Relationship between estimated VO2max and handgrip strength in healthy young Nigerian adults

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between estimated oxygen consumption (VO2max) and handgrip strength (HGS) among healthy young Nigerian adults. Methods: This was a cross sectional study, which involved 400 volunteers (171 males; 229 females) aged between 18–40years. Participants’ HGS was assessed using a CAMRY EH-101 hand dynamometer while VO2max was estimated using a standard formula that includes measurement of resting heart rate. Demographic data was summarized using percentages, mean and standard deviation. Physical activity level of the participants was assessed using long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test was used to compare the mean values of the variables between male and female participants. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the strength of relationship between estimated VO2max and HGS, while multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictors of estimated VO2max using HGS as well as body mass index (BMI), physical activity (PA) level, age and sex as co‐variates. Level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: HGS, VO2max and PA level were significantly (p= 0.001) different between male and female participants. There was a significant moderate correlation between HGS and VO2max (r= 0.40, p= 0.001). The results of the regression analysis showed that HGS is not significant predictor of estimated VO2max; whereas, sex, BMI and PA level were significant predictors of estimated VO2max. Conclusion: Although HGS is moderately correlated with estimated VO2max, HGS may not be a relevant tool for predicting estimated VO2max in healthy young adults

Integrating TB screening into house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns

Setting: In July 2019, the Anambra State (south-east Nigeria) TB Control Programme implemented the integration of TB case-finding with the polio vaccination campaign with the support of the WHO. Objective: To improve TB case-finding from communities leveraging already existing polio structures. Design: Vaccination teams were trained to ask for symptoms of TB in each household and to document details of people presumed to have TB. Community TB workers subsequently tracked those identified for subsequent sample collection. We report the numbers detected, and the proportion of wards that reported people with TB. Regression analyses were used to estimate the relationship between ward characteristics and reporting. Odds ratios (ORs) with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are also reported. Results: Of 281 people with presumptive TB, 32 were diagnosed with TB; 21% (70/330) of wards identified at least one presumptive, while 5% (18/330) of the people were identified with TB. Peri-urban slums were most likely to identify presumptives (adjusted OR [aOR] 11.52, 95% CI 1.62–81.79), while Riverine areas were most likely to identify a person with TB (aOR 3.59, 95% CI 1.16–11.01). Conclusion: Integrating community TB case-finding into house-to-house vaccination campaigns can boost case detection. This approach proved effective in areas perennially underserved by routine healthcare services

Setting priorities for ageing research in Africa: a systematic mapping review of 512 studies from sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND: In 2040, the older population's growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will be faster than those experienced by developed nations since 1950. In preparation for this growth, the National Institute on Aging commissioned the National Academies' Committee on Population to organize a workshop on advancing aging research in Africa. This meeting provided a platform for discussing some areas requiring improvement in aging research in SSA regions. We believed that conducting a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles to set priorities for aging research in SSA is warranted. Therefore, this article is the first in a Four-Part series that summaries the types and trends of peer-reviewed studies in SSA. METHODS: This systematic mapping review followed the Search-Appraisal-Synthesis-Analysis Framework. We systematically searched multiple databases from inception till February 2021 and included peer-reviewed articles conducted with/for older adults residing in SSA. Conventional content analysis was employed to categorize studies into subject-related areas. RESULTS: We included 512 studies (quantitative = 426, qualitative = 71 and mixed-method = 15). Studies were conducted in 32 countries. Quantitative studies included were observational studies: cross-sectional (n = 250, 59%), longitudinal (n = 126, 30%), and case-control (n = 12, 3%); and experimental studies: pre-post design (n = 4, 1%), randomized control trial (RCT, n = 12, 3%); and not reported (n = 21, 5%). Fifteen qualitative studies did not state their study design; where stated, study design ranged from descriptive (n = 14, 20%), ethnography (n = 12, 17%), grounded theory (n = 7, 10%), narrative (n = 5, 7%), phenomenology (n = 10, 14%), interpretative exploratory (n = 4, 6%), case studies (n = 4, 6%). Of the 15 mixed-method studies, seven did not state their mixed-method design. Where stated, design includes concurrent (n = 1), convergent (n = 1), cross-sectional (n = 3), informative (n = 1), sequential exploratory (n = 1) and retrospective (n = 2). Studies were classified into 30 (for quantitative studies) and seven (for qualitative and mixed-method) subject-related areas. HIV/AIDs-related and non-communicable diseases-related studies were the most predominant subject-related areas. No studies explored the transdisciplinary co-production of interventions. CONCLUSIONS: There are glaring gaps in ageing research in SSA, especially mixed-methods and RCTs. A large number of studies focused on HIV/AIDs and non-communicable disease-related studies. National and international funding agencies should set up priority funding competitions for transdisciplinary collaborations in ageing research

An Investigation of Difficult Topics Encountered by Students in Interaction of Matter, Space and Time in Senior Secondary School Physics Curriculum

Despite the description of curriculum on what, why and how well students should learn in a systematic way. Physics curriculum has not been said to have actualize such description when compared with students’ performance in physics. The performance of students in physics has been on the decline over the years. Decline in Physics students’ performance as highlighted by the chief WAEC examiners report should not be a thing of neglect by both teacher and researchers in science education. Thus, this paper investigated difficult topics encountered by students in interaction of matter, space and time in senior secondary school Physics. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. 21,974 senior secondary school one to three (SSS1-3) physics students in 292 senior secondary schools in Anambra state made up the population of the study. The sample size of the study comprised of 393 drawn from the population (that is; 290- urban and 103- rural; 238- male and 155- female). The sample size was drawn using Yaro Yamane formular. Multi stage sampling procedure were used to compose the sample size. Researchers developed instrument titled, ‘Interaction of Matter, Space and Time Difficulty Identification Questionnaire (IMSTDIQ)’ was used for data collection. The instrument was subjected to face validity by experts from research measurement and evaluation unit, physics education unit, physics and astronomy unit. Cronbach Alpha formula (α) was used to obtain reliability index for IMSTDIQ at 0.79. The reliability index obtained indicated that the instrument is reliable. Research questions 1 &amp; 2 were answered using mean and standard deviation. Independent sampled t-test was used to test hypotheses 1 &amp; 2. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that speed and velocity, rectilinear acceleration, equation of uniformly accelerated motion, and simple harmonic motion are the specific difficult topics encountered in interaction of matter, space and time in senior secondary school physics curriculum based on gender and school location. Keywords: Physics, Interaction of Matter, Space and Time DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-18-12 Publication date:June 30th 202

Comparative Study of the Influence of Full and Partial Halo Geomagnetic Storms on High Latitude Ionosphere

We have studied and compared the effects of full and partial halo geomagnetic storms on the high latitude ionosphere. The study used the total electron content (TEC) data obtained from the global positioning system (GPS) to examine the level of response of high latitude ionosphere around Ny Alesund, Norway to full and partial halo geomagnetic storms of June 23rd 2015 and January 1st 2016 respectively. This study was carried out using a dual frequency ground based GNSS observations at high latitude (NYAL: 78.56oN, 11.52oE) ionospheric station in Norway. The vertical TEC (VTEC) was extracted from Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX) formatted GPS-TEC data using the GOPI Software developed by Seemala Gopi. The GOPI software is a GNSS-TEC analysis program which uses ephemeris data and differential code biases (DCBs) in estimating slant TEC (STEC) prior to its conversion to VTEC. From the results, the responses of the high latitude before the storm days were more positive than on the storm days. Also the overall response of the high latitude to the full halo geomagnetic storm was more positive with more impact than that of the partial halo geomagnetic storm

Latitudinal ionospheric Responses to Full Halo CMEs Induced Geomagnetic Storm

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2021, 7(4): 312-320 Authors: Dominic Chukwuebuka&nbsp; Obiegbuna*, Francisca Nneka Okeke, Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala, Sivla William Tafon and Orji Prince Orji Received: 11&nbsp; November 2021/Accepted 04 December 2021 We have studied and compared the effects of full halo CMEs induced geomagnetic storms across the high, mid/equatorial and low latitude ionosphere around Ny Alesund, Norway, Irkutsk, Russia and Adis Ababa, Ethiopia. The total electron content (TEC) data obtained from the global positioning system (GPS) were used to examine the level of responses of ionospheric latitudes to full halo CMEs induced geomagnetic storms of June 23rd 2015. This study was carried out using dual frequency ground based GNSS observations at high latitude (NYAL: 78.56oN, 11.52oE), mid-latitude (IRKM: 52.13oN, 106.24oE) and low (Adis: 9.02oN, 38.44oE), ionospheric stations. The vertical TEC (VTEC) was extracted from Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX) formatted GPS-TEC data using the GOPI Software developed by Seemala Gopi. The GOPI software is a GNSS-TEC analysis program that uses ephemeris data and differential code biases (DCBs) in estimating slant TEC (STEC) before its conversion to VTEC. The result showed positive ionospheric responses of the ionospheric latitudes on the storm day. The overall responses across the latitudes to the geomagnetic storm were generally positive for the high latitude and negative for mid/equatorial and low latitudes

Relationship Between Estimated VO2max and Handgrip Strength in Healthy Young Nigerian Adults

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between estimated oxygen consumption (VO2max) and handgrip strength (HGS) among healthy young Nigerian adults. Methods: This was a cross sectional study, which involved 400 volunteers (171 males; 229 females) aged between 18–40years. Participants’ HGS was assessed using a CAMRY EH-101 hand dynamometer while VO2max was estimated using a standard formula that includes measurement of resting heart rate. Demographic data was summarized using percentages, mean and standard deviation. Physical activity level of the participants was assessed using long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test was used to compare the mean values of the variables between male and female participants. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the strength of relationship between estimated VO2max and HGS, while multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictors of estimated VO2max using HGS as well as body mass index (BMI), physical activity (PA) level, age and sex as co‐variates. Level of significance was set at p\u3c0.05. Results: HGS, VO2max and PA level were significantly (p= 0.001) different between male and female participants. There was a significant moderate correlation between HGS and VO2max (r= 0.40, p= 0.001). The results of the regression analysis showed that HGS is not significant predictor of estimated VO2max; whereas, sex, BMI and PA level were significant predictors of estimated VO2max. Conclusion: Although HGS is moderately correlated with estimated VO2max, HGS may not be a relevant tool for predicting estimated VO2max in healthy young adults