Flow of water in canals fitted with Venturi flumes

Imperial Users onl

Energy Production and Environmental Concerns in Nigeria: The Case of Kaduna Petroleum Refinery on its Host Community

Energy production and environmental pollution has been a topic of interest to diverse groups especially in developing nations where stringent environmental measures are not observed. This work aimed at exploring the various issues associated with a petroleum Refinery in kaduna metropolis of Nigeria. The Refinery was established last 30 years and without the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This therefore generated environmental stress to the host ecosystem and is causing serious concerns to the host community. The research work has used both Questionnaire survey and laboratory analysis of some selected parameters with the view to finding the factual condition of the ecosystem, so that the opposing claims of both the host community of Rido and that of the petroleum Refinery could be verified to know which one is correct. Samples of Soil, water and air were analyzed amongst others, the results indicated high concentration of heavy metals in both water and soil samples. The air sample also revealed high concentration of both oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur. These findings and the others were compared to the WHO standards and were found to be above the maximum allowable levels for savanna ecosystem. The result was also corroborated by the findings from the medical and ecological studies which confirmed high degree of pollution related ailments and environmental stress of the surrounding species of flora and fauna. It was therefore recommended that bio-remediation and clean-up of contamination should be implemented together with adequate compensation for the host community of the Rido region., Keywords: Energy, Pollution, Ecosystem, Contamination, Refinery, Petroleu

Congenital Malformation Pattern in Duhok City

This study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of neonatal malformations in Duhok province by reviewing a database of all deliveries from January 1st 2006 to December 30th 2010 in Azadi hospital, The files of the delivery room and neonatal registry records were studied for all obvious congenital anomalies.During the five years study period a total of 79227 babies were born  at Azadi University hospital of which 1760  were stillbirth and 369 were surviving babies who had one or more congenital anomaly giving an incidence of 4.65/1000 live birth. The most involved system was the Central Nervous System forming nearly half of the entire defects (44.98%) with an incidence of 2.09/1000 birth, Hydrocephalus, Myelomeningocele and microcephaly together were the most prevalent CNS anomalies among all reported congenital malformations, followed by congenital heart diseases (0.65 /1000) with ventricular septal defect (VSD) being the most common lesion. The proportion of live born infants with chromosomal anomalies was 32 cases, contributing 8.67% of all malformations. Down syndrome was the leading defect followed by Turner syndrome , while musculoskeletal ,genitourinary and unclassified multiple system anomalies scored the incidence of  (0.26/1000), (0.25/1000) and (0.35/1000) respectively. The less common defects were sensory (0.21/1000), gastrointestinal (0.17/1000), teratoma(0.15/1000) and respiratory (0.08/10000). Keywords: Genetic disorders ,Birth defects prevalence, Genetic counseling

Conservation planning, urban change and social life in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq

This thesis examines how significant redevelopment of the historic centre of Sulaimaniyah in Kurdistan-Iraq has impacted on the social life of established residents. A key starting point for the thesis is concern that the city has weak frameworks for managing rapid urban change. The impacts are being felt in terms of displacement of residents, but changes to historic buildings have implications for patterns of everyday social life, belonging and identity. The thesis documents the changing character of Sulaimaniyah, exploring patterns of change and their implications for everyday life and lived experience in the city. Detailed interviews with residents are used to explore those experiential impacts, focusing particularly on individuals and groups who are negatively affected by change. Central to that experience is the embedded nature of everyday spiritual experience that is embedded in the cultural built environment. The thesis makes a distinctive contribution in a number of ways. First, it offers a rare and important example of research on Kurdish cities (and cultural built heritage in the global Middle East). Second, researching those contexts highlights forms of lived experience that are not always addressed in conceptions of cultural built heritage based on ‘western’ experience. Third, the thesis provides further evidence of the importance of cultural built heritage in protecting the living space and ontological security of vulnerable residents