Developing sustainable university campus index

Tertiary education is central to economic and political development and it is a powerful potential for growth which is very vital in an increasingly globalizing society. Universities play very important roles in the development of tertiary education and the society. It is probably in view of this fact, that the state of universities generally, is attracting global attention and the universities are currently ranked in order of performances. Although human development and economic growth depend largely on the environmental setting, however, the existing ranking system fail to consider environmental issues, despite current trend in green campus movement and sustainable development of universities. It is in the light of this, that this paper considers the prospects of developing a sustainable development rating system as an addendum to the method of ranking university campuses. Existing tools of measuring sustainable development in buildings were reviewed and BREEAM was considered most suitable for the development of university Campus Sustainable Index (CSI). It is also believed that the rating system will not only create environmental awareness and stimulate competition among universities but effect improvement in environmental conditions and environmental management systems of university campuses as well as provide a melting point of understanding sustainable development in university campus.Keywords: Tertiary Education; Sustainable Campus Index; University Campus; Environmental Managemen

Case finding of hypertension at a secondary health care facility in south-west Nigeria

Background: The prevalence of hypertension is higher in Semi-urban areas than in rural areas. There is a rising prevalence of hypertension in developing countries. Significant independent association has been found between age, family history and prevalence of hypertension according to the literature. This study sought to determine the prevalence of hypertension at the State Hospital Oyo and provide evidence for routine checks of blood pressure (BP) for adult patients.Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted at the General Outpatient Clinic of the State Hospital Oyo. 350 adults between the ages of 18 and 70 years were recruited for the study. A total sampling technique was used to recruit consecutive patients until a sample size of 350 was achieved.Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 102/350 = 29%. Thirty (29.70%) of respondents who were 55 years and above had systolic hypertension while 24 (23.80%) had normal BP (x2 = 87.62, p-value = 0.0001). Majority (57.6%) of respondents who had tertiary education had normal blood pressure while 24 (20.3%) had systolic hypertension (x2 = 39.88, p-value = 0.0001). Twenty one (36.8%s) of respondents who were obese had systolic hypertension while 16 (28.1%) had normal blood pressure (x2 = 20.61 , p-value = 0.02). Thirteen (12.80%) of respondents who were 55 years and above had diastolic hypertension while a majority (58.40%) had normal BP (x2 = 33.40, p-value = 0.0001).Conclusions: Age, obesity and education were found to be risk factors for developing hypertension. However after adjusting for other variables, the predictor of risk of developing hypertension was age of respondents.Keywords: Obesity, Age, Prevalence, Hypertensio

Treatment response in adult patients with hypertension attending a secondary health care center in south-west Nigeria

Background: There has been an increase in prevalence of hypertension worldwide and a trend towards poor control of hypertension. Despite the  development of new guidelines on management of hypertension, it remains a difficult disease to control.Methods: The study was a prospective cohort study of 386 patients aged 18 to 70 years with uncontrolled hypertension. A simple random sampling  technique with computer generated random numbers was used for selection.Results: Majority (58.3%) of the respondents who were overweight had diastolic blood pressure of less than 100 mmHg while 55 (41.7%)  respondents who were overweight had diastolic blood pressure of 100mmHg to 110mmHg. Forty (42.1%) of the respondents who were obese had diastolic blood pressure of less than 100mmHg while 55 (57.9%) respondents who were obese had diastolic blood pressure of 100mmHg to 110mmHg. The association was statistically significant (2 = 9.845, p-value = 0.02). There was a significant difference between the mean first Systolic Blood pressure and the mean third systolic blood pressure. (< 0.001, 95% CI 19.01- 23.04). Also there was a significant difference between the meanfirst Diastolic Blood pressure and the mean third Diastolic Blood pressure. (p < 0.001, 95% CI 11.13-11.56).Conclusion: This study has shown that increasing body weight was associated with high blood pressures and health education on management of hypertension had significant effect in reducing blood pressures and subsequently leading to better control of hypertension. Keywords: Treatment response, Hypertension, Secondary healthcare center, Nigeri

Assessment of knowledge and practice of pesticide application among beans and maize sellers in an urban South Western Nigerian market

Pesticides impart a crucial role for the improvement of food production according to the requirement of world population. However, pesticide use also has created concern regarding effect on the environment and the potentially toxic residues remaining in the food chain. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of pesticide use among raw food sellers in Bodija market, Ibadan. A cross -sectional study was conducted using all the registered 400 Beans Sellers and 720 Maize Sellers in the market. Majority (60%) of the respondents had good knowledge on pesticide use. Most (66.7%) of the food sellers that sell in retails had good pesticide application practice while only 45.6% of those selling in whole sale had good practice. The association was statistically significant. (χ2 = 7.977, p=0.019). After adjusting for other variables, the predictors of good practice in pesticide application were level of education and the type of food sold.Keywords: Knowledge, Practice, Pesticide applications, Beans and maize sellers, Nigerian marketAfr. J. Biomed. Res. Vol. 22 (January, 2019); 27- 3

Assessment of socioeconomic status and control of asthma in adults

Background: Asthma is a chronic disease which places considerable economic, social and public health burdens on the society. Education, occupation and income are the most widely used indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). Studies have shown increased asthma hospital admissions for those who are materially deprived and increased asthma severity in low social class groups. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of socioeconomic status on control of asthma in adults.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional analytical one, conducted over a year at the Medical Outpatient Clinic of the University College Hospital Ibadan. The study population was composed of 355 randomly selected adults aged between 18years and 55years with an established diagnosis of asthma already on treatment.Results: Respondents with monthly income of N40000 and above had a higher proportion with good asthma control (74.1%) compared to those that earned N10000 to N39999 (69.0%) and less than N10000 (47.8%). This was statistically significant. Respondents in occupational class I/II had a slightly higher proportion with good asthma control (70.9%) compared to those in occupation class III/IV (70.1%) and occupation class V/VI (50.6%). This was statistically significant at p = 0.003.Conclusion: Respondents in the higher occupational class had better asthma control than respondents in the lower occupational class. Respondents who were earning N40000 and above as monthly income had better control of asthma than other respondents. After adjusting for other variables, the predictor of good asthma control was monthly income of the respondents.Keywords: Education, Occupation, Monthly income, Asthma contro

Prevalence of Uncontrolled Hypertension at a Secondary Health Care Center in South-Western Nigeria

There has been an upsurge in prevalence of hypertension worldwide and a drift towards poor control despite the development of new guidelines for treatment. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension at the State hospital Oyo. The study was a cross-sectional one and was conducted over a period of three months at the Medical Outpatient Clinic of the State Hospital, Oyo. The study population was composed of 403 adults aged between 18years and 70years. There were 321 females (79.7%) and 82 males (20.3%). The mean age of the consenting patients was 59.3 years (SD± 9.44). One hundred and sixty-four (40.7%) respondents had systolic blood pressure of less than 140mmHg. The prevalence of uncontrolled systolic blood pressure was 59.3%. Two hundred and ninety-seven (73.7%) respondents had diastolic blood pressure of less than 90mmHg. The prevalence of uncontrolled diastolic blood pressure was 26.3%.The prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure was 245/403= 60.8%.The majority of hypertensive patients assessed in this study had poor control of hypertension hence they might have been exposed to development of heart disease, renal failure and stroke

Congenital absence of right cardiac notch in the lung of a Bunaji calf

The cardiac notch (fissure) is normally present in both right and left lungs of ruminants. The notch is usually smaller on the right lung relative to its left counterpart and distinctly confined to the lower parts of the third and fourth intercostal spaces where the pericardium comes in contact with the thoracic wall. We report a case of congenital absence of right cardiac notch in one out of the five White Fulani calves used for routine dissection in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. A complete closure of the cardiac notch was observed between the middle and apical lobes of the right lung. Due to this defect, the pericardium was completely obliterated from view of the coastal surface of the middle lung`s lobes which occupied the supposed space for the cardiac notch in the right lung. To the best of our knowledge, congenital absence of cardiac notch has not been reported in literature. Hence, this study would benefit veterinary surgeons operating the thoracic cavity, radiologists examining radiographs and pathologists investigating thoracic cavity and its contents.Keywords: Bunaji calf, cardiac notch, congenital absence, right lun

Coping with the menace of urban sprawl development through good governance in Maiduguri, Nigeria

The urban environment is increasingly threatened by uncontrolled urban expansion. Majority of low income groups live in non-formal settlements on the urban fringe, having little access to infrastructure, services and amenities. This has serious implications on public health, quality of life and the natural urban environment. This paper describes the relevance of good governance as an approach to ameliorate the problems of urban sprawl and reviews the development and understanding of illegal status of urban sprawl. Contemporary approaches to cope with sprawl situations were offered and the formation of stakeholders’ forum through good governance to participate in decisions of environmental and security importance was recommended as strategies for solving problems of slum conditions. Most importantly, the paper recommends better urban environment could be achieved through all-inclusive decision making, consensus building, review and hearing, awareness building as well as access to sustainable infrastructure. Finally, it concluded that a blue print to guide and direct growth of the urban settlement is very paramount to curb the menace of urban sprawl in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.Keywords: Urban Sprawl, Good Governance and Sustainable Infrastructur

Comparative analysis of the efficacies of ferrous gluconate and synthetic magnetite as sulphide scavengers in oil and gas drilling operations

Dva spoja željeza prihvatljiva po okoliš (sintetički magnetit i željezni glukonat) vrednovani su kao čistači sulfida pri temperaturama od 25 °C, 35 °C, 45 °C i 55 °C kod pH vrijednosti 12 u bušaćoj isplaci zagađenoj sulfidom. Otkriveno je da je željezni kompleks bolji pročistač od sintetičkog magnetita. On je pokazao stopostotnu sposobnost čišćenja unutar prvih 40 minuta miješanja. Korištena je ista koncentracija reagensa, 700 mg/l čistača nasuprot 700 mg/l sulfida (tj. omjer koncentracije sulfida prema koncentraciji čistača bio je 1:1). Učinkovitost čišćenja sintetičkim magnetitom bila je samo oko 30 posto nakon 2 sata miješanja. Nije otkriveno da je dodavanje kompleksa željeza isplaci štetno za reološke osobine isplake. Njegov unos pridonio je stabilizaciji reoloških svojstava isplake.Two environmentally safe iron compounds (synthetic magnetite and ferrous gluconate) have been evaluated as sulphide scavengers at temperature conditions of 25 °C, 35 °C, 45 °C and 55 °C at pH of 12 in a sulphide-contaminated drilling mud. The ferrous complex was found to be a better scavenger than synthetic magnetite. It exhibited 100 % scavenging efficiency within the first 40 minutes of agitation. The same concentration of the reagents, which is 700 mg/l scavenger vs. 700 mg/l sulphide, was employed (i.e. sulphide concentration to scavenger concentration ratio was 1:1). Whereas, the synthetic magnetite’s scavenging efficiency was only about 30% even after 2 hours of agitation. Addition of the ferrous complex to the drilling mud was not found to be detrimental to the rheological properties of the mud. Its inclusion brought about the stabilization of mud’s rheological properties

Polymelia, vent duplex, cloacal bursa duplex and triple caeca in a broiler chick

Congenital abnormalities are common among avian and mammalian species. They could be partial or total drift from the normal structural organization of the organ-systems. This article is aimed at reporting the occurrence of multiple abnormalities in a 3-week-old broiler chick. Ante mortem, post-mortem, radiological and osteological investigations were carried out, to ascertain the number and form of abnormalities present in the chick. A total of four different congenital abnormalities were discovered in this chick. These include: polymelia (presence of supernumerary or accessory limb which is usually malformed); double vents (vent duplex); double cloacal bursae (bursa duplex) and triple caeca. Radiological and postmortem examinations revealed the attachment of the accessory limb to the caudal depressor muscle as a form of synsarcosis, via a tendon that originated from the deep fossa of the modified femoral head of the accessory limb. The right vent was patent whereas the left was not. The two cloacal bursae were almost the same size, while the three caeca showed slight variation in length but typical features of the avian caecum (base, middle (body) and apex) were clearly visible. However, most cases of congenital anomalies in the avian species occur as multiple defects, with the most common being polymelia. The latest finding in this report is the discovery of double cloacal bursae (bursae of Fabricius), which has not been reported in the avian species