An evaluation of the effects of brand equity on consumer responses: Empirical evidence on Malaysian perspective

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of brand equity on consumer responses by investigating the effects of the overall brand equity on consumer willingness to pay price premium, attitude towards brand extension, brand preference, purchase intention and how brand equity can lead to reduction in the cost of searching information by consumers. Using the automobile product category in Malaysia as stimuli, cross-sectional survey data were collected and analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling technique. Result showed that brand equity plays a significant role in firms by creating and developing additional value to organisations and their products. A causal relationship among the antecedents of brand equity was also established. Among the antecedents of brand equity, brand loyalty was found to be the dominant driver of overall brand equity while perceived quality’s influence on overall brand equity was not supported by the result of the hypotheses. Moreover, the effect of brand equity on consumer responses was substantiated and found to be positive. The study used a single high involving product category. Future studies should use product categories with short consumption length and high purchase frequency. Findings of this study provide more insight to managers on how to manage brand equity. Outcomes of brand equity can be used to measure the performance of brand in the market. The study also provides additional clarification to the existing literature on the need for managers to develop a post-brand equity marketing strategy in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage

University Library Websites in Nigeria: An Analysis of Content

The Internet and web technologies created a new and unprecedented environment to governments, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals enabling them to webcast any information using multimedia tools. University libraries are nowadays using web environment to provide high quality information for their users mostly in digital format. The purpose of this study is to investigate the university library websites in Nigeria, to analyse their content so as to ascertain their strength and weaknesses and to give recommendations. Three objectives guided the study. Ten university libraries with functional websites were randomly selected for the study. Fourty three (43) item checklists were developed based on previous studies and critical extermination of standard library websites. The checklists were scanned and analyse in various intervals during the month of December 2013, the results are presented in tabular form. The study found among others that the general information about the selected libraries, about library services, about their physical holdings are all inadequate. Recommendations made include improvement of librarian skills in website development and enhancement of library curriculum in library schools to include website development among others. Keywords: University library, Websites, Content analysis, Nigeri

Relationship Between Physical School Climate and Teachers’ Effectiveness in Senior Secondary Schools in Yobe State, Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between physical school climate and teachers’ effectiveness in senior secondary schools in Yobe State, Nigeria. This study adopted organic system theory propounded by Niskanem (1971).1 purpose, two research questions and 1 null hypothesis guided the study. The population was of the study was 5,322 subjects. The Sample size was 359 elements selected using Taro Yamane’s method. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the research questions.  linear regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings: This study revealed  that a significant relationship exist between physical school climate and teachers’ effectiveness in senior secondary schools in Yobe State, Nigeria.This study also established that  Physical climate is moderate in Senior Secondary Schools in Yobe State as revealed by the mean score of 3.21 and teachers’ effectiveness is also  high in Senior Secondary Schools as revealed by the mean score of 4.13 Recommendation: Ade quate physical environment should be provided.  Principals and teachers should ensure proper planning and maintainance of the physical environment and  facilities in the school. Keywords: Physical, School, Climate, Teachers and Effectiveness DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-26-08 Publication date:September 30th 201

Botnet detection from drive-by downloads

The advancement in Information Technology has brought about an advancement in the development and deployment of malware. Bot Malware have brought about immense compromise in computer security. Various ways for the deployment of such bots have been devised by attackers and they are becoming stealthier and more evasive by the day. Detecting such bots has proven to be difficult even though there are various detection techniques. In this work, a packet capturing and analysis technique for detecting host-based bots on their characteristics and behavior is proposed. The system captures network traffic first, to establish normal traffic, then already captured botnet traffic was used to test the system. The system filters out HTTP packets and analyses these packets to further filter out botnet traffic from normal internet traffic. The system was able to detect malicious packets with a False Positive Rate of 0.2 and accuracy of 99.91%

Incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis in a day old neonate: Case report and review of the literature

Dextrocardia with situs inversus are rare congenital anomalies which can be asymptomatic and compatible with normal life. They are characterized by mirror images of all intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal viscera. Our aim isto report an incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus in a neonate with neonatal sepsis. A day-old male term neonate presented with features of infection. Physical examination revealed cardiac apex on the 4th right   intercostal space, along the mid-clavicular line. Chest radiograph and  abdominal ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis of dextrocardia with situs inversus. Bilateral cervical ribs were also seen on chest radiograph. He was managed with antibiotics  and  discharged . Newborn babies should have a thorough physical examination after delivery before discharge to enable early diagnosis of congenital anomalies for appropriate referral.Key words: Dextrocardia, neonate, neonatal sepsis

Prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors in Kaduna, Nigeria

Background: Transmission of malaria parasites through blood transfusion is a well-known serious risk. Screening of blood donors for malaria as recommended by WHO is currently not included in the protocols of many Nigerian blood banks. Presence of asymptomatic Plasmodium species carriers (APCs) in some northern parts of the state has already been demonstrated using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopic examination of Giemsa stained blood films. This research was undertaken to determine the prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors in Kaduna state, Nigeria.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the blood donors in the three selected Hospitals of Kaduna state. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding demographic profile. Written informed consent was obtained and questionnaire was completed by respondents selected through simple random sampling. 360 blood donors were tested for malaria parasites through microscopic examination of Giemsa stained thick and thin blood films. The data were analysed using Statistical analysis system (SAS) and statistical software for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.Results: A total of 27 (7.5%) of the blood donors had malaria parasites in their blood. Plasmodium falciparum was the only malaria parasite species encountered. There were no mixed infections and no other blood parasites were observed. The prevalence of malaria parasites in the blood donors was significantly associated with occupation (c2=24.0845, df=6, p= 0.0005) and blood group (c2=10.589, df=4, p= O.032). The infected subjects had parasites densities of between 88-250 parasites/µl with a mean parasite density of 126 parasites/µl of blood.Conclusions: The prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors was 7.5% Blood donors should be routinely screened for malaria parasites and the blood marked negative or positive as the case may be. Recipients of malaria parasites positive blood should be given prophylactic treatment to prevent transfusion related malaria (TRM).

Gynaecological malignancies in Azare, North-East Nigeria: an assessment of types, stage at presentation and treatment affordability

Background: In many parts of the world, presentations for most gynecological cancers are late; this makes treatment difficult due to the cost of chemotherapy or radiotherapy which form the bedrock for cure or palliation. Objective of this study was to determine the types, stage at diagnosis, affordability of care and outcome of treatment of gynaecological cancers in Federal Medical Centre Azare, Bauchi State, Nigeria.Methods: All cases of gynaecological cancers seen over a ten-year period, from 1st January, 2003 to 31st December, 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. The number of all gynaecological cases seen during the period was also extracted.Results: Gynaecological cancer cases accounted for 11.84 % of 8,642 gynaecological cases seen during the period of study.  The mean age and parity of the women were 42±5 SD years and 5±1 SD respectively. Cervical cancer accounted for 55 %, ovarian cancer 30%, endometrial cancer 6%, choriocarcinoma 5%, secondaries/ cancers of undetermined origin were 4%.  Ninety-two percent presented with advanced stage of diseases. Only 25.3% could afford the cost of full treatment, and 8.4% attained cure of their disease. The modalities of treatment available were surgery and chemotherapy.Conclusions: Cervical and Ovarian Cancers remain the leading types of gynaecological cancers in our environment and late presentations are frequent occurrence. Late presentation and unaffordability of treatments are major challenges associated with the management of these patients. Early presentation and funding mechanisms for gynaecological cancers are keys to improved cure rate and reduced mortality

Laboratory-confirmed hospital-acquired infections:An analysis of a hospital's surveillance data in Nigeria

Objective: Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are a global problem and a major public health concern in hospitals throughout the world. Quantification of HAI is needed in developing countries; hence we describe the results of a 2-year surveillance data in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Methodology: This study is a 2-year review using secondary data collected at a tertiary referral center in northwestern Nigeria. The data was collected using surveillance forms modeled based on the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) protocol. Descriptive statistics were used to present results as frequencies and percentages. Result: 518 patients developed HAI out of 8216 patients giving an overall prevalence of 6.3%. The mean age of the patients was 35.98 years (±15.92). Males constituted 281 (54.2%). UTI 223 (43.1%) was the most prevalent HAI. Overall, E. coli 207 (40.0%) was the most frequent isolates followed by P. aerugenosa 80 (15.4%). There was a high prevalence of cloxacillin resistant S. aureus (67.9%) and gram-negative rods resistant to third-generation cephalosporins. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance across the board was more than 90%. Conclusion: There is a high burden of HAI especially UTI in our hospital with resistance to commonly used antibiotics documented. Keywords: Public health, Infectious diseas

L’ETHIQUE EN MATIERE DE SANTE ENTRE ANTINOMIES, LIBERTE DE CHOIX ET DIFFICULTE DU QUOTIDIEN

The progressive increase of biotechnology, of more and more sophisticated and customized drugs, springs from a real requirement of citizens or instead from an offer coming from different corporations? Ethics in health care is everyday more contradictory, permeated by antinomies, freedom of choice, inequalities and problems connected to everyday life

Reducing the burden of diarrhea among children under five years old: lessons learned from oral rehydration therapy corner program implementation in Northern Nigeria

Background: In Nigeria, diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of death among children under five years old. Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) corners were introduced to health facilities in Bauchi and Sokoto states to serve as points of treatment for sick children and equip caregivers with necessary skills in case management of diarrhea and diarrhea prevention. Objectives: The operations research study examined the effect of facility-based ORT corners on caregivers\u2019 knowledge and skills in management of simple and moderate diarrhea at home, as well as caregivers\u2019 and service providers\u2019 perceived facilitators and barriers to utilization and delivering of ORT corner services. It also examined whether ORT activities were conducted according to the established protocols. Methods: This quantitative study relied on multiple sources of information to provide a complete picture of the current status of ORT corner services, namely surveys with ORT corner providers (N = 21), health facility providers (N = 23) and caregivers (N = 229), as well as a review of service statistics and health facility observations. Frequency distribution and binary analysis were conducted. Results: The study revealed that ORT corner users were more knowledgeable in diarrhea prevention and management and demonstrated better skills for managing diarrhea at home than ORT corner non-users. However, the percentage of knowledgeable ORT users is not optimal, and providers need to continue to work toward improving such knowledge. ORT corner providers identified a lack of supplies as the major barrier for providing services. Furthermore, the study revealed a lack of information, education and communication materials, supportive supervision, and protocols and guidelines for delivering ORT corner services, as well as inadequate documentation of services provided at ORT corners. Recommendations: Recommendations for ORT corners program planners and implementers include ensuring all ORT corners have oral rehydration salt (ORS) packages and salt, sugar, and zinc tablets in stock, a secured commodity supply chain to avoid stockouts, and adequate policies and procedures in place