Co-hort study of urinary schistosomiasis among two villages residing along Hadejia Valley, Jigawa State, Nigeria

A study was carried out to determine prevalence of urinary Schistosomiasis among two villages located along Hadejia valley in Jigawa State, Nigeria. A total of 125 urine sample from people residing in each of the two villages (Yamidi and Shawara), were screened for the presence or absence of S. haematobium eggs. Urine sample were screened using Concentration Sedimentation Technique. The overall prevalence of S. haematobium infection in Yamidi was 76.8% with mean Eggs per cubic Centiliter (EPC) of 2.9, and in Shawara the overall prevalence was 77.6% with mean EPC of 3.4. Males were found to be more infected than female in both the two villages. People aged 1 to 5 years have highest prevalence of the infection in both the two villages than people among older age group. People with haematuria have highest prevalence of 95.1% and mean EPC of 6.0 than people without haematuria that have lower prevalence of 72.0% and mean EPC of 3.4.There was no significant relationship (p > 0.05) between the infection and presence or absence of haematuria. This study has established that urinary schistosomiasis is endemic in the study area.Keywords: Hadejia, Haematuria, Infection, Jigawa, Nigeria, Schistosomiasi

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Sub-Saharan African Higher Education Landscape: A Bibliometric Review

In this study, we examined articles focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) implemented in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) Higher Education context that describes the different models of MOOCs enacted as an initiative to provide access and opportunity to acquire quality higher education across different disciplines within the sub-region. In addition, the review aims to identify those factors that facilitate or inhibit the success and growth of MOOCs in the SSA context to understand how MOOCs has fared between the time 2012 to 2021. Based on this premise, 30 articles were included in the review in accordance with the authors’ set criteria. Results revealed that there are very few collaborations, linkages, and relations between MOOCs researchers in SSA, similarly there is a slow growth of MOOCs production, Narrative, Conceptual and Discourse analysis are the dominant analytical methods, while the perennial challenges of poor internet connectivity, lack of policy framework, poor bandwidth and electricity and lack of personnel with the requisite competences were the major hinderances to MOOCs growth in SSA. The inferences, implications and future directions were discussed

Cross sectional study of malarial parasite among patients attending general hospital, Hadejia, Jigawa state, Nigeria

A study was conducted to find out prevalence of malarial parasite among patients attending Hadejia General Hospital. A total of 227 people were screened in the  study area. Out of this number 150(66.1%) were males, while 77(33.9%) were females. Overall prevalence of malarial parasite was found to be 114(50.2%). Prevalence of malarial parasite in males was found to be 78(52%), while prevalence in females was found to be 36(46.8%). There was no significant difference (p >0.05) between the sex of the people and prevalence of the infection. Prevalence of malarial parasite in children aged 0 to 5 years has highest prevalence37(53.4%), followed by children aged 6 to 15 years with prevalence of 56(50.3%) and lowest prevalence was obtained in people aged 15 years and above 25(40.4%).There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the age of the people and prevalence of the infection. The prevalence of malarial parasite was found to be high among patients attending Hadejia General Hospital.Keywords: Hospital, Malaria, Prevalence, Parasite, Patient

Prevalence of fasciolosis among cattle slaughtered at Hadejia Abattoir

A study was carried out to find out the prevalence of Fasciolosis in cattle  slaughtered at Hadejia Abattoir. Fasciola gigantica is a parasite of liver and bile duct in cattle, sheep and goat. The liver was examined for Fasciola by making length wise incision on the ventral side of the liver in such a way that the Bile duct was cut open. The forcep was used to pick the exposed worms in the bile duct and the Gall bladder. The Flukes recovered from each cattle were placed in label containers and taken to the Laboratory for identification and preservation. A total of 545cattle were  examined for the presence or absence of Fasciolosis in Hadejia Abattoir. Out of this number 279 (51.2%) were males and 266 (48.8%) were females. The overall  prevalence of Fasciolosis in the study area was 159(28.0%). The prevalence of Fasciolosis in males was found to be 73(26.2%), while the prevalence in females was 79(29.7%). There was no significant relationship (P > 0.05)between sex of the cattle and prevalence of the infection. The Prevalence of Fasciolosis in adult cattle was 36(40.2%), while in young cattle the prevalence was 123(15.0%). There was significant relationship (P < 0.05) between the age of cattle and prevalence of the infection.Fasciolosis is one of the helminths diseases that were found to be prevalent affecting cattle in the study area.Key words: Abattoir, Cattle, Cross-sectional., Fasciolosis, Slaughter

Electrical Properties of Different Polymeric Materials and their Applications: The Influence of Electric Field

In this chapter, a comprehensive study on the general structure of polymers, their properties and applications has been carried out. In particular, the application of polymers for insulating high‐voltage (HV) equipment has been reported, together with the effect of electric field when they are subjected to HV stress. Experimental results related to the effect of partial discharge (PD) on polymeric insulations have been reported and discussed. Practical implications of the results have been discussed, and recommendations are made for future improvement. It is important to obtain new information regarding novel polymeric materials such as nano‐polymers that can possibly outperform the currently used ones. It is also vital to investigate the right information for electrical equipment, i.e. by using the appropriate polymer as solid insulation, minimizing the presence of any metallic sharp object and any other conducting path during manufacture in order to avoid any type of internal or external PD

COVID-19 Vaccine: Examining Nurses Attitude and Willingness to accept the inoculation in North Western Nigeria

Background: Healthcare providers are the first line of information in pandemics and the last line of support during infections spread.Objective: The study was conducted to examine Nurses Attitude and Willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccine in Northern Nigeria.Methods: Cross-sectional design and systematic sampling technique were used for the study where 300 pretested structured questionnaires were distributed to nurses attending Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria’s Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programme in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina states of Northwestern Nigeria. 89.3% of the questionnaires were successfully retrieved and analysed using frequency tables and spearman’s correlation coefficient.Result: The result revealed that majority (67.3%) had a positive attitude towards vaccines in general but 89.6% of the respondents were not willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between Knowledge of COVID-19 (ρ =0.402, p0.01), having long term medical condition (ρ =0.492, p0.01), highest educational qualification (ρ =0.291, p0.01), female gender (ρ =0.160, p0.01) and willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine among the respondents. Significant positive correlation was also observed between age (ρ =0.186, p0.01) and refusing a recommended vaccine in the past. Significant negative correlations were observed between refusing a recommended vaccine in the past (ρ =-0.661, p0.05) and willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccine, knowledge of COVID-19 (ρ = - 0.132, p0.01), refusing a recommended vaccine in the past (ρ = - 0.132, p0.01) and years of working experience.Conclusion: It was recommended that awareness campaigns needs to be instituted targeting the eradication of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among all healthcare providers

Polymeric materials for conversion of electromagnetic waves from the sun to electric power

Solar photoelectric energy converted into electricity requires large surface areas with incident light and flexible materials to capture these light emissions. Currently, sunlight rays are converted to electrical energy using silicon polymeric material with efficiency up to 22\%. The majority of the energy is lost during conversion due to an energy gap between sunlight photons and polymer energy transformation. This energy conversion also depends on the morphology of present polymeric materials. Therefore, it is very important to construct mechanisms of highest energy occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO)s and the lowest energy unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO)s to increase the efficiency of conversion. The organic and inorganic solar cells used as dyes can absorb more photons from sunlight and the energy gap will be less for better conversion of energy to electricity than the conventional solar cells. This paper provides an up-to-date review on the performance, characterization, and reliability of different composite polymeric materials for energy conversion. Specific attention has been given to organic solar cells because of their several advantages over others, such as their low-energy payback time, conversion efficiency and greenhouse emissions. Finally, this paper provides the recent progress on the application of both organic and inorganic solar cells for electric power generations together with several challenges that are currently faced

Octennial Review (2010-2018) of Literature on M-Learning for Promoting Distributed-Based Medical Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Medical education in Africa is in desperate need of reforms, evident in widespread diseases, and an inability to mobilise and train the required medical workforce to deal with these health issues. However, the exponential rise in the use of mobile technologies due to the spread of the Internet and increased telecommunication networks offer an opportunity for the transformation of medical education and practice through the deployment of mobile devices as a medium for learning and conveying health care services to the remote and resource-constrained locations of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper reviewed articles on the affordances of m-learning for distributed medical education in SSA published between 2010-2018. Results from 18 articles identified in the review revealed a slow-paced ascendancy of practice and research in the field; it further exposed competing priorities, infrastructural deficit, and chronic workforce shortages as the bane of m-learning implementation in the subregion. This paper makes recommendations that will enhance the growth of mobile-based distance medical education and practice in SSA

Hidden Gold for IT Professionals, Educators, and Students : Insights From Stack Overflow Survey

It is undeniable that technological advancements have taken significant changes in the nature of work, resulting in the loss of many jobs and the emergence of new ones. As a result, information technology (IT) job seekers and professionals must be aware of changes required in their respective fields. This study identified and ranked the most-used technologies, such as programming languages, databases, operating systems (OSs), and collaborative tools, specific to twenty-three (23) different IT roles. Furthermore, this study advocates that individuals focus on critical skills required in various domains to achieve career success. Similarly, individuals with a set of valued technical skills may decide whether to change jobs or roles if they are interested in a position that requires their current competence. The findings of this study can be helpful to career counselors, instructors, students, professionals, recruiters, curriculum designers, and decision-makers.Peer reviewe

Intestinal Amebiasis and associated risk factors among pregnant Women attending University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Background: Entameba histolytica (E. histolytica), the etiological agent of intestinal amebiasis poses significant community health concern especially in pregnant woman due to their physiological status. Pregnancy-induced immunodeficiency can lead to reduced IgA activities which makes pregnant women susceptible to penetration of intestinal mucosal linings and placental barrier especially by E. histolytica. Objective of studyThis study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal amebiasis among pregnant women with acute diarrhea (˂3 days post onset) attending University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 randomly selected acute diarrheic pregnant women attending UMTH. Fresh fecal samples were collected and immediately analyzed microscopically for E. histolytica oocytes using iodine wet  preparation method. Structured questionnaires were used to assess sociodemographic variables and risk factors for amebiasis. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 (IBM, California Inc., USA).Results: Out of the 200 fecal samples analyzed for E. histolytica, 10 (5%) were positive. Those infected by moderate E. histolytica cysts had the highest occurrence rate, 4 (40%) and least by those infected by many E. histolytica cysts, 1 (10%). E. histolytica infection was associated with rural residence (OR=6.86 [95% CI:1.42-33.2]), lower Socioeconomic status (OR=22.0 [95% CI: 4.69-103.1]) and primigravity (OR= 5.76 [95% CI:1.19-27.8]) (p˂0.05). Drinking water from borehole (OR=0.24 [95% CI: 0.06-0.95], p=0.043) and large household (OR=0.1 [95% CI: 0.02-0.41], p=0.001) were significant risk factors of intestinal amebiasis.Conclusion: The results indicate that E. histolytica infection is one of the etiological agents of acute diarrhea in study participants. Its recommended that pregnant women should avoid risk factors for intestinal amebiasis identified in this study. Keywords: Immunosuppression, Amebiasis, Risk factors, Diarrhea