Gender and educational exposure as predisposing factors of youth restiveness in Kwara state, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Reports of growing cases of cultism, ethnic militia, kidnapping, armed robbery, thuggery and agitations of Nigerian youths  on alarming dimensions are seriously becoming a matter of grave concern to all and sundry. The rate at which youths take up arms is quite disturbing as many family become victims of this spate of violent upsurge. PURPOSE: This study investigated the role of gender and educational exposure as predisposing factors of youth restiveness in Kwara State, Nigeria. METHODS: The study presented a systematic analysis, rich theoretical and empirical description of the role of gender and educational exposure in youth restiveness in Kwara State, Nigeria. The sample of this study comprised 450 respondents (294 male and 156 female) from the population of 2,953 batch A National Youth Service Corp members posted to Kwara State in the month of May, 2015. The instrument used for data collection was an 18 item researchers’ self-structured questionnaire titled “Gender and Educational Exposure Youth Restiveness Predisposing Scale (GEEYRPS). The reliability coefficient for the instrument using Cronbach coefficient alpha was 0.78. RESULTS: Results revealed among others the increasing rate of female youth’s involvement in restive acts and ineffective socialisation of today’s Nigeria child towards meeting societal expectations for gender roles as predisposing factors of youth restiveness. Study equally reveal the quality of socialisation education acquired at home and school as a potential predisposing factor of youth restiveness. Significant relationship exists between gender and agitation of restive youths as well as between educational exposure of youths and their agitation. RECOMMENDATIONS: Recommendations include the need for parents to be alive to their responsibilities of inculcating into their children moral values and character training to strengthen their self-control skills and stabilise them against participation in youth restiveness

Inflation and Standard of Living in Nigeria

Standard of living is very germane to every economy. It gives a broad view of how the economy is fairing on a global scale. If an individual cannot get required basic necessities due to low purchasing power, his/her marginal propensity to consume (MPC) rises which makes it more difficult for the individual to live comfortably hence the standard of living dips Several researches have been carried out but the standard of living still remains abysmally low. From empirical review we find that several countries in sub-Sahara Africa, Nigeria inclusive suffers from low standard of living. The case of Nigeria being evidently sever as the Nigeria currently the poverty capital of the world with over 91 million people living below in abject poverty. Time series data on inflation rate and standard of living proxied by the Human Development Index (HDI) between 1998 and 2017 was used for this research. Augmented Dickey Fuller and Phillip-Perron unit root tests were used to test for stationarity of the data. Based on findings, the Auto Regressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) model was adopted for inferential analyses. Descriptive statistics employed include skewness, kurtosis, Jarque-Bera test and Breuch-Pagan-Godfrey serial correlation LM test, Breuch-Pagan test for heteroscedasticity and the Durbin-Watson test. Results indicated that there exists a long-run relationship between Inflation and standard of living. Inflation exhibited a negative and significant effect with a coefficient of -0.034 against a P-value of 0.017 which implied that a unit increase in inflation brings about 0.034unit decrease in standard of living over the period of study. Based on findings we recommend that a proper blend of fiscal and monetary policies should be employed to improve the standard of living of Nigerians. Keywords: Inflation rate, Monetary policies, Poverty, Standard of living, Fiscal policies DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-4-06 Publication date: April 30th 202

Analysis of the urban expansion for the Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

African cities are experiencing uncontrolled expansion. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the impact of urban expansion on landuse types of Akure for the period of 1972 to 2009 . In analyzing the urban expansion of the city, 1972 MSS, 1986 Landsat Thematic TM and Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM + ) images for 2002 and 2009 satellite image captured from googleearth website were used in a post classification comparison analysis to map the spatial dynamics of landuse / land cover changes and identify the urban expansion of Akure. Questionnaire was also used to determine the factors responsible for the expansion of Akure. The findings showed a rapid expansion in the built-up are a of Akure from 1,00% in 1972 to 2,46% in 1986, 2,46% in1986 to 3,90% in 2002 with an annual growth rate of 10,63% and 3,66% due to increasing population of Akure within these periods respectively. Prediction made showed that the built-up of Akure would expand to 2,66% in 2022 . The study recommends review of the outdated 1980 master plan and development control mechanism that will guide the rapid expansion that had been accompanied by loss of vegetation in Akure

Multivariate Analysis of Household Decision Making, Contraceptive Use and Fertility Behaviour among Ever-Married Men in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of household decision making on the use of contraceptives and fertility behaviour of ever-married men in Nigeria. Men’s Recode Dataset of 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) dataset was used. A sample size of 8,981 ever married men aged 15-49 were analyzed using Chi-square test and multinomial logistic regression. The study revealed that majority of men who take a sole decision on their earning and are using contraceptives want more children. Other factors influencing men’s fertility behaviour included age, education, wealth status, age at marriage, religion, the number of living children, ethnicity and media exposure. The study concluded that women empowerment in decision making and in the use of contraceptive methods should be promoted to reduce men’s fertility behaviour.Key Words: Contraceptive, decision making, fertility behaviour, ever-married Men, Nigeri

Fortification of dough with moringa, coriander, and amaranth improves the nutritional composition, health-benefiting properties, and sensory attributes of Nigerian wheat bread

Consumption of bread can be associated with some health issues, which can be improved by fortifying it with plants that are good sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds. This study investigated the effects of fortifying bread with 3 leafy vegetables on the quality of Nigerian wheat bread. Leave powders of coriander, moringa, and amaranths were added to wheat dough at 0% (control), 1%, 3%, 5%, or 7%, and the blends obtained were used to bake vegetable breads, which were then analyzed for proximate, minerals, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, reducing sugars, glycemic index, and sensory evaluation. Results showed that vegetable fortification significantly increased bread ash (from 0.84% in control up to 1.93% in fortified bread), crude fiber (from 1.68% to 3.29%), and nutritionally important minerals Ca, Mg, P, Fe, and Zn (up to 5.2-fold, 5.1-fold, 18.1-fold, 4.1-fold, and 14.0-fold, respectively); it reduced carbohydrates (from 65.65% down to 43.16%), crude lipids (from 2.25% down to 0.44%), and caloric value (from 1239.65 down to 1125.19 kJ/100 g), with little or no effect on proteins and moisture content. The fortification also improved the bioactive properties of the bread, as evidenced by a considerably higher phenolic content (from 0.40 up to 13.95 mg/100 g GAE) and increased antioxidant activities. There was a significant 1.1-to 3.4-fold decrease in the reducing sugars of composite breads with 5% and 7% vegetable powder, and the selected bread formulation with Moringa 7% lowered the glycemic index of rats by 3.5-fold. Fortification did not generally affect the appearance and taste of the breads but decreased other sensory parameters and overall acceptability; the bread sample enriched with 1% amaranth received the highest general acceptance. In conclusion, fortifying wheat bread with the 3 vegetables improves its nutritional quality and can be recommended as a new pathway for the development of more nutritious and healthy bread

Bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidneys: Case report

Multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) is a congenital, non-heritable maldevelopment in which the renal cortex is replaced by numerous cysts of varying sizes. Typically, MCDK is a unilateral disorder in 76% of cases and bilateral in 24%. The latter is incompatible with life. We present the case of a male child with bilateral MCDK who was followed up with ultrasound scan (USS) from 22nd week of intrauterine life till death on the 19th day after delivery. Serial antenatal USS revealed oligohydramnios and both kidneys showed multiple cysts which appeared to be communicating. Postnatal USS however, revealed multiple sub-cortical thin walled cysts of varying sizes which apparently appeared to be communicating. A diagnosis of bilateral MCDK was made and was confirmed at autopsy

Experience with full-thickness rectal biopsy in the evaluation of patients with suspected Hirschsprung’s disease

Background and purpose Rectal biopsy is the main modality for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung’s disease (HD). In Africa, transanal full-thickness rectal biopsy is commonly performed. We aimed to audit our practice of rectal biopsy in the evaluation of HD.Materials and methods A retrospective review was carried out of the records of children (r15 years) who were evaluated for HD between 2007 and 2011. Clinical presentation, details of the operation, and histologic result were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0.Results Fifty-seven children were evaluated for suspected HD during the period. Thirty-six children underwent a rectal biopsy. There were 29 (80.6%) males and nine (19.4%) females, of which two were preterm. Neonates and infants accounted for 72.2% (n= 26). The median age at biopsy was 90 days (range, 5 days to 9 years). Delayed passage of meconium was present in 64.7%, constipation in 85.7%, abdominal distension in 88.6%, and bilious vomiting in 55.9%. Thirty biopsies (83.3%) yielded a histologic diagnosis. Twenty-six (72.2%) confirmed HD, whereas four (11.1%) yielded normal rectal histology. In six (16.7%), the sample taken was deemed inadequate for opinion. None of the symptoms assessed was associated significantly with a diagnosis of HD, stalling further analysis. Where a single biopsy was taken, 20% (n =5) were inadequate for analysis; where more than one sample was taken, a histologic diagnosis was possible in 100% (n =11). Consultant surgeons and trainees returned inadequate samples in 15.8% (n= 3) and 12.5% (n= 2), respectively. An inadequate sample was obtained in four infants (15.4%) and one child older than 1 year of age (10%). Distance of biopsy from the dentate was not indicated in 63.9% (n= 23).Conclusion No clinical parameter can accurately predict a diagnosis of HD. More than one sample at a sitting may improve the diagnostic yield. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.Keywords: full-thickness biopsy, Hirschsprung’s disease, rectal biops

Development of Obstacle and Pit-Detecting Ultrasonic Walking Stick for the Blind

This project focused on improving mobility for a blind person by creating an obstacle and pit detecting walking stick using ultrasonic sensors. The project comprised of both hardware and software. The hardware consists of ultrasonic sensors, buzzers and a microcontroller, while the software consists of Arduino Integrated Development Environment (Arduino IDE), which was used to program the microcontroller. A Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) casing was used to house the hardware components. The ultrasonic sensor that detects obstacles was programmed to detect obstacles at a distance of 100 cm or below and causes the buzzer to sound so as to alert the blind person. Another ultrasonic sensor was programmed to identify pit at a depression of 18 cm and above. This stick was tested to detect obstacles by 80 different blindfolded individuals within a room with different objects placed at different positions. Results showed that the percentage reduction of collision rate when comparing the developed ultrasonic walking stick to a normal white cane is 90.1%. This shows that the ultrasonic walking stick is reliable for domestic use by a blind person. Keywords— Arduino, ATmega328 Microcontroller, Blind walking stick, Mobility aid, Smart cane, Ultrasonic sensor

Antithrombotic, anticoagulant and antiplatelet activity of betulinic acid and 3β-acetoxybetulinic acid from Melaleuca bracteata ‘Revolution Gold’ (Myrtaceae) Muell leaf

Purpose: To investigate the antithrombotic, anticoagulant and antiplatelet activity of betulinic acid (BA) and 3β-acetoxybetulinic acid (BAA) from Melaleuca bracteata ‘Revolution Gold’.Methods: Betulinic acid was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of M. bracteata leaves by column chromatography, from which BAA was subsequently synthesized by acetylation. Structural elucidation of the compounds was conducted using mass spectrometry (MS), infra-red (IR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The antithrombotic potential of the compounds was assessed using chromogenic substrate. Anticoagulation studies were carried using bleeding tail time assay in a rat model. Plasma-rich platelets from rats were employed for platelet aggregation studies using light microscope.Results: The compounds significantly (p < 0.05) showed antithrombotic activities in a dose-dependent manner. BAA showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher half-maximal concentration (IC50) value of 1.10 ± 0.03 mg/mL than BA (2.36 ± 0.09 mg/mL) and aspirin (2.65 ± 0.01 mg/mL) which served as positive control. The compounds exhibited anticoagulation activity with poor bleeding time, compared to aspirin. Likewise, the compounds attenuated platelets aggregation induced by thrombin.Conclusion: BAA displays better antithrombotic, antiplatelet, and anticoagulant activities than BA. Therefore, it may be a promising remedy for the management of cardiovascular events.Keywords: Betulinic acid, Thrombin, Anticoagulation, Antiplatelet, Aspirin, Platelet

Phytodentistry in Africa: prospects for head and neck cancers

Background Orthodox dentistry has undergone significant changes in recent times with the introduction of various omics and molecular targeted therapies both at the experimental/trial and clinical implementation level. Although, significant milestones have been achieved in the molecular dentistry field in the past decade, there remains a dearth of application of phytopharmacological innovation in personalized and targeted therapies for dental diseases. Main body From time immemorial, plant products have long been an integral aspect of dental practice ranging from chewing sticks/herbal kinds of toothpaste to dental/impression materials. The current era of precision medicine seeks to apply a multipronged molecular and bio-computational approaches to solve fundamental medical problems that have hitherto remained difficult. Remarkable changes in the molecular/omics era, have transformed empirical therapies into personalized/individualized ones. Furthermore, the combinatorial application and the widespread introduction of high-throughput molecular tools such as pharmacogenomics, phytopharmacology, metabolomics, mathematical modelling, and genetic engineering inter alia, has tremendously improved the diagnostic and therapeutic landscape of medicine. Additionally, the variable molecular epidemiology of diseases among different population and emerging molecular evidence warrants the use of customized novel theranostic techniques. Unfortunately, the footprint of such emerging application is sparse in dental diseases such as maxillofacial cancers. Conclusion Hence, this review seeks to evaluate the potential application of phytopharmacological approaches to head and neck cancers in a resource-limited environment, such as Africa