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This study tested the effect of auditors’ choice on financing decision of quoted firms in Nigeria from 2010 to 2014. To successfully carry out this study, the study reviewed various literatures and theoretical issues such as the Modigliani-miller’s theorem, and asymmetric of information hypothesis. Secondary data of the big four, size and return on assets were obtained from financial statement of conglomerate listed firms on the Nigeria stock exchange for 5 years. The data were analyzed using linear regression method to achieve the effect of auditor’s choice on financing decision. The findings of the study reflect the effect of debit capital which are as follows: an increase on the size of the company (SZ) by 1% would lead to an increase in debit capital (DC) by about 648.7%. The study shows that companies with BIG4 auditors have less debt and more equity in their capital structure and are less likely to issue debt. This study may be developed by considering the effect of political and economic institutions on the choice of auditors in Nigeria.

Background: Adequate eHealth literacy and health promotion behavior (HPB) are important to achieve good health-related quality of life. There is limited information on the influence of eHealth literacy and HPB on body mass index (BMI) in our setting and among public service workers., Objectives: This study assessed the eHealth literacy, HPB, and BMI of public service workers and determined the influence of eHealth literacy and HPB on BMI., Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted., Methods: A simple random sampling technique was used to select 440 public service workers from civil service of redacted . A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographics, eHealth literacy, and HPB. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and logistic regression analysis. The significant level was set at 0.05., Results: More than one quarter (28.2%) of respondents had low eHealth literacy, and more than one third (42.5%) had inadequate (30.0% fair and 12.5% poor) HPB. An average (50.5%) had a level of obesity that ranged from preobesity to type 2 obesity. There was a significant association between eHealth literacy and HPB with the BMI of respondents at p  < .05., Conclusion: There was inadequate eHealth literacy and HPB among public service workers. An average of the workers had a level of obesity that ranged from pre-obesity to type 2 obesity. There was a significant association between eHealth literacy and BMI and also between HPB and BMI of respondents. Community health professionals should assist public service workers to develop competencies and skills useful in evaluating health information on the Internet and applying such information to make informed decisions., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important global public health challenge, and the burden of the disease is huge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the majority of people with this condition reside. Undiagnosed DM is more prevalent in LMICs. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and associated factors for DM in Ekiti State., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, household-based survey using a four-stage multistage sampling design and the World Health Organization (WHO)-STEPS survey manual was conducted from July to September 2020 as a part of the Ekiti State coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survey. Of the 5,145 sampled households, 4,726 individuals gave consent to participate in the survey. Out of these, 3043 had fasting plasma glucose results available and were included in the analysis., Results: There were 2257 (74.2%) women and 786 (25.8%) men. The prevalence of DM was 6.5% (6.5% in males and 6.6% in females, P = 0.946). Diabetes was found to be more prevalent among those with a secondary school education or higher (10.9%); employed in the formal sector (13.4%); separated, divorced, or widowed (8.5%); with raised blood pressure (9.3%); and who were aged 30-59 years (all P < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression showed that age, education, occupation, and hypertension were all positively and significantly associated with an increased risk of DM., Conclusion: The prevalence of DM in Ekiti State is high, and its predictors include advancing age, hypertension, education, and occupation. This calls for scaling up public health interventions for controlling DM, targeting the identified risk factors among the people of Ekiti., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Oluwadiya et al.)

Background: Poor knowledge and awareness of cervical cancer screening and vaccination are significant barriers to effective cervical cancer prevention in developing countries. Knowledge of cervical cancer and vaccination against cervical cancer remains low in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, awareness, and attitude of female staff of Afe Babalola University towards cervical cancer screening and vaccinations., Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire among female staff of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The workers' knowledge and awareness were assessed using yes and no questions while the attitude was assessed using Likert scale questions. The workers' knowledge was ranked as good (≥ 50%) and poor (< 50%) while attitude was ranked as positive (≥ 50%) and negative (< 50%). The relationship between demographics, attitude and knowledge of cervical cancer screening and vaccination was carried out using the Chi-square test. Analyses were conducted using SPSS software version 20., Results: A total of 200 staff consented to participate in the study out of which 64% were married with mean age 32.81 ± 8.164 years. Majority (60.5%) of the participants knew the causes of cervical cancer while 7.5% strongly agreed that they do not see the need for cervical screening. Majority (63.5%) of the participants showed good knowledge while 46% had a positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening and vaccination., Conclusions: The study participants showed good knowledge and awareness but poor attitude towards cervical cancer screening and vaccinations. Interventions and continuous education are needed to improve the population's attitude and eliminate misconceptions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This study assessed the role of caffeine (adenosine receptor antagonist) in the Lateral geniculate body as well as the primary visual cortex of hyaluronic acid model of glaucomatous rats. Twenty (20) male Long evans rats were randomly divided into four groups with five animals each. This research confirmed that hyaluronic acid (HA) significantly induces elevated intraocular pressure from 18 to 35 mmHg and caffeine had no effect on its reduction to palliate visual impairment; There were a significant increase in the lipid peroxidation and conversely decrease in superoxide level with HA which were attenuated by caffeine. Although, caffeine showed a capability of ameliorating the histopathological changes induced by HA in terms of maintenance of a viable neuronal cell count and significant reduction of tumour necrosis factor-α immune positive cells in the LGB and visual cortex. These findings suggest that caffeine was unable to lower the intraocular pressure after hyaluronic acid exposure but has the ability to restore the antioxidant imbalance via mitigating pro-oxidant mediators and abrogate neurodegeneration., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Alcohol is classified among legal substances, but its excess consumption can result in road traffic accidents via impairing psychomotor activity and concentration. This study investigated the prevalence of early morning alcohol consumption and its health consequences among commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders in Ekiti State, Nigeria., Methods: Systematic sampling technique was used to recruit subjects for this study. Cutting down alcohol; annoyed by comments on alcohol; guilt of alcohol use; early morning use of alcohol; eye opener (CAGE) questionnaire was used to estimate the prevalence of problematic alcohol use among Okada riders in Ado Ekiti., Results: One hundred and seven Okada riders were assessed. Majority of them were young adults. Majority of the riders know another rider who have had a serious road traffic accident riding Okada in the past 12 months and 29% of them know a rider who had died riding Okada in the past 12 months. About 28.6% of them admit early morning alcohol consumption. Suppression of cold (45.5%), keeping awake (19.4%) and peer group effect (14.5%) were the major identified factors influencing them to use alcohol. The commonest types of injuries sustained were bruises and lacerations (51.1%) and fractures of upper and lower limbs (18.7%)., Conclusion: The early morning alcohol consumption among Okada riders contributed to road traffic accidents in Ekiti state, Nigeria., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

This study investigated the quantitative polyphenolic constituents and gastroprotective effects of methanol extract of Vernonia amygdalina leaf (MEVA) against aspirin-induced gastric ulcer in rats. Ulceration was induced by 3 days' oral administration of aspirin (150 mg/kg body weight). Wistar rats were pretreated with cimetidine (reference drug) at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight and MEVA at 200, 300, and 400 mg/kg body weight once daily for 28 days prior to ulcer induction. At the end of the experiment, gastric secretions, antioxidant status, and histopathological alteration were evaluated. We observed that the significantly increased ulcer index, gastric volume, free and total acidity, malondialdehyde level, and pepsin activity were effectively reduced following treatment with 200 and 300 mg/kg MEVA. The extract also markedly attenuated the reduced activity of superoxide dismutase and reduced glutathione level as well as pH and mucin content in the ulcerated rats. Administration of the extract also significantly attenuates necrosis of the stomach tissue of the ulcerated rats. The results suggested that the MEVA leaf, preferably at 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight, ameliorated aspirin-induced gastric ulceration via antioxidative and H 2 receptor antagonist., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

In this two-part series, the main designs in clinical research are considered and, using examples, sample size calculation is explained. The information required in order to calculate the sample size for clinical research is highlighted to enable researchers to spend their time most efficiently with statisticians.

There is growing evidence for the validity of the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder (ADHD) in adults, as well as evidence that conduct disorder in adolescents and dissocial personality disorder in adult life are linked to ADHD in childhood. Methylphenidate is an effective treatment of ADHD in adolescents and young adults and it is possible that dissocial personality disorder will respond to methylphenidate. There is no evidence that methylphenidate reduces symptoms of conduct disorder in adolescents or of dissocial personality disorder in young adults, because no studies have evaluated methylphenidate in these conditions. We recorded a dramatic improvement in symptoms, predominantly of conduct disorder, in an adolescent with a previous history of ADHD. Trials of methylphenidate are required in adolescents with conduct disorder and young people with dissocial personality disorder, when there is a past history of probable ADHD.