Early menarche: A systematic review of its effect on sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries

Background: Adolescent girls aged 15-19 bear a disproportionate burden of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Research from several high-income countries suggests that early age at menarche is an important determinant of sexual and reproductive health. We conducted this systematic review to better understand whether and how early menarche is associated with various negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and the implications of such associations. Methods: We systematically searched eight health and social sciences databases for peer-reviewed literature on menarche and sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries. Two reviewers independently assessed all studies for inclusion, overall quality and risk of bias, and performed data extraction on all included studies. Results: Twenty-four articles met all inclusion criteria-nine of moderate quality and fifteen with several methodological weaknesses. Our review of the minimal existing literature showed that early menarche is associated with early sexual initiation, early pregnancy and some sexually transmitted infections in low- and middle-income countries, similar to what has been observed in high-income countries. Early menarche is also associated with early marriage-an association that may have particularly important implications for countries with high child marriage rates. Conclusions: Early age at menarche may be an important factor affecting the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and young women in low- and middle-income countries. More research is needed to confirm the existence of the identified associations across different settings and to better understand the process through which early menarche and other markers of early pubertal development may contribute to the increased vulnerability of girls to negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Given the association of early menarche with early marriage, ongoing efforts to reduce child marriage may benefit from targeting efforts to early maturing girls

Analysis of Resource Use Efficiency in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Production in Kogi State, Nigeria

The study was on resource use efficiency among tomato farmers in Kogi State, Nigeria. The data were collected from 240 tomato farmers through purposive sampling in 2014. Questionnaire design was the instrument used for data collection. Data collected were analysed through the use of simple descriptive statistics, OLS regression analysis and efficiency ratio. The result of the study showed that majority of tomato farmers in the State were married males with an average family size of 7 members. Farmers’ educational status, farming experience, contact with extension workers, and farm size were positively related and significant at 1% in influencing the output of tomato produced in the State. Resources such as pesticide, labour, years spent in school, quantity of seed and farm size were positively and significantly related to tomato output in Kogi State. Quantity of pesticide, seed and fertilizer were over utilized while labour and farm size were underutilized. It is recommended that government should implement policies that will facilitate the efficient utilization of agricultural resources among tomato farmers in Kogi State

Women’s perception on rights during pregnancy and childbirth

Background: The Nigerian health system as a whole has been plagued by problems associated with the quality of service, including but not limited to unfriendly staff attitudes to patients, inadequate skills, decaying infrastructures, and chronic shortages of essential drugs. Approximately two-thirds of all Nigerian women deliver outside of health facilities and without the presence of medically skilled attendants.  The study was carried out to assess the awareness and knowledge of women regarding their rights during pregnancy and childbirth, and to explore the extent to which women’s rights were respected during pregnancy and childbirth.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted among randomly selected 140 women at Mother and Child Hospital, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. Data was collected with a pretested questionnaire and was analysed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.Results: Findings revealed that majority (76.9%) of the women had a fair knowledge of their rights in pregnancy and childbirth, with the source of knowledge majorly from their friends. Right to information, informed consent and refusal, even distribution of healthcare services, maintenance of attainable level of health regarding proper monitoring were fairly observed by the health care providers. Right of women against verbal and physical abuse, privacy, treatment with dignity and respect were least accorded to women.Conclusions: Respective Maternity Care remains a challenge that demands policy interventions in most public health facilities to enhance positive endorsement and utilisation of maternal and health care services

Assessment of Informal Credit in Mobilizing Funds for Agricultural Production in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria

The study assessed the use of informal credit in mobilizing funds for agricultural production in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents for the study. Descriptive statistics and mean score were used to analyze the data collected. The result showed that 63.3 percent of the sampled respondents were literate with an average farm size of 1.5 hectares. The major source of informal credit available in the area was ‘Esusu’. The result also showed that 64.2 percent of the respondents demanded for N 30,000 and below from informal source of credit while 21.3 percent of the available loan was invested on agriculture. The average loan volume per respondent recorded in the study area was N 23,080.00. Amount of credit obtained from informal source of credit, farming experience, educational status, household size and non farm income significantly influenced agricultural production in the study area. High interest rate, low lending level, inadequate number of financial agents and mode of payment were the major constraints militating against the use of informal credit. The study recommended that there should be an increase in the amount of loan per beneficiary to take care of both the production and consumption needs of the farmers

Trends in delirium coding rates in older hospital inpatients in England and Scotland:full population data comprising 7.7M patients per year show substantial increases between 2012 and 2020

BackgroundLittle information is available on change in delirium coding rates over time in major healthcare systems. We examined trends in delirium discharge coding rates in older patients in hospital admissions to the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Scotland between 2012 and 2020.MethodsHospital administrative coding data were sourced from NHS Digital England and Public Health Scotland. We examined rates of delirium (F05 from ICD-10) in patients aged ≥70 years in 5 year and ≥90 age bands.ResultsThere were approximately 7,000,000 discharges/year in England and 700,000/year in Scotland. Substantially increased delirium coding was observed for all age bands between 2012/2013 and 2019/2020 (p<0.001, Mann Kendall’s tau). In the ≥90 age band, there was a 4-fold increase between 2012 and 2020.ConclusionDelirium coding rates have shown large increases in the NHS in England and Scotland, likely reflecting several factors including policy initiatives, detection tool implementation and education

Assessment of Geologic Controls of Flooding in Parts of OBIO/AKPOR L.G.A., Rivers State, Nigeria

Flooding of Municipal areas is a frequent environmental occurrence in Rivers State that occurs when rainfall runoff meets land surfaces with low water absorbing capacity or when it overwhelms drainage channels. In order to assess the flood situation in the study area, an integrated method which involves field-measurement, geographic information system (GIS),laboratory analysis of soil samples and topographic studies were employed.Digital elevation model of the study area reveals that the flooded areas are situated in areas with elevations lower than its surrounding, thereby acting as a natural basin to retain flood waters after rainfall.Four holes were drilled to depth of 3 m to obtain soil samples at 1 m sampling interval, from which laboratory analysis was carried out to determine some geotechnical parameters such as soil’s particle size, specific gravity, bulk density,porosity,moisture content, permeability and hydraulic conductivity. Results of the analysis show that permeability,hydraulic conductivity and porosity diminishes with respect to depth. The soil in the flooded areas have high fines content (silt and clay), high bulk density which increase with depth and a specific gravity that is typical of organic rich soils that contain sand mixed with a considerable amount of fines. At Nkpolu, mean permeability rates of 0.003 cm/sec, 0.009 cm/sec and 0.033 cm/sec were obtained at 1, 2 and 3 m respectively. At Eneka, mean permeability rates of 0.011 cm/sec,0.018 cm/sec and 0.014 cm/sec were obtained at 1, 2 and 3m respectively,while at Rukpokwu, mean Permeability rates of 0.021 cm/sec was obtained at 1 m, while 0.006 cm/sec was obtained at 2 and 3 m respectively. The mean hydraulic conductivity for the locations under study is of the order of 10-4 ft/day. This study has shown that the flooded areas are located in low lying urban areas which act as basins, therefore, the top soil is crusted with highly compacted soil horizons beneath. With high and frequent rainfall in the region which generates a lot of runoff, in addition to poor drainage system, flooding in the study area occurs frequently.Therefore,construction and maintenance of efficient drainage channels for an effective solution to urban pluvial flooding in the study area are thereby recommended

Seismic Interpretation and Petrophysical Analysis for Evaluation of Ataga Field, Onshore Niger Delta, Nigeria

The majority of geophysical survey in hydrocarbon exploration and production sector is driven by the ability to describe reservoirs. This research is aimed at describing the interpretation and petrophysical analysis of the reservoirs in Ataga field Niger Delta using a combination of seismic and well-log data. The Ataga Field in the Niger Delta was subjected to 3-D seismic interpretation and petrophysical study to perform comprehensive structural interpretation, prospect evaluation, and volumetric calculation. Two reservoir windows “1” and “2” were identified and correlated from four wells ATA 10, ATA 11, ATA 5 and ATA 7. Detailed evaluation was done on well ATA 11 since it is the only well that has sufficient data for both qualitative and quantitative interpretation. Structural interpretation for inline 5731 revealed fifteen faults on the seismic vertical section through ATA 11, most of which are antithetic faults while the rest are synthetic faults. Top and base of each reservoir window was delineated from the well. Result of the petrophysical assessment of reservoir A, B and C for ATA 11 revealed that the porosity values range from (24 -29) % which are indicative of very good to excellent porosity value according to Rider (1996). While the permeability values range from (1887-2582) mD were obtained from the three reservioir A, B and C of ATA 11 which depict very good to excellent reservoir units. Since, .all of the wells were discovered to have hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir formations (sandstones), the integration of structural interpretation and well logs have successfully revealed that the reservoirs are mostly oil-bearing zones

Vestibular loss disrupts visual reactivity in the alpha EEG rhythm

The alpha rhythm is a dominant electroencephalographic oscillation relevant to sensory-motor and cognitive function. Alpha oscillations are reactive, being for example enhanced by eye closure, and suppressed following eye opening. The determinants of inter-individual variability in reactivity in the alpha rhythm (e.g. changes with amplitude following eye closure) are not fully understood despite the physiological and clinical applicability of this phenomenon, as indicated by the fact that ageing and neurodegeneration reduce reactivity. Strong interactions between visual and vestibular systems raise the theoretical possibility that the vestibular system plays a role in alpha reactivity. To test this hypothesis, we applied electroencephalography in sitting and standing postures in 15 participants with reduced vestibular function (bilateral vestibulopathy, median age = 70 years, interquartile range = 51-77 years) and 15 age-matched controls. We found participants with reduced vestibular function showed less enhancement of alpha electroencephalography power on eye closure in frontoparietal areas, compared to controls. In participants with reduced vestibular function, video head impulse test gain - as a measure of residual vestibulo-ocular reflex function - correlated with reactivity in alpha power across most of the head. Greater reliance on visual input for spatial orientation ('visual dependence', measured with the rod-and-disc test) correlated with less alpha enhancement on eye closure only in participants with reduced vestibular function, and this was partially moderated by video head impulse test gain. Our results demonstrate for the first time that vestibular function influences alpha reactivity. The results are partly explained by the lack of ascending peripheral vestibular input but also by central reorganisation of processing relevant to visuo-vestibular judgements

Hydrocarbon Play Assessment of “Oswil” Field,Onshore Niger Delta Region

Hydrocarbon play assessment of any field involves the evaluation of the production capacity of hydrocarbon reservoir unit in the field. This involves detail study of the reservoir petrophysical properties and geological interpretation of structures suitable for hydrocarbon accumulation in the field as observed from seismic reflection images. This study details the assessment of hydrocarbon play in OSWIL field onshore in Niger Delta, with the intent of appraising its productivity using a combination of seismic, well logs,petrophysical parameters and volumetric estimation using proven techniques which involves an integrated methodology. Two reservoir windows “R1” and “R2” were defined from five wells OSWIL-02, 04, 06, 07 and 12.The top and base of each reservoir window was delineated from the wells.Structural interpretation for inline 6975 revealed two horizons (X and Y) and eight faults labelled (F1, F2, F6, F8, F10, F16, F17 and F18). Five faults (F1, F6, F10, F17 and F18) were identified as synthetic faults and dip basin wards while three faults (F2, F8 and F16) were identified as antithetic faults and dips landwards. Time-depth structural map at top of reservoirs R1 and R2 revealed structural highs and closures. These observations are characteristics of growth structures (faults) which depicts the tectonic style of the Niger Delta. Results of petrophysical evaluation for reservoirs “R1” and “R2” across the five wells were analysed. For reservoir “R1” effective porosity values of 27%, 26%, 23%, 20% and 22% were obtained for wells OSWIL-04, 12, 07, 06 and 02 respectively with an average of 23.6%, while for reservoir “R2” effective porosity values of 26%, 22%, 21%, 24% and 23% for wells OSWIL-04, 12, 07, 06 and 02 were obtained respectively with an average of 23.2%. This porosity values correspond with the already established porosity range of 28-32% within the Agbada formation of the Niger Delta. Permeability index of the order (K > 100mD) were obtained for both reservoirs across the five wells and is rated very good. Hydrocarbon saturation (Shc) across the five wells averages at 61.6% for reservoir “R1” and 67.4% for reservoir “R2”. Result of petrophysical model for porosity, permeability and water saturation reveal that the reservoir system in R1 and R2 is fault assisted and fluid flow within both reservoirs is aided by presence of effective porosity and faulting. Volumetric estimation for both reservoirs showed that reservoir R1 contains an estimate of 455 × 106 STB of hydrocarbon in place, while reservoir R2 contains an estimate of 683 ×106 STB of hydrocarbon in place. These findings impact positively on hydrocarbon production in the field and affirm that the two reservoirs R1 and R2 are highly prospective