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Medulloblastoma (MB), the most common malignant paediatric brain tumor, is currently treated using a combination of surgery, craniospinal radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Owing to MB stem cells (MBSCs), a subset of MB patients remains untreatable despite standard therapy. CD133 is used to identify MBSCs although its functional role in tumorigenesis has yet to be determined. In this work, we showed enrichment of CD133 in Group 3 MB is associated with increased rate of metastasis and poor clinical outcome. The signal transducers and activators of transcription-3 (STAT3) pathway are selectively activated in CD133 + MBSCs and promote tumorigenesis through regulation of c-MYC, a key genetic driver of Group 3 MB. We screened compound libraries for STAT3 inhibitors and treatment with the selected STAT3 inhibitors resulted in tumor size reduction in vivo . We propose that inhibition of STAT3 signaling in MBSCs may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to treat patients with recurrent MB.

Background Pedestrians are vulnerable road users worldwide, but more African governments are setting up Safety Commissions. Objectives To examine the current pedestrian injury profile in the third most densely populated city in Africa with dysfunctional transportation and poorly responsive healthcare delivery system. Methods Emergency Room records were collated for 3 months prospectively for all pedestrians injured and brought to the busiest tertiary hospital centre in Lagos, Nigeria, (Lagos State University Teaching Hospital). Parameters checked included biodata, mechanism, location, and regions of injury; and outcome among others. Results Pedestrians were 214 (M: F=2.2 : 1, peak age 21–30 years) including students (22.9%), self- (23.4%) and government-employed (10%) persons. Vehicles involved include motorcycles (29.4%), buses (29.0%) and cars (23.4%). Pedestrians were injured on highways (55.6%), in the inner city (42.1%)—knocked down while crossing (55.1%), walking by pavement (21.5%), standing by bus stop (10.7%), at home-area (6.1%) and others (6.5%). Regions injured mostly were the head (39.3%), lower limb (30.4%) and multiple regions (15%). Patients were brought by relatives 43.0%, bystanders 29.3%, self 13.1%, ambulance 5.2%, and police 5.6%. Fifty-nine of the 80 lower limb injuries were fractures (73.8%). Twenty eight patients (13.1%) died, 10 of them brought-in-dead while 64 patients (29.9%) were transferred to another hospital. Significance Discounting the 29.9% patients referred; death rate was 28 in 150 (18.7%) meaning 1 in 5 injured pedestrians died. This could be one of the highest pedestrian death rates in the world; profile strongly emphasises continuous need for injury prevention by all stakeholders.

The quality of Physical Science education in rural South African schools is a matter of significant concern, particularly in the context of the country's development goals aimed at uplifting education standards in these areas and nurturing a more skilled workforce. Physical Science plays a pivotal role in enhancing scientific literacy across the nation. This qualitative study, framed within Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, sought to identify the challenges faced by Physical Science educators in improving Grade 12 results in rural schools in Vuwani. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations involving a purposive selection of ten Physical Science educators from among 49 schools within the district. Thematic analysis was applied to the collected data, yielding insightful interpretations. The findings, primarily from interview responses, reveal that Physical Science educators in Vuwani grapple with various challenges. These challenges encompass resource scarcity, excessive workloads, inadequate support from school management teams (SMT), insufficient training when curricula change, overcrowded classrooms, and suboptimal learning environments. This study underscores the importance of fostering collaborative partnerships between schools, local communities, and business sectors. In particular, it recommends that businesses extend their support to rural schools, addressing infrastructure deficiencies and resource shortages. Such collaborative initiatives between government entities and businesses can enhance the overall quality of education in rural areas, ultimately mitigating the skills deficit and contributing to the nation's socioeconomic development goals.

In recent years, research and theory on socio-economic development have given rise to two contending schools of thought. One school emphasizes the convergence of values as a result of \"modernization\". This school predicts the decline of traditional values and their replacement with \"modern\" values depicted by rationality, tolerance, trust and participation. The other school of thought emphasizes the persistence of traditional values despite economic and political changes. This school assumes that values are relatively independent of economic conditions. Consequently, it predicts that convergence around some set of \"modern\" values is unlikely and that traditional values will continue to exert an independent influence on the cultural changes caused by economic development. One of the cultural traditions that have endured despite modernization among the Yoruba in Nigeria is aso ebi practice. Aso ebi originally refers to uniform dress worn by family members during social events in Nigeria. However, this practice now includes a larger network of unfamiliarity, transcended the Yoruba ethnic group and is gradually becoming an integral part of a national culture. Using archival records, books, journals, interviews, observation and oral tradition, this paper tests the thesis that socioeconomic development is linked with both massive cultural change and the persistence of distinctive cultural traditions. The paper critically examines the origin and functions of aso ebi as a social phenomenon for solidarity and identity among family and friends. It also explores emerging problems and benefits associated with cultural commodification in a rapidly changing society.

Medulloblastoma (MB), the most common malignant paediatric brain tumor, is currently treated using a combination of surgery, craniospinal radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Owing to MB stem cells (MBSCs), a subset of MB patients remains untreatable despite standard therapy. CD133 is used to identify MBSCs although its functional role in tumorigenesis has yet to be determined. In this work, we showed enrichment of CD133 in Group 3 MB is associated with increased rate of metastasis and poor clinical outcome. The signal transducers and activators of transcription-3 (STAT3) pathway are selectively activated in CD133 super(+) MBSCs and promote tumorigenesis through regulation of c-MYC, a key genetic driver of Group 3 MB. We screened compound libraries for STAT3 inhibitors and treatment with the selected STAT3 inhibitors resulted in tumor size reduction in vivo. We propose that inhibition of STAT3 signaling in MBSCs may represent a potential therapeutic strategy to treat patients with recurrent MB.

The study assessed bank workers' level of job security and also investigated the relationship between job security level and job performance among employees of the banks. The study adopted cross-sectional research design where primary and secondary data were sourced. Primary data were obtained through both quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection while Secondary data were extracted from Annual Reports of the selected Banks. The sample consisted of 210 bank workers selected for questionnaire administration and 15 workers for In-depth Interviews (IDIs) especially those that have been working with the bank for the past three years. These comprised both permanent and contract workers. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. The result showed that majority (58.7%) considered the level of their job security to be low while (41.3%) considered the level of their job security as high across the selected banks. Adapted from the source document.

The study assessed bank workers' level of job security and also investigated the relationship between job security level and job performance among employees of the banks. The study adopted cross-sectional research design where primary and secondary data were sourced. Primary data were obtained through both quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection while Secondary data were extracted from Annual Reports of the selected Banks. The sample consisted of 210 bank workers selected for questionnaire administration and 15 workers for In-depth Interviews (IDIs) especially those that have been working with the bank for the past three years. These comprised both permanent and contract workers. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. The result showed that majority (58.7%) considered the level of their job security to be low while (41.3%) considered the level of their job security as high across the selected banks. However, bank by bank evaluations of low level of job security did not show any major differences as Stanbic-IBTC Bank reported (51.4%), Wema Bank (70%), and First Bank (51.4%). The findings also showed that workers, regardless of their perception and feelings of job loss reported increase in their performance. Hence, there existed no significant relationship between job security level and performance (χ2 = 0.75;p> 0.05). The paper concluded that declining job security level is inevitable in the banking industry because of reforms in the Nigeria banking sector. However, this did not lower workers' performance, otherwise performance were enhanced. It then recommended the need for Nigerian banks to employ the required number of workers they are capable of providing for and put an enabling environment for workers to perform.

Bioconversion of agricultural waste products to produce value-added fuels and chemicals offers potential economical, environmental and strategic advantages over traditional fossil-based products. The kinetics of acid hydrolysis of cellulose isolated from banana skin, cowpea shells, maize stalks and rice husk (agricultural waste) were studied at temperature ranging between 70 - 100°C in a stirred conical flask which served as a batch reactor. The effect of acid concentration on cellulose hydrolysis was also investigated. The results showed that the rate of hydrolysis by virtue of glucose yield generally increased with increase in temperature and acid concentration for all the four agricultural wastes used. The experimental data were fitted to integrated first order rate kinetics and the results obtained suggested a first order rate of glucose formation from four agricultural wastes cellulose used. The activation energies estimated from Arrhenius equation are 39.60 KJ/mole, 38.83 KJ/mole, 44.37 KJ/mole and 34.29 KJ/mole for banana skin, cowpea shells, maize stalks and rice husk cellulose, respectively. These values suggests the ease with which hydrolysis can occur between the four agricultural wastes cellulose.

Bioconversion of agricultural waste products to produce value-added fuels and chemicals offers potential economical, environmental and strategic advantages over traditional fossil-based products. The kinetics of acid hydrolysis of cellulose isolated from banana skin, cowpea shells, maize stalks and rice husk (agricultural waste) were studied at temperature ranging between 70 – 100oC in a stirred conical flask which served as a batch reactor. The effect of acid concentration on cellulose hydrolysis was also investigated. The results showed that the rate of hydrolysis by virtue of glucose yield generally increased with increase in temperature and acid concentration for all the four agricultural wastes used. The experimental data were fitted to integrated first order rate kinetics and the results obtained suggested a first order rate of glucose formation from four agricultural wastes cellulose used. The activation energies estimated from Arrhenius equation are 39.60 KJ/mole, 38.83 KJ/mole, 44.37 KJ/mole and 34.29 KJ/mole for banana skin, cowpea shells, maize stalks and rice husk cellulose, respectively. These values suggests the ease with which hydrolysis can occur between the four agricultural wastes cellulose. @JASEM Keywords: Agricultural wastes; cellulose; acid hydrolysis; first-order rate kinetics; activation energy, Arrhenius equation J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. Dec, 2011, Vol. 15 (4) 531 - 537