Rivers State University of Science and Technology

About: Rivers State University of Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Threatened species. The organization has 1826 authors who have published 1833 publications receiving 15183 citations.

Rational Use of Antibiotics – A Point Prevalence Study Carried out at a Tertiary Hospital in South-South Nigeria

Abstract: Introduction: The burden of antibiotic resistance in the hospitals and communities is progressively worsening hence the critical need to put into practice all the key components of rational use of antibiotics in our daily patient interactions. This paper aims to highlight the problem of antibiotic resistance, the importance of rational use of antibiotics and to show an on the spot sketch of the antibiotic use pattern among in-patients in the children wards in a tertiary hospital. Methodology: A brief review of the existing literature on antibiotic resistance and the rational use of antibiotics was done. A one-day cross-sectional point prevalence study was conducted in the children wards in UPTH and all children receiving antibiotics on that day, identified. The prevalence of antibiotic use was determined by dividing the number of inpatients on antibiotics at the time of the survey by the total number of patients on admission. Data were presented in percentages using pie and bar charts. Results: There were a total of 40 children on admission in the paediatric wards with a Male: Female ratio of 1.2:1. 34 (85.0%) of the children on admission were receiving at least one antibiotic. The most common route of administration of the antibiotics was the intravenous route (94.1%). The five most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the children medical wards and the emergency ward were Ceftriaxone, Gentamycin, Cefuroxime, Metronidazole and Crystalline penicillin, while the five Original Research Article Chioma; IJTDH, 41(14): 39-47, 2020; Article no.IJTDH.61194 40 most common antibiotics prescribed in the special care baby unit were Gentamycin, Ceftazidime, Ceftriaxone, Metronidazole and Ofloxacin. Only 10 (29.4%) out of children receiving antibiotics had a microbiology culture result available, and 4 were receiving antibiotics in line with the culture sensitivity pattern. Two (5.9%) children had a multidrug-resistant infection. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of antibiotic use among inpatients and low utilization of microbiology culture results in the choice of antibiotics in a tertiary hospital in Southsouth Nigeria. Antibiotic prescribing patterns among healthcare workers should be improved upon by training and retraining of personnel as well as strict adherence to antibiotic prescription guidelines.

Hematological Profile of Pregnant Women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract: BACKGROUND OR OBJECTIVES: Pregnant women experience a lot of changes, which often reflect in their hematological indices. The study examines the differences in the hematological profile of pregnant and nonpregnant women in Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. METHODS: The subjects were systematically sampled, comprising of 90 pregnant and 90 non-pregnant women, with ages ranging 16 to 45 years. Five milliliters of whole blood was collected from each subject at ambient temperature using standard venepuncture techniques and three milliliters was dispensed in EDTA bottle. T-test was used to compare the mean of the parameters among the pregnant and nonpregnant women. Analysis of variance was used to compare the means for the parameters within the three trimesters. Tukey’s Post Hoc test was used to identify the trimester pairs that had significant mean difference, Hematological parameters were analyzed using Abacus380 hematological analyzer. The data obtained were coded and analysed using SPSS version 20 and data were considered significant at p≤0.05. RESULTS: Comparison of pregnant women with controls showed that Total White Blood Count TWBC), monocytes, neutrophils, Mean Cell Volume (MCV), and Mean Cell Hemoglobin (MCH) were significantly increased in pregnancy (p<0.05); while Red Blood Cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin, hematocrit and Mean Cell Hemoglobin concentration were significantly decreased (p<0.01). The following hematological parameters showed significant mean variation within the 3 trimesters: MCH (F=3.59, p=0.03) and MCHC (F=16.85, p<0.01). MCHC showed significant difference between first versus second trimesters (p=<0.01) and 1st vs. 3rd trimesters (p=<0.01). CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION The lower hematocrit and hemoglobin level of pregnant women when compared with the non-pregnant controls implies that there is need for more emphasis on the importance of prenatal vitamin supplementation during the antenatal period, perhaps leveraging prenatal counselling sessions. Proper supplementation may avert anemia in pregnancy, and consequently, the poor birth outcomes. Key words: Hematological Profile • Pregnant Women • Nigeria • Pregnancy © 2019 Mba et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Modification Design of Petrol Engine for Alternative Fueling using Compressed Natural Gas

Abstract: This paper is on the modification design of petrol engine for alternative fuelling using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). It provides an analytical background in the modification design process. A petrol engine Honda CR-V 2.0 auto which has a compression ratio of 9.8 was selected as case study. In order for this petrol engine to run on CNG, its compression had to be increased. An optimal compression ratio of 11.97 was computed using the standard temperature-specific volume relationship for an isentropic compression process. This computation of compression ratio is based on an inlet air temperature of 30oC (representative of tropical ambient condition) and pre-combustion temperature of 540oC (corresponding to the auto-ignition temperature of CNG). Using this value of compression ratio, a dimensional modification Quantity =1.803mm was obtained using simple geometric relationships. This value of 1.803mm is needed to increase the length of the connecting rod, the compression height of the piston or reducing the sealing plate’s thickness. After the modification process, a CNG engine of air standard efficiency 62.7% (this represents a 4.67% increase over the petrol engine), capable of a maximum power of 83.6kW at 6500rpm, was obtained.