PERFORMANCE OF AN AUTOMOTIVE BUMPER FROM LALLOH (Corchorus triden L.) PLANT FIBRE REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITE UNDER MODIFIED DYNATUP MODEL 8150 TEST

The work presented here is the production of an automotive Bumper from Lalloh plant (Corchorus tridenL.) fibre reinforced epoxy composite and its performance evaluation using the drop weight test method. An impact test was carried out on the bumper using a test rig modeled after the Dynatup Model 8150 drop weight test set up. Two test variants were used that is, with the bumper completely restraint and the bumper restraint at two-points. The bumper damage were assessed using a set of criteria as outlined by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Results obtained showed that the bumper performed satisfactorily under the completely restraint condition. However, there were, tears, distortion and delamination observed on the bumper after the two-point constraint test. Although the extent of the tear, distortion and delamination were minimal which did not result in the shattering of the bumper. This therefore showed that, the bumper was able to absorb the impact energy by confining the damage to itself, thereby protecting adjacent components

Bilateral Breast Cancer: Experience in a Poor Resource Black African Setting

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women in Nigeria. Women previously treated for ipsilateral breast cancer have increased risk of developing contalateral breast cancer (CBC), the chance of which increases with longer period of survival and is associated with worse prognosis. Reports from Nigeria are few on this.The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, predisposition, presentation, and outcome of management of bilateral breast cancer (BBC) in a population, South-western Nigeria.Methods: A review of bio-data of all patients with BBC seen in LTH, Osogbo, Nigeria between 2001 and 2008 was done. Age, parity, age at menarche and first child birth, family history, duration of symptoms, tumour characteristics and exposure to cigarette, oral contraceptive pills (O.C Pills) and outcome of treatment were also assessed.Results: BBC constituted 4.6% of the 256 breast cancer patients. Eight (73%) were metachronous and 91% were infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Patients’ mean age, mean age at menarche and first child birth were 39, 14.5+3 and 22.5yrs respectively. Mean parity was 3.5 child birth, 91% were premenopausal and all have menstruated for 12-31yrs. None had positive family history while only 1 and 3 had insignificant exposure to cigarette and O.C pills respectively. The mean interval between the 2 onsets was 18mths (0-68mths). 91% of all tumours were advance, while 81% of the first tumours were on the right. Mean duration before presentation for the first and second tumours were 261 and 111days respectively. One patient has survived for 2 years thus far.Conclusion: The incidence of BBC was 4.26%. Most patients were young and premenopausal with mostly infiltrating ductal carcinoma (NOS) and presenting with late stage disease, hence poor prognosis. Aggressive follow-up of patients with ipsilateral cancer will aid early detection of CBC

The Clinical Relevance of Diarrhoea in Patients with Suspected Uncomplicated Appendicitis

Background: Diarrhea is uncommon in uncomplicated appendicitis and when present, it tends to bring about delay in diagnosis, thus predisposing to complications.Methods: This was a retrospective study of all cases of uncomplicated appendicitis seen at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria over a 3 year period.Results: During the period under review, 153 with uncomplicated appendicitis were seen. Their ages ranged from 4 to 62 years with a median of 23.01 years. The M: F ratio was 1.15: 1. Diarrhea was more common in patients aged under 15 years (p = 0.003). Fifteen (9.8%) of the patients had diarrhea and was more common in females (12.67%) than in males (7.31%) ( p =0.201). Diarrhea was present in 4.34% and in 18.03% patients presenting before and after 72 hours respectively (p= 0.006). Fever (T >38oC) was found in 91 patients, 11 of them had diarrhoea, compared to 4 of the 62 without fever ( p= 0.283 Fisher’s exact test ). There was no significant difference in rectal findings in patients with or without diarrhea (p= 1.000). The unsuspected perforation rate was 66.6% for those with diarrhoea and 0.7% for those without diarrhea ( p<0.000, odds ratio of 274). About 22% and 5.3% of patients with and without pus collection respectively had diarrhea (p= 0.0049, O R 5.18). Diarrhea was significantly more associated with appendiceal perforation compared with simple appendicitis (p= 0.00001 odds ratio 77.5) and also compared with those with normal appendix (p =0.006). The median length of hospital stay was significantly higher in patients with diarrhea (p = 0.001)Conclusion: Diarrhea as a symptom of appendicitis is commoner in  children. It is associated with late presentation, more perforation, intra-bdominal pus and prolonged length of stay Key words: clinical relevance, diarrhea, appendiciti

Financial Performance, Governance Characteristics and CEO Compensation: Evidence from the UK and Nigerian Banks

The peculiar nature of banks means that they are heavily regulated and highly leveraged and as such, results obtained by existing pay-performance literature cannot automatically be extended to banks. This research work examines the relationship between CEO pay and financial performance in Nigeria and UK banks while recognizing its peculiarities. It further analyzed the relationship between CEO pay and board governance characteristics, and the relationship between CEO share ownership and performance. Finally, this research work compares the pay-performance relationship in both countries. Data for twenty-six listed banks in the UK and thirteen Nigerian banks between 2009 and 2019 were adopted. Using an OLS regression model, the study finds that both accounting and market-based performance measures exerts a significant and positive influence on CEO pay in Nigerian banks and as such is consistent with agency theory but that it has no impact on accounting performance in UK banks. Fixed effects and GMM were adopted to address endogeneity and the signs of the coefficients remained the same. Overall, it finds that in line with previous literature, bank size is the main factor that drives CEO pay. Furthermore, it examines the relationship between CEO pay and board governance characteristics and finds that they are similar across both countries. This could be due to the similarities in the rules and regulations including corporate governance codes that govern banks in both countries. Also, CEO share ownership is significantly influenced by bank performance both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The research implies that CEO pay if well-designed is an important corporate governance mechanism which does align the interests of CEOs and shareholders and helps mitigate agency cost as well as the ability of CEOs to extract rent

Case Report: Delayed presentation and diagnosis of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in pregnancy

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare in women of reproductive age. If diagnosed, the underlying cirrhosis is associated with infertility in the majority of cases. There is limited literature on HCC in pregnancy, even more so for cases of metastatic disease. We present a case of delayed presentation and diagnosis of metastatic HCC in pregnancy. A 30-year-old pregnant woman presented at 23 weeks’ gestation and was diagnosed as HIV-infected, with anaemia. She was initiated on an efavirenz-based fixed-dose combination and oral haematinics. She subsequently presented at 32 weeks’ gestation with dyspnoea, and was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. She was also found to have hepatosplenomegaly and ascites. She went into spontaneous preterm labour at 32 weeks and 4 days. A diagnosis of metastatic HCC was made postpartum, based on the radiological findings and biochemistry. We discuss the challenges of diagnosing metastatic HCC in pregnancy

Quality of primary care physicians’ communication of diabetes self-management during medical encounters with persons with diabetes mellitus in a resource-poor country

Background: Most of the Nigerian studies on the determinants of diabetes self-management have focused on patient-related factors. There is no previous local study that examined the quality of diabetes self- management education provided by primary care physicians to people with diabetes mellitus.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 105 primary care physicians during a workshop. The quality of diabetes self-management education provided by the physicians was assessed using a self-designed scale of 39 Likert questions derived from American  Association of Diabetes Educators seven domains of diabetes self-management. Cronbach’s reliability coefficient of each domain/subscale was ≥ 0.7. The data was analysed using the independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA.Results: Over half of the physicians provided ‘inadequate quality’ diabetes self-management education in all the domains. Physicians had the highest mean score in the ‘taking medication’ domain (4.35 ± 0.59). The mean scores in the ‘problemsolving domain’ (3.63 ± 0.74) and the ‘being active domain’ (3.57 ± 0.71) were low. The quality of diabetes self-managementeducation provided by the physicians was not associated with any of the physician characteristics.Conclusion: The quality of physicians’ communication of diabetes self-management was suboptimal in this study. The majority of the adequately communicated diabetes self-management behaviours were risk factors reduction related and disease-centred. Thus, training of primary care physicians on diabetes self-management education is recommended because of the key role these physicians play in diabetes management in resource-poor countries.Keywords: diabetes self-management, patient–physician communication, primary care physicians, resource-poor countries, Nigeri

Knowledge and experience of medical students with male urethral catheterization

Background: Urethral catheterization is a commonly performed procedure. Therefore medical students should receive adequate training in this technique to avoid devastating consequences of performing it poorly. This study was aimed at finding out the knowledge and experience of final year medical students with the technique of male urethral catheterization.Methods: Well-structured questionnaire was administered to each of the final year medical students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) one week to their final examinations.Results: All the 215 students received the questionnaire one week before their final examinations with 128 (60%) completing it. The male to female ratio was 1:1 with a mean age of 28 years. One hundred and twenty-five (98.4%) of the students had been throught male urethral catheterization. Thirty-five (27.6%) of the students have never performed male urethral catheterization. One hundred and fifteen students (90.6%) agreed that urethral catheterization is a sterile procedure. Sixty-nine (54.3%) students said xylocaine jelly should be used as lubricant.. Ninety four (74%) students said that they will inflate the balloon of the catheter when the Y junction gets to the tip of the penis. Forty-nine (38.6%) students said they are very confident about male urethral catheterization, 61 (48.0%) said reasonably confident while 5 (3.9%) are not confident at all.Conclusions: Urethral catheterization is a common procedure. Students should receive adequate instruction in this technique to avoid devastating consequences of performing it poorly

Cure of post Kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis with paromomycin/sodium stibogluconate combination: a proof of concept

Background: Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is  a  recognized  dermatologic  complication  of  successfully  treated  visceral  leishmaniasis  (VL). PKDL lesions are suspected to be important reservoirs for VL transmission in Sudan. Prolonged treatment schedules, feeling of general well-being and the social stigmata of PKDL prevent most patients seeking treatment. The mainstay of treatment is cardiotoxic sodium stibogluconate (SSG) for 60-120 days. Recently, liposomal amphotericin B (Ambisome®) and immunochemotherapy gave promising results. Ambisome® is expensive and difficult to prepare under field conditions. Paromomycin/SSG combination has been shown to be safe, efficacious and can save time in VL treatment. This study aims to prove that Paromomycin/SSG combination can cure and reduce PKDL treatment duration.Methods:We are reporting nine cases of patients with PKDL lesions of ≥6 months duration who were diagnosed by clinical signs, histopathological/immunohistochemical and PCR.Results: Patients’ mean age was 11.7 ± 4.3 years. A third of the patients (3/9; 33.3%) who failed previous SSG treatment of 2-3 months duration responded completely to 40 days of paromomycin/SSG combination. The majority of patients (5/9; 55.6%) responded completely to 30 days of the combination. One patient (1/9; 11.1%) relapsed following 30 days paromomycin/SSG combination.Conclusion:It was concluded that paromomycin/SSG combination for 30 days is time-saving, safe and efficacious for PKDL treatment.