Evaluation Of Contact Pressure And Speed On The Wear Rate And Braking Effectiveness Of Automobile Disc Brake Pads Using A Locally Fabricated Test Rig

A locally fabricated Brake Pad Test Rig was successfully used to evaluate the wear rate and braking effectiveness of two samples of automobile disc brake pads at various speeds and braking forces. Detailed design analysis of the test rig, which was also used to determine the average stopping time at a constant pressure of 10bar and subsequently, a constant speed of 980rpm, is presented in this work. Results obtained from the performance test carried out on the rig show the functionality of the test rig. Keywords: Automotive Brakes, Test Rig, Brake Pad, Wear Rate, Braking Effectiveness

A cohort study of maternal and fetal outcomes for myomectomy at caesarean section in Aba, South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Fibroids in pregnancy are common in Nigeria but myomectomy during caesarean section is not popular due to concerns for severe hemorrhage. Previous studies did not directly compare outcome for routine Caesarean Section (CS) with Caesarean Myomectomy (CM). This prospective cohort study compares the maternal and fetal outcomes of caesarean myomectomy (exposed arm) with caesarean section (control arm); (n=64; CM=34; CS=30).Methods: Variables include maternal age, durations of surgery and hospitalization, Estimated Blood Loss (EBL), as well as pre and postoperative hematocrit. Fetal weight, number and weight of fibroids were also considered. Data was analyzed with SPSS using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests.Results: There was no significant difference in EBL, incidence of postoperative complications, fetal APGAR score at 5 minutes as well as duration of hospitalization between both groups. Number of fibroids (>10) was significantly associated with blood transfusion (X2=11.46, P 10 fibroids. We recommend use of total number of fibroids as an index of surgical risk, instead of dimension of fibroids, as correlates significantly with duration of surgery and estimated blood loss.

The Chemical Constituents and Bioactivity of the seed (Fruit) extracts of Buchholzia Coriacea Engler (Capparaceae)

Buchholzia coriacea Engler (Capparaceae) is important in traditional medicine because many parts of the plant have been reported to possess therapeutic potentials. The seeds of the fruits of Buchholzia coriacea were extracted with petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol respectively, and the crude extracts were analyzed using GC-MS. The result indicated presence of cyclooctasulphur, oleic acid, (Z,Z)-9,12-octadecadienoic acid, nhexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (Z,Z)-9,12 octadecadienoic acid, 5-hydromethylfurfural, (E)- 9-octadecanoic acid, 1-methyl pyriolidine-2-carboxylic acid, undecane, palmitoleic acid, stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol and methyl ester 3,5-dicyclohexyl-4-hydroxy-benzoic acid amongst other constituents. Bioactive test of the crude extracts and fractions from column chromatography showed great potential as antifungal agent than antibacterial agent, when tested against isolated fungi and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.Keywords: Buchholzia coriacea, Capparaceae, antifungal activity, bioactivity, chemical constituents, fruit

Critical evaluation of oil palm fresh fruit bunch solid wastes as soil amendments: Prospects and challenges

Sustainable land use has been identified as one way of tackling challenges related to climate change, population expansion, food crisis and environmental pollution. Disposal of oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) solid wastes is becoming a challenge with an increased demand and production of palm oil. Whilst this poses a challenge, it could be turned into an opportunity by utilising it as a resource and fully valorise it to meet soil and crop demands. This review presents the potentials of FFB solid wastes, which include empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fibre (MF), palm kernel shell (PKS), as soil ameliorants. The major findings are the following: 1) pyrolysis, gasification, combustion, and composting are processes that can enhance the value of FFB solid wastes. These processes lead to new products including biochar, ash, and compost, which are valuable resources that can be used for soil improvement. 2) The application of EFB mulch, ash from EFB, MF and PKS, biochar from EFB, and PKS, and compost of EFB, and MF led to improvement in soil physico-chemical properties, and growth and performance of sweet corn, mushroom, oil palm, sweet potato, cauliflower plant, banana, maize, cocoa, cassava, eggplants, and pepper. However, reports show that EFB compost and ash led to decrease in growth and performance of okra. Therefore, the use of appropriate conversion technology for FFB solid wastes as soil ameliorants can significantly improve crop yield and soil properties, reduce environmental pollution, and more importantly increase income of oil mill processors and savings for farmers

Predictors of breastfeeding practices among mothers in a developing African country – A tertiary facility based study in Calabar, Nigeria

Introduction: Breastfeeding is essential for optimum childhood development. Although there is an increased awareness of the importance of breast milk, the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey of 2018 showed that less than one-third (29%) of mothers in Nigeria practice exclusive breastfeeding. This may be attributed to several factors, hence the need for this study to assess the indicators and predictors of breastfeeding practices among mothers in a tertiary facility in Calabar, Cross River State. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. Consenting mothers of children aged six weeks to two years were sequentially recruited into the study using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. A test of association of categorical variables was done using Chi square test and pvalue was set at 0.05. Results: One hundred and twenty one children and their mothers were surveyed. Mean age of children was 6.2±3.8months and mothers was 28±25years. Exclusive breastfeeding rate for six months was 67.8%.Timely breastfeeding within one hour of life was 44.6%,ever breastfed rate was 86%. Practice of giving water alongside breast milk and use of breast milk substitute was 18.2% and 14.0% respectively. Mothers age was significantly associated with practice of exclusive breastfeeding (p=0.014) and giving water alongside breast milk (p=0.005) while birth order was associated with timely commencement of breastfeeding within one hour of life (p=0.022). Conclusion: The ever breastfed and exclusive breastfeeding rates were fairly high. However, the timely first suckling rate, increased use of breast milk substitute and giving of water alongside breast milk in the first six months of life were low. There is the need for continuous health education of mothers

Evaluating oil palm fresh fruit bunch processing in Nigeria

Three routes of oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB) processing in Nigeria namely, industrial, small-scale and traditional were compared by means of determining fruit losses associated with each route. The fruits that are not recovered after each process were hand-picked and quantified in terms of crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernel (PK), mesocarp fibre (MF) and palm kernel shell (PKS). The energy value of empty fruit bunch (EFB), MF and PKS were used to determine the value of energy lost for each route. Additionally, the environmental implications of disposal of EFB were estimated, and socio-economics of the industrial and small-scale routes were related. The analysis showed that 29, 18, 75 and 27 kg of CPO, PK, MF and PKS were lost for every 1000 kg of FFB processed with the industrial route, whereas 5.6, 3.2, 1.4 and 5.1 g were lost with the small-scale route, respectively. Approximately 89 kWh and 31 kWh more energy were lost from MF and PKS with the industrial route than the other two routes, respectively. An equivalent of 6670 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent of methane and nitrogen oxide was released due to the disposal of 29,000 tonnes of EFB from one palm oil mill. The monetary value of lost CPO per 1000 kg of FFB processed in the industrial route is more than the labour cost of processing 1000 kg of FFB in the small-scale route. The advantages of the industrial route are high throughput in terms of FFB processed per hour and high quality of CPO; however, high fruit loss is associated with it and therefore, the poorly threshed EFB is recommended to be fed into the small-scale route

Helminthic Infestation in Children Aged 6 to 59 Months with Diarrhea in Calabar

Background: Helminthic infections and diarrheal diseases have remained public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. Children below five years of age are at a higher risk. This study therefore aims to determine the prevalence, and intensity of intestinal helminths in children with and without the diarrheal disease. Materials and Methods: This was a cross‑sectional analytical study of 130 children aged 6 to 59 months, carried out in the Children Emergency Room and the Diarrhea Treatment and Training Unit of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (U. C. T. H), Calabar, Nigeria. Those admitted with and without diarrhoea were consecutively recruited. Data were obtained by administration of questionnaires to parents/caregivers whose children met the inclusion criteria. Clinical examinations including anthropometric parameters (weight and length/height) were carried out on all the children recruited for the study while mid‑upper arm circumference was done for children aged 12–59 months. Stool samples were collected from each child into a wide mouth universal, clean, dry, leak‑proof, container, with the help of their parents/guardians. Microscopy was carried out on the stool  samples collected within 1 h in the microbiology laboratory for the presence of ova, larva, or worm segment using direct microscopy with saline and iodine wet preparation and formol ether concentration. Ova were identified and quantified. The type of worm and intensity were recorded. Results: Out of the 130 children, 65 (50%) had diarrhea while the other 65 (50%) were without diarrhoea. The mean age of subjects with diarrhea was 16.86 ± 11.7 months and 17.60 ± 9.9 months for those without diarrhoea. There was no significant difference in sex distribution between the age groups (P = 0.86). The overall prevalence of intestinal helminthic infection in the study population was 1.5%. The prevalence of intestinal helminths in those with diarrhea and those without diarrhea was 3.1% and 0.0%, respectively, (P = 0.496). Only Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworm) was isolated in those with diarrhea and it was of light intensity. There was no significant  difference in the method of disposal and source of water, comparing subjects having diarrhea and those not having diarrhea (P > 0.05). The proportions of subjects that usually played in the sand, go on footwear outside home, and go on footwear at home, were not  significantly different comparing those having diarrhea and those not having diarrhea (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence rate of intestinal helminths in children with and without diarrhoea was low. There was general  environmental cleanliness and personal hygiene in the study population which were likely responsible for the low helminthic infection thus emphasizing the need for maintenance of good hygiene, access to good water supply and periodic intake of anti-helminthic drugs in view of the public health importance of helminthic infection and diarrhoea

A quarter-wave Y-shaped patch antenna with two unequal arms for wideband Ultra High Frequency Radio-frequency identification (UHF RFID) operations

The radio-frequency identification (RFID) system which has become pervasive in the auto identification technology has been noticed to have several limitations. These limitations can be broadly divided into two major areas namely; application specific problems and general RFID problems. Application specific problems are common to the environment in which RFID tags are deployed such as metal, aqueous and irradiation environments. Whilst, the general problem of RFID tags include low gain, regional specifications and so on. In this paper, a new antenna prototype has been design and stimulated. The proposed antenna showed tendency of exhibiting improved gain from the previous RFID UHF antenna which is 0-1 dBi to -3 dBi and impedance bandwidth of 140 MHz. The proposed antenna is Y shaped patch with unequal monopole arms which are responsible for the different frequencies that the antenna operates and a quarter wavelengths was adopted rather than the popular half wavelength for size reduction. The fractional return-loss bandwidth for S11<10 dB and radiation efficiency are about 95% was obtained

A Model for Stock Market Value Forecasting using Ensemble Artificial Neural Network

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is a model used in capturing linear and non-linear relationship of input and output data. Its usage has been predominant in the prediction and forecasting market time series. However, there has been low bias and high variance issues associated with ANN models such as the simple multi-layer perceptron model. This usually happens when training large dataset. The objective of this work was to develop an efficient forecasting model using Ensemble ANN to unravel the market mysteries for accurate decision on investment. This paper employed the Ensemble ANN modeling technique to tackle the high variations in stock market training dataset faced when using a simple multi-layer perceptron model by using the theory of ensemble averaging. The Ensemble ANN model was developed and implemented using NeurophStudio and Java programming language, then trained and tested using daily data of stock market prices from various banks, for a period of 497 days. The methodology adopted to achieve this task is the agile methodology. The output of the proposed predictive model was compared with four traditional neural network multilayer perceptron algorithms, and outperformed the traditional neural network multilayer perceptron algorithms. The proposed model gave an average to best predictive error for any day when compared with the other four traditional models