Potential of replacing pawpaw fruit and leaves with cabbage peels as a natural feedstuff in the diet of Achatina achatina linne (African giant land snail)

An experiment was carried out to assess the growth performance of African Giant Land Snail Achatina achatina Linnie fed with three natural feedstuff; pawpaw fruit, pawpaw leaves and cabbage leaves. A total of 24 growing snails of approximately one year old were used for the study. These were randomly divided into six groups and then allotted into the three experimental diets, arranged in a completely randomised design (CRD) order. Dry matter intakes of feed being served every other days, weight gain and size increase of snails were assessed fortnightly. The results showed that pawpaw leaf is higher in protein than cabbage leaf and pawpaw fruit. However, cabbage leaf contains some essential mineralelements, which are useful in body building than the other two feedstuffs. It also showed that snails fed with cabbage leaves had the highest dry matter intake and weight gain of 14.2 and 18.6 g, respectively.Highest shell length and circumference increase of 0.3 and 0.6 cm were obtained in pawpaw fruit and pawpaw leaf respectively. Although there was no significance difference (p > 0.05) in the weight gain ofsnails fed with pawpaw fruit and cabbage leaves, cabbage leaf seems to be richer in protein and other essential mineral elements than pawpaw fruit. It was therefore concluded that cabbage leaf could serve as a good substitute for pawpaw fruit and leaves, which hitherto were known as the preferred natural feedstuff of snails

Relevance-Based Analysis of Aphasic Speech

The aphasics constitute an important segment of our population. Interacting with them requires special procedures. Some of the caregivers of the aphasics and some other members of society often dismiss the speech of the aphasics as irrelevant and incoherent. This attitude towards the aphasics is counter-productive, as the interlocutors as well as the aphasics get frustrated during interactions. Against this background, this paper examined interactions with three Yoruba-English bilingual aphasics, using the relevance theory, with a view to revealing the systematic ways the meanings of the utterances of aphasics can be decoded by somebody who is not present when such a speech was recorded. The paper concludes that a better way of making inferences from the discourse of aphasics is to enter their worlds of experience, show interest in their discourses, make assumptions about their ostensions. In most cases, the discourses of aphasics fulfil at least one of the Extent Conditions. This implies that the discourses of aphasics are relevant and the effort expended in processing them can be reduced if the interlocutor/analyst appropriately deplores the necessary contextual cues and clues.Key words: Yoruba-English bilingual aphasics; Extent conditions; Relevance theory; Ostensions; Caregiver

Readiness of Nigerian Health‑Care Workers to Work during COVID‑19 Pandemic

Introduction: Health‑care professionals of all cadres are the utmost valuable resource during pandemics and maintaining an adequateworkforce of health professionals during an emergency is critical to ensure uninterrupted provision of services that are essential for patient care. Aim: Examine readiness of health‑care workers (HCWs) to provide service in the course of the COVID‑19 pandemic and the factors influencing their decision. Methodology: This was a cross‑sectional study of Nigerian health sector workers HCWs in the course of the COVID‑19 pandemic. The respondents were recruited using HCWs focus groups on WhatsApp and Telegram social medial platforms. Results: A total of 481 HCWs were recruited, consisting of 288 females and 193 males (M: F, 1:1.5), mean age = 30.71 ± 5.9 years. MostHCWs (97.3%) showed a willingness to provide service during the pandemic; 73.3% of the HCWs were willing to work if supplied with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) although 5.8% were less willing to work without proper PPE. Factors supporting  unwillingness to work during the pandemic were: concerns about the lack of adequate testing for COVID‑19 (48.9%), lack of disability insurance plan (40.1%), fear of being infected (47.2%), and the risk of infection in family members (24.5%). The readiness to work was related to the job cadres of the HCWs (P = 0.001), while the provision of additional incentives and a change in the working conditions would influence the readiness of the HCWs to work. Conclusion: HCWs were ready to provide service in the course of the COVID‑19 pandemic if there was a safe work environment, although the availability of PPE and other personal factors would influence their willingness to work, while improvement in working conditions would motivate HCWs to work. Keywords: COVID‑19, health‑care workers, pandemic, personal protective equipmen

MODELLING OF A PRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE FLOW PROCESS USING TIMED COLOURED PETRI NETS

Pre-hospital emergency care service is a major gateway to the Accident and Emergency Department that determines the rate of quality emergency service in hospitals. In this paper, Timed Coloured Petri Nets (TCPN) formalism is employed to model a pre-hospital emergency care flow process which is characterized by ambulance localization and emergency call responses using Osun State Emergency Management Ambulance Service (O’ambulance) as a case study. The developed TCPN model consists of Next Arrival Call (NAC) and Process Emergency Call (PEC) modules. The NAC module abstracted the emergency calls that were received by one (1) call receiver agent being utilized while the PEC module abstracts the operation (services) carried out in the units. The developed TCPN model was simulated using Coloured Petri Nets (CPN) tools while its validation was explored by comparing the simulated and actual rescue team average response time and turn-around times of the rescue teams in operation at the considered case study. The simulation results of the developed TCPN model yielded maximum Average Waiting Times (AWT) of 1.65 and 0.35 minutes using one and two emergency call receiver agents, respectively. Also, the simulation results showed that 7.05, 26.17 and 35.13 minutes were recorded as minimum values for Rescue team Average Response Time (RART), Rescue team Turn-around Time in case of non-critical (RTTNC) and Rescue team Turn-around Time Critical (RTTC), respectively. Similarly, the simulation results showed that RART, RTTNC and RTTC yielded maximum values of 15, 34 and 41.62 minutes, respectively. Statistically, there were no significant differences between the simulated and the real number of patients entering the health centre at 5% level. This gave a confirmation that the developed TCPN model accurately described the pre-hospital emergency care flow process under study. The developed TCPN model could serve as a referential model for studying and improving pre-hospital emergency care flow process in a named ambulance centre

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Determinants of Acceptance among Healthcare Workers, Academics and Tertiary Students in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of human deaths, prompting the rapid development and regulatory approval of several vaccines. Although Nigeria implemented a COVID-19 vaccination program on 15 March 2021, low vaccine acceptance remains a major chal-lenge. To provide insight on factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (VH), we conducted a national survey among healthcare workers, academics, and tertiary students, between 1 September 2021 and 31 December 2021. We fitted a logistic regression model to the data and exam-ined factors associated with VH to support targeted health awareness campaigns to address public

Seeds of moringa (Moringa oleifera) and mucuna (Mucuna pruriens L.) modulate biochemical indices of L-NAME-induced hypertension in rats: A comparative study

Hypertension is a prevalent cardiovascular condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It is characterized by abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries, leading to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Hypertension management often involves the use of pharmaceutical drugs, which can have adverse side effects. Hence, there is a growing interest in alternative therapies, such as herbal medicine, for the management of hypertension. This present study investigated the cardioprotective properties of moringa (Moringa oleifera) and mucuna (Mucuna pruriens L.) seeds at 5 and 10% dietary inclusions and also establish the most potent seed. The blood pressure of the rats were measured at the last day of treatment. Also, the heart acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activities were determined, as well as the redox status of the rats. This study shows a reduction in blood pressure, AChE and MAO activities of hypertensive rats treated with the moringa and mucuna seeds. Furthermore, an increase in non-protein thiol (NP-SH) with a concomitant reduction in level of lipid peroxidation was also recorded. In addition, the mucuna seed is recorded to have a more cardioprotective property when compared with moringa seed. This study, therefore, revealed the mechanism of action of moringa seed and mucuna seed against l-NAME-induced hypertension or cardiotoxicity which could be linked to the antioxidant activity and modulation of AChE and MAO activities

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Eye Health Care amongst Doctors in Lagos…

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of eye health care amongst doctors in Lagos. Methodology: Open and closed-ended questionnaires were given to respondents. The questionnaire contained information about age, sex, general knowledge as well as practice of eye care. Results: A total of 104 questionnaires were analyzed with EPI INFO 2002 software. Out of 104 respondents, 65 [62.5%] were within the age group of 31-40years, with a male preponderance of 74% [male: female ratio of 2.8:1]. Most of the respondents [87.5%] were in teaching hospital practice. Symptoms most frequently referred to eye care specialists by respondents were in decreasing frequency, refractive error, blurred vision, red eye and cataract; most referrals were to teaching hospitals. Eighty six percent of respondents had themselves had previous ocular examination while 13.5% had never had any. Fifty eight respondents [55%] had been diagnosed with an ocular condition ranging from refractive error in most cases [67.2%], allergy [17.2], cataract [9.4%], glaucoma [1.5%] and other disease in 4.7%. Majority [84.6%] did not visit an eye care specialist often. In all, 37.5% of respondents felt strongly that eyes should be routinely examined while 52.9% did not feel strongly and 9.6% did not think it was necessary. The frequently prescribed drugs were antibiotic drops [68.1%], while 25% prescribed a combination of antibiotics and steroids. Conclusion: The study showed that majority of respondents see a good percentage of patients with eye complaints and refers them accordingly. However a large proportion of respondents themselves did not believe they should visit eye care specialist yearly and thus may not be counsel patient who they see. There is therefore a need for regular awareness programmes on eye health by way of seminars and symposia amongst doctors. NQJHM Vol. 14 (1) 2004: pp. 31-3

Bitter gourd flavored Non-Alcoholic Wheat Beer (NAWB) exhibited antidiabetic properties by modulating carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes and upregulates insulin and GLUT-2 mRNA expressions in High Fat Diet/Streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) induced diabetic rats

Abstract To improve the control of Type 2 diabetes (T2D), this study investigated the potential benefits of an alcohol-free beer flavored with bitter gourd leaves, a plant with proven hypoglycemic properties. The high fat/streptozotocin (HFD/STZ) model was used to induce diabetes in Wistar rats as test subjects. The rats were divided into eight groups (n = 5) as follows: HP (STZ + 100% Hops); BG (STZ + 100% Bitter Gourd); 75:25BG (STZ + 75% Hops; 25%BG); 50:50BG (STZ + 50%Hops50%Bitter Gourd); 25:75BG (STZ + 25%Hops75%Bitter Gourd); Acarbose (STZ + Acarbose); DC (STZ-diabetic control group); NC (Normal Control group). Following a 14-day treatment, there was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in blood sugar, serum glucose, α-amylase activity, α-glucosidase activity, and lipase activity. As the percentage of bitter gourd inclusion increased, the expression of GLUT-2 and insulin genes was upregulated. The beer sample with the lowest percentage inclusion of Hops (25:75BG) had the lowest glycemic index (GI). The study suggested that bitter gourd-flavored alcohol-free beer reduces blood glucose through muptiple pathways and could be a useful dietary intervention in the management of type 2 diabetes. Graphical Abstrac