Provision of inguinal hernia surgery in first-referral hospitals across low- and middle-income countries: Secondary analysis of an international cohort study.

Introduction: Surgical care in first-referral hospitals (FRHs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is poorly characterized. Inguinal hernia repair can act as a good tracer condition. This study aimed to evaluate the variation in hernia repair across different hospital types in LMICs.

Analysis of Risk Factors, Treatment Patterns, and Survival Outcomes After Emergency Presentation With Colorectal Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study in Nigeria.

Background And Objectives: Prospective data on presentation and outcomes of colorectal cancer (CRC) in Nigeria are limited; however, emergency presentation with advanced disease is thought common.

Methods: Consecutive CRC patients presenting at six sites over 6 years were included. Risk factors for emergency presentation were evaluated using logistic regression methods.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of African School of Hypertension for Non-Physician Health Workers, a Qualitative Study: QuASH Hypertension Study.

Background: The implementation of task sharing and shifting (TSTS) policy as a way of addressing the shortage of physicians and reducing the burden of hypertension in Africa birthed the idea of the African School of Hypertension (ASH). The ASH is saddled with the responsibility of training non-physician health workers across Africa continent in the management of uncomplicated hypertension.

Aim: To get feedback from some faculty members and students who participated in the first ASH programme.

Has Treatment Seeking Behaviour Changed in People Living with Epilepsy? Experience of People Living with Epilepsy Attending Adult Neurology Clinics in Enugu.

Background: Over the years efforts has been made through public health education to change the knowledge, attitude and practice of epilepsy and seizures among the populace in Nigeria. One surrogate method of reviewing the impact of these educational interventions includes changes in treatment-seeking behavior of People Living With Epilepsy and the reasons for their choices of treatment.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Translation and psychometric assessment of the mastectomy module of the BREAST-Q questionnaire for use in Nigeria.

Background: The majority of non-metastatic breast cancer patients in sub-Saharan Africa are recommended to have mastectomy. The impact of mastectomy on a predominantly young African patient population requires evaluation. The BREAST-Q is a validated patient-reported outcome measure of quality-of-life following breast surgery that has been translated into 30 languages-none in Africa.

Health effects associated with chewing tobacco: a Burden of Proof study.

Chewing tobacco use poses serious health risks; yet it has not received as much attention as other tobacco-related products. This study synthesizes existing evidence regarding the health impacts of chewing tobacco while accounting for various sources of uncertainty. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of chewing tobacco and seven health outcomes, drawing on 103 studies published from 1970 to 2023.

Health effects associated with exposure to secondhand smoke: a Burden of Proof study.

Despite a gradual decline in smoking rates over time, exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) continues to cause harm to nonsmokers, who are disproportionately children and women living in low- and middle-income countries. We comprehensively reviewed the literature published by July 2022 concerning the adverse impacts of SHS exposure on nine health outcomes. Following, we quantified each exposure-response association accounting for various sources of uncertainty and evaluated the strength of the evidence supporting our analyses using the Burden of Proof Risk Function methodology.

The African Research Group for Oncology: A decade fostering colorectal cancer research in Nigeria.

The African Research Group for Oncology (ARGO) was formed in 2013 to undertake methodologically rigorous cancer research in Nigeria, and to strengthen cancer research capacity in the country through training and mentorship of physicians, scientists, and other healthcare workers. Here, we describe how ARGO's work in colorectal cancer (CRC) has evolved over the past decade. This includes the consortium's scientific contributions to the understanding of CRC in Nigeria and globally and its research capacity-building program.

Deep decarbonization options for the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector in Africa: a systematic literature review.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) emanating from agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector are among top contributors to anthropogenic climate change in Africa and globally. Minimizing AFOLU sector GHG emissions in Africa is notoriously hard because of difficulties in emission estimation, the disperse nature of AFOLU emissions, and the complex links between AFOLU activities and poverty reduction. Yet, there are very few systematic reviews dealing with decarbonization pathways for the AFOLU sector in Africa.

Health effects associated with smoking: a Burden of Proof study.

As a leading behavioral risk factor for numerous health outcomes, smoking is a major ongoing public health challenge. Although evidence on the health effects of smoking has been widely reported, few attempts have evaluated the dose-response relationship between smoking and a diverse range of health outcomes systematically and comprehensively. In the present study, we re-estimated the dose-response relationships between current smoking and 36 health outcomes by conducting systematic reviews up to 31 May 2022, employing a meta-analytic method that incorporates between-study heterogeneity into estimates of uncertainty.

Improved plant heat shock resistance is introduced differently by heat and insect infestation: the role of volatile emission traits.

Heat stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses confronted by plants under global climate change. Plant exposure to abiotic or biotic stress can improve its tolerance to subsequent severe episodes of the same or different stress (stress priming), but so far there is limited comparative information about how pre-exposures to different abiotic and biotic elicitors alter plant resistance to severe heat stress. We exposed the perennial herb Melilotus albus Medik.

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over: SARS CoV-2 and Post-infectious Gastrointestinal Dysmotility.

The ongoing pandemic resulting from severe acute respiratory syndrome-caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-has posed a multitude of healthcare challenges of unprecedented proportions. Intestinal enterocytes have the highest expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), which functions as the key receptor for SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells. As such, particular interest has been accorded to SARS-CoV-2 and how it manifests within the gastrointestinal system.

Nonrelativistic solutions of Schrödinger equation and thermodynamic properties with the proposed modified Mobius square plus Eckart potential.

We obtain solutions of Schrödinger equation for the modified Mobius square plus Eckart (MMPSE) potential via the formula method. Numerical results are reported. In addition, the partition function and other thermodynamic properties such as vibrational free energy, , vibrational internal energy, , vibrational entropy, , and vibrational specific heat, are presented.

Nonrelativistic treatment of inversely quadratic Hellmann-Kratzer potential and thermodynamic properties.

The study presents approximate analytical solutions of the Schrödinger equation with a newly proposed potential model called Inversely Quadratic Hellmann-Kratzer potential (IQHKP). This potential is a superposition of Inversely Quadratic Hellman potential and Kratzer potential. The energy eigenvalues and corresponding wavefunction are calculated via the formula method.

Dirac equation and thermodynamic properties with the Modified Kratzer potential.

In this work, we present the analytical solutions of Dirac equation for modified Kratzer potential in the pseudospin and spin symmetry limits using the formula method. The energies of the pseudospin and spin symmetry limit are obtained analytically and numerically. The numerical values are compared with those obtained in literature.

Wounding-Induced VOC Emissions in Five Tropical Agricultural Species.

Leaf mechanical wounding triggers a rapid release-within minutes-of a blend of volatile organic compounds. A wounding-induced VOC blend is mainly composed of oxygenated ubiquitous stress volatiles such as methanol and volatile products of lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway (mainly C5 and C6 alcohols and aldehydes and their derivatives), but also includes multiple minor VOCs that collectively act as infochemicals, inducing defences in non-damaged plant leaves and neighbouring plants and attracting herbivore enemies. At present, the interspecific variability of the rate of induction and magnitude of wounding-induced emissions and the extent to which plant structural traits and physiological activity alter these emissions are poorly known.

Niacin and Butyrate: Nutraceuticals Targeting Dysbiosis and Intestinal Permeability in Parkinson's Disease.

Dysbiosis is implicated by many studies in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Advances in sequencing technology and computing have resulted in confounding data regarding pathogenic bacterial profiles in conditions such as PD. Changes in the microbiome with reductions in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and increases in endotoxin-producing bacteria likely contribute to the pathogenesis of PD.

Exergoeconomic analysis of an industrial beverage mixer system: Process data.

Data presented herein refer to the process data obtained from an industrial beverage mixer system. They include both primary and secondary thermodynamic data pertaining to the material stream flow within the system. Data collection was performed during the production process, and calorimetry experiments were performed to obtain the thermal properties of treated HO, carbonated HO, syrup, beverage, and carbonated beverage.

Exergoeconomic analysis of an industrial beverage mixer system.

Exergoeconomic analysis is a tool used to identify hidden costs associated with a machine or a system that cannot be identified using typical cost management techniques applied in the industry. While exergoeconomic analysis finds applications in power system innovations and optimization, it has not yet been harnessed by the manufacturing industry to reduce operating costs. The purpose of this study is to use exergoeconomic analysis to identify hidden costs in manufacturing processes, with a focus on the industrial beverage mixer system.

Installing oncofertility programs for common cancers in limited resource settings (Repro-Can-OPEN Study): An extrapolation during the global crisis of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Purpose: The state of limited resource settings that Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created globally should be taken seriously into account especially in healthcare sector. In oncofertility, patients should receive their fertility preservation treatments urgently even in limited resource settings before initiation of anticancer therapy. Therefore, it is very crucial to learn more about oncofertility practice in limited resource settings such as in developing countries that suffer often from shortage of healthcare services provided to young patients with cancer.

Early Experience with Laparoscopic Surgical Practice in Ondo State, South Western Nigeria.

Background: Laparoscopic surgery is a relatively new and expanding field of surgical therapy in Ondo state. This is a multi-centre study cataloguing the work of the authors in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Aim: To determine the indications, operative findings, and interventions at Laparoscopy in our resource challenged settings.