Neuro-Identification of Some Commonly Used Volatile Organic Compounds Using Electronic Nose

Electronic nose system comprising of three Figaro sensors (TGS2602, TGS832 and TGS816)  arrayed in a chamber interfaced through  PICO ADC11/10 card to a computer system loaded with artificial neural network (ANN) was used to identify three  volatile organic compounds (Formaldehyde, Acetone and Chloroform). The back propagated ANN had four layers having positive linear, logsigmodal, logsigmidal  and tansigmodal transfer functions  with 10, 20, 20, 1 neurons, respectively. 60% of the acquired data was used for training and 20% each for testing and validation.TGS832 had the highest average sensitivity (1.3639 volts) while TGS816 had the least (0.0420 volts) for formaldehyde with similar trend for chloroform and acetone. Sensors’ sensitivities were significantly different from the control at p < 0.05. Mean square error of 0.0006, 0.0001 and 0.0003(R2:0.996, 0.997 and 0.996) were obtained for the ANN training of formaldehyde, chloroform and acetone respectively. Validation run gave correct identification of the VOCs. Key Words: Sensors, Neurons, Normalization, Electronic nose, Data car

Assessment of AsaRiver: Impact of Waste Discharge from soft drink plant into Asa River, Ilorin. Nigeria

Some physical and chemical analysis was carried out on samples collected at various distances from the effluent discharge from a soft drink plant in Ilorin into AsaRiver. The pH was found to range between 7.2 - 7.8 with a mean temperature of 25.25\ub0C. Experimental results obtained on replicate samples showed that the standard deviation was generally below 10%. The total organic matter ranged between 21 - 22.9% while the nitrate concentration ranged between 5.81 - 15.41 mg/l; these were high and could lead to eutrophication of the water body into which it empties. The cation and anion concentrations all fall within safe limits except for zinc and in some cases, NO3- concentrations which was higher than the standard set by regulatory bodies. A Pearson's correlation study showed correlations between different parameters at both 1 % and 5 % probability levels. @JASE

OPTIMIZATION STUDIES OF TURBIDITY REMOVAL IN ASA RIVER WATER USING CARICA PAPAYA SEED AS COAGULANT

This study evaluated the potential of Carica papaya Seed (CPS) as a coagulant for water treatment. Surface water samples from Asa River in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria were collected for the study. The trace metal levels were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP- MS). Treated CPS was obtained from its seed using soxhlet extraction in ethanol .It was then applied for the removal of turbidity and trace metals in the surface water samples. The trace metal results showed the presence of Cu (6.07 ppb), Fe (394.16 ppb), Cr(21.50 ppm), Zn (6.69 ppb) and Ti (13.08 ppb) in the samples of the river water. Optimization studies was carried out for turbidity removal using Full Central Composite Design (FCCD) under the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The results obtained showed that the maximum turbidity removal of 94.92% was achieved at optimum conditions; coagulant dose (0.47 g), contact time (15.17 min) and agitation speed (791.33 rpm). Also, all the trace metals were found to be below detection limit after contacting with the modified Carica papaya seed

OPTIMIZATION STUDIES OF TURBIDITY REMOVAL IN ASA RIVER WATER USING CARICA PAPAYA SEEDS AS COAGULANT

This  study  evaluated the potential of Carica papaya Seed (CPS) as  a coagulant for water treatment. Surface water  samples from Asa River in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria were collected  for the study. The trace metal levels were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP- MS) . Treated CPS was obtained from its seed using soxhlet extraction in ethanol .It  was then applied for the removal of turbidity and trace metals in the surface water samples. The  trace metal results showed the presence of Cu (6.07 ppb), Fe(394.16 ppb), Cr(21.50 ppm), Zn (6.69 ppb) and Ti (13.08 ppb) in the samples of the river water. Optimization studies was carried out for turbidity removal using Full Central Composite Design (FCCD) under the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The results obtained showed that the maximum turbidity removal of 94.92% was achieved at optimum conditions; coagulant dose (0.47 g), contact time (15.17 min) and agitation speed (791.33 rpm). Also, all the trace metals were found to be below detection limit after contacting with the modified Carica papaya seed

An audit of paediatric nasal foreign bodies in Ilorin, Nigeria

Children with nasal foreign bodies are commonly seen in everyday practice. The aim of this study was to document the pattern of foreign bodies in the nose, their treatment and outcome. Methods. This was a prospective audit of all children seen in the ear, nose and throat clinic, accident and emergency unit and emergency paediatric unit at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, from August 2005 to July 2006. Results. Of a total of 173 patients with ear, nose and throat foreign bodies seen during the study period, 71 patients had foreign bodies in the nose. The male/female ratio was 1.5:1 and the mean age was 2.5 years (range 1 - 15 years), under-5s comprising 72% of the patients. The most common foreign bodies were grains and seeds (35%). Presentation was within 24 hours in 45% of cases, between 1 and 5 days in 27%, and longer in the rest. Of the patients 51% had inserted the foreign body into the nose themselves, and in 39% of cases this had happened at school. In most cases (68%) the foreign body had been inserted into the right nostril. Most children had an offensive nasal discharge (45%) or were asymptomatic (27%). Parents were the first to make the diagnosis in 63% of cases, and in 32% of cases removal had been attempted before presentation. Most of the foreign bodies (89%) were mechanically extracted with a Jobson-Horne probe. In 61% of cases removal was done by a senior registrar. General anaesthesia was needed in a minority of cases. Minimal epistaxis after removal occurred in 50.7%, and only 1 patient had septal perforation. Conclusion. Nasal foreign bodies are still a challenge among under-5s. Public health education is needed to make parents and caregivers aware that it is hazardous for a child to insert a foreign body into the nose. Consistent with published guidelines, the majority of cases can be managed safely with direct extraction in the office setting. With adequate training, primary health care practitioners can manage most cases successfully and will know when to refer complicated ones

EXPERIMENTAL OPTIMIZATION OF BIO-OIL YIELD FROM COCONUT SHELL PYROLYSIS USING BOX BEHNKEN DESIGN.

Pyrolysis of coconut shell for maximum yield of bio- oil in a fixed bed reactor was investigated in this study. Box Behnken design of experiment in the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of temperature (400, 500 and 600oC), reaction time (5, 10 and 25 minutes) and feed particle size (6, 9.5 and 13 mm) on the yield of bio-oil. RSM was used to estimate the optimum conditions for maximum yield of bio-oil. Preliminary pyrolysis experiment showed that bio-oil increased with temperature up to 500oC where it was thermally decomposed into gas and then reduced to minimum. Other pyrolytic products (char and gas) were also significantly influenced by temperature, time and feed particle size. The coefficient of determination (R2) of the model of bio-oil yield in terms of temperature, time and size was 0.9893 at p < 0.05. The maximum bio-oil yield was 47.00% at 486.67 oC, 22.78 minutes and 6.78 mm and these was experimentally verified. The pyrolysis oil obtained at these optimum process conditions was analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and the oil yield obtained agreed with the predicted value with percentage absolute error of 0.85%

Challenges of Otolaryngologic Referral in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Background: The referral system offers one strategy for making the best use of hospitals and tertiary healthcare services. The aim of this study was to analyze the referral system of patients to the otorhinolaryngologist and to examine the use of in-house referral system in the teaching hospital set up. Methods: This was a retrospective review of all patients referred to the ENT Department between January 2000 and December 2007. Data retrieved from all referral notes included the review of referral letter, demographic, referral status, clinical presentations and examination findings. These data were entered into the SPSS computer software version 11.0 and analysed. Results: A total of 1402 cases were analyzed. The patients’ ages ranged from 3weeks to 90yrs, with 70.4% of cases being below 40yrs of age while 25.9% were between 40-64yrs and 3.7% were above 65yrs. The Male to Female sex ratio was 1:1. The majority (70.4%) of the patients had at least primary school education. The rest (29.6%) had no formal education. Slight over half (51.5%) of the patients were unemployed. The rest were either civil servants or self employed. Out of the 1402 patients that were referred to the hospital, in-house referral accounted for 74.1%, 7.2% of came from private health facility and 4.3% were self referrals. Out of the 1038 in-house referrals, 42.8% were from GOPD, 5.0% from Staff clinic, 13.3% from surgery, 4.7% from medicine, 3.5% from Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 10% from paediatrics and 10.4% from ophthalmology and 10.3% from ENT staffs such as residents, ENT Nurse Practitioner and ENT supporting staffs such as speech therapist and audiologist. Conclusion: The challenges of referral to the otolaryngologists are enormous thus the need to organize continuous medical education for the family physician, to make patients have confidence in the primary care physician, early referral of patients and to allow the otorhinolaryngologist to focus on the cutting edge issues of the specialty

Determination of the levels of some heavy metals in urban run-off sediments in Ilorin and Lagos, Nigeria

The concentration of zinc, cadmium, lead and iron in run-off water sediments on paved roads in Ilorin and Lagos areas of Nigeria were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric technique Zinc, iron and cadmium were found in very concentration in the Urban sediment from these cities whilst for most of the locations, lead was found to be below the detection level. Iron has the highest mean concentration while lead had the lowest level. A significant correlation was obtained between iron and zinc in Lagos (r =0.8820) and in Ilorin (r = 09937) at 95% probability level. These results suggest a probable common source for iron and zinc. The average concentrations of iron and lead were higher in Lagos than in Ilorin. (Journal of Applied Sciences & Environmental Management: 2002 6(2): 23-26

Isolates from wound infections at federal medical centre, bida.

A total of 589 wound swabs from 334 patients in Federal Medical Centre, Bida were studied. Samples were collected between Jan 2002 to Dec. 2003. Swabs were plated within one hour after collection unto blood, chocolate and Mac Conkey after plate, and incubated aerobically for 24hrs. The chocolate plated swabs were incubated under increased carbon dioxide for 24hrs. Organism were identified using morphological and biochemical characteristics according to Cowon and Steel\'s manual for identification of medical bacterial. Organism isolated were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing by disc diffusion using modified Kirby-Bauer method. The number of swabs that were culture positives were 441 (74.9%). Out of these 441 samples 334 (75.7%) grew one organism each, 99 samples (22.4%) grew two organisms each while 8 samples (1.8%) grew three organisms each. The 3 commonest organisms isolated were Staphylococcus aureus (45.5%), Escherichia coli (21.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.9%) which together constitute 82.2% of the isolates. There is a high level of antibiotic resistance. Ciprofloxacin is the drug of choice for the gram positive bacteria with susceptibility of 68.3%. Ofloxacin is the drug of the choice for the gram negative bacteria with susceptibility of 76.3% African Journal of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology Vol. 9 (1) 2008: pp. 26-3