19 research outputs found
Studentsâ Perception, Attitude and Experience as Factors Influencing Learning of Information Literacy Skills in Public Universities in Ogun State, Nigeria
In research and learning, information literacy is a necessary skill for both the students and the researchers to recognise when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information. This study focuses on information literacy within the context of these associated variables perception, attitude and experience. Data were collected through self-constructed questionnaire with Cronbatchâs Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.7812. A spectrum of 3000 students from three universities constituted the sample. Three factors namely perception, attitude, and experience for which mean scores, alpha coefficients and correlations were calculated. One-sample t-test, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were employed for significance and variance analysis. The study established the fact that studentsâ perception, studentsâ attitude and studentâ experience are significantly related to information literacy skills. The results of this study should be utilized in providing guidelines for designing the new information literacy skills programme. Students regard information literacy as a valuable skill, and believe that a certain level of information literacy skill should be attained. More work must be done to define what constitutes information literacy skills and universities are advised to embark on programme on information literacy initiatives to fully satisfy their students. Keywords: Information literacy skill, Studentsâ perception, Studentsâ attitude, Studentsâ experience, Library literacy, Literacy skil
Chest X-ray findings in HIV- infected Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) - naĂŻve patients
Introduction: Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection frequently present with a wide spectrum of pulmonary and cardiaccomplications from the virus, opportunistic infections and neoplasms that may be associated with a high mortality rate. Diseases of the respiratorytract account for about half of deaths from AIDS, while cardiac diseases account for more than a quarter of deaths from AIDS. This study aimed atdetermining the prevalence of pulmonary and cardiac diseases using a chest radiograph in HAART-naĂŻve HIV-infected patients. Methods: Thisstudy was conducted at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) HIV clinic between September 2010 and August 2011 amongst allregistered HAART-naĂŻve HIV/AIDS patients. Patients had posterior-anterior chest radiographs done in full inspiration. Participants were asked andaided to fill the structured questionnaires to obtain demographic data. Results: Out of a total of one hundred and two recruited for the study, 54 (52.94%) had a normal chest radiograph, while 48 (47.06%) had abnormal chest radiograph .The abnormal findings included, 27.45% who hadbronchopneumonia, 6.86% cardiomegaly, 5.88% pulmonary tuberculosis, 5.88% radiological features of congestive cardiac failure, and 0.98%bronchitis. Conclusion: It appears that more than half of HAARTânaĂŻve HIV-infected patients have normal chest radiographs. Bronchopneumonia(27.5%) is the commonest pulmonary abnormality associated with HIV infection, while the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis is 5.88%.Key words: Chest X-ray, HIV-infected, HAART-naĂŻve
Causal Relationship between Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction of Library and Information Professionals: A Canonical Correlation Analysis
This study examines the constructs of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In this study, a canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was used to estimate relationships between identified dimensions of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This study confirmed previous research showing that job satisfaction and organizational commitment constructs have positive and canonical relationship. The study samples are 405 of Library and Information Professionals selected randomly at the 2014 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nigeria Library Association held in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was prepared for the purpose of collection of data and the data were collected using Job Satisfaction Survey dimension of job satisfaction are autonomy, remuneration, promotion, supervision, condition of service, job significant, co-workers, skill variety, procedures as it is used by Humborstad and Perry (2011) while Organizational Commitment Scales affective, normative and continuance as it is used by Field (2002). In this study, three canonical correlation coefficients (CCC) were estimated, and the first two of them were significant (0.653 and 0.597, p0.001). Also the squared canonical correlation coefficient indicates the proportion of variance a dependent variable linearly shares with the independent variable generated from the observed variableâs set (i.e., the canonical variates) where job satisfaction accounted for 21.36% of the variance in organizational commitment while organizational commitment explained 17.15% of the variations in job satisfaction
Prevalence of significant bacteriuria among symptomatic and asymptomatic homozygous sickle cell disease patients in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, Nigeria
Background: Patients with sickle cell disease have an amplified vulnerability to urinary tract infection, because of abnormally dilute and alkaline urine, which favors bacterial proliferation. This is due to altered blood flow in the renal vasculature, which causes papillary necrosis and loss of urinary concentrating and acidifying ability of the nephrons. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common, but the prevalence in populations varies widely with age, gender, sexual activity and the presence of genitourinary abnormalities. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of significant bacteriuria in symptomatic and asymptomatic sickle cell patients in Lagos.Materials and Methods: This was a crossâsectional study of patients attending the sickle cell clinics of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Single voided aseptically collected midâstream urine was obtained from each patient and all samples processed immediately, were sent for urinalysis and culture. Isolates were considered significant if there were â„105 colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/ml) with two or less isolates, doubtful significance if â€105 CFU/ml. Significant isolates were selected for identification. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Ill).Results: A total of 100 consenting participants were recruited into the study. The mean age was: 23.42 ± 8.31 years and a range of 14â50 years. Only 9% (9/100) had significant bacteriuria while 44.4% (4/9) participants who had significant bacteriuria were asymptomatic. Escherichia coli was isolated in 66.6% (6/9) participants who had significant bacteriuria while Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus (11.11%) was isolated in each of the remaining three participants.Conclusions: Significant bacteriuria is found in only oneâtenth of sickle cell patients, nearly half of the participants who had significant growth had asymptomatic bacteriuria.Key words: Asymptomatic bacteriuria, prevalence, screening, sickle cell disease patients, significant bacteriuri
APOE E4 is associated with impaired self-declared cognition but not disease risk or age of onset in Nigerians with Parkinson's disease
The relationship between APOE polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease (PD) in black Africans has not been previously investigated. We evaluated the association between APOE polymorphic variability and self-declared cognition in 1100 Nigerians with PD and 1097 age-matched healthy controls. Cognition in PD was assessed using the single item cognition question (item 1.1) of the MDS-UPDRS. APOE genotype and allele frequencies did not differ between PD and controls (pâ>â0.05). No allelic or genotypic association was observed between APOE and age at onset of PD. In PD, APOE Δ4/Δ4 conferred a two-fold risk of cognitive impairment compared to one or no Δ4 (HR: 2.09 (95% CI: 1.13-3.89; pâ=â0.02)), while APOE Δ2 was associated with modest protection against cognitive impairment (HR: 0.41 (95% CI 0.19-0.99, pâ=â0.02)). Of 773 PD with motor phenotype and APOE characterized, tremor-dominant (TD) phenotype predominated significantly in Δ2 carriers (87/135, 64.4%) compared to 22.2% in persons with postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) (30/135) and 13.3% in indeterminate (ID) (18/135, 13.3%) (pâ=â0.037). Although the frequency of the TD phenotype was highest in homozygous Δ2 carriers (85.7%), the distribution of motor phenotypes across the six genotypes did not differ significantly (pâ=â0.18). Altogether, our findings support previous studies in other ethnicities, implying a role for APOE Δ4 and Δ2 as risk and protective factors, respectively, for cognitive impairment in PD
PDXK mutations cause polyneuropathy responsive to pyridoxal 5'-phosphate supplementation.
OBJECTIVE: To identify disease-causing variants in autosomal recessive axonal polyneuropathy with optic atrophy and provide targeted replacement therapy. METHODS: We performed genome-wide sequencing, homozygosity mapping, and segregation analysis for novel disease-causing gene discovery. We used circular dichroism to show secondary structure changes and isothermal titration calorimetry to investigate the impact of variants on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding. Pathogenicity was further supported by enzymatic assays and mass spectroscopy on recombinant protein, patient-derived fibroblasts, plasma, and erythrocytes. Response to supplementation was measured with clinical validated rating scales, electrophysiology, and biochemical quantification. RESULTS: We identified biallelic mutations in PDXK in 5 individuals from 2 unrelated families with primary axonal polyneuropathy and optic atrophy. The natural history of this disorder suggests that untreated, affected individuals become wheelchair-bound and blind. We identified conformational rearrangement in the mutant enzyme around the ATP-binding pocket. Low PDXK ATP binding resulted in decreased erythrocyte PDXK activity and low pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) concentrations. We rescued the clinical and biochemical profile with PLP supplementation in 1 family, improvement in power, pain, and fatigue contributing to patients regaining their ability to walk independently during the first year of PLP normalization. INTERPRETATION: We show that mutations in PDXK cause autosomal recessive axonal peripheral polyneuropathy leading to disease via reduced PDXK enzymatic activity and low PLP. We show that the biochemical profile can be rescued with PLP supplementation associated with clinical improvement. As B6 is a cofactor in diverse essential biological pathways, our findings may have direct implications for neuropathies of unknown etiology characterized by reduced PLP levels. ANN NEUROL 2019;86:225-240
Epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review
BACKGROUND:Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are experiencing rapid transitions with increased life expectancy. As a result the burden of age-related conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases might be increasing. We conducted a systematic review of published studies on common neurodegenerative diseases, and HIV-related neurocognitive impairment in SSA, in order to identify research gaps and inform prevention and control solutions. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE via PubMed, 'Banque de Donnees de Sante Publique' and the database of the 'Institut d'Epidemiologie Neurologique et de Neurologie Tropicale' from inception to February 2013 for published original studies from SSA on neurodegenerative diseases and HIV-related neurocognitive impairment. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two investigators. Bibliographies and citations of eligible studies were investigated. RESULTS: In all 144 publications reporting on dementia (n=49 publications, mainly Alzheimer disease), Parkinsonism (PD, n=20), HIV-related neurocognitive impairment (n=47), Huntington disease (HD, n=19), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, n=15), cerebellar degeneration (n=4) and Lewy body dementia (n=1). Of these studies, largely based on prevalent cases from retrospective data on urban populations, half originated from Nigeria and South Africa. The prevalence of dementia (Alzheimer disease) varied between <1% and 10.1% (0.7% and 5.6%) in population-based studies and from <1% to 47.8% in hospital-based studies. Incidence of dementia (Alzheimer disease) ranged from 8.7 to 21.8/1000/year (9.5 to 11.1), and major risk factors were advanced age and female sex. HIV-related neurocognitive impairment's prevalence (all from hospital-based studies) ranged from <1% to 80%. Population-based prevalence of PD and ALS varied from 10 to 235/100,000, and from 5 to 15/100,000 respectively while that for Huntington disease was 3.5/100,000. Equivalent figures for hospital based studies were the following: PD (0.41 to 7.2%), ALS (0.2 to 8.0/1000), and HD (0.2/100,000 to 46.0/100,000). CONCLUSIONS: The body of literature on neurodegenerative disorders in SSA is large with regard to dementia and HIV-related neurocognitive disorders but limited for other neurodegenerative disorders. Shortcomings include few population-based studies, heterogeneous diagnostic criteria and uneven representation of countries on the continent. There are important knowledge gaps that need urgent action, in order to prepare the sub-continent for the anticipated local surge in neurodegenerative diseases
Prevalence of significant bacteriuria among symptomatic and asymptomatic homozygous sickle cell disease patients in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, Nigeria
Background:
Patients with sickle cell disease have an amplified vulnerability to urinary tract infection, because of abnormally dilute and alkaline urine, which favors bacterial proliferation. This is due to altered blood flow in the renal vasculature, which causes papillary necrosis and loss of urinary concentrating and acidifying ability of the nephrons. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is common, but the prevalence in populations varies widely with age, gender, sexual activity and the presence of genitourinary abnormalities. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of significant bacteriuria in symptomatic and asymptomatic sickle cell patients in Lagos.
Materials and Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study of patients attending the sickle cell clinics of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Single voided aseptically collected mid-stream urine was obtained from each patient and all samples processed immediately, were sent for urinalysis and culture. Isolates were considered significant if there were â„105 colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/ml) with two or less isolates, doubtful significance if â€105 CFU/ml. Significant isolates were selected for identification. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Ill).
Results:
A total of 100 consenting participants were recruited into the study. The mean age was: 23.42 ± 8.31 years and a range of 14-50 years. Only 9% (9/100) had significant bacteriuria while 44.4% (4/9) participants who had significant bacteriuria were asymptomatic. Escherichia coli was isolated in 66.6% (6/9) participants who had significant bacteriuria while Klebsiellaoxytoca,Klebsiellapneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus (11.11%) was isolated in each of the remaining three participants.
Conclusions:
Significant bacteriuria is found in only one-tenth of sickle cell patients, nearly half of the participants who had significant growth had asymptomatic bacteriuria