Abdominal Pregnancy in Usmanu Dan-Fodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto: A 10-year Review

Background: Abdominal pregnancy, a rare condition with high maternal mortality (up to 50%), and even higher perinatal mortality (40 – 95%), is often associated with diagnostic difficulties.Objectives: To determine the mode of presentation and management of abdominal pregnancy, from cases in the Usmanu Dan-Fodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of the case records of all abdominal pregnancies managed in UDUTH, Sokoto, between January 2000 and December 2010. Results: During the 10-year study period, there were eight cases of abdominal pregnancies, 285 extrauterine pregnancies, and 25,506 total deliveries. All the patients were not booked for antenatal care and their ages ranged between 20 and 39 years (mean=28.1±3.4 years). The majority (88%) were grand multipara. The main presenting symptoms were persistent abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, and prolonged pregnancy. Seven cases (87.5%) were diagnosed accurately by an ultrasound scan. There were seven perinatal deaths (87.5%) and one live birth. There was one maternal death (12.5%), which occurred in the patient whose placenta was left in-situ.Conclusion: Presence of persistent lower abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, and prolonged pregnancy should raise the suspicion of abdominal pregnancy. Removal of the placenta, where feasible, improves the outcome of maternal health.Keywords: Ectopic pregnancy, Africa, diagnostic difficulties, maternal mortalit

Assessment of Indigenous Knowledge Practices for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria

The study Investigated Indigenous Knowledge Practices for sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Data were collected using structural questionnaire administered to 120 respondent randomly selected using the simple random sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive tools such as frequencies counts, and percentages. Findings revealed that majority of the  rural dwellers are farmers and literates and have vast knowledge of indigenous practices. There was an extensive use of indigenous knowledge in the area such as mulching, use of organic manure, sun drying, roasting and frying food, use of sacks, mixture of red pepper and placing under fire. The study further revealed that the major constraint to the use of IK as perceived by the respondents are lack of  documentation, time demanding and poor recognition. The study recommended among others that ICTs  such as computer, internet and libraries be used to make indigenous knowledge accessible  and incentives to the rural dwellers to reduce the cost they incurred in using indigenous agriculture and food security practices. Keywords; Food security, agriculture, indigenous knowledge, sustainability, developmen

Evaluating The Perception of Climate Change Among Secondary School Science Teachers for Knowledge-Based Sustainable Development

There appears to be lack of knowledge about the cause and effect of climate change amongst the secondary school students. This asks for evaluation of their source of knowledge in schools through the assessment of their teachers’ knowledge and/or perception about climatic change. The survey research design was adopted and the perception of the secondary school science teachers’ (SSSTs) evaluated using questionnaire. The results showed that SSSTs perception of human activities associated with climate change and the effects of human activities associated with climate is moderate. This was very clear when the grand mean responses of the teachers were found to be 2.81 and 2.61 respectively. The student t-test statistics used at P>0.05 confirmed that there is no significant difference between the perception of urban and rural SSSTs on their perception of climate change. At P>0.05, there is significant difference between experienced and less experienced SSSTs on their perception of climate change.  The research concludes that there is knowledge gap in our secondary school educational system concerning climate change. Therefore, it recommends capacity building in science-teaching education curriculum for knowledge-based sustainable development. Keywords: Curriculum, Global warming, Environmental Education, Greenhouse gases, Deforestation DOI: 10.7176/CER/13-5-03 Publication date:August 31st 2021

Modelling Stability in the Demand for Sea Transport in Nigeria’s Freight Market: A Cointegration Analysis

Using time series data on seaborne trade, government public expenditure and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), we investigated the existence of long run equilibrium relationship among these variables in Nigeria’s shipping market. The object was to determine stability in demand for shipping services while relying on the assumption that volume of seaborne trade is a proxy for sea transport demand. We subjected these time series variables to unit roots tests and found they were not stationary at level but at first difference i.e. they are integrated of the order I(1). However, to assess the underlying relationship between the variables, seaborne trade was separately regressed against government expenditure and GDP. Analysis of the regression residuals confirms the existence of cointegrating relationship between seaborne trade and GDP. Much against our a priori expectation, it was also found that no such relationship exists between seaborne trade and government expenditure. In addition, Granger causality tests also showed that seaborne trade ‘granger cause’ GDP and not vice versa. Thus, the empirical evidence from our study indicates that GDP stabilizing policies are a pre-condition to maintaining stability in the freight market for shipping services in Nigeria. Keywords: shipping demand, freight market, seaborne trade, stability, cointegration.

Human factors analysis and classification system for the oil and gas industry (HFACS-OGI)

The oil and gas industry has been beset with several catastrophic accidents, most of which have been attributed to organisational and operational human factor errors. The current HFACS developed for the aviation industry, cannot be used to simultaneously analyse regulatory deficiencies and emerging violation issues, such as sabotage in the oil and gas industry. This paper presents an attempt to improve the existing HFACS investigation tool and proposes a novel HFACS named the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System for the Oil and Gas Industry (HFACS-OGI). Results found the HFACS-OGI system to be suitable for categorising accidents, following the analysis of 11 accident reports from the US Chemical Safety Board (US CSB). The HFACS-OGI system moreover revealed some significant relationships between the different categories. Furthermore, the results indicated that failures in national and international industry regulatory standards would automatically create the preconditions for accidents to occur

Chronic subdural haematoma:Clinical presentation, surgical treatment and outcome at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Background Chronic subdural haematoma (CSDH) is a relatively common problem in neurosurgical practice worldwide with favourable prognosis when treated adequately. The incidence is about five per 100,000 per year in general population. Incidence is higher in the elderly, about 58 per  100,000 per year. Diagnosis of CSDH is still frequently missed or delayed in our environment with many patients often admitted and managed for various medical conditions before finally being referred for brain computerized tomographic scan.Objective To determine the surgical outcome of patients treated for chronic subdural Haematoma in our environment.Methods A surgical audit of 73 patients consecutively treated for CSDH at our institution between May 2005 and September 2010 to determine their demographic characteristics, clinical presentations and management outcome.Results Majority of the patients were between 61 - 70 years. Sixty four percent of the patients had history of trauma; Only 2 patients were on anticoagulant therapy prior to presentation. The diagnosis was delayed or initially missed in 50% of the patients. Burrhole evacuation under general anaesthesia was the commonest operative procedure (96%). Five patients developed post operative complications; outcome was favourable in the majority (91.3%) of patients with a recurrence rate of 12.5% and mortality rate of 6.3%. Conclusion Despite frequent delay in diagnosis and  institution of treatment, surgical outcome is favourable in the majority of patients with CSDH many of whom are elderly

Steady State Analysis Of Single Phase IPM Motors By D-Q Harmonic Balance Method

A concise steady-state analysis of a single-phase line-start permanent magnet (SPLSPM) machine is conducted from a developed d-q model using the d-q harmonic balance technique. The d-q model was developed in rotor reference frame from a phase variable model of the machine. SPLSPM whose performance indices were characterized by high torque ripples has detailed analysis docile mostly in computer simulations quite unlike the three-phase types. The main cause is not far-fetched, it was due to nonexistence of precise mathematical model in d-q rotor frame of the motor due to the unbalanced field winding, the rotor saliency and the presence of the capacitor in the auxiliary windings. Even after model has been developed, the simple traditional procedure of setting all time varying component to zero for steady-state analysis fails because the rotor position dependence on the inductance expressions could not be eliminated. The d-q harmonic-balance technique was then applied. An important feature of the harmonic balance technique was that it decoupled all equations to simple sine waveforms in a style that resembled Fourier series. Results yield torque pulsation, current and load characteristics in the steady state

Assessment of the Implications of Coal Post-mining Impact on Surface Water at Abandoned Okpara mine in Enugu State

This study examines the coal post-mining impact on surface water at abandoned Okpara mine in Enugu State. Experimental research design was adopted to test the water quality. The water samples were collected and analysed to determine the level of pollution. Hhypotheses were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the treatment means were separated using Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT). The result of the test of hypothesis one shows that there is no significant difference in the parameters of the water samples within months. For all the parameters, α-significant at P≤0.05 fall within .207 and .995. DMRT shows that with the exception of temperature, that there is significant difference in other parameters of the water samples collected at different stations. For the parameters, alpha (α) is significant at P≤0.05. The result also shows that with the exception of Lead (Pb), that there is significant difference (p≤0.05) in the heavy metals found in the water samples collected at different stations. The total viable count (TVC) of the bacteria Pseudomonas aurogenosa and Bacillus substilis were 9.0×103cfu/ml and 1.2×104cfu/ml for the month of July, while in the month of August it was 9.0×103cfu/ml and 1.3×104cfu/ml respectively. The study concludes that the abandoned coal mine sites contribute to the type of microorganisms found in the water and concentration of heavy metals present in the water samples as well as other physicochemical parameters/indicators of water quality. Keywords: Coal post-mining, Water quality, Microbial load, Pollution, Trace metals DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-4-08 Publication date: April 30th 202