Assessment of availability of visual inspection with acetic –acid (VIA) requirements for cervical cancer screening in secondary health care institutions of Kaduna State, Nigeria

The study determined the availability of visual inspection with acetic-acid requirements for cervical cancer screening in secondary health care institutions of Kaduna state. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was used for the study. The study population comprises all nurses, midwives, and nurse-midwives working in all the secondary healthcare institutions of the state. The sample size used for the study was 300 using the Yamane sample size selection formula. The technique involved was stratified sampling method whereby the three existing senatorial zones served as strata. Each of the stratum was clustered according to the existing local government areas. A purposive sampling was further used to select nine local governments, three from each senatorial zone that have secondary health care institutions. A proportionate sampling was used to distribute questionnaire copies to the health workers. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire which has been modified to four point likert scale. Three hundred (300) questionnaire copies were administered out of which (297) were retrieved. The data collected was analyzed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of confidence to answer the hypotheses. A post-hoc scheffe test was further used to determine were th differences are. Findings from the study shows that VIA requirements are not available in the secondary health care institutions for cervical cancer screening with an aggregate mean score of (2.1458). There is a significant difference among the secondary health care institutions in the availability of VIA requirements to screen for cervical cancer in Kaduna state where (P<0.05). It is therefore recommended that the hospital management board should make provision of VIA requirements so that they can be available in the institutions for VIA screening services

Atomistic mechanisms for the ordered growth of Co nano-dots on Au(788): comparison of VT-STM experiments and multi-scaled calculations

Hetero-epitaxial growth on a strain-relief vicinal patterned substrate has revealed unprecedented 2D long range ordered growth of uniform cobalt nanostructures. The morphology of a Co sub-monolayer deposit on a Au(111) reconstructed vicinal surface is analyzed by Variable Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (VT-STM) experiments. A rectangular array of nano-dots (3.8 nm x 7.2 nm) is found for a particularly large deposit temperature range lying from 60 K to 300 K. Although the nanodot lattice is stable at room temperature, this paper focus on the early stage of ordered nucleation and growth at temperatures between 35 K and 480 K. The atomistic mechanisms leading to the nanodots array are elucidated by comparing statistical analysis of VT-STM images with multi-scaled numerical calculations combining both Molecular Dynamics for the quantitative determination of the activation energies for the atomic motion and the Kinetic Monte Carlo method for the simulations of the mesoscopic time and scale evolution of the Co submonolayer

Public participation efficiency in planning for urban development in Bida, Nigeria

Public participation is a process to incorporate citizens in decision making process in planning for human environment. However, the process is confronted by a series of challenges particularly in developing countries. Despite the desirability and increasing interest in public participation programme, there has been a lack of motivation and participation by the citizens due to weakness of the factors determining public participation efficiency. These factors, namely information exchange, citizen involvement, and public engagement are the mechanisms for raising public awareness, public understanding and interest to promote effective participation in the programme. This study investigated an effective process for public participation in Bida, Nigeria. Explanatory research design based on quantitative method of data collection was adopted. 344 respondents were selected using random sampling to participate in the survey questionnaire. Respondents were categorized into four groups comprising planning officers, traditional leaders, youth leaders, and household heads. Factor analysis was employed to determine principal factors of public participation efficiency, while regression analysis was carried out to assess the level of public participation and examine factors hindering citizens from participating in the planning process. Findings confirmed that ineffective communication and inadequate participation are critical issues in public participation programme. Ineffective communication results in insignificant public awareness and understanding to support effective participation. Furthermore, the study revealed that lack of effective empowerment and problem of public orientation are identified as the contextual impediments affecting the programme. Tokenism has been identified as the level of empowerment which is insufficient to support effective public participation. In addition, ethnic diversity and public trust on government have been also identified as strong barriers affecting government-based programmes. Based on the findings, a framework consisting of mechanisms for improved communication, adequate participation at all stages, effective empowerment, and alleviation of the impact of impeding factors to achieve effective public participation is recommended. The recommendations will guide potential practitioners, lawmakers and academicians to develop a good structure in organizing effective public participation programmes in developing countries

Influence of Levels of Self-Esteem and Levels of Achievement Motivation on Academic Achievement Among Students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai NIGERIA

This study examined the effect of levels of self-esteem and levels achievement motivation on academic achievement among the students of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai Nigeria. The design for this study is Quasi experimental. The study has a population of 2,210 from where the sample sizes of 333 respondents were drawn comprising 193 males and 140 females. Instruments tagged, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Achievement Motivation Inventory were adapted for data collection. The instruments had, the duo of construct, content and face validities with reliabilities of internal consistency of RSES r=.767, and AMI r=.694 after test-retest. Collected data were analyzed using inferential statistics. Hypothesis 1 was tested usingANOVA, hypothesis 2 and 3 were tested using t-test for independent samples. All the hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The study findings revealed a significant difference in academic achievement between students with high, moderate and low levels of self-esteem. There is no significant difference in academic achievement between students with high and moderate levels of achievement motivation. Also, there is no significant male and female difference in academic achievement. In conclusion, a significant difference exists in academic achievement between high, moderate and low self-esteem levels. No significant differences exist on academic achievement between high and moderate levels of achievement motivation, and no significant male and female difference exists among the students respectively. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that Educational psychologists and teachers should design and develop academic programmes that directly promote self esteem level among students. Achievable goals should be set for students by parents and teachers. Both males and females should be assigned challenging tasks to resolve within a definite period

Comparative environmental justice among Dutsen Kura Hausa and Dutsen Kura Gwari neighbourhoods of Minna, Nigeria

This study compares the environmental justice of Dutsen Kura Hausa and Dutsen Kura Gwari in Minna, Nigeria by identifying and comparing levels and patterns of environmental justice and examining factors behind them. Using Random sampling method in administering 400 questionnaires, Relative Satisfaction Index (RSI) was used in analysing variables in each Environmental Justice dimensions while average RSI was calculated for each dimension. Chi-square test established the variations in the Environmental Justice dimension among the neighbourhoods, identifying cultural and ethnic differences as the highest environmental injustice recorded, where RSI value of 0.86 was obtained for Dutsen Kura Hausa and 0.37 for Dutsen Kura Gwari. P-value of 0.263 at &gt;5% posits statistically significant difference in Environmental Justice dimensions among the neighbourhoods. The study concludes that there is high level of environmental injustice among the two neighbourhoods. Hence, the need to encourage environmental justice advocacy that protects the environment and wellbeing of residents and livelihood of Minna at large.Keywords: Comparative analysis, Environmental justice, Facilities, Pollution, Wellbein

Nanostructured Polymeric Materials and Their Implementation in Enhancing Biocatalytic Processes

Polymer science has played a pivotal role in the development of nanotechnology. Self-assembly of polymeric materials at the molecular-level enables the fabrication of periodic arrays of nanostructures with various geometries and sizes, which present exciting opportunities in fabrication of nanoscale devices. However, self-assembled structures are often too regular for use in fabricating complex devices. Therefore, a simple layer-by-layer method was developed to allow for quantitative control over both size and shape of equilibrium nanostructures in self-assembled block copolymer thin films. The use of photolithography imparted spatial control over the self-assembly process.Such self-assembly can result in structures approaching the size of single biomacromolecules, potentially enabling the precise placement of individual enzymes. Using these nanostructured thin films as inspiration, the effect of nanopatterning enzymes for multi-step biocatalysis was explored numerically by developing a kinetic Monte Carol simulation. Molecular trajectories of the reaction species as well as turnover frequency of individual enzymes on the surface were tracked under diffusion-limited and reaction-limited conditions. Interestingly, these simulations revealed that enzyme density and arrangement have little impact on overall activity of the multi-enzyme cascade reaction.Given these results, we turned our attention to improving enzymatic activity by covalent modification of the enzyme with polymeric materials. This covalent modification holds tremendous promise as an approach to tune the molecular-level interactions between enzymes and their solvent environments. Enzymes modified with highly soluble polymers had greatly improved solubility in an ionic liquid. This correlated with increases of up to 19-fold in enzyme activity. However, because the preparation and purification of enzymes can be costly, the loss of recyclability of the newly homogeneous enzyme-polymer conjugates was undesirable. By utilizing a responsive polymeric material, the miscibility of the enzyme can be altered adaptively. Specifically, thermodynamic interactions between the enzyme-polymer conjugate and solvent were varied as a function of temperature by utilizing a thermoresponsive polymer. When recycled via sequential dissolution and precipitation, the enzyme did not lose any activity. This approach enables the benefits of both increased activity of homogeneous biocatalysis and improved processability of heterogeneous biocatalysis in non-native solvents

A Mathematical Model for the Dynamics of Zika Virus via Homotopy Perturbation Method

Zika virus is a member of the Flavivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family, which includes other globally relevant human’s pathogens such as dengue virus, yellow fever virus, West Nile virus and tick-borne encephalitis virus. In this paper, a deterministic mathematical model of Zika virus was formulated using ordinary differential equations with two control strategies: treatment for humans and insecticide spray for mosquitoes. Homotopy Perturbation Method was used to obtain the approximate solution of the model. From the result obtained, 59% effective administration of insecticide spray proved effective which showed a great reduction in the infected humans as well as infected vector population. Numerical results were offered in the form of Graphs. This research work contributes to new field of knowledge included to the dynamics of Zika virus in population’s dynamics with the application of Homotopy Perturbation Method and can be further extended to study the pattern of Zika associated diseases that pose a significant public health risk. Keywords: Homotopy Perturbation method, Zika virus, Modelling, Numerical Simulation

Effectiveness of Land Restoration in African’s Great Green Wall (GGW): Insight from Nigeria’s Frontline State

The Sahel region of Africa faces severe land degradation, compromising crucial ecosystem services vital for human well-being. In response, 11 African countries initiated the Great Green Wall (GGW) project to combat land degradation, with Nigeria, including Borno state, actively participating. This study focuses on evaluating GGW\u27s effectiveness in Borno state using Landsat imagery from 1993 to 2022. Data from Landsat satellites, specifically Landsat 4, 5, 7, and 8, were utilized alongside GIS tools like ArcGIS 10.8 for image classification and analysis. Microsoft Office aided in data visualization and report generation, while Google Earth Pro facilitated area calculation and feature confirmation. The analysis, employing NDVI trends and a two-way repeated measures ANOVA, revealed a non-significant impact of GGW on greening in the region (F-value: 0.665, p&gt;0.05). Despite the implementation of GGW in Borno state, findings suggest limited effectiveness in mitigating land degradation. This underscores the need for reassessment and potential recalibration of GGW strategies to achieve desired ecological restoration outcomes in the Sahel region.

ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY-BASED PATTERN OF WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Gombi rural community of Adamawa state, Nigeria, has witnessed significant growth in human population, which has contributed to an increase in water demand. Thus, the study analyzed water demand and supply patterns in Gombi communities of Adamawa State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics such as mean and percentages and inferential statistics like Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and linear regression were adopted for the analysis. The results on socioeconomic characteristics showed that the majority were females, with low household income levels, large household sizes, and in their active ages. Hand-dug well water was the primary water source (44.2%) in the communities. The average water used in the area was 448.9 liters, an average of 49.9 liters per capita per day (L/c/d) less than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 70 L/c/d - 100 L/c/d. More so, water used for agricultural and commercial purposes averages 851 and 348 liters daily, respectively. Overall, drinking and cooking consume less than 3.2% and 2.4% of all the water used daily in the study area. The study identified four factors affecting the area\u27s water supply: water facilities, climatic conditions, groundwater presence, and human activities. The water demand projection for the next ten years from 2022-2031 in the study area showed that the water demand will rise to 7,100,590.82 liters at the rate of 49.9 L/c/d due to its linear relationship with population growth, which stands at 2.9% per annum. The study recommended constructing mini-water projects to cater to the water needs of the populace. In addition, there should be sensitization campaigns against dumping refuse in groundwater, which is a significant water source in the Gombi community