Effective character education for undergraduates students: A case study of the University of Benin

The study assessed undergraduate students’ perception of university approach to students’ character education. Qualitative research method that adopted focus group discussion was the design of the study. The respondents were drawn from the Faculty of Education University of , from year one to four. The instrument was a questionnaire titled; Students’ Opinion on the University Character Education Scheme (SOUCES). It was made of up of six basic questions. Members of each group responded to each of the questions during the interactive session. The different responses were collated by a member of the research team who acted as the secretary to the different focus groups. The findings of the study revealed that students accepted the need to improve on students’ character through functional character education programme at the university level. It was recommended among others that the counsellors through the university counselling unit should embark on sensitization programme and periodic orientation and seminars to create awareness on the importance of cultivating good character. Key words: Character training, Students , University

Determinants Contributing to Increased Prevalence of Workplace Stress among Registered Nurses in Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital Yemetu Ibadan, Oyo-State

Work-related stress among nurses is a common problem. It is also a contributing factor to health problems in nursing. It is essential to record the causes of stress to an extent of stress in any health care organizations. Nursing involves activities and interpersonal relationships that are often stressful, while nurses are faced with greater demands and high expectations, while they are not well secured. The healthcare environment is a source of overwork and stress has been implicated in today s ’nursing shortage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contributory determinants to the increase in the prevalence of workplace stress among registered nurses in Adeoyo Maternity teaching hospital, Oyo State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was adopted using a Stratified sampling technique consisting of 142 respondents. Data was collected using a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this study show that indeed nurses are suffering from occupational stress. The study revealed that the main causes of occupational stress among nurses are; Sleep Deprivation, inability to cope with work, Inadequacy of resources and staff in the organization. The causes of occupational stress among nurses call for an urgent need to design interventions that can easier make the work environment conducive for nurses. The environment in which individuals work determines the level of satisfaction with work performed.The results show that the number of years worked also contributes to occupational stress among the nurses.&nbsp

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy; a Condition to Monitor in the Management of Leukaemia Patients

Background: Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy is a consumption coagulopathy which mostly results from an underlying disease. It occurs as a result of the activation of the coagulation cascade leading to the formation of thrombi which results in haemorrhage due to the excessive consumption of platelet and coagulation factors. Mali gnancy is associated with hypercoagulable state and increased risk for thrombohemorrhagic complications and leukaemia is no exception. Bleeding manifestations are common in acute leukemias, especially in acute myeloblastic leukemia, and are prominent featu res of an initial stage of the disease. This study assessed disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) in leukaemia patients in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixteen (116) subjects consisting of 58 leukaemic subjects (AML, CLL, and CM L) and 58 age and sex - matched healthy control subjects were recruited into the study. The parameters estimated in this study were packed cell volume (PCV), platelet count, white blood cell count (WBC), prothrombin time (PT), the international normalised ra tio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and D - dimer assay. Result s : The mean ± SD values of the parameters assessed in the leukaemia patients include 3.7±3.1 μg FEU/mL, 67.5±55.7 seconds, 1.8±0.1, 77.3±31.8 seconds, 194±103 cells/mm 3 , 74±124 cells/mm 3 , 30±5% for D - dimer, PT, INR, aPTT, platelets, WBC and PCV respectively. The results display a significant statistical difference between the leukaemic and the control subjects (p<0.05). Conclusion: The abnormality of these haemostatic par ameters occurring in the leukaemic subjects (AML, CLL, and CML) is highly indicative of the occurrence of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy in these patients. This study, therefore, shows that disseminated intravascular coagulopathy can occur as a co mplication of various types of leukaemia studied and this requires prompt and appropriate management

SARS-CoV-2 sequencing collaboration in west Africa shows best practices.

Correspondence - No abstract available

The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

Emergence and spread of two SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest in Nigeria.

Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates