A Statistical Review of the U.S. Abortion Policy Since the Ruling of Roe v. Wade

Since the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, controversy in regards to its acceptance in the U.S. remains prevalent politically and socially as opponents of abortion “pro-life” has adopted a strategy of “legal but inaccessible” that has resulted in the passage of several state laws since its establishment. This research project examines relationship between the level of support for abortion policy in the U.S. and some factors namely; Gender, Religious background, and Political ideology by drawing from an online-survey of 100 university students in the U.S. Also, it examines the difference in abortion rates among U.S. states that are governed by republican or democratic governors using abortion rate data of all 50 U.S. states including the District of Columbia for the year 2015 sourced from Abortion statistics and other data. Two statistical techniques were employed and they include: Chi-Square test and Independent sample T-test. Results from the chi-square tests support the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between the support for abortion policy and gender, religious background, and political ideology. Also, from the T-test result, we found that there is no significant difference in abortion rates among U.S. states that are governed by republican or democratic governors. Findings based on the trend analysis of annual U.S. abortion from 1973-2015 shows that the reported annual abortion in the U.S. is on a continuous decrease since the 1990s even though abortion has been legalized in all U.S. states

An evolutionary strategy based motion estimation algorithm for H.264 video codecs

In this paper, we propose a new motion estimation algorithm based on evolutionary strategy (ES) for the H.264 video codec applied to monoscopic video. The proposed technique applies in macroblock basis and performs a parallel local search for the motion vector associated with the minimum motion compensated residue. For this purpose (/spl mu/+/spl lambda/)-ES is used with heuristically and randomly generated population of initial motion vectors. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can reduce the computational complexity up to 50% of the motion estimation algorithm used in the H.264 reference codec at the same picture quality. Therefore, the proposed algorithm provides a significant improvement in motion estimation in the H.264 video codec

Knowledge and perception of Prevention of Mother to Child services amongst pregnant women accessing antenatal clinic in a Primary Health Care centre in Nigeria

Background: Few studies have assessed pregnant women’s perceptions regarding prevention of mother to child of HIV and the available services at the primary health care level in Nigeria.Objective: Assessment of knowledge and perception of antenatal clinic (ANC) attendees regarding Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV at primary health care facilities in south-west Nigeria.Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst 400 antenatal attendees in a Primary Health Care centre in Ibadan, Nigeria.Results: Known methods of PMTCT were: use of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) during pregnancy (75.0%), ART at birth (65.8%) and not breastfeeding (61.8%). Previous HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) was reported by 71%, significantly higher proportions of thosewho were married, in the third trimester of pregnancy or engaged in professional and/or skilled occupations had been tested. Regarding the HCT services provided, 92.2% understood the HIV-related health education provided, 89.7.2% reported that the timing was appropriate, 92.6% assessed the nurses’ approach as acceptable but 34.0% felt the test was forced upon them. Majority (79.6%) were aware of non-breastfeeding options of infant feeding, but only 3.5% were aware of exclusive breastfeeding for a stipulated period as an infant feeding option. Nevertheless, the majority of the women found the non-breast feeding option culturally unacceptable.Conclusion: Women in this survey were knowledgeable about the methods of PMTCT, but had negative perceptions regarding certain aspects of the HCT services and the recommended non-breastfeeding infant feeding option. Health workers should provide client friendly services and infant feeding counselling that is based on current WHO recommendations and culturally acceptable

Factors associated with viral non-suppression among patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Objectives: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a public health issue with more than 25 million deaths since 1990.  As of 2019, Nigeria has a national prevalence of 1.4% among 15- 49 years and about 1.9 million people living with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. This study assessed the factors responsible for unsuppressed viral load among patients accessing care at Federal Medical Centre HIV Clinic in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria. Methods: The study design was descriptive cross-sectional. Data was collected using the qualitative method; an In-depth interview was conducted among 20 virally unsuppressed HIV patients currently on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) at Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta. The participants were purposively selected. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Although almost all the participants were aware of HIV, their knowledge of HIV was inadequate. Non- adherence to drugs, side effects of medications, the psychological effects of the disease, forgetfulness, and combination of anti-retroviral drugs with local herbs and alcohol were the associated factors of viral non-suppression among the patients. Conclusion: Scaling up psychological care services using Short Message Services (SMS) to improve viral suppression is, therefore, strongly recommended

The anthropogenic consequences of energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is there a role for education?

Sub-Saharan Africa has been one of the most affected regions in the world by the emissions-induced climate crisis. Even though the region is not the biggest emitter of CO2 globally it is important to understand the dynamics of emissions in the sub-continent. This study takes a look at one of those determinants –education. Specifically, the study attempts to unravel the role of education on C02 emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa. To achieve this aim, the study adopts a sample of 46 countries in the region and employs data covering the period 1996–2018. The estimations are carried out using four estimators (Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects, Random Effects and System-GMM). The findings of the study reveal that the improvement in education has two different impacts on C02 emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa. On one hand, the Pooled OLS reveal a negative relationship between education and emissions – (0.000374%) while the random Effects and system GMM reveal a positive relationship between education and C02 emissions (0.000934% & 0.000233% in the region. Similarly, energy consumption is positively associated with carbon emissions (0.0209%). More so, the study suggests that efforts be made to improve education with an emphasis on the harmful effects of emissions to the environment as this will aid to reduce emission-related activities in Sub-Saharan Africa

An architectural-based approach to detecting spim in electronic means of communication

Spams are what users and developers should be aware of in all Internet-based communication tools (such as e-mail, websites, Social Networking Sites (SNS), instant messengers and so on). This is because spammers have not ceased from using these platforms to deceive and lure users into releasing vibrant and sensitive information (especially, financial details). This paper developed an architectural based technique for SPIM (Instant Message Spam or IM SPAM) detection using the classification method. The classification was done using the C4.5 classifier with a dataset of messages gotten from an instant messaging environment. The dataset served as the input to the classification algorithm method which was able to distinguish spam from non-spam messages. This classification method was depicted in a tree form to show its usefulness. The results show that its precision, recall and accuracy rate satisfied standard recommendation with a commendable error rate. The proposed technique will find implication in the reduction of the number of Internet users.Keywords: Social Networking sites, spammers, Instant message spam, C4.5 Classifiers, e-mails

Acute Kidney Injuries in Children with Severe Malaria: A comparative study of diagnostic criteria based on serum cystatin C and creatinine levels

Objectives: Serum creatinine levels are often used to diagnose acute kidney injury (AKI), but may not necessarily accurately reflect changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This study aimed to compare the prevalence of AKI in children with severe malaria using diagnostic criteria based on creatinine values in contrast to cystatin C. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed between June 2016 and May 2017 at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. A total of 170 children aged 0.5–14 years old with severe malaria were included. Serum cystatin C levels were determined using a particle-enhanced immunoturbidmetric assay method, while creatinine levels were measured using the Jaffe reaction. Renal function assessed using cystatin C-derived estimated GFR (eGFR) was compared to that measured using three sets of criteria based on creatinine values including the Kidney Disease: Improved Global Outcomes (KDIGO) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria as well as an absolute creatinine cut-off value of >1.5 mg/dL. Results: Mean serum cystatin C and creatinine levels were 1.77 ± 1.37 mg/L and 1.23 ± 1.80 mg/dL, respectively (P = 0.002). According to the KDIGO, WHO and absolute creatinine criteria, the frequency of AKI was 32.4%, 7.6% and 16.5%, respectively. In contrast, the incidence of AKI based on cystatin C-derived eGFR was 51.8%. Overall, the rate of detection of AKI was significantly higher using cystatin C compared to the KDIGO, WHO and absolute creatinine criteria (P = 0.003, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Diagnostic criteria for AKI based on creatinine values may not indicate the actual burden of disease in children with severe malaria. Keywords: Biomarkers; Acute Kidney Injury; Renal Failure; Glomerular Filtration Rate; Cystatin C; Creatinine; Malaria; Nigeria

Health Communication, Knowledge and Practice towards Prostate cancer in Kwara State, Nigeria

In response to the global call for strategic information to comprehend prostate cancer, this study evaluated the health communication on behavioral practice of prostate cancer in Kwara state, Nigeria. Existing studies in Nigeria on prostate cancer have mostly focused on health practitioners and their patients, ignoring specific empirical data on semi-urban and urban context. This study looks at health communication channels as predictors of knowledge, attitude, and behavioral practices, with a focus on Ilorin, Nigeria's Kwara state, which has the highest prostate cancer prevalence rate. A total of 336 respondents from Kwara State, Nigeria, were randomly selected using the multistage sample procedure for the survey. The findings show Knowledge of prostate cancer was highest amongst study participants who used the radio (4.00 ± 1.06) and television (3.64 ± 0.51) while it was low amongst those who relied on the internet (3.48 ± 0.50) and health professionals (3.16 ± 0.66) as their primary source of information. Contrastingly, practice was highest amongst persons who used the internet (3.60 ± 0.20) as their primary information source and lowest amongst those who used the television (2.50 ± 1.52) and Health Professionals (2.44 ± 0.65). Demographically, respondents in the 46-55 age group scored the highest (3.93 ± 0.71) as compared to those in the 26-35 (3.43 ± 0.68) who scored the lowest on the knowledge scale.The study concludes that health communication outlets such as television, the Internet, radio, newspapers, and health workers have a good impact on the people of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study suggests creating a nationwide prostate cancer communication system to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice of people, towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3

Structural breaks in CO2 emissions: Are they caused by climate change protests or other factors?

In recent times, there has been increase in climate change protest across the globe. However, whether decrease in emissions is connected with climate change protest or not is yet to be documented in the literature. Consequently, the aim of this article is to fill this gap by examining ex-post detection of how climate change protests and its interconnectedness with CO2 emissions. Using the Bai and Perron (1998) structural break test, we estimate the number of breaks as well as the date of such structural breaks in CO2 emissions series for 41 countries. Our aim is to match the date of the climate change protests to those of the structural breaks. We observe that climate change protests are fairly consistent with the dates of breaks in Europe and Asia, but not in BRICS economies or US, Canada and other countries. Therefore, this method allows us to solve a gap in the energy industry related to the modelling and correct allocation of positive shocks in CO2 emissions to climate change protests