Sexual Violence Against Female Undergraduates in a nigerian Tertiary Institution

Background: Worldwide, violence against women is becoming an  increasingly recognized pandemic issue necessitating eradication and elimination. It occurs in various forms with resultant physical, sexual orpsychological consequences. However, there is still denial and paucity of literature about the magnitude and pattern of this problem in Nigeria.Objective: This study was designed to determine the patterns of sexual violence among female undergraduates including their perceptions and attitude.Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire based study involving 388 female undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique using their halls of residence was used to select participants. The results were analyzed using statistical package for SPSS software version 16.0. The p-value was set at 0.05.Results: The mean age of respondents was 20 years and 382 (98.5%) of them were single. Only 31.2% were sexually exposed and the average age of sexual debut was 18 years. Most (78, 64.1%) cases of the first sexual intercourse occurred voluntarily. Two hundred and sixty two (67.6%) respondents had experienced at least one form of sexual abuse in the past. The commonest coercive sexual behaviour experienced was unwanted touching (53.4%). The perpetrators were mostly casual friends (63.7%) and most reported these incidences to friends. The respondents  demonstrated good knowledge but poor attitude about sexual abuse.Eighteen (10.7%) admitted to prior rape which was mainly perpetrated by strangers with half admitting it adversely affected their relationship with the opposite sex.Conclusion: Sexual violence occurs in this environment but mainly goes unreported. There is good knowledge about the issues of sexual violence but there is need for improved attitude and reporting by victims

Health Risks of Obesity

Obesity is becoming of interest as a non-communicable disease. There is however a dearth of information on obesity in this environment, as literature in developing countries is limited. Review of health risks of obesity is useful in order to increase the pool of available information in Nigeria and to draw attention to obesity and its attendant health risks.Keywords: Health, risks, obesity

The moderating role of political affiliation in the link between flooding experience and preparedness to reduce energy use.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Research suggests that highlighting links between local weather events and climate change can help promote climate change engagement. Yet, the evidence for the relationship between weather experiences and climate change attitudes has been mixed. Here we argue that obtaining an accurate assessment of the contribution of weather experiences to climate change engagement necessitates explicit evaluation of factors such as values and identities that influence the way weather experiences are interpreted and integrated into climate change attitudes. We re-analysed data from a prior study in which reported flood experience was found to be indirectly linked to preparedness to reduce energy use among UK residents. Overall, flood experience was positively linked with perceived vulnerability and negatively linked with uncertainty about climate change, but the purported indirect relationship between flood experience and preparedness to reduce energy use was observed among left and not right-leaning voters. We concluded that assessing interactions between extreme weather experiences and political affiliation lends valuable nuance to evaluation of the effects of such experiences on climate change perceptions and attitudes. Highlighting links between climate change and flooding may have varying levels of influence on climate change engagement depending on individuals’ political affiliation

Biochemical parameters, performance studies and lipid profile of broiler birds fed Bambara meal substituted diet

This research investigated the performance and serum enzymes activities of broiler birds fed 40% replacement level of Soybean meal  (SBM) for Bambara groundnut meal (BGM). A total of 140 newly hatched broiler chicks (Arbor Acre strain) allocated in a completely  randomized design were used for the research. The experimental diets consisted of seven dietary treatments, four replicates of five birds per replicate. Treatment 1 (0% BGM) served as the control diet, T2-T7 contained equal concentration (40% substitution level) of differently processed BGM. The activities of the transaminases (ALT and AST), gamma glutamyl transferase, the concentrations of serum total protein, creatinine, uric acid, as well as the serum lipid profile were monitored. Findings revealed that there were no significant (p>0.05) differences amongst the serum ALT of birds on boiled, fermentation with and fermentation without decantation Bambara groundnut diets (0.922, 0.933 and 0.932 nmol min-1 mg-1) respectively. Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol were highest in roasted and raw Bambara groundnut (1.86 mmol/L) meal diets. The drum stick (146.412 g) and the thigh (192.455g) of birds placed on raw Bambara groundnut meal had higher significant (p<0.05) weight gain values compared with those of birds on other experimental diets in the study. The results thus indicated that replacing Bambara groundnut at 40% against soya bean meal had no detrimental effects on measured indices, hence save for poultry farmers and consumers of the meat

Factors associated with sexual dysfunction among female patients in a Nigerian ambulatory primary care setting

Background: Sexual dysfunction is a common but under-reported problem of public health importance among female adults in  Nigeria. Empirical evidence on sexual dysfunction among female Nigerians is scarce.Objectives: To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with sexual dysfunction among female patients presenting at the General Outpatient Clinic (GOPC), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 480 married female patients who presented consecutively at the GOPC, UCH, Ibadan, Nigeria. The 28-item Sexual Function Questionnaire (SFQ-28) was used to determine sexual dysfunction. Information on their sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and gynecological history were obtained. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out and alpha was set at 0.05.Results: Point prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 80.0%. The most common sexual dysfunction was problems with sexual desire (99.4%), while the least common was problems with arousal cognition (5.8%). There was a significant association between the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and age, years of relationship, number of children alive, parity, level of education, age at coitarche and family dysfunction. Age (OR=0.893; 95% CI=0.821–0.972, p=0.008), parity (OR=3.093; 95% CI=1.174– 8.151, p=0.022), having family dysfunction (OR=2.096; 95% CI= 1.129–3.891, p=0.019) and having>10 years of formal education (OR=4.808; 95% CI= 2.604–8.928, p<0.0001) were found to be the predictors of sexual dysfunction.Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction among female married adults in our setting was high. We propose that modifiable factors such as socio-demographic and gynaecological variables should be evaluated during the consultation of female patients at first contact Keywords: Female, Sexual dysfunction, Primary care, Nigeri

DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MONOFREQUENCY TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER FOR RADIO PROPAGATION AT L-BAND

This paper presents an approach to designing and construction a monofrequency transmitter and monofrequency receiver at L band frequency range of 1.1GHz and the transmitting power is 5watts. The is aimed at instituting  monofrequency transmitter and monofrequency receiver at L band for Laboratory uses and to  investigate the behavior of radio propagation within the L frequency band (1-2GHz) was successful. The operational pattern of the messages sent through the transmitter was finally observed alongside the attenuation observed at the receiver

The use of composite water poverty index in assessing water scarcity in the rural areas of Oyo State, Nigeria

Physical availability of water resources is beneficial to man when it is readily accessible. Oyo State is noted for abundant surface water and appreciable groundwater resources in its pockets of regolith aquifers; as it has about eight months of rainy season and a relatively deep weathered regolith. In spite of this, cases of water associated diseases and deaths have been reported in the rural areas of the state. This study attempts to conduct an investigation into accessibility to potable water in the rural areas of Oyo State, Nigeria via the component approach of water poverty index (WPI). Multistage method of sampling was applied to select 5 rural communities from 25 rural LGAs out of the 33 LGAs in the State. Data were collected through the administration of 1,250 copies of questionnaire across 125 rural communities. Component Index method as developed by Sullivan, et al (2003) was modified and used in this study. The results show that values of WPI were generally low, ranging from 11.29% in Itesiwaju LGA to 47.89% in Atisbo LGA out of 100% maximum obtainable; indicating that these rural areas are water stressed. The paper recommends aggressive human development efforts and the need for massive improvement in water infrastructure in the state.Key words: Water Poverty Index (WPI), Water accessibility, Rural Areas

Factors associated with low back pain among cleaners in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Objective: To determine the magnitude and factors associated with low back pain (LBP) among hospital cleaners at the University College Hospital (U.C.H), Ibadan.Method: This is a cross-sectional study conducted amongst all the cleaners working at U.C.H, Ibadan. The main outcome measurements were prevalence of LBP, socio-demographic characteristics and description of cleaning activities.Results: One hundred and forty-nine hospital cleaners (136 females and 13 males) with a mean ± age of 34.7 ± 8.5 years were interviewed. The point prevalence of LBP was 77.2%. The respondents worked an average of 8.3 hours (4 -12 hours) each day. Cleaning activities were performed an average of 3 times each day (1 - 6 times). The prevalence of LBP was significantly associated with working more than 8 hours a day (p = 0.031), living above the poverty line (p = 0.021), completion of at least 9 years of formal education (p = 0.027) and not being in marriage (p = 0.003).Conclusion: The high prevalence of LBP among hospital cleaners in our setting is worrisome and efforts should be made by physicians to detect the presence of modifiable factors associated with low back pain among hospital cleaners they encounter during clinical consultations.Keywords: Cleaners; low back pain; risk factors; prevalence

Performance assessment of Makurdi burnt Bricks.

This work involved onsite observation of the production process; determination of physical properties and chemical composition of the soil sample used for production of Makurdi burnt bricks (MBB). A total of 22 brick specimens, of the MBB was examined in the laboratory for compressive strength, water absorption and abrasion resistance. The results reveal the soil sample as a true laterite having a Silica-Sesquioxide ratio of 1.01, Silica content of 42.95 and clay content of 27.38 and total clay + silt content of 30.78. The Atterberg’s limit test gave the liquid limit as 36.79; plastic limit, 26.11and plastic index, 10.68. Compressive strength was 3.46 N/mm2 and 11.75 N/mm2 for Samples A and B respectively; Average water absorption for Sample B (16.49%) was double that of Sample A (8.58%) while the Abrasion resistance ability of Sample B (33.67%) was four times better than Sample A (9.32%)

Informed consent for caesarean section at a Nigerian university teaching hospital: patients' perspective

Background: Caesarean section is one of the commonest obstetrics surgery and has become increasingly safer compared with the early 20th century. The practice of informed consent has also become universally adopted for surgical procedures. However, with increasing knowledge about ethics and rights, issues on consent isone of the frequent grounds for litigation and malpractice claims.Aims and Objectives: To audit the process of informed consent for emergency and elective caesarean section in a Nigerian tertiary health care setting.Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 150 patients who had caesarean delivery at the study site within the study period.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 32±1.8 yearswith 118(79%) of the surgeries being emergency Cesarean sections. The consent for CS were mostly given by the patients (96, 64.0%) and husbands (43, 28.6%). Majority of the respondents 123(81.5%) had the consent obtained in the labour ward with profuse bleeding (86.0%) and blood transfusions (88.7%) being the most commonly discussed risks. Many of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the consent form and felt it was well written (75.3%), attractive (76.0%) and simple to read (75.3%).Conclusion: This study found out that although patients were satisfied with the consent process for caesarean section, only information about major risks was commonly discussed. There is therefore the need for customized and detailed consent formsto be adopted for different surgical procedures.Keywords: Caesarean section, Informed consent, patients' perspective, ris