Determinants of full vaccination status in a rural community with accessible vaccination services in South-South Nigeria

Background: Immunization promotes child survival. Low vaccination coverage in rural areas in Nigeria is associated with vaccination posts being too far, but other determinants exist.Objective: To assess the proportion and determinants of full vaccination of children in a rural community with accessible immunization services.Methods: A cross-sectional house-to-house survey was conducted in a rural community in Edo State, Nigeria. The community has two readily accessible vaccination posts. Using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, data on the vaccination status of 12-to-59 month-old children and other variables related to the child were collected from their mothers. . Fisher's exact test and odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to explore factors associated with full vaccination.Results: A total of 305 mothers were interviewed and 299 (98.0%) reported that their children received at least one of BCG, OPV, DPT and measles vaccine. Fully vaccinated children were 246 (80.7%). A child's birth in a health facility (P < 0.001; OR = 0.15, 95%CI = 0.07-0.33), mother's knowledge of the benefits of immunization (P = 0.001; OR = 0.21, 95%CI = 0.08-0.60) a mother being employed (P = 0.003; OR = 2.48, 95%CI =1.32-4.68) and a high birth order (P = 0.002) were significantly associated with full vaccination.Conclusion: Birth and maternal factors facilitate full vaccination in rural areas, especially where vaccination posts are readily accessible. Knowledge and behavioural gaps should be corrected using health education. Qualitative studies are required to better understand the behavioural determinants of full vaccination.Keywords: Full Vaccination, Immunization Coverage, Child Survival, Rural Area, Nigeri

ANNONA MURICATA LINN. ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT AMELIORATES REPRODUCTIVE COMPLICATIONS IN STREPTOZOTOCIN-INDUCED DIABETIC WISTAR RATS

Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine and metabolic disorder of humans and animals characterized by hyperglycemia and low blood insulin levels or insensitivity of target organs to insulin and it’s a major health problem affecting patient’s quality of life due to its many complications. Infertility is one of the major secondary complications in diabetes. Although numerous drugs have been used for intervention studies on diabetes-induced infertility worldwide, there are currently no treatments for diabetes associated infertility in humans. This study was performed to investigate the effects of Annona muricata ethanolic leaf extract (AMELE) on fertility of male diabetic rats and levels of blood glucose. Twenty male Wistar rats (150-200g) were randomly distributed into 4 groups (n=5) treated thus: CTRL (control), DNT, DT1 and DT2 (diabetic, single intraperitoneal injection, streptozotocin, 60 mg/kg). Group DT1 and DT2 received AMELE orally at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg respectively daily for fourteen days. Data were analysed using ANOVA at α0.05. The animals were sacrificed after 2 weeks via thiopental injection and testicular weights were recorded. Fasting blood glucose was determined using a digital glucometer. Sperm count, motility, viability and morphology were assessed microscopically. Testes were histologically evaluated. The results showed that oral administration of AMELE at 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg to diabetic male rats for fourteen days significantly decreased blood glucose level and also ameliorated diabetes-induced decreases in sperm functions in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male rats.   &nbsp

An investigation into the anthropogenic nexus among consumption of energy, tourism and economic growth: Do economic policy uncertainties matter?

Global warming has been a pressing issue for the past decade as various economic activities have been flagged and are expected to reduce emissions. While previous studies have examined the energy consumption-emissions-economic growth nexus in significant detail, attention is yet to be given to the role of economic policy uncertainties and human activities such as tourism in a carbon function. Thus, this study aims to investigate the long run relationship between energy consumption, tourists’ arrivals, economic policy uncertainty and ecological footprint in the top ten earners from international tourism over the period 1995 to 2015. The FMOLS and DOLS estimation techniques and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin Causality tests were used in the study. Empirical results suggest that economic policy uncertainties in addition to tourism and energy consumption are drivers of environmental degradation. However, the contribution of energy consumption to ecological footprint is significantly moderated by economic policy uncertainties such that a 1% increase in the latter reduces environmental damage by 0.71%. This study suggests that policy uncertainties matter a great deal for energy and environmental policies. Also, green economic growth is possible if the proper implementation of environmental protection policies can restrict the harmful impact of economic activities on the quality of the environment. Based on the empirical findings, vital energy policy recommendations are suggested

Natural resource abundance, renewable energy, and ecological footprint linkage in MENA countries

Apart from being vulnerable to the menace created by climate change, the MENA countries consume more of non-renewable energy despite their resource endowments and great renewable energy potentials. Energy consumption, natural resources and urbanization may add to environmental degradation since ecological distortions mostly emanate from human activities. This study investigates the effects of the aforementioned variables on the ecological footprint (EFP) in MENA countries. The findings confirm the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and further reveal the negative impact of natural resources and economic growth on the environment. Renewable energy and urbanization reduce EFP. The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) were applied to obtain the country-specific results which reveal that urbanization surge promotes environmental degradation in all the countries except in Algeria, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Morocco were it is not particularly harmful. Natural resource rent increases the EFP in the UAE, Oman, and Lebanon. Further findings suggest a feedback causality between urbanization, economic growth and EFP. Policy directions based on the findings are extensively discussed

EFFECTS OF FEED RESTRICTION AND REALIMENTATION ON PERFORMANCE AND NITROGEN UTILISATION IN GROWING WEST AFRICAN DWARF RAMS

The effects of feed restriction on the performance of growing West African Dwarf sheep were determined in twenty four (24) growing West African dwarf (WAD) rams with average weight of 8.9 ± 0.59kg. The twenty-four WAD rams were allotted to three treatments of eight rams per treatment and balanced for weight in a Completely Randomized Design. Animals in group C which represents the control were fed with dried Panicum maximum ad libitum and concentrate supplement while group two (R1) and group three (R2) were fed with P. maximum without concentrate supplementation for one and two months, respectively. Thereafter, two months of realimentation followed the restriction. Data were taken on the feed intake, weight gain and digestibility. Results obtained on average daily gain showed significant difference (P < 0.05) whereby sheep on R2 group recorded the lowest value (50.7g/day) during restriction. Digestible organic matter intake (g/Kg 0.75 d-1) for sheep on the C group was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than R1 group, but not significantly (P > 0.05) different from R2 group. The Crude protein intake was highest in the control (49.9g/day). Rumen amino acid of the control animals (4.1) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than R1 (2.1) and R2 (3.5) groups. Nitrogen intake (g/day) was significant and higher in the C group (8.0) compared to the two restricted groups R1 and R2. During realimentation period, average daily weight gain (g/day) was highest (P < 0.05) for animals in the control (57.5) and least in R2 (34.5). The feed conversion ratio ranged from 8.3 (C) to 14.3 (R2) while the total weight gain (kg) ranged from 2.1 (R2) to 3.5 (C). Similarly, the CP intake (g/day) was higher in the control group compared to those in R1 and R2 groups. However, the dietary amino acid recorded in R2 differ significantly (P < 0.05) from R1 and C groups. During the realimentation period, nitrogen intake for rams in R1 (8.8g/day) and R2 (10.1g/day) groups doubled the values obtained during the restriction period. It was concluded that rams should be restricted for one month because they gained more weight than those restricted for two months.Â

Does globalization and energy usage influence carbon emissions in South Asia? An empirical revisit of the debate

The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 agenda hinges on attaining a sustainable environment with the need to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. Hence, this study empirically revisits the debate on the effect of nonrenewable energy and globalization on carbon emissions within the framework of the Kuznets hypothesis using an unbalanced panel data from seven South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) covering 1980–2019. The variables of interest are carbon emissions measured in metric tons per capita, energy use measured as kg of oil equivalent per capita, and globalization index. To address five main objectives, we deploy four techniques: panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), quantile regression (QR), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). For the most part, the findings reveal that the (1) inverted U-shaped energy-Kuznets curve holds; (2) U-shaped globalization-Kuznets curve is evident; (3) inverted U-shaped turning points for nonrenewable energy are 496.03 and 640.84, while for globalization are 38.83 and 39.04, respectively; (4) globalization-emission relationship indicates a U-shaped relationship at the median and 75th quantile; and (5) inverted U-shaped energy-Kuznets holds in Pakistan but a U-shaped nexus prevails in Nepal and Sri Lanka; inverted U-shaped globalization-Kuznets holds in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but U-shaped nexus is evident in Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal. Deductively, our results show that South Asia countries (at early stage of development) are faced with the hazardous substance that deteriorates human health. Moreover, the non-linear square term of the nonrenewable energy-emissions relationship is negative, which validates the inverted U-shaped EKC theory. Overall, the effect of energy and globalization on carbon emissions is opposite while the consistency at the 75th quantile result indicates that countries with intense globalization are prone to environmental degradation

Analyzing the Energy Consumption and Economic Growth Nexus in Nigeria

Public and private sectors across the globe formulate and implement policies that target growth of their operations. It is of essence therefore that economic managers and other stakeholders identify and engage key factors that promote economic activities in policy formulation. The connection between economic performance and energy utilization is acknowledged in the literature, but empirics on the nature of this relationship produce mixed outcomes thereby suggesting the need for more research. Using the auto-regressive distributed lag method, this study estimates the effect of energy consumption on economic growth in Nigeria between 1981 and 2017, incorporating financial development, gross fixed capital formation and inflation for enhanced robustness. The results indicate that energy consumption and gross fixed capital formation (proxy for infrastructure) significantly determine growth of economic activities in Nigeria. The study also presents empirical support for delayed response of an endogenous variable to its own shocks as well as shocks to explanatory variables. It therefore asserts that energy consumption is a major determinant of economic growth in Nigeria, and aligns with the energy-led hypothesis. The observed positive impact electricity and capital consumption provides empirical support for the endogenous growth theory. Increased government and private sector investment in energy and infrastructural development is strongly advocated

ZRANB3 is an African-specific type 2 diabetes locus associated with beta-cell mass and insulin response.

Genome analysis of diverse human populations has contributed to the identification of novel genomic loci for diseases of major clinical and public health impact. Here, we report a genome-wide analysis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in sub-Saharan Africans, an understudied ancestral group. We analyze ~18 million autosomal SNPs in 5,231 individuals from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. We identify a previously-unreported genome-wide significant locus: ZRANB3 (Zinc Finger RANBP2-Type Containing 3, lead SNP p = 2.831 × 10-9). Knockdown or genomic knockout of the zebrafish ortholog results in reduction in pancreatic β-cell number which we demonstrate to be due to increased apoptosis in islets. siRNA transfection of murine Zranb3 in MIN6 β-cells results in impaired insulin secretion in response to high glucose, implicating Zranb3 in β-cell functional response to high glucose conditions. We also show transferability in our study of 32 established T2D loci. Our findings advance understanding of the genetics of T2D in non-European ancestry populations

Management and outcomes following emergency surgery for traumatic brain injury - A multi-centre, international, prospective cohort study (the Global Neurotrauma Outcomes Study).

Introduction:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounts for a significant amount of death and disability worldwide and the majority of this burden affects individuals in low-and-middle income countries. Despite this, considerable geographical differences have been reported in the care of TBI patients. On this background, we aim to provide a comprehensive international picture of the epidemiological characteristics, management and outcomes of patients undergoing emergency surgery for traumatic brain injury (TBI) worldwide. Methods and analysis:The Global Neurotrauma Outcomes Study (GNOS) is a multi-centre, international, prospective observational cohort study. Any unit performing emergency surgery for TBI worldwide will be eligible to participate. All TBI patients who receive emergency surgery in any given consecutive 30-day period beginning between 1st of November 2018 and 31st of December 2019 in a given participating unit will be included. Data will be collected via a secure online platform in anonymised form. The primary outcome measures for the study will be 14-day mortality (or survival to hospital discharge, whichever comes first). Final day of data collection for the primary outcome measure is February 13th. Secondary outcome measures include return to theatre and surgical site infection. Ethics and dissemination:This project will not affect clinical practice and has been classified as clinical audit following research ethics review. Access to source data will be made available to collaborators through national or international anonymised datasets on request and after review of the scientific validity of the proposed analysis by the central study team