An Investigation on Secondary School Students’ Attitude Towards Science in Ogun State, Nigeria

The study investigated the attitudes of secondary school students towards science in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Two hundred senior secondary school students consisting of 84 males and 116 females were selected from five secondary schools using stratified random sampling techniques. A 20-item Attitude to Science Questionnaire on a five-point likert scale was adopted for the study. The instrument has a reliability coefficient of 0.73 using Cronbach’s reliability method. Frequency counts and percentages were used to obtain an overall picture of students’ attitude towards science while student’s t-test was used to find out whether there was significance difference between the attitude of male and female students. Findings showed that a higher proportion of the students display positive attitude towards science. Also, there was no significant difference between the attitude of male and female students towards science. Keywords: Attitude, Science, Student, Secondary school

PIG SLAUGHTERING IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA: PECULIARITIES, ANIMAL WELFARE CONCERNS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

Background: Pig slaughtering methods influence the quality of pig products and also serves as a critical point for the control of zoonosis and other food-borne infections. This study aimed at assessing the peculiarities, the animal welfare concerns and the public health implications of pig slaughtering activities was conducted on three major abattoirs in Southwestern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Information on pre-slaughter handling, slaughtering and carcass processing were obtained by observation over a continuous 2- week period of normal abattoir activities in each abattoir by the authors. Structured questionnaires were administered and focus group interviews were conducted to obtain information from the abattoir workers and health officials. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Result and Conclusion: The pig slaughtering methods in the three locations vary considerably with some identified areas of animal welfare concerns which include inhumane transportation , restraining, lairaging, and stunning practices.s. These amount to excessive stress and poor animal welfare. The abattoir findings with public health implications include floor slaughtering, inadequate water supply, excessive biological intrusions, poor environmental hygiene, poor waste disposal and failure of abattoir workers to use protective clothing. The implications of the findings are discussed

Weight gain and menstrual abnormalities between users of Depo-provera and Noristerat

Background: Progesterone only injectable contraceptive provides long acting contraception against unwanted pregnancy. Alterations in menstrual pattern are a well known side effect of this effective contraceptive method. Objective of this study was to compare the weight gain and pattern of menstrual abnormalities in users of Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA) and Norethisterone Enanthate (Noristerat) in LASUTH.Methods: Retrospective comparative study conducted over a 3year period (January 2013 to December 2015) and involving 237 subjects who used injectable hormonal contraceptive (either DMPA or Noristerat). Case records of all the subjects were retrieved and information obtained on socio-demographic data, parity, previous contraceptive method and reason for discontinuation within one year of usage. Other information including subjects’ weight, menstrual cycle length and pattern, and side effects were collected at 3, 6 and 12 months for DMPA group and 2, 4 and 12 months interval for Noristerat group. Data obtained were analyzed using statistical packages for social sciences (version 19).Results: The combined mean age was 34.15±1.36 years. The mean weight at commencement was 68.16kg for DMPA and 66.61kg for Noristerat users while after a year, it significantly increased to 71.27kg for DMPA and 69.07kg for Noristerat users (P<0.05). No change in menstrual pattern was noted in 10% of DMPA and 7% of Noristerat users while 60% of DMPA and 57% of Noristerat had amenorrhoea by the end one year period. Five percent each of DMPA and Noristerat users perceived weight gain as problem significant enough to discontinue both methods respectively. Overall, 24% of DMPA and 19.1% of Noristerat users discontinued use after one year.Conclusions: There were significant weight gain between users of DMPA and Noristerat which was not considered a problem. Amenorrhoea was the commonest menstrual abnormality responsible for discontinuation of either method

Advanced leiomyosarcoma of the uterus: a case report and literature review

Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare malignancy accounting for 1-2% of uterine malignancies with an annual incidence of 0.5-7 per 100,000 women. It occurs mostly between the 5th to 7th decades of life hence found more among postmenopausal women.  The aetiology is mostly unknown however, in 0.2% of cases, it originates from sarcomatous degeneration in a pre-existing benign uterine fibroid. Leiomyosarcoma can be mistaken for uterine leiomyoma also known as the uterine fibroid.  It is an aggressive tumour that has a poor prognosis, with or without treatment. This case report aimed to report and discuss the occurrence of leiomyosarcoma as a differential diagnosis of abnormal uterine bleeding in this environment among other conditions. This will bring to the fore awareness among gynaecologists, pathologists, radiologists and oncologists that leiomyosarcoma of the uterus, though rare, should be considered in cases of menorrhagia with suspected uterine fibroid to avoid mistaking it for a diagnosis of uterine fibroid/leiomyoma. It is, therefore, imperative to consider leiomyosarcoma in a pre-menopausal and perimenopausal women diagnosed of abnormal uterine bleeding with symptomatic uterine fibroid. MRI serves as a good tool in differentiating the two pathologies.

Safety, Quality, and Acceptability of Contraceptive Implant Provision by Community Health Extension Workers versus Nurses and Midwives in Two States in Nigeria.

Task sharing is a strategy with potential to increase access to effective modern contraceptive methods. This study examines whether community health extension workers (CHEWs) can insert contraceptive implants to the same safety and quality standards as nurse/midwives. We analyze data from 7,691 clients of CHEWs and nurse/midwives who participated in a noninferiority study conducted in Kaduna and Ondo States, Nigeria. Adverse events (AEs) following implant insertions were compared. On the day of insertion AEs were similar among CHEW and nurse/midwife clients-0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.92 (95 percent CI 0.38-2.23)-but noninferiority could not be established. At follow-up 6.6 percent of CHEW clients and 2.1 percent of nurse/midwife clients experienced AEs. There was strong evidence of effect modification by State. In the final adjusted model, odds of AEs for CHEW clients in Kaduna was 3.34 (95 percent CI 1.53-7.33) compared to nurse/midwife clients, and 0.72 (95 percent CI 0.19-2.72]) in Ondo. Noninferiority could not be established in either State. Implant expulsions were higher among CHEW clients (142/2987) compared to nurse/midwives (40/3517). Results show the feasibility of training CHEWs to deliver implants in remote rural settings but attention must be given to provider selection, training, supervision, and follow-up to ensure safety and quality of provision

Heat-reflux processing of black peppercorn into bioactive antioxidant oleoresins : A three-functioned Taguchi-based grey relational grading

The focus of this research is to identify the best set of factors that influence the heat-reflux recovery of total phenolic content and antioxidant activities under multiple quality characteristics. Parametric Taguchi L9 orthogonal design and grey relational analysis technique were used to investigate the effect of three variables—reflux duration, particle size, and feed-to-solvent ratio on the multiple responses of total phenolic contents, DPPH, and H2O2 activities. According to the grey relational grades response table, the ideal number of criteria for the heat reflux results were 120 min of reflux duration, 0.2 mm of particle size, and a feed-solvent ratio of 1:16. The total phenolic content, DPPH, and H2O2 scavenging activities were measured as 35.23 ± 0.004 mgGAE/g d.w, 107.57 ± 0.04 g/mL, and 87.78 ± 0.32 g/mL, respectively. Moreover, with the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) neural network architecture, the trained network has a mean square error (MSE) of 3.7646E−07 and an R2 of 0.9500 as the training function outcome, indicating a significant predicted endpoint. The confirmatory experimental results show a 41.9 per cent improvement in relation to the predicted values. The results of this study indicated that, optimising the heat reflux process would be an innovative and beneficial approach for preparing bioactive compounds from functional plants, resulting in cost savings while increasing antioxidant capacity and overall phenolic recovery

Heat-assisted extraction of phenolic-rich bioactive antioxidants from Enantia chlorantha stem bark: multi-objective optimization, integrated process techno-economics and profitability risk assessment

Abstract This present study investigates the heat-assisted extraction (HAE) of bioactive antioxidants from Enantia chlorantha stem bark (ECSB). The effects of process parameters of operating temperature (OT: 35–55 °C), extraction time (ET: 100–200 min) and solid: liquid ratio (S/L: 1:20–1:50 g/mL) are determined on the total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant activity (AA) and extract yield (EY) using the D-Optimal design. Multi-criteria optimization is also conducted to determine the HAE optimum conditions. The integrated process for E. chlorantha stem bark extracts (ECBEs) production is thereafter designed with the optimum HAE conditions and techno-economically analysed. Three industrial ECBEs production setups (5, 100 and 1000 L extractor capacities) are analysed for probable scale-up and the risk & sensitivity analyses are conducted via Monte Carlo simulation. The HAE parameters affect the extraction process significantly. The OT, ET and S/L that maximize the TPC, AA and EY simultaneously are: OT = 54.10 °C, ET = 120.16 min and S/L = 1:50 g/mL. The 1000 L plant extractor setup is the most economical capacity having the least unit production cost (UPC) of 763.52 US$/kg ECBEs. The certainty of achieving 763.52 US$/kg ECBEs for the 1000 L capacity is 55.43% and the only variable with negative contribution (− 37.9%) on ECBEs UPC is the extract recovery variable