41 research outputs found
Cervical spinal cord injury from a vehicular accidental near hanging injury and neck manipulations
Spinal cord injury is a global problem. It is a devastating life altering condition that is associated with permanent disability and reduced life expectancy. Road traffic accident has been described in global literature as the commonest aetiology and second to it is falls. Identifying these factors have led to development of policies and advocacy to reduce these causes of spinal cord injuries.We present three cases of spinal cord injuries from unusual aetiologies viz-aviz an accidental hanging which resulted in a C4 traumatic myelopathy Frankel A in a 30-year old artisan, playful neck manipulation in a 23-year old male student, resulting in Brown-Sequard syndrome, which resolved with nonoperative spinal cord injury management protocol over six weeks and a C4 traumatic myelopathy Frankel D with a 50% anterior listhesis of C4 on C5 in a 50-year old man who sustained injuries from a choke hold 10 weeks prior to presentation. He recovered fully on non-operative management and discharged home Frankel E.Keywords: Spinal cord injury, Browne-Sequard, Franke
Subjective Evaluation of Life Satisfaction by community-dwelling Spinal Cord Injury Patients Managed at the University College Hospital, Ibadan
Background: Life satisfaction in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) population is influenced by the ability to perform social roles and engage in activities. Investigations on the psychosocial aspects of SCI in Nigeria have concentrated on the objective dimensions, while much has not been documented, qualitatively, on life satisfaction among the SCI survivors in our setting. The research focused on the subjective evaluation of well-being related to social role performance among community-dwelling adults with SCI managed at the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria.Methods: The study design is descriptive and qualitative data collection was utilized. Seventeen SCI patients who had been discharged home were purposively selected and interviewed via telephone. The domains of life evaluated included sexual life, marital life, and general life satisfaction. These were assessed with an interview guide intended for this purpose. Data were thematically content analysed.Results: Some participants could return to employment and perform occupational roles. The participants described their life as dissatisfactory. Dissatisfaction was reported with sexual and marital life and social interaction after SCI. Family role performance was likewise dissatisfactory. The participants’ dissatisfaction with life post-SCI was largely influenced by their internalization and interpretation of the inability to function in areas of life they perceived important.Conclusion: The subjective evaluation of life reported by persons living with permanent SCI suggests that they require more support from their families, healthcare providers and the community at large. Additionally, their psychosocial needs deserve constant monitoring by the significant others and healthcare providers in order to provide timely countermeasures.
Keywords: Life Satisfaction; Social Role; Spinal Cord Injury; Subjective Evaluation; Nigeri
Seasonal Variations in the Composition and Distribution of Planktonic Fauna in the Eastern Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria
The composition and distribution of planktonic fauna (adult form of
zooplankton and planktonic juvenile forms of higher animals) within the
eastern part of the Lagos Lagoon were investigated in July, 2008 and
March, 2009 representing rainy and dry season respectively. Samples of
water and planktonic fauna were collected from twelve stations within
the eastern axis of the Lagoon and analyzed using standard methods. The
study area had brackish water characteristics with fresh water
condition (0\u2030 salinity across the 12 stations) in the rainy
season whereas the salinity ranged from 11.4\u2030 to 30.5\u2030 in
the dry season. The adult forms zooplankton recorded in the rainy
season were mainly Crustaceans, Chaetognathans and Rotifers while those
collected during dry season belonged to Crustacean, Cnidaria and
Chordata. Crustaceans dominate both adult zooplankton and planktonic
juvenile fauna in the two seasons. The rainy season adult zooplankton
count (515) was lower than that of dry season (580) but the reverse was
the case for the juvenile stages count (520 and 325 in rainy and dry
season respectively). Higher species abundance was recorded for both
adult zooplankton (20) and juvenile stages (10) in rainy than dry
season when 14 and 8 were recorded for the two groups respectively.
Higher values were also of community structure indices (Margalef
species richness and Shannon-Wiener species diversity) were recorded in
the rainy than dry season for the two groups of planktonic fauna. The
findings show the influence of salinity gradients on distribution of
planktonic fauna of the Lagos Lagoon
TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF TROPICAL WOODS USING PARTICLE INDUCED X–RAY EMISSION (PIXE) METHODS FROM WESTERN NIGERIA
Trace element investigation and its corresponding concentration level in selected tropical woods from western Nigeria was done using PIXE-particle induced X-ray emission methods. Fifteen selected tropical woods were analyzed and twenty-seven trace elements were identified and quantified. The identified trace elements are Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, Pb and Bi. Calcium concentration were 2835, 3195, 4923, 5608, 7770, 5110, 2743, 5092 and 3451 ppm in samples 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively. Potassium recorded 2838, 4811, 3184, and 2021ppm in samples 1, 3, 8 and 9, respectively. Silicon recorded 5206 ppm for sample 4 and 5253 ppm for sample 7. Calcium and potassium were observed to have concentration level that is greater than 1000 ppm in all the studied samples, hence it can be said that calcium and potassium are major trace element of wood. The concentrations of the elements identified have no immediate health concern on environment and human, therefore the studied tropical woods safe for use as fuel and other purposes
Thiol modified mycolic acids
Patient serum antibodies to mycolic acids have the potential to be surrogate markers of active tuberculosis
(TB) when they can be distinguished from the ubiquitously present cross-reactive antibodies to
cholesterol. Mycolic acids are known to interact more strongly with antibodies present in the serum of
patients with active TB than in patients with latent TB or no TB. Examples of single stereoisomers of
mycolic acids with chain lengths corresponding to major homologues of those present in Mycobacterium
tuberculosis have now been synthesised with a sulfur substituent on the terminal position of the -chain;
initial studies have established that one of these binds to a gold electrode surface, offering the potential
to develop second generation sensors for diagnostic patient antibody detection.MMS and ADS wish to acknowledge support from the Government
of Iraq through the award of PhD studentships.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chemphysliphb2017BiochemistryChemistr
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
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
Background
Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres.
Methods
This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries.
Results
In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia.
Conclusion
This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries
Transportation challenges of retailing petroleum products in Akure, Nigeria
Transportation is crucial for the distribution and retailing of petroleum products for consumption. However, the transportation of petroleum products is faced with varying degree of challenges. To this end, this study examines transportation challenges facing efficient retailing of petroleum products in Akure. The study collected data on the location of petroleum retailing points from Ibule to Shasha market on the Ilesa – Akure – Owo expressway in Akure using GPS. Questionnaire survey was also conducted to collect data on the transportation challenges of retailing petroleum products in Akure. The study purposively sampled 126 respondents who are staff of the petroleum products retailing points on Ilesa – Akure – Owo expressway. Point analysis of the GIS and descriptive analysis were employed to analyse the data collected for the study. It was revealed that a total of 42 petrol stations are located within a distance of 15.651Km from Ibule – Shasha market in Akure with an average of 372 metres between two stations. It further showed high cost of fuelling, bad roads and traffic congestion as the most significant transportation challenges facing the retails of petroleum products. It was recommended that the government agency in charge of road maintenance should be more proactive to their responsibilities.Keywords: Petroleum products; retailing points; Akure, transportation challenge
Development of Entada Mannii Fiber Polypropylene Matrix Composites for Light Weight Applications
This study investigates the use of Entada mannii fiber as potential reinforcement of thermoplastic composites suitable for light weight applications. Composites of 5 wt.%, 10 wt.% and 15 wt.% were produced by compression moulding with 5 wt.% Maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAAP) as compatibilizers. Tensile properties, impact strength and hardness properties of the composites were evaluated. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffractograms (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) of treated and untreated fibers were evaluated while the fractographic analysis of surface morphology of the composites was performed using Scanning electron microscopy. The result revealed that reinforcing thermoplastic with 15 %.wt treated Entada mannii fiber revealed a greater improvement in tensile strength and Young's modulus by 58 % and 61 % respectively relative to pure PP and the hardness properties of the composite also increased by 56 % as compared with pure PP . This improvement is noticeable for the 15 wt.% treated fiber reinforced composites and could be attributed to good interfacial bonding between the fiber and the matrix. However impact strength of treated fiber composite revealed an improvement with 10 wt.% treated fiber composites by 48 % relative to Pure PP. Fracture surface images of treated fiber reinforced composites revealed less fiber pullout while the TGA showed the treated fiber degrades at higher temperature as compared with untreated fiber. Thus, the cellulose percentage crystallinity index of the treated fiber increases from 47.9 % to 57 % as a result of the influence of alkaline treatment