CHANGING URBAN LAND USE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD QUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY (FCT), ABUJA, NIGERIA

Land use change in more recent times is becoming a natural phenomenon in cities of developing countries. Its causes and consequences were investigated with respect to FCT, Abuja, Nigeria. The responses of registered estate surveying firms (ESFs) practicing in FCT Abuja on the pattern of land use dynamics were obtained and analysed by descriptive statistics such as simple distribution frequency (SDF) and mean weighted score (MWS). Four major findings were discovered. Firstly, the predominantly changing land use were agrarian and residential, secondly the direction of change in land use revolves around public land use, residential, retail and office property with prevailing observations of new development and redevelopment involving renovations/rehabilitations and modifications/alterations. Thirdly the major determinants of land use change were identified as economic and spatial political factors and lastly the noticeable consequences had been arbitrary land/rental value, landscape distortion and pressure on urban infrastructure among others. The study recommended that policymakers and private stakeholders should encourage and adhere to land use control measures to strike a balance between economic development and land administrative system to foster a sustainable urban cities

PRAISE: providing a roadmap for automated infection surveillance in Europe

Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are among the most common adverse events of medical care. Surveillance of HAI is a key component of successful infection prevention programmes. Conventional surveillance - manual chart review - is resource intensive and limited by concerns regarding interrater reliability. This has led to the development and use of automated surveillance (AS). Many AS systems are the product of in-house development efforts and heterogeneous in their design and methods. With this roadmap, the PRAISE network aims to provide guidance on how to move AS from the research setting to large-scale implementation, and how to ensure the delivery of surveillance data that are uniform and useful for improvement of quality of care. Methods: The PRAISE network brings together 30 experts from ten European countries. This roadmap is based on the outcome of two workshops, teleconference meetings and review by an independent panel of international experts. Results: This roadmap focuses on the surveillance of HAI within networks of healthcare facilities for the purpose of comparison, prevention and quality improvement initiatives. The roadmap does the following: discusses the selection of surveillance targets, different organizational and methodologic approaches and their advantages, disadvantages and risks; defines key performance requirements of AS systems and suggestions for their design; provides guidance on successful implementation and maintenance; and discusses areas of future research and training requirements for the infection prevention and related disciplines. The roadmap is supported by accompanying documents regarding the governance and information technology aspects of implementing AS. Conclusions: Large-scale implementation of AS requires guidance and coordination within and across surveillance networks. Transitions to large-scale AS entail redevelopment of surveillance methods and their interpretation, intensive dialogue with stakeholders and the investment of considerable resources. This roadmap can be used to guide future steps towards implementation, including designing solutions for AS and practical guidance checklists

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Young clients’ attitudes to service quality at retail banks in a developing country

The aim of this paper is to investigate service quality as perceived by younger customers of retail banks in a developing country. The objectives include identifying customers’ levels of satisfaction and loyalty to their banks and to identify the levels of service quality associated with such satisfaction and loyalty. The instrument used to collect data via a survey of retail bank customers was an adaptation of the SERVQUAL questionnaire. A total of 448 students were surveyed, using a mix of systematic and quota sampling, with data being collected on university campuses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. The main conclusions were that most young customers are reasonably satisfied with, and loyal to, their banks. There was little difference, on all the service quality constructs, between the different banks, and between expectations and perceptions of service quality. However, there was no evidence of any bank providing a service that delighted their customers or exceeded their expectations and so all banks are at risk from a competitor who adopts strategies to meet these goals. The study has contributed to knowledge by focusing on attitudes to service quality of young bank customers in a developing country, an aspect that has been under-researched. Keywords: service quality, retail banking, expectations, perceptions, customer satisfaction, loyalty, SERVQUAL, South Africa. JEL Classification: G21, L84, M3

Web-Based Grade Prediction System

International audienceThe need for improving the educational system has led to researches in the area of educational data mining, which involves the process of applying data mining tools and techniques to analyse data at educational institutions. In some higher institutes, students are plagued with the problem of having to struggle hard to complete different courses since there is no dedicated support offered to students who may need special attention in some of the registered courses. These problems arose due to lack of system to analyse and monitor students' progress and performance in their course at interval. This has therefore resulted in poor academic performance and sub-optimal aachievement by students. To this end, this study developed a system that helps to track students' assessments and predict their grade for different courses. The system was fed with the students' data such as the attendance in class, and number of hours puts in for studies in each course by the student. This two are now used as a criterion to predict the performance in a particular course by getting the average of both. The system was developed using PHP for the backend, MySQL for the Database and HTML, CSS and JavaScript for the front end. Students' data obtained were modelled to predict student grades in their related courses, and levels using a coded algorithm in PHP. Furthermore, the outcome of this research can be used by lecturers who are major module in the system, in higher institutions to track their students' academic performance and help in advising student in subjects they need to improve

Sustaining alcohol and opioid use disorder treatment in primary care: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Efforts to integrate substance use disorder treatment into primary care settings are growing. Little is known about how well primary care settings can sustain treatment delivery to address substance use following the end of implementation support. METHODS: Data from two clinics operated by one multi-site federally qualified health center (FQHC) in the US, including administrative data, staff surveys, interviews, and focus groups, were used to gather information about changes in organizational capacity related to alcohol and opioid use disorder (AOUD) treatment delivery during and after a multi-year implementation intervention was executed. Treatment practices from the intervention period were compared to practices after the intervention period to examine whether the practices were sustained. Data from staff surveys and interviews were used to examine the factors related to sustainment. RESULTS: The two clinics sustained multiple components of AOUD care 1 year following the end of implementation support, including care coordination, psychotherapy, and medication-assisted treatment. Some of the practices were modified over time, for example, screening became less frequent by design, while use of care coordination and psychotherapy for AOUDs expanded. Participants identified staff training and funding for medications as key challenges to sustaining treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Following a multi-year implementation intervention, a large FQHC continued to deliver AOUD treatment. Access to external funding and staff support appeared to be critical elements for sustaining care over time