Wellbore Stability in Ultra-Deep Formations of the Gulf of Mexico

This thesis work looks into Horizontal wellbore integrity or stability in the Mars Ursa Basin of the Gulf of Mexico using different geo-mechanical properties of this highly producing formation in analyzing stress build up both around the producing wells as well as the producing formations. Different cases were analyzed using the CMG simulator where consideration was given to cases of single as well as multiple producing horizontal wells. The model built considered both the basic reservoir model as well as geo-mechanical models. The individual cases considered included different geomechanical properties of the producing formation these properties however include frictional angle, cohesion factor, Young Modulus as well as Poison ratio. Models analyzed involved the effect of these different geo-mechanical properties on the maximum stress in the producing formations as well as salty formations. However for the stress analysis, Mohr Coulomb model was used.;Factors that majorly affected maximum stress mostly were found to be frictional angle and the cohesion factors, formation with higher porosity and permeability having higher production developed higher maximum stress compared to low producing zones also high frictional angle at producing formation resulted averagely into lower maximum stress build up while low frictional angle resulted into higher maximum stress build up. Also formation with high cohesion factor shows higher maximum stress build up while those with low cohesion factor shows lower maximum stress build up.;A general trend however observed in all the cases indicated that whatever geomechanical factor or combination of these factors satisfy high production rate will generate higher stress build up both around the wellbore and the producing formation

Integrating community pharmacy into community based anti-retroviral therapy program: A pilot implementation in Abuja, Nigeria

Background The landscape of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic control is shifting with the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 benchmarks for epidemic control. Community-based Antiretroviral Therapy (CART) models have improved treatment uptake and demonstrated good clinical outcomes. We assessed the feasibility of integrating community pharmacy as a task shift structure for differentiated community ART in Abuja-Nigeria. Methods Stable patients on first line ART regimens from public health facilities were referred to community pharmacies in different locations within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for prescription refills and treatment maintenance. Bio-demographic and clinical data were collected from February 25, 2016 to May 31st, 2017 and descriptive statistics analysis applied. The outcomes of measure were prescription refill and patient retention in care at the community pharmacy. Results Almost 10% of stable patients on treatment were successfully devolved from eight health facilities to ten community pharmacies. Median age of the participants was 35 years [interquartile range (IQR); 30, 41] with married women in the majority. Prescription refill was 100% and almost all the participants (99.3%) were retained in care after they were devolved to the community pharmacies. Only one participant was lost-to-follow-up as a result of death. Conclusion Excellent prescription refill and high retention in care with very low loss-to-follow-up were associated with the community pharmacy model. The use of community pharmacy for community ART is feasible in Nigeria. We recommend the scale up of the model in all the 36 states of Nigeria

Effect of Correlations on Type 1 Error Rates of Some Multivariate Normality Tests

Normality assumption of multivariate data is a prerequisite to the use of multivariate statistical data analysis methods before inference could be valid and reliable. Tests developed to validate this assumption including Doornik-Harsen (DH), Shapiro-Francia (SF), Mardia Skewness (MS), Mardia Skewness for small sample (MSS) and Kurtosis (MK), Skewness (S) and Kurtosis(K), Shapiro-Wilk(SW), Royston (R), Desgagne-Micheaux (DM), Henze-Zirkler (HZ), Energy (E), Gel-Gastwirth (GG) and Bontemps-Meddahi (BM) tests often result into different conclusions. These differences can be misleading. Consequently, this paper examined the effect of correlations on the Type 1 error rates of multivariate tests of normality. Monte Carlo experiments were conducted one thousand (1000) times taking into consideration the dimensions, correlations and sample sizes of the multivariate data. A test is affected by correlation if its estimated Type 1 error rate changes as correlation changes. A test is considered good if its estimated error rate approximates the true error rate and best if the number of times it approximates the estimated error rate when counted over the levels of correlations, sample sizes and levels of significance is the highest, the mode. Results show that Type 1 error rates of DH, SF, SW, R, DM, GG and BM tests are affected by correlations and are relatively not good; where as the Type 1 error rates of HZ, MS, MK, MSS, S, K and E tests are not only unaffected by correlations but are also relatively good. Consequently, MS, R, MSS, HZ and E tests have good Type 1 error rates but that of E and HZ tests are best. They are therefore recommended for practitioners

ASSESSMENT OF TAPIOCA STARCHES OBTAINED AFTER DIFFERENT STEEPING PERIODS AS BINDERS IN A PARACETAMOL TABLET FORMULATION

Abstract Starches obtained after steeping Tapioca tubers for different periods were each evaluated as a binding agent in paracetamol tablet formulations in comparison with corn starch British Pharmacopoeia (BP). Compressional properties were analyzed using density measurements and the compression equations of Heckel and Kawakita as assessment parameters, while the mechanical properties of the tablets were assessed with the use of the tensile strength (TS) and the brittle fracture index (BFI) of the tablets. Formulations containing longer steeping period starches as binding agent showed a slower onset of plastic deformation -high value of P Y , and a higher amount of deformation during compression-low value of P K . Both P Y and P K were affected by the concentration of the starch binders. The TS of the paracetamol tablets increased with the increase in the binder concentration and with the subsequent increase in starch steeping period while the BFI of the tablets decreased accordingly. Starch obtained after 72 h steeping of Tapioca tubers showed a similar result with corn starch BP. The results generally suggest that the steeping period would influence the activity of a starch binder in a formulation. Rezumat Lucrarea prezintă studii efectuate asupra amidonului de Tapioca, utilizat ca şi agent de aglutinare în formularea tabletelor cu paracetamol. Proprietăţile de compresie au fost analizate cu ajutorul ecuaţiilor Heckel şi Kawakita. Proprietăţile mecanice ale tabletelor au fost evaluate prin determinarea rezistenţei la "tensile strength" şi "brittle fracture index"

Modelling the Discount Function through the Yield Curve Trajectories of the Parsimonious Continuous De Rezende Framework

This paper obtains the term structure technique to produce yield curves from Nigerian Eurobond by using the De Rezende parametric function. There does not seem to exist any empirical proof that Nigeria has constructed a functional model to construct its discount function from the yield curves. Therefore, the De Rezende parsimoniously parametric function is deeply examined to make this framework applicable in presenting yield curves for Nigerian Euro bond constructed through the associated positive forward curve and from where the discount function is generated. The forward rate should be continuous and at the same time generate a positive yield curve trajectory. The objective of this paper is (i) construct the yield curve trajectories and (ii) to construct the discount function from the yield curve (iii) to construct the in-sample prediction to achieve results in predicting coefficients for longer maturities. The data presented involves the daily closing of the Nigerian Eurobond yield covering January to December 2022, which is fitted to the observed Nigerian Eurobond yield curve to construct the yield function. The ordinary least square is applied to estimate the parameters used in computing the in-sample yield. A test of goodness of fit was conducted showing that the model fits in well to the observed data demonstrated by the model’s high R -square adjusted through the predicted yields after obtaining the decay factors

Effect of Dividend Policy on Share Price Movement: Focusing on Companies Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market

У цьому дослідженні вивчався зв’язок між дивідендною політикою та рухом цін на акції за допомогою доказів фірм, зареєстрованих на Нігерійській фондовій біржі. Літературним підходом систематизації для аналізу даних був панельний регресійний аналіз і узагальнені методи моментів (GMM). Панельні дані за 2011-2020 роки були отримані з фінансових звітів двадцяти фірм, зареєстрованих на нігерійській фондовій біржі. Було виявлено, що дивідендна прибутковість має негативний зв'язок з рухом курсу акцій. Було виявлено, що дивідендна дохідність має негативний і значний зв’язок з ціною акцій. Було виявлено, що розмір фірми має позитивний і значний зв’язок з волатильністю курсу акцій. Таким чином, дослідження рекомендує зацікавленим сторонам фірм, що котируються, переконатися, що відсоток прибутку, який виплачується як дивіденди акціонерам, постійно впливає на вартість звичайних акцій компанії на фондовому ринку. Було рекомендовано, щоб акціонери мали забезпечити, щоб співвідношення річних дивідендів котированої компанії порівняно з ціною її акцій справляло хороший вплив на вартість звичайних акцій компанії на фондовому ринку на регулярній основі. Крім того, акціонери фірм, що котируються, повинні розробити стратегії збільшення їх розмірів з точки зору активів, створення філій тощо, це збільшить патронаж і прибуток фірм, що котируються, що може добре вплинути на вартість звичайних акцій компанії на фондовий ринок.This study examined the relationship between dividend policy and share price movements with evidence from firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A systemization literary approach for data analysis was panel regression analysis and Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM). Panel data covering the year 2011-2020 were obtained from the financial statements of twenty firms listed on the Nigerian stock exchange. It was discovered that dividend yield has negative relationship with share price movement. It was discovered that Dividend yield has negative and significant relationship with Share price. It was revealed thatfirms’ size has positive and significant relationship with stock price volatility. The study therefore recommends that the stakeholders of quoted firms must make sure that percentage of earnings disbursed as dividends to shareholders have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market on a continuous base. It was recommended that Stake holders should ensure that the ratio of a quoted company’s annual dividend compared to its share price have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market on a frequent base. Also, the stake holders of quoted firms must map out strategies of increasing their sizes in terms of asset, branch creation etc., this will increase patronage and profit of quoted firms which can have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market

Socioeconomic Characteristics and Housing Development in the Peri-Urban Areas of Akure, Nigeria

The rapidly growing population of Akure and the accompanying economic activities have led to the city's expansion to the adjoining peri-urban areas. Many households who could not afford decent accommodation in the town have been moving to the peri-urban regions for rental or personal housing. Recognizing this development, a study exploring the connection between the socioeconomic characteristics of households and housing development was carried out in Oba-Ile, Oda, and Ibule-Soro peri-urban areas of Akure. In this study, households represent the unit of analysis, and one household head per building was selected for questionnaire administration. Using the average household size of five people per family (5ppf) and five households per building (5hpb) in Ondo State, the number of households in the three locations was forty-seven thousand one hundred and ten (47110), out of which eight hundred (800) representing 1.7% of the households were randomly selected for questionnaire administration. The data obtained from the field survey was subjected to statistical analysis and the results among others revealed that most of the housing units were headed by males, who were between 45 and 54 years old, and within Nigeria's economically active population; 67.2%, 65.1%, and 46.4% of the respondents in Ibule-Soro, Oda, and Oba-Ile, respectively, lived below the poverty line; and most of the housing development were traced to the last ten years. Based on the findings, credible proposals were made to improve socioeconomic characteristics, which will drive adequate housing development

Organizational Ethics and Employee Level of Productivity in Nigerian Private Universities

Employee level of productivity is one of the many possible outcomes of ethical issues in an organization. An organization with strong ethical beliefs leads to a greater sense of commitment among its employees. The purpose of this research paper was to establish the relationship between organizational ethics and employee level of productivity in higher education institution (private university) in Nigeria. The researcher utilized both explorative and cross-sectional survey research method to gather the needed information. The participants of the study were faculty of Covenant University from the College of Development Studies (CDS) and College of Science and Technology (CST). The population for this study was 390 academic staff of Covenant University out of which a sample of 198 participants were determined using Yard’s formula. The gathered data were analysed with the use of frequency, percentage, standard multiple regression analysis and correlation analysis. The findings of the study revealed that Wasted Time, Leisure, Degree of Gratification, Self-Reliance, Centrality of Work, Hard Work, and Morality are not statistically significant to employee rewards and hours worked. The study recommends that: 1.) Private universities should embark on creating leisure periods for their faculty in order to increase their level of productivity; 2.) Private universities should continue to use reward system and increase promotion as a way of maintaining faculty loyalty. Keywords: Organizational Ethics, Productivity, Employee, Private University, Reward, and Work Hours

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Effect of Dividend Policy on Share Price Movement: Focusing on Companies Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market

This study examined the relationship between dividend policy and share price movements with evidence from firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A systemization literary approach for data analysis was panel regression analysis and Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM). Panel data covering the year 2011-2020 were obtained from the financial statements of twenty firms listed on the Nigerian stock exchange. It was discovered that dividend yield has negative relationship with share price movement. It was discovered that Dividend yield has negative and significant relationship with Share price. It was revealed thatfirms’ size has positive and significant relationship with stock price volatility. The study therefore recommends that the stakeholders of quoted firms must make sure that percentage of earnings disbursed as dividends to shareholders have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market on a continuous base. It was recommended that Stake holders should ensure that the ratio of a quoted company’s annual dividend compared to its share price have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market on a frequent base. Also, the stake holders of quoted firms must map out strategies of increasing their sizes in terms of asset, branch creation etc., this will increase patronage and profit of quoted firms which can have good influence on the value of the company’s common stock at the stock market