Hypertension has become a major public health challenge and a crucial area of research due to its... more Hypertension has become a major public health challenge and a crucial area of research due to its high prevalence across the world including the sub-Saharan Africa. No previous study in South Africa has investigated the impact of blood pressure risk factors on different specific conditional quantile functions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure using Bayesian quantile regression. Therefore, this study presents a comparative analysis of the classical and Bayesian inference techniques to quantile regression. Both classical and Bayesian inference techniques were demonstrated on a sample of secondary data obtained from South African National Income Dynamics Study (2017–2018). Age, BMI, gender male, cigarette consumption and exercises presented statistically significant associations with both SBP and DBP across all the upper quantiles [Formula: see text]. The white noise phenomenon was observed on the diagnostic tests of convergence used in the study. Results suggested that the Bayesian approach to quantile regression reveals more precise estimates than the frequentist approach due to narrower width of the 95% credible intervals than the width of the 95% confidence intervals. It is therefore suggested that Bayesian approach to quantile regression modelling to be used to estimate hypertension.
International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, Apr 1, 2022
The present study employs the Technology Acceptance Model to explore secondary school teachers’ p... more The present study employs the Technology Acceptance Model to explore secondary school teachers’ perceptions towards acceptance of tablet devices in their teaching practice in the classroom. A questionnaire was completed by (N=80) secondary school teachers from South Africa, and the constructs related to technology acceptance were measured along with demographic variables. Results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in teachers’ perceptions towards acceptance of tablets in their teaching practice across gender, age and teaching experience. The findings also showed that the perceived usefulness construct has a high negative response towards the acceptance of tablets in their teaching practice. However, the findings also revealed that the perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, and behavioural intention are directly significant factors in teachers’ perceptions towards accepting tablet devices in their teaching practice.
Background: The food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world is currently b... more Background: The food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world is currently being threatened by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an evolving health crisis.Aim: To evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on nutrition and health of adults in Calabar, especially after the hard lockdown.Setting: Online cross-sectional survey in Calabar, Nigeria.Method: After sample size determination, an online questionnaire was designed, content-validated by nutrition experts and piloted on 20 respondents. The questionnaire link was circulated for 6 weeks (April–May, 2021). The questionnaire was structured to gather socio-economic data, lifestyles of the participants (especially younger adults) and changes in dietary intake and health. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation were used to define the proportion of responses for each question and check for association.Results: No glaring nutrition or health problems was observed in the surveyed population...
The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has not only caused fear and uncertainty in the education syste... more The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has not only caused fear and uncertainty in the education systems across the globe, but it brought about a fundamental paradigm shift in the mode of teaching and learning. Higher education drastically transitioned to remote/ online delivery even for the students who had enrolled for face-to-face mode of teaching and learning. The paper is premised in the context of a developing country that such a drastic change could have widened the digital divide between students from privileged homes and those from disadvantaged families as students did not receive adequate technological training and to even acquire the necessary electronic devices. Consequently, the study sought to establish the levels of adaptation to remote teaching and learning by university students herein referred to as pre-service teachers. Following a quantitative research design, an online questionnaire survey was administered to 157 pre-service teachers enrolled in a Life Sciences Meth...
The purpose of this study is to analyse Gweru City Council`s spending pattern and behaviour and t... more The purpose of this study is to analyse Gweru City Council`s spending pattern and behaviour and to determine if this spending pattern is directed towards poverty reduction and economic development or not. Furthermore, to fit a log-differenced regression model to a historical financial dataset obtained from Gweru City Council Finance Department for the time period July 2009 to September 2012. Regression techniques were used to determine how Gweru City Council`s total income (dependent variable) is affected by its expenditure (independent variables). Econometric modeling techniques were employed for the evaluation of estimate tests, conducted to determine the reliability of the estimated model. The study concludes by providing some recommendations for possible financial plans which could be adopted by Gweru City Council and other local authorities in Zimbabwe for the well-being of Zimbabweans and economic development.
Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularl... more Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularly the smallholder farmers, due to their overwhelming dependence on rain-fed agriculture. This study examines smallholder farmers' perception of climate change, the adaptation strategies adopted and factors that influence their adaptive decisions. The unit of data collection was household interview and focus group discussion. Climate data for the Olifants catchment (1986–2015) were also collected to validate farmers' perception of climate change with actual climate trend. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann–Kendall trend, Sen's slope estimator and multinomial logit regression model. Results revealed that smallholder farmers are aware of climate change (98%), their perception of these changes aligns with actual meteorological data, as the Mann–Kendall test confirms a decreasing inter-annual rainfall trend (−0.172) and an increasing temperature trend ...
Hypertension has become a major public health challenge and a crucial area of research due to its... more Hypertension has become a major public health challenge and a crucial area of research due to its high prevalence across the world including the sub-Saharan Africa. No previous study in South Africa has investigated the impact of blood pressure risk factors on different specific conditional quantile functions of systolic and diastolic blood pressure using Bayesian quantile regression. Therefore, this study presents a comparative analysis of the classical and Bayesian inference techniques to quantile regression. Both classical and Bayesian inference techniques were demonstrated on a sample of secondary data obtained from South African National Income Dynamics Study (2017–2018). Age, BMI, gender male, cigarette consumption and exercises presented statistically significant associations with both SBP and DBP across all the upper quantiles [Formula: see text]. The white noise phenomenon was observed on the diagnostic tests of convergence used in the study. Results suggested that the Bayesian approach to quantile regression reveals more precise estimates than the frequentist approach due to narrower width of the 95% credible intervals than the width of the 95% confidence intervals. It is therefore suggested that Bayesian approach to quantile regression modelling to be used to estimate hypertension.
International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, Apr 1, 2022
The present study employs the Technology Acceptance Model to explore secondary school teachers’ p... more The present study employs the Technology Acceptance Model to explore secondary school teachers’ perceptions towards acceptance of tablet devices in their teaching practice in the classroom. A questionnaire was completed by (N=80) secondary school teachers from South Africa, and the constructs related to technology acceptance were measured along with demographic variables. Results revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in teachers’ perceptions towards acceptance of tablets in their teaching practice across gender, age and teaching experience. The findings also showed that the perceived usefulness construct has a high negative response towards the acceptance of tablets in their teaching practice. However, the findings also revealed that the perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, and behavioural intention are directly significant factors in teachers’ perceptions towards accepting tablet devices in their teaching practice.
Background: The food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world is currently b... more Background: The food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world is currently being threatened by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an evolving health crisis.Aim: To evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on nutrition and health of adults in Calabar, especially after the hard lockdown.Setting: Online cross-sectional survey in Calabar, Nigeria.Method: After sample size determination, an online questionnaire was designed, content-validated by nutrition experts and piloted on 20 respondents. The questionnaire link was circulated for 6 weeks (April–May, 2021). The questionnaire was structured to gather socio-economic data, lifestyles of the participants (especially younger adults) and changes in dietary intake and health. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation were used to define the proportion of responses for each question and check for association.Results: No glaring nutrition or health problems was observed in the surveyed population...
The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has not only caused fear and uncertainty in the education syste... more The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has not only caused fear and uncertainty in the education systems across the globe, but it brought about a fundamental paradigm shift in the mode of teaching and learning. Higher education drastically transitioned to remote/ online delivery even for the students who had enrolled for face-to-face mode of teaching and learning. The paper is premised in the context of a developing country that such a drastic change could have widened the digital divide between students from privileged homes and those from disadvantaged families as students did not receive adequate technological training and to even acquire the necessary electronic devices. Consequently, the study sought to establish the levels of adaptation to remote teaching and learning by university students herein referred to as pre-service teachers. Following a quantitative research design, an online questionnaire survey was administered to 157 pre-service teachers enrolled in a Life Sciences Meth...
The purpose of this study is to analyse Gweru City Council`s spending pattern and behaviour and t... more The purpose of this study is to analyse Gweru City Council`s spending pattern and behaviour and to determine if this spending pattern is directed towards poverty reduction and economic development or not. Furthermore, to fit a log-differenced regression model to a historical financial dataset obtained from Gweru City Council Finance Department for the time period July 2009 to September 2012. Regression techniques were used to determine how Gweru City Council`s total income (dependent variable) is affected by its expenditure (independent variables). Econometric modeling techniques were employed for the evaluation of estimate tests, conducted to determine the reliability of the estimated model. The study concludes by providing some recommendations for possible financial plans which could be adopted by Gweru City Council and other local authorities in Zimbabwe for the well-being of Zimbabweans and economic development.
Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularl... more Climate change is expected to affect the livelihood of rural farmers in South Africa, particularly the smallholder farmers, due to their overwhelming dependence on rain-fed agriculture. This study examines smallholder farmers' perception of climate change, the adaptation strategies adopted and factors that influence their adaptive decisions. The unit of data collection was household interview and focus group discussion. Climate data for the Olifants catchment (1986–2015) were also collected to validate farmers' perception of climate change with actual climate trend. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Mann–Kendall trend, Sen's slope estimator and multinomial logit regression model. Results revealed that smallholder farmers are aware of climate change (98%), their perception of these changes aligns with actual meteorological data, as the Mann–Kendall test confirms a decreasing inter-annual rainfall trend (−0.172) and an increasing temperature trend ...
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Papers by Anesu Kuhudzai