Portulaca oleracea shows no ameliorative potential on ovariectomy-induced hormonal and estrous cycle dysregulation in normal cyclic rats: An experimental study

Background: Portulaca oleracea (PO) is a widely known plant utilized for its medicinal attributes in the treatment of different illnesses. Objective: To investigate the effect of methanolic extract of PO (MEPO) on ovariectomy-induced reproductive toxicity in normal cyclic rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty 10-wk-old normal cyclic rats weighing 110-200 g were randomly divided into four groups (n = 5/group). Group A served as the control and received distilled water only. Group B was ovariectomized without treatment, while groups C and D were ovariectomized but treated with 400 and 800 mg/kg of MEPO, respectively, for 14 days. At the end of the experiment, body weight, serum hormonal levels, and estrous cycles were monitored across the groups. Results: Groups B, C, and D showed estrous cycle dysregulation and specific phase arrest when compared with the control. While a significant decrease in estradiol (p ≤ 0.001) and testosterone levels (p ≤ 0.001) were observed in groups B, C, and D, only groups C and D showed a significant increase in progesterone level when compared with the control (p ≤ 0.001, p = 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: The administration of 400 and 800 mg/kg MEPO is ineffective in ameliorating estrous cycle disruption and hormonal changes seen in ovariectomized normal cyclic adult Wistar rats. Key words: Portulaca oleracea, Wistar rat, Ovariectomy, Estrous cycle, Hormones

The profile of malaria and intestinal parasites among refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in central Durban in 2014.

Master of Medical Sciences in Public Health Medicine.The majority of the refugee population congregate and live in major South African cities, some in overcrowded housing without access to basic health care and social services. These conditions put them at risk of transmission and spread of communicable diseases both amongst themselves and in the population they come into contact with. Therefore, knowledge of the burden of communicable diseases among them is crucial. In South Africa, there is limited data available on the prevalence of malaria and intestinal parasites in refugee populations. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of malaria and intestinal parasites among refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in Central Durban in South Africa in 2014. Three articles analyse 303 participants, who attended the Denis Hurley Centre, Emmanuel Cathedral Parish in Central Durban, aged 18 years and above, provided written consent and responded to a questionnaire on their demographic details. The presence of malaria, intestinal parasites and haematological profiles of the participants were analysed using Rapid test detection kits, microscopy and the Sysmex XE 5000 automated haematology analyser. The results confirm the presence of asymptomatic malaria (prevalence 3.8%) in the refugee population living in the city. The majority of those infected originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Burundi and Rwanda. More than 90% of the infections were due to Plasmodium falciparum. The prevalence of intestinal parasite infection among 270 participants was 18.8%. Common parasites identified were hookworm and A. lumbricoides. The results showed eosinophillia in 40.2% of 92 participants who were screened for haematological parameters. The mean absolute haemoglobin (Hb) level was reduced in 6.5% of the malaria positive patients (9.2 g/dl) with an extremely low packed cell volume (PCV) of 28.3%. While the total non-malaria infected cases 93.5% had a normal mean absolute Hb value of 12.6 g/dl and a slightly low packed cell volume value of 38 %. Results from the present study confirm the presence of and provided useful information on the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria and chronic intestinal parasites in the refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in Central Durban

Exploring women's experience of fundal pressure during the second stage of labour

Background and Aim: Despite the use of fundal pressure globally, there is a scarcity of information available on how women experience the application of uterine fundal pressure (UFP) during the second stage of labour. The aim of study was to explore the experiences of women concerning UFP application during the second stage of labour. Understanding women’s perception about UFP is important in informing the generation of new ideas to improve on the application of UFP for better outcomes. Methods: This was a qualitative, interpretive, and phenomenological analysis designed to explore the experiences of women regarding the application of UFP during the second stage of labour. Hermeneutics was applied to interpret the participants’ descriptions of their experiences as they tried to make sense of their exposure to UFP; bearing this in mind, the participants’ own interpretation was not distorted. The researcher immersed herself in each transcript, in order to make sense of each participant’s experiences and to gain a sense of what the participant had experienced during UFP application. Each interview was transcribed and analysed independently; and the convergences and divergences of themes were identified without losing the original meaning of each participant’s description before moving on to the subsequent interviews. The target population was women who had had UFP during second stage of labour. A purposive sampling method was used to select three women who were admitted to the DVDHMOU during the research period and who met the inclusion criteria. Information was collected through individual face-to-face interviews and semi-structured interview guide. The principal question was framed as: “Can you please share with me how you felt when the midwives pushed on your tummy to get the baby out”? An audio tape was used to record the interviews, and a notepad was used to make notes of gestures such smiles or other facial expressions. After each interview, the recorded interview was transferred onto a laptop and a file was opened for the interviewee, identified by a pseudonym. The interviews were transcribed verbatim as Word documents. Trustworthiness was maintained by applying the principles of credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. Ethical approval was granted by the Ethical Committee of the University of Fort Hare. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the Eastern Cape Research Committee and Buffalo City Metropolitan Health District. Informed consent was obtained from the participants prior to data collection. Each interview was analysed separately after completion. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis applicable to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) studies using six steps: reading and re-reading; initial noting; developing emergent themes; searching for connections across the emergent themes; moving to the next case; and lastly, looking for patterns across cases. Findings: The findings of this study indicated that the informants had feelings of fear, loneliness, worry and tearfulness; but also happiness associated with UFP during second stage of labour. They were also worried and expressed fear and anxiety concerning their infants; and their ability to give birth increased as they get tired in the process of pushing during UFP application. However, seeing their infants for the first time took most of the worries away, and all informants expressed relief when the birthing process was over. They also felt that their birthing experience was a very painful event; and were left alone, and they had not been given anything to drink or eat during labour. Midwives threatened them that their inability to pushing appropriately, could cause the death of their infants, leaving them with feelings of guilt and despair when their babies did not cry directly after birth. The findings demonstrated that midwives did not properly inform women what to expect during the second stage of their labour, whilst the midwives expected birthing mothers to know what was happening to them and how to react. Women in labour therefore depended almost entirely on information received from family members, and went into labour with preconceived ideas about labour pain. Although women do experience pain during the second stage of labour, the application UFP increased their pain. Four main themes emerged from the analysis, which are: perceived severity of UFP pain,emotional/physical reaction to UFP pain, perceptions of UFP and perception of midwives care and treatment. Conclusion: The uterine fundal pressure is not a pleasant experience for the women in the second stage of labour. Labouring women experienced pain, fear, and anxiety. However, they felt a sense of happiness after delivery. Before the application of UFP during the second stage of labour, midwives should explain to women the process of UFP application and what they can expect to happen; and where possible, and after explaining the procedure, midwives should get written permission before they apply the intervention during labour

A comparative analysis of teenagers and older pregnant women concerning maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes in Raymond Mhlaba sub-District, South Africa

Teenage pregnancy has become a common global public health issue, associated with increased risk of obstetric complications and adverse neonatal outcomes. Teenagers are more prone to obstetric complications compared to older women. This study examined the maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes among teenagers, and compared them with older pregnant women. This study extracted maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes from 196 medical records of women delivered at Fort Beaufort Hospital from April 2017 to March 2018. Teenagers developed anaemia (13%) and pre-eclampsia (2.1%) during pregnancy as compared to older pregnant women. Most of the women delivered through normal vertex, although the teenagers had the highest percentage of caesarean section (27%) compared to the older women. Few proportions of women developed complications during delivery, however, obstructed labour (14.7%), prolonged labour (11.5%), foetal distress (14.8%) was more prevalent in teenagers. Most neonates were delivered at preterm birth and were alive across all age groups. However, few of the preterm births (23.2%) and very premature neonates (7.4%) occurred among the teenager mothers compared to older women. Few neonates had an Apgar score of less than 7in 1 minute across all age groups. The risk of obstructed labour, prolonged labour, and foetal distress was predominant among teenagers compared to the older women. There was high incidence of vaginal deliveries, preterm babies and low Apgar score among teenagers compared to the older women. The findings of this study revealed that the teenagers start booking at the second trimester, which may impose the risk of complications if not observed at an early stage. There was high incidence of vaginal deliveries, preterm babies and low Apgar score among teenagers compared to the older women. Programmes to support early antenatal bookings for teenagers are important to address adverse maternal complications associated with late antenatal bookings. Keywords: Teenage pregnancy, Maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes, Older pregnant women, South Africa La grossesse chez les adolescentes est devenue un problème de santé publique mondial courant, associé à un risque accru de complications obstétricales et d'issues néonatales défavorables. Les adolescentes sont plus sujettes aux complications obstétricales que les femmes plus âgées. Cette étude a examiné les résultats indésirables maternels et néonatals chez les adolescents et les a comparés à ceux des femmes enceintes plus âgées. Cette étude a extrait les résultats indésirables maternels et néonatals de 196 dossiers médicaux de femmes accouchées à l'hôpital de Fort Beaufort d'avril 2017 à mars 2018. Les adolescentes ont développé une anémie (13%) et une pré-éclampsie (2,1%) pendant la grossesse par rapport aux femmes enceintes plus âgées. La plupart des femmes ont accouché par un sommet normal, bien que les adolescentes aient eu le pourcentage le plus élevé de césarienne (27%) par rapport aux femmes plus âgées. Peu de proportions de femmes ont développé des complications lors de l'accouchement, cependant, le travail dystocique (14,7%), le travail prolongé (11,5%) et la détresse fœtale (14,8%) étaient plus fréquents chez lesadolescentes. La plupart des nouveau-nés ont été nés prématurément et étaient vivants dans tous les groupes d'âge. Cependant, peu de naissances prématurées (23,2%) et de nouveau-nés très prématurés (7,4%) sont survenues parmi les mères adolescentes par rapport aux femmes plus âgées. Peu de nouveau-nés avaient un score Apgar inférieur à 7 en 1 minute dans tous les groupes d'âge. Le risque de dystocie, de travail prolongé et de détresse fœtale était prédominant chez les adolescents par rapport aux femmes plus âgées. Il y avait une incidence élevée d'accouchements vaginaux, de bébés prématurés et un faible score d'Apgar chez les adolescents par rapport aux femmes plus âgées. Les résultats de cette étude ont révélé que les adolescents commencent à réserver au deuxième trimestre, ce qui peut entraîner un risque de complications s'il n'est pas observé à un stade précoce. Il y avait une incidence élevée d'accouchements vaginaux, de bébés prématurés et un faible score d'Apgar chez les adolescents par rapport aux femmes plus âgées. Les programmes visant à soutenir les réservations prénatales précoces pour les adolescents sont importants pour lutter contre les complications maternelles indésirables associées aux réservations prénatales tardives. Mots-clés: Grossesse chez les adolescentes, Résultats indésirables maternels et néonatals, Femmes enceintes âgées, Afrique du Su

Revolutionary ideology in Nigerian playwriting and the fate of a nation in crisis: A critical analysis of select plays

 The paper interrogates the ever present revolutionary Ideology in Nigerian playwriting with a view to interpreting this concept as a fall out of the crisis of leadership and the debilitating state of the Nigerian society. In view of the fact that this concept is related to leadership as it deals with politics and the alienating effect of bad leadership on the populace, the paper critically studies the issues of leadership and the ensuing revolutionary ideology evolving from the lopsided relationship between the rulers and the ruled, the advantaged and the  disadvantage, the privileged and the less privileged as dealt with in some randomly selected Nigerian plays. Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures and Esiaba Irobi’s Nwokedi are used as paradigms to demonstrate revolution as the conceivable response of the masses to tactless leadership. The content analysis approach of the qualitative research methodology is employed in data collection and analysis. The Marxist Philosophy of a classless society appears to have furnished a firm base for the thematic and ideological outlook of the playwrights whose works have been used as case studies. The work in the final stance recommends good leadership as the riposte to revolutionary ideology, using playwriting as an apparatus for creating an atmosphere for the emergence of responsible and responsive leaders

Environmental and Social Accounting Practices, and Financial Performance of Cement Companies: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Engaging in environmental and social activities and disclosing same in the annual financial or sustainability report by business entities has been controversial for over three decades among stakeholders across different industries. Therefore, the objective in the research was to test the empirical nexus of social investment cost (SIC) and environmental protection cost (EPC) in relation to financial performance of quoted cement companies in Nigeria. Financial performance was further denominated into sales turnover (ST) and market value of firms (MVF) to respectively develop two hypotheses in their alternative forms. While the researchers adopted ex poste facto research design, secondary data were obtained from relevant annual financial reports and database of the Nigerian stock exchange for 2009-2017. Descriptive statistics were utilized for data presentation before estimating the test result by adopting multivariate regression model. However, the test result for H1 indicated significant P-value and F-value at 5% level of significance. In addition to accepting H1, positive Coefficients by SIC, EPC, and control variable (total assets-TA) demonstrated a strong adjusted R-square of 65.2483% association with ST, although, the coefficient for intercept was negative. Similarly, the test result for H2 also indicated significant P-value and F-value at 5% level of significance. In addition to accepting H2, positive coefficients of intercept, EPC, and the control variable, market capitalization (MCAP) of cement companies in Nigeria cumulatively contributed a weak adjusted R-square of 25.213% to MVF. However, the coefficient for SIC was negative. Besides observing low level and inconsistent environmental and social accounting practices (ESAP) among cement companies in Nigeria, the researchers concluded that such insignificant level of ESAP by such companies influenced their financial performance. Hence, the researchers recommended cement companies to adopt ethical approach towards expanding investment in ESAP. Keywords: Environmental and Social Accounting Practices, Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures, Sustainability Reporting, Financial Performance, Accounting Measure of Financial Performance, Capital Market measure of Financial Performance DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-20-07 Publication date:July 31st 202

Impact of Institutional Quality on Multilateral Aid in Nigeria

The linkage between quality of institutions and economic performance of nations has generated a lot of interest among scholars, due to their influence on development of many countries and effective use of resources including foreign aid from multilateral organizations. Two strands of theories emerge on the institutions-multilateral aids nexus: those for benefits of aid to growth and development; and those for harms caused by aid. The research objective is to investigate the impact of institutional quality on multilateral aid in Nigeria. To do this, the study applied auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. Data for the study were sourced from the ICRG data, WGI data, QoG database, Transparency International, and World Development Indicators (WDI). The findings show that institutional quality variables do not have any influence on the multilateral aid in Nigeria, except the ‘independence of judiciary’ which appeared statistically significant. In the short-run analysis, the disequilibrium in the long-run equilibrium is corrected for in the next quarter period by about 25%; almost all the variables are statistically and significantly influencing multilateral aid. It is therefore recommended that donor agencies should consider other factors that negatively influence official development assistance (ODA) such as politics, location and colonial history

Social And Environmental Responsibility Accounting Practices and Market Value Of Quoted Oil And Gas Firms In Nigeria

Engaging in social and environmental activities as core components of CSR is rapidly growing as one of globally acceptable best practices for sustainability in business. Beyond their acclaimed societal benefits, the specific implication of social and environmental responsibility accounting practices (SERAP) on the economic performance of business entities is still a debate in many territories and industries. Therefore, the main objective in this study is to determine the nexus between SERAP and financial performance of quoted oil and gas firms in Nigeria. Whereas the measures of SERAP are environmental protection costs (EPC), community education and training costs (CETC), and community health related costs (CHRC), the proxy for financial performance is the market value of firms. Adopting ex post facto research design and modified Ohlson 1995 share price model, the general model demonstrated insignificant positive adjusted R-square. As all the P-values are not statistically significant, the unstandardised coefficients for EPC, CETC, and CHRC reveal a mix of positive and negative insignificant indices at varying extents. It was concluded that the level of SERAP by oil and gas firms in Nigeria did not significantly influence their capital market valuation. While the researcher further inferred that social and environmental public concerns rank as the primary responsibility of the government which receives taxes from business entities, oil and gas companies may cautiously engage in SERAP to avert financial losses through restiveness and agitations from some disgruntled stakeholders. More so, as ethical practices for promoting their going concern philosophy is mainly attainable within a wholesome planet and healthy people. Keywords: Social and Environmental responsibility Accounting Practices (SERAP), environmental protection costs, community education and training costs, community health related costs, Capital Market performance, Value of Oil and Gas Companies. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-12-07 Publication date:June 30th 202

Nigerian Teachers Perception on the Use of ‘SMS Communication on Students’ Conventional Writings

The newly invented short message service (SMS) communication occasioned by the emergence of mobile telephones is a new phenomenon in communication. This form of communication oftentimes disregards the basic rules of English grammar especially among youths and this has raised a major worry for the society in recent times. This concern is that SMS communication is gradually taking over written communication and indirectly jeopardizing students’ usage of the Standard English language in their academic writings. Within this context therefore, this paper investigates Nigerian teachers’ perception of the pervasiveness of the SMS language among students and how this form of communication is jeopardizing students’ formal academic writings. A survey was carried out among the teachers in the six zonal headquarters of Post Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC) in Anambra State, Nigeria. A sample of 400 teachers was randomly selected. Two schools were randomly sampled from each zone making twelve schools, and about 33 teachers were sampled from each school. Findings show that teachers are aware students use SMS communication because they observe that it filters into their academic writings, particularly in written examinations. The study also identified that the form of SMS language commonly used among students is replacing words with alphabets such as ‘U’ in place of ‘You’. Based on the findings, the study concludes that SMS language in communication is very detrimental to the students’ academic writings and recommends that students who use the SMS language in their written examination should be strictly penalized. Keywords: Short Message Service; SMS communication; Teachers’ Perception; Text messaging; academic writings, Nigeria

Drama and Theatre Juxtaposed

This paper is on ‘drama and theatre juxtaposed’. Drama is purely performance. This performance happens either on a stage, in an open space or wherever performer choose for it to happen. Theatre provides the stage. These days, people build theatre as it suits them. That is what can be termed the modern theatre. It is more beautiful, with required lights to provide the desired effects. Yet, it does not take away the fact that it all happens for drama to take place. The study aims to point out that drama and theatre are interwoven. Any attempt to separate them makes them appear incomplete as such, loses its relevance. It is discovered that without theatre there will be no drama and vice-versa. Keywords: Juxtaposed, theatre, drama, stage, performance DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/61-09 Publication date:October 31st 201