Leveraging Technology-Mediated Adult and Distance Learning for Economic Growth in Africa#

Following the rudiments of contextual analysis, and based on theoretical and philosophical analyses, this paper explores how technology mediated adult and distance learning might contribute to the economic growth of Africa, all things remaining equal. It proceeds from the perspective of analysing the related contextual situations of selected countries in Africa through the brief review of Africa's technology readiness, and posited that the possible gains that could be made from the application of adult and distance learning are tacitly located in somewhat perfect management of systems and sub-systems in education and the economy. Based on this analysis, it was proposed that whatever might be the state of Internet and technology readiness Africa has achieved, the successful creation of the nexus for economic growth is circumscribed unless the continent's political stability is assured now and in the future

Community Radio, Family and Psychological Support for Sexual Harassment Issues: A Study of Yoruba Usage

Sexual harassment is a recurrent issue in any modern society. The increasing cases of sexual harassment against women have become a menace in Nigeria. This study sought to determine the potential place of Yoruba as a form of localized communication in promoting psychological support on issues of sexual harassment against women. The study employed development media theory and considered Hebron FM as an example. Survey method was employed for the study and instrument of data collection was questionnaire. A sample size of 150 respondents was selected for the study. The results showed that many of the respondents believed that the use of Yoruba in broadcasting, aids socio-cultural development in Ota in Nigeria. Also, the study indicated that 87 per cent of the respondents say use of Yoruba promotes psychological support on sexual harassment issues against women

Community Radio, Women and Family Development Issues in South Africa: An Experiential Study

In South Africa, community radio outlets have adopted the use of indigenous languages to address local issues affecting women and familydevelopment. This study examined how community radio give attention to the perspectives of women on family development issues in South Africa. Furthermore, this study examined the types and direction of radio frames, in the area of indigenous language usage and community radio broadcasting. This study was anchored in framing theory to understand how community radio promotes women’s rights and family development issues. The method adopted for this study was content analysis, which examined the manifest content of radio messages on family development-oriented issues. Also, three hypotheses were tested using Chi-square and Spearman’s Rank Correlation analysis to determine the relationship that exists among variables. The findings of this study showed that that 50% of female listeners were optimistic about the solutions proffered on issues of family development. Also, almost 18% of female listeners were indifferent to solutions proffered on issues of family development. This study concluded that community radio plays an essential role in making large numbers of people aware of their basic rights and duties. Not only limited to solving problems which women face in their day-to-day lives, community radio provides women with a strong platform from which they can freely disseminate their ideas among community members in the best possible manner

Depression, Self-Esteem and Sociodemographic Determinants of Suicidal Ideation Among University Undergraduates

The study examined the direct effects and interaction effects of depression, self-esteem, age and religious affiliation on suicidal ideation. A total of 241 (Mean age=18.89; female=52.7%) university undergraduates in a Nigerian university that were selected through convenient sampling procedure responded to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Beck Depression Scale (Short form) and Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire. Results of the Two-Way ANOVA revealed a between subject significant main effect of depression, (F = 11.27, p<.05, Æžp2 = .089) and a non-significant main effects of self-esteem, (F= 1.82, p>.05, Æžp2 = .015) on suicidal ideation. The interaction effect was not found to be significant (F= .49, p<.05, Æžp2 = .008). however, age (F = 8.06, p<.01, Æžp2 = .064) and religious affiliation (F = 9.41, p<.05, Æžp2 = .038) were also found to have significant main effects and interaction effects (F = 40.85, p<.01, Æžp2 = .045) on respondents' suicidal ideation. The study concluded that depression, age and religious affiliation influenced suicidal ideation among college students

A bioinformatics approach to the identification of type 2 diabetes susceptibility gene variants in Africans

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disease that results from complex interactions between the environment, the genetic variation and epigenetic regulation of gene expression in individuals. Beta-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance are regarded as the hallmarks of the disease as the common presentation of T2D is the inability of beta-cells to adequately respond to the insulin demands of the body. The prevalence of T2D in Africa, and particularly South Africa, is on the rise. This is very likely the result of the combination of genetic susceptibility with increasing availability and accessibility of relatively cheap, highly palatable, calorie-dense meals with no corresponding lifestyle adjustment. This study aims to utilize available data from GWAS and gene expression arrays to identify potential variants that likely influence T2D susceptibility in African populations. Two public data repositories were mined – the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI) Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) GWAS Catalog. The criteria for selecting the studies for inclusion were based on ten descriptive T2D-related terms taken from the GWAS catalog’s pre-defined search categories. These terms were also applied to the selection of gene expression studies in GEO. These terms are: “fasting glucose-related traits”, “fasting insulin-related traits”, “fasting plasma glucose”, “insulin resistance/response”, “insulin traits”, “diabetes-related insulin traits”, “pro insulin levels” “Type 2 diabetes”, “type 2 diabetes and 6 quantitative traits” and “type 2 diabetes and other traits”. Ten Affymetrix platform-based studies in human tissues were chosen from GEO using these criteria. A Benjamin-Hochberg adjusted p-value of 0.05 was set as a cut-off for significant differentially expressed genes (7,887 genes) with 497 genes occurring in two or more studies, based on tissue- or array-type, considered candidates for downstream analysis. The GWAS catalogue presented 175 “reported” genes and 218 SNPs from 51 studies matching the set T2D-related criteria. Functional analyses done with the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) on both the GWAS and expression studies genes lists

Moderated Mediation Roles Of Happiness And Family Type On Self-Acceptance And Relationship Satisfaction

Self-acceptance has been established to enhance romantic relationship experiences among college students. However, the mechanism for the stablished link is missing. Therefore, this study examined the link between self-acceptance and relationship satisfaction as well as the mediating role of happiness in the association between self-acceptance and relationship satisfaction among college students. It also investigated the moderated mediated role of family type in the relationship. Participants consisted of 275 (Female = 42.9%; Mean age = 21.11, SD = 1.64) who responded to the Relationship Satisfaction Scale, Self-Acceptance and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Data were analysed with the Pearson Product Moment Corellation and Hayes PROCESS Macro statistical tools. A positive association was found beween  self-acceptance, happiness and  relationship satisfaction. Further, happiness had a mediating effect on the association between self-acceptance and relationship satifaction among university undergraduate students. Results of the moderated mediation analysis showed that the indirect effect of happiness in the self-acceptance – relationship staifaction link was greater among those with monogamous family type than those with polygamous family type. Early exposure of children to social and recreational activities by parents and relevant stakeholders could enhance their self-acceptance, happiness and consequently better realationship experiences

MATERNAL MORTALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

Maternal mortality is a serious public health issue for Nigeria and South Africa. This is so because maternal mortality is an indicator of the level and efficacy of public health investment and performance for both countries. This study focuses on the experience of these two countries in order to determine if South Africa’s governmental policies, level of government corruption, and traditional practices directly lead to its comparably better maternal health statistics. South Africa has demonstrated lower ratios of maternal mortality and more consistent improvement in maternal health indicators than Nigeria because of stronger government support for maternal health, effective policies to improve accessibility, and availability of maternal healthcare. And when there is a constant reporting and reflection of the unpredictability of the rate at which the phenomenon occurs, the critical need arises not just for a comparative measurement of the scale of occurrence but, more so, the centrality of applying a multi-sectoral approach to the mitigation of this public health issue. This paper proceeds with that assumption by first exploring the incidence of maternal mortality using a comparative analysis lens. It then identifies the structures and processes in adult and continuing education that could be adapted in contributing valid ideas to the reduction of maternal mortality in Nigeria and South Africa

Socio‐Demographic Modelling of Maternal Mortality with Implications for Community Learning and Action

Maternal mortality remains a serious global public health problem. The paper examines the socio‐demographic factors associated with maternal mortality with implications for community learning and action in developing areas. The data analyzed were obtained from a sample of 20,467 women aged 15‐49 years whose recent delivery occurred in the five years preceding the survey. Stata 12 computer software was used to carry out data analyses. Data analyses were done at univariate and bivariate levels. Results from the univariate analysis indicated that the proportion of mothers who did not deliver in a healthcare facility was (67 per cent) against the thirty per cent of mothers who delivered at a healthcare facility. About sixty‐four per cent of the women did not indicate interest in seeking professional assistance. This was followed by 36 per cent of those who sought assistance. All the background variables at the bivariate levels showed their influence on the cost of the facility, except the place of residence (P = 0.808). Contrariwise, all the variables relating to the distance to a healthcare facility were significant during delivery (P <0.001). This means that both availabilities of transport and healthcare facility cost are important proximate determinants through which socio‐economic, demographic and cultural factors influenced maternal mortality risk. Based on these outcomes, we conclude that policies and community learning and action programs aimed at encouraging pregnant women to seek professional assistance should help to increase the prevalence of delivery in healthcare facilities, thereby reducing the risk of maternal mortality

The effect of women’s status on desired family size with implications for community based participatory action

This study explored the effect of women’s status on desired family size with the implications for community based participatory action. The population included all married women at the reproductive age (15-49) years.A questionnaire titled “effect of women’s status on desired family size with the implications for community based participatory action” consisting of 40 items was validated and tested for reliability and administered to 250 respondents who were selected through a multistage sampling technique modified by simple random sampling method which was adopted. A multinomial regression analysis was applied. Data was analyzed by the Stata (version 12) software. The findings indicate that a greater intention to limit childbearing is associated with exposure to media promoting family planning, current use of contraceptives, as well as future use of contraceptives, household decision making. In conclusion, a moderate proportion of women desired to limit or reduce their desired family size but there was a low connection to women’s educational status, their age at marriage, as well as the level of occupation, thus improving access to family planning services to women who have achieved their fertility goals would be greatly important, as well as boosting the age at marriage, increasing awareness, and enhancing husband's occupation, would greatly make an impact. It is proposed that the community-based action consisting of community orientation and action could help in mitigating existing challenges

Multivariate Analysis of Maternal Mortality with Implications for Community Participatory Action Learning

Maternal mortality is a global public health issue that requires urgent multi-disciplinary action, especially ones that are designed with the determined commitment of the community itself. The data analyzed and reported in this paper consisted of responses from 20,467 women aged 15-49 years whose delivery occurred in the five years preceding the survey. Stata 12 computer software was applied in the data analyses, and at the multivariate level, using the Binary Logistic Regression and the Likelihood Ratio (LR) statistical test of significance. The binary logistic regression included all the six background variables with the two intervening variables, that is, “transport too far” and “facility cost too much”. Results showed that women who confirmed not being able to visit healthcare facility due to lack of transportation coupled with the fact the fact that health facility costs are less likely to seek the assistance of healthcare professionals for the delivery of their babies. On the other hand, there were mothers who responded “No”, that is, the cost was not too much and the health facility not too far respectively yielded a statistical value of 0.8 and 0.9, P > 0.195 and 0.533. The likelihood ratio (LR) test to determine the extent to which availability of transport and facility cost helped to explain the effect of the background variables on assistance received yielded a highly significant result (chi-square = 737 on 2 degrees of freedom, P < 0.001). This means that both availability of transport and facility cost are important proximate determinants through which socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors influence maternal mortality risk in Nigeria. Based on these findings, we conclude that policies and programs targeted at mobilizing communities to identify danger signs and activate emergency transport systems and the introduction of creating innovative digital health tools can help providers deliver higher quality services more effectively. And these can be effectively strengthened by including sufficient measures of community participatory action learning on a large scale