Perceptions of Financial Bribery and Kickbacks on Nigerian Healthcare Public Policy

Financial bribery and kickbacks are characteristics of corruption that are considered a serious threat to healthcare development in Nigeria. The influence of corruption leads to financial waste and negative health consequences for citizens. High demand for quality healthcare and other socioeconomic development infrastructures in the rural areas of the state provide opportunities for misappropriation of allocated healthcare development funds. Using Kingdon\u27s multiple streams theory as the foundation, the purpose of this case study of a single city in Nigeria was to understand how state and city legislators and health administrators perceive the influence of corruption on senior healthcare development, its service delivery, and the lives of residents. Data were collected through interviews with 15 individuals representing older adult participants, state and city legislators, and healthcare administrators and publicly available government data. Following a root cause analysis framework, these data were inductively coded and subject to a thematic analysis procedure. Identified key themes from the study findings were (a) healthcare services, (b) poor infrastructure, (c) poverty, (d) healthcare cost, (e) government and corruption, (f) unpaid wages, (g) health centers, and (h) public and private hospitals. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to National Health Insurance Scheme to formulate policies that may improve quality healthcare service and delivery, improve communication between local government and residents, and reduce the high out-of-pocket cost of healthcare. These recommendations may enhance healthcare provider insight on equal healthcare access to seniors and the entire rural community

Self-medication profile of dental patients in Ondo state, Nigeria

The practice of selfmedication has been extensively researched but there is dearth of information about its modality among dentalpatients in developing countries. Hence, this study was designed to determine the proportion of dental patients who practice, medications employed and the reasons for resorting to self medication in general dental populations in Ondo State, Nigeria and tomake appropriate recommendations. This study was conducted between June 2007 and June 2008 at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo and State Specialist Hospital, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. Five hundred and thirty six consenting respondents were selected by multistage sampling technique and interviewed with the aid of semi structured questionnaire.Results: Almost half of the respondents (42% or n=225) admitted to self medication while the majority (58%) did not practice it. Drugs utilized are usually singly (56.4%) rather than in combination(43.6%), commonly analgesics (50.1%) and antibiotics (30.4%), with themajority (45.8%) using the medications for at least one week. The reasons cited by respondents for self medication were theirperception that they know what to do and it saves time andmoney. A sizable majority of the respondents admitted to self-medication usually with analgesics. Adequate health education of the populace on the use and misuse of analgesics needs to be mounted, while dental services should be made readily available and affordable so that self medication among dental patients can be reduced to the barest minimum.Keywords: self-medication, profile, dental patients, OndoState, Nigeri

Comparative and sensitivity study of the effects of flow parameters on pressure drop in vertical tubing

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2008"Two-phase gas-liquid flow occurs in vertical pipes during the production of reservoir fluids. The two most common flow patterns that are observed during oil production are the Bubble and Slug flows. Determination of pressure drop in two-phase flow is more complicated than single-phase flow because two fluids with different densities flow in the tubing at different velocities. Using two multiphase correlations (Hagedorn and Brown, and Duns and Ros), the effect of fluid properties variation at different flow conditions on pressure drop were studied. Fluid data developed with correlations and West Sak fluid data were used for the analysis. Plots showing the relationship between pressure drop and different fluid properties were made. From the analysis, it was concluded that oil density, oil viscosity and oil flow rate are the three factors that influence pressure drop in vertical pipes the most. The Hagedorn and Brown correlation was shown to be able to compute pressure drop for high-viscosity oil"--Leaf ii

Challenges of International Real Estate Investment in an Emerging Economy: The Nigerian Experience

Many real estate investors are increasingly looking to invest internationally for reasons of portfolio diversification and the search for higher risk adjusted returns than can be achieved in their domestic markets and in doing that, the emerging economies provide them with great opportunities. These opportunities are seldomly out- weighed by numerous challenges. This paper therefore evaluates the challenges of international real estate investment in an emerging economies, especially NigeriaWith the great improvement in the political situation of Nigeria, coupled with the large size of the country and thus economies, which resulted to sustained Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and performance of other economic indicators, Nigeria is in right direction towards realizing the dream of being one of the major emerging market. These attracted international investors as stated by the foreign direct of investment (FDI) of $723.49 Million in 2015. Despite this strong economic growth and potential opportunities even within the real estate markets, international real estate investors faces such challenges like: property market transparency risk, political risk, structural risk, banking risk, currency risk, ownership structure risk. Keywords: Challenges; International real estate; Investors; Real estate investment; Real estate market; Emerging economie

Glutathione monoethyl ester prevents TDP-43 pathology in motor neuronal NSC-34 cells

© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (August 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyOxidative stress is recognised as central in a range of neurological diseases including Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease characterised by fast progressing death of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Cellular pathology includes cytosolic protein aggregates in motor neurons and glia of which potentially cytotoxic hyper-phosphorylated fragments of the Transactive response DNA Binding Protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) constitute a major component. This is closely associated with an additional loss of nuclear TDP-43 expression indicating a “loss of function” mechanism, accelerating motor neuron (MN) loss. Furthermore, mutations in TDP-43 cause familial ALS and ALS-like disease in animal models. In this study, we investigated the role of glutathione (GSH) in modulating oxidative stress responses in TDP-43 pathology in motor neuron NSC-34 cells. Results demonstrate that depletion of GSH produces pathology similar to that of mutant TDP-43, including occurrence of cytosolic aggregates, TDP-43 phosphorylation and nuclear clearing of endogenous TDP-43. We also demonstrate that introduction of mutant TDP-43A315T and silencing of endogenous TDP-43, but not overexpression of wild-type TDP-43, result in similar pathology, including depletion of intracellular GSH, possibly resulting from a decreased expression of a regulatory subunit of ɣ-glutamylcysteine ligase (GCLM), a rate limiting enzyme in GSH synthesis. Importantly, treatment of mutant cells with GSH monoethyl ester (GSHe) that directly increases intracellular GSH and bypasses the need for GSH synthesis, protected against mutant-induced TDP-43 pathology, including reducing aggregate formation, nuclear clearance, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death. Our data strongly suggest that oxidative stress is central to TDP-43 pathology and may result from a loss of function affecting GSH synthesis and that treatments directly aimed at restoring cellular GSH content may be beneficial in preventing cell death in TDP-43-mediated ALS

Impact of Psychoanalysis in Nigeria: A Case Study

The authors set out to examine the impact of Psychoanalysis in Nigeria. In doing this they selected a significant stakeholder, who trained in Germany and returned to Nigeria as a case study. Examining the activities as he set out to indigenize psychotherapy in Nigeria, it was found that psychoanalytic thinking helped in the psychodynamic observations on the frequent somatic complaints of psychological origin which helped to make treatment possible. Family therapy based on psychoanalysis was modeled to treat patients classified as traditional, mixed and westernized. Dream analysis and hypnosis were also used for treatment in Nigeria with good results. Finally the harmony restoration theory was put forward whereby the African is healthy when he is at peace with his world of relationship (cosmos) comprising endocosmos – mind body relationship, mesocosmos relationship with significant others and exocosmos relationship with spirits, ancestors, deities, gods, God. He/she is sick when there is a distortion in the person’s world of relationship. Treatment is restoration of harmony. In every one there is a yearning to reach out to others (cosmic expansion drive) and an inclination to be interested in the self (cosmic reduction drive) at the various levels of the cosmos. Eight personality types were worked out of the combination of expansion and reduction drives. The conclusion was that psychoanalysis has come to stay in Nigeria

Foregrounding aspects of Esiaba Irobi’s dramatic techniques in three selected plays

This essay on “Foregrounding Aspects of Esiaba Irobi’s Dramatic Techniques in Three Selected Plays” attempts to decode the playwright’s artistic vision and how it is deployed to realize his social vision. We adopted the sociological approach, precisely the Marxist theory as the basis for analysis. Evident in the plays is the playwright’s use of foreshadowing/flashback, metaphors, allusions, imageries and appropriate language. The study shows that in spite of the high demands of his social vision, viz, arousing the consciousness of the audience to the appalling and sub-human conditions in which they live as well as calling for revolution, the three plays are not without carefully selected and equally carefully applied artistic embellishments which make them enjoyable and interesting. The study clearly identifies the playwright’s efforts at growing the consciousness of the less-privileged with regards to the injustices which they suffer and as a corollary urge them to take their destiny into their own hands and rid the society of injustice. We adopted the qualitative research method which calls for careful reading of the three texts, use of the library and the internet. We have identified, and discussed in details, the playwright’s use of a number of dramatic techniques, which engage the audience’s sensory organs and arrest attention in such a manner that compels the audience to take side with the oppressed.Keywords: Foregrounding, aspects, Marxism, dramatic techniques, social injustice, revol

Bioinformatics resources to support bioremediation research

Contamination of ecosystems by xenobiotic substances has led to significant negative impacts on the ecologies and on the health and economic livelihood of the human populations in affected environments. Bioremediation, particularly microbial bioremediation, has proven to be a safe, low-cost and environmentally friendly method for remediation of such areas. However, a lack of complete understanding of the metabolic, enzymatic and cellular processes involved has made it difficult to model and predict outcomes of field processes. The ability of researchers to make critical decisions capable of influencing the direction and outcomes of these processes is also hampered. This study outlines the results of a survey and describes the electronic Microbial BioRemediation (eMBR) web portal, designed to improve collaboration in the bioremediation research community. It describes the structure, algorithms and output of three bioinformatics resources developed and deployed via the portal. eMBRLitMine addresses the problem of identifying which microorganisms would be suitable for remediating sites contaminated by named compounds. It combines named-entity recognition algorithms, a mySQL database, graph rendering technologies and Perl scripts to create, from the vast information available within published literature, a statistical co-occurrence matrix which it uses to infer possible associations between microorganisms and particular contaminants. This provides valuable insights into possible bacteria/contaminant relationships and highlights bacterial species that could be used in remediation of specified contaminants. eMBRCatalogue is a moderated and searchable database cataloguing bioremediation case studies. Implemented as an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) database employing a user-generated-content framework, it provides background knowledge necessary for planning and execution of bioremediation activities. Developed following the construction of a comprehensive metabolic biodegradation network, eMBRHelper enables the delineation of possible biodegradation pathways for named contaminants. By integrating relevant chemical, enzymatic and genomics information, it attempts to model the interplay between contaminants, enzymes, microorganisms and degradation pathway, enabling researchers to make informed decisions for improved outcomes, particularly for remediation exercises involving bioaugmentation. The study also analysed usage of the portal and resources, made recommendations for future developments and highlights avenues for further informatics support for the bioremediation research sector.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Hydrogeochemical process of ions in groundwater of communities along Southern-axis Atlantic Ocean in Bayelsa, Nigeria

ABSTRACTThe hydrogeochemical process of groundwater from hand-dug well within communities located along the Southern axis of the Atlantic Ocean was examined based on its major ions concentration. Fifteen (15) water samples were collected across the study area and analyzed using the American Public Health Association (APHA) laboratory standard. With the aid of ArcGIS 10.7, the spatial distribution of physiochemical parameters and major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, HCO−3, SO42-, Cl− and PO43-) were determined. The cations and anions of the groundwater trended as Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ > Na+ and HCO−3> SO42- > Cl− > PO43-, respectively, while all values are within World Health Organization (WHO) allowable limit except Ca2+. The positive correlation among major ions illustrated similarities in the sources and distributions based on principal component analysis, while the cluster analysis established the complexity of the hydrogeochemical processes. Piper and Durov plot aided the geochemical process identification where the groundwater of the area showed the dominance of Ca2+-Mg2+-HCOˉ3, Na+- HCOˉ3 and Ca2±Mg2+- SO42-/Cl−; hence, the hydrogeochemical process was influenced by water–rock interaction of possible carbonate weathering characterized by the earth’s alkaline water and weak acids