Effect of Salt Concentration on Oil Recovery during Polymer Flooding: Simulation Studies on Xanthan Gum and Gum Arabic.

Oil recoveries from medium and heavy oil reservoirs under natural recovery production are small because of the high viscosity of the oil. Normal water flooding procedures are usually ineffective, as the injected water bypasses much of the oil because of its high mobility. Thermal flooding processes are desirable but have many disadvantages from costs, effects on the environment, and loss of lighter hydrocarbons.

Condom Use at Last Sex and Sexual Negotiation Among Young African American Women in North Carolina: Context or Personal Agency.

African American women are 10.8 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV compared with White women. This descriptive study fills a gap by examining associations among social and contextual factors and sexual communication, condom use, and safer sex negotiation among African American women.

Exposure index in digital radiography: initial results of awareness and knowledge from Nigerian digital radiography practices.

Introduction: Exposure Index (EI) is incorporated into Digital Radiography (DR) systems to indicate incorrect exposure to enable matching exposure to the desired speed class of operation. However, knowledge of the utilization of EI by radiographers in a low-income country has not been investigated.

Methods: A pre-tested questionnaire designed using Google forms, with open and close-ended questions was shared online with radiographers working with DR systems in public and private health facilities in some cities located in southern Nigeria.

Transitioning to Online Teaching During the Pandemic Period: The Role of Innovation and Psychological Characteristics.

Given the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the forced adoption of online teaching in several academic institutions across the world, we set out an objective in this paper to examine salient factors that may affect the decision to use online teaching by faculty members (teaching staff). We propose and validate a model based on an extended innovation diffusion theory and 284 online survey responses from Ghana and find that the attitude towards online teaching is predictably influenced by relative advantage and observability. Contrary to theory, complexity boosts rather than inhibits the attitude towards online teaching.

Comparative study on the adequacy of cervical smears using wooden Ayre's spatula, VS Papcone® sampling device.

This is a comparative study on the adequacy of cervical smears obtained using the Papcone® sampling device or wooden Ayre's spatula conducted from two tertiary health facilities -- Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Awka, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Slides from smears obtained using both devices were read by a cytopathologist blinded for the study. The primary outcome was the proportion of smears with an adequate endocervical component.

Knowledge and Awareness of Cervical Cancer among HIV-Infected Women in Ethiopia.

. Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among Ethiopian women. Low awareness of cervical cancer, in combination with low health care seeking behavior, is a key challenge for cervical cancer prevention.

THE PREDICTIVE VALUE OF SERUM URIC ACID FOR THE OCCURRENCE, SEVERITY AND OUTCOMES OF PRE-ECLAMPSIA AMONG PARTURIENTS AT NNEWI, NIGERIA.

Objective: To determine the predictive value of serum uric acid for preeclampsia, its severity and pregnancy outcome.

Methods: This is a cohort study that was performed on normal pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi Nigeria. Serum uric acid was determined in 200 women attending antenatal clinic between the gestational ages of 14 and 26 weeks.

Evaluation of histologically confirmed carcinoma of the cervix in Nnewi Nigeria: A five year review.

Background: Cervical cancer is the commonest gynaecological cancer in developing countries. It is a major cause of cancer related deaths among women in our subregion.

Objective: To determine the incidence, mode of presentation, associated risk factors and management of histologically confirmed carcinoma of the cervix at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi.

Building and Strengthening Infection Control Strategies to Prevent Tuberculosis - Nigeria, 2015.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of infectious disease mortality worldwide, accounting for more than 1.5 million deaths in 2014, and is the leading cause of death among persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (1). Nigeria has the fourth highest annual number of TB cases among countries, with an estimated incidence of 322 per 100,000 population (1), and the second highest prevalence of HIV infection, with 3.

Reaching the underserved: Active tuberculosis case finding in urban slums in southeastern Nigeria.

Background: Nigeria ranks 10th among 22 high TB burden countries with low TB case detection that relies on passive case finding. Although there is increasing body of evidence that active case finding (ACF) has improved TB case finding in urban slums in some parts of the world, this strategy had not been implemented in Nigeria despite the pervasiveness of urban slums in the country.

Objective: To assess the yield and profile of TB in urban slums in Nigeria through ACF.

Trend in case detection rate for all tuberculosis cases notified in Ebonyi, Southeastern Nigeria during 1999-2009.

Unlike previous annual WHO tuberculosis reports that reported case detection rate for only smear-positive tuberculosis cases, the 2010 report presented case detection rate for all tuberculosis cases notified in line with the current Stop TB strategy. To help us understand how tuberculosis control programmes performed in terms of detecting tuberculosis, there is need to document the trend in case detection rate for all tuberculosis cases notified in high burden countries. This evidence is currently lacking from Nigeria.

Vascular effects of deletion of melanocortin-4 receptors in rats.

Obesity is a major cause of hypertension, but links between the obese and hypertensive states remain incompletely understood. A major component of cardiovascular function in obese individuals is a state of sympathoactivation. A postulated mechanism of this sympathoactivation is the activation of specific classes of neurons commonly associated with metabolic control, which also affect sympathetic outflow to cardiovascular targets.

Epilepsy prevalence, potential causes and social beliefs in Ebonyi State and Benue State, Nigeria.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in Nigeria. Many individuals are affected in rural areas, although prevalence data is not available. In this study we aimed to establish the prevalence of epilepsy in a rural community in south-east Nigeria, a community suspected for having a high number of people living with epilepsy.

Heart rate variability on antihypertensive drugs in black patients living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Compared with Caucasians, African Americans have lower heart rate variability (HRV) in the high-frequency domain, but there are no studies in blacks born and living in Africa.

Methods: In the Newer versus Older Antihypertensive agents in African Hypertensive patients trial (NCT01030458), patients (30-69 years) with uncomplicated hypertension (140-179/90-109 mmHg) were randomized to single-pill combinations of bisoprolol/hydrochlorothiazide (R) or amlodipine/valsartan (E). 72 R and 84 E patients underwent 5-min ECG recordings at randomization and 8, 16 and 24 weeks.

Efficacy of newer versus older antihypertensive drugs in black patients living in sub-Saharan Africa.

To address the epidemic of hypertension in blacks born and living in sub-Saharan Africa, we compared in a randomised clinical trial (NCT01030458) single-pill combinations of old and new antihypertensive drugs in patients (30-69 years) with uncomplicated hypertension (140-179/90-109 mm Hg). After ≥4 weeks off treatment, 183 of 294 screened patients were assigned to once daily bisoprolol/hydrochlorothiazide 5/6.25 mg (n=89; R) or amlodipine/valsartan 5/160 mg (n=94; E) and followed up for 6 months.

From DOTS to the Stop TB Strategy: DOTS coverage and trend of tuberculosis notification in Ebonyi, southeastern Nigeria, 1998-2009.

Background: Nigeria ranks fourth among the 22 high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries. The estimated incidence of all TB cases in 2009 was 311/100,000 population. Since the implementation of DOTS in Ebonyi state, southeast Nigeria, the epidemiology of TB in the region has not been documented.

TH1/TH2 cytokine levels as an indicator for disease progression in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection and response to antiretroviral therapy.

A recent theory stipulates that during the course of HIV infection, there is a shift in immune response from T-helper 1 to T-helper 2 responses, characterised by elevated secretions of relevant cytokines. Cytokine profiles of 15 asymptomatic (treatment naïve) and 26 symptomatic (undergoing treatment) HIV-1 patients was determined to investigate the validity of this theory. HIV-1 RNA was quantified using the COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test, CD4 T-cell counts with the FACSCalibur flow cytometer and IL-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-gamma cytokine levels by ELISA method.