69 research outputs found
Return for postnatal check: current situation in a Nigerian tertiary health institution
No full textObjective: This study aims to determine the current prevalence of postnatal clinic attendance among parturients who delivered in a Nigerian teaching hospital.Methods: A two year review of obstetric record of women who delivered in the hospital from July 2010 to June 2012 and were scheduled to attend Postnatal Clinic was done. The list was cross checked with the postnatal clinic record to know patients who kept their appointment by attending the clinic. A frequency table was generated and data were analyzed.Results: In the first year, out of 1267 women 264 (20.8%) returned for postnatal clinic. During the second year, 1651 women delivered in the hospital while 759 (46.0%) came back for postnatal clinic. Aggregate prevalence of postnatal clinic attendance among the parturients was 35.1%.Conclusion: Most parturients who had hospital delivery do not return for postnatal clinic in our environment.<br/
Resumption of intercourse after childbirth in southwest Nigeria
No full textOBJECTIVE:To determine the history of resumption of intercourse after childbirth and associated contraceptive practices among women in the southwest region of Nigeria.METHODS:A cohort of 181 women with live births was followed up for 6 months after delivery. Enquiry about the time of first intercourse after childbirth, associated dyspareunia, use of contraception, etc was made during the postnatal clinic visits and/or by telephone contact.RESULTS:Fifty (27.6%) had coitus within six weeks of childbirth, it increased to 115 (63.3%) at three months and 127 (70.2%) by six months post-delivery. Prevalence of dyspareunia was 36.2%. Eighty three (65.4%) of sexually active women practiced contraception which was predominantly use of male condom and withdrawal method. Co-habitation with husband (adjusted OR: 6.30; 95% CI: 2.56-17.01; p = 0.001) and mode of delivery (adjusted OR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.30-4.73; p = 0.006) were strong predictors of commencement of sexual intercourse within six months postpartum. Significantly fewer women who had Caesarean section resumed coitus within six months when compared with those who had vaginal deliveries (59.2% versus 78.4%). Perineal injury did not predict resumption of coitus or experience of dyspareunia.CONCLUSION:In contrast to the norm, more women in southwest Nigeria are resuming coitus soon after childbirth. It is imperative to scale up counselling on postpartum sexuality and contraception within the maternal health services in this region
Return for postnatal check: current situation in a Nigerian tertiary health institution
No full textObjective: This study aims to determine the current prevalence of postnatal clinic attendance among parturients who delivered in a Nigerian teaching hospital.Methods: A two year review of obstetric record of women who delivered in the hospital from July 2010 to June 2012 and were scheduled to attend Postnatal Clinic was done. The list was cross checked with the postnatal clinic record to know patients who kept their appointment by attending the clinic. A frequency table was generated and data were analyzed.Results: In the first year, out of 1267 women 264 (20.8%) returned for postnatal clinic. During the second year, 1651 women delivered in the hospital while 759 (46.0%) came back for postnatal clinic. Aggregate prevalence of postnatal clinic attendance among the parturients was 35.1%.Conclusion: Most parturients who had hospital delivery do not return for postnatal clinic in our environment.Keywords: delivery, postnatal, clinic, attendanceTrop J Obstet Gynaecol, 30 (1), April 201
Environmental quality outlook of the leading oil producers and urbanized African states
No full textThis study seeks to explore the links between energy consumption and environmental quality in the wake of rapid urbanization in Africa with empirical insights from the cases of Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, and South Africa. These countries aside from being among the largest economies; are also among the leading energy producers and the most urbanized economies that emit the most carbon dioxide on the continent. Based on the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) panel ARDL estimator, the dynamics nexus between the variables was estimated vis-à-vis the short-run and long-run coefficients using relevant sample data between 1990 and 2015. The study further examines the channels of causality between the variables while also testing for the validity of the popular Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the panel of countries. The results confirm that the rising level of energy use significantly exacerbates the level of carbon emission among the countries in the study while growing urbanization significantly creates a negative impact on carbon emission. In addition, an increase in per capita income improves the environmental quality but the doubling of income per capita triggers environmental degradation, thus invalidating the EKC hypothesis in the examined panel economies. In essence, these countries have not reached the supposed turning point at which income growth can yield desirable emission mitigation effects. Following the findings, essential recommendations are provided for policymakers in the main text.© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed
The chemistry of epoxidyl free radicals: free radical rearrangement, 1996
No full textPrevious work done on the rearrangement of epoxidy free radical shows decomposition processes. Styrene oxide, cyclohexane oxide and stilbene oxide were studied at room temperature using Fenton reagent as a radical initiator. Results of the study obtained on styrene oxide reaction shows the formation of bibenzyl with a percent yield of 7.5%. The reported results obtained using stilbene oxide are thus far inconclusive of the mechanism and final product with a percent yield of 5.2%. The reported results obtained using cyclohexane oxide are thus far inconclusive of the mechanism but yields the final product at a percent yield of 10%
Fate of nonylphenol, nonylpenol monoethoxylate, nonylphenol diethoxylate, octylphenol and bisphenol A in sludge, biosolids, and biosolids-amended soils
No full textNonylphenol (NP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP1EO), nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP2EO), octylphenol (OP), and bisphenol A (BPA) are endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) that are present in wastewater. Studies of fate of these compounds have primarily focused on aquatic environments but EDCs are transferred from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems through land-based sludge and biosolids applications. Biosolids are applied to land as a source of fertilizer, liming material, and soil conditioning. The main hypotheses of this work were that biosolids are important source of alkylphenolic compounds and bisphenol A in soils, and that these compounds are persistent in the soil over extended period of time. The goal of this work is to study the fate of these EDCs in sludge, biosolids and soils that have been treated with biosolids. Sludge and biosolids from 14 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) comprising of 5 sludge stabilization processes, and operating under a wide range of physical, chemical and biological parameters were studied to examine the effect of sludge stabilization on the EDCs in biosolids destined for land uses. Subsequent to that, the fate of these contaminants was examined in 21soils of contrasting management and geomorphic characteristics 10 years after biosolids amendment. Finally, the ability of environmental models to predict the concentration of EDCs from which environmental fate can be deduced was evaluated using PhATE model. The results showed that NP, the recalcitrant end product of NPEO degradation, was detected at a range of 0.73-501µg kg-1 in sludge, 0.2-564 µg kg-1 in biosolids, and 0.12-28 µg kg-1 in soil. The effect of sludge stabilization process, or treatment was statistically significant (p<0.05) for NP and BPA, nearly significant (p=0.064) for OP, but not for NP1EO and NP2EO. Composting produced the highest reduction followed by alkaline stabilization, lime stabilization, anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes. Thus, EDC load being transferred to the soil was minimized through sludge stabilization prior to the actions of soil and environmental processes that eventually determine their fate in soil. After 10 years of biosolids amendment, EDC concentrations in the amended soils were 0.01-28 µg kg-1, and 0.01-2.3 µg kg-1 in control soils. EDCs were present in higher concentrations in the topsoil (2-28 µg kg-1) than in the subsoil (0.03-7 µg kg-1), and statistically significant difference (p<0.05) exists between the two sets of concentrations. However, the APEOs might have being from both sludge and biosolids, and pesticides sources as most of the sites studied were likely managed with pesticides. The EDCs studied show soil persistence at concentrations of 0.01-28 µg kg-1 in 3 soils that were amended with biosolids only. Soil concentration was dependent on the biosolids application rate and the concentration of EDCs in the biosolids. Modeling fate of these EDCs using PhATE model indicate that these compounds are depleted in biosolids-amended soils within 4 years of such amendment.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby J. Adewale Adewunm
Examining the dynamics of ecological footprint in China with spectral Granger causality and quantile-on-quantile approaches
No full textWith 2.5 global hectares (gha) per capita against 2.7 gha per capita, China’s ecological footprint is desirably below the world’s average ecological footprint per capita. Undesirably, the country’s per person ecological footprint outweighs the world’s average biocapacity per person of 1.7 gha, thus signifying an enormous pressure on the country’s ecological capacity. This reason accounts for the motivation to explore the dynamics of ecological footprint for China over the period 1971–2016 by employing a series of empirical techniques that include quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR), spectral Granger causality (SGC), and quantile regression. Indicatively, the empirical findings are in folds. First, from the QQR, economic growth exerts a positive effect on (i) ecological footprint especially in the middle quantile (0.4–0.7) and (ii) all quantiles (0.01–0.95) of economic growth. Second, both fossil fuel and primary energy utilization exert a positive impact on (i) all quantiles (0.01–0.95) of ecological footprint and (ii) all quantiles (0.01–0.95) of the two energy profiles. Third, it is surprising to see renewable energy utilization exerting a positive effect on ecological footprint at the lower tail (0.1–0.40) and on renewable energy use at the higher tail (0.70–0.95). Additionally, the SGC result revealed Granger causality from primary energy use and economic growth to the ecological footprint in the long-run without reverse. Additionally, without reverse, there is a Granger causality from renewable energy use to the ecological footprint in the short-, medium-, and long-term. Importantly, the overall policy implication suggests a more drastic decoupling of the country’s growth from the supply side (ecological pressure and environmental deprivation).© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed
Recent developments in hazardous pollutants removal from wastewater and water reuse within a circular economy
No full textData availability: The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the manuscript. Further data can be requested (if need be) by contacting the corresponding author.Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. Recent advances in wastewater treatment processes have resulted in high removal efficiencies for various hazardous pollutants. Nevertheless, some technologies are more suitable for targeting specific contaminants than others. We comprehensively reviewed the recent advances in removing hazardous pollutants from industrial wastewater through membrane technologies, adsorption, Fenton-based processes, advanced oxidation processes (AOP), and hybrid systems such as electrically-enhanced membrane bioreactors (eMBRs), and integrated eMBR-adsorption system. Each technology’s key features are compared, and recent modifications to the conventional treatment approaches and limitations of advanced treatment systems are highlighted. The removal of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals from wastewater is also discussed.Khalifa University through the Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT), under grant number RC2-2018-009
Challenges associated with effective task execution in a Virtual Learning Environment: A case study of Graduate Students of a University
No full textContext: In recent years, more and more people have started showing an increasing interest in distance or web-based education. Some of the reasons for this are the improvement in information and communication technology, as well as advancement in computer networking infrastructures. However, although computer technology has played an important role for the development of distance learning management systems, the underlying goal of such systems is the delivery of competitive and qualitative education via the distance learning environment. There have been a number of research studies and investigations in the field of Computer supported collaborative learning. This particular study is focused on the challenges associated with task execution in a distance learning environment as perceived by graduate students at a university. Objectives: The main focus or rationale behind this study is to investigate the importance of computer mediated communication tools in a virtual learning environment, as well as the problems facing the teachers or facilitators in their attempt to help learners (students) in the process of task execution, and towards achieving the learning goals in a web-based learning system. Methods: The author has adopted a qualitative case study approach. Questionnaires were sent out to some of the graduate students of BTH that participated in the online course under investigation, “Work integrated e-learning”, and some of these students were interviewed as well. Interviews were also conducted with two professors of Informatics and active researchers in distributed or e-learning in a University in Sweden that has had many years of experience in providing distance learning education. The empirical material was then analyzed, using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as a theoretical framework Results: The results indicate that more communication and collaborative interaction is needed in the context of the studied e-learning management system. The students expected the provision of more video communication through the learning platform. Furthermore, the results show that the learning in the studied web-based environment is centered on the students. Conclusions: The author concludes that in order to diminish the gap that exists between face-to-face learning/teaching and an e-learning environment, there is a need for the designers and facilitators of the e-learning management system to make this platform more interactive. Additionally, the author concludes that the concept of Open start free pace (OSFP) or strict deadlines may need to be introduced into distance learning education in order to solve the challenges facing the teachers and facilitators.
- …
