Pressure fluctuations on stationary and oscillating square section cylinders

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Speaking while Black: The Relationship between African Americans’ Racial Identity, Fear of Confirming Stereotypes, and Public Speaking Anxiety

Though the field of psychology is moving forward in its awareness of the importance of studying and addressing cultural issues, there is still a dearth of literature on the subject, especially in the area of anxiety (Heurtin-Roberts, Snowden, & Miller, 1997). The current study tested the following hypotheses 1) African-Americans’ self-reported concerns over confirming stereotypes would be related to their own self-reported levels of social anxiety. 2) There would be a negative relationship between how negatively African-Americans think others view African-Americans in general, and levels of social anxiety; 3) The relationship between public regard, concern over confirming stereotypes, and levels of anxiety would be partially mediated by beliefs about the probability and consequences of a negative outcome from their speech for group members. Results showed that the relation between public regard and fear of negative evaluations was fully mediated by the consequences of a negative outcome for group members

Can I Talk to You? Sociopolitical Factors and their Relation to Symptoms and Treatments of Social Anxiety in a Sample of African Americans with Social Anxiety

This study is exploratory in nature and focuses on the relation between the individual and macrosystems by investigating the link between African Americans’ fear of confirming stereotypes and their experience with symptoms and treatments for social anxiety. This study hypothesizes that 1) among a sample of African Americans diagnosed with social anxiety, there will be a significant, positive relationship between African-Americans’ self-reported concerns over confirming stereotypes relevant to both social anxiety and their own self-reported levels of social anxiety, 2) significantly more African Americans will drop-out of therapy than Caucasians, 3) amongst African Americans, significantly more will drop out of group therapy than individual therapy, 4) the racial composition of the group will matter, such that more African Americans will drop out of groups where they are the only African American participant, compared to if there are other African Americans in the group, and 5) the presence of an African American co-therapist will impact attrition from group treatment, with higher attrition rates in groups without an African American co-therapist, compared to if there is one. Thirty-four participants, 23 females and 11 males, who self-identified as African Americans and forty-four participants, 23 females and 21 males, who self-identified as Caucasian took part in this study. Results did not show a relation between stereotype confirmation concern and social anxiety. Regarding attrition, results showed that significantly more African Americans dropped out of therapy than Caucasians. Additionally, more African Americans dropped out of group therapy than individual therapy. There was no impact of therapist ethnicity or the presence of other African Americans on attrition rates, though these tests were underpowered

Profiles of Problematic Soils and Spatial Distribution: Implication on Foundation Construction in Parts of Kosofe Lagos, Southwestern Nigeria.

Geotechnical data were complemented with geophysical investigation and employed to delineate problematic soils in parts of Kosofe Lagos, Southwestern Nigeria. The study area was chosen because of known issues regarding cracks in buildings and differential settlement of infrastructures founded on soils in the area. The aim is to generate profiles and maps of the spatial distribution of the subsurface soils to aid in foundation planning. Forty eight borehole logs and nine Vertical Electrical Soundings were compiled to delineate the different subsurface lithology which include peat, clay and sand. The results showed that the peat layer has maximum thickness of about 18.25 m but absent in some boreholes. This is underlain by clay unit with thickness ranging between 2.50-28.50 m. Sand unit constitute the third layer delineated with maximum thickness of 14 m. There is a general thickening of peat soils in the northern parts, especially around the streams in the area, which is instructive on the role of stream in the formation of the peat. The clay on the other hand is thickest around the northeastern and southeastern parts. The soil profiles generated reveal that the area is underlain by thick peat and clay having significant lateral, vertical variation and rapidly changing lithological facie over short distances. The extensive occurrence of these poor engineering soils calls for adequate engineering precaution in designs of building foundation

Enhanced efficacy of gemcitabine in combination with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody against CD20+ non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines in vitro and in scid mice

BACKGROUND: Despite exciting new targeted therapeutics against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), chemotherapy remains a cornerstone of therapy. While purine nucleoside analogs have significant activity in low grade NHL, the pyrimidine nucleoside analog gemcitabine has been less extensively studied, but has important activity. Use of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab in combination with chemotherapy for B-NHL is becoming prevalent in clinical practice, but has not been extensively studied in pre-clinical models. METHODS: We have tested the activity of gemcitabine ± rituximab in vitro and in scid/human NHL xenograft models. We used two t(14;18)+, CD20+ follicular B cell NHL cell lines, DoHH2 a transformed NHL line and WSU-FSCCL isolated from pleural fluid of a patient with indolent NHL. RESULTS: Gemcitabine is cytotoxic to DoHH2 and WSU-FSCCL cells in vitro, and the IC(50 )is 2–3 fold lower in the presence of rituximab. Apoptosis is also enhanced in the presence of rituximab. Clearance of NHL cells from ascites in scid mice is prolonged by the combination, as compared with either agent alone. Most importantly, survival of scid mice bearing human NHL cells is significantly prolonged by the combination of gemcitabine + rituximab. CONCLUSION: Based on our pre-clinical data showing prolonged survival of mice bearing human lymphoma cell line xenografts after treatment with gemcitabine + anti-CD20 antibody, this combination, expected to have non-overlapping toxicity profiles, should be explored in clinical trials

Towards Achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in Nigeria: Prospect and Challenges

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) according to analysts is the world biggest promise to mankind. It is a global mission with eight (8) vocal points of:  Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and women empowerment; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. In order to achieve these objectives, MDGs goals are sub-divided into eighteen (18) clear cut targets and forty-eight (48) indicators believed to be necessary as acid-test facilitator for the achievements of these laudable goals. These laudable goals are expected to be achieved between the years 1990-2015. Nigeria being a member of global committee of nations in the time past and recent adopts various developmental plans such as  VISION 2010,NEEDS,7-Points Agenda, VISION 20:2020, SURE etc within the framework of MDG to serve as driving force to achieve these laudable projects. Achieving these goals involves a lot of commitments. The essence of this paper is to examine through the use of non-parametric statistical test, the extent to which these goals (MDG) have been achieved and make relevant suggestions to aid speedy achievement of these goals. Keywords: Enrolment Rate, Gender Equality, Millennium Development Goals, Poverty Reduction, Targets and Indicator

Analysis of corruption and economic growth in Nigeria

This paper studied corruption and the Nigerian economic growth. In doing this, the study looked at historical overview of corruption in Nigeria and conceptual issues were also discussed. It also reviewed the causes and effects of corruption, without leaving out the dynamics of corruption. Also, the study looked at the relationship between corruption and the Nigerian economic growth. However, the study introduces a new perspective on the role of corruption in economic growth and provides quantitative estimates of the impact of corruption on the economic growth in Nigeria as well as their causal relationship. This study used the ordinary least squares (OLS) to determine the relationship between corruption and economy growth. The study applied the granger causality method to measure the causal relationship that exists between corruption and the gross domestic product (GDP). The results revealed that corruption impairs and impacts economic growth. It is on this basis, we draw our conclusion and suggest that Private Anti-Corruption Initiatives, Public anti-corruption initiatives andPublic education campaign/programmes should be strengthened and motivated in to address the cause of corruption rather than its effects. Key Words: Growth, Granger Causality, Corruption, Nigeria, Economi

Radioisotopic techniques in the study of anaemia

The thesis consists of six reviews and a dissertation on the research project. In Chapter I various aspects of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of haemonchosis are reviewed. The disease is highly seasonal being more prevalent during the warm humid months, although chronic infections can occur almost all the year round. The parasites suck blood causing haemorrhage into the host's abomasum and the pathogenesis of the disease depends on this blood loss. Factors such as age, breed, haemoglobin type and nutritional status of the host influence the pathogenesis of the disease. The pathogenesis of bovine trypanosomiasis which depends on factors such as anaemia, pathological lesions and immunodepression is described in Chapter II. Although the anaemia is classified as haemolytic, the precise mechanism appears multi-factorial. In Chapter III the use of radiochromium (51Cr) and radioiron (59Fe) in studying the mechanism of anaemias of parasitic infections is examined. Red cells labelled with Cr provide information regarding the contribution made by haemodilution and increased erythrocyte breakdown while 59Fe may be used to monitor the animals' capacity to synthesise red cells. In the study of albumin metabolism in parasitised animals, radioiodine (125I pr 131I) is often employed (Chapter IV). 125I pr 131I-labelled polyvinylpyttolidone (PVP) or 51Cr (as 51crcl3) are the isotopes of choice in providing information regarding the aetiology of gastrointestinal albumin losses in parasitic infections. In Chapter V most parasitic infections are shown to upset the nutritional status of the host through depression of food intake, disturbances of post-absorptive N and energy metabolism and poor feed conversion efficiency. Adequately fed hosts develop immunity earlier which also persists longer than their poorly fed counterparts. In Chapter VI the limited value of conventional methods of control of haemonchosis and trypanosomiasis is highlighted. Similarly, the limited success of vaccination trials is also discussed. In Chapter VII the results of a project carried out to determine the effects of different levels of protein intake on the pathophysiology of acute haemonchosis and on the self-cure phenomenon are presented. Animals on the high protein diet performed better than their poorly fed counterparts as judged by a variety of parasitological, haematological and radioisotopic criteria. The better performance of this group was concluded to reflect a better immune response against the parasite. The nature of this immune response was not determined but was thought to act either against parasite establishment or through suppression of egg laying capability of the female worms. A slight fall in total egg production was observed following reinfection. However pathophysiological changes following reinfection were as severe as recorded following primary infection with the low protein group being more severely affected

An ‘Econographic’ analysis of the relevance of the Thomas Malthus theory to Nigeria and Ethiopia

Issues bordering around population studies have caught the attention of scholars in different fields. Inter alia, development economists and demographers have written plethora of literatures on it considering the multi-dimensional impacts of changing populations on the very existence of humans. Most developing countries are considered to have alarming population growth rates. Matter-of-factly, countries with seriously large population like China have had to adopt some population control measures. In this study, special reference is made to the population theory of Rev. Thomas Malthus and its relevance to the economies of these two countries. This study also re-examines the arguments of both the pessimistic and the optimistic population schools, and analysing relevant demographic and economic statistics of Nigeria and Ethiopia – the most populous and second most populous countries respectively in the African continent, draws a conclusion consistent with the view point of a world development report that rapid population growth, above all, is a developmental problem. Key Words: ‘Econographics,’ Population Growth, Thomas Malthus, Descriptiv

Geological and Geochemical Prospecting for Gold Mineralization in Bode-Saadu Axis, Southwestern Nigeria

Geological and geochemical studies of gold mineralization in Bode-Saadu axis, Southwestern Basement Complex, Nigeria have been conducted in order to study their mode of occurrence, structural settings, pattern of distribution and potential. Geological studies reveal that granite and gneiss granite are the prominent rocks in the area and exist in the north-eastern, north-western and southwestern part of the area whereas mica and amphibole schist occur as low-lying exposure. Petrographic studies reveal spatial association between gold mineralization and the fractured zones. Geochemical studies show that the gold concentration in rocks and stream sediments from the region is low with the exception of a few areas with high values and is related to the occurrence of fissure in the northeast-west direction. The distribution pattern of gold in the region is skewed NE-SW, indicating that gold mineralization is structurally controlled