Every child deserves the right to life. In Nigeria like other African countries, a high burden of child mortality prevails. Attaining a low-mortality rate of children entails that mothers who are the ...primary caregivers are in the best position to provide quality healthcare management.INTRODUCTIONEvery child deserves the right to life. In Nigeria like other African countries, a high burden of child mortality prevails. Attaining a low-mortality rate of children entails that mothers who are the primary caregivers are in the best position to provide quality healthcare management.With the phenomenological approach in qualitative research, the researchers sourced data using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and In-Depth Interviews (IDI) from 38 mothers of various categories. The participants were purposively selected from four government and mission health institutions in a semi-urban Nsukka town, Enugu State. Data were analyzed thematically.METHODWith the phenomenological approach in qualitative research, the researchers sourced data using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and In-Depth Interviews (IDI) from 38 mothers of various categories. The participants were purposively selected from four government and mission health institutions in a semi-urban Nsukka town, Enugu State. Data were analyzed thematically.Results revealed that mothers utilize health institutions including government, mission, private, pharmacies and patent medicine vendors when seeking healthcare for their children. Their inability to recognize potential life-threatening conditions is the leading factor in increasing child mortality. Findings show that because participants were concerned about financial challenges; they were ready to adopt traditional medicine as an alternative to modern medicine. The study showed evidence of unsafe strategies mothers adopt for the health management of their under-five children with common illnesses. Participants indicated little knowledge of social workers' engagement in health institutions.FINDINGSResults revealed that mothers utilize health institutions including government, mission, private, pharmacies and patent medicine vendors when seeking healthcare for their children. Their inability to recognize potential life-threatening conditions is the leading factor in increasing child mortality. Findings show that because participants were concerned about financial challenges; they were ready to adopt traditional medicine as an alternative to modern medicine. The study showed evidence of unsafe strategies mothers adopt for the health management of their under-five children with common illnesses. Participants indicated little knowledge of social workers' engagement in health institutions.Healthy living is essential in the protection from illnesses. Since under-five children are vulnerable to illnesses, their mothers should provide them with quality healthcare management. The study recommends that social workers' engagement with health providers and users in semi-urban societies could help propagate healthcare awareness and strategies in mothers' choice of health management for under-five children in Nigeria. Overall, adequate health policy consideration should be given to all under-five children in Nigeria.CONCLUSIONHealthy living is essential in the protection from illnesses. Since under-five children are vulnerable to illnesses, their mothers should provide them with quality healthcare management. The study recommends that social workers' engagement with health providers and users in semi-urban societies could help propagate healthcare awareness and strategies in mothers' choice of health management for under-five children in Nigeria. Overall, adequate health policy consideration should be given to all under-five children in Nigeria.
The increasing prevalence of obesity in pregnant women is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, and increased costs to healthcare, the economy and broader society.
To assess the ...efficacy of behavioural interventions for managing gestational weight gain (GWG) in the pre-conceptual and pregnancy period in overweight, obese and morbidly obese women.
A search was performed for published studies in the English language, from date? 2000-31 December 2012 in five electronic databases; PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsycINFO.
Studies were included if they compared the efficacy or effectiveness of a particular behavioural intervention in pregnant or pre-conceptual women with standard maternity care. Studies that included women with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus and polycystic ovarian syndrome were excluded to help isolate the effect of the intervention.
Fifteen studies involving 3,426 participants were included. One study (n = 692) focused on the pre-conceptual period and the remaining 14 (n = 2,734) in the pregnancy period. Pooled mean difference for GWG indicated a lower GWG in the intervention groups when compared to standard maternity care groups (n = 1771, mean difference (MD) -1.66 kg, 95% CI -3.12 to -0.21 kg). With respect to the types of participants, considerable heterogeneity between studies was shown in the obese subgroup Tau(2) = 15.61; Chi(2) = 40.80, df = 3 (P<0.00001); I(2) = 93%.
Behavioural interventions in pregnancy may be effective in reducing GWG in obese women without comorbid conditions, but not overweight or morbidly obese women. Behavioural interventions had no effect on postpartum weight loss or retention, gestation week of delivery and infant birth weight in overweight, obese and morbidly obese women.
The SCARE Guidelines were published in 2016 to provide a structure for reporting surgical case reports. Since their publication, SCARE guidelines have been widely endorsed by authors, journal ...editors, and reviewers, and have helped to improve reporting transparency of case reports across a range of surgical specialties. In order to encourage further progress in reporting quality, the SCARE guidelines must themselves be kept up to date. We completed a Delphi consensus exercise to update the SCARE guidelines.
A Delphi consensus exercise was undertaken. All members of the previous Delphi group were invited to participate, in addition to researchers who have previously studied case reports, and editors from the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports. The expert group was sent an online questionnaire where they were asked to rate their agreement with proposed changes to each of the 24 items.
56 people agreed to participate and 45 (80%) invitees completed the survey which put forward modifications to the original guideline. The collated responses resulted in modifications. There was high agreement amongst the expert group.
A modified and improved SCARE checklist is presented, after a Delphi consensus exercise was completed.
The SCARE 2018 Statement: Updating Consensus Surgical CAse REport (SCARE) Guidelines.
•A Delphi consensus exercise to update the SCARE guidelines.•45 (80%) invitees completed the survey and there was high agreement amongst the expert group.•The collated responses resulted in modifications, and a improved SCARE checklist is presented.
•A new SARS-CoV-2/cancer model is developed and rigorously analyzed.•Cancer-specific CTLs and SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies have been considered.•Well-possedness of the model and existence of ...equilibria are established.•Global stability of the equilibria is established by means of Lyapunov functions.•We have presented numerical simulations to illustrate the effectiveness of our main results.•We have discussed the effect of lymphopenia on SARS-CoV-2/cancer patients.
The world is going through a critical period due to a new respiratory disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Mathematical modeling is one of the most important tools that can speed up finding a drug or vaccine for COVID-19. COVID-19 can lead to death especially for patients having chronic diseases such as cancer, AIDS, etc. We construct a new within-host SARS-CoV-2/cancer model. The model describes the interactions between six compartments: nutrient, healthy epithelial cells, cancer cells, SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, cancer-specific CTLs, and SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. We verify the nonnegativity and boundedness of its solutions. We outline all possible equilibrium points of the proposed model. We prove the global stability of equilibria by constructing proper Lyapunov functions. We do some numerical simulations to visualize the obtained results. According to our model, lymphopenia in COVID-19 cancer patients may worsen the outcomes of the infection and lead to death. Understanding dysfunctions in immune responses during COVID-19 infection in cancer patients could have implications for the development of treatments for this high-risk group.
This study investigates the spatial and temporal variations of the aridity indices to reveal the desertification vulnerability of Iraq region. Relying on temperature and precipitation data taken from ...28 meteorological stations for 31 years, the study aims to determine (1) dry land types and their delineating boundaries and (2) temporal change in aridity conditions in Iraq. Lang’s aridity (Im), De Martonne’s aridity (Am), United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) aridity (AIu), and Erinç aridity (I
E
) indices were selected in this study because of the scarcity of the observed data. The analysis of the spatial variation of aridity indices exhibited that the arid and semi-arid regions cover about 97% of the country’s areas. As for temporal variations, it was observed that the aridity indices tend to decrease (statistically significant or not) for all stations. The cumulative sum charts (CUSUMs) were applied to detect the year on which the climate pattern of aridity indices had changed from one pattern to another. The abrupt change point was detected around year 1997 for the majority of the stations. Thus, the spatial and temporal aridity characteristics in Iraq were examined for the two periods 1980–1997 and 1998–2011 (before and after the change-point year) to observe the influence of abrupt change point on aridity phenomena. The spatial variation after 1997 was observed from semi-arid (dry sub humid) to arid (semi-arid) especially at the stations located in northern Iraq, while hyper-arid and arid climatic conditions were still dominant over southern and central Iraq. Besides, the negative temporal variations of the two periods 1980–1997 and 1998–2011 were obtained for almost every station. As a result, it was emphasized that Iraq region, like other Middle East regions, has become drier after 1997. The observed reduction in precipitation and increase in temperature for this region seem to make the situation worse in future.
The activities of insurgent groups like Boko-Haram have led to the displacement of millions of Nigerians, including a large population of older people who are made more vulnerable to new and old ...challenges associated with aging. Our study used qualitative art-based graphic elicitations and interviews to collect data on older people’s experiences of abuse while living in displacement in Abuja, Nigeria. The data were analysed thematically, and our findings revealed that displacement increased abuse, and the vulnerability of co-migrant family members led to widespread neglect. This abuse caused perceived fear and anxiety, increased health problems, risk of destitution and normalization of abuse. We concluded by recommending the provision of education and cultural re-orientation by gerontological social workers to increase identification, reporting, and intervention, and the adoption of the National Policy on Internal Displacement, which guarantees the protection and social security of older people in displacement.
Delays in access to cancer detection and treatment result in 80–90% of patients that are in an advanced stage of disease at the time of treatment.6 The advanced stage of cancer diagnosis is magnified ...by the poor state of the health-care system, including the absence of national screening programmes,7 the low number of qualified oncologists,8 poor accessibility and availability of the treatment facilities, and poor cancer-related health literacy.9 Since 2015, government attention and non-profit organisation-led efforts have been put towards improving access to cancer prevention in Nigeria, while leveraging global designated health awareness days such as World Cancer Day. At the event, volunteer nurses, laboratory scientists, and doctors provided clinical breast examinations, cervical cancer screening using visual inspection with acetic acid, and prostate-specific antigen tests to eligible individuals after prescreening psychological counselling by volunteer psychologists. The participants read the participant information and completed a consent form before completing the questionnaire that asked questions about their demographic information, social experience, and lifestyle factors including tobacco and alcohol use, and yoga and physical activity. 236 questionnaires were completed and analysed (table). When the data were analysed on the basis of cancer risk factors, 11 (5%) reported ever smoking tobacco, 19 (8%) were obese, 41 (17%) had a family history of cancer, and 79 (33%) regularly drank alcohol.
Rotary-wing aerial vehicles offer manoeuvrability and vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) advantages over fixed-wing systems. Rotary-wing systems do however have comparatively higher energy demands ...and consequently shorter flight times and therefore a greater energy dependence over their fixed-wing counterparts. Advances in photovoltaic technologies have resulted in significant increases in the specific power (power-to-weight-ratio) of solar cells enabling the design of solar-powered rotary-wing aircraft, and now micro-sized variants. The micro aerial vehicle (MAV) presented, the Micro Solarcopter, is a 0.15 m
0.15 m
0.02 m solar-rechargeable radio-controlled aircraft. The 0.071 kg aircraft can fly for an average time of 3.5 min, recharge in approximately 68 min under 1000 W/m
irradiance at 25 °C and can hibernate for 38 days without sunlight. The paper explores the use of commercially available photovoltaic cells for the purpose of increasing the energy autonomy of multi-rotor MAVs, by enabling them to stay out in the field without returning to base for charging. A working prototype has been presented which incorporates a battery management system, automatic power on and off, low-power sleep mode, and first-person-view (FPV) camera.
Children are considered as social and economic safety nets for their elderly parents in many developing countries, including Nigeria. This perception is driven by the fact that state-sponsored ...welfare systems are almost non-existent thereby placing parents as the sole care providers for their young children, and grown children as the sole care providers for their older parents. What this may mean for older people without children is that they are left with inadequate material support which could affect their well-being and life satisfaction. This study examines the adequacy of material support systems for childless older adults in southeast Nigeria with the aim to inform policy and social work interventions to ensure adequate support for the older adults. Twelve childless older adults aged 75 and older partook in the in-depth interview. The collected data was analyzed thematically. Except for the government support system, childless older adults receive material support from the networks of family, community, and churches. However, the support available from these networks seems to be inadequate and irregular. The study recommends for the political will by government to ensure that the newly approved national policy on ageing benefits older adults. Social workers are highly needed to ensure that other necessary programmes are established, and also strengthen the systems that support older adults.
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