Objective: The Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Delivery through Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery study is a prospective, open-label, single-centre, dose-escalation phase 1 trial assessing the safety/feasibility of delivering mesenchymal stromal cells to neonates/infants during cardiac surgery. Outcomes will be compared with historical data from a similar population. We aim to define an optimal control group for use in the Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Delivery through Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery trial. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent a two-ventricle repair without aortic arch reconstruction within the first 6 months of life between 2015 and 2020 were studied using the same inclusion/exclusion criteria as the Phase 1 Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Delivery through Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery trial (n = 169). Patients were allocated into one of three diagnostic groups: ventricular septal defect type, Tetralogy of Fallot type, and transposition of the great arteries type. To determine era effect, patients were analysed in two groups: Group A (2015–2017) and B (2018–2020). In addition to biological markers, three post-operative scoring methods (inotropic and vasoactive-inotropic scores and the Pediatric Risk of Mortality-III) were assessed. Results: All values for three scoring systems were consistent with complexity of cardiac anomalies. Max inotropic and vasoactive-inotropic scores demonstrated significant differences between all diagnosis groups, confirming high sensitivity. Despite no differences in surgical factors between era groups, we observed lower inotropic and vasoactive-inotropic scores in group B, consistent with improved post-operative course in recent years at our centre. Conclusions: Our studies confirm max inotropic and vasoactive-inotropic scores as important quantitative measures after neonatal/infant cardiac surgery. Clinical outcomes should be compared within diagnostic groupings. The optimal control group should include only patients from a recent era. This initial study will help to determine the sample size of future efficacy/effectiveness studies.

No abstract

The study investigated the perception of learners on the relationship between the utilization of educational podcast and the attitude of students at the universities in Ekiti State. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was the undergraduates at the universities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. An accidental sampling was used to select 300 students at the universities. Two research questions were answered in the study. Two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The instrument used to collect data for this study was a questionnaire titled Podcast and attitude of Students towards learning (PASLQ). The validity of PASLQ was ensured through face and content validity. This was done by two Tests and measurement and one of Educational Technology experts. The reliability of PASLQ was established through Cronbach Alfa with a co-efficient 0.81. The research questions raised in the study were answered using descriptive statistical tool of frequency counts and percentage while, the research hypotheses formulated in the study were tested using inferential statistics of simple correlation and linear regression. The study found that the extent to which students utilized educational podcast at the universities in Ekiti, Nigeria is low, the level of students’ attitude towards learning through Podcast at the universities in Ekiti, Nigeria is high, there is significant relationship between the students’ utilization of educational podcast and students’ attitude towards learning at the universities in Ekiti, Nigeria and that educational podcast significantly predicts the attitude of students towards learning at the universities in Ekiti State. The study recommended that curriculum developers, school authority and university lecturers should integrate podcasting into the curriculum planning, provide devices needed for podcasting and implement the use of podcast for instructional purposes so as to improve students’ attitude towards learning.