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Nanocellulose may be in nanocrystal or nanofibre form which may be extracted from purified cellulose by different methods. These include methods like dual-opposite-spinneret electrospinning, mechanical methods, a combination of chemical and mechanical methods, cryocrushing and enzymatic approaches. Nitrocelluloses have been extracted from various plants but not much has been reported on the yield from grasses. In this study, cellulose nanofibres (CNFs) were extracted from three common grasses; Pennisetum purpureum, Cynodon dactylon and Axonopus compressus by formic acid hydrolysis with the micrograph of CNF for each grass obtained. The CNFs are web-like long fibrous structure with diameter ranging between 3 to 5 nm and yield of over 75%. The crystallinity index averaged 76% and the onset temperature of thermal decomposition was 199 °C. Thus, Pennisetum purpureum, Cynodon dactylon and Axonopus compressus are good eco-friendly sources of CNF for potential application as new source of nanofillers for reinforcement of nanocomposite films.

This research is designed to enable the clinicians to identify certain diseases and describe methods of treatment to be carried out. The Java programming language is the tool for use to design the system. In the system, a number of patient cases are selected as prototypes and stored in a separate database. The knowledge is acquired from literature review and human experts of the specific domain and is used as a base for analysis, diagnosis and treatment recommendations. Different rules exist for diagnosis based on three groups of determining factors of Sr (Sign/Symptom/Investigating report is Strongly Required for Diagnosis), Rn (Sign/Symptom/Investigating report is Relevant but Not necessarily required) and Nr (Sign/Symptom/Investigating report is Not Related/Relevant). The system provides a simple, interactive, graphical user interface. The employment of a low cost software such as Java makes the system affordable to the medical doctors, who are the end users. It is expected that the use of the system will enhance the diagnosis of certain diseases and so reduce the problems that come with mis-diagnosis including their mortality. This in turn reduces healthcare cost and improves the quality and outcomes of healthcare especially in the developing African countries where malaria is endemic and every aspect of health resources manpower, technology, finances, etc.—is in short supply.

There is a strong need for cost-effective technologies to manage disease processes and thus reduce morbidity and mortality in the developing countries. Yet bringing intelligent healthcare informatics to bear on the dual problems of reducing healthcare costs and improving quality and outcomes is a challenge even in countries with a reasonably developed technology infrastructure. This paper focused at how appropriate an application of Medical Diagnosis Expert System (MDES) is to manage diseases in developing countries. MDES is usually designed to enable clinicians to identify diseases and describe methods of treatment to be carried out taking into account the user capability. The MDES described here is implemented using the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS). The CLIPS is an expert system, which has a shell composed of four modules: the user interface, the explanation system, the inference engine and the knowledge base editor. In the system, a number of patient cases will be selected as prototypes and stored in a separate database. The knowledge is acquired from literature review, human experts and the internet of the specific domain and is used as a base for analysis, diagnosis and recommendations.

Biomedical Engineering (BME) activities in Nigeria can be said to have started in the 1970s during which collaborative efforts were made by engineers, medical doctors, pharmacists, physicists, technicians and other scientist. Although, the pace of development was hitherto slow, most efforts were in the area of training - short courses, continuing education or professional development. However, the coming of NIBE in 1999 has propelled a steady progress of BME activities in Nigeria. This is rightly so, because Nigerian BME professionals from 1999 started addressing issues concerning them as a professional group. BME activities in Nigeria was further given a big boost in 2007, when the first undergraduate programme in BME started in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria with NIBE contributing the foundation members of faculty. NIBE, which stands for Nigerian Institute for Biomedical Engineering, represents the BME profession and its members in Nigeria and in international organisations. Established in 1999 with the vision “to develop and advance the biomedical science, health and human well-being of Nigeria through modern technological approaches comparable to those obtainable in any developed country of the world”, NIBE has members largely of the various sciences and classical engineering disciplines from universities and hospitals as well as from other institutions/organisations. It has a membership list of over 2000 members, but financially active membership fluctuates between 100 and 200 depending on the BME activity of each year. NIBE is currently structured in 5 divisions - biological engineering; medical engineering; clinical engineering; rehabilitation engineering; and biomedical physics / allied sciences - to accommodate virtually every field in the sciences. It had its 1st annual BME conference in 2000. Since then it has organised 9 national biomedical engineering conferences and 6 national professional development courses in Nigeria. NIBE has published a newsletter, news@nibe since 2000; a professional journal, Nigerian Journal of Biomedical Engineering since 2001; and electronic mail news, e-nibe since 2003. In 2003, NIBE was admitted as the 50th member of IFMBE. The same year, she co-founded the African Union of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (AUBES) in Ghana while some members were on a Medical Equipment Training. AUBES was established in order to integrate the effort of various African BME professionals and to expand cooperation on a continental basis. Since 2003, NIBE has made effort with AUBES to pioneer the development of BME in Africa. AUBES’s official inauguration and the 1st African Biomedical Conference scheduled to hold in 2005 in Nigeria was cancelled for logistic reasons. However, sustained effort is being geared towards its official inauguration in 2016 in Nigeria. The role of NIBE in developing BME in Nigeria is mainly as a membership group to develop resources for BME by evolving adequate training programmes for members, facilitating accreditation and certification of professionals practicing BME in Nigeria. NIBE is expected to continue to give its members a sense of belonging by becoming the mouth piece of BME professionals in Nigeria. All these development efforts should be a matter of concern for the international BME community.

The primary purpose of this paper is to adequately motivate the biomedical engineering community, especially from the developed countries to help develop and strengthen biomedical engineering in the developing countries. Specific challenges were identified in the WC2006 and WC2009 where the primary author noted that many of the developing countries, especially those of the sub-Saharan Africa were note usually represented due mainly to those factors that made them really developing. Nevertheless, a few organisations from the developed countries have strengthened and will continue to strengthen biomedical engineering in the developing countries. A few of them have been taken as a case study in this paper including Global Assistance for Medical Equipment (GAME), World Health Organisation (WHO), Northwestern University, USA and Engineering World Health (EWH), USA. Though, this few is not enough, especially as the strengthening is not equitably distributed in some cases. The various programmes from the developed countries targeted to the developing nations are so nice. In particular those of the EWH for the developing countries are strategic, especially for the activities of the IFMBE Working Group on Developing Countries.

Sudden death of infant (SDI) is among the clinical conditions called sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) referred to as death situation in which all clinical causative factors play apparent and hideous roles within an hour of unexpected death of infant within one year of age. To ascertain SDI at Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), a 6 year study of all infants’ death cases in record books were searched and two types of questionnaires added. Medical officers and hospital staff involved in infant healthcare were 343, and 1400 mothers contacted were of age ranges 18-40 years. Causes of SDI were respiratory failure 107, RTA 4, circulatory failure 25, alimentary distress 103, trauma and domestic accident 10, and cardiac failure 70 cases. Highest Frequency of occurrence in the years was observed in 1999 and gave 104. Commonest clinical characters were anemic heart failure, child neglect and abuse, drug toxicity, heamorrhage, and vagal inhibition. The rapidity at which SDI occurred in 25% of 107 respiratory failures was within 10 seconds to 5 minutes, and to 232 cases was within 24 minutes of hospitalization. Common clinical symptoms were mild to high fever, intermittent coughing and vomiting, malnourished body, respiratory distress, and apnea while 77% full term birth cases had body weight of 2100 to 2500g. Child neglect and abandonment were evident in 49% mothers of lean economies. SDI peak was from 5th to 8th months, at which periods 112 female and 168 male infants were wean to death by 280 mothers. Yearly highest incidence of SDI is 1999. Keywords: Sudden Death, Infant, Clinicopathologic Characters, Depressed Economy.

In response to the desire to continually enhance quality of medical services and health care delivery using up to date medical technologies, there is increased demand for biomedical engineering professionals and related sciences world wide to effect these technologies. This requires a properly planned manpower development for these professionals.