Archives-January 2022

Malaria and HIV infections are co-endemic throughout most of the topical and sub-saharan Africa and both present major threat to public health. A study on the prevalence of HIV Co-infection, Malaria interaction and CD4+ count was carried out on 1000 patients attending a tertiary health facility in Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State using Cyflow cytometer and Microscopy for parasite detection. Five Hundred HIV positive individual were examined for the presence of malaria Parasite and CD4+ count level, Two Hundred and Fifty individuals were used to determine malaria intensity in relation to CD4+ count level in HIV negative patients. The results showed higher malaria prevalence of 38.5% and prevalence according to age showed a higher prevalence of 45.8% among age group 31-40 and a lower prevalence of 31.5% among age group 41-50 at p =0.029. females had higher rate of infection with 20.1% prevalence than males with 18.4% in relation to sex at P=0.333 (P>0.05). malaria intensity had highest prevalence of 50.8% and a lowest intensity level of 16.7% at P=0.033. Hence the study suggest that malaria and HIV co-infection requires special medical attention. Further studies to elucidate the interaction between Malaria and HIV for better management are recommended.

This study was to compare the effect of maggot meal and coppens feed on the growth and survival rate of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings. The feeding trial lasted for 85 days with 135 specimens of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings of average initial weight of 1.33g, fed with 5% of their total body weight twice daily with maggot meal, coppens feed and a combination of maggot meal and coppens feed. The study was completely randomized and had three treatments and three replicates in the ratio (50:50). The result for growth showed mean final weight of 24.12g, 21.92g, 22.89g for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet respectively. Mean weight gains of 22.77g, 20.59g and 21.57g for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet, was not statistically significant at P<0.05. it also showed that there was an increase in length of fish from a mean initial length of 5.49cm, 5.32cm 5.37cm for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet to a final length of 17.5cm, 16.13cm and 16.21cm for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet, mean length gains of 12.01cm, 10.80cm and 10.84cm for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet respectively, was not statistically significant at P<0.05. The mean specific growth rate (SGR) was 3.39, 3.28 and 3.33 for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet respectively but not statistically significant at P<0.05. The feed intake was 46.57g, 43.91g and 44.96g for maggot meal, coppens feed and control diet respectively was not statistically significant at P<0.05. The feed conversion ratio 0.51, 0.52 and 0.52 for maggot meal, coppens feed and control respectively was not statistically significant at P<0.05. The result further showed that maggot meal performed better than coppens feed but not statistically different at P<0.05. This shows that maggot meal can replace coppens feed in the culture of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) fingerlings. Therefore, farmers are encouraged to grow maggots in large quantity so far it can be used to culture Clarias gariepinus.

In the context of this article, the construction of software for language proficiency level and difficulty measurement of language proficiency tests was sought. The main software goal can not help with identification issues, and also the recognition of the text can not be mitigated by using common scoring systems, including the types of recognition calculations. This software accepts various Italian language test subjects whether they are graded or not, and after analyzing the text, ranks these texts at the corresponding Italian language proficiency levels and calculates the degree of difficulty of the test. The selection of subjects and their inclusion is of course done by the sampling method.

Corrosion is a natural destructive process, in which metal loss their properties through unwanted chemical or electrochemical attack by its environment, in this process metals revert back to their natural and lower energy state which is more stable than the pure state of metals, it showed that corrosion is a reverse chemical process of extraction of metals. In the refining process, energy is added to the ore to produce the pure metal. Aluminium is one of the most important metals on the earth which is widely used for different kind of activities. Generally aluminium metal exists in the forms of their oxide and it has high corrosion resistance to atmosphere and pure water but it is corroded adversely in presence of acidic environment.The corrosion inhibition of aluminium by Euphorbia Neriifolia linn in different solution of sulphuric acid was investigated by using weight less and thermometer method at 301K temperature. The findings of the study shows that the inhibition inefficiency was maximum (93.11%) for highest concentration (0.7%) of stem extract in lowest strength of sulphuric (1N) and inhibition efficiency was minimum (74.82 %) for lowest concentration of flower extract (0.1%) in 3N sulphuric acid and the study showed that the inhibition efficiency increases with increase in the concentration of extract of plant in H2SO4 solution. The study shows that extract of Euphorbia Neriifolia linn is an efficient natural corrosion inhibitor in acidic medium and the stem extract is better inhibitor than leaves and flower extract of the plant.

In previous research reports the Excel™ outlier replacement protocol called: The Average of the Nearest Neighbor Panel-points: [ANN] was investigated. The authors reported that there seems to be a predilection relative to chance for ANN-protocols to produce a reduction in the standard error of the OLS-two-parameter linear regression [OLSR] model compared to that produced by the Basic or unmodified Panel. This is usually termed a Smoothing-Effect and results in more narrow Confidence or Capture Intervals [CI]—i.e., enhanced precision. There were idiosyncratic anecdotal conjectures offered as to why such a penchant may be created by ANN-protocols. We will consider Dysfunctional or Gaming Considerations: If Smoothing is inherent for ANN-protocols this offers an opportunity to make the decision to apply or eschew the application of the ANN-protocol based upon the intention to engineer the forecasting CIs. This being the case, two research questions are begged: Is there a Panel-length that: (i) sufficiently mollifies the Smoothing- or Provoking-events, or (ii) results in a balance between Smoothing- and Provoking-events either of which would render the gaming decision moot. We offer inferential tests re: (i) the conjecture that the length of the Panel systematically mollifies the ANN-impact on precision, and (ii) the conjecture that the seriousness of an ANN-impact on the OLSR-CIs is symmetrically balanced. We demonstrate inferentially that: Using the Medians of various ANN-protocols tested over various sample-sizes that mollification is likely the state of nature. However, despite mollification there seems likely to be asymmetry in favor of Smoothing. This suggests that gaming must be entertained as an opportunistic possibility. Given this, an organizational solution is suggested to mitigate against gaming the application of the ANN-protocols.

Carbon monoxide poisoning an important cause of accidental injury worldwide, and hazards to health, causes many damages in body system. This study was conducted in Al kamleen area where a lot of red brick factories are located along the Blue Nile river bank in the east of the area. The study aimed to investigate PEF at a high CO concentration area. the study area was divided by two lines parallel to the river bank, 500 meters distance from each other into three zones A, B and C from north to south. Also it was divided from east to west by five imaginary lines to give six squires in each zone. The reading for CO concentration was determined for each square. PEF value determined by using PEF fluemeter across summer and winter. CO in air was found to be significantly higher levels of CO concentration in air were detected throughout the year in all zones. PEF values of study group significantly lower than references data and control group; in winter Mean ± SDwere420.4±88.7 and references 552.0±83.1, a reduction to the references was 63.8%. In summer Mean ± SD were 414.0±86.2 and references were 549.0±85, a reduction to the references was 24.6%. The Mean ± SD of control group were 468.4±77.4.The reduction in PEF for study group in winter as compared to the reference were 10.3% and for summer were 11.5% air CO was significantly exceeds the WHO recommended standards. Lower PEF value in study group in winter and summer were associated to high CO concentration which emitted from red brick kilns in Alkamleen area.

The Bezold-Jarisch reflex is a cardioinhibitory reflex characterized by a triad of signs (bradycardia, hypotension, and apnea) and involved in some cases of vasovagal syncope. Its physiopathology is still largely unknown. We report two cases of young patients presenting with vasovagal syncope and whose autonomic system investigation showed a profile highly suggestive of Bezold-Jarisch reflex. 

It has been widely reported that cochlear implantation has had a dramatic effect on language competence among young profoundly deaf children. Thanks to this revolutionary device, language competence, speech intelligibility and conversational fluency among this category of children are now attainable by many of those who previously depended on sign language to communicate. However, due to the considerable variability and large individual differences in the performance outcomes of many other children, it has become commonly believed that motivating cochlear-implanted children who have learning spectrum disorders is a basic but hard challenge. It is a fundamental challenge because these children experience hearing and perceive speech for the first time after the rehabilitation of their hearing skills. Such skills are undeniably necessary for community living and coping. It is a hard challenge because children with cochlear implants by and large are vulnerable to diverse factors internal and external which impact their learning unless positive and successful experiences are planned. The following questionnaire-based paper is an attempt to address one of the challenges associated with motivating cochlear implanted children, namely, resistance to learning. It also aims to explore different behaviors that manifest this phenomenon, explain its possible reasons and highlight its major implications.

Worldwide, English is being recognized as a world language. Thus, the need for learning this language keeps being one of the major requirements expected from learners at all levels of study. Many people believe that the earlier children start learning it, the better they will perform. As such, there has been a growing push to introduce this language to children in primary school classrooms. The underlying assumption, held by many, is that learners will be more successful if they begin studying English at an early age. As it is the case in many countries where early start to English language teaching and learning has become a phenomenon over the past decades with a high enthusiasm for ‘the younger the better’, Tunisia is no exception in this regard. In fact, the process of promoting English has always been undeniable, resulting in its introduction as a second, additional or sometimes distinctively foreign language with an ultimate goal of gaining wider access to science, technology and global trade. The present paper sets out to clarify the situation of teaching English to young learners in Tunisian primary schools as one manifestation of a whole strategy of reform and innovation targeting the educational system in Tunisia, and to explore some pedagogical concerns associated with this experience in terms of teachers’ professional qualifications necessary to meet the requirements of the reforms.

The purpose of this study was to assess the heavy metals in blood and urine samples of some selected electronic miners (e-miners) in Accra-Ghana. An assessment of heavy metal concentrations in exposed workers is essential in order to monitor and reveal the impact of these metals on human health. Fifty (50) samples of human blood and urine were taken to the laboratory and stored at 4°C until digestion and analysis processes. The results obtained showed that, generally, respondents had more amounts of Cu in their urine (Mean = 0.1844, SD = 0.1245), Cr (Mean = 3.373, SD = 0.8229) in their blood. The study concluded that there is the need for immediate intervention by government and stakeholders for the sake of the community and environment at large. Based on the findings it was recommended immediate government intervention in terms of controlling and regulating the activities of the metal scrap miners with regards to both means of collection and disposal/burning. Further, NGOs, corporate organisation and individuals with the necessary resources can provide capacity training for the elderly involved with such trades. Finally, the capacity of the metal scrap recycling plant has to be enlarged or more of such plants should be built by the government.