Gross motor function classification system family questionnaire: validating Yoruba-Nigerian version

Background Assessment of the functional abilities of children with cerebral palsy would be more reliable if care givers are included. An instrument commonly used for assessing functional abilities in CP by their caregivers is the Gross Motor Function Classification System Family Questionnaire. No Nigerian Version of this instrument is currently available; hence this study was designed to evaluate the criterion- related validity of the Yoruba (Nigerian) version of the GMFCSFQ among care givers of children with cerebral palsy.Method Fifteen primary caregivers of children with CP, who are fluent in speaking, reading, and writing both English and Yoruba Languages, were purposively sampled from among those bringing their children or wards for physiotherapy at the University College Hospital Nigeria and involved in this study. The participants completed within one week interval, the English and Yoruba versions of the GMFCSFQ by choosing one of the five ordinal levels corresponding to the gross motor function of their children. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the scores from the English and the Yoruba versions of the instrument. Significant level was set at ά=0.05.Results A strong positive and significant correlation was obtained between the English and Yoruba Versions of the GFMCSFQ (ρ=0.89, p=0.00).Conclusion This suggests that the Yoruba version of the GMFCSFQ is a valid version of the original (English) version. It could therefore be used to gather information about the gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy from their family members or caregivers among Yoruba speaking people of West Africa and in Diaspora.Key words: Cerebral Palsy, Gross Motor Function, Yoruba

E-DEMOCRACY: A REQUIREMENT FOR A SUCCESSFUL E-VOTING AND E- GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACf Reducing poverty by 50% through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which is the primary objective of the millennium development goals (MDGs) requires a lot of innovations such as the implementation of e-Government, e-Democracy, e-Learning, e-Voting, eJudiciary, and e-Health to mention but a few. Participatory democracy is a major requiremer1t for achieving the MDGs, particularly, where majority of the citizenry is disenchanted with the electioneering or democratic processes or governance. This paper reviews the rate of ICT diffusion and the global ranking of the e-Government initiatives of some African countries. The paper also presents the Nigerian National IT policy, the general views of some randomly selected electorates concerning e-Voting, the voting pattern in the past elections, and the likely motivating factors for eVoting in the country as well as the necessary requirements that will facilitate the successful implementation of both e-Voting and e-Government initiatives. Similarly, the paper presents a model for e-Democracy implementation for increased trust and participation in government. Findings revealed that the apathy between electorates and government arose from lack of trust, probity, transparency and accountability. Although, a reasonable percentage of the respondents supported to the adoption of e-Voting, it is equally evident from the level of diffusion of IT facilities: Internet and telephone, that there is still need for improved infrastructure. The position of Nigeria in Africa and the world on global e-Government ranking is abysmally low and does not justify the enormity of material and human resources available in the country. For a successful adoption of eVoting and e-Government, grassroot mobilization through e-Democracy should be encouraged. Government should as a matter of urgency look into the inadequate basic infrastructures that stimulates ICT diffusion and encourage interaction between the electorates and the elects through the adoption of e-Democracy, which in turn encourages probity, transparency, accountability and participation in governance

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background: Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods: The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results: A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion: Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

E-democracy: a requirement for a successful E-voting and E-government implementation in Nigeria

Reducing poverty by 50% through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which is the primary objective of the millennium development goals (MDGs) requires a lot of innovations such as the implementation of e-Government, e-Democracy, e-Learning, e-Voting, e- Judiciary, and e-Health to mention but a few. Participatory  democracy is a major requirement for achieving the MDGs, particularly, where majority of the citizenry is disenchanted with the electioneering or  democratic processes or governance. This paper reviews the rate of ICT diffusion and the global ranking of the e-Government initiatives of some African countries. The paper also presents the Nigerian National IT policy, the general views of some randomly selected electorates concerning e-Voting, the voting pattern in the past elections, and the likely motivating factors for e- Voting in the country as well as the necessary requirements that will facilitate the successful implementation of both e-Voting and e-Government initiatives. Similarly, the paper presents a model for e-Democracy implementation for increased trust and participation in government. Findings revealed that the apathy between electorates and government arose from lack of trust, probity, transparency and accountability. Although, a reasonable percentage of the respondents supported to the adoption of e-Voting, it is equally evident from the level of diffusion of IT facilities: Internet and telephone, that there is still need for improved infrastructure. The position of Nigeria in Africa and the world on global e-Government ranking is abysmally low and does not justify the enormity of material and human resources available in the country. For a successful adoption of e- Voting and e-Government, grassroot mobilization through e-Democracy should be encouraged. Government should as a matter of urgency look into the inadequate basic infrastructures that stimulates ICT diffusion and encourage interaction between the electorates and the elects through the adoption of e-Democracy, which in turn encourages probity, transparency, accountability and participation in governance.Keywords: ICTs, MDGs, e-Democracy, e-Voting, e-Readiness,  e-Government, m-Governmen

Sensitisation study of normalized 316L stainless steel

"Austenitic stainless steels with excellent corrosion resistance and good weldability have wide applications in industry. These iron-based alloys contain a high level of chromium which form protective oxide film on the surface hence resisting corrosion. The oxide film regenerates when damaged, making the steel 'stainless'. However, carbide precipitation due to a welding process or heat treatment can cause the occurrence of chromium-depleted zones at the boundaries, leading to a phenomenon known as sensitisation, in which the depleted zones become the focus of the intense corrosion. The present work was concerned with the study of the sensitization and desensitisation of 316L steel at the normalizing temperatures of 750- 9500 C and soaking times of 0.5, 1, 2 and 8 hrs. 316L stainless steel was observed to be sensitized when heated to 750- 8500 C and held for short soaking times of 0.5 – 2hrs before normalizing. Increasing soaking times at these temperatures to 8 hrs triggered the desensitization process which was fully accomplished at 7500 C but ongoing at 800 and 8500 C. At 9000 C, sensitization did not occur at 30 mins soaking time but observed at soaking times of 1 and 2hrs. At a longer soaking time of 8 hrs, there was full desensitization. At 9500 C, sensitization was already observed at 30 mins. Soaking time and desensitization was observed to be in progress at 1 and 2 hrs soaking time. By 8 hrs there was full desensitization. Thus it was observed that at 9500 C, diffusion of Cr was thermally aided making desensitization fast. The hardness of normalized 316L stainless steel was also observed to decrease with soaking time and normalization temperature

Review of Paediatric Neurological Conditions Seen in the Physiotherapy Department of a Children’s Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria

Management of paediatric neurological conditions involves a multidisciplinary team approach with Physiotherapy being an important member of the team. This study investigated the proportion that neurological conditions accounted for of the total number of paediatric conditions managed at the Physiotherapy Department of the Oni Memorial Children Hospital, Ibadan between January 2004 and December 2006 and also reviewed the specific neurological conditions. Records of all the patients managed during the study period reviewed were identified from which the neurological cases were sorted out and data on specific diagnosis, age and gender were collated. A total of 546 paediatric cases were reviewed out of which 471 (86.3%) were neurological cases with mean age of 25.3± 25.2 months and a 1.3: 1.0 male to female ratio. Cerebral palsy {CP}, predominantly the spastic quadriplegic type, accounted for majority (43.7%) of cases. Traumatic sciatic nerve palsy was the cause of physiotherapy attendance in 35.5% of cases while Obstetric brachial plexus injury accounted [10.8%) of cases. Other conditions were Central Nervous System Infections, Down’s syndrome and Paralysis of unspecified diagnosis, Radial and Facial nerve palsies and Gullian Barre syndrome. A case is made for the deployment of more resources (funds, facilities and health personnels) for the care of neurological paediatric conditions

Review of Paediatric Neurological Conditions Seen in the Physiotherapy Department of a Children’s Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria

Management of paediatric neurological conditions involves a multidisciplinary team approach with Physiotherapy being an important member of the team. This study investigated the proportion that neurological conditions accounted for of the total number of paediatric conditions managed at the Physiotherapy Department of the Oni Memorial Children Hospital, Ibadan between January 2004 and December 2006 and also reviewed the specific neurological conditions. Records of all the patients managed during the study period reviewed were identified from which the neurological cases were sorted out and data on specific diagnosis, age and gender were collated. A total of 546 paediatric cases were reviewed out of which 471 (86.3%) were neurological cases with mean age of 25.3± 25.2 months and a 1.3: 1.0 male to female ratio. Cerebral palsy {CP}, predominantly the spastic quadriplegic type, accounted for majority (43.7%) of cases. Traumatic sciatic nerve palsy was the cause of physiotherapy attendance in 35.5% of cases while Obstetric brachial plexus injury accounted [10.8%) of cases. Other conditions were Central Nervous System Infections, Down’s syndrome and Paralysis of unspecified diagnosis, Radial and Facial nerve palsies and Gullian Barre syndrome. A case is made for the deployment of more resources (funds, facilities and health personnels) for the care of neurological paediatric conditions