Atmospheric ventilation corridors and coefficients for pollution plume released from an Industrial Facility in Ile-Ife Suburb, Nigeria

This study presents a comparative investigation of atmospheric ventilation corridors and coefficients for gaseous pollution plume released from an isolated industrial facility into the ambient air of the host community in Ile-Ife suburb, southwest Nigeria. For the months of September to December in the year 2012 and 2013, measurement of surface layer atmospheric parameters made from an instrumented mast located near the industrial facility were used to parameterize for mixing layer height (MLH). Estimates of ventilation coefficients were obtained as well as in-depth analysis of the ventilation corridors performed. With an estimated carbon monoxide (CO) emission rate of 3.37 gs-1 from the industrial facility, AERMOD regulatory dispersion model was executed within a domain covering 8 km × 6 km around the host community. Effect of monthly changes in local ventilation corridors on pollutants dispersal at the study location was analyzed. Observed speed wind at the study location was weak (monthly mean value is ~ 1.5 m-s-1). The wind direction was predominantly southwesterly, indicating ventilation corridors were towards the north-east of the region. Characteristic values of the atmospheric ventilation coefficients varied from month to month and from daytime (08:00 to 19:00, GMT+1) to nighttime (20:00 to 07:00, GMT+1) with daily maximum values occurring in the late afternoon between (13:00 to 17: 00, GMT+1). The maximum values obtained were 1216 m2s-1and 1156 m2s-1, 1760 m2s-1 and 1038 m2s-1, 1225 m2s-1 and 691m2s-1, and 1334 and 436 m2s-1 for September to December, 2012 and 2013 respectively. Nighttime values were generally low, mostly less than 200 m2s-1. The study reveals that locations SE and NE of the scrap-iron recycling factory are prevalently exposed to high concentration of gaseous pollutants and the populace in those corridors is potentially susceptible to long-term adverse effects.Key words: Air pollution, ventilation coefficient, ventilation corridors, dispersion, AERMOD

Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from apparently healthy individuals in Malete, Kwara state, Nigeria

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a common and continuously growing cause of nosocomial and community-acquired staphylococcal infections around the world. Screening for colonization with MRSA is a major aspect of control and limiting the spread of infections cause by this organism. We investigated the carriage of MRSA among apparently healthy individuals in four rural villages: Eleburu, Tapa, Atere and Apo all around semi-urban town-Malete, in Moro Local Government of Kwara State, Nigeria.Methods: Nasal swabs were collected from volunteered individuals and were cultured on mannitol salt agar and blood agar for isolation and identification of Staph aureus using standard microbiological techniques. Susceptibility to cefoxitin disc (30 ag) was used to determine MRSA status of the isolates. Molecular method was used to detect the gene responsible for resistance among MRSA isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility test to commonly prescribed antibiotics was carried out using discs diffusion method.Results: Total number of individuals carrying Staph aureus in their nostrils was 42 (37.2 %). Antibiotics susceptibility profile of Staph aureus isolates showed 100 % resistance to cefuroxime, cefotaxime, cloxacillin and augmentin, and were 87 %, 81 %, 69 % and 23.8 % and 19 % resistant to tetracycline, ceftriaxone, erythromycin, ofloxacin and gentamicin respectively. A total of 6 (14%) Community –Acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) isolates were recovered from individuals living in these villages. Molecular method detected muc and mecA genes in all the 6 (100%) CA-MRSA isolates and lukS-lukF was detected in 3 (50%) of the isolates.Conclusion: Detection of CA-MRSA strains among these rural dweller indicates that they are harbouring enhance virulence organism that may manifest a more severe disease condition. The danger associated with high prevalence of multidrug resistant Staph aureus and CAMRSA; and its consequential effects of poor drug administration in Nigeria was discussed. There is need to establish a more strict legislation and enforcement on drug control; and a body that would monitor production and appropriate use of antibiotics in the Nigeria.KEYWORDS: CA-MRSA, Staph aureus, Antibiotics, Rural Villages and Molecular Characterizatio

Perspectives of health care professionals on artificial insemination of donor semen: appraising their knowledge and perceptions: a single institution study in Nigeria

Background: Artificial inseminations of donor semen (AID) involve use of heterologous donated semen for conception in infertile couple when indicated or in a single woman desirous of pregnancy. Its practice often requires regulation to address possible ethical and legal issues which may arise. In formulating acceptable guidelines/policies, the perspectives of health professionals and the participants should be considered. Therefore, we sought to explore the knowledge and perception of semen donation for artificial insemination among health professionals.Methods: A cross sectional study conducted on consenting health workers in a single health institution using a structured questionnaire to assess their knowledge and perception on artificial insemination of donor semen (AID). Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied to the data collected with a statistically significant value of <0.05.Results: One hundred and twenty-one health professionals completed the questionnaires. The mean age of the respondents was 27.58±5.5years. Sixty of the respondents were males while 61 were females. Eighty-four of the respondents (69.4%) demonstrated good knowledge of AID while 37 (30.6%) had poor knowledge. Cadre of health professionals and marital status influenced the knowledge of respondents. Perceptions on AID varied among the respondents mostly influenced by psycho-social factors and possible legal disputes on third party reproductive process. None of the male respondents has ever donated semen and willingness to donate semen was low; with anonymity preferred by the willing donors.Conclusions: Substantial knowledge gap of AIDS existed among health professionals which were influenced by cadre and marital status. Psycho-social factors and possible legal disputes influenced their perceptions of AID

Performance evaluation and optimization of a Moringa Oleifera depodding machine: A response surface approach

Depodding of moringa which is still being carried out manually by removing with hand or by hitting a bagcontaining the pods is time-consuming, labour intensive and not economical. The demand for quality oil-bearingmoringa seeds that have a wide area of industrial applications necessitates innovative deppoding techniques thatwill improve its market value. To ameliorate these problems, moringa depoddding machine has been developedbut studies on performance evaluation and optimal parameter setting are sparsely reported. This study therefore,evaluated the effects of the processing factors (moisture content (MC) and speed of rotation (SR)) levels on theperformance (throughput capacity (TP), effective throughput capacity (ETP), labour requirement (LR), depoddingcoefficient (DC), coefficient of wholeness (CW), depodding efficiency (DE), depodded kernel (DK), undepoddedkernel (UK), small broken kernel (SBK), and big broken kernel (BBK)) of the designed and fabricated moringadepodding machine using the response surface methodology and test between subjects-effects. The experimentaldesign used was a two factor, three levels i-optimal randomized design. Mathematical models relating the processfactors to performance were developed. The predicted optimum results obtained were validated using theobserved values of the experiment. MC and SR were found to have a significant effect on the performance of themachine. The predicted optimum performance of the machine were 113.73 kg/hr, 109.45 kg/hr, 0.85 man-hourrequired/Kg, 96.15 %, 0.96, 93.93 %, 0.98, 0.02, 10.64 %, and 1.24 % for TP, ETP, LR, DC, CW, DE, DK, UK, SBK,and BBK respectively at MC and SR of 10.10 % wet basis and 564 rpm. The experimental values at these pro-cessing conditions were close to the predicted optimum results obtained with little deviations which were sta-tistically insignificant. The selected models sufficiently predicted the performance of the developed machine

The influence of mathematics teachers’ mastery of the subject on the performance of senior secondary school students

The performance of senior secondary school pupils in Akinyele LGA, Ibadan, Oyo State was examined in this study to determine the impact of mathematics instructors' subject knowledge. The study's research design was an analytical descriptive survey. Three hundred (300) pupils from six secondary schools in the Akinyele LGA of Oyo State were selected at random to make up the sample. From each school, fifty (50) pupils were chosen. The researchers' instrument for gathering data was the Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). The thirty (30) multiple-choice questions in the MAT are used to assess the hypotheses. Using the one-way Analysis of Variance, two primary hypotheses were developed and assessed for significance at the 5% level (ANOVA). The study's findings showed a strong correlation between teachers' qualifications and pupils' academic achievement in mathematics. The results also indicated a strong correlation between math students' academic achievement and teachers' experience. Therefore, the study recommended that teachers be exposed to local and worldwide seminars and workshops in order to improve and expand their mathematical expertise

Non-Radial Technical Efficiency of Fish Farms in Oyo State-Nigeria

Non-radial measure of technical efficiency of fish farms in Oyo State was examined using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Use of the non-radial measures to calculate overuse of inputs by inefficient fish farmers was demonstrated and the potential for reducing inputs used by improving efficiency was evaluated. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was then used to determine producer characteristics that are likely to lead to higher technical efficiencies. Results indicate that the majority of fish farmers in Oyo State are not producing at the benchmark efficiency level advocated by the industry and all the determinants of efficiency had the expected sign and influence efficiency positively

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background: There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods: Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results: Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion: For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Challenges and opportunities in the design and construction of a GIS-based emission inventory infrastructure for the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

© 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Environmental monitoring in middle- and low-income countries is hampered by many factors which include enactment and enforcement of legislations; deficiencies in environmental data reporting and documentation; inconsistent, incomplete and unverifiable data; a lack of access to data; and technical expertise. This paper describes the processes undertaken and the major challenges encountered in the construction of the first Niger Delta Emission Inventory (NDEI) for criteria air pollutants and CO2 released from the anthropogenic activities in the region. This study focused on using publicly available government and research data. The NDEI has been designed to provide a Geographic Information System-based component of an air quality and carbon management framework. The NDEI infrastructure was designed and constructed at 1-, 10- and 20-km grid resolutions for point, line and area sources using industry standard processes and emission factors derived from activities similar to those in the Niger Delta. Due to inadequate, incomplete, potentially inaccurate and unavailable data, the infrastructure was populated with data based on a series of best possible assumptions for key emission sources. This produces outputs with variable levels of certainty, which also highlights the critical challenges in the estimation of emissions from a developing country. However, the infrastructure is functional and has the ability to produce spatially resolved emission estimates

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p&lt;0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p&lt;0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised