Teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic: perceptions from and psychological impact on health science professors in Brazil

With the social distancing required by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the creation of a new pedagogical model became a sudden challenge for educational institutions. This study sought to assess health science professors’ experiences and perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. An epidemiological, descriptive, cross-sectional, observational, and quantitative approach was applied and included the application of a structured and self-administered virtual questionnaire containing objective and multiple-choice questions on demographic data, online teaching activities, continuing education, learning environments, and difficulties faced. Seven questions from the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screening Tool (GAD-7) were added to assess anxiety. One hundred and thirty-eight university professors in Brazil completed the questionnaire. Of these, 87 were employed by public institutions and 51 worked at private institutions. Geopolitical region in the country and university funding type were associated with universities’ ability or decision to offer courses online. Among the professors, being of female gender and a decrease in household income were the factors most closely associated with increased anxiety. Professors also reported difficulties in interacting with students online, the need to assume more childcare, and difficulty in concentrating at home to be the main barriers to successful online teaching.

CENTRAL ASIA IN THE SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS.

The Central Asia as geopolitical region is in the system of international relations located at the crossroads of civilizations. As the concept of "Central Asia" is not fully and systematically studied in the scientific literature yet, there are conflicting discourses in the scientific community. From this point of view, the scientific analysis of the concept of "Central Asia" in the modern system of international relations is very important. In recent years, the Central Asian region (according to the concept of five states "Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan") has become not only a region of common interests of the international community, but also of growing geopolitical importance. In our opinion, it depends on two main reasons. First, the region has a strong natural material base and a strategic location. Secondly, it is a continuation of the fact that the emerging state institution in Central Asia is rapidly adapting to the realities of the new millennium and successfully integrating into world politics and economics.

Inference on Reported Vehicular Fatal Accidents in Nigeria Using a Bayesian Model

The study introduced a special case of the Poisson-Generalized Gamma empirical Bayes model to survey states in Nigeria with a higher risk of fatal accidents. Monte Carlo error and stationary dynamic trace plots were used to validate model convergence and accuracy of the posterior estimates. The main results included the disease mappings that revealed Ebonyi had the highest risk of road vehicular fatal accidents in Nigeria with a relative risk estimate of 1.4120 while Abuja had the lowest risk with a relative risk estimate 0.5711. In terms of geopolitical region, the risk of road vehicular fatal accident is highest in South-South region with a relative risk estimate of 1.1850 while North-Central had the lowest risk with a relative risk estimate of 0.7846. The study is to aid planned government programs to ameliorate vehicular road carnage in Nigeria.

Determinant of Early Age Sexual Initiation: Associated Factors Among Rural Women in Ethiopia: Evidence From EDHS 2016.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the determinant factors on early age sexual intercourse among rural women in Ethiopia.Methods: This study contains further analysis of the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) 2016 dataset. A total of 8001 participants of under reproductive age (15–49 years) women, who had at least one set of sexual intercourse, were involved in the analysis. The binary logistic multivariable analysis result was obtained by STATA-14 software. Results: Among the rural women in Ethiopia, more than half (59.6%) of women was experienced sexual intercourse at early age. The higher proportion of experiencing early age sexual initiation among rural women was found in Amhara (18.63%) region. Age of women [(OR= 0.374;95%CI:0.301-0.465) of 20-24 years, (OR= 0.44;95%CI:0.36-0.54) of 25-49 years], geopolitical region [Amhara (OR=1.514; 95%CI:1.25–1.83), Oromia (OR=0.74; 95%CI:0.64-0.905), Somali(OR=0.47; 95% CI: 0.364-0.658), SNNPR (OR= 0.5; 95% CI: 1.13–1.81), and Dire Dawa (OR=0.68; 95% CI: 0.49-0.941)]; women age at first birth (OR=0.3; 95% CI: 0.11-0.5) of greater than 18 years old; HIV/AIDS awareness (OR=0.4; 95% CI: 0.183-1.604, had awareness); chat chewing(OR=1.23; 95% CI:1.03-1.47); willingness at first sex (OR=2.51; 95% CI: 1.22-3.8, by force); marital status [married women (OR=2.52; 95% CI:1.69-3.75); divorced/separated women(OR=2.39; 95% CI: 1.58-3.63)]; and educational attainment [secondary school and above completed (OR= 0.231; 95% CI: 0.183-0.291) and primary level of education (OR= 0.67; 95% CI: 0.06-0.76)] were examined as statistically significant factors.Conclusion: The commencement of early age sexual initiation among reproductive-age women was high. This study suggests that continued programmatic and policy initiatives should be directed to improve adolescent’s overall situation as a means of improving their sexual health.

Estimation of Geoclimatic Factor for Nigeria through Meteorological Data

Geoclimatic factor variable is one of the most important radio climatic variables in the planning of the radio links in any region. A fade margin that takes into account multipath fading has to be incorporated in the link budget in the design of terrestrial line of sight communication system. This work involves the determination of the refractivity gradient over the first 100 m above ground level in Nigeria and by using the determined refractivity gradient, the geo-climatic factor (K) was calculated for typical links in Nigeria. The Geo-climatic factor (K) for the six major cities representing each geopolitical zone in Nigeria is determined in-order to improve future planning of the radio links in the regions. Measurement of meteorological parameters for five years taken in Ikeja, Lagos (Latitude 6º27´11´´N, Longitude 3º23´44´´E), Enugu (Latitude 6º27´35.8704´´N, Longitude 7º32´56.2164´´E), Kaduna (Latitude 10º31´23´´N, Longitude 7º26´25´´E), Port Harcourt (Latitude 4º47´21´´N, Longitude 6º59´54´´E), Kano (Latitude 12º3’N,Longitude 8º32´N) and Abuja (Latitude 9º10´32´´N Longitude 7º10´50´´E) were employed to estimate the country value of K. The pressure, P(hPa), temperature, T(ºC) and the relative humidity, (%), for the six location used were taken for a period of five years (2011-2015). The value of humidity were converted to water vapour pressure, e(hPa). In processing of the data, the average values of each month collected over a period of five years was used. The monthly data was used to calculate the values of the refractivity at the ground level and at 100 m altitude. From the calculated values of refractivity,the values of the refractivity gradient of heights of 65 m and at 100 m was computed and thereafter the geo-climatic factor (K) was calculated for the six geopolitical region of the country.

Geopolitical concepts of Central Europe and current reality: language perspective

The article presents a critical analysis of the theory of geopolitical understanding of Central Europe, basing on the evaluation of region’s contemporary situation and supported by the empirical data. The main research question is the following: is it possible in recent situation to still speak of Central Europe as a geopolitical region? The article is focused on the three traditional geopolitical concepts of Central Europe considered from the perspective of the current role of Germany as a traditional communication factor in this region. First, the idea of Mitteleuropa is analysed. Then, the perspectives of the Visegrad, concept of Austria-Hungary legacy and finaly CENTROPE are closely viewed. Analysis is mostly based on empirical data available in the official documents published by EU institutions as well as official national statistical data of Central European countries. Adopted research method is a combination of historical, political geography and social linguistics approaches to the topic. The concept of Central Europe with its centre in the German-speaking countries may be currently economically and politically significant, especially from a pan-European perspective, however German linguistic hegemony is not present in any of the neighbouring countries. Furthermore, the Visegrad Group today does not include all regions and states and German is not considered there as the main language of communication.

PIVOTAL REGION OF EURASIA’S GEOPOLITICAL HISTORY

Each geopolitical region has its own geographical strongholds, around which the format of their history, culture and politics emerges and develops. In Eurasia, such a region is the Caspian Sea region, with its adjoining territories. This region determines the "political weather" on this continent. The pivotal region of Eurasian geopolitical history contains answers to many mysteries of the political past of Europe and Asia: the ideas of the three world religions, which played a key role in the spiritual development of all mankind, originated and spread in this continent. From this region, rapid processes emerged and gained strength, which swept like bloody whirlwinds across the entire Eurasian space from Vladivostok to Lisbon. And all of them, to some extent, affected the pivotal region of Eurasia, spinning it with their events. From the Roman Empire in the West to the Japanese Empire in the East, the political history of Eurasia is a story of continuous alternation (rise and fall) of empires and the struggle of various peoples for imperial status. Two trends accompanied the genesis of empires - the desire for domination and the need for security. The Caspian region has become an intersection of these separate histories into a common history of Eurasia. This paper analyzes the impact of this region on Eurasian history.

Birth weight of indigenous children in Brazil: results of the First National Survey of Indigenous People’s Health and Nutrition

Birth weight is an important predictor of perinatal, infant, and preschool-age children morbimortality. However, information about indigenous children’s birth weight is still scarce. This study aimed to analyze the birth weight of indigenous children based on data from the First National Survey of Indigenous People’s Health and Nutrition, Brazil (2008-2009). This is the first study to address indigenous children’s birth weight based on a nationwide representative sample. Mean birth weights and the respective standard deviations were calculated according to geopolitical region, sex, type of birth, and birthplace. The chi-square test was used to analyze differences in proportions, and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests in means, considering sample design and data normality. We found no records on birth weight in the researched documents for 26.7% of the 6,128 sampled children. The mean birth weight for the 3,994 children included in the analyses was 3,201g (standard deviation - SD ± 18.6g), regardless of sex, type of birth, and birthplace. The prevalence of low birth weight was 7.6% (n = 302) and was significantly higher among girls. Boys presented significantly higher mean birth weight than girls, regardless of the geopolitical region. Low birth weight was slightly less frequent among indigenous children when compared to Brazilian children in general. Our study indicates the need to improve prenatal care and the quality of consultation records for indigenous women as a strategy to promote safe pregnancy and childbirth.

Student Attitude in Mathematics and Science-Related Courses for Digitally Based Society

One of the principal objectives of teaching and learning mathematics, science, and technology (MST) is to produce a digitally-based society, and students are pillars to achieve this fundamental objective in this information age. The study investigated students' attitude in MST education for digitally-based society in the South-West region, Nigeria. A sample of 1,080 from the population of 2,700 was used from six private and six public tertiary institutions in the six states that made up the region. A questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.813 was used to gather research data for analysis. Findings revealed that the students in the South-West geopolitical region had a poor attitude in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and computer science, and there was a poor academic performance in MST education. There was a significant difference between public and private tertiary institutions students' attitude towards MST-related courses. Recommendations on periodical workshops and training of teachers on the innovativeness in the teaching of science-based subjects were made.