Energy Performance and Improvement Potentials for Selected Heritage Building Adaptation in England.

Public heritage buildings (PHBs) were evaluated with the aim to determine their operational energy performance and the objectives of identifying improvement potentials for their long term sustainable reuse. Six listed churches initially used for worship and later converted to community uses were selected and surveyed as case study buildings using purposive sampling technique. A qualitative analytical approach based on ranking the performance of the surveyed building’s energy consumption assessment compared to others within the same geographical region was adopted. Findings show that a greater number of the surveyed buildings are low-performing with their energy use being exacerbated by the combination and interplay of multiple factors such as building use pattern, efficiency of services and lighting etc. Results of the findings imply that potential and identifiable prospects for efficiency improvements and CO2 emissions reduction exists within the operation of the buildings. Recommended actions for wide-scale improvements in the form of capital replacement, retrofit/refurbishment, behavioural and improved operational management and control were suggested. The study concluded wider opportunities towards achieving energy saving such as energy management programme, building energy refurbishment scheme and use of energy efficient equipment could enhance stainable reuse of PHBs.

Effectiveness of Triple Therapy Regimens in the Eradication of Helicobacter Pylori in Patients with Uninvestigated Dyspepsia in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Aim and Objective: The term dyspepsia has been used inconsistently by healthcare professionals to describe different patterns of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. It denotes a symptom and does not itself represent a disease. In this study, we seek to determine the effectiveness of common triple therapy regimens in use in the eradication of H. pylori in this environment and to compare it what is obtained worldwide. Materials and Methods: One hundred and four Consecutive adult patients, aged 18 to 50 years presenting newly with uninvestigated dyspepsia and without alarm symptoms at General Outpatient Clinics of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti and the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, Nigeria were randomized into five treatment groups in the study. Approval was obtained from Ethical Committees of the two study centres. Treatment outcome was computed using frequency table. Results: The mean age of the studied population was 37.8±12.98 years. 32.7% were males while 67.3% were females. Most prevalent symptom for uninvestigated dyspepsia was abdominal discomfort 100 (96.2%), this was followed by early satiety, abdominal fullness and vomiting with 32 (30.8%), 26 (25%) and 13 (12.5%) of the participants respectively. 76.0% were positive for H. pylori infection by Urea Breath Test Heliprobe® System with highest prevalence of H. Pylori infection within age group 31-45 years (36.7%). Rabeprazole-Clarithromycin-Metronidazole group (RCM) had the highest eradication rate per protocol [77.8%], followed in descending order by Rabeprazole-Amoxil- Levofloxacin group (RAL) [53.3%], Omeprazole-Tinidazole-Clarithromycin “ulcer kit” (OTC) [44.4%], Rabeprazole-Amoxil- Metronidazole group (RAM) [44.4%] and Rabeprazole-Amoxil-Clarithromycin (RAC) [30.0%]. Conclusion: This study showed there is difference in eradication rates of popularly known triple therapy regimens. This may be due to geographical differences in antibiotics resistant pattern to H. pylori. Further study is suggested to find out the national sensitivity pattern to the commonly used triple therapy regimens in Nigeria.

Knowledge; Attitudes and Perceptions of Epilepsy among Secondary School Teachers in Osogbo South-West Nigeria: A Community Based Study

Background: The attitudes toward people with epilepsy are influenced by the degree of knowledge of the condition. The social problems encountered by school children with epilepsy as a result of negative attitude and beliefs are quite enormous. Objectives The study therefore looked at the knowledge; attitudes; and perceptions of teachers; who see a lot of epileptics; relate to them on a daily basis and have influence on them. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey; using a self-administered questionnaire obtained from the author of a similar study in the United States; was carried out among 269 school teachers randomly selected from various secondary schools in Osogbo; the Osun State capital in South-West Nigeria. The questionnaire included the scale of attitudes toward persons with epilepsy and knowledge about epilepsy as well as demographic and teaching experience survey among others. Results Despite the high level of education of the teachers ranging from Masters Degree to National Certificate in Education; there were significant deficits in terms of general knowledge about epilepsy (70 of the respondents reported their general knowledge about epilepsy in the lower half of the scale). There was also poor knowledge of the first aids measures in the classrooms. Below one-third (29.2) felt it was contagious and 40 of respondents reported that sufferers should not be kept in regular classes. However; their attitudes toward epilepsy were generally positive. Conclusions and Recommendations: We concluded that teachers need to have health education courses on common disease conditions such as epilepsy that are prevalent in school age; this might help to reduce the prejudice and increase the acceptance of epileptic individuals in the classrooms. Also; generally public health campaigns should be encouraged in this field

Epidemiological trend of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and emerging challenges for control

Following its first recognition in early 1960s, the increasing incidence of nosocomial and community - acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] infections has become a global problem. The emergence of multiple-drug resistant MRSA strains and dissemination of epidemic antibiotic clones including presence of wide spectrum of virulence and predisposing risk factors complicate diagnosis, chemotherapy and control causing significant morbidity and mortality. Resistance to methicillin is mediated by altered penicillin-binding protein 2a [PBP-2a], encoded by mec gene determinant [i.e. I-V types with different genomes, antibiograms and toxin profile] embedded in staphylococcal cassette chromosome [SCCmec]. It is also partly due to hyper beta-lactamase production by the organism. Detection of MRSA strains in domestic animals and associated persons including a wide spread protozoan has widened the organism's epidemiologic characters and may influence infection control policies. Routine and regular surveillance [uncommon in poor-resourced developing areas], good hospital practices and personal hygiene, development of effective therapeutic agents and rational administration of antibiotics based on reliable test results may cause limit in the spread of MRSA infections