Conceptions and expectations of mentoring relationships in a teacher education reform context

Peer reviewedPostprin

Knowledge, Practice and Willingness to Participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme among Households in Nigerian Capital City

Background: Health insurance is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed health services to persons on the payment of token contributions at regular intervals. The objective of the survey was to determine knowledge, practice and willingness of households in Nigerian Capital City to pay and participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme.Materials and Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was carried out using the multistage cluster sampling technique to obtain data from 300 selected household heads or main financial decision makers. The data was analyzed using EPI-INFO software package. Statistical significance of p < 0.05 and confidence limit of 95% was used.Results: The major findings showed that the level of awareness (13%) concerning Community Health Insurance (CHI) was found to be very low among the respondents. The general principles of CHI were also poorly understood by the respondents. Attitude to the programme was positive as many showed interest in participating and enrolling themselves (97.0%), some family members (96.3%) and entire family members (90.3%).  Borrowing money to settle medical bills in this study has occurred in 30% of instances. Majority of respondents were willing to pay premiums ranging from N450 (96.6%) to N1200 (72.5%) for simple packages that do not include surgery and hospitalization.Conclusions: The community members were willing to participate and enrol if the programme is brought to them. There is a need to adequately subsidize the premiums that respondents were willing to pay in order to meet up with the cost of treatment.Key Words: Willingness, Participate, Community Health Insurance

Gender and Environmental Sustainability: Issues and Problems Involved For Persons with Special Needs In Nigeria

Sustainability of the environment is one of the major problems facing African people, most especially Nigerians. It is unfortunate that women, by the nature of their daily activities of managing the homes and families are in touch with nature and environment and are at greater risk of health hazards and foetal damage. This paper focuses on the type of education that women need to instill in them knowledge and skills for handling environmental problems. The paper concludes with some recommendations that environmental courses, clubs, training and retraining of teachers, networking with NGOs on environmental education for sustainability should be implemented. To this end, the government should put in place laws and policies for effectiveness of environmental programmes. Keywords: Gender, environmental sustainability, issues and problems, special need

Efficacy of Information and Communication Technology in Enhancing Learning Outcomes of Students with Hearing Impairment in Ibadan

The study aimed at examining the efficacy of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in enhancing learning outcomes of students with hearing impairment in Ibadan. The study adopted a pretest, post-test, control group quasi-experimental research design. Purposive sampling techniques was used for the selection of thirty participants comprising of (15 males and 15 females) used for the study. The instrument used in carrying out the study was Economics Achievement Test (EAT) with reliability coefficient of 0.72. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyse the null hypothesis generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there is a significant main effect of ICT on the participants’ learning outcomes in economics. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that teachers should utilize ICT during teaching learning process in the classroom and also go for in-service training to update their knowledge on the best way of handling ICT facilities to impact knowledge. Keywords: Information, communication, technology, hearing impairment, learning outcomes

Understanding the nature of mentoring experiences between teachers and student teachers

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Potential Natural Egg Colourant in Laying Chickens

A six-week study involving two hundred and fifty (250) Harco Black layer birds at point of lay was carried out to investigate the effects of potential natural colorant on performance and egg quality traits. The birds were assigned to five (5) dietary treatments, each containing supplements either of control, Baobab Leaf (BL), Waterleaf (WL), Red Pepper (RP), Canthaxanthin (CTX) at 40 g/kg feed and 50mg/kg feed of natural and commercial colorants, respectively. Performance records shows no significant (p>0.05) difference in feed intake across supplements of Red pepper, Water leaf, Canthaxanthin and control diet, however Baobab leaf treatment had a significantly lower (p < 0.05) intake value (94.07 g) when compared with other treatments. Body weight gain and Hen Day Production was not significant influenced (p>0.05) by the dietary treatments, though Baobab leaf supplement had lowest mean HDP of 48.80%, Red pepper and Water leaf supplement averaging 52.79%. There was no significant effect (p > 0.05) of colorants on egg external traits, compared with the control; Canthaxanthin treatment had higher mean egg weight (51.79g), egg length (4.55g), egg breadth (3.29 g); Red pepper treatment had highest mean shell thickness (0.29g), however these differences were not significant (p>0.05). Yolk height, Albumen height, Yolk index, and Haugh unit were not significantly affected (p > 0.05) across treatments. Yolk width was lowest (p < 0.05) in Baobab leaf treatment (2.54cm); Red pepper, Water leaf and Canthaxanthin (2.89, 2.62 and 2.89 cm respectively) were not significantly (p > 0.05) different from the control (2.73cm). Yolk colour score was significantly highest (p < 0.05) in Red pepper treatment (7.50); Water leaf, Baobab leaf and Canthaxanthin ranged between 2.25- 3.31 on the DSM yolk colour fan, Control treatment had the lowest yolk colour score (p < 0.05) of 1.31. The study showed Red pepper as a worthy alternative to commercial yolk colorant. Water leaf and baobab are not good substitutes for canthaxanthin as a yolk colourant.Key words: Egg colourant, Chickens, Livestock

Role of Psychological Capital in Effective Management of Work-stress among Tertiary Institutions' Staff in Nigeria

 Work-stress is synonymous to occupational stress. It is a common form of strain that is usually experienced by employees, in the course of performing their official duties and responsibilities. In the contemporary world of work, including the Nigerian work environment, work-stress is identified as a ‘corporate epidemic’. Its symptoms are mostly observed physically, psychologically and socially in the lives of affected employees, while the negative effect of occupational stress is specifically, measured on employee performance and organizational effectiveness. It is for the above-described nature and effect of work-stress that this study examined the role of psychological capital in effective management of work-stress among the staff of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It adopted the explanatory survey research design, purposive and convenience sampling techniques in sampling a total number of 202 (male = 116, 57.4% and female = 86, 42.6%) academic and administrative staff of five (5) public and private tertiary institutions, in the western region of Nigeria, who served as participants in the study. All participants were Nigerians English speakers. Research participation eligibility was strictly based on the current enlistment of employees on the pay-roll of the institutions as at the time of the study. A structured validated questionnaire was used as an instrument. Hypotheses were stated and analyzed based on the data collected. Results revealed that the four psychological capital states jointly influenced work-stress management F(4,197) = 8.375; R2= 0.128; p<.05; resilience (β=0.145; t=1.983; p<.05) and optimism (β=0.294; t=3.756; p<.05) independently influenced workstress management; optimism (r=.224, P(.001)<.01), resilience (r=.350, P(.000)<.01) and hope (r=.247,P(.000)<.01) significantly correlated with work-stress management. The study concluded that psychological capital is one of the important factors that effectively helps in managing work-stress, and suggested that the management of institutions or organizations should sensitize employees on the importance of psychological capital in effective management of work-stress through seminars, trainings and conferences

GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSES OF OPEN POLLINATED MAIZE (Zea mays) TO TYPES AND RATES OF ORGANIC FERTILISERS IN RAINFOREST TRANSITORY AGROECOLOGY OF NIGERIA

Sustainable maize (Zea mays) production in resource challenged regions of the world is achievable among others through optimal utilisation of organic fertilisers at varying rates. Field trials were conducted in Abeokuta (Latitude 7010' N and Longitude 3015' E) in the late cropping season of 2010 and 2011. Three commercially available organic fertilisers [(Gateway 1 (GF1), Gateway 2 (GF2) and Sunshine (SF)], at three rates (0, 10 and 20 t ha-1) and three replicates were used on improved open-pollinated maize variety (Swam 1 yellow). The experiment was laid out in a randomised completely blocked design. GF1 had significantly (P < 0.05) the highest effect on growth parameters (Plant height, stem girth, leaf area and leaf area Index), with SF the least. A significant depression was observed in most growth parameters at increasing application rates of organic fertiliser, a converse pattern was observed on 1000 grain weight (GW), harvest index and cob length. A significantly higher (P < 0.05) vegetative growth, cob weight and grain yield was observed in 2010 than 2011, while 2011 had longer cobs and more 1000 GW than 2010. GF1 was recommended in Rainforest transitory zone of Nigeria at higher application rates though mediated by environmental factors. Keywords: , , ,  &nbsp

Nigerian Psychoactive Alcoholic Herbal Mixture Impacts Behavioural Performance and Caused Brain Biochemical and Histopathological Alterations in Mice

Psychoactive alcoholic herbal mixture is popularly consumed because of the belief on its stimulant and curative effects. This study investigated the neurobehavioral, biochemical and histopathological consequences following its single and repeated co-administration with ethanol to mice. Mice were assessed for sensorimotor, anxiety and memory functions following acute and repeated administration of alcohol herbal mixture (AHM). Alterations in brain acetylcholineterase, nitrite, reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde levels were assessed in striatum, prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus. Neuronal cells counts were determined in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampal tissues. In the acute study, AHM significantly impaired locomotor activity and motor coordination in mice. Repeated administration of AHM and AHM combined with ethanol caused significant impairment of locomotor and motor coordination, increased anxiety-like behavior and impaired memory in mice. Acetylcholinesterase activity was significantly increased in the PFC while nitrite level was elevated in the striatum and PFC. There was significant elevation of malondialdehyde and depletion of GSH in all brain regions as well as reduced neuronal cell counts in the PFC and hippocampus. This study showed evidences of behavioral perturbation and brain biochemical changes in mice, hence repeated consumption of alcoholic herbal mixture might produce substance-attributable harm and quicken neurodegenerative diseases in humans