Factors Associated with Nutritional Practices of PregnantWomen Attending Antenatal Clinic of Selected Hospitals in Benin-City, Nigeria

The health of a pregnant mother and her nutritional status can influence the health and survival of the growing foetus because of the biological link between her and her child. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of healthy nutrition among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in two selected hospitals in Benin City. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used in this study. A sample size of 284 was sampled for the target population of 972 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in tertiary and Mission hospitals using a selfstructured questionnaire with a split-half reliability test of Cronbachs alpha value of 0.886, 0.768, and 0.851. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentages). The result revealed that 157(55.3%) had good knowledge, 79(27.8%) had average knowledge while 48(16.9%) had poor knowledge. 81(28.5%) had poor practice while the majority 203(71.5%) had good practice of healthy nutrition. Ignorance (2.86±0.423), Religion (2.73±0.430), Cultural belief (2.88±0.422), were reported to be factors affecting the practice of healthy nutrition. Conclusion: Although knowledge and practices of healthy nutrition were high, the cultural belief still affects pregnant women’s practice of healthy nutrition and health talk should be encouraged on each antenatal day with an emphasis on healthy nutrition

Human Trafficking: The Modern-Day Slavery of the 21st Century

The transatlantic slave trade (ancient slavery) in which Africans were captured, chained and transported to Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to work as slaves was officially abolished around 1807. Unfortunately, human trafficking appears to have replaced this abhorrent activity as the modern day slavery of the 21st century. This research discusses the similarities and differences between these two faces of slavery, differentiates human trafficking from human smuggling, outlines many dimensions of human trafficking, discusses the scope of the problem in several countries using the United States and Nigeria as prime examples, and identifies some of the factors that may foster human trafficking worldwide. This paper concludes that human trafficking constitutes a gross violation of human rights and a global threat to democracy and peac

A Study on Nigerian and U.S. College Students’ Views on Justice Issues

People’s views on justice issues are often a function of their socialization, the cultural norms, values and beliefs of their society. Views on justice often vary between nations. The current study explored and compared the views of Nigerian and U.S. college students regarding justice views. Nigeria is a developing nation which has a long history of informal restorative justice practices, but also uses formal government justice agencies to deal with crime. The U.S. is a developed nation which often relies on a formal state administered punitive crime control approach. Based on multivariate analyses, there were significant differences in views between Nigerian and U.S. college students in views on shaming for control crime, seeking revenge, showing mercy, and partnerships between the police and the community

Functional Properties of Processed Pinto Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Grown in Plateau State, Nigeria

It is well documented that processing method influences the chemical composition and utilization of plant foods. For this purpose, the effect of different processing methods (boiled, cooked, roasted, sprouted and fermented) was investigated on the functional properties of pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) flour. Functional properties (water, oil, oil emulsion and foaming capacities: WAC, OAC, OEC, FC; foaming and oil emulsion stabilities: FS, OES; least gelation concentration: LGC; bulk density: BD; protein solubility: PS) of raw and processed pinto bean flour were all determined using standard analytical techniques. The results showed that OEC, OES, LGC and BD were enhanced by different processing methods while WAC and OAC were reduced by roasting method. Processing significantly (p ?0.05) affected the content of some functional parameters in pinto bean flour. Boiling, sprouting and fermenting increased WAC and OAC contents by 34.6, 28.8, 21.2% and 33.0, 24.2, 36.3%, respectively while cooking, roasting and sprouting reduced FS by respective 3.9, 32.4 and 13.6%. The protein solubility studies of the raw and processed sample flour were found to have minimum solubility at pH range of 4.0 to 5.2 which correspond to isoelectric points where protein isolates might be recovered from the samples. Generally, all the functional parameters determined in this study were good thereby making raw and processed samples of pinto bean potentially useful in some food formulations. Keywords: Pinto bean, domestic processing, functional parameters

Factors Vitiating Against the Effectiveness Of The Nigeria Police In Combating The Criminal Exploitation of Children And Women

It is estimated that each year close to one million persons are trafficked across international borders. Nigeria has been identified as a major source, destination, and transit for the trafficking of persons, particularly women and children. The women are trafficked mostly to Europe and the Middle East, as well as to North America for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked within Africa and other parts of the world for the purposes of adoption, for domestic and agricultural labor, and for sale of human body parts. Efforts by the government of Nigeria (including enacting new laws, strengthening existing laws and other social control mechanisms, and collaborating with other countries) to combat trafficking and the sale of humans have not yielded appreciable results. Several factors (inadequate policing, corruption within the policing system, relative deprivation of freedoms, mounting social injustices, lack of conventional social opportunities, increasing conflicting social values, gender imbalances in the provision of education and economic opportunities, and the breakdown of social institutions) cause this impasse. This study examines the nature, extent, and development of this phenomenon and attempts to delineate the factors vitiating against Nigeria’s law enforcement and government efforts in combating this particularly troubling international crime. Two policies are possible. The short term would introduce mass education about the danger of human trafficking and strengthen the legal instrument and the capability of the law enforcement system to deal with the problem, and the long term would address the social and economic conditions in Nigeria which sustains the phenomenon

Change in Lipid Quality of Tilapia Fish (Oreochromis niloticus) After Different Heat Treatments

Tilapia fish (Oreochomis niloticus) has been considered to be popular among the freshwater fishes, economically cheap and more abundant in Nigeria. For this reason, a study was conducted on the effect of traditional processing methods on fatty acid composition of Oreochomis niloticus using electric oven (control), sawdust, melon husk and rice bran as different heat treatments. Fatty acid composition was determined using standard analytical technique. The result showed that palmitic and oleic acids had the highest concentrations among saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in all the processed samples, respectively. It was also revealed that samples of Oreochomis niloticus recorded decrease in total saturated fatty acid (TSFA) with various heat treatments whereas the same heat treatments enhanced the components of total unsaturated fatty acids (TUFA) and total essential fatty acid (TEFA). It was found that levels of ratio of n–6 PUFA to n–3 PUFA and oleic to linoleic which are used as biomedical index are desirable in all the processed samples of Oreochomis niloticus oils. However, heat treatment using sawdust was proven to be of good economic potential. Keywords: Oreochomis niloticus, agricultural wastes, fatty acids

Analytical solutions of some special nonlinear partial differential equations using Elzaki-Adomian decomposition method

We apply the Elzaki-Adomian Decomposition Method (EADM) in this study to solve nonlinear Benjamin-Bona-Mahony (BBM) and Fisher's partial differential equations (PDE). This method, being an integral transform, is a hybrid of two well-known and efficient methods: the Elzaki transform and the Adomian decomposition method. The method is demonstrated by solving two special cases of the BBM Equation and one special case of Fisher's partial differential equation. Because of its high convergence rate in approximating exact solutions, this approach is very dependable. The method can also produce numerical solutions without the usage of restrictive assumptions or the discretization typical of numerical methods; making it free of round-off errors. The Elzaki-Adomian Decomposition method employs a straightforward computation that leads to effectiveness. The efficiency of EADM is demonstrated in the significant reduction of number of numerical computations. The effectiveness and efficiency of EADM account for its broad application, particularly for higher order PDEs

Multi-element association and regional geochemistry of protoliths in tashan jatau area, northwestern nigeria: implications for gold exploration

Soil geochemical surveys are widely used in the early stages of gold exploration, especially in areas with poor outcrops and thick overburden. Fifty-one (51) soil samples were collected in duplicate with the aim of analyzing them geochemically and determining the gold grade through panning and weighing methods. The geochemical results were subjected to multivariate statistical treatment through Factor analysis and Pearson correlation matrix. Four factors were generated from the PCA. These are Factor 1: Cu-Sr-Nb-Ba-La-W-Pb-Zr, suggesting sulfide mineralization that is related to granitic rock while Factor 2 has Au with a low to negative correlation with Mo and Nb suggesting a second phase of intrusion-related activity which must have emplaced gold in this area. Factor 3 is made up of W-Pb suggesting a second sulfide mineralization distinct from the first. While Factor 4 gives a single element factor, Hg. Single-elementt maps were constructed to show the element dispersion in the catchment. In general gold concentrations in this study is erratic and attain a high of 0.67ppm and 0.90g/t. The study delineates the northwestern part of the catchment to be the most prolific in terms of gold potential and shows that the granitic batholiths are the most primary gold-hosting lithology. &nbsp

Physicochemical Analyses of Different Sources of Drinking Water in Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria

The water quality of three different sources of drinking water (stream, hand–dug well and borehole) collected within the Okene local government area of Kogi State, Nigeria was investigated by determining some physicochemical parameter of the water samples using standard analytical techniques. The results of physicochemical parameters (pH, temperature, turbidity, conductivity, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total solids, bicarbonate, chloride and dissolved oxygen) for both dry and wet seasons revealed high spatial variations in the concentrations of physicochemical parameters. Alkalinity was not recorded in all the three different sources of water samples for both seasons however, other physicochemical parameter values fall within the acceptable values of EU and SON standard limits except turbidity values in two sources (stream and borehole) which are higher than SON acceptable limit. Therefore, it is imperative that the water sources should be monitored regularly and be subjected to further treatments in order to reduce the concentrations of the few identified pollution indicators that may pose some dangers to the health of people living in this area. Keywords: Stream, hand–dug well, borehole, physicochemical parameters