Socio-demographic and Driving Characteristics Associated with Visual Standards for Driving among Mass Transit Drivers in Abuja, Nigeria.

Purpose: This study was conducted to ascertain the sociodemographic and driving characteristics associated with visual standards for driving among mass transit drivers in Abuja, Nigeria.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 415 mass transit drivers in Abuja who were selected by multistage sampling method. Consent was obtained from the respondents and a pretested, structured-questionnaire was administered including conducting clinical eye examinations on the study participants. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 20.Results: All the participants were males with a mean age of 41.2 ±6.9 years and most of them 392 (94.5%) possessed drivers’ license. Only 36.9% of the drivers had an eye examination done before issuance of a driver’s license. Data analysis using the binary logistic regression model revealed that the statistically significant predictors of visual standards among mass transit drivers were duration as a mass transit driver (coefficient β = -1.608, p = 0.042, Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.200 (95% Confidence interval [CI]: 0.035, 0.807), and previous eye examination before driver’s license renewal (β = 0.606, p = 0.021, AOR =1.834 (95% CI: 1.096, 3.067).Conclusion: Higher driving duration and eye examination before issuance/renewal of driver’s licence were associated with meeting visual standards for driving. Federal Road Safety Commission in conjunction with eye care sector should ensure routine visual assessment for driving among drivers. Also, routine eye health education should be carried out at road transport parks and via mass media on the importance of regular eye examination before issuance/renewal of driver’s licence

Undiagnosed hypertension and proteinuria in an outpatient population in Northern Ghana

Background: There is an upsurge in chronic kidney disease incidence worldwide. Late presentation characterises chronic kidney disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Hypertension and proteinuria are independent risk factors for worsening kidney function, irrespective of the cause of the kidney disease. We assessed the prevalence and predictors of hypertension and proteinuria in an outpatient population in Northern Ghana. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed screening data among adults ≥18 years of age in two of Ghana’s Northern regions. The data retrieved included socio-demographic information, blood pressure recordings, urine dipsticks and fingerpick blood glucose levels. The data were analysed for the prevalence of hypertension and proteinuria in the participants. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to identify the predictors of significant proteinuria in these participants. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Total 1018 participants were included in the study, comprising 50.5% males. The prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension was 28.1%, using a blood pressure cut-off value of ≥ 140/90 mmHg. Significant proteinuria (≥ 1+ or 30 mg/dl) was present in 10.7% of the participants. Hypertension (AOR 2.433, 95% CI 1.582-3.742, p<0.001) and hyperglycaemia (AOR 2.226, 95% CI 1.159-4.275, p=0.016) were independent predictors of the presence of significant proteinuria. Conclusions: Uncontrolled hypertension and proteinuria were common in this outpatient population in Northern Ghana. The cost-effectiveness of community-based screening for chronic kidney disease and its risk factors in low-resource settings like Ghana, with the aim to treat to improve outcomes, needs to be explored.

Detection of Offensive and Threatening Online Content in a Low Resource Language

Hausa is a major Chadic language, spoken by over 100 million people in Africa. However, from a computational linguistic perspective, it is considered a low-resource language, with limited resources to support Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks. Online platforms often facilitate social interactions that can lead to the use of offensive and threatening language, which can go undetected due to the lack of detection systems designed for Hausa. This study aimed to address this issue by (1) conducting two user studies (n=308) to investigate cyberbullying-related issues, (2) collecting and annotating the first set of offensive and threatening datasets to support relevant downstream tasks in Hausa, (3) developing a detection system to flag offensive and threatening content, and (4) evaluating the detection system and the efficacy of the Google-based translation engine in detecting offensive and threatening terms in Hausa. We found that offensive and threatening content is quite common, particularly when discussing religion and politics. Our detection system was able to detect more than 70% of offensive and threatening content, although many of these were mistranslated by Google's translation engine. We attribute this to the subtle relationship between offensive and threatening content and idiomatic expressions in the Hausa language. We recommend that diverse stakeholders participate in understanding local conventions and demographics in order to develop a more effective detection system. These insights are essential for implementing targeted moderation strategies to create a safe and inclusive online environment.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, 8 table

Knowledge, attitude towards and practice of oral hygiene among antenatal clinic attendees in public secondary health facilities in Benin City, Nigeria

Introduction: Oral hygiene involves the prevention of oral diseases which have been found to be common in pregnancy. Dental care in pregnancy aims at achieving healthy oral environment. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude towards and practice of oral hygiene among antenatal clinic attendees in public secondary health facilities in Benin City, Nigeria.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among antenatal clinic clients in the two state-owned secondary health facilities in Benin City. Respondents were selected using a two-staged sampling technique. A structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Scientific Solutions. Test statistics was done using chi-square test.Results: The mean age of respondents was 29.3± 4.7 years, with 39.1% in the age group of 25-29 years. Majority of respondents, 228 (83.2%) were aware of oral hygiene. Also, 272 (99.3%) practiced tooth brushing while 43 (15.7%) used dental floss. Halitosis was identified as a form of poor oral hygiene by 177 (77.6%) of the respondents. More than half 54.4% of the women had poor knowledge of oral hygiene. The associations between their knowledge and attitude towards oral hygiene and the practice of oral hygiene were statistically significant (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Though the respondents had poor knowledge of oral hygiene, there was a positive attitude and good practice of oral hygiene. There is a need for education on oral hygiene to antenal clinic attendees as a means of improving knowledge and preventing oral pathologies in pregnancy.Keywords: Oral hygiene, pregnant women, antenatal clinic, secondary health facilitie

Microbial analysis of leafy vegetables in iceless cooling facility

Against the background that leafy vegetables stored under ambient conditions are influenced by environmental factors which may cause significant quality loss in terms of freshness, colour, texture and composition, the iceless cooler was used to evaluate microbial load of leafy vegetables. The samples were evaluated for bacterial (coliforms and mesophiles) and fungal (mold and yeast) loads. Results of the microbial test showed that Corchorus olitorius had highest mean microbial load with plate count of 6.7 x 104 CFU/g and Hibiscus sabdariffa had the least mean microbial load with plate count of 4.8 x 104 CFU/g after five days of storage. Corchorus olitorius show a significant increase of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococci species after five days of storage. The ANOVA results showed that vegetables stored under ambient conditions were significantly different (p˂0.01) from those stored in the iceless cooler. The results also indicate that Amaranthus dubius recorded the highest mean weight of 1.94kg and maintained its freshness and colour for up to three days compared with Corchorus olitorius with the least weight of 1.84kg

Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory functions among quarry workers in Edo state, Nigeria

Introduction: Workers in the quarry industries are exposed to hazards resulting from the inhalation of air borne particulates. The study determined the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and assessed ventilatory functions among quarry workers in Edo state, Nigeria Methods: Quarry workers (site workers and office workers) were interviewed using structured questionnaire. FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC and PEFR were measured using a KoKo Legend spirometer. Results: A total of 113 quarry workers (76 exposure and 37 controls) were studied. The exposure group had significantly higher occurrence of chest tightness (35.5%) compared with 16.2% of the controls (p < 0.05). The occurrence of cough (23.7% versus 13.5%), sputum (21.1% versus 16.2%), and dyspnoea (7.9% versus 5.4%), were higher in exposure groups while wheeze (10.8% versus 10.5%) and nasal congestion (27.0% and 25.0%) were higher in the control groups. The mean (SD) FEV1, and FVC were significantly lower among the exposure compared with the control group; 2.77L (0.73) versus 3.14L (0.78), p < 0.05, and 3.48L (0.84) versus 3.89L (0.92), p < 0.05. In both groups, smokers had significantly lower mean (SD) FEV1, FVC and PEFR compared with non-smokers; 2.91L (0.77) versus 3.39L (0.69), p = 0.01, 3.61L (0.91) versus 4.26L (0.74), p < 0.05 and 6.56L (2.43) versus 7.98L (1.67), p < 0.05. Conclusion: Chronic exposure to quarry dust is associated with respiratory symptoms and reduced lung function indices among quarry workers. The enforcement of the use of PPEs and periodic evaluation the lung function status of quarry workers is advocated.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 2

Assessment of Factors Affecting Contractors Tendering Success for Construction Projects in North-Central Nigeria

The challenge of construction tendering process is a common theme in developing countries especially Nigeria. Tendering process is often tedious, multitasking and complex. Contractors have the responsibility of tendering appropriately for construction projects; and clients as well as consultants have a duty to create an enabling platform for a successful tendering process. This study examines the factors affecting contractors tendering success for construction projects in North-Central Nigeria with an aim to harmonizing the perception of the construction professionals. Semi-structured questionnaires comprising of fifty-five (55) questions retrieved from literature were categorized into six (6) groups which are project characteristics, business benefits, capabilities, bidding situation, client related factors and external environment related factors. The data were retrieved from 299 respondents out of 384 respondents requisite for this study. Frequency, Percentile and Mean Index Score (MIS) were used to analyze the responses. Results indicated a level of agreement among the stakeholders on the top eleven (11) contractors tendering success factors and concludes that expansion of organization expertise, tendering capabilities, flexibility for changes and variations, number of competitors, project difficulties, design constructability, project methodology, tender document detailing, client reputation, involvement of other parties and political consideration to be the top factors affecting contractors tendering success. The practical implication of this is that, there is a broader understanding of the topmost factors affecting contractors tendering success among the stakeholders within the North-Central region of Nigeria. The study recommended that reasonably sufficient time should be given to examine project characteristic in order for the contractors to assess their suitability for every construction projects they intend to tender for. Furthermore, construction design approach, bidding process and project methodology should be properly delineated to all the stakeholders by the client to eliminate vagueness in the tendering process and subsequently, project delivery process

Assessment of Factors Affecting Contractors Tendering Success for Construction Projects in North-Central Nigeria

The challenge of construction tendering process is a common theme in developing countries especially Nigeria. Tendering process is often tedious, multitasking and complex. Contractors have the responsibility of tendering appropriately for construction projects; and clients as well as consultants have a duty to create an enabling platform for a successful tendering process. This study examines the factors affecting contractors tendering success for construction projects in North-Central Nigeria with an aim to harmonizing the perception of the construction professionals. Semi-structured questionnaires comprising of fifty-five (55) questions retrieved from literature were categorized into six (6) groups which are project characteristics, business benefits, capabilities, bidding situation, client related factors and external environment related factors. The data were retrieved from 299 respondents out of 384 respondents requisite for this study. Frequency, Percentile and Mean Index Score (MIS) were used to analyze the responses. Results indicated a level of agreement among the stakeholders on the top eleven (11) contractors tendering success factors and concludes that expansion of organization expertise, tendering capabilities, flexibility for changes and variations, number of competitors, project difficulties, design constructability, project methodology, tender document detailing, client reputation, involvement of other parties and political consideration to be the top factors affecting contractors tendering success. The practical implication of this is that, there is a broader understanding of the topmost factors affecting contractors tendering success among the stakeholders within the North-Central region of Nigeria. The study recommended that reasonably sufficient time should be given to examine project characteristic in order for the contractors to assess their suitability for every construction projects they intend to tender for. Furthermore, construction design approach, bidding process and project methodology should be properly delineated to all the stakeholders by the client to eliminate vagueness in the tendering process and subsequently, project delivery process

The Effectiveness of Internal Control System in Safeguarding Assets in the Ghanaian Banking Industry

The study assessed the effectiveness of internal control system in safeguarding assets against fraud in Agricultural Development Bank Ghana Limited (ADB). The study specifically highlighted the major causes of fraud; determined the extent of implementation of internal control systems; assessed the effectiveness of internal control system on fraud detection and prevention; and ascertained the effect of fraud on the bank in terms of its profitability, liquidity and operational efficiency. A structured questionnaire was used as a primary data collection instrument to select employees of ADB by purposive and convenient means. Items of the questionnaire were measured on the ranking scale. 37 employees from five branches of the bank were sampled. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The study found that employees of the bank perceived that; poor internal control system, presence of unqualified staff, inadequate staffing, poor record-keeping practices, and inadequate training and re-training of staff among others were the main causes of fraud. All aspects of internal control system were strongly implemented and practiced by the bank. Internal control system was effective in controlling fraud in the bank in various forms. Fraud had negative and insignificant effect on the performance of the bank. The study recommends the continuous practice of the internal control system to ensure that fraud of any form is reduced to the barest minimum

The Effectiveness of Internal Control System in Safeguarding Assets in the Ghanaian Banking Industry

The study assessed the effectiveness of internal control system in safeguarding assets against fraud in Agricultural Development Bank Ghana Limited (ADB). The study specifically highlighted the major causes of fraud; determined the extent of implementation of internal control systems; assessed the effectiveness of internal control system on fraud detection and prevention; and ascertained the effect of fraud on the bank in terms of its profitability, liquidity and operational efficiency. A structured questionnaire was used as a primary data collection instrument to select employees of ADB by purposive and convenient means. Items of the questionnaire were measured on the ranking scale. 37 employees from five branches of the bank were sampled. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The study found that employees of the bank perceived that; poor internal control system, presence of unqualified staff, inadequate staffing, poor record-keeping practices, and inadequate training and re-training of staff among others were the main causes of fraud. All aspects of internal control system were strongly implemented and practiced by the bank. Internal control system was effective in controlling fraud in the bank in various forms. Fraud had negative and insignificant effect on the performance of the bank. The study recommends the continuous practice of the internal control system to ensure that fraud of any form is reduced to the barest minimum