Neonatal Mortality and Maternal/Child Health Care in Nigeria: An Impact Analysis

Reducing the rate of mortality in neonates to as low as 12 per 1,000 live births is one of the clearly spelt out aims of the third tenet of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) because of its importance to the dynamics of population. While there have been various studies focused majorly on the causes, rates and determinants of neonatal mortality in Nigeria, studies on the impact of maternal/child care characteristics on neonatal mortalityand the potential implication of failing to attain the SDG target for neonatal mortality have seemingly been neglected. In this study, we undertake an analysis of the impact of maternal / child care characteristics on neonatal mortality using the logistic regression model. Results from the study showed that antenatal care (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.546 for women who visited the hospital during pregnancy on more than 5 occasions), post natal care (P-value = 0.004, odds ratio = 0.402 for women who received early neonatal care from skilled medical personnel), place ofdelivery (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.592 for babies that were delivered in a government hospital) and skill of birth attendant (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.706 for babies who were delivered by trained doctors/nurses/midwives) had significant impact on neonatal mortality at the 95% confidence level implying that improved maternal health care: before, during and immediately after delivery as well as the quality of care to motherand child are both important and necessary to the reduction of neonatal mortality in Nigeria. To achieve the sustainable development target for neonatal mortality, it is therefore recommended that stake holders in the public health sector improve the quality of existing health care facilities and access to quality services. Keywords: Neonatal mortality, logistic regression, maternal care, child health care, Nigeri

EXTRACTION AND EVALUATION OF OIL FROM GREEN ALGAE CLADOPHORA GLOMERATA BY HEXANE/ETHER MIXTURE

The overall aim of this study was to grow green algae Cladophora glomerata, extract oil from it, and characterize the extracted oil to gain insight into its physicochemical properties. The effects of parameters affecting the solvent extraction process, temperature, time and biomass particle size were investigated at a fixed solvent ratio of 4:1 hexane to ether. An optimization of oil separation from algae biomass via the solvent extraction method was studied. The obtained results showed that at the extraction temperature of 60 oC, extraction time of 2.5 h, and the particle size of ≤0.6 mm, the maximum oil yield was 18.3% from the process. The functional group analysis revealed the presence of alkane, esters, carboxylic acid, and unsaturated groups on the extracted oil, while the result from the fatty acid profile analysis confirmed the dominance of oleic acid. The physicochemical properties of the extracted algal oil conformed to the ASTM standard

Religious intolerance and the quest for progressive change in Nigeria

The clamour for change in Nigeria's socio-political terrain in contemporary times is a strong attestation to the fact that this country is embroiled in acute social, political and economic quagmire. One of the issues serving as obstacle to Nigeria's progress as a pluralistic polity is intolerance. There are various categories of intolerance in Nigeria. They include religious, ethnic, political, and gender intolerance, among others. More acute is religious intolerance because the metaphysical nature of religion makes it to be easily manipulated and dragged into other issues of public life. Therefore, this study investigates religious intolerance with a view to underscore how it has encumbered progressive change in Nigeria. Historical, critical, analytical and constructive methods of research were adopted for this study. Leaning on the theory of religious relativism, this paper ascertained that the issue of religious intolerance has indeed encumbered Nigeria's effort towards positive change and development in the areas of security and social stability, economic prosperity, democratic transformation and consolidation, integration of values and national unity. The author submits that for Nigerians to experience progressive change in public life, religious adherents across religious divides must demonstrate genuine attitude of tolerance towards believers of other faith traditions in the country

POST COVID-19 INFORMATIVE ROLES OF LIBRARIANS TO LIBRARY PATRONS IN NIGERIA

Many people were aware of the covid-19 pandemic, primarily via social media or other sources of information. The news is widely available on the radio, in the newspaper, on television, and on social media. The information spreads panic, anxiety, and misinformation about the pandemic during and after the pandemic. Consequently, after the stop of the extent of Covid-19 virus, many researchers has been trying to stop the fears associated with the pandemic to enable people live together and continue their post covid-19 business. Librarians are already recognizing the possibilities of social media in offering up-to-date information to their voluminous user base in their responsibility of ensuring that patrons are properly informed on post Covid 19 integration. The study concluded that Librarians are tasked with reaching user populations in post Covid-19 and improving their access to current, pertinent information regarding the social integration is very useful. Librarians are required to gather, store, organize, and sort out the accurate information for their clients in this age of information explosion when thousands of bits of information are chunked out every day to prevent misinformation on post Covid-19. It was recommended in the study that the traditional means of library should be sustained, alongside the usage of social media platforms by the library and librarians

Exponentiated Complementary Kumaraswamy-G Power Series Family of Distributions with Application to Lifetime Data

This paper proposed the Exponentiated Complementary Kumaraswamy - G Power (ECK-GP) Series family of distributions which is an extension of the Complementary Kumaraswamy-G Power Series family of distributions. The expressions for its densities, basic statistical properties and parameters estimation using the method of Maximum Likelihood were derived and established. An application of the Exponentiated Complementary Kumaraswamy Exponential Poisson (ECKEP) distribution to a real lifetime dataset clearly reveals its suitability and flexibility in fitting real life dataset

Neonatal Mortality and Maternal/Child Health Care in Nigeria: An Impact Analysis

Reducing the rate of mortality in neonates to as low as 12 per 1,000 live births is one of the clearly spelt out aims of the third tenet of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) because of its importance to the dynamics of population. While there have been various studies focused majorly on the causes, rates and determinants of neonatal mortality in Nigeria, studies on the impact of maternal/child care characteristics on neonatal mortality and the potential implication of failing to attain the SDG target for neonatal mortality have seemingly been neglected. In this study, we undertake an analysis of the impact of maternal / child care characteristics on neonatal mortality using the logistic regression model. Results from the study showed that antenatal care (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.546 for women who visited the hospital during pregnancy on more than 5 occasions), post natal care (P-value = 0.004, odds ratio = 0.402 for women who received early neonatal care from skilled medical personnel), place of delivery (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.592 for babies that were delivered in a government hospital) and skill of birth attendant (P-value = 0.000, odds ratio = 0.706 for babies who were delivered by trained doctors/nurses/midwives) had significant impact on neonatal mortality at the 95% confidence level implying that improved maternal health care: before, during and immediately after delivery as well as the quality of care to mother and child are both important and necessary to the reduction of neonatal mortality in Nigeria. To achieve the sustainable development target for neonatal mortality, it is therefore recommended that stake holders in the public health sector improve the quality of existing health care facilities and access to quality services

Tissue and parasite accumulation of heavy metals in the giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus) as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution

Heavy metal concentrations in tissues and cestode parasite of the African giant rat collected from staff quarters of the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Possible human health risk associated with consumption of contaminated rats was also determined using appropriate human intake models. The cestode isolated from the rat was identified as Inermicapsifer guineensis with total infection rate of 100%. The mean concentrations of heavy metals (mg/kg) in liver tissues of the giant rat ranged from 1.82 to 3.98 (Pb), 0.22 to 0.54 (Cd), 22.14 to 45.53 (Zn), 1.87 to 3.37 (Cu) and 1.25 to 3.15 (Co); in heart tissues ranged from 1.39 to 2.01 (Pb), 0.27 to 0.32 (Cd), 23.93 to 53.97 (Zn), 2.17 to 4.66 (Cu) and 1.45 to 2.27 (Co); in kidney tissues ranged from 0.75 to 1.67 (Pb), 0.41 to 0.93 (Cd), 22.77 to 42.14 (Zn), 1.82 to 1.90 (Cu) and 2.05 to 3.08 (Co); in muscle tissues ranged from 1.02 to 1.77 (Pb), 0.24 to 0.31 (Cd), 22.60 to 45.52 (Zn), 1.73 to 2.13 (Cu) and 1.04 to 1.82 (Co) and in parasite tissues ranged from 0.002 to 0.005 (Pb), 0 to 0.001(Cd), 1.19 to 2.63 (Cu) and 0.001 to 0.003 (Co). Mean total concentrations of individual heavy metals in the tissues and parasite of the rat decreased in the order zinc > copper > cobalt > lead > cadmium. Considering the mean concentrations of accumulated heavy metals, the heart and liver were found to be key target organs for heavy metal accumulation. Highly significant positive correlations was observed between heavy metal concentrations in tissues and the parasite (p<0.05, r=0.998), however, bioaccumulation values indicated much higher concentratingcapacity of heavy metals in the rat organs than the cestode parasite. Heavy metals are potential risk sources of contamination in the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus) and should therefore be priority for management in order to control human health risk through ingestion pathway exposures.Keywords: Heavy metals, African giant rat, Parasite, Organs, Ris

Influence of Seed Moisture Content on Short Term Storage of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) Seeds

Seeds of four improved varieties of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), \u27Modupe\u27, \u27Ife Brown\u27, \u27IT-69D-610\u27 and \u27TVX 3236\u27, were adjusted to three moisture levels: 10%, 15% and 20% to determine the appropriate moisture level to maintain the viability and vigour of seeds and to investigate the extent to which duration of storage affects their viability and vigour. Response of cowpea seeds was assessed by standard germination test, accelerated ageing test, saturated salt accelerated ageing test and bulk conductivity test. The moisture contents of the seeds were determined gravimetrically, before being conditioned to 10%, 15% and 20% moisture levels. Cowpea seeds maintained at 10% had the highest viability and vigour irrespective of the duration of storage. Irrespective of genotype, there was a progressive significant decline in the germination potential during the storage period. While viability loss was negligible when seeds were stored at 10 and 15% moisture contents, germination of seeds stored at 20% decreased by 35.59% in the second month and by another 30.28% in the third month. Thus, there was an inverse relationship between moisture contents of cowpea seeds and the viability and vigour of the seeds in storage

SB119-13/14: Recognition

SB119-13/14: Recognition. This resolution passed with Unanimous Consent during the May 7, 2014 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

Exploring the determinants of demand for solar systems in Ghanaian Healthcare Facilities - a choice experiment

Background: Access to electricity is one of the enabling factors for healthcare service provision. From the sustainable development perspective, an essential requirement for improving health and caring for our environment is to assure that health facilities have sufficient and reliable access to the supply of clean and sustainable energy. The objective of this work is to investigate the users’ perceptions of electricity needs and electricity sources and the way those influence different attributes and their relevance for the diffusion of renewable electricity systems in healthcare facilities. Methods: To identify preferences and choices, Stated Choice modelling was applied as the use of solar PV systems in health facilities is not widespread in Ghana. This method allows to present the respondents with hypothetical options, which have attributes close to the real world. Four attributes were considered, namely electricity system configuration, initial investment cost, monthly costs, and improvements to the reliability of the electricity supply. Results: The largest share of the 200 health facilities interviewed reported services provision as outpatient treatment, provision of maternity services and family planning, which are relatively low electricity-intensive services. However, there was a general perception that increased reliability on the electricity supply can improve the health service provision and operation of the facilities. Moreover, despite that preferences towards the solar systems, the initial investment costs of the solar systems is still perceived as preventing the adoption of this technology Conclusion: From this study we can conclude that health facilities in Ghana rely greatly on the national supply which has issues with reliability, compromising the delivery of healthcare services. However, the adoption of alternative electricity technologies based on renewable sources is not likely to occur at the facility level without the engagement of other actors that can help bridging the barriers for adoption, as initial investment costs