Appraisal of Rural Women Empowerment through Skills Acquisition in Anambra and Rivers States of Nigeria

The paper was a descriptive survey which tried to appraise the Nigerian rural women empowerment through Skills Acquisition Programme (SAP). Skill acquisition is the process of acquiring or gaining effective and ready knowledge in developing ones aptitude and ability in a particular field. Skill acquisition is one among other policies embarked upon in Nigeria with the sole aim to alleviate poverty. The study was conducted in Anambra and Rivers States of Nigeria. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was a 33 – item questionnaire developed by the researchers. The instrument was validated by experts in Curriculum and Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability coefficient of internal consistency of 0.82 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha technique. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions. While t-test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that most rural women have not received loans to start small scale business and that they would prefer government empowerment in areas like garri processing, soap making, farming and hair dressings. Although the Anambra rural women did not prefer to be empowered in snailry instead trading was preferred to them, while the reverse becomes the case with the Rivers State rural women. The differences in choice might be due to the riverine nature of Rivers State and the dryness of Anambra land. Based on the findings, recommendations were put forward among which were that; the fund released for any type of skills acquisition should be properly monitored to avoid embezzlement and misappropriation and that the acquisition of basic computer skills should be encouraged and emphasized

Research shapes policy: but the dynamics are subtle

Major policy initiatives such as the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) in the national contract for UK general practitioners might variably be informed by evidence at their inception, implementation and subsequent evolution. But what evidence gets admitted into these policy debates—and what is left out? Using QOF as an example, this article demonstrates what an analysis of the relationship between policy and the associated research can tell us about the underlying policy assumptions and about the role of evidence in policy debates

Effects of Once-Weekly Exenatide on Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes.

Abstract BACKGROUND: The cardiovascular effects of adding once-weekly treatment with exenatide to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes are unknown. METHODS: We randomly assigned patients with type 2 diabetes, with or without previous cardiovascular disease, to receive subcutaneous injections of extended-release exenatide at a dose of 2 mg or matching placebo once weekly. The primary composite outcome was the first occurrence of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. The coprimary hypotheses were that exenatide, administered once weekly, would be noninferior to placebo with respect to safety and superior to placebo with respect to efficacy. RESULTS: In all, 14,752 patients (of whom 10,782 [73.1%] had previous cardiovascular disease) were followed for a median of 3.2 years (interquartile range, 2.2 to 4.4). A primary composite outcome event occurred in 839 of 7356 patients (11.4%; 3.7 events per 100 person-years) in the exenatide group and in 905 of 7396 patients (12.2%; 4.0 events per 100 person-years) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 1.00), with the intention-to-treat analysis indicating that exenatide, administered once weekly, was noninferior to placebo with respect to safety (P<0.001 for noninferiority) but was not superior to placebo with respect to efficacy (P=0.06 for superiority). The rates of death from cardiovascular causes, fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, fatal or nonfatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, and hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome, and the incidence of acute pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, medullary thyroid carcinoma, and serious adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes with or without previous cardiovascular disease, the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events did not differ significantly between patients who received exenatide and those who received placebo. (Funded by Amylin Pharmaceuticals; EXSCEL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01144338 .)

Information and Communication Technology and School Based Assessment: Challenges for Sustainable Development

Information and Communication technology and school based assessment (SBA) is practice that broadens the form mode, means and scope of assessment in the school using modern technologies in order to facilitate and enhance learning. This study sought to ascertain the efficacy of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in SBA. The study was a descriptive survey carried out in Anambra State. The sample comprised 110 headteachers, 45 staff of local government authority and 660 teachers, giving a total of 815 respondents. Stratified random sampling due to location and nature of job were used to select the sample. Four research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The instrument used was a 41-item questionnaire developed by the researchers. The instrument was validated. Internal consistency was computed using Crombach alpha for the four sections thus; section A = 0.83, section B = 0.91, section C = 0.88 and section D = 0.79. The instrument was administered and data collected. The instrument was used to collect data. The data collected were analysed using means for research questions and analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed among others that ICT is very useful in SBA and all primary schools be provided with ICT facilities and that teachers should be computer literate for sustainable development

VESICO - UTERINE FISTULA: REPORT OF A CASE

A case of vesico-uterine fistula following caesarean section complication is presented. The fistula was diagnosed from clinical, radiological and endoscopic findings. The treatment and prevention of vesico-uterine fistula is discussed with particular reference to our setting