Violence in the Family: A Preliminary Investigation and Overview of Wife Battering in Africa

This paper examines wife battering in Africa although it is a world-wide phenomenon. Due to the hidden nature of the problem accurate statistics on it are hard to come by. In many parts of Africa, wife battering is accepted as a part of the culture. This is reinforced by the sex role socialization of women, which encourages and emphasizes submissiveness. The victims of wife battering don’t always leave the abusive environment because of lack of family and community support. Divorce is not always a viable alternative due to the stigma attached to it. Wife battering must be discouraged through legislation, general education and economic empowerment of women

Severity, challenges, and outcome of retroperitoneal hematoma in a Nigeria Tertiary Hospital

Background: Retroperitoneal hematoma (RH) can present as an acute life‑threatening condition, report on RH in low‑income countries are lacking. Objective: We present the severity, pattern, challenges, and outcome of RH in a low‑resource country such as Nigeria. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of all patients with blunt or penetrating abdominal injury needing surgery, patients with RH among them were analyzed.Results: In the last one decade spanning 2005–2015, our operation database record showed that 247 patients had exploratory laparotomy for blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma. Out of the 115 patients with complete record available, only 43 had RH. The median age of the patients was 30 years, and the most affected age group was 20–29 years. Female to male ratio was 1:13. Only eight patients (18.6%) reached the hospital from the accident site within the first “Golden Hour” of accident, which is the first 1 h postrauma during which treatment intervention believed to have the best outcome. Only two patients (4.7%) got to operating theater within 1 h of reaching hospital. None of our patients had preoperative diagnosis of RH; overall, mortality was two patients (4.7%). Conclusion: Logistical infrastructural inadequacies such as lack of sterile theater bundle and drapes/nonavailability or busy theater space caused delay for patients between presentation in the Accident and Emergency Center and operating theater. None of our patients had a preoperative diagnosis of RH because of lack of access to computerized tomography scan dedicated to trauma in Accident and Emergency Center. The overall mortality of 4.7% in this study, which is on the low side, tends to suggest that mostly mild and stable cases which can make it to the operating table were eventually operated upon. Keywords:  Nigeria, outcome, prehospital care, retroperitoneal hematoma, tertiary institution, trauma

The Chemical Modification of Calophyllum Inophyllum Plant Oil for Potential Base Oil in Drilling Mud Operation

Research on the use of plant oil or ester oil in drilling mud operation is on the increase. The is due to the less toxic and low cost advantage over the commercial synthetic base oil. Despite the attractive physicochemical properties of vegetable oil samples, it deteriorates and becomes unstable under downhole temperature and aging conditions when used directly in mud formulation. Hence, plant oil needs improvement in order to be compared to the conventional base oil. Calophyllum inophyllum oil was extracted and reacted with methano in the presence of catalyst to form biodiesel. The physicochemical properties of the commercial synthetic base oil, extracted Calophyllum inophyllum oil, and biodiesel Calophyllum inophyllum oil were measured and compared to the EN14214 and the ASTM D6751 standards. The commercial synthetic oil, Calophyllum inophyllum oil, and biodiesel Calophyllum inophyllum oil had a flash point of 101 ± 0.1, 164 ± 0.1, and 146 ± 0.1 °C respectively; density of 108, 172, and 152 (kgm3kgm3) respectively; viscosity index of 192, 163, and 282 respectively; acid value of 0.953, 24.24, and 1.0 respectively, and oil yield of NA, 71, and 62 respectively. The result showed that the biodiesel can also serve as alternative to commercial synthetic base oil due to their comparable property to the commercial base oil. The biodiesel Calophullum inophyllum oil is a potential base oil for drilling mud formulation

Breast Cancer Phenotypes in Africa: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE Africans have been associated with more aggressive forms of breast cancer (BC).However, there is a lack of data regarding the incidence and distribution of different subtypes on the basis of phenotypic classification. This scoping review and meta-analysis was undertaken to determine the distribution pattern of BC phenotypes (luminal, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]1, and triple-negative breast cancer [TNBC]) across the African region. METHODS Four online databases (PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost) were accessed to identify studies published between 2000 and 2022 reporting the representation of receptor status (estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2) in African patients with BC. Furthermore, the meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects model and pooled using the inverse variance method and logit transformation. 95% CI and I2 statistics were calculated using the Clopper-Pearson method to estimate between-study heterogeneity. RESULTS A total of 2,734 records were retrieved, of which 2,133 were retained for further screening. After the screening, 63 studies were finally selected for the scoping review and meta-analysis. The pooled frequency of luminal, HER2-positive (HER21), and TNBC was estimated at 56.30%, 12.61%, and 28.10%, respectively.Northern Africa had the highest frequency of the luminal subtype, while West Africa showed higher frequencies of HER21 and TNBC subtypes. The review also had a representation of only 24 countries in Africa. CONCLUSION Our results highlight the disparity in the representation of molecular subtypes among the people in different regions of Africa. There is a need to incorporate routine molecular subtyping into the management of African patients with BC

EVALUATION OF THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPACTIVE EFFORTS, SLAG AND CEMENT ON THE GEOTECHNICAL FEATURES OF LATERITE SOIL

This study investigated the statistical significance of compactive efforts, steel slag and cement on the geotechnical features of the laterite soil. Steel slag and cement were incorporated into the soil. Some geotechnical tests were performed on slag-cement-soil samples. Findings showed that the liquid limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI) decreased with increasing slag content, while cement addition increased LL and PI. As compactive efforts increased, MDD and CBR increased with a corresponding decrease in OMC. A more significant influence of the compactive effort and steel slag on the geotechnical features of the laterite than that of cement was observed

EVALUATION OF THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPACTIVE EFFORTS, SLAG AND CEMENT ON THE GEOTECHNICAL FEATURES OF LATERITE SOIL

This study investigated the statistical significance of compactive efforts, steel slag and cement on the geotechnical features of the laterite soil. Steel slag and cement were incorporated into the soil. Some geotechnical tests were performed on slag-cement-soil samples. Findings showed that the liquid limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI) decreased with increasing slag content, while cement addition increased LL and PI. As compactive efforts increased, MDD and CBR increased with a corresponding decrease in OMC. A more significant influence of the compactive effort and steel slag on the geotechnical features of the laterite than that of cement was observed

Solvent free hydroxylation of the methyl esters of Blighia unijugata seed oil in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium permanganate

Extraction of oil from the seed of Blighia unijugata gave a yield of 50.82 ± 1.20% using hexane in a soxhlet extractor. The iodine and saponification values were 67.60 ± 0.80 g iodine/100 g and 239.20 ± 1.00 mg KOH/g respectively with C18:1 being the dominant fatty acid. Unsaturated methyl esters of Blighia unijugata which had been previously subjected to urea adduct complexation was used to synthesize methyl 9, 10-dihydroxyoctadecanoate via hydroxylation in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium permanganate (CTAP). The reaction was monitored and confirmed using FTIR and GC-MS. This study has revealed that oxidation reaction of mono unsaturated bonds using CTAP could be achieved under solvent free condition

An Estimate of the Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prostate cancer (PCa) is rated the second most common cancer and sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men globally. Reports show that African men suffer disproportionately from PCa compared to men from other parts of the world. It is still quite difficult to accurately describe the burden of PCa in Africa due to poor cancer registration systems.We systematically reviewed the literature on prostate cancer in Africa and provided a continentwide incidence rate of PCa based on available data in the regio

Perceptions of the Seriousness of Crime and Attitudes Regarding Criminal Justice Issues: An Analysis of the 1982 American Broadcasting Corporation's News Poll of Public Opinion on Crime

This study deals with the analysis of public opinion about crime and attitudes regarding criminal justice issues along two major dimensions. The first part concerns how respondents rank crime among a list of nine social problems (unemployment, high interest rates, inflation, crime, the high cost of living, moral decline, taxes, dissatisfaction with the government, and Reagan). The second dimension examines some research questions. These are whether there was any association between the respondents' perception of crime trends and each of the following: demographic background, neighborhood safety, the death penalty, gun ownership, frequency of locking doors, avoidance of teenagers, and the evaluation of police job performance; and also whether there was any association between the respondents' victimization experience and seriousness of crime and police job performance. The data were obtained from the archives of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research in Michigan

Lubricant properties of the polyol from the seed oil of Lonchocarpus sericeus

Oil was extracted from the seed of the Lonchocarpus sericeus using hexane in a soxhlet extractor. The oil was characterized and used for the synthesis of polyol via epoxy ring opening reaction with 2-ethylhexanol. The structural characterization of the polyol was confirmed using FTIR and 1HNMR. The GC analysis of the oil of L. sericeus revealed C18:3 and C18:1 fatty acid as the dominant fatty acids present in the oil. The polyol had hydroxyl value of 182.10 ± 0.20 mg KOH/g, a copper strip corrosion value of 1A and a flash point of 280.00 ± 1.20oC. The synthesis and lubricant properties exhibited by the polyol suggested that the seed oil of L. sericeus can be chemically modified and employed as a starting material for lubricantproduction