SOME PROBLEMS OF GRAMMATICAL AGREEMENT IN WRITTEN PRODUCTIONS OF SCIENCE STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

Concord, also termed Agreement in English grammar, is an indispensable sentential element in daily language use. So its knowledge is instrumental to meaningful learned communication. A major type is subject-verb concord which has attracted detailed description in grammar and adequate focus in empirical studies on the usage problems of learners of English as a second language particularly at the tertiary school level in Nigeria. But other concord types have not had sufficient focus in such research works. The purpose of the study is to describe the other concord types using structural grammar approach and investigate the difficulties with their usage in the written productions of some science undergraduate students. The study subjects are two hundred and eighty-six students randomly drawn from among first-year students of an academic session in University of Agriculture, Makurdi. A research instrument, which has both essay- writing task and objective test, was administered to the students at the close of the session when they had had a use of English course, called Communication in English. Frequency and percentage statistical tools, in addition to extracts from the students’ works, are used to analyze the data. The findings show that the students construct sentences devoid of the following concord relationships: subject-complement, object-complement, distributive-number, pronoun-antecedent and concord of person. The identified linguistic incompetence adversely affects their communication in English. It is therefore recommended that the concord types studied here should be adequately taught and accompanied with sufficient practice exercises at the level of the English course for first-year university students so that they can gain mastery in the use of the items in communication.  Article visualizations

Using sample validation in auditing

Advisors: Alan M. Polansky.Committee members: Lei L. Hua; Peng Shi.A state government agency wants to determine if a sample verification procedure, used in auditing accounts to detect fraudulent charges, reduces the error of estimating the unknown mean amount of fraud per transaction. The procedure consists of checking whether the covariates of an audit variable, whose mean is known, is within a 100(1-alpha) % confidence interval computed on the observed sample. In this study we use computer based simulations to explore the effect that the procedure has on the error in estimating the mean. We concentrate on the bivariate normal distribution and on a normal bivariate normal mixture. Numerical results are presented that compare the estimated error for estimating the unknown population mean using the implementation of the sample acceptance algorithm and the standard method based on simple random sampling. The proposed method reduces the estimation error for multivariate normal distribution but can have the opposite effect for the non-normal distribution. Another approach based on the well known method of control variates produces similar results without the need to reject potential samples.M.S. (Master of Science

Socio - demographic characteristics of HIV patients diagnosed at immunization centres in Calabar, South – south, Calabar, Nigeria

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 3.2 million children were living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) at the end of 2013, mostly in sub- Saharan Africa. Socio- economic and demographic factors do not only affect viral transmission but also the success of preventive strategies and treatment.Objective: To determine the socio -demographic characteristics of mothers, and the relationship between maternal and HIV status of their infants attending immunization clinics in Calabar.Methods: Using multistage sampling method, 330 subjects were enrolled and screened from 63 immunization centres. The sociodemographic characteristic ofeach infant’s mother was documented. The results of Rapid test for mothers and Dried Blood Spots (DBS) results for infants were compared.Results: Of the 330 subjects recruited, 173 (52.4%) were males while 157(47.6%) were females. Mean age of the infants was 9.20 ± 3.1 weeks. Twenty four mothers and infants tested positive for HIV antibodies. After confirmatory tests using HIV Deoxyribosenucleic acid (DNA PCR), 14(58.3%) out of 24 antibody seropositive infants were infected. The transmission rate after confirmation was 58.3%.Conclusion: Parental education, social class and low maternal Antiretroviral drug (ARV) use were responsible for transmission. It is therefore recommended that health education on ARV use during antenatal period and HIV status of mother baby pair be done at immunization centres. HIV positive mothers and babies should be promptly referred for therapy.Keywords: Immunization, HIV, Infants, DNA PCR, PMTCT, AR

Retrospective study of neonatal intestinal obstruction in Calabar: Aetiology and outcome

Neonatal intestinal obstruction is the most common surgical emergency in the newborn period. Prompt diagnosis and urgent management improve the chances of a favorable outcome. Aetiology and outcome may vary in different parts of the same country.Objective: To evaluate the aetiology and factors associated with mortality in neonates presenting with intestinal obstruction in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria.Method: This was a retrospective study of clinical records of neonates presenting with features of intestinal obstruction over an eight year period. The biodata, diagnosis, management and outcome for the neonates were documented.Result: Forty neonates; 26(65%) males and 14(35.5%) females were studied. Imperforate anus was seen in 40% of subjects while Hirschsprung’s disease and intestinal atresia each were seen in 10%. Aetiology could not be determined in about a fifth of the cases. Age less than one week at presentation was significantly associated with a poor outcome. No case had surgical intervention within twenty-four hours of presentation. The overall mortality was 30%, most of these 9 (75%) was due to anorectal malformations.Conclusion: The management and outcome of neonatal intestinal  obstruction in our setting is poor. There is urgent need to upgrade our neonatal intensive care services to improve outcome in affected neonates. More Paediatric surgeons are required to reduce the gross inadequacy of expert as this would improve on the surgical intervention time as reported in this study.Key Words: Neonatal intestinal obstruction Hirschprung’s diseas

Asymptomatic Bacteremia in Children Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Calabar, South-South, Nigeria

Background: Asymptomatic Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected children are prone to serious bacterial infection as a result of poor immunity.Objective: This was to determine the common pathogenic organisms responsible for bacteremia among asymptomatic HIV infected children attending the outpatient clinics at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.Subjects and Methods: This prospective non randomized cross-sectional study was conducted over 6months from January 1st to 30th June 2014 among cohorts of HIV infected Anti-retroviral (ARV) naive and experienced children attending the clinic. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the institution. Blood culture specimens were collected from all HIV infected patients who met the criteria for enrollment. All specimens with isolated bacteria organisms were treated with antibiotics according to the sensitivity pattern, in addition to administered Anti-retroviral drugs.Results: Out of the total of 109 patients recruited, 38(34.9%) had bacteremia. There were more males (57.9%), and most of them (63.2%) had Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) for more than 24weeks. Bacteremia was inversely proportional to the CD4 count. The commonest organism isolated was unclassified Coliforms (47.3%) followed by Staphyloccocus aureus (39.5%).Conclusions: HIV infected children are prone to bacteremia especially among those with low CD4 count. Coliform was the commonest organism isolated. We recommend that HIV infected children be routinely investigated for bacteremia

The prevalence of gastrointestinal stromal tumour as seen in the Jos University Teaching Hospital (Juth), Jos, North Central Nigeria

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) represent 1% of all malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). However, it is the most common Mesenchymal tumour of the GIT with majority (40 to 60%) arising from the stomach.Objective: To determine the prevalence of GISTamong patients in Jos University Teaching Hospital between 2005 and 2012.Methodology: Five (5) antibodies were used on the Mesenchymal tumours (CD117, CD34, Desmin, SMA and S100). Diagnosis of specific Mesenchymal tumours was based on histological patterns of the tumours on H and E stained slides and immunostaining  characteristics of the tumours.Results: Seven Mesenchymal tumours seen within the study period. This comprises of 6 GIST and 1 Leiomyosarcoma.Conclusions: This study shows that even though GISTis a rare tumour, it is the commonest Mesenchymal tumour of the stomach. It also shows that they are commonly positive for both CD117 and Cd34. Keywords: GIST, Mesenchymal Tumour, Gastrointestinal Tract, Stomac

Terminalia catappa Leaf Extract as a Capping Agent for ZnO Nanoparticle Synthesis via Sol-gel Method and its Microbial Effects on Selected Fungi and Bacterial

This study presents a reliable process for synthesizing ZnO nanoparticles using a green method. In this approach, we harness Terminalia catappa leaf extract as an effective chelating and capping agent to synthesize ZnO nanoparticles from zinc nitrate hexahydrate salt through a sol-gel method, employing Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and its microbial assessment. Optical properties of the ZnO nanoparticles were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy, and determined their band-gap to range between 4.13 and 5.175 eV. To explore the outcomes, Response Surface Methodology (RSM), was employed which revealed that the Model F-value of 2.62 signifies the significance of the model for the response. Furthermore, when examining the contour plot relating the inhibition zone to temperature and plant extract dosage, we found that an increase in dosage and decrease in temperature resulted in an increase in the bandgap. This method of biosynthesizing zinc oxide nanoparticles through Terminalia catappa leaf extract offers effect against the bactieria and fungi such as; Escherichia -coli, Straphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeuginosa and Trichophyton rubrum, Penicillium marnaffei, Atteneria spp respectively. Therefore, ZnO nanoparticles though this route gives an eco-friendly and more straightforward alternative to chemical and physical synthesis techniques for various environmental applications

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

An Android based blood bank information retrieval system

Background: Blood Bank record keeping has been carried out manually over the past decades using paper file management system which is slow for information retrieval and processing and also prone to errors in an emergency situation. Materials and methods: This research work solves the above-mentioned problem with the development of both web-based and Android-based blood bank information retrieval system. The web application is used by various blood banks system administrators to update their available blood inventory information and the mobile application which has the mobile search engine is used to search for blood supplies from the registered blood banks. Results and conclusion: The system also has a feature that allows registered blood banks to send a notification to registered blood donors on the application requesting for blood donation. Keywords: blood bank, web-based, Android-based, information, retrieva