Formulation and Environmental Impact Evaluation of Walnut and Soya Bean Oil Based Drilling Fluid

One of the oil and gas hazard that associated with drilling operation is oil based drilling fluid and its associated cutting disposition. It is highly imperative for policy maker to propagate the use of environmental friendly oil based mud for drilling operation. This paper formulated environmentally friendly oil based mud (using walnut and soya bean plant oil) that can carry out the same function as convectional oil based drilling fluid and equally meeting up with the HSE (Health, safety and environment) standard. Mud laboratory tests were carried out at standard condition on plant oil samples so as to ascertain the rheological properties of the drilling fluid formulations. The synthetic oil based was obtained from drilling company in Nigeria and was used as control experiment. At the end of the experiment, the properties of the walnut and soya beans based mud wascompared with industry oil based mud (synthetic oil based mud). All the results were shown to be similar to that of commercial synthetic oil based drilling mud which was gotten from the industry.From the results it can be seen that walnut and soya beans based mud actually gives a less toxic,better rheological properties, requires less waste disposal costs, hence making them more economically and technically viable for oil and gas drilling operation

Techno-economic analysis of storage degradation effect on levelised cost of hybrid energy storage systems

Abstract: The inclusion of storage systems in renewable-based energy systems is a promising option to boost the reliability of power supply for offgrid communities. A major consideration is the cost and performance of the selected storage system. This study investigates different energy storage combinations to form a hybrid energy storage system (HESS). The goal is to exploit the complementary characteristics of each storage system. The effects of system degradation on energy output and replacement costs over a 20-year period are analysed and used in obtaining the Levelised Cost of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (LCOHESS); which can be used as a basis for comparing the techno-economic benefits of different HESS configurations. The model is run with data for a community in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, to show the best HESS option that could be deployed by rural electrification planners and investors, based on the value of LCOHESS obtained

Politics and Politicking: The Organizational Perspective

The totality of our community, society, the whole world and even the entire universe is an organization. Organizing involves developing a structure of roles for effective performance and it requires a network of decision and communication for coordinating efforts towards group and enterprise goals. For effectiveness an organizational structure must be understood and principles and policies must be put into practice through the structural organizational politics. Power and politics are interrelated and interwoven with the fabric of an organization. Politics, power and politicizing are necessary, unavoidable and inevitable. The paper therefore examined the features of organizational structure, sources of power, leadership styles, features and tactics of organizational politics. The paper equally examined the mistakes in organizational setting and way out. It was then concluded that effective managers need to be fully aware of the existence of political tactics, have the required wisdom, knowledge, skill and should learn how best to manage the organizational politics for the efficacy of the organizational setting. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p105

Natural Radionuclides in Natural Spring Water Samples in Ikere – Ekiti Local Government Area, Ekiti State, Nigeria

The presence of  the radionuclides in drinking water poses a number of health hazards.  This study estimated the committed effective doses due the natural radiounuclides via consumption of spring water in the study area. 80 spring water samples were measured using gamma spectrometry.  The annual committed effective doses in Ikere local government , Ekiti State, Nigeria varied from 0.16 mSv/y to 0.22 mSv/y with a mean value of 0.20 ± 0.03 mSv/y.  The calculated annual committed effective dose is  lower than WHO recommended limit of 1.0 mSv/y for public exposure. Due to the consumption of natural spring water there is no radiological health hazards to the public within the study area. Keywords:Radionuclides, Activity concentration, Committed effective dose, Spring water, Drinking wate

Haemodialysis practice in a resource–limited setting in the tropics

Background: Objective: To provide information on the challenges of haemodialysis in a resource limited setting in South-Western Nigeria.Methods: This is a 5 year audit of all haemodialysis sessions carried out at the renal unit of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital  (LAUTECH), Osogbo, Nigeria.Results: A total of 225 patients were offered haemodialysis (HD) during this period with age range of 10 to 85 years (mean age of 49  years±16.25). There were 155 males and 70 females (male to female  ratio of 2.2:1). Chronic kidney failure accounted for 180 (80%) of the cases while acute kidney injury (AKI) constituted 45 (20%) of the cases offered haemodialysis. The sessions of HD in both cases ranged from 1 to 27 with an average of 3 sessions. Hypotension is still the commonest intradialytic complication at our setting while diabetic nephropathy is rapidly emerging as a major cause of end stage renal disease at our setting  requiring HD. As seen in other parts of the tropics sepsis, nephrotoxinsand pregnancy related cases still accounted for a large percentage of AKI cases requiring haemodialysis. Only three patients were able to afford haemodialysis support for more than three months.Conclusion: Haemodialysis still remains a veritable option in renal  replacement therapy. Problems encountered were similar to many other settings in the tropics. Intensive efforts should still be geared at preventing the risk factors for both acute kidney injury and chronickidney disease in our environment.Keywords: Haemodialysis, practice, tropics, Resource limite

Are The Laws for Us or Against Us? Reinventing Environmental Sanitation Laws in Nigeria

Environmental sanitation has been defined as managing any aspects of a man's physical environment that might harm his physical, cognitive, or social health. Indoctrinating good environmental sanitation practices into its citizenry has been and remains a foremost concern for the Nigerian government, with several laws enacted at levels of government to achieve this target. Although there are many of these laws, compliance with environmental sanitation laws remains at its lowest ebb in Nigeria. Nigeria's current environmental sanitation situation reflects that these laws are obeyed more in abeyance, with many viewing compliances as a fool's errand rather than a necessary evil. The method used in this research is descriptive and doctrinal. This paper discusses the issue of environmental sanitation in Nigeria and examines the existing legal system for achieving a cleaner Nigeria. This paper posits that having a clean Nigeria is achievable and asserts that a bottom-up approach to environmental sanitation lawmaking in Nigeria is needed to achieve this goal. A participatory community module for sanitation lawmaking is recommended to ensure that the people understand the importance of these laws by taking ownership of the process rather than depending on the government for its actualization

Common Risk Variants in AHI1 Are Associated With Childhood Steroid Sensitive Nephrotic Syndrome

Introduction: Steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) is the most common form of kidney disease in children worldwide. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have demonstrated the association of SSNS with genetic variation at HLA-DQ/DR and have identified several non-HLA loci that aid in further understanding of disease pathophysiology. We sought to identify additional genetic loci associated with SSNS in children of Sri Lankan and European ancestry. Methods: We conducted a GWAS in a cohort of Sri Lankan individuals comprising 420 pediatric patients with SSNS and 2339 genetic ancestry matched controls obtained from the UK Biobank. We then performed a transethnic meta-analysis with a previously reported European cohort of 422 pediatric patients and 5642 controls. Results: Our GWAS confirmed the previously reported association of SSNS with HLA-DR/DQ (rs9271602, P = 1.12 × 10−27, odds ratio [OR] = 2.75). Transethnic meta-analysis replicated these findings and identified a novel association at AHI1 (rs2746432, P = 2.79 × 10−8, OR = 1.37), which was also replicated in an independent South Asian cohort. AHI1 is implicated in ciliary protein transport and immune dysregulation, with rare variation in this gene contributing to Joubert syndrome type 3. Conclusions: Common variation in AHI1 confers risk of the development of SSNS in both Sri Lankan and European populations. The association with common variation in AHI1 further supports the role of immune dysregulation in the pathogenesis of SSNS and demonstrates that variation across the allele frequency spectrum in a gene can contribute to disparate monogenic and polygenic diseases