Police Beats and City Streets: An Examination of Black American and Latinx Youth Interactions with and Perceptions of Police

Existing research on issues of race and police suggest that Black Americans and Latinx youth tend to have more negative experiences with, and views of, police than individuals from other ethnoracial groups. This finding is even more robust among Black American and Latinx youth, notably those living in low-income and high crime communities. The victimization and constant burden such perceptions of police and police interactions have on Black American youth can potentially cause psychological damage. When coupled with repeated exposure to social, economic, and racially-related stressors, the former may result in greater adverse psychological outcomes. However, resilience factors such as neighborhood context and ethnic identity may buffer the relationship. This thesis aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively identify the impact perceptions of police and police interactions may pose on internalizing symptoms for 81 Black American and Latinx youth, moderated by neighborhood context, ethnic identity membership, and gender. Unexpectedly, neutral to positive experiences with police significantly predicted higher levels of internalizing symptoms than neutral to negative experiences with police, with youth quantitatively equally reporting positive, neutral, and negative attitudes of police. Qualitative data, on the other hand, offered a more nuanced view of youth/police interactions. When asked open-endedly, youth reported more negative encounters with police than positive and neutral encounters. This inconsistency between youth attitudes of police and the reality of youth/police interactions, suggests potential desensitization of negative police encounters by urban youth of color. These findings have implications for a greater understanding of the extent to which police interactions impact youth psychosocial outcomes

Gender-Relative Effect of Project-Based Learning Method on Academic Achievement and Retention Of Technical College Students in Basic Electricty

The gender-related controversies associated with effects of various teaching methods gave rise to this study. This study was conducted to ascertain the gender-relative effect of project-based learning method on academic achievement and retention of technical college students in Basic Electricity. The study was carried out in Anambra state and the design of the study was quasi-experimental research with pretest, posttest, delayed posttest non-randomized control group design involving students’ intact class groups. A sample of 92 NTC II students was drawn from a population of 179 students of state owned technical colleges in Anambra state. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. For collection of data, based on the units covered, Basic Electricity Achievement Test (BEAT), a 40-item multiple choice test served as the instrument. Validation of the instrument, as well as the lesson plans for both control and experimental groups were done by three experts from the faculty of education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. KR-20 was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the instrument which was found to be 0.82. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings revealed that considering the both genders, students in technical college who were taught Basic electricity using project-based learning method had higher achievement and retention scores than those taught with the conventional teaching method. Also findings revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean achievement and retention scores of the students taught basic electricity using PBLM. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that PBLM has the potential to improve male and female technical college students’ academic achievement and retention in Basic electricity. Consequently, it was recommended among others that Basic electricity teachers should use PBLM in the teaching of Basic electricity and grant students equal opportunity during classroom instructions irrespective of gender so as to enhance students’ academic achievement and retention in the subject

Characterization of the Hydrochemistry, Scaling and Corrosivity Tendencies, and Irrigation Suitability of the Water of the Rivers Karawa and Iyiaji

Assessing water quality is necessary to ascertain its viability for domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes. A total of 48 water samples were, respectively, drawn from the Rivers Karawa and Iyiaji located in Ezeagu and Uzo-uwani which are typical rural areas in Enugu State, Nigeria. These samples were taken in two seasons (early rainy season and late dry season). Physicochemical properties were determined using standard methods. The scaling and corrosivity potentials of the water were evaluated using the Larson-Skold index, aggressive index, Puckorius scaling index, and Ryznar stability index models. Additionally, seven irrigation evaluation criteria, as well as spatial distribution maps, were used to determine the suitability of the river waters for irrigation purposes and to interpolate the spatial distribution of the river water quality parameters. Major ion chemistry was used in the assessments. The physicochemical properties of river waters fell within the recommended standard values. However, NO3− greatly exceeded the recommended range in both rivers. The cations and anions from River Karawa were Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ > Na+ and NO3− > Cl− > SO42− > HCO3− > CO3− > PO4−, while those from River Iyiaji were Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and Cl− > SO42− >NO3− > PO4− > HCO3− > CO3−. A piper plot showed the predominance of Ca2+ and Mg+, as well as SO42− and Cl−, in both rivers. The seven irrigation assessment indices indicated that the water of the Rivers Karawa and Iyiaji is suitable for irrigation purposes. In addition, the scaling and corrosivity models predicted that the river waters have high scaling and corrosivity potentials. Specifically, while the aggressive index suggested that it is severely corrosive, the Langelier saturation index suggested that the water from both rivers is supersaturated and, thus, has potential to scale

Intra-operative Diagnosis of Lower Segment Scar Dehiscence in a Second Gravida After One Previous Lower Segment Cesarean Section: Should We Advocate for Routine Antenatal Uterine Scar Thickness Testing?

Background: Uterine dehiscence is a separation of uterine musculature with intact uterine serosa. It can be encountered at the time of cesarean delivery, suspected on obstetric ultrasound or diagnosed in-between pregnancies. The antenatal diagnosis may occasionally elude the Obstetricians. This particular case demonstrates an intra-operative diagnosis of uterine dehiscence with missed antenatal ultrasound diagnosis in an asymptomatic woman. Case presentation: She was a 32-year-old Nigerian second gravida who booked for antenatal care at 32 weeks of gestation following a referral from her attending Obstetrician from a neighboring state due to relocation. She had 3 antenatal visits and 2 antenatal ultrasound investigations without uterine scar thickness report. She subsequently had elective Cesarean section (CS) at a gestational age of 38 weeks plus 2 days due to persistent breech presentation on a background of a previous lower segment CS scar. There was no previous uterine curettage prior to or after the previous lower segment CS scar and there was no labor pains prior to the elective CS. The surgery was successful with intra-operative findings of moderate intra parietal peritoneal adhesions with rectus sheath and obvious uterine dehiscence along the line of the previous CS scar. The fetal outcomes were normal. Immediate post-operative condition was satisfactory and the woman was discharged on a third-day post operation. Conclusion: Obstetricians are charged to maintain a high index of suspicion when managing pregnant women with history of emergency CS in order to avert the adverse consequences of uterine rupture from asymptomatic uterine dehiscence. Based on this report, it may be useful to routinely assess the lower uterine segment scar of women with previous emergency CS using the available ultrasound facilities. However, more studies are needed before advocating for routine antenatal uterine scar thickness testing following emergency lower segment CS in low and middle-income settings