Health effects of noise exposure levels among instrumentalists in pentecostal churches in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria

Background: Noise is everywhere in our daily lives and becomes very important as it affects our health. Religion is an integral part of daily lives and the use of acoustic and electronic instruments in worship. With the increase in sophistry of these instruments come their attendant untoward effects on the auditory organs of the body. This study was to assess noise exposure levels amongst instrumentalists in Pentecostal churches in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria.Materials & Methods: Following ethical consideration, 216 consenting respondents from 30 churches in Port Harcourt were recruited by table of random numbers. Structured close ended interviewer administered questionnaire incorporating the Hearing Health Quick Test (HHQT) was used to access demographic data. Hearing assessments were also performed using tonal audiometry. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: Most 90.28% and 37.96% of respondents were male and within the 39-45 year-old age range respectively. Also, 80.56% of respondents were aware that loud music can cause permanent hearing loss. The prevalence of NIHL and Tinnitus was 39% and 38% respectively; and only 19% used Hearing Protection Devices (HPD). Statistically significant risk of NIHL was observed in musicians who had experienced tinnitus, played only amplified instruments and Music experience greater or equal to 10 years (p=0.001).Conclusion: Gospel instrumentalists are exposed to noise in the course of their duties which have significant effect on their hearing. Use of Hearing Protection Devices (HPD) as a personal protective equipment is encouraged just as health education of this group of workers is necessary.Keywords: Noise, Sound Pressure Level (SPL), Instrumentalists, Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL

Political Economy of Covid-19 and the Global Health Security in Africa: The Experience of Nigeria

The explosion and outbreak of COVID-19 in the world as well as Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. The frequency of the spread of COVID-19 across the continents of the world was massive and enormous. The study examines the political economy of COVID-19 and the Global Health security in Africa: the experience of Nigeria. This study uses secondary sources of data as its data collection. The study adopted liberal institutionalism as a theoretical framework of analysis. The following findings were discovered as the impacts of the COVID-19 in Nigeria. These are as follows: businesses in Nigeria were affected as the Federal Government of Nigeria announced country’s nation-wide lockdown, economic situation of Nigeria was worsened and poverty rate in Nigeria was heightened. The study advanced the following recommendations: Nigeria’s health sector should properly be equipped with modern day technology; Nigeria’s medical personnel should be totally and holistically trained and retrained. Keywords: Political Economy, Covid-19, Health Security. DOI: 10.7176/IAGS/96-03 Publication date:August 31st 202

Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in crude oil-contaminated soil using composted market waste

Release of crude oil and its products into the environment has resulted in many problems that are of global concern. The objective of this study was to determine effect of Composted Market Waste (CMW) on the degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in crude oil-contaminated soil. Pot experiment was carried out with 1 kg of soil in 7 litres perforated container contaminated with 10 % w/ w crude oil, followed by amendment with CMW at 0, 350 and 450 g. The soil was analysed for PAH after 21 days using GC-FID. Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Phenanthrene, Benzo (g,h,i) perylene, Indeno (1,2,3-cd) perylene, Pyrene and Benzo (b) fluoranthene were present in the crude oil-contaminated soil. Concentrations of PAHs at the end of the experiment were 188.40, 38.45 and 32.73 ppm in control, 350 and 450 g respectively. Composted market waste enhanced degradation of PAHs in crude oil- contaminated soil.Keywords: PAH, Degradation, Crude oil, Compos

Duration of hospital stay and mortality in the medical wards of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Kaduna

Background: Many factors affect mortality among hospitalized patients. These include: - age, sex, diagnosis, types and complexity of co-morbidities, social and economic conditions of the patient and duration of hospital stay. Duration of hospital stay as it affects mortality is studied on our medical wards. Methods: A two year review of admissions into our medical wards between June 1999 and June 2001 was carried out. Medical records of patients as well as the discharge/death register were used. The SPSS version 10 was used to analyse the data Results: A total of 179 patients with age range of 12-85 years, mean age of 44.46 years were studied. Twenty (11.2%) of them died. Sixty-five percent of all deaths had occurred by the fifth day of admission, only 15% of all deaths occurred after the 10th day of admission. The mean duration of hospital stay for those who died was significantly shorter (

Compaction and Porosity Based Pore Pressure Prediction in the “Cappe Field”, Coastal Swamp Depobelt, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Three wells of the “Cappe” Field in the offshore part of the Coastal Swamp depobelt I, Niger Delta, were evaluated primarily to determine the impact of compaction on reservoir quality and to determine possible over-pressured zones in the Benin and Agbada formations. Sandstone porosity-depth plots of the three wells show a linear trend of gradual porosity reduction with depth for the top of the wells 1, 2 and 3 (r2 = 0.26, 0.42 and 0.73 at 4500-5900ft, 3940-5000ft and 2500-5350ft respectively). Two variations from this simple trend were observed. 1: Intervals of insignificant porosity reduction (well 1; 6500-7950ft, r2 = 0.00003 and well 2; 5760-7911ft, r2 = 0.008), due to hydrocarbon entrapment. 2: A reversal in the trend (well 3; 5450-9658ft, r = -0.89) indicated by an increase in porosity as a result of overpressure. A number of factors such as compaction, fluid content and pore pressure affect the porosity-depth trends of the Agbada Formation. A decrease in porosity with depth generally holds true for shales (well 1: r2 = 0.74 and well 2: r2 = 0.81) except for an increase in porosity (r2 = -0.596) observed in well 3. Compaction factor is significant in sandstone porosity reduction in the Benin Formation (well 1: 58.3% and well 2: 68.9%) than in the Agbada Formation (well 1: 25.64% and well 2: 25.29%). Sandstone porosities predicted at the base of the wells are generally low (well 1: 5.86%, well 2: 7.52%), implying uneconomical reservoirs.KEY WORDS: Pore Pressure, Overpressure, Porosity, Compactio

Investigation of the Bread Baking Potentials of Some Ascosporogenous Yeast Strains Isolated from Palmwine

Yeast is the primary organism responsible for the leavening of doughs. In this study, yeast samples were isolated from palm wine samples collected from Nkpa in Abia State. The samples were cultured on malt extract agar (MEA) medium at room temperature of 28oC to isolate three ascosporogenous yeast strains (Saccharomyces fragilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia spp) from the culture by using identification techniques such as their morphological, fermentative and microscopic properties. The isolated yeast, the combination of the strains and the commercial baker’s yeast as the control were each used to produce eight different bread samples and their physical, sensory properties and correlation were examined. Amongst the bread samples examined for physical properties, sample D (Baker’s yeast) had the highest value in bread volume followed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae while Pichia spp had the least performance. Likewise, significant differences (p < 0.05) occurred in specific volumes, which ranged from 1.91 – 3.94. The loaf weight ranged from 276.5- 320.1g.  The result of the sensory attributes of the bread samples revealed that the taste value ranged from (4.3 -8.5), texture (3.5 -8.0), aroma (3.5 -8.0), crust colour (4.4 – 8.0), and general acceptability (4.7 -7.9).  The general acceptability was significantly (p < 0.01) found to be positively correlated with bread volume (r = 0.96), taste (r = 0.90), crust colour (r = 0.86) and negatively correlated with the loaf weight (r = −0.86). Therefore, the data shows that some of the isolated yeast strains and the combination of strains could be valuable in the leavening of doughs. Keywords: Palm-wine, Ascosporogenous yeasts, Bread, Physical properties, Sensory properties DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/121-07 Publication date: January 31st 202

Determinants of productivity of farmland in Imo State

The study analysed the determinants of productivity of farmland in Imo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using a set of structured  questionnaires from 60 food crop farmers who were selected through purposive and random sampling techniques. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and econometric tools. The results showed that majority of the respondents were young in their active years, with a mean age of 45 years, married, mostly females, had mean level education of 8 years and mostly farming as their major occupation. The results also showed that the food crop farmers had adequate labour force of a mean 7 persons per household and cultivated an average farm size of 1.06 hectares. The result of the productivity of farmland was 4.03, which showed high productivity. From the results also, the exponential function is the lead equation. The study concluded that farmlands in Imo state are productive and are determined by farm size, location, distance, quantity of fertilizer used, type of soil and duration of tenancy. The study advocated for food crop farmers to form a cooperative to enable them pool their resources together for gaining larger farmlands, fertilizer and other farm inputs. Keywords: Farmland, Determinants, Productivity, Imo state

Educating Staff Members in an Outpatient Clinic on Hypertension Management

An educational module on hypertension was created in response to the recurring pattern of patient visits with hypertension and an observed knowledge gap among nursing staff in an outpatient clinic located in the southern United States. The educational module was patterned after Joint National Committee-8 and American College of Cardiology guidelines involving patient lifestyle modification and provided clinic staff with information on hypertension diagnosis and self-management for use in patient education. The module was reviewed by a panel of 3 experts who approved it for appropriateness and clarity of content and made one minor recommendation for revision. The education materials were modified to meet the panel\u27s recommendations and subsequently presented to 5 nursing staff members. Pre- and postmodule questionnaires were provided to the staff to determine the extent of their learning from the education program. Pretest results indicated that staff lacked information on the guidelines for treatment of hypertension. Posttest results indicated that all 5 participants found the module information useful for staff to use in educating patients on self-management of hypertension. Providing nursing staff with current evidence-based practice guidelines can increase staff nurse knowledge on hypertension management. Educating nursing staff has the potential to effect positive social change by empowering staff and patients to improve health care outcomes by enabling staff to coach patients on hypertension management using up-to-date evidence-based practice guidelines

Towards the vision of the African Union: a critical evaluation of the AU agenda from the perspective of Anyiam-Osigwe's Group Mind Principle

The research paper aims to assess the objectives of the African Union (AU) and establish that if the internal workings of the AU and its member states are premised on Anyiam-Osigwe’s Group Mind Principle, its avowed objectives will be greatly served

Determinants of ambulatory patients’ satisfaction with encounter at core service stations in a tertiary hospital of a developing country

Patients may have different and complex convictions of what their idea of satisfaction is, which may not be addressed regarding what they perceive as satisfaction. Therefore, using the patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics could tailor the individual needs of these patients, hence, providing feedback and recommendations on improvement in services provided. This study examined the determinants of patients’ satisfaction with general outpatient department (GOPD) services of a tertiary hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among new and repeat patients attending the GOPD of the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from 332 patients recruited into the study using a multi-stage sampling method. Patients were more satisfied with consultations and nursing services than they were with services received at the medical records department. Patients’ socio-demographic and clinical characteristics that influence that satisfaction included age, marital status, visit status, insurance status, and level of schooling. This study provides insights on factors that determine the satisfaction of ambulatory patients with the record, nursing, and consultation services. Modifiable factors will form the basis for a future intervention to improve patient experiences in this facility. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Patient, Family & Community Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens