Antenatal care and breastfeeding practices in Sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of demographic and health surveys.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends immediate breastfeeding (within the first hour after birth) and exclusive breastfeeding (for the first six months of life), particularly in low-resource settings such as sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, WHO updated its antenatal care (ANC) guidelines, recommending at least eight (8+) ANC contacts during pregnancy to improve maternal and child health outcomes. This study investigates i) trends in breastfeeding practices across sub-Saharan Africa following the rollout of the revised WHO 2016 ANC policy and ii) the relationship between ANC uptake and exclusive or early breastfeeding.

Age enterprising: "Old" age on the make in Ghana.

The Aging Enterprise was first coined by Carol Estes to critique the hegemony of a gerontological discourse and policy in the United States in the 1970s. These policy interventions seemed to be serving the needs of policy-makers and aging professionals, rather than those of older adults. More recently she wrote on how these interventions limited the possibilities of the gerontological imagination and focused attention on "old age" as a social problem.

"A Person Taking Care of the Sick is also a Sick Person": Challenges and Consequences of Hospital-Based Informal Caregiving.

Informal caregivers support relatives in healthcare facilities globally. However, their involvement in hospitalization care while residing in and around the hospital is more prevalent in under-resourced settings. This article examined the challenges and multifaceted consequences of hospital-based informal caregiving in a Nigerian tertiary health facility.

Features of High-Precision Photothermal Analysis of Liquid Systems by Dual-Beam Thermal Lens Spectrometry.

Thermal lens spectrometry is a high-sensitivity method for measuring the optical and thermal parameters of samples of different nature. To obtain both thermal diffusivity and absorbance-based signal measurements with high accuracy and precision, it is necessary to pay attention to the factors that influence the trueness of photothermal measurements. In this study, the features of liquid objects are studied, and the influence of optical and thermal effects accompanying photothermal phenomena are investigated.

Analytical Methods for Assessing Thiol Antioxidants in Biological Fluids: A Review.

Redox metabolism is an integral part of the glutathione system, encompassing reduced and oxidized glutathione, hydrogen peroxide, and associated enzymes. This core process orchestrates a network of thiol antioxidants like thioredoxins and peroxiredoxins, alongside critical thiol-containing proteins such as mercaptoalbumin. Modifications to thiol-containing proteins, including oxidation and glutathionylation, regulate cellular signaling influencing gene activities in inflammation and carcinogenesis.

Investigating the determinants of marine environmental degradation in Africa: What roles can economy, population, capture and energy play?

This study firstly examines the quality of marine eco-environment in Africa using Tapio decoupling model, and analyzes the sustainability level of the development of "population agglomeration - marine environment - economic growth". Secondly, a series of econometric tools, such as ARDL, FMOLS, AMG model and DH panel causality test, are used to investigate the long- and short-term impacts of economic growth, population agglomeration, marine capture and energy consumption on the African marine eco-environment, and to analyze the differences between the sub-regions in Africa. The results indicate that: Adebayo and Kirikkaleli (2021) (Adebayo and Kirikkaleli, 2021) the decoupling state of "population-environment" has shifted from expansive negative decoupling to more optimized strong decoupling, and "economy-environment" has gradually changed from strong negative decoupling and expansive negative decoupling to strong decoupling.

WHO antenatal care policy and prevention of malaria in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: The WHO 2016 antenatal care (ANC) policy recommends at least eight antenatal contacts during pregnancy. This study assessed ANC8 uptake following policy implementation and explored the relationship between ANC attendance and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) coverage in sub-Saharan Africa following the rollout of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 ANC policy, specifically, to assess differences in IPTp uptake between women attending eight versus four ANC contacts.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from 20 sub-Saharan African countries with available Demographic Health and Malaria Indicator surveys from 2018 to 2023 was performed.

How does virtual water influence the water stress pattern in Africa? A research perspective from the perspectives of production and trade.

Northern Africa has become the first region in the world to exhaust its water resources, with a 40 % decrease in per capita water availability south of the Sahara over the past decade. While adjusting production structures and consumption can regulate the supply-demand dynamics of water resources, the extent of the impact of virtual water-induced pressure on both the regional and national levels in Africa remains largely understudied. Applying the standard Penman formula, this research calculates the water footprint of eight cereal crops in 54 African countries from 1990 to 2021.

A hybrid ensemble learning merging approach for enhancing the super drought computation over Lake Victoria Basin.

This study introduces a novel Hybrid Ensemble Machine-Learning (HEML) algorithm to merge long-term satellite-based reanalysis precipitation products (SRPPs), enabling the estimation of super drought events in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) during the period of 1984 to 2019. This study considers three widely used Machine learning (ML) models, including RF (Random Forest), GBM (Gradient Boosting Machine), and KNN (k-nearest Neighbors), for the emerging HEML approach. The three SRPPs, including CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group Infra-Red Precipitation with Station), ERA5-Land, and PERSIANN-CDR (Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Network-Climate Data Record), were used to merge for developing new precipitation estimates from HEML model.

"I am the one taking care of her and donating blood": lived experiences of role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving in Nigeria.

Purpose: Informal caregivers (ICs) in Africa perform a long list of tasks to support hospitalization care. However, available studies are weak in accounting for the experiences of everyday role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving (HIC) in under-resourced settings. This article explored the experiences of role-routines among informal caregivers in a Nigerian tertiary health facility.

Cognitive and behavioral approaches to occupational stress management: The case of adult education administrative workers in Nigeria.

Background: Those in administrative positions in adult education are more likely to suffer from stress because of the hard work they do, long hours in the office, a lack of adequate medical and welfare packages, and a lack of financial aid. In this study, adult education workers in Nigeria were assessed on the effectiveness of a cognitive and behavioral approach to managing occupational stress in public administration.

Method: This study was a group-randomized trial in which 94 adult education workers occupy public administrative positions within Enugu State, Nigeria, participated.

Developing and evaluating the impact of a small group communication programme in improving the entrepreneurial competence and economic self-efficacy of smallholder farmers with art skills.

The researchers in Study 1 conducted interviews among experts and developed a small group communication programme to be delivered in 24 months. In Study 2, a quasi-experiment was conducted involving 540 smallholder farmers in Nigeria to test the impact of the developed programme. The result showed that smallholder farmers with art skills who received the small group communication programme reported a significant improvement in their entrepreneurial competence and economic self-efficacy compared to smallholder farmers who did not receive the programme.

Effect of a religious coping intervention of rational emotive behavior therapy on mental health of adult learners with type II diabetes.

Background: Some previous studies have highlighted the high rate of mental health problems associated with type II diabetes (T2DM). The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a religious coping intervention of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) on the mental health of adult learners with T2DM.

Methods: This study utilized a randomized controlled trial to select 146 adult learners with T2DM and mental health-related problems.

Trends and patterns of violence-related mortality in Nigeria: evidence from a 16-year analysis of secondary data.

Background: Nigeria is one of the most terrorised countries due to terrorist attacks and violent clashes. There have been many fatalities resulting from this violence, which started in the late 1960s and has significantly increased recently. Violence in Nigeria has been studied, but not about Nigeria's mortality experience over time.

Medical pluralism, healthcare utilization and patient wellbeing: The case of Akan cancer patients in Ghana.

Purpose: As cancers increase in Ghana and in many low-and middle-income countries, healthcare utilization has become critical for disease management and patients' wellbeing. There is evidence that medical pluralism is common among cancer patients in Ghana and many other African countries, which results in lack of adherence to and absconding from hospital treatments. The objective of this study was to examine ways in which beliefs in disease causation influence medical pluralism among Akan cancer patients in Ghana.

Health Challenges in Everyday Life of Nigerians in Guangzhou City, China.

The presence of Africans in Chinese cities has made their healthcare-related issues an expanding area of interest. However, previous studies have not thoroughly explored how Africans live through health problems. This article explores the taken for granted aspect using the analytical frameworks of migration as a social determinant of health and phenomenological sociology.

Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250-1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650.

Scope of health worker migration governance and its impact on emigration intentions among skilled health workers in Nigeria.

The growing trends for skilled health worker (SHW) migration in Nigeria has led to increased concerns about achieving universal health coverage in the country. While a lot is known about drivers of SHW migration, including national/sub-national government's inability to address them, not enough is known about its governance. Underpinning good governance systems is a commitment to human rights norms, that is, principles that enshrine non-discrimination, participation, accountability, and transparency.

Framing of COVID-19 safety protocols in Kusaal musical health communication: Language and literary analysis.

This article examines how indigenous language and music are used to promote the education of the Kusaal-speaking communities within the Upper East Region of Ghana on the COVID-19 safety protocols. Using the framing theory, the study conceptualises how the music composer frames COVID-19 safety protocols in a very practical yet entertaining manner to evoke adherence by natives to the protocols through a local musical performance called . The singer who doubles as the composer employs several language, linguistic and literary techniques to communicate the major themes (COVID-19 protocols) of the song.

Social networks and skilled health worker migration in Nigeria: An ego network analysis.

Background: Nigeria provides a good case study for researchers, activists, and governments seeking to understand how social networks can help mitigate the negative impact of skilled health worker (SHW) migration in low and middle-income countries. This study aimed to map the social networks of SHWs and explore how they influence migration intentions.

Methods: We combined semi-structured qualitative interviews with an ego-network analysis of 22 SHWs living in Nigeria, used R-Studio to display and visualise their networks, and NVivo for thematic analysis of transcribed interviews.

Cognitive-behaviour intervention for critical thinking disposition of religion and social science students.

Background: The dispositions of students towards critical thinking (CT) no doubt improve their clinical practice and performance. Hence, efforts to explore ways to help students become aware and conscious of the need for CT are imperative for their self-actualization, development, and improved professional practice. It is worrisome that in spite of the limited intervention addressing CT disposition challenges, scholars are yet to study the problem, especially in developing countries.

Transforming access to care for serious mental disorders in slums (the TRANSFORM Project): rationale, design and protocol.

This paper introduces the TRANSFORM project, which aims to improve access to mental health services for people with serious and enduring mental disorders (SMDs - psychotic disorders and severe mood disorders, often with co-occurring substance misuse) living in urban slums in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Ibadan (Nigeria). People living in slum communities have high rates of SMDs, limited access to mental health services and conditions of chronic hardship. Help is commonly sought from faith-based and traditional healers, but people with SMDs require medical treatment, support and follow-up.

Zoom-based GROW coaching intervention for improving subjective well-being in a sample of school administrators: A randomized control trial.

Background/objective: Poor subjective well-being is a risk factor for poor health; and threatens school administrators' leadership roles and overall occupational and personal outcomes. Online digital care and coaching such as Zoom-delivered GROW (-GROW) coaching may be an invaluable approach to building resilience and improving well-being. This study investigated the effectiveness of the Z-GROW coaching model in enhancing self-reported well-being in a sample of school administrators in South-East Nigeria.

Validation of coronavirus-2019 phobia scale using preschool practitioners in urban and rural communities in Nigeria: Implication for educational sociologists.

Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019, causing significant changes in people's social lives and other human activities. The outbreak halted educational activities throughout the world. The Nigerian experience was unique in that most people were skeptical about the pandemic's existence.