EFFECT OF OILFIELD SULPHATE SCALES ON PRODUCTIVITY INDEX

The precipitation and deposition of scale pose serious injectivity and productivity problems. Several models have been developed for predicting oilfield scales formation and their effect on deliverability of the reservoir to aid in planning appropriate injection water programme. In this study an analytical model has been developed for predicting productivity index of reservoir with incidence of scale deposition in the vicinity of the well bore

Long and Short Run Relationship between Stock Market Development and Economic Growth in Nigeria

We examined the long and short run association subsisting between stock market development(market capitalisation, value of transactions, number of deal and all share index), and Nigerian economicgrowth (RGDP) with quarterly data from 1986 to 2017. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model isapplied for the purpose of estimation. The ARDL bound test result revealed that all the indicators of marketdevelopment exert positive effect on the RGDP in the short run. Further, all the indicators except number ofdeals, have direct and significant relationship with economic growth. Moreover, we find that marketdevelopment causes economic growth. Consequently, we recommend a need for the implementation ofpolicies and procedures capable of enhancing investors’ confidence and boosting market because of theirperceived multiplier impacts on economic growth. Effort should also be focused on the enhancement of stockmarket size which in turn will provide the needed fund for investment and thus resulting in rise in the RGDP

E-Government Adoption and Environmental Bonuses: A Study of Nigeria and United Kingdom

The research work borders on e-government and environmental bonuses in Nigeria and United Kingdom The study examines whether the use of online government services could produce significant savings in the use of papers, filing cabinets, folders and shelves in offices. The study specifically seeks to find out whether there is significant difference in Egovernment adoption on paper usage and pollution reduction between Nigeria and United Kingdom. A survey study research method was adopted where 24 federal ministry activities in Nigeria was compared with that of the United Kingdom with the use of the secondary method of data collection. Levene’s test of equality of variances based on F-value and T-test were used for the data analysis based on statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 15. The result showed a statistical non-significant relationship between e-government adoption in Nigeria and UK. The statistical non-significance could be attributed to nonimplementation of e-government in Nigeria. The research also revealed that there is significant difference in E-government adoption on paper usage and pollution reduction between Nigeria and United Kingdom. This therefore shows that Nigeria requires policies to speed the processes for implementing e-government in its agencies to save paper work, filing cabinets, folders, shelves in offices, boost productivity, make information sharing easier, and generally help the environment. Based on the foregoing, the study recommends that the Nigerian government should increase the use of the internet among its citizens that will later transform into widespread usage of e-government. This process will help the government improve on the revenue generation while at the same time deliver its promises to the electorate while contributing to environmental savings. The contribution of this research to literature and knowledge is that e-government has been able to reduce the environmental impact of papers, save cost, boost productivity, make information sharing easier, and generally help the environment

Convalescent Serum Therapy as Rapid Advance Treatment for Ebola in West Africa

The 2014 public health crisis in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone has brought Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) to everyone’s attention. Discovered in 1976, this deadly disease infrequently struck in remote areas of Africa. This article will critically review the literature and describe the pathobiology, transmission, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of EVDwhich, was predicted by the Centers for Disease Control to potentially infect 1.4 million persons in Liberia and Sierra Leone by January 2015 (“Questions and Answers”, 2014). Thankfully this worst case scenario did not occur and we may be experiencing natural burn out of the outbreak along with the results of aggressive education and supportive treatment as in Sierra Leone. There is no established treatment for EVD despite successes in non-human models. The WHO endorsed Convalescent Blood Products (“Potential for use of…,” 2014) after it showed promise in Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2014, American Ebola patients recovered after receiving Convalescent Serum Therapy (CST) with experimental therapies like Zmapp, TKM-Ebola, and Brincidofovir. We may have missed the window of opportunity to establish the efficacy of these potential therapies, which may have unprecedented implications for health status, healthcare infrastructure development in the future, and the economic viability of the sub-region for decades to come. Additionally, an endemic area will pose a threat to the rest of the world as a potential incubator/exporter of this dangerous viral illness

Finite Element Modelling of Electrokinetic Deposition of Zinc on Mild Steel with ZnO-Citrus sinensis as Nano-Additive

The electrokinetic deposition of zinc on mild steel substrate under the influence of ZnO-Citrus sinensis nano-additive was investigated numerically using a Finite Element (FE) solver. The conductivity of the Acid chloride plus ZnOCitrus sinensis nano-additive electrolyte and the properties of Zinc and mild steel electrodes were used as the input codes for the model. The model was designed on a 3-dimensional scale. The boundary conditions were set and the model was meshed using the finer mesh capability in the FE solver. The model was processed and readings of the modelled zinc deposited mild steel were taken, validated and analysed so as to get the optimum parameters from the deposition process. Based on the results, the deposition mass and thickness increased with deposition time with ZnO-Citrus sinensis nano-additive, it is thus recommended that relatively high deposition time should be used in order to achieve optimum deposition

dtorsin, the Drosophila Ortholog of the Early-Onset Dystonia TOR1A (DYT1), Plays a Novel Role in Dopamine Metabolism

Dystonia represents the third most common movement disorder in humans. At least 15 genetic loci (DYT1-15) have been identified and some of these genes have been cloned. TOR1A (formally DYT1), the gene responsible for the most common primary hereditary dystonia, encodes torsinA, an AAA ATPase family protein. However, the function of torsinA has yet to be fully understood. Here, we have generated and characterized a complete loss-of-function mutant for dtorsin, the only Drosophila ortholog of TOR1A. Null mutation of the X-linked dtorsin was semi-lethal with most male flies dying by the pre-pupal stage and the few surviving adults being sterile and slow moving, with reduced cuticle pigmentation and thin, short bristles. Third instar male larvae exhibited locomotion defects that were rescued by feeding dopamine. Moreover, biochemical analysis revealed that the brains of third instar larvae and adults heterozygous for the loss-of-function dtorsin mutation had significantly reduced dopamine levels. The dtorsin mutant showed a very strong genetic interaction with Pu (Punch: GTP cyclohydrolase), the ortholog of the human gene underlying DYT14 dystonia. Biochemical analyses revealed a severe reduction of GTP cyclohydrolase protein and activity, suggesting that dtorsin plays a novel role in dopamine metabolism as a positive-regulator of GTP cyclohydrolase protein. This dtorsin mutant line will be valuable for understanding this relationship and potentially other novel torsin functions that could play a role in human dystonia

Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Studies of Crateva adansonii Leaf Extract

Diverse challenges of microbial infections and upsurge of multi-drug resistant microbes informed the investigation into the phytochemical and antibacterial properties of Crateva adansonii. Cold extraction was carried out using methanol solvent. The crude extract of Crateva adansonii was fractionated into the n-hexane, methanol and chloroform layers successively. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids and cardiac glycosides. The antimicrobial assay showed that, for Bacillus spp, the organism was sensitive to the chloroform fraction of leaf extract at 1.562 mg/ml. For Microccocus varians, result showed organism was sensitive to the crude extract at 3.125 mg/ml. According to the result of antifungal screening, the n-hexane fraction and crude extract showed activity against Aspergillus niger at 12.500 mg/ml and 3.125 mg/ml respectively. From these results, the crude extract of the leaf of Crateva adansonii shows activity against both bacteria and Fungi; hence, it may might be a good source of new drug for treating infections caused by these pathogen

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of ZnO-Citrus sinensis Nano-additive on the Electrokinetic Deposition of Zinc on Mild Steel in Acid Chloride

This work investigated the effect of ZnO-Citrus sinensis nano-additive on the electrokinetic deposition of Zinc on mild steel in acid chloride. Fifty-four plates of (100 × 10 × 3) mm3 mild steel samples were cut, cleaned with dilute H2SO4 solution, rinsed in water and dried. The nano-additive was produced by infusing 30 ml Orange Juice extract in Zinc Oxide solution. The acid chloride electrolyte consisting of 71 g ZnCl, 207 g KCl and 35 g H3BO3 in 1 l of distilled water was divided into six portions. The nano-additive with different molar concentrations 0(0.2)1.0 was added to each portion of the acid chloride. Nine plates of mild steel samples were electroplated with zinc as the anode in each of the six prepared electrolyte solution and plated at different times (three plates each at 10, 15 and 20 min). The effects of electroplating on the average weights were measured and the results from the experiment showed the optimal nano-additive concentration and electroplating time