University of Maiduguri

About: University of Maiduguri is a education organization based out in Maiduguri, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pregnancy. The organization has 2880 authors who have published 2833 publications receiving 32771 citations. The organization is also known as: UNIMAID.

Corrosion problems during oil and gas production and its mitigation

Abstract: In order to ensure smooth and uninterrupted flow of oil and gas to the end users, it is imperative for the field operators, pipeline engineers, and designers to be corrosion conscious as the lines and their component fittings would undergo material degradations due to corrosion. This paper gives a comprehensive review of corrosion problems during oil and gas production and its mitigation. The chemistry of corrosion mechanism had been examined with the various types of corrosion and associated corroding agents in the oil and gas industry. Factors affecting each of the various forms of corrosion were also presented. Ways of mitigating this menace with current technology of low costs had been discussed. It was noticed that the principles of corrosion must be understood in order to effectively select materials and to design, fabricate, and utilize metal structures for the optimum economic life of facilities and safety in oil and gas operations. Also, oil and gas materials last longer when both inhibitors and protective coatings are used together than when only batch inhibition was used. However, it is recommended that consultations with process, operations, materials, and corrosion engineers are necessary in the fitness of things to save billions of dollars wasted on corrosion in the oil and gas industries.

Multiple Diverse Circoviruses Infect Farm Animals and Are Commonly Found in Human and Chimpanzee Feces

Abstract: Circoviruses are known to infect birds and pigs and can cause a wide range of severe symptoms with significant economic impact. Using viral metagenomics, we identified circovirus-like DNA sequences and characterized 15 circular viral DNA genomes in stool samples from humans in Pakistan, Nigeria, Tunisia, and the United States and from wild chimpanzees. Distinct genomic features and phylogenetic analysis indicate that some viral genomes were part of a previously unrecognized genus in the Circoviridae family we tentatively named “Cyclovirus” whose genetic diversity is comparable to that of all the known species in the Circovirus genus. Circoviridae detection in the stools of U.S. adults was limited to porcine circoviruses which were also found in most U.S. pork products. To determine whether the divergent cycloviruses found in non-U.S. human stools were of dietary origin, we genetically compared them to the cycloviruses in muscle tissue samples of commonly eaten farm animals in Pakistan and Nigeria. Limited genetic overlap between cycloviruses in human stool samples and local cow, goat, sheep, camel, and chicken meat samples indicated that the majority of the 25 Cyclovirus species identified might be human viruses. We show that the genetic diversity of small circular DNA viral genomes in various mammals, including humans, is significantly larger than previously recognized, and frequent exposure through meat consumption and contact with animal or human feces provides ample opportunities for cyclovirus transmission. Determining the role of cycloviruses, found in 7 to 17% of non-U.S. human stools and 3 to 55% of non-U.S. meat samples tested, in both human and animal diseases is now facilitated by knowledge of their genomes.

Human Bocaviruses Are Highly Diverse, Dispersed, Recombination Prone, and Prevalent in Enteric Infections

Abstract: A new species of parvovirus, tentatively named human bocavirus 4 (HBoV4), was genetically characterized. Among 641 feces samples obtained from children and adults, the most commonly detected bocavirus species were, in descending order, HBoV2, HBoV3, HBoV4, and HBoV1, with an HBoV2 prevalence of 21% and 26% in Nigerian and Tunisian children, respectively. HBoV3 or HBoV4 species were found in 12 of 192 patients with non-polio acute flaccid paralysis in Tunisia and Nigeria and 0 of 96 healthy Tunisian contacts (P = .01). Evidence of extensive recombination at the NP1 and VP1 gene boundary between and within bocavirus species was found. The high degree of genetic diversity seen among the human bocaviruses found in feces specimens, relative to the highly homogeneous HBoV1, suggest that this worldwide-distributed respiratory pathogen may have recently evolved from an enteric bocavirus after acquiring an expanded tropism favoring the respiratory tract. Elucidating the possible role of the newly identified enteric bocaviruses in human diseases, including acute flaccid paralysis and diarrhea, will require further epidemiological studies.