Parental attitudes towards vocational education: implications for counselling

This paper looked at one aspect of societal attitudes towards vocational education by conducting a survey involving 200 parents in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. The result of the survey clearly showed that although parents recognize the employment value inherent in vocational education, they are still prepared to accept the superiority of socially prestigious and white-collar professions over technical related occupations. Simple percentages and frequencies were used to obtain data for this study. The paper concluded by examining the implications of these findings for guidance and counselling services in Nigeria. Key Words: Parental Attitude, Vocational Education, Counselling, skill training, school curriculum, grammar educatio

INFLUENCE OF LIVELIHOOD ASSETS ON ATTITUDE TOWARDS SOLID WASTE SANITATION: A CASE OF OKOBABA, LAGOS, NIGERIA

Land form, management policy and socio-economic characteristics have been identified as factors responsible for poor solid waste management. This study examined the influence of livelihood assets on waste sanitation/disposal behaviour in Lagos Metropolis: a case study of Okobaba. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to obtain data for analysis. From the data collected and analyzed descriptively, efforts were made to identify and examine the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, waste sanitation characteristic, livelihood assets and the connection between livelihood assets and waste sanitation behaviour of people in the area under study. The research result established the existence of variations in the waste disposal characteristics of respondents in the area under study. Therefore, it is recommended that a deliberate policy to provide livelihood assets or conditions that will improve access to better livelihood capacity, adequate for low-income households to meet their basic psychological livelihood needs. This is imperative in ensuring attitudinal change towards waste management and advancement to a second-order need like environmental sanitatio

Antioxidant status, hematology, performance, organ and carcass evaluation of heat_stressed broiler chickens fed with dietary Bambusa vulgaris leaf meal

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of bamboo leaf meal (BLM) in broiler chicken feed to alleviate heat stress. Materials and Methods: This investigation was conducted following institutional policies guiding the handling of animals as approved for scientific research. 150 heat-stressed Arbor Acres broiler chickens were divided randomly into five dietary treatments, T1–T5, of 30 per treatment and 10 per replicate, to determine the consequence of feeding BLM on health and performance. Birds in T1–T4 were fed 0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% BLM-included diets, respectively, while T5 had a 0.2% vitamin C-included diet. Results: Increasing dietary BLM positively impacted body weight gain, feed intake, feed conver�sion rate (FCR), and stress indices levels. Broiler chickens had better feed intake (267 gm), weight gain (1,504 gm), and FCR (3.64) in T4. Serum glutathione peroxidase and malondialdehyde levels were not statistically different with increasing dietary BLM, while corticosterone levels were lower for chickens fed with dietary BLM. The superoxide dismutase index levels did not follow a particu�lar pattern as dietary BLM increased. The hematology, carcass, and organ quality were unaffected by dietary BLM inclusion. Conclusion: BLM inclusions up to 2% in the broiler diet ameliorate heat stress conditions and improve performance without imposing any detrimental impact on the birds

MYH9 and APOL1 are both associated with sickle cell disease nephropathy

Renal failure occurs in 5–18% of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and is associated with early mortality. At risk SCD patients cannot be identified prior to the appearance of proteinuria and the pathobiology is not well understood. The MYH9 and APOL1 genes have been associated with risk for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and end-stage renal disease in African Americans

Impact of Inconsistent Policies for Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria on Clinical Practice in Ghana

Background: Policies concerning the prevention of transfusion transmitted malaria (TTM) are the responsibility of blood transfusion services and malaria control programmes. To prevent spreading drug resistance due to over-use of malaria drugs, recent malaria treatment guidelines recommend prompt parasitological confirmation before treatment is started. In contrast, blood safety policies from the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend presumptive malaria treatment for recipients of blood in endemic countries but evidence supporting this approach is lacking. Our study documented how these conflicting policies relating to malaria transmission through blood transfusion impact on clinical practice in a teaching hospital in West Africa. Methods/Principal Findings: We randomly selected and reviewed case notes of 151 patients within 24 hours of their receiving a blood transfusion. Transfusion practices including the confirmation of diagnosis and anti-malarial treatment given were compared across three departments; Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G), Paediatrics and Medicine. Overall, 66 (44%) of patients received malaria treatment within 24 hrs of their blood transfusion; of which only 2 (3%) received antimalarials based on a laboratory confirmation of malaria. Paediatric patients (87%) received the most anti-malarials and only 7 % and 24 % of recipients in medicine and O&G respectively received anti malarials. In 51 patients (78%), the anti-malarials were prescribed at the same time as the blood transfusion and anti-malarials prescriptions exceeded the number of patient

SARS-CoV-2 infection in acute pancreatitis increases disease severity and 30-day mortality: COVID PAN collaborative study

Objective: There is emerging evidence that the pancreas may be a target organ of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) and coexistent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Design: A prospective international multicentre cohort study including consecutive patients admitted with AP during the current pandemic was undertaken. Primary outcome measure was severity of AP. Secondary outcome measures were aetiology of AP, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of hospital stay, local complications, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), persistent organ failure and 30-day mortality. Multilevel logistic regression was used to compare the two groups. Results: 1777 patients with AP were included during the study period from 1 March to 23 July 2020. 149 patients (8.3%) had concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, SARS-CoV-2-positive patients were older male patients and more likely to develop severe AP and ARDS (p<0.001). Unadjusted analysis showed that SARS-CoV-2-positive patients with AP were more likely to require ICU admission (OR 5.21, p<0.001), local complications (OR 2.91, p<0.001), persistent organ failure (OR 7.32, p<0.001), prolonged hospital stay (OR 1.89, p<0.001) and a higher 30-day mortality (OR 6.56, p<0.001). Adjusted analysis showed length of stay (OR 1.32, p<0.001), persistent organ failure (OR 2.77, p<0.003) and 30-day mortality (OR 2.41, p<0.04) were significantly higher in SARS-CoV-2 co-infection. Conclusion: Patients with AP and coexistent SARS-CoV-2 infection are at increased risk of severe AP, worse clinical outcomes, prolonged length of hospital stay and high 30-day mortality

Track A Basic Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138319/1/jia218438.pd

Intraperitoneal drain placement and outcomes after elective colorectal surgery: international matched, prospective, cohort study

Despite current guidelines, intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery remains widespread. Drains were not associated with earlier detection of intraperitoneal collections, but were associated with prolonged hospital stay and increased risk of surgical-site infections.Background Many surgeons routinely place intraperitoneal drains after elective colorectal surgery. However, enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend against their routine use owing to a lack of clear clinical benefit. This study aimed to describe international variation in intraperitoneal drain placement and the safety of this practice. Methods COMPASS (COMPlicAted intra-abdominal collectionS after colorectal Surgery) was a prospective, international, cohort study which enrolled consecutive adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery (February to March 2020). The primary outcome was the rate of intraperitoneal drain placement. Secondary outcomes included: rate and time to diagnosis of postoperative intraperitoneal collections; rate of surgical site infections (SSIs); time to discharge; and 30-day major postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade at least III). After propensity score matching, multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate the independent association of the secondary outcomes with drain placement. Results Overall, 1805 patients from 22 countries were included (798 women, 44.2 per cent; median age 67.0 years). The drain insertion rate was 51.9 per cent (937 patients). After matching, drains were not associated with reduced rates (odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95 per cent c.i. 0.79 to 2.23; P = 0.287) or earlier detection (hazard ratio (HR) 0.87, 0.33 to 2.31; P = 0.780) of collections. Although not associated with worse major postoperative complications (OR 1.09, 0.68 to 1.75; P = 0.709), drains were associated with delayed hospital discharge (HR 0.58, 0.52 to 0.66; P < 0.001) and an increased risk of SSIs (OR 2.47, 1.50 to 4.05; P < 0.001). Conclusion Intraperitoneal drain placement after elective colorectal surgery is not associated with earlier detection of postoperative collections, but prolongs hospital stay and increases SSI risk

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS AND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES: A DESIGN REALITY APPROACH

This paper focuses on a design-reality gap assessment of selected information communication technology (ICT) projects in federal universities, South West of Nigeria. We determine the success and failure rates of the selected ICT projects based on the design-reality gap model dimensions: information, technology, processes, objectives and values, staffing and skills, management systems and structures, and so on. Thus, we adopt survey research design, including qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection in this paper. Moreover, we use purposive sampling technique in selecting the sample data. Five (5) heads of unit of the selected ICT projects responded to the questionnaire based on the Design-Reality gap model checklist and were also interviewed. The analytical tools adopted were percentage distribution. The data from interview were analysed thematically. The outcome of the study revealed that, UNILAG-CITS, FUTA-CRC, FUNAAB-ICTREC, OAU-MIS and UI-MIS ICT projects as partial failures. The study recommended that ICT project stakeholders/managers should draw up policy statements guiding the initiation, implementation and delivery of ICT project, it is important to conduct a need analysis/assessment prior to the implementation of ICT project initiatives. This will stimulate the demand for the ICT project

Profitability and Value Addition of Maize (Zea Mays L.) Processing in South-Eastern Nigeria.

This study was carried out to examine profitability and value addition of maize (Zea mays L.) processing into by-products (such as sweet corn, popcorn, corn flakes, corn meal, corn oil, corn flour e.t.c) based on the methods of processing technology being used in Imo State South-eastern Nigeria. Its specific objectives includes; the socio-economic characteristics of maize processors, source of raw maize as well as disposable of value added products of maize, methods of processing technology used, average costs and returns analysis of processing technology for value added products of maize and its profitability per week, constraints encountered by maize stakeholders. The three agricultural zones were used through the adoption of Questionnaire/interview schedule and also, purposively selected with three stage random sampling technique that give a total of 160 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics, Value Added/Gross Margin Analysis. The study revealed that maize (Zea mays L.) processing is profitable and has a vital value added concept. Thus, the level of profitability and value addition is higher for processors using Mechanized Processing Technology than those processors using Manual Processing Technology. This is due to reduction in processing cost, high yield of output with great efficiency at limited period of time. In view of its potential for attainment for food security and good standard of living, it is concluded that processors that currently using Manual Processing Technology should be encouraged to shift to Mechanized Processing Technology because it saves time and money that can be put into other economical use. Thus, it was recommended that more Processing centres should be established in each of the agricultural zones of South-eastern Nigeria and processors should have access to credit facilities from bank and international organizations