Policy Implementation on the Flint Water Crisis

The world is made up of 75% water and it may seem unbelievable that water scarcity still exists. It is one thing to have access to water, but having access to clean water is a major problem not only in developing countries around the world, but also in developed countries such as the United States. That’s right! The U.S. which is considered one of the most developed countries worldwide, is facing a crucial water crisis that’s affecting millions of people. In 2014, The Flint Michigan Water Crisis became a public health crisis that shocked the nation. Residents and civilians in Flint were experiencing a change in their water quality that led to numerous health effects and even deaths. This issue led people to question the safety and well-being of fellow Americans. The problem began in April of 2014 when the city switched its water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to Karegnondi Water Authority, but decided in the meantime to use Flint River as an alternative option to start flowing water throughout the city. Almost immediately, residents of Flint started complaining about the quality of the water. By that time, many pipes had sustained major corrosion and it became easy for lead to leach into the water. A major health problem that arose from this crisis was high records of lead levels in women and children, which can lead to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and stunt growth. With this project, I will be conducting a research analysis of the Flint Michigan Water crisis. A the end, I will create a policy memo that will guide the city of Flint which includes the city’s emergency managers, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with recommended solutions that can be used to mitigate the crisis and prevent other crisis from happening as well. These suggestion can later be used towards implementing future policies. This memo will understand the pre-existing causes and history of the crisis, analyze data such as lead testing sampled from Flint River, evaluate the short and long term effects of health hazards on children and families and the progression the state and city has made on behalf of those affected, and finally formulate ways to produce positive outcomes for majority of the population. These solutions may not fix the crisis, but they could be used to slow down the effects it is having on people. Studying this particular issue is important because it will shed light on the mismanagement and lack of urgency taken to fix the water contamination issue in Flint before it became a huge crisis that affected millions of people. By the end of this project, I hope to have a better understanding about how this nation deals with public health crisis

Model predictive control for load frequency control of an interconnected power system.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Reliable load frequency control (LFC) is of importance in modern power system generation, transmission and distribution, it has been the basis of research on advanced control theory and application in recent years. In LFC scheme, local load disturbance, inter-area ties power fluctuation, frequency deviation, generation rate constraints (GRC), and governor dead band (GDB) are the major nonlinear factors on the control scheme that affect the dynamic response of the system to a large extent. Over the years, many methods have been designed for LFC problem of which model predictive controller (MPC) stands out due to its advantages. MPC is a control approach that simulates the feature behaviour of a system it controls and based on the result of the simulation attempt to find a control output such that the simulated system behaves optimally. When applied to LFC it copes with the perturbation. In this dissertation, robust distributed model predictive control (RDMPC) is developed as a controller scheme for LFC and is compared with a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller using MATLAB/Simulink for two-area and three-area hydro-thermal interconnected power system. From the simulation result, RDMPC significantly shows robustness over PID when compared in frequency deviation and area control error. It is observed that RDMPC still lags, from system varying dynamics and uncertainty despite its robustness over PID, hence an adaptive model predictive control (AMPC) is developed to improve on the performance of RDMPC. In order to evaluate the efficacy of this proposed controller, robustness and comparative analysis is performed using MATLAB/Simulink between the conventional PID, RDMPC, and AMPC with respect to performance indices such as settling time, undershoot and peak overshoot when subjected to frequency deviation, tie-line active power deviation, and area control error. Also, the dynamic response of the hydrothermal systems is analysed and compared in the presence of nonlinear constraints such as generator rate constraint (GRC) and governor dead band (GDB). The result from the simulation tests shows that AMPC has a better dynamic response when compared with PID, and RDMPC with a significant improvement

Collaborative amateur production of education videos, which are viewed on mobiles: addressing poor technical resources for Nigerian creative arts academics

International peer-reviewed journal article This research was a co-creation and co-assessment exercise between the researchers, participating printmaking and weaving academics and their students in a Nigerian university. The poor technical resources and increasingly large student groups in the design department, which severely hampers the delivery of an effective education, was addressed. The academics were supported to learn how to create their own instructional videos for their students, demonstrating identified designer-maker skills and how to use required equipment. These academics are now empowered and have the knowledge to produce their own instructional videos, without professional assistance. This is also irrespective of their previous experiences of using video equipment and developing video content

Awareness and Availability of Instructional Media for Learning Mathematics by Public Secondary School Students in Benin Metropolis: Counselling Implication

This paper assessed the awareness and availability of instructional media for learning Mathematics by public secondary school students in Benin metropolis. Students in junior secondary schools from the three local government areas in the metropolis formed the population for the study. Three schools were randomly selected from each local government respectively, with fifty (50) students from each schools and this made up the sample for the study. A questionnaire titled Awareness of instructional media for learning Mathematics which was subjected to Cronbach alpha statistics with a reliability coefficient of 0.78 and a checklist titled: Availability of instructional media for Mathematics students were the instruments for the collection of data. The data collected were analysed using frequency count, mean, standard deviation and t-test. That, Mathematics students in the metropolis be enlightened on the instructional media that can aid their learning of Mathematics and parents/guardians should be encouraged to provide some basic instructional media were some of the recommendations. Keywords: Awareness, Availability, Instructional Media, Mathematics, Benin Metropolis and Counselling Implication

Evaluating the Efficacy of Topical Silver Nitrate and Intramuscular Antimonial Drugs in the Treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Sokoto, Nigeria

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a disease of public health importance in Nigeria, with high prevalence in the Northwest and Northeastern part of the country. The side effects of antimonial drugs {stibogluconate (SSG) and meglumine antimoniate} in the treatment of CL have often resulted in poor drug adherence and default by patients and possible drug resistance. The increasing default to follow-up and the significant side effects associated with antimonial therapy necessitated the dire need of alternative therapeutic modalities. Thus, this study aimed at comparing the efficacy of topical silver nitrate with the antimonial drugs in the treatment of CL. Methods: A total of 95 patients with clinically diagnosed leishmaniasis and parasitologically proven CL participated in the study after their informed-consent had been obtained. The treatment selection was optional to the participants. Sixty (63.2%) patients received alternative therapy of topical silver nitrate as a single dose while 35(36.8%) patients received antimonial therapy for 21 days at 20mg/kg body weight. Results: On day 30 of treatment, 68 (86.1%) lesions among patients on topical silver nitrate healed completely as compared with only 5 (6.8%) among those on i.m. SSG. There was no improvement in 25 (34.2%) lesions among those on i.m. SSG compared with only 1 (1.2%) lesion among those on topical silver nitrate. Overall, there was a  statistically significant difference in the cure rate among patients on silver nitrate as compared with those on i.m. SSG on the 21st and 30th days of treatment.(p<0.05). Conclusion: Topical silver nitrate therapy is an effective and better drug treatment for CL among this studypopulation.Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis, efficacy, Silver nitrate, Sodium Stibogluconate, Sokot

AN ANALYSIS OF IGIOGBE CONCEPT UNDER THE BENIN CUSTOMARY LAW OF INHERITANCE IN NIGERIA

An Igiogbe is the house where a Benin man lived, died and usually in most cases is buried. It devolves absolutelywithout any contradiction on his eldest surviving son as soon as the burial rites are performed and completed by him(in rare instances supported by family members) in accordance with the Benin Customary burial rites. The workcritically examines igiogbe as concept under the Benin customary law of inheritance, concept of igiogbe and its historicaldevelopment, critical review of literature, the igiogbe as a concept, and definition of terms. The objective of the workis to bring out the original meaning of Igiogbe, through critical litereature review, changes in Igiogbe cultural practiceand address the gender abuse related to this concept. The work examines the origin, status and constitutionality ofcustomary law in Nigeria. Thereafter, it examines Igiogbe inheritance in Benin kingdom and all other issues andmatters arising from, bothering on and relating to this concept. The work is concluded with recommendations onmass enlightenment campaigns being mounted by the Ministry of Women Affairs at both the Federal and Statelevels to enlighten the people about the hardship and injustice which discriminatory customary laws impose on womenand that any customary law that is discriminatory against women should be declared invalid on the grounds that itis unconstitutional and repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience

AAPT Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Sickle Cell Disease Pain

Pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and high health care costs. Although episodic acute pain is the hallmark of this disorder, there is an increasing awareness that chronic pain is part of the pain experience of many older adolescents and adults. A common set of criteria for classifying chronic pain associated with SCD would enhance SCD pain research efforts in epidemiology, pain mechanisms, and clinical trials of pain management interventions, and ultimately improve clinical assessment and management. As part of the collaborative effort between the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks public-private partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Pain Society, the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy initiative developed the outline of an optimal diagnostic system for chronic pain conditions. Subsequently, a working group of experts in SCD pain was convened to generate core diagnostic criteria for chronic pain associated with SCD. The working group synthesized available literature to provide evidence for the dimensions of this disease-specific pain taxonomy. A single pain condition labeled chronic SCD pain was derived with 3 modifiers reflecting different clinical features. Future systematic research is needed to evaluate the feasibility, validity, and reliability of these criteria. Perspective: An evidence-based classification system for chronic SCD pain was constructed for the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations Innovations Opportunities and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy initiative. Applying this taxonomy may improve assessment and management of SCD pain and accelerate research on epidemiology, mechanisms, and treatments for chronic SCD pain

Promoting Peace Education for Behaviourial Changes in Public Secondary Schools in Calabar Municipality Council Area, Cross River State, Nigeria

This study aimed at investigating the promotion of peace education for behavioural changes in public secondary schools in Calabar Municipal Council Area of Cross River State. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A set of questionnaire items were validated and used for the collection of data involving 310 respondents, selected from a total population of 773 teachers and 10 principals representing 39.5% of the total population of 783. The questionnaire was titled: Promoting Peace Education For Behavioural Changes In Secondary Schools Questionnaire (PPEFBCISSQ). The reliability of the instrument was determined by using the split-half method which involved 31 teachers outside the study sample. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to analyze the data. The reliability estimate was between r=0.60 and r=0.70. The result of the analysis showed a positive significant relationship between promotion of peace education and behavioural changes in curbing violence fighting, aggressiveness and conflict among students when tested at p< 0.05 level of significance. It was therefore recommended that Teachers who  implementers of the National policy on Education and school curriculum through civic education should promote peace education by inculcating in students good value system, that can aid the curbing of aggressiveness, fighting violence and conflicts in school system. Keywords: promoting, peace, education, behavioural, changes, secondary, schools