Archives-December  

Dilaceration can be seen in both the permanent and deciduous dentitions, and is more commonly found in posterior teeth. Periapical radiographs are the most appropriate way to diagnose the presence of root dilacerations. The controlled regularly tapered preparation of the curved canals is the ultimate challenge in endodontics. Careful and meticulous technique will yield a safe and sufficient enlargement of the curved canals. This article gives a two interesting case reports of root dilacerations and its management endodontically by using both hand and rotary instruments.

The spread of English as an international language and the emergence of the Internet as a fast communication channel are dual issues that define ELT in a globalized and digital age. Since its conception, the Internet has revolutionized the ways of human communication as well as English language learning in a global context. But the implications of this powerful force are yet to be fully recognized and realized in education and teacher education in Nigeria. Teachers of English language as well as learners of the language today need a new set of critical and interpretive skills. This paper attempts to discuss the impact of the Internet on English language learning as well as the need for new frameworks for teaching English language in a digital age in Nigeria.

Toxic heavy metal monitoring in the environment and food is a key requirement for protection against the hazards of metal toxicity. The concentrations of heavy metals (Mercury, Copper and Cadmium) and other elements (Vanadium, Magnesium, Manganese, Calcium and Chloride) in cocoa beans from 73 district representing six of the seven cocoa regions for the 2011/2012 light crop year were analyzed using Neutron Activation procedures to look at the distribution of metals, especially heavy metals in the beans meant for export. Certain basic quality parameters such as pH, moisture and percentage fat content were also measured. Analysis of cocoa beans yielded the following results; Calcium (Ca; 2155 -5863, average 3443.20 mg kg?¹) showed the highest concentration, followed by Magnesium (Mg; 2147 to 4601 mg kg?¹, average 3227.02 mg kg?¹) and Aluminium (Al; 32.86 -147.40, average 54.32 mg kg?¹). Manganese (Mn) was also found to range between 19.66 -50.01; average 35.40 mg kg?¹. Vanadium and chloride were on the average 0.20 and 82.37 mg kg?¹ respectively. Amongst the heavy metals analysed, Cadmium (Cd) was in the range of <0.01 and 48.30 µg kg?¹, well below the proposed MRL of 0.6 mg Kg?¹ whereas mercury was below 0.01µg kg?¹, the detection limit of the NAA method used. Copper (Cu) was in the range of 10.04–26.76 mg kg?¹ in the beans analysed. Fat content of the beans were higher than 52.63% with a pH range of 4.52-5.58, typical of Ghana’s cocoa. The results showed that heavy metal concentrations in the beans are generally low with accompanying high quality indicators. Although levels of these heavy metals are very low, a potential danger may emerge in the future depending on the management of soil pollution since soil-to-plant transfer of heavy metals is a major pathway to product pollution.

The major component of wastes from uncultivated plants that constitutes environmental problems is seed. Artocarpus heterophyllus seed and Parkia biglobosa seed pulp were investigated for proximate composition, chemical and antibacterial properties of their oils with a view to exploiting their nutritional and industrial potentials. The crude protein, crude fibre and crude fat content were 14.02, 5.25; 1.23, 12.00; 26.5, 18.00 g/100g respectively. The high iodine value of the fixed oils; 1788, 1425 g iodine kg-1 oil respectively compared favourably with edible oils, while the high saponification values of 296.14 and 193.12 g KOH kg-1 suggested they are good feedstock for the soap industry. The seed and seed pulp essential oils could also find application as antibacterial agent to extend the shelf life of easily perishable food products.

Nigeran medicinal plants (Acanthospermum hispidum DC, Emilia coccinea (Sims) G. Don and Euphobia heterophylla) were analysed for their chemical composition. Phytochemical screening indicates the presence of saponins (0.22 to 0.37 mg/100g), flavonoids (0.96 to 1.87 mg/100g), alkaloids (1.52 to 1.71 mg/100g), phenols (1.07 to 1.55 mg/100g) and tannins (0.06 to 0.37 mg/100g). The medicinal plants contained ascorbic acid (24.35 to 31.79 mg/100g), riboflavin (0.04 to 0.31 mg/100g), thiamin (0.20 to 0.22 mg/100g) and niacin (0.08 to 0.10 mg/100g). These herbs are good sources of minerals such as Ca, P, K, Mg, Na, Fe and Zn. The plants gave appreciable antimicrobial activities in vitro against both gram-negative and gram-positive microorganisms with the zone of inhibition values ranging between (16.00mm – 32.00mm) and (11.00mm – 22.00mm) respectively. The importance of these chemical constituents is discussed with respect to the role of these herbs in ethnomedicine in Nigeria.

The physicochemical characteristics of water in the Lower Litani River Basin (LLRB) were evaluated. It concerns with analyzing six representatives sites which are investigated over three seasons of the year 2011. The principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to interpret the elemental concentrations in the river water. Many variables were evaluated, especially the components or metals Fe, NO₂^-, CaCO₃, Cu. Three groups were identified and differentiated by PCA according to the seasons. The first group is rich in Fe and NO₂, and low in NH₄ and EC (in the mid rainy season). The second group formed in dry season and the third group with low concentration of K⁺, PO₄^3- and Cl^- (in mid rainy). However, no critical pollution has been reported in this part of the river; except the high concentration of Fe and NO₂ ^- in all investigated sites due to the reject of wastewater and touristic activities.

This paper presents a framework of thermodynamic, energy and exergy, analyses of industrial Wood fired thermic fluid heater. Mass, energy, and exergy analysis were used to develop a methodology for evaluating thermodynamic properties, energy and exergy input and output resources in industrial wood fired thermic fluid heater. Determined methods make available an analytic procedure for the physical and chemical exergetic analysis of wood fired thermic fluid heater for appropriate applications. The energy and exergy ef?ciencies obtained for the entire fluid heater was 60.62% and 27.69% at standard reference state temperature of 25 oC. Chemical exergy of the material streams was considered to offer a more comprehensive detail on energy and exergy resource allocation and losses of the processes in a thermic fluid heater

In this study, an experimental investigation on the strength properties of recycled aggregate concrete M40 incorporating copper slag as partial replacement of fine aggregate and micro silica and nano silica as partial replacement of cement has been carried out. For this purpose, eleven concrete mixes were prepared with different replacement ratios of copper slag, micro silica, and nano-silica. Each set of concrete mix comprised of 12 cubes, tested at the age of 3, 7,14 and 28 days of curing period. The physical properties such as grading, specific gravity, and water absorption were determined. According to the results of the experimental study, it is concluded that with complete replacement of natural aggregates with recycled aggregates there was a decrease in the 28 days compressive strength by 23%. However, the best compressive strength was achieved by mix M7 with an increase of 52.93% in 28 days compressive strength compared to the control R.A.C concrete mix C2. Also with the increasing silica content in the concrete, there was a reduction in both the workability and weight density. Therefore, promising results were obtained showing that recycled aggregate concrete can be very well used in place of natural aggregate concrete with the addition of some strength enhancing materials like micro silica and nano-silica.

Factors affecting customer loyalty have immense weightage in order to identify the reasons or the factors which are accountable to create loyalty among customers for a fastidious brand. The purpose of the study is to classify the role of customer loyalty in terms of sustaining continuous organizational growth in highly competitive Pakistani market and factor affecting customer loyalty and their impact on organization growth. The most recent and relevant studies contained by the literature have been included and summated in this paper. All results are based on the overview of previous studies.The review of previous studies and some research work about the factor affecting customer loyalty and their impact on organization growth and development. In these researches different service providers were embattled as the population whereas customer services and Price Fairness were taken as predicting variables towards criterion variable which is customer’s loyalty. The outcomes conclude that both the factors considerably contributed to explain customer’s satisfaction and loyalty but relatively price fairness had the bigger impact on customer loyalty than customer’s services and organizational growth. Results and implications of the study are also discussed based on the analysis and findings.

The food safety processing and evaluation of powdered pap from maize and malted maize with carrot were carried out. The standard operating procedures in flow chart for the processing of fermented maize flour (plain pap), malted maize flour and carrot powder were used. Recipe for the variables and mixing ratios was formulated. 100% fermented maize flour (plain akamu/ pap) was used as control against other variables (fermented maize flour - FMF, carrot powder - CP and malted maize flour -MMF). The variable with the ratio of 85:5:10 (FMF:CP:MMF) tagged “BOB” was found to be the most acceptable. Result showed that sample BOB pulled the following values to emerge the best in ratio composition: consistency (7.9±0.08), colour (8.3±0.41), taste (8.0±0.04), mouthfeel (7.8±0.11), aroma (7.6±0.02) and overall acceptability (8.0±0.06). Microbial assessment showed that counts were high above thresholds for coliforms (1.9 x101 ±0.14 to 2.0 x102 ±0.39 CFU/g), and moderate for aerobic bacteria (4.1 x103 ±0.37 to 3.7 x104 ±0.14 CFU/g) and fungi (1.3 x102 ±0.12 to 3.2 x103 ±0.10 CFU/g). Five (5) bacterial and three fungal isolates were identified to include Lactobacillus species, Bacillus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Penicillium species and Aspergillus species respectively. From the results obtained, it could be deduced that the problems of sour taste among infants consuming plain pap and malnutrition have been eliminated by blending with malted maize flour and carrot powder. These were achieved through the process of malting and enrichment with carrot powder which is a good source of beta carotene, a precursor of pro-vitamin A.