Prevalence of malaria among under fives in Tudun-Wada, Jos north local government area of Plateau state, North central Nigeria.

Background: Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease associated with high morbidity and mortality and under fives. It is the third leading cause of death for children under five years world wide. It is a major public health problem in Nigeria. Knowledge of the prevalence in underfives will help in instituting measures to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with it.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 400 under five children in Tudun Wada, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State to determine the prevalence of malaria.Results: The age range of the sampled population was between 0 and 60 months with mean of 34 + 8 months. One hundred and sixty four(41%) of the sampled population had malaria. Sixty four(16%) were females while 100(25%) were males,p=0.06.Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high prevalence of malaria among under five children.Key words: prevalence, malaria, underfiv

Application of Firefly Optimization Algorithm to the Design and Characterization of Helmholtz Coils for Magnetic Field Sensor Calibration

This paper presents the application of Firefly Optimization Algorithm (FOA) to the design and characterization of Helmholtz coils to create homogenous magnetic field needed for calibrating magnetic field sensors and used for other experiments. Magnetometer is used to monitor and record the earth’s magnetic field data at the geomagnetic observatory. Earth’s magnetic field data from ground-based magnetometer observatories are important for studying geomagnetic storm. The absence of earth’s magnetic field data observatories results in a complex mysterious phenomenon of geomagnetic storm and remains as unexplained one. Fluxgate magnetometer is contributing to the ongoing extensive research work dedicated to the explanation of some of the complex phenomena related to geomagnetic storm and solar terrestrial system. In order to examine magnetic field sensing of a fluxgate sensor, a large area with uniform magnetic field is required. The advantage of having a large area is to allow easy access of the sensor during magnetic field measurements. A laboratory design and characterization of high quality Helmholtz coils is a better choice when Helmholtz coil with larger areas that are available in the market are very expensiv

Applications of Space Technology for Accelerated Infrastructures Development for Rural Areas Development in Nigeria

Rural to urban migration still persists in Nigeria despite government’s claim of rural development programs. This situation if not checked portends negative signal for the already over-populated urban areas, particularly in areas of food security, sanitation, housing, crimes, etc. The development of rural areas is measured by the availability of infrastructures and economic opportunities that are available to the people. These infrastructures include: transportation infrastructure, educational infrastructure, healthcare infrastructure, energy infrastructure, water supply/sanitation infrastructure, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and so on. Rural areas in Nigeria urgently require accelerated infrastructure development to alleviate poverty. When this is done rapid growth is ensured and poverty is drastically reduced. The world today has become increasingly reliant on information and communication technologies (ICT) and with it comes the need for societies and communities to stay connected and be integrated into the global information super highway. Space technology today has also become an integral part of global information infrastructure, connecting people across the world and serving communications needs of governments, businesses and individuals. For Nigeria to be technologically developed, the “digital divide” (that is the imbalance between urban and rural dwellers in which the rural dwellers have far lesser access to the same quality of knowledge), information, and education resources that are more readily available to urban areas because of the absence of required communication infrastructure need to be removed. The digital divide brings a virtual, but real impediment to the advancement of the society and individuals in remote rural settlements. This paper seeks to discuss the applications of space technology for accelerated rural infrastructures development in rural areas in Nigeri

EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM AND HURA CREPITANS PLANT OIL ON THE RHEOLOGICAL AND FILTRATION PROPERTIES OF WATER-BASED MUD

The performance of drilling mud is a function of the rheological and filtration properties, if these properties are not properly managed, could lead to drilling challenges. This research work is aimed at evaluating the potential of plant oils in the rheological and filtration properties of the water-based mud. In this experiment, the Calophyllum inophyllum and Hura crepitans were extracted from their seeds using a Soxhlet extractor and a distillation apparatus. Water-based mud was formulated using bentonite, carboxyl-methyl-cellulose (CMC), potassium hydroxide (KOH), deionized water, and the diesel oil, Calophyllum inophyllum and Hura crepitans oil was added in 5, 10, to 25 ml concentrations. The flash point, fire point, specific gravity, emulsion stability, pH, the kinematic viscosity of oil were measured. The rheological, physicochemical, and filtration properties of the mud were also measured. The result revealed appreciable properties of Calophyllum inophyllum and Hura crepitans plant oil are within and close to the ASTM standard. The plant oils are better fluid loss controllers than the diesel oil as they reduced the volume of fluid loss when added to ordinary water-based mud. Hura crepitans oil-in-water emulsion mud had relatively acceptable rheological properties than the Calophyllum inophyllum and diesel oil-in-water emulsion mud. Increasing rheological properties was observed as the concentration of the Calophyllum inophyllum, Hura crepitans, and diesel oil was increasing

Social workers’ migration to the United Kingdom: Comparing social networks, job and life satisfaction post-migration

Copyright © The Author(s) 2023. This study explores if and how migrating social workers’ gender, country of origin and time living in the United Kingdom relate to their job and life satisfaction, and to building a new social network post-migration. Online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were carried out with participants from Australia, Canada, India, Romania, South Africa, the United States and Zimbabwe. We found a statistically significant connection between the length of time in the United Kingdom and satisfaction from working as social workers and living in the United Kingdom. All our participating groups were generally only mildly satisfied professionally, but satisfied with living in the United Kingdom.The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

Predictors of extra care among magnesium sulphate treated eclamptic patients at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania

\ud The inclusion of Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4) as a gold standard in the treatment of eclampsia has substantially reduced incidences of repeated fits, eclamptic morbidity and deaths. However, despite treatment with MgSO4, a proportion of patients need extra medical/nursing attention and prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). The literature on the underlying factors for the need of extra care in the MgSO4 era is lacking. This study sought to establish predictors of extra care in ICU among eclamptic patients after treatment with MgSO4 at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). Data were obtained from hospital records of eclamptic patients who were admitted at MNH and treated with MgSO4 from January 1st to December 31st, 2008. Based on set criteria, patients who needed extra care were identified. Analysis was performed using PASW statistics 18 whereby frequencies, cross-tabulations, bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were performed. A total of 366 eclamptic patients were admitted and treated with MgSO4 at MNH during a 12 month study period in 2008. Most of these (76%) were referred from district hospitals and 132 (36%) met the criteria for extra care in ICU. After adjusting for other variables, the risk of extra care in ICU for patients who were admitted with altered consciousness was double (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3-4.0) that of the ones admitted in alert state. The risk or need of extra care increased by increasing time to delivery and was doubled (OR = 2.0; 95% CI:1.1-3.7) if it was between 12 and 24 hours and tenfold elevated (OR = 10.0; 95% CI:4.3-23.6) if beyond 24 hours as compared to when time to delivery was less than 12 hours.Abdominal delivery was also independently associated with increased risk compared to vaginal delivery (OR = 2.5; 95%CI: 1.4-4.5). The type of referral and number of fits were associated with extra care in ICU but this association was wholly explained by the clinical status of the patient on admission to MNH and prolonged time lag to delivery. We concluded that even with MgSO4 used as the gold standard in the treatment of eclampsia, effective pre-referral care and expedited delivery were crucial in minimizing the need for extra care in ICU.\u

Criteria-based audit on management of eclampsia patients at a tertiary hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

\ud Criteria-based audits have been used to improve clinical management in developed countries, but have only recently been introduced in the developing world. This study discusses the introduction of a criteria-based audit in a tertiary hospital in an African setting, assesses the quality of care among eclampsia patients and discusses possible interventions in order to improve the quality of care. We conducted a criteria based audit of 389 eclampsia patients admitted to Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Dar es Salaam Tanzania between April 14, 2006 and December 31, 2006. Cases were assessed using evidence-based criteria for appropriate care. Antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum eclampsia constituted 47%, 41% and 12% of the eclampsia cases respectively. Antepartum eclampsia was mostly (73%) preterm whereas the majority (71%) of postpartum eclampsia cases ware at term. The case fatality rate for eclampsia was 7.7%. Medical histories were incomplete, the majority (75%) of management plans were not reviewed by specialists in obstetrics, specialist doctors live far from the hospital and do not spend nights in hospital even when they are on duty, monitoring of patients on magnesium sulphate was inadequate, and important biochemical tests were not routinely done. Two thirds of the patient scheduled for caesarean section did not undergo surgery within agreed time. Potential areas for further improvement in quality of emergency care for eclampsia relate to standardizing management guidelines, greater involvement of specialists in the management of eclampsia and continued medical education on current management of eclampsia for junior staff.\u