SMS Texting among GSM Users in Nigeria: A morpho-Syntactic Analysis

The gradual shift from the offline to online communication such as text messaging has given way to innovative language-short forms whose morph-syntactic aspects have permeated the linguistic characters of the texters. For about a decade now, there exist a growing body of research on mobile phone text messaging by linguists but only very few have been done in the area of morpho-syntax. The work therefore, examines the aspects of morphology and syntax found in SMS text messages. It adopts a combination of Chomsky (1957) Transformational and Silverstein (1976) Meta pragmatic theories. Through the move-a rule and the pragmatic method of analysis, the study discovers that there are morpho-syntactic variations among texters which are problematic to formal English. It also reveals that movement of constituents from one slot to the other is a common feature in text messages though some of such movements violates move-a rules. Other syntactic differences are reflected in form of subject/agent, object, determiner, to-infinitive deletions/omissions. Word-order violations, contractions, abbreviations, acronyms, compounding, blends and lack of punctuation also characterize morpho-syntactic elements in SMS texts. Morphologically, there is no hard and fast rule with regards to the users’ choice of letters in abbreviation. Texters use a combination of letters and numbers in their text messages and in some cases they use only numerals. The texters obviously down-play the orthographic and syntactic rules of the formal English language for their convenience. Keywords: SMS texts, Nigeria, mobile phone, morpho-syntactic analysis

Cluster of Differentiation 4, Serum Malondialdehyde and Immunoglobulin M concentrations in ageing of apparently healthy humans in Keffi, Nigeria

This study evaluated blood samples of 150 adults of age range 30-79 years with 96 males and 54 females on immunology indices; malondialdehyde (MDA), immunoglobin M (IgM) and cluster of differentiation 4 (CD+ 4). Serum MDA concentration significantly (p<0.05) increased with age. Serum MDA concentration of the males were significantly higher than the females. It indicates that the healthy ageing adult’s antioxidant/oxidant balance is compromised. Thus, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS clearance has been disturbed and may result in oxidative damage to macromolecules in the cells. In all ages and gender, IgM antibodies to H. pylori was significantly (p<0.05) different and it increased with age. Study showed that IgM antibodies to H. Pylori was significantly (p<0,05) higher in males than females, thus higher level in elderly indicates an increase in autoimmune disease activit

Insights into the design of spray systems for cell therapies for retinal disease using computational modelling

Chronic eye diseases are the main cause of vision loss among adults. Among these, retinal degenerative diseases affect millions of people globally, causing permanent loss of cells and organ dysfunction. Despite recent progress in developing stem cell therapies for retinal diseases, methods for delivery remain an area of intense research. Aerosol technology is a promising technique with the potential to spray cells evenly and directly across the retinal surface, promoting cell attachment and survival. Here we implement mathematical modelling of the spraying process to develop organ-specific spraying parameters in this therapeutic scenario. Firstly, we characterise the rheological parameters for a typical hydrogel used for spraying cells. These parameters are then integrated into a 3D computational model of an adult human eye under realistic surgical conditions. Simulation results provide quantitative relationships between the volume flow rate of the cell-laden hydrogel, external pressure needed for aerosolization, angle of the spraying, and properties of the cell delivery. An experimental assessment is also carried out to explore the impact of spraying under the regimes identified by the computational model on cell viability. This is the first stage towards using computational models to inform the design of spray systems to deliver cell therapies onto the human retina

Optional Agreement Patterns in Igbo

Abstract Apart from dominance and precedence relationship, other relations exist in syntactic constructions. One of such relations is the agreement relation. Scholars have discussed the clausal agreement relations of the subject and object. Many of such scholars working on Igbo grammar hold the opinion that Igbo verb forms do not inflect to mark agreement with their arguments. This study, which is purely descriptive without any theoretical colouration, describes and illustrates the optional agreement patterns in Igbo, with the intention to highlight the possibility of number agreement between Igbo verbs and their external and internal arguments. The study shows that clitic elements such as "cha/ga" and "nu" optionally attach to the verb in agreement with the plural subject or object in a sentence. Igbo verbs also take some extensional suffixes to agree with their arguments. We therefore gloss them as AGR morphemes

Comparative Evaluation of Nutritive Value of Okro (Abelmoschus esculentus) and Bush Mango (Irvingia gabonensis) Fruits Grown in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

The proximate, mineral and amino acid compositions of okro (Abelmoschus esculentus) pod and bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis) seed were determined using standard analytical techniques. Moisture, ash, crude fat, crude fibre, protein and carbohydrate (by difference) contents (%) of A. esculentus and I. gabonensis were: 25.9 and 2.1, 9.0 and 11.5, 17.2 and 62.0, 4.3 and 0.9, 21.8 and 7.4, and 21.8 and 26.1, respectively. The most abundant minerals were Ca (170.6 and 431.5 mg/100g sample), K (108.5 and 161.0 mg/100g), Mg (83.6 and 171.1 mg/100g) and Na (88.0 and 113.5 mg/100g), respectively. Generally, the two samples were found to be good sources of essential minerals while harmful metals such as Pb and Cd were not at detection limit of AAS. The levels of Na/K and Ca/P ratios were desirable compared with the recommended values. The amino acid profile revealed that samples of A. esculentus and I. gabonensis contained nutritionally useful quantities of most of the essential amino acids with total essential amino acids (TEAA) of 35.4 and 38.1 g/100g crude protein or 40.6 and 47.8% of the total amino acid (TAA), respectively while the limiting amino acids (LAA) were Val and Thr. The calculated isoelectric points (pI) and predicted protein efficiency ratios (P–PER) were 5.1 and 4.8, 2.5 and 4.1 for A. esculentus and I. gabonensis, respectively. However, dietary formula based on these fruits may require amino acids supplementation. Keywords: Abelmoschus esculentus, Irvingia gabonensis, nutritional composition

The impact of health status and human capital formation on regional performance: Empirical evidence

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of health on growth, assuming that it is a fundamental component of the human capital of a region along with education. Various measures of population health status are used, together with a health index generated by Principal Component Analysis. Potential endogeneity between health and growth is controlled for using instrumental variable regressions and dynamic panel data. The results show a positive effect of a change in health status on regional output and a negative effect of proxy variables for health limitations on regional performance. This corroborates the importance of investing in health along with education with the aim of improving not only the well-being of individuals but the human capital and growth of a region

Morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst relatives of schizophrenia probands: A family-controlled study

Introduction: There is a dearth of data on heritability of schizophrenia in Africa. The few African studies that addressed familial psychiatric morbidity in schizophrenia involved relatively small sample sizes and addressed psychiatric morbidity only in first-degree relatives. The present study sought to improve upon the methodology of previous African studies, and widen the scope to second- and third-degree relatives with a view to enriching the field of genetic epidemiology in Africa. Methods: This study elicited information on the morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst 5259 relatives of schizophrenia probands (n = 138) and 6734 relatives of healthy controls (n = 138) through direct interview of patients, available relatives of patients and controls. Diagnosis of probands was confirmed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Through a direct interview of 138 patients and their available relatives, a family history approach using the Family Interview for Genetic Studies was utilised to obtain information on the morbid risk for all relatives that could be recalled. The same approach was utilised for the interview of the controls (aged 45 years and above) and their relatives. Morbid risk estimates were calculated using the Weinberg shorter method. Results: Morbid risk for schizophrenia in the first-, second- and third-degree relatives of schizophrenia probands was 10.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10.6–11.2), 4.2% (95% CI = 4.1–4.3) and 3.9% (95% CI = 3.6–4.2), respectively, compared with 2.6% (95% CI = 2.5–2.7), 1.6% (95% CI = 1.5–1.7) and 1.5% (95% CI = 1.4–1.6), respectively, of the healthy control group. Conclusion: The findings support the widely noted impression that schizophrenia significantly aggregates in families of schizophrenia probands more than healthy controls