Understanding differential effects of energy governance constraints in Nigeria: a transitional justice perspective

Sub-Saharan nations face a plethora of constraints in advancement of their economic development, a phenomenon particularly vivid in the extractive sector. A large chunk of the limitations – inherited and retained in the post-colonial era – adversely affect an effective and efficient governance of energy and natural resources. Drawing on the case study of Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producing nation, this paper looks as to how energy governance is constrained by the historical legacy of colonialism and post-colonialism? The paper argues that the colonial legacy has had a profound impact on the effectiveness of energy governance and its institutions in the post-colonial era, in particular those confined to oil and gas. Drawing on transnational justice and energy governance theories, the paper seeks to reconcile the demands of today – including the need for improved efficiency and skilled management as well as investment liberalization and resilience of the energy system – with the colonial and post-colonial legacies that are deeply rooted in the energy sector and beyond. Using a systematic literature review method, the paper outlines its content analysis and research findings in a form of a set of recommendations addressed at the country’s policymakers and decision makers calling for a greater accountability and consistency in Nigeria’s energy policy

Footsteps in the fog: Certificateless fog-based access control

The proliferating adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm has fuelled the need for more efficient and resilient access control solutions that aim to prevent unauthorized resource access. The majority of existing works in this field follow either a centralized approach (i.e. cloud-based) or an architecture where the IoT devices are responsible for all decision-making functions. Furthermore, the resource-constrained nature of most IoT devices make securing the communication between these devices and the cloud using standard cryptographic solutions difficult. In this paper, we propose a distributed access control architecture where the core components are distributed between fog nodes and the cloud. To facilitate secure communication, our architecture utilizes a Certificateless Hybrid Signcryption scheme without pairing. We prove the effectiveness of our approach by providing a comparative analysis of its performance in comparison to the commonly used cloud-based centralized architectures. Our implementation uses Azure – an existing commercial platform, and Keycloak – an open-source platform, to demonstrate the real-world applicability. Additionally, we measure the performance of the adopted encryption scheme on two types of resource-constrained devices to further emphasize the applicability of the proposed architecture. Finally, the experimental results are coupled with a theoretical analysis that proves the security of our approach

Symmetrical Disguise: Realizing Homomorphic Encryption Services from Symmetric Primitives

Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is a modern cryptographic technique that allows direct computations on encrypted data. While relatively new to the mainstream debate, HE has been a solid topic in research for decades. However, and despite the technological advances of the past years, HE’s inefficiencies render it impractical for deployment in realistic scenarios. Hence research in the field is still in its initial phase. To overcome certain challenges and bring HE closer to a realization phase, researchers recently introduced the promising concept of Hybrid Homomorphic Encryption (HHE) – a primitive that combines symmetric cryptography with HE. Using HHE, users perform local data encryptions using a symmetric encryption scheme and then outsource them to the cloud. Upon reception, the cloud can transform the symmetrically encrypted data to homomorphic ciphertexts without decrypting them. Such an approach can be seen as an opportunity to build new, privacy-respecting cloud services, as the most expensive operations of HE can be moved to the cloud. In this work, we undertake the task of designing a secure cryptographic protocol based on HHE. In particular, we show how HHE can be used as the main building block of a protocol that allows an analyst to collect data from multiple sources and compute specific functions over them, in a privacy-preserving way. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that aims at demonstrating how HHE can be utilized in realistic scenarios, through the design of a secure protocol

A phenomenological study of private homebuilders' perceptions on the employment of professional services

Owner-built housing projects are the most common construction projects undertaken in Ghana. A notable feature of the projects is the limited engagement of professional services of construction professionals. Previous studies indicate a negative attitude of clients toward consultancy services on such projects, with the consequent impact on project performance. Even on the same project, clients and consultants view issues in different ways. Thus to get a fuller understanding of clients' attitudes, they have to be observed through their own eyes. This paper explores the phenomenon of low utilisation of otherwise extensively available highly trained professionals, from the client's viewpoint. Previous studies have identified certain negative preconceptions of clients, among a broad range of causes, for their unwillingness to engage professionals on private housing projects, but do not explore the bases for the perceptions of clients. This study develops an in-depth description of homebuilder clients' perceptions on the employment of professional services, and what feeds those perceptions. The study adopts a phenomenological approach, using in-depth interviews and constructivist abstraction to define clients' perceptions on professional services in homebuilding. The portraits of four clients' experiences are synthesised into a composite description of their perceptions and consequent effects on their relationship with consultants. The results revealed clients to perceive consultants' services as inaccessible, inconvenient, expensive and as a second resort. The factors that have led to these perceptions include client prejudice, social conditions, construction industry conditions, consultants' actions and clients' experience of living in the houses they build. Clients' perceptions lead them to mostly engage nonprofessionals. The findings should enable consultants to have a better understanding of homebuilder clients

MetaPriv: Acting in Favor of Privacy on Social Media Platforms

Social networks such as Facebook (Since October 2021 is also known as META) (FB) and Instagram are known for tracking user online behaviour for commercial gain. To this day, there is practically no other way of achieving privacy in said platforms other than renouncing their use. However, many users are reluctant in doing so because of convenience or social and professional reasons. In this work, we propose a means of balancing convenience and privacy on FB through obfuscation. We have created MetaPriv, a tool based on simulating user interaction with FB. MetaPriv allows users to add noise interactions to their account so as to lead FB’s profiling algorithms astray, and make them draw inaccurate profiles in relation to their interests and habits. To prove our tool’s effectiveness, we ran extensive experiments on a dummy account and two existing user accounts. Our results showed that, by using our tool, users can achieve a higher degree of privacy in just a couple of weeks. We believe that MetaPriv can be further developed to accommodate other social media platforms and help users regain their privacy, while maintaining a reasonable level of convenience. To support open science and reproducible research, our source code is publicly available online

Management Practices to Enhance the Effectiveness of Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Managers of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment organizations face significant challenges to improve treatment effectiveness. The field has paid significant attention to the delivery of pharmacological and psychosocial treatment interventions, and the effectiveness of these interventions, with little consideration for the role of management practices that enhance the delivery of such evidence-based practices (EBPs). This chapter describes evidence-based management practices (EBMPs) that may support the effective and consistent delivery of EBPs in SUD treatment. Drawing from a socio-technical and cultural framework, we propose a management approach that relies on policies, human resources, and culturally responsive practices to directly and or indirectly facilitate the delivery of EBPs. In particular, this chapter describes EBMPs that could be widely implemented to respond to the cultural, linguistic, and service needs of racial and ethnic minority groups. We discuss implications for funding and support of management training to improve standards of care and include a case example to promote reflection

Constrained Moments Simulation of Healthcare Capital Acquisitions

Summary form only as given. Two analytical techniques which evaluate capital acquisitions in healthcare are the method of generating system moments and Monte Carlo simulation. Generating system moments enables the user to determine an estimate of the expected cost from a user-supplied function. Furthermore, the user can determine, from a variance component analysis, the sensitivity of the user-supplied function to marginal changes in the random variables by expanding the function about its mean using the Taylor series expansion to the second order. Calculating the magnitude of partial derivatives of each random variable with respect to the user-supplied function indicates the relative importance of each random variable to the function. VARSIM is an interactive program which is used to calculate the system moments. An add-in program to an Excel spreadsheet is used to invoke a Monte Carlo simulation, whose results are useful for assessing potential risks associated with a capital investment. The results from VARSIM indicate that the expected cost per MRI exam is $350 with a standard deviation of$11.81. Operating hours are increased from 50 to 126 hours per week. The simulation results indicate that there is a 55.2 percent probability that this cost level will be achieved and ultimately its annual target number of exams. Thus, the systematic approach presented in this paper provides a solid basis which hospitals can use to perform a thorough assessment of their capital equipment needs, and thereby, present their findings in a more objective manner to decision-maker

Industry environment features influencing construction innovation in a developing country: A case study of four projects in Ghana

This paper adds to the literature on innovation studies in developing economies by exploring features of the industry environment that drive project-based innovation. Using a conceptual framework of five key innovation determinants and a multiple case study, the study draws on evidence from four construction projects in Ghana by means of interviews. Nine features identified include: active pre-existing relationships among project participants; multinational networks; project actors with the willingness and ability to override contract conditions; presence of innovation lobbyists; manufacturers not owning proprietary products; manufacturers' lack of production capacity; prescriptive-based regulations mandating foreign professionals to form joint ventures with local professionals; high labour turnover; and emergent social media platforms. The results advance knowledge on the operation of the key innovation determinants in developing countries. Some of the findings contrast some key observations in broader literature on the impacts of the general industry environment on innovation

Hybrid Process Using a Membrane to Enrich Flue Gas CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e with a Solvent-Based Post-Combustion CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Capture System

A process for recovery of CO2 from a post-combustion gas includes pre-concentrating a CO2 component of the post-combustion flue gas by passing the post-combustion gas through a CO2-selective membrane module to provide a CO2-enriched permeate stream and a CO2-lean reject stream. Next, in a CO2 absorber, both the CO2-enriched permeate stream and CO2 lean reject stream, fed to separate feed locations on the CO2 absorber, are contacted with a scrubbing solvent to absorb CO2 and provide a carbon-rich scrubbing solvent. Finally, absorbed CO2 is stripped from the carbon-rich scrubbing solvent by a two-stage CO2 stripping system. The CO2-selective membrane may be a high flux, low pressure drop, low CO2 selectivity membrane. The two stage stripping system includes a primary CO2 stripping column for stripping CO2 from the carbon-rich scrubbing solvent exiting the CO2 absorber, and a secondary CO2 stripping column for stripping CO2 from a carbon-lean scrubbing solvent exiting the primary CO2 stripping column. Apparatus for CO2 removal from post-combustion gases in a pulverized coal power plant incorporating the described processes are described

Performance of the BD-FACS Presto for CD4 count and hemoglobin measurement in a district hospital and rural laboratory in Ghana

Introduction In Ghana, initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is recommended for all patients with an HIV diagnosis, regardless of CD4+ T-cell count. However, measurement of CD4 count remains an important metric for identifying patients with advanced HIV disease, and assessing a person’s overall immune status, which informs the decision to offer opportunistic infection screening and prophylaxis. Access to CD4+ T cell count in rural health facilities remains a major challenge in Ghana and other resource-limited settings. This study aimed to validate the accuracy of the BD FACSPresto near-patient device for measurement of CD4 count and hemoglobin concentration against the FACSCount (CD4) and Sysmex (hemoglobin) diagnostic machines when operated in both a district hospital and rural laboratory, serving a network of health posts in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Methodology In the first phase of the study, patients were recruited from a district hospital, and both venous and capillary blood samples were tested using the FACSCount and Sysmex as reference tests and compared to results of the FACSPresto performed in the clinic laboratory at the district hospital. In the second phase, patients were recruited from both the hospital and from rural health clinics, and samples were tested using the FACSPresto at a rural laboratory. Sensitivity and specificity among samples categorized into different clinically relevant CD4 count ranges were calculated, along with correlation between the Presto and the reference measurements, and mean and relative bias with limits of agreement. Results The FACSPresto was successfully operated in both clinical settings. A total of 59 samples in the first phase and 48 samples in the second phase were included. Positive bias was observed when comparing CD4 count measured by BD FACSPresto to FACSCount in the district hospital (bias = 44, LOA -72,160) and in the rural laboratory setting (bias = 74, LOA -96, 244). In addition, capillary blood samples were shown to give higher measures when compared to venous blood samples from the same participant. All results were statistically significant (p<0.05) apart from hemoglobin measurement in venous blood in the rural laboratory. Correlation coefficients were high for CD4 count measures and lower for hemoglobin measures. Conclusion Overall, the Presto gave higher estimates of CD4 count compared to FACSCount, and hemoglobin measurements were higher than from Sysmex. Samples of capillary blood in turn gave higher results for both measurements compared to venous blood, consistent with previous analyses. These findings should be considered when selecting CD4 count machines for use at the point of care, especially in remote areas where capillary blood sampling may be preferable, but are likely balanced by device’s ease of use, portability, and ability to expand access to services. These results are some of the first to demonstrate the accuracy of the FACSPresto in West Africa and show that this device can be successfully operated in a very rural lab setting and may therefore assist to provide CD4 count and hemoglobin concentration measurement to populations in need