Effects of Motivation on Test Performance of First Year Covenant University Students

This study examined the effect of motivation on test performance of first year Covenant University students, Ota, Ogun State. The study adopted pre-test, post-test experimental design. Data for the study were obtained from sixty (60) students with age range between 15 and 18 years (average age = 16.5 years). Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions using independent group design. The independent and dependent variables were motivation and test performance respectively. The two hypotheses were analysed using Mann- Whitney U test. The result shows a significant difference between the result of the unrewarded students in the control group and students rewarded with verbal praise in the experimental group (U = 61.000, N1 = 20, N2 = 20, p< 0.05, one-tailed). There was also a significant difference between the result of the students rewarded with primary reinforcers and the unrewarded students in the control group (U = 45.000, N1 = 20, N2 = 20, p< 0.05, one-tailed). This study justifies the importance of motivation on test performance. To improve students’ academic performance, teachers are encouraged to motivate their students. Key words: Teachers, motivation, test performance, Ot

Diseases Induced by Heavy Metal Exposure and their Ameliorative Phytochemicals: A Review

Indiscriminate disposal of refuse and industrial effluents have continued to introduce toxic chemicals into our environment. Most of these toxic wastes, particularly the heavy metals are colourless, hence, the silent access which they often gain into the human body via food and water. This has increasingly posed deleterious effects on public health globally in the twentyfirst century. Relevant publications were primarily sourced from Science Direct (a major contributor to the Scopus database) using “heavy metals; toxicity; amelioration; herbs, treatment” as keywords. This article gives an overview of health risk factors, the pathogenic health effects of common heavy metals and the sustainable route to their amelioration using natural products with heavy metal chelating potential in different animal models. The incorporation of these herbs in diets and the direct therapeutic applications of crude plant extracts, fractions and isolates enhance the human defense system against the various diseases which are usually associated with the consumption of heavy metal contaminated food and water

Carica papaya stem: A Promising Bioresource for Crop Protection

Some phytochemicals from agro-wastes have been established as natural candidates for crop protection. However, despite the medicinal and agricultural applications of Carica papaya, little is known about the active components of its stem. The phytochemical investigation of aqueous Carica papaya stem extract (ACPSE) revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenol, and steroids in varying proportions. The percentage saponins in ACPSE was 50.10% while 2.40%, 45mg/100g QE, and 4mg/100g GAE were obtained for alkaloids, flavonoids and total phenolics respectively. The components in the ACPSE and solvents fractions were identified using Gas Chromatography mass spectroscopic technique (GC-MS). The major active components identified through the GC-MS analysis of ACPSE and its fractions were 2, 6-di-ter-butyl-4-(dimethlaminomethyl) phenol (36.4 %), β-Sitosterol (21.60%), butanoic acid (21.17%) and 5-Eicosene (9.65 %). Moreover, in the agar-well diffusion experiment, ACPSE exhibited significant in vitro mycelia growth inhibition of 47.51– 69.96 % against Fusarium solani and Aspergillus fumigatus at 50 mg/ml concentration. Therefore, the presence of the identified phytochemicals indicates that Carica papaya stem is a promising source of antifungal phytochemicals which can find important application in food preservation and crop protection

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)