33 research outputs found
Yoruba Contemporary Gele: A Stylistic Appraisal
Gele, pronounced gay-lay, is simply head covering, typified and rooted in feminine fashion of the Yoruba, home and abroad. It is the ultimate apparel adorned by the female folks of all age, class and status; giving acclaimed quintessential top notch appeal, deserving of a true Yoruba dress. In other words, clothing accessories conglomerating costume, footwear, makeup and hairstyle is incongruous without gele particularly in the Yoruba milieu. Gele congruity in female dressing is unequivocably material to recent proclivity and self expressions as observed in generation and regenerations of well over thirty stylish gele ideas and innovations. In view of the latter, this paper examines gele stylistic inclination; using Ibadan as its case in point, being the largest city state in modern Yoruba history. The methodology adopted was triangular approaches of participatory field investigation, online survey and artistic visualisation. Gele adherents and stylists of Ibadan metropolis were physically interviewed, figures sourced virtually and appraised artistically. Eight gele styles were shortlisted and stylistically visualised. Findings revealed dynamism in prevailing gele styles, with apparent classic and comely finesse on beholders. Consequently, this paper hopes it finding will help promotes gele styling among teeming youths locally and globally; provoking studies on the subject matter
Tuberculous Lymphadenitis in South‑Eastern Nigeria; a 15 Years Histopathologic Review (2000‑2014)
Background: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic has brought about a resurgence in tuberculosis (TB), especially in developing countries. Previous studies on TB lymphadenitis (TBLN) in South‑Eastern Nigeria were done before the advent of the HIV pandemic making a review pertinent.Aim: To evaluate the role of TBLN as a cause of superficial lymphadenopathy in the post‑HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) era of South‑Eastern Nigeria.Materials and Methods: This is a 15 years (2000–2014) retrospective review of all superficial lymph node biopsies (SLNBs) received at the Department of Morbid Anatomy, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku‑Ozalla Enugu, Nigeria.Results: One hundred and seventy‑two cases of TBLN were identified in this study constituting 14.6% (172/1,180) of SLNBs received at our Hospital’s Morbid Anatomy Department during the 15 years period under review. Twenty‑eight cases of TBLN were clinically screened for HIV, 23 of which tested positive, representing 82.1% (23/28) of clinically screened cases. Acid fast bacilli demonstration was positive in 15.1% (26/172) of cases using Ziehl‑Neelsen stain. 48.8% (84/172) of TBLN cases were males, and 51.2% (88/172) were females with most (22) cases received in 2012 and least (5) cases in 2000. Most TBLN occurred in the 21–25 years age group with a total of 21.5% (37/172) of cases and a male to female ratio of 1:1.5 The most common biopsy site for TBLN was the cervical group followed by the axillary and inguinal groups with 73.8% (127/172), 14% (24/172), and 4.7% (8/172) of cases, respectively.Conclusions: There is a remarkable decline in the prevalence of TB lymphadenitis in South‑Eastern Nigeria indicating a change in trend from the pre‑ to the post‑HIV/AIDS era with slightly more females now presenting with TBLN and most TB lymphadenitis patients now presenting with associated HIV/AIDS disease. There is an urgent need to provide modern diagnostic facilities in our medical laboratories.Keywords: Histology, Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Lymphadenitis, Tuberculosis, Ziehl‑Neelse
Relationship Between Plasma Homocysteine and Vitamin B12 Levels in Clinically Diagnosed Cases of Cardiovascular Accident in Lagos, Nigeria
Vitamin B12 deficiency interferes with the normal pathway for homocysteine metabolism, even in the presence of adequate serum folate and pyridoxine. Homocysteinaemia, is an elevated level of homocysteine in plasma which has been established as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disorders. However, there has been conflicting report from various research works on the role of Vitamin B12 in the occurrence of major cardiovascular disorders. The study was set to determine the mean values of homocysteine, and correlate same with mean plasma levels of vitamin B12 in the subjects, and to estimate the prevalence of anaemia in the stroke patients, using Haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) as indices. One hundred (100) participants were recruited, comprising 40 clinically diagnosed stroke patients (hemorrhagic or thrombo-embolic), and 60 normal adults as control group. Plasma homocysteine levels were measured by HPLC and plasma vitamin B12 levels by Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immuno-assay method. Anticoagulated whole blood samples were evaluated for Hb, and MCV using automated Advia-60. Mean value of plasma homocysteine for the stroke patients (17.7±4.4umol/l) was significantly higher than values obtained in the control group at 9.5±2.4umol/l (
Determination of Some Physicochemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Sewage Samples from Domestic, House-boat and Off-shore Facilities Discharge Point.
Test was conducted to determine some physico- chemical and
microbiological parameters from samples of sewage effluent collected
from domestic, house-boat, and offshore facilities respectively at the
discharge point to the recipient environment. Among the parameters
determined included: Total chlorine, Biological Oxygen demand (BOD),
Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and faecal
coliform. Test results indicated that the total chlorine had values
which ranged from (<0.01-0.10)mg/l for the domestic facilities, the
house-boat facilities values ranged from (0.01-0.12)mg/l. The values
for the offshore facilities ranged from (<.01-4.0mg/l). The BOD5
values for the domestic facilities ranged from (<0.01-240) mg/l, the
house \u2013boat facilities ranged from (45.6080.00)mg/l. The value of
the offshore facilities was 20mg/l for all the three points tested. The
result of the TSS indicated that for the domestic facilities, the
values ranged from (75.0-115) mg/l, the house-boat facilities values
ranged from (66-182) mg/l. and for the offshore facilities, results
ranged from (60- 265) mg/l. The DO results from the domestic facilities
indicated a range of (0.18-5.92) mg/l. The result from the house
\u2013boats ranged from (2.02.90) mg/l, the offshore facilities
results ranged from (3.21-5.32)mg/l. The faecal coliform for the
domestic facilities had a value which ranged from (14-1600) cfu/100ml.
the house-boat facilities values ranged from (180-290) cfu/100ml. The
offshore facilities had values which ranged from (14-1600) cfu/100ml.
Most of these results were higher than limits specified by the
regulatory level (DPR) and an indication that the recipient environment
was polluted and poses a great concern. In a place like Nigeria, where
there are no sewerage treatment systems, it is indiscriminately
disposed into rivers without treatment and such rivers serve as sources
of drinking water. This water pollution is of great concern and has
resulted to diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Therefore, proper
treatment of sewage before discharging into the recipient environment
is imperative. @ JASE
Efficient OLAP query processing in distributed data warehouses
, and Divesh Srivastava 2 1 Aalborg Universit
Evaluation of some of the Metal Levels at Different Depths from Gulf of Guinea Offshore Location
Study area is in the Nigeria continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean,
located within seawater depths of 20 – 25 m and geographic X and
Y coordinates 337896 – 356905 and 469773 – 482786, offshore
Nigeria respectively. Test was conducted to evaluate some of the metal
levels at different depths from Gulf of Guinea offshore location.
Samples were collected from the depth of 5m, 10m, 15m and 20m
respectively and tests were conducted over a one year period on a
quarterly basis. Test result indicated that mean value over the period
for the metals tested was: Mg(1160mg/l), K(369mg/l), Na(8062mg/l),
Ca(380mg/l), Al(<1.0mg/l), Fe(0.05mg/l), Cu(<0.05mg/l),
Mn(<0.10mg/l), Zn(<0.05mg/l), Ba(<0.03mg/l), Si(<0.01mg/l),
Sr(0.569mg/l), Li(0.559mg/l). This project therefore will help to
provide a base-line data on the metal constituents of the Gulf of
Guinea offshore location, thereby helping framework for environmental
protection for offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Guinea @
JASE
An algebraic framework for temporal attribute characteristics
Most real-world database applications manage temporal data, i.e., data with associated time references that capture a temporal aspect of the data, typically either when the data is valid or when the data is known. Such applications abound in, e.g., the financial, medical, and scientific domains. In contrast to this, current database management systems offer preciously little built-in query language support for temporal data management. This situation persists although an active temporal database research community has demonstrated that application development can be simplified substantially by built-in temporal support. This paper's contribution is motivated by the observation that existing temporal data models and query languages generally make the same rigid assumption about the semantics of the association of data and time, namely that if a subset of the time domain is associated with some data then this implies the association of any further subset with the data. This paper offers a comprehensive, general framework where alternative semantics may co-exist. It supports so-called malleable and atomic temporal associations, in addition to the conventional ones mentioned above, which are termed constant. To demonstrate the utility of the framework, the paper defines a characteristics-enabled temporal algebra, termed CETA, which defines the traditional relational operators in the new framework. This contribution demonstrates that it is possible to provide built-in temporal support while making less rigid assumptions about the data and without jeopardizing the degree of the support. This moves temporal support closer to practical applications
Biodegradation of premium motor spirit (PMS) by lipase from Bacillus thuringiensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus
This study reported production of lipase by Bacillus thuringiensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus. Bacteria isolates were screened on Bushnell-Hass Mineral Salt medium containing 1% PMS for oil degradation. Two potent isolates were identified using 16S rRNA as Bacillus thuringiensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus. They were cultured for lipase production in a submerged medium. The crude lipases extracted were used for degradation of PMS. Optimum degradation of PMS 44.5% and 37.4% were obtained by lipase from Bacillus thuringiensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus respectively at pH 7 and 35 in 20 days. This study therefore presented the use of bacterial lipase in degradation of PMS as a simple and effective approach.Keywords: Bacillus spp., biodegradation, lipase,