Niger Delta University

The need to design low-cost adsorbents for the detoxification of industrial effluents has been a growing concern for most environmental researchers. So modelling of experimental data from adsorption processes is a very important means of predicting the mechanisms of various adsorption systems. Therefore, this paper presents an overall review of the applications of adsorption isotherms, the use of linear regression analysis, nonlinear regression analysis, and error functions for optimum adsorption data analysis.

The pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) involves primary and secondary mechanisms of injury. Though both mechanisms are involved in the neurological dysfunction in SCI most research however has focused on understanding the pathophysiology of the secondary damage and reducing the amount of delayed cell loss following SCI. Research has revealed extensive therapeutic windows in secondary injury mechanisms that could be manipulated by appropriate exogenous interventions. In contrast, primary injury to the cord happens unexpectedly, and it is associated with inevitable delays; ranging from several hours to days before care intervention is administered. Therefore, apart from achieving patient's stabilization, the therapeutic window in the primary phase of injury is essentially obliterated, and consequently inaccessible for specialized. Coupled to this, the exacerbating effect of secondary injury mechanisms has generally commenced before the specialist intervention. Hence, knowledge of secondary injury mechanisms and their intricacies are invaluable requisite for any tailored therapeutic strategy in the persistent search for a cure of SCI. There are about 25 well-established secondary injury mechanisms in SCI, and are found in bits or clusters in literature. A vast number of these articles are not open access. Besides, articles with a comprehensive catalog of these mechanisms are not readily available. This article has cataloged over twenty five identified secondary mechanisms of injury in the spinal cord in an open access portal, and is particularly versatile for starters in spinal cord injury research.

In a retrospective review of hospital records of 40 human monkeypox cases from Nigeria, the majority developed fever and self-limiting vesiculopustular skin eruptions. Five deaths were reported. Compared to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative cases, HIV type 1-coinfected cases had more prolonged illness, larger lesions, and higher rates of both secondary bacterial skin infections and genital ulcers.

The global obesity epidemic has necessitated the search for better intervention strategies including the exploitation of the health benefits of some gut microbiota and their metabolic products. Therefore, we examined the gut microbial composition and mechanisms of interaction with the host in relation to homoeostatic energy metabolism and pathophysiology of dysbiosis-induced metabolic inflammation and obesity. We also discussed the eubiotic, health-promoting effects of probiotics and prebiotics as well as epigenetic modifications associated with gut microbial dysbiosis and risk of obesity. High-fat/carbohydrate diet programmes the gut microbiota to one predominated by Firmicutes (Clostridium), Prevotella and Methanobrevibacter but deficient in beneficial genera/species such as Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Akkermansia. Altered gut microbiota is associated with decreased expression of SCFA that maintain intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, reduce bacterial translocation and inflammation and increase expression of hunger-suppressing hormones. Reduced amounts of beneficial micro-organisms also inhibit fasting-induced adipocyte factor expression leading to dyslipidaemia. A low-grade chronic inflammation (metabolic endotoxaemia) ensues which culminates in obesity and its co-morbidities. The synergy of high-fat diet and dysbiotic gut microbiota initiates a recipe that epigenetically programmes the host for increased adiposity and poor glycaemic control. Interestingly, these obesogenic mechanistic pathways that are transmittable from one generation to another can be modulated through the administration of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics. Though the influence of gut microbiota on the risk of obesity and several intervention strategies have been extensively demonstrated in animal models, application in humans still requires further robust investigation.

A complete study of adsorption processes will be less complete if the structure and dynamics of its different elements and how they interact is not well captured. Therefore, the extensive study of adsorption thermodynamics in conjunction with adsorption kinetics is inevitable. Measurable thermodynamic properties such as temperature equilibrium constant and their non-measurable counterparts such as Gibbs free energy change, enthalpy, entropy etc. are very important design variables usually deployed for the evaluation and prediction of the mechanism of adsorption processes.

BACKGROUND: In September 2017, Nigeria experienced a large outbreak of human monkeypox (HMPX). In this study, we report the outbreak experience and response in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Bayelsa state, where the index case and majority of suspected cases were reported. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study between September 25th and 31st December 2017, we reviewed the clinical and laboratory characteristics of all suspected and confirmed cases of HMPX seen at the NDUTH and appraised the plans, activities and challenges of the hospital in response to the outbreak based on documented observations of the hospital's infection control committee (IPC). Monkeypox cases were defined using the interim national guidelines as provided by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). RESULTS: Of 38 suspected cases of HMPX, 18(47.4%) were laboratory confirmed, 3(7.9%) were probable, while 17 (18.4%) did not fit the case definition for HMPX. Majority of the confirmed/probable cases were adults (80.9%) and males (80.9%). There was concomitant chicken pox, syphilis and HIV-1 infections in two confirmed cases and a case of nosocomial infection in one healthcare worker (HCW). The hospital established a make-shift isolation ward for case management, constituted a HMPX response team and provided IPC resources. At the outset, some HCWs were reluctant to participate in the outbreak and others avoided suspected patients. Some patients and their family members experienced stigma and discrimination and there were cases of refusal of isolation. Repeated trainings and collaborative efforts by all stakeholders addressed some of these challenges and eventually led to successful containment of the outbreak. CONCLUSION: While the 2017 outbreak of human monkeypox in Nigeria was contained, our report reveals gaps in outbreak response that could serve as lessons to other hospitals to strengthen epidemic preparedness and response activities in the hospital setting.

In Nigeria, before 2017 the most recent case of human monkeypox had been reported in 1978. By mid-November 2017, a large outbreak caused by the West African clade resulted in 146 suspected cases and 42 laboratory-confirmed cases from 14 states. Although the source is unknown, multiple sources are suspected.

BACKGROUND: The health hazards created by oil exploration and exploitation are covert and slow in action. They are not given the deserved attention in official documents in Nigeria, even as they can be major contributors to the disease burden in oil-bearing communities. This study is an interpretation of the data reported in several published studies on crude oil spills in the Niger delta region, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A manual and Internet search was conducted to extract quantitative data on the quantity of crude oil spilled; the concentrations of the pollutants in surface water, ground water, ambient air and plant and animal tissue; and the direct impact on human health and household food security. RESULTS: An average of 240,000 barrels of crude oil are spilled in the Niger delta every year, mainly due to unknown causes (31.85%), third party activity (20.74%), and mechanical failure (17.04%). The spills contaminated the surface water, ground water, ambient air, and crops with hydrocarbons, including known carcinogens like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and benxo (a) pyrene, naturally occurring radioactive materials, and trace metals that were further bioaccumulated in some food crops. The oil spills could lead to a 60% reduction in household food security and were capable of reducing the ascorbic acid content of vegetables by as much as 36% and the crude protein content of cassava by 40%. These could result in a 24% increase in the prevalence of childhood malnutrition. Animal studies indicate that contact with Nigerian crude oil could be hemotoxic and hepatotoxic, and could cause infertility and cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The oil spills in the Niger delta region have acute and long-term effects on human health. Material relief and immediate and long-term medical care are recommended, irrespective of the cause of the spill, to ensure that the potential health effects of exposures to the spills are properly addressed.

The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants.

BACKGROUND: Transfusion-transmissible infectious agents such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis are among the greatest threats to blood safety for transfusion recipients and pose a serious public health problem. This cross-sectional study was undertaken with the aim of determining the seroprevalence of HIV, HCV, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and syphilis and correlates the findings with sex and age to ascertain the associations, if any, in the occurrence of the pathogens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HBsAg, antibodies to Treponema pallidum and HCV were determined using Clinotech test strips. Antibodies to HIV types 1 and 2 were screened with Determine and Immunocomb. All the reactive samples were confirmed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Antibodies to Treponema pallidum were confirmed with a Treponema pallidum haemagglutination test. RESULTS: A total of 1,410 apparently healthy prospective blood donors aged between 18 and 64 years (mean+/-SD, 32.58 +/- 10.24 years) who presented for blood donation at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital Blood Bank, Osogbo were studied. The male:female ratio was 6:1. Of the prospective blood donors, 406 (28.8%) had serological evidence of infection with at least one infectious marker and 36 (2.6%) had dual infections. The overall seroprevalence of HBsAg, HIV, HCV and syphilis was found to be 18.6%, 3.1%, 6.0% and 1.1%, respectively. The highest prevalences of HBsAg, HIV, HCV and syphilis infections occurred among commercial blood donors and those aged 18 to 47 years old, the most sexually active age group. There were no significant associations between pathogens except for syphilis and HIV (p > 0.001). CONCLUSION: The high seroprevalence of blood-borne pathogens among prospective blood donors in Osogbo, Nigeria calls for mandatory routine screening of blood donors for HBV, HIV, HCV and syphilis.

Investment in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences that have been generated and used to track the pandemic on the continent, a number that now exceeds 100,000 genomes. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries that are able to sequence domestically and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround times and more-regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and illuminate the distinct dispersal dynamics of variants of concern-particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron-on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve while the continent faces many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.

Beverages are consumed in Nigeria irrespective of age, sex, and socioeconomic status. Beverages may be alcoholic (wine, spirits, and beers) or non-alcoholic (soft drink, energy drinks, candies, chocolates, milks). Notwithstanding, most beverages are packed in cans, bottles, and plastics. This paper reviews the concentration of heavy metals from some commercially-packaged beverages consumed in Nigeria. The study found that heavy metal concentrations, including iron, mercury, tin, antimony, cadmium, zinc, copper, chromium, lead, and manganese, seldom exceed the maximum contaminant level recommended by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as applicable to drinking water resources. The occurrence of heavy metals in the beverages could have resulted from the feedstocks and water used in their production. Consumption of beverages high in heavy metal could be toxic and cause adverse effect to human health, depending on the rate of exposure and accumulation dosage. This study concludes by suggesting that heavy metal concentration in the feedstocks and water should be monitored by producers, and its concentration in beverages should also be monitored by appropriate regulatory agencies.

The adsorption properties of layered double hydroxide (Mg/Al-CO3) for the removal of Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous solution were studied. The layered double hydroxide was synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopic (EDX). The effects of various experimental parameters such as contact time, dye concentrations and temperature variation were investigated. The results show that the amount of Congo Red adsorbed increases with increase in temperature but decreases with increase in initial dye concentration and contact time. The data were also fitted to several kinetic models: zero-order kinetic model, first-order kinetic model, second-order kinetic model, pseudo-second-order kinetic model and third-order kinetic model respectively. The adsorption process was best defined by zero-order-kinetic model (R2 = 1). Langmuir, Freundich, Temkin and Dubinin-kaganer-Radushkevich (DPK) adsorption isotherm models were applied to analyze adsorption data with Temkin isotherm being the most applicable to the adsorption process. Thermodynamic parameters e.g. △Go, △So, △Ho and △Hx of the adsorption process were found to be endothermic, spontaneous and feasible.

The paper discussed Issues, Challenges and Prospects of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Port-HarcourtCity, Nigeria. This was informed by the high rate of unemployment in the society and the poor performance of SMEs in employment generation. While the research questions addressed the extent to which poor financing, inadequate social infrastructures, lack of managerial skills and multiple taxation constitute major challenges in the performance of SMEs between October 2012 and November 2013, it assumes that government intervention through the provision of financial assistance, social infrastructures and favorable taxation policies will reverse the trend. The paper adopted a descriptive research design using 120 randomly selected registered operators of SMEs in Port-Harcourt City. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics while formulated hypotheses were tested using z-test. Results from the data analysis indicated that poor financing, inadequate social infrastructures, lack of managerial skills and multiple taxation were major challenges confronting SMEs in Port-Harcourt City, thus recommended:provision of soft loans to SMEs operators, government guaranteeing of long-term loans to SMEs operators, establishment of SMEs funding agency, public/private sector partnership in infrastructural provision, capacity building for SMEs operators and provision of tax incentives for SMEs operators.

There is a need to accurately design pipelines to meet the expected increase in the construction of carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines after the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement. CO2 pipelines are usually designed with the assumption of a pure CO2 fluid, even though it usually contains impurities, which affect the critical pressure, critical temperature, phase behaviour, and pressure and temperature changes in the pipeline. The design of CO2 pipelines and the calculation of process parameters and fluid properties is not quite accurate with the assumption of pure CO2 fluids. This paper reviews the design of rich CO2 pipelines including pipeline route selection, length and right of way, fluid flow rates and velocities, need for single point-to-point or trunk pipelines, pipeline operating pressures and temperatures, pipeline wall thickness, fluid stream composition, fluid phases, and pipeline diameter and pressure drop calculations. The performance of a hypothetical pipeline was simulated using gPROMS (ver. 4.2.0) and Aspen HYSYS (ver.10.1) and the results of both software were compared to validate equations. Pressure loss due to fluid acceleration was ignored in the development of the diameter/pressure drop equations. Work is ongoing to incorporate fluid acceleration effect and the effects of impurities to improve the current models.

BACKGROUND: Standard precautions are recommended to prevent transmission of infection in hospitals. However, their implementation is dependent on the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers (HCW). This study describes the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of standard precautions of infection control among HCW of two tertiary hospitals in Nigeria is described. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in 2011/2012 among HCW in two tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. Data was collected via a structured self-administered questionnaire assessing core elements of KAP of standard precautions. Percentage KAP scores were calculated and professional differences in median percentage KAP scores were ascertained. RESULTS: A total of 290 HCW participated in the study (76% response rate), including 111 (38.3%) doctors, 147 (50.7%) nurses and 32 (11%) laboratory scientists. Overall median knowledge and attitude scores toward standard precautions were above 90%, but median practice score was 50.8%. The majority of the HCW had poor knowledge of injection safety and complained of inadequate resources to practise standard precautions. House officers, laboratory scientists and junior cadres of nurses had lower knowledge and compliance with standard precautions than more experienced doctors and nurses. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest generally poor compliance with standard precautions of infection control among HCW in Nigeria. Policies that foster training of HCW in standard precautions and guarantee regular provision of infection control and prevention resources in health facilities are required in Nigeria.

Nearly 2 billion people globally have no access to essential medicines. This means essential medicines are unavailable, unaffordable, inaccessible, unacceptable or of low quality for more than a quarter of the population worldwide. This supplement demonstrates the implications of poor medicine access and highlights recent innovations to improve access to essential medicines by presenting new research findings from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These studies answer key questions such as: Can performance-based financing improve availability of essential medicines? How affordable are cardiovascular treatments for children? Which countries' legal frameworks promote universal access to medicines? How appropriately are people using medicines? Do poor-quality medicines impact equity? Answers to these questions are important as essential medicines are vital to the Sustainable Development Goals and are central to the goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage. Access to affordable, quality-assured essential medicines is crucial to reducing the financial burden of care, preventing greater pain and suffering, shortening the duration of illness, and averting needless disabilities and deaths worldwide. This supplement was organized by the Medicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group of Health Systems Global, a membership organization dedicated to promoting health systems research and knowledge translation. The five studies in the supplement further our understanding by showcasing recent successes and challenges of improving access to quality-assured medicines through health systems in LMICs.

Cronbach's alpha (CA) presents significant potential in environmental health assessment.This metric plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliability of measurement instruments, guaranteeing that they consistently capture the intended constructs across various situations and over time.This review centres on exploring the capabilities of measures of internal consistency, particularly CA, in the context of environmental health assessment.The findings underscore the indispensability of CA in environmental health, especially in situations involving high-stakes decisions.This emphasizes the importance of assessment tools, reinforcing their reliability and validity.In environmental health studies, CA emerges as highly promising, particularly in the evaluation of pollution using indices.Its indication of strong internal consistency significantly contributes to the construct validity of environmental health assessment tools.Furthermore, the use of CA ensures data reliability, informs sound decision-making, and enhances the overall effectiveness of research in this vital field.Therefore, its adoption and application in tools commonly employed for assessing environmental and human health risks related to toxicants are deemed necessary for ensuring the robustness of the assessment process.Enhancing these processes involves incorporating factor analysis and considering sample size.However, caution should be exercised to avoid drawbacks, such as the assumption of unidimensionality.

As a resource, allogenic blood has never been more in demand than it is today. Escalating elective surgery, shortages arising from a fall in supply, a lack of national blood transfusion services, policies, appropriate infrastructure, trained personnel, and financial resources to support the running of a voluntary nonremunerated donor transfusion service, and old and emerging threats of transfusion-transmitted infection, have all conspired to ensure that allogenic blood remains very much a vital but limited asset to healthcare delivery particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is further aggravated by the predominance of family replacement and commercially remunerated blood donors, rather than regular benevolent, nonremunerated donors who give blood out of altruism. The demand for blood transfusion is high in Sub-Saharan Africa because of the high prevalence of anemia especially due to malaria and pregnancy-related complications. All stakeholders in blood transfusion have a significant challenge to apply the best available evidenced-based medical practices to the world-class management of this precious product in a bid to using blood more appropriately. Physicians in Sub-Saharan Africa must always keep in mind that the first and foremost strategy to avoid transfusion of allogenic blood is their thorough understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in anemia and coagulopathy, and their thoughtful adherence to the evidenced-based good practices used in the developed world in a bid to potentially reduce the likelihood of allogenic blood transfusion in many patient groups. There is an urgent need to develop innovative ways to recruit and retain voluntary low-risk blood donors. Concerns about adverse effects of allogenic blood transfusion should prompt a review of transfusion practices and justify the need to search for transfusion alternatives to decrease or avoid the use of allogenic blood. These strategies should include the correction of anemia using pharmacological measures (use of antifibrinolytics to prevent bleeding and the use of erythropoietin and oral and intravenous iron to treat anemia) use of nonpharmacologic measures (preoperative autologous blood transfusion, perioperative red blood cell salvage and normothermia to reduce blood loss in surgical patients). All these strategies will help optimize the use of the limited blood stocks.

A b s t r a c t. Experiments were carried out to determine the moisture-dependent physical properties of soybeans as useful parameters in the designing of equipment for processing, transportation, sorting and separating soybeans. The physical properties of soybeans were determined at 9.5 to 49.7% (d.b.) moisture content. The grain dimensions as well as a thousand grain mass increased with increase in moisture content whereas bulk density, true density, porosity and sphericity decreased. The static angle of repose increased linearly from 30 to 51°. Also static coefficient of friction increased from 0.220 to 0.300 and 0.330 to 0.420 for glass and plywood surface with the increase of water content. K e y w o r d s: soybean, physical properties, moisture content