Determinants of Non Alcoholic Beverages (NAB) Consumption in North-Western Nigeria: A study of Sokoto Metropolis

Non alcoholic beverages (NAB) consumption in Nigeria has been steadily increasing over the years to the point where nearly half of the populace are consumers of these products. This study seeks to determine the role played by socioeconomic characteristics in driving consumption of some selected NABs particularly juice and carbonated soda in Sokoto metropolis of Nigeria. To adequately capture the variables of interest, specifically, location and ethnicity variables, the metropolis was grouped into four clusters, namely Peri-urban, Sokoto main, G R As, and Resident community. In each of the clusters one hundred households were randomly selected to arrive at a sample size of four hundred households. Descriptive, OLSMR and probit analytical tools were used to analyse the data collected. The results shows that about 59% and 71% of the respondents consumed juice and soda respectively while the per capita consumption of juice was slightly higher than that of soda which were 7.57 and 7.32 litres respectively. Household sizes, education and economic status of the household heads play a significant role in determining the consumption level of both juice and soda. While gender and location significantly affected the respective consumption of juice and soda in the metropolis. In both cases gender and household sizes where negative while the rest where positive. The probit analysis showed that age and household sizes negatively affected the probability of both juice and soda consumption, while education and economic status of the household heads positively determined the probability of consumption of the two beverages in the metropolis. Finally, while gender has a negative effect on the probability of juice consumption, ethnicity of the household heads played a positive role in the consumption probability of soda beverages. The study concluded that an improvement in the consumption of NABs in the metropolis requires policies aimed at encouraging the citizenry to have a smaller family size, sound education and raising their real incomes. While the manufacturers should be encouraged to fortify their carbonated drinks with nutrients.Keywords: Juice, Soda, Sokoto metropolis, Probit, OLSMR, Consumptio

A Meta-Ethnographic Review of Paid Staff and Volunteers Working together in Palliative Care

Context Volunteers in palliative care settings are an essential part of care provision for patients and those important to them. Effective collaboration between volunteers and paid staff has been regarded as an important element of successful working, however, at times failures in coordination, information sharing and tensions within teams have been highlighted. Objectives To explore the views expressed by volunteers and paid staff about their experiences of working together in palliative care settings. Methods A systematic exploration of qualitative research using a meta-ethnographic approach. PsycINFO, CINAHL, Medline Complete, and AMED databases were searched from inception to December 2021 for the concepts “volunteers” and “palliative care.” Repeated in-depth reading and appraisal of papers identified metaphors and concepts, providing new interpretations. Results Included papers (n = 14) enabled the construction of five storylines: 1) “we are the cake, and they are the cream”: understanding the volunteer role—separate, but part of a whole. 2) “…we don't know what's wrong with people but sometimes we need to know”: access to information and importance of trust. 3) “everybody looks out for each other”: access to paid staff and their support. 4) “...we don't meddle in the medical”: boundaries. 5) "it's the small things that the staff does for me that makes me feel good about my work": sense of value and significance. Conclusions For effective working relationships between paid staff and volunteers, proactive engagement, recognition of each other's role and contribution, mutual sharing of information, and intentional interaction between both groups is needed

Local Knowledge and Community–Based Assessment of Environmental Change in Ghana

Although much scientific knowledge exists about global environmental change, two kinds oflimitations arise: limited scientific understanding about first, localized geographic specificitiesand second, the perspectives of the affected populations, the communities. This paper contributesto an understanding of local knowledge on environmental change through Community RiskAssessment (CRA) in Ghana. Qualitative methods of data collection, particularly ParticipatoryRural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed for data collection and complemented with asurvey of 200 farmers. The paper highlights three key findings. First, it underscores the potentialrole of local knowledge in CRA and in contributing to an understanding that environmental changehas been primarily negative, as in a deteriorating climate and the natural environment. Secondly,that local knowledge on vulnerability to climate change revealed multiple exposures to climaticextremes such as drought, heavy rainfall, floods and rainstorms.  However, drought andrainstorms were identified as the highest risk stressors with disruptive or damaging consequenceson livelihoods of local populations. Communities also had their knowledge of change in the naturalenvironment. The primary stressors of environmental change were identified as deforestation andland degradation and anthropogenic factors as the primary drivers of such changes. Thirdly, thatthere is great potential for a role of local knowledge in environmental change research andadaptation in Africa and wherever such knowledge exists. This is because the outcomes are bothscientific and relevant for Environmental Change Mitigation and Adaptation Planning (ECMAP)

Kinetics and Thermodynamic Studies of Disperse Dyes Derived from 4-Amino-3-Nitrobenzaldehyde on Polyester fabrics.

Adsorption kinetics and thermodynamic studies of disperse dyes derived from 4-Amino-3-Nitrobenzaldehyde on polyester fabrics was carried out at various temperatures, pH, liquor ratios, time and carrier concentrations. The results showed the equilibrium adsorption isotherms of disperse dyes on polyester fabrics. The values of the thermodynamic parameters recorded and the adsorption isotherms deduced from the experiment suggests that the adsorption kinetics of the disperse dyes on polyester fabric is in agreement with a pseudo second-order kinetic model [11]. Van der Wa’als forces are thought to have played significant role in dye – fibre attraction and the adsorption of disperse dyes on polyester was an exothermic process. It was found that on application, the dyes had very good fastness to both wash and light and moderate fastness to perspiration

Primary school mathematics teachers’ ideas, beliefs, and practices of constructivist instructional strategies

The study explored Ghanaian primary school mathematics teachers’ ideas, beliefs and practices of constructivist instructional strategies (CIS). The design for the study was a sequential exploratory design, comprising two hundred and fifty-two (252) mathematics teachers (126 lower primary teachers and 126 upper primary teachers), who were purposively selected from school districts in the Upper East region. The qualitative data consisted of interview responses and lesson observations. The quantitative data consisting mainly of teachers’ responses to 3-point Likert scale questionnaire items, helped to investigate relationship in two quantitative variables. The results indicated that through CIS pupils were able to construct their own understanding, and were willing to follow a learner-centred method of instruction. Additionally, teachers became aware of social interaction and authentic learning tasks, two aspects of CIS. It was also determined that as teachers’ perceptions of CIS increased, their frequency of use of selected CIS correspondingly increased. The implications of this study are that mathematics teachers should be provided with resources that would enable them to teach using CIS. To forestall this, in-service and professional development programmes should continually be organized for teachers to keep them abreast of CIS

THE EFFECT OF TIME INFLUENCE ON PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS FOLLOWING KETAMINE AND DIAZEPAM ADMINISTERATION IN CATS

Objective: The present study aims to determine the effect of time influence on rectal temperature, respiratory and pulse rate, onset and duration of action, duration of recumbency and recovery following ketamine and diazepam administration in cats.Methods: Experimental study design was used on 20 cats (males and females) randomly divided into two equal groups (A and B). Ketamine (10 mg/kg i. m.) was administered to group A in the morning. The same procedure was repeated using different dosages (15 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg i.m.) at intervals of 3 days each. A similar procedure was applied to group B in the evening. A week after, diazepam (1.5 mg/kg, 2.5 mg/kg and 3.5 mg/kg i. v.) were administered to group A and B using the same procedure used in ketamine administration. All baseline measurements were recorded after each drug administration and were repeated at 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, and 120 min intervals after induction of anesthesia with ketamine and diazepam.Results: It was found that the onset of action of ketamine following i. m. administration was slightly longer at evening (2-5 mins) while that of diazepam was instant after i. v. administration. The duration of recumbency was shorter in the morning using ketamine while longer following diazepam (7-19 mins) administration. The rectal temperature, respiratory and pulse rate were lower in the morning following ketamine and diazepam administration even though, the respiratory and pulse rate decreases as the dose was increased but not statistically significant. The duration of action and recovery was significantly longer in the morning after ketamine and diazepam administration.Conclusion: According to this study, there was not much difference between morning and evening administration using both drugs. However, it should be noted that influence of time of administration was evident in some of the parameters measured especially with diazepam.Â

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Oxidation of Orange II by Chlorate Ion in Aqueous Hydrochloric Acid

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(2):165-170 Authors: B. Myek, S. O. Idris, A. D. Onu and M. K. Yakubu Received 05 March 2020/Accepted 03 May 2020 The kinetics of the oxidation of orange II (OR-) by ClO3-was studied in aqueous hydrochloric acid where the ionic strength and other parameters of the reaction mixture was, I = 0.50 mol dm-3 (NaCl), [H+] = 5.0 10-2 mol dm-3 (HCl) and T = 21 +/_ 1o C. The redox reaction displayed a stoichiometry of 1:2 and obeys the rate law given as,−????[????????−]/???????? = ????[????][????????][???????????? ]. The observed second order rate constant was found to increases with increase in hydrogen ion concentration. The rates of reaction displayed a zero salt effect and was inhibited by some added cations and anions. From the Michaelis-Menton Buck plot, there was no evidence for the formation of intermediate during the course of the reaction. Based on the results obtained, the outersphere mechanism was proposed for the reaction.&nbsp

Comparative antioxidant and hypoglycaemic effects of aqueous, ethanol and n-hexane extracts of leaf of Vitex doniana on streptozotocin-induced diabetes in albino rats

Several herbal preparations are used to treat diabetes, but their reported hypoglycemic effects are complex. This study therefore was designed to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of Vitex doniana leaves on oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic and non-diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced intraperitoneally using 50 mg/kg streptozotocin, while diabetic rats were treated in 12 h cycles for four weeks with 100 mg/kg of the extract and glibenclamide (2.5 mg/kg). Nondiabetic control rats received distilled water. The levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), aspartatate aminotransfrease (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities total, conjugated and unconjugated bilirubin concentration were assayed. The results indicate that the concentrations of TBARS, ALT, AST, ALP and bilirubin were significantly increased while the activities of SOD and CAT were reduced in the diabetic animals (p<0.05). The extract significantly increased CAT and SOD activity and reduced FBS, TBARS, ALT, AST, ALP and bilirubin concentrations significantly (p<0.05) compared to normal. However, glibenclamide treatment showed slight modification in the changes observed compared to the extract. The study concluded that the extract reversed diabetes and diabetes-induced oxidative changes in the hepatocytes, thus suggesting its use for the management of diabetic complications.Keywords: Vitex doniana, lipid peroxidation, streptozotocin-induced diabeticAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(40), pp. 5933-594

Evaluation of some Varieties of Okra (Abelmoschusesculentus) Seed Oil for Consumption and Industrial Uses

The demand for seeds oil is rapidly increasing due to the growth of the human population and the resulting increase in its consumption for both domestic and industrial uses. Hence, seed oils from three okra (Abelmoschusesculentus) varieties – Clemson spineless, ex-Samaru and NHAE-74 were extracted and their physicochemical properties were analysed and compared with some conventional seed oils. The percentage oil yield of the seeds determined for NHAE-74 (25.67±0.58 %) is significantly higher (p < 0.05) than Clemson spineless  (24.33±0.29 %) and ex-Samaru (23.05±0.50 %). The acid value (3.65±0.02, 1.96±0.01 and 2.24±0.02 mgKOH/g), Iodine Value (114.59±0.01,110.97±0.02 and 111.67±0.02 mg/100g) and Saponification value (122.02±0.19, 130.43±0.04 and 124.82±0.02 meqKOH/kg) of Clemson  spineless, ex-Samaru and NHAE-74, respectively differ significantly (p < 0.05) among the three varieties, while the peroxide value  (meqKOH/kg) of Clemson spineless (3.92±0.14) is significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the values of NHAE-74 (5.33±0.14) and ex-Samaru (5.00±0.25). The results further showed that the seed oil has a quality comparable to those of conventional oils and has great nutritional and industrial potentials

Improved corrosion resistance, mechanical and wear behaviors of particulate composite coating of steel pipeline for marine environment

The use of agricultural wastes, which are cost-effective and environmental-friendly materials as composites coating, is growing fast in various engineering fields. This research investigates the possibility of improving corrosion resistance, mechanical, and wear behaviors of particulate composite coating of steel pipeline with zinc alloys reinforced with groundnut shell ash (GSA) for the marine environment. Different weight percentages of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt.% GSA of particle size 75 μm were used for the coatings. The groundnut shell ash was characterized by X-ray fluorescent (XRF). The morphology of the steel pipeline before and after coatings was studied using scanning electron microscope/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The XRF results revealed that calcium oxides (CaO), silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), and iron oxide (Fe2O3) being the major oxides present. The results showed that average coating thickness and hardness value were 45.50, 98.50, 99.67 μm, and 80.45, 108.60, 118.60 HBV for Zn-10ZnO/0, 20, and 25 wt. % GSA respectively. Their corresponding current corrosion (icorr) were 38.52, 10.56, and 2.98 mA/cm2. The morphologies revealed that reinforcement with GSA protected the surface of the system analyzed. The corrosion rate of the steel pipeline of 38.52 mA/cm2 values decreased to 10.56 mA/cm2 and 1.98 mA/cm2 for 0, 20, and 25 wt. % GSA with the protection efficiency of 72.59% and 81.25%, respectively. The wear rate improvement between 0-25 wt. % GSA was 49.75%. The work established Zn-10ZnO/GSA composite coating on steel pipeline can improve the corrosion resistance, hardness, and wear rate of the studied steel pipeline coated