Prevalence of Trachoma in Kano State, Nigeria: Results of 44 Local Government Area-Level Surveys.

PubMed

Mpyet, Caleb; Muhammad, Nasiru; Adamu, Mohammed Dantani; Muazu, Habila; Umar, Murtala Muhammad; Goyol, Musa; Yahaya, Hadi Bala; Onyebuchi, Uwazoeke; Ogoshi, Chris; Hussaini, Tijjani; Isiyaku, Sunday; William, Adamani; Flueckiger, Rebecca M; Chu, Brian K; Willis, Rebecca; Pavluck, Alexandre L; Olobio, Nicholas; Phelan, Sophie; Macleod, Colin; Solomon, Anthony W

2017-06-01

We sought to determine the prevalence of trachoma in 44 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kano State, Nigeria. A population-based prevalence survey was conducted in each Kano LGA. We used a two-stage systematic and quasi-random sampling strategy to select 25 households from each of 25 clusters in each LGA. All consenting household residents aged 1 year and above were examined for trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), trachomatous inflammation-intense (TI) and trichiasis. State-wide crude prevalence of TF in persons aged 1-9 years was 3.4% (95% CI 3.3-3.5%), and of trichiasis in those aged ≥15 years was 2.3% (95% CI 2.1-2.4%). LGA-level age- and sex-adjusted trichiasis prevalence in those aged ≥15 years ranged from 0.1% to 2.9%. All but 4 (9%) of 44 LGAs had trichiasis prevalences in adults above the elimination threshold of 0.2%. State-wide prevalence of trichiasis in adult women was significantly higher than in adult men (2.6% vs 1.8%; OR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7; p = 0.001). Four of 44 LGAs had TF prevalences in 1-9-year-olds between 10 and 15%, while another six LGAs had TF prevalences between 5 and 9.9%. In 37 LGAs, >80% of households had access to water within 30 minutes round-trip, but household latrine access was >80% in only 19 LGAs. Trichiasis is a public health problem in most LGAs in Kano. Surgeons need to be trained and deployed to provide community-based trichiasis surgery, with emphasis on delivery of such services to women. Antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvement are needed in 10 LGAs.

A Study Investigating the Perceived Service Quality Levels of Sport Center Members: A Kano Model Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yildiz, Kadir; Polat, Ercan; Güzel, Pinar

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate sport center members' perceived service quality levels with a view to Kano customer expectations and requirements model. To that end, a descriptive approach and a correlational research design featuring survey method is adopted. Research group consists of 680 (300 women, 380 men) sport center members who…

Revised Household-Based Microplanning in Polio Supplemental Immunization Activities in Kano State, Nigeria. 2013-2014.

PubMed

Gali, Emmanuel; Mkanda, Pascal; Banda, Richard; Korir, Charles; Bawa, Samuel; Warigon, Charity; Abdullahi, Suleiman; Abba, Bashir; Isiaka, Ayodeji; Yahualashet, Yared G; Touray, Kebba; Chevez, Ana; Tegegne, Sisay G; Nsubuga, Peter; Etsano, Andrew; Shuaib, Faisal; Vaz, Rui G

2016-05-01

Remarkable progress had been made since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. However endemic wild poliovirus transmission in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan remains an issue of international concern. Poor microplanning has been identified as a major contributor to the high numbers of chronically missed children. We assessed the contribution of the revised household-based microplanning process implemented in Kano State from September 2013 to April 2014 to the outcomes of subsequent polio supplemental immunization activities using used preselected planning and outcome indicators. There was a 38% increase in the number of settlements enumerated, a 30% reduction in the number of target households, and a 54% reduction in target children. The reported number of children vaccinated and the doses of oral polio vaccine used during subsequent polio supplemental immunization activities showed a decline. Postvaccination lot quality assurance sampling and chronically missed settlement reports also showed a progressive reduction in the number of children and settlements missed. We observed improvement in Kano State's performance based on the selected postcampaign performance evaluation indicators and reliability of baseline demographic estimates after the revised household-based microplanning exercise. © 2016 World Health Organization; licensee Oxford Journals.

Patient-doctor relationship: the practice orientation of doctors in Kano.

PubMed

Abiola, T; Udofia, O; Abdullahi, A T

2014-01-01

Attitude and orientation of doctors to the doctor-patient relationship has a direct influence on delivery of high quality health- care. No study to the knowledge of these researchers has so far examined the practice orientation of doctors in Nigeria to this phenomenon. The aims of this study were to determine the orientation of Kano doctors to the practice of doctor-patient relationship and physicians' related-factors. Participants were doctors working in four major hospitals (i.e., two federal-owned and two state-owned) servicing Kano State and its environs. The Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) and a socio-demographic questionnaire were completed by the 214 participants. The PPOS has 18 items and measures three parameters of a total score and two dimension of "sharing" and "caring". The mean age of participants was 31.72 years (standard deviation = 0.87), with 22% being females, 40.7% have been practicing for ≥ 6 years and about two-third working in federal-owned health institution. The Cronbach's alpha of total PPOS scores was 0.733 and that of two sub-scale scores of "sharing" and "caring" were 0.659 and 0.546 respectively. Most of the doctors' orientation (92.5%) was towards doctor-centered (i.e., paternalistic) care, majority (75.2%) upheld the view of not sharing much information and control with patients, and showing little interest in psychosocial concerns of patients (i.e., 'caring'=93.0%). Respondents' characteristics that were significantly associated with high doctor 'caring' relationship orientation were being ≥ 30-year-old and practicing for ≥ 6 years. Working in State-owned hospitals was also significantly associated with high doctor "sharing" orientation. This paper demonstrated why patient-centered medical interviewing should be given top priority in medical training in Nigeria, and particularly for federal health institutions saddled with production of new doctors and further training for practicing doctors.

Citizens' role in health services: satisfaction behavior: Kano's model, Part 1.

PubMed

Corbella Jané, Antoni; Maturana Domínguez, Salvador

2003-01-01

When it comes to consumer satisfaction, there is a lack of consensus over the importance of the role of consumers in connection with the quality of services. Widely different points of view exist, ranging from a defense of consumer satisfaction as the ultimate measure of service quality, to its treatment as a commercial issue or as one that merely has to do with image. This first article (part 1 of 2, also in this issue) describes and illustrates Kano's explicative model of how consumer satisfaction behaves and briefly analyzes the main characteristics, advantages, and limitations of the different methods used to assess consumer satisfaction.

Revised Household-Based Microplanning in Polio Supplemental Immunization Activities in Kano State, Nigeria. 2013–2014

PubMed Central

Gali, Emmanuel; Mkanda, Pascal; Banda, Richard; Korir, Charles; Bawa, Samuel; Warigon, Charity; Abdullahi, Suleiman; Abba, Bashir; Isiaka, Ayodeji; Yahualashet, Yared G.; Touray, Kebba; Chevez, Ana; Tegegne, Sisay G.; Nsubuga, Peter; Etsano, Andrew; Shuaib, Faisal; Vaz, Rui G.

2016-01-01

Background. Remarkable progress had been made since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. However endemic wild poliovirus transmission in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan remains an issue of international concern. Poor microplanning has been identified as a major contributor to the high numbers of chronically missed children. Methods. We assessed the contribution of the revised household-based microplanning process implemented in Kano State from September 2013 to April 2014 to the outcomes of subsequent polio supplemental immunization activities using used preselected planning and outcome indicators. Results. There was a 38% increase in the number of settlements enumerated, a 30% reduction in the number of target households, and a 54% reduction in target children. The reported number of children vaccinated and the doses of oral polio vaccine used during subsequent polio supplemental immunization activities showed a decline. Postvaccination lot quality assurance sampling and chronically missed settlement reports also showed a progressive reduction in the number of children and settlements missed. Conclusions. We observed improvement in Kano State's performance based on the selected postcampaign performance evaluation indicators and reliability of baseline demographic estimates after the revised household-based microplanning exercise. PMID:26908755

Vulvovaginal Candidiasis in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, North-West Nigeria: Hospital-Based Epidemiological Study

PubMed Central

Ugwa, EA

2015-01-01

Background: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) remains a common problem worldwide and the role of douching as a predisposing factor is unclear. Aim: This study was undertaken to highlight the prevalence and predisposing factors of VVC in North-west Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This was a prospective study done at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), North-west. AKTH is a 500-bed tertiary hospital located in Kano, the most populous state in Nigeria. Ethical clearance was obtained. Three hundred patients with VVC were recruited from the gynecologic and general outpatients’ clinics of AKTH. Research structured questionnaires were used to obtain sociodemographic and clinical information. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 statistical software (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL, USA). Frequency, mean and simple percentages were used to analyze data. Result: Candida albicans was the most frequent cause of the positive high vaginal swabs constituting 84.5% (316/374) while Proteus vulgaris was the least frequent cause constituting 0.53% (2/374). Fifty-three percent (143/270) of those with VVC were aged 26–35 years; the married were 80% (216/270) and those who were unmarried were 20% (54/270). Douching was the commonest predisposing factor occurring in 42.5% (115/270) of cases. Conclusion: VVC was the most prevalent cause of vaginosis in North-west Nigeria, and douching was the commonest predisposing factor. PMID:26229716

Prevalence of female genital mutilation among female infants in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Garba, I D; Muhammed, Z; Abubakar, I S; Yakasai, I A

2012-08-01

To determine the prevalence and type of female genital mutilation (FGM) among female infants, reasons and attitude of the mothers to the practice. A cross sectional descriptive study. Tertiary centre in Kano Northern Nigeria. A Pretested questionnaire was administered for mothers of female infants presenting for routine immunization in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH). A total of 250 questionnaires were administered, but only 200 were properly filled and this was used for the analysis. Prevalence and type of FGM, reason for and attitude of mothers towards FGM. Twenty-six infants had FGM during the period of study, giving a prevalence rate of 13 %. The mean age at cutting was 8 days ± 7.3. The commonest type of FGM was type I accounting for 96.2 % of the cases. Tradition/culture was the commonest reason for mutilation accounting for 73.1 %, other reasons included; religious in 11.5 %, hygienic in 11.5 % and to preserve virginity in 3.8 %. Traditional barbers were the commonest operators in 80.8 % of cases, followed by the nurse/midwife in 15.4 % of cases. The fathers were the main decision makers in 46.2 %, followed by both parents in 26.9 % and grandparents in 15.4 % of the cases. 84 % of mothers were not in support of the practice. Thirteen percent of the clients would circumcise all their daughters. Forty-eight percent of the clients were of the opinion that FGM cause harm to the victims. Four percent of those whose daughters were yet to be circumcised will do so later. Female genital cutting is still practiced in our environment. Educational enlightenment is fundamental in changing public opinion as well as in offering reasonable alternative to FGM. Campaign against the practice of FGM should be encouraged to eradicate its practice.

Predictors of public attitude toward living organ donation in Kano, northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Zubairu; Abubakar, Isa S; Lawan, Umar M; Abubakar, Mustapha; Adamu, Bappa

2014-01-01

Organ shortage is a major public health challenge for transplant programs globally. The sustenance of such programs as an effective therapy for end-stage organ failure (ESOF) requires an exploration of public awareness and willingness to donate organs. This is imperative, especially in developing countries where ESOF is highly prevalent. We studied the awareness and predictors of public attitude toward organ donation in Kano city in northern Nigeria. Using interviewer-administered questionnaires, we assessed the awareness and willingness to donate solid organs among 400 adults in the Kano metropolis. Three hundred and five of the 383 respondents (79.6%) reported that they had heard about organ donation. There was a significant variation of awareness by education and ethnicity (P <0.05). Most respondents, 303 (79.1%), were willing to donate an organ. Gender [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.40-4.95], educational attainment (AOR = 2.55; 95% CI: 1.35-5.88), marital status (AOR = 4.5; 95% CI: 2.97-9.1), religion (AOR = 3.40; 95% CI: 1.43-8.10) and ethnicity (AOR = 2.36; 95% CI 1.04-5.35) were significant predictors of willingness to donate an organ. Preferred organ recipients were parents (48.9%), children (21.3%), spouses (14.6%) and other relatives (13.4%). Reasons for willingness to donate organs included religion (51.2%), moral obligation (21.4%) and compassion (11.9%), among others. However, there was widespread ignorance of religious precepts concerning organ donation. The high level of awareness and willingness to donate organs in this society could be further enhanced by intensive information, education and communication strategies providing clear messages on societal benefits, religious aspects and bioethical guidance regarding organ donation.

Awareness and attitude of antenatal clients towards HIV voluntary counselling and testing in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Z; Kabir, M; Galadanci, H S; Abubakar, I S; Aliyu, M H

2005-01-01

Mother to child transmission accounts for the majority of HIV infections in children in the developing countries. This study assessed pregnant women's knowledge of HIV/AIDS, awareness and attitudes towards Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria. A pre-tested structured interview questionnaire was administered on a cross-section of 210 antenatal clients in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. All respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS. Fifty seven percent had good knowledge, 32% had fair knowledge and the remaining 11% had poor knowledge of the infection. Most respondents were aware of VCT through health workers, mass media and friends. Similarly, most respondents (81.0%) approved of VCT, 13.0% disapproved of it and the remaining (6%) was undecided. The main reasons for disapproval were; fear of stigmatisation, isolation and effect on marriage security. Those that had tertiary level of education were three times more likely to accept VCT compared to those with lower levels of education (O.R=3.2, 95% confidence interval =1.3-8.0). Although the awareness of VCT for HIV was quite high with most antenatal clients harbouring positive attitudes towards it, there is a need to intensify health education to convince the remaining minority who are still sceptical or ignorant of the benefits of VCT.

Understanding the relationship between Kano model's customer satisfaction scores and self-stated requirements importance.

PubMed

Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O C; Hashim, Nor Laily

2016-01-01

Customer satisfaction is the result of product quality and viability. The place of the perceived satisfaction of users/customers for a software product cannot be neglected especially in today competitive market environment as it drives the loyalty of customers and promotes high profitability and return on investment. Therefore understanding the importance of requirements as it is associated with the satisfaction of users/customers when their requirements are met is worth the pain considering. It is necessary to know the relationship between customer satisfactions when their requirements are met (or their dissatisfaction when their requirements are unmet) and the importance of such requirement. So many works have been carried out on customer satisfaction in connection with the importance of requirements but the relationship between customer satisfaction scores (coefficients) of the Kano model and users/customers self-stated requirements importance have not been sufficiently explored. In this study, an attempt is made to unravel the underlying relationship existing between Kano model's customer satisfaction indexes and users/customers self reported requirements importance. The results of the study indicate some interesting associations between these considered variables. These bivariate associations reveal that customer satisfaction index (SI), and average satisfaction coefficient (ASC) and customer dissatisfaction index (DI) and average satisfaction coefficient (ASC) are highly correlated (r = 96 %) and thus ASC can be used in place of either SI or DI in representing customer satisfaction scores. Also, these Kano model's customer satisfaction variables (SI, DI, and ASC) are each associated with self-stated requirements importance (IMP). Further analysis indicates that the value customers or users place on requirements that are met or on features that are incorporated into a product influences the level of satisfaction such customers derive from the product. The

An integrative fuzzy Kansei engineering and Kano model for logistics services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartono, M.; Chuan, T. K.; Prayogo, D. N.; Santoso, A.

2017-11-01

Nowadays, customer emotional needs (known as Kansei) in product and especially in services become a major concern. One of the emerging services is the logistics services. In obtaining a global competitive advantage, logistics services should understand and satisfy their customer affective impressions (Kansei). How to capture, model and analyze the customer emotions has been well structured by Kansei Engineering, equipped with Kano model to strengthen its methodology. However, its methodology lacks of the dynamics of customer perception. More specifically, there is a criticism of perceived scores on user preferences, in both perceived service quality and Kansei response, whether they represent an exact numerical value. Thus, this paper is proposed to discuss an approach of fuzzy Kansei in logistics service experiences. A case study in IT-based logistics services involving 100 subjects has been conducted. Its findings including the service gaps accompanied with prioritized improvement initiatives are discussed.

Socio-demographic characteristics and risk factors among HIV/AIDS patients in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Z; Arotiba, J T; Babashani, M

2004-01-01

There has been no description of the characteristics of HIV/AIDS patients that are referred to this antiretroviral treatment centre. The information could be useful in planning for prevention, care and support of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and people affected by AIDS (PABA). To describe the socio-demographic characteristics and identify risk factors among HIV/AIDS patients presenting to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Analysis of a prospectively collected data on 205 consecutive patients presenting to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital from May 2002 to June 2003. Out of the 205 HIV positive patients seen, there were 112 (54.6%) males and 93 (45.4%) females giving a sex ratio of 1.2:1. The age range was 18 to 61 years with an overall mean S.D of 33.7 +/- [corrected] 8 years. The mean for males was 37.3 +/- [corrected] 7.8 years compared to 29.56 years for females. This difference was statistically significant (t = 8.1 DF = 201 P < 0.001). About 38.5% of the patients had secondary school education, 36.1% had tertiary education and 10.2% had primary education. Half of the patients were Hausas, 18.5% Igbos, 4.9% Idomas and 3.4% Igalas. Sixty percent were Muslims, the rest were Christians. About 64.0% were married, 23.0% were single and 11.0 % were divorced. Only 17.0% reported having multiple sexual partners. Eighteen percent claimed they use condoms always, 67.8% occasionally and 8.3% never. Twenty percent of the patients had previous blood transfusion. None reported intravenous drug abuse or homosexuality. The need for a sustained multi-sectoral preventive effort and the scaling up of treatment and community care initiatives were stressed.

Empirical research on Kano's model and customer satisfaction.

PubMed

Lin, Feng-Han; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Hsiao, Cheng-Fu; Zhou, Jie; Wang, Jiangtao; Shang, Zhiwen

2017-01-01

Products are now developed based on what customers desire, and thus attractive quality creation has become crucial. In studies on customer satisfaction, methods for analyzing quality attributes and enhancing customer satisfaction have been proposed to facilitate product development. Although substantial studies have performed to assess the impact of the attributes on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted that quantitatively calculate the odds of customer satisfaction for the Kano classification, fitting a nonlinear relationship between attribute-level performance and customer satisfaction. In the present study, the odds of customer satisfaction were determined to identify the classification of quality attributes, and took customer psychology into account to suggest how decision-makers should prioritize the allocation of resources. A novel method for quantitatively assessing quality attributes was proposed to determine classification criteria and fit the nonlinear relationship between quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Subsequently, a case study was conducted on bicycle user satisfaction to verify the novel method. The concept of customer satisfaction odds was integrated with the value function from prospect theory to understand quality attributes. The results of this study can serve as a reference for product designers to create attractive quality attributes in their products and thus enhance customer satisfaction.

Does Awareness of Status and Risks of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Impact Risky Transmission Behavior Among Infected Adolescents? A Case Study of Clients Attending an Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria.

PubMed

Lawan, Umar Muhammad; Envuladu, Esther Awazzi; Abubakar, Sanusi

2016-01-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive adolescents by virtue of their position are prone to dangerous behaviors including risk-taking for HIV transmission. To determine the awareness of HIV status and risk factors for HIV transmission among HIV-positive adolescents, and how these impact their behavior. A case study approach was used to study a random sample of 400 HIV-positive adolescent children attending an antiretroviral (ART) clinic in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16.0 computer statistical software. The mean age of the adolescents was 14.9 ± 3.15 years. The majority were females (54.8%) from a polygamous family (57.5%). About two-thirds or 251 (62.8%) patients knew their HIV status. The age of 14 years and above (z = 11.36, P = 0.0001) and having at least secondary school level of education (z = 2.78, P = 0.005) were significantly associated with awareness of HIV status on binary logistic regression. Up to 311 (77.8%) patients had good awareness of the risks of HIV transmission. Awareness of risk of HIV transmission was associated with awareness of HIV status (X(2) = 166.2, P = 0.0001). There was a significant variation in the behaviors between those who were aware of their HIV status and those who were not. Paradoxically, the percentage differences in risk-taking were remarkably high in all the variables examined, and were all in the direction of the adolescents who had good knowledge of the risk factors for HIV transmission. Health ministries, development partners working in this field, and behavioral change communication experts should develop formidable strategies for addressing this menace. There is also a dire need for further research in this area.

Culture-related service expectations: a comparative study using the Kano model.

PubMed

Hejaili, Fayez F; Assad, Lina; Shaheen, Faissal A; Moussa, Dujana H; Karkar, Ayman; AlRukhaimi, Mona; Barhamein, Majdah; Al Suwida, Abdulkareem; Al Alhejaili, Faris F; Al Harbi, Ali S; Al Homrany, Mohamed; Attar, Bisher; Al-Sayyari, Abdulla A

2009-01-01

To compare service expectations between Arab and Austrian patients. We used a Kano model-based questionnaire with 20 service attributes of relevance to the dialysis patient. We analyzed 530, 172, 60, and 68 responses from Saudi, Austrian, Syrian, and UAE patients, respectively. We compared the customer satisfaction coefficient and the frequencies of response categories ("must be," "attractive," "one-dimensional," and "indifferent") for each of the 20 service attributes and in each of the 3 national groups of patients. We also investigated whether any differences seen were related to sex, age, literacy rate, or duration on dialysis. We observed higher satisfaction coefficients and "one-directional" responses among Arab patients and higher dissatisfaction coefficients and "must be" and "attractive" responses among Austrian patients. These were not related to age or duration on dialysis but were related to literacy rate. We speculate that these discrepancies between Austrian and Arab patients might be related to underdeveloped sophistication in market competitive forces and to cultural influences.

Poliovirus seroprevalence before and after interruption of poliovirus transmission in Kano State, Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Zubairu; Verma, Harish; Craig, Kehinde T; Nwaze, Eric; Ahmad-Shehu, Amina; Jibir, Binta Wudil; Gwarzo, Garba Dayyabu; Gajida, Auwalu U; Weldon, William C; Steven Oberste, M; Takane, Marina; Mkanda, Pascal; Muhammad, Ado J G; Sutter, Roland W

2016-09-30

In September 2015, Nigeria was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries after more than 12months had passed since the detection of last wild poliovirus case in the country on 24 July 2014. We are presenting here a report of two polio seroprevalence surveys conducted in September 2013 and October 2014, respectively, in the Kano state of northern Nigeria. Health facility based seroprevalence surveys were undertaken at Murtala Mohammad Specialist Hospital, Kano. Parents or guardians of children aged 6-9months, 36-47months, 5-9years and 10-14years in 2013 and 6-9months and 19-22months (corresponding to 6-9months range at the time of 2013 survey) in 2014 presenting to the outpatient department, were approached for participation, screened for eligibility and asked to provide informed consent. A questionnaire was administered and a blood sample collected for polio neutralization assay. Among subjects aged 6-9months in the 2013 survey, seroprevalence was 58% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51-66%) to poliovirus type 1, 42% (95% CI 34-50%) to poliovirus type 2, and 52% (95% CI 44-60%) to poliovirus type 3. Among children 36-47months and older, seroprevalence was 85% or higher for all three serotypes. In 2014, seroprevalence in 6-9month infants was 72% (95% CI 65-79%) for type 1, 59% (95% CI 52-66%) for type 2, and 65% (95% CI 57-72%) for type 3 and in 19-22months, 80% (95% CI 74-85%), 57% (49-63%) and 78% (71-83%) respectively. Seroprevalence was positively associated with history of increasing oral poliovirus vaccine doses. There was significant improvement in seroprevalence in 2014 over the 2013 levels indicating a positive impact of recent programmatic interventions. However the continued low seroprevalence in 6-9month age is a concern and calls for improved immunization efforts to sustain the polio-free Nigeria. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Menstruation and menstrual hygiene amongst adolescent school girls in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria.

PubMed

Lawan, U M; Yusuf, Nafisa Wali; Musa, Aisha Bala

2010-09-01

This study examined the knowledge and practices of adolescent school girls in Kano, Nigeria around menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Data was collected quantitatively and analyzed using Epi info version 3.2.05. The mean age of the students was 14.4 +/- 1.2 years; majority was in their mid adolescence. The students attained menarche at 12.9 +/- 0.8 years. Majority had fair knowledge of menstruation, although deficient in specific knowledge areas. Most of them used sanitary pads as absorbent during their last menses; changed menstrual dressings about 1-5 times per day; and three-quarter increased the frequency of bathing. Institutionalizing sexuality education in Nigerian schools; developing and disseminating sensitive adolescent reproductive health massages targeted at both parents and their adolescent children; and improving access of the adolescents to youth friendly services are veritable means of meeting the adolescent reproductive health needs in Nigeria.

Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among patients attending infertility and sexually transmitted diseases clinic (STD) in Kano, North Western Nigeria.

PubMed

Nwankwo, E O; Sadiq, Magaji N

2014-09-01

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the world with severe complications. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and possible risk factors of C. trachomatis in Kano. There is dearth of information on this subject in this locality. Urine samples, Endocervical swabs and Urethral swab were collected from consecutive patients attending the Infertility and STD clinics in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) between June and December 2012, after administering a questionnaire by the attending physician and also obtaining an informed consent.Samples were analyzed using Diaspot Chlamydia kit, a rapid immunoassay test for the detection of genital chlamydial antigen in urinogenital samples. A total of 125 consecutive samples were collected, comprising 69 females and 56 males aged between 14 - 55 years. Twelve samples tested positive for C. trachomatis antigen giving a prevalence rate of 9.6%. The age group prevalence were as follows 25 - 29 yrs (17.1%), 20 - 24 (16.7%), 15 - 19 (12.5%), 30 - 34 (11.1%) and > 49 years (9.0%). Married patients were associated with higher infection rate than single (8.3%), and divorced patients (33.3%). A higher percentage of the patients (95.2%) were not aware of the existence of C. trachomatis infection and its complications. Previous STD exposure was associated with increased risk of Chlamydia infection. C. trachomatis infection if unchecked will continue to pose a threat to reproductive life with its established complications. Since asymptomatic cases are common in the population regular screening should be encouraged for every adult especially before commencement of marital life.

Disease pattern and social needs of street people in the race course area of Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Abdu, Lawan; Withers, James; Habib, Abdulrazaq G; Mijinyawa, Muhammad S; Yusef, Shehu M

2013-02-01

The study is aimed at examining street people on Race Course Street in Kano, Nigeria for prevalence of common diseases. Descriptive report. Institutional ethical approval was obtained. Information was obtained on age, sex, place of residence, drug habits, source of drinking water, toilet facility used, visual acuity, blood pressure, random blood sugar level, presence of skin diseases and physical disability. Sixty five subjects were examined and 7 declined. There were 16 males and 49 females (M:F=1:3). The mean age was 48 + 9.2 years. They were mainly widows, some live in the street and have no access to basic amenities and six use non-narcotic medicinal substances. Diseases observed are hypertension, visual problems, and trauma. Religious factors, socio-cultural factors, and lack of government policy leads to poor access to health care for street people.

OS033. Correlates of maternal health outcomes associated with a low-costintervention in secondary facilities across Kano state, Nigeria.

PubMed

Tukur, J; Ahonsi, B; Salisu, I; Oginni, A B; Okereke, E

2012-07-01

Nigeria has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. Eclampsia is a major contributor to the deaths especially in Northern Nigeria where the culture of teenage marriage is common. Kano is the state with the highest population in Nigeria. Despite its effectiveness, magnesium sulphate was been used to treat eclampsia and severe preclampsia in only one of 35 general hospitals inthe state as at 2007. In 2008, magnesium sulphate was introduced in 10 General Hospitals in Kano state of Northern Nigeria in a Population Council project funded by the MacArthur Foundation. The aim of the study was to determine if the maternal outcomes improved. Doctors and midwives from the 10 hospitals were trained on the use of magnesium sulphate. The trained health workers later conducted step down trainings at their health facilities. Magnesium sulphate, treatment protocol, patella hammer and calcium gluconate were then supplied to the hospitals. Data was collected through structured data forms. The data was analysed using SPSS. Within a year of the project, 1045 patients with severe preeclampsia and eclampsia were treated. The case fatality rate for severe preeclampsia and eclampsia fell from 20.9% (95% CI 18.7-23.2) recorded before the project to 2.3% (95%CI 1.5-3.5) after the project. The perinatal mortality rate in those that received magnesium sulphate was 12.3% (CI 10.4-14.5) while the 5min APGAR score for 72.9% of the babies was 7 or more. Training of health workers on updated evidence based interventions and providing an enabling environment for their practice are key components to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in developing countries. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Menace of Schistosomiasis in Nigeria: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Schistosomiasis among Rural Communities in Kano State

PubMed Central

Dawaki, Salwa; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.; Ithoi, Init; Ibrahim, Jamaiah; Abdulsalam, Awatif M.; Ahmed, Abdulhamid; Sady, Hany; Nasr, Nabil A.; Atroosh, Wahib M.

2015-01-01

Background Schistosomiasis is one of the most common neglected tropical diseases, especially in the developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America, with Nigeria having the greatest number of cases of schistosomiasis worldwide. This community-based study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding schistosomiasis among rural Hausa communities in Kano State, Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out among 551 participants from Hausa communities in five local government areas in Kano State, North Central Nigeria. Demographic, socioeconomic and environmental information as well as KAP data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Moreover, faecal and urine samples were collected and examined for the presence of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium eggs respectively. Results The overall prevalence of schistosomiasis was 17.8%, with 8.9% and 8.3% infected with S. mansoni and S. haematobium respectively, and 0.5% had co-infection of both species. Moreover, 74.5% of the participants had prior knowledge about schistosomiasis with 67.0% of them how it is transmitted and 63.8% having no idea about the preventive measures. Three-quarters of the respondents considered schistosomiasis a serious disease while their practices to prevent infections were still inadequate, with only 34.7% of them seeking treatment from clinics/hospitals. Significant associations between the KAP and age, gender, education and employment status were reported. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age, gender, history of infection and educational level of the respondents were the most important factors significantly associated with the KAP on schistosomiasis among this population. Conclusions Schistosomiasis is still prevalent among Hausa communities in Nigeria and participants’ knowledge about the disease was poor. Mass drug administration, community mobilization and health education regarding the cause, transmission and

The Menace of Schistosomiasis in Nigeria: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Schistosomiasis among Rural Communities in Kano State.

PubMed

Dawaki, Salwa; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M; Ithoi, Init; Ibrahim, Jamaiah; Abdulsalam, Awatif M; Ahmed, Abdulhamid; Sady, Hany; Nasr, Nabil A; Atroosh, Wahib M

2015-01-01

Schistosomiasis is one of the most common neglected tropical diseases, especially in the developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America, with Nigeria having the greatest number of cases of schistosomiasis worldwide. This community-based study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding schistosomiasis among rural Hausa communities in Kano State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 551 participants from Hausa communities in five local government areas in Kano State, North Central Nigeria. Demographic, socioeconomic and environmental information as well as KAP data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Moreover, faecal and urine samples were collected and examined for the presence of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium eggs respectively. The overall prevalence of schistosomiasis was 17.8%, with 8.9% and 8.3% infected with S. mansoni and S. haematobium respectively, and 0.5% had co-infection of both species. Moreover, 74.5% of the participants had prior knowledge about schistosomiasis with 67.0% of them how it is transmitted and 63.8% having no idea about the preventive measures. Three-quarters of the respondents considered schistosomiasis a serious disease while their practices to prevent infections were still inadequate, with only 34.7% of them seeking treatment from clinics/hospitals. Significant associations between the KAP and age, gender, education and employment status were reported. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age, gender, history of infection and educational level of the respondents were the most important factors significantly associated with the KAP on schistosomiasis among this population. Schistosomiasis is still prevalent among Hausa communities in Nigeria and participants' knowledge about the disease was poor. Mass drug administration, community mobilization and health education regarding the cause, transmission and prevention of schistosomiasis and education

Management of immunization solid wastes in Kano State, Nigeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oke, I.A.

Inadequate management of waste generated from injection activities can have a negative impact on the community and environment. In this paper, a report on immunization wastes management in Kano State (Nigeria) is presented. Eight local governments were selected randomly and surveyed by the author. Solid wastes generated during the Expanded Programme on Immunization were characterised using two different methods: one by weighing the waste and the other by estimating the volume. Empirical data was obtained on immunization waste generation, segregation, storage, collection, transportation, and disposal; and waste management practices were assessed. The study revealed that immunization offices were accommodated inmore » either in local government buildings, primary health centres or community health care centres. All of the stations demonstrated a high priority for segregation of the infectious wastes. It can be deduced from the data obtained that infectious waste ranged from 67.6% to 76.7% with an average of 70.1% by weight, and 36.0% to 46.1% with an average of 40.1% by volume. Non-infectious waste generated ranged from 23.3% to 32.5% with an average of 29.9% by weight and 53.9% to 64.0% with an average of 59.9% by volume. Out of non-infectious waste (NIFW) and infectious waste (IFW), 66.3% and 62.4% by weight were combustible and 33.7% and 37.6% were non-combustible respectively. An assessment of the treatment revealed that open pit burning and burial and small scale incineration were the common methods of disposal for immunization waste, and some immunization centres employed the services of the state or local government owned solid waste disposal board for final collection and disposal of their immunization waste at government approved sites.« less

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS AMONG HAUSA COMMUNITIES IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

PubMed Central

DAWAKI, Salwa; AL-MEKHLAFI, Hesham Mahyoub; ITHOI, Init; IBRAHIM, Jamaiah; ABDULSALAM, Awatif Mohammed; AHMED, Abdulhamid; SADY, Hany; ATROOSH, Wahib Mohammed; AL-AREEQI, Mona Abdullah; ELYANA, Fatin Nur; NASR, Nabil Ahmed; SURIN, Johari

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Schistosomiasis remains one of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases especially in Nigeria which has the greatest number of infected people worldwide. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 551 participants from Kano State, North Central Nigeria. Fecal samples were examined for the presence of Schistosoma mansoni eggs using the formalin-ether sedimentation method while the urine samples were examined using the filtration technique for the presence of S. haematobium eggs. Demographic, socioeconomic and environmental information was collected using a pre-validated questionnaire. The overall prevalence of schistosomiasis was 17.8%, with 8.9% and 8.3% infected with S. mansoni and S. haematobium, respectively and 0.5% presenting co-infection with both species. The multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age < 18 years (OR = 2.13; 95% CI; 1.34- 3.41), presence of infected family members (OR = 3.98; 95% CI; 2.13-7.46), and history of infection (OR = 2.87; 95% CI; 1.87- 4.56) were the significant risk factors associated with schistosomiasis in these communities. In conclusion, this study revealed that schistosomiasis is still prevalent among Hausa communities in Nigeria. Mass drug administration, health education and community mobilization are imperative strategies to significantly reduce the prevalence and morbidity of schistosomiasis in these communities. PMID:27410914

The pattern and correlates of intimate partner violence among women in Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Tanimu, Tanko S; Yohanna, Stephen; Omeiza, Suleiman Y

2016-11-29

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been increasingly recognised as a major public health and human rights problem that cuts across all populations, irrespective of social, economic, religious or cultural groups. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, pattern and correlates of IPV among women attending the General Out Patient Clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. It was also designed to determine the pattern of health complications associated with IPV as well as the perception of women on intimate partner violence. This was a cross-sectional, hospital-based study. Three hundred and ninety-three women aged 15-49 years who were in or had ever been in an intimate relationship were recruited. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about their socio-demographic characteristics while information on IPV was obtained using the Composite Abuse Scale. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0. The prevalence of IPV within the previous year was 42.0%. Of all the 393 participants recruited in the study, 46.6% had experienced emotional/psychological violence, harassment/controlling behaviour was present in 43.3%, physical violence was reported in 29.0%, sexual violence was present in 21.9% and 37.9% of the participants had experienced severe combined abuse. Being married (χ2 = 24.726, p = 0.000) and pregnancy reduced the risk of IPV (χ2= 6.690, p = 0.030), while polygamous family setting (χ2 = 9.734, p = 0.008) and an extended family type (χ2 = 9.593, p = 0.023) were associated with an increased risk of IPV. Alcohol consumption by the partner (p = 0.000, OR 2.335, CI 1.151-3.230) was found to be a positive correlate as well as a complication of IPV. Other patterns of health complications that were significantly associated with IPV were depression (p = 0.000, OR 3.517, CI 4.061-22.306), miscarriage (p = 0.004, OR 2.080, CI 1.591-2.269) and the presence

Is Nigeria winning the battle against malaria? Prevalence, risk factors and KAP assessment among Hausa communities in Kano State.

PubMed

Dawaki, Salwa; Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M; Ithoi, Init; Ibrahim, Jamaiah; Atroosh, Wahib M; Abdulsalam, Awatif M; Sady, Hany; Elyana, Fatin Nur; Adamu, Ado U; Yelwa, Saadatu I; Ahmed, Abdulhamid; Al-Areeqi, Mona A; Subramaniam, Lahvanya R; Nasr, Nabil A; Lau, Yee-Ling

2016-07-08

Malaria is one of the most severe global public health problems worldwide, particularly in Africa, where Nigeria has the greatest number of malaria cases. This community-based study was designed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of malaria and to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding malaria among rural Hausa communities in Kano State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted on 551 participants from five local government areas in Kano State. Blood samples were collected and examined for the presence of Plasmodium species by rapid diagnostic test (RDT), Giemsa-stained thin and thick blood films, and PCR. Moreover, demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental information as well as KAP data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. A total of 334 (60.6 %) participants were found positive for Plasmodium falciparum. The prevalence differed significantly by age group (p < 0.01), but not by gender or location. A multivariate analysis showed that malaria was associated significantly with being aged 12 years or older, having a low household family income, not using insecticide treated nets (ITNs), and having no toilets in the house. Overall, 95.6 % of the respondents had prior knowledge about malaria, and 79.7, 87.6 and 95.7 % of them knew about the transmission, symptoms, and prevention of malaria, respectively. The majority (93.4 %) of the respondents considered malaria a serious disease. Although 79.5 % of the respondents had at least one ITN in their household, utilization rate of ITNs was 49.5 %. Significant associations between the respondents' knowledge concerning malaria and their age, gender, education, and household monthly income were reported. Malaria is still highly prevalent among rural Hausa communities in Nigeria. Despite high levels of knowledge and attitudes in the study area, significant gaps persist in appropriate preventive practices, particularly the use of ITNs

Peritoneal dialysis vs. haemodialysis in the management of paediatric acute kidney injury in Kano, Nigeria: a cost analysis.

PubMed

Obiagwu, Patience N; Abdu, Aliyu

2015-01-01

To determine the cost of the dialytic management of paediatric acute kidney injury in a low-income country. All children under the age of 15 years, who had either peritoneal dialysis or haemodialysis for acute kidney injury in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital over a 1-year period, were studied. The average cost of each dialysis modality was estimated. Of 20 children, who had dialysis for acute kidney injury, 12 (60%) had haemodialysis and 8 (40%) had peritoneal dialysis. The mean cost for haemodialysis exceeded that of peritoneal dialysis ($363.33 vs. $311.66, t = 1.04, P = 0.313) with the mean cost of consumables significantly accounting for most of the cost variation ($248.49 vs. $164.73, t = 2.91, P = 0.009). Mean costs of nephrologist visit and nursing were not found to be significant. Peritoneal dialysis is the less costly alternative for managing acute kidney injury in children in our environment. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reliability and validity of Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND), and development of its revised scale assessing the psychosocial acceptability of smoking among university students.

PubMed

Kitada, Masako; Musashi, Manabu; Kano, Masato

2011-08-01

To examine reliability and validity of Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND), a scale assessing the psychosocial acceptability of smoking, and to develop a new version when validity or reliability of KTSND was not acceptable. We carried out a self-administered cross-sectional survey on undergraduate university students. The participants completed the KTSND, and supplemented three questions on the attitudes toward tobacco control policies and smoking states. Using daily smokers, we examined the relationship between the KTSND and Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). In each study, we examined test-retest reliability and construct validity, discriminant and convergent validity, and factor validity. Although the KTSND had high internal consistency (Cronbach's a 0.82) and high test-retest reliability (r=0.72), the results of factor analysis were unacceptable; we expected three factors to be extracted, however, only two factors of "Overestimate of smoking usefulness" and "Allege smoking as a taste and/or culture" were extracted. Using the Kano's Test for Assessing Acceptability of Smoking (KTAAS), the new version of KTSND in which a question was replaced with another one, the third factor of "Neglect of harm of tobacco smoking" was extracted adding to the above-mentioned two. KTAAS had also both high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.82) and test-retest reliability (r=0.66). Overall, the KTSND and the KTAAS score differed according to smoking states, and the nonsmokers' scores were the lowest. The KTSND was a popular questionnaire in Japan, however, its validity assessed using factor analysis was not acceptable, while KTAAS had sufficient reliability and validity, and might assess the cognition and attitude affirming or accepting tobacco smoking among university students.

Application of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method and kano model to redesign fresh fruit bunches sorting tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anizar; Siregar, I.; Yahya, I.; Yesika, N.

2018-02-01

The activity of lowering fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from truck to sorting floor is performed manually by workers using a sorting tool. Previously, the sorting tool used is a pointed iron bar with a T-shaped handle. Changes made to the sorting tool causes several complaints on worker and affect the time to lower the fruit. The purpose of this article is to obtain the design of an FFB sorting tool that suits the needs of these workers by applying the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Kano Model methods. Both of the two methods will be integrated to find the design that matches workers’ image and psychological feeling. The main parameters are to obtain the customer requirements of the palm fruit loading workers, to find the most important technical characteristics and critical part affecting the quality of the FFB sorting tool. The customer requirements of the palm loading workers are the following : the color of the coating paint is gray, the bar material is made of stainless pipe, the main grip coating material is made of grip, the tip material is made of the spring steel, the additional grip is made of rubber and the handle is of triangular shape.

Gender differences in the use of insecticide-treated nets after a universal free distribution campaign in Kano State, Nigeria: post-campaign survey results.

PubMed

Garley, Ashley E; Ivanovich, Elizabeth; Eckert, Erin; Negroustoueva, Svetlana; Ye, Yazoume

2013-04-10

Recent expansion in insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution strategies range from targeting pregnant women and children under five and distributing ITN at antenatal care and immunization programmes, to providing free distribution campaigns to cover an entire population. These changes in strategy raise issues of disparities, such as equity of access and equality in ITN use among different groups, including females and males. Analysis is needed to assess the effects of gender on uptake of key malaria control interventions. A recent post-universal free ITN distribution campaign survey in Kano State, Nigeria offered an opportunity to look at gender effects on ITN use. A post-campaign survey was conducted three to five months after the campaign in Kano State, Nigeria from 19 October to 4 November, 2009, on a random sample of 4,602 individuals. The survey was carried out using a questionnaire adapted from the Malaria Indicator Survey. Using binary logistic regression, controlling for several covariates, the authors assessed gender effects on ITN use among individuals living in households with at least one ITN. The survey showed that household ITN ownership increased more than 10-fold, from 6% before to 71% after the campaign. There was no significant difference between the proportion of females and males living in households with at least one ITN. However, a higher percentage of females used ITNs compared to males (57.2% vs 48.8%). After controlling for several covariates, females remained more likely to use ITNs compared to males (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.3-1.7). Adolescent boys remained the least likely group to use an ITN. This study reveals gender disparity in ITN use, with males less likely to use ITNs particularly among ages 15-25 years. The uptake of the intervention among the most at-risk group (females) is higher than males, which may be reflective of earlier strategies for malaria interventions. Further research is needed to identify whether gender disparities

Non-linear assessment and deficiency of linear relationship for healthcare industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordin, N.; Abdullah, M. M. A. B.; Razak, R. C.

2017-09-01

This paper presents the development of the non-linear service satisfaction model that assumes patients are not necessarily satisfied or dissatisfied with good or poor service delivery. With that, compliment and compliant assessment is considered, simultaneously. Non-linear service satisfaction instrument called Kano-Q and Kano-SS is developed based on Kano model and Theory of Quality Attributes (TQA) to define the unexpected, hidden and unspoken patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction into service quality attribute. A new Kano-Q and Kano-SS algorithm for quality attribute assessment is developed based satisfaction impact theories and found instrumentally fit the reliability and validity test. The results were also validated based on standard Kano model procedure before Kano model and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is integrated for patient attribute and service attribute prioritization. An algorithm of Kano-QFD matrix operation is developed to compose the prioritized complaint and compliment indexes. Finally, the results of prioritized service attributes are mapped to service delivery category to determine the most prioritized service delivery that need to be improved at the first place by healthcare service provider.

The development of an integrated Indonesian health care model using Kano's model, quality function deployment and balanced scorecard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonny, Zagloed, Teuku Yuri M.

2017-11-01

This paper aims to present an integrated health care model for Indonesian health care industry. Based on previous researches, there are two health care models in the industry such as decease- and patient-centered care models. In their developments, the patient-centered care model is widely applied due to its capability in reducing cost and improving quality simultaneously. However, there is still no comprehensive model resulting in cost reduction, quality improvement, patient satisfaction and hospital profitability simultaneously. Therefore, this research is intended to develop that model. In doing so, first, a conceptual model using Kano's Model, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is developed to generate several important elements of the model as required by stakeholders. Then, a case study of an Indonesian hospital is presented to evaluate the validity of the model using correlation analysis. As a result, it can be concluded that the model is validated implying several managerial insights among its elements such as l) leadership (r=0.85) and context of the organization (r=0.77) improve operations; 2) planning (r=0.96), support process (r=0.87) and continual improvement (r=0.95) also improve operations; 3) operations improve customer satisfaction (r=0.89) and financial performance (r=0.93) and 4) customer satisfaction improves the financial performance (0.98).

Low back pain in pregnant women attending antenatal clinic: The Aminu Kano teaching hospital experience.

PubMed

Usman, Mustapha Ibrahim; Abubakar, Muhammad Kabir; Muhammad, Shamsuddeen; Rabiu, Ayyuba; Garba, Ibrahim

2017-01-01

The profound physiologic effects of pregnancy affect the musculoskeletal system. Pregnant women are at increased risks of low back/pelvic girdle pains. To determine the incidence of low back/pelvic girdle pains among pregnant women. This was a cross-sectional study conducted from May 1 to June 30, 2016, among consenting pregnant women at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Ethical approval was obtained from the Hospital Ethics Committee. Information was obtained in a questionnaire on consecutive pregnant women. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2012). Fisher's exact test was used for categorical data, and P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 309 pregnant women were recruited from May 1 to June 30, 2016. The mean age ± standard deviation was 28.4 ± 5.86 years. The incidence of low back pains (LBPs) and pelvic girdle pains among the pregnant women was 106 (34.3%) and 178 (57.6%), respectively. The pain was severe among 26 (9.2%) pregnant women, which warranted analgesic usage. Pain radiation was reported in> 50% of cases. There was an incidental finding of urinary incontinence in 36 (12.6%) cases. Low back/pelvic girdle pain was not associated with body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.390). The incidence of LBPs and pelvic girdle pains was high and found to be 34.3% and 57.6%, respectively. Analgesics were used especially among those with severe pains. There was an incidental finding of urinary incontinence among pregnant women with complaints of low back/pelvic girdle pains. There was no statistically significant association between LBPs and maternal BMI.

Surface Characterization and Direct Bioelectrocatalysis of Multicopper Oxidases (POSTPRINT)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

4620. [29] M. Tarasevich, V. Bogdanovskaya, A. Kapustin, Electrochem. Commun. 5 (2003) 491. [30] S. Tsujimura , Y. Kamitaka, K. Kano, Fuel Cells 7 (2007...463. [31] S. Tsujimura , K. Kano, T. Ikeda, J. Electroanal. Chem. 576 (2005) 113. [32] S. Varfolomeev, I. Kurochkin, A. Yaropolov, Biosens...L. Rulisek, E. Solomon, U. Ryde, Inorg. Chem. 44 (2005) 5612. [42] S. Tsujimura , H. Tatsumi, J. Ogawa, S. Shimizu, K. Kano, T. Ikeda, J. Electroanal

The role of water vendors in water service delivery in developing countries: a case of Dala local government, Kano, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Muhammad Tajuri

2017-06-01

In Nigeria, more than 60 million people are required to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target for improved water by 2015 and is unlikely to be achieved only by public supply. To cover these water availability gaps water vendors exist and ignoring their role is potentially deceptive. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of water vendors in meeting these peoples' need and elicit household's willingness-to-pay for improved supply. The research includes cross-sectional mixed method in which questionnaire survey was performed to 218 households; and interviews and focus group discussion were conducted with water vendors. Findings reveal that water vendors supplied most households irrespective of season. Retail vendors buy 25 l at ₦4.00 (0.013) from wholesale vendors and resale at ₦20.08 (0.07) during dry and at ₦14.02 (0.05) in wet season. The price is 28 and 40 times the cost of in-house connection from Kano State Water Board (KNSWB) during rainy and dry season, respectively. Vendors who buy from hand-dug wells pay ₦100.00 (0.33) per day and draw as much water within that day. Furthermore, willingness-to-pay for in-house connection was elicited as ₦367.00 (1.20), lower than monthly flat fixed tariff set by KNSWB. The study recommends recognizing vendors formally in form of public private partnership so that technical and financial support be given, thus their activities and charges be regulated. People's perception on water should be changed through education and enlightening. Further research should focus on estimating total volume of water supplied by water vendors.

HIV prevalence and risk behaviours among men having sex with men in Nigeria.

PubMed

Merrigan, Mike; Azeez, Aderemi; Afolabi, Bamgboye; Chabikuli, Otto Nzapfurundi; Onyekwena, Obinna; Eluwa, George; Aiyenigba, Bolatito; Kawu, Issa; Ogungbemi, Kayode; Hamelmann, Christoph

2011-02-01

To evaluate HIV and syphilis prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Nigeria, and assess their HIV-related risk behaviours and exposure to HIV prevention interventions. Cross-sectional study using respondent-driven sampling conducted in Lagos, Kano and Cross River states, Nigeria, between July and September 2007. A total of 879 MSM participated, 293 from each state. Eight participants (1.1%, CI 0.1% to 2.2%) in Cross River, 27 (9.3%, CI 5.7% to 15.4%) in Kano and 74 (17.4%, CI 12.3% to 23.2%) in Lagos tested positive for HIV. No syphilis was detected. The median age was 22 years. MSM reported an average of 4.2 male anal sex partners in the past 6 months. Between 24.4% (Lagos) and 36.0% (Kano) of MSM reported selling sex to other men. Up to 49.7% of MSM reported sex with a girlfriend and ≤ 6.5% purchased sex from female sex workers. Consistent condom use in commercial sex with other men over the past 6 months ranged from 28.0% (Cross River) to 34.3% (Kano), in contrast to between 23.9% (Kano) and 45.8% (Lagos) for non-commercial sex. Associations with HIV positivity included age in the three states, having been the receptive partner in anal sex in the past 6 months in Lagos and in Lagos and Kano feeling at risk of HIV. Large differentials in HIV prevalence between states together with high mobility, inconsistent condom use and behavioural links with female sex partners, have the potential for further HIV transmission within MSM networks, and between MSM and the general population.

Knowledge and utilization of contraceptive devices among unmarried undergraduate students of a tertiary institution in Kano State, Nigeria 2016.

PubMed

Ahmed, Zainab Datti; Sule, Ibrahim Baffa; Abolaji, Mohammed Lukman; Mohammed, Yahaya; Nguku, Patrick

2017-01-01

Students in the universities mostly live independently from their parents or guardians, some of them for the first time. This gives them freedom and opportunity for high risk behavior such as unplanned and unprotected sex. The results of such sexual experimentation may include unplanned and or unwanted pregnancies that may lead to unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. Contraception has the potential to prevent unwanted pregnancies, abortion, and STIs. This study aimed at assessing the general knowledge on contraceptives, sexual practices, and level of utilization of contraceptives devices among unmarried students of the Bayero University Kano. We did an institutional based cross-sectional descriptive study. We administered a pretested, self-administered, structured questionnaire to randomly selected unmarried undergraduate students of the institution. We analyzed data using Microsoft Excel 2016 and Epi-info7. A total of 300 students were interviewed. The median age for respondents was 23 years with an age range of 16-25 years. Male respondents made up 61.3% (184) while the females made up the remaining 38.7% (116). Also, 158(47.33%) of respondents lived outside the school campus, while 158(52.67%) lived in the school hostels. Knowledge on contraception was 87.7% among respondents with internet (91%) and media (89.3%) as the commonest sources of knowledge. Proportion of sexually active students was 10.67%, while prevalence of contraceptive utilization among sexually active students was 15.63%. About 8(25%) had their sexual debut at < 16years of age, 22(68.75%) at ages between 16-20years, and 4(12.5%) above 20years of age. All sexually active respondents practice vaginal sex. Most sexual debuts were planned (44.75 %) and with friends (86.4%), and they occurred between the ages of 16-20years age group in 70.3% of respondents. Even though knowledge on contraceptive used was high among the respondents, utilization of

Post diagnosis reaction, perceived stigma and sexual behaviour of HIV/AIDS patients attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Zubairu; Abubakar, Isa S; Musa, Babashani; Aliyu, Muktar H

2011-01-01

The process of becoming aware of one's serostatus, immediate and delayed responses of the individual, family and community have profound implications on health seeking behaviour of PLWHAs especially in developing countries. We investigated post-diagnosis reactions, disclosure, perceived stigmatization and sexual behaviour of PLWHAs in northern Nigeria. A triangulation of methods consisting of structured interviewer questionnaire administered on 205 respondents and two Focus Group Discussions with PLWHAs receiving care at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital was used. HIV serodiagnosis, immediate and delayed reaction to serostatus and responses of family, friends and community members were elicited in addition to perceived stigma and sexual behaviour. Overall, 111 (54.1%) of the 205 patients were counseled before being tested for HIV infection. Majority of women 59 (51.8%) were tested and informed during antenatal care or 46 (40.4%) following diagnostic workup for symptoms related to AIDS. Most men 69 (75.8%) came to know during diagnostic workup or as part of screening for blood transfusion 5 (5.5%). Up to 37.2% of the respondents had kept their serostatus secret. Disclosures were more likely to mothers (51.9%), sisters (31.0%), brothers (11.0%) and spouses (6.1%). Of all respondents, 149 (72.6%) said they were shocked, afraid, angry and sad while 29 (14.1%) reported being indifferent. A higher proportion of females 68 (59.7%) were shocked, sad and angry than males 36 (39.6%) (P<0.05). Significant reductions occurred over time in the proportion of patients that were sad, afraid and shocked (P<0.05). A higher proportion of mothers (67.0%), sisters (44.2%), friends of the same sex (37.1%), father (27.5%) and spouse (23.7%) were perceived to be sympathetic compared to others (P<0.05). Forty-five (21 .9%) of the respondents were discriminated against. Of this, 22 (48.9%) happened at home, 18 (40.0%) in the workplace and the remaining 17 (37.8%) among friends. Of 85 (41

A comparison between urban livestock production strategies in Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria in West Africa.

PubMed

Amadou, Hamadoun; Dossa, Luc Hippolyte; Lompo, Désiré Jean-Pascal; Abdulkadir, Aisha; Schlecht, Eva

2012-10-01

We undertook a comparative analysis of (peri-)urban livestock production strategies across three West African cities. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, livestock-keeping households (HH) were interviewed in Kano/Nigeria (84 HH), Bobo Dioulasso/Burkina Faso (63 HH) and Sikasso/Mali (63 HH). Questions covered livestock species kept, herd sizes and structure, feeds used, manure management, livestock marketing and production constraints. Sheep and goats dominated (p < 0.001) in Kano (76 and 75 % of HH) compared to Bobo Dioulasso (48 and 40 %) and Sikasso (28 and 40 %), while cattle and poultry were more frequent (p < 0.001) in Bobo Dioulasso (82 and 69 % of HH) and Sikasso (65 and 79 %) than in Kano (29 and 20 %). Across cities, ruminant feeding relied on grazing and homestead supplementation with fresh grasses, crop residues, cereal brans and cottonseed cake; cereal grains and brans were major ingredients of poultry feeds. Cattle and sheep fetched highest prices in Kano, unit prices for goats and chicken were highest in Sikasso. Across cities there was little association of gardens and livestock, whereas field cropping and livestock were integrated. There was no relation between the education of the HH head and the adoption of improved management practices (p > 0.05), but the proportion of HH heads with a long-term experience in UPA activities was higher in Kano and in Bobo Dioulasso than in Sikasso (p < 0.001). We therefore postulate that the high illiteracy rate among (peri-)urban livestock keepers in West Africa does not threaten the acceptance of improved technologies and innovations supporting the sustainability of their livestock production.

An Assessment of Willingness To Pay by Maize and Groundnut Farmers for Aflatoxin Biocontrol Product in Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Ayedun, Bamikole; Okpachu, Godwin; Manyong, Victor; Atehnkeng, Joseph; Akinola, Adebayo; Abu, G A; Bandyopadhyay, Ranajit; Abdoulaye, Tahirou

2017-09-01

In Nigeria, Aflasafe is a registered biological product for reducing aflatoxin infestation of crops from the field to storage, making the crops safer for consumption. The important questions are whether farmers will purchase and apply this product to reduce aflatoxin contamination of crops, and if so under what conditions. A study was carried out to address these questions and assess determinants of willingness to pay (WTP) for the product among maize and groundnut farmers in Kano and Kaduna states in Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 492 farmers. The majority of farmers who had direct experience with Aflasafe (experienced farmers) in Kano (80.7%) and Kaduna (84.3%) had a WTP bid value equal to or greater than the threshold price ($10) at which Aflasafe was to be sold. The mean WTP estimates for Aflasafe for experienced farmers in Kano and Kaduna were statistically the same. However, values of $3.56 and $7.46 were offered in Kano and Kaduna states, respectively, by farmers who had never applied Aflasafe (inexperienced farmers), and the difference here was significant (P < 0.01). Regression results indicate that contact with extension agents (P < 0.01) and access to credit (P < 0.05) positively and significantly influenced the probability that a farmer would be willing to pay more for Aflasafe than the threshold price. Lack of awareness of the importance of Aflasafe was the major reason cited by inexperienced farmers (64% in Kano state and 21% in Kaduna state) for not using the product. A market strategy promoting a premium price for aflatoxin-safe produce and creating awareness and explaining the availability of Aflasafe to potential users should increase Aflasafe usage.

Identifying radiological needs of referring clinicians.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Hefke, Antje; Figiel, Jens; Schwarz, Ulrike; Rominger, Marga; Klose, Klaus Jochen

2013-06-01

To provide prospective information about quality- and satisfaction-related product features in radiology, a customer-centered approach for acquiring clinicians' requirements and their prioritizations is essential. We introduced the Kano model for the first time in radiology to obtain such information. A Kano questionnaire, consisting of pairs of questions regarding 13 clinician requirements related to computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) access and report turnaround time (RTT), was developed and administered. Each requirement was assigned a Kano category, and its satisfaction and dissatisfaction coefficients were calculated and presented in a Kano diagram. The data were stratified based on different clinics and on staff and resident clinicians. The time interval was evaluated between the completion of an examination and the first attempt to access the report by a clinician. Consultation for modality selection and scheduling and access to CT within 24 h and RTT within 8 to 24 h were considered as must-be requirements. Access to CT within 4 h and within 8 h, access to MRI within 8 h and within 24 h, and access to RTT within 4 h were one-dimensional requirements. The extension of operation time for CT or MRI, as well as MRI access within 4 h, was considered attractive. Eight out of nine clinics considered RTT within 8 h as a must-be requirement. There were differences in responses both among different clinics and between staff and resident clinicians. Access attempts to reports by clinicians in the first 4 h after the examination completion accounted for 65 % of CTs and 49 % of MRIs.

Influence of packaging information on consumer liking of chocolate milk.

PubMed

Kim, M K; Lopetcharat, K; Drake, M A

2013-08-01

Chocolate milk varies widely in flavor, color, and viscosity, and liking is influenced by these properties. Additionally, package labels (declared fat content) and brand are some of the extrinsic factors that may influence consumer perception. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of packaging labels and brand name on consumer liking and purchase intent of chocolate milk. A consumer acceptance test, conjoint analysis survey, and Kano analysis were conducted. One hundred eight consumers evaluated 7 chocolate milks with and without brand or package information in a 2-d crossover design. A conjoint analysis survey and Kano analysis were conducted after the consumer acceptance test. Results were evaluated by 2-way ANOVA and multivariate analyses. Declared fat content and brand influenced overall liking and purchase intent for chocolate milks to differing degrees. A subsequent conjoint analysis (n=250) revealed that fat content was a driver of choice for purchasing chocolate milk followed by sugar content and brand. Brand name was less important for purchase intent of chocolate milk than fat or sugar content. Among fat content of chocolate milk, 2 and 1% fat level were most appealing to consumers, and reduced sugar and regular sugar were equally important for purchase intent. Kano analysis confirmed that fat content (whole milk, 1, or 2% fat chocolate milk) was an attractive attribute for consumer satisfaction, more so than brand. Organic labeling did not affect the purchase decision of chocolate milk; however, Kano results revealed that having an organic label on a package positively influenced consumer satisfaction. Findings from this study can help chocolate milk producers as well as food marketers better target their product labels with attributes that drive consumer choice of chocolate milk. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimating the number of male sex workers with the capture-recapture technique in Nigeria.

PubMed

Adebajo, Sylvia B; Eluwa, George I; Tocco, Jack U; Ahonsi, Babatunde A; Abiodun, Lolade Y; Anene, Oliver A; Akpona, Dennis O; Karlyn, Andrew S; Kellerman, Scott

2013-12-01

Estimating the size of populations most affected by HIV such as men who have sex with men (MSM) though crucial for structuring responses to the epidemic presents significant challenges, especially in a developing society. Using capture-recapture methodology, the size of MSM-SW in Nigeria was estimated in three major cities (Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt) between July and December 2009. Following interviews with key informants, locations and times when MSM-SW were available to male clients were mapped and designated as "hotspots". Counts were conducted on two consecutive weekends. Population estimates were computed using a standardized Lincoln formula. Fifty-six hotspots were identified in Kano, 38 in Lagos and 42 in Port Harcourt. On a given weekend night, Port Harcourt had the largest estimated population of MSM sex workers, 723 (95% CI: 594-892) followed by Lagos state with 620 (95%CI: 517-724) and Kano state with 353 (95%CI: 332-373). This study documents a large population of MSM-SW in 3 Nigerian cities where higher HIV prevalence among MSM compared to the general population has been documented. Research and programming are needed to better understand and address the health vulnerabilities that MSM-SW and their clients face.

Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward nutritional labels.

PubMed

Cannoosamy, Komeela; Pugo-Gunsam, Prity; Jeewon, Rajesh

2014-01-01

To determine Mauritian consumers' attitudes toward nutritional labels based on the Kano model and to identify determinants of the use and understanding of nutrition labels. The researchers also used a Kano model questionnaire to determine consumers' attitudes toward nutrition labeling. Four hundred consumers residing in Mauritius. Information was elicited via a questionnaire that assessed nutritional knowledge and information about the use and understanding of nutritional labels and demographic factors. Nutritional label use and understanding, nutrition knowledge, and association of demographic factors with label use. Statistical tests performed included 1-way ANOVA and independent samples t tests. Statistically significant relationships (P < .05) were found for nutritional knowledge and nutritional label usage with demographic factors. All demographic factors with the exception of gender were significantly associated (P < .05) with nutritional label understanding. Based on the outcome of the Kano survey, calorie content, trans fat content, protein content, and cholesterol content were found to be must-be attributes: that is, attributes that, when not present, result in consumer dissatisfaction. Age, education, income, household size, and nutrition knowledge had an impact on nutritional label use. Health promoters should aim to increase the use of nutritional labels. Copyright © 2014 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical experience of integrative cancer immunotherapy with GcMAF.

PubMed

Inui, Toshio; Kuchiike, Daisuke; Kubo, Kentaro; Mette, Martin; Uto, Yoshihiro; Hori, Hitoshi; Sakamoto, Norihiro

2013-07-01

Immunotherapy has become an attractive new strategy in the treatment of cancer. The laboratory and clinical study of cancer immunotherapy is rapidly advancing. However, in the clinical setting, the results of cancer immunotherapy are mixed. We therefore contend that cancer immunotherapy should be customized to each patient individually based on their immune status and propose an integrative immunotherapy approach with second-generation group-specific component macrophage activating factor (GcMAF)-containing human serum. The standard protocol of our integrative cancer immunotherapy is as follows: i) 0.5 ml GcMAF-containing human serum is administered intramuscularly or subcutaneously once or twice per week for the duration of cancer therapy until all cancer cells are eradicated; ii) hyper T/natural killer (NK) cell therapy is given once per week for six weeks; iii) high-dose vitamin C is administered intravenously twice per week; iv) alpha lipoic acid (600 mg) is administered orally daily; v) vitamin D3 (5,000-10,000 IU) is administered orally daily. By March 2013, Saisei Mirai have treated over 345 patients with GcMAF. Among them we here present the cases of three patients for whom our integrative immunotherapy was remarkably effective. The results of our integrative immunotherapy seem hopeful. We also plan to conduct a comparative clinical study.>

Coupled LBM-DEM Three-phase Simulation on Seepage of CO2 Stored under the Seabed.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kano, Y.; Sato, T.

2017-12-01

Concerning the seepage of CO2 stored in a subsea formation, CO2 bubble/droplet rises to the sea-surface dissolving into the seawater, and the acidification of local seawater will be a problem. Previous research indicated that seepage rate and bubble size significantly affect its behaviour (Kano et al., 2009; Dewar et al., 2013). On the other hand, Kawada's experiments (2014) indicated that grain size affects formation of gas channels and bubbles through granular media. CO2 seepage through marine sediments probably shows similar behaviour. Additionally, such mobilisation and displacement of sand grains by gas migration may also cause capillary fracturing of CO2 in the reservoir and seal. To predict these phenomena, it is necessary to reveal three-phase behaviour of gas-water-sediment grains. We built gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow 3D simulator by coupling LBM-DEM program, and simulation results showed that the mobilisation of sand grain forms gas channels and affects bubble formation compared with that through solid porous media (Kano and Sato, 2017). In this presentation, we will report simulation results on effects of porosity, grain size and gas flow rate on the formation of gas channels and bubble and their comparison with laboratory experimental data. The results indicate that porosity and grain size of sand gravels affect the width of formed gas channels and resulting formed bubble size on the order of supposed seepage rate in the CO2 storage and that in most of experiment's conditions. References: Abe, S., Place, D., Mora, P., 2004. Pure. Appl. Geophys., 161, 2265-2277. (accessed Aug 01, 2017). Dewar, M., Wei, W., McNeil, D., Chen, B., 2013. Marine Pollution Bulletin 73(2), 504-515. Kano, Y., Sato, T., Kita, J., Hirabayashi, S., Tabeta, S., 2009. Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control, Vol. 3(5), 617-625. Kano, Y. and Sato, T., 2017. In Proceeding of GHGT-13, Lausanne, Switzerland, Nov. 14-18, 2016. Kawada, R. 2014. Graduation thesis. Faculty of Engineering, The

HIV status of partners of HIV positive pregnant women in different regions of Nigeria: matters arising.

PubMed

Sagay, A S; Onakewhor, J; Galadanci, H; Emuveyan, E E

2006-12-01

This study was conducted to determine the pattern of HIV sero-status of Partners of HIV Positive Pregnant Women in three different regions of Nigeria and to explore the implications for HIV prevention interventions. The Site Coordinators of PMTCT programs in three Nigerian cities obtained data of the HIV status of the partners of HIV positive pregnant women. The selection of Benin City, Jos and Kano was made after consideration of their ethnic, religious and cultural representation of Nigeria. Benin City represents a traditional southern Nigeria city, Kano a traditional northern city and Jos, a middle-belt, ethnically diverse cosmopolitan setting. The data were analyzed using frequencies. A total of 500 partners of HIV infected pregnant women were tested for HIV using Determine Abbott test kits. Positive results were confirmed using Western blot or a second rapid test kit. The city-by-city results showed that in Benin City (Southern Nigeria), 78.8% (104/132) of the partners were HIV negative (sero-discordant), Jos (Middle-Belt) had 48.4% (103/213) sero-discordance while Kano (Northern Nigeria) recorded a sero-discordance rate of only 7.7% (12/155). These results indicate that the dynamics of HIV transmission in marital settings in Nigeria are different in the various regions of the country. Socio-cultural and religious settings play a significant role in HIV transmission among couples. These findings should guide prevention interventions in order to achieve maximal impact.

A seven-year review of accidental kerosene poisoning in children at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.

PubMed

Belonwu, R O; Adeleke, S I

2008-01-01

Accidental ingestion of kerosene is a potential source of morbidity and mortality in children. The objectives of the study are to determine to magnitude of the problem and proffer feasible solutions to reduce the frequency of occurrence. The medical records of all cases of kerosene poisoning admitted into Paediatric Medical Ward and Emergency Paediatric Unit were identified and relevant data extracted and analysed. Kerosene poisoning constituted 55 (1.2%) of cases of all paediatric admissions within the period (Jan 1999 Dec 2005). The study showed that children 4 months to 8 years were affected with peak age of 18 months. Thirty-four (61.8%) of the cases were aged below 2 years which conforms to findings in earlier studies in Nigeria. Main clinical feature was cough with difficulty in breathing in 52 (94.5%) of cases. Others features noted were central nervous system involvement (14.5%), vomiting (20%), and fever 16 (29.1%). There were 3 deaths giving the mortality of 5.5%. The study has revealed that kerosene poisoning is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Government policies that will enhance the standard of living of people and education of parents/care givers are the identified imperatives for reduction of the problem.

An analytical approach to customer requirement information processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zude; Xiao, Zheng; Liu, Quan; Ai, Qingsong

2013-11-01

'Customer requirements' (CRs) management is a key component of customer relationship management (CRM). By processing customer-focused information, CRs management plays an important role in enterprise systems (ESs). Although two main CRs analysis methods, quality function deployment (QFD) and Kano model, have been applied to many fields by many enterprises in the past several decades, the limitations such as complex processes and operations make them unsuitable for online businesses among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Currently, most SMEs do not have the resources to implement QFD or Kano model. In this article, we propose a method named customer requirement information (CRI), which provides a simpler and easier way for SMEs to run CRs analysis. The proposed method analyses CRs from the perspective of information and applies mathematical methods to the analysis process. A detailed description of CRI's acquisition, classification and processing is provided.

Occurrence of enteric pathogens on fresh produce grown on irrigated soils

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Aims: To assess the potential health risks of fresh produce grown on irrigated soils treated with manure in Kano State, a large produce region in Nigeria. Methodology: Fresh produce irrigated with wastewater on manure treated soils were assessed for the prevalence, serotype distribution and toxigeni...

The effect of proposed software products' features on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of potential customers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Azham; Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O. C.; Yusof, Muhammad Mat

2016-08-01

This paper reports the effect of proposed software products features on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of potential customers of proposed software products. Kano model's functional and dysfunctional technique was used along with Berger et al.'s customer satisfaction coefficients. The result shows that only two features performed the most in influencing the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of would-be customers of the proposed software product. Attractive and one-dimensional features had the highest impact on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of customers. This result will benefit requirements analysts, developers, designers, projects and sales managers in preparing for proposed products. Additional analysis showed that the Kano model's satisfaction and dissatisfaction scores were highly related to the Park et al.'s average satisfaction coefficient (r=96%), implying that these variables can be used interchangeably or in place of one another to elicit customer satisfaction. Furthermore, average satisfaction coefficients and satisfaction and dissatisfaction indexes were all positively and linearly correlated.

Integrating Kano’s Model into Quality Function Deployment for Product Design: A Comprehensive Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ginting, Rosnani; Hidayati, Juliza; Siregar, Ikhsan

2018-03-01

Many methods and techniques are adopted by some companies to improve the competitiveness through the fulfillment of customer satisfaction by enhancement and improvement the product design quality. Over the past few years, several researcher have studied extensively combining Quality Function Deployment and Kano’s model as design techniques by focusing on translating consumer desires into a product design. This paper presents a review and analysis of several literatures that associated to the integration methodology of Kano into the QFD process. Various of international journal articles were selected, collected and analyzed through a number of relevant scientific publications. In-depth analysis was performed, and focused in this paper on the results, advantages and drawbacks of its methodology. In addition, this paper also provides the analysis that acquired in this study related to the development of the methodology. It is hopedd this paper can be a reference for other researchers and manufacturing companies to implement the integration method of QFD- Kano for product design.

The Qualitative Measurement towards Emotional Feeling of Design for Product Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syaifoelida, Fevi; Megat Hamdan, M. A. M.; Murrad, M.; Aminuddin, Hazim

2018-04-01

To compete in today’s ever-growing technology market, a product needs to be well presentable to the customers. It is a challenge to design a product that is able to attract customer’s attention and to build their loyalty towards the product. A product needs to be designed with focus to give the maximum level of satisfaction to the end user which is the customer. That is the focus of this paper, to achieve customer’s satisfaction, by studying feelings and emotional value related to product designs using Kansei Engineering (KE) and to test how important that product element (level of satisfaction) by using Kano Method (KM). KE is a method of translating human emotions and feelings into product development. The method studies the human interaction and responses when a customer sees a product, then translates it into a new improved design. However, KE cannot stand on its own. It did not specify in which extends the feeling or emotions is important in a product. After we had the design appearance parameters from KE and existing design evaluation, it need to be classified which is more important than the other is. That is why Kano Method (KM) will also be used. Since this scope of study towards an emotional feeling of design (existing part/appearance) in Kano categories not in deep function of technical requirement, so KM will help to classify parts of product into categories, which part will give fully satisfaction while using it. It studies the more important attributes considered by the customers for improvement. The objective is to find out the design priority guide that can be used to maximize customer’s satisfaction. Therefore, in order to apply the qualitative measurement idea into the real situation, the headphone product is chosen (popular among students) as the product (the appearance of part, feeling when use it) domain for this study. As the results progressed, it was found out that the headband part of headphone is the most important part of the

Apes have eyes to the future.

PubMed

Vonk, Jennifer

2016-09-01

Kano and Hirata (Current Biology, 25, 2513-2517, 2015) recently showed that apes process object and location information and anticipate the repeated presentation of such events in short film clips. Their methodology, using eyetracking, can provide a foundation for further explications of long-term prospective and episodic memory in nonverbal species.

Attributes of Pre-Service and Inservice Teacher Satisfaction with Online Collaborative Mentoring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorner, Helga; Kumar, Swapna

2017-01-01

This study examines Hungarian pre-service and inservice teachers' satisfaction (n = 154) with the Mentored Innovation Model (MIM), an online collaborative mentoring model focused on technology integration. The Kano model was applied to results from two surveys to identify conditions in the MIM that most contribute to overall satisfaction with…

Modified technique for processing multiangle lidar data measured in clear and moderately polluted atmospheres

Treesearch

Vladimir Kovalev; Cyle Wold; Alexander Petkov; Wei Min Hao

2011-01-01

We present a modified technique for processing multiangle lidar data that is applicable for relatively clear atmospheres, where the utilization of the conventional Kano-Hamilton method meets significant issues. Our retrieval algorithm allows computing the two-way transmission and the corresponding extinction-coefficient profile in any slope direction searched during...

Exploring the critical quality attributes and models of smart homes.

PubMed

Ted Luor, Tainyi; Lu, Hsi-Peng; Yu, Hueiju; Lu, Yinshiu

2015-12-01

Research on smart homes has significantly increased in recent years owing to their considerably improved affordability and simplicity. However, the challenge is that people have different needs (or attitudes toward smart homes), and provision should be tailored to individuals. A few studies have classified the functions of smart homes. Therefore, the Kano model is first adopted as a theoretical base to explore whether the functional classifications of smart homes are attractive or necessary, or both. Second, three models and test user attitudes toward three function types of smart homes are proposed. Based on the Kano model, the principal results, namely, two "Attractive Quality" and nine "Indifferent Quality" items, are found. Verification of the hypotheses also indicates that the entertainment, security, and automation functions are significantly correlated with the variables "perceive useful" and "attitude." Cost consideration is negatively correlated with attitudes toward entertainment and automation. Results suggest that smart home providers should survey user needs for their product instead of merely producing smart homes based on the design of the builder or engineer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urbanization in Nigeria: A Planning Commentary. An International Urbanization Survey Report to the Ford Foundation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Leslie; Milone, Vincent

Since the end of the Second World War, the development of Nigeria has been marked by rapid commercial, manufacturing and urban growth concentrated in three main areas: (1) the southwest, the port-city and Federal capital of Metropolitan Lagos; (2) the north, a central close-settled zone which embraces the cities of Kano, Zaria and Kaduna; and (3)…

Effect of HIV and malaria parasites co-infection on immune-hematological profiles among patients attending anti-retroviral treatment (ART) clinic in Infectious Disease Hospital Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Jegede, Feyisayo Ebenezer; Oyeyi, Tinuade Ibijoke; Abdulrahman, Surajudeen Abiola; Mbah, Henry Akwen; Badru, Titilope; Agbakwuru, Chinedu; Adedokun, Oluwasanmi

2017-01-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and malaria co-infection may present worse health outcomes in the tropics. Information on HIV/malaria co-infection effect on immune-hematological profiles is critical for patient care and there is a paucity of such data in Nigeria. To evaluate immune-hematological profiles among HIV infected patients compared to HIV/malaria co-infected for ART management improvement. This was a cross sectional study conducted at Infectious Disease Hospital, Kano. A total of 761 consenting adults attending ART clinic were randomly selected and recruited between June and December 2015. Participants' characteristics and clinical details including two previous CD4 counts were collected. Venous blood sample (4ml) was collected in EDTA tube for malaria parasite diagnosis by rapid test and confirmed with microscopy. Hematological profiles were analyzed by Sysmex XP-300 and CD4 count by Cyflow cytometry. Data was analyzed with SPSS 22.0 using Chi-Square test for association between HIV/malaria parasites co-infection with age groups, gender, ART, cotrimoxazole and usage of treated bed nets. Mean hematological profiles by HIV/malaria co-infection and HIV only were compared using independent t-test and mean CD4 count tested by mixed design repeated measures ANOVA. Statistical significant difference at probability of <0.05 was considered for all variables. Of the 761 HIV infected, 64% were females, with a mean age of ± (SD) 37.30 (10.4) years. Prevalence of HIV/malaria co-infection was 27.7% with Plasmodium falciparum specie accounting for 99.1%. No statistical significant difference was observed between HIV/malaria co-infection in association to age (p = 0.498) and gender (p = 0.789). A significantly (p = 0.026) higher prevalence (35.2%) of co-infection was observed among non-ART patients compared to (26%) ART patients. Prevalence of co-infection was significantly lower (20.0%) among cotrimoxazole users compared to those not on cotrimoxazole (37%). The same

Apes perform like infants in false-belief tasks.

PubMed

Bugnyar, Thomas

2017-12-01

Although the extent to which some nonhuman animals understand mental states is currently under debate, attributing false beliefs has been considered to be beyond their limits. A recent study by Krupenye, Kano, Hirata, Call, and Tomasello (Science, 354, 110-114, 2016) shows that great apes pass a false-belief task when they are tested with an anticipatory-looking paradigm developed for nonverbal human infants.

Conceptual MEMS Devices for a Redeployable Antenna

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

micromirrors in projection devices, and various sensors for chemical/biological applications. MEMS are a key aspect of ever- increasing significance in...with a vertical thermal actuator, linear assembly micromotor, and a locking mechanism, to create a scanning micromirror and cube reflector system. The... Micromirrors ,” Transducers, pp347-350, 1997. [24] Shimoyama, I., O. Kano, and H. Miura. “3D Microstructures Folded by Lorentz Force,” 11th

Refractive errors in presbyopic patients in Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Lawan, Abdu; Okpo, Eme; Philips, Ebisike

2014-01-01

The study is a retrospective review of the pattern of refractive errors in presbyopic patients seen in the eye clinic from January to December, 2009. The clinic refraction register was used to retrieve the case folders of all patients refracted during the review period. Information extracted includes patient's age, sex, and types of refractive error. Unaided and pin hole visual acuity was done with Snellen's or "E" Charts and near vision with Jaeger's chart in English or Hausa. All patients had basic eye examination and streak retinoscopy at two third meter working distance. The final subjective refractive correction given to the patients was used to categorize the type of refractive error. There were 5893 patients, 1584 had refractive error and 644 were presbyopic. There were 289 males and 355 females (M:F= 1:1.2). Presbyopia accounted for 10.9% of clinic attendance and 40% of patients with refractive error. Presbyopia was seen in 17%, the remaining 83% required distance correction; astigmatism was seen in 41%, hypermetropia 29%, myopia 9% and aphakia 4%. Refractive error was commoner in females than males and the relationship was statistically significant (P-value = 0.017; P < 0.05 considered significant). Presbyopia is common and most of the patients had other refractive errors. Full refraction is advised for all patients.

Construction schedule simulation of a diversion tunnel based on the optimized ventilation time.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoling; Liu, Xuepeng; Sun, Yuefeng; An, Juan; Zhang, Jing; Chen, Hongchao

2009-06-15

Former studies, the methods for estimating the ventilation time are all empirical in construction schedule simulation. However, in many real cases of construction schedule, the many factors have impact on the ventilation time. Therefore, in this paper the 3D unsteady quasi-single phase models are proposed to optimize the ventilation time with different tunneling lengths. The effect of buoyancy is considered in the momentum equation of the CO transport model, while the effects of inter-phase drag, lift force, and virtual mass force are taken into account in the momentum source of the dust transport model. The prediction by the present model for airflow in a diversion tunnel is confirmed by the experimental values reported by Nakayama [Nakayama, In-situ measurement and simulation by CFD of methane gas distribution at a heading faces, Shigen-to-Sozai 114 (11) (1998) 769-775]. The construction ventilation of the diversion tunnel of XinTangfang power station in China is used as a case. The distributions of airflow, CO and dust in the diversion tunnel are analyzed. A theory method for GIS-based dynamic visual simulation for the construction processes of underground structure groups is presented that combines cyclic operation network simulation, system simulation, network plan optimization, and GIS-based construction processes' 3D visualization. Based on the ventilation time the construction schedule of the diversion tunnel is simulated by the above theory method.

Hematological parameters of human immunodeficiency virus positive pregnant women on antiretroviral therapy in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, North Western Nigeria.

PubMed

Abdulqadir, Ibrahim; Ahmed, Sagir Gumel; Kuliya, Aisha Gwarzo; Tukur, Jamilu; Yusuf, Aminu Abba; Musa, Abubakar Umar

2018-01-01

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) scourge continues to affect young women within the reproductive age group and pregnancy is a recognized indication for the use antiretroviral (ARV) drugs among HIV-positive women. The aim is to determine the combined effect of pregnancy, HIV and ARV drugs on the hematological parameters of the pregnant women. This was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted among 70 each of HIV-positive and negative pregnant women. Bio-demographic and clinical data were extracted from the client folder and 4 ml of blood sample was obtained from each participant. Full blood count was generated using Swelab automatic hematology analyzer while reticulocyte count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were conducted manually. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version software 16 while P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Pregnant women with HIV had statistically significant lower hematocrit and white blood cell (WBC) and higher ESR than pregnant women without HIV ( P < 0.000). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of platelet and reticulocyte ( P > 0.05). However, among HIV positive pregnant women, those with CD4 count <350/μL had statistically significant lower WBC and lymphocyte count than those with CD4 count ≥350/μL ( P < 0.05), whereas, those on zidovudine (AZT)-containing treatment had statistically significant lower hematocrit and higher mean cell volume than those on non-AZT-containing treatment ( P < 0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in any of the hematological parameters ( P > 0.050) between women on first- and second-line ARV regimens. There is a significant difference in terms of hematological parameters between HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women in this environment.

Vaginal candidiasis and its risk factors among women attending a Nigerian teaching hospital.

PubMed

Nwadioha, S I; Nwokedi, E O P; Egesie, J; Enejuo, H

2013-03-01

The study was set to detect Candida species in female genital discharge and validate the associated risk factors. A prospective study of female genital swabs collected from women with abnormal vaginal discharge (test group) and a control group who were attending gynaecology, family planning, antenatal care or HIV/STI clinics of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano Nigeria and analysed for microscopy and culture in microbiology laboratory from December 2008 to December 2009. Data on epidemiologic indices were collected from the patients, using structured interviewer- administered questionnaires. Candida species were detected in the test group in 60% (n=600/1000) cases of infective vaginal discharge while 12% (120/1000) in the control group. The isolation rate of Candida albicans was 69% more than the non- albicans. Distribution of vaginal candidiasis in the test group, was prevalent in young adults age group of 21 to 30 years with 50% (n=300/600), in patients with pregnancy 38% (n=225/600) and patients with chronically debilitating illnesses 26% (n=157/600). The result shows that vaginal candidiasis is quite common and Candida albicans is the most prevalent species. We therefore recommend early diagnosis and prompt treatment of vaginal candidiasis in all women clinics especially among the patients with chronic debilitating illness, pregnancy and young adults in order to avert the complications of vaginal candidiasis and reduce HIV transmission.

Mass Customization and Personalization Prospects in Developing Country: Indonesian Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Risdiyono; Djati Widodo, Imam; Mahtarami, Affan

2016-01-01

The advancement of information technology (IT) has changed many modes and ways for people in doing their businesses. Mass Customization and Personalization (MCP) is one example of business modes that has been dramatically evolve, mainly due to the currently very fast IT development. MCP has enabled people to involve in adjusting some design parameters of a product to meet their personal requirements before purchased. The advancement of IT has made MCP more successful as it makes the process faster, easier, simpler and more joyful. The success stories of MCP are easily found in many developed countries, where the IT infrastructure has firmly been established. For developing countries, there are very few industries have implemented the MCP concept, including Indonesia. This paper discusses a descriptive study to depict what people think about MCP implementation in Indonesia especially in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Kano model was used to see the perception of both producers and consumers in relation with MCP implementation. Five dummy MCP prototypes were developed for five creative products including plaques, hats, invitation card, t-shirts and leather bags. Based on the KANO questionnaire analyses, it is clear that there are big opportunities to implement MCP in Indonesia especially for creative products produced by SMEs. Identifying the correct product features is an important key for successful MCP implementation in developing countries.

A Product Development Decision Model for Cockpit Weather Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sireli, Yesim; Kauffmann, Paul; Gupta, Surabhi; Kachroo, Pushkin; Johnson, Edward J., Jr. (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

There is a significant market demand for advanced cockpit weather information products. However, it is unclear how to identify the most promising technological options that provide the desired mix of consumer requirements by employing feasible technical systems at a price that achieves market success. This study develops a unique product development decision model that employs Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Kano's model of consumer choice. This model is specifically designed for exploration and resolution of this and similar information technology related product development problems.

A Product Development Decision Model for Cockpit Weather Information Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sireli, Yesim; Kauffmann, Paul; Gupta, Surabhi; Kachroo, Pushkin

2003-01-01

There is a significant market demand for advanced cockpit weather information products. However, it is unclear how to identify the most promising technological options that provide the desired mix of consumer requirements by employing feasible technical systems at a price that achieves market success. This study develops a unique product development decision model that employs Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Kano's model of consumer choice. This model is specifically designed for exploration and resolution of this and similar information technology related product development problems.

Judo principles and practices: applications to conflict-solving strategies in psychotherapy.

PubMed

Gleser, J; Brown, P

1988-07-01

Jigoro Kano created judo from ju-jitsu techniques. He realized that the Ju principle of both judo and ju-jitsu as the art of yielding, was that of living and changing. The principle of yielding has been applied in dynamic and directive psychotherapies for many years and was recently linked to the Ju principle in martial arts. After several years of using a modified judo practice as a therapeutic tool, and applying the principle of yielding as a dynamic conflict-solving strategy, the authors discovered judo principles applicable to conflict solving, particularly for regressed and violent psychotic patients.

Consumer Perception of Retail Pork Bacon Attributes Using Adaptive Choice-based Conjoint Analysis and Maximum Differential Scaling.

PubMed

McLean, K G; Hanson, D J; Jervis, S M; Drake, M A

2017-11-01

Bacon is one of the most recognizable consumer pork products and is differentiated by appearance, flavor, thickness, and several possible product claims. The objective of this study was to explore the attributes of retail bacon that influence consumers to purchase and consume bacon. An Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) survey was designed for attributes of raw American-style bacon. An ACBC survey (N = 1410 consumers) and Kano questioning were applied to determine the key attributes that influenced consumer purchase. Attributes included package size, brand, thickness, label claims, flavor, price, and images of the bacon package displaying fat:lean ratio. Maximum Difference Scaling (MaxDiff) was used to rank appeal of 20 different bacon images with variable fat:lean ration and slice shape. The most important attribute for bacon purchase was price followed by fat:lean appearance and then flavor. Three consumer clusters were identified with distinct preferences. For 2 clusters, price was not the primary attribute. Understanding preferences of distinct consumer clusters will enable manufacturers to target consumers and make more appealing bacon. Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) is a research technique that allows consumers to react to assembled products and identify product attributes that they prefer. Kano questions allow researchers to look at the individual aspects of a product and understand consumer sentiment and expectations towards those product qualities while Maximum Difference scaling allows consumers to directly rank single attributes of a product relative to one another. A combination of these 3 approaches can provide key understandings on consumer perception of retail bacon allowing companies to optimize and maximize their development and advertising resources. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

OryzaGenome: Genome Diversity Database of Wild Oryza Species.

PubMed

Ohyanagi, Hajime; Ebata, Toshinobu; Huang, Xuehui; Gong, Hao; Fujita, Masahiro; Mochizuki, Takako; Toyoda, Atsushi; Fujiyama, Asao; Kaminuma, Eli; Nakamura, Yasukazu; Feng, Qi; Wang, Zi-Xuan; Han, Bin; Kurata, Nori

2016-01-01

The species in the genus Oryza, encompassing nine genome types and 23 species, are a rich genetic resource and may have applications in deeper genomic analyses aiming to understand the evolution of plant genomes. With the advancement of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, a flood of Oryza species reference genomes and genomic variation information has become available in recent years. This genomic information, combined with the comprehensive phenotypic information that we are accumulating in our Oryzabase, can serve as an excellent genotype-phenotype association resource for analyzing rice functional and structural evolution, and the associated diversity of the Oryza genus. Here we integrate our previous and future phenotypic/habitat information and newly determined genotype information into a united repository, named OryzaGenome, providing the variant information with hyperlinks to Oryzabase. The current version of OryzaGenome includes genotype information of 446 O. rufipogon accessions derived by imputation and of 17 accessions derived by imputation-free deep sequencing. Two variant viewers are implemented: SNP Viewer as a conventional genome browser interface and Variant Table as a text-based browser for precise inspection of each variant one by one. Portable VCF (variant call format) file or tab-delimited file download is also available. Following these SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) data, reference pseudomolecules/scaffolds/contigs and genome-wide variation information for almost all of the closely and distantly related wild Oryza species from the NIG Wild Rice Collection will be available in future releases. All of the resources can be accessed through http://viewer.shigen.info/oryzagenome/. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists.

The Kano Model: Identification of Handbook Attributes to Learn in Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szymczak, Michal; Kowal, Krzysztof

2016-01-01

Purpose: Statistics shows terrifying tendencies in people' unwillingness to develop themselves by reading books. The situation is even more serious if we look at companies and their employees. People want to be specialists, but in fact reading culture in companies is rare. Many actions which are undertaken to reverse this trend may lead to sales…

Application of the Kano-Hamilton multiangle inversion method in clear atmospheres

Treesearch

Mariana Adam; Vladimir A. Kovalev; Cyle Wold; Jenny Newton; Markus Pahlow; Wei M. Hao; Marc B. Parlange

2007-01-01

An improved measurement methodology and a data-processing technique for multiangle data obtained with an elastic scanning lidar in clear atmospheres are introduced. Azimuthal and slope scans are combined to reduce the atmospheric heterogeneity. Vertical profiles of optical depth and intercept (proportional to the logarithm of the backscatter coefficient) are determined...

Epilepsy and Education in developing countries: a survey of school teachers’ knowledge about epilepsy and their attitude towards students with epilepsy in Northwestern Nigeria

PubMed Central

Owolabi, Lukman Femi; Shehu, Naziru Muhammad; Owolabi, Shakirah Desola

2014-01-01

Introduction Students living with epilepsy still find themselves confronted with social barriers that prevent them from academic achievements. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge and attitudes of school teachers and to determine the factors associated with good knowledge and positive attitude among nursery, primary and secondary school teachers in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. Methods A 20-item validated semi-structured questionnaire was self-administered to 200 teachers, selected through multistage sampling technique, in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. Results The respondents comprised 124 (62%) males and 76(38%) females. Their age ranged between 17 and 55 with a median age of 26 years. All the respondents have heard or read about epilepsy, 13% have had students with epilepsy in their classes before, fifty one (25.5%) of them would object to having an epileptic child in their class. To one hundred and seventy one (85.5%) all seizures were convulsive, 81% of them admitted to not havingadequate knowledge of the initial procedure should their student develop epileptic seizure, 60% believed that epileptic student should be separated from non-epileptic students in the classroom and 44.5% of them preferred alternative medicine. Overall, fifty nine (29.5%) teachers had fair to good knowledge about epilepsy. and one hundred and sixty four (82%) had positive attitude to students with epilepsy. Statistically significant association was found between level of education attained by the respondents and good knowledge about epilepsy as well as between female gender and good attitude. However, none of the variables was statistically significant predictor of knowledge or attitude among the respondents. Conclusion There was low level of knowledge and misconceptions about epilepsy but fair attitude towards epileptic students in Northwestern Nigeria. Higher level of education of the teachers was significantly associated with good attitude. PMID:25489360

Epilepsy and education in developing countries: a survey of school teachers' knowledge about epilepsy and their attitude towards students with epilepsy in Northwestern Nigeria.

PubMed

Owolabi, Lukman Femi; Shehu, Naziru Muhammad; Owolabi, Shakirah Desola

2014-01-01

Students living with epilepsy still find themselves confronted with social barriers that prevent them from academic achievements. The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge and attitudes of school teachers and to determine the factors associated with good knowledge and positive attitude among nursery, primary and secondary school teachers in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. A 20-item validated semi-structured questionnaire was self-administered to 200 teachers, selected through multistage sampling technique, in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. The respondents comprised 124 (62%) males and 76(38%) females. Their age ranged between 17 and 55 with a median age of 26 years. All the respondents have heard or read about epilepsy, 13% have had students with epilepsy in their classes before, fifty one (25.5%) of them would object to having an epileptic child in their class. To one hundred and seventy one (85.5%) all seizures were convulsive, 81% of them admitted to not having adequate knowledge of the initial procedure should their student develop epileptic seizure, 60% believed that epileptic student should be separated from non-epileptic students in the classroom and 44.5% of them preferred alternative medicine. Overall, fifty nine (29.5%) teachers had fair to good knowledge about epilepsy. and one hundred and sixty four (82%) had positive attitude to students with epilepsy. Statistically significant association was found between level of education attained by the respondents and good knowledge about epilepsy as well as between female gender and good attitude. However, none of the variables was statistically significant predictor of knowledge or attitude among the respondents. There was low level of knowledge and misconceptions about epilepsy but fair attitude towards epileptic students in Northwestern Nigeria. Higher level of education of the teachers was significantly associated with good attitude.

Reinterpreting the history of women's judo in Japan.

PubMed

Miarka, Bianca; Marques, Juliana Bastos; Franchini, Emerson

2011-01-01

This paper reassesses the role of women in judo in Japan, from its secluded and restricted beginnings in the late nineteenth century to the gradual changes in gender and social paradigms triggered by the influence of Western feminist struggle from the 1960s onwards. Judo has been considered in theory an inclusive martial art because its creator, Jigoro Kano, stressed safety, etiquette and moral teachings irrespective of age, size or gender of its adherents. However, the social and cultural environment in Japan has traditionally discriminated against women both outside and inside the dojo (training place). We treat this issue historically, considering the broader context of the Japanese social, political and cultural developments.

Contraceptive choices among grand multiparous women at Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano.

PubMed

Rabiu, Ayyuba; Abubakar, Idris Sulaiman; Garba, Ibrahim; Haruna, Iman Usman

2016-01-01

Grand multiparity is known to be associated with pregnancy complications. Nigeria with a contraceptive prevalence of <15% and culture of early marriage in the northern part of the country, many women get to grand multiparity early in their obstetric carriers. These women contribute significantly to the bad obstetric performance indices in the country. The present study was to explore the contraceptive choices among grand multiparous women. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study among grand multiparous women attending an antenatal clinic. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, contraceptive choices, and factors that influence such choices. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 18. There were 219 respondents. The mean age was 33.05 ± 3.17, and the mean parity was 6.48 ± 1.83. Most of the respondents (208, 95.50%) were aware of modern contraceptive methods, and oral contraceptive was the method of most of the respondents (197, 90.00%). Only 92 (42.00%) were currently using a modern contraceptive method. Being convenient for the lifestyle was the reason for the choice of a contraceptive method by many of the respondents (42, 19.10%). There was high awareness of modern contraceptive methods; however, there was low use prevalence among respondents, and the desire for more pregnancy was the reason for the nonuse.

Psychometric assessment of the Wagnild and Young's resilience scale in Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Abiola, Tajudeen; Udofia, Owoidoho

2011-11-23

Resilience seemed to lie at the core of the recent promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing. This concept has been well studied in western countries and less in developing countries, particularly Nigeria. The aim of the study is therefore, to demonstrate the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Resilience Scale (RS) and its 14-item short version (RS-14) in a Nigerian sample. The RS, RS-14, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) and two screening questions on experience of recent and upcoming distress were administered to 70 clinical students who consented to participate after a major professional examination. Internal consistency and convergent validity were assessed. The participants mean age was 22.50 years (SD = 0.60). The mean score of RS and RS-14 were 130.23 (SD = 17.08) and 74.17 (SD = 10.14) respectively. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the RS was 0.87 and that of the RS-14 was 0.81. The mean RS score by gender was 132.04 (SD = 19.08) and 126.52 (SD = 11.50) for males and females respectively and the difference was significant (t = 2.50; p = 0.012). The correlation of RS with RS-14 (r = 0.97; p = 0.000), the HADS depression (r = -0.28; p = 0.017) and anxiety (r = -0.26; p = 0.028) subscales, were significant. The corresponding t-test values for the means of RS and RS-14 scores for both cases and non-cases as determined by HADS, were significant at p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 for the depression and anxiety subscales respectively. The difference between RS means of those who experienced distress (38/125.69) to those that did not (32/134.05) from the recent clinical examination was also significant (t = 2.01; p = 0.045). The study confirms that the RS and RS-14 may be potentially useful instruments to measure resilience in Nigerians.

Contribution of small and medium enterprises to economic development: Evidence from a transiting economy.

PubMed

Obi, James; Ibidunni, Ayodotun Stephen; Tolulope, Atolagbe; Olokundun, Maxwell Ayodele; Amaihian, Augusta Bosede; Borishade, Taiye Tairat; Fred, Peter

2018-06-01

The focus of this research was to present a data article on the contribution of SMEs to economic development in a transiting economy. Descriptive research design was adopted in this study. Data were obtained from 600 respondents in 60 small-scale enterprises located in different parts of the country (20 small-scale enterprises located in Lagos State, 20 in Anambra State and 20 in Kano State of Nigeria respectively). Data analysis was carried out using tables and percentages and the null hypotheses of the study was tested using chi-square ( X 2 ) inferential statistical model at 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between the operation of small and medium-scale enterprises and economic growth in developing nations.

Text mining meets workflow: linking U-Compare with Taverna

PubMed Central

Kano, Yoshinobu; Dobson, Paul; Nakanishi, Mio; Tsujii, Jun'ichi; Ananiadou, Sophia

2010-01-01

Summary: Text mining from the biomedical literature is of increasing importance, yet it is not easy for the bioinformatics community to create and run text mining workflows due to the lack of accessibility and interoperability of the text mining resources. The U-Compare system provides a wide range of bio text mining resources in a highly interoperable workflow environment where workflows can very easily be created, executed, evaluated and visualized without coding. We have linked U-Compare to Taverna, a generic workflow system, to expose text mining functionality to the bioinformatics community. Availability: http://u-compare.org/taverna.html, http://u-compare.org Contact: kano@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:20709690

Prevalence and correlates of gender-based violence among female university students in Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Zubairu; Abubakar, Isa S; Aliyu, Muktar H; Galadanci, Hadiza S; Salihu, Hamisu M

2011-09-01

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a major public health and human rights problem worldwide. The extent of this problem in educational institutions has not been explored in Northern Nigeria. Using self administered questionnaires, we determined the prevalence and risk factors for gender-based violence among 300 female university students in Kano, Northern Nigeria. The overall prevalence of gender-based violence was 58.8% [95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 52.9% to 64.5%]. Specifically, 22.8%, 22.2% and 50.8% of students experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence respectively. Religious affiliation ethnicity, indigeneship, marital status, campus residence and faculty affiliation were significant predictors of GBV. GBV awareness creation programs, legal protection and implementation of an effective redress mechanism are recommended to curb this menace.

Economic Benefit of Introducing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Kano State Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, K. A.; Afolabi, S.; Nda, M.; Daura, H. A.

2018-04-01

The objective of this study is to know the variables use in quantifying economic benefits of public transport project, contribution of public transport to economic productivity This paper attempts to provide a Road User Cost (RUC) comparison of current usage of Buses and Cars in three different stages which are the present time, do nothing and the introduction of new modes. Vehicle operating cost (VOC), value of time (VOT), pollution cost, accident cost and environmental cost are calculated in other to know the benefits for their abilities to ensure accessibility and mobility, reduce accidents and reduce environmental loss. The study stretch involves an 11.1 km of 2-lane divided carriageway road connecting Kabuga bus stop to Janguza market. Social costs which included accident costs, accident cost of cars (private modes) were found to be 50 times the accident cost of bus accidents. California Air Resource Board (CARB) model was adopted to evaluate Environmental costs. The total road user costs were then obtained to provide comparative evaluation among the study modes. Furthermore, the multiple future scenarios were created to provide understanding about the need for inclusion of other modes. In this regard, this paper provided a framework for the cost evaluation for an urban area and results indicate that buses are more cost-effective in transportation of equivalent number of passengers.

A Multi-Site Knowledge Attitude and Practice Survey of Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria

PubMed Central

Iliyasu, Garba; Ogoina, Dimie; Otu, Akan A.; Dayyab, Farouq M.; Ebenso, Bassey; Otokpa, Daniel; Rotifa, Stella; Olomo, Wisdom T.; Habib, Abdulrazaq G.

2015-01-01

Background The 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was characterised by fear, misconceptions and irrational behaviours. We conducted a knowledge attitude and practice survey of EVD in Nigeria to inform implementation of effective control measures. Methods Between July 30th and September 30th 2014, we undertook a cross sectional study on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among adults of the general population and healthcare workers (HCW) in three states of Nigeria, namely Bayelsa, Cross River and Kano states. Demographic information and data on KAP were obtained using a self-administered standardized questionnaire. The percentage KAP scores were categorised as good and poor. Independent predictors of good knowledge of EVD were ascertained using a binary logistic regression model. Results Out of 1035 study participants with median age of 32 years, 648 (62.6%) were males, 846 (81.7%) had tertiary education and 441 (42.6%) were HCW. There were 218, 239 and 578 respondents from Bayelsa, Cross River and Kano states respectively. The overall median percentage KAP scores and interquartile ranges (IQR) were 79.46% (15.07%), 95.0% (33.33%) and 49.95% (37.50%) respectively. Out of the 1035 respondents, 470 (45.4%), 544(52.56%) and 252 (24.35%) had good KAP of EVD defined using 80%, 90% and 70% score cut-offs respectively. Independent predictors of good knowledge of EVD were being a HCW (Odds Ratio-OR-2.89, 95% Confidence interval-CI of 1.41–5.90), reporting ‘moderate to high fear of EVD’ (OR-2.15, 95% CI-(1.47–3.13) and ‘willingness to modify habit’ (OR-1.68, 95% CI-1.23–2.30). Conclusion Our results reveal suboptimal EVD-related knowledge, attitude and practice among adults in Nigeria. To effectively control future outbreaks of EVD in Nigeria, there is a need to implement public sensitization programmes that improve understanding of EVD and address EVD-related myths and misconceptions, especially among the general

Extrinsic attributes that influence parents' purchase of chocolate milk for their children.

PubMed

Li, Xiaomeng E; Lopetcharat, Kannapon; Drake, MaryAnne

2014-07-01

The consumption of milk is essential for children's heath; and flavored milk, especially chocolate milk, is often purchased to increase children's milk consumption. However, the sugar content of chocolate milk has raised health concerns. As such, it is important to understand chocolate milk extrinsic attributes that influence parents' purchase decisions when they are purchasing chocolate milk for their children. The objective of this study was to determine the key extrinsic attributes for parents when they purchase chocolate milk for their children. An online survey with a conjoint analysis design, emotions questions, and Kano questionnaire that focused on chocolate milk was conducted targeting parents. Three hundred and twelve parents participated in the survey. Parents reported positive emotions including good, good natured, happy, loving, and satisfied when purchasing chocolate milk for their kids. Three segments of parents were identified with subtle but distinct differences in their key preferences for chocolate milk attributes for their children. Type of sweetener was the primary driver of choice for purchasing chocolate milk for children followed by fat content. Among sweetener types, natural noncaloric/nonnutritive sweeteners or sucrose were preferred over artificial sweeteners, and reduced fat was preferred over full fat or skim milk. Kano results revealed that reduced fat and sugar with an all natural label and added vitamins, minerals, and protein were attractive to the majority of parents when purchasing chocolate milk for their kids. Understanding the driving extrinsic attributes for parents when they purchase chocolate milk for their children will assist manufacturers to target extrinsic attributes that are attractive to parents for chocolate milk. This study established that sweetener type and fat content are the primary extrinsic attributes affecting parents purchase decisions when choosing chocolate milk for their children. Different segments of

Sleep Pattern and Sleep Hygiene Practices among Nigerian Schooling Adolescents

PubMed Central

Peter, Igoche David; Adamu, Halima; Asani, Mustafa O.; Aliyu, Ibrahim; Sabo, Umar A.; Umar, Umar I.

2017-01-01

Background: Sleep problems, especially in the adolescent stage of development, may be associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, impaired neurocognitive function, and a host of others leading to suboptimal performance. Objectives: To determine the pattern of sleep problems in school-going adolescents based on the bedtime problems; excessive daytime sleepiness; awakenings during the night and problems falling back asleep; regularity and duration of sleep; sleep-disordered breathing (BEARS) sleep screening algorithm. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 353 secondary school-going adolescents in Kano metropolis. Subjects were selected for the study using multistage sampling technique. The study lasted from March 2015 to July 2015. Sleep problems were screened for using the BEARS sleep screening algorithm. Tables were used to present the qualitative data. The various BEARS sleep patterns were assessed, and comparison between stages of adolescence was done using Chi-square test (and Fisher's exact test where necessary). A significant association was considered at P < 0.05. Results: Of the 353 adolescents studied, 61.8% were males while 38.2% were females with male, female ratio of 1.6:1. Early, middle, and late adolescents constituted 13.9%, 39.9%, 46.2% respectively. BEARS sleep screening revealed awakenings during the night (34.6%) as the most common sleep-related problem reported, and this was followed by excessive daytime sleepiness (21.0%). Age-group dependent sleep duration was 7.19 ± 1.26, 7.13 ± 1.13, 7.16 ± 1.28, with P > 0.05. Although 62.9% of all the adolescents watched TV/play video games until 1 h before going to bed and this was highest in late adolescence, it was not statistically significantly associated with any of the sleep problems. Conclusion: Both the quality and quantity of sleep in Nigerian adolescents in Kano is suboptimal. Adolescent and sleep medicine should receive more attention in our

Health care for some: a Nigerian study of who gets what, where and why?

PubMed

Stock, R

1985-01-01

The persistent underdevelopment of health in the Third World belies the optimism of the "Health care for all by the year 2000" campaign. In order to understand the underdevelopment of health, it is essential to examine the historical evolution of specific health systems. These ideas are developed in a case study of health care in Kano State, Nigeria. The nature and contemporary development of the health care system, which includes state voluntary agency and private sector outlets for Western scientific medicine and a large and varied traditional medicine sector, are examined. Although the deepening health care crisis may potentially spur a reconsideration of priorities and strategies, past experience suggests that a stubborn retention of a pared-down and increasingly unjust version of the present system is more likely.

Emotional Intelligence and Job Satisfaction among Lecturers of Universities in Kano State: Empirical Evidence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kassim, Sulaiman Ibrahim; Bambale, Abdu Jafaru; Jakada, Balarabe A.

2016-01-01

Emotional intelligence and job satisfaction are two concepts of high interest in modern work environment. They serve as a competitive edge in personal and organizational life. The educational system or lecturing profession is one of those within which the individuals could reap great advantage from the knowledge of emotional intelligence owing to…

Analysis of stress changes and fault stability related to CO2 injection at the Tomakomai offshore site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kano, Y.; Funatsu, T.; Nakao, S.; Kusunose, K.; Ishido, T.; Lei, X.; Tosha, T.

2013-12-01

A carbon capture and storage demonstration project is planned at the Tomakomai offshore site, which is located in the southwestern part of Hokkaido, Japan. The project includes geological CO2 storage at a rate of 0.25 Mt/year for three and a half years and a coherent system of capture (from petroleum refineries) and transportation (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2012). Two different reservoirs are candidates: one is the Moebetsu formation which is shallow, gently inclined and composed of relatively homogeneous sandstone, and another is the Takinoue T1 formation which is deep, sharply inclined, overpressured and composed of heterogeneous volcanic rocks. Effects of the CO2 injection are expected to be considerably different between these two reservoirs. As part of a safety assessment, Kano et al. (2013) investigated stress changes and corresponding fault stability in the deeper Takinoue T1 formation, based on an estimated initial stress field and numerically-simulated changes in fluid pressure caused by a planned CO2 injection. One of the important features was that the slip tendency becomes maximal near the top of the dipping Takinoue formation which is substantially shallower than the injection depth. This is thought to be due to a combination of the overpressure and heterogeneous structure. In this presentation we will report results of additional analysis and discuss different behaviours between the Takinoue and Moebetsu formations. Sensitivity to uncertain geomechanical properties such as the friction coefficient and the effects of poro-elastic stress development due to changes in fluid pressure and temperature are also discussed. This research was partly funded and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. We would like to acknowledge Japan CCS Co., Ltd., for providing their survey and research data on the Tomakomai site. References: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2012. CCS demonstration project at the Tomakomai site (in

"Poverty is the big thing": exploring financial, transportation, and opportunity costs associated with fistula management and repair in Nigeria and Uganda.

PubMed

Keya, Kaji Tamanna; Sripad, Pooja; Nwala, Emmanuel; Warren, Charlotte E

2018-06-01

Women living with obstetric fistula often live in poverty and in remote areas far from hospitals offering surgical repair. These women and their families face a range of costs while accessing fistula repair, some of which include: management of their condition, lost productivity and time, and transport to facilities. This study explores, through women's, communities', and providers' perspectives, the financial, transport, and opportunity cost barriers and enabling factors for seeking repair services. A qualitative approach was applied in Kano and Ebonyi in Nigeria and Hoima and Masaka in Uganda. Between June and December 2015, the study team conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with women affected by fistula (n = 52) - including those awaiting repair, living with fistula, and after repair, and their spouses and other family members (n = 17), along with health service providers involved in fistula repair and counseling (n = 38). Focus group discussions (FGDs) with male and female community stakeholders (n = 8) and post-repair clients (n = 6) were also conducted. Women's experiences indicate the obstetric fistula results in a combined set of costs associated with delivery, repair, transportation, lost income, and companion expenses that are often limiting. Medical and non-medical ancillary costs such as food, medications, and water are not borne evenly among all fistula care centers or camps due to funding shortages. In Uganda, experienced transport costs indicate that women spend Ugandan Shilling (UGX) 10,000 to 90,000 (US$3.00-US$25.00) for two people for a single trip to a camp (client and her caregiver), while Nigerian women (Kano) spent Naira 250 to 2000 (US$0.80-US$6.41) for transportation. Factors that influence women's and families' ability to cover costs of fistula care access include education and vocational skills, community savings mechanisms, available resources in repair centers, client counseling, and subsidized care and

Care seeking and beliefs about the cause of mental illness among Nigerian psychiatric patients and their families.

PubMed

Aghukwa, Chikaodiri Nkereuwem

2012-06-01

This study examined treatment seeking by 219 psychiatric patients at a teaching hospital in Kano, Nigeria. Patients or their families were interviewed about the types of mental health healers that patients saw before seeking conventional psychiatric treatment and beliefs about the causes of the illness. The length of illness before the psychiatric consultation was 4.5 years, and 99 (45%) respondents reported that patients had previously sought religious healing. A majority of respondents (N=128, 59%) attributed the illness to supernatural forces. Up to 68% and 75% of respondents who believed in a medical or genetic cause of illness, respectively, reported seeking a psychiatric consultation within six months of onset, and about 70% who believed in supernatural forces reported seeking psychiatric consultation five years after onset or later (p<.05). Mental health planners should educate alternative mental health healers and integrate them in the care of mental illness.

Socio-demographic and maternal factors in anaemia in pregnancy at booking in Kano, northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Nwizu, E N; Iliyasu, Z; Ibrahim, S A; Galadanci, H S

2011-12-01

Anaemia in pregnancy still causes significant maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing countries including Nigeria. The burden and underlying factors are varied even within countries. We studied the prevalence of anaemia at booking and underlying factors in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria. Using the capillary technique and blood film, the packed cell volume (PCV) and red cell morphology of 300 pregnant women was determined. Additional information was obtained on sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and past medical history using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Of the 300 pregnant women studied, 51 (17%) [95% Confidence Interval (CI)=12.9%-21.7%] were anaemic. Specifically, 12.7% and 4.3% of the women had mild and moderate anaemia respectively. Blood film of 74.5%, 15.7% and 11.8% anaemic women showed normochromic normocytic, haemolytic and microcytic hypochromic pictures respectively. Low educational attainment [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=2.13], being single or divorced [AOR=2.02], high parity [AOR=2.06], late booking [AOR=2.71] and short intervals between pregnancies [AOR=2.37] were significant predictors of anaemia in pregnancy. The high prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy related to low educational and economic status especially among women with background obstetric risk factors calls for vigilance, sustained health education and chemoprophylaxis for pregnant women.

Testing a model of intonation in a tone language.

PubMed

Lindau, M

1986-09-01

Schematic fundamental frequency curves of simple statements and questions are generated for Hausa, a two-tone language of Nigeria, using a modified version of an intonational model developed by Gårding and Bruce [Nordic Prosody II, edited by T. Fretheim (Tapir, Trondheim, 1981), pp. 33-39]. In this model, rules for intonation and tones are separated. Intonation is represented as sloping grids of (near) parallel lines, inside which tones are placed. The tones are associated with turning points of the fundamental frequency contour. Local rules may also modify the exact placement of a tone within the grid. The continuous fundamental frequency contour is modeled by concatenating the tonal points using polynomial equations. Thus the final pitch contour is modeled as an interaction between global and local factors. The slope of the intonational grid lines depends at least on sentence type (statement or question), sentence length, and tone pattern. The model is tested by reference to data from nine speakers of Kano Hausa.

Knowledge of safe motherhood among women in rural communities in northern Nigeria: implications for maternal mortality reduction

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Most developed countries have made considerable progress in addressing maternal mortality, but it appears that countries with high maternal mortality burdens like Nigeria have made little progress in improving maternal health outcomes despite emphasis by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Knowledge about safe motherhood practices could help reduce pregnancy related health risks. This study examines knowledge of safe motherhood among women in selected rural communities in northern Nigeria. Methods This was a cross-sectional study carried out in two states (Kaduna and Kano States) within northern Nigeria. Pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaires were applied by female data collectors to 540 randomly selected women who had recently delivered within the study site. Chi-square tests were used to determine possible association between variables during bivariate analysis. Variables significant in the bivariate analysis were subsequently entered into a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The degree of association was estimated by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between knowledge of maternal danger signs and independent socio-demographic as well as obstetric history variables which indicated significance at p< 0.05. Results Over 90% of respondents in both states showed poor knowledge of the benefits of health facility delivery by a skilled birth attendant. More than 80% of respondents in both states displayed poor knowledge of the benefits of ANC visits. More than half of the respondents across both states had poor knowledge of maternal danger signs. According to multivariate regression analysis, ever attending school by a respondent increased the likelihood of knowing maternal danger signs by threefold (OR 2.63, 95% CI: 1.2-5.8) among respondents in Kaduna State. While attendance at ANC visits during most recent pregnancy increased the likelihood of knowing maternal danger signs by twofold among respondents in Kano State

Serum uric acid levels among Nigerians with essential hypertension.

PubMed

Emokpae, Abiodun M; Abdu, Aliyu

2013-06-30

There is an ongoing debate on the role of serum uric acid as an independent risk factor for hypertension and renal disease. This study determined the serum uric acid levels of Nigerians with essential hypertension and also evaluated the association between serum uric acid levels and blood pressure of these patients. A retrospective case-control study of three hundred and fifty one patients with essential hypertension seen at the hypertension clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano between January 2004 and December 2008. The control group comprised of one hundred apparently healthy non hypertensive subjects. The clinical characteristics including blood pressure measurement, serum uric acid, urea, creatinine, lipid profile and glucose were evaluated.The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the male patients were 156mmHg and 101mmHg respectively, while those of the male controls were 120 ± 6.0 and 80 ± 5 respectively. The mean serum uric acid, fasting blood glucose, urea and creatinine were 483umol/L, 5.7mmol/L,6.61mmol/L, 93umol/l respectively compared to those of the male controls which were 326 ±10μmol/l, 5.0± 0.5mmol/l, 4.2± 0.12mmol/l, 5.16mmol/l ± 0.12 and 69±2.71μmol/l respectively. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the female patients were 158mmHg and 101mmHg, while those of the female controls were 101±2 and 62±9 respectively. The mean serum uric acid, fasting blood glucose, urea and creatinine of the female patients were 434umol/L, 5.3mmol/L 6.20mmol/L, and 88umol/L respectively while those for the female controls were 290±9μmol/l, 4.8±0.5mmol/l, 5.02±0.28 mmol/l, 62±0.36μmol/l respectively. Hyperuricaemia was observed in 59.3% of the male study patients and 62% of the female study patients. Serum uric acid correlated positively with both systolic blood pressure (r=0.192, p<0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.216; p<0.001). Hyperuricaemia is common among Nigerian patients with essential hypertension

Heavy Metals in Soils and Vegetables Irrigated with Urban Grey Waste Water in Fagge, Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Chiroma, T M; Ebewele, R O; Hymore, F K

2014-01-01

There is currently an increased consumption of vegetables within the local urban community. However, contamination of these vegetables with heavy metals poses a potential health hazard. Consequently, the potential contamination problem due to the effect of levels of some heavy metals (Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr) in soils and vegetables irrigated with drainage urban grey waste water were investigated. The maximum levels of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr in the urban grey waste waters were respectively 2.8, 2.1, 19.5, 2.3 and 143.1 times, higher than the maximum recommended concentrations of these metals: 5.0 μg/mL, 2.0 μg/mL, 0.2 μg/mL, 0.2 μg/mL and 0.1 μg/mL, respectively, for irrigation waters. The soils were found to be contaminated with these metals to levels that range between 24 to 84 percent contaminations. Although the heavy metals concentration ranking in vegetable parts vary with plant specie, the concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr in most parts of the vegetables were above their critical concentrations of 750 - 1000 μg/g, 100 - 400 μg/g, 300 - 500 μg/g, 20 - 100 μg/g and 5 - 30 μg/g, respectively, in plants. This suggests potential toxicity of these parts of vegetables. It was however found that over 40 percent of the concentrations of Fe, Mg, Zn and Cu in Onions, Fe in Okro, Cr in Bushgreen, Cu in Roselle and Zn, Cu in Carrot leaves can be easily removed by washing the leaves with water. However, only Cu concentration in Onions and Bushgreen leaves met the acceptable permissible level in plants after washing.

Uvulectomy as an epidemiological factor in neonatal tetanus mortality:- observations from a cluster survey.

PubMed

Eregie, C O

1994-01-01

A total of 2,623 live-births were recorded over a 12-month period during a cluster survey on Neonatal tetanus (NNT) mortality in Kano metropolis, Northern Nigeria. There were 79 neonatal deaths including 54 NNT deaths. NNT mortality was 20.6/1000 live-births. Although there was a male preponderance (55.6%) amongst NNT deaths, the association between sex and NNT death was not significant. Traditional Surgery was performed in over 80% of NNT deaths. The association between NNT death and traditional surgery was highly significant. Uvulectomy was the most frequently performed traditional surgery while circumcision was the least performed. There was also a highly significant association between uvulectomy and NNT death. Indeed, uvulectomy alone had a much stronger association with NNT death than traditional surgeries combined. There was no association between sex and performance of uvulectomy. It is reported that circumcision is not an important epidemiological factor in NNT mortality in this region. Health education is suggested to improve utilization of health facilities and discourage uvulectomy and other traditional surgeries.

Model for selecting quality standards for a salad bar through identifying elements of customer satisfaction.

PubMed

Ouellet, D; Norback, J P

1993-11-01

Continuous quality improvement is the new requirement of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This means that meeting quality standards will not be enough. Dietitians will need to improve those standards and the way they are selected. Because quality is defined in terms of the customers, all quality improvement projects must start by defining what customers want. Using a salad bar as an example, this article presents and illustrates a technique developed in Japan to identify which elements in a product or service will satisfy or dissatisfy consumers. Using a model and a questionnaire format developed by Kano and coworkers, 273 students were surveyed to classify six quality elements of a salad bar. Four elements showed a dominant "must-be" characteristic: food freshness, labeling of the dressings, no spills in the food, and no spills on the salad bar. The two other elements (food easy to reach and food variety) showed a dominant one-dimensional characteristic. By better understanding consumer perceptions of quality elements, foodservice managers can select quality standards that focus on what really matters to their consumers.

Pattern of facial palsy in a typical Nigerian specialist hospital.

PubMed

Lamina, S; Hanif, S

2012-12-01

Data on incidence of facial palsy is generally lacking in Nigeria. To assess six years' incidence of facial palsy in Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital (MMSH), Kano, Nigeria. The records of patients diagnosed as facial problems between January 2000 and December 2005 were scrutinized. Data on diagnosis, age, sex, side affected, occupation and causes were obtained. A total number of 698 patients with facial problems were recorded. Five hundred and ninety four (85%) were diagnosed as facial palsy. Out of the diagnosed facial palsy, males (56.2%) had a higher incidence than females; 20-34 years age group (40.3%) had a greater prevalence; the commonest cause of facial palsy was found out to be Idiopathic (39.1%) and was most common among business men (31.6%). Right sided facial palsy (52.2%) was predominant. Incidence of facial palsy was highest in 2003 (25.3%) and decreased from 2004. It was concluded that the incidence of facial palsy was high and Bell's palsy remains the most common causes of facial (nerve) paralysis.

Demographic characteristics and visual status of patients undergoing cataract surgery at a tertiary hospital in Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Kurawa, Musbahu Sani; Abdu, Lawan

2017-01-01

Objective/Purpose: To describe the demographic and baseline ocular characteristics, prevalence of blindness and visual impairment among patients undergoing extracapsular cataract extraction for age related cataract at the study hospital over a one year period. Materials/Patients: All consecutive patients aged 40 years and above identified with age related cataract in one or both eyes who voluntarily agree to participate were included. The study adhered to the tenets of the Helsinki declaration. Written informed consent was obtained from all eligible patients. All patients underwent basic eye examination by the ophthalmologist. Visual impairment was determined for each eye according to the standard WHO categorizations. Information obtained also included age, sex and history of previous cataract surgery. Data were recorded in manual tally sheets and on modified computer Cataract Surgery Record forms. Analyses were done using SPSS (version 16, SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). The participation rate was 91.2%. There were 495 eyes of 487 consecutive patients. This include 212 males and 275 females (M:F, 1:1.3). The age range was 40 to 99 years with a mean age of 62.76 ± 10.49 years (61.35 ± 9.75 years in men and 63.85±10.9 years in females). Most of the patients (n = 451; 92.6%, 95% CI: 89.9-94.6%) were aged 50 years and above. Sixty patients (12.3%, 95% CI: 9.6-15.5%) had cataract in both eyes, 427 (87.7%, 95% CI: 84.5-90.3%) were in one eye. Among these, preoperatively 16 (3.3%, 95% CI: 2.0-5.3%) had aphakia, 21 (4.3%, 95% CI: 2.8-6.5%) had uniocular pseudophakia. About 63.2% (95% CI: 58.9-67.4%) of patients had normal vision in the better eye (presenting VA ≥6/18). Overall 9.5% (95% CI: 7.3-12.7%) were bilaterally blind. About 96.8% of eyes (95% CI: 94.5-98.0%) undergoing cataract surgery were blind (presenting VAConclusion: The study highlights preponderance of females and high incidence of blinding cataract. Education and early disease awareness may play an important role in these patients and could improve cataract surgical services in our hospital..

Phytoavailability, human risk assessment and transfer characteristics of cadmium and zinc contamination from urban gardens in Kano, Nigeria.

PubMed

Abdu, Nafiu; Agbenin, John O; Buerkert, Andreas

2011-12-01

Quantitative data about phytoavailability and transfer into consumed plant parts for heavy metals in intensively managed urban vegetable production areas of sub-Saharan Africa are scarce. We therefore studied the transfer of zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) from soil to the root and subsequent translocation to edible portions of four vegetables in six urban gardens. While respective diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-available Zn and Cd concentrations ranged from 18 to 66 mg kg(-1) and from 0.19 to 0.35 mg kg(-1) , respectively, in soils, total Zn and Cd were 8.4-256 mg kg(-1) and 0.04-1.7 mg kg(-1) in shoot parts. Metal transfer factor (MTF) ratios were higher in Zn (0.2-0.9) than in Cd (0.1-0.6). Our data suggest that total Zn concentration in soil is a reliable indicator to assess its transfer from soil to crop in lettuce, carrot and parsley, while for Cd DTPA-extractable concentration may be used to estimate soil-crop transfer of Cd in amaranthus and carrot. Overall, Cd was more easily translocated to the aerial plant parts than Zn. Zinc and Cd accumulation by vegetables in our soils is mainly a metabolically controlled process. Such accumulation can contaminate the ecosystem but under our conditions intake and ingestion of these metals will likely have to occur over a prolonged period to experience health hazard. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Listening to the rumours: What the northern Nigeria polio vaccine boycott can tell us ten years on

PubMed Central

Ghinai, Isaac; Willott, Chris; Dadari, Ibrahim; Larson, Heidi J.

2013-01-01

In 2003 five northern Nigerian states boycotted the oral polio vaccine due to fears that it was unsafe. Though the international responses have been scrutinised in the literature, this paper argues that lessons still need to be learnt from the boycott: that the origins and continuation of the boycott were due to specific local factors. We focus mainly on Kano state, which initiated the boycotts and continued to reject immunisations for the longest period, to provide a focused analysis of the internal dynamics and complex multifaceted causes of the boycott. We argue that the delay in resolving the year-long boycott was largely due to the spread of rumours at local levels, which were intensified by the outspoken involvement of high-profile individuals whose views were misunderstood or underestimated. We use sociological concepts to analyse why these men gained influence amongst northern Nigerian communities. This study has implications on contemporary policy: refusals still challenge the Global Polio Eradication Initiative; and polio remains endemic to Nigeria (Nigeria accounted for over half of global cases in 2012). This paper sheds light on how this problem may be tackled with the ultimate aim of vaccinating more children and eradicating polio. PMID:24294986

What to Build for Middle-Agers to Come? Attractive and Necessary Functions of Exercise-Promotion Mobile Phone Apps: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Chien, Yu-Tai; Chen, Yu-Jen; Hsiung, Hsiao-Fang; Chen, Hsiao-Jung; Hsieh, Meng-Hua; Wu, Wen-Jie

2017-01-01

Background Physical activity is important for middle-agers to maintain health both in middle age and in old age. Although thousands of exercise-promotion mobile phone apps are available for download, current literature offers little understanding regarding which design features can enhance middle-aged adults’ quality perception toward exercise-promotion apps and which factor may influence such perception. Objectives The aims of this study were to understand (1) which design features of exercise-promotion apps can enhance quality perception of middle-agers, (2) whether their needs are matched by current functions offered in app stores, and (3) whether physical activity (PA) and mobile phone self-efficacy (MPSE) influence quality perception. Methods A total of 105 middle-agers participated and filled out three scales: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the MPSE scale, and the need for design features questionnaire. The design features were developed based on the Coventry, Aberdeen, and London—Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy. Following the Kano quality model, the need for design features questionnaire asked participants to classify design features into five categories: attractive, one-dimensional, must-be, indifferent, and reverse. The quality categorization was conducted based on a voting approach and the categorization results were compared with the findings of a prevalence study to realize whether needs match current availability. In total, 52 multinomial logistic regression models were analyzed to evaluate the effects of PA level and MPSE on quality perception of design features. Results The Kano analysis on the total sample revealed that visual demonstration of exercise instructions is the only attractive design feature, whereas the other 51 design features were perceived with indifference. Although examining quality perception by PA level, 21 features are recommended to low level, 6 features to medium level, but none to high-level PA. In

Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication in Nigeria.

PubMed

Ado, J Mohammed; Etsano, Andrew; Shuaib, Faisal; Damisa, Eunice; Mkanda, Pascal; Gasasira, Alex; Banda, Richard; Korir, Charles; Johnson, Ticha; Dieng, Boubacar; Corkum, Melissa; Enemaku, Ogu; Mataruse, Noah; Ohuabunwo, Chima; Baig, Shahzad; Galway, Michael; Seaman, Vincent; Wiesen, Eric; Vertefeuille, John; Ogbuanu, Ikechukwu U; Armstrong, Gregory; Mahoney, Frank J

2014-11-01

the second half of 2013, WPV transmission was restricted to Kano, Borno, Bauchi, and Taraba states. Despite considerable progress, 24 LGAs in 2012 and 7 LGAs in 2013 reported ≥2 cases, and WPV continued to circulate in 8 LGAs that had cases in 2012. Campaign activities were negatively impacted by insecurity and violence in Borno and Kano states. Efforts to interrupt transmission remain impeded by poor SIA implementation in localized areas, anti-polio vaccine sentiment, and limited access to vaccinate children because of insecurity. Sustained improvement in SIA quality, surveillance, and outbreak response and special strategies in security-compromised areas are needed to interrupt WPV transmission in 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

A large seroprevalence survey of brucellosis in cattle herds under diverse production systems in northern Nigeria

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background This study was carried out to investigate the status of brucellosis in cattle under various management systems in Adamawa, Kaduna and Kano states, northern Nigeria. Using multi-stage sampling, serum samples of 4,745 cattle from 271 herds were tested using the Rose-Bengal plate-agglutination test (RBPT) and positives were confirmed using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA). Results Prevalence estimates were calculated by adjusting for sampling weights and where possible for test sensitivity and specificity. Thirty-seven percent of all animals were RBPT positive, and after confirmation with c-ELISA the overall animal-level prevalence, adjusted for sampling weights, was 26.3% (95% CI, 22.1%-31.0%). Of the herds sampled, 210 (77.5%; 95% CI, 68.6%-84.5%) had at least one animal positive to both tests; this did not differ significantly between states (P = 0.538). Mean within-herd seroprevalence in positive herds was 30.2% (95% CI, 25.3%-35.1%) and ranged from 3.1% to 85.7%. Overall animal-level seroprevalences of 29.2% (95% CI, 22.5%-36.9%) n = 1,827, 23.3% (95% CI, 18.9%-28.3%) n = 1,870 and 26.7% (95% CI, 18.8%-36.7%) n = 1,048 were observed in Adamawa, Kaduna and Kano states, respectively (P = 0.496). A significantly higher seroprevalence was found in males (38.2%; 95% CI, 31.7%-45.2%) than in females (24.7%; 95% CI, 20.4%-29.5%) (P < 0.001) and in non-pregnant females (27.8%; 95% CI, 22.9%-33.5%) than in pregnant females (17.2%; 95% CI, 13.6%-21.5%) (P < 0.001). Seroprevalence increased with increasing age (P < 0.001), from 13.5% (95% CI, 8.9%-19.9%) in cattle <4 years to 35.0% (95% CI, 28.5%-42.3%) in cattle >7 years. Seroprevalence also varied between management systems (P < 0.001): pastoral systems 45.1% (95% CI, 38.6%-51.9%), zero-grazing systems 23.8% (95% CI, 6.8%-59.2%), agro-pastoral systems 22.0% (95% CI, 17.3%-27.8%), and commercial farms 15.9% (95% CI, 9.5%-25.5%). Seroprevalence did not differ

A hands-on experience of the voice of customer analysis in maternity care from Iran.

PubMed

Aghlmand, Siamak; Lameei, Aboulfath; Small, Rhonda

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of voice of customer (VoC) analysis in a maternity care case study, where the aim was to identify the most important requirements of women giving birth and to determine targets for the improvement of maternity care in Fayazbakhsh Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The tools of VoC analysis were used to identify: the main customer segment of maternity care; the most important of women's needs and requirements; the level of maternal satisfaction with delivered services at the study hospital and at a competitor; the nature of women's of requirements (termed Kano levels: assumed, expected, and unexpected); and the priorities of the study hospital for meeting these requirements. Women identified the well-being of mother and baby as the most important requirements. Women's satisfaction with the services was, with a few exceptions, low to moderate. Services related to most of the maternal requirements were ranked better in the competitor hospital than the study hospital. The results form a solid basis for achieving improvements in the processes of care for mothers and babies. The paper presents a systematic approach to VoC analysis in health care settings as a basis for clinical process improvement initiatives.

Local audit of diagnostic surgical pathology as a tool for quality assurance.

PubMed

Malami, Sani Abubakar; Iliyasu, Yawale

2008-01-01

Internal audit has been rarely done for quality assurance of histology laboratories in Nigeria. We reviewed the steps involved in the production of reports with a view to assessing the performance of the histopathology laboratory of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. A randomly selected 2 per cent sample of the total histology workload of the center for the year ending December 2005 amounting to 2877 cases was systematically reviewed. Analysis of the accumulated data showed a concordance rate of 94.8% between the original and review histological diagnoses, comparable to other published studies. Significant defects were observed to be due to missing demographic information on request forms (22.8%), poor technical quality of slide sections (18.4%) and typographical errors by typists (12.3%) In a minority of cases microscopic description was inadequate or inappropriate (7.0%) and some were inaccurate (2.7%). The turnaround time ranged from 2 to 16 days (mean 6.2 days) with results of 75.8 per cent of the specimens completed within 7 days. From the study we have shown that local audit is feasible in Nigerian laboratories and is an excellent method for detecting errors and improving performance in Surgical Pathology to optimize the scarce resources available to patient care in our country.

Tracking Vaccination Teams During Polio Campaigns in Northern Nigeria by Use of Geographic Information System Technology: 2013-2015.

PubMed

Touray, Kebba; Mkanda, Pascal; Tegegn, Sisay G; Nsubuga, Peter; Erbeto, Tesfaye B; Banda, Richard; Etsano, Andrew; Shuaib, Faisal; Vaz, Rui G

2016-05-01

Nigeria is among the 3 countries in which polio remains endemic. The country made significant efforts to reduce polio transmission but remains challenged by poor-quality campaigns and poor team performance in some areas. This article demonstrates the application of geographic information system technology to track vaccination teams to monitor settlement coverage, reduce the number of missed settlements, and improve team performance. In each local government area where tracking was conducted, global positioning system-enabled Android phones were given to each team on a daily basis and were used to record team tracks. These tracks were uploaded to a dashboard to show the level of coverage and identify areas missed by the teams. From 2012 to June 2015, tracking covered 119 immunization days. A total of 1149 tracking activities were conducted. Of these, 681 (59%) were implemented in Kano state. There was an improvement in the geographic coverage of settlements and an overall reduction in the number of missed settlements. The tracking of vaccination teams provided significant feedback during polio campaigns and enabled supervisors to evaluate performance of vaccination teams. The reports supported other polio program activities, such as review of microplans and the deployment of other interventions, for increasing population immunity in northern Nigeria. © 2016 World Health Organization; licensee Oxford Journals.

Predictors of poststroke health-related quality of life in Nigerian stroke survivors: a 1-year follow-up study.

PubMed

Hamza, Ashiru Mohammad; Al-Sadat, Nabilla; Loh, Siew Yim; Jahan, Nowrozy Kamar

2014-01-01

This study aims to identify the predictors in the different aspects of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to measure the changes of functional status over time in a cohort of Nigerian stroke survivors. A prospective observational study was conducted in three hospitals of Kano state of Nigeria where stroke survivors receive rehabilitation. The linguistic-validated Hausa versions of the stroke impact scale 3.0, modified Rankin scale, Barthel index and Beck depression inventory scales were used. Paired samples t-test was used to calculate the amount of changes that occur over time and the forward stepwise linear regression model was used to identify the predictors. A total of 233 stroke survivors were surveyed at 6 months, and 93% (217/233) were followed at 1 year after stroke. Functional disabilities were significantly reduced during the recovery phase. Motor impairment, disability, and level of depression were independent predictors of HRQoL in the multivariate regression analysis. The involvement of family members as caregivers is the key factor for those survivors with improved functional status. Thus, to enhance the quality of poststroke life, it is proposed that a holistic stroke rehabilitation service and an active involvement of family members are established at every possible level.

Empirical research on Kano’s model and customer satisfaction

PubMed Central

Lin, Feng-Han; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Lee, Yu-Cheng; Hsiao, Cheng-Fu; Zhou, Jie; Wang, Jiangtao; Shang, Zhiwen

2017-01-01

Products are now developed based on what customers desire, and thus attractive quality creation has become crucial. In studies on customer satisfaction, methods for analyzing quality attributes and enhancing customer satisfaction have been proposed to facilitate product development. Although substantial studies have performed to assess the impact of the attributes on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted that quantitatively calculate the odds of customer satisfaction for the Kano classification, fitting a nonlinear relationship between attribute-level performance and customer satisfaction. In the present study, the odds of customer satisfaction were determined to identify the classification of quality attributes, and took customer psychology into account to suggest how decision-makers should prioritize the allocation of resources. A novel method for quantitatively assessing quality attributes was proposed to determine classification criteria and fit the nonlinear relationship between quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Subsequently, a case study was conducted on bicycle user satisfaction to verify the novel method. The concept of customer satisfaction odds was integrated with the value function from prospect theory to understand quality attributes. The results of this study can serve as a reference for product designers to create attractive quality attributes in their products and thus enhance customer satisfaction. PMID:28873418

Assessment of surveys for the management of hospital clinical pharmacy services.

PubMed

Čufar, Andreja; Mrhar, Aleš; Robnik-Šikonja, Marko

2015-06-01

Survey data sets are important sources of data, and their successful exploitation is of key importance for informed policy decision-making. We present how a survey analysis approach initially developed for customer satisfaction research in marketing can be adapted for an introduction of clinical pharmacy services into a hospital. We use a data mining analytical approach to extract relevant managerial consequences. We evaluate the importance of competences for users of a clinical pharmacy with the OrdEval algorithm and determine their nature according to the users' expectations. For this, we need substantially fewer questions than are required by the Kano approach. From 52 clinical pharmacy activities we were able to identify seven activities with a substantial negative impact (i.e., negative reinforcement) on the overall satisfaction of clinical pharmacy services, and two activities with a strong positive impact (upward reinforcement). Using analysis of individual feature values, we identified six performance, 10 excitement, and one basic clinical pharmacists' activity. We show how the OrdEval algorithm can exploit the information hidden in the ordering of class and attribute values, and their inherent correlation using a small sample of highly relevant respondents. The visualization of the outputs turns out highly useful in our clinical pharmacy research case study. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fine resolution mapping of population age-structures for health and development applications

PubMed Central

Alegana, V. A.; Atkinson, P. M.; Pezzulo, C.; Sorichetta, A.; Weiss, D.; Bird, T.; Erbach-Schoenberg, E.; Tatem, A. J.

2015-01-01

The age-group composition of populations varies considerably across the world, and obtaining accurate, spatially detailed estimates of numbers of children under 5 years is important in designing vaccination strategies, educational planning or maternal healthcare delivery. Traditionally, such estimates are derived from population censuses, but these can often be unreliable, outdated and of coarse resolution for resource-poor settings. Focusing on Nigeria, we use nationally representative household surveys and their cluster locations to predict the proportion of the under-five population in 1 × 1 km using a Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model. Results showed that land cover, travel time to major settlements, night-time lights and vegetation index were good predictors and that accounting for fine-scale variation, rather than assuming a uniform proportion of under 5 year olds can result in significant differences in health metrics. The largest gaps in estimated bednet and vaccination coverage were in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa. Geolocated household surveys are a valuable resource for providing detailed, contemporary and regularly updated population age-structure data in the absence of recent census data. By combining these with covariate layers, age-structure maps of unprecedented detail can be produced to guide the targeting of interventions in resource-poor settings. PMID:25788540

Fine resolution mapping of population age-structures for health and development applications.

PubMed

Alegana, V A; Atkinson, P M; Pezzulo, C; Sorichetta, A; Weiss, D; Bird, T; Erbach-Schoenberg, E; Tatem, A J

2015-04-06

The age-group composition of populations varies considerably across the world, and obtaining accurate, spatially detailed estimates of numbers of children under 5 years is important in designing vaccination strategies, educational planning or maternal healthcare delivery. Traditionally, such estimates are derived from population censuses, but these can often be unreliable, outdated and of coarse resolution for resource-poor settings. Focusing on Nigeria, we use nationally representative household surveys and their cluster locations to predict the proportion of the under-five population in 1 × 1 km using a Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model. Results showed that land cover, travel time to major settlements, night-time lights and vegetation index were good predictors and that accounting for fine-scale variation, rather than assuming a uniform proportion of under 5 year olds can result in significant differences in health metrics. The largest gaps in estimated bednet and vaccination coverage were in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa. Geolocated household surveys are a valuable resource for providing detailed, contemporary and regularly updated population age-structure data in the absence of recent census data. By combining these with covariate layers, age-structure maps of unprecedented detail can be produced to guide the targeting of interventions in resource-poor settings.

Evaluation of a pilot intervention to redesign the decentralised vaccine supply chain system in Nigeria.

PubMed

Molemodile, Shola; Wotogbe, Maruchi; Abimbola, Seye

2017-05-01

Responsibility for immunisation in Nigeria is decentralised to sub-national governments. So far, they have failed to achieve optimal coverage for their populations. We evaluated a pilot intervention implemented between 2013 and 2014 to redesign a vaccine supply chain management system in Kano, Nigeria. The intervention included financing immunisation services from a designated pool of government and donor funds, a visibility tool to track vaccine stock, and a private vendor engaged to deliver vaccines directly to health facilities. The number of local government areas within the state with adequate vaccine stock increased from 21% to 98% after 10 months. To understand how the intervention achieved this outcome, we analysed immunisation coverage for the period and interviewed 18 respondents across different levels of government. We found that the intervention worked by improving ownership and accountability for immunisation by sub-national governments and their capacity for generating resources and management (of data and the supply chain). While the intervention focused on improving immunisation coverage, we identified gaps in the demand for services. Efforts to improve immunisation coverage and vaccine supply systems should streamline decentralised structures, empower sub-national governments with financial and technical capacity, and promote strategies to improve the demand and use of services.

U-Compare: share and compare text mining tools with UIMA

PubMed Central

Kano, Yoshinobu; Baumgartner, William A.; McCrohon, Luke; Ananiadou, Sophia; Cohen, K. Bretonnel; Hunter, Lawrence; Tsujii, Jun'ichi

2009-01-01

Summary: Due to the increasing number of text mining resources (tools and corpora) available to biologists, interoperability issues between these resources are becoming significant obstacles to using them effectively. UIMA, the Unstructured Information Management Architecture, is an open framework designed to aid in the construction of more interoperable tools. U-Compare is built on top of the UIMA framework, and provides both a concrete framework for out-of-the-box text mining and a sophisticated evaluation platform allowing users to run specific tools on any target text, generating both detailed statistics and instance-based visualizations of outputs. U-Compare is a joint project, providing the world's largest, and still growing, collection of UIMA-compatible resources. These resources, originally developed by different groups for a variety of domains, include many famous tools and corpora. U-Compare can be launched straight from the web, without needing to be manually installed. All U-Compare components are provided ready-to-use and can be combined easily via a drag-and-drop interface without any programming. External UIMA components can also simply be mixed with U-Compare components, without distinguishing between locally and remotely deployed resources. Availability: http://u-compare.org/ Contact: kano@is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp PMID:19414535

Fingerprints of resistant Escherichia coli O157:H7 from vegetables and environmental samples.

PubMed

Abakpa, Grace Onyukwo; Umoh, Veronica J; Kamaruzaman, Sijam; Ibekwe, Mark

2018-01-01

Some routes of transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to fresh produce include contaminated irrigation water and manure polluted soils. The aim of the present study was to determine the genetic relationships of E. coli O157:H7 isolated from some produce growing region in Nigeria using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) DNA fingerprinting analysis. A total of 440 samples comprising leafy greens, irrigation water, manure and soil were obtained from vegetable producing regions in Kano and Plateau States, Nigeria. Genes coding for the quinolone resistance-determinant (gyrA) and plasmid (pCT) coding for multidrug resistance (MDR) were determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 16 isolates that showed MDR. Cluster analysis of the ERIC-PCR profiles based on band sizes revealed six main clusters from the sixteen isolates analysed. The largest cluster (cluster 3) grouped isolates from vegetables and manure at a similarity coefficient of 0.72. The present study provides data that support the potential transmission of resistant strains of E. coli O157:H7 from vegetables and environmental sources to humans with potential public health implications, especially in developing countries. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Tracking Vaccination Teams During Polio Campaigns in Northern Nigeria by Use of Geographic Information System Technology: 2013–2015

PubMed Central

Touray, Kebba; Mkanda, Pascal; Tegegn, Sisay G.; Nsubuga, Peter; Erbeto, Tesfaye B.; Banda, Richard; Etsano, Andrew; Shuaib, Faisal; Vaz, Rui G.

2016-01-01

Introduction. Nigeria is among the 3 countries in which polio remains endemic. The country made significant efforts to reduce polio transmission but remains challenged by poor-quality campaigns and poor team performance in some areas. This article demonstrates the application of geographic information system technology to track vaccination teams to monitor settlement coverage, reduce the number of missed settlements, and improve team performance. Methods. In each local government area where tracking was conducted, global positioning system–enabled Android phones were given to each team on a daily basis and were used to record team tracks. These tracks were uploaded to a dashboard to show the level of coverage and identify areas missed by the teams. Results. From 2012 to June 2015, tracking covered 119 immunization days. A total of 1149 tracking activities were conducted. Of these, 681 (59%) were implemented in Kano state. There was an improvement in the geographic coverage of settlements and an overall reduction in the number of missed settlements. Conclusions. The tracking of vaccination teams provided significant feedback during polio campaigns and enabled supervisors to evaluate performance of vaccination teams. The reports supported other polio program activities, such as review of microplans and the deployment of other interventions, for increasing population immunity in northern Nigeria. PMID:26609004

What to Build for Middle-Agers to Come? Attractive and Necessary Functions of Exercise-Promotion Mobile Phone Apps: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Liao, Gen-Yih; Chien, Yu-Tai; Chen, Yu-Jen; Hsiung, Hsiao-Fang; Chen, Hsiao-Jung; Hsieh, Meng-Hua; Wu, Wen-Jie

2017-05-25

Physical activity is important for middle-agers to maintain health both in middle age and in old age. Although thousands of exercise-promotion mobile phone apps are available for download, current literature offers little understanding regarding which design features can enhance middle-aged adults' quality perception toward exercise-promotion apps and which factor may influence such perception. The aims of this study were to understand (1) which design features of exercise-promotion apps can enhance quality perception of middle-agers, (2) whether their needs are matched by current functions offered in app stores, and (3) whether physical activity (PA) and mobile phone self-efficacy (MPSE) influence quality perception. A total of 105 middle-agers participated and filled out three scales: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the MPSE scale, and the need for design features questionnaire. The design features were developed based on the Coventry, Aberdeen, and London-Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy. Following the Kano quality model, the need for design features questionnaire asked participants to classify design features into five categories: attractive, one-dimensional, must-be, indifferent, and reverse. The quality categorization was conducted based on a voting approach and the categorization results were compared with the findings of a prevalence study to realize whether needs match current availability. In total, 52 multinomial logistic regression models were analyzed to evaluate the effects of PA level and MPSE on quality perception of design features. The Kano analysis on the total sample revealed that visual demonstration of exercise instructions is the only attractive design feature, whereas the other 51 design features were perceived with indifference. Although examining quality perception by PA level, 21 features are recommended to low level, 6 features to medium level, but none to high-level PA. In contrast, high-level MPSE is recommended

A malaria model tested in the African savannah*

PubMed Central

Dietz, K.; Molineaux, L.; Thomas, A.

1974-01-01

A new mathematical model of malaria has been developed for comparing the effects of alternative control measures. It describes both the temporal changes of the P. falciparum infection rate and the immunity level of the population as a function of the dynamics and characteristics of the vector populations, which are summarized in the concept of vectorial capacity. A critical vectorial capacity is specified, below which malaria cannot maintain itself at an endemic level. The model has been tested with epidemiological data collected in a WHO research project in the African Savannah, Kano State, Northern Nigeria, since October 1970. The estimates of the model parameters were obtained by minimizing the χ2 function that measures the discrepancy between the observed and expected age-specific parasite rates in the two villages with the highest and the lowest vectorial capacity, respectively, at five surveys during one year of baseline data collection and between the observed and expected infant inoculation rates, in the main transmission seasons, in the same two villages. The model describes three aspects of immunity: loss of infectivity, loss of detectability, and increase of recovery rate. It is assumed that loss of infectivity precedes loss of detectability and increase of recovery rate. Superinfections are slowing down the recovery for high inoculation rates but do not reduce them to zero. They do not increase infectivity. PMID:4613512

Salmonella Bacteremia Among Children in Central and Northwest Nigeria, 2008–2015

PubMed Central

Obaro, Stephen K.; Hassan-Hanga, Fatimah; Olateju, Eyinade K.; Umoru, Dominic; Lawson, Lovett; Olanipekun, Grace; Ibrahim, Sadeeq; Munir, Huda; Ihesiolor, Gabriel; Maduekwe, Augustine; Ohiaeri, Chinatu; Adetola, Anthony; Shetima, Denis; Jibir, Binta W.; Nakaura, Hafsat; Kocmich, Nicholas; Ajose, Therasa; Idiong, David; Masokano, Kabir; Ifabiyi, Adeyemi; Ihebuzor, Nnenna; Chen, Baojiang; Meza, Jane; Akindele, Adebayo; Rezac-Elgohary, Amy; Olaosebikan, Rasaq; Suwaid, Salman; Gambo, Mahmoud; Alter, Roxanne; Davies, Herbert D.; Fey, Paul D.

2015-01-01

Background. Etiologic agents of childhood bacteremia remain poorly defined in Nigeria. The absence of such data promotes indiscriminate use of antibiotics and delays implementation of appropriate preventive strategies. Methods. We established diagnostic laboratories for bacteremia surveillance at regional sites in central and northwest Nigeria. Acutely ill children aged <5 years with clinically suspected bacteremia were evaluated at rural and urban clinical facilities in the Federal Capital Territory, central region and in Kano, northwest Nigeria. Blood was cultured using the automated Bactec incubator system. Results. Between September 2008 and April 2015, we screened 10 133 children. Clinically significant bacteremia was detected in 609 of 4051 (15%) in the northwest and 457 of 6082 (7.5%) in the central region. Across both regions, Salmonella species account for 24%–59.8% of bacteremias and are the commonest cause of childhood bacteremia, with a predominance of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. The prevalence of resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole was 38.11%, with regional differences in susceptibility to different antibiotics but high prevalence of resistance to readily available oral antibiotics. Conclusions. Salmonella Typhi is the leading cause of childhood bacteremia in central Nigeria. Expanded surveillance is planned to define the dynamics of transmission. The high prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains calls for improvement in environmental sanitation in the long term and vaccination in the short term. PMID:26449948

From the Dawn of Nuclear Physics to the First Atomic Bombs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolbright, Stephen; Schumacher, Jacob; Michonova-Alexova, Ekaterina

2014-03-01

This work gives a fresh look at the major discoveries leading to nuclear fission within the historical perspective. The focus is on the main contributors to the discoveries in nuclear physics, leading to the idea of fission and its application to the creation of the atomic bombs used at the end of the World War II. The present work is a more complete review on the history of the nuclear physics discoveries and their application to the atomic bomb. In addition to the traditional approach to the topic, focusing mainly on the fundamental physics discoveries in Europe and on the Manhattan Project in the United States, the nuclear research in Japan is also emphasized. Along with that, a review of the existing credible scholar publications, providing evidence for possible atomic bomb research in Japan, is provided. Proper credit is given to the women physicists, whose contributions had not always been recognized. Considering the historical and political situation at the time of the scientific discoveries, thought-provoking questions about decision-making, morality, and responsibility are also addressed. The work refers to the contributions of over 20 Nobel Prize winners. EM-A is grateful to Prof. Walter Grunden and to Prof. Emeritus Shadahiko Kano, Prof. Emeritus Monitori Hoshi for sharing their own notes, documents, and references, and to CCCU for sponsoring her participation in the 2013 Nuclear Weapons Seminar in Japan.

Desert dust and human health disorders.

PubMed

Goudie, Andrew S

2014-02-01

Dust storms may originate in many of the world's drylands and have an effect not only on human health in the drylands themselves but also in downwind environments, including some major urban centres, such as Phoenix, Kano, Athens, Madrid, Dubai, Jedda, Tehran, Jaipur, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. In some parts of the world dust storms occur frequently throughout the year. They can transport particulate material, pollutants, and potential allergens over thousands of km from source. The main sources include the Sahara, central and eastern Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the western USA. In some parts of the world, though not all, the frequency of dust storms is changing in response to land use and climatic changes, and in such locations the health implications may become more severe. Data on the PM10 and P2.5 loadings of dust events are discussed, as are various pollutants (heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) and biological components (spores, fungi, bacteria, etc.). Particulate loadings can far exceed healthy levels. Among the human health effects of dust storms are respiratory disorders (including asthma, tracheitis, pneumonia, allergic rhinitis and silicosis) cardiovascular disorders (including stroke), conjunctivitis, skin irritations, meningococcal meningitis, valley fever, diseases associated with toxic algal blooms and mortality and injuries related to transport accidents. © 2013.

Factors affecting the appreciation generated through applying human factors/ergonomics (HFE) principles to systems of work.

PubMed

So, R H Y; Lam, S T

2014-01-01

This retrospective study examined the levels of appreciation (applause) given by clients to Human Factors/Ergonomic (HFE) specialists after they have modified the systems of work. Thirteen non-academic projects were chosen because the HFE interventions involved changed the way workers work at their workplaces. Companies involved range from multi-national corporations and military organizations with thousands of employees to small trading companies with less than 10 employees. In 5 cases the HFE recommendations were fully adopted and well appreciated. In 4 they were largely ignored and not appreciated, with partial adoption and some appreciation in the other 4 cases. Three factors that predict appreciation were identified: (i) alignment between the benefits HFE can provide and the project's key performance indices; (ii) awareness of HFE among the client's senior management; and (iii) a team organization appropriate for applying HFE recommendations. Having an HFE specialist on the client's side can greatly increase levels of appreciation, but lack of such a specialist will not affect levels of appreciation. A clear contractual requirement for HFE intervention does not promote appreciation significantly, but its absence can greatly reduce levels of appreciation. These relationships are discussed using the Kano's model of quality. Means to generate greater appreciation of the benefits of HFE are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Comparative Effects of Concept Mapping and Cooperative Learning Strategies on Senior Secondary School Students' Achievement in Mathematics-Trigonometry in Kano State, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bot, Thomas D.; Eze, John E.

2016-01-01

This article presents the findings from an experimental study on the effectiveness of concept mapping and cooperative learning strategies on SSII students' achievement in trigonometry in mathematics. The research design used in conducting the study was quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test non-equivalent control group. The sample consisted of…

Seismic Wavefield Imaging of Long-Period Ground Motion in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagao, H.; Kano, M.; Nagata, K.; Ito, S. I.; Sakai, S.; Nakagawa, S.; Hori, M.; Hirata, N.

2017-12-01

Long-period ground motions due to large earthquakes can cause devastating disasters, especially in urbanized areas located on sedimentary basins. To assess and mitigate such damage, it is essential to rapidly evaluate seismic hazards for infrastructures, which can be simulated by seismic response analyses that use waveforms at the base of each infrastructure as an input ground motion. The present study reconstructs the seismic wavefield in the Tokyo metropolitan area located on the Kanto sedimentary basin, Japan, from seismograms of the Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net). The obtained wavefield fully explains the observed waveforms in the frequency band of 0.10-0.20 Hz. This is attributed to the seismic wavefield imaging technique proposed by Kano et al. (2017), which implements the replica exchange Monte Carlo method to simultaneously estimate model parameters related to the subsurface structure and source information. Further investigation shows that the reconstructed seismic wavefield lower than 0.30 Hz is of high quality in terms of variance reduction (VR), which quantifies a misfit in waveforms but that the VR rapidly worsens in higher frequencies. Meanwhile, the velocity response spectra show good agreement with observations up to 0.90 Hz in terms of the combined goodness of fit (CGOF), which is a measure of misfit in the velocity response spectra. Inputting the reconstructed wavefield into seismic response analyses, we can rapidly assess the overall damage to infrastructures immediately after a large earthquake.

Disambiguating the species of biomedical named entities using natural language parsers

PubMed Central

Wang, Xinglong; Tsujii, Jun'ichi; Ananiadou, Sophia

2010-01-01

Motivation: Text mining technologies have been shown to reduce the laborious work involved in organizing the vast amount of information hidden in the literature. One challenge in text mining is linking ambiguous word forms to unambiguous biological concepts. This article reports on a comprehensive study on resolving the ambiguity in mentions of biomedical named entities with respect to model organisms and presents an array of approaches, with focus on methods utilizing natural language parsers. Results: We build a corpus for organism disambiguation where every occurrence of protein/gene entity is manually tagged with a species ID, and evaluate a number of methods on it. Promising results are obtained by training a machine learning model on syntactic parse trees, which is then used to decide whether an entity belongs to the model organism denoted by a neighbouring species-indicating word (e.g. yeast). The parser-based approaches are also compared with a supervised classification method and results indicate that the former are a more favorable choice when domain portability is of concern. The best overall performance is obtained by combining the strengths of syntactic features and supervised classification. Availability: The corpus and demo are available at http://www.nactem.ac.uk/deca_details/start.cgi, and the software is freely available as U-Compare components (Kano et al., 2009): NaCTeM Species Word Detector and NaCTeM Species Disambiguator. U-Compare is available at http://-compare.org/ Contact: xinglong.wang@manchester.ac.uk PMID:20053840

State variations in women's socioeconomic status and use of modern contraceptives in Nigeria.

PubMed

Lamidi, Esther O

2015-01-01

According to the 2014 World Population Data Sheet, Nigeria has one of the highest fertility and lowest contraceptive prevalence rates around the world. However, research suggests that national contraceptive prevalence rate overshadows enormous spatial variations in reproductive behavior in the country. I examined the variations in women's socioeconomic status and modern contraceptive use across states in Nigeria. Using the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data (n = 18,910), I estimated the odds of modern contraceptive use among sexually active married and cohabiting women in a series of multilevel logistic regression models. The share of sexually active, married and cohabiting women using modern contraceptives widely varied, from less than one percent in Kano, Yobe, and Jigawa states, to 40 percent in Osun state. Most of the states with low contraceptive prevalence rates also ranked low on women's socioeconomic attributes. Results of multilevel logistic regression analyses showed that women residing in states with greater shares of women with secondary or higher education, higher female labor force participation rates, and more women with health care decision-making power, had significantly higher odds of using modern contraceptives. Differences in women's participation in health care decisions across states remained significantly associated with modern contraceptive use, net of individual-level socioeconomic status and other covariates of modern contraceptive use. Understanding of state variations in contraceptive use is crucial to the design and implementation of family planning programs. The findings reinforce the need for state-specific family planning programs in Nigeria.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of medical laboratory practitioners in the fight against Ebola virus disease.

PubMed

Hamid, Kabir M; Yusuf, Ibrahim; Onoja, Bernard A; Koki, Abdullahi Y

2018-01-01

Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa was an enormous public health challenge. Nigeria was able to contain the spread of the virus with a concerted effort and an effective public health response in terms of identification of contacts, rapid laboratory diagnosis, quarantine and symptomatic treatment. We determined the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical laboratory practitioners (MLPs) in this post-Ebola epidemic era. This cross-sectional study was carried out in eight hospitals in Kano State for 6 months, between January and June 2016. It involved medical laboratory scientists (MLS), medical laboratory technicians (MLT) and medical laboratory assistants (MLA). Questionnaires were administered and analysed. Of the 75 participants, mean knowledge score was 5.54 (standard deviation [SD] ±1.44) while the mean attitude score was 13.72 ±2.80, and mean practice score was 3.10 ±0.80. Mean age of participants was 36.82 ± 8.07 years. There was full awareness of EVD among all 75 participants; however, many medical laboratory practitioners (52.7%) did not know EVD prevention methods. The majority (86.1%) knew the source of disease outbreak and most MLPs (66.7%) practised improper hand washing to prevent Ebola transmission. In addition, they had a negative attitude and practice towards EVD. Of 71 MLPs, 52 (73.2%) strongly disagreed that a traditional remedy was preferable in EVD treatment. Fear of EVD among MLPs has declined.

Confirming, Classifying, and Prioritizing Needed Over-the-Bed Table Improvements via Methodological Triangulation.

PubMed

Manganelli, Joe; Threatt, Anthony; Brooks, Johnell O; Healy, Stan; Merino, Jessica; Yanik, Paul; Walker, Ian; Green, Keith

2014-01-01

This article presents the results of a qualitative study that confirmed, classified, and prioritized user needs for the design of a more useful, usable, and actively assistive over-the-bed table. Manganelli et al. (2014) generated a list of 74 needs for use in developing an actively assistive over-the-bed table. This present study assesses the value and importance of those needs. Fourteen healthcare subject matter experts and eight research and design subject matter experts engaged in a participatory and iterative research and design process. A mixed methods qualitative approach used methodological triangulation to confirm the value of the findings and ratings to establish importance. Open and closed card sorts and a Delphi study were used. Data analysis methods included frequency analysis, content analysis, and a modified Kano analysis. A table demonstrating the needs that are of high importance to both groups of subject matter experts and classification of the design challenges each represents was produced. Through this process, the list of 74 needs was refined to the 37 most important need statements for both groups. Designing a more useful, usable, and actively assistive over-the-bed table is primarily about the ability to position it optimally with respect to the user for any task, as well as improving ease of use and usability. It is also important to make explicit and discuss the differences in priorities and perspectives demonstrated between research and design teams and their clients. © 2014 Vendome Group, LLC.

Plasma lipid profile in Nigerians with high--normal blood pressure.

PubMed

Saidu, Hadiza; Karaye, Kamilu Musa; Okeahialam, Basil N

2014-12-18

High blood pressure levels have been associated with elevated atherogenic blood lipid fraction, but epidemiological surveys often give inconsistent results across population sub-groups. To determine the extent to which there are differences in lipid profile based on blood pressure levels, we assessed lipid profile of subjects with high-normal blood pressure and compared with those of hypertensives and optimally normal blood pressure. The study was a cross-sectional comparative study conducted at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Fasting lipid levels were examined among randomly selected patients with optimally normal blood pressure (group 1), high-normal blood pressure (group 2) and those with hypertension (group 3). Optimal blood pressure was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) of <120 mmHg/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of <80 mmHg; and high-normal blood pressure as SBP of 130-139 mmHg and/or DBP of 85-89 mmHg. A total of 300 subjects were studied, 100 in each group. The mean age of subjects in group 1 was 27.32±8.20 years and 60% were female, while that of group 2 was 34.04±6.25 years, and 53% were female, and that for group 3 was 52.81±13.3 years and 56% were female. The mean total cholesterol (TC) for subjects in group1 (3.96±0.40 mmol/L) was significantly lower than levels in group2 (4.55±1.01 mmol/L); P=<0.001. Subjects in group 3 (5.20±1.88 mmol/L), however had statistically significant higher mean TC when compared with group 2; (P=0.03). The difference between the groups for low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) followed the same pattern as that of TC, with statistically significant increasing trend across the blood pressure categories. Levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were however similar across the three groups (group 2 versus group 1; P=0.49, group 2 versus group 3; P=0.9). Increased TC (>5.2 mmol/L) was absent in group1, but found among 11% of group2 subjects and 40% of

The effect of extrinsic attributes on liking of cottage cheese.

PubMed

Hubbard, E M; Jervis, S M; Drake, M A

2016-01-01

Preference mapping studies with cottage cheese have demonstrated that cottage cheese liking is influenced by flavor, texture, curd size, and dressing content. However, extrinsic factors such as package, label claims, and brand name may also influence liking and have not been studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of package attributes and brand on the liking of cottage cheese. A conjoint survey with Kano analysis (n=460) was conducted to explore the effect of extrinsic attributes (brand, label claim, milkfat content, and price) on liking. Following the survey, 150 consumers evaluated intrinsic attributes of 7 cottage cheeses with and without brand information in a 2-d crossover design. Results were evaluated by 2-way ANOVA and multivariate analyses. Milkfat content and price had the highest influence on liking by conjoint analysis. Cottage cheese with 2% milkfat and a low price was preferred. Specific label claims such as "excellent source of calcium (>10%)" were more attractive to consumers than "low sodium" or "extra creamy." Branding influenced overall liking and purchase intent for cottage cheeses to differing degrees. For national brands, acceptance scores were enhanced in the presence of the brand. An all-natural claim was more appealing than organic by conjoint analysis and this result was also confirmed with consumer acceptance testing. Findings from this study can help manufacturers, as well as food marketers, better target their products and brands with attributes that drive consumer choice. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Census-independent population mapping in northern Nigeria

DOE PAGES

Weber, Eric M.; Seaman, Vincent Y.; Stewart, Robert N.; ...

2017-10-21

Although remote sensing has long been used to aid in the estimation of population, it has usually been in the context of spatial disaggregation of national census data, with the census counts serving both as observational data for specifying models and as constraints on model outputs. Here we present a framework for estimating populations from the bottom up, entirely independently of national census data, a critical need in areas without recent and reliable census data. To make observations of population density, we replace national census data with a microcensus, in which we enumerate population for a sample of small areasmore » within the states of Kano and Kaduna in northern Nigeria. Using supervised texture-based classifiers with very high resolution satellite imagery, we produce a binary map of human settlement at 8-meter resolution across the two states and then a more refined classification consisting of 7 residential types and 1 non-residential type. Using the residential types and a model linking them to the population density observations, we produce population estimates across the two states in a gridded raster format, at approximately 90-meter resolution. We also demonstrate a simulation framework for capturing uncertainty and presenting estimates as prediction intervals for any region of interest of any size and composition within the study region. As a result, used in concert with previously published demographic estimates, our population estimates allowed for predictions of the population under 5 in ten administrative wards that fit strongly with reference data collected during polio vaccination campaigns.« less

Smoking habits and nicotine dependence of North Korean male defectors.

PubMed

Kim, Sei Won; Lee, Jong Min; Ban, Woo Ho; Park, Chan Kwon; Yoon, Hyoung Kyu; Lee, Sang Haak

2016-07-01

The smoking rates and patterns in the North Korean population are not well known. More than 20,000 North Korean defectors have settled in South Korea; thus, we can estimate the current North Korean smoking situation using this group. All North Korean defectors spend their first 3 months in a South Korean facility learning to adapt to their new home. We retrospectively analyzed the results from a questionnaire conducted among North Korean male defectors in this facility from August 2012 to February 2014. Of 272 men, 84.2% were current smokers, 12.5% were ex-smokers, and 3.3% were non-smokers. The mean age of this group was 35.9 ± 11.3 years, and smoking initiation occurred at a mean age of 18.2 ± 4.7 years. Among the subjects, 78.1% had a family member who smoked. Of the 221 current smokers, 67.4% responded that they intended to quit smoking. Fagerström test and Kano test for social nicotine dependence (KTSND) results for current smokers were 3.35 ± 2.26 and 13.76 ± 4.87, respectively. Question 9 on the KTSND (doctors exaggerate the ill effects of smoking) earned a significantly higher score relative to the other questions and a significantly higher score in current smokers compared with non-smokers. The smoking rate in North Korean male defectors was higher than that indicated previously. However, interest in smoking cessation was high and nicotine dependence was less severe than expected. Further investigation is needed to identify an efficient method for North Korean smokers to stop smoking.

Primary and secondary structural analyses of glutathione S-transferase pi from human placenta.

PubMed

Ahmad, H; Wilson, D E; Fritz, R R; Singh, S V; Medh, R D; Nagle, G T; Awasthi, Y C; Kurosky, A

1990-05-01

The primary structure of glutathione S-transferase (GST) pi from a single human placenta was determined. The structure was established by chemical characterization of tryptic and cyanogen bromide peptides as well as automated sequence analysis of the intact enzyme. The structural analysis indicated that the protein is comprised of 209 amino acid residues and gave no evidence of post-translational modifications. The amino acid sequence differed from that of the deduced amino acid sequence determined by nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA clone (Kano, T., Sakai, M., and Muramatsu, M., 1987, Cancer Res. 47, 5626-5630) at position 104 which contained both valine and isoleucine whereas the deduced sequence from nucleotide sequence analysis identified only isoleucine at this position. These results demonstrated that in the one individual placenta studied at least two GST pi genes are coexpressed, probably as a result of allelomorphism. Computer assisted consensus sequence evaluation identified a hydrophobic region in GST pi (residues 155-181) that was predicted to be either a buried transmembrane helical region or a signal sequence region. The significance of this hydrophobic region was interpreted in relation to the mode of action of the enzyme especially in regard to the potential involvement of a histidine in the active site mechanism. A comparison of the chemical similarity of five known human GST complete enzyme structures, one of pi, one of mu, two of alpha, and one microsomal, gave evidence that all five enzymes have evolved by a divergent evolutionary process after gene duplication, with the microsomal enzyme representing the most divergent form.

Census-independent population mapping in northern Nigeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weber, Eric M.; Seaman, Vincent Y.; Stewart, Robert N.

Although remote sensing has long been used to aid in the estimation of population, it has usually been in the context of spatial disaggregation of national census data, with the census counts serving both as observational data for specifying models and as constraints on model outputs. Here we present a framework for estimating populations from the bottom up, entirely independently of national census data, a critical need in areas without recent and reliable census data. To make observations of population density, we replace national census data with a microcensus, in which we enumerate population for a sample of small areasmore » within the states of Kano and Kaduna in northern Nigeria. Using supervised texture-based classifiers with very high resolution satellite imagery, we produce a binary map of human settlement at 8-meter resolution across the two states and then a more refined classification consisting of 7 residential types and 1 non-residential type. Using the residential types and a model linking them to the population density observations, we produce population estimates across the two states in a gridded raster format, at approximately 90-meter resolution. We also demonstrate a simulation framework for capturing uncertainty and presenting estimates as prediction intervals for any region of interest of any size and composition within the study region. As a result, used in concert with previously published demographic estimates, our population estimates allowed for predictions of the population under 5 in ten administrative wards that fit strongly with reference data collected during polio vaccination campaigns.« less

Molecular detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii in Hyalomma spp. ticks from camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Nigeria, West Africa.

PubMed

Kamani, J; Baneth, G; Apanaskevich, D A; Mumcuoglu, K Y; Harrus, S

2015-06-01

Several species of the spotted fever group rickettsiae have been identified as emerging pathogens throughout the world, including in Africa. In this study, 197 Hyalomma ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) collected from 51 camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Kano, northern Nigeria, were screened by amplification and sequencing of the citrate synthase (gltA), outer membrane protein A (ompA) and 17-kDa antigen gene fragments. Rickettsia sp. gltA fragments were detected in 43.3% (42/97) of the tick pools tested. Rickettsial ompA gene fragments (189 bp and 630 bp) were detected in 64.3% (n = 27) and 23.8% (n = 10) of the gltA-positive tick pools by real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. The amplicons were 99-100% identical to Rickettsia aeschlimannii TR/Orkun-H and R. aeschlimannii strain EgyRickHimp-El-Arish in GenBank. Furthermore, 17-kDa antigen gene fragments of 214 bp and 265 bp were detected in 59.5% (n = 25) and 38.1% (n = 16), respectively, of tick pools, and sequences were identical to one another and 99-100% identical to those of the R. aeschlimannii strain Ibadan A1 in GenBank. None of the Hyalomma impressum ticks collected were positive for Rickettsia sp. DNA. Rickettsia sp. gltA fragments (133 bp) were detected in 18.8% of camel blood samples, but all samples were negative for the other genes targeted. This is the first report to describe the molecular detection of R. aeschlimannii in Hyalomma spp. ticks from camels in Nigeria. © 2015 The Royal Entomological Society.

[Establishment of a practical training program in smoking cessation for use by pharmacists using cognitive-behavioral therapy and the motivational interview method].

PubMed

Saito, Moemi; Nodate, Yoshitada; Maruyama, Keiji; Tsuchiya, Masao; Watanabe, Machiko; Niwa, Sin-ichi

2012-01-01

We established a practical training program to nurture pharmacists who can give smoking cessation instructions. The program was provided to 85 interns (45 males and 40 females) in Teikyo University Hospital. The one-day practical training was provided to groups comprised of five members each. The training consisted of studies on the adverse effects of smoking, general outlines of the outpatient smoking cessation service, experiencing Smokerlyzer, studies about smoking-cessation drugs, studies about a smoking cessation therapy using cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing, and case studies applying role-playing. Before and after the practical training, we conducted a questionnaire survey consisting of The Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND) and the assessment of the smoking status, changes in attitudes to smoking, and willingness and confidence to give smoking cessation instructions. The overall KTSND score significantly dropped from 14.1±4.8 before the training to 8.9±4.8 after the training. The confidence to give smoking cessation instructions significantly increased from 3.4±1.9 to 6.2±1.3. Regarding the correlation between the smoking status and willingness and confidence to give smoking cessation instructions, the willingness and confidence were lower among the group of interns who either smoked or had smoked previously, suggesting that smoking had an adverse effect. A total of 88.2% of the interns answered that their attitudes to smoking had "changed slightly" or "changed" as a result of the training, indicating changes in their attitudes to smoking. Given the above, we believe that our newly-established smoking cessation instruction training is a useful educational tool.

Comparative study on drug safety surveillance between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria.

PubMed

Abubakar, Abdullahi Rabiu; Ismail, Salwani; Rahman, Nor Iza A; Haque, Mainul

2015-01-01

Internationally, there is a remarkable achievement in the areas of drug discovery, drug design, and clinical trials. New and efficient drug formulation techniques are widely available which have led to success in treatment of several diseases. Despite these achievements, large number of patients continue to experience adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and majority of them are yet to be on record. The purpose of this survey is to compare knowledge, attitude, and practice with respect to ADRs and pharmacovigilance (PV) between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria and to determine if there is a relationship between their knowledge and practice. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey involving year IV and year V medical students of the Department of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin and Bayero University Kano was carried out. The questionnaire which comprised 25 questions on knowledge, attitude, and practice was adopted, modified, validated, and administered to them. The response was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The response rate from each country was 74%. There was a statistically significant difference in mean knowledge and practice score on ADRs and PV between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria, both at P<0.000. No significance difference in attitude was observed at P=0.389. Also, a statistically significant relationship was recorded between their knowledge and practice (r=0.229, P=0.001), although the relationship was weak. Nigerian medical students have better knowledge and practice than those of Malaysia, although they need improvement. Imparting knowledge of ADRs and PV among medical students will upgrade their practice and enhance health care delivery services in the future.

Comparative study on drug safety surveillance between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria

PubMed Central

Abubakar, Abdullahi Rabiu; Ismail, Salwani; Rahman, Nor Iza A; Haque, Mainul

2015-01-01

Background Internationally, there is a remarkable achievement in the areas of drug discovery, drug design, and clinical trials. New and efficient drug formulation techniques are widely available which have led to success in treatment of several diseases. Despite these achievements, large number of patients continue to experience adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and majority of them are yet to be on record. Objectives The purpose of this survey is to compare knowledge, attitude, and practice with respect to ADRs and pharmacovigilance (PV) between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria and to determine if there is a relationship between their knowledge and practice. Method A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey involving year IV and year V medical students of the Department of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin and Bayero University Kano was carried out. The questionnaire which comprised 25 questions on knowledge, attitude, and practice was adopted, modified, validated, and administered to them. The response was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results The response rate from each country was 74%. There was a statistically significant difference in mean knowledge and practice score on ADRs and PV between medical students of Malaysia and Nigeria, both at P<0.000. No significance difference in attitude was observed at P=0.389. Also, a statistically significant relationship was recorded between their knowledge and practice (r=0.229, P=0.001), although the relationship was weak. Conclusion Nigerian medical students have better knowledge and practice than those of Malaysia, although they need improvement. Imparting knowledge of ADRs and PV among medical students will upgrade their practice and enhance health care delivery services in the future. PMID:26170680

Triple-Layer Plastic Bags Protect Dry Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) Against Damage by Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) During Storage.

PubMed

Mutungi, C; Affognon, H D; Njoroge, A W; Manono, J; Baributsa, D; Murdock, L L

2015-10-01

Fumigated dry common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) that were artificially infested with Acanthoscelides obtectus Say, and others that were not artificially infested, were stored in hermetic triple-layer PICS (Lela Agro, Kano, Nigeria) or woven polypropylene (PP) bags for 6 mo at ambient laboratory temperature conditions of 22.6 ± 1.9°C and 60.1 ± 4.3% relative humidity. In an additional trial, beans contained in PP bags were treated with Actellic Super dust before introducing A. obtectus. Moisture content, number of live adult A. obtectus, seed damage, weight loss, and seed germination were determined at monthly intervals. At 6 mo, beans stored in PICS bags retained higher moisture than those stored in PP bags, but in all treatments the moisture level remained below that recommended for safe storage of beans. In the PICS bags, proliferation of A. obtectus did not proceed and at 6 mo, beans stored in these bags did not have insect-inflicted seed damage or weight loss. In contrast, seed damage and weight loss in PP bags exceeded economic threshold after 1 mo in the absence of Actellic Super dust (Syngenta Crop protection AG, Basle, Switzerland), and after 2 mo in the presence of it. Germination of beans stored in PP bags decreased greatly whereas the beans stored in PICS bags did not show reduced germination. Chemical free storage of common beans in PICS bags protects them against damage by A. obtectus. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Consumer attitudes and preferences for fresh market tomatoes.

PubMed

Oltman, A E; Jervis, S M; Drake, M A

2014-10-01

This study established attractive attributes and consumer desires for fresh tomatoes. Three focus groups (n = 28 participants) were conducted to explore how consumers perceived tomatoes, including how they purchased and consumed them. Subsequently, an Adaptive Choice Based Conjoint (ACBC) survey was conducted to understand consumer preferences toward traditional tomatoes. The ACBC survey with Kano questions (n = 1037 consumers in Raleigh, NC) explored the importance of color, firmness, size, skin, texture, interior, seed presence, flavor, and health benefits. The most important tomato attribute was color, then juice when sliced, followed by size, followed by seed presence, which was at parity with firmness. An attractive tomato was red, firm, medium/small sized, crisp, meaty, juicy, flavorful, and with few seeds. Deviations from these features resulted in a tomato that was rejected by consumers. Segmentations of consumers were determined by patterns in utility scores. External attributes were the main drivers of tomato liking, but different groups of tomato consumers exist with distinct preferences for juiciness, firmness, flavor, and health benefits. Conjoint analysis is a research technique that collects a large amount of data from consumers in a format designed to be reflective of a real life market setting and can be combined with qualitative insight from focus groups to gain information on consumer consumption and purchase behaviors. This study established that the most important fresh tomato attributes were color, amount of juice when sliced, and size. Distinct consumer clusters were differentiated by preference for color/appearance, juiciness and firm texture. Tomato growers can utilize the results to target attributes that drive consumer choice for fresh tomatoes. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Smoking habits and nicotine dependence of North Korean male defectors

PubMed Central

Kim, Sei Won; Lee, Jong Min; Ban, Woo Ho; Park, Chan Kwon; Yoon, Hyoung Kyu; Lee, Sang Haak

2016-01-01

Background/Aims: The smoking rates and patterns in the North Korean population are not well known. More than 20,000 North Korean defectors have settled in South Korea; thus, we can estimate the current North Korean smoking situation using this group. Methods: All North Korean defectors spend their first 3 months in a South Korean facility learning to adapt to their new home. We retrospectively analyzed the results from a questionnaire conducted among North Korean male defectors in this facility from August 2012 to February 2014. Results: Of 272 men, 84.2% were current smokers, 12.5% were ex-smokers, and 3.3% were non-smokers. The mean age of this group was 35.9 ± 11.3 years, and smoking initiation occurred at a mean age of 18.2 ± 4.7 years. Among the subjects, 78.1% had a family member who smoked. Of the 221 current smokers, 67.4% responded that they intended to quit smoking. Fagerström test and Kano test for social nicotine dependence (KTSND) results for current smokers were 3.35 ± 2.26 and 13.76 ± 4.87, respectively. Question 9 on the KTSND (doctors exaggerate the ill effects of smoking) earned a significantly higher score relative to the other questions and a significantly higher score in current smokers compared with non-smokers. Conclusions: The smoking rate in North Korean male defectors was higher than that indicated previously. However, interest in smoking cessation was high and nicotine dependence was less severe than expected. Further investigation is needed to identify an efficient method for North Korean smokers to stop smoking. PMID:26951917

Unique Clones of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor with Haitian Type ctxB Allele Implicated in the Recent Cholera Epidemics from Nigeria, Africa.

PubMed

Adewale, Akinsinde Kehinde; Pazhani, Gururaja Perumal; Abiodun, Iwalokun Bamidele; Afolabi, Oluwadun; Kolawole, Olukoya Daniel; Mukhopadhyay, Asish K; Ramamurthy, Thanadarayan

2016-01-01

The antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and genetic characteristics of Vibrio cholerae O1, which is responsible for several cholera epidemics in Nigeria, are not reported in detail since 2007. In this study, we screened V. cholerae O1 El Tor biotype isolates from cholera cases and water samples from different states to investigate their phenotypic and genetic attributes with special reference to their clonality. All the V. cholerae O1 biotype El Tor isolates isolated during 2007-2013 were susceptible to fluoroquinolones and tetracycline, the drugs currently used in the treatment of cholera cases in Nigeria. Emergence of CT genotype 7 (Haitian type of ctxB allele) was predominantly seen among Ogawa serotype and the CT genotype 1 (classical ctxB allele) was mostly found in Inaba serotype. Overall, V. cholerae O1 from clinical and water samples were found to be closely related as determined by the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. V. cholerae isolates from Abia, Kano and Bauchi were found to be genetically distinct from the other states of Nigeria. Fecal contamination of the water sources may be the possible source of the cholera infection. Combined prevalence of Haitian and classical ctxB alleles were detected in Ogawa and Inaba serotypes, respectively. This study further demonstrated that V. cholerae O1 with the ctxB has been emerged similar to the isolates reported in Haiti. Our findings suggest that the use of fluoroquinolones or tetracycline/doxycycline may help in the effective management of acute cholera in the affected Nigerian states. In addition, strengthening the existing surveillance in the hospitals of all the states and supply of clean drinking water may control cholera outbreaks in the future.

Experience-oriented tobacco-use prevention lecture using a COPD-simulation mask for junior high school students.

PubMed

Iizuka, Makito; Tomita, Kazuhide; Takeshima, Reiko

2015-04-01

We recently developed a mask that simulates the experience of having one of the major diseases caused by tobacco smoking: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Here we examined the effects of a tobacco-use prevention lecture accompanied by a pseudo-COPD experience created with this mask on adolescents' attitude toward smoking. Junior high school students (12-13 years old, n=165) in Japan were the subjects. The students attended a 30-min tobacco-use prevention lecture with slides and movie clips and engaged in a light exercise session wearing the COPD-simulation mask for 15min. Before and after the lecture, the students' attitudes toward smoking were evaluated by the Kano test for social nicotine dependence (KTSND). The total KTSND scores decreased significantly from 9.9±4.4 (mean±SD, n=149) to 7.5±5.3 (n=144). Ninety-eight students wore the COPD mask, and their modified Borg scale scores increased significantly from 0.7±1.0 to 3.2±2.1 after exercise (P<0.0001). To the questionnaire item "Do you think you understand the suffering of individuals with COPD?", 24 and 51 students answered "definitely yes" and "yes", whereas 16, 4 and 1 answered "Cannot say," "no" and "definitely no", respectively. The KTSND scores were significantly smaller in the former affirmative group compared to the latter negative group (P<0.05). Of the 98 students who wore the simulation mask, 83 reported being satisfied with this pseudo-COPD experience. The tobacco-use prevention lecture with the pseudo-COPD experience created by the simulation mask was effective and safe. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perception of infertility and acceptability of assisted reproduction technology in northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Z; Galadanci, H S; Abubakar, I S; Bashir, F M; Salihu, H M; Aliyu, M H

2013-01-01

Infertility is a stigmatized reproductive morbidity with severe psycho-social consequences, especially in developing countries. There has been little exploration of the public view of infertility and acceptance of assisted reproduction in these countries, including Nigeria. To determine the public perception of infertility, its causes and factors associated with acceptability of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in Kano, Northern Nigeria. Using interviewer administered questionnaires, a cross-section of 600 adults were interviewed about perceived definition, causes and acceptance of ART. Majority of the respondents (n = 577, 99.3%) perceived infertility as a disease. Only 18.1% (n = 105) of the respondents would consider a couple infertile after one year of marriage. Causes of infertility mentioned by participants included paranormal events (n = 535, 92.1%), suprapubic pain (n = 321, 55.2%), induced abortion (n = 187, 32.2%) and sexually transmitted infections (n = 177, 30.5%). A minority of respondents (n = 161,27.7%) of participants mentioned blocked tubes and 24.6% (n = 143) irregular menstrual cycles. Although 36.1% of respondents were aware of ART; only 7.6% were willing to accept it. Being male [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95% CI)] 2.1 (1.55.72), childless [AOR (95% CI)] 2.2 (1.35.95), highly educated [AOR (95% CI)] 3.2 (1.326.72) and non-Muslim [AOR (95% CI)] 2.3 (1.23.76) were significant predictors of acceptance ofART. Infertility was correctly perceived as a disease, but there were misconceptions about its causes. The low acceptance of ART was influenced by socio-demographic factors. There is a need for sustained targeted information, education and communication regarding new reproductive technologies for fertility management.

Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication - Nigeria, January 2012-September 2013.

PubMed

2013-12-13

Transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV) has never been interrupted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria, and since 2003, Nigeria has been a reservoir for WPV reintroduction to 25 polio-free countries. In 2012, the Nigerian government activated an emergency operations center and implemented a national emergency action plan to eradicate polio. The 2013 revision of this plan prioritized 1) improving quality of supplemental immunization activities (SIAs), 2) implementing strategies to reach underserved populations, 3) adopting special approaches in security-compromised areas, 4) improving outbreak response, 5) enhancing routine immunization and activities implemented between SIAs, and 6) strengthening surveillance. This report summarizes polio eradication activities in Nigeria during January 2012-September 2013 and updates previous reports. During January-September 2013, 49 polio cases were reported from 26 local government areas (LGAs) in nine states in Nigeria, compared with 101 cases reported from 70 LGAs in 13 states during the same period in 2012. For all of 2012, a total of 122 cases were reported. No WPV type 3 (WPV3) cases have been reported since November 2012. For the first time ever, in 2013, no polio cases of any type have been detected in the northwest of Nigeria; however, transmission continues in Kano and states in the northeast. Despite considerable progress, 24 LGAs in 2012 and seven LGAs in 2013 reported two or more cases; WPV continues to circulate in eight LGAs that had cases in 2012. Efforts to interrupt transmission remain impeded by insecurity, anti-polio-vaccine sentiment, and chronically poor SIA implementation in selected areas. Improvement of SIA quality and effective outbreak response will be needed to interrupt WPV transmission in 2014.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Psychosocial Status and Serum Uric Acid in Men with Essential Hypertension: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Lamina, S; Okoye, GC

2012-01-01

Background: Chronic psychosocial stress and serum uric acid (SUA) level have been implicated in the etiology and cardiovascular events risk factors in hypertension. Studies have reported significant benefit of exercise in the overall management of hypertension. However, studies on the effect of exercise on psychosocial stress and SUA in the management of hypertension seem scanty. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of continuous training program on SUA and psychosocial status of black African (Nigerian) population with hypertension. Subjects and Methods: Age-matched randomized controlled trial was used; subjects with diagnosis of hypertension attending the hypertensive clinic of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital (MMSH), Kano, Nigeria form the population for the study. Two hundred and seventeen subjects with mild to moderate (systolic blood pressure (SBP) between 140 and180 and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between 90 and 109 mmHg) essential hypertension were grouped into continuous (112) and control groups (105). The continuous group involved in an 8 weeks continuous training (60%-79% HR max) of between 45 and 60 min, 3 times per week, while the controls group remain sedentary. SBP, DBP, SUA, VO2 max and psychosocial status were assessed. Student t-test and Pearson correlation test were used in data analysis. Results: The study revealed significant beneficial effect of continuous training programs on VO2 max, SBP, DBP, SUA, and psychosocial status (P < 0.05). Psychosocial status and SUA was significantly and positively and negatively correlated respectively with VO2 max at P < 0.01. Conclusions: This study concludes and supports the recommendations of moderate intensity (continuous) training program in blood pressure reduction, SUA and psychosocial stress management in hypertension. PMID:23439606

Identifying Key Attributes for Protein Beverages.

PubMed

Oltman, A E; Lopetcharat, K; Bastian, E; Drake, M A

2015-06-01

This study identified key attributes of protein beverages and evaluated effects of priming on liking of protein beverages. An adaptive choice-based conjoint study was conducted along with Kano analysis to gain insight on protein beverage consumers (n = 432). Attributes evaluated included label claim, protein type, amount of protein, carbohydrates, sweeteners, and metabolic benefits. Utility scores for levels and importance scores for attributes were determined. Subsequently, two pairs of clear acidic whey protein beverages were manufactured that differed by age of protein source or the amount of whey protein per serving. Beverages were evaluated by 151 consumers on two occasions with or without priming statements. One priming statement declared "great flavor," the other priming statement declared 20 g protein per serving. A two way analysis of variance was applied to discern the role of each priming statement. The most important attribute for protein beverages was sweetener type, followed by amount of protein, followed by type of protein followed by label claim. Beverages with whey protein, naturally sweetened, reduced sugar and ≥15 g protein per serving were most desired. Three consumer clusters were identified, differentiated by their preferences for protein type, sweetener and amount of protein. Priming statements positively impacted concept liking (P < 0.05) but had no effect on overall liking (P > 0.05). Consistent with trained panel profiles of increased cardboard flavor with higher protein content, consumers liked beverages with 10 g protein more than beverages with 20 g protein (6.8 compared with 5.7, P < 0.05). Protein beverages must have desirable flavor for wide consumer appeal. © 2015 Institute of Food Technologists®

Consumer awareness of salt and sodium reduction and sodium labeling.

PubMed

Kim, M K; Lopetcharat, K; Gerard, P D; Drake, M A

2012-09-01

Reduction of dietary sodium by reduction of sodium in foods is a current industry target. Quantitative information on consumer knowledge of sodium and reduction of dietary sodium is limited. The objectives of this study were to characterize consumer knowledge and awareness of sodium and salt reduction in foods. Consumers (n = 489) participated in a quantitative internet survey designed to gather knowledge and attitudes towards dietary sodium, sodium in foods, and health. Eating habits and food consumption characteristics, knowledge of salt and sodium, and interest in health and wellness were probed. Saltiness believe and sodium knowledge indices were calculated based on correct responses to salt levels in food products. Kano analysis was conducted to determine the role of nutrition labels and satisfaction/dissatisfaction of foods. Consumers were aware of the presence of sodium in "salty" foods, and that sodium was part of salt. People who had a family history of certain diseases associated with a higher intake of dietary sodium did not necessarily have more knowledge of the relationship between sodium intake and a specific disease compared to consumers with no family history. Sodium content on the food label panel did not influence consumer dissatisfaction; however, sodium content did not necessarily increase consumer product satisfaction either. The addition of a healthy nutrient (that is, whole grain, fiber) into a current food product was appealing to consumers. For nutrient labeling, a "reduced" claim was more appealing to consumers than a "free" claim for "unhealthy" nutrients such as fat, sodium, and sugar. This study demonstrated the current state of consumer knowledge on sodium and salt reduction, and consumer perception of the relationship between diets high in sodium and many chronic diseases. Information that may contribute to consumer satisfaction on nutrition panel labeling was also determined. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Sound waves and antineoplastic drugs: The possibility of an enhanced combined anticancer therapy.

PubMed

Feril, Loreto B; Kondo, Takashi; Umemura, Shin-Ichiro; Tachibana, Katsuro; Manalo, Angelo H; Riesz, Peter

2002-12-01

Kremkau wrote a historical review of the use of ultrasound in cancer therapy in 1979((1)) In 1990, Kondo and Kano published a Japanese review of the implications of the thermal and nonthermal effects of ultrasound in the treatment of cancer(2)). Again in 2000, Kondo et al reviewed the therapeutic applications of ultrasound and shock wave, emphasizing their thermal and cavitational effects(3)). Here we focus on the effects of ultrasound or shock waves in combination with anticancer agents, emphasizing their mechanisms of action and interaction. Most of the studies cited here reported promising results. Although the extent of the augmented combined effects in vivo is limited, synergism is the rule in vitro. In addition to the thermal effect of ultrasound, cavitational effects undoubtedly played a major role in both ultrasound and, more prominently, in shock wave therapy. Although the mechanism of the nonthermal noncavitational effects on biological processes is obscure, several factors, including temperature and the occurrence of cavitation and inertial cavitation, probably coexist and blend with these other effects. Magnification of anticancer activity results mainly from increased localization of drugs or other agents in vivo and increased intracellular permeabilisation both in vivo and in vitro. On the other hand, sublethal damage caused by ultrasound or shock waves may render cells more susceptible, to the effects of the agents, and both may act together, further amplifying these effects. We thus conclude that proper combination of an appropriate agent and ultrasound or shock wave should help improve cancer therapy by minimizing the side effects of drugs by lowering the effective dose and reducing the systemic concentration while increasing the efficiency of the therapy as a whole. Future studies should reveal specific conditions in this combined therapy that will lead to optimal outcome.

Qualitative study of knowledge and attitudes to biobanking among lay persons in Nigeria.

PubMed

Igbe, Michael A; Adebamowo, Clement A

2012-10-16

Interest in biobanking for collection of specimens for non-communicable diseases research has grown in recent times. This paper explores the perspectives of Nigerians on donation of specimen for the biobanking research. We conducted 16 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with individuals from different ethnic, age and socio-economic groups in Kano (North), Enugu (Southeast), Oyo States (Southwest) and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (Central) of Nigeria. We used topic guides and prompt statements to explore the knowledge and understanding of interviewees to general issues about biobanking of biospecimens, their use and specifically about role of biobanking in non-communicable diseases research. A total of 123 individuals participated in 16 focus group discussions in 2011. Our participants had limited knowledge of the concept of biobanking but accepted it once they were educated about it and saw it as a worthwhile venture. Half of our study participants supported use of broad consent, a quarter supported restricted consent while the remaining quarter were in favour of tiered consent. Most discussants support shipment of their samples to other countries for further research, but they prefer those collaborations to be done only with competent, ethical researchers and they would like to receive feedback about such projects. The majority preferred health care as a benefit from participation, particularly for any unexpected condition that may be discovered during the course of the research instead of financial compensation. Participants emphasized the need to ensure that donated samples were not used for research that contradicts their religious beliefs. Our study demonstrates that our participants accepted biobanking once they understand it but there were different attitudes to elements of biobanking such as type of consent. Our study highlights the need to carefully document population attitudes to elements of modern scientific research and the consenting process.

'Every disease has its cure': faith and HIV therapies in Islamic northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Tocco, Jack Ume

2010-12-01

Northern Nigeria has one of the highest levels of HIV prevalence among societies that are predominantly Muslim. In the last decade the region has experienced marked expansion of religiously-oriented healing practices following the formal adoption of Islamic sharia law. Since 2005, international funding has also made antiretroviral therapy (ART) more widely available throughout Nigeria. This study uses ethnographic data collected in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, to examine Muslims' perspectives on HIV treatment in the context of popular health beliefs and expanding therapeutic options. The research found that passages from classical Islamic texts are regularly cited by both HIV/AIDS practitioners and patients, especially when talking about the supposition that Allah sends a cure to humankind for every disease. Some religious scholar-practitioners (malamai) working in the Islamic traditions of prophetic medicine insist that HIV can be completely cured given sufficient faith in the supernatural power of the Quran; others claim that the natural ingredients prescribed in Islamic texts can cure HIV. Such assertions contradict the mainstream biomedical position that, with the proper therapeutic regimen, infection with HIV can be managed as a chronic illness, although not cured. Thus, these assertions constitute a challenge to the increasing therapeutic hegemony of antiretroviralbased care in Nigeria. Without falsifying the proposition that a divine cure for HIV exists, many Muslim patients on ART, and the predominantly Muslim biomedical staff who treat them, express scepticism about whether the cure has yet to be revealed to humans. These findings suggest that despite recent efforts in Nigeria to assert a unified Islamic perspective on HIV and AIDS, substantive disagreements persist over the causes, treatments and curability of the disease. The healing systems in which practitioners and patients operate influence how they interpret Islamic texts concerning the

Substance use and sexual behaviour among female students in Nigerian universities.

PubMed

Oye-Adeniran, B A; Aina, O F; Gbadegesin, A; Ekanem, E E

2014-01-01

Substance use continues to constitute social and health problems, more so among adolescents and young adults. One consequence is risky sexual behavior, a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa already facing the synergistic problems of poverty and HIV/AIDS. This study of female students aged ≥ 18 years in two universities in Nigeria uses a multi-stage stratified random sampling method, and each subject that gave consent to the study was administered with a structured questionnaire by trained interviewers; 2,408 female students were studied (1,854 from the University of Ibadan and 554 from the Bayero University, Kano). The mean age of the respondents was 21.6 (SD = 2.9), and about two-thirds (65.7%) were aged between 20-24, with 2,204 (91.5%) being single and 4.3% married. In all, 23.4% of the subjects used one form of substance. Alcoholic drinks of palm wine, alcoholic wine, and beer were the most common of substances used (22.7%), followed by tobacco (2%) and cannabis (1%). Substance use was significantly associated with religious affiliation of the students (p < 0.001), as the prevalence of substance use was least among Muslim students (11.7%) and highest among those who professed traditional religion (39.4%). Alcohol use was also positively associated with sexual activity (p < 0.001). Among the 547 students who used alcohol, 147 (26.9%) had sex in the 4 weeks prior to the survey, while among the 1,861 non-users, only 8.9% did so. The practice of unprotected sex was found not to be associated with substance use: a slightly lower proportion (29.5% vs. 36.6%) of substance users engaged in unprotected sex in their last encounter compared to non-users. There is need to scale up public health education on the dangers of substance use and its associated sexual risk behavior.

Comparison of nucleotide sequences of recent and previous lineages of peste-des-petits-ruminants viruses of sheep and goats in Nigeria.

PubMed

Mantip, Samuel; Quan, Melvyn; Shamaki, David; Van Vuuren, Moritz

2016-08-31

Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV) is a highly contagious, fatal and economically important viral disease of small ruminants that is still endemic and militates against the production of sheep and goats in endemic areas of the world. The aim of this study was to describe the viral strains within the country. This was carried out by collecting tissue and swab samples from sheep and goats in various agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. The phylogeny of archived PPRV strains or isolates and those circulating and causing recent outbreaks was determined by sequencing of the nucleoprotein (N)-gene. Twenty tissue and swab samples from apparently healthy and sick sheep and goats were collected randomly from 18 states, namely 3 states in each of the 6 agro-ecological zones visited. A total of 360 samples were collected. A total of 35 samples of 360 (9.7%) tested positive by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, of which 25 were from oculo-nasal swabs and 10 were from tissue samples. Neighbour-joining phylogenetic analysis using Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (PAUP) identified four different lineages, that is, lineages I, II, III and IV. Interestingly, the Nigerian strains described in this study grouped in two separate major lineages, that is, lineages II and IV. Strains from Sokoto, Oyo, Plateau and Ondo states grouped according to the historical distribution of PPRV together with the Nigerian 75/1 strain of lineage II, while other strains from Sokoto, Oyo, Plateau, Akwa-Ibom, Adamawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Bauchi, Niger and Kano states grouped together with the East African and Asian strains of lineage IV. This finding confirms that both lineage II and IV strains of PPRV are circulating in Nigeria. Previously, only strains of lineage II were found to be present in the country.

Unique Clones of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor with Haitian Type ctxB Allele Implicated in the Recent Cholera Epidemics from Nigeria, Africa

PubMed Central

Pazhani, Gururaja Perumal; Abiodun, Iwalokun Bamidele; Afolabi, Oluwadun; Kolawole, Olukoya Daniel; Mukhopadhyay, Asish K.; Ramamurthy, Thanadarayan

2016-01-01

Background and Objectives The antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and genetic characteristics of Vibrio cholerae O1, which is responsible for several cholera epidemics in Nigeria, are not reported in detail since 2007. In this study, we screened V. cholerae O1 El Tor biotype isolates from cholera cases and water samples from different states to investigate their phenotypic and genetic attributes with special reference to their clonality. Results All the V. cholerae O1 biotype El Tor isolates isolated during 2007–2013 were susceptible to fluoroquinolones and tetracycline, the drugs currently used in the treatment of cholera cases in Nigeria. Emergence of CT genotype 7 (Haitian type of ctxB allele) was predominantly seen among Ogawa serotype and the CT genotype 1 (classical ctxB allele) was mostly found in Inaba serotype. Overall, V. cholerae O1 from clinical and water samples were found to be closely related as determined by the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. V. cholerae isolates from Abia, Kano and Bauchi were found to be genetically distinct from the other states of Nigeria. Conclusion Fecal contamination of the water sources may be the possible source of the cholera infection. Combined prevalence of Haitian and classical ctxB alleles were detected in Ogawa and Inaba serotypes, respectively. This study further demonstrated that V. cholerae O1 with the ctxB has been emerged similar to the isolates reported in Haiti. Our findings suggest that the use of fluoroquinolones or tetracycline/doxycycline may help in the effective management of acute cholera in the affected Nigerian states. In addition, strengthening the existing surveillance in the hospitals of all the states and supply of clean drinking water may control cholera outbreaks in the future. PMID:27479360

Understanding vaccine hesitancy in polio eradication in northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Taylor, Sebastian; Khan, Mahmud; Muhammad, Ado; Akpala, Okey; van Strien, Marit; Morry, Chris; Feek, Warren; Ogden, Ellyn

2017-11-07

Vaccine hesitancy constitutes a major threat to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), and to further expansion of routine immunisation. Understanding hesitancy, leading in some cases to refusal, is vital to the success of GPEI. Re-emergence of circulating wild poliovirus in northern Nigeria in mid-2016, after 24months polio-free, gives urgency to this. But it is equally important to protect and sustain the global gains available through routine immunisation in a time of rising scepticism and potential rejection of specific vaccines or immunisation more generally. This study is based on a purposive sampling survey of 1653 households in high- and low-performing rural, semiurban and urban areas of three high-risk states of northern Nigeria in 2013-14 (Sokoto, Kano and Bauchi). The survey sought to understand factors at household and community level associated with propensity to refuse polio vaccine. Wealth, female education and knowledge of vaccines were associated with lower propensity to refuse oral polio vaccine (OPV) among rural households. But higher risk of refusal among wealthier, more literate urban household rendered these findings ambiguous. Ethnic and religious identity did not appear to be associated with risk of OPV refusal. Risk of vaccine refusal was highly clustered among households within a small sub-group of sampled settlements. Contrary to expectations, households in these settlements reported higher levels of expectation of government as service provider, but at the same time lesser confidence in the efficacy of their relations with government. Results suggest that strategies to address the micro-political dimension of vaccination - expanding community-level engagement, strengthening the role of local government in public health, and enhancing public participation of women - should be effective in reducing non-compliance, asan important set of strategies complementary to conventional didactic/educational approaches and working through

Should They Also Have Babies? Community Attitudes Toward Sexual and Reproductive Rights of People Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

PubMed

Iliyasu, Zubairu; Galadanci, Hadiza S; Ibrahim, Yusuf A; Babashani, Musa; Mijinyawa, Mohammed S; Simmons, Melynda; Aliyu, Muktar H

People living with HIV have the right to healthy, satisfying sex lives and to appropriate services to ensure their sexual and reproductive health, including having healthy children. The reproductive rights of people living with HIV/AIDS are, however, often met with skepticism and discrimination, despite recent advances in HIV treatment. To assess the attitudes of community members in Kano, Nigeria, toward the right of persons living with HIV/AIDS to have healthy sexual relationships and bear children. A cross-section of 399 adults was interviewed using pretested structured questionnaires. Logistic regression analysis was used to obtain adjusted estimates for predictors of agreement with the rights of persons with HIV/AIDS to bear children. A substantial proportion of respondents (28.6%) strongly agreed and agreed (10.5%) that persons with HIV/AIDS should not be allowed to marry. More than a fifth of the respondents disagreed (16.0%) and strongly disagreed (8.0%) with the rights of HIV-infected persons to bear children. Agreement with the statement "HIV-infected persons should have biological children" was independently associated with higher educational status (adjusted odds ratio: 2.26, 95% confidence interval: 1.82-6.73) and awareness of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission effectiveness (adjusted odds ratio: 2.53, 95% confidence interval: 1.92-5.37). Of those who agreed that HIV-infected persons should have children (n = 253), 17.8% and 26.1% strongly agreed and agreed, respectively, that persons living with HIV/AIDS should be restricted to having fewer children. Further, 11.5% and 4.8% of respondents disagreed and strongly disagreed, respectively, that infertile HIV-infected couples should receive fertility treatment. People living with HIV/AIDS face discriminatory attitudes to their reproductive rights in northern Nigeria. There is a need for effective, culturally appropriate information, education, and communication approaches to improving

Investigation of soil properties for identifying recharge characteristics in the Lake Chad Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, M. L.; Ndunguru, G. G.; Adisa, S. J.; Lee, J.; Adegoke, J. O.; Goni, I. B.; Grindley, J.; Mulugeta, V.

2009-12-01

Lake Chad was once labeled as one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world, providing water and livelihood to over 20 million people. The lake is shared by six different countries; Chad Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Sudan. Since the 1970 to date, a significant decrease in the size of the lake has been observed with the use of satellite imagery. This shrinking of the lake has been blamed on global warming, population increase and poor water management by the agriculture industry for farming purpose for both plants and animals. While these can be all valid reasons for the decrease of Lake Chad, we see the need to examine environmental and hydrological evidence around the Lake Chad basin. This study was carried out from upper stream to lower stream leading from Kano to the Damatru region which is one of several water bodies that supply Lake Chad. Over seventy six sites were sampled for soil texture, bulk density and other physical properties to investigate recharge capacity of the basin especially along the stream. Soils were collected using a soil core and properly stored at 4 degrees Celsius. Soils were weighed and put to dry at 105 degrees for twenty four hours. Dry weight was recorded and bulk density was calculated. The wet sieve method was used to determine the particle size analysis. Soils were weighed to 10 grams and hydrogen peroxide added to separate particles. Samples were washed with water and put to dry overnight. Soils were reweighed and sieved to separate as course sand, fine sand and silt and clay. The data revealed that in the upstream, coarse sand continuously decreased while silt and clay continuously increased down toward the lake. At mid stream silt and clay had significantly higher values when compared to coarse sand and fine sand. In the lower stream, bulk density clearly decreased compared to the upper and mid streams. Correlations will be carried out to investigate the particle size analysis and bulk density with

CERES–Maize Model for Determining the Optimum Planting Dates of Early Maturing Maize Varieties in Northern Nigeria

PubMed Central

Adnan, Adnan A.; Jibrin, Jibrin M.; Kamara, Alpha Y.; Abdulrahman, Bassam L.; Shaibu, Abdulwahab S.; Garba, Ismail I.

2017-01-01

Field trials were carried out in the Sudan Savannah of Nigeria to assess the usefulness of CERES–maize crop model as a decision support tool for optimizing maize production through manipulation of plant dates. The calibration experiments comprised of 20 maize varieties planted during the dry and rainy seasons of 2014 and 2015 at Bayero University Kano and Audu Bako College of Agriculture Dambatta. The trials for model evaluation were conducted in 16 different farmer fields across the Sudan (Bunkure and Garun—Mallam) and Northern Guinea (Tudun-Wada and Lere) Savannas using two of the calibrated varieties under four different sowing dates. The model accurately predicted grain yield, harvest index, and biomass of both varieties with low RMSE-values (below 5% of mean), high d-index (above 0.8), and high r-square (above 0.9) for the calibration trials. The time series data (tops weight, stem and leaf dry weights) were also predicted with high accuracy (% RMSEn above 70%, d-index above 0.88). Similar results were also observed for the evaluation trials, where all variables were simulated with high accuracies. Estimation efficiencies (EF)-values above 0.8 were observed for all the evaluation parameters. Seasonal and sensitivity analyses on Typic Plinthiustalfs and Plinthic Kanhaplustults in the Sudan and Northern Guinea Savannas were conducted. Results showed that planting extra early maize varieties in late July and early maize in mid-June leads to production of highest grain yields in the Sudan Savanna. In the Northern Guinea Savanna planting extra-early maize in mid-July and early maize in late July produced the highest grain yields. Delaying planting in both Agro-ecologies until mid-August leads to lower yields. Delaying planting to mid-August led to grain yield reduction of 39.2% for extra early maize and 74.4% for early maize in the Sudan Savanna. In the Northern Guinea Savanna however, delaying planting to mid-August resulted in yield reduction of 66.9 and 94

The cost-effectiveness in the use of HIV counselling and testing-mobile outreaches in reaching men who have sex with men (MSM) in northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Ifekandu, Chiedu; Suleiman, Aliyu; Aniekwe, Ogechukwu

2014-01-01

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at increased risk of HIV and other STI infections in Nigeria. This is because MSM are afraid to seek medical help because the healthcare workers in various facilities are afraid of the consequences if they provide services for MSM citing the law as a reason not to intervene. MSM in northern states of Nigeria are facing double-jeopardy because the few international partners working in MSM in Nigeria are pulling out of these volatile areas because of the fear of attacks by the Boko Haram and the Nigerian law enforcement agencies. The intervention was conducted to promote affordable and sustainable HIV care and treatment for MSM in Nigeria. This intervention was conducted in the Boko Haram ravaged cities of Kano and Maiduguri (North-East Nigeria). Twenty MSM-key influencers from the two cities were identified and trained on HIV counselling and testing, caregivers, case managers and on initiation process for ARV treatment for new HIV+MSM as well as ethical considerations. The mean age of the key influencers was 24 years +/-SD. Each of the trained 20 key influencers reached 20 MSM-peer with condom promotion, HCT, referral to identified MSM-community health centers and follow-up/caregiving within the space of one month. The project was able to reach 400 MSM in the two cities. 89% of the peers consented to HCT. HIV prevalence among the participants was at 18%. The project recorded ARV-successful referral to healthcare facilities for the respondents that tested positive. The key influencers have been following up for ARV-adherence. Use of community members should be promoted for sustainability and ownership. It also helps in eradicating socio-cultural barrier to HIV intervention for MSM. Moreover, this proves to be one of the safest and affordable methods of reaching MSM in Nigeria in this ugly time of legalization of homophobia in the country's constitution.

Consumer awareness and interest toward sodium reduction trends in Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Mina K; Lee, Kwang-Geun

2014-07-01

Reduction of dietary sodium intake by lowering amount of sodium in foods is a global industry target. Quantitative information on current consumer knowledge of sodium reduction trends in Korea is unknown. The objective of this study was to quantify the consumer knowledge and awareness of sodium and salt reduction in foods and to characterize consumer interest in health labeling on the food package. Additionally, comparison of consumer knowledge status between Korea and United States was followed. Consumers (n = 289) participated in an internet survey designed to gauge consumer knowledge and attitudes toward dietary sodium, the sodium content in representative food products (n = 27), and their interest toward specific health claims, including sodium labeling. Questions regarding demographics as well as consumption characteristics were asked. Sodium knowledge index and saltiness belief index were calculated based on the number of correct responses regarding the salt level and sodium content in given food products. Kano analysis was conducted to determine the role of nutrition labels in consumer satisfaction with products. Current consumer knowledge on the sodium content in food products was high, and consumers were adept at matching the sodium content with the salty taste intensity of food products. Consumers' knowledge of the relationship between diets high in sodium and an increased risk of developing previously reported sodium-related diseases, such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, kidney disease, and stomach cancer, were also high. Information on the nutrition panel that influences the consumer satisfaction (trans-fat, sodium, ingredient list, and country of origin) as well as adjective-nutrition claim pairs that appeal positively to purchase intent of the product were identified. This work provided the current status of Korean consumer knowledge on the amount of sodium in food and that sodium can be a risk factor of developing chronic diseases. It also

Family planning gets a new boost.

PubMed

Ponle, B

1993-01-01

A workshop on family planning was held during 1993 in Ota, Ogun State Nigeria. An active participant was the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyamini Othman, who helped to develop strategies for the implementation of the Family Health Services Project of the Federal Ministry of Health. His commitment to family planning surprised participants, since most pious Muslims are some of the least sympathetic groups. Alhaji Bilyamini is very enthusiastic about family planning and gives the advice that Allah would not like people to have children who could not be fed. Many men come to him for advice and he suggests that the men allow their wives to adopt family planning. Alhaji Bilyamini was educated at Ahmadu Bello University in business administration and currently is a chairman of the advisory committee for the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria in Bauchi State. The involvement of traditional rulers such as Alhaji Bilyamini has been practiced since 1987, when the USAID approached rulers about family planning. Others who have received family planning messages were the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emirs of Kano and Suleija, and the Shehu of Borno, who also have involved their subordinates. The rulers and subordinates who receive training assist in broadcasting the messages to the people. Because of the authoritative position of the rule in the community, a family planning supporter among rulers means the whole community will be convinced. Future plans include involving the rulers through the first phase. Alhaji Bilyamini recommends continued involvement of traditional rulers, because of their success in changing public perceptions. For example, in Bauchi state, condom discussion was considered taboo, and now condoms are advertised on television. Not all emirs have so enthusiastically embraced the family planning idea. An emir in Ogun state turned away visiting family planning experts days before his daughter died while trying at school to abort a pregnancy. Conference participants

Food security and environmental degradation in northern Nigeria: demographic perspectives.

PubMed

Lockwood, M

1991-07-01

The Malthusian controversy about the causes of environmental change and food insecurity in Hausaland in northern Nigeria is examined. The argument is irresolvable based on available data at the macro level. The individual and household level are appropriate for answering the question about how high density populations survive on a savannah. To understand population pressure in Hausaland, it is important to read Malthus very carefully and to understand the existing demographic structure in which economic and kinship relations support high fertility even where land is scarce. Demographic responses vary with economic strata. Policies ignore individual level differences. Since 1953, the densely populated areas of Sokoto, Katsina, Zaria, and Kano have spread in an area that is largely dry with a moderate-to-high risk of desertification. Food insecurity exists not only in times of drought, but also annually in the form of chronic shortages of staples for poor farmers. Average land holdings/capita have become smaller. Population pressure has also contributed to shifts in land use. Food prices have increased. Possible explanations include 1) the drought and the oil boom have a greater impact on environmental change and food insecurity and rural Hausa farmers have responded by raising yields, managing tree resources, and practicing soil conservation and 2) an independent source of income from non-agricultural activities is an essential part of the economy. The relationship among population pressure, land shortage, and food insecurity is complex. It is inaccurate to label Hausa as subsistence farmers, when trading in grain is an important enterprise. The role that commercialization of agriculture plays in food insecurity is discussed. Malthusian disaster is not imminent. The proximate determinants of fertility, birth spacing practices and infertility, should lead to high fertility rates, but in this case they do not. Determinants responsive to economic factors tend to be

Contamination of tomatoes with coliforms and Escherichia coli on farms and in markets of northwest Nigeria.

PubMed

Shenge, Kenneth C; Whong, Clement M Z; Yakubu, Lydia L; Omolehin, Raphael A; Erbaugh, J Mark; Miller, Sally A; LeJeune, Jeffrey T

2015-01-01

Although recent reports indicated that produce contamination with foodborne pathogens is widespread in Nigeria, the sources and magnitude of microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables on farms and in markets have not been thoroughly identified. To ascertain possible pathways of contamination, the frequency and magnitude of coliform and Escherichia coli contamination of tomatoes produced in northwest Nigeria was assessed on farms and in markets. Eight hundred twenty-six tomato fruit samples and 36 irrigation water samples were collected and assessed for fecal indicator organisms. In addition, the awareness and use of food safety practices by tomato farmers and marketers were determined. Median concentration of coliforms on all field- and market-sourced tomato fruit samples, as well as in irrigation water sources, in Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina states exceeded 1,000 most probable number (MPN) per g. Median E. coli counts from 73 (17%) of 420 field samples and 231 (57%) of 406 market tomato fruit samples exceeded 100 MPN/g. Median E. coli concentrations on tomato fruits were higher (P < 0.01) in the rainy season (2.45 Log MPN/g), when irrigation was not practiced than in the dry (1.10 Log MPN/g) and early dry (0.92 Log MPN/g) seasons. Eighteen (50%) of 36 irrigation water samples had E. coli counts higher than 126 MPN/100 ml. Median E. coli contamination on market tomato fruit samples (2.66 Log MPN/g) were higher (P < 0.001) than those from tomatoes collected on farms (0.92 Log MPN/g). Farmers and marketers were generally unaware of the relationship between food safety practices and microbial contamination on fresh produce. Good agricultural practices pertaining to food safety on farms and in local markets were seldom used. Adoption of food safety practices on-farm, during transport, and during marketing could improve the microbial quality of tomatoes available to the public in this region of the world.

How vaccine safety can become political--the example of polio in Nigeria.

PubMed

Clements, Christopher J; Greenough, Paul; Shull, Diana

2006-01-01

Vaccine safety is increasingly a major aspect of immunization programmes. Parents are becoming more aware of safety issues relating to vaccines their babies might receive. As a consequence, public health initiatives have had to take note of pressures brought to bear by individual parents and groups. Now we document a new phase in vaccine safety where it has been used to achieve political objectives. In 1988, the World Health Assembly declared its intention to eradicate poliomyelitis from the globe by the year 2000. This goal had to be postponed to 2005 for a number of reasons. Although the progress has been spectacular in achieving eradication in almost all nations and areas, the goal has been tantalizingly elusive. But arguably the most difficult country from which to eradicate the virus has been Nigeria. Over the past two years, tension has arisen in the north against immunizing against polio using the oral polio vaccine (OPV). Although this vaccine has been used in every other country in the world including other Muslim states, some religious leaders in the north found reason in August 2003 to advise their followers not to have their children vaccinated with OPV. Subsequent to this boycott, which the Kano governor had endorsed for a year and then ended in July 2004, cases of polio occurred in African nations previously free of the virus, and the DNA finger-print of the virus indicated it had come from Nigeria. In other words, Nigeria became a net exporter of polio virus to its African neighbours and beyond. Now the disease has spread to a dozen formerly polio-free countries, including Sudan and Indonesia. We show that, while the outward manifestations of the northern Nigerian intransigence were that of distrust of vaccine, the underlying problem was actually part of a longstanding dispute about political and religious power vis a vis Abuja. It is unlikely that polio transmission will be interrupted by 2005 if this dispute is allowed to run its course.

Polio elimination in Nigeria: A review.

PubMed

Nasir, Usman Nakakana; Bandyopadhyay, Ananda Sankar; Montagnani, Francesca; Akite, Jacqueline Elaine; Mungu, Etaluka Blanche; Uche, Ifeanyi Valentine; Ismaila, Ahmed Mohammed

2016-03-03

Nigeria has made tremendous strides towards eliminating polio and has been free of wild polio virus (WPV) for more than a year as of August 2015. However, sustained focus towards getting rid of all types of poliovirus by improving population immunity and enhancing disease surveillance will be needed to ensure it sustains the polio-free status. We reviewed the pertinent literature including published and unpublished, official reports and working documents of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners as well as other concerned organizations. The literature were selected based on the following criteria: published in English Language, published after year 2000, relevant content and conformance to the theme of the review and these were sorted accordingly. The challenges facing the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) in Nigeria were found to fall into 3 broad categories viz failure to vaccinate, failure of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and epidemiology of the virus. Failure to vaccinate resulted from insecurity, heterogeneous political support, programmatic limitation in implementation of vaccination campaigns, poor performance of vaccination teams in persistently poor performing Local Government areas and sporadic vaccine refusals in Northern Nigeria. Sub optimal effectiveness of OPV in some settings as well as the rare occurrence of VDPVs associated with OPV type 2 in areas of low immunization coverage were also found to be key issues. Some of the innovations which helped to manage the threats to the PEI include a strong government accountability frame work, change from type 2 containing OPV to bi valent OPVs for supplementary immunization activities (SIA), enhancing environmental surveillance in key states (Sokoto, Kano and Borno) along with an overall improvement in SIA quality. There has been an improvement in coverage of routine immunization and vaccination campaigns, which has resulted in Nigeria being removed from the list of endemic countries

Polio elimination in Nigeria: A review

PubMed Central

Nasir, Usman Nakakana; Bandyopadhyay, Ananda Sankar; Montagnani, Francesca; Akite, Jacqueline Elaine; Mungu, Etaluka Blanche; Uche, Ifeanyi Valentine; Ismaila, Ahmed Mohammed

2016-01-01

abstract Nigeria has made tremendous strides towards eliminating polio and has been free of wild polio virus (WPV) for more than a year as of August 2015. However, sustained focus towards getting rid of all types of poliovirus by improving population immunity and enhancing disease surveillance will be needed to ensure it sustains the polio-free status. We reviewed the pertinent literature including published and unpublished, official reports and working documents of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners as well as other concerned organizations. The literature were selected based on the following criteria: published in English Language, published after year 2000, relevant content and conformance to the theme of the review and these were sorted accordingly. The challenges facing the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) in Nigeria were found to fall into 3 broad categories viz failure to vaccinate, failure of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and epidemiology of the virus. Failure to vaccinate resulted from insecurity, heterogeneous political support, programmatic limitation in implementation of vaccination campaigns, poor performance of vaccination teams in persistently poor performing Local Government areas and sporadic vaccine refusals in Northern Nigeria. Sub optimal effectiveness of OPV in some settings as well as the rare occurrence of VDPVs associated with OPV type 2 in areas of low immunization coverage were also found to be key issues. Some of the innovations which helped to manage the threats to the PEI include a strong government accountability frame work, change from type 2 containing OPV to bi valent OPVs for supplementary immunization activities (SIA), enhancing environmental surveillance in key states (Sokoto, Kano and Borno) along with an overall improvement in SIA quality. There has been an improvement in coverage of routine immunization and vaccination campaigns, which has resulted in Nigeria being removed from the list of endemic

The Elemental Analysis of Biological and Environmental Materials Using a 2MEV Proton Beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arshed, Waheed

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. A programme has been developed to simulate the proton induced x-ray emission (PIXE) spectra and its uses have been described. The PIXE technique has been applied to the analysis of new biological reference materials which consist of IAEA human diet samples and NIST leaf samples. Homogeneity of these and two existing reference materials, IAEA soil -7 and Bowen's kale, has also been determined at the mug scale. A subsample representative of a material is ascertained by determination of sampling factors for the elements detected in the material. Proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) analysis in conjunction with PIXE has been employed to investigate F and other elemental concentrations found in human teeth samples. The mean F concentration in enamel and dentine parts of teeth followed an age dependent model. Concentrations of Ca and P were found to be higher in the enamel than in the dentine. Analysis of blood and its components in the study of elemental models in sickle cell disease in Nigerians has been carried out. Comparisons revealed that Cl, Ca and Cu were at higher levels whereas K, Fe, Zn and Rb were at lower levels in the whole blood of the sicklers compared to controls. Similar results were obtained for the erythrocytes except that Br was found at higher concentration in erythrocytes of the sicklers. Higher concentrations of Cl, K, Fe and Cu were also observed in plasma of the sicklers compared to controls. PIXE and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used in the characterization of the Harmattan dust particulates collected at Kano and Ife. Most of the elements were found to be at higher concentrations as compared to those found in Recife (Brazil) and Toronto (Canada). The value of total suspended particulate was above the relevant national air quality standards. PIXE in conjunction with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and instrumental neutron activation analysis was employed in the

Geologic Map of Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karl, Susan M.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Himmelberg, Glen R.; Zumsteg, Cathy L.; Layer, Paul W.; Friedman, Richard M.; Roeske, Sarah M.; Snee, Lawrence W.

2015-01-01

magmatism in the Early Jurassic. Early Eocene plutons that intruded the accretionary complex outboard of the arc on Baranof Island are attributed to anatectic melting of trench sediments resulting from subduction of a spreading center. Oligocene intrusive rocks on Baranof Island correlate in age and composition with intrusive rocks in the Kano Plutonic Suite on Haida Gwaii, and similar magmatic sources are inferred.

A web-based survey of erection hardness score and its relationship to aging, sexual behavior, confidence, and risk factors in Japan.

PubMed

Kimura, Masaki; Shimura, Satoru; Tai, Toshihiro; Kobayashi, Hideyuki; Baba, Shiro; Kano, Munehide; Nagao, Koichi

2013-12-01

Erection hardness is an elemental component of men's sexual quality of life that can be easily measured by the Erection Hardness Score (EHS). However, there are few published data regarding EHS, and there is little understanding of its relationships to aging, men's sexual behavior, sexual confidence, and risk factors in Japan. To assess EHS and how it correlates to aging, sexual behaviors, sexual self-confidence, and risk factors in a Japanese population database. A web-based cross-sectional nationwide survey conducted between March and May 2009 in Japan. EHS, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, general health, sexual confidence, frequency of sexual behaviors, and attitudes toward treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). A total of 7,710 men with a mean age of 39.3 ± 13.0 years participated in this survey. In 6,528 participants who were not using phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, 3,540 (54.2%) had EHS ≤ 3 and 1,196 (18.3%) had EHS ≤ 2. We found a significant age-dependent decrease in EHS, sexual confidence, and frequency of sexual activities. Sexual confidence was strongly associated with higher EHS but was also associated with older age groups, presence of offspring, awareness of better general health, and greater frequency of sexual activity. In age-adjusted multivariate logistic regression, risk factors for a lower EHS (defined as EHS ≤ 2) were heavy smoking, which was defined as more than two packs per day (odds ratio [OR], 1.7) or a history of metabolic syndrome (OR, 1.4), hypertension (OR, 1.2), and diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.4). EHS correlates to various elements, such as aging, sexual behaviors, sexual confidence, and ED-related risk factors, and can be a valuable tool in clinical practice for monitoring and treating ED and thereby improving the quality of life for men and their sexual partners. Kimura M, Shimura S, Tai T, Kobayashi H, Baba S, Kano M, and Nagao K. A web-based survey of Erection Hardness Score and its relationship to aging, sexual

Herd-level risk factors for Campylobacter fetus infection, Brucella seropositivity and within-herd seroprevalence of brucellosis in cattle in northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Mai, H M; Irons, P C; Kabir, J; Thompson, P N

2013-09-01

Brucellosis and campylobacteriosis are economically important diseases affecting bovine reproductive efficiency in Nigeria. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in 271 cattle herds in Adamawa, Kaduna and Kano states of northern Nigeria using multistage cluster sampling. Serum from 4745 mature animals was tested for Brucella antibodies using the Rose-Bengal plate test and positives were confirmed in series-testing protocol using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Preputial scrapings from 602 bulls were tested using culture and identification for Campylobacter fetus. For each disease, a herd was classified as positive if one or more animals tested positive. For each herd, information on potential managemental and environmental risk factors was collected through a questionnaire administered during an interview with the manager, owner or herdsman. Multiple logistic regression models were used to model the odds of herd infection for each disease. A zero-inflated Poisson model was used to model the count of Brucella-positive animals within herds, with the number tested as an exposure variable. The presence of small ruminants (sheep and/or goats) on the same farm, and buying-in of >3 new animals in the previous year or failure to practice quarantine were associated with increased odds of herd-level campylobacteriosis and brucellosis, as well as increased within-herd counts of Brucella-positive animals. In addition, high rainfall, initial acquisition of animals from markets, practice of gynaecological examination and failure to practice herd prophylactic measures were positively associated with the odds of C. fetus infection in the herd. Herd size of >15, pastoral management system and presence of handling facility on the farm were associated with increased odds, and gynaecological examination with reduced odds of herd-level Brucella seropositivity. Furthermore, the zero-inflated Poisson model showed that borrowing or sharing of bulls was associated with

A Web-Based Survey of Erection Hardness Score and Its Relationship to Aging, Sexual Behavior, Confidence, and Risk Factors in Japan

PubMed Central

Kimura, Masaki; Shimura, Satoru; Tai, Toshihiro; Kobayashi, Hideyuki; Baba, Shiro; Kano, Munehide; Nagao, Koichi

2013-01-01

Introduction Erection hardness is an elemental component of men's sexual quality of life that can be easily measured by the Erection Hardness Score (EHS). However, there are few published data regarding EHS, and there is little understanding of its relationships to aging, men's sexual behavior, sexual confidence, and risk factors in Japan. Aim To assess EHS and how it correlates to aging, sexual behaviors, sexual self-confidence, and risk factors in a Japanese population database. Methods A web-based cross-sectional nationwide survey conducted between March and May 2009 in Japan. Main Outcome Measures EHS, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, general health, sexual confidence, frequency of sexual behaviors, and attitudes toward treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). Results A total of 7,710 men with a mean age of 39.3 ± 13.0 years participated in this survey. In 6,528 participants who were not using phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, 3,540 (54.2%) had EHS ≤ 3 and 1,196 (18.3%) had EHS ≤ 2. We found a significant age-dependent decrease in EHS, sexual confidence, and frequency of sexual activities. Sexual confidence was strongly associated with higher EHS but was also associated with older age groups, presence of offspring, awareness of better general health, and greater frequency of sexual activity. In age-adjusted multivariate logistic regression, risk factors for a lower EHS (defined as EHS ≤ 2) were heavy smoking, which was defined as more than two packs per day (odds ratio [OR], 1.7) or a history of metabolic syndrome (OR, 1.4), hypertension (OR, 1.2), and diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.4). Conclusions EHS correlates to various elements, such as aging, sexual behaviors, sexual confidence, and ED-related risk factors, and can be a valuable tool in clinical practice for monitoring and treating ED and thereby improving the quality of life for men and their sexual partners. Kimura M, Shimura S, Tai T, Kobayashi H, Baba S, Kano M, and Nagao K. A web-based survey of

The DACCIWA 2016 radiosonde campaign in southern West Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fink, Andreas H.; Maranan, Marlon; Knippertz, Peter; Ngamini, Jean-Blaise; Francis, Sabastine

2017-04-01

operational analysis over southern West Africa during June-July 2016. In addition, upper-air data from the Nigerian stations Lagos, Abuja and Kano, not available in international archives, were collected and fed into the DACCIWA database. Instrumental to the success of the DACCIWA radiosonde campaign under challenging logistical constraints was the excellent collaboration and commitment of various African partners. In addition, European and African students worked together in the field to ensure an uninterrupted sounding frequency. The present contribution will describe the network, aspects of the Africa-European team working, the available data and their accessibility for research, as well as some first applications and highlights.

Detect groundwater flowing from riverbed using a drone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Kenji; Takemon, Yasuhiro

2017-04-01

Estimate the direct flow of groundwater to river is an important step in understanding of hydrodynamics in river system. Function of groundwater in river system does not limit to the mass of water. Continuous supply with thermally stable water from riverbed produces a space with unique condition, which provides various functions for organisms inhabiting in river as a shelter avoiding large shift of temperature, or to maintain productivity for small scale ecosystem by supplying nutrient rich groundwater if it gushes out from the riverbed in a deep pool of river. This may contribute to biodiversity of river system. Such function of groundwater is more significant for rivers run in island and in mountain zone. To evaluate the function of groundwater flowing from riverbed we first try to find such site by using a drone equipped with a sensitive thermo-camera to detect water surface temperature. In the examined area temperature of the groundwater doesn't change much throughout a year at around 15 to 16 °C, while surface temperature of the examined river fluctuates from below 10 °C to over 25 °C throughout seasons. By using this difference in temperature between groundwater and river water we tried to find site where groundwater comes out from the riverbed. Obviously winter when surface temperature becomes below 10 °C is an appropriate season to find groundwater as it comes up to the surface of river with depth ranging from 1 to 3 m. Trial flight surveys of drone were conducted in Kano-river in Izu Peninsula located at southern foot of Mt. Fuji in central Japan. Employed drone was Inspire1 (DJI, China) equipped with a Thermal camera (Zenmuse XT ZXTA 19 FP, FLIR, USA) and operated by Kazuhide Juta (KELEK Co. Ltd., Japan) and Mitsuhiro Komiya (TAM.Co.,LTD). In contrast to the former cases with employing airplane for taking aerial photograph, drone takes photo while flying at a low-altitude. When it flies at 40m above the water surface of river, resolution is at an

The early diagenetic and PETROphysical behaviour of recent cold-water CARbonate mounds in Deep Environments (PETROCARDE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foubert, Anneleen; Pirlet, Hans; Thierens, Mieke; de Mol, Ben; Henriet, Jean-Pierre; Swennen, Rudy

2010-05-01

overprints the primary environmental signals in Challenger mound, with extensive coral dissolution and the genesis of small-scaled semi-lithified layers in the Ca-rich intervals. The low cementation rates compared to the extensive dissolution patterns can be explained by an open-system diagenetic model. Moreover, Pirlet et al. (2009) emphasizes the occurrence of gypsum and dolomite in another mound system (Mound Perseverance) in Porcupine Seabight, which might be also related with fluid oxidation events in a semi-open diagenetic system. Along the Moroccan margins, fluid seepage and fluxes in pore water transport affect the development of mound structures, enhancing extensive cold-water coral dissolution and precipitation of diagenetic minerals such as dolomite, calcite, pyrite, etc. (Foubert et al., 2008). Recent carbonate mounds provide indeed an excellent opportunity to study early diagenetic processes in carbonate systems without the complications of burial and/or later meteoric diagenesis. References Foubert, A. and Henriet, J.P. (2009) Nature and Significance of the Recent Carbonate Mound Record: The Mound Challenger Code. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, Vol. 126. Springer, 298 pp. ISBN: 978-3-642-00289-2. Pirlet, H., Wehrmann, L., Brunner, B., Frank, N., Dewanckele, J., Van Rooij, D., Foubert, A., Swennen, R., Naudts, L., Boone, M., Cnudde, V. and Henriet, J.P. (2009) Diagenetic formation of gypsum and dolomite in a cold-water coral mound in the Porcupine Seabight, off Ireland. Sedimentology. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2009.01119.x. Titschack, J., Thierens, M., Dorschel, B., Schulbert, C., Freiwald, A., Kano, A., Takashima, C., Kawagoe, N., Li, X. and the IODP Expedition 307 Scientific Party (2009) Carbonate budget of a cold-water coral mound (Challenger Mound, IODP Exp. 307). Marine Geology, 259, 36-46.

Precision VUV Spectro-Polarimetry for Solar Chromospheric Magnetic Field Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, R.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Ishikawa, S.; Kano, R.; Kubo, M.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kobiki, T.; Narukage, N.; Suematsu, Y.; Tsuneta, S.; Aoki, K.; Miyagawa, K.; Ichimoto, K.; Kobayashi, K.; Auchère, F.; Clasp Team

2014-10-01

The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) is a VUV spectro-polarimeter optimized for measuring the linear polarization of the Lyman-α line (121.6 nm) to be launched in 2015 with NASA's sounding rocket (Ishikawa et al. 2011; Narukage et al. 2011; Kano et al. 2012; Kobayashi et al. 2012). With this experiment, we aim to (1) observe the scattering polarization in the Lyman-α line, (2) detect the Hanle effect, and (3) assess the magnetic fields in the upper chromosphere and transition region for the first time. The polarization measurement error consists of scale error δ a (error in amplitude of linear polarization), azimuth error Δφ (error in the direction of linear polarization), and spurious polarization ɛ (false linear polarization signals). The error ɛ should be suppressed below 0.1% in the Lyman-α core (121.567 nm ±0.02 nm), and 0.5% in the Lyman-α wing (121.567 nm ±0.05 nm), based on our scientific requirements shown in Table 2 of Kubo et al. (2014). From scientific justification, we adopt Δ φ<2° and δ a<10% as the instrument requirements. The spectro-polarimeter features a continuously rotating MgF2 waveplate (Ishikawa et al. 2013), a dual-beam spectrograph with a spherical grating working also as a beam splitter, and two polarization analyzers (Bridou et al. 2011), which are mounted at 90 degree from each other to measure two orthogonal polarization simultaneously. For the optical layout of the CLASP instrument, see Figure 3 in Kubo et al. (2014). Considering the continuous rotation of the half-waveplate, the modulation efficiency is 0.64 both for Stokes Q and U. All the raw data are returned and demodulation (successive addition or subtraction of images) is done on the ground. We control the CLASP polarization performance in the following three steps. First, we evaluate the throughput and polarization properties of each optical component in the Lyman-α line, using the Ultraviolet Synchrotron ORbital Radiation Facility (UVSOR

Analysis and Prediction of West African Moist Events during the Boreal Spring of 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mera, Roberto Javier

Weather and climate in Sahelian West Africa are dominated by two major wind systems, the southwesterly West African Monsoon (WAM) and the northeasterly (Harmattan) trade winds. In addition to the agricultural benefit of the WAM, the public health sector is affected given the relationship between the onset of moisture and end of meningitis outbreaks. Knowledge and prediction of moisture distribution during the boreal spring is vital to the mitigation of meningitis by providing guidance for vaccine dissemination. The goal of the present study is to (a) develop a climatology and conceptual model of the moisture regime during the boreal spring, (b) investigate the role of extra-tropical and Convectively-coupled Equatorial Waves (CCEWs) on the modulation of westward moving synoptic waves and (c) determine the efficacy of a regional model as a tool for predicting moisture variability. Medical reports during 2009, along with continuous meteorological observations at Kano, Nigeria, showed that the advent of high humidity correlated with cessation of the disease. Further analysis of the 2009 boreal spring elucidated the presence of short-term moist events that modulated surface moisture on temporal scales relevant to the health sector. The May moist event (MME) provided insight into interplays among climate anomalies, extra-tropical systems, equatorially trapped waves and westward-propagating synoptic disturbances. The synoptic disturbance initiated 7 May and traveled westward to the coast by 12 May. There was a marked, semi-stationary moist anomaly in the precipitable water field (kg m-2) east of 10°E through late April and early May, that moved westward at the time of the MME. Further inspection revealed a mid-latitude system may have played a role in increasing the latitudinal amplitude of the MME. CCEWs were also found to have an impact on the MME. A coherent Kelvin wave propagated through the region, providing increased monsoonal flow and heightened convection. A

A multi-timescale view on the slow solar wind with MTOF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heidrich-Meisner, Verena; Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.; Wurz, Peter; Bochsler, Peter; Ipavich, Fred M.; Paquette, John A.; Klecker, Bernard

2013-04-01

leads to an extensive picture of individual streams from MTOF, which can be combined with observations from other spacecraft in the future. In particular, identifying and understanding short-term variations of the slow solar wind has the potential to help distinguishing between different possible source regions and mechanisms. Further, with the long term goal of identifying possible different source mechanisms or regions, we analyze and compare the properties of individual streams on short time scales to focus on significant deviations from the average properties of slow solar wind. References [Antiochos2011] SK Antiochos, Z. Mikic, VS Titov, R. Lionello, and JA Linker. A model for the sources of the slow solar wind. The Astrophysical Journal, 731(2):112, 2011. [Hovestadt1995] D. Hovestadt, M. Hilchenbach, A. Bürgi, B. Klecker, P. Laeverenz, M. Scholer, H. Grünwaldt, WI Axford, S. Livi, E. Marsch, et al. Celias-charge, element and isotope analysis system for soho. Solar Physics, 162(1):441-481, 1995. [Pagel2004] AC Pagel, NU Crooker, TH Zurbuchen, and JT Gosling. Correlation of solar wind entropy and oxygen ion charge state ratio. Journal of geophysical research, 109(A1):A01113, 2004. [Sakao2007] T. Sakao, R. Kano, N. Narukage, J. Kotoku, T. Bando, E.E. DeLuca, L.L. Lundquist, S. Tsuneta, L.K. Harra, Y. Katsukawa, et al. Continuous plasma outflows from the edge of a solar active region as a possible source of solar wind. Science, 318(5856):1585-1588, 2007. [Schwadron2005] NA Schwadron, DJ McComas, HA Elliott, G. Gloeckler, J. Geiss, and R. Von Steiger. Solar wind from the coronal hole boundaries. Journal of geophysical research, 110(A4):A04104, 2005. [Tu2005] C.Y. Tu, C. Zhou, E. Marsch, L.D. Xia, L. Zhao, J.X. Wang, and K. Wilhelm. Solar wind origin in coronal funnels. Science, 308(5721):519-523, 2005. [vonSteiger2000] R. Von Steiger, N. Schwadron, LA Fisk, J. Geiss, G. Gloeckler, S. Hefti, B. Wilken, RF Wimmer-Schweingruber, and TH Zurbuchen. Composition of quasi