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In-situ measurements of ultraviolet (UV) and solar irradiance is very sparse in Nigeria because of cost; it is estimated using meteorological parameters. In this work, a low-cost UV and pyranometer device, using locally sourced materials, was developed. The instrument consists of a UV sensor (ML8511), a photodiode (BPW34) housed in a carefully sealed vacuumed glass bulb, the UV and solar irradiance sensor amplifiers, a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADS1115), Arduino mega 2560, liquid crystal display (LCD) and microSD card for data logging. The designed amplifier has an offset voltage of 0.8676 mV. The sensitivity of the irradiance device is 86.819 Wm-2/mV with a correcting factor of 27.77 Wm-2 and a maximum range of 1200 Wm-2. The instrument validation error is 9.67% and a correlation coefficient of 0.89 when compared with a standard SRS100 pyranometer. The UV sensor showed a close response with a correlation of 0.99 in comparison with a standard Skye instrument. From 08:00 to 16:00 local time (LT), there is a very close agreement between the standard device and the developed counterpart, with marginal differences of about 9.6% observed at the two extremes.

Mumin Hakim,1 Candice Burrier,1 Tarun Bhalla,1 Vidya T Raman,1 David P Martin,1,2 Olamide Dairo,1 Joel L Mayerson,3,4 Joseph D Tobias1,2 1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 2Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ohio State University, 3Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 4Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA Abstract: Tumor progression during end-of-life care can lead to significant pain, which at times may be refractory to routine analgesic techniques. Although regional anesthesia is commonly used for postoperative pain care, there is limited experience with its use during home hospice care. We present a 24-year-old male with end-stage metastatic osteosarcoma who required anesthetic care for a right-sided above-the-elbow amputation. The anesthetic management was complicated by the presence of a large mediastinal mass, limited pulmonary reserve, and severe chronic pain with a high preoperative opioid requirement. Intraoperative anesthesia and postoperative pain management were provided by regional anesthesia using an interscalene catheter. He was discharged home with the interscalene catheter in place with a continuous local anesthetic infusion that allowed weaning of his chronic opioid medications and the provision of effective pain control. The perioperative applications of regional anesthesia in palliative and home hospice care are discussed. Keywords: osteosarcoma, peripheral nerve block, palliative care

The drying behavior of fever leaves was investigated in a convective hot air dryer with forced convection at a fixed air velocity of 1.5m/s and drying air temperatures of 35, 45, 55 and 650C. The constant rate period was absent and the drying curve took place in the falling rate period. Experimental data was fitted to six thin-layer drying models – Page, Modified page II, Henderson and Pabis, Modified Henderson and Pabis, Two term and Newton. The performances of the models were investigated by comparing the coefficient of determination (R2), reduced chi-square (÷2) and root mean square error (RMSE) between observed and predicted moisture ratios. The page model showed a good agreement with the data obtained while the effect of drying air temperature on the constants and coefficient of the page model was investigated. The effective diffusivity increases as temperature increases and range between 5.551 x 10-12 – 3.379 x 10-11m2/s while the activation energy was estimated to be 80.78kJ/mol. Keywords: Fever leaves, convective hot air drying, modeling, diffusivity, activation energy Nigerian Food Journal Vol. 25 (1) 2007: pp. 146-153