Improving Pasture Productivity and Persistence by Renovating or Rejuvenating

Forages make up a large part of the feed requirements of beef cattle, and grazing remains the most economical form of feed delivery. However, several years after pasture establishment, forage productivity and longevity usually decline. Maintaining productive forage stands in the long term becomes a major challenge that beef producers face. A 3-yr on-farm study was conducted to determine the comparative effects of several pasture rejuvenation methods, such as spraying of herbicides to control weeds and brush, Spray herbicide + direct seed in spring (RSS), forage seeding methods, fertilizer application (FERT), and pasture rest as well as aeration/spiking in fall (AF) and aeration/spiking in spring (AS) on forage dry matter (DM) yield and forage quality. Breaking & reseeding (B&R), which is a grassland renovation method, was compared to these four pasture rejuvenation methods. A no treatment method (control) was included for comparison. Three years after treatments were implemented, pasture rejuvenation methods did significantly affect (P\u3c 0.05) grass botanical composition but did not significantly influence (P\u3e 0.05) total DM yield and legume botanical composition. The only method that involved land cultivation and reseeding (B&R) showed higher total input costs than other methods. Overall, RSS as well as AS, AF and FERT had greater 2-year total forage production, revenue and returns, and profit over control than the other treatment methods

USER SATISFACTION WITH REGENERATIVE ARCHITECTURE PRINCIPLES IN SELECTED RECREATIONAL CENTRES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

Buildings should contribute to and renew their environment rather than drain them, much as plants and animals do when they adapt to their surroundings and participate in maintaining the ecosystem. Therefore, this study aimed to assess user satisfaction and perceptions of regenerative architecture in recreational centres, focusing on how these principles inform user-centred design and promote sustainable development while identifying areas for improvement. The research employed a two-fold approach, commencing with a theoretical study of regenerative architecture, followed by a quantitative method involving the distribution of structured questionnaires. These questionnaires sought to gather information from users within the study area, focusing on their satisfaction and perceptions regarding various aspects of regenerative architecture principles implemented in the recreational centres. A total of 120 questionnaires were distributed to the users of the recreational facilities, and the return rate was 87.5%. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select the recreational centres and the respondents respectively. The responses were analysed using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study reveals a generally positive perception of regenerative architecture principles in the recreational centres, with users expressing satisfaction in various aspects related to the green spaces, design interaction, cultural expression visual appeal, air quality, and maintenance of the recreational centres

Barriers to contraceptive uptake among women of reproductive age in a semi-urban community of Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

Background: Globally, unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) persist as a significant threat to women’s reproductive health. In Nigeria, despite huge resources committed to family planning programs by stakeholders, contraceptive use has been very low. This study aimed at unraveling the barriers to the use of modern contraceptives among women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in Ise-Ekiti community, Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria.Methods: This study was a cross sectional study among women aged 15-49 years. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in the recruitment of respondents from the community. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 15.Results: Although contraceptive awareness among respondents was high 496(98.6%), only 254 of the 503 respondents were using modern contraceptive methods giving a Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) of 50.5%. Among those not using any form of contraceptives, some identifiable barriers to contraceptive use includes desire for more children, 62(39.5%), partner disapproval, 40(25.5%), and fear of side-effects, 23(14.6%). Factors associated with contraceptive uptake include marital status (p=0.028), educational level (p=0.041) and religion (p=0.043) with traditional worshippers having the least uptake.Conclusion: This study showed that awareness to modern forms of contraceptives does translate into use. The identified barriers to contraceptive uptake suggest the need to improve uptake of contraceptives through a community-based and culturally acceptable intervention as doing this will go a long way in addressing some of these barriers.Keywords: Contraceptives uptake, barriers, women of reproductive ag

Early sexual debut: prevalence and risk factors among secondary school students in Ido-ekiti, Ekiti state, South-West Nigeria

Background: Early adolescent sexual activity remains a recurring problem with negative psychosocial and health outcomes. The age at sexual debut varies from place to place and among different individuals and is associated with varying factors. The aim was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of early sexual debut among secondary school students in Ido-Ekiti, South-West Nigeria.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. The respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15.Results: More than two-thirds, 40(67.8%), had early sexual debut. The prevalence of early sexual debut was about 11%. The mean age of sexual debut was 13.10±2.82; the mean age for early sexual debutants was 11.68±1.98. The mean number of sexual partners was 2.44±1.99. Male gender, having friends who engaged in sexual activities had association with early sexual exposure (p<0.05). Alcohol intake had the strongest strength of association for early sexual debut among the students.Conclusion: The high prevalence of early sexual exposure among the students calls for urgent interventions to stem the trend. This will help to reduce the devastating negative psycho-social and health sequels.Keywords: Sexual debut, prevalence, risk factors, Nigeri

Early sexual debut: prevalence and risk factors among secondary school students in Ido-ekiti, Ekiti state, South-West Nigeria.

Background: Early adolescent sexual activity remains a recurring problem with negative psychosocial and health outcomes. The age at sexual debut varies from place to place and among different individuals and is associated with varying factors. The aim was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of early sexual debut among secondary school students in Ido-Ekiti, South-West Nigeria. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. The respondents were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15. Results: More than two-thirds, 40(67.8%), had early sexual debut. The prevalence of early sexual debut was about 11%. The mean age of sexual debut was 13.10\ub12.82; the mean age for early sexual debutants was 11.68\ub11.98. The mean number of sexual partners was 2.44\ub11.99. Male gender, having friends who engaged in sexual activities had association with early sexual exposure (p<0.05). Alcohol intake had the strongest strength of association for early sexual debut among the students. Conclusion: The high prevalence of early sexual exposure among the students calls for urgent interventions to stem the trend. This will help to reduce the devastating negative psycho-social and health sequels

Twelve-month observational study of children with cancer in 41 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction Childhood cancer is a leading cause of death. It is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted childhood cancer mortality. In this study, we aimed to establish all-cause mortality rates for childhood cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors associated with mortality. Methods Prospective cohort study in 109 institutions in 41 countries. Inclusion criteria: children <18 years who were newly diagnosed with or undergoing active treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumour, glioma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. Of 2327 cases, 2118 patients were included in the study. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 30 days, 90 days and 12 months. Results All-cause mortality was 3.4% (n=71/2084) at 30-day follow-up, 5.7% (n=113/1969) at 90-day follow-up and 13.0% (n=206/1581) at 12-month follow-up. The median time from diagnosis to multidisciplinary team (MDT) plan was longest in low-income countries (7 days, IQR 3-11). Multivariable analysis revealed several factors associated with 12-month mortality, including low-income (OR 6.99 (95% CI 2.49 to 19.68); p<0.001), lower middle income (OR 3.32 (95% CI 1.96 to 5.61); p<0.001) and upper middle income (OR 3.49 (95% CI 2.02 to 6.03); p<0.001) country status and chemotherapy (OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.86); p=0.008) and immunotherapy (OR 0.27 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.91); p=0.035) within 30 days from MDT plan. Multivariable analysis revealed laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR 5.33 (95% CI 1.19 to 23.84); p=0.029) was associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusions Children with cancer are more likely to die within 30 days if infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, timely treatment reduced odds of death. This report provides crucial information to balance the benefits of providing anticancer therapy against the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with cancer

Sense-Making of The Implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution

In a bid to increase their efficiency and productivity, organizations conducting their business processes manually or semi-automatically realize their need to migrate to a more effective, automated system of managing their operations.  Organizations may opt to adopt an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to achieve this purpose.  As is common with organizational change, ERP implementation in organizations can be met with resistance from organizational stakeholders such as employees. Organization need to overcome this resistance and support stakeholders to understand and embrace the change.  This article therefore explores how a company might effectively navigate the change–the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system–from an organizational sense-making perspective. It also delves into various aspects of the ERP, such as its meaning, benefits, and factors that can lead to a successful or failed implementation.  Additionally, this paper identifies the implementation and adoption of an ERP as a change management process requiring the steering of a change manager. Hence, information is provided on the role of a change manager, who in the change management process, acts as an interpreter by making sense to the change, in order to facilitate a successful implementation of the ERP solution. This paper provides an exposé into the utilizing of the sense-making framework as a way to navigate ERP implementation, with the aim of positively effecting the change. Key Words: Enterprise resource planning (ERP), ERP implementation, organizational sense-making, organizational change management, change manager DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/14-1-05 Publication date: February 28th 2024

Screening for Syphilis Among Blood Donors in Nigeria: Application of General Quality Principles

Background: Safety of blood for transfusion is a global concern. WHO and Africa Society for Blood Transfusion require a minimum of antibodies to Treponema pallidum or VDRL or RPR test on all donated blood units before transfusion. Application of general quality principle in screening for Transfusion Transmissible Infections, syphilis inclusive is a major  determinant of safety of blood transfusion.Methods: Forty-eight health care facilities were recruited for the study between January and June 2018. A self-administered structured questionnaire, physical interactions and telephone calls were employed to collect all relevant data on quality measures, types of blood donors, total number of blood units screened and reactivity to syphilis screening tests.Results: Venereal Disease Research Laboratory method was used to screen all donations for syphilis at 81.3% of the facilities screened. Twenty seven of the 39 facilities that screened for syphilis validated their test kits, 24 facilities had written SOPs and quality control system while 33 and 6 facilities procured syphilis screening reagents through Hospital  Managements and Departments. A total of 98 478 blood units were collected and screened for syphilis. Of the 831 samples found reactive, 405, 408 and 18 were obtained from tertiary, secondary and private hospitals and 384, 381 and 66 of the samples were from family replacement, paid and voluntary non-remunerated blood donors respectively.Conclusion: Majority of the facilities studied screened for syphilis using non-specific method and most employed general quality principles that conform to National and Africa Society for Blood Transfusion guidelines. Syphilis sero-prevalence of 0.84% was recorded in this study.French Title: Dépistage de la Syphilis chez les Donneurs de Sang au Nigéria: Application des Principes Généraux de QualitéContexte: La sécurité transfusionnelle est une préoccupation mondiale. L'OMS et la Société Africaine de Transfusion Sanguine recommandent au minimum le dépistage d'anticorps anti-Treponema palladium par le VDRL ou RPR sur toutes les unités de sang provenant de dons avant la transfusion. La mise en oeuvre du principe général de la qualité dans le dépistage des infections tranmissibles par tsransfusion, y compris la syphilis, est un facteur déterminant de la sécurité des transfusions sanguines.Méthodes: Quarante-huit établissements de santé ont été recrutés pour l'étude entre Janvier et Juin 2018. Un questionnaire structuré auto-administré, des interactions physiques et des appels téléphoniquesont été utilisés pour recueillir toutes les données pertinentes sur le système de la qualité, les types de donneurs de sang, le nombre total d’unités de sang dépistées et le taux de réactivité aux tests de dépistage de la syphilis.Résultats: Une méthode de laboratoire de recherche sur les maladies vénériennes a été utilisée pour dépister tous les dons pour la syphilis dans 81,3% des installations dépistées.Vingt-sept des 39 établissements qui dépistaient la syphilis ont validé leurs kits ; 24 disposaient de procédures opératoires standardisées et d'un système de contrôle de la qualité, tandis que 33 et 6 établissements avaient acheté des réactifs pour le dépistage de la syphilis par l'intermédiaire des directions et des services hospitaliers. Au total, 98 478 unités de sang ont été collectées et testées pour la syphilis.  Sur les 831 échantillons trouvés réactifs, 405, 408 et 18 provenaient d'hôpitaux tertiaires, secondaires et privés respectivement, et 384, 381 et 66 des échantillons provenaient respectivement  de donneurs de remplacement familial, de donneurs de sang payés et de donneurs volontaires.Conclusion La majorité des établissements dépistaient la syphilisen utilisant une méthode non spécifique et la plupart des principesde qualité généraux employés étaient conformes aux directives dela AfSBT. Une prévalence de 0.84% pour la syphilis a été enregistréedans cette étude

Conscious sedation for oocyte retrieval: Experience at a tertiary health facility in North‑Central, Nigeria

Background: A variety of anesthetic techniques have been used to make transvaginal oocyte retrieval (TVOR) safe and efficient. The optimal anesthetic technique during TVOR should provide safe, effective analgesia, few side effects, a short recovery time, and be nontoxic to the oocytes that are being retrieved. The concept of conscious sedation is widely accepted for the short‑term management of pain.Objective: This study assessed patient’s perception of pain using conscious sedation and in‑vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes.Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study of 71 eligible patients that underwent assisted reproduction program in our facility. All clients were treated with antagonist protocol for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. Self‑administered questionnaires were used as the research instrument. Pain was assessed using a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS), while client’s overall satisfaction was rated using Likert scoring system.Results: Client aged 33.2 ± 4.2 years. Most of them had primary infertility with mean duration of 4.5 ± 2.9 years. Unexplained infertility was the commonest cause of infertility. The pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was 47.9%, miscarriage rate was 5.6%, while the live birth rate was 42.3%. The mean VAS scores at 1 h, 6 h, 24 h and at embryo transfer were 4.9 ± 1.7, 2.5 ± 1.2, 1.3 ± 0.9, and 0.5 ± 0.6, while the Likert score was 3.8 ± 1.1.Conclusion: Conscious sedation with Midazolam and Pethidine is a safe, effective, and acceptable method of analgesia/anesthesia for TVOR. However randomized prospective studies with larger sample sizes are recommended. Key words: Conscious sedation; Nigeria; oocyte retrieval; tertiary health facility

Reproductive health problems and health seeking behavior of female sex workers in Sabon Gari Local Government Area, Zaria, Nigeria

Background: The sexual and reproductive health needs of sex workers have been neglected both in research and public health interventions. Among the reasons for this are the condemnation, stigma and ambiguous legal status of sex work in Nigeria. This study was aimed at determining the reproductive health problems and health-seeking behavior of brothel-based female sex workers (FSW). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among brothel-based FSW in Sabon-Gari Local Government in Zaria, Nigeria between 1 st January 2011 and 31 st June 2011. A total of 208 FSW were randomly selected and information was obtained with the use of the semi-structured questionnaire. Data entry was done with the help of structured codes in Microsoft Excel. Descriptive analysis was carried out using the statistical package (SSPS 16-University of Bristol). Results: Majority 90.7% of the respondents had experienced reproductive morbidity in the last 3 months. Frequently experienced symptoms were vaginal discharge (63.8%), acute lower abdominal pain (57.5%), menstrual irregularities (37%) and genital ulcer (32.3%). Genital tear occurred in only 25 (9.8%) respondents. Furthermore, 178 (63.6%) had a termination of unwanted pregnancies. Most (32.3%) sought care for their reproductive health problems from chemist shops; followed by the private hospitals in 23.6% of respondents. Others took self-medication for their ailments. Post-treatment success was the most frequently mentioned reason for the choice of place of treatment, followed by finance. Conclusion: The most commonly reported reproductive health problem among FSW was vaginal discharge and many of them have poor health seeking behavior. Health promotion and client sensitive health care services specifically targeting FSW should be developed, packaged and delivered to improve reproductive health of FSW. There should be concerted efforts by the government and other stakeholders in reproductive health to develop a policy framework to addressing the challenges in health of FSW