Nexus between Gender differences and Sexual Satisfaction in selected Married couples in Ilishan, Ogun State, Nigeria

Scholarly discourse has intensified the debate on differences regarding sexual drive, sexual initiation, and intimacy between male and female partners and sexual satisfaction in marriage. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 124 married students of Babcock University and results were analysed using various regression analysis. Findings revealed that sexual initiation has no influence on sexual satisfaction. It depicted that sexual drive provokes sexual satisfaction more in males than in females while intimacy tends to engender sexual satisfaction more in females than in their male counterparts where the joint effect of the three variables on sexual satisfaction was tested. Furthermore, length of time in marriage significantly moderates the relationship between intimacy and sexual satisfaction. The study confirms intimacy as a key driver in the sexual satisfaction of married couples and recommends its embrace in obedience to the Holy book, as it motivates sexual initiation and increases sexual drive in each partner.Key Words: Intimacy, Marriage, Sexual drive, Sexual initiation, Sexual satisfactio

Cadmium determination in cigarettes available in Nigeria

Cadmium (Cd) contents were determined in 30 brands of tobacco cigarette commonly available in Nigeria by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The concentration of Cd in the cigarettes ranged from 0.7 to 2.3 g/g dry weight with mean 1.48 ± 0.46 g/g. Higher Cd concentrations were found in importedbrands (1.52 ± 0.46 g/g) compared to the Nigerian brands (1.10 ± 0.35 g/g). Relatively lower Cd values were observed in cigarettes from developing countries (~ 1.3 g/g) compared to brands from developed countries (>1.3 g/g). The average Cd content of cigarettes available in Nigeria is 1.28 g per cigarette and a person who smokes 20 cigarettes per day is estimated to increase his daily Cd retention by approximately 1 g/day (0.53 – 1.65 g/day). The results indicate that smoking and exposure to cigarettesmoke is a confounder to be taken into account when carrying out epidemiological studies on human exposure to cadmium

Copper, Iron and Zinc concentrations of tobacco leaves and ready-to-use snuff products on sale in Imo State Southeastern Nigeria

This paper reports the results of the determination of the concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Fe in tobacco leaves and snuff products on sale in some regional markets in Imo State, Southeastern Nigeria. The samples were ashed at 550°C, mineralized with acid and the metal concentrations measured using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The mean metal concentrations are 843 ± 46 mg kg-1 for Fe, 79 ± 4 mg kg-1 for Zn, and 22 ± 2 mg kg-1 for Cu in snuff samples and; 951 ± 78 mg kg-1 for Fe, 83 ± 2 mg kg-1 for Zn, and 24 ± 2 mg kg-1 for Cu in tobacco leaves. Comparably, higher metal concentrations were obtained in tobacco leaves than in the snuff products, and the metal concentrations varied according to the regional markets from where they were purchased. The results of this study indicate that snuff products could constitute trace metal exposure routes to users.Keywords: snuff; trace metals; tobacco; toxicology; Nigeri

Trace metal contents of facial (make-up) cosmetics commonly used in Nigeria

Several facial cosmetics available in Nigeria were analyzed for their contents of the heavy metals; lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, zinc and iron. The levels of chromium, iron and zinc were much higher in the samples than those of the non-essential toxic metals; lead, cadmium and nickel. The range of the geometric average for the various cosmetics is: Fe, 97-256 g/g; Ni, 8-13 g/g; Pb, 87-123 g/g; and Zn, 88-101 g/g. The geometric mean values obtained for Cr and Cd were generally below 40 g/g and about 1 g/g, respectively. Our result indicates that these cosmetics are relatively safer to use when compared to the lead-based kwali eye make-up commonly available in Nigeria. These data indicate that the continuous use of these cosmetics could result in an increase in the trace metal levels in the ocular system and the human body beyond acceptable limits. The application of these cosmetics needs to be considered as a source of lead in evaluating patients with symptoms of lead intoxication in regions where this practice is common

Social Anomie and Suicide Phenomenon in Nigeria: Lending Credence to the Voiceless Phenomenon

Suicide is one of the socially undesirable phenomena across the globe As such the United Nations via the World Health Organization has recognized suicide as one of the health issues requiring serious attention globally and domestically Although there are statistical evidences about the understanding of the phenomenon and its prevalence world over especially among the developed nations much is left to be desired for among the developing nations in the understanding of the social antecedence of suicide and the sustainable mechanism to the phenomenon Since the fundamental theoretical concept by Emile Durkheim which has triggered unprecedented research on suicide classification and identification of the social phenomenon responsible for suicide thought and action is yet to be given a crystal distillation among the developing nations such as Nigeria There are social indices facilitating suicide thought and actions which are domicile with these nations according to Durkheim s classification

Health System Predictors of Access to Maternal Health Medicines In Low and Middle Income Countries

The strength of health systems predict access to medicines that prevent death from pregnancy related complications (essential maternal health medicines). But little is known about the relative impact of each health system building block on access. This quantitative cross-sectional study applied Ishikawa model to examine the relative effect of health systems governance, facilities, service delivery, financing and medicine procurement and distribution (independent variables), on availability, affordability and accessibility (dependent variables) of maternal health medicines in resource poor settings. Data analyzed was pulled from 37 WHO pharmaceutical country profiles and USAID MCHIP survey that assessed national programs for the prevention and management of Postpartum hemorrhage and Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia. Data analysis included bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. All independent variables, except for quality of health services showed statistically significant association with access to maternal health medicines and achieved a p-value \u3c .05 in bivariate analysis. Only three predictors however explained 27% of the variance (R2 =.266, F(5,162)=13.12, p\u3c.01). The strength of medicine procurement and distribution systems significantly predicted access to essential maternal health medicines (β= -.41, p\u3c.001), as did robustness of health system financing (β= -.51, p\u3c.001), and quality of health facilities (β= -.34, p\u3c.05). Authorities may prioritize investments in quality improvement, supply chain strengthening programs, and incentives for private sector financing and public-private partnerships for health system strengthening. This study contributes to positive social change by identifying key health system considerations that can inform future efforts to close geographical gaps in MCH outcomes

Determination of lead and cadmium contents of dry cell batteries available in Nigeria

Lead and cadmium content of different brands and sizes (N=38) of dry cell batteries (zinc-carbon Leclanche systems) available in Nigeria were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry after acid digestion. The average Pb and Cd content of the dry cells are 1077.9±751.7mg/kg (Range 42-3170mg/kg) and 108.3±81.4mg/kg (Range 4.6-410mg/kg) respectively. The mean Pb and Cd contents of dry cells with metal outer cover were significantly lower (p < 0.005) than the corresponding values for dry cells with non-metallic cover. The highest Pb and Cd values were observed in dry cell batteries imported from China. Higher mean Pb and Cd value were observed in dry cells from China (1368.36 vs. 151.47mg/kg), compared to values for dry cells from Indonesia (1032 vs. 84.4mg/kg), Japan (715.2 vs. 131.48mg/kg) and Korea (1137.5 vs. 81.45). Lower Pb and Cd values were obtained in dry cells from Malaysia (709 vs. 12.5mg/kg), Spain (702 vs. 65.8mg/kg), United States (303 vs. 11.1mg/kg) and in the only surviving local brand (408 vs. 34.5mg/kg).Our study revealed that there is an urgent need to introduce an adequate well-established system for collection, separation, storage and management of municipal and industrial wastes containing primary and secondary battery wastes and similar toxic materials to halt the open burning of such wastes within inhabited areas. There is an urgent need to develop in Nigeria an appropriate technology following the principles of waste minimization and sustainable development. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management Vol. 10 (3) 2006: 37-4

Impact of Climate Change on Food Security in Nigeria

Climate change is brought about by natural as well as man-made factors. Climate change or global warming has negative impact on the global environment. Some of these devastating effects include volcano, landslide, erosion, flooding, drought, pests and diseases. These factors in turn impact on agriculture and consequently threaten food security. This paper therefore is aimed at examining, through literature search, the impact of climate change on food security in Nigeria with a view to making suggestions on strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change on the environment generally and food security in particular. Some of the suggested strategies include: reducing the emission of green house gases by stopping deforestation; use of high yield and disease-tolerant crops and crops adaptable to extreme weather conditions; farmers to cultivate their crops when rains are expected rather than during =planting seasons‘. The paper concludes that the menace of environmental degradation occasioned by climate change has affected agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Nigeria in particular and must be tackled with all seriousness it deserves.Key words: Climate change, greenhouse gases, food securit

The role of the World Trade Organisation’s Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, between 1996 and 2010

Abstract This paper looks at the role of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) in its examination of regional trade agreements (RTAs) between 1996 and 2010. The rapid proliferation of RTAs led to concerns about the weakening of the multilateral trading system (MTS); it was feared that the rapid growth in the number of bilateral and regional trade agreements (RTAs), such as free trade areas (FTAs) and custom unions (CUs) could pose substantial threats to the multilateral trade system (MTS). This fear led to the creation of the CRTA by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 1996, for the examination of RTAs to ascertain their compatibility to the MTS and their conformity to WTO rules. Furthermore, this paper also explores the legal and systemic difficulties faced by the CRTA in the execution of its mandated duties. Nonetheless, the rapid proliferation of RTAs intensified the debate on the merits of RTAs to the MTS, this study, is also a contribution to that debate - the trade creation and trade diversion effects of RTAs, by showing how RTAs could displace trade with non-member nations, while at the same time boosting trade among its own members. Under the auspices of the WTO, as a general rule, the CRTA was to devote a single formal meeting for the consideration of each and every RTA notified to the WTO, formed under the provisions of the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) Article XXIV and the general agreement on trade in (GATS) Article V. The focus of this paper is the role of the CRTA in its examination of RTAs created under the legal provisions and interpretation of GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V