THE QUALITY OF TEACHING-LEARNING INPUTS AVAILED TO TUTORS: A CASE OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT AT THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY (ZOU) BULAWAYO REGIONAL CAMPUS

Globally, business organizations are striving to at least meet customers’ expectations or go beyond in their business transactions. This is made necessary by the fact that the quality of any organization’s products or services is predicated on the extent to which they meet or surpass customers’ expectations. This premise resulted in the crafting of quality standards that are legally enforced at government and corporate levels world over. Internationally, the ISO 21000 quality standards are observed by many countries including Zimbabwe. The corporate Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is on record for its enduring efforts towards quality service delivery. Quality Assurance and Control are an integral part of the University’s Cooperate Strategy. The University seeks to achieve world class university standards in all of its sub-processes with the prime aim of delighting its stakeholders (ZOU, Quality Policy Procedure Manual, 2013). Several researches were carried on ZOU sub-processes like the quality of tutorials and student services. Little research was carried out on the quality of the teaching-learning inputs the University avails to its tutors. This gap gave birth to this study. The study established that the ZOU Bulawayo Education Department was generally doing well in the orientation sub-process, distribution of modules, and the dissemination of information to tutors. Nevertheless, weaknesses were noted in the following sub-processes; the provision of instructional media and technology, orientation of tutors in on-line assignment marking and orientation in the use of Library and Information Services.  Article visualizations

Modelling of natural fire occurrences : a case of South Africa

Abstract: In contemporary literature there have been growing concerns regarding preservations of natural ecosystems. Given the global growth in awareness of global warming, the need for natural fire prediction models has grown rapidly. Using South Africa as a case study, we evaluate the potential of integrating several natural fire prediction models and geographical information system (GIS) platforms. Initially, natural fire prone regions in South Africa were spatially demarcated basing on municipal historical data records. Thereafter, the natural fire prediction models were applied/tested in parallel to identify the best prediction models that give optimum results in predicting natural fires. The models were assessed for accuracy using historical data. Preliminary results reveal locations in the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo province had the highest recorded potential for natural fires. In conclusion, the work demonstrates huge potential of prediction models in informing the likelihood of natural fire outbreaks. Lastly, the work recommends the adoption of natural fire prediction models and the subsequent formulation and use of relevant future natural fire mitigation policies and techniques to avert disasters in time

Trends in typologies of concurrent alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among US adolescents: An ecological examination by sex and race/ethnicity

Substance use during adolescence is a public health concern due to associated physical and behavioral health consequences. Such consequences are amplified among concurrent substance users. Although sex and racial/ethnic differences in single-substance use have been observed, the current literature is inconclusive as to whether differences exist in the prevalence of concurrent use. The current study used data from the 2011–2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to examine typologies (single and concurrent patterns) of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among current adolescent users age 12–18 by sex and race/ethnicity. Participants were 14,667 White, Hispanic, African American, Asian, and Native American adolescents. The most common typology was alcohol only, followed by concurrent use of alcohol and marijuana. Weighted prevalence estimates indicated that adolescent females were more likely to be current users of alcohol only, whereas male adolescents were more likely to belong to all other typologies. Compared to Whites, racial/ethnic minorities had larger proportions of marijuana only users and were generally less likely than or equally likely to be concurrent users. One exception was for African American adolescents, who were more likely to be alcohol and marijuana users than their White counterparts. Results suggest that concurrent substance use is common among U.S. adolescents, making up over 40% of past-month use, but typologies of use vary by sex and race/ethnicity. Preventive interventions should consider all typologies of use rather than only single substance exposures and address patterns of use that are most pertinent to adolescents based on sex and race/ethnicity

Effect of Vachellia erioloba and Dichrostachys cinerea pod supplementation on performance of does and kids of Namibian Caprivi and Ovambo indigenous goats

An on-station feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of Vachellia erioloba (VE) and Dichrostachys cinerea (DC) pod supplementation on intake, doe weight changes and growth of kids. Forty-two indigenous lactating does with average weight of 35 ± 0.5 kg from Parities 2 to 4 and grouped by ecotype (Caprivi and Ovambo) were allocated to a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement of treatments in a randomized complete block design with six does per treatment. The main factors were two pod types (VE, DC) at three feeding levels (20%, 40%, 60%), benchmarked against positive control (commercial feed (COM)) resulting in seven treatment diets. Phosphate salt lick and water were available ad libitum. Data were analysed as repeated measures using Proc Mixed (SAS, 2008). Voluntary feed intake (VFI) increased steadily for all treatments, peaking at about Week 5, followed by a drop, and then gradual stabilization in Weeks 7 to 12. Intake of does dropped drastically with VE60 and DC60 diets. Does in Parity 3 had significantly higher VFI than those in Parity 2, but there were no differences with Parity 4 does. Does in Parities 3 and 4 were significantly heavier than those in Parity 2. Doe weights declined from Week 1 to Week 8 and then increased gradually. Male kids were heavier than female kids (13.3 ± 0.2 vs. 10.5 ± 0.1 kg). The regression of kid weights on age (days) was 0.030 ± 0.012. Kids from does in Parities 3 and 4 had significantly higher weights than those from does in Parity 2. Single kids were heavier than twins (13.3 ± 0.2 vs.10.5 ± 0.1 kg). Kid weights from does supplemented with DC20 were similar to those receiving COM, VE20 and VE40, but kid weights of does supplemented with VE60, DC40 and DC60 were inferior to other treatments. Supplementing lactating goats with pod-based diets, particularly V. erioloba at 40%, may lead to increased VFI, reduced bodyweight loss in does and increased kid pre-weaning weights.Keywords: Lactating does, pod-based diets, voluntary feed intake, doe weights, pre-weaning weights of kid

The Effect of Black Tax on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Idiocentrism-Allocentrism-A Case of Pharmaceutical Industry in Zimbabwe

Employees in the Pharmaceutical industry are coming late to work and knocking off early. These actions unveiled by the employees are likely to incur economic costs on the employer, occasioned by low employee productivity. Owners of production have expressed concern over the general low staff morale in the pharmaceutical sector. While most studies have concentrated on internal job-related factors as drivers of employee engagement, this study seeks to assess employee engagement as being influenced by black tax, an external factor. The main aim of the research was to establish the influence of black tax on employee engagement, being mediated by idiocentrism-allocentrism, particularly focussing on the pharmaceutical manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The study employed the philosophical approach of pragmatism to guide the whole research. The researcher adopted a multi-stage sampling technique supported by the census technique to pick participants from the population. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from qualified pharmacists who are working in both the manufacturing and retailing industry in Bulawayo. Statistical Package for Social Sciences v23 (Process v3.5 by Andrew F. Hayes) was used to test the hypothesized relationship among variables. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results suggest that black tax directly influence employee engagement in the presence of a mediator (idiocentrism-allocentrism). Furthermore, the results indicate that the indirect coefficient was partially significant, which means that idiocentrism-allocentrism has a partial influence on employee engagement. The researchers recommend that management should ensure that employees are motivated all the time. They should implement an open-door policy so that employees can share their issues that affect their engagement level at work

Treg-Therapy Allows Mixed Chimerism and Transplantation Tolerance Without Cytoreductive Conditioning

Establishment of mixed chimerism through transplantation of allogeneic donor bone marrow (BM) into sufficiently conditioned recipients is an effective experimental approach for the induction of transplantation tolerance. Clinical translation, however, is impeded by the lack of feasible protocols devoid of cytoreductive conditioning (i.e. irradiation and cytotoxic drugs/mAbs). The therapeutic application of regulatory T cells (Tregs) prolongs allograft survival in experimental models, but appears insufficient to induce robust tolerance on its own. We thus investigated whether mixed chimerism and tolerance could be realized without the need for cytoreductive treatment by combining Treg therapy with BM transplantation (BMT). Polyclonal recipient Tregs were cotransplanted with a moderate dose of fully mismatched allogeneic donor BM into recipients conditioned solely with short-course costimulation blockade and rapamycin. This combination treatment led to long-term multilineage chimerism and donor-specific skin graft tolerance. Chimeras also developed humoral and in vitro tolerance. Both deletional and nondeletional mechanisms contributed to maintenance of tolerance. All tested populations of polyclonal Tregs (FoxP3-transduced Tregs, natural Tregs and TGF-β induced Tregs) were effective in this setting. Thus, Treg therapy achieves mixed chimerism and tolerance without cytoreductive recipient treatment, thereby eliminating a major toxic element impeding clinical translation of this approach

Steroid-Induced Sigmoid Diverticular Perforation in a Patient with Temporal Arteritis: A Rare Clinical Pathology

Corticosteroids are used in the treatment of many rheumatological diseases including temporal arteritis. The gastrointestinal perforation during corticosteroid treatment is a serious complication. Colon perforation after steroid use was first reported by Beck et al in 1950.1 Although the pathophysiological mechanism is not understood clearly, it is claimed that steroids probably by disturbing the intestinal mucosal barrier, facilitate the intestinal perforation. The long term treatment with corticosteroids increases the risk of colon perforation. We are presenting a patient who was taking corticosteroid due to temporal arteritis for two years and operated with sigmoid diverticular perforation

Data from: Sleep duration is associated with vitamin D deficiency in older women living in Macao, China: A pilot cross-sectional study

Table 1.Characteristics of Macao population (n = 566) stratified by age. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229642.t001 Table 2. Sleep duration (h) and risk of serum 25OHD/L or 25OHD/L in older Macao residents (n = 204). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229642.t002 Table 3. Serum 25OHD/L or serum 25OHD/L risk stratified by duration of sleep (≤6h and \u3e6h) in older Macanese (n = 204). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229642.t003 Table 4. Studies investigating the association between sleep duration and vitamin D (serum 25OHD levels or dietary intake). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229642.t004 S1 Data. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229642.s00

Sleep duration is associated with vitamin D deficiency in older women living in Macao, China: A pilot cross-sectional study

© 2020 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Chinese women are known to have both a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) /l). Associations between sleep duration and circulating 25OHD have recently been reported but, to our knowledge, these associations have not been studied in older Chinese populations. We thus investigated whether sleep duration was associated with vitamin D status in a population from Macao, China, and whether sleep duration modified the association between MetS and vitamin D deficiency. In 207 older (\u3e55 years) Macanese, anthropometry, blood samples and validated questionnaires, including sleep duration and cardiovascular risk factors, were simultaneously collected. On multivariable categorical analyses, those women, not men, who had short sleep duration (≤6 hours (h)) were at a 2-fold risk for vitamin D deficiency (both /L and /L; OR = 1.94, 95%CI 1.29-2.92; OR = 2.05, 95%CI 1.06-3.98, respectively) and those who had longer sleep duration (\u3e8 h) were 3-fold more likely to have vitamin D deficiency (OR = 3.07, 95%CI 1.47-6.39; OR = 2.75, 95%CI 1.08- 7.00, respectively) compared to those with normal sleep duration (6-8 h). Both women and men with MetS were 2-fold more likely to have vitamin D deficiency (women: OR = 2.04, 95%CI 1.31-3.17; OR = 2.15, 95%CI 1.11-4.17, respectively; men: OR = 2.01, 95%CI 1.23-3.28; OR = 2.04, 95%CI 1.00-4.29, respectively). Moreover, women with both short sleep duration and MetS had an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency (OR = 3.26, 95%CI 1.10-9.64). These associations were not found in those with longer sleep. Men with longer sleep and MetS had a 5-fold risk of vitamin D deficiency (OR = 5.22; 95%CI 2.70-10.12). This association was non-significant for men with shorter sleep. We conclude that both short and long sleep duration were associated with vitamin D deficiency in older Chinese women. Further research is needed in larger cohorts or with intervention studies to further examine the associations between reduced sleep, metabolic syndrome and vitamin D deficiency

Gender differences in self-construal: how generalizable are Western findings?

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