93 research outputs found
Effect of Selected Antiretroviral Drugs on Malondialdehyde (MDA)and Catalase Levels in Healthy Rat Tissues
No full textThe study assessed the effect of selected antiretroviral drugs used in the management of HIV/AIDS on the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (as TBARs) and the antioxidant enzyme, Catalase, of the liver and kidney tissues of healthy albino rats. 0.43, 0.43, 0.27, and 0.21mg/kg of Efavirenz, Abacavir, SNP 40 and Lamivudine respectively, were orally administered to four different groups of albino rats for seven days. The control group received normal saline. On the eighth day, the rats were sacrificed and the liver and kidney tissues were collected for Lipid peroxidation and Catalase activity analysis. Efavirenz and Lamivudine caused significant decrease (P0.05) compared to the control. All the drugs caused significant increase (P<0.05) in Catalase activity in the liver and a significant decrease (P<0.05) in Catalase activity in the kidney. Taken together, the present observation suggests that the effects of antiretroviral drugs on oxidative stress markers (such as MDA) and on antioxidant enzymes (such as catalase) in healthy as well as in HIV infected humans (by way of extrapolation) may vary from drug to drug and from organ to organ. We therefore advocate for extensive clinical research to investigate the influence of antiretroviral drugs on antioxidants enzymes in HIV and HIV/AIDS patients. Keywords: antiretroviral drugs, lipid peroxidation, liver, kidney, catalase
Solid Verifiable Credentials
No full textThis electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2019Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-66).Credentials are an integral part of our lives, as they express our capabilities and enable access to restricted services and benefits. In the early 2010s, the Verifiable Claims Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) proposed a specification for what is now the Verifiable Credentials Data Model. This living specification, which is still in development, outlines a cogent framework for the issuance, storage, presentation, and verification of credentials on the Web. Many of the leading Verifiable Credentials projects leverage Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), potentially compromising Web interoperability and sometimes exposing otherwise personal data. SolidVC is a decentralized Verifiable Credentials platform built with the open protocols of the Web. It is implemented on top of Solid, a Web framework developed at MIT in 2016 that allows decentralized applications to interact with personal user data to provide services in an access controlled environment.by Kayode Yadilichi Ezike.M. Eng.M.Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienc
Status of Selected Hematological and Biochemical Parameters in Malaria and Malaria-typhoid Co-infection
No full textHematologic and Hepatic Enzyme Alterations Associated with Acute Administration of Antiretroviral Drugs
No full textAn automated mammogram classification system using modified support vector machine
No full textPurpose: Breast cancer remains a serious public health problem that results in the loss of
lives among women. However, early detection of its signs increases treatment options and
the likelihood of cure. Although mammography has been established to be a proven
technique of examining symptoms of cancer in mammograms, the manual observation by
radiologists is demanding and often prone to diagnostic errors. Therefore, computer aided
diagnosis (CADx) systems could be a viable alternative that could facilitate and ease cancer
diagnosis process; hence this study.
Methodology: The inputs to the proposed model are raw mammograms downloaded from
the Mammographic Image Analysis Society database. Prior to the classification, the raw
mammograms were preprocessed. Then, gray level co-occurrence matrix was used to extract
fifteen textural features from the mammograms at four different angular directions: θ={0°,
45°, 90°, 135°}, and two distances: D={1,2}. Afterwards, a two-stage support vector
machine was used to classify the mammograms as normal, benign and malignant.
Results: All of the 37 normal images used as test data were classified as normal (no false
positive) and all 41 abnormal images were correctly classified to be abnormal (no false
negative), meaning that the sensitivity and specificity of the model in detecting abnormality
is 100%. After the detection of abnormality, the system further classified the abnormality on
the mammograms to be either “benign” or “malignant”. Out of 23 benign images, 21 were
truly classified as benign. Also, out of 18 malignant images, 17 were truly classified to be
malignant. From these findings, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and
negative predictive value of the system are 94.4%, 91.3%, 89.5%, and 95.5%, respectively.
Conclusion: This article has further affirmed the prowess of automated CADx systems as a
viable tool that could facilitate breast cancer diagnosis by radiologists
Occurrence and health implications of high concentrations of Cadmium and Arsenic in drinking water sources in selected towns of Ogun State, South West, Nigeria
No full textIn this study, we report the quantification of the concentrations of Cd, Pb and As in borehole, well, stream and rain water sources in Ota and some major towns in Ogun State, Nigeria. The pH ranges from 4.8 to 6.98, 5.40 to 7.86 and 6.99 to 8.20 in boreholes, well and rain respectively. Lead was not detected at all in the drinking water sources in all the locations investigated. However, the concentrations of Cadmium and Arsenic were observed to be higher than the maximum allowable limits (MAL) in drinking water by the WHO and the Nigerian Standard for drinking water quality in some of the drinking water sources. The Cadmium levels in boreholes for Ota, Agbara, Ifo, Abeokuta and the Male hostel of BellsTech are greater than the maximum allowable limits while the metal was not detected in the boreholes of CU student hostel and the Female hostel of BellsTech. Similarly, the Arsenic levels in boreholes for Ota, Abeokuta, Agbara and Ifo are greater than the maximum allowable limits whereas the metal was not detected in the boreholes of Male and Female hostels of BellsTech and Covenant University (CU) student hostel. The health implication is that if nothing is done to remove these metals before drinking from these water sources in which the concentrations are significantly higher than the MAL, the consumers of such drinking water are at risk of the health hazards that could be caused by these metals
Novice teachers: the challenges, supports, and effective strategies
No full textThis study used survey research to investigate the challenges novice teachers experience, the support they receive, and the leadership strategies that are implemented to support them. The research was conducted in Manitoba, Canada. Quantitative methods and convenience sampling were used to explore the research questions that guided this study: What challenges do beginning teachers perceive they encounter in their first years of teaching practice? What supports do new teachers report they receive? What strategies do novice teachers perceive are the most effective in supporting them? What challenges do school principals perceive novice teachers face? What strategies do principals use to support novice teachers? A total of 41 novice teachers and 31 school principals in Manitoba, participated in this study. The majority of the novice teacher participants were female and the majority of principal respondents were male – statistics which reflect the gender demographics of teachers and principals in Canada. The areas that novice teacher participants found most challenging were differentiating instruction, planning and preparation, accessing teaching resources, working with students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and assessing student learning. With regard to gender, male novice teachers found differentiating instruction and organizing the classroom significantly more challenging than did their female colleagues. Beginning teachers in rural/small town areas perceived isolation and teaching multi-age classrooms to be a greater challenge than their colleagues who taught in urban/suburban schools. With regard to teaching experience, teachers with less than two years in the classroom perceived isolation to be a significantly greater challenge than colleagues with 2-3 years teaching experience. When considering school size, teachers in smaller schools with less than 200 students considered isolation to be a greater challenge than their colleagues in larger schools; however, teachers in larger schools found planning and preparation and developing collegial relations a greater challenge than those in small schools. With regard to the areas in which novice teachers reported they received most support, the areas most supported corresponded with the areas they felt to be the greatest challenges, with the exception of differentiated instruction, which was their greatest challenge, yet was not well supported. Overall, female novice teachers perceived higher levels of support than their male colleagues. Teachers in rural/small town areas felt more supported than colleagues in urban/suburban locations. Novice teachers valued support programs such as mentoring, induction, and professional development but indicated that not all these programs were available to them. Principals identified similar challenges for novice teachers as did the teacher respondents, with the exception of planning and preparation, an area that challenged beginning teachers but was perceived as less of a challenge by their principals. Principals reported greater availability of mentoring programs than did novice teachers. The recommendations for the study included specific areas for professional development and greater provision of research-based mentoring and induction programs.Includes bibliographical references (pages 110-121)."In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education.
The African development crisis: an evaluation of the ECA's policy responses 1975-1993, 1995
No full textMost literature on development in Africa readily assumes that every leader is interested in development and that when they proclaim their commitment to development and fashion their impressive development agendas, they are ready to deliver. Those in this school of thought seem to forget the primacy of power and its conflict with other goals. This is what this study is about. This research therefore, presents a critical evaluation of the alternative development strategies which have been proposed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) in conjunction with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as solutions to the Africa development problems and why, despite this concerted effort, no significant changes have occurred in Africa. To put this in proper perspective, some of the major EGA regional blue-prints since 1975 to date have been reviewed. The Economic initiatives appear in Chapter IV and the Political and Social initiatives appear in Chapter V. The primary source of the materials reviewed in this research is the UN-ECA supported by other secondary sources like the UN-Africa Recovery based in New York and the OAU, based in Addis Ababa. Our finding revealed that there are two major reasons for the abandonment of these initiatives: 1. The incompatibilities between the pursuit of development on the one hand, and the quest for political survival by the leaders on the other hand. 2. The reproduction of existing forms of economic and political domination by the ruling class. The researcher therefore comes to the conclusion that if the continent is to recover and confront the 21st century unencumbered by debt, hunger, poverty, disease and ignorance, it needs leaders who are strong, self-confident and generators of great ideas who are able to command the loyalty of their people and who are totally committed to the development of their countries. Africa's salvation, this researcher believes, lies in the hands of Africans
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