Violence towards health workers in the workplace: exploratory findings in secondary healthcare facilities in Kaduna metropolis, Northern Nigeria

Objective: To determine the prevalence of workplace violence and associated factors in secondary health facilities in Kaduna Metropolis. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study where a semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from 177 health workers who were selected by multistage sampling. The Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and results were presented using frequency tables. The Chi-square test was used to test for association between independent and dependent variables. Fisher’s Exact Test was used where more than 20% of the cells had a value less than 5.  The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of <0.05. Results: The results showed that 114 (64.4%) of the respondents had experienced workplace violence; the form which was experienced by most of the respondents was verbal abuse 100 (87.7%). Most (92; 80.7%) of the respondents did nothing following the incident. Most of the respondents believed that lack of bed space 89 (50.3%) and long waiting time 119 (67.3%) are largely responsible for violent situations. There was a statistically significant relationship between the experience of workplace violence and respondents’ age (p=0.001); sex (p=0.00146); cadre (p=0.0012) and work experience (p=0.00483). Conclusion: Most of the respondents had experienced violence in the workplace but did not pursue further action. Training health workers on the means to identify volatile situations and address workplace violence is crucial to ensuring the reduction in the prevalence of harmful incidents. The safety and protection of health workers are integral to the adequate functioning of health systems

Community perspective of maternal mortality: Experience from Konduga local government area, Borno state, Nigeria

Background/objective:High maternal mortality in Nigeria in particular and Sub-Saharan Africa in general has remained one of the key indicators of our poor health care services, infrastructural facilities and negative socio-cultural attitudes to healthy living. The objective is to identify barriers to prompt and effective treatment of obstetric complications leading to maternal mortality in order to develop appropriate strategies to address them at the community level. Method: The study took place between 10th October and 10th December 2003. An in-depth interview guide developed by the network for the prevention of maternal mortality (NPMM), which contains mainly open ended questions, modified to suit our socio-cultural setting was used. Results: There was a good understanding among the people of the area that women are dying during pregnancy, labour and puerperium. 28(93.3%) of the respondents recognized some obstetric complications. The main obstacles to accessing the hospital for emergency obstetric care were lack of money and transportation difficulties. Equipping the health facilities, employment of qualified staff, community supported emergency funds for obstetric emergency and the provision of reliable, effective and affordable transport are identified as necessary measures to prevent maternal mortality. The Local Government Areas and community leaders are to champion the cause for the provision of these facilities in their localities. Conclusion: There is a good understanding of obstetric complications in the community leading to maternal death. The main reasons for delay in seeking care are ignorance, poverty, lack of transportation and distance. Community enlightenment, health education, training of TBAs, poverty reduction and effective, affordable and reliable transportation are means of obviating delays in the decision and transportation leading to maternal mortality. Upgrading and re-equipping of health facilities to provide emergency obstetric care services are mandatory. Community participation in the safe motherhood drive can be ensured using the traditional rulers, religious leaders and the Local Government Authority.Introduction/objectif: Le taux élevé de la mortalité maternelle au Nigéria en particulier et dans l'Afrique du sous Sahara en général demeure toujours un des indicateurs clés de notre services des soins médicaux pauvres aménagement infrastructural et comportement socio-culturel négatif face à une vie saine. L'objet est d'identifier des obstacles aux traitement efficace et rapide des complications obstétriques menant à la mortalité maternelle afin de préparer des stratégies adéquates pour resoudre ces problèmes au niveau communautaire. Méthodes: L'étude a eu lieu entre 1e 10 octobre au 10 décembre 2003. Un guide d'un entretien en profondeur préparé par la prévention de la mortalité marternelle de reseau (PMMR) se compose principalement des questions libre, modifié d'après notre milieu socio-culturel était utilisé. Résultats: Il y avait un très bonne entente entre les gens de ce milieu que des femmes sont mort pendant grossesse, accouchement et puerpérium. 28(93,3% des sondés reconnaissent quelques complications obstétriques. L'obstacle le plus majeur pour aller à l'hôpital pour des soins obstétriques d'urgence était pénurie d'argent, et problèmes du transport, des équipements dans l'aménagement de santé, le fait d'embaucher des employés qualifiés, ressources d'urgence pour aider la communauté pour des urgences obstétriques et la prestation du transport fiable, efficace et abordable sont notés comme les grands moyens nécéssaires afin d'éviter la mortalité maternelle. Les zones d'administration départementale et des chefs de la communauté sont responsable pour soutenir la cause de la prestation de ces resources dans leur régions. Conclusion: C'est sûr et certain qu'il y a des complication obstétriques dans la communauté qui conduissent aux morts marternelles. Des raisons principales qui empèche le fait d'aller bien vite recevoir des soins sont : ignorance, la pauvreté, manque du transport et la distance, éclairecissement communautaire, enseignement sanitaire, formation de TBAs, diminution efficace du niveau de la pauvreté, moyen de transport fiable et abordable sont des moyens menant à une décision tardive menant à la mortalité maternelle. C'est obligatoire d'améliorer les équipements dans les aménagement de la santé pour pouvoir fournir des services des soins d'obstétriques d'urgence. Participation communautaire dans le mouvement de la maternité fiable peut enter en vigeur à travers la participation des chefs et rois traditionnel, chef réligieux et les dirigeants de l'administration départementale

Towards the ontology-based consolidation of production-centric standards

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in the International Journal of Production Research [© Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207543.2011.627885.Production-­centric international standards are intended to serve as an important route towards information sharing across manufacturing decision support systems. As a consequence of textual-­based definitions of concepts acknowledged within these standards, their inability to fully interoperate becomes an issue especially since a multitude of standards are required to cover the needs of extensive domains such as manufacturing industries. To help reinforce the current understanding to support the consolidation of production-­centric standards for improved information sharing, this article explores the specification of well-defined core concepts which can be used as a basis for capturing tailored semantic definitions. The potentials of two heavyweight ontological approaches, notably Common Logic (CL) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL) as candidates for the task, are also exposed. An important finding regarding these two methods is that while an OWL-­based approach shows capabilities towards applications which may require flexible hierarchies of concepts, a CL-­based method represents a favoured contender for scoped and facts-­driven manufacturing applications

Maximization of propylene in an industrial FCC unit

YesThe FCC riser cracks gas oil into useful fuels such as gasoline, diesel and some lighter products such as ethylene and propylene, which are major building blocks for the polyethylene and polypropylene production. The production objective of the riser is usually the maximization of gasoline and diesel, but it can also be to maximize propylene. The optimization and parameter estimation of a six-lumped catalytic cracking reaction of gas oil in FCC is carried out to maximize the yield of propylene using an optimisation framework developed in gPROMS software 5.0 by optimizing mass flow rates and temperatures of catalyst and gas oil. The optimal values of 290.8 kg/s mass flow rate of catalyst and 53.4 kg/s mass flow rate of gas oil were obtained as propylene yield is maximized to give 8.95 wt%. When compared with the base case simulation value of 4.59 wt% propylene yield, the maximized propylene yield is increased by 95%

Epidemic of hypertension in Ghana: a systematic review

Background Hypertension is a major risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases in developing countries. A comprehensive review of the prevalence of hypertension provides crucial information for the evaluation and implementation of appropriate programmes. Methods The PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for published articles on the population-based prevalence of adult hypertension in Ghana between 1970 and August 2009, supplemented by a manual search of retrieved references. Fifteen unique population-based articles in non-pregnant humans were obtained. In addition, two relevant unpublished graduate student theses from one university department were identified after a search of its 1996-2008 theses. Results The age and sex composition of study populations, sampling strategy, measurement of blood pressure, definition of hypertension varied between studies. The prevalence of hypertension (BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg ± antihypertensive treatment) ranged from 19% to 48% between studies. Sex differences were generally minimal whereas urban populations tended to have higher prevalence than rural population in studies with mixed population types. Factors independently associated with hypertension included older age group, over-nutrition and alcohol consumption. Whereas there was a trend towards improved awareness, treatment and control between 1972 and 2005, less than one-third of hypertensive subjects were aware they had hypertension and less than one-tenth had their blood pressures controlled in most studies. Conclusion Hypertension is clearly an important public health problem in Ghana, even in the poorest rural communities. Emerging opportunities such as the national health insurance scheme, a new health policy emphasising health promotion and healthier lifestyles and effective treatment should help prevent and control hypertension

Mapping geographical inequalities in oral rehydration therapy coverage in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000-17

Background Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of recommended home fluids (RHF) exist as alternative forms of ORT; however, it is unclear whether RHF prevent child mortality. Previous studies have shown considerable variation between countries in ORS and RHF use, but subnational variation is unknown. This study aims to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of relative and absolute coverage of ORS, RHF, and ORT (use of either ORS or RHF) in LMICs. Methods We used a Bayesian geostatistical model including 15 spatial covariates and data from 385 household surveys across 94 LMICs to estimate annual proportions of children younger than 5 years of age with diarrhoea who received ORS or RHF (or both) on continuous continent-wide surfaces in 2000-17, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. Additionally, we analysed geographical inequality in coverage across administrative units and estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths averted by increased coverage over the study period. Uncertainty in the mean coverage estimates was calculated by taking 250 draws from the posterior joint distribution of the model and creating uncertainty intervals (UIs) with the 2 center dot 5th and 97 center dot 5th percentiles of those 250 draws. Findings While ORS use among children with diarrhoea increased in some countries from 2000 to 2017, coverage remained below 50% in the majority (62 center dot 6%; 12 417 of 19 823) of second administrative-level units and an estimated 6 519 000 children (95% UI 5 254 000-7 733 000) with diarrhoea were not treated with any form of ORT in 2017. Increases in ORS use corresponded with declines in RHF in many locations, resulting in relatively constant overall ORT coverage from 2000 to 2017. Although ORS was uniformly distributed subnationally in some countries, within-country geographical inequalities persisted in others; 11 countries had at least a 50% difference in one of their units compared with the country mean. Increases in ORS use over time were correlated with declines in RHF use and in diarrhoeal mortality in many locations, and an estimated 52 230 diarrhoeal deaths (36 910-68 860) were averted by scaling up of ORS coverage between 2000 and 2017. Finally, we identified key subnational areas in Colombia, Nigeria, and Sudan as examples of where diarrhoeal mortality remains higher than average, while ORS coverage remains lower than average. Interpretation To our knowledge, this study is the first to produce and map subnational estimates of ORS, RHF, and ORT coverage and attributable child diarrhoeal deaths across LMICs from 2000 to 2017, allowing for tracking progress over time. Our novel results, combined with detailed subnational estimates of diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality, can support subnational needs assessments aimed at furthering policy makers' understanding of within-country disparities. Over 50 years after the discovery that led to this simple, cheap, and life-saving therapy, large gains in reducing mortality could still be made by reducing geographical inequalities in ORS coverage. Copyright (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Measurement and interpretation of same-sign W boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the measurement of fducial and diferential cross sections for both the inclusive and electroweak production of a same-sign W-boson pair in association with two jets (W±W±jj) using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is performed by selecting two same-charge leptons, electron or muon, and at least two jets with large invariant mass and a large rapidity diference. The measured fducial cross sections for electroweak and inclusive W±W±jj production are 2.92 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.19 (syst.)fb and 3.38±0.22 (stat.)±0.19 (syst.)fb, respectively, in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The measurements are used to constrain anomalous quartic gauge couplings by extracting 95% confdence level intervals on dimension-8 operators. A search for doubly charged Higgs bosons H±± that are produced in vector-boson fusion processes and decay into a same-sign W boson pair is performed. The largest deviation from the Standard Model occurs for an H±± mass near 450 GeV, with a global signifcance of 2.5 standard deviations

Search for pair production of squarks or gluinos decaying via sleptons or weak bosons in final states with two same-sign or three leptons with the ATLAS detector

A search for pair production of squarks or gluinos decaying via sleptons or weak bosons is reported. The search targets a final state with exactly two leptons with same-sign electric charge or at least three leptons without any charge requirement. The analysed data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Multiple signal regions are defined, targeting several SUSY simplified models yielding the desired final states. A single control region is used to constrain the normalisation of the WZ + jets background. No significant excess of events over the Standard Model expectation is observed. The results are interpreted in the context of several supersymmetric models featuring R-parity conservation or R-parity violation, yielding exclusion limits surpassing those from previous searches. In models considering gluino (squark) pair production, gluino (squark) masses up to 2.2 (1.7) TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level

Mapping geographical inequalities in access to drinking water and sanitation facilities in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000-17

Background Universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities is an essential human right, recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals as crucial for preventing disease and improving human wellbeing. Comprehensive, high-resolution estimates are important to inform progress towards achieving this goal. We aimed to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities. Methods We used a Bayesian geostatistical model and data from 600 sources across more than 88 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) to estimate access to drinking water and sanitation facilities on continuous continent-wide surfaces from 2000 to 2017, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. We estimated mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subcategories of facilities for drinking water (piped water on or off premises, other improved facilities, unimproved, and surface water) and sanitation facilities (septic or sewer sanitation, other improved, unimproved, and open defecation) with use of ordinal regression. We also estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths in children younger than 5 years attributed to unsafe facilities and estimated deaths that were averted by increased access to safe facilities in 2017, and analysed geographical inequality in access within LMICs. Findings Across LMICs, access to both piped water and improved water overall increased between 2000 and 2017, with progress varying spatially. For piped water, the safest water facility type, access increased from 40.0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 39.4-40.7) to 50.3% (50.0-50.5), but was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to piped water was mostly concentrated in urban centres. Access to both sewer or septic sanitation and improved sanitation overall also increased across all LMICs during the study period. For sewer or septic sanitation, access was 46.3% (95% UI 46.1-46.5) in 2017, compared with 28.7% (28.5-29.0) in 2000. Although some units improved access to the safest drinking water or sanitation facilities since 2000, a large absolute number of people continued to not have access in several units with high access to such facilities (>80%) in 2017. More than 253 000 people did not have access to sewer or septic sanitation facilities in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe, despite 88.6% (95% UI 87.2-89.7) access overall. Many units were able to transition from the least safe facilities in 2000 to safe facilities by 2017; for units in which populations primarily practised open defecation in 2000, 686 (95% UI 664-711) of the 1830 (1797-1863) units transitioned to the use of improved sanitation. Geographical disparities in access to improved water across units decreased in 76.1% (95% UI 71.6-80.7) of countries from 2000 to 2017, and in 53.9% (50.6-59.6) of countries for access to improved sanitation, but remained evident subnationally in most countries in 2017. Interpretation Our estimates, combined with geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden, identify where efforts to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are most needed. By highlighting areas with successful approaches or in need of targeted interventions, our estimates can enable precision public health to effectively progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Combination of searches for heavy spin-1 resonances using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A combination of searches for new heavy spin-1 resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons or quarks, is presented. The data sample used corresponds to 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at = 13 TeV collected during 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting quark pairs (qq, bb, , and tb) or third-generation leptons (τν and ττ) are included in this kind of combination for the first time. A simplified model predicting a spin-1 heavy vector-boson triplet is used. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level and are compared with predictions for the benchmark model. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The complementarity of the various analyses increases the sensitivity to new physics, and the resulting constraints are stronger than those from any individual analysis considered. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.8 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario, below 4.4 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, and up to 1.5 TeV in the case of production via vector-boson fusion