Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University

This study examined the importance of instructional materials in teaching Islamic Studies among senior secondary schools in the North-East Zone of Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design to investigate the availability, utilization, and perceived importance of instructional materials in Islamic Studies classrooms. The population comprised Islamic Studies teachers in senior secondary schools across the North-East Zone, from which a representative sample was selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, and mean scores. Findings revealed that while basic instructional materials such as textbooks and the Qur’an were relatively available, modern instructional resources such as audio-visual and ICT-based materials were largely inadequate. The study also found that teachers moderately utilized instructional materials despite strongly acknowledging their importance in enhancing students’ understanding, interest, and academic performance in Islamic Studies. Major challenges identified included inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, insufficient teacher training, and security-related constraints. The study concludes that effective teaching and learning of Islamic Studies depend largely on the availability and proper utilization of instructional materials. It therefore recommends improved funding, provision of modern instructional resources, continuous teacher training, and integration of information and communication technology to enhance instructional delivery in senior secondary schools in the North-East Zone of Nigeria.

A thermosiphonic solar water heating system that uses a simple flat plate collector to heat water and in which circulation takes place with natural convention. The system was designed, constructed and tested at Yelwa campus, ATBU Bauchi with latitude 10.330N and longitude 9.830E. The system was designed to heat a total of 15litres of water between 500 and 800 at the worst and best month of the year respectively. The system was designed using weather data of Bauchi state and the resulting parameters of the design was used to construct the system. It was tested between December and January. Two tests were carried out on the system; for the system with ordinary collector, and that with diffusers incorporated within the collector risers. The first system (without diffusers) has an efficiency of 52.6% and was able to generate collector outlet temperature of 610C and water mean temperature of 600C at an average daily solar radiation of 912W/m2. In contrast, the second system (with diffusers) has an efficiency of 58.6% and was able to generate collector temperature of 700C and water mean temperature of 680C at an average daily solar radiation of 913.3W/m2. It was concluded from the results that incorporating diffusers within risers improved the performance of the system by 6.6%.

Machine Learning (ML) has been a critical computational paradigm that has shaped contemporary applications in such domains as finance, healthcare, and cybersecurity, such that its performance evaluation cannot be less critical. However, its selection and interpretation of metrics has remained inconsistent, often leading to misleading conclusions. This study presents a systematic analysis of the most commonly used performance evaluation metrics in ML, integrating conceptual taxonomy, mathematical definitions, and empirical assessment under controlled perturbations. There are three dimensions to ML performance evaluation metrics categorization: robustness, discrimination, and calibration. Experiment conducted on classification and regression, and using synthetic datasets and benchmarks, evaluate threshold variation, class imbalance and label noise. Results obtained showed that no single metric captures model performance comprehensively and widely used metrics may yield conflicting or misleading assessments under certain conditions. Also, context-aware selection and multi-dimensional reporting were necessary for reliable evaluation. By empirically linking metric behaviour to data characteristics, this study provides guidance for context-aware metric selection and reporting that is not only standardized but also evidence-based.

Mentorship: a structural sustained developmental relationship where an experienced practitioner imparts specialized industry wisdom, professional ethical frameworks and essential tacit knowledge to a junior professional to accelerate the critical professional socialization and competence of such junior professional is a norm acceptable in quantity surveying and all other professions through various formal and informal means. This study assessed the mentorship programs on career progression of quantity surveyors in Bauchi Nigeria using a Likert scaled questionnaire administered via a snowball sampling technique to Quantity Surveyors in Bauchi, Nigeria. Bauchi, Nigeria has 123 Quantity Surveyors registered with Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), which was the sample frame and 95 as the sample size. From 95 administered questionnaires, the retrieved questionnaires were 69 with 72.63% retrieved. Data gotten were analysed using mean score ranking of SPSS. Quantity Surveyors in Bauchi believed that mentorship programs are essential for future Quantity Surveying professionals and that mentorship programs are valuable for career development in Quantity Surveying. Lack of time involved for mentorship remains the major problem faced by Quantity Surveyors in the study area.

Data entry is a crucial computer skill frequently required of business graduates by employers, so assessing students' performance in this area while still under university tutelage is essential. This study aimed to assess the data entry performance of Pre-service Business Teachers (PBT) in Nigeria. An inferential-descriptive survey approach was adopted, involving all eighty-four 3rd-year students, comprising 35 Direct Entry (DE) and 49 Fresher Entry (FE) students. A guide for Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) retrieval and placement, along with Data Entry using the FORM icon, was downloaded, adapted, and used in two rounds of pretests and posttests. Among other findings, the study revealed that the peer tutoring approach implemented was effective. Both DE and FE students showed significant improvement in QAT retrieval and placement, as well as in using it for data entry with the FORM icon. The study recommends among others that a mixture of Class-Wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) and Cross-Age Peer Tutoring (CPT) be introduced and utilized whenever flexibility, improved achievement levels, and compatibility are desired.

Despite increasing recognition of their impact, mental health issues such as anxiety and depression remain overlooked in public health, particularly in low-resource settings. These conditions carry significant risks if left unaddressed. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine factors associated with anxiety and depression among 405 adults in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Data were collected using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) instruments. A multi-stage sampling method was employed, and statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 22.0, with significance determined at a p value ≤0.05. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 82 years, with a mean age of 39.2 ± 14.9 years. Approximately 24.7% had chronic medical conditions and were under regular medical follow-up, while 26.7% reported experiencing a past traumatic or adverse event. Over half (52.1%) said they knew someone with a mental health condition. Among those with chronic illnesses, hypertension was the most frequently reported condition (11.6%), and flooding emerged as the most common adverse event (12.3%). The prevalence rates of generalized anxiety disorder and depression were 29.1% and 5.7%, respectively. Anxiety was significantly more common among those with chronic health conditions requiring regular medical visits (47.0%, p < 0.001), cigarette smokers (68.2%, p < 0.001), and individuals using substances other than alcohol or tobacco (69.2%, p < 0.001). Participants without a family history of mental illness were 30% less likely to develop anxiety compared to those with such a history (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.3, 95% CI = 0.2–0.4). Similarly, depression was significantly more prevalent among those with chronic conditions under medical follow-up (10.0%, p < 0.04). Individuals not undergoing regular follow-up were 20% less likely to be depressed compared to those who were (aOR = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1–0.8). Anxiety and depression in this population were linked to substance use, chronic illnesses, adverse life events—some related to climate change—and a family history of mental illness. Mental health services remain largely inaccessible. Therefore, government and relevant stakeholders should prioritize expanding mental health care, increasing awareness, addressing known risk factors, and ensuring timely diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions.

The purpose of this research was to detect Cytomegalovirus (CMV) virulence genes and identify their strains among a cohort of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics within Bauchi metropolis, Nigeria. The absence of CMV control measures in antenatal care in the study area and many communities around the globe, as well as the unavailability of vaccines, pose a significant threat to maternal and fetal health. The study was cross-sectional and retrospective among a cohort of pregnant women receiving antenatal care in primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities within Bauchi Metropolis, Nigeria. Plasma samples from 118 women who were positive for CMV IgM from ELISA were used for molecular analysis via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The DNA of each sample was extracted via the Qiagen Extraction Protocol (DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit, Quick Start protocol, 2016) and used for amplification of 6 target genes, namely, UL 55, UL73, UL74, UL75, UL100, and UL115 respectively. Three genes, UL55, which codes for gB(27); UL115, which codes for gL(15); and UL73, which codes for gN(10), were detected among 52 women. The gB strain had the highest occurrence among the women, whereas the gN strain had the lowest. The CMV gB, gL, and gN strains are endemic to the Bauchi metropolis. The gB strain with the highest occurrence rate was likely more infectious than the other strains were, whereas the gL strain confirmed previous reports linking it with a common strain during pregnancy. Therefore, the gB and gL strains are likely threats to maternal and fetal health.