Iridoschisis in a Nigerian patient

We report iridoschisis in a female who presented at the age of 85 years with a ten year history of complaints of gradual and progressive deterioration in vision in both eyes (left eye worse than the right eye). The examination was notable for the presence of peripheral anterior synechiae inferiorly and few loose iris fibrils some of which were adherent to the corneal endothelium in both eyes while others floated within the aqueous humor. The anterior chamber was shallow and there was marked inferior/inferotemporal sectoral iris atrophy with splitting of the anterior layer of the iris. The pupils were slightly irregular in but reactive in both eyes and there were lenticular opacities in both eyes.Keywords: Glaucoma, iridoschisis, iris atroph

Effects of dietary cassava dough (Fufu) kitchen waste as a replacement for maize on growth performance of Clarias gariapinus fingerlings

The study was carried out to determine the growth performance of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings cultured in the circular plastic ponds and fed diets containing varying level of cassava dough (fufu) kitchen waste at 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10% levels of inclusion. Two hundred and twenty-five fingerlings were randomly distributed into five treatments, which were replicated thrice-using completely randomize design. While the diet with 0% serves as a control. Clarias gariepinus with average initial weight of 10 g were stocked at the rate of 15 fishes per replicates. The result shows that there were no significant different among the treatment as compared with mean weight gained, feed intake, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, and feed conversion ratio. Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed with 2.5% level of inclusion of cassava dough kitchen waste had the highest weight gained with the value of 11.66 g, followed by treatments 1, 4, 3 and 5, respectively. The result shows that the feed with 4.96% of cassava dough kitchen waste has the highest feed intake, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and feed conversion ratio. Therefore, a diet with 4.96% level of inclusion of cassava dough kitchen waste is hereby recommended to be in the diet of C. gariepinus fingerlings for economic reasons over maize

A Context-Adaptive Ranking Model for Effective Information Retrieval System

Abstract When using Information Retrieval (IR) systems, users often present search queries made of ad-hoc keywords. It is then up to information retrieval systems (IRS) to obtain a precise representation of user’s information need, and the context of the information. Context-aware ranking techniques have been constantly used over the past years to improve user interaction in their search activities for improved relevance of retrieved documents. Though, there have been major advances in context-adaptive systems, there is still a lack of technique that models and implements context-adaptive application. The paper addresses this problem using DROPT technique. The DROPT technique ranks individual user information needs according to relevance weights. Our proposed predictive document ranking model is computed as measures of individual user search in their domain of knowledge. The context of a query determines retrieved information relevance. Thus, relevant context aspects should be incorporated in a way that supports the knowledge domain representing users’ interests. We demonstrate the ranking task using metric measures and ANOVA, and argue that it can help an IRS adapted to a user's interaction behaviour, using context to improve the IR effectiveness

Heavy metals and sensory evaluation of canned tuna fish

In this study, two heavy metals in canned tuna fish were determined after digestion by the AOAC methods. Mercury and Cadmium levels in canned tuna fish were determined by flame atomic absorption photometry. The results of this study indicate that canned tuna fish imported into the country have concentrations well below the petmissible FAO/WHO levels for these toxic metals. Their contribution to the body burden can therefore be considered negligible and the fish seem to be safe for human consumption. For the sensory evaluation, tuna flakes in vegetable oil (Starkist) from Ghana and light meat tuna chunks in sunflower oil (John West) from Thailand were the most preferred while tuna flakes in brine (John West) from Thailand is the least preferred

Mercury content of some canned seafood collected from Nigerian retail markets

Twenty samples of canned seafood consisting of tuna, mackerel, sardines, prawn and shrimp were collected from retail operations in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. Mercury content in these canned seafood were determined after digestion by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods. The mercury contents for all the canned seafood products have concentrations well below the permissible EU levels for this toxic metal. Their contribution to the body burden can therefore be considered negligible and the canned seafood products seem to be safe for human consumption

Employee Motivation and its Effects on Employee Productivity/ Performance

One of the most important functions of management is to ensure that employee work is more satisfying and to reconcile employee motivation with organizational goals. With the diversity of current jobs, this is a dynamic challenge. What people value and enjoy is influenced by many factors, including the influence of different cultural backgrounds. This research report examines employee motivation and its impact on employee performance. The study examines some common theories of motivation that can be used in an organization to improve employee performance. The study showed that employees have their differences in terms of the concept of motivation. Various forms of theories of motivation in literature have been debated along with their applications and implications. Three questions were examined: What is motivation? What kind of motivation can best be used to increase employee performance? The results of the study show that motivation can increase or decrease employee performance. If the chosen form of motivation meets the needs of the employee, their performance increases. If, on the other hand, the chosen form of motivation does not satisfy the needs of the employee, the benefit decreases. It therefore encourages organizations to understand the motivating need of each employee to improve performance. Keywords: Motivations, Employee, Performance, Productivity DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-16-11 Publication date:August 31st 202

Optimizing the Flexural Behavior of Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Beams Containing Cassava Peel Ash using Response Surface Methodology

The growing concern to reduce global warming has necessitated the use of more eco-friendly materials in construction. The study is focused on the utilization of cassava peel ash as supplementary cementitious material and bamboo as reinforcement in concrete beams. The response surface methodology approach was explored to determine the effect of simultaneously varying the cassava peel ash content, bamboo size, beam length, and beam depth on the flexural strength and strain of beams. An analysis of variance was carried out on experimentally obtained results to determine the accuracy of the obtained models and the contributions made by the linear interaction and quadratic terms on flexural strength and flexural strain. The coefficient of determination obtained for RSM models showed a good correlation between all predicted and experimentally obtained results. The optimum conditions obtained for bamboo-reinforced concrete containing cassava peel ash were 3% cassava peel ash, 16 mm bamboo diameter, 500 mm beam length, and 150 mm beam depth. The predicted flexural strengths were 11.85, 14.34, and 14.95 N/mm2 and flexural strains of 0.64, 0.67, and 0.91 for 28 days, 56 days, and 90 days, respectively. To validate the model prediction, a laboratory experiment was conducted using the optimum mix design proportion. From the results obtained, it was observed that the experimental results were close to those predicted by the models. These models can be efficiently used for simulating the flexural behavior of bamboo-reinforced concrete beams. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-08-011 Full Text: PD

Design and Preliminary Evaluation of a Dry Cowpea Dehuller

Cowpea dehulling is an important operation in the processing of cowpea. Traditional cowpea dehulling methods recognize the soaking of cowpea in water for a significant amount of time before manual abrasion is carried out either through the use of mortar and pestle, hands, or legs. Existing mechanical alternatives also require prolonged soaking of cowpea before dehulling occurs in addition to being expensive and beyond the reach of many rural populations. This study designed and fabricated a dry cowpea dehulling machine using engineering principles and with locally available materials. Components of the machine include the hopper, power transmission drive, dehulling chamber, polishing chamber, sieves, discharge chute, and agitator. Dry cowpea varieties of Brown Drum (15%Mc dB) and Oloyin (17.5%Mc dB) cowpea weighing 500 g each were fed into the machine at a constant speed of 358 rpm. Preliminary tests showed the “Brown Drum” cowpea variety recorded a maximum dehulling efficiency of 97.44% in 7 minutes while the Oloyin variety was completely dehulled in 7 minutes at 98.75% efficiency. The throughput capacity recorded was 450kg/hr and this machine raises the possibility of producing dry dehulled cowpea for domestic and industrial end-users

Contributions of uterine fibroids to infertility at Ile‑Ife, South‑Western Nigeria

Background: Uterine fibroid is the most common tumor of the female genital tract. The benign tumors often grow into large sizes and assume unsightly shapes with concomitant symptoms and signs. Being a predominantly reproductive age disease, concurrent infertility and symptomatic uterine fibroids pose management challenges. Individualization of the patient is thus essential to the success of the reproductive outcome.Objectives: This study determined the prevalence, trend, management modalities, pregnancy outcome, and exposition of factors affecting pregnancy outcome among patients presenting with uterine fibroids and infertility at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC).Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of case records of 106 women managed for uterine fibroids and infertility over a 5‑year period (January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016) at the OAUTHC. The outcome measure is the pregnancy rate among those who had a myomectomy.Results: About a quarter of women with infertility had symptomatic uterine fibroids and this represents about 35%–40% of the overall number of women presenting as uterine fibroid within the study. About 84.9% had uterine size >12 weeks at presentation. Two‑third of the patients had open myomectomy alone with 43.9% achieving conception thereafter. Conception rate for myomectomy with tuboplasty was 31.3% whereas myomectomy with subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) was 50%. Pregnancy rate decreased with increasing size of the uterus before myomectomy.Conclusion: Symptomatic fibroid was significantly prevalent among women with infertility. Myomectomy improves fertility potential and success rate of IVF. Uterine fibroid has both direct and indirect effect on infertility and pregnancy rate in this group of the patient can be improved through routine screening for uterine fibroids and early removal of the fibroids before they grow into giants size.Keywords: Infertility; myomectomy; pregnancy outcome; uterine fibroid

Adapting television satellite dish for low-temperature solar thermal application: Experimental evaluation

Digital television broadcasting is currently becoming popular and as a result, the purchase of television cable dishes and other accessories are on the rise. Abandoned television satellite dishes continue to litter our environment due to obsolescence. Finding alternative use stands as a control measure for this inevitable environmental degradation. This paper, therefore, investigates the adaptation for low temperature solar thermal application. The TV satellite dish selected for this study has a diameter of 33.9 cm, depth of 9 cm and a focal point of 31.2 cm. The components added to the dish include; a reflective surface, pot stand, adjustable chain, dish support stand and base, control arm. This system was used in carrying out stagnation test on three different types of pots (aluminium, iron and stainless steel pots) positioned at the focal point. Other performance parameters studied include; standard stagnation temperature (SST) and the rate of change of pot temperature. The maximum stagnation temperatures attained by the inside of the iron, aluminium and stainless steel pots were 68, 80 and 82 °C respectively after 10, 13 and 40 minutes respectively; while their respective maximum SST were 100, 57 and 50 oC. The maximum temperature change inside the iron, aluminium and stainless steel pots were above 9, 12 and 10 oC/min. The result gathered shows that this system will be suitable for lower temperature applications like pasteurization, sterilization, household water heating, etc