A closer look at the management, revocation and compensation principles under the Nigerian Land Use Act

Land use and management has proved to be a source of worry and conflict in the world especially the developing world. In Nigeria, it has proved to be causing a lot of problems amongst the government and the governed, between individuals and even between Governments. The issue of land acquisition and management even heightened with the British invasion of Nigeria and the Colonial rule that for administrative purposes brought some innovations to land ownership.To worsen the issue, the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorate saw a combination of totally two different land uses and ownership of the Northern part governed by the emirs and the South with its family/communal ownership. With the gaining of independence, oil boom and rapid development, acquiring land was more difficult especially in the south leading to setting up of panel to investigate the problem and recommend the way forward. The result was land use Act of 1978, which nationalised land for the whole country, extending what was operational in the North under the Land Tenure Law.This article examines the sections dealing with the management and control and revocation powers given to the Governors of the state as well as the compensation sections for acquisition of land compulsorily acquired for overriding public interest. It ends up with looking at the proposed amendments, the sections that is proposed to be amended, and ends with the writer’s opinion

Performance Evaluation of a Pebble Bed Solar Crop Dryer

The design, development and test performance evaluation of an integrated of passive solar energy crop drying system was undertaken. The solar crop dryer consists of an imbedded pebble bed solar heat storage unit/solar collector and crop drying chamber measuring 67 cm x 110 cm x 21cm and 50 cm x 90 cm respectively. The crop-drying chamber is made of drying trays of wire gauze while the roof is made of transparent glazing. Test performance evaluation of the solar crop dryer indicates that maximum absorber temperature of 72 0C, heat storage bed temperature of 58 0C and chamber temperature of 57 0C were obtained using the dryer when the maximum ambient temperature was  34 0C. Further test using cassava, showed a moisture reduction from 73% initial moisture content to 10.2% final moisture content in 3 days of drying process while open air sun drying was 22.2% under the same period of drying.Products dried under the passive solar crop dryer were of high quality while there were mould build up on the open air sun dried products. This indicates that drying under solar crop dryer offers high quality products and is time saving than the open-air sun drying

Serum Levels of Pro-inflammatory Cytokines in relationship to outcomes in Children with P. falciparum malaria, in Nnewi-South east Nigeria

Background and Objective: In P. falciparum malaria (PFM) infestation there are marked changes in cytokine production as the body mounts an immune response to it. Hence we set out to study these changes.Methods: A total of 158 cases of PFM among children attending the paediatric unit of our hospital and 56 healthy controls were studied. Children with febrile illness were screened for malaria using 10% Giemsa stained blood smear. Patients with positive smears were recruited; co-infected patients – those infected by another organism in addition to plasmodium specie.- were excluded. Whole blood was collected, some into plain tubes for serum cytokine testing and some into EDTA bottles for complete blood count and parasite density (PD) determination. Controls with asymptomatic parasitaemia were excluded.Results: Using the World Health Organization criteria for defining severe malaria; we identified 15 cases of severe and 143 cases of uncomplicated PFM. Significantly elevated levels of interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were seen in the uncomplicated and severe forms of PFM. It was observed that the elevated cytokine values correlated with PD (in uncomplicated PFM but not in the severe forms). The difference between PD/absolute monocyte count (AMC) ratio was not significant (p=0.13); while PD/platelet count (PC) and PC/ AMC ratios were significant (p=0.01, and 0.03 respectively) when compared between uncomplicated and severe disease.Conclusion: Our data seems to suggest that subjects with an adequate immune response to the parasite density, in terms of pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, presented with uncomplicated disease; while those who have an inadequate response presented with severe disease. The ratios of (PD/PC) and (PC/AMC), in the positive and negative directions respectively, may be predictors of increased disease severity. These observations may have implications for predicting disease outcome and PFM therapy.Key Words: plasmodium falciparum malaria, pro-inflammatory cytokines, Parasite density/Platelet count ratio, Platelet count/Absolute monocyt

Early detection of breast, cervical, ovarian and endometrial cancers in low resource countries: an integrated approach

The incidence of breast and gynecological cancers continues to increase in low and middle resource countries [LRC'S and MRC's] with a disproportionately higher mortality rate compared to that in high resource countries. This has been attributed to factors such as an increased life span due to better control of communicable diseases and improved nutrition, as well as lifestyle and reproductive changes. A lack of public awareness and understanding of these cancers, absence of an organized screening program and a lack of accessible and effective treatment options, is responsible for the higher mortality rate. A practical approach of a combined program of integrating a well woman examination with screening for breast and cervical cancer and diagnostic evaluation for Ovarian and Endometrial cancer in symptomatic women is proposed in this article which can serve as a model to be studied for efficacy in low resource countries

Методология синтеза архитектуры программно-технического комплекса автоматизированной системы мониторинга обстановки

Предложен подход к проектированию архитектуры программно-технического комплекса автоматизированной системы мониторинга обстановки в реальном времени, основанный на классификации решаемых функциональных задач на основе методов кластерного анализа и выбранного множества признаков подобия. Разработанный подход позволяет из множества функций системы выделить подобные (по определенным признакам) и объединить их в архитектурные компоненты (унифицированные функциональные модули).Запропоновано підхід до проектування архітектури центру обробки інформації автоматизованої системи моніторингу середовища в реальному часі, що заснований на класифікації функціональних задач на підставі методів кластерного аналізу і обраної множини ознак схожості. Розроблений підхід дозволяє вибрати із множини функцій системи схожі (за певними ознаками) і поєднати їх в архітектурні компоненти (уніфіковані функціональні модулі).The approach to designing architecture of the information processing complex of the automated real time conditions monitoring system based on classification of functional tasks on the basis of methods of cluster analysis and the chosen set of similarity attributes is offered. The developed approach allows to allocate from a set of functions the systems similar (on certain attributes) and to unite them in architectural components (unified functional modules)

Computation of metallic nanofluid natural convection in a two-dimensional solar enclosure with radiative heat transfer, aspect ratio and volume fraction effects

As a model of nanofluid direct absorber solar collectors (nano-DASCs), the present article describes recent numerical simulations of steady-state nanofluid natural convection in a two-dimensional enclosure. Incompressible laminar Newtonian viscous flow is considered with radiative heat transfer. The ANSYS FLUENT finite volume code (version 19.1) is employed. The enclosure has two adiabatic walls, one hot (solar receiving) and one colder wall. The Tiwari-Das volume fraction nanofluid model is used and three different nanoparticles are studied (Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag) and Titanium Oxide (TiO2)) with water as the base fluid. The solar radiative heat transfer is simulated with the P1 flux and Rosseland diffusion models. The influence of geometrical aspect ratio and solid volume fraction for nanofluids is also studied and a wider range is considered than in other studies. Mesh-independence tests are conducted. Validation with published studies from the literature is included for the copperwater nanofluid case. The P1 model is shown to more accurately predict the actual influence of solar radiative flux on thermal fluid behaviour compared with Rosseland radiative model. With increasing Rayleigh number (natural convection i.e. buoyancy effect), significant modification in the thermal flow characteristics is induced with emergence of a dual structure to the circulation. With increasing aspect ratio (wider base relative to height of the solar collector geometry) there is a greater thermal convection pattern around the whole geometry, higher temperatures and the elimination of the cold upper zone associated with lower aspect ratio. Titanium Oxide nano-particles achieve slightly higher Nusselt number at the hot wall compared with Silver nano-particles. Thermal performance can be optimized with careful selection of aspect ratio and nano-particles and this is very beneficial to solar collector designers

Perceptions and utilization of the anti-malarials artemether-lumefantrine and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine in young children in the Chikhwawa District of Malawi: a mixed methods study

Background Adherence to anti-malarial dosing schedules is essential to ensure effective treatment. Measuring adherence is challenging due to recall issues and the participants’ awareness of the desired behaviour influencing their actions or responses. This study used qualitative methods, which allow for rapport building, to explore issues around anti-malarial utilization in young children, and used the results to guide the development of a context specific questionnaire on perceptions and adherence to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PPQ). Methods Qualitative data collection included 12 focus group discussions which explored community perceptions of anti-malarials and experiences of administering medications to children. Critical incidence interviews were conducted with 22 caregivers to explore experiences of administering the dispersible or original formulation of AL to young children during recent febrile episodes. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data on experience of recent treatment and adherence to anti-malarials during follow-up visits with 218 caregivers whose child was recently treated with either dispersible AL or DHA-PPQ. Discussion/Conclusion Caregivers experience great difficulty in administering medication to children. While the sweet taste of dispersible AL may have reduced conflict between the child and caregiver, sub-optimal dosing due to medication loss remained a problem and overall adherence was greater among those receiving DHA-PPQ, which requires fewer doses. Some caregivers were found to deliberately alter the dosing schedule according to whether they perceived the medication to be too weak or strong. They also developed theories for poor treatment outcomes, such as attributing this to lack of compatibility between the medication and the child. Health education messages should be strengthened to ensure a combination of clear pictorial and verbal instructions are used during dispensing, and consequences of under and over-dosing are explained alongside appropriate responses to possible adverse events. Further optimizing of anti-malarial adherence among children requires the development of anti-malarials with pharmacological properties that allow user-friendly administration and simplified dosing schedules

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700