Heavy Metals Source Apportionment and Human Health Risk Assessment of Contaminated Soils of Zamfara State, Nigeria

Progressive illegal artisanal mining activities threaten public health without functional law enforcement on pollution control and proper management practices. This is not an exception of Zamfara State, Nigeria, where a large portion of the populace participates in artisanal mining. The study was conducted to assess the level of health risk associated with heavy metals contaminated soils of Zamfara state, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected from five mining locations (Abare, Bagega, Dareta, Sunke, and Tungar Kudaku) and Anka-town (control site) with no record of mining activities. In each place, bulked soil samples were collected from three sites (mining site, processing site, and village), and the concentration of six heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Ni) in all the samples were analyzed. The result of the principal component analysis and correlation analysis revealed that Pb, Zn, Cr, and Ni originated from the same source, i.e., anthropogenic/mining activities. While Fe and Cd originated from the geogenic processes because of their high abundance in the soil of the study area, as Anka-town (control site) also recorded high concentrations of Fe and Cd. Health risk assessments were carried out in two groups of population (adult and children) through three exposure pathways (i.e., ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation). The results showed that ingestion dominated dermal contact and inhalation pathways, and Fe is the riskiest metal while Cd and Ni have the lowest risk of exposure for daily intakes. The non-cancer hazard quotient (HQ) values were all recorded below 1. For the total hazard index (THI), all the adult's exposure pathways were negligible, while for children, only Bagega has ingestion of heavy metals exceeding one (1.10), indicating that non-cancer health risks for children exist. The other four mining locations, Abare, Sunke, Tunga, and Dareta, have values approaching one (i.e., 0.71, 0.60, 0.50, and 0.74, respectively). While for Anka town, which is the control site, it has a value far less than one (0.16). These indicate that all the study locations have the potential for children's health risk through ingesting food produced from contaminated soils. Therefore, there is an urgent need to apply remediation measures immediately to combat complications raised due to heavy metal contaminations

KNOWLEDGE SHARING PRACTICES WITHIN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN DEFENSE ACADEMY (NDA) LIBRARY

The paper investigates the ‘Knowledge sharing practices within academic libraries with specific reference to the Nigerian Defence Academy library. It has been observed that knowledge sharing in academic libraries is very paramount to the survival of the library. there are limitations in KS practices at the Nigerian Defence Academy library. The objectives of the study are; to investigate what the current knowledge sharing tools and practices are in library’, to identify to what extent the staff at the NDA library utilizes knowledge sharing tools, to identify the strengths and limitations in knowledge sharing practices etc. The research questions are; Does the library have a system in place that retains knowledge from experienced staff who either left or retired? Does the library have satisfactory ICT that can allow for capturing and storing explicit knowledge and subsequently allow it to be accessed by librarian (e.g database, repositories)? Do you feel that amongst colleagues there is hoarding of knowledge. The population of the study comprises of five (5) professional librarian in NDA Library. The instrument used for collecting data was questionnaire

HIV and Tuberculosis Trends in the United States and Select Sub-Saharan Africa Countries

Tuberculosis (TB) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are two catastrophic diseases affecting millions of people worldwide every year; and are considered to be pandemic by the World Health Organization. This study aims to compare the recent trends in TB and HIV in the United States and Sub-Saharan African Countries. Data (incidence, prevalence and death rates of HIV and TB) for the United States, Cameroon, Nigeria, and South Africa were collected from The Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), US Census Bureau and World Health Organization (WHO) databases and analyzed using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS v 9.1). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the variables of interest between the countries and across time. Results showed that percent rates of TB cases, TB deaths, HIV cases and HIV deaths were significantly different (P < 0.001) among these countries from 1993 to 2006. South Africa had the highest rates of HIV and TB; while US had the lowest rates of both diseases. Tuberculosis and HIV rates for Cameroon and Nigeria were significantly higher when compared to the United States, but were significantly lower when compared to South Africa (P < 0.001). There were significant differences (P < 0.001) in the prevalence of TB and HIV between the United States and the Sub-Saharan African countries, as well as differences within the Sub-Saharan African countries from 1993 to 2006. More analysis needs to be carried out in order to determine the prevalence and incidence of HIV and TB among multiple variables like gender, race, sexual orientation and age to get a comprehensive picture of the trends of HIV and TB

Data Security Using Steganography

Steganography is a fascinating topic that is unique from the everyday cryptography and system administration that most of us deal with. Steganography is a type of code that can be used to communicate covertly. We looked into steganography's theoretical and practical limitations. We used the LSB methodology to print out the picture steganography system enhancement to provide a secure communication method. This steganography computer software shows how to use any text format to hide any type of information. The capacity of this application to support any type of text is its crowning achievement. Since prehistoric times, man has yearned for the capacity to converse in a private manner. Steganography isn't just for military or espionage objectives, as evidenced by the recent boom in research into watermarking to safeguard intellectual property. Steganography, like cryptography, will become more important in the future for safe communication in the "digital world"

Determination of Heavy Metal Residues in Slaughtered Camels at Sokoto and Gusau Modern Abattoirs, Nigeria

Background. Heavy metals can pose health risks to both animals and humans. Objectives. To determine the concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) in samples taken from the kidney, liver, muscle, hide, and blood of camels slaughtered at both Sokoto and Gusau modern abattoirs. Methods. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cr in tissues and organs of camels slaughtered at both Sokoto and Gusau modern abattoirs were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. A total of 120 samples were collected. Results. All the samples collected tested positive for Pb, Cd and Cr. The overall mean concentrations of Pb, Cd and Cr in tissues and organs of slaughtered camels at Sokoto modern abattoir ranged from 0.11 mg/kg to 0.35 mg/kg, 0.05 to 0.8 mg/kg and 0.41 to 0.59 mg/kg, respectively, while at Gusau modern abattoir, the overall mean concentrations of Pb, Cd and Cr ranged from 0.20 mg/kg to 1.17 mg/kg, 0.01 to 0.14 mg/kg and 0.13 to 0.51 mg/kg, respectively. Discussion. The concentration of Pb in the tissues and organs of camels slaughtered at Gusau modern abattoir was high compared to in camels slaughtered at Sokoto modern abattoir, while the concentrations of Cd and Cr in the tissues and organs of camels slaughtered at Sokoto modern abattoir were high compared to those in tissues and organs of camels slaughtered at Gusau modern abattoir. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the concentration of Pb, Cd, and Cr in samples taken from the kidney, liver, muscle, hide, and blood of slaughtered camels at both Sokoto and Gusau. Conclusions. Camels slaughtered at both Sokoto and Gusau modern abattoirs were exposed to Pb, Cd, and Cr. The tissues and organs of camels slaughtered at both Sokoto and Gusau contain Pb, Cd, and Cr. Prolonged exposure through consumption of these tissues and organs should be avoided. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests

Management and Outcomes Following Surgery for Gastrointestinal Typhoid: An International, Prospective, Multicentre Cohort Study

Background: Gastrointestinal perforation is the most serious complication of typhoid fever, with a high disease burden in low-income countries. Reliable, prospective, contemporary surgical outcome data are scarce in these settings. This study aimed to investigate surgical outcomes following surgery for intestinal typhoid. Methods: Two multicentre, international prospective cohort studies of consecutive patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal typhoid perforation were conducted. Outcomes were measured at 30 days and included mortality, surgical site infection, organ space infection and reintervention rate. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to adjust for clinically plausible explanatory variables. Effect estimates are expressed as odds ratios (ORs) alongside their corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 88 patients across the GlobalSurg 1 and GlobalSurg 2 studies were included, from 11 countries. Children comprised 38.6% (34/88) of included patients. Most patients (87/88) had intestinal perforation. The 30-day mortality rate was 9.1% (8/88), which was higher in children (14.7 vs. 5.6%). Surgical site infection was common, at 67.0% (59/88). Organ site infection was common, with 10.2% of patients affected. An ASA grade of III and above was a strong predictor of 30-day post-operative mortality, at the univariable level and following adjustment for explanatory variables (OR 15.82, 95% CI 1.53–163.57, p = 0.021). Conclusions: With high mortality and complication rates, outcomes from surgery for intestinal typhoid remain poor. Future studies in this area should focus on sustainable interventions which can reduce perioperative morbidity. At a policy level, improving these outcomes will require both surgical and public health system advances

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially