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Enhancing AI skills development in Nigeria: the role of higher education in bridging the artificial intelligence skills gap in the public sector
No full textThis research aims to investigate the role of higher education in bridging the artificial intelligence skills gap in Nigeria, in the Public Sector. The research is necessitated by a rise in global demand for AI professionals, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where there is the desire to bridge the gap between technological advancements and the ability to capitalise on AI’s potential. The estimated Nigerian population of 230 million is predominantly young, with a significant proportion between the ages of 18 and 30 years, and they hold the key to supporting the country in emerging as a key player in the AI-driven digital economy in Africa. However, the shortage of a skilled workforce may pose a barrier to the country's development of its AI potential. Hence, the findings of this research will potentially enhance the quality of AI education, which will, in the long run, mitigate the migration of skilled AI professionals to developed countries. The research will develop a framework for Artificial Intelligence-driven skills development to address Nigeria's AI skills gap, particularly in the public sector. This will be achieved by integrating AI-focused curriculum reform, targeted collaborations among industry, the public sector, and academia for AI enhancement, as well as sustainable talent upskilling and reskilling strategies
Multilingualism, Multimodality, and Gamification: Pathways to Democratising Educational Spaces
No full textIn this chapter, democratisation of educational spaces means that we welcome non-standard entrants into professional roles in education. Teaching and designing learning can be done by people without the usual (post)graduate pedagogical qualifications. Educational research can be done by people who do not have PhD degrees and formal training in research methods. But how do we go about opening up educational spaces and pushing these boundaries? What about legitimacy, accreditation and rigour? To engage with such questions, it is enlightening to look at the periphery of educational systems because it is here that experimentation can thrive. We therefore take a tour to rural India to look at alternative learning pathways, covering both deaf education and education for sustainability. Here we find innovations that are enabled by a cast of supporting actors: multilingualism, multimodality, and gamification. I present examples of educational settings with several languages both signed and spoken used in different modalities such as writing, fingerspelling, and visual multimedia. In addition, gamification of learning also plays an important role in breaking down the usual power dynamics in teaching and learning
Artificial Intelligence in Population-Level Gastroenterology and Hepatology: A Comprehensive Review of Public Health Applications and Quantitative Impact.
No full textArtificial intelligence (AI), which includes machine learning and deep learning, is fundamentally changing public health in gastroenterology and hepatology-fields grappling with a significant global disease burden. This review focuses on the population-level applications and impact of AI, highlighting its role in shifting healthcare strategies from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. AI demonstrates substantial improvements across many different areas. In colorectal cancer, AI models significantly boost detection rates, successfully identifying a large majority of high-risk individuals often missed by traditional screening methods. For metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), advanced non-invasive tests offer a high degree of reliability in detecting liver fibrosis. The identification of viral hepatitis is enhanced with excellent accuracy, and gastrointestinal infection surveillance benefits from wastewater analysis that provides an early warning system weeks ahead of clinical case reporting. Furthermore, AI improves the diagnosis of upper GI cancers, such as gastric cancer, with higher diagnostic capability, and facilitates precision public health in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) through highly accurate risk prediction models. Despite these important advances, significant hurdles remain. Key challenges include ensuring diverse and representative data to prevent algorithmic bias, protecting patient privacy, establishing robust regulatory frameworks for new technologies, and successfully moving innovations from research settings into practical, real-world deployment. The unequal distribution of AI development and access between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries risks exacerbating existing health disparities. To fully realize AI's transformative potential for global public health in gastroenterology and hepatology, these cross-cutting issues must be actively addressed through ethical design, rigorous validation, and equitable worldwide deployment. [Abstract copyright: © 2025. The Author(s).
Interstellar Mapping And Acceleration Probe: The NASA IMAP Mission
No full textNASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission provides extensive and well-coordinated new observations of the inner and outer heliosphere and scientific closure on two of the most important topics in Heliophysics: 1) the acceleration of charged particles and 2) the interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. These topics are intimately coupled because particles accelerated in the inner heliosphere propagate outward through the solar wind and mediate its interaction with the very local interstellar medium (VLISM). The IMAP mission is designed to address these topics, provide extensive new real-time measurements critical to Space Weather observations and predictions, and much more. IMAP’s ten instruments are mounted on a simple, spinning spacecraft that orbits about the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point, L1, and repoints its Sun-facing solar arrays and spin axis toward the Sun each day. The instruments provide complete and synergistic observations that examine particle energization processes at 1 au while simultaneously probing the global heliospheric interaction with the VLISM. The 1 au in-situ observations include solar wind electrons and ions from solar wind through suprathermal energies, pickup and energetic ions, as well as the interplanetary magnetic field. IMAP provides Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) global imaging of the outer heliosphere via ENAs from tens of eV up through hundreds of keV, as well as observations of interstellar neutral atoms traversing the heliosphere. IMAP also directly measures interstellar dust that enters the heliosphere and the solar-wind-modulated ultraviolet glow. This paper provides the mission overview for the full IMAP mission, acts as a roadmap to the other papers in this IMAP collection and provides the citable reference for the overall IMAP mission going forward
Patterns of service for disabled children in English social care.
No full textSummary: This study examined national trends in how children with disabilities and mental health concerns are treated within children's social care in England. Using a 100% sample of data from the Annual Children in Need Census (2015–2023), obtained through Freedom of Information requests, the analysis was guided by an evidence-based policy framework. The focus was on assessments, child protection investigations, and the categorization of children's primary needs to understand how practice has shifted over time. Findings: The results show a 77.1% increase in assessments identifying concerns about disability or mental health, which now account for a quarter of all assessments. Section 47 child protection investigations for these children rose by 145.2%, compared with a 45.4% increase for other children. Meanwhile, the proportion recorded with “disability or illness” as their primary need fell by 17.4%. These findings indicate a declining focus on addressing the specific needs of disabled children and a rising emphasis on risk. This pattern reflects concerns raised by parent-led groups and prior research that families are often viewed with suspicion, leading to “parent blame” and intrusive interventions rather than supportive services. Applications: The study highlights the need for policy and practice change to ensure disabled children receive appropriate support. Recommended actions include separating assessment of need from child protection investigations, requiring practitioners to develop disability expertise, creating a national strategy to reduce over-reliance on investigative approaches, and properly funding child-in-need services. These steps would help re-balance the system toward meeting needs rather than blaming parents
Integrating Cloud-Based Geospatial Analysis for Understanding Spatio-Temporal Drought Dynamics and Microclimate Variability in Rajasthan: Implications for Urban Development Planning
Get PDFThis study examines the spatio-temporal dynamics of drought and microclimate variability in Rajasthan, India, from 2010 to 2022 using the Standardized Drought Composite Index (SDCI). The SDCI integrates the Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Precipitation Condition Index (PCI), and Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) to assess drought severity. Remote sensing data from MODIS and CHIRPS were processed using Google Earth Engine (GEE) for large-scale, continuous drought monitoring. The results reveal significant drought conditions in 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, and 2022, with southeastern districts like Kota, Bundi, and Baran experiencing SDCI values below 0.2, indicating severe drought. Arid regions, including Jaisalmer, Barmer, and Bikaner, consistently exhibited extreme drought (SDCI < 0.1) due to low annual precipitation (less than 250 mm). In contrast, semi-humid regions like Udaipur and Ajmer showed variable drought intensities linked to localized climatic factors. Temperature-related vegetation stress was particularly high during pre-monsoon periods, affecting agricultural productivity. The spatial analysis highlights significant regional disparities in drought severity, emphasizing the need for tailored, location-specific drought management strategies. Incorporating green infrastructure, such as urban forests and permeable pavements, is recommended to mitigate the impacts of drought and desertification. This study underscores the utility of cloud-based geospatial tools for drought monitoring and resource planning, providing critical insights for sustainable urban and agricultural development. Future research could refine the SDCI methodology and integrate socio-economic factors to enhance drought resilience
Perception or reality? Data protection legislation as an impediment to law enforcement information sharing, and ways to prevent it.
Get PDFInformation sharing is integral to tackling organised crime and terrorism. Academic studies and government inquiries both highlight the failings of law enforcement agencies in this endeavour, regularly citing data protection legislation as an impediment. To explore this issue a thematic analysis of UK law enforcement practitioner interviews (n = 41) together with a quantitative analysis of UK law enforcement data breaches (n = 28,654) was conducted. Results show practitioners identify legislation as a blockage to information sharing, however this is based on a lack of understanding, rather than the failings of the legislation itself. It was also discovered that data breaches generally occur through individual mistakes rather than malicious intent and are not punitively sanctioned by regulators. It suggests leaders at both law enforcement and government level could streamline policy and reduce bureaucracy through simplifying and co-ordinating the implementation processes involved
Human-Computer Interaction. Design and Research: 15th Indian Conference, IndiaHCI 2024, Mumbai, India, November 7–9, 2024, Proceedings, Part II
No full textThis two-volume proceedings, set CCIS 2337-2338, constitutes of the proceedings of 15th Indian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction Design and Research, IndiaHCI 2024, held in Mumbai, India, during November 7–9, 2024.
The 30 full papers and 12 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 235 submissions. These papers belong to various tracks which have been divided between the two volumes as follows: -
Part I: Paper Track.
Part II: Game Design Track, Student Research Consortium Track; Posters and demos Track; Artworks and installations Track
Factors influencing the implementation of aerobic exercise after stroke in the UK from stroke survivor, staff and system perspectives: a mixed methods approach
Get PDFIntroduction
Aerobic exercise is beneficial after stroke and recommended in the UK National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke (2023), but there are challenges to its implementation.
Aim
To determine the factors influencing the implementation of aerobic exercise after stroke in the UK from the perspectives of stroke survivors, staff, and a system.
Methodology
A convergent mixed-methods design was used comprising three studies exploring perspectives on the implementation of aerobic exercise. A qualitative systematic review, analysed using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), explored staff perspectives. A quantitative retrospective observational study using data from the UK National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR) explored a system perspective. A mixed method (primarily quantitative) survey investigated stroke survivor perspectives. The study’s findings were integrated in a joint display using the CFIR.
Findings
The integrated data showed points of convergence, but no divergence, with some single perspective factors. Convergent findings included the importance of aerobic exercise, support following stroke, and available resources. Stroke survivors and staff identified fear, lack of knowledge and motivation as barriers, and confidence as a factor. Stroke survivors’ comorbidities, deprivation, and exercise preferences are factors in implementation planning. Single perspective factors included safety and perceived risk to the stroke survivor, skill-sharing, training, collaboration, and organisation of services.
Conclusion
This integration generated the most comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing implementation of aerobic exercise after stroke to date. First steps towards increasing implementation in the UK could involve development of an educational ’how-to’ guide to delivering aerobic exercise post-stroke to improve knowledge and confidence amongst staff, and therefore stroke survivors. Development of an implementation strategy should include collaboration and stakeholder involvement to maximise success.
Contributions to knowledge
This research comprises the first time that implementation of aerobic exercise after stroke in the UK has been explored by integrating staff, stroke survivor, and system perspectives. This has enabled identification of factors common to multiple perspectives, thereby providing unique insight into how targeting one modifiable factor could, in fact, simultaneously address others
