IntroductionPrevious studies in Nigeria have documented significant association between maternal education and child immunization. However, little is known about the pathway through which maternal education improves immunization uptake. This study aims to examine whether maternal literacy and socioeconomic status mediates the relationship between maternal education and complete immunization coverage in children.MethodsNationally representative data from the first wave of the Nigeria General Household Survey-Panel were used, which includes 661 children aged one year and below. Regression analyses were used to model the association between maternal education and child's immunization uptake; we then examined whether maternal literacy and household economic status mediates this association.ResultsOf the 661 children, 40% had complete immunization. The prevalence ratio (PR) of complete immunization in children whose mothers were educated versus those whose mothers were not educated was 1.44 (95% CI: 1.16-1.77). Maternal literacy substantially reduced the estimated association between maternal education and complete immunization by 90%, whereas household economic status reduced the estimates by 27%.ConclusionThese findings suggest that complete immunization was higher in children whose mothers were educated, partly because maternal education leads to acquisition of literacy skills and better health-seeking behavior which then improves immunization uptake for their children. Socioeconomic status is an alternative pathway but with less substantial indirect effect.

The wettability of the articular surface of cartilage depends on the condition of its surface active phospholipid overlay, which is structured as multi-bilayer. Based on a hypothesis that the surface of cartilage facilitates the almost frictionless lubrication of the joint, we examined the characteristics of this membrane surface entity in both its normal and degenerated conditions using a combination of atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurement, and friction test methods. The observations have led to the conclusions that (1) the acid–base equilibrium condition influences the lubrication effectiveness of the surface of cartilage and (2) the friction coefficient is significantly dependent on the hydrophobicity of the surface of the tissue, thereby confirming the hypothesis tested in this paper. Both wettability angle and interfacial energy were obtained for varying conditions of the cartilage surface both in its wet, dry and lipid-depleted conditions. The interfacial energy also increased with mole fraction of the lipid species reaching an asymptotic value after 0.6. Also, the friction coefficient was found to decrease to an asymptotic level as the wettability angle increased. The result reveal that the interfacial energy increased with pH till pH = 4.0, and then decreased from pH = 4.0 to reach equilibrium at pH = 7.0.

The surface amorphous layer of articular cartilage is of primary importance to its load-bearing and lubrication function. This lipid-filled layer is degraded/disrupted or eliminated when cartilage degenerates due to diseases. This article examines further the characteristic of this surface overlay using a combination of microscopy and imaging methods to evaluate the hypothesis that the surface of articular cartilage can be repaired by exposing degraded cartilage to aqueous synthetic lipid mixtures. The preliminary results demonstrate that it is possible to create a new surface layer of phospholipids on the surface of cartilage following artificial lipid removal, but such a layer does not possess enough mechanical strength for physiological function when created with either unsaturated palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine or saturated dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine component of joint lipid composition alone. We conclude that this may be due to low structural cohesivity, inadequate time of exposure, and the mix/content of lipid in the incubation environment.

In this study, the authors examine the influence of joint chemical environment by measuring changes in the tribological properties (friction coefficient and charge density) of contacting surfaces of normal and degenerated cartilage samples in bath solutions of varying pH (2.0-9.0). Bovine articular cartilage samples (n = 54) were subjected to several surface measurements, including interfacial energy, contact angle, and friction coefficient, at varying pH. The samples were delipidized and then subjected to the same measurement protocols. Our results reveal that the interfacial energy and charge density, which have been shown to be related to friction coefficient, decrease with pH in the acidic range and approach constant values at physiological (or synovial fluid) pH of 7.4 and beyond it, i.e., toward basic pH domain. The authors conclude that this rather complex response explains the long-term efficacy with respect to ageing and associated pH changes, of the phospholipid layers that facilitate the almost frictionless, hydration-lubrication involving contact in the mammalian musculoskeletal system.

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