Couching in Nigeria: prevalence, risk factors and visual acuity outcomes.

PURPOSE: Couching is an ancient treatment for cataract which is still practiced in some of the poorer developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study is to describe risk factors for couching and visual acuity outcomes in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 40 years and above in Nigeria. METHODS: Probability in proportion size methods were used to identify a representative sample. Of the 15,375 adults enumerated, 13,582 were interviewed and examined. Examination included logMar acuities, slit lamp examination and dilated fundoscopy with digital fundus imaging. RESULTS: Almost half of the 583 eyes undergoing a procedure for cataract had been couched (249 eyes, 42.7%). Individuals living in rural areas (P = 0.033) and in the two underserved northern administrative zones (P = 0.33; P = 0.002) were more likely to have been couched. Visual outcomes were poor according to World Health Organization categories, with 55.8% of people and 73.1% of eyes having a presenting visual acuity of less than 3/60 and only 9.7% and 2.4% of people and eyes respectively having a good outcome (6/18 or better). None were wearing an aphakic correction, and with correction acuities improved but 42.6% of eyes were still blind (< 3/60). CONCLUSIONS: Couching is still widely practiced in Nigeria and visual outcomes are very poor. The population needs to be made aware of the risks associated with the procedure, and services for high quality, affordable cataract surgery need to be expanded, particularly in rural areas and in the north of the country

External electric field effect on electron transport in carbon nanotubes

Electronic transport properties of carbon nanotubes are studied theoretically in the presence of external electric field E(t) by using the Boltzmann's transport with constant relaxation time. An analytical expression for the current densities of the nanotubes are obtained. It is observed that the current density-electric field characteristics of the CNs exhibit total self-induced transparency and absolute negative conductivityComment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Haematologic tolerance of a rumen fistulation protocol in Udaramsata Tertiary Institution Livestock Teaching and Research Farm, Kaduna State, Nigeria

ABSTRACTThis experiment was conducted at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma Livestock Teaching and Research Farm in Dutsin-Ma Local Government area of Katsina State, Nigeria. The study was aimed at studying haematological tolerance level of Uda rams to a rumen fistulation protocol involving incision of skin and muscles separation along the direction of muscle fibers by divulsion. Blood samples were collected and evaluated at the intervals of 0, 24 and 48hours to assess blood line response to the protocol. A total of 3 rams were used and assigned T1, T2 and T3 in a completely randomized technique. A significant (P&lt; 0.05) continuum of decreased packed cell volume and haemoglobin concentration was observed from 0hrs through to 48hours connoting anaemia condition associated with the rumen fistulation protocol. However, significant (P &lt; 0.01) tolerance levels were observed with the cell mediated immune response as evident in the increased lymphocyte counts (lymphocytosis) and an initial acute increase in neutrophils (neutrophilia). This technique was able to demonstrate good tolerance level to rumen fistulation by Uda rams making this breed a good candidate for nutritional and physiological studies requiring rumen fistulation

Radiation hazard in soil from Ajaokuta North-central Nigeria

Background: Measurement of the radia�on dose distribu�on is important in assessing the health risk a popula�on and serve as reference in documen�ng changes to environmental radioac�vity in soil due to man-made ac�vi�es. Materials and Methods: The ac�vity concentra�on of 238U, 232Th and 40K in soil samples obtained from different loca�ons in Ajaokuta Local Government area was measured using Hyper Pure germanium Detec�on System (HPGe). Results: The calculated average concentra�on of the radionuclides ranged from 12 ± 1 Bqkg-1 to 59 ± 2 Bqkg-1 for 238U, 14 ± 1 Bqkg-1 to 78 ± 5 Bqkg-1 for 232Th and 49 ± 2 Bqkg-1 to 1272 ± 23 Bqkg-1 for 40K. In order to evaluate the radiological hazards due to natural radionuclides within Ajaokuta, the absorbed dose rate, gamma index, radium equivalent and excess life�me cancer risk were es�mated. According to measured data from the top soil (0-10 cm), the es�mated radium equivalent (Raeq) ranges from 55.7 Bqkg-1 at Steel Complex to 253.3 Bqkg-1 obtained from Forest samples. Conclusion: The mean absorbed dose rate, annual effec�ve dose and gamma radia�on index evaluated were 66.2 nGyh-1, 81.2 μSvy-1 and 1.05 respec�vely which are higher than the recommended limit for normal background radia�on. Thus, we conclude that people living in these loca�ons may be exposed to higher radia�on

Determination of elemental constituents for three herbal plants that are traditionally used to cure cancer

Elemental constituents of fresh leaves of the three herbal plants used traditionally for treatment of cancer namely: Guera Senegalense, Boswellia and Mangifera Indica were analyzed. Results show that all the three samples contain the highest amounts of calcium in parts per million (Guiera Senegalensis 5991 ppm, Boswellia 9413 ppm and Mangifera Indica 2405 ppm) as compared to other constituents. Further studies reveal that presence of calcium in appreciable amount within the metabolic system of human being helps to reduce the risk of cancer and related ailments. Other benefits of calcium in man include strengthening bones and teeth.Keywords: Herbal Medicine, Cancer, Constituents, Carcinoge

Automation of Requirement Analysis in Software Engineering

Software engineering practices are the most important practices for the success of software. Requirement engineering is the first and crucial phase in the development of software. Success or failure of any software is truly dependent upon the requirement analysis. It involves set of activities like system feasibility study, elicitation analysis, validation and management of the requirements. There are many methods already exist to perform the requirement gathering process and the system analyst apply them to gather the requirements but still they are facing many problems in gathering the requirements. These problems occur due to the communication gaps between customers, engineers and project managers, and requirements information loss might occur across different software development process. This affects the quality of the software and increase the production cost of software. Reviews of user requirement analysis technique from the literatures were studied by listing their advantages and limitation. Based on the limitations of the reviewed literatures an automated system has been developed for gathering user requirements which will go along in bridging the communication gaps between the users and the analyst

Influence of Agronomic Practices on Crop Production

The ultimate goal of any farmer is to get maximum yield per unit area. To obtain high yield, effective crop management practices, appeared to be of paramount value. Crop production in Nigeria is faced with many challenges among which are: untimely planting, incorrect plant spacing, wrong method of planting, poor sowing depth, delayed weeding