Educational building conditions and the health of users

In order to maintain a healthy learning environment, diagnosis and management of defects in the educational facility are paramount. The preliminary results of the ongoing research reported here seek to identify defects associated with educational buildings and their effects on the health of polytechnic students and staff in Nigeria. A questionnaire survey, including 34 defects based on a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) was used to establish relationships with the health of polytechnic students and staff. Two hundred (200) respondents were randomly selected based on their schools (faculty) within Lagos State Polytechnic. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis of the collected data. The results of the study indicate that defects such as plumbing and dampness problems, cobwebs and dust, are prominent in the institution. Also the relationship between building conditions (defects) and health problems was established, with the predictors of the health problems. Based on the findings, it is important for designers and managers of facilities within tertiary institutions to develop and implement design and maintenance policies targeted at minimizing the likelihood of plumbing, dampness, electrical, cobweb and dust problems in educational buildings due to the health risks induced by the defects. It is evident that effective maintenance schedules and policies should be put in place to ensure that facilities are not left to decay before replacement

Effects of Soil Amendment on the Toxicity of a Two- Month Old Waste Engine Oil-Polluted Soil on Solanum esculentum Linn

This study investigated the effect of sawdust on the toxicity of waste engine oil- polluted soil on Solanum esculentum grown at various concentrations of waste engine oil and changes in the physicochemical properties of soil. This was with a view to assessing the soil remediation potentials of sawdust in waste engine oil polluted-soil. This study was carried out in the screen house of the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Waste engine oil sample was pooled from a heavy duty vehicles auto mechanic workshop in Sabo, Ile-Ife. Six concentrations of waste engine oil 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% were used to contaminate 3 kg of air-dried soil in perforated buckets. Another set of pots containing 3 kg of air-dried soil were also contaminated with six concentrations of waste engine oil but amended with 20 t/ha of sawdust. Each treatment was replicated thrice in a Completely Randomized Design. Nursery bed was prepared for the tomato variety (Roma VF) obtained from the National Horticulture Research Institute, Ibadan. With five seeds planted per hole at the depth of 3 cm. Two weeks after germination of the seeds in the nursery bed, the seedlings were transplanted into the perforated buckets at rate of 2 seedlings per pot. The growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves and number of branches were measured weekly for 5 weeks. At the end of the five weeks, total harvesting of plants and sorting into roots and shoots was carried out. Pre and post cropping analyses of soils were done to determine the heavy metal content and physicochemical properties of the soils using standard methods. Plant parts nutrient content and plant heavy metal content were also analysed using standard method. The data obtained were subjected to appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. After five weeks growth in the soils treated with 5% waste engine oil, growth performance of tomato was significantly (p< 0.05) higher in sawdust treated waste engine oil- contaminated soil. Results showed that addition of sawdust increased the soil nutrient status as well as plant nutrient uptake of Solanum esculentum in waste engine oil- contaminated soil. At 5% waste engine oil contamination level, plant nutrient uptake was significantly (p< 0.05) higher in waste engine oil- contaminated soil treated with sawdust (nitrogen: 2.16%; potassium: 0.43%; magnesium: 0.22% and calcium: 0.71%) than in soils treated with only waste engine oil (nitrogen: 0.58%; potassium: 0.11%; magnesium: 0.06% and calcium: 0.20%). This study concluded that sawdust has the potential of amending waste engine oil- contaminated soil for improved nutrient uptake by tomato. Though, in the non-contaminated soil samples, sawdust did not significantly improve nutrient availability to tomato. Keywords: Engine-oil, Farmland, Contaminated, Pollution, Amendment, Sawdust

Electoral Management Bodies, Information and Communications Technology and Democratisation Process in Nigeria

One of the basic features of democracy is the presence of periodic elections and Electoral Management Bodies EMBs saddled with the responsibility are faced with dynamic and multi-faceted challenges However comparative analyses of experiences processes performance delivery across developing and developed nations have shown consistent engagement with modern technologies Nigeria the black nation s world biggest democracy currently in the fourth republic that has spanned a record time of almost twenty years still records negative elections reports at the pre-election election and post-election stages ranging from disenfranchisement apathy violence vote-rigging ballot box snatching stuffing vote-buying militarization among others Of note the total sum of the length of the previous republics barely was ten years However this study examines the operational environment in which the Electoral Commission operated since the beginning of the republic in 1999 and the role technology has and can play in aiding the democratization process in the country The work relies on secondary source of data gathering and content analytical approach was adopte

Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention Level of Academic Staff in Private Universities in Southwestern Nigeria

The study investigated the influence of level of motivation and job satisfaction on the level of turnover intention of academic staff in private universities in Southwestern Nigeria. The descriptive design method was employed and multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study. One thousand four hundred and seventy three academic staff participated in the study. The participants were drawn from 8 private universities randomly selected from 4 states which were randomly sampled from 6 states in Southwestern geo-political zone. Research questions were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation and multiple regression was used to analyse the hypothesis. The results revealed low level of motivation and job satisfaction as well as high level of turnover intention of academic staff in private universities in Southwestern Nigeria. Results also indicated a significant influence of the level of motivation and job satisfaction on the level of turnover intention of academic staff in private universities in Southwestern Nigeria. This means that 12% of the total variance in turnover intention of academic staff in private universities in Southwestern Nigeria is attributed to the influence of the level of motivation and job satisfaction. This indicates that the independent variables (motivation level and job satisfaction level) and the dependent variable (turnover intention level) have linear and significant relationship

Perception of Pastoralists on Dairy Production Technologies in Oyo State, Nigeria

This paper assessed the perception of pastoralists on the introduced Dairy Production Technologies (DPTs) in Oyo State, Nigeria. It specifically identified DPTs introduced to the pastoralists and examined their perceptions towards the DPTs. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 216 respondents from 27 pastoral communities across two Dairy Development Programme (DDP) operating locations in the study area. Interview schedule was used for quantitative data collection while in-depth interview and Focus Group Discussion Guides were used to elicit qualitative information. Data were analysed through Software Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 and summarized using means, percentages, frequency counts and standard deviations while Pearson correlation analysis was used to draw inferences on hypothesis. The results showed almost all the respondents indicated they were aware of all the DPTs introduced to them except animal health record. Pastoralists’ perception varied with respect to each of the technological components, however, majority of the respondents (77.3 %) showed indifferent perception to DPTs. Also, positive and significant relationship existed between pastoralists’ household size (r = 0.768), age (r = 0.264), dairy years of experience (r = 0.248) and their perception of the DPTs. It is recommended that the concerns of pastoralists on ‘uncertainties/risk’ and ‘cost’ should be addressed if dairy development efforts are to be meaningful among the pastoralists in Nigeria

Bi-Modal System Using SVM (Support Vector Machine) and MLP (Multilayer Perceptron) -Proposed

In this era of high technological advancement, the need to identify an individual especially in the developing countries has long been an attractive goal. The necessity to secure an environments, devices and resources due to the increasing rate of crime has led to the proposal of this research. Iris modality has become interesting as an alternative approach to reliable visual recognition of persons due to its distinctive characteristics, as well as fingerprint modality for its innumerable advantages. Therefore a bi-modal biometric system using Qualitative SVM (Support Vector Machine) and MLP (Multilayer Perceptron) for classification has been proposed in this research. Performance analysis of these modalities will be carried out with each model. The designed models will be duly implemented using JAVA programming Language as a frontend and Access database as a backend respectively. Keywords: Biometric, Bimodal system, Iris modality, fingerprint modality, Support Vector Machine and Multilayer Perceptron

Investigating Household Factors and Child Physiognomies as Predisposing Dynamics to Optimal Breastfeeding among Fertile Mothers in West Africa: A Multilevel Study

Background In many West African countries, the vulnerability of infants and under-five children to life threatening infections, poor physiological development, cognitive impairments and mortality, due to their weak immune system has been extensively related to the non-adherence of mothers to optimal breastfeeding. Earlier studies had inspected and explored the conceivable predictors of the non-conformity of mothers in the region to the recommended breastfeeding practices by UNICEF/WHO. However, these empirical studies had neither investigated the joint effect of household factors and child physiognomies nor adopted the multilevel method across countries in West Africa. The study addresses this limitation by investigating the identified explanatory variables as predisposing dynamics to optimal breastfeeding among fertile mothers in three selected West African countries Method This study was a cross-sectional multilevel survey. It analysed secondary quantitative data extracted from the Demographic Health Surveys conducted in Guinea (2012 GDHS), Nigeria (2013 NDHS) and Sierra Leone (2013 SLDHS). Information was sourced from a weighted sample size of 12,180 (NDHS), 5,008 (SLDHS), and 3,082 (GDHS) for fertile mothers aged 20-49 years old, who have had at least a birth prior the surveys. The response variable was optimal breastfeeding practice. It was captured by adherence and non-adherence to it thus, it was dichotomised into “1” if adhered to by fertile mothers and “0” if otherwise. The explanatory variables were household factors and child physiognomies and were measured at individual and community levels. The fixed and random effect logistic regression was carried out using Stata 14. Results Results showed that < 10% of fertile mothers practiced optimal breastfeeding in Guinea (5.3%), and Nigeria (8.6%), while only 14% of fertile mothers in Sierra Leone adhered to the practice. The fixed effect results showed that household factors, child physiognomies, and maternal factors at community level were significantly associated with optimal breastfeeding (p<0.05). the random effect results showed that household factors at community level accounted for 29.0%, 23.6% and 23.3% variation in adherence to optimal breastfeeding in Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone respectively. Results showed that child characteristics, at community level contributed 36.3%, 20.6% and 18.7% variation in adherence to optimal breastfeeding by fertile mothers in Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone respectively. Results, further showed that household factors and child physiognomies, at the community level jointly accounted for 20.4%, 21.5%, and 19.85 variation in adherence to optimal breastfeeding by fertile mothers in Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone respectively. Conclusion The study concluded that adherence of fertile mothers to optimal breastfeeding is fundamental to reducing the vulnerability of infants and young children to life threatening infections, poor physiological and cognitive impairments, and early childhood death to the lowest in Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the sub-region of West Africa as a whole

An investigation of the patterns and outcomes of Electroencephalographic (EEG) recording requests in the management of neuropsychiatric disorders in a teaching Hospital in Nigeria

Objective: To evaluate the relevance of Electroencephalography (EEG) in the management of various neuropsychiatric conditions in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin.Background: EEG is still relevant in the diagnosis and management of patients with seizure disorders and extends to other neuropsychiatric conditions. However, very few studies have examined the use of EEG in developing countries, including Nigeria.Methods: The EEG records of 154 patients between January 2012 and December 2012 were reviewed. EEG unit’s records, including EEG request forms and EEG reports were examined. Socio demographic data, clinical data and the neurologist’s comments on the EEG recordings were extracted and recorded on the proforma form.Results: A total of 142(92.2%) of the patients out of 154 had complete records and were studied. Majority (84.5%) of the patients were below the age of 30 years. Various types of seizure disorders accounted for 80% of the provisional diagnosis. The EEG diagnosis based on the interpretation of the EEG records showed that 96 (67.6%) of the patients had normal records.Conclusion: EEG still plays a very important role in the investigation of neuropsychiatric conditions especially epilepsy in developing countries. EEG facilities should be readily available.Keywords: Electroencephalography, investigations, neuropsychiatric, Nigerian, Teaching Hospita

THE IMPACT OF MEDIA AND ETHNIC HEGEMONY ON ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN AFRICA

Africa has been facing incessant conflicts in recent decades. Most of these conflicts are intra-state rather than inter-state. Many scholars have worked on the causes of conflicts in Africa, but few have identified the role played by the media and ethnic hegemony in engendering ethnic conflicts in Africa. Conflicts in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and South Sudan, to mention a few, are not unconnected with the misuse of media that led to some ethnic groups being profiled and eventually becoming targets of attacks. And the role of ethnic hegemony on the other hand, which makes some ethnic groups abhorred by other ethnic groups due to their disposition toward other ethnic groups within the state on commonwealth. This paper attempts to investigate the role of these two variables, media and ethnic hegemony, in engendering ethnic conflicts in Africa with the intention of providing possible solutions to the menace. The paper makes use of secondary data as a source of information and uses content analysis for data analysis. It also makes use of conflict theory, which was propounded by Karl Marx, who argued that there exist two major social classes or groups in any society: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The paper argues that Africa will be conflict-free if media are monitored to avoid inciting one ethnic group against another and proper structuring is also done to avoid actual or perceived behavior of one ethnic group behaving like a hegemon