380 research outputs found
Repositioning technical and vocational education and training in Africa for global competitiveness: a bilingual model
This paper aims to reposition technical and vocational education and training in Africa by modelling the Chinese and Asian Tigersâ bilingual approach. This study used inductive content analysis cum transformative paradigm to identify relevant points constituting the major component of this conceptual paper. In addition, thematic method was also used to organize the identified points into categories and sub-categories. The introduction of the bilingualism approach to TVET programs following eight key stages will be actualised. Researchers are encouraged to conduct experimental empirical studies on Bilingualism in African TVET institutions, and its programs exploring the six stages conceptualised. Adding bilingualism to the TVET program will increase enrollment, make the program easier to get into, and help African countriesâ economies grow. A bilingual policy will help many local talents who cannot speak other languages
Surviving Racist Culture: Strategies of Managing Racism among Gay Men of Colour - An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Racism, a unique source of stress, occupies a peripheral point of analysis in the literature on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) health research. Canadian investigators have not examined the coping strategies that non-White gay men use. Lacking knowledge of the groups coping responses overlooks the dynamics of resistance and prevents interventions for addressing racism from being developed. The current studys aims were to explore the contexts in which gay men of colour experienced gay-specific racism; to investigate their understanding of factors contributing to the experience of racism; and to examine strategies they used to manage the stress of racism. Foregrounding issues of White supremacy and racial oppression, the study used frameworks from critical race and queer theories and minority stress theory, integrating insights from the psychological model of stress and coping. Data were collected in Ottawa, Canada, employing focus groups and in-depth interviews with 13 gay men who identified as Black, East Asian, South Asian, and Arab/Middle Eastern. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the study concluded that racism was pervasive in Ottawas GLB community, at individual, institutional, and cultural levels. Racial-cultural socialization processes were found to influence racist attitudes and practices. Racisms subtle, insidious forms undermined discrimination claims by gay men of colour, in that White gay men denied any racist attitudes and actions. In general, participants used problem- and emotion-focused coping techniques to moderate the impact of racism. The value of social support for coping with the stress of racism was highlighted, revealing a vacuum of care in public health and social work practice with gay men of colour. Social workers and allied health professionals should neither view the experiences of gay men of colour through the lens of sexual orientation alone, nor focus solely on sexual behaviours that place them at risk of HIV/AIDS. In doing so, they would risk not only discounting the complexities of the mens lives, but also sustaining and perpetuating a life without potentialities beyond deficit. The implications and limitations as well as recommendations for future study are discussed
A framework on information behaviour of SME managers for decision-making on emerging ICTs
The aim of this study is to explore the perceived information needs and information behaviours of manager of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As technology advancement and innovation are changing rapidly affecting organisations in different ways, organization executives are introducing new technologies for their operations and business environment becomes more complex and dynamic, government introducing different policies to guide the use of these emerging ICTs. As a result, information becomes significant during adoption decision-making process for SME managers to make an inform decision. To achieve this aim, a framework is developed based on existing literature, using the technology organization environmental (TOE) model as the theoretical underpinning for empirical investigation on information behaviour of SME managers in this study. This study is qualitative in nature, and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with twenty SME managers in the UK service sector. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Following Myers and Newmanâs (2007) guidelines for qualitative interview and triangulation method were used to validate the conceptual framework and established the research rigour and quality. The research findings explained information behaviours of SME managers in the contexts of technology organisation environment as information behaviour triggered and perceived information needs during the adoption decision in SMEs. These findings provide further insight into ICT adoption in SMEs through information behaviours and highlighted the significant of sources of information and pre-information needed during the decision-making process. The research also contributes to theory in the information systems field by using relevant literature from information science field to explore information behaviours of SME managers. Future research can be done in other sectors of the economy to show more holistic behaviours of SME managers
The development of a framework on information behaviour of SME managers when adopting emerging ICTs
A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Philosophy.Uncertainty and complexity related to emerging ICTs and unpredictable technology changes
have put pressure on firmsâ knowledge to gather, seek and scan the environment for
information during their emerging ICT adoption decision-making process. Furthermore,
unstable environment, changing government policy on information technology has
contributed to, as well. Also, emerging ICTs have unlocked different and new opportunities
and challenges for small businesses as well as open them to uncertainties and risks and their
larger counterparts as well. As a result, information becomes significant during adoption
decision-making process when adopting emerging ICTs, especially in SMEs because of
limited resources. Even with the broad research and literature on adoption decision in SMEs,
there is still limited research related to the information behaviours of SME owners when
adopting emerging ICTs and factors that influence their information behaviours regarding
information sources selection during this process. Therefore, the aim of this research is to
explore the information behaviour of SME owners during the adoption decisions when
adopting emerging ICTs. To advance our understanding in information behaviour when
adopting emerging ICTs and show how SME managers can reduce uncertainty related to
emerging ICT. This study is interpretive qualitative research, and semi-structured and unstructured face-toface
interviews were conducted with twenty SME owners from UK service sector to achieve
the objectives of this study. The interviews were recorded with the permission of the
participants and the recordings were transcribed. Myers and Newmanâs (2007) guidelines for
qualitative interview research were used as a guide for the interview process and triangulation
methods for the research rigour and quality. Nvivo 10 is used for data analysis. The results demonstrated the importance of information and seeking information on the
emerging ICT during adoption decision-making. This study contributes to the development of
knowledge and practice in numerous ways. The study proposed a conceptual framework that
shows information behaviours of SME owners during emerging ICTs adoption using TOE
model as a theoretical underpinning and the framework was validated using triangulation
methods. The research findings also explained the contexts of technology, organisation, and
environment as information behaviour trigger and perceived information needs during the
adoption decision-making process in SMEs. This research contributes to the improvement of
SME managersâ information needs, information seeking behaviours; and their information
sources were explored; factors that influence their information behaviours were identified
through empirical data using technology organisation environment model as theoretical
underpinning. and the framework was validated using triangulation
methods. The research findings also explained the contexts of technology, organisation, and
environment as information behaviour trigger and perceived information needs during the
adoption decision-making process in SMEs. This research contributes to the improvement of
knowledge and practical at different stages. Theoretically, the study has taken academic
research forward in the research area of information behaviour and ICTs adoption in SME in
service industry using TOE model as theoretical underpinning. SMEs could use the practical
contribution of the research result in the service industry in the UK, and any SMEs which are
based in a related economy and environment, to have better information about emerging ICTs
during adoption decision-making process. These findings gave further insight into IT
adoption in SMEs through information behaviours and highlighted the significant of sources of information and pre-information gathering, and the factors that influence information
sources such as herd event, information usefulness, and perceived information sources
credibility during the decision-making for adopting emerging ICT
Beyond adolescents : The study of sexual behaviour of middle-aged men in Nigeria
Studies on sexual behaviour in Nigeria have rather been lopsided largely focussing on
adolescents while neglecting the older men. This may not be unconnected with the fact that the
young people are often seen as being more sexually active than the older men. In this study, the
patterns and the determinants of sexual behaviour of middle-aged men were investigated.
This study is based on secondary data analysis of the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health
Survey male dataset. Data collected from a sample of 633 men whose ages fall between 40 and
59 years in Nigeria were extracted and analysed to achieve the set objectives. The variables of
interest were analysed by using relevant statistical techniques with the aid of SAS enterprise
guide. Sexual behaviour was measured by three variables namely: current sexual activity, extra
marital partnership and condom use. Also, three hypotheses were tested. The Health Belief
Model (HBM) was the theoretical model used for this study.
The study shows that a high proportion of men (71.2%) aged 40-59 years in Nigeria are sexually
active. The study further reveals that about 12% of Nigerian middle-aged men engage in
extramarital sex and 30% are in polygynous relationships (i.e. have multiple sex partners) while
condom use is very low among them. Extramarital sex is more prevalent in the rural (7.05%)
than urban (4.5%) areas. The study shows that the correlates of current sexual activity among the
middle-aged men in Nigeria are education and religion while engagement in extramarital sexual
activity is determined by ethnicity, age at first intercourse and knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Among
the sexually active ones, condom use is influenced by ethnicity, marriage type and extramarital
partnership. The sexual behaviour of middle-aged men in Nigeria follows the pattern described
in the HBM. That is, individual, socio-economic and HIV/AIDS factors can influence the sexual
behaviour of Middle-aged men.
The study concludes that in addressing the problems associated with sexual and reproductive
health of Nigerian, focus should also be extended to middle-aged men, instead of the narrow
focus on only adolescents and youths. Further investigation, using multiple methods of data
collection is also suggested
A longitudinal study of migration and it relation to AIDS/TB mortality in rural South Africa
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Demography and Population Studies.Background: In exploring the relationship between migration and HIV/AIDS, a
focus of earlier studies was on the role of the mobile population in the
geographical spread of the disease. There has been a shift in this perception and
the focus now is on the implications of being a migrant. A body of literature
has developed on the risk of migrants contracting HIV, but only a few studies
have examined the AIDS/TB mortality risk as a consequence of migration, with
the results showing that migrants have higher chance of dying of AIDS/TB
compared to their non-migrant counterparts. However, these studies mainly
looked at the impact of migration on mortality due to AIDS/TB and did not
make provision for the presence of other causes of death. Therefore, this study
is geared towards investigating migration as it relates to death caused by
AIDS/TB, longitudinally, and in the presence of other causes such as non
communicable diseases, other infectious diseases, and external causes of death,
in rural South Africa. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions:
(i) What is the risk of dying from AIDS/TB among migrants in rural South
Africa in the presence of other causes of death? (ii) How does this relationship
compare with the relationship between migration and other causes of death? (3)
What are possible predictors of the relationship between migration and
AIDS/TB in the presence of other causes of death?
Method: This research project is part of a longitudinal study of the inhabitants
of the Agincourt sub-district, situated in the rural north-eastern part of South
Africa. The study utilises the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance
System data spanning 12 years, starting from 1st January, 2000 to 31st
December, 2011. The main target group for the study is individuals aged 20 to
69 years at the date of analysis. The selected individuals are divided into the
following categories: (i) the return migrants who returned after spending a
period of time outside the study area; (ii) the in-migrants who moved into the
study location for the first time, and (iii) the permanent residents (non
migrants). A six month residence threshold period is used to distinguish
participants from ordinary visitors. The migration status categorical variable
was further expanded from three to five categories with in-migrant and return
migrant categories being split to accommodate short and long-term durations of
exposure. In the year 2000, the baseline year, a total of 25,621 individuals who
met the entry criteria were recruited into the study.
For data analysis, a Fine and Gray model is used, which is a variant of a Cox
proportional hazard model, to estimate the competing risk of dying among the
selected participants by sex. The causes of death (CoD) variable was
categorised into the following broad categories: âAIDS/TBâ, âNon
Communicable Diseaseâ, âExternal causeâ and âOther infectious diseaseâ, with
indeterminate causes coded as missing. The five categories of migration serve
as the independent variable, with permanent residence acting as the reference
group, while the broad Cause of Death categories are the main dependent
variables. Other dependent variables are: period, nationality, education and
socio-economic status.
Results: This first set of results aims to address the question on the risk of
AIDS/TB mortality among migrants in rural South Africa in the presence of
other causes of death. The findings are that male and female short-term return
migrants have significantly higher relative risk of dying of AIDS/TB death
when compared to their non-migrants counterparts with sub-hazard ratio (SHR)
of 4.87 (95% CI 4.17-5.72; P<0.001) and 5.44 (95% CI 4.64-6.38; P<0.001))
reported for both gender group respectively. For male and female long-term
return migrants, their SHR was 1.80 (95% CI 1.43-2.26; P<0.001) and 2.06
(95% CI 1.57-2.70; P<0.001) respectively. The results did not reveal significant
results for the in-migrants.
The second set of results aims to address the second research question, which
is, how does the relationship between migration and mortality caused by
AIDS/TB in rural South Africa in the context of other causes of death compare
with the relationship between migration and causes different from AIDS/TB.
The results show that Short-term return migrants have higher mortality than
non-migrants, whatever the four causes of mortality. For instance, the
competing risk of death due to AIDS/TB for short-term return migrants
compared to non-migrants showed a lower SHR for external cause of death,
namely 8.78 (95% CI 5.86-13.16; P<0.05) vis-Ă -vis non-migrants. This implies
that the difference in the relative risk of mortality between migrants and non
migrants is even higher for external causes than for AIDS/TB. The same is
applicable to the risk of death from other infectious diseases for females, which
has a SHR of 4.97 (95% CI 2.50-9.89; P<0.05) in the competing risk model.
The relative risk of death due to AIDS/TB for male is 4.87 (95% CI 4.14-5.72
P<0.001) while that of female is 5.44 (95% CI 4.64-6.38; P<0.001);
respectively.
With regards to the question on the possible predictors of the relationship
between migration and AIDS/TB in the presence of other causes of death, it is
shown that period is one of the predictors of the relationship between migration
and AIDS/TB mortality. And, it is relevant to the study participants who died
as a result of AIDS/TB, NCDs and other infectious diseases. In general, the risk
dwindles in the latter period when the antiretroviral drugs become available for
AIDS/TB. Nationality is also a determinant of the relationship and it is
applicable to those who lost their lives due AIDS/TB (female only), NCDs and
other infections (female). In all, the Mozambican nationals are less likely to die
in comparison with the South Africans. Educational status is a predictor and it
relevance cuts across virtually all the causes of death. The dominant pattern that
is revealed in this context is that the higher the level of education, the lower the
risk of death due to any of the causes. The predictive impact of SES can only be felt among the respondents whose death was due to AIDS/TB and NCDs
(female only).
Conclusion: With circular labour migration in South Africa showing no
evidence of declining and with the attendant mortality risks due to AIDS/TB
and other causes, and needs to be carefully considered - in policies aiming to
control mortality in South Africa. Disease-induced migration creates burdens
not only for the left-behind families in terms of their means of livelihood
through loss of remittances, but also for the burden on health care facilities in
the rural area. With short-term labour migrants being a high risk group, the
success of intervention programmes addressing the problem of HIV infection
and the resultant mortality implication, such as âtreatment as preventionâ
programmes, can only be guaranteed by recognising the risks incumbent on this
group of people and the influence of the larger communities.XL201
Change detection for activity recognition.
Activity Recognition is concerned with identifying the physical state of a user at a particular point in time. Activity recognition task requires the training of classification algorithm using the processed sensor data from the representative population of users. The accuracy of the generated model often reduces during classification of new instances due to the non-stationary sensor data and variations in user characteristics. Thus, there is a need to adapt the classification model to new user haracteristics. However, the existing approaches to model adaptation in activity recognition are blind. They continuously adapt a classification model at a regular interval without specific and precise detection of the indicator of the degrading performance of the model. This approach can lead to wastage of system resources dedicated to continuous adaptation. This thesis addresses the problem of detecting changes in the accuracy of activity recognition model. The thesis developed a classifier for activity recognition. The classifier uses three statistical summaries data that can be generated from any dataset for similarity based classification of new samples. The weighted ensemble combination of the classification decision from each statistical summary data results in a better performance than three existing benchmarked classification algorithms. The thesis also presents change detection approaches that can detect the changes in the accuracy of the underlying recognition model without having access to the ground truth label of each activity being recognised. The first approach called `UDetect' computes the change statistics from the window of classified data and employed statistical process control method to detect variations between the classified data and the reference data of a class. Evaluation of the approach indicates a consistent detection that correlates with the error rate of the model. The second approach is a distance based change detection technique that relies on the developed statistical summaries data for comparing new classified samples and detects any drift in the original class of the activity. The implemented approach uses distance function and a threshold parameter to detect the accuracy change in the classifier that is classifying new instances. Evaluation of the approach yields above 90% detection accuracy. Finally, a layered framework for activity recognition is proposed to make model adaptation in activity recognition informed using the developed techniques in this thesis
Devaluation and Trade Balance in Nigeria: A Test of Marshall-Lerner Condition
This paper concentrates on devaluation and trade balance in Nigeria, specifically testing whether or not the Marshall-Lerner condition holds for Nigeria. The research empirically investigates the impact of devaluation of exchange rate on Nigerian trade balance. The Johansen cointegration and the error correction methodologies were employed to investigate the longrun and shortrun effects of the devaluation/depreciation of exchange rate on the balance of trade. The results indicate that all the variables are integrated of the order 1(1). An estimation of the cointegrating equation showed that there is a longrun negative relationship between the trade balance and real exchange rate in Nigeria. This means that an increase in the REXR (appreciation in the local currency) results in a deterioration in the trade balance, when all things are held constant. Likewise, a decrease in the REXR (depreciation in the local currency) results longrun improvement in the trade balance, when everything else is held constant. This provides evidence that the Marshal Lerner condition holds. Hence, factors leading to exchange rate depreciation of the naira needs to be monitored closely. High interest rate differentials in favour of Nigeria will induce large capital inflows, which is good for investment
Determinants of Nigerian Household Carbon Footprint
The statement that household carbon footprint accounts for a significant portion of a countryâs total carbon footprint is a truism. Hence, reducing this type of carbon footprint will play an important role in ameliorating global carbon footprint and climate change. The study aimed at examining the determinants of Nigerian household carbon footprint. To achieve this, data on household socio-economic and demographic characteristics were obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics 2015 General Household Survey, and household direct carbon footprint was estimated using the Linear Multiplier Factor Method. To analyse the data, a cross section log-linear regression model was built on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and the parameters were estimated using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation technique. The empirical results revealed that the effects of household income, household size, motorisation, literacy ratio and household head gender are positive and significant at 1% level. Although literacy ratio oppose a priori expectation. Male population, polygamy and age of household head are insignificant at 1%, 5% and 10% level respectively. Both age of household head and household income show significant non-linear relationship with household carbon footprint. The study concludes that household income, household size, motorisation and literacy ratio are the quantitative factors that influence the level of Nigerian household carbon footprint. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends policies that will help prevent Nigerian household carbon footprint level from going worse. Keywords: Environmental Kuznets curve, Carbon footprint, Household, Nigeria
Poor Slaughterhouse Waste Management: Empirical Evidences from Nigeria and Implications on Achieving Millennium Development Goals
The compounding contribution of slaughterhouse wastes to waste management problems in developing countries is likely to continue into the future considering the growing quest for animal protein. Adequate knowledge and practice of waste management among slaughterhouse workers can help limit the associated effects of poor disposal on access to safe water, environmental sustainability and quality of life which are core areas of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Data on knowledge, attitudes and practices of waste management of 390 randomly selected slaughterhouse workers in Nigeria were collected and analyzed using multiple regression statistics. The results reveal that the majority of the respondents had poor attitudes (75.6%) and practices (97.4%) of proper waste management, though 51.5% demonstrated good knowledge. While 51.3% knew that slaughterhouse wastes are related to diseases, 75.4% were unconcerned that poor management could be major public health and environmental hazards and 74.4% discharged slaughterhouse wastewater into surrounding streams. Gender, education and work experience were significantly associated with good knowledge (p <0.05). These poor attitudes and practices have negative implications on environmental health conditions, access to safe water and quality of life. Therefore, addressing poor slaughterhouse waste management issues in developing countriesbecomes imperative to making achieving the MDGs a reality.Key words: Environment, Health, Slaughterhouse waste, Millennium Development Goals, Nigeri
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