Library Internet Use and Demographic Characteristics of Undergraduates in a Nigerian University: Uncovering the Areas of Need.

This study investigated undergraduates of Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria to ascertain whether their demographic profile was a characteristic of library internet usage. Data used for the study was a textual analysis of statistic register on library internet use from May 2017 – June 2018. The study population consisted of 2682 valid name entries during the period under study. Findings revealed that FUTO has greater number of male undergraduates and this is due to the academic structure of the institution.  Discipline wise demographic characteristics showed that undergraduates from Agricultural Economics made most use of the library internet in School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (SAAT) while those in department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) were the most users in School of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SEET). Also, undergraduates from Information Management Technology (IMT) and Project Management Technology (PMT) used the internet most in School of Management Technology (SMAT) while those in Biotechnology (BIO) were the most users in School of Biological Sciences (SOBS). Further findings revealed that undergraduates from Surveying and Geoinformatics (SVG) were the most library internet users in School of Environmental Technology (SOET) while Biomedical Technology undergraduates (BMT) made use of the internet more than their counterparts in the School of Health Technology (SOHT). Similarly, Computer Science (CSC) students used the internet most in School of Physical Sciences (SOPS). On the overall faculty level, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SEET) made most use of the library internet than other Schools. In terms of study level, it was revealed that final year (500 level) students used the library internet most. Having uncovered the disparity in library internet use, the study recommends among others that embedded librarians in FUTO should promote library operations and services through constant connection and communication with their various departments, continuous marketing and awareness creation of the library’s internet facility. Keywords: Academic library, Internet, Demographic characteristics, FUTO, Undergraduates, Nigerian University, Schools. DOI: 10.7176/IKM/10-2-08 Publication date: March 31st 202

Evaluation of Second National Fadama Development Project in Nigeria: A Rapid Policy Appraisal

The Second National Fadama Development Project was borne out of the need to ensure all year round agricultural production using available Fadama resources in Nigeria and also a follow – up to Fadama 1 that was adjudged successful. Its approach was Community Driven Development (CDD) with emphasis on social inclusiveness and empowerment of the rural people to take charge of their development agenda. The Project focused on increasing sustainably the incomes of Fadama Users via empowerment in terms of capacity building, advisory services, acquisition of productive assets and rural infrastructure development. As at mid – term, beneficiaries have increased their income by about 25%. So far, an estimated 2.3 million Fadama households have benefited from the expansion in incomes and wealth (asset) derived from the previously unavailable services provided by the project. The project had created about 126, 000 permanent jobs and an additional savings of more than $40.8 million have been realized by the majority of the participating states

Evaluation of Second National Fadama Development Project in Nigeria: A Rapid Policy Appraisal

The Second National Fadama Development Project was borne out of the need to ensure all year round agricultural production using available Fadama resources in Nigeria and also a follow – up to Fadama 1 that was adjudged successful. Its approach was Community Driven Development (CDD) with emphasis on social inclusiveness and empowerment of the rural people to take charge of their development agenda. The Project focused on increasing sustainably the incomes of Fadama Users via empowerment in terms of capacity building, advisory services, acquisition of productive assets and rural infrastructure development. As at mid – term, beneficiaries have increased their income by about 25%. So far, an estimated 2.3 million Fadama households have benefited from the expansion in incomes and wealth (asset) derived from the previously unavailable services provided by the project. The project had created about 126, 000 permanent jobs and an additional savings of more than $40.8 million have been realized by the majority of the participating states

Influence of solvation on the spectral, molecular structure, and antileukemic activity of 1-benzyl-3-hydroxy-2-methylpyridin-4(1H)-one

DATA AVAILABILITY : No data was used for the research described in the article.This research focuses on the synthesis, X-ray crystallography, spectral characterization, and the influence of solvents on electronic molecular properties, vibrational analysis, and electronic excitation along with molecular modeling investigation of 1-benzyl-3-hydroxy-2-methylpyridin-4(1H)-one (BHM) as a potential anti-cancer agent. The electronic properties were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) computation at the B3LYP-GD3BJ/6–311++G(d,p) level in different electronic media: acetone, chloroform, ethanol, and water. The experimental wavenumbers of the 19 most pronounced infrared active bonds juxtaposed by the theoretical wavenumbers in four solvents namely acetone, chloroform, ethanol, and water with their corresponding theoretical intensities. Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals the major intermolecular interactions in the molecule are H⋯H, C⋯H, and O⋯H. The energy gap obtained from the four different solvents (acetone, chloroform, ethanol, and water) shows that BHM has higher reactivity in chloroform with an energy gap of 2.8055 eV as compared to acetone (2.8979 eV), ethanol (2.9035 eV) and water (2.9225 eV). In-silico molecular modeling showed that BHM possesses good anticancer potency with computed mean binding affinities of −3.8, −5.3, and −4.7 for the different tested leukemic targets and therefore, suggesting the applicability of BHM as an effective therapeutic agent for cancer.The National Research Foundation South Africa, Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Pretoria.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/molliqhj2024ChemistrySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

Investigating determinants of out-of-pocket spending and strategies for coping with payments for healthcare in southeast Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Out-of-pocket spending (OOPS) is the major payment strategy for healthcare in Nigeria. Hence, the paper assessed the determinants socio-economic status (SES) of OOPS and strategies for coping with payments for healthcare in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of southeast Nigeria. This paper provides information that would be required to improve financial accessibility and equity in financing within the public health care system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study areas were three rural and three urban areas from Ebonyi and Enugu states in South-east Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey using interviewer-administered questionnaires to randomly selected householders was the study tool. A socio-economic status (SES) index that was developed using principal components analysis was used to examine levels of inequity in OOPS and regression analysis was used to examine the determinants of use of OOPS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All the SES groups equally sought healthcare when they needed to. However, the poorest households were most likely to use low level and informal providers such as traditional healers, whilst the least poor households were more likely to use the services of higher level and formal providers such as health centres and hospitals. The better-off SES more than worse-off SES groups used OOPS to pay for healthcare. The use of own money was the commonest payment-coping mechanism in the three communities. The sales of movable household assets or land were not commonly used as payment-coping mechanisms. Decreasing SES was associated with increased sale of household assets to cope with payment for healthcare in one of the communities. Fee exemptions and subsidies were almost non-existent as coping mechanisms in this study</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is the need to reduce OOPS and channel and improve equity in healthcare financing by designing and implementing payment strategies that will assure financial risk protection of the poor such pre-payment mechanisms with government paying for the poor.</p

Global unmet needs in cardiac surgery

More than 6 billion people live outside industrialized countries and have insufficient access to cardiac surgery. Given the recently confirmed high prevailing mortality for rheumatic heart disease in many of these countries together with increasing numbers of patients needing interventions for lifestyle diseases due to an accelerating epidemiological transition, a significant need for cardiac surgery could be assumed. Yet, need estimates were largely based on extrapolated screening studies while true service levels remained unknown. A multi-author effort representing 16 high-, middle-, and low-income countries was undertaken to narrow the need assessment for cardiac surgery including rheumatic and lifestyle cardiac diseases as well as congenital heart disease on the basis of existing data deduction. Actual levels of cardiac surgery were determined in each of these countries on the basis of questionnaires, national databases, or annual reports of national societies. Need estimates range from 200 operations per million in low-income countries that are nonendemic for rheumatic heart disease to >1,000 operations per million in high-income countries representing the end of the epidemiological transition. Actually provided levels of cardiac surgery range from 0.5 per million in the assessed low- and lower-middle income countries (average 107 ± 113 per million; representing a population of 1.6 billion) to 500 in the upper-middle-income countries (average 270 ± 163 per million representing a population of 1.9 billion). By combining need estimates with the assessment of de facto provided levels of cardiac surgery, it emerged that a significant degree of underdelivery of often lifesaving open heart surgery does not only prevail in low-income countries but is also disturbingly high in middle-income countries

Rural-Urban Differences in Maternal Responses to Childhood Fever in South East Nigeria

Childhood fevers due to malaria remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality among under-five children in Nigeria. The degree of vulnerability perceived by mothers will affect their perception of the severity and threat of their child's fever and the patterns of health care use. This study was undertaken to compare maternal responses to childhood fever in urban and rural areas of Enugu, south east Nigeria.Data was collected with pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires from 276 and 124 urban and rural households respectively. In each household, only one woman aged 15-49 years who had lived in each of the urban and rural communities for at least one year and had at least one child less than 5 years old was interviewed. Malaria was mentioned as the commonest cause of childhood fevers. Rural mothers were more likely to recognize danger signs and symptoms than urban mothers. Rural mothers use more of informal than formal health services, and there is more home management of the fever with urban than rural mothers. Chloroquine, ACT, SP and Paracetamol are the main drugs given at home for childhood fevers, but the rural mothers were more likely to use leftover drugs from previous treatment to treat the fevers than urban mothers. The urban respondents were also more likely to use a preventive measure. Urban mothers sought actions faster than rural mothers and the total cost of treatment was also higher in urban areas.Both urban and rural mothers are aware that malaria is the major cause of childhood fevers. Although rural mothers recognize childhood fever and danger signs better than urban mothers, the urban mothers' responses to fever seem to be better than that for rural mothers. These responses and differences may be important for geographical targeting by policy makers for malaria interventions

Reduction in the proportion of fevers associated with Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia in Africa: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Malaria is almost invariably ranked as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa. There is growing evidence of a decline in malaria transmission, morbidity and mortality over the last decades, especially so in East Africa. However, there is still doubt whether this decline is reflected in a reduction of the proportion of malaria among fevers. The objective of this systematic review was to estimate the change in the Proportion of Fevers associated with Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia (PFPf) over the past 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Search strategy. In December 2009, publications from the National Library of Medicine database were searched using the combination of 16 MeSH terms.Selection criteria. Inclusion criteria: studies 1) conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, 2) patients presenting with a syndrome of 'presumptive malaria', 3) numerators (number of parasitologically confirmed cases) and denominators (total number of presumptive malaria cases) available, 4) good quality microscopy.Data collection and analysis. The following variables were extracted: parasite presence/absence, total number of patients, age group, year, season, country and setting, clinical inclusion criteria. To assess the dynamic of PFPf over time, the median PFPf was compared between studies published in the years ≤2000 and &gt; 2000. RESULTS: 39 studies conducted between 1986 and 2007 in 16 different African countries were included in the final analysis. When comparing data up to year 2000 (24 studies) with those afterwards (15 studies), there was a clear reduction in the median PFPf from 44% (IQR 31-58%; range 7-81%) to 22% (IQR 13-33%; range 2-77%). This dramatic decline is likely to reflect a true change since stratified analyses including explanatory variables were performed and median PFPfs were always lower after 2000 compared to before. CONCLUSIONS: There was a considerable reduction of the proportion of malaria among fevers over time in Africa. This decline provides evidence for the policy change from presumptive anti-malarial treatment of all children with fever to laboratory diagnosis and treatment upon result. This should insure appropriate care of non-malaria fevers and rationale use of anti-malarials

Malnutrition as assessed by nutritional risk index is associated with worse outcome in patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure: an ACAP-HF data analysis

Malnutrition is common at hospital admission and tends to worsen during hospitalization. This controlled population study aimed to determine if serum albumin or moderate and severe nutritional depletion by Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) at hospital admission are associated with increased length of hospital stay (LOS) in patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Serum albumin levels and lymphocyte counts were retrospectively determined at hospital admission in 1740 consecutive patients admitted with primary and secondary diagnosis of ADHF. The Nutrition Risk Score (NRI) developed originally in AIDS and cancer populations was derived from the serum albumin concentration and the ratio of actual to usual weight, as follows: NRI = (1.519 × serum albumin, g/dL) + {41.7 × present weight (kg)/ideal body weight(kg)}. Patients were classified into four groups as no, mild, moderate or severe risk by NRI. Multiple logistic regressions were used to determine the association between nutritional risk category and LOS