Prior substance use, depression and gender as determinants of self-harm urges in prison inmates: A study of Uyo Prison

This study examined prior substance use, depression and gender as determinants of selfharm urges in prison inmates. It was a survey utilizing ex-post facto design. A total of 183 male and 29 female inmates from Uyo prison participated in the study. Their mean age was 34.4years. Multi-stage sampling method was used. The t-test results {t (210)=2.89, p<.01} showed that inmates who used psychoactive substances before imprisonment reported higher self-harm urges than those who did not use. Also, inmates with high depressive symptoms reported higher self-harm urges than those with low depressive symptoms {t (210)= 4.21, p<.01}. The interaction of prior substance use and depression was significant, Wilks Lambda = .72, F (1, 210) = 19.02, p = <.01, partial eta squared = .17. A post-hoc test was conducted using LSD to show multiple comparison effect. Furthermore, the t-test results {t (210)= 2.60, p<.01} showed that female inmates reported higher self-harm urges than their male counterparts. The findings of this study have implications on the involvement of psychologists and other mental experts in the management of the prison system.Keywords: Self-harm urges, prior substance use, depression, gender, prison inmate

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among First Responders: Role of Personality Traits and Category of Responder

This study explored the roles of Personality traits and categories of first responders in predicting Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among First responders in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria. A purposive sample of 128 male and female first responders cutting across Fire fighters, Policemen, Federal road safety corps and volunteers participated in the study which utilized a simple questionnaire in assessing the presence of PTSD symptoms and personality traits. Multiple regression analysis showed a significant independent influence of Neuroticism (β=0.19; t=2.06; p˂.05) on PTSD. Furthermore, fire fighters scored significantly higher (M= 32.52) on the symptoms of PTSD than other responders. The implications of these results for policies, provision of adequate paraphernalia to first responders and future research are highlighted and discussed. Keywords: Posttraumatic stress disorder, First responders, Personality trait

Reducing Self-Harm Tendency: The Efficacy of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy among Inmates of a Nigerian Prison

Self-harming has been reported among prison inmates globally; it often starts with the urges. Empirical evidences from developed countries have shown Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) to be efficacious in reducing self-harm urges. There appears to be no evidence of the use of DBT in Nigeria either for research or therapeutic purposes. This study therefore tested the efficacy of DBT Nigeria. A total of 135 inmates randomly selected from Uyo Prison participated in the study which adopted pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. Inmates’ Self-Harm Urges Scale, modified DBT, and Diary Cards were used to gather data. Results showed that inmates who were exposed to DBT continuously reported reduced self-harm urges post-test and 3-months follow-up stages. They also showed lower self-harm urges at post-test and follow-up stages compared to those who did not participate in DBT. It was recommended that DBT be used as a psychological adjunct in prison inmates’ rehabilitation

Psychological Trauma Following Disclosure of HIV Status to Significant Others in Women Living With HIV and AIDS

The impact of HIV and AIDS among African women has been devastating. Since the beginning of the epidemic, over 100,000 cases of AIDS have been reported among women, and 57% of these cases were among African women. New infections among women are increasing at a faster rate than new infections among men.  In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV positive women outnumbered HIV positive men. Gender inequalities in personal relationships, in the community, within the workforce, and in political circles affect women all over the world. Inequalities increase women’s vulnerability to poverty and vice-versa: both impact harshly on their ability to enjoy full human rights.   The research examined Psychological trauma women experienced following their HIV status disclosure to significant others. The study adopted descriptive qualitative method utilizing semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) as data collection methods. The study was conducted at the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), University College Hospital Ibadan. Because of the nature of the study, eighteen participants, all outpatient women of different categories were selected using purposive sampling. Only women who have experienced various negative consequences after disclosure of their HIV status participated in the study.   Findings revealed various negative consequences experienced by the participants after disclosing their HIV status to significant others. Three out of the eight married participants representing 37.5 % of married participants and 16.7% of the overall participants reported being sent away from their marriage by their husbands following disclosure of their HIV status. Three participants representing 16.7 % were relieved of their jobs because of their HIV status, 8 participants representing 44.4% reported various forms of verbal abuses from close friends, family members or health workers and 4 representing 22.2% faced family rejection following the disclosure of their HIV status. Further probing revealed that these women reported various type of psychological trauma, ranging from; regret for disclosing their status, worries about further stigmatization from those who may learn about their HIV status, low self esteem, and social withdrawer. Some have become economically grounded because of loss of jobs or withdrawal of social supports by love ones due to the disclosure of their HIV status.   From the findings of this study, it becomes clear that stigma and discrimination, rejection, isolation and other negative consequences may result from disclosing HIV status to significant others especially in women living with HIV & AIDS. This has impacted negatively on the efforts at curtailing the spread of the disease, getting people to know their status and in adherence to treatment regimen. However, disclosure of HIV positive status can result in negative consequences such as mentioned above, it is widely recognized that PLWHAs could still benefit from disclosure and the participants in this study though regretted the consequences that followed their disclosure, they encourage others to disclose their status.   From these results, it is expedient to promote or design intervention and education programmes that can convey information to people at various levels on the need to stop the stigma and discrimination and other negative emotions that are currently being melted on people living with HIV & AIDS. Furthermore, it becomes important that psychologists should put more efforts at improving the Psychological wellbeing of people living with HIV & AIDS who may also be suffering from Psychological trauma following disclosure of their status. Appropriate Psychological interventions should be designed to ameliorate their suffering. Nigeria Government should formulate relevant laws that will protect People living with HIV & AIDS from abuses.   Key word: Psychological Trauma, Disclosure, HIV Status, Significant Others, Psychological intervention

EVALUATION OF UDDER TRAITS OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF (WAD) GOATS AND SHEEP IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Udder traits of extensively managed 229 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats and 143 three West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep in Southwestern Nigeria were evaluated and factors affecting them were determined. Traits evaluated were udder and teat morphometrics including udder length (UL), udder width (UW), udder circumference (UC), distance between teats (DT), teat length (TL), teat width (TW) and teat circumference (TC). Udder and teat shapes and teat placement were also evaluated. In WAD goats, the average UL, UW, UC and DT were significantly (p<0.05) influenced by age, parity and physiological status (pregnancy and lactation status) but age alone significantly (p<0.05) influenced TL, TW and TC. In sheep, age, pregnancy and lactation status significantly (p<0.05) influenced TL and UC respectively. In both species, all udder and teat dimensions increased with age and parity while largest and smallest udder and teat dimensions were observed for lactating and non-lactating (dry) animals respectively. The average UL, UW, UC, DT, TL, TW and TC of WAD goats were 12.44 ± 0.15 cm, 8.81 ± 0.11 cm, 26.81 ± 0.32 cm, 8.27 ± 0.09 cm, 2.40 ± 0.02 cm, 1.22 ± 0.02 cm and 3.11 ± 0.03 cm respectively. The average UL, UW, UC, DT, TL, TW and TC of WAD sheep were 11.30 ± 0.15 cm, 8.78 ± 0.13 cm, 26.21 ± 0.36 cm, 9.02 ± 0.12 cm, 2.10 ± 0.02 cm, 1.19 ± 0.02 cm and 3.06 ± 0.03 cm respectively. It is evident that WAD goats had larger udder size than WAD sheep, thus, indicating greater milk production potentials. Udder shapes found in WAD goats and sheep were bowl, cylindrical and funnel with the latter not found in sheep. Bottle, cylindrical and funnel shaped teats were found in both species while vertical and oblique teat placements were recorded in both species. In both goats and sheep, bowl shaped udder was the most predominant with 57.20% and 83.92% occurrence respectively. Cylindrical shaped teat was most prevalent in both species with 64.43% and 83.91% occurrence respectively. Oblique (tilted) teat placement was the most frequent in both species with 77.73% and 95.10% occurrence respectively in goats.   High positive significant (p<0.05) phenotypic correlations were found between UL and UW (r = 0.68), UL and UC (r = 0.62), UL and DT (r = 0.42), UW and UC (r = 0.73), UW and DT (r = 0.59), UC and DT (r = 0.53). In sheep, high positive significant (p<0.05) phenotypic correlations were also found between UL and UW (r = 0.74), UL and UC (r = 0.65), UL and DT (r = 0.53), UW and UC (r = 0.72), UW and DT (r = 0.65), UC and DT (r = 0.54). In essence, this could be a basis for selecting udder traits of WAD goats and sheep as an indirect response in multiple traits selection programme especially for milk production . &nbsp

EVALUATION OF THE HAEMOLYMPH OF THE GIANT AFRICAN LAND SNAILS Achatina achatina AND Archachatina marginata FOR BACTERIA STERILITY AND INHIBITORY PROPERTIES

An experiment was conducted to examine bacteria sterility and bacteria inhibitory properties of haemolymph of two species of Giant African Land Snails. A total number of 18 A. achatina and A. marginata snails each were used for this experiment. The shell and foot of the snails were washed with distilled water for isolation of bacteria flora and bacteria load. The experiment was a 2 x 2 x 3 factorial arrangement with 3 replicates in a completely randomized design. To isolate bacteria, a sterile inoculating loop was used to pick a portion of each dissimilar colony and transferred into another appropriate fresh sterile medium in a culture plate and streaked in a quadrant streak plate method to obtain pure cultures of the isolates. The method was aimed at trimming down the microbial load to allow for isolates to grow in pure cultures. The plates were incubated at 37 0C for 24 hours, after which the pure isolates were observed and inoculated into McCartney bottles containing nutrient agar slants. The bottles were incubated for 24 hours at 37 0C and stored in the refrigerator for further biochemical analysis. Haemolymph of the two species studied was not sterile irrespective of the type of haemolymph. To test for haemolymph inhibitory properties, Haemolymph was collected from each snail into sterile and labeled containers in the laminar flow chamber. Microorganism was seeded into the agar plate, after the agar has solidified, holes were bored into the agar using a sterilized hole borer. One ml of the haemolymph collected was poured into each well in agar plates and incubated at 37 0C for 24 hours observing for zones inhibition. Equally, there was no evidence of bacteria inhibition by the haemolymph despite the three methods of bacteria inhibition used: agar diffusion method, disk diffusion method and serial diffusion method. It could be concluded from this study that the haemolymph of the two snail species did not exhibit bacteria sterility and inhibition.Â

Land Tenure, Governance and Accountability in Nigeria: The Implications on Food Production to Feed the Present and the Future

Land is very vital for agricultural production, and for any nation that wants to be self-food sufficient. Different land reforms have taken place in Nigeria since 1960 with the aim of facilitating access to agricultural land, and make the nation self-sufficient in food production, but little changes have only been recorded. Bureaucracy by approving authorities in practice in communities where land is situated still hinders land acquisition for agricultural investment. This study therefore analyzes land policy, governance and accountability and draw out some implications on food production in Nigeria. The percentage of arable land to the total land area was 37.3 percent by available data in 2013, which suggests that smaller area is only available for cultivation with little for agricultural expansion. There may likely be a great challenge in producing enough food to sustain the future population of Nigeria if issues on land tenure and governance are not addressed. Even though our finding revealed that Nigerians cultivate more land at present than ever before with a percentage increase of 19.2 percent in 2000 to 2010, much needs to be done considering challenges confronting agricultural investors. Some of the identified challenges in Ogun State include: the activities of nomadic, high cost of land acquisition, land grabbing which has dispossessed members of the communities of their large parcels of land, scarcity of labor in rural community due to youth rural-urban drift and high cost of modern agricultural input preventing them to adopt. This is a dangerous trend for the future considering the current food deficit problem in Nigeria. Transparency in land governance with customary laws can improve land access. Removal of gender biases in access to land, bureaucracy and cost of securing and perfecting title, short-term lease which cannot be used as collateral for agricultural loans in the Land Use Act need to be amended

SOIL MOISTURE AND SEASONAL EFFECTS ON THE MORPHOMETRY OF THE OVIDUCT, PENIS AND RETRACTOR MUSCLE OF THE GIANT AFRICAN LAND SNAILS, ARCHACHATINA MARGINATA AND ACHATINA ACHATINA

This study evaluated the effect of soil moisture and season on the morphometry of part of the reproductive tract of the Giant African Land snails, in a 2 x 2 x 4 factorial experiment with two species (Archachatina marginata and achatina achatina), soil moisture at two levels (low – 25ml of water/ week and high – 100ml water/week) and season at four levels (cold dry, hot dry, hot wet and cold wet) constituting the three factors. Result showed that season had a highly significant effect (P<0.001) on the dimension of oviduct, penis and the retractor muscle of A. achatina and A. marginata. Significant species effect (P<0.001) was observed in the dimension of oviduct, penis and the retractor muscle of A. achatina and A. marginata. Soil moisture level significantly affected the oviduct weight, penis length and retractor muscle (P<0.01) as well as the retractor muscle weight of A. achatina and A. marginata.  There was significant interactions between season and species for oviduct dimension (P<0.001), penis length and retractor muscle weight (P<0.001), penis weight and retractor muscle width (P<0.01), penis width and retractor muscle length (P<0.05).  There was interaction between season and soil moisture for oviduct length, penis length and retractor muscle weight (P<0.01); the weight of the oviduct and retractor muscle.  The interactive effect of species and soil moisture significantly affect the penis length and weight (P<0.05) and the width of penis and retractor muscle, while no interactive effect of species and soil moisture (P>0.05) was observed on the oviduct dimensions. There was no significant interaction (P>0.05) between season, species and soil moisture. However, the effect of snail liveweight was highly significant (P<0.001) on the oviduct, penis and retractor muscle dimension.     It is concluded that snails reared on high soil moisture condition had higher dimensional values for oviduct, penis and retractor muscle while the seasonal variation also affected the dimension of the organs measured in this study.Â

Non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs and motivation for change among street youth in Kano, Nigeria

Non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs among the young Nigerian population is an increasing public health concern. There is a dire need for a  robust understanding of the problem as well as factors affecting behaviour change. This study investigated factors influencing non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs, consequences, and motivation to stop use among street youth in Kano, Nigeria. Twenty-nine street youth selected through the snowballing sampling technique were involved in focus group discussions. Participants aged between 18 and 29 years. Sensation seeking, mood-altering, confidence, and energy boost were upheld as the major reasons for drug use; while poor health outcomes, financial problems, and  interpersonal dysfunction were the main consequences discussed by the focus group. Many of the participants indicated the intention to stop drug use but expressed concern about difficulties in accessing treatment. Preventive and psycho-social treatment measures for non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs targeting this group should be made accessible and affordable. Keywords: motivation for change, non-medical use, pharmaceutical drugs, street yout

ESTIMATION OF OPTIMAL DOSE OF BOVINE SOMATOTROPIN FOR MAXIMUM MILK YIELD RESPONSE IN WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS

Optimal dose of bovine somatotropin (bST) in a sustained-delivery vehicle required for maximum milkyield response was estimated in twenty-four lactating West African Dwarf (WAD) goats in three 14-dayperiods using quadratic equation. The goats were divided equally into four treatment groups, eachcomprising six does. The first group (control, T0) received no bST while the other groups received bST(T1, 20 mg; T2, 40 mg; T3, 60 mg) injected at 2-week intervals commencing from the 7th week postpartumfor 6 weeks. Does were milked twice daily (7:30 am and 7:30 pm) and milk yield recorded daily.Daily milk yield response (DMY) to bST was significantly (p<0.001) influenced by bST dose, day frombST treatment and parity during the 2nd period of bST treatment but only bST dose and parity significantlyinfluenced (p<0.001) DMY during the 1st and 3rd periods of bST treatment. The mean relativeresponse of DMY of bST-treated goats exceeded the control by 48 – 78 % in the entire periods of bSTadministration. Highest predicted response of 80.5 % in the 3rd period and lowest response of 66.2 %in the 1st period of bST treatment (when compared to the control) were observed, thus indicating thatbST positively affected the shape of the lactation curve for possible higher yield in extended lactation.Although, the trend of observed and predicted optimal doses of bST needed for maximum DMY werewell-fitted by the Quadratic equation during the three periods of bST treatment, it varied inconsistentlywith periods of bST treatment (stages of lactation). Therefore, the uniform optimal dose of 50.71 mgper 2 weeks estimated by quadratic equations; Y = 141.318 + 4.097X – 0.041X2, R2 = 99.90), Y =100.912 + 2.926X – 0.030X2, R2 = 99.49 and Y = 5935.420 + 172.071X – 1.735X2, R2 = 99.49 andneeded for maximum DMY of 242.86 ml, relative DMY of 74 % and cumulative milk yield response of10214.29 ml respectively over the entire periods could be adopted in West African Dwarf goats in orderto reduce the complexity of differential injections administered with respect to stages of lactation