Comparative Analysis of Satisfaction with Course of Study among Students of Environmental Faculty/School in Nigerian Universities

This study assessed the variation in the level of course of study satisfaction among the undergraduate students of the Environmental Faculty/School in some selected Nigerian tertiary institutions. The study sourced and utilised data from online survey among the participating students from the various departments under the Faculty of Environmental Technology. Survey questionnaire was designed using the Survey Menu in DATAtab statistical software and shared to students in 25 Federal, State and Private institutions across Nigeria. Responses from 1471 respondents were analysed using frequency and crosstabulations accompanied with Chi-square tests. In performing the Chi-square tests, the contributions of each Department's response were obtained to know which Department contributed most to total Chi-Square value, hence identifying the largest contributor(s) to the differences in the data. More than 80% of the students in Architecture, Building, Estate Management and Quantity Surveying were satisfied with their course, compared to around 70% of students in Urban and Regional Planning as well as Surveying and Geoinformatics. A Chi2 test carried out showed a statistically significant difference in study satisfaction among the students in the six departments (χ² (10) = 47.54, p = 0.000). URP students were the most dissatisfied. Out of the 293 dissatisfied students, 41.3% felt that their course would not provide them with good employment opportunities, while about 29% rated their course inferior to other built environment courses. It is recommended that courses in Environmental Faculty/School should be made more multi-disciplinary and injected with many cross-cutting subjects. Students should be regularly updated about the latest technology in their courses and educated about other consultancy services they can render as graduates of Built Environment.&nbsp

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 (p > 0.05). No allelic or genotypic association was observed between APOE and age at onset of PD. In PD, APOE ε4/ε4 conferred a two-fold risk of cognitive impairment compared to one or no ε4 (HR: 2.09 (95% CI: 1.13-3.89; p = 0.02)), while APOE ε2 was associated with modest protection against cognitive impairment (HR: 0.41 (95% CI 0.19-0.99, p = 0.02)). Of 773 PD with motor phenotype and APOE characterized, tremor-dominant (TD) phenotype predominated significantly in ε2 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%) (p = 0.037). Although the frequency of the TD phenotype was highest in homozygous ε2 carriers (85.7%), the distribution of motor phenotypes across the six genotypes did not differ significantly (p = 0.18). Altogether, our findings support previous studies in other ethnicities, implying a role for APOE ε4 and ε2 as risk and protective factors, respectively, for cognitive impairment in PD

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

An Analysis of Motorcycle Traffic andCrashes in Nigeria – A case study of Minna, Nigeria.

The study examined the traffic volume by mode and established the prominence of the motorcycle as the principal mode of commuting in the city of Minna. Data was sourced through traffic census carried out by the author in November 2011, records from the general Hospital and the Federal Road Safety Corps Office in Minna. The analysis revealed that motorcycle traffic is particularly heavy in neighbourhoods off the main arterial road which concentrates 50% of all vehicular traffic, 83% of taxicabs and 35% of car movements in the entire city. The heavy volume of motorcycle traffic is reflected in the number of motorcycle crashes and casualties. Between 2000 and 2011, a total of 1,295 motorcycle crashes were recorded with August to December of every year as the worst months thus lending credence to the popular belief that the “ember” months are months of misfortune in Nigeria. During the same period, 13,918 motorcycle crash induced injuries and 227 deaths were recorded. The mean number of injured victims rose astronomically from 519 in the four-year period of 2000 – 2003 to 2,356 between 2008 – 2011. The study also revealed that behavioral factors such as dangerous driving, speed and route violation and driving under the influence of alcohol accounted for 75% of all the crashes.Keywords: Motorcycle, traffic, crashes, casualties, accident factor

Lateral Atlantoaxial Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Literature Review.

Lateral atlantoaxial osteoarthritis (AAOA), or C1-C2 lateral mass arthritis (LMA), is an unfamiliar degenerative cervical disease with a clinical presentation that markedly differs from subaxial spondylosis. The prevalence of LMA in the nonsurgical outpatient setting is 4%. Risk factors include age and occupation. The typical patient is between 50 and 90 years old, presents with upper cervical or occipital pain, has limited rotation, and has pain provocation during passive rotation to the affected side. Pain stems from degeneration of the lateral C1-C2 articulation and may be referred or radicular, through the greater occipital nerve. Although there is no consensus on diagnostic work-up, the disease is classically seen on the open-mouth odontoid radiograph. Computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, bone scan, and diagnostic injections are also useful. Initial treatment is conservative, and upwards of two-thirds of LMA patients obtain lasting relief with noninvasive measures and injections. In patients with severe, recalcitrant pain, limited C1-C2 fusion offers satisfactory and reliable relief. The goals of this review article are to provide a synthesis of the literature on LMA, to offer a treatment approach to LMA, and to identify problems with the current state of knowledge on LMA

Factors associated with hypertension among stroke‐free indigenous Africans: Findings from the SIREN study

Abstract Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for stroke and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) globally. Understanding risk factors for hypertension among individuals with matching characteristics with stroke patients may inform primordial/primary prevention of hypertension and stroke among them. This study identified the risk factors for hypertension among community‐dwelling stroke‐free population in Ghana and Nigeria. Data for 4267 community‐dwelling stroke‐free controls subjects in the Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network (SIREN) study in Nigeria and Ghana were used. Participants were comprehensively assessed for sociodemographic, lifestyle and metabolic factors using standard methods. Hypertension was defined as a previous diagnosis by a health professional or use of an anti‐hypertensive drug or mean systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of hypertension and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) at p < .05. Overall, 56.7% of the participants were hypertensive with a higher proportion among respondents aged ≥60 years (53.0%). Factors including physical inactivity (aOR: 9.09; 95% CI: 4.03 to 20.53, p < .0001), diabetes (aOR: 2.70; CI: 1.91 to 3.82, p < .0001), being ≥60 years (aOR: 2.22; 95% CI: 1.78 to 2.77, p < .0001), and family history of CVD (aOR 2.02; CI: 1.59 to 2.56, p < .0001) were associated with increased aOR of hypertension. Lifestyle factors were associated with hypertension in the current population of community‐dwelling stroke‐free controls in west Africa. Community‐oriented interventions to address sedentary lifestyles may benefit this population and reduce/prevent hypertension and stroke among them