Drivers and Barriers to eLearning Adoption by Academic Staff in Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

eLearning is the utilization of electronic technology and media for teaching and learning. This type of pedagogy has become a main stay in higher institutions in developed countries. Despite its advantages over traditional methods of teaching as found in the literature, only few have made it requirement for teaching or have adopted it their pedagogy. As such, this paper seeks to uncover the drivers and barriers to eLearning adoption by academic staff in Bayero University, Kano one of the Second generation universities in Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional approach was adopted for this study which involved 187 respondents (179 retrieved). Data was descriptively analyzed using SPSS version 27. Majority of the respondents reported to have a Master degree as their highest level of qualification. Also, more than half of the respondents(58.1%) strongly disagreed that the management is aware of the benefits of eLearning while more than one third of the respondents stated that they intend to use eLearning if given the opportunity. Furthermore, nearly half of the respondents strongly disagreed that eLearning increases workload, and more than half of the respondents representing (59.8%) strongly agreed that eLearning eases work and more than one third of the respondents (45.3%) believed that access to ICT is a facilitating factor in adoption of e-leaning among academic staff in Bayero University, Kano. In this regard, the university management need to encourage staff to use eLearning including provision of supportive infrastructure and personnel.&nbsp

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Evaluation of Emergency Obstetric Care Services in Primary Health Care Facilities in Niger State: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: Primary health care (PHC) is built on the principles of equity in the distribution of quality health care, active community participation in health care programmes and emphasis on prevention of illnesses rather than cure. The main objectives of maternal health services in the primary health care programme are to ensure that every expectant mother maintains good health throughout the maternity cycle. Aim: The main aim of this study is to evaluate the provision of emergency obstetrics care (EmOC) in Primary Health Care facilities. Materials and Methods: Utilizing the mixed research design, data were collected from 887 women, 69 male participants and 24 healthcare providers across 24 PHC facilities in Niger State selected through the multistage sampling technique using the questionnaire, focus group discussion, indepth interview and facility assessment. Ethical approval and all necessary permission were obtained from the Niger State Primary Health Care Agency, stakeholders and the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and transcription. Results: Findings from the study revealed that prolonged/obstructed labour, hypertension in pregnancy, bleeding in pregnancy, anaemia, retained placenta and breech presentation of the baby during childbirth were among the maternal health problems occurring in the study locations. Also, there were no facilities for the provision of EmOC services in the PHC facilities. Conclusion: Although prolonged/obstructed labour, hypertension in pregnancy, bleeding in pregnancy, anaemia, postpartum haemorrhage and retained placenta were among the frequently occurring maternal health problems, EmOC services were not provided in almost all the PHC facilities visited. It is therefore recommended that efforts should be made to improve the state of the PHC facilities.&nbsp

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Influence of Curriculum Support Officers on the Use of Pedagogies and Instructional Materials Among Senior Secondary School Teachers in Niger State, Nigeria

This study was tagged “the influence of curriculum support officers on the use of pedagogies and instructional materials Among Senior Secondary School teachers in Niger State, Nigeria”. The objectives were to assess the influence of curriculum support officers on the use of pedagogies and instructional materials among Senior Secondary School teachers in Niger State, Nigeria. The study employed descriptive survey. The population was 3,232 with a 346 sample. Multistage sampling technique was used. Twenty-three adopted structured-items questionnaire was used. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through a split-half method using Cronbach’s Alpha to confirm internal consistency and 0.87 was obtained which implied that the instrument was reliable. Mean was used for the data analysis. The study found that the curriculum support officers influenced teachers’ use of pedagogies positively but there were insufficient fund and inadequate transport facilities, and accommodation for curriculum support officers to perform as expected in the schools. Training by curriculum support officers influenced teachers’ job performance on the use of instructional materials although there were inadequate qualified curriculum support officers to guide teachers on the use of instructional materials in the schools. It was recommended that, in collaboration with Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) and School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) principals should invest in school farms to finance and provide inadequate transport facilities as well as accommodation for curriculum support officers to perform as expected in the Senior Secondary Schools. &nbsp

Influence of Curriculum Support Officers on the Use of Record Keeping and Discipline Among Senior Secondary School Teachers in Bauchi State, Nigeria

This study was tagged “the influence of curriculum support officers (CSO) on record keeping and discipline among public Senior Secondary School teachers in Bauchi State”. The objectives were to assess the influence of CSOs on record keeping and discipline among public Senior Secondary Schools in Bauchi State. the descriptive survey was used. The population was 8,667with 365 sample. The multistage sampling technique was used. Twenty-four structured-item questionnaire was used. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through a pilot study using a test re-test method at an interval of two weeks. The 2 results were correlated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) r, and 0.87 was obtained which implied that the instrument was reliable. Mean was used for the data analysis. The study revealed that CSO enhanced effective record keeping, effective record keeping promoted smooth school running, there were inadequate facilities for storing school records and they promoted positive ethical issues, and parents reacted negatively when their children were punished for undesirable behaviour in the school. It was recommended that principals should employ the services of CSOs to enhance positive record keeping among the school personnel. Also, communities should be part of disciplinary committees to promote positive ethical issues among the school personnel. &nbsp

Finding Locally Optimal, Collision-Free Trajectories with Sequential Convex Optimization

Abstract—We present a novel approach for incorporating collision avoidance into trajectory optimization as a method of solving robotic motion planning problems. At the core of our approach are (i) A sequential convex optimization procedure, which penalizes collisions with a hinge loss and increases the penalty coefficients in an outer loop as necessary. (ii) An efficient formulation of the no-collisions constraint that directly considers continuous-time safety and enables the algorithm to reliably solve motion planning problems, including problems involving thin and complex obstacles. We benchmarked our algorithm against several other motion planning algorithms, solving a suite of 7-degree-of-freedom (DOF) arm-planning problems and 18-DOF full-body planning problems. We compared against sampling-based planners from OMPL, and we also compared to CHOMP, a leading approach for trajectory optimization. Our algorithm was faster than the alternatives, solved more problems, and yielded higher quality paths. Experimental evaluation on the following additional problem types also confirmed the speed and effectiveness of our approach: (i) Planning foot placements with 34 degrees of freedom (28 joints + 6 DOF pose) of the Atlas humanoid robot as it maintains static stability and has to negotiate environmental constraints. (ii) Industrial box picking. (iii) Real-world motion planning for the PR2 that requires considering all degrees of freedom at the same time. Fig. 1. Several problem settings were we have used our algorithm for motion planning. Top left: planning an arm trajectory for the PR2 in simulation, in a benchmark problem. Top right: PR2 opening a door with a full-body motion. Bottom left: industrial robot picking boxes, obeying an orientation constraint on the end effector. Bottom right: humanoid robot model (DRC/Atlas) ducking underneath an obstacle while obeying static stability constraints. I