Analysis of Some Ground Water Quality Parameters in the Vicinity of Asbestos Factory in Bauchi Metropolis, Nigeria

It has been established that wherever asbestos factory is sited, health of people of the adjoining settlements is threatened. This study was aimed at determining the physico-chemical characteristic of the ground water in villages around asbestos factory in Bauchi. Water samples were collected from six functional hand dug wells with three replications each. The samples were subjected to physical and chemical analyses as follows: Temperature, pH and Conductivity, were directly measured using a portable multipurpose pH, Temperature and Conductivity field meter. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) calculated from the Conductivity values obtained. EDTA titration method as described by the American Public Health Association, APHA was used to determine the Hardness of the water samples. Calcium and Magnesium were determined by EDTA titration while Total alkalinity was determined by strong acid titration method. Trace elements – Total Fe, Pb, Cr, Cd, Mn, and Si were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS, Unicom 969) after extraction with Aqua-regia. Result of the analysis revealed that many of the water quality parameters in the study area have exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) and Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) limits. It may be concluded that the Asbestos manufacturing operation has impact on the ground water quality in the two settlements adjoining the factory. It is recommended among others that the houses located very close to factory should be relocated far away from the factory and alternative sources of water be provided to the neighborhoods. Key words: Evaluation; Groundwater; Quality; Asbestos; Factor

Differential in University Academic Performance of Students from Public and Private Secondary Schools Studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma

There exists a serious controversy over the University performance of students attending public and private secondary schools. This study aimed to assess the differential in university academic performance of students from public and private secondary schools studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma. The research design of this study is an ex post facto research design. The population is made up of all 300 level students of Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, Katsina State during the 2020/2021 academic session. The sample size was 183 (Male 120 & Female 63) students, simple random sampling technique was used to select sample from each programme in Science Education Department, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State. The students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of the 300 level 2020/2021 academic session was collected. The data collected were analyzed using t-test inferential statistic. Results obtained showed that there is no difference between university academic performance of private and public secondary school students in Federal university Dutsin-Ma., and recommended that, parents could take their children to any school type irrespective of public or private secondary school

Characterization of North Carolina commercial fisheries with occasional interactions with marine mammals

In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA, 16 U.S.c. et seq.), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is required to publish an annual List of Fisheries (LOF) which categorizes U.S. commercial fisheries based on their level of interaction with marine mammals. The objective of this document is to provide a characterization of the six 2001 MMPA Category II commercial fisheries (i.e., those with occasional interactions with marine mammals) in North Carolina (NC). This report outlines the history, fishing method and gear configurations (using the U.S. system of measurement), primary target species, temporal and spatial characteristics including trip and landing statistics, and monthly variations in species composition for each fishery for a five-year period (1995 - 1999). (PDF contains 63 pages

Hybridizing two-step growth mixture model and exploratory factor analysis to examine heterogeneity in nonlinear trajectories

Empirical researchers are usually interested in investigating the impacts of baseline covariates have when uncovering sample heterogeneity and separating samples into more homogeneous groups. However, a considerable number of studies in the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework usually start with vague hypotheses in terms of heterogeneity and possible reasons. It suggests that (1) the determination and specification of a proper model with covariates is not straightforward, and (2) the exploration process may be computational intensive given that a model in the SEM framework is usually complicated and the pool of candidate covariates is usually huge in the psychological and educational domain where the SEM framework is widely employed. Following \citet{Bakk2017two}, this article presents a two-step growth mixture model (GMM) that examines the relationship between latent classes of nonlinear trajectories and baseline characteristics. Our simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed model is capable of clustering the nonlinear change patterns, and estimating the parameters of interest unbiasedly, precisely, as well as exhibiting appropriate confidence interval coverage. Considering the pool of candidate covariates is usually huge and highly correlated, this study also proposes implementing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to reduce the dimension of covariate space. We illustrate how to use the hybrid method, the two-step GMM and EFA, to efficiently explore the heterogeneity of nonlinear trajectories of longitudinal mathematics achievement data.Comment: Draft version 1.6, 08/08/2020. This paper has not been peer reviewed. Please do not copy or cite without author's permissio

Quantifying Parent Engagement in the Randomized Fuel for Fun Impact Study Identified Design Considerations and BMI Relationships

Background: Parent participation in children’s health interventions is insufciently defned and measured. This project quantifed parent participation to enable future examination with outcomes in an intervention focused on 4th graders, aged 9–11 years, and their families living in northern Colorado. Methods: Indices were developed to measure type (Parent Participation Profle; PPP) and intensity (Parent Engage‑ ment Intensity; PEI) of engagement in Fuel for Fun (FFF), an asymmetric school-and family-based intervention for 4th graders. Study arm-specifc participation opportunities were catalogued and summed to calculate the PPP. An algo‑ rithm considered frequency, efort, convenience, and invasiveness of each activity to calculate PEI. Indices were stand‑ ardized (0–100%) using study arm-specifc divisors to address asymmetric engagement opportunities. Parents who completed ≥75% of the PPP were defned as Positive Deviants. Youth height and weight were measured. Youth BMI percentile change was compared with parent Positive Deviant status using general linear modeling with repeated measures that included the participation indices. Results: Of 1435 youth, 777 (54%) had parent participation in at least one activity. Standardized means were 41.5±25.4% for PPP and 27.6±20.9% for PEI. Demographics, behaviors or baseline FFF outcomes did not difer between the Positive Deviant parent (n=105) and non-Positive Deviant parents (n=672); but more Positive Deviant parents followed an indulgent feeding style (p =0.015). Standardized intensity was greater for Positive Deviant par‑ ents; 66.9±20.6% vs 21.5±12.7% (p \u3c0.001) and diferences with non-Positive Deviant parents were related to activ‑ ity type (p ≤0.01 for six of eight activities). Standardized participation intensity was associated with engagement in a greater number of standardized activity types. Among participating parents, standardized intensity and breadth of activity were inversely related to the youth BMI percentile (n=739; PEI r=−0.39, p \u3c 0.001; PPP r=−0.34, p \u3c 0.001). Parent engagement was not associated with parent BMI change. Conclusions: An activity-specific intensity schema operationalized measurement of parent engagement in a com‑ plex, unbalanced research design and can serve as a template for more sensitive assessment of parent engagement. Positive deviance in parent engagement was not a function of personal, but rather activity characteristics. PPP an

Identifying Attrition Phases in Survey Data: Applicability and Assessment Study

Background: Although Web-based questionnaires are an efficient, increasingly popular mode of data collection, their utility is often challenged by high participant dropout. Researchers can gain insight into potential causes of high participant dropout by analyzing the dropout patterns. Objective: This study proposed the application of and assessed the use of user-specified and existing hypothesis testing methods in a novel setting—survey dropout data—to identify phases of higher or lower survey dropout. Methods: First, we proposed the application of user-specified thresholds to identify abrupt differences in the dropout rate. Second, we proposed the application of 2 existing hypothesis testing methods to detect significant differences in participant dropout. We assessed these methods through a simulation study and through application to a case study, featuring a questionnaire addressing decision-making surrounding cancer screening. Results: The user-specified method set to a low threshold performed best at accurately detecting phases of high attrition in both the simulation study and test case application, although all proposed methods were too sensitive. Conclusions: The user-specified method set to a low threshold correctly identified the attrition phases. Hypothesis testing methods, although sensitive at times, were unable to accurately identify the attrition phases. These results strengthen the case for further development of and research surrounding the science of attrition

Trace Metals’ Contamination of Stream Water and Irrigated Crop at Naraguta-Jos, Nigeria

The concentrations of trace elements Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb) in stream water and irrigated crop Carrots (Daucus carota sativa) in Naraguta area of Jos were determined. The stream water was sampled at three different sites A, B and C which were about 200m apart along the stream. The Daucus carota sativa were sampled from a farm at the bank of the stream around Site C. The trace metals were analysed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Buck Scientific 200A model). The mean concentrations of Cr, Cd and Pb in the stream water were between 0.008mg/l – 0.440mg/L, 0.002mg/L – 0.138mg/L and 0.000mg/L – 0.404mg/L for sites A, B, C. respectively. The concentrations of these metals in Daucus carota sativa collected at site C were Cr = 0.02mg/kg, Cd = 0.042mg/kg and Pb = 0.404mg/kg. The concentrations of the heavy metals in water and Daucus carota sativa in some of the sites were beyond threshold limits set by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, water and Daucus Carota sativa obtained from these sites were unsafe for human consumption as they pose serious health risks due to contamination with the metals. For environmental sustainability the management strategies suggested includes proper treatment of effluents discharged into the stream and adoption of good farming practices by farmers through proper soil amendment and selection of crop varieties with lower metal absorbability.Key words: Heavy metals, Water, Carrots, Limit, Naragut

Environmental and Public Health Perspective of the Prevalence of Intestinal Helminths Infection of Cattle in Gubi and Galambi Ranches in Bauchi, Nigeria

Faecal samples were collected from cattle in Gubi and Galambi cattle ranches and examined for eggs of intestinal helminths. The ages of the cattle ranged from 1-10 years and were grouped into two - 1-4 years and 5-10 years representing younger and older cattle respectively. A total number of 600 cattle (300 from each farm) were examined for intestinal parasites out of which 355 cattle were found to be infected in the two cattle ranches. Out of the 355 infected cattle, 50.99% were from Galambi, while Gubi had slightly lower cases of 49.01%. Out of the 10 helminths species identified in the two cattle ranches the most prevalent was Oesophagostomum radiatum. Female cattle were more infected (60.66%) in Gubi than their male counterparts in which 55.32% infection rate was recorded. Similar trend was also observed in Galambi where the rate of infection recorded in the female (62.00%) was higher than 58.62% recorded in the male cattle. Among the younger cattle aged 1-4 years, 29.36% were infected in Gubi while 26.00% of the same age group were harbouring the parasites in Galambi. It is recommended among others that penn should not be overstocked and cattle farmers should be educated on the importance of environmental sanitation and hygiene in cattle ranches management. Key words: Intestinal, Helminths, Cattle Ranches, Bauch

Geochemical Partitioning of Some Heavy Metals in Bottom Sediment of River Delimi in Jos, Nigeria

The determination of total metal content is usually insufficient to fully assess the environmental impacts of contaminated sediments. In order to differentiate metals of lithogenic from those of anthropogenic origin and assess their bioavailability and potential toxicity, detail information on their partitioning to various geochemical fractions of the sediment is necessary. In recent times there has been a lot of concern on the rate at which River Delimi ecosystem deteriorate as it passes through Jos city. This study was aimed at determining the geochemical partitioning of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in River Delimi sediment with a view to determining the extent to which they might be remobilized and affect the quality of the river ecosystem. The study was conducted at three sites along River Delimi and one control site at Lamingo Dam all within Jos city. The total metals content in sediment were extracted using aqua-regia. A five-step sequential extraction procedure was used to determine the partitioning of the metals into different geochemical fractions of the sediment. The metals extracted were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The total metals content in sediment were generally higher at the study compared to the control site. The mean values of Cd in sediment (1.330mg/kg, 1.515mg/kg, 1.301mg/kg and 0.900mg/kg) respectively for stations I, II, III and IV were all above the limit of 0.68mg/kg recommended by USEPA. Sediment samples obtained from River Delimi had more metals associated with the non-residual fractions compared to those from Lamingo Dam. The high amount of these metals recovered in non – residual fractions mean that the metals are in potentially available forms and could pose a serious threat to the river ecosystem. Measures should therefore be put in place by the relevant authorities to curtail indiscriminate dumping of domestic and industrials wastes into the river