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ObjectiveTo evaluate construct validity of the contraception-focused "Preference-aligned Fertility Management" (PFM) Index, a new person-centered and rights-based outcome measure, in Nigeria and Uganda.Study designWe analyzed survey data from convenience samples of new users of contraception and non-users of contraception in Uganda and users of contraception in Nigeria. PFM Index scores were calculated by combining two indicators: Indicator 1 assessing alignment between desire to use contraception and actual use; Indicator 2 evaluating whether users' current methods are desired. We developed a nomological network of related constructs and conducted bivariable logistic regressions, predicting odds of PFM associated with each variable.Results71.3% of contraception users in Nigeria, 99.2% of new users in Uganda, and 42.9% of non-users in Uganda were practicing contraception-focused PFM. In Nigeria, high Women's and Girls' Empowerment in Sexual and Reproductive Health Index scores and permission to visit a health center were significantly associated with higher odds of contraception-focused PFM (OR=2.72; 95%CI=1.01-7.31, OR=2.64; 95%CI=1.04-6.73, respectively). In Uganda, women's and partner's secondary school education were significantly associated with higher odds of contraception-focused PFM (OR=2.58; 95%CI=1.58-4.24, 2.01; 95%CI=1.54-2.62, respectively); as were concordance with partner's desired number of children, recent experience of gender-based violence, and satisfaction with what (if anything) one is doing to prevent pregnancy (OR=1.48; 95%CI=1.30-1.69, OR=2.33; 95%CI=1.52-3.56, OR=4.44; 95%CI=2.77-7.12, respectively).ConclusionsThe contraception-focused PFM Index demonstrated construct validity in Nigeria and Uganda. PFM and other new measures of self-defined need contribute to the paradigm shift underway to align contraception indicators with human rights principles.

Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into the learning process is becoming increasingly crucial due to its potential to personalize and enhance learning engagement and experiences. This study investigated preservice science teachers' (PST) perceptions of ICT competencies for learning at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey approach was used in the study with a population of 1,328 and a sample of 281 PSTs, respectively. The data for this study were collected electronically using an online-based ICT Competencies Questionnaire (Google form) adapted from de Guadalupe Arras-Vota and Muñoz-Repiso (2011). Using Cronbach's alpha reliability technique, the questionnaire demonstrated an overall high-reliability coefficient of 0.90, with subscale reliability coefficients of 0.74, 0.76, and 0.89 for basic, application, and ethical competencies, respectively. The study's questions were addressed using weighted average mean and standard deviation, and the hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 significant level using oneway ANOVA. The study's findings showed a mixed picture of ICT competencies perceptions among the investigated PSTs. Additionally, the findings revealed no gender disparities in PSTs' perceptions of ICT competencies for learning. However, significant differences emerged across academic levels, with third and fourth-year PSTs exhibiting significantly higher perceptions of basic and application ICT competencies than first-year PSTs. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Faculty of Education at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, should integrate structured ethical ICT training into the curriculum.

This study determines the effectiveness of a non-digital picture concept programme to treat cognitive deficits in pupils with dyslexia. Using a sample of 38 primary two pupils (aged 7-9 years) in Ebonyi State, Nigeria, a Picture Concept Activity and the traditional method of repetitive passage drill were administered for eight weeks and results were compared. Standard cognitive and reading measures were used and data were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that the experimental participants performed higher than the control group on the overall reading and cognitive proficiency performances. Improved cognitive proficiency was associated with improved reading tasks.

Implementing self-injection (SI) of subcutaneous depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) is a key self-care strategy for sexual and reproductive health, but SI uptake remains low, and assertions about the potential of SI to increase women's control over contraceptive use lack evidence. We sought to qualitatively explore how women with diverse contraceptive experiences-including those with and without experience using SI-view the benefits and challenges of SI as compared to other methods. We conducted 241 in-depth interviews with women across four sub-Saharan African countries and found alignment between the perceived and experienced benefits of SI across our diverse sample. Through the benefits of privacy, easier access, and self-management, we found SI can promote greater control over the contraceptive experience by facilitating a woman's ability to act on her preferences and control who is involved in or aware of her contraceptive use. Interviews revealed SI's potential is, however, constrained by inherent limitations in the method; for example, it is often not private or accessible enough and many fear injecting themselves. SI has the most potential when implemented with programmatic solutions that mitigate challenges women experience or anticipate and allow more women to benefit from the privacy, easier access, and self-management that SI offers.

Background: Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects children of school-going age and exists in all cultures and backgrounds. Dyslexic children are deficient in phonological awareness, which makes the children to fail to attain the skills of reading, writing and spelling commensurate with their intellectual abilities. Inadequate knowledge about the nature of dyslexia by primary school teachers results in poor categorisation of at-risk children. Aim: This study sought to achieve two objectives. The first was to develop and validate the Teachers Awareness Questionnaire (TAQ), while the second goal was to use the validated TAQ to assess primary school teachers' level of awareness about dyslexia. Setting: Primary school teachers in Nsukka and nearby rural communities filled the TAQ and the Scale of Knowledge and belief about Developmental Dyslexia. Nsukka is called the university town and it is a slow-paced environment that is devoid of the usual hustle and bustle of most major towns in Nigeria. Methods: The cross-sectional design was employed to gather data for the measurement process. Data were analysed using bivariate correlations and descriptive statistics. Results: The TAQ has good internal consistency (r = 0.77) and an adequate convergent validity (r = 0.74, p < 0.01). Results also reveal that primary school teachers possessed low level of awareness about dyslexia. Conclusion: The study findings show that primary school teachers in Nigeria lack the requisite knowledge about dyslexia. The study suggests psycho-education for primary school teachers to empower them with information about the condition. Contribution: This study measured primary school teachers' level of awareness about dyslexia. The results showed that primary school teachers' awareness about dyslexia is poor, and this suggests that the use of labels (e.g., dullard) by some primary school teachers to describe their pupils may be incorrect. The study recommend to School Management Boards to take action to improve the teachers level of awareness about dyslexia, which would promote early identification of dyslexic pupils and possible intervention.

INTRODUCTION The virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), remains in circulation. It mutates and keeps infecting large proportions of populations, with attributable substantial [...], BACKGROUND The efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of the approved nirmatrelvir/ritonavir regimen for treatment of laboratory-confirmed mild/moderately severe COVID-19 remains unclear. METHODS We systematically identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and realworld studies (RWS; observational studies) of the efficacy/effectiveness and/or safety of the approved nirmatrelvir/ritonavir regimen for COVID-19. We pooled appropriate data (adjusted estimates for RWS) using an inverse variance, random-effects model. We calculated statistical heterogeneity using the [I.sup.2] statistic. Results are presented as relative risk (RR) with associated 95% CI. We further assessed risk of bias/study quality and conducted trial sequential analysis of the evidence from RCTs. RESULTS We included 4 RCTs (4,070 persons) and 16 RWS (1,925,047 persons) of adults (aged [greater than or equal to] 18 years). One and 3 RCTs were of low and unclear risk of bias, respectively. The RWS were of good quality. Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir significantly decreased COVID- 19 hospitalization compared with placebo/no treatment (RR = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.10-0.31; [I.sup.2] = 77.2%; 2 RCTs, 3,542 persons), but there was no significant difference for decrease of worsening severity (RR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.66-1.01; [I.sup.2] = 47.5%; 3 RCTs, 1,824 persons), viral clearance (RR = 1.19; 95% CI, 0.93-1.51; [I.sup.2] = 82%; 2 RCTs, 528 persons), adverse events (RR = 1.41; 95% CI, 0.92-2.14; [I.sup.2] = 70.6%; 4 RCTs, 4,070 persons), serious adverse events (RR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.41-1.62; [I.sup.2] = 0%; 3 RCTs, 3,806 persons), and all-cause mortality (RR = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.04-1.70; [I.sup.2] = 49.9%; 3 RCTs, 3,806 persons), although trial sequential analysis suggested that the current total sample sizes for these outcomes were not large enough for conclusions to be drawn. Real-world studies also showed significantly decreased COVID-19 hospitalization (RR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.37-0.60; [I.sup.2] = 95.0%; 11 RWS, 1,421,398 persons) and all-cause mortality (RR = 0.24; 95% CI, 0.14-0.34; [I.sup.2] = 65%; 7 RWS, 286,131 persons) for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir compared with no treatment. CONCLUSIONS Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir appears to be promising for preventing hospitalization and potentially decreasing all-cause mortality for persons with mild/moderately severe COVID-19, but the evidence is weak. More studies are needed. Key words: nirmatrelvir/ritonavir; Paxlovid; laboratory-confirmed COVID-19; systematic review; quantitative methods: meta-analysis; trial sequential analysis; efficacy/effectiveness; safety https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.3120

Addressing the imperative need for advancements in thermoelectric generation, this study pioneers an analysis of nanofluid-cooled solar segmented thermoelectric generators with non-uniform cross-sections. Insights into thermal management, structural integrity, and economic efficiency in thermoelectric systems are provided, employing a numerical model that accurately represents thermoelectric effects by accounting for temperature dependencies of semiconductor materials. Through research, exploration of diverse coolant strategies, including TiO2, Fe3O4, Al2O3, and graphene, offers key insights into their impact on cooling dynamics. Findings demonstrate that graphene nanofluid, operating at a flow velocity of 2 m/s, outperforms others, achieving optimal power generation of 221.77 mW and an exergy efficiency of 8.99 %. Additionally, at a concentrated irradiance of 595 kWm−2, graphene leads in environmental benefits, with the highest CO2 savings of 0.38 kgyr−1, and demonstrates economic advantages with a cost-effective dollar per mW value of 3.79×10−6 $mW−1. Furthermore, the study verifies the structural integrity of these systems, with graphene achieving an optimal von Mises stress of 1.35 GPa at a semiconductor height of 0.2 mm. These advancements contribute to environmentally friendly and high-performance generators for sustainable energy solutions, paving the way for future innovations in thermoelectric technology.

Background Progress in hernia surgery in Nigeria is hampered by poor health-seeking behavior, poverty, and ignorance. The disparity in the quality of health care deliveries between urban and rural areas led to the greater proportions of rural dwellers being grossly underserved. Medical aid programs offer ample opportunities to reduce the burden of hernias in Nigeria. This study aimed to analyze the early outcomes of elective hernia repairs performed during medical outreach programs. Methods This is a retrospective study of 186 patients who had hernia repair between September and November 2019. Patients were recruited from six consecutive medical aid programs held in Niger Delta (Southern) region of Nigeria. Results Overall, 186 patients were evaluated: 159 (855%) males and 27 (14.5%) females. Approximately three-fourths (141, 75.8%) harbored inguinal hernia. Nylon-darn was utilized to repair all inguinal hernias while a simple closure technique was used for all midline hernias. Majority (180, 96.8%) were discharged within 24 h of repair. Spinal anesthesia accounted for 51.6% of all anesthetic techniques used. The overall postoperative complication rate was 17.2%. The most common postoperative morbidity was scrotal edema (8.1%) followed by seroma (4.3%). Age >64 years (P < 0.001), large hernias >3 cm defect (P < 0.001), lower cadre of surgeon (P < 0.001), local anesthesia (P < 0.001) and comorbidity (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with raised morbidity. No mortality was recorded. All complications were managed conservatively. Conclusion Majority of the hernias were of inguinal origin. Scrotal edema was the most frequent postoperative complication, followed by seroma. Advanced age, large hernias, lower cadre of surgeon, comorbidity and local anesthesia were associated with raised morbidity rates.

Living with chronic health conditions such as HIV has implications for health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and improving the HRQoL of people living with HIV (PLWH) is becoming increasingly important for researchers, policymakers, and health practitioners. However, there is limited research on factors that help to explain HRQoL among persons with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the contributions of emotion regulation and self-compassion in the HRQoL of 187 PLWH (56.1% female) drawn from the HIV clinic in a specialist hospital in southeast Nigeria. They completed the Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-18), Self-compassion Scale, and Patient-Reported Outcome Quality of Life-HIV (PROQOL-HIV). While controlling for participants’ demographic variables, the regression results showed that self-compassion was positively associated with HRQoL. Higher difficulties in emotion regulation were not associated with HRQoL in the presence of self-compassion. The findings extend the outcomes of previous research in other parts of the world and support the notion that enhancing self-compassion interventions may shore up the HRQoL of people living with chronic health conditions. HRQoL interventions that embody culturally informed self-compassion strategies and developmental level approach are needed for the health system in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study aimed at determining the diversity of forage plants utilized for small ruminant feeding in rural and peri-urban sites in Imo state, Nigeria. The survey was carried out at rural and peri-urban sites in Aboh Mbaise and Mbaitoli Local Government Areas (LGAs), respectively. Ten small ruminant farmers were purposively selected from each LGA across the study communities. Data on fodder diversity, proximate composition, and mineral concentration were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means, and standard deviation. It was observed that a higher diversity of fodder plants existed at the rural sites compared to the peri-urban sites and 43.4% of the fodder plants were common to both sites. Respondents identified 60.8% of the fodder plants also as food-bearing plants, with 55.6% and 80% of these found at the rural and peri-urban sites, respectively. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the relative proximate or mineral supplies to the animals at the two sites. It was, therefore, concluded that despite the diversity and differences in forage selection at the two sites, the relative nutrient supplies to small ruminants will be similar if the cafeteria system of forage provision practiced at the sites is adhered to.

Background: Contemporary understanding of the pattern of congenital anomalies is both important in its clinical management as well as in improving the overall health of the community. Methodology: All infants presenting from January to December 2102 at the centre were prospectively studied. Results: A total of 5010 infants were screened, of which 108 have congenital anomalies giving a prevalence of 2.2%. Major anomalies were noted in 101 (93.5%) infants. Only two (1.9%) were preterm. Consanguineous relationship was observed in 2 (1.9%) cases. Pre natal Ultrasound scan was done in 33(30.8%), but in only 7 (6.5%) was any anomaly detected Onitsha, a densely populated urban area contributed 45(42%) of the cases. Only 7(6.5%) of the mothers took herbal prescriptions in the first trimester of pregnancy. Risk of anomaly progressively rises, reaching a peak of 48% in the maternal age group of 26-30 years and drops steadily after. Gastrointestinal tract anomalies were most common (no. =28, 25.9%). Residences close to dump sites, telecom masts/base stations, electricity cables, industries and heavy motorised highways contributed to risk factors in 9-12 % of cases. Conclusion: More of younger mothers were affected with gastro intestinal malformations predominating. The location of home environment is a potential risk factor that will require further characterisation.

Background: Diarrhoea is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among infants and young children in developing countries. More than half of the deaths due to diarrhoea results from dehydration and/or excessive loss of essential nutrients including micronutrients such as zinc, copper and vitamin A These micronutrients are essential for immunological protection, as well as the proper growth and development of children. Objective: To determine the serum and stool levels of zinc, copper and vitamin A in children presenting with diarrhoea. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study. Thirty consecutive infants with diarrhoea from the Diarrhoea Training Unit (subjects) and thirty without diarrhoea (controls) from the Infant Welfare clinic of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH], were studied. The feeding practices, diarrhoeal history, and anthropometric measurements of the study and control groups were noted. Their sera and stool samples were analyzed for zinc and copper using Vernox Elmer Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer and for Vitamin A using spectrophotometer Pye Unicain PU 8600. The data obtained were analysed statistically. Results: The age, body mass index (BMI), mid upper arm circumference MUAC] and sex distribution of children in the two groups were similar but their mean weight, and length/ height were significantly different (p