Cognitive behavioral therapy for challenges to quitting tobacco smoking among social science and religion students.

Background: Tobacco smoking is a public health issue. The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on the disputation of challenges to quitting tobacco smoking among students enrolled in the Social Science and religious Education programmes.

Methods: The study adopted a pretest-posttest randomized controlled group design with follow-up.

Determinants of Obstetricians' Pattern of Care for Sickle Cell Disease in Pregnancy.

Background: Pregnancy in sickle cell disease (SCD) is high risk. With improved comprehensive obstetric care, pregnant females with SCD can achieve successful pregnancy outcomes, especially in resource-poor settings.

Objectives: To determine the predictors of Obstetricians' pattern of care for SCD in pregnancy in Nigeria.

Emerging Predictors of Obstructed Labour in a Single Nigerian Centre Population of a Low Resource Setting.

Background And Objective: Despite the stigma attached to obstructed labour in Nigeria, it has remained largely uninvestigated. Study determined the prevalence, emerging predictors, management modalities and complications of obstructed labour, compare them with cases without obstructed labour who delivered within the same period.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study and case-controlled analysis of obstructed labour managed at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, South-East, Nigeria were undertaken.

Outcomes from integrating anti-cervical cancer teachings into the curriculum of high schools in a South-Eastern Nigerian State.

Background: Quests for the global elimination of cervical cancer and its related SDG goals by 2030 are achievable if realistic approaches for improving outcomes in LMICs are entrenched. Targeting teenage high schoolers in these countries, which largely lack universally-affordable anti-cervical cancer measures, can be a game-changer. This paper evaluates a 2019 Harvard-endorsed measure that integrated relevant teachings into the curricula of some Nigerian high schools, in what was a global-first.

Vitamin D and Acute Respiratory Infections in Children.

Background: This study sought to evaluate the association between serum vitamin D levels and acute respiratory infection (ARI) in under-five children in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) in Nigeria.

Methodology: This study was conducted in NAUTH, Nigeria, in 2017, in 250 children with ARI, classified into those with acute upper respiratory infection (AURI) and those with acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). and 250 children without ARI, matched for age and gender.

Biochar and bio-oil fuel properties from nickel nanoparticles assisted pyrolysis of cassava peel.

Direct biomass usage as a renewable fuel source and substitute for fossil fuels is discouraging due to high moisture, low energy density and low bulk density. Herein, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was conducted at various heating rates to determine peak decomposition temperatures for the dried cassava peels (DCP). The influence of pyrolysis temperature (300, 400, 500 and 600 °C) and heating rates (10, 20 and 30 °C/min) on the nickel nanoparticles catalyzed decomposition of DCP to produce biochar, bio-oil and biogas was investigated and characterized.

Diagnosis and treatment of bbstetrics disseminated intravascular coagulation in resource limited settings.

Background: Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is one of the commonest causes of abnormal bleeding during pregnancy and puerperium. Its successful management is a challenging feat in resource limited settings (RLS).

Aim: To determine Obstetricians' approach in diagnosing and treating obstetrics DIC in a RLS.

Incorporation of information entropy theory, artificial neural network, and soft computing models in the development of integrated industrial water quality index.

Keeping purpose and targeted end-users in perspective, several water quality indices have been developed over the past decades to summarily convey water quality information to decision-makers and the general public. Industrial water quality is often analyzed based on the corrosion and scaling potentials (CSPs) of water. The commonly used CSP index parameters are chloride-sulfate mass ratio, Langelier index, Larson-Skold index, aggressive index, Ryznar stability index, and Puckorius scaling index.

Evaluation of Obstetricians' Opinion of Thrombocytopenia in Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Thrombocytopenia occurs in about 8-10% of pregnancies. Thrombocytopenia may be incidental in pregnancy and could point to medical or gestational conditions that may pose a morbidity and mortality risk to both mother and foetus.

Aim: To determine Obstetricians' view/opinion about thrombocytopenia in pregnancy.

Hydrogeochemical assessment and health-related risks due to toxic element ingestion and dermal contact within the Nnewi-Awka urban areas, Nigeria.

Awka and Nnewi metropolises are known for intensive socioeconomic activities that could predispose the available groundwater to pollution. In this paper, an integrated investigation of the drinking water quality and associated human health risks of contaminated groundwater was carried out using geochemical models, numerical water quality models, and the HHRISK code. Physicochemical analysis revealed that the groundwater pH is acidic.

Comparative adsorptive behaviour of cow dung ash and starch as potential eco-friendly matrices for controlled organophosphorus pesticides delivery.

The work reported herein explores the viability of cow dung ash (CDA) as a matrix for controlled pesticide delivery, by comparing its adsorptive characteristics towards two organophosphorus pesticides with those of starch, conventionally utilized in designing controlled pesticide delivery systems. CDA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Data for pesticide adsorption on the surfaces correlate well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, with the former isotherm giving a slightly better fit (R ≥ 0.

Haematology and serum biochemistry of West African Dwarf goats fed Pleurotus tuber-regium-treated cassava root sievate-based diets.

The study aimed at determining the effect of Pleurotus tuber-regium-treated cassava root sievate-based diets on haematology and serum biochemistry of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. Thirty-two WAD goats between 6 and 8 months old were randomly divided into four groups of eight goats each. The four experimental diets were formulated to contain 0, 20, 40 and 60% dietary levels of inclusion of Pleurotus tuber-regium-treated cassava root sievate, respectively.

Brain activities of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats treated with gliclazide: Behavioural, biochemical and histomorphology studies.

Gliclazide (GLD), a sulphonylurea is efficacious in the treatment of diabetes type-2. However, there is limited information on its activity in the brain, especially in diabetics. This research investigated the brain activities of GLD following streptozotocin-induced diabetes in Wistar rats.

Meta-analysis of HNF1A-MODY3 variants among human population.

Background: Previously, numerous case-control studies have highlighted variants responsible for Maturity onset diabetes of young (MODY). However, these studies have been conducted among diverse populations and hence yielded contradictory results. We, therefore, performed a meta-analysis to precisely find the association of SNPs with the disease for the HNF1A gene.

'Gift with a price tag': Nigerian egg donors' knowledge, experiences and motivations.

Research around the world has indicated that the demand for egg donation has grown considerably among young females. This study qualitatively examines the knowledge, experiences, and motivations of young egg donors at a Nigerian health facility. In-depth interviews were conducted in Igbo and English with consenting thirty-one egg donors attending a fertil-ity clinic in Anambra State, south-eastern Nigeria.

Artificial Intelligence-Based Ensemble Learning Model for Prediction of Hepatitis C Disease.

Machine learning algorithms are excellent techniques to develop prediction models to enhance response and efficiency in the health sector. It is the greatest approach to avoid the spread of hepatitis C, especially injecting drugs, is to avoid these behaviors. Treatments for hepatitis C can cure most patients within 8 to 12 weeks, so being tested is critical.

Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus among pregnant women with single, dual or triplex infections of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus in Nigeria: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

To systematically review literature and identify mother-to-child transmission rates of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus among pregnant women with single, dual, or triplex infections of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus in Nigeria. PRISMA guidelines were employed. Searches were on 19 February 2021 in PubMed, Google Scholar and CINAHL on studies published from 1 February 2001 to 31 January 2021 using keywords: "MTCT," "dual infection," "triplex infection," "HIV," "HBV," and "HCV.

Roberts syndrome with tetraphocomelia: A case report and literature review.

Roberts syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by symmetrical reductive limb malformation and craniofacial abnormalities. It is caused by mutation in the "Establishment of cohesion 1 homolog 2" genes, resulting in the loss of acetyltransferase activities and manifesting as premature centromere separation in metaphase chromosomes. The affected individual grows slowly during pregnancy and after birth with associated mild to severe intellectual impairment.

Assessing the moderating effect of institutional quality on economic growth-carbon emission nexus in Nigeria.

This study explores the relationship between economic growth and carbon dioxide and the moderating effect of institutional quality in Nigeria from 1990 to 2020, by employing long-run and short-run dynamic ARDL regression, quartile regression and Granger causality test for the estimation. Utilizing CO per capita emissions; GDP per capita, a proxy for economic growth; capital stock (CAPSTK), proxy for capital investment in Nigeria and control of corruption and regulatory quality (COC and RGQ) which represent the effective environmental regulations and laws put in place for the control and prevention of environmental degradation, the study found a significant cointegration between CO emissions and economic growth (lnGDP) in Nigeria. Furthermore, an N-shaped nexus exists between CO emissions and economic growth in the long-run and short-run instead of the inverted U-shape curve postulated by the EKC hypothesis.

Combining data-intelligent algorithms for the assessment and predictive modeling of groundwater resources quality in parts of southeastern Nigeria.

Machine learning algorithms have proven useful in the estimation, classification, and prediction of water quality parameters. Similarly, indexical modeling has enhanced the evaluation and summarization of water quality. In Nigeria, works that have incorporated machine learning modeling in water quality analysis are scarce.

Update on first African clinical trial on earpopper for the treatment of otitis media with effusion [FCT/UATH/HREC/PR/330].

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a middle ear condition characterized by the accumulation of serous fluid. It is common, though not exclusive; among children with its attendant developmental consequence if missed or untreated in early life. OME could be managed surgically, pharmacologically, or physiologically.

Association between Height and Blood Pressure in Middle Age and Older Adults in Southeast Nigeria.

Background: This study was carried out in Abia State, Southeast Nigeria, to determine the association between height and blood pressure in middle age and elderly adults.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Abia State, Southeast Nigeria, between August 2011 and March 2012. The participants were residents in the state and were recruited from the three senatorial zones of the state.