Sports Participation and Social Personality Variable of Students in Secondary Schools in Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, Nigeria

The main thrust of this study was to investigate sports participation and social personality variable of students in secondary schools in Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, Nigeria.  To achieve the purpose of this study, one hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. Literature review was carried out according to the variable of the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of five hundred (500) respondents was randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The reliability estimate of the instrument was established through the Cronbach Alpha reliability method. Independent t-test analysis was employed to test the hypothesis under study. The hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance. The result of the analysis revealed that, there is a significant difference in the physical variablesof secondary school students who participate and those who do not participate in sports. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that students should endeavour to take home the crusade of sports participation to further foster their interpersonal relationship with others around their neighbourhood and community and again, the physical education teachers who are the custodians of sports in these schools, should make sure that every student takes active part in sports during training sessions

Female Genital Mutilation and Early Marriage: A Violent on the Health of the Girl-Child in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria

This study investigates the effects of female genital mutilation and early marriage as violence on the health of the girl-child in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for this study. A sample of two hundred (200) respondents was randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. It was constructed by the researchers with the help of some measurement experts that gave its face and content validity. To test the hypotheses and ascertain whether to accept or reject them, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis was considered appropriate because of the nature of variables involved. The 0.05 levels of significant were used for the statistical testing of each hypothesis with a critical value and degree of freedom. The result shows that there is significant effect of female genital mutilation and early marriage on the health of the girl-child. Based on these findings some recommendations and suggestions for further studies were made

Exercise: A Therapy for Physical and Mental Fitness of School Children

The enhancement and maintenance of physical and mental fitness of the pupils in school is one of the cordial objectives of every good education system. Physical fitness does not only imply the absence of diseases or deformities, but the ability of the pupils to undertake their studies efficiently and effectively each day without undue fatigue imposed by any of the systems of the body and to have reserve energy for other activities at home. Physical and mental fitness cannot be developed and maintained mainly by reading them in books. They are attained through participation in regular graded physical exercises outside the classroom in the open air. This was the primary preoccupation of the classroom teachers in the forties and fifties. Today the story is different. Teachers do no longer pay attention to the development and maintenance of physical and mental fitness of the children. Consequently, the physical and mental fitness of the pupils has dropped tremendously and school administrators are virtually powerless to do anything about it

Causes of Prolonged Waiting Time in Public Health Facilities among Health Care Seekers in Calabar Municipal Council of Cross River State, Nigeria

The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of prolonged waiting time in public health care facilities among health care seekers in Calabar Municipal Council of Cross River State, Nigeria. To carry out this investigation, two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for this study. A sample of one hundred and eighteen (118) respondents was selected. The selection was done through cluster sampling technique. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. It was constructed by the researchers with assistance of some measurement experts that gave it face and content validity. The Chi-square (X2) inferential statistics set at 0.05 was used to test the hypothesis. The result shows that there is significant contribution of poor record keeping and inadequate health personnel to the prolonged waiting time in public health care facilities among health care seekers. Based on these findings, some recommendations and suggestions for further studies were made. Keywords: Prolong waiting time; Public health facilities, Health care seekers. Poor record keeping; inadequate health personnel

Relevance of Physical Activity in the Treatment and Prevention of Mild and Severe Mental Health Problems

Mental illness whether mild or severe is a serious psychological health related problem which must be given great attention in our society today. That the accumulation of some of these psychosomatic disturbances such as stress, anxiety, depression, phobia, emotional problems and mild mental illness must have resulted to these mental health. In order to reduce, prevent and treat these mental disorders physical activity is a necessary antidote. Therefore, successful participation in exercise programmes can lead to improvement in mood and ability to deal with these emotional deviations. Emotional bottled up can cause aggravated mental ill-health. Regular exercises particularly on recreational basis can take care of all these steps towards the achievement of a good mental health

Quantum chemical studies, spectroscopic NMR and FT-IR analysis, and molecular docking investigation of 3,3′-di-O-methyl ellagic acid (DMA) as a potent Mycobacterium tuberculosis agent

Tuberculosis which is mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains of public health importance due to the resistance of the causative pathogen to the present antibiotics used as treatment options. This resistance has led to the need for the discovery of new treatment options. Herein, the isolation, geometrical optimization, spectroscopic NMR and FT-IR analysis, a study of weak interactions, electronic properties, and the in-silico biological activity of 3,3′-di-O-methyl ellagic acid (DMA) were determined. In addition, the effect of solvent on the kinetic stability, reactivity, and other electronic properties of DMA was determined in three solvents; DMSO, methanol, and water. Also, the biological activity potential and the drug-likeness of DMA were determined using molecular docking protocol and ADMET studies. The studied compound was isolated using column and thin-layer chromatography techniques while characterization was done using spectroscopic techniques. Key vibrations in the compound are C = O vibrations, C = C vibrations, C-H vibrations, –CH3 vibrations, and O-H vibrations. A study of quantum descriptors revealed that DMA is more reactive in water with an energy gap of −3.162 eV and those in three solvents are −3.163, −3.944, and −4.3022 eV in methane, gas, and water respectively. The compound shows great optical potentials with dipole moments of 3.2415D, 5.221D, 5.2015D, and 4.469D in water, DMSO, methanol, and Gas-phase respectively which are greater than that of urea used in the comparison. The QTAIM analysis based on the bond ellipticity < 0.5 suggests the presence of covalent bonds within the atoms of the studied compound. The MESP result shows the presence of π- H bond interaction within the OCH3 and oxygen atom. Molecular docking studies of the studied compound were carried out employing proteins 1W2G, 1YWF, and 1F0N proteins for mycobacterial tuberculosis and the standard drug isoniazid. The result was compared with that of a standard drug. The binding affinities of −7.1, −6.9, and −7.1 kcal/mol for 1W2G, 1YWF, and 1F0N were obtained, and −5.9, −5.9 and −6.0 kcal/mol for the standard drug with 1W2G, 1YWF and 1F0N. These results show that the studied compound has greater biological activity against these proteins as compared to the standard drug. ADMET studies show that the studied compound has great drug-likeness and bioavailability since it did not violate any of Lipinski’s rule of five

Unraveling the impact of polar solvation on the molecular geometry, spectroscopy (FT-IR, UV, NMR), reactivity (ELF, NBO, HOMO-LUMO) and antiviral inhibitory potential of Cissampeline by molecular docking approach

Cissampeline, a highly promising natural substance derived from medicinal plants of the Cissampelos genus, has recently garnered significant interest due to its potent antiviral properties against a broad spectrum of viral infections. In this comprehensive study, we employed gd3bj-B3LYP/def2svp level of theory to investigate the impact of polar solvation on the molecular structure, dynamical stability, spectroscopy, nature of bonding, and antiviral inhibitory potential of Cissampeline. Our results demonstrated excellent agreement between the theoretically characterized structure and the experimentally determined one. Interestingly, we observed that in the absence of a solvent environment, the gas phase exhibited shorter bond angles compared to when different solvents were utilized, indicating reduced solvent interactions. Regarding solvation dynamics, we found that the total energy of the structure, when optimized in different solvents, followed the order DMSO > MeOH > Water > Gas, with corresponding total final energies of 1736.599 > 867.932 > 837.760 > 413.989 kcal/mol, respectively. Furthermore, NBO analysis revealed the strength of electron delocalization, with the order of perturbation energies being DMSO > MeOH > H2O > Gas phase, measured at 626.07 > 241.40 > 238.65 > 72.93 kcal/mol, respectively. Particularly noteworthy was the σ-σ* transition in the DMSO solvent phase, displaying the highest perturbation energy of 626.07 kcal/mol. FMO analysis provided insights into the energy levels of the studied species, with values of 4.5432 eV for Gas, 4.5250 eV for MeOH, 4.5247 eV for H2O, and 4.5242 eV for DMSO, respectively. Regarding the interaction of Cissampeline with amino acid residues, we found that the ligand exhibited the highest binding affinity with 3MX2 at -7.7 kcal/mol, followed by CMPL + 3T5N at -7.3 kcal/mol, and CMPL + 3MX5 at -6.0 kcal/mol. In comparison, the standard drug RIBAV only displayed successful interaction with 3MX2, showing the least binding affinity at -5.8 kcal/mol. This study showed highlights the remarkable potential of Cissampeline as an effective antiviral agent and sheds light on the importance of considering solvation effects in molecular investigations

GUI 4D - The Role and the Impact of Visual, Multimedia and Multilingual User Interfaces in ICT Applications and Services for Users Coming from the Bottom of the Pyramid - First Concepts, Prototypes and Experiences

Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) are discussed in the context of being used by users coming from the "bottom of the pyramid" to interact with and to run ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) applications for real life usage in their developing world. These interfaces are called "GUI4D" (Graphical User Interfaces for Development). GUI 4D methodologies are a key aspect in enabling the users in the bottom of the pyramid to become part - within their own needs and capabilities - of integrated value/business chains, and also in finally closing both the digital and the social gap. They are presented and discussed here first from a technical and from an implementation point of view and considerations are also given on how the corresponding requirements, constraints and specifications are developed and used for GUI 4D implementations. Several examples, case studies and use cases from ongoing research projects, from existing pilots and prototypes and from related initiatives in Africa are presented. Some analysis of system adoption and the perceived benefits from using GUI 4D's are then given and discussed. The chapter concludes with a brief consideration of target applications and markets for GUI 4D's in the developing world, taking into consideration the dependencies and needs between the established and the informal economy in these countries. An extensive set of references used or related to the subject is given at the end of the chapter