7 research outputs found
Engendering Health Promotion Through Online Participatory Communication: Case Study Of Monkey Pox In Osun State
No full textThis study investigates the role of online participatory communication in promoting awarenessand preventive actions against monkeypox in Osun State, Nigeria. With the increasing relianceon digital platforms for health communication, this research explores how online engagementinfluences public knowledge and behavior regarding monkeypox. The study adopts a qualitativeapproach, using focus group discussions with 8 public health officers and nurses from varioushospitals in Osun State. The objectives are to examine the extent of online communication’sinfluence on awareness, the impact of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the use ofdigital platforms, and the relationship between knowledge gained online and subsequentpreventive actions. The research is framed by the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory ofPlanned Behavior (TPB), which help explain how perceptions of disease severity and socialinfluence shape health behaviors. Findings suggest that online platforms significantly contributeto health awareness but face challenges such as digital illiteracy, limited internet access, andmisinformation. The study concludes that online participatory communication is a crucial toolfor health promotion, recommending increased investment in digital literacy and cross-sectorcollaboration to maximize its effectiveness
Iowa History and Culture : A Bibliography of Materials Published Between 1952 and 1986, 1989
No full textThis bibliography was compiled by two reference librarians, Patricia Dawson and David Hudson with the goal of making it easier of tracking down material on Iowa history and culture. This supplements the Iowa History Reference Guide published in 1952 by William Petersen
Free Town Libraries, their Formation, Management, and History ; in Britain, France, Germany and America. ; Together with brief Notices of Book-collectors, and of the respective Places of Deposit of their surviving Collections
No full text« Document numérisé pour l\u27ENSSIB » - L\u27auteur de ce document, Edward Edwards, fut l\u27un des instigateurs et défenseurs des " Free Town Libraries " (bibliothèques municipales publiques) en Grande-Bretagne au milieu du XIXe siècle. Son ouvrage s\u27inscrit dans un contexte historique important pour le pays, faisant suite aux " Libraries Acts " de 1850, instaurant les bibliothèques publiques dans les villes anglaises. Edwards fut d\u27ailleurs le premier bibliothécaire de la bibliothèque publique de Manchester. L\u27objectif de son livre est de servir de manuel quant à l\u27organisation de ce type de bibliothèque et de promouvoir celui-ci plus largement. Dans un second temps, il vise à comparer les différents systèmes mis en place dans quelques pays étrangers, spécialement la France, l\u27Allemagne et les États-Unis. Composé de quatre livres, l\u27ouvrage offre une étude comparative des diverses expériences menées et s\u27appuie sur les textes législatifs, notamment en ce qui concerne la Grande-Bretagne. Cette oeuvre est fondamentale pour l\u27historien s\u27intéressant au développement des bibliothèques publiques au XIXe siècle. Elle est complétée par de précieuses notices sur les grands collectionneurs européens et américains (qui forment le quatrième livre)
The religious influences in funerary practices in the Parish of Sheffield 1843 to the present.
No full textThis study aims to investigate the relationship between funerary rituals and religion in the Parish of Sheffield in order to shed light on present day customs and practices. In the past, most studies have attempted to relate religion and ritual from the base of changing belief systems; this present investigation analyses the means whereby the secular nature of funerary customs is brought into a vital relationship with the sacred by the rites of passage of death, and their associated myths and legends. The study is divided into three principal areas of research covering pertinent general and specific aspects of funerary rituals. The first section sets the central core of the research upon a more general foundation of relevant literature, and an overview of funerary rituals and religion. A resume of the history of Sheffield and the laws of burial and cremation then places the study into both a wider and a comparative context of time and place. The research then centres on a study of current funeral practices in Sheffield: the Sheffield funeral trade; the influences of religion upon death rituals in relation to the city; the people of Sheffield who experience these funerals, and the places of committal available to them. The research draws on its primary database of 67 respondents from representative religions, complemented by selective databases covering non-specific mourners, religious representatives, and associated trades, services and professions
A New Form of Authoritarianism? Rethinking Military Politics in Post-1999 Nigeria
No full textDespite the vast research that has been done on the Nigerian military, virtually all of these studies have failed to critically examine the accepted role of the military in the democratising phase. This is important because the relationship between the political elite and the military in post-military authoritarian states guarantees either democratic consolidation, or its reversal. In Nigeria, despite an appearance of significant progress in subordinating the military institution to democratic civilian authority, the military remains a crucial political actor in the polity. It appears that the military has yet to accept the core democratic principles of civilian oversight of the institution. This thesis, therefore, explores whether a new form of military authoritarianism is emerging in Nigeria, with the aim of understanding Nigeria’s military behaviour in a transitional phase, from prolonged military authoritarianism to democratisation. To examine this military behaviour, Alfred Stepan’s concept of military prerogatives that was used to understand the military’s behaviour in a transitional phase in Latin America is applied to Nigeria.
A crucial understanding of authoritarianism in Nigeria is initially discussed in this study using mainly document analysis strategy to examine whether multi-ethnic states, such as Nigeria, tend to have authoritarian systems. Six hypotheses form the core analysis of this thesis: first, that the military has retained significant military prerogatives; second, that retired military officers are gaining influential political and economic positions; third, autonomous military involvement in human rights abuses since 1999; and fourth, that civilian government oversight remains weak, and facilitates military authoritarianism. These hypotheses are primarily analysed using the elite interview technique. During the first half of 2011, the author conducted field research where serving and retired military officers were interviewed. The fifth hypothesis is that the military has intervened in politics post-1999. The examination of this hypothesis relies primarily on key security-related media reports (mostly newspaper editorials) on the military after 1999. The examination of the final hypothesis, that increases in military expenditures might facilitate a new form of military authoritarianism, relies primarily on descriptive statistical analysis. In addition, this study collated relevant historical materials that relate to the military, utilising national archival collections.
The empirical findings of this research did not identify a new form of military authoritarianism in Nigeria. The study, however, argues that the unrestricted institutional framework accorded the military has contributed significantly to authoritarian practices in the post-military era in Nigeria. This study discovered that there were similarities between the Brazilian and Nigerian militaries in regard to their military spending during their period in power. Both countries had lower defence budgets. Just as in Brazil, it appears that part of the reason the Nigerian military decided to relinquish power in 1999 had to do with its desire to gain a higher budget, something that was precluded in a military government struggling to retain a sense of legitimacy. The military needed a higher budget to modernise and re-professionalise its institution after more than a decade in power. This feature, which the Nigerian military shares with the Brazilian military, appears to justify the application to Nigeria of Alfred Stepan’s concept of military prerogatives.
Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990–2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
No full textBackground: Decades of steady improvements in life expectancy in Europe slowed down from around 2011, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, for reasons which remain disputed. We aimed to assess how changes in risk factors and cause-specific death rates in different European countries related to changes in life expectancy in those countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used data and methods from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 to compare changes in life expectancy at birth, causes of death, and population exposure to risk factors in 16 European Economic Area countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden) and the four UK nations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) for three time periods: 1990–2011, 2011–19, and 2019–21. Changes in life expectancy and causes of death were estimated with an established life expectancy cause-specific decomposition method, and compared with summary exposure values of risk factors for the major causes of death influencing life expectancy. Findings: All countries showed mean annual improvements in life expectancy in both 1990–2011 (overall mean 0·23 years [95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·23 to 0·24]) and 2011–19 (overall mean 0·15 years [0·13 to 0·16]). The rate of improvement was lower in 2011–19 than in 1990–2011 in all countries except for Norway, where the mean annual increase in life expectancy rose from 0·21 years (95% UI 0·20 to 0·22) in 1990–2011 to 0·23 years (0·21 to 0·26) in 2011–19 (difference of 0·03 years). In other countries, the difference in mean annual improvement between these periods ranged from –0·01 years in Iceland (0·19 years [95% UI 0·16 to 0·21] vs 0·18 years [0·09 to 0·26]), to –0·18 years in England (0·25 years [0·24 to 0·25] vs 0·07 years [0·06 to 0·08]). In 2019–21, there was an overall decrease in mean annual life expectancy across all countries (overall mean –0·18 years [95% UI –0·22 to –0·13]), with all countries having an absolute fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, which showed marginal improvement in life expectancy, and Belgium, which showed no change in life expectancy. Across countries, the causes of death responsible for the largest improvements in life expectancy from 1990 to 2011 were cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases were the primary driver of reductions in life expectancy improvements during 2011–19, and deaths from respiratory infections and other COVID-19 pandemic-related outcomes were responsible for the decreases in life expectancy during 2019–21. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms in 2019 were attributable to high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, tobacco smoke, high LDL cholesterol, high BMI, occupational risks, high alcohol use, and other risks including low physical activity. Exposure to these major risk factors differed by country, with trends of increasing exposure to high BMI and decreasing exposure to tobacco smoke observed in all countries during 1990–2021. Interpretation: The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies. The continued improvements in life expectancy in five countries during 2019–21 indicate that these countries were better prepared to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, countries with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements after 2011 went on to have some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019–21. These findings suggest that government policies that improve population health also build resilience to future shocks. Such policies include reducing population exposure to major upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, such as harmful diets and low physical activity, tackling the commercial determinants of poor health, and ensuring access to affordable health services. Funding: Gates Foundation. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens
