University of Nigeria, Nsukka

About: University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a education organization based out in Nsukka, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 10211 authors who have published 13685 publications receiving 138922 citations.

Food taboos and myths in South Eastern Nigeria: The belief and practice of mothers in the region.

Abstract: Poor nutritional practices especially in pregnancy and early childhood can result in dire consequences in the growth and development of a child. This study using purposive sampling enrolled 149 women who had carried at least one pregnancy to term in Enugu south east Nigeria. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess association between avoidance of certain food in pregnancy and selected socio-demographic factors. Approximately 37 % of respondents avoided some foods in pregnancy due to food taboos and no relationship was seen between this avoidance of food and maternal educational attainment, parity (number of obstetrics deliveries) and occupation. Snail and grass-cutter meat were the commonly avoided food in pregnancy while egg were commonly avoided in children under-two years old. Some respondent believed eating snail and grass-cutter meat makes a child sluggish and labour difficult respectively while starting egg early for a child could predispose them to stealing later in life. Discussion about food taboos during antenatal care visits and during community education can help reduce the traditional belief about certain food in pregnancy and early childhood.

Water quality modelling using artificial neural network and multivariate statistical techniques

Abstract: This study investigates and proposes a reduction in the number of water quality monitoring stations, parameters and develops the best input combination for water quality modelling using artificial neural network and multivariate statistical technique. Fourteen water quality physicochemical parameters acquired from eight monitoring sites for 8 years (2006–2013) were investigated. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses (HACA) classify the eight monitoring sites into two significant clusters. Principal component analysis (PCA) accounted for more than 82% of the total variance and attributes the sources of pollution to critical anthropogenic activities, surface run-off and weathering of parent rocks. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses percentage contribution of pollutants revealed dissolved oxygen as the most significant parameter responsible for the pollution (66.3%), followed by ammonia nitrogen (14.4%), chemical oxygen demand (9.4%) and biochemical oxygen demand (5.3%). The result for source category apportionment assigned 39% to rock weathering, 25% anthropogenic activities, 20% surface run-off, 11% faecal waste, 3.4% human and natural factors and 1.4% erosion of river bank. In addition, three input combination models (model 1, 2 and 3) were developed in order to identify the best that can predict water quality index (WQI) at a very high precision. Model 2 using the principal component scores before varimax rotation appears to have the best prediction capability at node eight with coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.999 and root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.159. These findings justify the use of environmetrics modelling technique to reveal the pattern of water quality for decision making by government and stakeholders.

Evaluation and characterization of the groundwater quality and hydrogeochemistry of Ogbaru farming district in southeastern Nigeria

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate and characterize the hydrogeochemistry and quality of groundwater (for human consumption) in Ogbaru district, southeast Nigeria. Borehole samples were subjected to physicochemical, bacteriological, hydrogeochemical, and statistical analysis. The physicochemical characteristics of the water were below standard maximum permissible limits for drinking water. Moreover, heavy metals were found in low concentrations (below their permissible limits) in all of the samples. However, majority of the samples have pH values below the allowable limits of 6.5–8.5, indicating they are slightly acidic waters. The dominance of cations and anions is in the order: Ca > Mg > Na > K and HCO3 > Cl > NO3 > SO4 > PO4 > NO2, respectively. Mg–Ca–HCO3 water type dominated the area, constituting about 47.4% of the total samples. Ca–Mg–HCO3 water type constituted about 16%; Mg–Ca–Na and Ca–Mg–Na–HCO3 water types constituted 10.5% each, whereas Ca–Mg–Cl, Mg–Ca–Cl–NO3, and Ca–Mg types made up 5.2% each. The possible sources and influencers (both anthropogenic and geogenic) of the physical and chemical water quality parameters were identified by correlation and principal component analyses. Although most of the groundwater samples are of good quality based on the physicochemical properties, the presence of coliforms indicates that their quality is questionable and hence not safe for drinking. Therefore, treating them before use is recommended.