer thicknesses as well as the quality of their interfaces. In this work, a numerical modeling was designed and implemented to optimize the layer thicknesses of Cu2O/CuS, Cu2O/Cu and CuS/Cu thin films for use as solar control filter using transfer matrix. The result shows that for Cu2O/CuS, with CuS in contact with the substrate, the optimized layer thickness of 110/30nm and for CuS/Cu and Cu2O/Cu with Cu in contact with the substrate, the optimized layer thickness are 110/30nm and 100/30nm, respectively. The model also predicted transmittances of 67% for Cu2O/CuS, 42% for CuS/Cu and 64.5% for Cu2O/Cu at 550nm. A transmittances of 24.9-36.9% of IR radiation for all the films was realized. These results, when compared with previous works indicate the possibility of improvement in the performance of the filters.Keywords: Solar Control Filter, Transfer Matrix, Infrared, Numerical Modeling, Transmittanc

Profit Efficiency among Rain-Fed Rice Farmers in Northern Taraba State , Nigeria

The study analyzed the profit efficiency of rain-fed rice farmers in Northern zone of Taraba state by collecting data from 156 respondents in 2013. A measure of profit efficiency was provided using stochastic profit frontier and inefficiency model. The results showed that there were high levels of inefficiency in rice production. The mean level of profit efficiency was 59% indicating that 41% of the profit was lost due to a combination of both technical and allocative inefficiencies. The profit inefficiency model showed that age, education, farming experience, household size and access to credit facilities increased the profit efficiency of the respondents. It is therefore, recommended that learning opportunities, farm inputs and credit facilities should be made available to farmers in appropriate time. Keywords: Efficiency, Profit-function, Rice, Taraba State

The Effect of Religious Conflicts in Northern Nigeria on Public Health Outcomes: A Case Study of Cholera Outbreak

Violent conflicts, in most cases, pose an unquantifiable challenge to human health and health systems especially in developing countries. Complex humanitarian emergencies as a result of conflicts could severely have negative consequences on public health. Nigeria has faced series of threatening security challenges, but the one caused by the activities of the socalled Islamist sect, the Boko Haram (BH), remains protracted, especially in Borno, a State in the north-eastern part of the country. The resultant outcome is the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have suffered from many diseases especially cholera, which has continued to ravage these displaced populations. Conflict can contribute to water shortage through the destruction of water sources, such as wells, reservoirs and laid pipes, and its contamination. This is happening on an already weak health system. Though cholera is easily treatable, concerted efforts by government and medical humanitarian agencies are urgently required to ameliorate the situation of the IDPs. An appropriate strategy of control of the transmission of cholera and emergency medical intervention can help alleviate the devastating effects. The management of cholera transmission include the supply of sufficient water sources, adequate sanitation, and a public health campaign to maximize the effects of these measures. One key health system challenge that could limit the effectiveness of the interventions would be the people. This paper focuses on studying the resultant large numbers of IDPs from the BH conflict, discussing cholera outbreak as a specific health issue, and presenting a focused humanitarian intervention to address this health need

Linear Subspaces of Solutions Applied to Hirota Bilinear Equations

- Linear subspace of solution is applied to Boussinesq and Kadomtseve-Petviashvili (KP) equations using Hirota bilinear transformation. A sufficient and necessary condition for the existence of linear subspaces of exponential travelling wave solutions to Hirota bilinear equations is applied to show that multivariate polynomials whose zeros form a vector space can generate the desire Hirota bilinear equations with given linear subspaces of solutions and formulate such multivariate polynomials by using multivariate polynomials which have one and only one zero

Resolving Nigeria's ‘Boko Haram’ insurgence: What role for the media?

Nigeria has no doubt witnessed and is still witnessing several forms of conflicts in both the North and the Southern divides.One of such devastating insurgence that currently ravaged the peaceful and harmonious living in the country is the present conflicts in the North, involving the Islamic sect group – Boko Haram.The sect (which forbid western education) come to limelight in 2009 after the arrest and subsequent murder of the former leader Late Muhammed Yusuf.Since then however, the group have successfully launched attacks that have claimed lives and properties worth billions of Naira, most of which were attributed to the way and manner in which media handles them.The mass media are blamed in several occasions on inflaming the conflict, particularly regarding the nature of their reportage.The critical question is can Nigerian media play any role in resolving the Boko – Haram insurgence? This form the fulcrum in which this paper revolved