Iron removal in waste water using expanded polystyrene as an artificial media

This study focused on the use of Expanded Polystyrene as an artificial media for the removal of iron from raw water. The experimental set-up consisted of continuous flow process and the mechanism for iron removal was by adsorption. Water sample of initial concentration 5.5mg/l was stored in a 50l container situated at an elevation of 4.4m above the floor and was connected to a plastic transparent container which contained the filter media” Polystyrene”. The effects of adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH and temperature were studied. Results showed that adsorption capacity increased with time for the time range of 0.68-47.6mins investigated and slightly with an increase in temperature until 40oC when it began to decrease, suggesting favorable adsorption at medium temperatures. The results showed that the procedure was efficient in reducing iron concentration from 5.5mg/l to 3.5mg/l within contact time of 5minutes. Better efficiencies could be achieved at higher contact times. The use of EPS material would also offer an avenue for recycling polystyrene widely used in packaging of equipment.Keywords: Contamination, contact time, adsorption, residual iron concentration, pollutants

Descriptive and Vegetative Characterization of fifteen ecotypes of Snake Gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina L.) in Nigeria

The descriptive and vegetative characterization of fifteen ecotypes of Trichosanthes cucumerina L (snake gourd) in Nigeria was carried out. The field study was done in two locations Markurdi and Umudike to evaluate the descriptive and vegetative characters of fifteen ecotypes of T. cucumerina from Middle Belt of the country, the South-South, South Eastern part and South Western part of Nigeria. Randomized Completed Block Design was adopted for the experiment at the exploration farm of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and Federal University of Agriculture, Makurd at the same growing season. Descriptive and vegetative analysis was done using Minitab 16. The qualitative vegetative characteristic of snake gourd accessions vigour levels ranged from low, moderate and high. Leaf colour was from deep/pale/light green, stem colour was light, pale and deep green. The mean of the vegetative characters ranged from 2.7660-1575 ±0.48-99; cumulative variation percentage 7.65-64.75;. The germination percentage of all the accessions was significant (p<0.05). CRS – IKM (100+00), Osu – OSH – 2 (91.67±4.82).EKT – OYE was higher than Ben-MKDI (58.36±8.34). The plant height among the accessions was not significant, block was significant (P≤0.05). Leaf sizes (cm) of all the accessions were not significant (P>0.05), while main vine length (cm) at 5% probability was not significant and their treatment interaction was insignificant (P>0.05). The main vein length was highest in ABI-UKW with 636.0±164.0, followed by EKI-OYE 514.0±84.3 and least from RIV-ELE 275.7±26.4. The fruit colour at ninety days (90) of ten (10) accessions of snake guard was orange green or strip orange green and remaining accessions was milky green or light green. The fruit shape was long, thick and cylindrical. The seed colour was speckled russet

Assessment of knowledge, practice and guidelines towards the novel COVID-19 among eye care practitioners in Nigeria : a survey-based study

The aim of this study was to explore knowledge, practice of risk and guidelines of the novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) infection among the eye care practitioners and the potential associated factors. A cross-sectional self-administered online survey was distributed via emails and social media networks between 2nd and 18th May 2020 corresponding to the week of the lockdown in Nigeria to eye care practitioners (ECPs). Data for 823 respondents were analyzed. Knowledge and risk practice were categorized as binary outcome and univariate and multivariate linear regression were used to examine the associated factors. The mean score for COVID-19-related knowledge of public health guidelines was high and varied across the ECPs. Ophthalmic Nurses, Ophthalmologists and Optometrists showed higher COVID-19-related knowledge than other ECPs (p < 0.001), particularly those working in the private sector. More than 50% of ECPs stated they provided essential services during the COVID-19 lockdown via physical consultation, particularly the Ophthalmologists. Most respondents reported that the guidelines provided by their Association were useful but expressed their lack of confidence in attending to patients during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Compared to other ECPs in Nigeria, more Ophthalmic Nurses received training in the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This survey is the first to assess knowledge, attitudes and practice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. ECPs in Nigeria displayed good knowledge about COVID-19 and provided eye care services during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria, despite the majority not receiving any training on the use of PPEs with concerns over attending to patients. There is need for the government to strengthen health systems by improving and extending training on standard infection prevention and control measures to ECPs for effective control of the pandemic and in the future as essential health workers

A comparison of postural and diurnal variations in intraocular pressure using the iCare rebound tonometer and Perkins applanation tonometer in admitted adults in Kenya

Background: Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) remained the most important known risk factor for glaucoma. Aim: To compare the postural and diurnal IOP variations using the iCare rebound tonometer (RT) and Perkins applanation tonometer (PAT). Setting: Kakamega County Hospital, Kenya. Methods: Elevated intraocular pressure measurements were taken by two (masked) examiners with two devices in the morning (06:00–09:00), midday (12:00–15:00) and evening (18:00–21:00), in the sitting followed by supine positions in one randomly selected eye of 24 oculo-visual healthy hospital-admitted patients. Effects of the time of the day and position of the body within and between devices were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results: The mean IOP measured by the RT ranged from 6 mmHg to 24 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) in the sitting position and from 10 mmHg to 26 mmHg in the supine position. The mean IOP measured using PAT ranged from 6 mmHg to 21 mmHg in the sitting position and from 8 mmHg to 24 mmHg in the supine position. The IOP measured by both devices significantly varied with position (p < 0.05). Perkins applanation tonometer on average gave a significantly higher IOP (1.7 mmHg [p = 0.003] and 1.3 mmHg [p = 0.034]) at 06:00 compared to that at 12:00 and 18:00, respectively. The IOP readings with the RT were on average 2.2 mmHg and 3.0 mmHg higher at 06:00 compared to that at 12:00 and 18:00, respectively (p < 0.0005). Conclusion: Significant reductions were observed in postural and diurnal IOPs in the sitting positions and in the afternoon, respectively. Diurnal IOP variations were slightly higher when measured by RT compared to when measured by PAT

Insecticidal Activity of Crude Extracts of Hyptis suaveolens (Bush Mint) on Anopheles Mosquitoes Collected from Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Anopheles gambiae is a vector that is responsible for the transmission of malaria parasites which causes high morbidity and mortality in Nigeria and the world at large. Human-vector contact can be reduced by the use of conventional repellents being sold in the market, though some of these repellent are not environmentally friendly and An. gambiae have developed resistance to some of these repellents. To this end, the phytochemical constituents and insecticidal activity of crude extracts of Hyptis suaveolens (bush mint) was determined on adult An. gambiae mosquitoes collected from Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria to evaluate its effect in controlling them. Here, 70% ethanolic and diethyl ether fat crude extracts were made from H. suaveolens dried leaves and used to carry out the experiment. The phytochemical screening of the ethanol extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoid, saponins, tannins, steroids and reducing sugar. Glycoside was not detected in the ethanol extract. Only steroids was detected in diethyl ether extract the rest of the phytochemical tested were absent. An. gambiae larvae were collected from the field and were raised to F1 progeny adults that were used for the study. WHO protocol for carrying out human bait repellency cage test was used. Human hand treated with the extracts was exposed to a cage containing 30 female mosquitoes for each of the extracts respectively. The ethanolic crude extract treatment proved to be more effective in repelling mosquitoes with 0% (0/30) mosquito landing than diethyl ether extract which had 40% (12/30) mosquitoes landing and the control hand (untreated left hand) had the highest landing rate 63.3% (19/30) which showed very high significant difference (χ2 = 27.2619, df = 2, P <0.00001) in relation to the treatments. After 24 hours holding period, the mortality rate of exposed mosquitoes was observed to be highest in the ethanolic treatment 73.3% (22/30). In conclusion, H. suaveolens extracts have repellency potential in controlling adult An. gambiae

Infant and young child feeding practices among adolescent mothers and associated factors in India

Adequate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) improve child survival and growth. Globally, about 18 million babies are born to mothers aged 18 years or less and have a higher likelihood of adverse birth outcomes in India due to insufficient knowledge of child growth. This paper examined factors associated with IYCF practices among adolescent Indian mothers. This cross-sectional study extracted data on 5148 children aged 0–23 months from the 2015–2016 India National Family Health Survey. Survey logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with IYCF among adolescent mothers. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, early initiation of breastfeeding, timely introduction of complementary feeding, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, and minimum acceptable diet rates were: 58.7%, 43.8%, 43.3%, 16.6%, 27.4% and 6.8%, respectively. Maternal education, mode of delivery, frequency of antenatal care (ANC) clinic visits, geographical region, child’s age, and household wealth were the main factors associated with breastfeeding practices while maternal education, maternal marital status, child’s age, frequency of ANC clinic visits, geographical region, and household wealth were factors associated with complementary feeding practices. IYCF practices among adolescent mothers are suboptimal except for breastfeeding. Health and nutritional support interventions should address the factors for these indicators among adolescent mothers in India

Exploration of neural correlates of movement intention based on characterisation of temporal dependencies in electroencephalography

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) provide a direct communication channel by using brain signals, enabling patients with motor impairments to interact with external devices. Motion intention detection is useful for intuitive movement-based BCI as movement is the fundamental mode of interaction with the environment. The aim of this paper is to investigate the temporal dynamics of brain processes using electroencephalography (EEG) to explore novel neural correlates of motion intention. We investigate the changes in temporal dependencies of the EEG by characterising the decay of autocorrelation during asynchronous voluntary finger tapping movement. The evolution of the autocorrelation function is characterised by its relaxation time, which is used as a robust marker for motion intention. We observed that there was reorganisation of temporal dependencies in EEG during motion intention. The autocorrelation decayed slower during movement intention and faster during the resting state. There was an increase in temporal dependence during movement intention. The relaxation time of the autocorrelation function showed significant (p < 0.05) discrimination between movement and resting state with the mean sensitivity of 78.37 ± 8.83%. The relaxation time provides movement related information that is complementary to the well-known event-related desynchronisation (ERD) by characterising the broad band EEG dynamics which is frequency independent in contrast to ERD. It can also detect motion intention on average 0.51s before the actual movement onset. We have thoroughly compared autocorrelation relaxation time features with ERD in four frequency bands. The relaxation time may therefore, complement the well-known features used in motion-based BCI leading to more robust and intuitive BCI solutions. The results obtained suggest that changes in autocorrelation decay may involve reorganisation of temporal dependencies of brain activity over longer duration during motion intention. This opens the possibilities of investigating further the temporal dynamics of fundamental neural processes underpinning motion intention

IMI : global trends in myopia management attitudes and strategies in clinical practice : 2022 update

PURPOSE. Surveys in 2015 and 2019 identified a high level of eye care practitioner concern/activity about myopia, but the majority still prescribed single vision interventions to young myopes. This research aimed to provide updated information. METHODS. A self-administered, internet-based questionnaire was distributed in 13 languages, through professional bodies to eye care practitioners globally. The questions examined awareness of increasing myopia prevalence, perceived efficacy and adoption of available strategies, and reasons for not adopting specific strategies. RESULTS. Of the 3195 respondents, practitioners’ concern about the increasing frequency of pediatric myopia in their practices differed between continents (P < 0.001), being significantly higher in Asia (9.0 ± 1.5 of 10) than other continents (range 7.7–8.2; P ≤ 0.001). Overall, combination therapy was perceived by practitioners to be the most effective method of myopia control, followed by orthokeratology and pharmaceutical approaches. The least effective perceived methods were single vision distance undercorrection, spectacles and contact lenses, as well as bifocal spectacles. Practitioners rated their activity in myopia control between (6.6 ± 2.9 in South America to 7.9 ± 1.2/2.2 in Australasia and Asia). Single-vision spectacles are still the most prescribed option for progressing young myopia (32.2%), but this has decreased since 2019, and myopia control spectacles (15.2%), myopia control contact lenses (8.7%) and combination therapy (4.0%) are growing in popularity. CONCLUSIONS. More practitioners across the globe are practicing myopia control, but there are still significant differences between and within continents. Practitioners reported that embracing myopia control enhanced patient loyalty, increasing practice revenue and improving job satisfaction

Assessment of the physical characteristics and stormwater effluent quality of permeable pavement systems containing recycled materials

This paper evaluates the physical characteristics of two recycled materials and the pollutant removal efficiencies of four 0.2 m2 tanked permeable pavement rigs in the laboratory, that contained either natural aggregates or these recycled materials in the sub-base. The selected recycled materials were Crushed Concrete Aggregates (CCA) and Cement-bounded Expanded Polystyrene beads (C-EPS) whilst the natural aggregates were basalt and quartzite. Natural stormwater runoff was used as influent. Effluent was collected for analysis after 7–10 mins of discharge. Influent and effluent were analysed for pH, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Electroconductivity (EC), turbidity, Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N), reactive phosphorous (PO43-) and sulphates (SO42-). Both CCA and C-EPS had suitable physical properties for use as sub-base materials in PPS. However, C-EPS is recommended for use in pavements with light to no traffic because of its relatively low compressive strength. In terms of pollutant removal efficiencies, significant differences (p 0.05) were found with respect to TSS, turbidity, COD and NO3-N. Effluent from rigs containing CCA and C-EPS saw significant increases in pH, EC and TDS measurements whilst improvements in DO, TSS, turbidity, COD, PO43- and SO42- were observed. All mean values except pH were, however, within the Maximum Permissible Levels (MPLs) of water pollutants discharged into the environment according to the Trinidad and Tobago Environmental Management Authority (EMA) or the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). In this regard, the CCA and C-EPS performed satisfactorily as sub-base materials in the permeable pavement rigs. It is noted, however, that further analysis is recommended through leaching tests on the recycled materials