Engineering Journal: Volume-10, Issue-5, May, 2024

Abstract—
Objective: To investigate the effect of perinatal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) regimen on maternal and infant clinical outcome.
Methods: From January to December 2023, 626 GBS-positive and 2565 GBS-negative, gestation 35-37 weeks pregnant women were included in the observation and the control groups respectively. We compared the outcomes of the maternal and infant between the two groups.
Results: The preterm birth rate and postpartum hemorrhage rate in the observation group were significantly lower than that in the control group. However the incidence of preterm rupture of membranes, the incidence for "placenta pathological examination" critically evaluated by "after- However the incidence of preterm rupture of membranes, the incidence for "placenta pathological examination" critically evaluated by "after- delivery check protocol" and neonatal clinical sepsis in the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of delivery methods, the incidence of macrosomia, the incidence of neonatal 1'Apgar score. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of delivery methods, the incidence of macrosomia, the incidence of neonatal 1'Apgar score ≤7 and neonatal pneumonia between the two groups.
Conclusions: The standardized maternal GBS screening and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) programme adopted at our hospital was effective in reducing adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Keywords— Group B Streptococcus (GBS), Neonatal pneumonia, neonatal clinical sepsis, Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis(IAP).

Abstract— A trained convolutional neural network (CNN) model was developed in this work for classification of birds that visit rice farms into harmful Sparrows or beneficial insectivorous birds, and the classification used in activating efficient pest bird deterrence. Different images of the prevalent pest sparrow were captured by high resolution camera, and used as datasets for the training of the CNN model for the pest bird identification. Since, 98% of sparrow birds are grain eaters and harmful to a rice farm, 2,000 images of different sparrow birds were used together with the 419 different images of the prevalent Sparrows found in the rice farms as datasets for the training of the CNN model in Google Colab platform. A suitable algorithm was developed that uses this birds classification for recognizing the birds that visit the farm as pest Sparrows or otherwise. A bioacoustics deterrent system that uses the recorded sound of a local predator of Sparrows was developed for sparrow-pests. This sound was activated to broadcast the predator sound through the speakers to scare away the birds once Sparrows are sighted in a rice farm or nearby surroundings. However, if the sighted bird is recognized as not a Sparrow, no sound will be activated, so that the beneficial birds will be allowed do their biological insect-pest control in the rice farm. The algorithm can also be used by researchers and teachers in agriculture-related disciplines to teach bird classification in a rice farm.
Keywords— Convolutional Neural Network, Bird Classifications, Sparrow-pests, Beneficial Birds, Integrated pest control, Rice Farm.

Abstract— Although there are several designs on melon shelling machines, it is observed that these available designs in the market are relatively more sophisticated and expensive hence they are not affordable to majority of local farmers. The aim of this work is to design and fabricate cheap and affordable melon shelling and separating machine which can effectively shell all the species of melon through electric powered operation, with little or no technical skill required for its operation and at a cheap affordable price using local available materials. The machine was evaluated to determine the percentage number of shelled and unshelled melon seeds, shelled but broken seeds and the partially shelled melon seeds at 7% and 10% wb and concave speeds of 750, 950 and 1200 rpm. At concave speeds of 750, 950 and 1200 rpm, and moisture content (MC) of 7% wb, the calculated shelling capacity of the Sheller were 65, 128 and 148kg/h respectively. The cleaning capacity was 52kg/h, 85kg/h and 85kg/h respectively. When the MC of the melon seeds was increased to 10% wb by sprinkling the seeds with water and allowing it to dry by natural air, the shelling capacity became 53kg/h, 88kg/h and 145kg/h for the concave speeds of 750, 950 and 1200 rpm respectively. At 10% MC the cleaning capacity reduced from 53kg/h to 39kg/h at the speed of 750rpm and from 85kg/h to 66kg/h at the speed of 950rpm. However, at 1200rpm the cleaning capacity increased from 85kg/h to 109kg/h. The fraction of fully shelled melon seeds at mc of 7% wb using the concave speeds of 750, 950 and 1200rpm were 54%, 45% and 45%, while percentage of broken seeds were 85, 95 and 97%, and the number of partially shelled seeds were 42%, 54% and 54%; the percentage number of unshelled seeds were 3.9%, 1% and 0.3%. Moreover, , at the MC 10% wb using the same concave speeds of 750, 950 and 1200rpm the percentage number of broken seeds reduced to 0.8%, 2.3% and 8.9%. Based on this result, the machine is found to be very effective in peeling melon seeds at 10% M.C and at a concave speed of 1200rpm since the ratio of the number of unshelled melon seeds to the quantity in each sample is very negligible.
Keywords— shelling and separating machine, fully shelled seeds, shelled broken seeds, partially shelled seeds, moisture content, cleaning capacity.

Abstract— Acute kidney injury (AKI) results from reduction in glumerular filtration rate (GFR) causing the passage of little or no urine. This study investigated the effects of Chinese green tea on glumerular filtrate functions of albino rats treated with gentamicin in view to evaluate its nephroprotective effect. Animals were procured from the animal house of Veterinary Medicine Department University of Nigeria Nsukka. The rats were transported to Biochemistry laboratory, acclimatize for 7 days and randomly assigned into five groups. The rats were fed with commercially prepared pellets (vital feed) and watered ad libitum throughout the duration of the study. Nephrotocity was induced with gentamicin at 80mg/kg for 7 consecutive days with co-administration of camellia sinensis extract. Blood samples were drawn from rats in each groups and were analyzed for biochemical parameters. Results obtained are; from urea (13.08-6.12mg/dl), creatinine (70.08-42.25mg/dl), cystatin C (0.084-0.027mg/dl) and GFR (2.20-1.30ml/mins). Findings reveal that Gentamicin induces nephrotoxicity through induction of oxidative stress and generation of Reactive Oxygen species (ROS). Nephrotoxicity is an acute kidney injury marked by induced GFR and serum accumulation of urea, creatinine and cystatin C. Camellia sinensis contains powerful antioxidants catechins which counters the oxidant effect of gentamicin, thereby ameliorating its nephrotoxicity. Therefore crude extract of Camellia sinnesis has nephro-protective effect and ability to maintain a relatively normal GFR.
Keywords— Gentamicin, nephrotoxicity, GFR, green tea.