Knowledge And Attitudes Towards Non-Communicable Diseases (ncd) Amongst Village Health Teams (vht) In Iganga And Mayuge Districts, Uganda.

Background: Community health workers (CHW) have successfully contributed to prevention, management and care for NCD interventions in several low and middle income countries (LMIC). In Uganda, the CHW, known as Village Health Teams (VHT) are the initial point of care in their communities. Though their present roles only attend to infectious diseases, maternal and child health issues, their skills could potentially be utilized in national efforts to promote NCD prevention in communities. Aim: To assess baseline knowledge of and attitudes toward NCD and NCD care among VHT in Uganda as a step towards identifying a potential role for VHT in community NCD prevention and management. Design: A knowledge, attitudes and practices questionnaire was distributed to 68 active VHT workers from Iganga and Mayuge districts, Uganda. In addition, four focus group discussions were conducted with these VHT workers (n=33). Discussions focused on NCD knowledge, current experience with NCD, and barriers and facilitators to incorporating NCD care into their role as community VHT. A thematic qualitative analysis was conducted to identify salient themes in the data. Results: VHT possessed some knowledge and awareness of NCD but identified a lack of knowledge about NCDs in their communities. VHT were enthusiastic about incorporating NCD care into their role and thought that they could serve as effective conduits of knowledge about NCD to their communities, if empowered through NCD education, the availability of proper reporting and referral tools, and visible collaborations with medical personnel. Current barriers to their participation in NCD care included lack of VHT education on NCD, lack of assistance/supervision from medical personnel, lack of medical services, medication, equipment and personnel and lack of VHT regard from community. Conclusion: Ugandan VHT already possess some nuanced knowledge about NCD and their risk behaviors. With context-specific and culturally adapted training, VHT want to and could play a role in spreading community awareness of NCD and reporting and referral of community members for NCD screening

Infrastructure finance in Africa through the Public Private Partnership (PPP): Is the Lekki-Epe Toll Road (Nigeria) economically sustainable?

The aims of the study could be highlighted as follows: 1. To review the existing academic literature on infrastructure finance, particularly in the area of road construction and the economic models adopted in the financing process. 2. To determine whether the accruing benefits from the concession of Lekki-Epe Expressway out-weighed the cost of constructing the purported road. 3. To determine whether the inflows from toll Lekki-Epe expressway can economically sustain the cost over-run on the Lekki-Epe express road concession

Development of environmental and oceanographic real-time assessment system for the near-shore environment

The coupling of real-time measurements and numerical models will be important in overcoming the challenges in environmental and oceanographic assessments in surface waters. Continuous monitoring will take advantage of current state-of-the-art in sensor development, remote sensing technology. The numerical modeling tools available exist in many different forms and varying levels of complexity from depth integrated one-dimensional (1-D) models to full three-dimensional (3-D) models. Common to all are the constraints and forcing required in driving the models. These include hydrodynamic and barometric information, which are relatively difficult to obtain given the time scale of the bio-chemical and physical processes governing the fate and transport of the constituents of interest. This study is focused on the development of a framework that couples real-time measurements and numerical simulation for tracking constituents in surface waters. The parameterization of the mixing and turbulent diffusion impacts the formulation of the constituent-transport governing equations to the extent that the numerical model is being driven by near real-time observations of hydrodynamic data and the consequent evaluation of model coefficients. The effects of shear-augmented diffusion processes in shallow embayment and near-shore waters are investigated in order to develop algorithms for obtaining a shear diffusion coefficient, Ke from shear-current measurements and turbulent diffusion-coefficient, Kz measured by the auto-correlation function, Rτ of the velocity time-series. Typically, the diffusion coefficients are measured through tracer experiments as determined by the time rate of change of the variance of a growing patch (K = ½ dσ2 /dt), which introduces the concept of diffusion length-scale (or time-scale). In this study, the dye-tracer experiment was used, not so much in the context of evaluation of a diffusion coefficient, but within a modeling framework to validate a numerical scheme driven by real-time hydrodynamic observations. Overall, the effect of shear-currents in shallow wind-driven estuaries is studied using a prototype bay typical of the Texas Gulf-coast. A numerical model was developed and used in testing these hypotheses through a series of dye-tracer experiments under varying meteorological conditions

Simulation-based analytical design for aluminium recycling processing plant

Indiscriminate disposal of beverage cans as waste poses a great threat to the environment, causing flooding, landfill, and blockage of drainages, leading to land pollution and sometimes accident. Hence, there is a need to design a system capable of converting these wastes into usable products. In this study, a simulation-based analytical design for aluminium recycling processing plant was carried out to ascertain the efficiency and reliability of the design before fabrication using finite element analysis (FEA) approach. The simulation results revealed a lesser maximum stress of 6.323 MPa for the furnace outer casing under the action of load with a displacement of 0.0795 mm. The stress of the machine components is less than the yield strength of the selected materials, making the machine fit and workable. The analytical results agree with the numerical analysis; hence the conceptual design is fit for fabrication based on the design analysis and evaluation. After the design analysis and simulation, the designed recycling process plant parts are found to be under negligible deflection and stress which is far below the yield strength of chosen materials

Agricultural experiences as correlates of secondary school students’ achievement and career decisions in agricultural science

This study examined agricultural experiences as correlates of secondary school students’ achievement and career decisions in agricultural science. The study adopted a survey research design. Simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting six hundred (600) senior secondary schools (SS II) Agricultural Science Students. Instruments used were Career Decision Questionnaire, Agricultural Experience Questionnaire and Students Achievement Test in Agriculture. Four research questions were raised to guide the study. Data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple regression. The results revealed that poultry, fishery and cashew farming had significant correlation with students’ achievement (r=-0.093, -0.127 and -0.127) and career decision (r=-0.155, -0.136 and -.132) in Agricultural Science respectively. The findings showed that there were significant joint contributions of agricultural experiences to students’ achievement (F(3,600) = 3.992; P < 0.05) and career decision (F(3,600)= 22.807; P < 0.05) in Agricultural Science. The findings further revealed that fishery (β= -0.79) was the greatest predictor of students’ achievement in agriculture while poultry (β = -0.333) mostly predicted students career decision in Agricultural Science. It was recommended that curriculum planners should systematically introduce agricultural science experiences (poultry, fishery and cashew farming) into the curriculum content of all the Secondary School Students and it should not be streamlined to only science students alone because of its educational value and it relevance to the needs of the learner and society as a whole.Keywords: Agricultural experiences, achievement, career decision in Agricultural Scienc

Assessment of the knowledge, practice, and barriers of physicians in Lagos about respiratory diseases preventable vaccines

Objectives: Immunizations are indicated in a wide range of clinical situations. There are gaps in the implementation of the acceptable recommended guidelines on adult immunization in Nigeria. This study aims to evaluate the perceptions, practices, and barriers of physicians in recommending adult vaccines. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous, self-administered survey to understand the perceptions, practice, and barriers to adult vaccine recommendations among adult physicians in Lagos. Results: Ninety-seven physicians completed the questionnaire with male-to-female ratio of 1:1.3. The mean age of the responders was 39.54 ± 6.2. The proportion with overall good knowledge was 40 (41.2%). The vaccines routinely recommended include: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 73 (81.1%), COVID-19 vaccine 70 (77.8%), and influenza vaccine 57 (63.3%), respectively. The common barriers for vaccine recommendation include: Unavailability 53 (54.6%), poor reminder systems, 43 (44.3%), inadequate insurance coverage 33 (34%), and vaccine shortage 31 (32%). There was a significant association between the knowledge of physicians and sociodemographics, including age (χ2 = 6.548, P = 0.038), duration of practice (χ2 = 7.761, P = 0.039), type of specialist training (χ2 = 3.860, P = 0.049), as well as specialty (χ2 = 11.282, P = 0.004). Conclusion: This study suggests that the knowledge of physicians regarding adult vaccinnations is below average. Most recommended adult respiratory disease preventable vaccines are pneumococcal conjugate, influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines. The major barriers to vaccination include availability and cost. The implication of this finding is the need to increase awareness about vaccine utilization as well as access among physicians in Lagos and Nigeria at large if the narrative must change

Simulation-based analytical design for aluminium recycling processing plant

Indiscriminate disposal of beverage cans as waste poses a great threat to the environment, causing flooding, landfill, and blockage of drainages, leading to land pollution and sometimes accident. Hence, there is a need to design a system capable of converting these wastes into usable products. In this study, a simulation-based analytical design for aluminum recycling processing plant was carried out to ascertain the efficiency and reliability of the design before fabrication using finite element analysis (FEA) approach. The simulation results revealed a lesser maximum stress of 6.323 MPa for the furnace outer casing under the action of load with a displacement of 0.0795 mm. The stress of the machine components is less than the yield strength of the selected materials, making the machine fit and workable. The analytical results agree with the numerical analysis; hence the conceptual design is fit for fabrication based on the design analysis and evaluation. After the design analysis and simulation, the designed recycling process plant parts are found to be under negligible deflection and stress which is far below the yield strength of chosen materials

SEN-Iot: A Smart Emergency Notification System Suitable for Developing Countries using Internet of Things

Research has shown that disaster effects on properties and lives can be drastically reduced through wide dissemination of information on the impending danger to people at the appropriate time. Generally, the emergency alert systems are usually proactive systems; they are meant to gather data in surrounding using the necessary tools, alert the specified listeners about an impending danger and gives suggestion on the necessary actions to be taken in each situation. In addition, some emergency alert systems also activate automatic responses. Furthermore, the integration of Internet of things (IoT) technology with emergency notification systems is rapidly attracting new discovery in this domain. In this paper, an effective smart emergency notification system named SEN-IoT was design using IOT technology. SEN-IoT was modeled to manage domestic hazard with a scope of water, fire and gas leaks; by creating an emergence notification and immediate response systems. The SEN- IOT was implemented using arduino, sensors and the GSM module. The system was tested for maintainability, functionality, efficiency, usability and reliability, and results revealed that SEN-IoT can effectively handle domestic hazard

Exploring Spatial Pattern of Residential Property Value around Cultural Heritage Sites in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Cities in both developed and developing economies are characterised by various cultural heritage sites. Such sites can impact the value of residential properties around them either positively or negatively. In view of this, this study explores the spatial pattern of residential property values around cultural heritage sites in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. One (1) cultural heritage site each was purposively selected in the core and sub-urban areas of Ile-Ife. Furthermore, systematic sampling technique was used to select one of every twenty (20) buildings within different radii (1-300, 301-600 and 601-900 meters) of the selected cultural heritage sites. A total of two hundred and twenty-three (223) buildings were selected. Hence, 223 questionnaires were administered on the residents of the buildings. Interview was also conducted on ten (10) real estate practitioners in the study area to optimally provide answers rental values of residential properties around the cultural heritage sites. The extracted data were analysed using multiple regression and rent differential technique. Findings showed that as distance increases from the cultural heritage sites, the average rental value of residential properties was also on the increase in the core and sub-urban areas of Ile-Ife. It was therefore established that there exists a positive relationship between the distance from cultural heritage sites and rental values of residential properties. The study further revealed that cultural heritage sites had a negative impact on the rental values of proximate residential properties in the study area. The study however concluded that the rental values of residential properties reflect distance to cultural heritage sites. It is recommended that property investors should give adequate attention to location to make accurate and dependable decisions on the supply of residential properties, especially in cities where there are cultural heritage sites

Exploring Spatial Pattern of Residential Property Value around Cultural Heritage Sites in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Cities in both developed and developing economies are characterised by various cultural heritage sites. Such sites can impact the value of residential properties around them either positively or negatively. In view of this, this study explores the spatial pattern of residential property values around cultural heritage sites in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. One (1) cultural heritage site each was purposively selected in the core and sub-urban areas of Ile-Ife. Furthermore, systematic sampling technique was used to select one of every twenty (20) buildings within different radii (1-300, 301-600 and 601-900 meters) of the selected cultural heritage sites. A total of two hundred and twenty-three (223) buildings were selected. Hence, 223 questionnaires were administered on the residents of the buildings. Interview was also conducted on ten (10) real estate practitioners in the study area to optimally provide answers rental values of residential properties around the cultural heritage sites. The extracted data were analysed using multiple regression and rent differential technique. Findings showed that as distance increases from the cultural heritage sites, the average rental value of residential properties was also on the increase in the core and sub-urban areas of Ile-Ife. It was therefore established that there exists a positive relationship between the distance from cultural heritage sites and rental values of residential properties. The study further revealed that cultural heritage sites had a negative impact on the rental values of proximate residential properties in the study area. The study however concluded that the rental values of residential properties reflect distance to cultural heritage sites. It is recommended that property investors should give adequate attention to location to make accurate and dependable decisions on the supply of residential properties, especially in cities where there are cultural heritage sites