Incorporating Environmental Health into Pediatric Medical and Nursing Education

Pediatric medical and nursing education currently lacks the environmental health content necessary to appropriately prepare pediatric health care professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental-exposure–related disease. Leading health institutions have recognized the need for improvements in health professionals’ environmental health education. Parents are seeking answers about the impact of environmental toxicants on their children. Given the biologic, psychological, and social differences between children and adults, there is a need for environmental health education specific to children. The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, in partnership with the Children’s Environmental Health Network, created two working groups, one with expertise in medical education and one with expertise in nursing education. The working groups reviewed the transition from undergraduate student to professional to assess where in those processes pediatric environmental health could be emphasized. The medical education working group recommended increasing education about children’s environmental health in the medical school curricula, in residency training, and in continuing medical education. The group also recommended the expansion of fellowship training in children’s environmental health. Similarly, the nursing working group recommended increasing children’s environmental health content at the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing nursing education levels. Working groups also identified the key medical and nursing organizations that would be important in leveraging these changes. A concerted effort to prioritize pediatric environmental health by governmental organizations and foundations is essential in providing the resources and expertise to set policy and provide the tools for teaching pediatric environmental health to health care providers

Intoxicating entertainment? The influence of "Star Music Trek" on the drinking practices of Nigerian students

Sophisticated marketing strategies are increasingly used by transnational alcohol companies in Nigeria. While this facilitates alcohol availability and encourages alcohol consumption, there are no effective policies to regulate alcohol marketing. This study draws on qualitative interviews with 31 Nigerian university students (aged 19–23 years) to explore some of the ways in which “Star Music Trek” (SMT, a brewer-sponsored music concert) establishes spaces that facilitate alcohol consumption among Nigerian youths. The data were analyzed to generate themes with the aid of NVivo 10 software. The article argues that although the rationale for attending the SMT event is to be entertained by famous artists for a reduced entrance fee, the event creates conditions that influence young people to use alcohol in diverse ways. Among nondrinkers, SMT establishes conditions that influence alcohol initiation because purchasing “Star beer,” the brand that sponsors SMT, not only serves as a ticket or gate pass to some of the concerts, but it is also the only brand sold at the event. Among those who use alcohol, SMT creates spaces that encourage a culture of intoxication because of the easy availability and accessibility of Star beer and promotional activities in the form of price reductions, raffle draws, and free drinks. The participants also discussed the ways in which the sponsor uses its marketing representatives to promote brand allegiance by encouraging attendees to favor Star beer after the concert. Overall, the findings reveal that SMT is a sophisticated marketing strategy to promote the Star brand. The study discusses the implications of the findings and concludes that effective national alcohol control policies should be formulated and implemented in Nigeria.The doctoral research, from which this article was taken was funded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)

Evaluation of the Effect of Azo Group on the Biological Activity of 1-(4-Methylphenylazo)-2-naphthol

Azo-2-naphthol and 2-naphthol were tested against five microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus faecalis. 2-Naphthol was slightly active while azo-2-naphthol was highly active against all the bacteria species tested. The presence of azo group contributed more than 60% of the antibacterial activities exhibited by azo-2-naphthol on all the bacteria tested

Government Agricultural Credit Policy and Macroeconomic Fundamentals: a case study of Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) in Nigeria

The study established the relationship between amount of loan guaranteed by the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) and some key macroeconomic variables in Nigeria. Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test and improved ADF-GLS unit root test conducted on the specified time series showed that all series were integrated of order one. The short-run and long-run elasticities of amount of loan guaranteed by ACGSF with respect to some key macro-economic fundamentals were determined using the techniques of co-integration and error correction models. The empirical results revealed that in the long run, the coefficients of interest rate charged by commercial banks and value of oil revenue has a significant negative and positive relationship respectively with the amount of loan guaranteed by the ACGSF in the country. Whereas in the short run, the coefficients of the previous amount of loan guaranteed and value of oil revenue as well as the real GDP has a positive association with the current amount of loan guaranteed by ACGSF while the external debt has a negative association. The results were further substantiated by the variance decomposition and impulse response analysis of the dependent variable with respect to changes in the explanatory variables. The findings call for appropriate short and long term economic policy packages that should focused on the stabilization of the identified significant macroeconomic shifters of amount of loan guaranteed by ACGSF in the country. Special attention should be given to the interest charged on agricultural loan by participating banks. Also, diversification of the country’s economy and drastic reduction in external debt would boost the operation of ACGSF in the country and enhances credit availability to Nigerian farmers. Keywords: Credit, policy, macroeconomic, external debt, interest rate, ACGSF, Nigeri

Comparative Analysis of the ITU Multipath Fade Depth Models for Microwave Link Design in the C, Ku, and Ka-Bands

In this paper, the effects of various wireless network link parameters on the multipath fade depth are presented. The link parameters considered are frequency, path inclination,   path length, terrain roughness index and the percentage of time fade depth is exceeded in the average worst month. The computation of the fade depth is based on two ITU models; ITU-R P.530-11 standard for quick planning applications and ITU-R P.530-11 standard for detailed link design. According to the results, ITU-R P.530-11 standard for quick planning applications overestimated the multipath fade depth when compared with the estimates from the ITU-R P.530-11 standard for detailed link design. Furthermore, the smooth terrains presented higher multipath fade depth than the rough terrain. Also, multipath fade depth increases with increasing frequency and path length, but decreases with increasing path inclination, terrain roughness index and the percentage of time the fade depth can be exceeded

Anti-Nutritional Factors and Potassium Bromate Content in Bread and Flour Samples in Uyo Metropolis, Nigeria

The aim of the study is to evaluate the anti-nutritional composition factors and potassium bromate content of some selected bread and flour samples in Uyo Metropolis. The result of the analysis shows that, though the concentration of phytic acid and tannins was high in both the bread and flour samples their concentrations did not exceed lethal doses. The potassium bromate content was minimal in all the bread and flour samples and within safe limits of residual bromide found in flour as specified by the US Food and Drug Administration. The concentrations of the anti-nutritional factors in the bread and flour samples were partially different from each other when subjected to the students t-test statistics

Corrosion Inhibition of Aluminium Using Exudate Gum from Pachylobus edulis

The anti-corrosive effect of Pachylobus edulis exudate gum in combination with halides ions (Cl–, Br– and I–) for aluminium corrosion in HCl was studied at temperature range of 30-60°C using weight loss method. Results obtained showed that the naturally occurring exudate gum acts as an inhibitor for aluminium corrosion in acidic environment. Inhibition efficiency (%I) increases with increase in concentration of the exudate gum and synergistically increased to a considerable extent on the addition of the halide ions. The increase in inhibition efficiency (%I) and surface coverage (θ) in the presence of the halides was found to be in the order I– > Br– > Cl– which indicates that the radii as well as electronegativity of the halide ions play a significant role in the adsorption process. Pachylobus edulis exudate gum obeys Temkin adsorption isotherm. Phenomenon of physical adsorption is proposed from the values of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters obtained. The values of synergism parameter (S1) obtained for the halides are greater than unity suggesting that the enhanced inhibition efficiency of the P. edulis caused by the addition of the halide ions is only due to synergistic effect

Performance evaluation of a natural and synthetic compound as corrosion inhibitors of API 5L X52 steel in hydrochloric acid media

A comparative study of corrosion protection of pipeline steel API 5L X52 in hydrochloric acid solution was conducted between a “synthetic commercial corrosion inhibitor” and a “green corrosion inhibitor” extract from the leaves of Ruta Chalepensis (LERC). It has been found that LERC inhibiting ability is quite high and depends strongly on its concentration in the corrosive solution. At an elevated temperature (353K), the LERC inhibitor demonstrates higher effectiveness than the commercial inhibitor. The electrochemical study showed that the LERC inhibitor affects both the anodic and cathodic corrosion reactions. The LERC adsorption mechanism on steel surface was assessed and some thermodynamic parameters of its process were determined

High Impedance Fault Detection and Localization Using Fully-Connected Convolutional Neural Network: A Deep Learning Approach

The detection and localization of high impedance faults (HIF) in power systems are challenging due to the low fault current magnitude, which often falls below the detection threshold of conventional devices. HIF events introduce harmonics into the network, posing risks to the safety of connected equipment, including the potential for igniting fire which endangers lives and properties. In this study, Emanuel's HIF model was used to generate HIF signatures resembling real HIF events. Model parameters were adjusted to mimic various contact surface impedances. Two datasets were created: 'no-fault' data, simulating the network without HIF, and 'fault' data, incorporating HIF waveforms by simulating single and multiple lines with the HIF model. The faulted line was divided into five segments along the 33 kV line to capture fault signatures at different locations. The generated data, including current waveforms and magnitudes, were processed and divided into an 80:20 ratio for training, validation, and testing using a deep fully connected Convolutional Neural Network for HIF detection and location. The results showed an impressive accuracy rate of 99.44% and 99.78% for detection and location respectively, representing a significant advancement in HIF detection and location, and offering practical applications for enhancing power line safety