Estimating greenhouse gas emissions from port vessel operations at the Lagos and Tin Can ports of Nigeria

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, the number one contributor to global warming is not just a product of in-land transportation, industries and other anthropogenic effect but also the maritime and shipping industries. This article estimates the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from port vessel operations in the Lagos and Tin Can ports of Nigeria. The emission estimate was carried out based on the type of the vessel and its movement from the moment of its arrival (400 km from the coast). The emission estimate was done using the bottom-up approach based on the characteristics of individual vessels and using data on vessels processed by both ports in the first and second quarter of the year 2017. Among various types of vessels, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) carriers are the heaviest emitters, followed by the container vessels and general cargo vessels. Result for the first and second quarter of 2017 indicates that approximately 16,335 t and 773 t of CO2 were produced and emitted during anchorage and while passing through lock gates movement, respectively. Also, 644 t of CO2 was emitted through maneuvering to the dock movement. Consequently, these three movements account for 85% of the total CO

Facility-Based Treatment of Under Five Diarrhoea in Cross River State: A Clinical Audit

Introduction: Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of under-five mortality globally and ranks second among the top 10 priority child health problems in Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended some cost-effective, evidence- based interventions for diarrhoea case management. It is needful to evaluate the current practice in the treatment of diarrhoea in under-fives in health facilities in the country.Objective: To determine the extent to which current treatment practice for diarrhoea in underfives conforms to the WHO recommendation.Method: A clinical audit was conducted between May and June 2013 in 32 health facilities in the Southern Senatorial district of Cross River State, Nigeria. Trained field workers extracted information from patients’ case records using a validated audit tool. Treatment was checked as appropriate, inappropriate, wrong or none, based on prescription on patients’ case records.Result: Of the 370 case records audited, prescription for diarrhoea was appropriate in 40 (10.8%), inappropriate in 231 (62.4%), wrong in 82 (22.2%) and no prescription was made in 17 (4.6%).Conclusion: Treatment of diarrhoea in under-fives in health facilities in the State is suboptimum. Retraining of health workers on the current WHO and UNICEF treatment guidelines is highly recommended.Keywords: Diarrhoea, Underfives, Health Facilities, Prescription, Clinical Audi

Assessing the consistency assumptions underlying network meta-regression using aggregate data

When numerous treatments exist for a disease (treatments 1, 2, 3 etc.), network meta-regression (NMR) examines whether each relative treatment effect (e.g. mean difference for 2 vs. 1, 3 vs. 1, 3 vs. 2 etc.) differs according to a covariate (e.g. disease severity). Two consistency assumptions underlie NMR: consistency of the treatment effects at the covariate value zero and consistency of the regression coefficients for the treatment by covariate interaction. The NMR results may be unreliable when the assumptions do not hold. Furthermore, interactions may exist but are not found because inconsistency of the coefficients is masking them; for example, when the treatment effect increases as the covariate increases using direct evidence but the effect decreases with the increasing covariate using indirect evidence.We outline existing NMR models that incorporate different types of treatment by covariate interaction. We then introduce models that can be used to assess the consistency assumptions underlying NMR for aggregate data. We extend existing node-splitting models, the unrelated mean effects inconsistency model and the design by treatment inconsistency model to incorporate covariate interactions. We propose models for assessing both consistency assumptions simultaneously and models for assessing each of the assumptions in turn to gain a more thorough understanding of consistency.We apply the methods in a Bayesian framework to trial-level data comparing anti-malarial treatments using the covariate average age, and to four fabricated datasets to demonstrate key scenarios.We discuss the pros and cons of the methods and important considerations when applying models to aggregated data

BIOCHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED MAMMALS, MOLLUSCS AND OSTRACODS FROM THE MIDDLE PLIOCENE TO THE LATE PLEISTOCENE IN ITALY. THE STATE OF THE ART

The Authors have elaborated four range charts of mammalian (large and micro), molluscs and fresh-water and brackish ostracodes faunas, for the selected Plio-Pleistocene fossiliferous localities of the Italy. A new Mammal Age (Aurelian) correlatable to late Middle and Late Pleistocene has been defined. Inside this age two Faunal Units (Torre in Pietra and Vitinia) have been defined as characteristic for Early and Middle Aurelian, while no gisements have been chosen for the late Aurelian. Biochronological units are calibrated on magnetostratigraphic and isotopic scales and by radiometric datings.   &nbsp

BIOCHRONOLOGY OF SELECTED MAMMALS, MOLLUSCS AND OSTRACODS FROM THE MIDDLE PLIOCENE TO THE LATE PLEISTOCENE IN ITALY. THE STATE OF THE ART

The Authors have elaborated four range charts of mammalian (large and micro), molluscs and fresh-water and brackish ostracodes faunas, for the selected Plio-Pleistocene fossiliferous localities of the Italy. A new Mammal Age (Aurelian) correlatable to late Middle and Late Pleistocene has been defined. Inside this age two Faunal Units (Torre in Pietra and Vitinia) have been defined as characteristic for Early and Middle Aurelian, while no gisements have been chosen for the late Aurelian. Biochronological units are calibrated on magnetostratigraphic and isotopic scales and by radiometric datings.   &nbsp

Antimalarial drug prescribing practice in private and public health facilities in South-east Nigeria: a descriptive study

BACKGROUND: Nigeria's national standard has recently moved to artemisinin combination treatments for malaria. As clinicians in the private sector are responsible for attending a large proportion of the population ill with malaria, this study compared prescribing in the private and public sector in one State in Nigeria prior to promoting ACTs. OBJECTIVE: To assess prescribing for uncomplicated malaria in government and private health facilities in Cross River State. METHOD: Audit of 665 patient records at six private and seven government health facilities in 2003. RESULTS: Clinicians in the private sector were less likely to record history or physical examination than those in public facilities, but otherwise practice and prescribing were similar. Overall, 45% of patients had a diagnostic blood slides; 77% were prescribed monotherapy, either chloroquine (30.2%), sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (22.7%) or artemisinin derivatives alone (15.8%). Some 20.8% were prescribed combination therapy; the commonest was chloroquine with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine. A few patients (3.5%) were prescribed sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine-mefloquine in the private sector, and only 3.0% patients were prescribed artemisinin combination treatments. CONCLUSION: Malaria treatments were varied, but there were not large differences between the public and private sector. Very few are following current WHO guidelines. Monotherapy with artemisinin derivatives is relatively common