Repositioning the Facilities in Technical College Workshops for Efficiency: A Case Study of North Central Nigeria

This article focuses on assessing the facilities in Government Technical College workshops in the context of a developing country. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Two research questions and a hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A 35-item questionnaire was developed based on the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) standards on Technical College workshops, and was validated by three experts. Data was collected from 101 administrators, 140 teachers, and 24 workshop personnel randomly sampled and stratified along trades in 19 Government Technical Colleges in North Central Nigeria. Mean was employed to answer the research questions while one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to test the hypothesis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Results revealed that administrators, teachers, and workshop personnel shared similar views on inadequacy of facilities in Technical College workshops. It was therefore recommended that: The private sector should be encouraged to initiate and participate in the provision of facilities using such methods as build operate-and-transfer (BOT), build own-operate and transfer (BOOT) and rehabilitate-operate and transfer (ROT); special intervention funds should be set aside by Government for procurement of workshop facilities to technical colleges, such channels may include Education Tax Fund (ETF) as practiced in Nigeria; Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) should be asked for support in supplying relevant facilities to the workshops as obtained in some nations; and that a specific percentage of income tax generated annually by the Government should be utilized for provision of workshop facilities in technical colleges

A synopsis on the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions from power generation and energy consumption

Despite the looming difficult energy context in the majority of countries in the world, global change in environmental dignity resulting from power generation and energy consumption scenario is rapidly becoming a globally disturbing phenomenon. Stakeholders and environmental activists alike have been clamouring for adoption of reduction procedures using sustainable means because ignominious environmental practices have associated disastrous consequences. Increasing essential strategies are needed to fortify the pursuit for the reduction in the emissions from power generation and energy consumption. Therefore, this article presents an overview of the effects of anthropogenic energy generation and consumption practices capable of ejecting emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It also endeavors to identify some greenhouse gas emission reduction and control measures

Analysis of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Marketing and Price Trends in Selected Markets of Argungu Local Government Area, Kebbi State, Nigeria

The study analyzed cowpea marketing and price trends in selected rural and urban markets of Argungu Local Government Area, Kebbi State, Nigeria. A single-stage sampling technique was used for sample selection. The samples were collected from purposively selected Kara markets in Argungu (reference market), Felande, Gulma, Lailaba and Sauwa (supplying markets) from the selected Districts. Primary data were obtained from a sample of 100 marketers with the aid of the structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and spatial price model were employed in analyzing the data. Results of the analysis shows an average age of marketers to be 34 years, 69% were married and 62% have formal education with an average household size of 8 persons. However, 73% were discovered not join any cooperative association while 79% of them do not have access to credit to finance their business. Analysis of spatial aspects of pricing efficiency showed that the positive price spread is slightly high, even after considering plausible levels of unmeasured transaction costs. The trend in price revealed higher price per bag during the off-season (N27, 000/bag) in July and August and low (N15, 000) during harvest (October,November, December and January). Temporal aspects showed considerable risk was involved in storage operations to achieve high profits. The marketing channels identified in the study area were; Farmers, Village merchants, Wholesalers, Retailers, Processors and finally the Consumers. The constraints identified in the study area were lack of access to credit (25.69%), inadequate market information (24.59%), inadequate market infrastructure (22.65%), provision of quality product (16.02%) and poor storage facilities (11.05%). It is recommended that sellers should form cooperatives that can support them in provision of physical facilities and better dissemination of market intelligence and facts. Accordingly, to alleviate the problem of access to credit in the study area, awareness campaign and provision of such credit facilities at affordable level by the relevant stakeholders (State and Local Government authorities) could be an excellent  performance in enhancing the marketing activities in the study area

Exploiting IoT and LoRaWAN Technologies for Effective Livestock Monitoring in Nigeria

With global population predicted to rise continuously (from 7.2 billion to between 9~10 billion people by the year 2050), the world would need to produce almost twice the amount of food as it does today to sustain such human needs. This coupled with recent environmental/climatic changes and urbanization would continue to place enormous burden on the available land, water and energy resources required for both crop and animal farming which is even more critical for developing regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa due to arid lands, poverty, extreme hunger and endemic diseases. Hence, there is an urgent need for more effective, intensification and industrialization of the region’s agricultural sector to improve food supply. Internet-of-things (IoT) is a new and attractive family of technologies capable of modernizing Africa’s agricultural sector in line with best practices to improve productivity and minimize cost with reduced energy consumption. This paper intends to kick-start discussions around IoT-based solutions in livestock farming in Nigeria, with a view to addressing issues of cattle rustling as well as improved livestock health-care and better herd management through real-time monitoring. The proposed solution leverages LoRaWAN (Long-range Wireless Access Network) technology, whereby very low-power sensors with extremely long-range are attached to the cattle, and communicate with a gateway for linking to the cloud/satellite network to the internet for data processing and analytics. Such a system is also ideal for rural/remote areas where there is limited or no cellular network and internet coverage, which is where most Nigerian farms/ranches may be located.  The paper sheds some light on some real-life use cases, benefits and challenges of deploying such smart systems and provides some recommendations/action points for all relevant stake-holders towards a sustainable implementation in Nigerian agricultural secto

Model Predictive Control of Blood Pressure and Urine Production Rate for a Physiological Patient Model

The research proposes the design of a model predictive control (MPC) for automatic drug dosing to regulate high blood pressure and urine production rate in an elderly patient. Combining hydrochlorothiazide and oxybutynin is commonly used for regulation of blood pressure in elderly patients. The patient’s model tries to captures the responses to the drugs as the blood pressure and urine production rates attains their various set-points. Hence, this research aims at improving the control scheme which ensured that these two physiological variables are regulated. Simulation was done in MATLAB/Simulink environment with the use of MPC Toolbox, and the controlled variables were constrained to operate at 80mmHg for blood pressure and between 24-49 ml/kg/hr for urine production rate respectively while the manipulated variables remained unconstrained. From the simulation results, the MPC controller achieved good set-point tracking and disturbance rejection, which is an indication of a healthy level of regulation within acceptable tolerances

Characteristics of COVID-19 cases and factors associated with their mortality in Katsina State, Nigeria, April-July 2020

Introduction: COVID-19 was first detected in Daura, Katsina State, Nigeria on 4 April 2020. We characterized the cases and outlined factors associated with mortality. Methods: We analysed the COVID-19 data downloaded from Surveillance Outbreak Response, Management and Analysis System between 4 April and 31 July 2020. We defined a case as any person with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test within that period. We described the cases in time, person, and place; calculated the crude and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for factors associated with mortality. Results: We analysed 744 confirmed cases (median age 35, range 1-90), 73% males and 24 deaths (Case fatality rate 3.2%, Attack rate 8.5/100,000). The outbreak affected 31 districts, started in week 14, peaked in week 26, and is ongoing. Highest proportion of cases in the age groups were 26.7% (184) in 30-39, 21.7% (153) in 20-29 years, and 18.3% (129) in 40-49 years. While the highest case fatality rates in the age groups were 35.7% in 70-79, 33.3% in 80-89 years, and 19.4% in 60-69 years. Factors associated with death were cough (AOR: 9.88, 95% CI: 1.29-75.79), age ≥60 years (AOR: 18.42, 95% CI: 7.48-45.38), and male sex (AOR: 4.4, 95% CI: 0.98-20.12). Conclusion: Male contacts below 40 years carried the burden of COVID-19. Also, persons 60 years and above, with cough have an increased risk of dying from COVID-19. Risk communication should advocate for use of preventive measures, protection of persons 60 years and above, and consideration of cough as a red-flag sign

The Critical Need for Pooled Data on Coronavirus Disease 2019 in African Children: An AFREhealth Call for Action Through Multicountry Research Collaboration

Globally, there are prevailing knowledge gaps in the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among children and adolescents; and these gaps are especially wide in African countries. The availability of robust age-disaggregated data is a critical first step in improving knowledge on disease burden and manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among children. Furthermore, it is essential to improve understanding of SARS-CoV-2 interactions with comorbidities and coinfections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis, malaria, sickle cell disease, and malnutrition, which are highly prevalent among children in sub-Saharan Africa. The African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth) COVID-19 Research Collaboration on Children and Adolescents is conducting studies across Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa to address existing knowledge gaps. This consortium is expected to generate key evidence to inform clinical practice and public health policy-making for COVID-19 while concurrently addressing other major diseases affecting children in African countries

Meningococcus serogroup C clonal complex ST-10217 outbreak in Zamfara State, Northern Nigeria.

After the successful roll out of MenAfriVac, Nigeria has experienced sequential meningitis outbreaks attributed to meningococcus serogroup C (NmC). Zamfara State in North-western Nigeria recently was at the epicentre of the largest NmC outbreak in the 21st Century with 7,140 suspected meningitis cases and 553 deaths reported between December 2016 and May 2017. The overall attack rate was 155 per 100,000 population and children 5-14 years accounted for 47% (3,369/7,140) of suspected cases. The case fatality rate (CFR) among children 5-9 years was 10%, double that reported among adults ≥ 30 years (5%). NmC and pneumococcus accounted for 94% (172/184) and 5% (9/184) of the laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively. The sequenced NmC belonged to the ST-10217 clonal complex (CC). All serotyped pneumococci were PCV10 serotypes. The emergence of NmC ST-10217 CC outbreaks threatens the public health gains made by MenAfriVac, which calls for an urgent strategic action against meningitis outbreaks

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London