ABSTRACT Schistosoma haematobium infects school children in areas where the disease is endemic. This study was carried out to determine the reliability of IgG Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as an immunodiagnostic tool, using whole antigen derived from Schistosoma eggs. Children of school going age living in Ipogun village, in south western Nigeria; a schistosomiasis endemic community; were used in this study. The sensitivity of the IgG ELISA in detecting positive cases was 68.0% an...
ABSTRACT This study presents the mineralogical, textural and geochemical characteristics of the regional Maastrichtian Ajali Sandstone in Anambra Basin, SE Nigeria. The intent is to highlight possible constraints on the chemical weathering conditions of the source materials on one hand, and to infer the provenance on the other hand. The investigation approach involved field studies and collection of samples from 12 different outcrop locations, followed by laboratory studies involving grain-si...
Abstract Biometric systems have overtime served as robust security mechanisms in various domains. Fingerprints are the oldest and most widely used form of biometric identification. A critical step in exploring its advantages is to adopt it for use as a form of security in already existing systems, such as vehicles. This research work focuses on the use of fingerprints for vehicle ignition, as opposed to the conventional method of using keys. The prototype system could be divided into the foll...
Abstract Merozoite surface protein-119 (MSP-119) specific antibodies which include processing inhibitory, blocking and neutral antibodies have been identified in individuals exposed to Plasmodium falciparum. Here we intend to look at the effect of single and multiple amino acid substitutions ofMSP-119 on the recognition by polyclonal antibodies from children living in Igbo-Ora, Nigeria. This would provide us with information on the possibility of eliciting mainly processing inhibitory antibod...
Abstract In the Ibokun area of the Ilesha schist belt of southwestern Nigeria, the dominant rock types are granite gniess and amphibolite. The granite gneiss is medium to coarse grained, with lineation marked by alignment of biotite and microcline porphyroblasts. The amphibolite is commonly massive to weakly foliated, consisting to bluish-green to yellowish-green to sheaf-like aggregate of hornblende set in a fine grain matrix of tabular plagioclase. A total of 25 water samples, obtained from...
Integrated sedimentological and geochemical studies have been carried out on the sediments of the Lokoja and Patti Formations within the southern Bida Basin with a view to deducing the provenance, palaeodepositional characteristics and tectonic history of the sediments. Field observations show that the Lokoja Formation is made up of conglomerates, coarse to medium grained sandstone and claystone while the Patti Formation consists of medium – fine grained sandstone, claystone, shale, siltsto...
Abstract Background: The emergence of Anopheles populations capable of withstanding lethal doses of insecticides has weakened the efficacy of most insecticide based strategies of vector control and, has highlighted the need for further studies on the mechanisms of insecticide resistance and the various factors selecting resistant populations of mosquitoes. This research targeted the analysis of breeding sites and the oviposition behaviour of susceptible and resistant populations of Anopheles ...
Abstract: Problem statement: Urinary schistosomiasis is highly endemic in Nigeria and for effective control measure, an efficient, quick and yet cheap diagnosis should be integrated. This will ensure the proper management of infection due to Schistosoma haematobium in low resource communities of Nigeria. Approach: This cross-sectional study recruited a total of 456 (252 males, 204 females) school children aged 3-20 years between November 2010 and June 2011. Urine samples were examined macrosc...
Scientific efforts in the eradication of neglected tropical diseases, such as those caused by the parasitic helminthes, can be improved if a database of key virulence factors directly implicated in pathogenesis is available. As a first step towards creating SchistoVir, a database of virulence protein factors in schistosomes, in this study, we curated, annotated and aligned sequences of twenty virulence factors identified from the literature, using several bioinformatics tools including UniPro...
ABSTRACT This paper presents the relationship between thermo f7hysical properties (thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity) and heavy metal concentration of some surface clay from six local governments in Ibaaun, oyo state, Nigeria. An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) 1i1i)as used in analping the concentration of heavy metals present in each sample by .measuring the intensity of external radiation absorbed by the atom produced from the same sample at a wavelength characteristic to th...
ABSTRACT: Stored dried cassava chips are known to become heavily damaged by Prostephanus truncatus (Hum). A laboratory study was undertaken to determine the extent of losses that this insect pest could cause on TME 30572, the mean weight loss (±SD) rose to 36.93 ± 24.43'% over the period of 112 days compared with 63.2 ± 3.37% for TME I, under the same period and experimental condition, At each time interval of 28 days during which the cassava dried chips were examined, the weight loss in ...
Abstract Context: This study investigated the presence or absence of β-catenin and Patched1 (PTCH1) genes involved in the developmental pathway in ameloblastoma, in order to clarify the genetic etiology of this tumor. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether PTCH1 and β-catenin genes are involved in the development of ameloblastoma. Subjects and Methods: Archived formalin-fixed paraffinembedded specimens of 89 ameloblastoma cases from the year 2000 to 2010 were genotyped by pol...
ABSTRACT The environmental impact of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Company for the environment and social conditions using the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) in Rivers State, Niger Delta area of Nigeria as a case study is analysed in this paper. Specifically, the paper analyses the environment and social consequences of the operations of NLNG on the immediate environment. Data were collected from both the secondary and primary sources. The paper reveals that air borne diseases are the...
ABSTRACT Subsurface samples of Mamu Formation from Ezimo 1235 and Enugu 1327 wells, located within the Anambra Basin were examined for organic geochemical characterization and biomarker content in order to determine the lithofacies association, hydrocarbon potential as well as the palaeodepositional environment. The sediments are made up of siltstone, dark coal, highly fissile shale and mudstone. Selected samples, made up of shale and coal from both wells were subjected to Rock Eval and gas c...
ABSTRACT Face recognition is an attractive field in enhancing both the security and the image retrieval activities in the multimedia world.