Determinants of Men’s Involvement in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Nigeria

For too long men’s role has been seen as marginal in the area of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Despite the decision from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and the place of men in reproductive health (RH), the notion of many health-care providers that men are uninterested in taking responsibility for family planning and other RH issues still persists.  This study explored factors that influence male involvement in reproductive health. Qualitative methodswere used to collect data using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions involving twelve in-depth interviews and ten focus group discussions. Six in-depth interviews each were conducted in Adamawa and Bauchi States respectively, comprising four for males and two for females.  Five Focus group discussions each were also conducted in Adamawa and Bauchi States. Three of the FGDs in each state had all males and two had all females. The study found out that religion, pursuit of confidentiality, culture, contraceptive types, concentration of programming on women, and male egocentrism play a role in decreasing male involvement in RH services. Other factors which positively influence male participation in SRH health are: sports activities through using sporting activities to pass RH messages, home videos with RH messages, music which pass RH messages, attempts at reducing family size, fear of and awareness of STIs & HIV/AIDS, increased level of RH programmes which provide testing for STIs and HIV/AIDS, treatment and care together and awareness of reproductive health issues.The study concludes by recommending that there should be emphasis on men's participation in reproductive health since this could help draw attention to the need to do more for women as well. In other words, policies to increase men's participation may help improve women's programmes because more men would understand what SRH entailed and support better reproductive health care for women, as well as for themselves. Keywords: Qualitative Study, Male involvement, Sexual Reproductive Health, Adamawa and Bauch

Correlation of mechanical factors and gallbladder pain

Acalculous biliary pain occurs in patients with no gallstones, but is similar to that experienced by patients with gallstones. Surgical removal of the gallbladder (GB) in these patients is only successful in providing relief of symptoms to about half of those operated on, so a reliable pain-prediction model is needed. In this paper, a mechanical model is developed for the human biliary system during the emptying phase, based on a clinical test in which GB volume changes are measured in response to a standard stimulus and a recorded pain profile. The model can describe the bile emptying behaviour, the flow resistance in the biliary ducts, the peak total stress, including the passive and active stresses experienced by the GB during emptying. This model is used to explore the potential link between GB pain and mechanical factors. It is found that the peak total normal stress may be used as an effective pain indicator for GB pain. When this model is applied to clinical data of volume changes due to Cholecystokinin stimulation and pain from 37 patients, it shows a promising success rate of 88.2% in positive pain prediction

Homological perturbation theory for nonperturbative integrals

We use the homological perturbation lemma to produce explicit formulas computing the class in the twisted de Rham complex represented by an arbitrary polynomial. This is a non-asymptotic version of the method of Feynman diagrams. In particular, we explain that phenomena usually thought of as particular to asymptotic integrals in fact also occur exactly: integrals of the type appearing in quantum field theory can be reduced in a totally algebraic fashion to integrals over an Euler--Lagrange locus, provided this locus is understood in the scheme-theoretic sense, so that imaginary critical points and multiplicities of degenerate critical points contribute.Comment: 22 pages. Minor revisions from previous versio

Developing social impact requires the research agenda to move beyond conventional academic boundaries.

The Dutch Senate recently passed a new Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP). The SEP highlights the importance of social impact for research. The new Protocol was developed by the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), VSNU (Association of Dutch universities) and NWO (Dutch Science Council) and is to be used to evaluate academic research from 2015-2021. Based on recent discussions and publications, Peter A.G. van Bergeijk, Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits, and Linda Johnson discuss some of the implications of the Protocol’s new criterion, using Development Studies as an example

Validation of spallation neutron production and propagation within Geant4

Using simulations to understand backgrounds from muon-induced neutrons is important in designing next-generation low-background underground experiments. Validation of relevant physics within the Geant4 simulation package has been completed by comparing to data from two recent experiments. Verification focused on the production and propagation of neutrons at energies important to underground experiments. Discrepancies were observed between experimental data and the simulation. Techniques were explored to correct for these discrepancies.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables, submitted to NIM A. 6 Aug 200

Optimised design of nested oblong tube energy absorbers under lateral impact loading

Dynamic lateral crushing of mild steel (DIN 2393) nested tube systems was conducted using a ZWICK ROELL impact tester. The tests were performed with impact velocities ranging between 3 and 5 m/s, achieved using a fixed mass impinging onto the specimens under the influence of gravity. The various nested tube systems consisted of one standard and one optimised design. Their crushing behaviour and energy absorption capabilities were obtained and analysed. In addition to the experimental work, numerical simulations using the explicit code LS-DYNA were conducted; boundary conditions matching those observed in experiments were applied to the models. Results from the numerical method were compared against those obtained from experiments. An over-prediction in force-deflection responses was obtained from the numerical code. An attempt was made to explain this inconsistency on the basis of the formation of plastic hinges and the validity of strain rate parameters used in the Cowper Symonds relation. It was found that the optimised energy absorbers exhibited a more desirable force-deflection response than their standard counterparts due to a simple design modification which was incorporated in the optimised design

Diverse pollination systems of the twin-spurred orchid genus Satyrium in African grasslands

The large terrestrial orchid genus Satyrium underwent evolutionary radiations in the Cape floral region and the grasslands of southern and eastern Africa. These radiations were accompanied by tremendous diversification of the unusual twin-spurred flowers that characterize the genus, but pollination data required to interpret these patterns of floral evolution have been lacking for grassland species in the genus. Here we document pollinators, nectar properties, and levels of pollination success for 11 grassland Satyrium species in southern and south-central Africa. Pollinators of these species include bees, beetles, butterflies, hawkmoths, noctuid moths, long-proboscid flies, and sunbirds. Most species appear to be specialized for pollination by one functional pollinator group. Long-proboscid fly pollination systems are reported for the first time in Satyrium (in S. macrophyllum and a high-altitude form of S. neglectum). Floral morphology, especially spur length and rostellum structure, differs markedly among plants with different pollinators, while nectar volume, concentration, and sugar composition are fairly uniform across species. Most taxa exhibited high levels of pollination success (>50% of flowers pollinated), a trend that can be attributed to the presence of nectar in the twin spurs

Bifurcations in the wake of a thick circular disk

Using DNS, we investigate the dynamics in the wake of a circular disk of aspect ratio χ = d/w = 3(where d is the diameter and w the thickness) embedded in a uniform flow of magnitude U0 perpendicular to its symmetry axis. As the Reynolds number Re = U0d/ν is increased, the flow is shown to experience an original series of bifurcations leading to chaos. The range Re ∈ [150, 218] is analysed in detail. In this range, five different non-axisymmetric regimes are successively encountered, including states similar to those previously identified in the flow past a sphere or an infinitely thin disk, as well as a new regime characterised by the presence of two distinct frequencies. A theoretical model based on the theory of mode interaction with symmetries, previously introduced to explain the bifurcations in the flow past a sphere or an infinitely thin disk (Fabre et al. in Phys Fluids 20:051702, 2008), is shown to explain correctly all these results. Higher values of the Reynolds number, up to 270, are also considered. Results indicate that the flow encounters at least four additional bifurcations before reaching a chaotic state