Later Life Food Insecurity and Social Isolation in Ghana: The Importance of Psychological Factors.

Background: Social isolation (SI) and food insecurity (FI) are important social determinants of health that can negatively impact well-being in old age. While research on the association between FI and SI is limited in LMICs, the mediators of this association are largely unknown. This cross-sectional study examined whether FI is associated with SI among older adults in Ghana and whether psychological factors (i.

Cross-sectional association of food insecurity with loneliness in older adults: The role of sex, age, and psychosomatic factors.

Objective: Food insecurity (FI) is a critical social determinant of poor psychosocial health. While data on the specific roles of sex and age in the FI-loneliness link among older adults are limited, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. This study examines the age-sex-specific associations of FI with loneliness among older adults in Ghana and quantifies the extent to which psychosomatic factors mediate the association.

Risk of Sleep Problems in Middle-Aged and Older Adults Experiencing Bodily Pains: Serial Multiple Mediation Estimates of Emotional Distress and Activity Limitations.

Objectives: Pain is increasingly becoming common among middle-aged and older adults. While research on the association between pain characteristics and sleep problems (SP) is limited in low- and middle-income countries, the underlying mechanisms of the association are poorly understood. This study examines the association of bodily pain intensity and pain interference with SP and investigates the mediating role of activity limitation and emotional distress in this association.

Meeting the WHO Physical Activity Guidelines is Associated With Lower Odds of Depression in Older Adults: Potential Psychosomatic Mechanisms.

Objectives: Limited data exist on the association between physical activity (PA) and depression in older adults from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this study, we examine the association between meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) PA guidelines and depression in adults aged ≥50 years in Ghana and investigate the psychosomatic factors explaining this association.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Aging, Health, Psychological Well-being, and Health-seeking Behavior Study in Ghana (2016-18) were analyzed.

Assessment of the willingness of Nigerian Orthodontists to offer face-to-face orthodontic services to patients infected with Covid-19.

Introduction: Efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease led to suspension of many services which caused orthodontists to resort to providing only emergency services. The aims of this study were to assess the willingness of Nigerian Orthodontists and Orthodontic resident doctors to treat patients infected with Covid-19 as well as to ascertain advice given regarding traumatic arch wires and aligners during the pandemic.

Participants And Study Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Cheminformatics-Based Study Identifies Potential Ebola VP40 Inhibitors.

The Ebola virus (EBOV) is still highly infectious and causes severe hemorrhagic fevers in primates. However, there are no regulatorily approved drugs against the Ebola virus disease (EVD). The highly virulent and lethal nature of EVD highlights the need to develop therapeutic agents.

A pilot study characterizing tetrachloroethylene exposure with exhaled breath in an impacted community.

Martinsville, Indiana overlays four groundwater contamination plumes, including a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund site.

COVID-19 risks and extra-protective measures practised among Nigerian orthodontists and orthodontic residents.

Background And Aims: There is a high possibility of transmitting the coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) in the orthodontic clinic because orthodontists and their patients are in very close contact when orthodontic care is being given. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and perception of Nigerian orthodontists and orthodontic residents about the risks of COVID-19 as well as the extra-protective infection control measures that need to be taken.

Materials And Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study.

The COVID-19 pandemic and orthodontic practice in Nigeria.

Objectives: This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge and awareness of orthodontists and orthodontic residents in Nigeria about the COVID-19 pandemic and the appropriate infection control measures required to mitigate its spread in orthodontic practice.

Materials And Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study of orthodontists and orthodontic residents. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board.

Orthodontic Treatment Needs of Adolescents in North-Western Nigeria Using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Needs.

Introduction: Orthodontic treatment planning within a public health system needs information on the need for orthodontic treatment within the population. It is imperative to have epidemiological data from which the need for orthodontic care in any region can be estimated. The present study, therefore, aimed to determine the orthodontic treatment need of adolescents in North-Western Nigeria.

Effects of circumferential stress on tangentially polarized piezoelectric cylinders.

This paper investigates the dependence of the electromechanical properties of the tangential polarized (stripe-electroded) cylindrical piezoelements made of the hard (PZT-4 like) and soft (PZT-5A like) ceramics on the compressive circumferential stress produced by hydrostatic pressure. Results are presented for the relative change of the effective dielectric constants, elastic constants, coupling coefficients, and piezoelectric moduli. The sensitivity of dielectric constant and piezoelectric modulus to the compressive stress is shown to be less than radially polarized ceramic.

Perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthodontic practice by orthodontists and orthodontic residents in Nigeria.

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had far-reaching effects on orthodontic care delivery worldwide. This study aimed to assess the impacts of the pandemic on orthodontists and orthodontic residents in Nigeria.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among consenting orthodontists and orthodontic residents.

Increasing piezoelectric effect in radially polarized soft piezoelectric cylinders by pressure treating and its practical applications.

Subjecting soft piezoelectric ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-5 to uniaxial stress in a direction perpendicular to the principal polarization axis is known to increase its transverse piezoelectric modulus [Krueger, J. Acoust. Soc.

Self-perception of dental appearance and aesthetics in a student population.

Objective: To assess the perception of personal dental appearance and dental aesthetics of a young adult population and to compare this with their normatively assessed orthodontic treatment need.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 420 undergraduate students aged 18-30years, with no previous history of orthodontic treatment. Objective assessment of dental aesthetics was carried out using the aesthetic component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN), while self-administered questionnaires were used to assess perception of personal dental appearance.

Perceptions, expectations, and reactions of caregivers to cleft lip and palate repair in a tertiary hospital.

Background: Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) deformities are the most common congenital abnormalities of the orofacial structures. Affected individuals experience major clinical, functional, aesthetic and psychosocial impacts.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to identify the perceptions, expectations and reactions of parents and caregivers to cleft lip and palate surgery.

Malocclusion and early orthodontic treatment requirements in the mixed dentitions of a population of Nigerian children.

Introduction: The aims of this study were to establish the prevalence of dental features that indicate a need for early intervention and to ascertain the prevalence of different methods of early treatment among a population of Nigerian children in mixed dentition.

Methods: Occlusal relationships were evaluated in 101 children in mixed dentition between the ages of 6 and 12 years who presented at the Orthodontic Unit, Department of Child Dental Health, Lagos University Teaching Hospital over a 2 years period. The need for different modes of early orthodontic treatment was also recorded.

Prevalence of malocclusion and occlusal traits among adolescents and young adults in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Background And Aims: A systematic and well-organized dental care program for any target population in a community requires some basic information, such as the prevalence of the condition to be assessed. Thus, the aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of malocclusion among predominantly Rivers State adolescents and to compare the results with other authors.

Methods: The sample which was randomly selected from seven secondary schools comprised 620 schoolchildren, 297 (48%) males and 323 (52%) females aged 13-20 years old with a mean age of 16.

CHILD AND MATERNAL ORAL HEALTHCARE: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF NIGERIAN AND GHANAIAN NURSES.

Objective: To ascertain and compare knowledge of child and maternal oral healthcare amongst a group of Nurses and Midwives in Ghana and Nigeria.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Health institutions in Cape Coast, Ghana and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Self-Perception of Malocclusion Among Nigerian Adolescents Using The Aesthetic Component of The IOTN.

Introduction: The practice of orthodontics is very young in South-South Nigeria and there is need for base line data for informed planning. This study was carried out to investigate the self-perception of malocclusion among Nigerian school children aged 12 to 18 years in order to compare their perception with that of an orthodontist and also to determine the influence of gender and age on self-perception.

Materials And Methodology: A total of 612 randomly selected schoolchildren comprising 299 (48.

Orthodontic Treatment Need and Complexity among Nigerian Adolescents in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Introduction. The assessment of orthodontic treatment need and complexity are necessary for informed planning of orthodontic services. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess these parameters using the Index of Complexity, Outcome, and Need (ICON) in a Nigerian adolescent population in a region where orthodontic services are just being established.