Influence of household behaviour and perception on Malaria control and prevention in Zamfara State North West Nigeria

Household behaviour has been established as a fundamental element in health preventive practices. Malaria control paradigm focuses mostly on the medical and health approach. Household behaviour has been to a large extent do not take into account. Household behaviour, not only plays a critical role in the influence of malaria prevalence, but these behaviours and attitudes can also play a role in its control and management. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of household behaviour and perception on malaria control and prevalence in Zamfara state North West Nigeria. The study used a mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative research. For the quantitative, a total of 409 respondents participated in the study. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and smart PLS 2.0 is use for the quantitative analysis. For the qualitative, 20 people participated as respondents. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative analysis. Result from the PLS analysis supported the entire three hypothesis. Specifically, the finding from hypothesis one shows that there is a significant relationship between behaviour on fumigation and malaria control. Furthermore, results from hypothesis two indicate that there is a connection between household behaviour on waste disposal and malaria control. The result from the hypothesis three reveals that there is a relationship between household malaria perception and malaria control. A finding from the qualitative study reveals that household behaviour has the influence to available and effective malaria control measures in Nigeria. Part of the result also shows that available and effective control measures influence household behaviour. The findings of the study were supported by the literature and theories. In general the study provides further proofs on the influence of household behaviour on malaria control and prevention with particular reference to Zamfara state in North West Nigeria. Household behaviour should be considered as an important concept for malaria control and prevention

The Role of Poverty and Household Economic Conditions to the Treatment of Malaria in Zamfara State North West Nigeria

Malaria in Nigeria and Africa remains most important health problem. It remains a vital public health fear of our time. This paper seeks to focus on the role of poverty and economic factor to the treatment of malaria among peoples of Zamfara state in North West Nigeria. Poverty and economic factors are obviously connected to health threat, as well as the threat for malaria. It is now well recognized all over the world that malaria cases of morbidity and death rates are honestly linked with poverty and economic status of the society. Qualitative research was used for this to interview participant of the research in order to seek their perception and experiences about malaria and economic problems. Semi-structure interview was used as instrument for this study. Interview was conducted with 10 respondents that participated in the study. Finding of this study shows that poverty and economic situation and the people’s background not only play a critical role to the contribution of malaria but as sole reasons dictating the prevalence of the disease within the communit

Space deficit in low cost households of Peninsular Malaysia

Space deficit is one of the problems faced by the low cost housing dwellers because of its minimum floor size and cost. This study examines the space deficit experienced by households residing ill three types of low cost public housing, namely, single story terrace houses, walk-up flats and high rise flats. A total of 914 low cost housing dwellers, ill Peninsular Malaysia were randomly selected and interviewed in this study. The results of the study show that the majority of the households experienced space deficit, with the deficit more severe when the family was larger. The highest deficit was very evident ill the case of bedrooms. Occupancy per bedroom was moderately high, i. e. between two to three persons per bedroom. The occupancy ratio was the highest among the residents of high rise flats, followed by walk-up flats and terrace houses. The occupants in the terrace houses had the opportunity to build additional rooms when the economic conditions permit and were thereby able to reduce the room deficit. A question arises as to whether terrace houses are a better alternative to other types of houses because this type of structure can be adjusted to meet family needs

CHARACTERIZATION OF ZINC OXIDE AS DIELECTRIC CERAMICS FOR REDUCTION OF INTERFACIAL TENSION BETWEEN OIL AND WATER

Generally, the application of nanotechnology is widely used in daily life. Nanotechnology helps to improve the characteristic and properties of the material. Most of the application of the nanoparticles is to enhance the ability of the material which improve their performance during its operation. Nanoparticles also would help to increase the wettability of the particles. The increasing wettability of the material or substances will lead to the decreasing of the interfacial tension between the surfaces. In the oil and gas industry, oil that is extracted is not optimum due to high interfacial tension between oil and water. Thus, this research was conducted to study the effect of different concentration of zinc oxide nanoparticles to the reduction of interfacial tension between oil and water. This project is mainly to investigate the changes on the physical and molecular level properties of the oil and water after the zinc oxide nanoparticle is used as additional component in the brine solution to increase mobility of the oil. The characterization of zinc oxide is done by using XRD and FESEM. For this experiment, the IFT is not directly measured by using IFT machine instead, the IFT is analyzed through the contact angle testing and pendant drop testing. The contact angle and pendant drop test were conducted by using the goniometer machine, to justify the changes of interfacial tension between oil and water. Increasing the concentration of the nanofluid, the contact angle and surface tension are decreasing. It is confirmed that the interfacial tension between oil and water is decreasing along with the increasing concentration of zinc oxide nanofluid. The graph of concentration of nanofluid against the contact angle and surface tension will be plotted by the data obtained from the contact angle testing and pendant drop testing which to analyze the interfacial tension of the water to the zinc oxide. In the nutshell, this study can prove that zinc oxide nanoparticles have the wettability properties that possess a high potential to replace the current method of reducing the interfacial tension between oil and water and used in the oil and gas industry as one of the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) alternatives

Influence of household behaviour on malaria control in Zamfara State North West Nigeria: A pilot study for instruments validation

Malaria in Nigeria and Africa remains most important health problem.It remains a vital public health fear of our time.Human behaviour is a tremendous challenge that must be addressed if malaria control and ultimately elimination is to be successful. This study was aimed to measure the validity and reliability of instruments of household behaviour on malaria control.The reliability of each construct is determined using Cronbach’s Alpha statistics. The Cronbach’s Alpha results provide evidence and good acceptable value that indicates the instruments were sufficiently valid and reliable

Analysing community perceptions on incentive strategies in safeguarding a Malay heritage village: the case of kampung Morten, Melaka

Over-commercialism and the threats posed by uncontrolled development have slowly been eroding the cultural heritage stock, especially in the case of the traditional settlements. This paper reveals the community perceptions and feedbacks on the incentives given in safeguarding the uniqueness of a Malay heritage village known as Kampung Morten in Melaka. This study set out to determine the overarching question, which was, whether the incentive programmes formulated for the community have been found to be suitable to the aspirations and ‘real’ needs of the local communities. Mixed method approaches were used in this study which included document reviews, observations, structured interviews and a questionnaire survey; and involved the residents living in the village. This study evaluates the findings concerning the present policy framework, for understanding and managing the cultural heritage incentives programme in safeguarding the heritage village to establish a sustainable community. This paper has been able to reveal several issues on the conservation incentives policy, most notably of which is the incompatibility of the local communities’ needs with the programme outcomes

Local Community Participation in Establishing the Criteria for Heritage Significance Assessment of the Cultural Heritage in Medan

Nilai penting adalah satu-satunya alasan yang mendasari pelestarian cagar budaya. Terbukti bahwa tidak ada masyarakat yang berupaya melestarikan aset bersejarah yang tidak mengandung nilai. Sejak penerbitan Burra Charter pada tahun 1979, banyak negara mengakui pentingnya mengidentifikasi makna atau nilai penting objek warisan budaya untuk mengembangkan kebijakan dan perencanaan dalam pengelolaannya. Saat ini, asesmen nilai penting objek warisan budaya adalah bagian dari proses penetapan aset sejarah menjadi cagar budaya. Meskipun wacana konservasi cagar budaya di Kota Medan telah berkembang sejak 1980-an, tetapi asesmen nilai penting budaya masih merupakan konsep baru untuk komunitas cagar budaya Indonesia karena tidak terdapat uraian yang jelas dalam Undang-Undang Cagar Budaya No. 11 tahun 2010. Berdasarkan permasalahan tersebut, perlu seperangkat kriteria yang mengandung prinsip, karakteristik, kategori, dan panduan untuk membantu menetapkan apakah aset bersejarah mengandung nilai warisan budaya atau tidak dan untuk menghasilkan penilaian yang lebih akuntabel, transparan, dan konsisten. Menetapkan daftar kriteria selayaknya menjadi wilayah para akademisi dan para ahli yang dikoordinasikan oleh pihak berwenang di daerah setempat. Namun, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penetapan kriteria untuk penilaian signifikansi dapat dilakukan dengan melibatkan 33 orang masyarakat lokal melalui tiga fase pengumpulan data dan analisis antara lain survei lapangan; wawancara mendalam; pertemuan kelompok; dan kuesioner kepada 33 peserta. Akhirnya, penelitian ini menghasilkan enam kriteria untuk penilaian penetapan cagar budaya di Kota Medan yang berasal dari lima nilai: sejarah, desain atau arsitektur fisik, budaya dan spiritual, ilmiah, dan sosial. Value is the sole reason underlying heritage conservation. It is self-evident that no society makes an effort to conserve a historic asset what it does not value. Since the publication of the Burra Charter in 1979, many countries recognized the importance of identifying the cultural heritage significance or values to develop the policy and planning in heritage management. Today, the cultural significance assessment is part of the listing process of a historical asset as heritage. Although the discourse of cultural heritage conservation in Medan had evolved since the 1980s, cultural significance assessment is still a new concept for Indonesia heritage community with the absence of its description within the Indonesian Heritage Act No. 11 of 2010. For that reason, we need a set of criteria which contain principles, characteristics, categories, and guidance to help decide whether a historic asset has heritage value or not and to make the assessment results more accountable, transparent, and consistent as well. Establishing criteria for listing have traditionally been the territory of academics and experts coordinated by the authorities of the region. However, this study has shown that establishing criteria for significance assessment could be done by involving 33 local people through three phases of data collections and analyses such as field survey; in-depth interview; group meeting; and questionnaire to the 33 participants. Finally, the research revealed six criteria for the significance assessment of cultural heritage in Medan derived from five values: history, physical design or architecture, cultural and spiritual, scientific, and social

Women’s Knowledge and Perception of Teratogens and Their Effect in First Trimester of Pregnancy in Antenatal Care Units of Secondary Health Facilities in Kebbi State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and perception of teratogens among pregnant women attending antenatal care units in secondary health facility in kebbi state.  A descriptive survey design using a probability sampling technique was employed and 120 patients were selected using a questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, the results was presented in frequency distribution tables and percentages. On knowledge and perception of the respondents on teratogens effect, Findings shows that about 48.3 % of the respondents were aware of the teratogens; while about 51.7 % were not aware of the teratogens and their effect. On the substances that are teratogens in nature 35 % said are the most common teratogens,34.2 % of the respondents said dust is the common teratogens they know.meanwhile;30.8% of the respondents said alcohol is the dangerous teratogens. It can be noted that majority of the respondents (49.2 %) takes drugs on prescription only. While 24.1% takes their drugs on non-prescription bases.  13.3 % of the respondent do smokes and also 13.3% of the respondents keep appointment with A.N.C visits. Also those respondents that visits hospital for any new complains were 17%, while those respondents that use herbal medicine to treat any ailment were 83%.. In conclusion there is no doubt that menace of teratogens effect among pregnant women is increasingly becoming a major public health problem in our society.it was recommended that all pregnant women especially primis should be cautioned extensively about teratogens substances and their consequent effect. This project has shown that the level of knowledge of teratogenic substances and their effect in first trimester of pregnancy is low in secondary health facility in kebbi state.   KEY WORDS KNOWLEDGE: information or learning gain through experience or education. PERCEPTION: a way of regarding, understanding or interpreting something. TERATOGEN: any substance, agent, or process that induces the formation of developmental abnormalities in a fetus. TRIMESTER: any one of three successive three-month periods into which a pregnancy is divided. EFFECT:  a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. PREGNANCY:  the condition or period of being pregnant. WOMAN:  an adult human female. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/82-06 Publication date: November 30th 202

Multimedia design principle in developing multimedia learning application (MMLA) to increase children awareness of child sexual abuse

This paper is focusing on multimedia design principles as a design strategy in designing and developing a multimedia learning application with purpose to increase children’s awareness of potential sexual abuse situations.Currently, children’s knowledge and awareness about danger and self-protection is still lacking and they are not totally aware of prohibited adult’s touches over their body.In such situation, they need to be educated and made aware of.In such situation, with the advantages of current multimedia technologies, learning can be supported by effective multimedia application.Accordingly, this study develops a learning application by adapting an instructional design model for design and development by Alessi and Trollip.Then, alpha and beta testing has been conducted with the help of an expert.It was found that the advantages of multimedia technology can facilitate children in better understanding of child sexual abuse and improve their awareness of the issues

Establishment of Green Chemistry Awareness Instrument for secondary school students

The purpose of the study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument that can assess green chemistry awareness among secondary schools. This study applied a quantitative approach with a survey design to obtain information related to items and constructs to build an instrument to access student awareness of green chemistry. The study population involved all form four students who are taking a chemistry subject in 85 secondary schools in the State of Melaka, Malaysia. This study involved two phases and all the respondents were selected using a random sampling method. The first phase involved 700 respondents and the second phase involved 500 respondents. The pilot study involved 100 students who were also randomly selected from the same population but not involved in phase I and phase II study. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. As a result, the Green Chemistry Awareness Instrument (GCAI) was developed. GCAI contains six constructs with a total of 29 items; knowledge (eight items), attitudes (six items), value (eight items), and awareness lighting (seven items). GCAI was found to have good content and construct validity as well as high reliability. Hence, it can assess green chemistry awareness among secondary school students. GCAI also has the advantage of being easily administered