Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from common cooking fuels in Nigeria.

Cooking fuels are sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are persistent in the environment and have detrimental effects on human health. Fifteen PCBs congeners from the smoke of eight (8) commonly used cooking fuels in Nigeria were investigated in this study. Glass fiber filters were used to collect air emissions during the combustion of cooking fuels in a controlled chamber.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons within the vicinity of a scrap-iron smelting plant: indoor-outdoor and seasonal pattern, source, and exposure risk assessment.

The growing demand for ferrous metals and abundant scrap materials has fueled Nigeria's scrap-iron smelting industry, leading to hazardous pollutant emissions. This study investigated the concentrations, seasonal and indoor-outdoor variations, origins, and health impacts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dust samples around a scrap-iron smelting facility. Analyses of dust samples revealed that high molecular weight PAHs (HMWPAHs) dominated during both seasons, with 5-ring PAHs (34%) contributing most during the rainy season and 3-ring PAHs (36%) during the dry season.

Applying Mobile Technology to Address Gender-Based Violence in Rural Nigeria: Experiences and Perceptions of Users and Stakeholders.

This paper documents the results of an intervention conducted in Nigeria to test the effectiveness of a mobile phone technology, , in enabling women to self-report gender-based violence (GBV). Women experiencing GBV and other challenges related to sexual and reproductive health and rights were requested to use their mobile phones to text a code to a central server. In turn, the server relayed the messages to trained nearby health providers and civil society organization (CSO) officials who reached out to provide health care and social management services to the callers.

Compaction and compressibility characteristics of snail shell ash and granulated blast furnace slag stabilized local bentonite for baseliner of landfill.

This study comprehensively explores the compaction and compressibility characteristics of snail shell ash (SSA) and ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS) in stabilizing local bentonite for landfill baseliner applications. The untreated soil, with a liquid limit of 65%, plastic limit of 35%, and plasticity index of 30%, exhibited optimal compaction at a moisture content of 32% and a maximum dry density of 1423 kg/m. SSA revealed a dominant presence of 91.

Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Children With Wilms' Tumour: A 15-year Experience in a Single Centre in Nigeria.

Background: Wilms' tumor (WT) is the most common paediatric renal tumor and is one of the most treatment-responsive solid tumours. Survival from Wilms tumour (WT) in sub-Saharan Africa remains dismal as a result of late presentation, treatment abandonment and infrastructure deficit. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical outcome of children with Wilms tumour managed in a Nigerian referral centre over a 15-year period.

Concentration and sources of persistent organic pollutants within the vicinity of a scrap-iron smelting plant: Seasonal pattern and health risk assessment.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a class of ubiquitous and significant synthetic organic chemicals that pose deleterious threats to the environment and human health. This study examined the concentration, indoor-outdoor and seasonal change, sources, and health effects of PCBs in particulate-bound dust near a scrap iron recycling plant. PCBs levels were determined in samples using gas chromatograph mass spectrometer.

UNILATERAL, SECTORAL RETINAL METASTASIS OF SMALL-CELL LUNG CANCER MIMICKING VIRAL RETINITIS.

Purpose: To report a case of unilateral, sectoral retinal metastasis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that mimicked cytomegalovirus retinitis.

Method: Case report.

Results: A 48-year-old woman presented with a 4-week history of a visual field loss in her right eye.

Texting for life: a mobile phone application to connect pregnant women with emergency transport and obstetric care in rural Nigeria.

Background: Difficulty in transportation to access skilled providers has been cited repeatedly as a major barrier to utilization of emergency obstetric care in Nigeria.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe the design, implementation, and outcomes of a mobile phone technology aimed at rapidly reaching rural Nigerian women who experience pregnancy complications with emergency transportation and access to providers.

Method: The project was implemented in 20 communities in two predominantly rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State, in southern Nigeria, as part of a larger implementation project aimed at improving the access of rural women to skilled pregnancy care.

Quantifications and predictions of sectoral pollutants emissions in Nigeria from 1980 to 2050.

The fast-economic development and population growth in Nigeria have resulted in huge quantities of air pollutants emission which have implications on the environment. Detailed sectoral emission inventory to serve as the basis for policy formation to mitigate the condition is still lacking. This study builds detailed sectoral emission inventory using the emission factor approach to estimates various pollutant emissions from different sources.

Source identification and health risk assessments of heavy metals in indoor dusts of Ilorin, North central Nigeria.

Background And Purpose: Exposure to heavy metals (HMs) in indoor dusts is a serious public concern that is linked to a myriad of deleterious health outcomes. The objectives of this study are to estimate the contamination levels of HMs in indoor dusts of different residential areas in Ilorin, Nigeria; identify HMs sources in different residential areas; and evaluate human health risks of HMs in selected residential areas.

Methods: Indoor dust sampling was conducted in ten randomly selected from low, medium and high population density residential areas of Ilorin, Nigeria.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in road dusts of a densely populated African city: spatial and seasonal distribution, source, and risk assessment.

Road dust is a principal source and depository of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in many urban areas of the world. Hence, this study probed the spatial and seasonal pattern, sources, and related cancer health risks of PAHs in the road dusts sampled at ten traffic intersection (TIs) of a model African city. Mixed PAHs sources were ascertained using the diagnostic ratios and positive matrix factorization (PMF) model.

Psychiatric Morbidity among Incarcerated Individuals in an Underserved Region of Nigeria: Revisiting the Unmet Mental Health Needs in Correction Services.

While epidemiological description of psychiatric morbidity can promote evidenceinformed mental health services, there is a paucity of such evidence among incarcerated individuals in prisons with underserved healthcare. We evaluated 250 incarcerated individuals detained in an underserved prison in north-western Nigeria with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory (MINI). Predominantly, study participants were men (97.

Engineering adeno-associated viral vectors to evade innate immune and inflammatory responses.

Nucleic acids are used in many therapeutic modalities, including gene therapy, but their ability to trigger host immune responses in vivo can lead to decreased safety and efficacy. In the case of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors, studies have shown that the genome of the vector activates Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), a pattern recognition receptor that senses foreign DNA. Here, we engineered AAV vectors to be intrinsically less immunogenic by incorporating short DNA oligonucleotides that antagonize TLR9 activation directly into the vector genome.

Indoor transmission dynamics of expired SARS-CoV-2 virus in a model African hospital ward.

Unlabelled: Cough and sneeze droplets' interactions with indoor air of a typical hospital clinic that could be majorly found in developing African countries were studied to investigate the effectiveness of existing guidelines/protocols being adopted in the control of the widespread coronavirus disease (COVID-19) transmission. The influences of indoor air velocity, the type, size distribution, residence time in air, and trajectory of the droplets, were all considered while interrogating the effectiveness of physical distancing measures, the use of face covers, cautionary activities of the general public, and the plausibility of community spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through airborne transmission. Series of 3-D, coupled, discrete phase models (DPM) were implemented in the numerical studies.

Emission factors of some common grass species in West Africa.

Frequent burnings occurring in the grasslands of the West African region during the dry seasons largely contribute to emissions of trace gases and particulates being released into the ambient environment, which has significantly impacted both regional and global climate patterns. Burning potentials of forty different grassland biomes were examined by determining their Net Heating Value (NHV) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC). Simulations of the field operations which involve open burning were performed in the laboratory using a fabricated combustion chamber for the determination of emission factors.

Evaporation rates and pollutants emission from heated cooking oils and influencing factors.

The heating of edible oils during cooking activities promotes the emissions of pollutants that have adverse impacts on the health of humans. This study investigated the evaporative emissions of fifteen (15) commonly used cooking oils. Split-plot experimental design under the response surface methodology framework was used to study singular and interaction effects of influencing parameters (temperature, volume of cooking oil and time) on cooking oil evaporation rate and pollutants emissions (i.

Short-Term Outcomes of Treatment of Boys with Posterior Urethral Valves.

Background: Posterior urethral valve (PUV) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among male children resulting in renal failure in 25%-30% before adolescence irrespective of initial treatment. This study aimed at evaluating the early outcomes of children managed for PUV.

Materials And Methods: This was a prospective study of all children who were treated for PUV between 2012 and 2016 at a single referral institution.

Air Quality Index and Respiratory Symptoms among Garri Processing Workers in Ogbomoso, Nigeria.

Background: Epidemiological studies have linked morbidity and mortality of individuals to exposure to atmospheric gaseous and particulate matter especially fine particles (PM2.5) and coarse particles (PM10).The process of garri (cassava crisps) production (frying with firewood) is associated with production of gaseous and particulate matter which contribute to ambient particulate matter air pollution.

AN ATYPICAL CASE OF OPTIC DISK PSEUDO-DUPLICATION WITH PROLIFERATIVE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY.

Purpose: To present a unique case of optic disk pseudo-duplication with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A 63-year-old white diabetic man presented with an apparent duplicated optic disk in the superonasal midperiphery of his left eye.

Landfill air and odour emissions from an integrated waste management facility.

A mixture of gases and obnoxious odours are major components of landfill emission. A dispersion modelling on air pollutants and odour emissions anticipated from a proposed Integrated Waste Management Facility was conducted considering five operating scenarios. Impacts of the predicted ground level concentrations of air pollutants (including carbon monoxide, CO; oxides of nitrogen, NO; sulphur dioxide, SO; particulate matter, PM and hydrocarbons, HC) and odour on ambient air quality were investigated using the 10-min 1 OU/m odour limit, CH Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and the daily limits of CO, NOx, SO, PM and HC.

Treatment of Coats' disease: an analysis of pooled results.

Aim: To elucidate the association of treatment modality to vitreoretinal fibrosis and traction retinal detachment (TRD) in Coats' disease.

Methods: A PubMed search for Coats' disease with included studies describing eyes with clinical features and treatment course of Coats' disease. Binary logistic regression with fibrosis at presentation and treatment type as independent variables was performed to determine predictors of TRD historically (since 1921) and in the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) era (since 2007).

Early Detection of Radiation Retinopathy in Pediatric Patients Undergoing External Beam Radiation Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

Background And Objective: Detection of early vascular changes observed on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in children who have received external beam radiation and are at risk of developing radiation retinopathy (RR).

Patients And Methods: Eleven pediatric patients (20 eyes) with history of irradiation and nine healthy subjects (14 eyes) were retrospectively studied after dilated fundus exam and imaging.

Results: Four eyes of three patients had clinical RR.