Higher Education Institutions and Post-Covid In-Demand Employability Skills: Responding Through Curriculum that Works

This study explained that the post-Covid world of work would demand a new set of employability skills. Higher education institutions need to respond by preparing graduates with manifest post-COVID-19 employability skills through innovatively delivered curricula. Through literature review, the study identified post-Covid-19 in-demands employability skills and ways of innovatively fostering them. The study adopted the descriptive survey method and canvassed (104) faculty members’ (from 9 public universities) opinions through an online poll on the skills they considered relevant for post-pandemic graduate employability and integrating them into universities curricula. Data collected were descriptively analyzed using frequency count and percentage. Findings showed that when universities commit to innovative curriculum delivery, students can easily acquire skills and competencies required to effective security and create jobs in the post-Covid job market effectively recommended that universities should innovate their curricula by integrating post-Covid in-demands skills needed for students’ post-Covid job market

Job Stress and Employee Mental Health during Economic Recession: Evidence from Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector

The study was carried out using the economic recession as the propelling factor to determine the job stress level and employee mental health status and examine their relationship using the Oil and Gas industries in the Central Senatorial District of Lagos as the unit of analysis. The study made use of multi-stage sampling techniques to select the sample, sample size, and the administration of the questionnaire to capture and preserve the characteristics of the respondents. From the analysis of data collected, it was found that the level of job stress was very high based on the variable indices such as qualification, co-workers’ relationship and human relations, poor administrative and technical support, terms and conditions of employment, workload and time pressure, adequacy of compensation packages, family and work life relations, and superior-subordinate relationship, as well as the organizational policies and these indices, independently and significantly influenced employee mental health negatively at 0.05 level of Sig. it was concluded that economic recession as experienced by the sector was responsible for the high level of stress among the employees which invariably affect the mental health of employees to be poor/low. It was recommended that the management of these organizations should endeavour to improve the existing organizational policies to reduce friction and improve mental health

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Entrapment Neuropathies

Entrapment neuropathy is the result of pressure on a peripheral nerve as it passes through a narrow canal that is bounded by stiff tissues. In spite of their ubiquitous nature, they are underdiagnosed, underreported, and sometimes not properly managed, especially in developing countries. Entrapment neuropathies are of various types, but the most common type is carpal tunnel syndrome. Mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of entrapment neuropathies include mechanical compression and nerve ischemia. A clear understanding of the various types and the underlying mechanisms of entrapment neuropathies are invaluable in the decision-making process involved in the management of every patient with the condition

C.J.: Computing accurate correspondences across groups of images

Abstract—Groupwise image registration algorithms seek to establish dense correspondences between sets of images. Typically they involve iteratively improving the registration between each image and an evolving mean. A variety of methods have been proposed, which differ in their choice of objective function, representation of deformation field and optimisation methods. Given the complexity of the task, the final accuracy is significantly affected by the choices made for each component. Here we present a groupwise registration algorithm which can take advantage of the statistics of both the image intensities and the range of shapes across the group to achieve accurate matching. By testing on large sets of images (in both 2D and 3D), we explore the effects of using different image representations and different statistical shape constraints. We demonstrate that careful choice of such representations can lead to significant improvements in overall performance. Index Terms—Non-rigid registration, correspondence problem, appearance models

Dataset on biochemical inhibiting activities of selected phytochemicals in Azadirachta indica L as potential NS2B–NS3 proteases inhibitors

The anti-NS2B–NS3 proteases activities of Azadirachta indica L. were investigated via the data obtained from selected bioactive compounds from Azadirachta indica L. The work was investigated using insilico approach and the series of computational software were used to execute the task. The software used were Spartan 14, material studio, Padel, Pymol, Autodock tool, Autodock vina and discovery studio. The obtained descriptors from 2D and 3D of the optimized compounds were screened and they were used to develop QSAR model using material studio software. Also, biological interaction between the selected bioactive compounds from Azadirachta indica L. and NS2B–NS3 proteases (PDB ID: 2fom) were accomplished using docking method and the calculated binding affinity as well as the residues involved in the interaction were reported. More so, the ADMET features for [(5S,6R,7S,8R,9S,10R,11S,12R,13S,17R)-17-(2,5-dihydroxy-2,5-dihydrofuran-3-yl)-11,12-dihydroxy-6‑methoxy-4,4,8,10,13-pentamethyl-1,16-dioxo-6,7,9,11,12,17-hexahydro-5H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-7-yl] 3-methylbut-2-enoate (Compound 6) and (10R,13S,14S,17S)-17-[1-(3,4-dihydroxy-5,5-dimethyloxolan-2-yl)ethyl]-4,4,10,13,14-pentamethyl-1,2,5,6,9,11,12,15,16,17-decahydrocyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-one (compound 12) with lowest binding affinity were investigated and reported

Dietary Risk Assessment and Consumer Awareness of Mycotoxins among Household Consumers of Cereals, Nuts and Legumes in North-Central Nigeria

This study characterized the health risks due to the consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and assessed the consumer awareness level of mycotoxins in households in two north-central Nigerian states during the harvest and storage seasons of 2018. Twenty-six mycotoxins and 121 other microbial and plant metabolites were quantified by LC-MS/MS in 250 samples of cereals, nuts and legumes. Aflatoxins were detected in all food types (cowpea, maize, peanut and sorghum) except in millet. Aflatoxin B1 was the most prevalent mycotoxin in peanut (64%) and rice (57%), while fumonisin B1 occurred most in maize (93%) and beauvericin in sorghum (71%). The total aflatoxin concentration was highest in peanut (max: 8422 µg/kg; mean: 1281 µg/kg) and rice (max: 955 µg/kg; mean: 94 µg/kg), whereas the totals of the B-type fumonisins and citrinin were highest in maize (max: 68,204 µg/kg; mean: 2988 µg/kg) and sorghum (max: 1335 µg/kg; mean: 186 µg/kg), respectively. Citrinin levels also reached 51,195 µg/kg (mean: 2343 µg/kg) in maize. Aflatoxin and citrinin concentrations in maize were significantly (p < 0.05) higher during storage than at harvest. The estimated chronic exposures to aflatoxins, citrinin and fumonisins were high, resulting in as much as 247 new liver cancer cases/year/100,000 population and risks of nephrotoxicity and esophageal cancer, respectively. Children who consumed the foods were the most vulnerable. Mycotoxin co-occurrence was evident, which could increase the health risk of the outcomes. Awareness of mycotoxin issues was generally low among the households

High-throughput phenotyping reveals expansive genetic and structural underpinnings of immune variation.

By developing a high-density murine immunophenotyping platform compatible with high-throughput genetic screening, we have established profound contributions of genetics and structure to immune variation (http://www.immunophenotype.org). Specifically, high-throughput phenotyping of 530 unique mouse gene knockouts identified 140 monogenic 'hits', of which most had no previous immunologic association. Furthermore, hits were collectively enriched in genes for which humans show poor tolerance to loss of function. The immunophenotyping platform also exposed dense correlation networks linking immune parameters with each other and with specific physiologic traits. Such linkages limit freedom of movement for individual immune parameters, thereby imposing genetically regulated 'immunologic structures', the integrity of which was associated with immunocompetence. Hence, we provide an expanded genetic resource and structural perspective for understanding and monitoring immune variation in health and disease