Strength and Durability Properties of Cow Dung Stabilised Earth Brick

This research, reports on the investigation into the strength and the durability properties of earth brick stabilised with Cow dung. A local earth was stabilised chemically by Cow dung. A better compressive strength at the dry state and after 10 minutes of immersion in water was obtained with cow dung stabilisation at content of 20% by weight of earth. Bricks stabilised with 20% Cow dung contents by weight of earth has a dry and wet compressive strength of 6.64 and 2.27MPa respectively. There is an  increased of about 25%  in the dry compressive strength  of bricks stabilised with 20% cow dung content over that of the plain earth brick without stabiliser  The 20% cow dung content  resulted in lower migration of water into the brick (i e. lower permeability). Also the abrasive resistance increased with increase in the cow dung content up to 20%. The highly decreased in compressive strength after 10 minutes of immersion in water, even with optimum Cow dung content, indicated that appropriate building design that would prevent stabilised earth bricks from coming into direct contact with rainwater is important. The study recommends that appropriate construction specification is necessary to prevent cow dung stabilised earth bricks from coming into any prolonged direct contact with rainwater. Keywords: cow dung; compressive strength; abrasive resistance; absorption; earth

Government Spending and Economic Groweth Nexus: An Econometric Analysis

Proponents of larger governments argue that government programmes provide essential public goods like education and infrastructure, which, in turn, stimulate the economy. On the other hand, individuals who advocate for more limited government assert that an increase in public spending will be detrimental to economic expansion due to the fact that many functions of government are inefficient and not in the public interest. In light of this, it is important to comprehend how different facets of government spending impact economic growth. The research utilised panel unit root tests, specifically the Pesaran and IPS tests, and panel cointegration techniques, including Pooled Mean Group and Dynamic Fixed Effect. Additionally, secondary data from World Bank indicator variables spanning from 1985 to 2021 were analysed in 32 countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results of the study suggest that there exists a correlation between government expenditure and economic growth, in both the immediate and distant future. Additionally, the study emphasises the importance of institutional quality as a significant determinant of this relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that all accessible government funds be allocated towards the objective of establishing durable and self-sufficient infrastructure

Government Spending And Economic Growth Nexus In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Econometric Analysis

Proponents of larger governments argue that government programmes provide essential public goods like education and infrastructure, which, in turn, stimulate the economy. On the other hand, individuals who advocate for more limited government assert that an increase in public spending will be detrimental to economic expansion due to the fact that many functions of government are inefficient and not in the public interest. Secondary data from World development indicator variables spanning from 1985 to 2021 were analysed. The dependent variable for the study was GDP per capita and the independent variables were institutional quality, government expenditure, capital stock and trade openness. The model used for the study are Pearson correlation, Pesaran's , Friedman's and Frees' cross sectional dependency test, IPS and CIPS unit root test, Pooled Mean Group and Dynamic Fixed Effect regression to test for the long-run cointegration and short-run relationship in 32 African countries. The results of the study suggest that there exists a long-run and short-run relationship between government expenditure and economic growth. Additionally, the study emphasises the importance of institutional quality as a significant determinant of this relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that all accessible government funds be allocated towards the objective of establishing durable and self-sufficient infrastructure

Government Spending and Economic Groweth Nexus: An Econometric Analysis

Proponents of larger governments argue that government programmes provide essential public goods like education and infrastructure, which, in turn, stimulate the economy. On the other hand, individuals who advocate for more limited government assert that an increase in public spending will be detrimental to economic expansion due to the fact that many functions of government are inefficient and not in the public interest. In light of this, it is important to comprehend how different facets of government spending impact economic growth. The research utilised panel unit root tests, specifically the Pesaran and IPS tests, and panel cointegration techniques, including Pooled Mean Group and Dynamic Fixed Effect. Additionally, secondary data from World Bank indicator variables spanning from 1985 to 2021 were analysed in 32 countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results of the study suggest that there exists a correlation between government expenditure and economic growth, in both the immediate and distant future. Additionally, the study emphasises the importance of institutional quality as a significant determinant of this relationship. Therefore, it is recommended that all accessible government funds be allocated towards the objective of establishing durable and self-sufficient infrastructure

Statin therapy in critical illness : an international survey of intensive care physicians' opinions, attitudes and practice

Background Pleotropic effects of statins on inflammation are hypothesised to attenuate the severity of and possibly prevent the occurrence of the host inflammatory response to pathogen and infection-related acute organ failure. We conducted an international survey of intensive care physicians in Australia, New Zealand (ANZ) and United Kingdom (UK). The aims of the survey were to assess the current prescribing practice patterns, attitudes towards prescribing statin therapy in critically ill patients and opinions on the need for an interventional trial of statin therapy in critically ill patients. Methods Survey questions were developed through an iterative process. An expert group reviewed the resulting 26 items for face and content validity and clarity. The questions were further refined following pilot testing by ICU physicians from Australia, Canada and the UK. We used the online Smart SurveyTM software to administer the survey. Results Of 239 respondents (62 from ANZ and 177 from UK) 58% worked in teaching hospitals; most (78.2%) practised in ‘closed’ units with a mixed medical and surgical case mix (71.0%). The most frequently prescribed statins were simvastatin (77.6%) in the UK and atorvastatin (66.1%) in ANZ. The main reasons cited to explain the choice of statin were preadmission prescription and pharmacy availability. Most respondents reported never starting statins to prevent (65.3%) or treat (89.1%) organ dysfunction. Only a minority (10%) disagreed with a statement that the risks of major side effects of statins when prescribed in critically ill patients were low. The majority (84.5%) of respondents strongly agreed that a clinical trial of statins for prevention is needed. More than half (56.5%) favoured rates of organ failure as the primary outcome for such a trial, while a minority (40.6%) favoured mortality. Conclusions Despite differences in type of statins prescribed, critical care physicians in the UK and ANZ reported similar prescription practices. Respondents from both communities agreed that a trial is needed to test whether statins can prevent the onset of new organ failure in patients with sepsis

Fresh University Students and Phone Use Preferences: The Perception of a Public University in Ghana

The current study was a case study in one of the public universities in Ghana to ascertain phone acquisition and use tendencies of first year university students in their first semester of university education. A sample size of 300 was used for the study. The findings indicated that all the 300 (100%) students had phones whilst 223 (74.3%) of them had smartphones with internet functionality. It was found out that there was a significant difference between first year university students’ time spent on phones, based on age. Again, there was a significant negative correlation between first year university students’ time spent on phones based on their age. Further, the study revealed that first year university students were more likely to spend one semester (four months) on their phones in a four-year programme. The implications for practice have been discussed. Keywords: cell phones use, classroom, phone acquisition, time, first year students

Modeling the Effects of Drug Binding on the Dynamic Instability of Microtubules

We propose a stochastic model that accounts for the growth, catastrophe and rescue processes of steady state microtubules assembled from MAP-free tubulin. Both experimentally and theoretically we study the perturbation of microtubule dynamic instability by S-methyl-D-DM1, a synthetic derivative of the microtubule-targeted agent maytansine and a potential anticancer agent. We find that to be an effective suppressor of microtubule dynamics a drug must primarily suppress the loss of GDP tubulin from the microtubule tip.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Phys. Bio