Causes of blindness and career choice among pupils in a blind school; South Western Nigeria

Background: The causes of Blindness vary from place to place with about 80% of it been avoidable. Furthermore Blind people face a lot of  challenges in career choice thus limiting their economic potential and full integration into the society. This study aims at identifying the causes of blindness and career choice among pupils in a school for the blind in South –Western Nigeria.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study of causes of blindness and career choice among 38 pupils residing in a school for the blind at Ikere –Ekiti, South Western Nigeria.Results: Thirty eight pupils comprising of 25 males (65.8%) and 13  females (34.2%) with age range from 6-39 years were seen for the study, The commonest cause of blindness was cataract with 14 cases (36.84%) while congenital glaucoma and infection had an equal proportion of 5 cases each (13.16%). Avoidable causes constituted the greatest proportion of thecauses 27 (71.05%) while unavoidable causes accounted for 11 (28.9%). The law career was the most desired profession by the pupils 11 (33.3%) followed by Teaching 9 (27.3%), other desired profession includes  engineering, journalism and farming.Conclusion: The greatest proportion of causes of blindness identified in this study is avoidable. There is the need to create public awareness on some of the notable causes particularly cataract and motivate the  community to utilize available eye care services Furthermore there is need for career talk in schools for the blind to enable them choose career where their potential can be fully maximized.Keywords: Blindness, blind school, causes, career choic

Decentralization of Markets and Environmental Sanitation Scheme: A Focus on Urban Core of Akure, Nigeria

Unplanned and overcrowded market places especially in developing countries usually grapple with sanitation problems. This phenomenon poses threats such as pollution of the environment and deterioration of city landscape. In Akure the capital of Ondo State, Nigeria, government in its urban renewal effort introduced neighbourhood markets in a decentralized market system, as a way of resolving these problems. This study focuses on the extent of these urban renewal efforts and their impacts on the socio-economic and general wellbeing of the market users. It further suggests ways to achieve proper sanitation in markets places in a manner that is sustainable. The methodology includes the use of structured questionnaires, interviews, as well as observations. The study reveals a successful decongestion of the king’s market and a considerable improvement in sanitation. It concludes that sanitation in market places is absolutely expedient to ensure public health and proper public hygiene. Keywords: Decentralization, pollution, sanitation, urban core, market

Urbanization and Sustainable City Development: A Study of Agility and Panada in Lagos Metropolis

Lagos State today accommodates about 17 million inhabitants ranking it among the fastest growing urban conglomerations in the world. As more people continue to migrate to Lagos in search of better condition of living, the challenge of housing delivery has manifested in form of severe overcrowding, unwholesome environmental conditions and slum settlements. This paper focuses on the impact of urbanization on the housing conditions in Agiliti town of Ikorodu and Panada in Isolo both in Lagos State. Both questionnaires and personal observations survey methods were used to elicit relevant data and the analysis of data generated revealed very poor housing and environmental conditions in these slum areas. It was also discovered that housing shortage and poverty were the major causes of proliferation of slums. The paper thereafter recommended the integration of slum development into the urban planning framework and the upgrading of the present housing units to a well-structured low cost housing units affordable to the residents of the study area. Keywords: Urbanization, City Development, Housing Delivery, Sustainable, Environmental Conditions.

Analyses of the Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks for Tourism Development of Cultural Landscape

The exposure of the cultural landscape to tourism activities puts a lot of pressure on the common heritage of man with a possibility of the loss of the attractions to the landscape. This often happens because the necessary attention to the development of such fragile touristic sites are absent thus exposing them to stages of deterioration. This paper is a review of theoretical issues related to the development and sustainability of the cultural landscape.  Through the review of literatures, previous models such as, General System Theory (Cuervo, 1967), Cultural landscape Management framework (2006), Diamond Model for sustainable tourism (2017), and The Ethical tourism model (2008), a conceptual framework for the sustainability of the cultural landscape was developed. The study, however, provides useful information for the development and conservation of a cultural landscape through a framework that can inform policy makers in the tourism industry. Keywords: Cultural Landscape; Framework; Models; Tourism Development; Sustainability. DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/59-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

Evidence-Based Design of University Zoological Gardens: A Perception Study in South-west Nigeria

Evidence-based design (EBD) has become an accepted paradigm in environment-behaviour endeavours in recent years with documented benefits, especially in healthcare facilities. However, little is known of its application to University Campus Open Spaces (UCOS) like University Zoological Gardens (UZGs) which accounts for the repetition of design mistakes. This study aims to assess the UZGs as a major component of UCOS in South-west Nigeria with a view to formulating EBD frameworks. It adopts a comparative post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach through a Stratified Random Sampling protocol of users (n=3,016) of the gardens in Federal Universities in South-west Nigeria. Results of the quantitative data analyses suggest that while walk-ability is a primary satisfaction factor among thirty design considerations in the formulated model, legibility is the most primary cognitive factor for designing perceptible high-quality UZGs. The study argues in favour of the developed framework as design tool-kit and recommends its application as a feed-back input into the design process of UZGs

Mitigating Environmental Sustainability Challenges and Enhancing Health in Urban Communities: The Multi-functionality of Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure (GI) facilities have the capacity to enhance health and mitigate Environmental Sustainability Challenges (ESC). However, the extent of the mitigation and health benefits is unclear in developing countries. This study examined the impact of GI on ESC and Perceived Health (PH) of urban residents in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 1858 residents of Lagos Metropolis who completed semi-structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to explore data distributions and assess the association of the availability of GI with resident’s PH and ESC. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (OR;95%CI) were estimated for good health and ESC mitigation. Participants were mostly men (58.9%) and younger than 50 years old (86.3%). Good health (20.5%) and high mitigation of ESC (collection and disposal of waste-52.7% and official development assistance-63.9%) were reported where GI is mostly available. Participants were more likely to report good health (OR:1.40; 95%CI:1.02-1.92) and high mitigation of ESC [water quality (OR:1.42; 95%CI:1.12-1.81) passenger transport mode (OR:1.41; 95%CI:1.06-1.89)] where GI are mostly available. Availability of Green infrastructure is supporting health and mitigating environmental sustainability challenges in the study area. Green infrastructure should be provided in urban areas where environmental sustainability is under threat

Millennium development goals: An assessment of awareness and perceptions of attainability by health workers in Owo, Nigeria

No Abstract

The First Record of \u3ci\u3eOoencyrtus nezarae\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) on Kudzu Bug (Hemiptera: Plataspidae) in North America

The kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (F.) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae), is an invasive insect pest introduced from Asia in 2009 that poses a threat to soybeans (Glycine max [L.] Merr. [Fabales: Fabaceae]) and other legume crops in the United States. Initially discovered in Georgia, M. cribraria rapidly expanded across the southeast until 2014 when a significant decline in its population was observed across many locations. This notable decline in M. cribraria populations is attributed to the emergence of new parasitoids and pathogens in its new invasive range. So far, only a single egg parasitoid, Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), is known to parasitize the eggs of M. cribraria in the United States. Here, we report a new egg parasitoid of M. cribraria identified as Ooencyrtus nezarae Ishii, 1928 (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), recovered from egg masses of M. cribraria collected from soybean in Alabama. O. nezarae is reported to parasitize eggs from a variety of heteropteran families and has been observed parasitizing M. cribraria in China. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of O. nezarae in North America. The potentials of O. nezarae for biological control of M. cribraria in the United States and the direction of future studies are discussed

Evidence-Based Design of University Zoological Gardens: a Perception Study in South-west Nigeria

Evidence-based design (EBD) has become an acceptable paradigm in environment-behaviour endeavours in recent years with documented benefits especially in healthcare facilities. However, little is known of its application to University Campus Open Spaces (UCOS) like University Zoological Gardens (UZGs) which accounts for the repetition of design mistakes. This study aims to assess the UZGs as a major component of UCOS in South-west Nigeria with a view to formulating EBD frameworks. It adopts a comparative post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach through a Stratified Random Sampling protocol of users (n=3,016) of the gardens in Federal Universities in South-west Nigeria. Results of the quantitative data analyses suggest that while walk-ability is a primary satisfaction factor among thirty design considerations in the formulated model, legibility is the most primary cognitive factor for designing perceptible high quality UZGs. The study argues in favour of the developed framework as design tool-kit and recommends its application as a feed-back input into the design process of UZGs

Theoretical Issues and Conceptual Framework for Physical Facilities Design in Hospital Buildings

This study reviewed the theoretical issues relating to morphological and psychological design issues in hospital building design evaluation. The study of morphological configurations design issues, concentrates on the elements of building, shape/form, the structure of the environment, the structural efficiency and the architectural appearance of the hospital building forms. The psychological design issues focused on the essential issues relating to Proximity, Privacy and Wayfindings. Through the literature review of previous models such as, Khan (2012) Operational Efficiency Model, Haron, Hamid and Talib Usability Framework, (2012), Zhao, Mourshed & Wright (2009) Model, Alalouch, Aspinall & Smith Model (2016) and Hill & Kitchen (2009). A conceptual framework for physical facilities design evaluation and satisfaction in hospital buildings was developed. The study, however, provides useful information for the development of a design framework that can inform policy on hospital buildings