Economic analysis of energy savings & cost effectiveness of deep energy retrofits of residential buildings in England

Buildings are known to consume a large proportion of the final energy demand (approximately 37%) in the United Kingdom. Fragmenting this further, about 60% of the supply of a building is expended in space and water heating. Modern building stock are constructed with thermal insulation and are fitted with energy efficient appliances and fixtures. For this reason, focus has to switch to the older building stock in England in order to identify more techniques to reduce energy consumption therefore reducing the carbon footprint of these buildings, to this end, several building energy upgrade methods such as double-glazed windows, attic insulation, green spaces etc. have been proposed and are commercially available; However, house owners and building stakeholders are often misinformed in making retrofit decisions, and often do so based on the strong marketing techniques of manufacturers. This paper generates a smart decision making matrix for stakeholders to select and invest in the optimal energy saving measures which would suit their building type

Spontaneous retraction of the ligated hernial sac during herniotomy: an accurate guide to successful herniotomy for young surgeons

Inguinal herniotomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in paediatric surgery practice. To most experienced surgeons, herniotomy is supposed to be one of the easiest surgical procedures and one of the many procedures a trainee should be able to perform proficiently. However, this is not usually the experience of young trainees. This communication aims to highlight an intraoperative observation to reassure the ‘uninitiated’ trainee surgeon on the accuracy of the hernial sac ligation

Medical Education Impact Assessment: Knowledge of Final Year Medical Students of Obafemi Awolowo University about Male Urethral Catheterization

Urethral catheterization is one of the commonest procedures performed by doctors either for prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Themedical education impact of this procedure on graduating medical students was assessed using a structured questionnaire.This is a questionnaire - based study and the respondents were final year medical students who have completed their final examinations.There were 86 respondents with M:F ratio of 1. About a third of the respondents have not done urethral catheterization during their training while only 7% have done the procedure more than 5 times. All the students know that urethral catheterization is a sterile procedure and 96% knew that sterile gloves should be donned during the procedure. 92.4% of the respondents knew that skin preparation was necessary during the procedure with 75% of them responding that cetriomide andchlorhexidine solution was appropriate. 54% of the students used xylocaine as lubricant while 46% used KY Jelly. On the quantity of the lubricant for catheterization, only 2.7% of the respondents felt that 11-15mls should be injected into the urethra. On the maximum amount of fluid to retain the balloon, only 36% of the students respondedthat it should be according to the specified capacity of the balloon. Majority of the students (88%) know that the catheter should get to theY-junction before it is inflated. Most of the students in this study were taught appropriately the procedure of urethral catheterization; however, about a third had not performed the procedure as a medical student.Keywords: Medical education, knowledge, male catheterizatio

Effect of antenatal education on knowledge and utilization of facility-based delivery services among pregnant women in two health institutions in Alimosho, Lagos state

Background: Facility-based delivery care is an essential component of maternity care. Overtime, its under-utilization despite improvement in antenatal attendance has become a public health concern in Nigeria. To assess the effect of antenatal education on the knowledge and utilization of facility-based delivery services among pregnant women in primary health facilities in Alimosho, Lagos.Methods: Quasi-experimental design of 2 groups pre- and post-intervention was adopted and through multi-staged sampling techniques, 128 participants were selected but 117 completed the study. Self-developed structured questionnaire with reliability index of 0.76 was used for data collection. The intervention package was antenatal education package on benefits and components of delivery services. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 statistical package.Results: The mean age of participants in control and experimental groups was 32.3±9.60 and 34.7±8.21 years respectively. Findings revealed moderate knowledge mean score (control- 54.97±10.52; experimental-52.14±11.09) and low pre-intervention utilization mean score (control 13.33±3.41; experimental-13.17±4.21). Findings also showed significant improvement on post-intervention mean knowledge score of 52.14±11.09 versus 104.75±5.56 and a significant difference in post-intervention utilization (p=0.000) and follow-up (p=0.013) on the experimental group.Conclusions: The study concluded that the antenatal education programme had positive effect on the pregnant women’s knowledge and utilization of health facility delivery services, therefore, there is need to strengthen and intensify antenatal education at all levels of healthcare using appropriate teaching techniques

Anterior Abdominal Wall Desmoids Tumor in a Five Year Old Girl – A Pre Operative Diagnostic Challenge in Resource-Poor Setting

Desmoid tumors are rare, slow – growing, mesenchymal monoclinic proliferation. It may occur as intra-abdominal tumor usually affecting the mesentery of the intestine or it could be extra-abdominal in which they may affect the popliteal region, the chest wall or the anterior abdominal wall. Reports in children less than 10 years is rare. Here, we report a 5 year old girl with anterior abdominal wall desmoid that was managed in our unit and challenges at reaching a diagnosis are highlighted. Index Word: Desmoid tumor, Diagnosis, Pediatric age groups

Improvement of Diabetic Dyslipidemia by Legumes in experimental rats

Grain legumes are a valuable source of food proteins; hence, their exploitation is expected to grow in relation to a growing world's food needs. Apart from high level of dietary fibre, their protein composition makes them useful in managing diabetes. This paper reports a study conducted to evaluate the effects of four different non-soy legume-based (Vigna unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana var dekindtiana, Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata, Sphenostylis stenocarpa and Vigna subterranea) diets in rats administered with alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg bodyweight). Concentration of plasma glucose, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and HDL-triacyglycerol as well as hepatic levels of cholesterol and triacylglycerols were determined spectrophotometrically in alloxan-induced diabetic rats fed on these legumes for five weeks. Induction of rats with alloxan monohydrate led to significant (p<0.05) elevation of fasting plasma glucose and reduction in body weight. Consumption of each of the four legumes led to a significant reduction in the fasting plasma glucose concentrations in the diabetic rats (p<0.05) with V. subterranean causing about 60% reduction. Vigna unguiculata ssp. dekindtiana var dekindtiana and Sphenostylis stenocarpa caused a reversal of the diabetes-induced reduction of hepatic cholesterol (p<0.05). Plasma dyslipidemia was observed in the alloxan-induced diabetic rats as significant (p<0.05) increases in total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, HDL-cholesterol, HDL-triacylglycerols and LDL-cholesterol levels were observed. The legumes improved the plasma lipid profile as shown by a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the ratios of total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol (ranging from 1.25-2.25 for control groups to 1.00-1.35 for the legume-fed groups) and LDL-Cholesterol/HDL-Cholesterol (ranging from 0.50-1.75 for control groups to 0.50-0.75 for the legume fed groups). The results suggest that wild cowpea, white cowpea, african yam bean and bambara groundnut equally reversed diabetes-associated dyslipidemia as indicated by the indexes of cardiovascular disorder. This, therefore, underscores the potential of these underutilized legumes in managing dyslipidemia associated with diabetes in experimental rats. These data should contribute toward enhancing the nutraceutical potential and utility of these legumes

Plasma lipid profile, atherogenic and coronary risk indices in some residents of Abeokuta in south-western Nigeria

The incidence of chronic degenerative diseases like stroke and myocardial infarction in African subpopulations is reported to be increasing. In view of the association between dyslipidemia and these chronic degenerative diseases, we investigated some well-establishedcardiovascular risk factors (plasma cholesterol and its fractions as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride, adiposity and blood pressure) in 92 subjects (43 males and 49 females) in Abeokuta, Nigeria. LDL cholesterol was significantlyhigher in the women compared with men (128.58mg/dl vs 108.73mg/dl; p = 0.028). Total cholesterol, although slightly higher in women, was not significantly different from that of men (155.71mg/dl vs 147.26mg/dl). HDL cholesterol and triglyceride were not significantlydifferent between the two sexes, although women tended to have lower HDL cholesterol when compared with men. LDL/HDL cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol were significantly higher in women compared with men (4.20 vs 2.97; p = 0.004; 5.03 vs 4.06; p =0.024, respectively). Systolic blood pressure was higher in men compared with women (117.58 vs 104.84; p = 0.002). Results indicate that the association between cholesterol and chronic degenerative diseases is continuous with no single cholesterol level separating thosewho are at high risk from those who are not. Rather in defining cardiovascular risks in African populations, the ratios LDL/HDL cholesterol and total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol should be considered. It might be appropriate at this time in Nigeria to consider physicalactivity and pharmacological interventions in lowering blood lipids

Constraints to adoption of improved hatchery management practices among catfish farmers in Lagos State

Aquaculture has shown capacities to serve as means of livelihood, improve living standards, provide employment and generate foreign exchange in many countries. Recent investment in Nigerian aquaculture has been target towards catfish farming. However, small quantity and poor quality fish seeds are one of the problems limiting production. Consequently, Lagos State government introduced improved breeding and hatchery management practices as a package to fish hatchery operators with the aim of improving fish seed quantity and quality in the state. Nevertheless, the dissemination of the package has not yielded the desired result. This study assessed the constraints to adoption of improved hatchery management practices among catfish farmers in Lagos State. With structured questionnaire, 150 catfish farmers, randomly selected from 12 local government areas spread across Lagos State were interviewed. Despite that majority of the respondents strongly agreed or agreed to the fact that improved hatchery management practices have positive impacts on breeding, hatching, and survival of fish fry, majority of them affirmed that high cost of acquisition, high technicality in using the improved management practices as well as inadequate information about the improved management practices are primary reasons for non-adoption of some of the improved practices. Some of the limitations faced by the respondents include insufficient capital, lack of technical expertise to use the methods adequately, non-availability of inputs, expensive cost of facility maintenance, poor information dissemination and insufficient technical support from the extension agents and the state government. Although the adoption of improved practices has not been total, due to these constraints, the farmers’ knowledge of the improved hatchery management practices is broad. There is a need for the state government to subsidize the improved hatchery technologies and inputs, in addition to making them available to the farmers; frequently organize training workshops, and motivate more farmers to adopt the technology by providing credit facilities, incentives, and significant inputs

Insecticide Treated Net usage among under-five Children in South-West Nigeria

Relevance of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) in reducing the malaria scourge among most vulnerable groups has been reported. This study uses data from 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) to assess utilization among under-five children in South-West of Nigeria, a region with lowest utilization in the country. The study aims at assessing effect of some covariates on utilization of ITNs among children under the age of five in South-West Nigeria. Binary logistic regression is used to assess effect of covariates on response variable and the chi-square test is used to assess dependency of some socio-demographic factors. All factors considered are significant to the response variable except the gender of the child. Utilization is mostly limited because of heat generated by the net and the irritating effects of usage. Rural dwellers are found to have an insignificant higher odds of sleeping under ITN compared to those in urban areas. Lagos state has the lowest utilization rate among states in the region while Ekiti has the highest. Children with fever two weeks preceding the survey have higher odds of sleeping under ITN. Utilization is highest among the poorest with odds of usage more than six times higher than those in richest wealth index category. For any intervention programme especially among the under-five children, identifying most important areas that will maximize efficiency and effectiveness of usually insufficient resources is very crucial. Attempts are to be made in educating caregivers on importance of utilizing ITN rather than the usual ownership sensitization. Keywords: Insecticide treated nets; under five children; binary logistic regression, Malaria, South-West Nigeria