April 2018

This paper addresses some myths and misconceptions surrounding what may have been the most feared disease of the last century—poliomyelitis. After lying dormant for thousands of years, polio suddenly assumed epidemic proportions early in the 20th century, consigning thousands to life in iron lungs—particularly in more well-to-do countries in Scandinavia, Europe and North America. Nor did Britain and Australia escape. In response to the threat, Salk (in 1955), and Sabin (in 1962) introduced their respective vaccines, and by the mid 1970s, polio, somewhat miraculously, and completely unexpectedly, disappeared from the developed world. Nathanson, writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology avers, “Beginning in 1955, the creation of poliovirus vaccines led to a stepwise reduction in poliomyelitis, culminating in the unpredicted elimination of wild polioviruses in the United States by 1972.” (Nathanson, 2010 ) (pp 1213 – 1229) (emphasis ours). Nathanson’s assertion was elaborated further by Mawdsley, in The Lancet in 2014 Just as anxiety surrounding polio provocation crested, a series of related scientific discoveries fuelled its rapid decline. The introduction of the Salk vaccine in 1955 and the Sabin vaccine in 1962 ushered in an era of polio prevention, which parents and health professionals greeted with a combination of relief and enthusiasm. (Mawdsley, 2013) (emphasis ours). Mawdsley goes on to say, “Once polio vaccination programmes established herd immunity among children and adults, . . . [o] rthodox public health and surgical practices were restored.” (Mawdsley., 2014) (emphasis ours). The essence of the official story, outlined above, is now offered as a classic example of modern “scientific” medicine’s contributions to population health and well being, and as prime justification for medicine’s position of dominance in modern society. (CDC., 2018) (297—310). However, in this paper, we suggest that the story is at best an oversimplification; at worst, a gross misrepresentation of the historical and scientific facts.

Introduction: Thornwaldt's cyst is defined as “an inconstant blind sac located above the pharyngeal tonsil in the midline of the posterior wall of the nasopharynx .It is usually a developmental abnormality where communication between pharyngeal endoderm and notochordal remnants persist. Case Report: 32 yr old male, presented with bilateral decreased hearing since 2 and half years, with no other ear symptoms. Audiogram showed bilateral Conductive Hearing loss, with Impedence audiogram showing bilateral type B curve. X ray soft tissue neck lateral view showed soft tissue mass occupying nasopharynx with no crescent sign. CT scan of Paranasal sinuses and nasopharynx was suggestive of midline cystic mass arising from roof of nasopharynx. Patient was taken up for nasal endoscopic surgery. Cyst content was sent for Histopathology reporting which showed respiratory epithelium suggesting Thornwaldt’s cyst. Conclusion: Thornwaldt’s cyst is a rare entity. Patients may present with only Bilateral decreased hearing. And if Tympanometry is suggestive of type B curve then the patient should be further evaluated and posted for CT scan of nasophartnx to rule out the diagnosis of Nasal mass. The possibility of Thornwald cyst should be kept in mind even though it is a rare entity. The final diagnosis can be confirmed with histopathology report.

Power is the most important component of infrastructure and it is extremely essential for the economic development and social well-being of countries. The existence and development of self-sufficient infrastructure is important for the continual rise of the Indian economy. India’s power sector is very much diversified. Sources of power generation vary from conventional sources such as natural gas, hydro, coal, oil and nuclear power to non-conventional sources such as solar, biomass, and wind. Due to population growth, the electricity demand in the country has risen dramatically and is believed to grow more in the future. In order to meet the increasing demand for electricity in India, huge addition to the installed generating capacity is needed. In the few past years, India's energy utilization has been rising at a moderately faster rate due to economic development. In this paper, the present trend of Renewable energy sources (RES) in India has been discussed. In the present scenario, use of renewable sources for energy generation has become the need of the hour. The Installed and Generating Capacity of each source in India has been discussed. The negative environmental impacts has been presented too. In addition, the paper also focuses on upcoming renewable sources of energy which are still developing and how one day they can be useful because of their vast undiscovered potential.

The history of Africa is full of magic and supernatural activities. However, in all the sections of Hausa performing arts, oral songs are the most exalted arts that dominate many folkloric activities and control very great significant aspects of religious, political and socio-cultural consciousness in the Hausa community. The singers employ different methods and techniques of injecting poetic ideas into the minds of audience. The songs are sung with either melancholic, charming, or tranquil expressions so that their content messages are of deep impact to listeners. Therefore, the songs are entertaining, charming, educating or touching. In the struggle to create an attractive method or style, the use of supernatural is traced, which this paper intends to demonstrate. It is discovered that most of popular oral singers, MammanShata inclusive, employ supernatural activities in demonstrating hyperbolism, heroism, medical or fetishism, and so on. Malam Baba Na QofarGabas, SarkinBoriSule and Hassan SarkinDogarai to mention but few of the masterpieces of the prominent Hausa oral singer (Shata) comprised of supernatural powers in thematic and stylistic structures. By employing any one of these adornments in any oral songs, the zenith of stylistics is being reached, as per as Hausa culture is concerned. This paper therefore traces instances of use of supernatural in Shata’ssongs.

Aluminium alloys are now widely preferred in industrial applications due to their low density and high strength values. The properties of these alloys can be further improved by precipitation hardening heat treatment. For this purpose, the temperature and time used in the precipitation hardening process plays a very effective role on the performance of the material. Therefore, in this study, the effects of artificial aging heat treatment on mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of AAXXX alloy were investigated. The effects of artificial aging time on microstructure and mechanical properties of alloy were analysed and at the same time corrosion behaviour was tried to be determined by corrosion tests. For experimental investigations, the alloy samples prepared in appropriate sizes were heated to 540°C (± 0.5°C) with heating rate 10°C/min. by electrical resistance ceramic furnace. For the solution heat treatment, samples were kept in the furnace at this temperature for 4 hours. The samples taken from the furnace were firstly poured into iced water at 10°C and then subjected to artificial aging at 190°C for 2, 4, 6, 10, 12 and 24 hours. Finally, the samples taken from the furnace were left to cool down in stagnant air. The results show that the mechanical properties and the corrosion resistance of the alloy increase with the increase of artificial aging time. The hardness of commercial alloy of 43 BHN is increased to 98 BHN and the corrosion resistance of the commercial alloy increased from 0.1753 mm/year to 0,0123 mm/year at a temperature of 190°C at 10-hour aging period.

This study examined the predictors of tramadol abuse among undergraduatesin Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. Two objectives and two research questions were guided this study. Multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted for the study population for the study consisted5117 students from selected faculties in the university. The sample size was determined using Yaro Yamane’s method for a finite population (n = 400). The instrument for data collection was the structured questionnaire which comprised of section A and B, A demographic characteristics and B research questions based items. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test-retest method and the Pearson Product moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) with a reliability coefficient of 0.86. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) were descriptive statistics comprising of mean, percentage, frequency and standard deviation were used for demographic and answering of research questions. The result showed that the mean age of the respondents was 24.5+ 4.5 years, 57.6% were male, 42.4% were female from the selected faculties, 35.3% were in year 1, 30.2% were in year 2, 19.3 were in year 3, and 15.2% were in year 4. The result also indicated that the grand mean value 2.98 was greater than the criterion referenced mean 2.50 depicting that tramadol abuse had serious consequences on the respondents. The predictors of tramadol abuse included; peer group influence, improve mood and mental alertness, to relief pains, depression and anxiety, parental factor and academic activities which reported that the grand mean (2.78) is significantly greater than the criterion reference mean (2.50) indicated that the factors listed were predictors of tramadol abuse among undergraduate students. The study concluded that tramadol abuse is more injurious to academic activities of students in tertiary institutions. This research recommends that the benefit of healthy lifestyle choices and developments of skills needed in making informed and responsible decision to resist tramadol abuse among undergraduates should be emphasized by health personnels in the facilities at the point of their admission into the institution.

Radicular cysts are most common asymptomatic lesions of the jaw, it comprises up to 68% of cysts in the region. Large cyst of the jaw necessitate surgical management to obtain bone regeneration and healing of periapical tissues. Use of patients own blood components such as platelet rich fibrin (PRF) to enhance healing is unique concept in oral surgery. Through this case report we would like to illustrate the effectiveness of PRF mixed with synthetic bone substitute for guided bone regeneration in bone defect resulting from a periapical cyst enucleation. The treatment outcome of this case report shows that a combination of synthetic bone graft and PRF is successful in accelerating the physiological healing.