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Abstract Background Vaccination has been recommended as one of the most potent ways of controlling the mpox (formerly, monkeypox) outbreak, particularly among high-risk groups. Here, we evaluated the prevalence of mpox vaccine acceptance and uptake globally. Methods We searched multiple databases for peer-reviewed studies published in English from May 2022 to 25th November 2023 that evaluated mpox vaccine acceptance and/or uptake. We fit a random-effects model meta-analysis to calculate the pooled mpox vaccine acceptance and uptake rates, with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) across population outcomes. We performed subgroup analyses among the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions (Africa [AFR], Region of the Americas [AMR], South-East Asia Region [SEAR], European Region [EUR], Eastern Mediterranean Region [EMR], and the Western Pacific Region [WPR]), as well as among select population subgroups. Results Of the 2531 studies screened, 61 studies, with a cumulative sample size of 263,857 participants from 87 countries were eligible for inclusion. The overall vaccine acceptance and uptake rates were 59.7% and 30.9% globally. Acceptance and uptake rates among the LGBTQI+ community were 73.6% vs 39.8% globally, 60.9% vs. 37.1% in AMR, 80.9% vs. 50.0% in EUR, and 75.2% vs. 33.5% in WPR. Among PLHIV, vaccine acceptance and uptake rates were 66.4% vs. 35.7% globally, 64.0% vs. 33.9% in AMR, 65.1% vs. 27.0% in EUR, and 69.5% vs. 46.6% in WPR. Among healthcare workers, vaccination intention was 51.0% globally. Conclusions Tailored interventions are needed to bolster confidence in the mpox vaccine, maximize vaccine uptake, and increase vaccine access to close the gaps between acceptance and uptake especially among key populations residing in regions with low rates of acceptance and uptake.

The spatial and temporal variations of aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (α550) and Angstrom exponent derived from 470 and 660 nm (α470-660) over Nairobi (NAI), Skukuza (SKU) and Ilorin (ILO) Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) stations in sub-Saharan Africa, as recorded by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellites for fifteen years (2000-2015), were examined in relation to their climatologies and prediction. The MODIS measurements of α550 and α470-660 from aqua (MYD04) and terra (MOD04) satellites were used in this study. Retrievals of α550 for both satellites were validated with AERONET α550 for the same period. The validation results showed that they compare favourably over the three stations, but MOD04 performed better than MYD04 data in NAI and ILO for α550. This shows that the α550 of NAI and ILO are best captured using the MOD04 data while that of SKU is best with MYD04. It was also discovered that MODIS underestimated AERONET α550 data over NAI and SKU. The most polluted station is ILO while the least polluted one is NAI. Similarly, the station with the highest concentration of absorbing aerosols is NAI and the least was observed in ILO. The aerosol climatology shows that the most polluted months in NAI, SKU and ILO are October, June and March respectively. On the other hand, February, November and March has the highest amount of scattering aerosols in the atmosphere for NAI, SKU and ILO respectively. The highest amount of absorbing aerosols was found, respectively, in the months of June, June and August. The generated time series (TS) models are all good, though a general underestimation of the parameters by the models was also observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Paper, Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) was used to assess the MODIS C006 LV2 aerosol AOD and AE products, and compared the data with AERONET AOD and AE observations. The data were taken from an AERONET station at Ilorin, Nigeria which were obtained from (MAPSS) and were averaged monthly using Microsoft excel spread sheets. The data period for the two satellite data were from Dec 2004 to May 2015 It was observed from the graphical representation that the sea sonal variation of AOD peaks during the dry season from Dec to Feb and reaches minimum during summer in August 2008.The comparisons showed both underestimations in MODIS AOD and considerable overestimations in the AE. On the EOF analysis it was observed that a good correlation between MODIS & AERONET AOD are observed on the correlation matrices in all the data. Lower correlation is only observed at Ilorin AERONET wavelength at 470nm (ILA470) with Ilorin 660nm (ILM660).On the total variance explained table for MODIS and AERONET AOD, it was observed that out of the 6 components put into the EOF, only one component was extracted with a very high percentage of 81.57% For MODIS and AERONET AE,two components were observed with a percentage of 83.95% These show that the level of similarities is very high for MODIS and AERONET AOD,and little variation was observed for MODIS and AERONET AE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the Interactive Effect of Audit Firm and Audit Committee Mediated by Audit Process on Fraudulent Financial Reporting Risks of Listed Firms in Nigeria. The population of staff working in audit firms in Nigeria is unknown. Therefore, sample size of unknown population for this survey study is calculated using g*power which minimum sample size is 384 respondents. A model of questionnaire is adopted from research conducted and 500 copies of adopted questionnaire which contains 31 items were administered to audit staff and 391 copies were returned. The questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection and adopted a nine-point scale. The study is multivariate in nature so structural equation modelling is employed and smartpls 3 is used for the analysis. However, the result shows that Audit Firm and Audit committee have significant positive effect on Fraudulent Financial Reporting of Listed Firms in Nigeria. In addition, Audit Firm has significant positive effect on audit process of Listed Firms in Nigeria Similarly, Audit process has significant mediating effect on the relationship between Audit committee and Fraudulent Financial Reporting of Listed Firms in Nigeria.And Audit committee has significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between audit firm and fraudulent financial reporting risks of Listed Firms in Nigeria.However, Audit committee has significant negative effect on audit process of Listed Firms in Nigeria. In addition,Audit process has significant negative mediating effect on the relationship between Audit Firm and Fraudulent Financial Reporting of Listed Firms in Nigeria. Similarly, Audit committee has significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between audit firm and audit process of Listed Firms in Nigeria. Base on the conclusion, the study recommends that both the audit committee and external auditors should focus their attention on improving the audit process which in turn will significantly curb the fraudulent financial reporting risks of listed Firms in Nigeria.

In this work microphysical properties of Maritime Polluted aerosols were extracted from Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) after varying the concentrations of water soluble at five different levels. The analytical expressions for the changes in the equilibrium relative humidity (RH), effective radii, effective hygroscopic growth, their magnitudes and fractional changes on the effects of surface tension (the Kelvin effect) on the ambient aerosols were numerically analyzed. The expressions were applied to two - one parameter models. It was discovered that the increase in water soluble concentration caused decreased in the Kelvin effects which implies decrease in surface tension. The numerical analysis of the data showed that to the lowest order error. Increase in the overestimation of the effective hygroscopic growth and decrease in the overestimation of the effective radii. On the two models applied, we discovered that the fractional changes in hygroscopic growth increase in overestimation while there is decrease in overestimation of fractional changes in effective radii. Finally, decrease in the underestimation of the fractional changes in the equilibrium pressure it was discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper magnetic indices were extracted from World Data Center (WDC) for geomagnetism for six years (2008 to 2013). The indices extracted are AuroralElectrojet (AE), Auroral Upper (AU), Auroral Lower (AL) and Auroral Oval (AO). The indices daily values measured at 24 hours Universal Time (UT) were averaged to monthly values. Time series statistical analysis was carried out on the monthly averaged data using SPSS version 16.0 with expert modeler, to determine the level, trend and seasonal variations of the indices. From the results obtained after the statistical analysis, it can be seen that the indices have seasonal patterns of which AE, AL and AO as March but AU has July. Also from the values of the coefficient of determination, R², it can also be concluded that AE and AL can be better predicted from the models than AU and AO. From the results obtained, simple seasonal model for AE, AL, and AO, and winter's additive for AU was determined. Using the values of R², it can be seen that the models for AE and AL can be used to predict or make forecast of the behavior of the indices. It was also discovered that level (alpha) has more significant contributions in the behavior of the system than seasonal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Kaduna State is among the three States with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, risk perception and practices of staff towards prevention and control of COVID-19 infection in schools to provide policy makers, education and health managers required information to manage the epidemic as the schools prepare to re-open., Methods: This was a school-based survey conducted using purposive sampling of 55 schools located in nine LGAs with the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases as at October 2020. Five schools with the highest students'/pupils' enrollment in each of the LGA were selected and all staff were interviewed. Information on knowledge, risk perception and practices of prevention was collected. Descriptive statistics were generated using Stata v14 software., Results: A total of 1065 staff in 55 schools completed the interview. Major sources of information are television (73%), radio (61%), and social media (57%); and 76% indicated that a virus is the causative agent of COVID-19. Overall, 70%, 19%, 7%, 9.3% and 0% respectively had adequate knowledge of cause, preventive measures, respiratory hygiene, modes of transmission and symptoms of COVID-19; however only 14% ever attended a workshop on COVID-19. Eighty-two percent and 89% respectively believed in the efficacy of face masks and handwashing as means of prevention; 39% thought that they are likely to contract COVID-19. Ninety-nine percent and 90% have ever used face mask and hand sanitizer to prevent COVID-19; 96% and 85% respectively have use these methods in previous 24hours. Between 42% and 73% of schools needed additional commodities/requirements/supplies to comply fully with COVID-19 prevention protocols., Conclusion: While knowledge of COVID-19 is suboptimal, perception is positive and practice is high. Thus, teachers need to be well informed and encouraged to sustain current levels of preventive measures. Government needs to provide schools with adequate preventive commodities to ensure compliance., (© Association of Resident Doctors, UCH, Ibadan.)

Bezoar is the accumulation of exogenous undigested materials in the gastrointestinal tract. Various names have been used to describe bezoars based on the accumulated material. Commonly seen types are phytobezoar (composed of vegetable matter and seeds of fruits), tricobezoar (hair) lactobezoar (milk cuds). Lithobezoar (composed of stones and rocks) is uncommon and only limited reports are available in the English literature. The authors report a case of gastrointestinal lithobezoar presenting with ulcer-like abdominal pain. Some of the stones were removed endoscopically and some got expelled out after the use of promotility drugs. Invariably, there are predisposing factors for such behaviour. This case emphasises a meticulous psychiatric evaluation in a given patient, in order to prevent recurrence of symptoms.

Most cases of portal hypertension follow chronic liver disease (cirrhosis) while non cirrhotic causes are occasionally seen. A case of portal hypertension secondary to non-cirrhotic portal vein thrombosis is reported. The patient was managed at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, Nigeria in the year 2006. She presented with recurrent massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding and was resuscitated, followed by clinical, radiological and endoscopic evaluation. She had massive splenomegaly and grade four oesophageal varices with evidence of recent bleed. There were, however, no other stigmata of chronic liver disease or portal hypertension. Abdominal computed tomography scan confirmed portal vein thrombosis. Splenectomy and ligation of short gastric veins was performed and the patient has not had any repeat episode of haematemesis or malaena six months post surgery.