The Post-Colonial Themes of Racism in the Nigerian Army (NA) 1966-2014

This paper discusses the activities of racial prejudice in independent Nigeria that revolves within the circle of “tribalism”1 among the contemporary Nigerian society, which emanated through the resurgence of ethnic and religious nationalisms. The practicability of racism has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigerian society. However, the research has only examined its diffusion into the Nigerian Army (NA), which has become a stagnant weapon in the prevailing advocacy for an assured nationhood in Nigeria

Religion among the Kambari People before and after the British Colonial Rule

The research on which this paper is based is on the history of religious development among the Kambari people from the pre-colonial to date. It also examines the main contributing factors that had assisted in both preserving and in weakening the Kambari traditional religious practices, an event which later brought about remarkable cultural and religious changes among the people. Generally speaking, notwithstanding the acute shortage of documented sources the paper has been able through the use of oral data to bring into light the major structure and dynamics of the Kambari traditional religion and its interaction with Islam, Christianity and Western Education

A Systematic Review on Sonographic Evaluation of Renal Size in Apparently Healthy Adults

The normal size of a kidney is variable and is affected by both physiologic and pathological conditions. Since renal size is affected by various factors, it is necessary to establish population specific normative values. Ultrasonography has shown its usefulness as an essential tool in the evaluation of renal size. The study aimed at reviewing published articles in the evaluation of renal size and identifying gaps in order to make recommendation for further studies. All articles included in this review are prospective in design with the smallest sample size used being 100 participants and the largest 4,035 participants. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 80 years. The overall mean renal size reported in this review ranged from 63±18.1 cm3 to 164.3±38 cm3 for the right kidney and 69.1±25.1 cm3 to 183.3±48.9 cm3 for the left kidney. Six of the reviewed articles reported a statistical significant difference between male and female mean renal size (p<0.05), while two articles revealed no statistical significant difference between male and female mean renal sizes (p>0.05). However, the remaining seven articles did not compare the mean renal size between male and female participants. Seven out of the articles reported a significant positive correlation between kidney dimensions and BMI, while other eight articles did not check the association between kidney dimensions and anthropometric parameters. This review showed only one article out of fifteen used a probability sampling method and only two articles used larger sample size. Eight of the reviewed articles did not perform creatinine clearance test before recruitment of their participants

Sonographic patterns of retained products of conception among women attending Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital Kano, Nigeria

Retain products of conception (RPOC) remains a major concern because its complications are among the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women with postpartum uterus. Every locality should have a documented findings of postpartum uterus predicting retained products of conception. This study was aimed at evaluating the sonographic pattern of RPOC among women attending Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano. The study was prospective, conducted from January 2021 to August 2021. A total of 200 patients referred on the suspicion of RPOC on the basis of history or clinical examination were enrolled in the study. Transabdominal ultrasound with 3.5MHtz transducer was performed in all referred cases. The findings obtained were recorded on data capture sheet. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 23.0. Mean age of the patients was 21.7 ±6.7 years and the mean gestational age was 11.7 ±4.8 weeks. Most of the patients present with per vaginal bleeding, lower back pain or fever as their clinical history. Sonographic findings of RPOC were mix-echogenic content 106(53%), hypoechoic fluid collection 52(26%) and hyperechoic mass 42 (21%). The correlation between clinical history and sonographic pattern of RPOC shows a significant weak positive correlation (r= 0.15 and p= 0.03). The correlation between RPOC size and gestational age also shows a significant weak positive correlation (r= 0.27 and p= 0.00). Sonography is an accurate tool for diagnosis of retained products of conception, with mixed echogenic content as the most common sonographic pattern RPOC

Features of Islamic websites, perceptions of Muslim users and utilization behavior: a conceptual model

Islamic websites demand special attention due the nature of the content delivered to the users. To deliver satisfying online knowledge and practice for Muslim Ummah, it is important to identify and evaluate the overall features of Islamic website (Iweb). In this paper, we explore the literature on Islamic website and e-consumer and developed a conceptual model that identifies perceived Muslim user satisfaction. The paper examines three issues namely; features of Iweb user satisfaction, perceived dimensions of this satisfaction judgment, and consequence of Muslim user satisfaction with Iweb

Sonographic features of radiologically non-functioning kidneys on intravenous urography (IVU) in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

Background: Despite technological advancement in uro-radiology, renal ultrasonography remains the imaging modality of choice for evaluating various pathological conditions affecting urinary tract (GIT) system.Aim: This study was aimed at evaluating sonographic features of radiologically nonfunctional kidneys in Kano metropolis, Nigeria.Methods: A prospective study involving 94 each of disease and control group were conducted in Kano metropolis from January 2019 to January 2021. Renal scans were performed using a digital ultrasound imaging system; model DP-8800Plus fitted with a 3.5MHz curvilinear transducer. The maximum length, width, and thickness were measured. The renal echogenicity was assessed and graded. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22.0Results: The mean values of the right and left renal volumes among adult patients was 400.5 ± 527.3 cm3 and 177.6 ± 174.3 cm3 respectively. For pediatric patients it was 272.3 ± 308.6 cm3 and 241.6 ± 228.7 cm3 for the right and left kidney respectively. The renal parenchymal echogenicity of the right kidney among adult patients were sored as grade II 2 (5.3%), grade III 27 (71%), and grade IV 9 (23.7%), while that pediatric patients were Grade 0 (11.1%), and 8 (88.9%) as grade III. The adults left kidney were scored grade II 2 (6%), and 16 (47%) each as grades III and IV, while the pediatric group scored 3 (25%) as grade II, and 9 (75%) as grade III.Conclusion: Increased renal volume, shrunken kidney, increased renal parenchymal echogenicity, and severe hydronephrosis were strong sonographic indicators of nonfunctional kidneys

Bacterial contaminants of new disposable ready-to-use plastic cups sold within Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria

Background: Disposable cups are usually used for drinking without any form of pre-cleaning, this has the potential to expose individuals to pathogenic microorganisms, and unfortunately this issue has not been investigated in Gombe metropolis, hence, this study aimed to investigate the bacteriological aspect of the problem and to reduce the existing knowledge gap regarding this problem. Methods: Thirty samples were collected using simple random sampling from two different markets, then swab sticks pre-moistened with peptone water were used to swab the inner portions of the cups, put in sterile distilled water, serially diluted, inoculated on nutrient agar, and incubated. Identification of the isolates were done using their physical and biochemical characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility tests were done using disc diffusion method and interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results: The total mesophilic bacterial counts ranged from 3.0×105 to 9.9×105 CFU/ml. These isolates were identified and tested for their sensitivity to some antibiotics which revealed that Escherichia coli  (E.coli ) were sensitive to augmentin, ampicillin, and ciprofloxacin, but intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)  were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and augmentin, intermediately resistant to chloramphenicol, and resistant to ampicillin. Bacillus spp were sensitive to augmentin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol and ampicillin, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, augmentin, and chloramphenicol, but intermediately resistant to ampicillin. Conclusion: These new disposable ready-to-use cups harbored some potentially pathogenic bacteria which were resistant to some antibiotics. It is therefore recommended that pre-use hygiene practices should be done on these cups prior to use to avert the health effects of consuming these bacteria

Assessment of risk associated with road infrastructure development in the developing countries.

Developing countries are striving to build their infrastructure to foster their economic growth. Authors discovered that continuous rising in the access to locations along with spending on infrastructure enhances the economic development and growth of developing countries. However, this development process comes with various challenges such as the right of way, traffic management, diversions, noise, vibration, dust etc. In addition to that, the weak performance of road construction projects in these countries can be attributed to the inefficient understanding and deployment of risk management. As a result of these challenges, residents, businesses, travellers etc. are subject to risks at different levels and magnitudes. This study aims to identify and measure the risks associated with infrastructure development within cities in the developing nations. A questionnaire is used as a tool for data collection; the collected data is then analysed using percentages and Risk Assessment Matrix (RAM). The study identifies the significant risks associated with road infrastructure development (i.e. Heavy, traffic, Dust and Accident and Destruction) in the cities and their severity. This study contributes to identifying rating and likelihood of the associated risks while evaluating the critical risks that needed attention

Shielding Adequacy of Conventional X-ray Facilities in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria using RadShield Software

Over time x-ray department gains more patient throughput compared to when it was established, this may lead to changes in room usage, workload and occupancy factor. Therefore, it becomes imperative to re-evaluate the shielding adequacy of the facilities to ensure the appropriate shielding design goal is accomplished. The study was aimed at assessing the shielding adequacy of conventional x-ray rooms in ten radio diagnostic centres in Kano Metropolis using RADSHIELD software. This was a prospective, cross-sectional study. RadShield software version 1.1 was used in the study, parameters such as distances of each wall from a radiation source (D), the average number of patients per week (N), occupancy factor (T), and use factor (U) were inserted into the software together with the shielding design goal (P). Once the result was generated, the design and shielding variables were saved in .xml format. The data were analyzed using Excel 2016. Ten facilities were studied involving 14 x-ray rooms. Room III had the largest room size of 49.2 m2 while room X had the least room size of 12.8 m2. Room II had the longest source image distance (SOD) of 180cm while room IV had the shortest (120cm). The design barrier thickness was thickest (47 cm) in room II and thinnest (1.5 cm) in barrier 5 of room III. All the x-ray rooms had the ideal room size except facilities G and H. The design barrier thickness in the radiology department of all the conventional x-ray rooms involved in the study was adequate

Effect of food hygiene training on food handlers´ knowledge in Sokoto Metropolis: a quasi-experimental study

Introduction: training intervention for food handlers is necessary to increase their knowledge and awareness about food hygiene. Research in this area has been given low attention in Nigeria, especially in the Northern part of the country. Therefore, we assessed the effect of food hygiene training on the knowledge of food hygiene among food handlers in Sokoto metropolis. Methods: we conducted a quasi-experimental study between January and July 2019. We used a multistage sampling technique to select 360 food handlers randomized into intervention and control groups. We conducted a training intervention after the baseline data collection. Post-intervention data collection was conducted six months after the intervention. We estimated the proportion of respondents with good knowledge at baseline and post-intervention. We assessed the difference in pre-and post-intervention proportions using McNemars Marginal Homogeneity test at 5% level of significance. Results: in the intervention and control groups, 19 (10.6%) and 18 (10.0%) had primary education respectively, p = 0.231. At baseline, 23 (12.8%) and 22 (12.2%) in intervention and control groups respectively had good knowledge, p= 0.515. At post-intervention, the proportion of those with good knowledge in the intervention group increased to 56.7%, p < 0.001; while in the control group, there was no significant difference in the proportion of those with good knowledge, p = 0.248. Conclusion: the training intervention has significantly improved the knowledge of the food handlers. We recommend that the National Food and Drug Agency, in collaboration with restaurant owners, ensure regular on-the-job training of food handlers