Central Neuraxial Blockade-Assisted External Cephalic Version in Reducing Caesarean Section Rate: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

We review the medical literature on the success, safety and economic value of central neuraxial blockade-assisted (CNB) external cephalic version from randomized controlled studies identified from 1951 to 2009. The result showed that more women had successful ECV with regional anaesthesia with corresponding reduction in caesarean section rate. They were 1.5 times more likely than women not receiving anaesthesia to have a successful ECV. The number to treat is six women needed to receive anaesthesia for 1 baby to be turned from breech to cephalic presentation. Feto-maternal morbidity was not increased in the CNB-aided group consisting of only transient bradycardia. Although the appropriate amount of force for safe version has not been quantified, there was no report of uterine rupture despite removal of these patients from “excessive force-pain biofeedback loop” induced through motor nerve blockade. We can attribute 30% of cost savings amounting to £42,150.00 directly to CNB using the most up to date Health Resource Group Code (HRG4). The initial results are encouraging but until the benefits and safety of CNB-aided ECV are substantiated by large randomized, blinded controlled trials, this practice cannot be universally recommended

ICT-Based Literacy Evaluation in Nigeria Educational Sector: Case Study in Kwara State

ICT is now a necessity for both professionals and organizations due to its pervasiveness across all fields of human endeavour. The literacy skills level plays a major role in its application for routine responsibilities and the pace at which task is complemented. For efficient service delivery in the public service, this study evaluated the ICT literacy abilities and their application among the staff of education agencies. It used a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Structured items on the ICT skills assessment and utilization questionnaire (ICTSAUQ) were administered to fifty staff using convenient sampling techniques. To respond to the research questions posed by this study, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The question was addressed using percentage means and standard deviations, and the questions were analysed using a t-test. The results showed that having a basic understanding of ICT helps do administrative tasks daily. However, the staff of the education agencies lacked the necessities for their daily routine of managerial responsibilities and operations. Hence, it was suggested that staff of the Education Agencies in Kwara State must be exposed to the required ICT skills to perform the routine functions at the optimal level. Additionally, it was suggested that agency staff members be encouraged to consistently improve their ICT literacy abilities through self-training and group work to improve the competence of service delivery in the educational secto

EXCHANGE RATE FLUCTUATIONS AND NIGERIA'S CAPITAL ACCOUNT

This paper examines the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the capital account in Nigeria from 1980 to 2015. The data used for the study were retrieved from the Central Bank of Nigeria Bulletin. The study employed Johansen co-integration test, Error Correction Model (ECM) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS). Evidence from the study shows that exchange rate has no effect on the capital account. As a result of the study, production in the Nigerian economy must be encouraged through availability of domestic credit while market determined interest rate should be encouraged to stimulate economic growth and investmen

Accessibility and Usability of Information and Technology Communication: Application for Record-Keeping among Secondary School Administrators

This study purpose was to examined the accessibility and usability of Information and Technology Communication: Application for record -keeping among secondary school administrators in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State. The findings of this study revealed the information and communication technology (ICT) facilities available, accessible and usable for record -keeping among secondary school administrators in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara, Nigeria, including general computers, laptops, CD ROMs, DVD ROMs, flash drives, and scanners. there is no significant difference between the mean score of male and female secondary school administrators in the area of accessibility and usability of Information and Technology Communication facilities for record-keeping in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State. Based on the findings, it was recommended that There should be adequate provision of modern ICT facilities for record -keeping among secondary school administrators in Ilorin Metropolis, Kwara State. The government should enhance the proper accessibility and usability of Information and Technology Communication facilities in record keeping and other areas of school activities by procuring funds for the purchase of these new technology devices and training staff and school administrators for effective use of these facilities

Hepatic- and Renal protective Effects of Chrysophyllum albidum (African Star Apple) Fruit-Skin Supplementation on Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Chrysophyllum albidum commonly called African star apple, has been reported for its antidiabetic potential but its effect on liver and kidney functions in diabetic rats has not been well investigated. This study investigated effects of Chrysophyllum albidum fruit-skin (CAFS) supplemented diet on Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced intraperitonealy at a single dose of 50mg/kg bw of Streptozotocin (STZ). Forty male Wistar rats weighing averagely 170g were randomly divided into four groups of ten rats each; Group 1-Normal control, Group 2-Diabetic control, Group 3-Diabetic rats treated Glibenclamide, Group 4-Diabetic rats treated 70g/kg CAFS supplemented diet. After four weeks of treatment, the rats were sacrificed. Liver function biomarkers (Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)) activities, kidney function biomarkers (Creatinine and Urea), electrolyte ions (K+,  Na+,  HCO3- and Cl-), total protein and bilirubin levels were measured in the plasma. The diabetic control exhibited hepato-renal dysfunction with significant (p<0.05) increase in the liver marker enzymes’ activities, total bilirubin, creatinine and urea concentrations while decreasing total protein, albumin and electrolyte ions levels compared with normal control group. Treatment with CAFS supplemented diet significantly (p<0.05) enhanced liver and kidney recovery by reducing the elevated activities of liver marker enzymes, reversed the increments in creatinine, urea and total bilirubin while increasing the concentration of total protein and restoring electrolyte ions concentrations to near normal values. CAFS supplemented diet has hepatic- and renal protective effects on STZ-induced diabetic rats. Thus, CAFS could be considered as therapeutic agent against the progression of diabetes complications. Keywords: Chrysophyllum  albidum; fruit-skin; liver markers; kidney markers; diabetes. DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/10-6-02 Publication date:March 31st 2020

An Analysis of Relationship between Working Height and Productivity of Masonry Workers on Site

The analysed the relationship between working height and productivity of masonry worker on construction site by investigating two project sites. Data were also gathered by observing work activity on site. Time study form was design to record the various elements of the task performed and the time taken to complete each element over a period of observation at both floor levels for a period of six working days. A total of thirty structured questionnaires were administered on the factors affecting workers productivity on construction site. T-test was used to determine the difference between productivity at different level. The research concluded that the factors affecting\workers productivity are: Availability of materials, Weather, Gang size, Enabling environment, Height of work have strongly significant effect on the productivity of workers output on construction sites. A none statistically significant difference existed between the output of block laying at both floor levels but a statistically significant difference existed between the output of concrete work at first suspended floor slab and second suspended floor slab. It was also concluded that the output determined for Block laying was 12m2/day, Concrete work 19m2 /day and16m2 /day at 1st suspended and 2nd suspended floors respectively. It was recommended that the result of this research should be used to provide information upon which planning, scheduling and cost control of block laying, plastering and concrete works can be carried out.              Keywords: Construction Productivity, Work study, working height & Masonry productivit

Development of mobile-interfaced machine learning-based predictive models for improving students' performance in programming courses

Student performance modelling (SPM) is a critical step to assessing and improving students' performances in their learning discourse. However, most existing SPM are based on statistical approaches, which on one hand are based on probability, depicting that results are based on estimation; and on the other hand, actual influences of hidden factors that are peculiar to students, lecturers, learning environment and the family, together with their overall effect on student performance have not been exhaustively investigated. In this paper, Student Performance Models (SPM) for improving students' performance in programming courses were developed using M5P Decision Tree (MDT) and Linear Regression Classifier (LRC). The data used was gathered using a structured questionnaire from 295 students in 200 and 300 levels of study who offered Web programming, C or JAVA at Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria between 2012 and 2016. Hidden factors that are significant to students' performance in programming were identified. The relevant data gathered, normalized, coded and prepared as variable and factor datasets, and fed into the MDT algorithm and LRC to develop the predictive models. The developed models were obtained, validated and afterwards implemented in an Android 1.0.1 Studio environment. Extended Markup Language (XML) and Java were used for the design of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and the logical implementation of the developed models as a mobile calculator, respectively. However, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Relative Absolute Error (RAE) and the Root Relative Squared Error (RRSE) were the metrics used to evaluate the robustness of MDT and LRC models. The evaluation results obtained indicate that the variable-based LRC produced the best model in terms of MAE, RMSE, RAE and the RRSE having yielded the least values in all the evaluations conducted. Further results obtained established the strong significance of attitude of students and lecturers, fearful perception of students, erratic power supply, university facilities, student health and students' attendance to the performance of students in programming courses. The variable-based LRC model presented in this paper could provide baseline information about students' performance thereby offering better decision making towards improving teaching/learning outcomes in programming courses

Approaches to Machine Translation: A Review

Translation is the transfer of the meaning of a text from one language to another. It is a means of sharing information across languages and therefore essential for addressing information inequalities. The work of translation was originally carried out by human translators and its limitations led to the development of machine translators. Machine Translation is a subfield of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another. There are different approaches to machine translation. This paper reviews the two major approaches (single vs. hybrid) to machine translation and provides critique of existing machine translation systems with their merits and demerits. Several application areas of machine translation and various methods used in evaluating them were also discussed. Our conclusion from the reviewed literatures is that a single approach to machine translation fails to achieve satisfactory performance resulting in lower quality and fluency of the output. On the other hand, a hybrid approach combines the strength of two or more approaches to improve the overall quality and fluency of the translation

Assessment of Soil Salinity and Irrigation Water Quality of Chanchaga Irrigation Scheme I, Minna, Niger State

The extent to which salinity is increasing in arid and semi-arid regions recently has become a concern in irrigation and non-irrigation land. In view of this, the study evaluated soil salinity and irrigation water quality at Chanchaga Irrigation Scheme I, Minna, Niger State with the aim of assessing the soil fertility status and irrigation water source of the scheme. The study took soil samples at 0 - 30cm depth from irrigated and non-irrigated plots and water was taken from the main point of the border irrigation system. Both soil and water sample collected were subjected to laboratory analysis. The study determined sodium absorption ratio and exchangeable sodium percentage of soil and water parameters analyzed in the laboratory. The Levene's test for equality of variances was performed on the concentration of the parameters analyzed in both soil (irrigated and non-irrigated plot) and water of the scheme. The study reveals that the sodium concentration was found higher in the irrigated plot than control plot and the EC and SAR values of the irrigated plot was classified as sodic. The SAR and other exchangeable values in both irrigated and non-irrigated plot have equal variances (> 0.10) with the exception of chlorine which is significant. The level of potassium in the water was higher and sodic in nature. The study concluded that the sodium hazard in both soil and water was higher than the desirable limits. It is important to take the soil sample of the whole plots so as to examine the salt variation in the schem