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.

HIV seropositivity and CD4 T-lymphocyte counts among infants and children in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Abstract: Background : Most published reports on HIV prevalence are centered on adults of sexually active age and antenatal mothers with little or no regard to infants and children. Methods: A total of one thousand (1000) children aged 1 to less than 15 years attending the various clinics at the Braithwait Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH), Port Harcourt were recruited into the study. Blood samples (3 millilitres of blood) were collected into a five millilitres syringe and the serum was used for serological testing of antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and CD4 cell counts from EDTA blood. The WHO HIV testing strategy III was adopted for defining the HIV status. The CD4 cell count was estimated using the Dynamal ® Quant Kit (Dynal Biotechn, ASA, Oslo, Norway). Results: The overall HIV prevalence rate in this study was 23.2%. The distribution of HIV prevalence among different age group revealed a high prevalence rate among the under fives (24.1% for males and 26.4% for females). There was a significant negative correlation between age and HIV status of children (r = -0.94, P < 0.01). The mean CD4 count of the infected children was 647.25 ± 340.1 (95% CI 603.3 – 691.1). Logistic regression analysis showed that both age and sex exert an influence of the CD4 count only in the under fives (0 - < 5 yrs). 10. 3% of the children were immuno compromised with CD4 count below 200 cells, 27.9% fell into the moderate category while 61.8% had normal CD4 counts of 500 cells and above. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of HIV among infants and children is high in this part of the world and this call for urgent intervention through voluntary counseling of antenatal mothers and proper monitoring in order to reduce the paediatric HIV prevalence.

Larval development of Chilo partellus swinhoe in artificial diet incorporating different sorghum genotypes

Abstract: A study was carried out to investigate the presence of antibiosis in some sorghum genotypes. First instar Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera; Pyralidae) larvae were reared in artificial diets incorporating the different genotypes. HYD I and IS 1044 (check) slowed down 1arvaI development and caused larval mortality. Furtherrilore, significantly fewer eggs were laid by emerging female moths raised on these genotypes.

Need for youth empowerment through business education employability skills for sustainable development

Abstract: Youths occupy a prominent place in any society and outnumber the middle aged and the aged. In every society, they play important role for its sustainable development. Training programmes acquired through business education as a sub-set of vocational and technical education has over the years improved the employable skills of the youths. It is for this reason that emphasis should be placed on the need for the youths to be empowered through business education for the youths to be well-equipped with the needed knowledge, attitudes, competencies and skills so that they can be well-fitted for the world of work. There is need to constantly expose the business education students to the practical aspect of the programmes. This will assist them to acquire practical knowledge, competencies and skills in business working environments. KEYWORDS: Youths, empowerment, business education, employability, skills sustainability and development.