University of Calabar

In this paper, we study a modified relaxed inertial Mann-type iterative algorithm for solving split monotone variational inclusion problem without prior knowledge of the bounded linear operator norm in real Hilbert spaces. Under some appropriate assumptions on the parameters, we established a strong convergence result of the proposed algorithm. As applications, some special cases of the general problem are given. Finally, we also give some numerical illustrations of the proposed method in comparison with other methods in the literature to show the applicability and advantage of our results.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reawakened the necessity of wearing a face mask in public places in several countries including Nigeria. The effect of prolonged use of face mask on pregnant women is not yet evaluated. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of wearing a surgical face mask on the cardiopulmonary functions of pregnant women. A prospective and case-control study was conducted among 85 healthy pregnant women at gestational ages between 20 weeks and 37 weeks. Equal number of age and parity-matched healthy non-pregnant women were recruited as controls. Their baseline S p O 2 and arterial pulse were measured. The participants were then instructed to wear surgical face masks and remain at a resting position for 1 h; thereafter, the S p O 2 and pulse rates were measured using a mobile electronic pulse oximeter. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23. The level of significance was set at 0.05. There was no significant difference in their mean S p O 2 (97.44% ± 3.365) and (98.86% ± 1.014) for the pregnant women and the controls, respectively ( P = 0.146). However, the mean pulse rate of the pregnant women was significantly higher than that of the controls (97. 58b/m ± 10.731 and 93.17b/m ± 8.850; P = 0.012). The incidence of hypoxemia (S p O 2 < 90%) was very low (2.35%) in the pregnant women but non among the non-pregnant control. The incidence of hypoxia-related symptoms was also very low (1.8%). There was a weak negative correlation between the S p O 2 and pulse rate (r = −0.0881; P = 0.464 in the pregnant group compared to the controls (r = −0.309; P = 0.004). A vast majority of healthy pregnant women can safely wear a surgical face mask for a long time.

Tuberculosis (TB) of the breast is a rare disease that typically affects women of reproductive age, mainly between 15 and 25 years of age. TB of the breast has a non-specific clinical presentation and may present as a breast lump, abscess, or sinus, and it may sometimes mimic breast cancer. Histological diagnosis is necessary to avoid mismanagement of potentially curable breast disease. We present a case of an 18-year-old female with a left upper quadrant breast lump of 1-year duration. The fine-needle aspiration cytology of the breast lump was negative for malignancy. However, histological diagnosis of the excised breast lump confirmed TB of the breast.

Breast cancer continues to be the biggest cause of mortality for women worldwide, taking the lives of millions each year. As a result, scientists are now exploring the possibility of metal-based complexes as anticancer therapies. Notwithstanding, polypyridyl coordinated Re(I) complexes have demonstrated tremendous promise as cancer-fighting medications. Therefore, the intent of this research is to investigate theoretically the spectral properties, compute density functional theory (DFT), and simulate molecular docking of polypyridyl coordinated Re(I) complexes containing functionalized 2,2 0-bipyri-dine N,N 0-donor bidentate ligands: 5,5 0-DiMBpy coordinated in (1a), 4,4 0-DiMBpy coordinated in (2a), and 4,4 0-DiMoxBp coordinated in (3a) for cancer therapy application. Intriguingly, the complex Re(2a) achieved the greatest MolDock score and H-bond energy following interactions with the target receptors utilized, followed by Re(1a) and Re(3), respectively. Thus elucidating the studied compounds to be efficient in the mitigation of breast cancer.

Antimicrobial and antituberculosis activities of transition metal complex Cu(I) and Cu(II) from salicylhydrazone of anthranihydrazide (HL1) have been theoretically investigated using DFT methods at ωB97XD, PBEPBE, MPW1PW91, HSEH1PBE, CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. Owing to the fact that microbial and tuberculosis attacked still prevail despite studies reported in the literatures. This study utilized a higher theoretical model to unravel necessary information about the possible application of the HL1 and its complexes as a potential drug candidate. The results obtained reveal that the ligand (HL1) had the higher energy gap for the HES and MPW whereas, it Cu(II) complex had the least energy gap making it more reactive in the biological environment compared to its counterpart. The Natural Bond orbital (NBO) analysis reveals molecular interactions are of four kinds; LP→BD*, LP→LP*, LP*→BD*, BD*→BD*, and BD*→LP* where the higher perturbation energy was observed from BD*(C2-C3) → BD*(C4- 5) with the energy of 231.74 kcal/mol. The vibration analysis shows that the studied complexes have 32 atoms and 90 normal modes, with 20 symmetric, 7 asymmetric, 31 bending, and 32 ring torsional distribution. And their theoretical wavelength of absorption was observed to be in good agreement with experimental reported values. Cu(II) was observed with the highest dipole moment and first-order hyperpolarizability (βtotal) with corresponding values of 9.30D and 19.268 which shows its can be good for medicinal application. Molecular docking screening showed that the ligand and its complexes have better antimicrobial activities compared to antituberculosis.

The reality is that social welfare services in Nigeria exclude more people than they cover, resulting in the deprivation of basic human needs such as water, sanitation, shelter, healthcare, and education that have hindered the betterment of the living conditions of the citizens (Nkpoyen et al., 2021; Okpa, 2022). This study explored factors affecting the government delivery of social welfare services in Nigeria. Five hundred and seventy (570) respondents’ opinions were purposively sampled using the 36-item Social Welfare Service Delivery Questionnaire (SWSDQ) and an in-depth interview guide. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square statistical technique, and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, version 20. As a supplement to the quantitative data, the qualitative data were analysed in themes. Findings from this study revealed that although all the respondents reported knowing about available social welfare services, 44.3% reported not accessing the existing social services because of such factors as political expediency, transparency, accountability, corruption, and perception of social service providers. A key policy issue, therefore, is the need to look into the eradication or mitigation of these factors ascribed to be hindering the delivery of social welfare services. This will expedite the blanket spread of the delivery, accessibility, and utilisation of social welfare services for residents, not just in the study area but across the country

The recent global upsurge in anthropogenic activities has resulted in a decline in the quality of water. This by extension has resulted in increased ubiquity of water pollution in terms of sources. The application of traditional water quality assessment methods usually involves the use of conventional water quality parameters and guideline values. This may be associated with bias and errors during the computation of various sub-indices. Hence, to overcome this limitation, it is critical to have a visual appraisal of the water quality in terms of source and human health risks exposure for sustainable water resource management and informed decision-making. Therefore, the present study has integrated multiple water quality assessment indices, spatio-temporal, and statistical models to assess the suitability of fifty groundwater samples (n = 50) within the Firozabad industrial area for irrigation and drinking; as well as the likely health risks from oral intake and dermal contact by inhabitants. Electrical conductivity (mean = 1,576.6 μs/cm), total hardness (mean = 230.9 mg/L), dissolved sodium (mean = 305.1 mg/L) chloride (mean = 306.1 mg/L) and fluoride (mean = 1.52 mg/L) occurred in the water at concentrations above the recommended standards; attributed influxes from agricultural and industrial wastewater. The pollution index of groundwater and water quality index revealed that 100% of the groundwater samples are extremely polluted; this was also supported by the joint multivariate statistical analyses. The majority of the irrigational water quality indices (sodium adsorption ratio, Kelly's Ratio, permeability index, percent sodium) revealed that the long-term use of the groundwater for irrigation in the area will result in reduced crop yield unless remedial measures are put in place. Higher Hazard index (HI > 1) for nitrate and fluoride ingestion was recorded in water for the children population compared to adult; an indication that the children population is more predisposed to health risks from the oral intake of water. Generally, risk levels from ingestion appear to increase in the western and northeastern parts of the study area. From the findings of this study, it is highly recommended that adequate agricultural practices, land use, and water treatment regulatory strategies be put in place for water quality sustainability for enhanced agricultural production and human health protection. KEYWORDS fluoride health risk, firozabad, irrigation water quality, agricultural productivity, water quality

Root-knot nematode Meloidogyne spp. causes galls on pepper (Capsicum spp L.) roots leading to yield loss. Root-knot disease control in pepper with chemical nematicides is effective but environmental and health concerns are serious drawbacks. Use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for control may present a solution. A screenhouse experiment was conducted to assess bio-control efficacy of 4 AMF species against Meloidogyne incognita infecting pepper genotypes with known resistance. Septoglomus deserticola and Funneliformis mosseae were the most efficient (p = .05) AMF species in inhibiting nematode infection, enhancing growth and fruit yield of pepper genotypes. Averaged across pepper genotypes, S. deserticola increased fresh fruit yield by 2.42% and 6.98% compared with Claroideoglomus claroideum and Gigaspora gigantea, respectively, while F. mosseae increased it by 1.43% and 5.95%, respectively. These AMF species might be used as bio-control agents of M. incognita infecting these pepper genotypes.

Using the Plasma analyzer (IAP) and Langmuir Probe (ISL) experiments of the Detection of Electromagnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) lithospheric–atmospheric–ionospheric coupling has been observed before, during and after five major earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 6.5. The aim of this study is to use ionospheric parameters to identify the ionospheric perturbations associated with the five earthquake regions screened. All the three investigated ionospheric parameters of electron density, electron temperature and total ion density recorded perturbations within the investigative period. A total of 36 anomalies were obtained with 18 each for nighttime and daytime readings. The observed anomalies being screened for false alarm using the geomagnetic indices of Kernnifzer digit (kp) and disturbance storm time (Dst.) revealed 27.8% as geomagnetically induced perturbations. Thus, 72.2% of the studied anomalies transpired in quiet geomagnetic conditions, which is linked to seismic events.

Introduction: Chloramphenicol is a broad-spectrum antibiotic widely used for treating ophthalmic infections, but concerns about rising bacterial resistance to chloramphenicol have been observed due to its frequent use as an over-the-counter medication. This review assessed the common ophthalmic bacterial pathogens, their chloramphenicol resistance mechanisms, and rates of drug resistance. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant publications from the years 2000 to 2022, bordering on ophthalmic bacterial infections, chloramphenicol susceptibility profiles, and drug resistance mechanisms against chloramphenicol. A total of 53 journal publications met the inclusion criteria, with data on the antibiotic susceptibility profiles available in 44 of the reviewed studies, which were extracted and analyzed. Results: The mean resistance rates to chloramphenicol from antibiotic susceptibility profiles varied between 0% and 74.1%, with the majority of the studies (86.4%) showing chloramphenicol resistance rates below 50%, and more than half (23 out of 44) of the studies showed resistance rates lower than 20%. The majority of the publications (n = 27; 61.4%) were from developed nations, compared to developing nations (n = 14; 31.8%), while a fraction (n = 3; 6.8%) of the studies were regional cohort studies in Europe, with no country-specific drug resistance rates. No pattern of cumulative increase or decrease in ophthalmic bacterial resistance to chloramphenicol was observed. Conclusions: Chloramphenicol is still active against ophthalmic bacterial infections and is suitable as a topical antibiotic for ophthalmic infections. However, concerns remain about the drug becoming unsuitable in the long run due to some proof of high drug resistance rates.

The study aimed at assessing the prevalence and risk factors of soil-transmitted helminthiases among school-aged children in Ogoja Local Government Area, Cross River State. Fecal samples were collected from 504 participants and analyzed using the Kato-Katz technique and modifed Baermann technique for identifying larvae of Strongyloides. A total of 232 (46.0%) samples were positive for soil-transmitted helminths. The overall prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, and Strongyloides stercoralis were 14.1%, 16.5%, 2.6%, and 12.9% respectively. The prevalence of infections were higher among males (46.6%) than females (45.4%). Overall, parasitic infection was higher in the 5–7-year age group (65.6%) than in the other age groups (p=0.000). Infection intensities of A. lumbricoides (84.00 EPG) (p=0.044) and T. trichiura (96.00 EPG) (p=0.041) were higher in school-age children aged 14–16 years. A. lumbricoides and hookworm co-infection (8.7%) was the most common mixed infection and was signifcantly higher in males than females. School-aged children who did not have prior knowledge about soil-transmitted helminth infections, the habit of drinking water without boiling, open defecation, use of pit latrine, and children who did not have toilet facilities in school were signifcantly associated with soil-transmitted helminthiases. There was a signifcant relationship between washing hands after using the toilet, the habit of putting on footwear outside the house, and soil-transmitted helminth infection. In addition to preventive chemotherapy, control measures should focus on health education, providing clean drinking water, proper disposal of human excreta and sewage, and environmental hygiene.

Theoretical studies on the adsorption, sensibility, and reactivity of a boron nitride nanocage decorated with Au, Cu, Ni, Os, Pt, and Zn metals as a biosensor material were carried out for the adsorption of carboplatin by applying the density functional theory computation at the B3LYP-GD3BJ/def2svp level of theory. All the optimized structures, as well as the calculations as regards the studied objective including electronic properties, geometry optimization parameters, adsorption energy studies, natural bond orbital analysis, topology studies, sensor mechanistic parameters, and thermodynamic properties (ΔG and ΔH), were investigated herein. As a result, the noticeable change in the energy gap of the studied surfaces when interacting with carboplatin accounted for the surfaces’ reactivity, stability, conductivity, work function, and overall adsorption ability, implying that the studied decorated surfaces are good sensor materials for sensing carboplatin. Furthermore, the negative adsorption energies obtained for interacting surfaces decorated with Cu, Ni, Os, and Zn suggest that the surface has a superior ability to sense carboplatin as chemisorption was seen. Substantially, the geometric short adsorption bond length after adsorption, thermodynamically spontaneous reactions, and acceptable sensor mechanism results demonstrate that the investigated surfaces have strong sensing characteristics for sensing carboplatin.

South-eastern Nigeria’s tropical water ecosystems typically consist of mangrove swamps and riparian forests, both of which have become endangered in the last six decades. The purpose of this research was to determine the extent of human-induced impact and activities on the effect of water quality on the distribution and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish fauna in the Tropical River (Ikang). The river’s surface water, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish fauna were sampled and identified to create a database of reference information. Twelve (12) species of benthic macroinvertebrates from two (2) phyla were identified. Station 1 had the highest benthic macroinvertebrate abundance of 58 (35.65%), while Station 3 had the lowest abundance of 52 (31.70%). Uca tangeri was the most abundant benthic macroinvertebrate with a percentage abundance of 28 (17.07%), while Dinocras sp., Macromia sp., and Gomphus sp. were the least abundant benthic macroinvertebrates with a percentage abundance of 3.66%. In addition, seven (7) fish species from six (6) families were identified. During the study, the family Claroteidae was the most abundant, while the family Carangidae was the least abundant. The temperature of the river had a positive correlation with the families Carangidae and Mugilidae , a negative correlation with the family Clupeidae , and no correlation with the family Claroteidae . Total dissolved solids (TDS) correlated positively with the families Carangidae , Mugilidae , and Clariidae , while conductivity correlated positively only with the family Sciaenidae and negatively with the families Carangidae , Mugilidae and Clariidae . The abundance and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish fauna were generally influenced by the physical and chemical characteristics of the water, the availability of food, and the extent of human impacts and activities. In order to ensure sustainable water quality and biodiversity conservation in our environment, it is necessary to manage the river and the surrounding ecosystem appropriately.

Potentially toxic elements occur naturally in most geologic materials. However, recent anthropogenic disturbances such as ore mining have contributed significantly to their enrichment in soils. Their occurrence in soil may portend a myriad of related risks to the environment and biota. Most traditional soil quality evaluation methods involve comparing the background values of the elements to the established guideline values, which is often time-consuming and fraught with computational mistakes. As a result, in order to conduct a comprehensive and unbiased evaluation of soil quality and its effects on the ecosystem and human health, this research combined geochemical, numerical, and GIS data for a composite health risk zonation of the entire study region. Furthermore, the multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-NN) was used to forecast the most important toxic components influencing soil quality. Geochemical, statistical, and quantitative soil pollution evaluation (pollution index and ecological risk index) showed that apart from mining, the distribution and association of trace elements and oxides occur as a consequence of surface environmental conditions (e.g., leaching, weathering, and organo-metallic complexation). The hazard quotients (HQs) and hazard index (HI) of all PTEs were greater than one. This indicates that residents (particularly children) are more susceptible to risks from toxic components ingestion than skin exposure and inhalation. Ingestion of As and Cr resulted in higher cancer risks and lifetime cancer risk levels (> 1.0E 49 04), with risk levels increasing towards the northeastern, western, and southeastern directions of the study area. The low modeling errors observed from the sum of square errors, relative errors, and coefficient of determination confirmed the efficiency of the MLP-NN in pollution load prediction. Based on the sensitivity analysis, Hg, Sr, Zn, Ba, As, and Zr showed the greatest influence on soil quality. Focus on remediation should therefore be placed on the removal of these elements from the soil

Background Post-mortem interval estimation of carcasses buried in shallow graves is a grey area in Nigerian forensic investigations. Most of the investigations and court decisions on the time of death of concealed homicides are based on assumptions in Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated the post-mortem interval of buried remains in Okuku, Cross River State of Nigeria using porcine models. This study also provided a model account of the pattern and timeline of decomposition of buried remains in Nigeria. Results Four stages of decomposition were identifed within the study period which includes fresh, bloat, active decay, and advanced decay stages. Features of bloat stage of decomposition include bloating of the animals and release of putrid odour. The active decay stage was characterized by the absence of maggots, bone exposure, and greyish discolouration of the body. The advanced decay stage of decomposition is characterized by adipocere formation, fungi activities, and bone exposure. Conclusions Buried bodies do not completely skeletonize within 168 days in a typical Nigerian savannah region. Bloat stage started by the 7th day; the active decay stage started by the 14th day. The fresh stage of decay lasted up to 7 days; the bloat stage lasted for 14 days. The active decay stage lasted about 35 days, and the advanced decay stage started at about the 56th day and progressed until the end of the study.

Study aim : The purpose of this study was to ascertain how young women in Calabar South, Cross River State, were aware of the reasons and preventative measures for obesity. Material and methods : The study adopted the descriptive survey design using simple random sampling technique to select 400 participants (14–26years of age). Self-made and approved questionnaire was employed as a tool for data collection. With the use of descriptive statistics, the data was analyzed using frequency and percentages while chi square analysis was used to test hypothesis. Results : According to the results, a majority of respondents 65.9% had high understanding of the factors that contribute to obesity, compared to just 34.1% who had poor awareness. It was also revealed that short sleep duration, excessive use of technology, parenting and social hindered the preventive practice of obesity. Chi-square analysis showed that the calculated value 28.005a was greater than the critical value 7.81 (p-value = 0.000), thus the null hypothesis was rejected. This shows that there is a significant correlation between level of awareness of the causes of obesity and the educational level of young women. Conclusion : Nurses and midwives should educate young women about obesity during health consultations and prenatal clinic appointments in other to elevate their awareness to enhance their preventive practices