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The state of teaching and learning during the outbreak of COVID-19 in East African Universities
No full textThe state of teaching and learning during the outbreak of COVID-19 in East African UniversitiesThe primary concern about interruptions in teaching and learning in higher education institutions is no longer a question of internal conflicts like student strikes or staff demonstrations but whether universities and colleges are cultivating a resilient institutional culture to mitigate, adapt to, and survive external and global interruptions such as COVID-19. Respective government directives compelled East African learning institutions to abruptly terminate in-person learning in March 2020 in the wake of COVID-19 in the region. Instructors and university management officers of the sampled universities in Tanzania and Kenya shared their experience through individual and face-to-face interviews on the knowledge and skills of the instructors on alternative modalities of managing teaching and learning during this period? This study uses descriptive analysis to provide an in-depth understanding of the state of teaching and learning during COVID-19 pandemic in East African Universities. The analysis reveals that despite initiative invested by university management in training instructors for different modalities of teaching and learning, instructors were reluctant to adopt an online model of instruction. Consequently, workload increased after re-opening of the universities with development of policy guidelines and conducting research for appropriate ways of managing universities during pandemic being suggested
The status and challenges of preprint adoption in Africa
No full textSupplemental Materials: https://osf.io/gjtnm/Low- and middle-income countries face obstacles in sharing scientific research globally due to costly publishing fees and biases. Preprints—manuscripts shared before formal journal-organised peer review—offer a potential remedy. However, their uptake, mainly in the USA, UK, and Western Europe, contrasts sharply with limited adoption in Africa. Understanding African researchers' views on preprints remains scant, hindering acceptance. Our survey reveals widespread unawareness regarding preprints and reliance on traditional publishers among African researchers. Of 182 respondents from Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania, 41.9% posted preprints, yet 77% were unaware of Africa-specific repositories. While non-posters read preprints, fewer cited or shared them. Social media served as the primary platform for preprint sharing, with concerns over sharing before peer review. Although recognized for accessibility and career enhancement, concerns persisted regarding recognition and co-author unfamiliarity. Encouragement from publishers was vital, but opinions varied on institutional and funder involvement, highlighting differing perceptions in promoting preprints. Additionally, our data suggests that traditional publishers dominate the preprint landscape for Africa-based researchers. This study provides important preliminary information relating to perceptions of preprints across African scholars and highlights the need for urgent further work to increase awareness and adoption of preprints across Africa
ብኣምሓርኛ ፣ ትግርኛን ኦሮምኛን፣ ንዊኪፔድያ ኣብ ምብርካት ዘጋጥማ ብድሆታት ምርዳእ
Full text linkThis a translation of the summary of the article: Hellina Hailu Nigatu, John Canny, Sarah Chasins. (2024). "Low-Resourced Languages and Online Knowledge Repositories: A Need-Finding Study" Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI). https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642605ንዊኪፔድያ ኣበርከቲ ዝኾኑ ሰባት ዝገጥሞም ብድሆታት ንምርዳእ፣ ብዙሕ መረዳእታ ኣብዘይብለን ቋንቋታት፣ ብመንፅር በዝሒ፣ ዓይነትን ዝምድናን፣ (1) ካብ መድረኻት ምይይጥ ዊኪፔድያ ሓበሬታ ዝተንተናሉ፣ (2)14 ተሳተፍቲ ብቋንቋታት ትግርኛ፣ ኦሮምኛ ወይ ከኣ ኣምሓርኛ ዓንቀፃት ክፅሕፉ ዝፈተኑሉ ብምርኣይ መፅናዕቲ ኣካይድና። ብመሰረት ውፅኢት እቲ መፅናዕትና፣ ንኹሉ ዝሓውስ ቴክኖሎጂታት ቋንቋ ንምስራሕ ለበዋታት ነቕርብ። ኣብዚ ፅሑፍ እዚ፣ ኣብ ታሕቲ ክርከብ ዝኽእል፣ ናብ ሕትመት ካብዝበቕዐ ናይ ውፀኢትና ጥሙር ሓሳብ ነቕርብ
Exploring the implementation of the TIME Home Learning programme and learning trajectories of 5- to 7-year-olds: Introduction to the TIME study
No full textMore information about the TIME (Together in My Education) home-learning programme and materials can be found in open access at: https://wwhomeliteracy.org.za/time/This is the first in a series of learning briefs that explore the implementation of the TIME Home Learning programme and the learning trajectories of 5- to 7-year-olds. This brief focuses on key elements of the programme, and also on the design of a study to explore how it is embedded in the ecosystem and lived in practice.DG Murray Trus
HPC Cyberinfrastructure in Resource Constrained Environments (RCE) – Challenges & Lessons Learned: Case of ACE Uganda and ACE Mali
No full textnone
No full textnoneSeed systems facilitate farmers’ access to desirable crop cultivars; hence, a means of investment in improved and adaptable cultivars, and the delivery of genetic gains from breeding and selection of crops. They also support plant health security by using clean planting materials to minimise seed degeneration. Sustainable seed systems must align with the needs of farmers, while presenting opportunities for seed producers to sustain seed supply. Understanding the underlying factors influencing seed demand can enhance the efficiency of banana seed systems to meet the diverse context-specific needs of farmers. Therefore, this study investigates the sociodemographic factors affecting smallholder farmers' perceptions of banana seed demand and their seed acquisition behaviour in Uganda. Understanding the perceived seed demand and seed acquisition patterns could reveal the determinants of banana seed demand. A cluster-based approach was used to study these factors and provide insights into the determinants of off-farm seed sourcing. Multinomial and Tobit regression models were applied to data from 137 banana farmers in Central and Eastern Uganda. Banana seed demand is influenced by both the physical availability of seeds and farmers' sociodemographic characteristics. We identified three farmer clusters with varying perceived seed demands. Perceived seed demand influences farmers’ information-seeking behaviour and seed source diversification, shaping their acquisition strategies. Income, household size, and the sex of the household head were significant predictors of perceived seed demand. A unit increase in income led to a 21.26 unit increase in perceived seed demand (p < 0.001). With each additional household member, the perceived seed shortage reduced by 12.78 units (p = 0.041). Male-headed households experienced a 55.86 units greater perceived shortage than female-headed households did (p = 0.001). These results reveal the underlying heterogeneity in seed demand determinants, which could shape farmer-centric and gender-transformative interventions that address the heterogeneity of smallholder farmers and advocate for a comprehensive multidimensional approach to improve banana seed systems. Our cluster-based analysis introduces a novel approach to studying banana and VPC seed systems.CGIAR Seed Equal Initiativ
A Review of Recurrent Meningiomas with Prolonged Response to Cabozantinib, an Oral Multitarget Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor
No full textMeningiomas are cerebral cancers that arise from abnormal cell development in the meninges and defensive layers covering the mind and spinal line. They can attack areas close to the cerebrum tissue and apply tension to neighboring designs, prompting different neurological side effects. Recent advances in atomic science and genomics have revealed insights into the fundamental subatomic adjustments and flagging pathways involved in the improvement of meningoma. Cabozantinib, a chemotherapeutic agent, has shown promising results in preclinical and clinical studies in various malignancies, including meningia. It inhibits angiogenesis, reduces cancer development, and prompts cell passage, providing areas of strength for clinical examination. Inhibition of VEGFR2 signaling has shown promise results in clinical trials in various cancer types, including a variety of cancers. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the pathophysiology and potential therapeutic effects of cabozanteb as a therapeutic agent for intracranial meninga
Matasan Afirka ta Kudu masu HIV da ƙananan CD4 suna da haɗarin kamuwa da cutar daji
Full text linkMun haɗa da daidaikun mutane masu shekaru 15 zuwa 24 daga binciken Match na Cutar Kanjamau na Afirka ta Kudu, babban ƙungiyar da ta samo asali daga alaƙa tsakanin ma'aunin dakin gwaje-gwaje masu alaƙa da HIV daga Sabis na Laboratory Health na Ƙasa da kuma bayanan daga rajistar cutar kansa ta ƙasa. Mun ƙididdige yawan faruwan na mafi yawan nau’ikan cutur daji. Mun kimanta alaqa tsakanin waɗannan cututtukan daji da jinsi, shekaru, shekarar kalanda, da ƙididdigar ƙwayoyin CD4 ta amfani da samfuran Cox da daidaita ma'aunin haɗari (aHR)