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Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) constitutes a source of great concern to health authorities worldwide. Herbal medicinal products are used as a significant treatment option for highly active antiretroviral therapies, the efficacies of which are negatively impacted by the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains to the recommended treatment guidelines. This review provides an updated synopsis of available documents on herbal medicinal products with anti-HIV activities. Concurrent consumption of herbal products with conventional drugs, which is often necessitated by co-morbidity of HIV with other diseases, can potentially alter the pharmacokinetics of the co-administered orthodox drugs. Phytochemical constituents of the herbal medicinal products with antiretroviral activities were identified, and their potential to mediate pharmacokinetic changes through modulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes and P-glycoprotein was reported. Herb-drug interactions (HDIs) that can result in significant adverse effects were also discussed with documenting the information for the therapeutic utility of these clinically effective antiretroviral herbal medicinal products with potential for development into newer anti-HIV drugs.

Data on immune response to the SARS-COV-2 AZD1222 vaccine are limited in African populations. Here, the authors show immunogenicity of the AZD1222 vaccine in two independent cohorts from West Africa, including seroprevalence levels prior to vaccine rollout in January 2021.

Objective: This study aimed at assessing the immunization coverage and dropout rates of children aged 0-23 months at a tertiary hospital in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study reviewed the routine immunization data of children immunized at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, between January and December 2021. A proforma created on Microsoft Excel 2015 was used to extract data from the NHMIS register. Also, analysis was done using Microsoft Excel 2015 to generate the frequencies and proportion graphs. Results: The mean coverage rate of administered antigens was 58.9%; BCG had the highest coverage (74.9%), MCV 2 had the least (39.0%), and persistently low coverage with a nadir in January (16.7%) while coverage for the other antigens ranged from 57.6% to 61.5%. The BCG coverage was consistently high except for June, September, and October but peaked in May (133.3%) when the Pentavalent 1 vaccine had the highest coverage. Other vaccines had less than 80.0% coverage except in July, where Yellow fever and MCV 1 had coverage of 82.0%. Overall, there was a sharp drop in the dropout rate from January (78.0%) to March (27.0%); the least was Penta 1 to Penta 3 (6.3%), then BCG to MCV 1 (19.8%) while the highest was MCV 1 to MCV 2 (35.0%). Conclusion: The vaccine coverage rate was suboptimal, with an unacceptably high dropout rate, especially for vaccines with longer intervals. Measures to improve vaccine coverage and reduce dropout rates, such as daily immunization and reminders to caregivers, are necessary.

Concerned organizations and individuals are fully engaged in seeking appropriate measures towards managing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2) infection because of the unprecedented economic and health impact. SAR-CoV-2 Main protease (SARS-CoV-2 Mpro) is unique to the survival and viability of the virus. Therefore, inhibition of Mpro can block the viral propagation.Thirty (30) derivatives were built by changing the glucosides in the Meta and para position of quercetin and isohamnetin. Molecular docking analysis was used for the screening of the compounds. Dynamics simulation was performed to assess the stability of the best pose docked complex. Molecular mechanics binding free energy calculation was done by Molecular Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MMPBSA).Overall analysis showed that the compounds are allosteric inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Dynamic simulation analysis established the stability of Mpro-ISM-1, Mpro-ISD-3, Mpro-IST-2, Mpro-QM-2, and Mpro-QD-6 complexes with a maximum of 7 hydrogen bonds involved in their interaction. The MMPBSA binding free energies for ISM-1, ISD-3, IST-2, QM-2, and QD-6 were −92.47 ± 9.06, −222.27 ± 32.5, 180.72 ± 47.92, 156.46 ± 49.88 and −93.52 ± 48.75 kcal/mol respectively. All the compounds showed good pharmacokinetic properties, while only ISM-1 inhibits hERG and might be cardio-toxic.Observations in this study established that the glucoside position indeed influenced the affinity for SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. The study also suggested the potentials of ISD-3, QM-2 and QD-6 as potent inhibitors of the main protease, further experimental and clinical studies are however necessary to validate and establish the need for further drug development processes. Therefore, future studies will be on the chemical synthesis of the compounds and investigation of the in-vitro inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.

This article engages song melody and speech tone conflict in translated Yorùbá Christian hymns between the late 19th and early 20th century. In their effort to make early Yorùbá Christian converts sing Christian hymns in the church, European missionaries translated English hymns to Yoruba, and sang them to the original European hymn tunes. Yorùbá being a tone language, requires a significant level of correlation between song melody and speech tone, for the words to retain their original meaning when sung. The tripartite constraint of aligning melody, meter, as well as meaning, posed a major problem to the hymn translators. Having given priority to melody and metre, the translators therefore, tend to compromise on meaning, thereby producing Yorùbá hymns that will sound interesting melodically, and correlate metrically with the metre, but producing hardly meaningful words when sung. This study utilized samples from Iwe Orin Mimo, being the Yorùbá translation of a range of hymns in Hymnal Companion, Hymns Ancient and Modern, and some other hymn books popularly used by the Church Missionary Society (CMS). The work presents a graphical illustration of the disparity between the hymn tunes and the speech tone of the Yorùbá language. It also highlights the efforts of Indigenous composers in correcting the perceived error through re-composition of the first stanza of selected hymns, to which they wrote more stanzas that align with the theme of the first stanza. The inappropriately translated Yorùbá hymn books have remained strong institutions within the church and have therefore, continued to promote the use of the translated hymns in the Yoruba church.

This paper examined and illuminated with examples the ways and means of creating the environment for science and technology research to flourish. It underpins the creation of virile industrial production base as the trigger for research to plume; and consequently, prescribes the key to a sustainable research funding and mutually benefiting collaboration and symbiotic partnership between the industry and academia. It is shown, using comparative analysis, that a sine qua non for the creation of sustainable industrial base is urgent completion of Ajaokuta, NIOMCO, ALUMCO and making other metals, iron, steel and machine tools companies functional; as this generates spinoff industries, promotes beneficiation of local raw materials, expands manufacturing companies in magnitude and number; thereby create wealth to fund government budget and hence, research. It is further established that having correct policies, institutional and governmental, which include pertinent tax regime with rebate rights; and getting every company of specified grade to have a Research Unit locally in the country, provides needed framework for research and collaboration. It is also noted the effect in reducing cost and saving forex for infrastructures (e.g. rail lines, power, dams, etc.); as such, freeing money to fund intensive research, education, health and municipal services. Hence, unleash the benefits accruable to Industry, Academia, citizens; and the consequence on human development index (HDI) and the country at large. It is concluded, that the issue with Nigeria is not dearth of proficient researchers to do quality cutting-edge research, but lack of environment, wherewithal: industrial production base, policy, legal framework, weak political will and discipline to drive any policy. Ways to obviate these barriers to engender research and collaboration with industry beyond the usual concept of local content are elucidated in the paper.

The microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties of Ni–Cr–ZrO2 composites, manufactured by using the spark plasma sintering technique with different sintering temperatures, were investigated. The individual powder was measured and mixed thoroughly in a tubular mixer for 8 h before being transferred to the sintering machine. The sintering temperatures of: 800, 900, 950 and 1000 °C with a pressure of 50 MPa, a holding time of 5 min and heating rate of 100 °C/min were used as the process parameters in order to develop four compositional composite systems, used in this investigation. Wear tests were, performed on the sintered composites at 10 N, 15 N and 20 N loads. The microstructural analyses of the sintered sample revealed the associated compositional homogeneities, formation of phases and pores. The results showed that the sintering temperature influenced the mechanical and tribological properties of the sintered composites, such that the increasing sintering temperature led to an increase in the relative density. The microhardness and wear resistance increased with the increasing sintering temperature, which showed that the composites developed, possessed improved properties by using high sintering temperature. Thus, the sample sintered at 1000 °C maintained the least wear rate and consequently, the best hardness property.

This study examined the impact of oil and non-oil tax revenue on economic growth in Nigeria. few works have covered oil and non-oil taxation and the relationship of petroleum profit tax (PPT), company income tax (CIT), value-added tax (VAT) and custom and excise duties tax (CED) on Real Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design, and data were drawn from the annual reports of Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Inland Revenue Services publications. Error Correction Model was employed to analyse the data collected after subjecting the series to unit root test and cointegration test. The result of the study showed that PPT with a coefficient of 31.71067 and p-value of 0.0004 and CED with a coefficient of 1.786145 and p-value if 0.0206 had a positive significant relationship with economic growth, while CIT with a coefficient of -14446.50 and p-value of 0.0066 and VAT with a coefficient of -23.33177 and p-value of 0.0001 had a negative significant relationship with economic. The study recommends that taxation be appropriately controlled to boost economic growth, lower inflation, and create jobs in the country. More attention to the channelling PPT and CED revenue collections to infrastructural developments will bring about the economic growth of the country.

Efforts made so far to increase milk production of indigenous cattle by upgrading with exotic genotypes through crossbreeding under smallholder farmer conditions in Ethiopia have resulted in limited improvement. This study was conducted to determine if combining improved feed and management-related trainings with Holstein genetics will synergistically increase the milk production of dairy cows, and to examine the degree to which the increase or improvement is related to the level of exotic genetics involved. A total of 96 smallholder dairy farmers were purposively selected and allocated to one of three treatments reflecting differing degrees of capacity building support: (1) no training and no material support (Control); (2) training provided by another project (PAID) but without material support; (3) enhanced training plus material support (Feed-Mgt). Sixteen extension development agents and eight livestock experts were selected to provide training and weekly on-farm data collection, monitoring, technical support, and messaging reinforcement visits. Enhanced training addressed a broad range of topics related to feed and feeding, improved forage production, milk production and handling, construction and use of improved dairy housing, disease control, and dairy farm record keeping. Material support was in the form of formulated dairy concentrate feed and improved forage planting materials (seeds/seedlings). Data collection included variables describing animal performance, management practice adoption, and milk and butter quality. Tail hair samples for genetic profiling of breed makeup were also collected from all cows in the study. Results showed that there was a very significant effect of treatment (P < 0.001) on milk production, as well as treatment by week interaction (P = 0.034), with the effect of treatment markedly increasing over time (P = 0.032). That is, cows in Feed-Mgt group had up to 26.6% greater milk production compared to those in the Control group. Region and region by treatment interaction have no effects. Cows used in the experiment had varying proportions of Holstein-Friesian genome that ranged between 0 and 100%, suggesting prevalence of indiscriminate crossbreeding. Cows with a high proportion of Holstein genetics in treatment 3 produced more milk as compared to those in control group. Besides, supplemental feed improved body condition, reduced number of services per conception and resulted in higher lactation length of cows on treatment 3 compared with those on treatments 1 and 2 (P < 0.001). Overall, our findings suggest that an integrated approach of improved feed, feeding practices, and management training for smallholder dairy that goes beyond the improvement of genetics will increase milk production, improve milk quality and body condition, and resulted in higher length of lactation.

Dairy cattle production is an integral part of smallholder farming systems in the central highlands of Ethiopia, but it is characterized by low milk productivity mainly due to nutritional constraints. This study assessed the comparative advantage of using improved forage-based feeding system over the traditional feeding practices on feed intake, milk yield and quality, and cost benefit analysis of crossbred dairy cows under smallholder farmers. The study was conducted at Welmera and Ejere districts on 12 farmers and two cows per farmer, and two dietary treatments were assigned to each cow randomly, and the study lasted 8 weeks. The treatments were: 1) intervention diet composed of oats-vetch mixture hay with concentrate supplementation at the rate of 0.5 kg/l of milk and 2) basal diet following farmers’ current feeding practices: crop residues and native hay, commonly soaked with local brewery residue (“Atela”) and water. The results showed that there was no difference in total dry matter intake between the two diets. However, the basal feed intake was higher in the traditional feeding practice by 11% whereas the concentrate intake was higher in the intervention diet by 25%. Crude protein intake was significantly higher (P

Abstract Background Blood culture diagnostics are critical tools for sepsis management and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance. A baseline study was conducted to assess reported sepsis case finding, blood culture diagnostics, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and antimicrobial use at secondary health care facilities to inform the development of diagnostic stewardship improvement strategies in Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 25 public secondary health care facilities in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos State in Nigeria to evaluate the capacity for pathogen identification and AST. Data were then prospectively extracted on all patients with reported suspected sepsis from electronic medical records from selected departments at two facilities in the Federal Capital Territory from October 2020 to May 2021 to further assess practices concerning sepsis case-finding, clinical examination findings, samples requested, and laboratory test results. Data were descriptively analysed, and a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine factors associated with blood culture requests. Results In the online survey, 32% (8/25) of facilities reported performing blood cultures. Only one had access to a clinical microbiologist, and 28% (7/25) and 4% (1/25) used standard bacterial organisms for quality control of media and quality control strains for AST, respectively. At the two facilities where data abstraction was performed, the incidence of suspected sepsis cases reported was 7.1% (2924/41066). A majority of these patients came from the paediatrics department and were outpatients, and the median age was two years. Most did not have vital signs and major foci of infection documented. Blood cultures were only requested for 2.7% (80/2924) of patients, of which twelve were positive for bacteria, mainly Staphylococcus aureus. No clinical breakpoints were used for AST. Inpatients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 7.5, 95% CI: 4.6–12.3) and patients from the urban health care facility (aOR:16.9, 95% CI: 8.1–41.4) were significantly more likely to have a blood culture requested. Conclusion Low blood culture utilisation remains a key challenge in Nigeria. This has implications for patient care, AMR surveillance and antibiotic use. Diagnostic stewardship strategies should focus on improving access to clinical microbiology expertise, practical guidance on sepsis case finding and improving blood culture utilisation and diagnostics.

Microfinance banks were set up to provide financial services to poor people to reduce the rate of poverty and improve the quality of living in the country. As such, this study ascertained the effect of microfinance banks on the economic development of Nigeria. Secondary data were obtained from the CBN Bulletin and records of the National Population Commission from 1996 to 2019. The study used Vector Autoregressive (VAR) estimates to test the effect of the independent variables (microfinance banks’ total loans and advances, total investments, and total deposits) on the dependent variable (per capita income). Johansen Co-integration results showed a relationship between microfinance banks and Nigeria’s economic development in the long run. The VAR results show that the activities of microfinance banks have a positive but insignificant effect on Nigeria’s economic development in the short term. Microfinance banks have not done well in their intermediation function to positively and significantly affect economic development, especially reducing the poverty rate, unemployment rate, and improving living standards, among other macroeconomic development indices in the short run. The study recommends that microfinance banks will help to improve the standard of living in the country by granting more credits to rural dwellers through the creation of corporative societies, age grades, and unions that are predominant in rural areas. AcknowledgmentWe are grateful to all researchers who contributed to this paper.

Abstract Background A common complication of any respiratory disease by a virus could be a secondary bacterial infection, which is known to cause an increase in severity. It is, however, not clear whether the presence of some opportunistic pathogens called pathobionts contributes to the severity of the disease. In COVID-19 patients, undetected bacterial co-infections may be associated with the severity of the disease. Therefore, we investigated the implications of bacterial co-infections in COVID-19 cases. Results This is a cross-sectional study that involved archived specimens collected from nasopharyngeal samples of 150 people for COVID-19 screening in Lagos. DNA extraction from the samples was carried out to determine the presence of five respiratory bacterial pathogens using nested real-time PCR, and data were analysed using the Chi-square test. Of the 150 samples collected, 121 (80.7%) were positive for SARs-CoV-2 infection and 29 were negative. The proportion of patients with bacteria co-infection in COVID-19-negative, asymptomatic, and mild cases were 93.1%, 70.7%, and 67.5%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between mild COVID-19 conditions and bacteria co-infection (p = 0.097). There was also no significant difference in the nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Haemophilus spp. However, there was a statistically significant increase in the carriage of Moraxella catarrhalis and Chlamydophila pneumoniae among COVID-19-negative patients when compared with the positive patients (p value = 0.003 and 0.000 for Moraxella catarrhalis and Chlamydophila pneumoniae, respectively). Conclusions The current study shows that bacterial co-infection and superinfection with COVID-19 are not associated with mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in our setting. However, given the high prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae among the mild COVID-19 cases seen in this study, early diagnosis and treatment of these bacterial co-infections are still encouraged to mitigate the effect on the severity of COVID-19.

Research has shown that Hispanic voters tend to be more politically engaged when Hispanic candidates are on the ballot. This study contributes to intercultural and political communication scholarship by considering how perceived candidate ethnicity, beliefs about candidates' commitment to Hispanic voters, and communication shape political engagement. Survey data (N = 424) from the 2018 Texas Senate election featuring Democrat Beto O'Rourke and Republican Ted Cruz, indicates that voter perceptions of candidate ethnicity and commitment to the Hispanic community likely shape political engagement, although this varies across candidates. Political talk enhances engagement and moderates the relationship between perceived candidate identity and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal compound that is frequently found in personal care and consumer products, and its its impact on male reproductive health is a growing concern. Despite existing experimental studies demonstrating its potential threats to male fertility, reports on its effects on human semen quality remains limited and inconsistent. Therefore, this study presents a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the relationship between triclosan exposure and semen quality. Methods: This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024524192) and adhered to PRISMA guidelines. Results: The study analyzed 562 screened studies, out of which five articles including 1,312 male subjects were finally included in the study. The eligible studies were geographically diverse, with three from China, one from Belgium, and one from Poland. More so, the eligible studies were both case-control and cross-sectional. The meta-analysis revealed that triclosan exposure significantly reduced sperm concentration (Standard Mean Difference (SMD) -0.42 [95% CI: -0.75, -0.10], P = 0.01) and sperm total motility (SMD -1.30 [95% CI: -2.26, -0.34], P = 0.008). Mechanistic insights from animal and in vitro studies showed that oxidative stress may mediate the adverse effects of triclosan on semen quality. Discussion: This meta-analysis is the first comprehensive evaluation of the impact of triclosan on human semen quality, highlighting its potential to impair male fertility through reductions in sperm concentration and motility. However, the high heterogeneity among the included studies underscores the need for further high-quality research to establish more definitive conclusions regarding the effects of triclosan exposure on human reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malaria in pregnancy is a major public health issue, particularly among vulnerable populations in malaria-endemic sub-Saharan African countries. To mitigate its risks, WHO recommends sulphadoxinepyrimethamine (SP) for chemoprevention and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) to treat uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. These interventions have helped to alleviate the risk associated with malaria in pregnancy; however, in the context of the emergence of SP- and ACTresistant P. falciparum, maintained efficacy is under threat. Molecular surveillance is a reliable tool to monitor the emergence of resistance where molecular markers are known. Thus, the objective of the study was to use a multiplexed amplicon Oxford Nanopore sequencing approach to assess the molecular markers for antimalarial resistance among pregnant women in Nigeria. Methods: Dried blood spots (DBS) were collected from pregnant women who received IPTp-SP at the enrollment and follow-up visits. P. falciparum genomic DNA was extracted by the Chelex® method and Pf18S qPCR was used to detect parasite DNA in each sample. With nested PCR assays, fragments of Pfdhps, Pfdhfr, Pfmdr1, Pfcrt, Pfk13 and Pfama1 genes were amplified and multiplexed amplicon-based sequencing was conducted on the minION Oxford Nanopore Technology. Result: In total, 251 pregnant women were enrolled in the study and 457 DBS samples were collected. P. falciparum genomic DNA was detected in 12% (56/457) of the samples, 31 at baseline and the remaining during the follow-up visits. Pfama1, pfk13, Pfdhps, Pfdhfr, Pfmdr1 and Pfcrt were successfully sequenced in a single run. Notably, k13 artemisinin resistance mutations were absent, the frequencies of Pfdhfr and Pfdhps SP resistance haplotypes, IRN for pyrimethamine resistance and ISGKA/IAGKA associated with sulphadoxine resistance were 82% (36/44) and 64% (27/42), respectively, and the Pfcrt CVIET resistant haplotype was at approximately 22% (7/32). Conclusion and recommendations: Here a multiplexed amplicon-based ONT assay established that triple mutant Pfdfhr-IRN, double mutant Pfdhps-SG haplotypes and the chloroquine sensitive strain were prevalent among pregnant women in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Energy requirements in sheep can vary significantly due to various factors, including age, breed, sex and environmental conditions. Genetic selection and crossbreeding further contribute to this variability. Although guidelines from the US and UK national research councils are commonly used for formulating sheep diets, they may not adequately account for the unique characteristics of sheep in Africa. Aims: The study aimed to estimate the net maintenance energy requirement of male Djallonke sheep. This estimation will provide a basis for comparing the energy requirements of Djallonke sheep with national recommendations and recent estimates for other sheep breeds. Methods: Sixteen entire male Djallonke sheep were selected and grouped by weight. They were then randomly allocated to four treatment groups in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The sheep were fed to achieve intake levels ranging from 1 to 1.75 multiples of their maintenance energy requirement. Gas exchange data were collected using the GreenFeed system over a 3-day period at the conclusion of each treatment period. Heat production was calculated using the established Brouwer's equation. A linear regression equation was developed to relate heat production to metabolisable energy intake scaled by metabolic bodyweight to calculate the net energy for maintenance. Key results: The estimated net energy for maintenance for male Djallonke sheep was determined to be 0.354 MJ/kg BW0.75. This estimation indicated that the energy requirements of male Djallonke sheep exceeded the recommendations provided by the US National Research Council and the UK Agricultural and Food Research Council. However, it closely aligned with an updated estimate of 0.358 MJ/kg BW0.75. Conclusions: Based on the study's findings, male Djallonke sheep have higher energy requirements for maintenance than what is commonly recommended by existing guidelines. Therefore, it is advisable to update ration formulation software for male Djallonke sheep to better reflect their actual energy requirements for maintenance. Implications: These results have practical implications for the formulation of diets and feeding management practices for male Djallonke sheep. Adhering to updated energy requirement estimates can help improve the efficiency and productivity of sheep production in the context of Djallonke sheep farming. In sheep farming, understanding energy needs is important to improve productivity and maintain health. Our study found that male Djallonke sheep in Africa have higher energy requirements for maintenance than previously thought, challenging existing guidelines from national research councils. These findings suggest the importance of updating diet formulations and feeding practices for Djallonke sheep, potentially enhancing the efficiency of sheep farming in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Nigeria still faces significant COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, with only 60.7% of the eligible population fully vaccinated as of 20 March 2023. Our study, part of a community-based effort to improve knowledge and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, utilized the WHO's Behavioral and Social Drivers (BeSDs)-of-vaccination framework to examine the drivers of COVID-19 vaccination among eligible adults. This was a mixed-method study with focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) involving 40 purposively sampled participants. We triangulate qualitative findings with data from a household survey of 1512 eligible adults identified using a two-stage systematic cluster sampling approach. All data were collected from the 1–18 November 2022. The household survey showed 46% COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with Pearson chi-square and Fisher's exact test showing significant associations between vaccine uptake and gender, religion, and education. Multivariate logistic regression showed that confidence in vaccine safety, knowing vaccination sites and family/friends' endorsement of COVID-19 vaccination were the strongest items associated with vaccine uptake in the thinking-and-feeling, practical-issue, and social-process domains, respectively. Multiple items measuring these domains aligned with BeSD priority question, demonstrating the robustness of the pared-down framework. Qualitative data corroborated these findings. To address vaccine hesitancy and increase uptake, community-driven approaches to improve trust in vaccine safety and benefits and promote positive vaccination norms are needed. In addition, service delivery strategies to make vaccination services easily accessible and identifiable should be developed and tailored to community needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadium carbide (VC)-reinforced Fe-based hard facings are pivotal in enhancing the wear resistance of tools prone to mechanical damage. This study investigates the impact of titanium diboride (TiB2) addition (at varying laser power and powder federate) on the microstructure, hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance of high-carbon ferrochrome FeCrV15 clad coatings for agricultural and mining applications. Laser cladding techniques were employed to deposit coatings on steel substrates, and the samples were subjected to comprehensive material characterization, including microhardness testing, wear studies, and electrochemical polarization. Results reveal that TiB2 addition led to visible reactions during deposition, resulting in decreased hardness compared to pure FeCrV15 coatings. Moreover, TiB2 incorporation adversely affected the anti-corrosion properties of the coatings, although FeCrV15 coatings exhibited superior corrosion resistance compared to FeCrV15 + TiB2 coatings. Tribological evaluations showed that all coatings exhibited better anti-wear capabilities compared to the steel substrate, with varying degrees of improvement influenced by TiB2 concentration and laser beam power. Overall, FeCrV15 deposits demonstrated superior anti-wear and anti-corrosion properties compared to FeCrV15 + TiB2 coatings and attributed to increased convergence of carbide particles and higher grain-boundary density. This research contributes to understanding the intricate interplay between carbide reinforcement and matrix structure in Fe-based hard facings, providing insights for optimizing coating performance in demanding industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid polymer electrolytes are being explored as replacements for organic electrolytes in lithium‐ion batteries due to their less flammable nature and high mechanical strength. However, challenges remain, such as low ionic conductivity, and significant interfacial impedance with electrodes. Understanding the structure and dynamics of ions within polymer electrolytes and near the anode is crucial for enhancing battery performance and safety. In this study, the structural and dynamic properties of lithium cation (Li+) and bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide anion (TFSI−) in poly(ethylene oxide) matrix are examined in bulk PEO‐LiTFSI electrolyte and in the presence of a graphite surface using molecular dynamics simulations. The findings suggest that the presence of graphite surface does not affect the coordination of oxygen atoms around the Li+ ions. Results also show that the dynamics of the ions and ether oxygen is hindered near the graphite surface compared to the region away from the graphite surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current student's hall registration and exeat system in private owned Nigerian higher institutions uses manual or paper-based approach. This method is cumbersome, susceptible to mistakes, and poses security concerns. The aim of this project is to develop a web-based student hall registration and exeat system (SRES) that enhances student housing management by automating and streamlining the processes for registration and exeat processes using scrum process model. Thus, students can register and request for exeat online by submitting necessary documents. The request will be reviewed by authorized school administrator who will either accept or reject the exeat based on whether reasons and documents supplied are satisfactory or not. The SRES implements a comprehensive data management system, making physical records obsolete. By consolidating student information, the university gains efficient oversight of residency status, streamlining administrative processes and enhancing security. Moreover, the SRES fosters a better learning atmosphere by easing the hall registration procedures and minimizing delays in exeat approvals, allowing students to focus on their academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essence of managing educational institutions encompasses not only the delivery of academic content but also the efficient allocation of resources, notably student accommodations. This study delves into the development of an Artificial Intelligence based Automated Room Allocation System tailored for Babcock University, aimed at transforming the traditional manual room allocation process into an automated, digital platform. The objectives of this paper are: to gather and record students' room preferences, integrate genetic algorithm techniques that will work on the preferences to allocate room based on student's preferences and evaluate the system by conducting user testing to assess the system's usability and identify potential improvements, evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of the room allocation process and collect user feedback to ensure satisfaction. The transition to a digital and automated room allocation system is anticipated to overcome these drawbacks; laborious process of current manual allocation of rooms involving movement of files, waiting in line to receive administrative approval and a pass containing your room number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]