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Special Issue - Digitalisation and governance, legislative oversight, and service delivery in Africa
Get PDFAfrican governments remain seized with the permanent goal of achieving development and a better standard of living for their citizens. Government is responsible for formulating public policies that address societal issues and delivering much needed basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity and waste removal, all of which are crucial to the affirmation of human dignity and facilitating an acceptable standard of living. The delivery of basic services is also crucial to creating an enabling environment for local economic development because businesses need such services to function and continue executing economic activities in a given subnational jurisdiction. Moreover, governments can enable economic development through sound development planning, policymaking, resource allocation, implementation, and the monitoring, review and evaluation of the performance of such plans and policies vis-à-vis their goals of economic stimulation. The process of digitalisation as a product of the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions presents important opportunities for governments to improve the efficiency of their processes and systems and drive socio-economic change. 
The La dimensión política y psicosocial en prácticas grupales de enseñanza universitaria en psicología
No full textIt presents the systematization of teaching practices that have been developing for seven years in the Faculty of Psychology of the University of the Republic, the only public, co-governed and freely accessible university in Uruguay. The experience is located in two degree courses that seek to reflect on the formative trajectories located. We have found that the group dynamics and methodological tools of Clinical Sociology, particularly the Parental Project and the Social Trajectory taken as pedagogical-didactic devices, enable subjective and transformative processes. Both are part of the analysis of the involvement that enables the deployment of the political dimension of training and professional practice, contributing to questioning and resisting the impact of neoliberal logic at the societal and university level. Both devices also enable the implementation of an ethical-political stance of the teacher-student relationship on the level of knowledge that challenges the place of being-teacher, enhancing participation and autonomy in the process of becoming university. From the biographical singularity, it is possible to visibilize the various forms that assume the plot of the sociopsychic bond where they are produced, reproduced, resisted, rejected and re-signified university formation. It will deepen the transversal analysis of the macro socio-historical trajectory and the socio-cultural mandates, where from the story of the students themselves it is possible to politicize the formative experience. In this sense we understand that the methodological supports used can be an innovative key to rethink pedagogical proposals and their relationship with curricular contents in university education.
Se presenta la sistematización de prácticas de enseñanza que se vienen desarrollando desde hace siete años en la Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad de la República, única universidad pública, cogobernada y de libre acceso en Uruguay. La experiencia se centra en dos cursos de grado que buscan reflexionar acerca de las trayectorias formativas situadas. Hemos constatado que las dinámicas grupales y las herramientas metodológicas de la Sociología Clínica, particularmente el Proyecto parental y la Trayectoria social, tomados como dispositivos pedagógico-didácticos, habilitan procesos subjetivantes y transformadores. En ambos se parte del análisis de la implicación que habilita el despliegue de la dimensión política de la formación y del ejercicio profesional, aportando a interpelar y resistir el impacto de la lógica neoliberal a nivel societal y en el ámbito universitario. Ambos dispositivos habilitan además la puesta en acto de una postura ético-política de la relación docente-estudiante en el plano del saber que interpela el lugar de ser-estar docente, potenciando la participación y la autonomía en el proceso de devenir universitario. Desde la singularidad biográfica es posible visibilizar las diversas formas que asume la trama del lazo sociopsíquico donde se produce, reproduce, resiste, rechaza y re-significa la formación universitaria. Se profundizará en el análisis transversal de la trayectoria macro socio-histórica y de los mandatos socioculturales, donde desde el relato de los propios estudiantes es posible politizar la experiencia formativa. En este sentido, entendemos que los soportes metodológicos utilizados pueden ser una clave innovadora para repensar las propuestas pedagógicas y su relación con los contenidos curriculares en la formación universitaria.
Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Household Fertility Decisions: A Secondary Analysis of the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey
Get PDFThis study investigates the socio-economic and demographic determinants of household fertility decisions in Nigeria. Using the family system model as framework, a cross-sectional survey design in a retrospective study was adopted. Quantitative data were purposively gotten from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) household recode dataset. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Logistic Regressions at P<0.05. The mean age at first birth of respondents was 18.8±4.0 years. The mean of Children ever-born was 5.9±2.8. The Children ever-born was highest in the North West region (36.7%), while the South East had the least (12.6%) sum of Children ever-born in the six regions. The relationship between children ever-born and the age at first birth is statistically significant (χ2= 8334.4, p=<0.001). Women with all living are 2.0 times (OR=2.071, CI=1.987-2.158) more likely to increase their Children ever-born than women who have experienced the loss of a child. Women who have no formal education are 5.8 times (OR=5.835, CI=5.504-6.186) more likely to increase their Children ever-born than women with tertiary education. Women who do not utilize contraception in any way and those who used the folkloric method were respectively 0.8 times and 5.5 times more likely to increase their children ever-born than women using modern contraceptives respectively. Based on the findings, it is recommended that fertility controls must be prioritized, specifically by encouraging girl child education across the nation
Book Review: Assessing Social Science Research Ethics and Integrity: Case Studies and Essays
Get PDFPublished in Springer’s Clinical Sociology: Research and Practice series, Assessing Social Science Research Ethics and Integrity: Case Studies and Essays is the work of Harry Perlstadt, Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University’s Department of Sociology. This scholarly work is concerned with research ethics in the social sciences, focusing on the protection of human participants in social experiments. With two comprehensive essays and a meticulous analysis of six contentious experiments, Perlstadt embarks on a journey to elucidate the complex interplay between ethics and empirical inquiry
The paradox of becoming: Pentecostalicity, planetarity, and Africanity
Get PDFIn this book, Chammah Judex Kaunda, a Zambian scholar based at Yonsei University in the Korean Republic, and a professor of world Christianity, pre-sents an African Pentecostal theology of humanism. In this innovative trajec-tory, he utilizes the Bemba (Zambian) concept of Muntu (humanism) in a manner akin to the Ubuntu (humane) philosophy that is rooted among the Nguni speakers of East, Central, and Southern Africa. As will be noted in this review, Kaunda’s Muntu concept also compares with the Igbos’ community-driven African philosophy (Igwebuike). The Igwebuike ideology, as a concept among the Igbo linguistic speakers of Nigeria, and as an indigenously lived philosophy, builds on the strength in numbers, a phenomenon where togeth-erness and the spirit of being in one accord, and being in a state of engage-ment, are the watchwords. Kaunda (2023:16), like other Africanist scholars finds the African resources as a critical partner in enriching the Pentecostal theology or any other Christian theology for that matter. Hence, Muntu finds its terminological parallels in Igwebuike, U-buntu, and Utu (humanness) of the East African Swahili peoples. These concepts and/or African philosophies argue for the case of the human community as the exact locus in developing any Christian theology in tropical Africa, including the African Pentecostal theology
Integration of Wind Power for Sustainable Energy at Lagos State University of Science and Technology: A Feasibility Study
Get PDFThis study investigates the feasibility of integrating wind power generation at Lagos State University of Science and Technology, specifically within the Mechanical Engineering Department, to address persistent electricity supply challenges in Nigeria. The research focuses on the application of a five-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) and emphasizes the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions due to the depletion of conventional sources and the environmental impact of fossil-fuel-powered generators. The methodology involves mathematical modelling to analyze wind shear exponent, Weibull distribution, maximum power available, and capacity factor. Utilizing the FZ-3000 five-bladed HAWT, data is collected using a wireless wind anemometer.
The results reveal a calculated wind shear exponent aligned with terrain characteristics, emphasizing the impact of obstructions on wind speed. Analysis of average wind speed throughout the day demonstrates the potential for continuous power generation at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology. Examination of wind speed at different heights underscores the significance of elevated turbine towers for capturing higher wind speeds and optimizing power output in the specific context of Lagos State University of Science and Technology. The calculated capacity factor of 44.17% suggests the viability of large wind turbine installations within the Mechanical Engineering Department, with room for improvement through routine maintenance.
This research contributes valuable insights into harnessing wind power at Lagos State University of Science and Technology, particularly within the Mechanical Engineering Department, addressing technical and environmental challenges for sustainable energy development
Breaking Silo Thinking within the South African Water-Energy-Food Nexus via Systems Thinking and Simulation Workshops
Get PDFDespite their inextricable interlinkage commonly known as Water-Energy-Food nexus, the current disconnect in policy development and management of the water, energy, and food resources threatens their security of supply. The security of these basic human needs is aggravated by the cross-cutting role of climate change which impacts their availability. These apprehensions suggest that contemporary methods are required to improve and enhance integrated approaches and systems in the management of the food, water, and energy sectors within the discourse of climate change. This study applied Systems Thinking methodologies to foster collaboration amongst key stakeholders within Eskom, electricity generating sector in South Africa. This was done through several simulation workshops held amongst these value chain sectors. The workshops have demonstrated the ability of these systems to enable stakeholders to apply the “nexus thinking” approach in managing the sectors of water, food, energy, and climate change within the power utility. The study concluded by recommending application of this simulation within the policy development and other key sectors to enable a broader application of nexus thinking
Optimization of Reservoir Water Quality Parameters Retrieval and Treatment Using Remote Sensing and Artificial Neural Networks
Get PDFInland water bodies are critical ecosystems that serve several functions including the provision of freshwater, regulation of climate and hydrological flows, and pollution control. Therefore, effective monitoring and management of these water resources is critical for sustainable water supply systems. This study evaluated the possible use of satellite data to estimate water quality parameters (WQPs) in an inland water body. The study also used artificial neural network (ANN) models in addition to the satellite data to determine the optimum coagulant dose for water treatment. The use of earth observations and machine learning methods has not been done extensively in developing countries, specifically, in water quality monitoring and management. The study utilized empirical multivariate regression modelling (EMRM) of the spectral reflectances from satellite data for the retrieval of Chla-a, Turbidity, and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations in an inland water body. Using MLP-ANN modelling, the extracted spectral reflectance values from the selected sampling points in the reservoir were used as model inputs for the prediction of treated WQPs. A second MLP-ANN model was developed to predict the optimum coagulant dose required for raw water treatment. The R2 values achieved with AN model 1 were 0.81, 0.76, and 0.81 respectively for TSS, turbidity, and Chl-a, and 0.99 for the optimum coagulant dose. The study concluded that spectral reflectance from medium resolution satellite data products can be used to estimate WQPs from inland water bodies. Further, the ANN models demonstrate that extracted water quality data from satellite images can be used to inform ANN models for water quality predictions, and for the optimization of water treatment plant operations
AI-Powered Decision Support Systems for Sustainable Agriculture using AI-Chatbot Solution
Get PDFThis paper introduces an innovative method for sustainable agriculture whereby an AI-powered decision support system (DSS) is developed that makes use of an AI chatbot solution. Using machine learning algorithms and data analytics, such as the ones that support the AI-DSS allows for real-time insights and advice or suggestions to be given out on best farming methods, and crop management among other things. Farmers can talk about the system\u27s comfortability and take advice that is personalized with the AI chatbot interface. The project seeks to boost agricultural productivity, cut down environmental negative influences, and advocate sustainable methods of farming. This study intends to link AI technology with farming, to make our future world more sustainable and food secure