Preliminary studies on food and feeding habits of Polypterus endlicheri and Polypterus senegalus in Lake Chad

The food and feeding habits of Polyprerus cncllicheri and Polypterus senegalus was carried out in the months of September to October. The food of 33 Polypierus endlicheri as observed include Tilapia species (89.3%), Eutropius niloticus (28.6%), Mayfly nymph (39.3%), Dragon fly larva (56.6%) fish remains (21.4%) and detritus (7.1%). The food of27 Polypterus senegalus as observed include Tilapia sp (88.4%), Eutropius niloticus (27.9%), may fly nymph (23.3%), Dragonfly nymph (34.9%) remains (21.1%) detritus (23.3%). (9 page document) The percentage occurrence of food item found in the stomach of Polypterus endlieheri is 93.3% while that of Polyprerus senegalus is 67.4%. The dominance of Tilapia sp was establish in the study, and there is no significant difference between the feeding habit of Polypterus endlicheri and Polyprerus senegalus

N-GRAM BASED QUERY STRUCTURING SYSTEM FOR EFFECTIVE XML RETRIEVAL

Query structuring systems are keyword search systems recently used for the effective retrieval of XML documents. Existing systems fail to put keyword query ambiguity prob-lems into consideration during query pre-processing and return irrelevant predicate nodes. As a result, these sys-tems return irrelevant results. In this research, an XML keyword search system, called N-gram based XML query structuring system (NBXQSS) is developed to improve the performance of keyword searches. The NBXQSS uses an N-gram Based Query Segmentation (NBQS) method which interprets a user query as a list of semantic units to help resolve ambiguity. The system also introduces an improved predicate identification algorithm (IPIA) to return rele-vant predicates. The IPIA uses a proposed function to com-pute the query term proximity and ordering. The effective-ness of the NBXQS is demonstrated through experimental performance study on some real-world XML documents. The results show that the developed system performs bet-ter compared to the existing system in terms of precision

Hyper-Erlang Battery-Life Energy Scheme in IEEE 802.16e Networks

IEEE 802.16e networks is one of the broadband wireless technologies that support multimedia services while users are in mobility. Although these users use devices that have limited battery capacity, several energy schemes were proposed to improve the battery-life. However, these schemes inappropriately capture the traffic characteristics, which lead to waste of energy and high response delay. In this paper, a Hyper-Erlang Battery-Life Energy Scheme (HBLES) is proposed to enhance energy efficiency and reduce the delay. The scheme analytically modifies idle threshold, initial sleep window and final sleep window based on the remaining battery power and the traffic pattern. It also employs a Hyper-Erlang distribution to determine the real traffic characteristics. Several simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of the HBLES scheme and the compared scheme.  The results show that the HBLES scheme out performs the existing scheme in terms of energy consumption and response delay

Radiological and Toxicity Impact of Uranium (U-238) in Ground Water to Different Age Groups at Wurno, Sokoto State, Nigeria

One of the primary goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) is for every society to have an adequate supply of safe drinking water. This work aimed to assess the radiological and toxicity impact of ground water of Wurno Local Government Area. Uranium activity concentration from 45 water samples collected from different locations in the study area were determined using HpGe   detector, the result from the analysis was used to evaluate the annual effective dose due to ingestion of groundwater from the study area by the inhabitants.  Radiological and chemical toxicity risks were also calculated. High level activity was reported in Diggim while low activity level was reported in Nassarawa-Daje. The annual effective doses for adult, children and infants were estimated to be from 0.008 mSvy-1 to 0.32 mSvy-1. The highest risk cancer mortality value was found at Diggim with a value of 4.34 × 10-4 while the lowest value was observed at Nassarawa Daje with a value of 1.17 × 10-5. Chemical toxicity value ranged from 0.59 – 21. 79 µg.kg-1.day-1 with an average dose value of 5.12 µg.kg-1.day-1. The lifetime average daily dose (LADD) values were reported to be higher at Diggim and lower at Nassarawa-Daje with the values 21.79 µg.kg-1.day-1 and 0.59 µg.kg-1.day-1 respectively compared with 0.6 µg.kg-1.day-1 WHO limit standard. Significantly, the high activity level, and chemical toxicity risk reported from this study is an indication that the area may have developed some fractures of granitic strata in the subsurface geology that contributed to the wide distribution of radiation dose

Interest Rate and Inflation Nexus: ARDL Bound Test Approach

The paperestimates the impact of interest rate on inflation in Nigeria. The study makes used of Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) on time series Data, for the period 1970-2016. The data set on inflation, money supply, interest rate, GDP per capita and exchange rate were tested for stationary using ADF, PP and KPS tests and established stationarity at I (1) for all the variables. ARDL testresults reveal that interest rate is inflationary in both the short-run and long-run as it positively and significantly influencing inflation in the two periods which is in conformity with the arguments of the fiscal policy supporters but contradict the arguments of the monetary policy supporters. The findings of the study imply that interest rate in Nigeria is inflationary. Meaning that increase in the rate of interest rate will lead to an increase inflation rate. Therefore, the research study conclude that interest rates should be adjusted with caution, and also implies that fiscal policy measure will be very effective in converting inflation in the country. Keywords:ARDL Bound Test, Interest Rate, Inflation, Exchange Rate, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-20-07 Publication date:October 31st 201

Choice of antihypertensive medications among physicians and its impact on blood pressure control among Nigerians living with hypertension

Background: Hypertension, if untreated or uncontrolled, leads to damage of vital organs such as the brain, heart and the kidneys among others. These complications have been shown to be severer in black Africans. Benefit of treatment has been repeatedly demonstrated by many studies. Therefore, many guidelines have been produced by relevant bodies in different countries in order to assist physicians in making the right choices for blood pressure (BP) control. Most of these bodies produce the guidelines based on the peculiarities of hypertension in their respective population. Several reports have shown how different hypertension is, in black Africans, still there is no published unified guideline for its treatment in this population.Methods: This was a survey of known hypertensives who were on follow up visit. Their prescriptions were assessed for drug name, class and number. Their blood pressures at that visit were also recorded. Prevalence of single therapy and combination therapy were determined. Compliance with the AHA recommended 2 – drug combination was determined. The percentage of BP control as well as the prescribed drugs in each group were also obtained.Results: Those on single agents were 13% out of which 52% were controlled. 87% were on various combination of 2 or more drugs of whom 41.9% of those on 2 drugs and 21.1% of those on more than 2 drugs had controlled BP. BP control in those on 2 drugs was better than in those with > 2 drugs, (p=0.0027).ACEI were the commonest used drug either as single agent (55.9%) or as 2 – drug combination as seen in 54.8% of the subjects on 2 – drug combination. 13 different 2 – drug combinations were identified with the best control in ARB + Diuretic, ACEI + Diuretic and CCB + Diuretic. The least control was observed in the ACEI + CCB group. Compliance with AHA recommendation was good but still 7.7% were under unacceptable group while another 7.7% were unclassified.Conclusion: ACE-Is are becoming the drugs of choice both as monotherapy and as combination therapy. Despite good compliance to AHA recommendation on drug combination, overall control is still a problem which calls for a revisit of these recommendations in Africans.Keywords: Ahtihypertensives; Physicians; Impact; Blood Pressure; Nigerian

Isolation of chemical constituents from n-hexane leaf extract of Cassia singueana del. (Fabaceae)

Cassia singueana Del. (Fabaceae) is a tropical plant species widely distributed across northern Nigeria. It is used by traditional herbalists in the treatment of ulcer, diabetes and other diseases. In this work, the n-hexane leaf extract of C. singueana was fractionated and purified by column chromatography using n-hexane, CHCl3, and EtOAc. This process led to the isolation of five (5) compounds namely, stigmasterol (1), stigmast-4-en-3-one (2a), stigmast-4, 22-dien-3-one (2b), 1-heneicosanol (3) and hexyl heneicosanoate (4). Compounds 2a and 2b were isolated as mixture. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using 1D and 2D NMR spectral analysis and comparison of the spectral data with literature values was undertaken.Keywords: Cassia singueana, column chromatography, isolation, phytochemicals, stigmastero

Optimization of thermoluminescence response of copper doped zinc lithium borate glass co-doped with Na2O

Establishing the basic procedures that will influence the enhancement of the TL yield of a phosphor is paramount in the issue of dosimetry. Melt quenching method was adopted in synthesizing lithium borate glass modified with ZnO, doped with CuO and codoped with Na2O. The structural and optical properties of zinc lithium borate and some TL properties of copper doped zinc lithium borate were reported in our previous works. The amorphous nature of the prepared glasses was confirmed by x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Physical properties of the glass were obtained via Archimedes principle. The copper doped zinc lithium borate was co-doped with different concentration of Na2O (0.025 mol % to 0.1 mol %). The glasses were irradiated with 4 Gy dose of gamma rays using 60Co gamma cell. The highest TL response was recorded against 0.05 mol% concentration of Na2O. The best settings for TLD reading of the proposed TLD were determined. The optimal annealing temperature and time for this composition was found to be 300 oC and 50 min respectively. The best heating rate at which the new TLD can be readout was 3 oC S-1

Patient-Specific Radiation Dose and Cancer Risk in Computed Tomography Examinations in Ondo, Nigeria

Introduction: The dose in computed tomography (CT) often approach or exceed the optimum levels, thereby increasing the probability of cancer induction. With wide application of this diagnostic test, it is expedient to determine the effective dose (ED) for each patient to estimate their cancer risk. This study was conducted to investigate the patient-specific dose (PSD) and cancer risk in CT examinations in Ondo, Nigeria. Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 160 patients undergoing eight most common types of CT examinations performed at the center, from December 5, 2015 to February 28, 2016. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each patient using demographic data, PSD was determined and estimation of the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer was accomplished using the Biologic Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII (2006) report phase 2 models. Results: From the results, radiation doses varied significantly within and between the types of CT examinations. The mean ED was 5.88±3.75 mSv in a range of 0.78-19.00 mSv. The mean PSD was 0.274±0.229 mSv/kgm-2 in a range of 0.024-1.555 mSv/kgm-2 and the mean LAR of cancer incidence was 0.04861±0.03996 Sv-1 in a range of 0.00004-0.21942 Sv-1. Conclusion: ED and PSD varied within and across the CT examinations. In this regard, the coefficients of variation of ED for abdominal, cranial, craniocervical, abdomen/pelvis, thoracic, thoracoabdominal, cervical spine, and pelvis were 5.7%, 6.6%, 3.9%, 8.9%,3.7%, 6.0%, 44.7%, and 19.2%, respectively. Accordingly, the coefficients of variation of PSD were 9.0%, 7.9%, 7.0%, 10.1%,5.6%,23.8%, 47.7%, and 14.2%

Metabolic syndrome in urban city of North-Western Nigeria: prevalence and determinants

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Sokoto metropolis of North-Western Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional community based study was carried out. Four hundred and ten subjects (201 males and 209 females) were recruited for the study using a multi-stage sampling technique. Demographic and the life style data was obtained from the participants. Evaluation of anthropometric variables, fasting blood sugar, lipid profiles, insulin resistance and blood pressure was performed. The classification of metabolic syndrome was based on the NCEP ATP III guidelines.Results: The mean (SD) age of the sample population was 39.6 (14.4) years. The mean (SD) age of the male subjects was 38.4(14.9) years and that of the females was 40.8(13.9) years (p> 0.05). The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 35.1% with the females having 42.83% and the males 27.36%. The frequencies of metabolic syndrome parameters in the study subjects were low HDL (56.1%),  hypertension (46.1%), dysglycemia (32.7%), central obesity (28%), and elevated triglycerides (22.4%). Most of the women had low HDL (62.2%) and central obesity elevated (49.8%). Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome is common in residents of North- Western Nigeria, commoner in the females than males. Risk factors for metabolic syndrome should be detected in normal individuals for implementing effective preventive measures.Key words: Metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, obesit