Surgical misadventure: A case for thoughtful patient preoperative assessment

Breast abscess is a common problem in women particularly in lactating women in Tropical Africa. Occasionally a chronic breast abscess may mimic carcinoma of the breast. This is a case presentation of a 45-year old woman who presented with a 1year history of progressively increasing right breast swelling associated with enlarged axillary lymph nodes. It was diagnosed breast cancer and patient had a radical mastectomy in a peripheral hospital. Histology of the specimen however revealed a chronic breast abscess with granulation tissue formation,extensive fibrosis of the surrounding breast tissue and nodal hyperplasia. Patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged home. An assessment of the psychological impact of losing a breast in this patient was not possible as patient was lost to follow up. Optimal clinical examination by the surgeon and preoperative cytological diagnosis would ensure that the patient is spared unnecessary mutilating surgery. Nigerian Journal of Surgical Research Vol. 7(1&2) 2005: 214-21

Improving Bearing Capacity of Weak Soils: A Review

Weak soils, such as soft clay and loose sand, have a poor bearing capacity, making them incapable of bearing the load of superstructures that will be imposed on them. As a result, engineers must have a solution to the issue of poor bearing capacity in weak soils before embanking into building on them.   This paper reviewed the use of stone columns, piled rafts, and geogrids for improving the bearing capability of weak soils. Important findings from recent research are also discussed. From the review of the previous researcher’s findings, it was found that modelling approaches such as physical modelling (full scale, centrifuge, laboratory scale) and numerical modelling are used to study bearing capacity improvement

Estimation Of Entrance Skin Dose And Effective Dose In Cervical Spine X-Ray Procedures

The use of ionizing radiation in medical field is the largest and a growing man-made source of radiation exposure. The aim of this study is to estimate the doses received by patients during radiological examinations in order to standardize the examination procedures and optimize the patient dose. Two most referral hospitals, located in the Capital City of Kebbi State, were investigated. The Patients undergoing cervical spine X-ray examinations were involved in this study.  Entrance Skin Dose (ESD) and Effective Dose were calculated using exposure parameters (voltage, tube loading, focus-patient distance). The Cal Dose _X 5.0 software was used to determine ESD and ED. Conversion coefficients were used to relate ESD to the effective dose (ED). A total of 65 radiographic examinations data were collected from the two hospitals during three months of the year 2021 to 2022. The highest ESD (mGy) was found for the lateral cervical view in Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, with an average value of 4.12 mGy. The highest value of ED and DRLs was also observed for the AP projection in FMC with an average of 0.27 mSv and 4.73. The ESDs reported in this study are generally higher than value obtained from the research conducted by the Iran, and Brazil, while ED was remarkably high compared to other studies. This trend is an indication that the patient radiation protection practices in these two hospitals need to be justified. The results of this study showed that there is a need for justification and optimization in order to reduce patient radiation dose without affecting the quality of the radiographic image. The data of this work will be useful in contributing to the formulation of regional guidance levels

Perillyl alcohol and perillic acid enhanced the sensitivity of head and neck cancer cells to radiation treatment in vitro

Limonene and perillyl alcohol are the naturally occurring monoterpenes found commonly in plant fruits and vegetables. Perillyl alcohol (POH) elicited anticarcinogenic effects in a number of cancer models and pharmacokinetic studies in humans revealed that perillic acid (PA) is the major circulating metabolite following POH administration. Effects of these monoterpenes combined with and without radiation on human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (HNSCC) were measured using cytotoxicity and flow cytometry assays. HNSCC cells were pretreated with 1.0 mM PA or 0.5mM POH for 72 hr before exposure to 1Gy or 2Gy radiation dose. Pretreatment with 1.0mM PA or 0.5mM POH sensitized the cells to radiation, causing growth inhibition in HTB-43 (50% and 71%), SCC-25 (55% and 68%) and BroTo (18% and 53%) cells, respectively. PA induced cell-cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, caused cell death via apoptosis and a reduction in p53 protein in SCC-25 cells

Estimation Of Entrance Skin Dose And Effective Dose In Cervical Spine X-Ray Procedures

The use of ionizing radiation in medical field is the largest and a growing man-made source of radiation exposure. The aim of this study is to estimate the doses received by patients during radiological examinations in order to standardize the examination procedures and optimize the patient dose. Two most referral hospitals, located in the Capital City of Kebbi State, were investigated. The Patients undergoing cervical spine X-ray examinations were involved in this study.  Entrance Skin Dose (ESD) and Effective Dose were calculated using exposure parameters (voltage, tube loading, focus-patient distance). The Cal Dose _X 5.0 software was used to determine ESD and ED. Conversion coefficients were used to relate ESD to the effective dose (ED). A total of 65 radiographic examinations data were collected from the two hospitals during three months of the year 2021 to 2022. The highest ESD (mGy) was found for the lateral cervical view in Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, with an average value of 4.12 mGy. The highest value of ED and DRLs was also observed for the AP projection in FMC with an average of 0.27 mSv and 4.73. The ESDs reported in this study are generally higher than value obtained from the research conducted by the Iran, and Brazil, while ED was remarkably high compared to other studies. This trend is an indication that the patient radiation protection practices in these two hospitals need to be justified. The results of this study showed that there is a need for justification and optimization in order to reduce patient radiation dose without affecting the quality of the radiographic image. The data of this work will be useful in contributing to the formulation of regional guidance levels

Effects of Metal Oxide Nanoparticle Catalysts on the Diameter of Carbon Nanotubes Produced Via Pulsed Laser Ablation Deposition Technique

In this research work, bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) and nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles were synthesized through precipitation method, while iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles were synthesized via citrate pyrolysis. All the as-prepared metal oxide nanoparticles were used as catalysts for the growth of carbon nanotubes via pulsed laser ablation deposition (PLAD) technique. Pellets were first prepared from a mixture of 90 wt% graphite and 10 wt% catalysts in each case, and used as a target. An Nd: YAG laser with wavelength of 532nm and power of 10.24W was used to ablate the target materials, using a frequency of 5 kHz and current of 25A. The target materials were evaporated and transported to the substrate under the influence of argon. The expelled carbon precipitated and diffuses through the metal oxide catalysts and condensed on the substrate as carbon nanotubes. The effect of each of the catalyst on the diameter of the as-grown carbon nanotubes was investigated and the correlation between the type and the particle size of the catalysts and the diameter of the grown CNTs were studied. The results show that, there is a strong correlation between the diameter of the starting catalyst, with the diameter of the resulting carbon nanotubes for both Bi2O3 and Fe2O3, indicating that both catalysts serve as the nucleation point for the CNTs growth. However, the case of NiO shows a significant difference, as the diameter of the as-grown CNTs was eight times bigger than the size of the starting catalyst. This can be attributed to the aggregation of the as-prepared NiO particles to form bigger clusters, consequent to the ablation process. Bamboo-like CNTs were observed for Fe2O3 and NiO, which is attributed to the high cooling rate of the reaction chamber. Further contribution to this structure is the large pulse-to-pulse width of the system (140ns). However CNTs catalyzed by Bi2O3 were defect free tubes which can be attributed to the lower melting point of Bi2O3 compare to other catalysts used, thus forming CNTs at a lower eutectic temperature. From the results, it can be concluded that, for applications that requires a short tube with relatively large diameter Bi2O3 is the best catalyst. For long CNTs with relatively large diameter for encapsulation purposes, NiO is the best catalyst, while Fe2O3 was seen to be the best catalyst for catalyzing CNTs with a narrow diameter

The Influence of Federal Administrative Trends on The Budgetary Processes of Nigeria’s Federal Universities.

The proliferation of university educational demand in Nigeria occurred as a result of the oil boom and the subsequent creation of nineteen states. In 1974, Ibadan and Lagos Universities were the only federal universities; in 1976 seven more universities were created. The sudden increase, from two in 1974 to thirteen federal universities in 1976, necessitated the adoption of the formula funding model, which was perceived as being capable of allocating resources to all similar academic programs in the institutions. The thirteen federal universities were used in the study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the applicability outcome of the model seven years after adoption. The effectiveness and the congruency of the model were tested for significant differences between the National Universities Commission\u27s recommended estimates and those of the individual institutions. The result was significant at the .01 alpha level. Another test for significant differences between the Commission\u27s estimates and the actual allocations resulted in a significant difference at the .01 alpha level. The third measure of effectiveness was the significant difference test between the institutions\u27 estimates and the actual allocations. There was a significant difference at the .01 level. The congruency measure of the formula model was computed by determining the relationships between student headcount enrollments and the three developed budgets (the Commissions\u27, the institutions\u27 and the administrations\u27). A significant positive relationship was found between the student enrollments and the Commission\u27s estimates. For the student enrollments and institutions\u27 estimates, a positive relationship was computed and was significant at the .01 alpha level. The conclusive findings, therefore, were that the formula funding model was not effective because arbitrary budget estimates were developed by the instructors, the National Universities Commissions and the Administrators within the seven years of adoption. The formula budgeting model was however found to be congruent because the direct instructional cost index formed the major portion of all the budget estimates that were developed by the three agencies and within the institutional categories. Significant differences between the level of influence exerted by the military and civilian administrations on the budgeting processes were not found

Study of process intensification for post-combustion carbon capture based on chemical absorption through modelling and simulation

There have been a lot of questions on impact of greenhouse gas on changes in climate conditions regarding expected future dangers if mitigation measures are not put in place. Carbon dioxide emission from power sector is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. As a result, the sector is key target for deploying carbon abatement technologies such as carbon capture. Post-combustion capture (PCC) based on chemical absorption technology is one of the major capture approaches and the most matured of them. However, it is beset by some challenges such as high capital and operating costs due to required large sizes of packed columns and high solvent re-circulating rate. Through process intensification (PI) technology, the columns could be downsized by an order of magnitude without compromising their processing capacity. However, there have been limited studies on the techno-economics of PI-based technologies.In this study, steady state models for standalone intensified absorber and stripper based on rotating packed bed (RPB) technology were developed and validated with experimental data from Newcastle University UK and Tsing Hua University Taiwan respectively. The models were developed in Aspen Plus® and dynamically linked with visual Fortran subroutines. Therefore, this is same as newly developed RPB models (i.e. absorber and stripper). To obtain more insights into the design and operation of standalone intensified absorber, standalone intensified stripper and close loop intensified PCC process, process analysis was carried out. Process analysis in standalone intensified absorber indicates that: (a) CO₂ capture level increases with increase in rotating speed. (b) Higher lean MEA inlet temperature leads to higher CO₂ capture level. (c) Increase in lean MEA concentration results in increase in CO₂ capture level. (d) Temperature bulge is not present in intensified absorber. (e) With fixed RPB equipment size and fixed Lean MEA flow rate, CO₂ capture level decreases with increase in flue gas flow rate. (f) At higher flue gas temperature (from 30°C to 80°C), the CO₂ capture level of the intensified absorber can be maintained. For standalone intensified stripper, the impact of rotor speed on the regeneration efficiency and energy were studied, the impact of reboiler temperature on the rate of CO₂ stripping was established and the impact of rich-MEA flow rate on regeneration energy and efficiency was determined.From comparative assessment of conventional packed bed and RPB, it was found that a volume reduction factor of 12 and 10 times is possible for the absorber and stripper respectively.The two validated models, together with model for heat exchanger were then linked together to form a closed loop intensified PCC process. Steady state model of the closed loop intensified PCC process was then used to perform process analysis on (i) the impact of liquid to gas (L/G) ratio on regeneration energy and CO₂ capture level, (ii) the impact of lean-MEA loading on regeneration energy and capture level (iii) capital and operating cost estimation for intensified PCC process were done, which shows a reduction in an investment cost compared to conventional PCC process.The findings in this study showed that capital and operating costs can be reduced owing to its smaller size compared to conventional PCC process. Also cooling cost for flue gas and inter-cooling in the absorber can be saved since the RPB absorber can be operated at slightly elevated temperature of up to 80°C without compromising the absorber performance and also since higher lean-MEA temperature and/or higher flue gas temperature shows little or no effect on the performance of the RPB. The newly proposed intensified PCC process PFD in the recommendation section of this thesis if successfully implemented can reduce operating and capital costs of PCC process. Finally, these insights can be useful for the design and operation of intensified PCC process

Studies On The Heterogenisation Of Sulphonic Acid And Guanidines On Silica And Their Catalytic Activity

The immobilization of three homogeneous catalysts namely; sulfonic acid, 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl guanidine and 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene guanidine was carried out on silica from rice husk ash. Sodium silicate from the rice husk ash was immobilised with 3-(mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. This was further oxidised to sulfonic acid in a simple one pot method. The solid acid catalyst was denoted as RHAPrSO3H. Analysis of the catalyst by nitrogen adsorption-desorption using Brunauer, Emmet and Teller (BET) method showed its surface area to be 340 m2g-1 with average pore volume of 0.24 cc g-1 and pore diameter of 2.9 nm. Acidity tests by cation exchange capacity and pyridine FT-IR adsorption, revealed the presence of acid sites on the catalyst surface. Similarly, the 29Si MAS NMR of RHAPrSO3H revealed the presence of Q4, Q3, T3, T2 and T1 silicon centres, while only Q4 and Q3 silicon centres were present in RHASiO2. The catalyst was used in the acetalization reaction of glycerol with benzaldehyde. Under the best reaction conditions of 120 °C temperature, 2:1 molar ratio of glycerol: benzaldehyde, 0.15g mass of catalyst and 8 h reaction time, significant conversion was achieved with high selectivity towards five member ring isomer