University of Jos

Abstract Background Pediatric cancer care in Nigeria is constrained by several patient- and system-related factors. In line with the World Health Organization’s Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, this scoping review mapped the Nigerian literature on diagnostic delays, treatment access, clinical outcomes, and related system gaps. Methods We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, African Journals Online (AJOL), Taylor & Francis Online, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies were in English, published 2005–2025, and included individuals 0–18 years. Findings were synthesized thematically and narratively. Results Twenty-seven tertiary hospital-based studies (n = 2,920) were included, representing all six geopolitical zones. Most were retrospective. Frequently reported malignancies included Burkitt lymphoma, nephroblastoma, retinoblastoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and acute leukemias. Symptom-to-presentation intervals ranged from 2 to 157 weeks (median 79.5 weeks), and two studies separately reported symptom-to-diagnosis intervals of 13.4 weeks and 54.1 weeks, respectively. Contributors to delayed diagnosis and poor treatment access included low awareness, traditional or alternative care-seeking, initial misdiagnosis, financial barriers, long travel distances, limited insurance coverage, and broader health-system constraints. Using study-reported definitions, treatment completion was 3.3% in one study and 62.8% in another; treatment discontinuation was 6.3% in one study and 64.7% in another; mortality was 6.3% in one study and 45.1% in another; and cohort-level loss to follow-up was 6.6% in one study and 52.6% in another, reaching 81.8% among patients discharged on follow-up chemotherapy in one cohort. Conclusion Pediatric oncology care in Nigeria is marked by prolonged diagnostic pathways, interrupted treatment, and poor reported outcomes. Priorities include standardized referral pathways and integration of childhood cancer into national health insurance. Graphical abstract

The proliferation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) systems has introduced unprecedented security challenges, with adversarial attacks evolving faster than defensive countermeasures. Golda et al. (IEEE Access 12: 48126–48144, 2024)’s comprehensive survey documented privacy and security concerns across five perspectives including user, ethical, regulatory, technological, and institutional providing valuable awareness of the threat landscape. However, a critical gap still remains: systematically mapping specific attack vectors to their corresponding defense mechanisms to guide practical security implementations. Building upon this foundational work, this study reframes GenAI security through a threat-modeling lens, taxonomizing attack vectors into five primary categories—data poisoning, model inversion, adversarial inputs, inference manipulation, and supply chain attacks—and quantitatively evaluating defense effectiveness against each vector. Through systematic synthesis of the literature, this study constructs a novel attack-defense mapping matrix quantifying thirteen defense mechanisms’ effectiveness across threat categories. This study’s analysis reveals critical protection gaps, particularly against model extraction and deepfake generation. Privacy-preserving techniques like differential privacy and federated learning demonstrate high effectiveness against data poisoning but limited utility against adversarial inputs. This study provides a context-sensitive decision framework enabling security practitioners to select defenses based on threat profiles, resource constraints, and regulatory requirements. Approximately one-third of identified attack vectors lack mature defensive solutions, highlighting priority research areas. This work bridges theoretical security research and practical implementation, providing actionable guidance for securing GenAI deployments across healthcare, finance, and media sectors.

Inequalities in educational outcomes are endemic in Nigeria, partly because only a minority of early childhood educators receive specific training in early childhood education. Given the importance of the teacher-student relationship in young children's learning and development, a culturally relevant character-based professional development program, Kauna, was developed with the goal of improving the teacher-student relationship. Using an experimental design, 55 educators from pre-primary (kindergarten) through primary 2 were randomly assigned to Kauna or a status-quo control group. The treatment group completed three modules on the character strengths of love, social intelligence, and teamwork through indigenous character education activities. The dependent variable of character was measured through a self-report questionnaire, while a structured observation measured the teacher-student relationship. Posttest data were collected immediately after treatment and three months after treatment. Results found a significant effect of Kauna on all three character strengths at both posttest and delayed posttest with small to moderate effect sizes. The effect of Kauna on the teacher-student relationship was significant for improving sensitivity but not for reducing harshness. This study demonstrates the importance of integrating culturally relevant practices into professional development for educators and the role of character in professional development for educators.

Malaria is a major public health concern in Nigeria and has accounted for the highest percentage of the global malaria burden compared to any other country in the world. Over the past decades, Nigeria has implemented a broad range of interventions to reduce malaria cases and deaths. Some of these efforts include the distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and seasonal malaria chemoprevention. Other governance mechanisms for malaria control include the establishment of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP), and the Nigeria End Malaria Council (NEMC) aimed at eliminating malaria. While these interventions and strategic plans have been beneficial in achieving success in reducing malaria prevalence, Nigeria has yet to achieve nationwide elimination. The recent introduction of the R21 malaria vaccine is one of the most promising developments in achieving malaria control strategy. Several challenges hinder the widespread deployment of the R21 malaria vaccine in Nigeria. In this commentary, we address challenges including logistical hurdles and supply chain challenges, inadequate financing, vaccine inaccessibility, and vaccine hesitancy. We further provided recommendations such as ensuring adequate vaccine supply and efficient access and distribution, strict data collection and monitoring, comprehensive vaccine health education programs, and strengthening healthcare infrastructure for effective vaccine deployment. The introduction of the R21 vaccine, if effectively deployed, represents a critical tool in Nigeria’s malaria control strategy, which has the potential to significantly reduce malaria-related deaths, and contribute immensely to Nigeria’s long-term malaria elimination efforts.

A hernia is the abnormal protrusion of a viscus through a defect in the surrounding wall. Laparoscopic repair is increasingly favored over open surgery for ventral hernias due to its minimally invasive approach. However, consolidated evidence comparing their outcomes remains limited. This study aimed to compare outcomes including surgical site infection, hospital stay, operative time, and hernia recurrence between laparoscopic and open ventral hernia repair in adult patients, using evidence from randomized controlled trials and cohort studies. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from 2000 to the current year. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials and observational (prospective or retrospective cohort) studies comparing laparoscopic and open ventral hernia repair in adults (≥18 years) and reporting at least one of the outcomes of interest. Studies were excluded if they focused on pediatric populations, assessed only one outcome, or were case reports, meta-analyses, reviews, editorials, or studies addressing only inguinal/incisional hernias without specifying inclusion under ventral hernias. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool and Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Considering the included studies differed in clinical characteristics such as hernia type, defect size, mesh materials, fixation techniques, and surgeon experience a random effects model was selected before analysis as the most appropriate statistical approach, A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted and results presented narratively and using forest plots.hig. Nineteen studies (3 RCTs and 16 cohort studies; 7,826 patients) were included. Laparoscopic repair significantly reduced the risk of surgical site infection (RR = 0.36, 95