The sustainability of Africa’s existing child welfare systems remains uncertain, potentially owing to the maltreatment of children amid the competing worldviews of the continent’s indigenous and ...non-indigenous practices and international childcare models. This article focuses on Nigeria’s unsustainable multicultural child welfare system in order to highlight the inherent challenges of child welfare systems in Africa and proffer remedies. Seven discernible trends derived from available indigenous sources of information and scholarly literature on Nigeria are used as mind maps to describe and discuss Nigeria’s multicultural characteristics and childcare practices. From the discussion, the country’s child welfare challenges manifest in the following forms: ethnocultural, or more specifically, ethnoreligious diversity; the infiltration of Nigeria by non-native worldviews; colonial legacies; vacillating post-colonial social policies; conceptual ambiguities in non-indigenous welfare terminologies; and persistent unnecessary professional rivalries, which are also present in other African countries. As remedies, three transformative response options for the sustainability of the Nigerian child welfare system and those of other African countries are recommended: embracing cultural relativity regarding child maltreatment, leveraging the transformative and expanded mandates of the social work profession for the development of effective and sustainable child welfare systems, and using research and systems thinking as a driver for transforming professional rivalries into multidisciplinary approaches.
Against the background of an arguable dearth of scholarship on the sociocultural dimensions of Nigeria's solid waste management strategies and practices, this rapid review searched for evidence in ...the literature. A rapid evidence review and qualitative meta-summary procedure were implemented to utilize the rigor of systematic literature review that met the timelines and limited funding available for this study. It is more appropriate to identify, extract, and synthesize a mixture of qualitative and/or quantitative empirical evidence in the literature. This rapid review found little substantive evidence of scholarly sociocultural approaches in Nigeria's solid waste management. It also discovered constant factors of inadequate and weak multidisciplinary or non-holistic approaches to driving innovation and effective social impact in Nigeria's solid waste management practices. The results were interpreted vis-à-vis the need to leverage the social sciences, particularly the range and scope of social work practice configurations and possibilities, to scientifically advance and substantially accelerate the implementation of evidence-based policy and practice in Nigeria's solid waste management system. This rapid review concluded that the negative results are due to the insufficient conceptual and theoretical bases for Nigeria's solid waste management strategies and/or practices.
This study highlights social work’s response to socio-cultural diversity by investigating the reality of multiculturalism in social work curricula vis-a-vis the Global Standards debates. Content ...analysis technique is used from a transcendental perspective to explore the attributes of multiculturalism in social work curricula via the online directory of the International Association of Schools of Social Work. Each curriculum reflects relative attributes of multiculturalism, identifiable as tenets of the Global Standards – a tool for modeling social work education across cultures. A new theory and a practice model for international social work also emerged from the study, and are proposed for testing.
Population aging is a current challenge globally as the Baby Boomers are heading towards retirement. In Finland, a regional-council postulated that the rate of retirement in the region will leave ...more than half of the population retired in the near future. Hence, this study conducted logistic regressions for predictive factors for voluntary and paid work among adults in their 60s from the region by using the Aging and Well-being of North-Savo Survey. Chi Square tests were also implemented in order to examine the link between their current engagement and their well-being. The logistic regressions implemented showed relative covariates of education, income, health and socioeconomic delineation as predictive factors for current and future engagements in voluntary and paid work. Chi Square tests also revealed a link between the current engagement of the respondents and their well-being. However, further studies will be needed so as to determine the differences in the relativity of the predictive factors by gender. In addition, the study suggests the importance of continuing the discussion of older adult’s productive engagement and its value base in relation to income and outcomes, as well as spiritual empathy and sustainable future for the elderly.
This study uses content analysis and visual representation methods to explore how multiculturalism is displayed on the websites of agencies providing social care for the aged. These agencies use ...strategically planned texts to portray multicultural categories of inclusion, diversity and individuality; and emphasize the text referents through ethno-related pictures as universal equivalence symbols for ethno-cultural diversity. With the few cases of non-text referents, which are open to cultural and sociological relativities, the study posited that the patterns and modes of portraying multiculturalism are similar. It concluded with the need for further studies to establish whether state policies or agencies’ market strategies are behind the liberal multicultural references.
In this study, the in vitro DNA-binding interactions of the food/drug additive, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and its major degradant, 5, 5'oxy-bis(methylene)bis-2-furfural (OBMF) were investigated. ...OBMF was synthesized and characterized using IR, NMR and mass spectrometry. Photometric titrations revealed OBMF induced more extensive perturbations in the 258 nm band of DNA and exhibited binding constants that were 5-12-folds higher than those of HMF. The greatest net changes in viscosity of DNA induced by HMF and OBMF were 10.5 and 8.9%, respectively which confirmed both compounds as minor groove binders. Docking revealed that OBMF and HMF bound to the guanine-cytosine regions of minor groove of DNA with global binding energies of −36.36 and −26.12 kcal/mol, respectively. DFT calculations revealed the higher electrophilicity of OBMF contributed to its increased interaction with the negatively charged DNA backbone. There is a need for stricter control of permissible levels of OBMF in food and drug products.
Background In light of the rising global effort to lower maternal mortality rates, it is crucial for low- and middle-income countries with poor maternal indices to investigate the problem of maternal ...satisfaction and the key elements that affect it. To this effect, this study explored the experiences of postnatal women in relation to labour services and investigated the factors that contribute to their overall satisfaction. Aim The study set out to explore factors influencing maternal satisfaction with labour care services in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. This study ultimately seeks to advance our understanding of this phenomenon to impact labour care and policy. Setting The study was conducted among multiparous women who had their antenatal care and delivery in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Methods A qualitative study was performed using in-depth interviews among postnatal women. Results The results revealed a number of variables that could affect the women's satisfaction with labour care, including the choice of health facility, healthcare providers, environment of the facility, assurance of privacy, treating patients with dignity, provision of needed amenities and having a well-planned postnatal care assessment. Conclusion The study revealed that the costs of care, the skill of the caregiver, the provision of confidential and dignified care, and the availability of supplies all have an impact on maternal satisfaction. Hospital administration should address these issues to enhance the experience of women and labour care services. Contribution The study's findings provide insights that will inform strategies to improve the quality of care being provided to parturients in Nigeria.
Background
Multidrug regimens can increase the risk of drug–drug interactions at the level of albumin binding especially for drugs with narrow therapeutic windows such as carbamazepine (CBZ). This ...risk is particularly heightened for CBZ which is mainly metabolized to the active carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZE) that has been identified as contributory to both the therapeutic efficacy and severity of toxicity in CBZ-treated individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate the binding affinities of albumin with CBZ and CBZE, and to explore the influence of two competing over-the-counter medicines on the binding characteristics. CBZE was synthesized by epoxidation of CBZ and characterized using IR, NMR and mass spectrometry. The influence of paracetamol and ascorbic acid on the albumin complexes of CBZ and CBZE was investigated using absorption and IR spectrophotometry.
Results
Protein–ligand complexation produced progressive hyperchromic changes in 278 nm band of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with formation constants of 10.28–10.44 and 12.66–13.02 M
−1
for CBZ and CBZE, respectively. Thermodynamic considerations confirmed both binding processes as endothermic, spontaneous and driven by hydrophobic interactions. The presence of ascorbic acid increased the binding constants of both CBZ-BSA and CBZE-BSA complexes by non-competitive interference mechanism. Similarly, paracetamol increased the affinity of CBZ for albumin but then competitively interfered with the CBZE-BSA complex. The ratio of albumin binding affinities of CBZ–CBZE varied from 0.81 in the absence of competing drug to 1.29 and 1.0 with paracetamol and ascorbic acid, respectively. IR study confirmed that both CBZ and CBZE induced a reduction from the 67.34%
α
-helical content of free BSA to 42.56 and 56.43%, respectively. Competitive binding in the presence of either paracetamol or ascorbic acid induced further reduction in the
α
-helical content of BSA in the complexes. The most extensive perturbation in the secondary structure of BSA (22.78%
α
-helical content) which was observed with CBZE-BSA complex in the presence of paracetamol is probably due to the increased interaction of the protein for the analgesic.
Conclusion
The study has revealed potential interference of paracetamol or ascorbic acid with the albumin binding of carbamazepine and its major metabolite.
Polyetheramide resin based on the condensation polymerisation of N-N-bis (2-hydroxyethyl)
Albizia benth oil fatty amide with bisphenol-A was synthesized. The polyetheramide was further modified with ...urethane linkage resulting from the addition reaction of free hydroxyl groups of the hydroxylethyl
Albizia benth oil fatty amide and the isocyanate moeity of toluene 2,4 di-isocyanate. The spectroscopic characterisation (FT-IR,
1H NMR,
13C NMR) as well as the thermal, physicochemical and coating properties of the polyetheramide and its urethaned modified derivatives were carried out. Urethanation led to curing at lower temperature, increase in glass transition and improvement in coating properties and resistance to chemical corrosion.
Epoxidised oil was prepared classically from
Adenopus breviflorus Benth. seeds oil (ADBO) using formic acid/hydrogen peroxide. The epoxidised oil (EADBO) had hydroxyl value of 0, oxirane value of 5.2 ...and iodine value of 1.2
g I
2/100
g. Cleavage trials of the oxirane group of the epoxidised oil with different reactants were undertaken in order to produce new derivatives which were then characterized. Reaction of the EADBO with sodium azide/ammonium chloride mixture for 48
h led to complete opening of all epoxy groups and production of different azidohydrin compounds. The product had oxirane value of 0 and hydroxyl value of 220
mg KOH/g. Reaction of EADBO with trimethylsilyl azide in the presence of borontrifluoride etherate as acid catalyst only led to the acidolysis of triglyceride bond and the production of an acylazido compound and a silylated diepoxy diglyceride compound which would be very versatile for preparation of new lipid derivatives. These products were characterized by spectroscopic methods and discussed.
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