Insecticide-treated nets usage and malaria episodes among boarding students in Zaria, Northern Nigeria

Background : Despite malaria being the largest public health problem in Africa South of Sahara with over one million associated deaths each year, there has been little progress in its prevention/control during the past decades. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude, use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and the prevalence of malaria episodes among boarding secondary school pupils in Zaria, Nigeria. Methods : A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample five (5) secondary schools within Zaria, from which six classes (JSS 1 - 3 and SS 1- 3) of respondents were then randomly selected. Structured, closed-ended self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and use of ITNs, reasons for non-use and malaria episodes in last 12 months. Results : A total of 150 students from the five (5) boarding secondary schools were interviewed, majority were in the age group 15-17 (53.3%) with a mean (x) \ub1 SD of 16.8 \ub1 0.8 years. Males were 60% and females 40% of respondents. Majority of the respondents (87.3%) knew about and had actually seen an ITN; only 43.3% were current users. Most of the current users of ITN noticed a significant reduction in malaria episodes in the last 12 months. This was statistically significant (P=0.004). Cost and availability were reasons sited by non-ITN users. Conclusion : There is urgent need on the part of all the three tiers of Government for public health awareness campaigns through information, education and communication (IEC) to create positive ITN culture and usage. It is also suggested that ITN usage among boarding school pupils should be incorporated into school health service

A Modified Real-Time Fault-Tolerant Task Allocation Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

In WSNs, the sensor nodes are at risk of failure and malicious attacks (selective forwarding). This may have a profound negative effect when you consider real-time WSNs, making them challenging to deploy. When there is a delay in tasks allocation execution processes in real-time WSNs because of sensor nodes failures, this will cause disastrous consequences if the systems are safety-critical, e.g. aircraft, nuclear power plant, forest fire detection, battlefield monitoring, thus the need to developed a real-time system that is fault-tolerable. This paper developed a modified real-time fault-tolerant task allocation scheme (mRFTAS) for WSNs (wireless sensor networks), using active replication techniques. mRFTAS and RFTAS performance were compared using time of execution of the task, network lifetime and reliability cost. The mRFTAS performance showed an improvement over that of RFTAS when it comes to reducing the time it takes for task execution by 45.56% and reliability cost of 7.99% while prolonging the network lifetime by 36.35%

Prevalence of Psychoactive Substance Use among Commercial Motorcyclists and Its Health and Social Consequences in Zaria, Nigeria

Background: In recent years commercial motorcyclists (Okada riders) have come to bridge the huge public transport gap in most cities across the country. However, this is not without the dangers they pose to themselves, passengers and to other road users. It is claimed that some of these Okada riders operate under the influence of drugs and other substances. But there are few community-based studies that have investigated the problem in this part of Nigeria. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence, health and social consequences of psychoactive substance use among commercial motorcyclists (Okada) in Zaria, northern Nigeria. Method: Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample commercial motorcyclists registered with commercial motorcyclists union in Zaria city, Kaduna state, Nigeria. Structured, closed ended and interviewer administered questionnaires were used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, factors influencing psychoactive substance use, impact on health status, motor cycle riding experience and work performance. Results: Two hundred commercial motor cyclists were interviewed, majority of them were in the age group 21-25 years (55.5%) with a mean age of 25.4 ± 3.9 years. All the motorcyclists were male, (60.5%), had no formal education, (79.5%) are of Hausa extraction and (69%) worked for more than 10 hours per day. A high prevalence of 59.5% of road traffic accident that was associated with the use of psychoactive drugs was found among the motorcyclists. Commonly identified psychoactive substance/drugs used were: marijuana [Indian hemp] 25.8%, solution 24.5%, caffeine (Kola) 15.8%, and coffee 4.8%. Keeping awake, suppression of fatigue, and peer group effect were the identified factors influencing psychoactive substance use. The commonest types of injuries sustained were bruises and lacerations (62.5%) and fractures of upper and lower limbs (10.5%). Conclusion: Road traffic accidents among commercial motorcyclists are a frequent occurrence in this part of the country. There is need for public awareness campaigns on road safety education and health consequences of psychoactive substance use among commercial motorcyclists. It is further recommended that law enforcement agencies (NAFDAC, NDLEA and FRSC) need to work in tandem so as to curb the problem of substance abuse in our society and reduce the rate of accidents on Nigerian roads.Culture générale: de nos jours, les motocyclistes utilitaires sont les sauveurs de nos jours en ce qui concerne la transportation publique ; pourtant, a cause de leurs activités, ils se livrent aux dangers ; ils mettent aussi les passagers et les autres véhicules en danger il se peut que certains de ces motocyclistes soient toujours sous l’influence de la drogue. A travers les études de certaines communautés, on a pu déterminer la prévalence de cette facteur et les conséquences sociales et sanitaires de la prise de cette drogue psycho active parmi les motocyclistes utilitaires dans la cite de Zaria au du Nigeria. Modalité: On a fait le sondage sur les motocyclistes utilitaires, ceux qui sont inscrits chez le syndicat des motocyclistes à Zaria. Ensuite, on a distribué les questionnaires pour tirer information sur les characteristiques sociodémographiques, l’influence par la prise de drogue psycho active et leur impact sur la santé. On avait également enquêté sur l’expérience d’un motocycliste au volant et sa performance au travail. Résultat: On a interviewé deux cents motocyclistes utilitaires. La plupart d’entre eux avaient entre (21-25) ans (55.5%). L’age moyen était 25.4+3.9 ans. Tous les motocyclistes surtout les hommes, étaient non scolarises, parmi eux, il y avait des haoussas qui représentent 79.5%. Et 69% d’eux travaillent dix heures par jour. Les motocyclistes représentent 59.5% de tous les accidents de circulation liés directement a la prise de drogue psycho active. Les drogues les plus fréquemment prises sont: marijuana (indien hemp) 25.8%, solution 24.5%, caféine (kola) 15.8% et coffee 4.8%. Les plus dominants facteurs qui influencent l’abus de cette drogue psycho active sont: la veille de nuit, suppression de fatigue, et l’effet des pairs. Les blessures les plus connus qu’on épreuve sont: des égratignures et des lacérations 62.5% et des fractures des membres inférieure et superieure10%. Conclusion: les accidents routiers parmi les motocyclistes se produisent souvent dans cette partie du pays ; il faudrait donc sensibiliser le publique sur la sécurité routière, sur les conséquences sanitaires de la prise de drogue psycho active parmi les motocyclistes utilitaires. En plus, nous recommandons a l’organisme chargé de faire respecter la loi comme: (NAFDAC NDLEA FRSC) de travailler ensemble pour pouvoir éradiquer le problème de l’abus de drogue dans notre société et par conséquent, réduire le taux des accidents routiers sur les routes nigérianes

Insecticide-treated nets usage and malaria episodes among boarding students in Zaria, Northern Nigeria

Background : Despite malaria being the largest public health problem in Africa South of Sahara with over one million associated deaths each year, there has been little progress in its prevention/control during the past decades. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude, use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and the prevalence of malaria episodes among boarding secondary school pupils in Zaria, Nigeria. Methods : A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample five (5) secondary schools within Zaria, from which six classes (JSS 1 - 3 and SS 1- 3) of respondents were then randomly selected. Structured, closed-ended self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and use of ITNs, reasons for non-use and malaria episodes in last 12 months. Results : A total of 150 students from the five (5) boarding secondary schools were interviewed, majority were in the age group 15-17 (53.3%) with a mean (x) ± SD of 16.8 ± 0.8 years. Males were 60% and females 40% of respondents. Majority of the respondents (87.3%) knew about and had actually seen an ITN; only 43.3% were current users. Most of the current users of ITN noticed a significant reduction in malaria episodes in the last 12 months. This was statistically significant (P=0.004). Cost and availability were reasons sited by non-ITN users. Conclusion : There is urgent need on the part of all the three tiers of Government for public health awareness campaigns through information, education and communication (IEC) to create positive ITN culture and usage. It is also suggested that ITN usage among boarding school pupils should be incorporated into school health service

A predictive model based on an optimized ANN combined with ICA for predicting the stability of slopes

In this study, we optimized artificial neural network (ANN) with imperialist competition algorithm (ICA) for the problem of slope stability design charts. To prepare training and testing datasets for the ANN and ICA–ANN predictive models, an extensive number of limit equilibrium analysis modelings (e.g., for the lower bound, LB, limit analysis and upper bound, UB, limit analysis) was conducted. The analyses were conducted using OptumG2 computer software and implemented on two-layered cohesive soil layer sets. For each of the LB and UB limit analysis, the database consisted of 320 training datasets and 80 testing datasets. Variables of the ICA algorithm such as the number of countries, the number of initial imperialists and the number of decades were optimized using a series of trial-and-error process. The input parameters that used thorough the OptumG2 finite element modeling (FEM) analysis include depth factor (i.e., the ratio of first soil layer thickness to the slope height), slope angle, undrained shear strength ratio where the output was taken dimensionless stability number. The estimated results for both of datasets (e.g., training and testing) from ANN and ICA–ANN models were assessed based on three known statistical indices namely value account for (VAF), root means squared error (RMSE), and coefficient of determination (R2). To evaluate the performance of proposed models, color intensity rating (CER) and total ranking method (TRM), i.e., based on the result of statistical indices, was used. After 72 trial-and-error processes (e.g., sensitivity analysis on some neurons) the optimal architecture of 3 × 6 × 1 were found for both of the ANN–UB and ANN–LB models. As a result, both models presented excellent performance, however according to the introduced ranking system the ICA–ANN model could slightly perform a better performance compared to ANN. Based on R2, RMSE and VAF values of (0.9999, 0.0107 and 99.9924) and (0.9991, 0.0102 and 99.9913), respectively, were found for training and testing of the optimized ICA–ANN–LB predictive model. Similarly, for the ICA–ANN–UB predictive model, values of (0.9984, 0.0129 and 99.9659) and (0.9984, 0.01047 and 99.9915) were obtained for the R2, RMSE and VAF of training and testing datasets, respectively. However, in the ANN model, the R2 and RMSE for both of the training and testing datasets were (0.9982 and 0.01815) and (0.9972 and 0.01748), respectively. This proves a better performance of the ICA–ANN model in predicting the behaviors of slope stability of cohesive soils and consequently more reliable design solution charts provided herein

Estimating the friction angle of black shale core specimens with hybrid-ann approaches

Shear strength parameters of rock play a significant role in the design stage of various geotechnical structures such as earth dams, embankments, foundations and tunnels. The direct determination of these parameters in laboratory is time consuming and expensive. Additionally, preparing core specimens with a good-quality is sometimes difficult, especially in weathered and highly fractured rocks. This paper presents an indirect determination of internal friction angle of shale rock specimens through two hybrid neural net based models that combine artificial neural net with genetic algorithm (GA-ANN) and imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA-ANN). In fact, GA and ICA were utilized to improve the efficiency of ANN predictive model via the weights and biases adjustment. To achieve this aim, an extensive experimental program was designed, according to which a series of black shale specimens were characterized using various laboratory tests, including p-wave velocity, Schmidt hammer, point load and triaxial compression. After establishing a proper database for the analysis, simple and multiple regression as well as hybrid intelligent models were developed to predict the internal friction angle of the shale specimens. To compare the obtained results from the models, several performance statistical indices were computed. The results indicated that simple and multiple regression models are not good enough in predicting the internal friction angles. Concluding remark is that the proposed intelligent models are superior in comparison with simple and multiple regression models. Using the coefficient of determination as performance measure, the quality of the developed GA-ANN model was evaluated as 0.917 and 0.909 for training and testing datasets, respectively whereas these values were achieved as 0.960 and 0.956 for the ICA-ANN model. This means that the ICA-ANN model can provide higher performance capacity in estimating the internal friction angles as compared to the GA-ANN. In addition, the results of other performance indices, i.e. variance account for and root mean square error confirmed that the hybrid ICA-ANN predictive model can be introduced as a new technique for predicting the internal friction angle of shale rock specimens in practice

Revolutionizing corrosion protection in seawater using innovative layered double hydroxide/polyvinylidene fluoride LDH@PVDF composite coatings

This study pioneers a novel approach to achieving sustainable corrosion protection in seawater environments by incorporating layered double hydroxide (LDH) fillers into polymeric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) coatings to create a corrosion-resistant coating for mild steel. LDH composites were successfully synthesized using co-precipitation and hydrothermal methods, with characterization through x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy FTIR, morphological analysis, and elemental mapping. LDH@PVDF coatings with the thickness of 40 ± 2 µm exhibited improved surface properties, superior adhesion, hydrophobicity, and antifouling characteristics. Corrosion resistance was comprehensively assessed using open circuit potential (OCP), potentiodynamic polarization (PDP), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). ZLDH@PVDF coating outperformed others, demonstrating exceptional long-term corrosion protection (up to 60 days) without diffusion-controlled processes. The mechanism of corrosion protection of ZLDH@PVDF coating has been discussed

Portland cement structure and its major oxides and fineness

Predicting the compressive strength of concrete has been considered as the initial phase across the cement production processing. The current study has focused on the integration of the concrete compressive strength in 28 days with the mix of the major oxides and fine aggregates as an experimental formula through the use of two types of Portland cement resulting the compressive strength of the concrete highly dependent on time

Simplification analysis of suction pile using two dimensions finite element modeling

This paper presents the results of parametric analyses to compute the axial capacity of a suction pile using 2D and 3D finite element approaches. The study is intended to simplify the process of analyzing suction piles from 3D to 2D model. The research focuses on obtaining the coefficient to be applied into the 2D model in order to obtain results that are as close as possible to the 3D model. Two 2D models were used in the analysis, namely the plane strain and axisymmetric models. The analyses were performed using two actual offshore soil data of the North and West Java Indonesia. The study reveals that the simplification of model through 2D Finite Element is achievable by applying the appropriate coefficient to the stiffness parameters. The results show that the simplified model of the 2D FEA provides more conservative results (with the difference between 2% to 7%) than the 3D FEA

Computational optimized finite element modelling of mechanical interaction of concrete with fiber reinforced polymer

This paper presents a computational rational model to predict the ultimate and optimized load capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened by a combination of longitudinal and transverse fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite plates/sheets (flexure and shear strengthening system). Several experimental and analytical studies on the confinement effect and failure mechanisms of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapped columns have been conducted over recent years. Although typical axial members are large-scale square/ rectangular reinforced concrete (RC) columns in practice, the majority of such studies have concentrated on the behavior of small-scale circular concrete specimens. A high performance concrete, known as polymer concrete, made up of natural aggregates and an orthophthalic polyester binder, reinforced with non-metallic bars (glass reinforced polymer) has been studied. The material is described at micro and macro level, presenting the key physical and mechanical properties using different experimental techniques. Furthermore, a full description of non-metallic bars is presented to evaluate its structural expectancies, embedded in the polymer concrete matrix. In this paper, the mechanism of mechanical interaction of smooth and lugged FRP rods with concrete is presented. A general modeling and application of various elements are demonstrated. The contact parameters are defined and the procedures of calculation and evaluation of contact parameters are introduced. The method of calibration of the calculated parameters is presented. Finally, the numerical results are obtained for different bond parameters which show a good agreement with experimental results reported in literature