'May I be alive when I die!' Dreaming of reanimation in Flaubert, Beckett and NDiaye

In his chapter ‘“May I be alive when I die!’ Dreaming of (re)animation in Flaubert, Beckett and NDiaye’, Andrew Asibong argues that the protagonists of Flaubert, Beckett and NDiaye do not truly live live, and that, in exactly the same way, they fail to properly die. Asibong unpacks this strangely ‘undead’ quality that permeates the worlds of Flaubert, Beckett and NDiaye by focusing on the analogous way in which all three writers play – in a remarkably ghoulish manner – with the representation of suicide. After examining a few instances of bewildering pseudo-resurrection in Flaubert and Beckett, Asibong suggests, via the psychoanalytic work of André Green and his theory of the ‘dead mother’, some potentially instructive emotional frameworks through which to read the failure of their characters to finally die

Bullying Behavior and its Association with Mental Health Symptoms among Senior Secondary School Students in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: The nature of our psychosocial environment and one’s response to stressful daily events are key determinants of current and future mental health status. The school environment is one of such settings which expose young people to potentially undue  stress, especially through bully-prone interpersonal interaction with peers and older individuals. Although bullying is thought to be prevalent in secondary schools, only a few studies have investigated the association between bullying and the mental health status of secondary school students in developing countries. The present study seeks to obtain data that may be helpful in addressing this research gap. Methodology: This was a cross‑sectional analytic study. Astratified sampling technique was used to select six secondary schools within Calabar metropolis. Proportional allocation using a simple random sampling method was employed to recruit the  required number of senior secondary students from the selected schools. Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale and Child and Youth Mental Health General Screening Questionnaires were used to assess for presence/degree of bullying and mental health problems, respectively. Mann–Whitney U-test and Spearman’s correlation analysis were used as inferential statistics, and P-value was considered significant if it was < 0.05. Results: Three hundred and four (304) respondents were surveyed, but complete data were obtained from 292. Their ages ranged from 13 to 20 years, with a mean age of 16.5 ± 2.1 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1:0.7. Within the past 12 months, 54.8% of the  respondents had bullied someone, while 62.3% had witnessed someone being bullied. Attack on the property was the most common form of bullying (61%), followed by social manipulation (52.7%), verbal (52.1%), and physical (47.9%) forms of victimization. Moderate-to-severe forms of social manipulation, physical victimization, verbal victimization, and attack on property forms of bullying were found in 26.0%, 26.7%, 28.8%, and 32.2% of respondents, respectively. The most frequently elevated component of mental health score in the respondents was conduct symptoms (50.7%), followed by mood symptoms (34.2%) and symptoms of generalized anxiety (19.2%). Respondents with abnormally elevated scores for hyperactivity/distractibility, conduct, generalized anxiety, and mood symptoms had significantly higher mean scores for each of the components of bullying assessed (P < 0.001). Elevated scores on oppositional defiant symptoms did not significantly influence the mean scores of each component of bullying, except for verbal victimization (P = 0.04). Asignificant positive correlation was observed between each component of bullying and each domain of mental health assessed (P < 0.001). A positive correlation was also observed between the total bullying score and each domain of mental health as well as the total mental health scores (P < 0.001). Of all the domains of mental health assessed, symptoms of hyperactivity/distractibility showed thestrongest positive correlation with a total bully score (r = 0.69, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that bullying is prevalent in our secondary schools, with a potential adverse effects on the mental health of affected individuals in the near or remote future. These findings may be useful for improvement in existing policies for school health programs in developing countries. Keywords: Bullying, Nigeria, psychological health, secondary school, senior secondary student

Congruences on *-Simple Type A I-Semigroups

This paper obtains a characterisation of the congruences on *-simple type A I-semigroups. The *-locally idempotent-separating congruences, strictly *-locally idempotent-separating congruences and minimum cancellative monoid congruences, are characterised

Perception and acceptability of malaria vaccine among maternal and child health clinic attendees at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria

Background: Ninety percent of the world's malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Because of challenges with ongoing malaria control strategies there is need for newer strategies such as malaria vaccine. Nigeria's immunization program has suffered series of setback in recent times due to misperception that marred its acceptability. Malaria vaccine trials have already commenced in some countries. The aim of this study was to assess the perception and acceptability of malaria vaccines among maternal and child health clinic attendees.Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A semi-structured pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection from maternal and child health clinic attendees in Calabar, Nigeria. Respondents were selected using systematic random sampling. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics, sources of information regarding malaria vaccine and perception and acceptability of malaria vaccine.Results: Majority of respondents, 90.5%, were females, 93% were married and 77.5% were educated up to tertiary level. Civil servants constituted 35.1% of respondents. Majority, 157(60%) of respondents had heard about malaria vaccine prior to the study. Eighty –four percent of respondents indicated that they believe malaria vaccine is necessary for malaria control. Fifty- three percent of respondents agreed that they would allow their children to be volunteers for malaria vaccine trial. Eighty- six percent of respondents would recommend that malaria vaccine be made part of the country's National Programme on Immunization.Conclusion: Majority of respondents had good perception of malaria vaccine. However, there is need for more advocacy and health education so as to debunk all myths and misperceptions.Keywords: Malaria, Vaccine, Acceptability, Perception, Immunization, Nigeri

Discussion of Green's "Melanie Klein and the Black Mammy: An Exploration of the Influence of the Mammy Stereotype on Klein's Maternal and its Contribution to the 'Whiteness' of Psychoanalysis"

This article is a response, in cinematic, historical and autobiographical terms, to Emily Green’s ‘Melanie Klein and the Black Mammy: An Exploration of the Influence of the Mammy Stereotype on Klein’s Maternal and Its Contribution to the “Whiteness” of Psychoanalysis’. The author attempts to open up Green’s analysis to a wide range of aesthetic, emotional and political implications, moving between a consideration of the ‘passing’ motif in Douglas Sirk’s film Imitation of Life (1959); thoughts on racialization and trauma in psychoanalytic history more generally; and reflections on the author’s own experiences of racialization and collective disavowal in psychotherapeutic training

Beyond a carnival of zombies: the economic problem of ‘aliveness’ in Laurent Cantet’s Vers le sud

Laurent Cantet’s film Vers le sud (2005), based on three short stories by the Haitian-Canadian author Dany Laferrière, explores the problems of ‘aliveness’ and ‘deadness’, both physical and psychical, questioning the systemic and emotional methods by which these states become racialised and concomitantly commodified. Central to the film’s living potency is the acuity of its politicised analysis: from start to finish, Vers le sud shines an unswerving spotlight on the simultaneous precariousness and over-exposure of certain kinds of Black (in this case poor Haitian adolescents’ and children’s) lives. The film’s politics, grounded in a lucid presentation of the material and ideological conditions of racialised inequality on which neo-colonial, neo-liberal (and, in this case, sexualised) tourism takes place, are combined with a specifically cinematic critique of the gaze of the wealthy, White female subject who buys the power not only to look at this life, but also, vampirically, to ingest its perceived qualities of vitality. Politics and aesthetics come together in the film to deconstruct a set of (frequently masked and insidious) operations formed at the disavowed crossroads of capitalist, racist and child-abusing phantasies of corporeal and emotional appropriation

International Best Practice: Understanding the Core Difference between Medical Laboratory Science and Clinical Laboratory Medicine in Nigeria

Introduction: International best practice (IBP) in the healthcare sector is an approach that is put in place globally, acceptable  standards to ensure patients’ safety while providing quality healthcare to the community. It achieves such standards by defining the job roles of various professionals in the healthcare sector. In the Nigerian healthcare sector, despite the clear definition of the job roles of the medical laboratory scientist and clinical laboratory physicians (pathologist) by the various Acts of Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that established these two professions, there seems to be a misapprehension of the differences between these two  professions. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of the health workers as it concerns the IBP on the scope of practice of medical laboratory science (MLS) and clinical laboratory medicine in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Across-sectional, observational design was used for this prospective study involving 427 health workers from the six geopolitical zones in Nigerian and Abuja, using a proportionate sampling technique. It was facility‑based research usinga validated semi-structured self-administered questionnaire. Results: Over 50% of the participants believed that MLS was the same as clinical laboratory medicine. Two hundred and ten  participants (49.2%) did not know that analyses of samples in a clinical laboratory was the job responsibility of a laboratory physician. Conclusion: There was knowledge gap in the practices of both the MLS and the clinical laboratory medicine by health workers. Therefore, there is a need to create awareness through interprofessional education, workshops, and seminars to ensure understanding of job roles as this may promote harmony between these two professions in the health sector. Keywords: Clinical laboratory medicine, international best practice, medical laboratory scienc

Corporate Governance and Leverage Implications on Firms’ Profitability, Cash Flows and Value in Nigeria

The paper examines the implications of Corporate Governance and leverage on firm profitability (ROA), value (MPS) and cash flows (FCF). The study utilized the agency, stewardship and free cash flow theories. The correlation research design was employed and data collected from ten (10) listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria between the period 2009-2018. The data was analysed for descriptive and correlation properties, with the research hypotheses tested through regression analysis. The results of the study indicates that independent boards have significant negative influence on debt usage, board size does not have a significant effect on debt capital, CEO duality positively impacts the usage of debt financing. The results also indicate that independent boards (BIND) have significant impact on ROA, FCF and MPS, BSIZE is found to exert no statistically significant impact on the financial performance variables, CEO duality negatively impacts both FCF and MPS of the sampled manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Furthermore, the impact of DEBT on ROA and FCF are found to be negative, with the negative effect on ROA being statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level (-0.015, (0.6846)), and the negative effect on FCF being statistically significant at the 0.05 alpha level. The research concludes that the research therefore upholds that capital structure, corporate governance board characteristics and financial performance of manufacturing firms listed on the NSE are significantly related at the 0.05 level. The study recommended that the role of the CEO and board chairman be separated and current debt levels in the manufacturing industry be maintained. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Leverage, Firm Profitability, Firm Cash Flows, Firm Value DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-24-04 Publication date: December 31st 201

Antenatal Deworming and Materno-Perinatal Outcomes in Calabar, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that administration of anthelmintic drugs in pregnancy can reduce the incidence of maternal anaemia; however, data on other maternal and perinatal outcomes are limited.AIM: This study was therefore conducted to evaluate the direct impact of mass deworming on delivery and perinatal outcome.MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 560 healthy pregnant women in their second trimester were randomised to receive a single dose of oral mebendazole (500 mg) and placebo. Each participant received the standard dose of iron supplement and malaria prophylaxis. They were followed up to delivery and immediate postpartum period to document the possible impact on maternal and perinatal outcomes.RESULTS: The prevalence of anaemia at term, 37 weeks gestation and above, among the treatment arm was 12.6% compared with 29.9% in the placebo arm (p < 0.001). Caesarean section rates was higher in the treated group and the placebo (p = 0.047).There were no statistically significant differences in incidences of postpartum haemorrhage (p = 0.119), Puerperal, pyrexia (p = 0.943), low birth weight (p = 0.556) asphyxia (p = 0.706) and perinatal death (p = 0.621).CONCLUSION: Presumptive deworming during the antenatal period can significantly reduce the incidence of peripartum anaemia. However, more studies may be needed to prove any positive perinatal outcome

'Then look!' Unborn attachments and the half-moving image

This article explores the emotional impact on the viewer of disturbing and disorienting images of infant-caregiver relationality in four “melo-horror” films: Imitation of Life (Stahl, 1934), Imitation of Life (Sirk, 1959), The Brood (Cronenberg, 1979), and Beloved (Demme, 1998). Comparing some of these filmic images with the infant performances of “disorganized” attachment styles captured on videotape by attachment researchers such as Mary Main, the author argues that the filmed audiovisual enactment of relational trauma, whether in the context of scientific research or cinematic art, offers the spectator an opportunity to work consciously and unconsciously with representations of unbearable psychic and psychosocial experience—both her own and that of others—that may hitherto have been thought unrepresentable or simply not thought at all