Contribution of women to fisheries development in Kainji Lake basin

The study was carried to examine the contribution of women to fisheries development in the Kainji basin. The sample was drawn in some of the major fishing villages in the sub strata of the basin. A total of 120 respondents were used. The findings revealed that women were involved in fisheries activities most especially in the processing and marketing aspects. Many of the respondents happened to be wives of the fishermen. Few bought fishing equipment with a special arrangement for the supply of fish while some buy from fishermen. This revealed the willingness of the women to be empowered in the economic activities in the area to meet some basic household. Major constrains to the women in this area were the scarcity of fish, no support from the government or private agencies. Recommendations were made on how to enhance women participation in fisheries developmen

Parents aspiration and youth perception to sustainable fisheries development in Kainji Lake basin

Artisanal fisheries development in Nigeria, like in any other developing country of the world is characterized by subsistence level of operation using dugout canoe and paddle. This implies that parents and children constituted the labour in use since they only struggle for the upkeep of the family. A total of 240 questionnaires were used to solicit information from the respondents. This total was divided into 120 each for both parents and the youths respectively. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution and percentages were used to analyze their responses. Parents have strong aspiration for their children to succeed them hence, 78.3% of the parents expressed their aspiration for succession by the younger ones while 83.3% of parents tend to support their aspiration with persuasive strategies such as allowing their children to partake in fishing activities at will. On the part of the youth over 70% of them perceived fishing as a viable business where they can succeed their parents provided government can come to their aid in form of active involvement in the development of rural fisheries. It is therefore believed that fisheries development could achieve rapid improvement if the aspiration of the parents is balanced with perception of the youth and the government meets their expectatio

The Influence of Menstruation on the Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Biology Students in Irewole Local Government, Osun State, Nigeria.

Abstract: This study is designed to investigate the influence of menstruation on the academic achievement of senior secondary school Biology students in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria. In the light of this, three specific objectives and research questions were highlighted not only to achieve but also to answer. The study employed quasi-experimental design. Besides, purposive sampling technique was used to take a sample of sixty-five (65) Grade 11 (Senior Secondary School II) students from three public high school within the study area. The data generated from the instrument that is Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was analysed with the aid of a component of inferential statistics. The findings revealed a significant relationship between the academic achievement of students in Biology and menstruation. This is because, students before their menstrual period had mean score of 45 marks which was slightly higher than the one they had during (that is 42 marks) their menstrual period. A significant association between the academic achievement of students in Biology and menstrual pains was also observed. However, there was no significant relationship between the academic achievement in Biology among participants and duration of menstruation. This means that number of days used to complete menstruation period was insignificant to academic achievement of the participants in Biology. It is inferred from the study that there is relationship between menstruation and students’ academic performance in Biology among public secondary schools. Recommendations such as provision of conducive facilities in schools, constant awareness programme on the subject matter among others were made

INTERACTION EFFECTS OF SEASONS AND FARMING PRACTICES ON CORRELATION AND PATH ANALYSIS OF YIELD OF CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus L.)

Association among yield characters is a pre-requisite for rapid crop improvement. A study was conducted to determine the effect of seasons and stake on correlation and path effects of cucumber yield traits. The experiment comprised of 2 seasons (wet and dry), 2 practices (staked and unstaked), six cucumber varieties replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Planting distance was 75×75 cm. Insect pests, weeds, and fungi were controlled as recommended. Data collected were subjected to correlation and path effect analysis. In the dry season, the two practices revealed highly significant genotypic correlation (P<0.05) between fruit yield and vine length (rg= 1.20 and 1.07) and phenotypic (rp=0.69 and 0.74). With days to flowering, fruit yield displayed highly significant genotypic (rg=-1.14 and -1.03) and phenotypic correlation (rg=-0.74 and -0.76). In the wet season, the two practices revealed highly significant positive genotypic (rg=0.95 and 0.84) and phenotypic correlation (rg=0.84 and 0.71) between fruit yield and fruit length. Path analysis showed that high yield was achieved in the dry season through the maximum effect of fruit girth 0.34 and 1.15 in the two practices and shorter days to flowering -0.39. In the wet season, maximum fruit yield was obtained through fruit length (5.86 and 0.28) in both practices, in addition to less fruit girth (-6.76) and short days to flowering (-0.67).  In selection for high yields, the characters; vine length; fruit girth, fruit length and days to flowering can be utilized

DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY TYPE AND LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Poor performance of students in Biology has been attributed generally to factors relating to the home, school and the students themselves. Previous studies have investigated personality type and learning style preferences in relation to students’ achievement in tertiary institutions rather than at the secondary school level. This study was therefore conducted to examine the effects of Myer’s Briggs personality type- ESTJ (Extroversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) and VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic) learning style preferences on students’ achievement in Biology at the Senior Secondary School (SSS) level. Three instruments [Cognitive Type Inventory (CTI), VAK Learning Style Indicators (VLSI), and Biology Achievement Test (BAT)] were administered on 1,480 SSS II Biology students. The results were presented using path analysis and multiple regressions. It was established that five hypothesized predictor variables (age, extroversion, sensing, thinking and kinesthetic) had direct effects on Biology achievement. On the other hand, only three hypothesized predictor variables (gender, age and thinking) had indirect effects on Biology achievement. However, sensing and kinesthetic preferences had the most significant direct effects on Biology achievement. Also, sensing had the highest total causal effect on Biology achievement. Students should be encouraged to develop improve and exhibit sensing and kinesthetic preferences when learning Biology.  Article visualizations

Determinants of community health workers effectiveness for delivery of maternal and child health in Sub Saharan Africa: A Systematic review protocol

Background: Countries in sub-Sahara African continue to have the highest maternal and under- five child death occurrences in the world and this has become a key health challenge in the region and persists as global public health agenda. Although Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly being acknowledged as crucial members of the healthcare workforce in reducing health disparity, evidence is limited on perspective of community health workers. The objective of this protocol is to outline the methodological process of a systematic review that will gather qualitative data to examine determinants of community health workers effectiveness for delivery of maternal and child health in Sub Saharan Africa. Synthesizing the perspectives of community health workers’ perceived experience is crucial to inform decision makers, policy makers, and practitioners to address barriers to and scaleup facilitators of CHWs program to ensure maternal and child health equity and a resilience community health system. Methods: The protocol has been registered in the PROSPERO (CRD42020206874). We will systematically conduct a literature search from inception in MEDLINE complete, EMBASE, CINAHL complete and Global Health for relevant studies. Eligible studies will be reports of original research, peer reviewed articles having a qualitative component (i.e., qualitative, mixed, or multi-method studies) on empowerment of CHWs associated with maternal and child health in the sub-Saharan Africa. Eligibility will be restricted to studies published in English. Two reviewers will independently screen all included abstracts and full-text articles. The primary outcome will be CHWs’ perceived barriers to and facilitators of effectiveness of community health workers in maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. Study methodological quality (or bias) will be appraised using appropriate tools. Narrative analysis will be conducted, and narrative summary of findings will be presented. We will use the ‘best fit’ framework method as a systematic approach to analyzing the qualitative data. Discussion: This study will systematically and comprehensively search literature and integrate evidence on perceived barriers to and facilitators of effectiveness of community health workers led maternal and child health program in sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings will inform policy and practice on maternal and child health equity and a resilient communities health system. The resulting manuscript will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and at international and national conferences

Sex differences in HIV testing among elders in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review protocol

Background: Elders (age 50+) HIV demographic (age and sex) data are essential to better understand their HIV service utilization and develop appropriate evidence-based responses and policies. Despite a significant prevalence rate of HIV and growing numbers of this population group, data are still scarce, and studies have neglected them in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this protocol is to outline the methodological process of a systematic review that will gather qualitative and quantitative data to critically examine sex differences in HIV testing among elders (age 50+) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: This protocol adheres to the PRISMA-P reporting guidelines. We will conduct a systematic database search to retrieve all observational and qualitative studies. Electronic search strategies will be developed for MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Global Health, and CINAHL for studies reporting HIV data. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles, and abstract data. The search strategy will consist of free-text and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Search terms for elders (50+) will include the following: “elders”, “older adults”, “aged”, “geriatric” and “seniors”. The primary outcome of interest is sex differences in the uptake of HIV counselling and testing (HCT). The study methodological quality (or bias) will be appraised using appropriate tools. Screening, data extraction, and assessments of risk of bias will be performed independently by two reviewers. Narrative synthesis will be conducted with studies that are compatible based on population and outcome. As it will be a systematic review, without human participants’ involvement, there will be no requirement for ethical approval. Discussion: The systematic review will present key evidence on sex differences in HIV testing among elders in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings will be used to inform program developers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to enhance sex disaggregated HIV data to improve access to HIV counselling and testing service for elders in Sub-Saharan Africa. The final manuscript will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and scientific conferences

Barriers and facilitators to access mental health services among refugee women in high-income countries: a systematic review

Background: Based on the Global Trends report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee, in high-income countries, there are 2.7 refuges per 1000 national population, girls and women account for nearly 50% of this refuge population. In these high-income countries, compared with the general population refuge women have higher prevalence of mental illness. Thus, this review was conducted to examine the barriers to and facilitators of access to mental health services for refugee women in high-income countries for refugee resettlement. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases for research articles written in English with qualitative component. The last search date was on March 14, 2020. A narrative synthesis was conducted to gather key synthesis evidence. Refugee women (aged 18 and older) that could receive mental health services were included. Men and women under non-refugee migrant legal status were excluded. Studies were evaluated studies using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist. Results: Of the four databases searched, 1258 studies were identified with 12 meeting the inclusion criteria. Three studies were cross-sectional by design, eight studies used a qualitative approach and one studies used mixed approach. The major barriers identified were language barriers, stigmatization, and the need for culturally sensitive practices to encourage accessing mental health care within a religious and cultural context. There were several studies that indicated how gender roles and biological factors played a role in challenges relating to accessing mental health services. The major facilitators identified were service availability and awareness in resettlement countries, social support, and the resilience of refugee women to gain access to mental health services. Conclusion: This review revealed that socio-economic factors contributed to barriers and facilitators to accessing mental health among women refugees and asylum seekers. Addressing those social determinants of health can reduce barriers and enhance facilitators of access to mental health care for vulnerable populations like refugee women. A key limitation of the evidence in this review is that some data may be underreported or misreported due to the sensitive and highly stigmatizing nature of mental health issues among refugee populations. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020180369

Nigeria’s recent population censuses: a Benford-theoretic evaluation

Context: Population censuses in Nigeria have been plagued with under- or over-enumeration, as well as outright manipulation. This paper examines the claim of manipulated results of Nigeria’s 1991 and 2006 population censuses.Data Source & Method: Data on both censuses were obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics and analyzed via fitting Benford’s probability distribution. The overall census data, as well as aggregate data for the six geopolitical zones of the country were examined to determine the level of conformity with Benford’s distribution, using the Chi-square goodness of fit test.Findings: The conformity analyses showed that the overall counts differed significantly from Benford's in both censuses. The North-West region had the highest deviation in both censuses, while the North-East and South-West had the lowest deviation in 1991 and 2006 censuses, respectively. Significant conformity was observed in the sizes of the local government areas and the population density for the 2006 census.Conclusion: Some datasets with built-in minimum and maximum values may still conform to Benford’s distribution provided the range of values of the first significant digit span digits 1 to 9. Census results should be scrutinized on the basis of Benford’s distribution as an additional check on the quality