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Assessment of Ground water Quality in Mumbuni Estate, Machakos Town, Kenya
Julius Kioko Nzeve,
Grace Nduta Mbate
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
1-5
Received:
11 January 2021
Accepted:
18 January 2021
Published:
28 January 2021
Abstract: The rapid increase of global human population has led to more people living in towns and cities in the recent past. This has brought pressure on water service provision and sanitation infrastructure in many cities and towns including Machakos town. Due to surface water shortages, groundwater has been an alternative. This includes sinking of boreholes and hand dug shall wells. This study evaluated the concentration levels of physical and chemical parameters of water in selected boreholes and shallow wells in Mumbuni estate, Machakos town. A total of three boreholes and three shallow wells were included in the study. Water samples were collected in triplicates after every two weeks for a period of one and a half months from the selected sampling sites. The samples were transported to the Water Resources Authority (WRA) central laboratory in Nairobi for analysis using the standard methods for the examination of ground water. Independent T-test was used to analyze data and significance levels accepted at p≤0.05. The results obtained were compared with both the World Health Organization (WHO) and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) drinking water standards in order to determine the quality of ground water and its suitability for drinking. All the parameters measured varied significantly between borehole water and shallow well water except for Calcium, Magnesium and potassium (p≥0.05). pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, Chloride, Fluoride and Sulphates were within the WHO and KEBS recommended limits for drinking water. Other parameters tested such as Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium were also within acceptable limits. The study concluded that water from boreholes and shallow wells in Mumbuni estate is suitable for drinking.
Abstract: The rapid increase of global human population has led to more people living in towns and cities in the recent past. This has brought pressure on water service provision and sanitation infrastructure in many cities and towns including Machakos town. Due to surface water shortages, groundwater has been an alternative. This includes sinking of borehol...
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Perception and Evaluation of Noise Tempted Health Hazards and Risk Assessment from Portable Power Generators Usage in the Resident of Karachi, Pakistan
Akhtar Shareef,
Durdana Rais Hashmi
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
6-12
Received:
30 December 2020
Accepted:
18 January 2021
Published:
2 February 2021
Abstract: The aim of this study was to estimate the noise pollution level and possible health impacts due to the use of portable electricity generators in commercial areas of Karachi, city. 04 locations were selected at Tibet Centre, Empress Market, Garden Road and Saddar GPO Area. This study was designed to assess the perception and knowledge of power generator users towards the noise induced health hazards. A survey was conducted with 312 persons, randomly selected as shopkeepers, office workers and push-carters who participated as respondents in semi-structured questionnaire interview method. The questionnaire was divided into three sections as a) demographic characteristics include age, sex and educational level b) Knowledge and perception of noise pollution hazards and c) noise induced health hazards by the use of portable generators. Participants on the basis of their responses were categorized into four classes, no education / illiterate, SSC, HSC and graduate & above level education. It was established that higher the educational level the respondents had, the more they were likely to be aware of health effects of noise pollution. Results showed that residents are in constant exposure of generator noise show adverse health effect on the habitants which includes hearing impairment, interference with spoken communication, sleep disturbances, cardiovascular disturbances, impaired task performance and negative social behavior and annoyance reactions.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to estimate the noise pollution level and possible health impacts due to the use of portable electricity generators in commercial areas of Karachi, city. 04 locations were selected at Tibet Centre, Empress Market, Garden Road and Saddar GPO Area. This study was designed to assess the perception and knowledge of power gener...
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Factors Influencing Handwashing Practice Among Primary School Children Attending at Altadamun School, Mogadishu-Somalia
Mohamed Hassan Mohamed,
Shukri Abdulkadir Ahmed
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
13-18
Received:
5 January 2021
Accepted:
28 January 2021
Published:
23 February 2021
Abstract: Background: this study investigated factors influencing hand washing practice with special focus to educational factors, socioeconomic factors and cultural factors influencing hand washing practice among primary school children attending at Altadamun School, Mogadishu-Somalia. Factors the main objective of this study is factors influencing hand washing practice remain a major problem in developing hygiene related diseases among primary school children. Methods: the study employed descriptive approach and sought to cover the descriptive elements of the research process. Data collected using questionnaire, and SPSS statistical software version 16 was used to analyze the dataset whereby total of 184 respondents selected from primary School children attending at Altadamun School were participated in this study. Results: this study presents critical analysis of the involvement of factors influencing hand washing practice among primary School children Mogadishu-Somalia. The findings of the study revealed that awareness of the respondents about hand washing practice was very low due to lack of education about the importance of hand washing and cultural influences. The findings from objective one of this study implies other findings that revealed lack of education of pupils about hand washing practice increases their risk of becoming exposed to hygiene diseases. According to the second objective of this study, findings from the result in Tables 12, 13 and 9 showed that all the respondents never washed their hands while at School. This finding still agrees with Piney, Jamison and others (2000). In view of the fact, based on the finding from the result of the analysis in Tables 16, 17 and 18 respectively indicated that all the respondents were not often washed their hands with soap before eating food. This finding agrees with the Rosen, UNICEF and others in the 2007 findings from the study carried out Grange school in Nigeria. Conclusion: this study recommends that there is a need for water, sanitation and hygiene lessons in school curriculum to be taught at schools, sitting up hand washing facilities in all public and private schools as well as cultural change through community awareness.
Abstract: Background: this study investigated factors influencing hand washing practice with special focus to educational factors, socioeconomic factors and cultural factors influencing hand washing practice among primary school children attending at Altadamun School, Mogadishu-Somalia. Factors the main objective of this study is factors influencing hand was...
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Aspects, Needs and Usefulness of Forests in Human Life from Ancient Time Till Now
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
19-22
Received:
20 January 2021
Accepted:
28 January 2021
Published:
23 February 2021
Abstract: The main objective of writing this paper is to find out the vital important role of forests in humane life and make them aware from such amazing benefits of natural forests. The information all about this topic has been collected from the authentic scientific books and the result show that the vegetation cover, pasture, forests and green space is source of a country. Conservation of water and soil, prevention of soil erosion, increase of ground water resources, providing of the clear air for breathing of organisms, producing of deferent type of fruits, producing of raw materials for woodcraft and environmental protection is the non-forgettable benefits of forests. Malika Hoshmand (2019) says” trees are the lifeblood of humans and animals are in fact the breath of earth, by absorbing toxic gases such as carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, which is one of the most basic needs of humans and animal’s life, and save the natural cycle”. Forests were the home of ancient human and same human today, trees are producing fruits to save humans from hunger, protects soil to keep avoid from huge floods and absorbs dusts to save human heaths.
Abstract: The main objective of writing this paper is to find out the vital important role of forests in humane life and make them aware from such amazing benefits of natural forests. The information all about this topic has been collected from the authentic scientific books and the result show that the vegetation cover, pasture, forests and green space is s...
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Use of Motivational Strategies in Teaching-Learning Process Among Nurse Educators in Nursing Programmes in Selected States of the South-East, Nigeria
Okonkwo Oluchukwu Ginika,
Ogbonnaya Ngozi Phoebe,
Anieche John Emenike
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
23-29
Received:
30 December 2020
Accepted:
14 February 2021
Published:
27 February 2021
Abstract: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that determined the use of motivational strategies in teaching-learning process among Nurse Educators in nursing programmes in selected states of the Southeast, Nigeria. Population for the study was 112 nurse educators in Schools and Departments of nursing in the Southeast Nigeria. Investigators’-developed questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument was validated for contents and tested for internal consistency through a pilot test and data generated were analyzed using Crombach’s Alpha which yielded reliability index of 0.813. Ethical approval from the Research and Ethics Committee of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Anambra State. Data generation was through one-on-one administration of the instrument to the participants. Statistical hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVA at Confidence Interval of 95%. Study revealed that 97.2% of the Nurse Educators apply motivational strategies inteaching-learning process out of which 96.1% indicated “developing lessons that engage students in learning”. Majority of them (94.2%) indicated “establishing an environment that is safe from physical and emotional harm”. Study showed that “supporting learning and future goals” were indicated by the Nurse Educators (x=3.59, SD=0.52) as a key approach to the application of motivational strategies. Study also revealed that there was no significant difference in the use of motivational strategies between male and female Nurse Educators (t(105,.025)=.366, p>.05). Further still, there is no significant difference in the use of motivational strategies when analyzed according to teaching experience (F=1.034, p>.05). The researchers recommend full participation of the Nurse Educators at the point of selection of prospective nursing students to ensure that the best brains with readiness to learn are admitted into nursing programme.
Abstract: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that determined the use of motivational strategies in teaching-learning process among Nurse Educators in nursing programmes in selected states of the Southeast, Nigeria. Population for the study was 112 nurse educators in Schools and Departments of nursing in the Southeast Nigeria. Investigators’-develope...
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The Effects of Socio-cultural Factors on Medical College Students' Self-Rated Health Status and Health-Promoting Lifestyles in Eritrea: A Cross-sectional Study
Isayas Afewerki Abraham,
Zewdi Amanuel Dagnew,
Eyasu Habte Tesfamariam,
Ghirmay Ghebreigziabher Beraki,
Oliver Okoth Achila,
Yemane Fessehaye Berhe,
Yingchun Dai
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
30-38
Received:
20 January 2021
Accepted:
28 January 2021
Published:
4 March 2021
Abstract: Sub-optimal health status (SHS) and unhealthy lifestyle among college students have become a major focus for research on public health worldwide. Hence, this study was designed to assess the effects of socio-cultural factors on medical college students' self-rated health status (SRH) and health-promoting lifestyles (HPL) in Eritrea. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Orotta School of Medicine (OSM), using a self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected from all medical students who had fulfilled the inclusion criteria using Sub-Optimal Health Measurement Scale (SHMS V1.0) and Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) scale questionnaires. Independent samples t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Binary multivariate logistic regression were performed. Data analysis was undertaken using SPSS version 22. The overall SRH was significantly higher among college students with BMI of 25 to 29.9 (M=88.23, SD=6.28) as compared to <18.5 (p=0.027) and 18.5 to 24.9 (p=0.027). Moreover, physiological subscale of SRH was significantly related to gender (M males=88.96 Vs M females=85.41, p=0.001) and monthly stipend (M income=89.52 Vs M no-income=87.28, p=0.040). On the other hand, physical activity of HPL was found to vary by gender (M males=2.12 Vs M females=1.87, p=0.005) and alcohol consumption (M drinkers=2.22 Vs M non-drinkers=1.99, p=0.016). Nutrition differences of HPL were observed in BMI of 25 to 29.9 (M=2.40, p=0.028), internship students (M=2.15, p=0.027), and monthly income (M=2.11, p=0.029). The overall SRH was significantly correlated with the overall HPL (r=0.493, p<0.001). In addition, students who had high (≥good) HPL were more likely to rate themselves as healthier: AOR=4.97, 95% CI: 1.28-19.32 and AOR=3.73, 95% CI: 1.09-12.80. In all, the study adds to the evidence on the impact of socio-cultural influences’ on SRH (gender, BMI, stipend) and HPL (gender, alcohol, BMI, study year, stipend) of medical students.
Abstract: Sub-optimal health status (SHS) and unhealthy lifestyle among college students have become a major focus for research on public health worldwide. Hence, this study was designed to assess the effects of socio-cultural factors on medical college students' self-rated health status (SRH) and health-promoting lifestyles (HPL) in Eritrea. A descriptive c...
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Territorialize Comprehensive Local Risk Management and Information Systems: Co-building Knowledge in the Field of Environmental Health
Maria del Carmen Rojas,
Ana Colombres,
Silvina Hidalgo,
Oscar Lopez,
Daniel Machado,
Viviana Mendoza,
Patricia Montero,
Analia Ocampo
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
39-48
Received:
4 January 2021
Accepted:
20 February 2021
Published:
9 March 2021
Abstract: At present, the act of thinking appears as idle and is displaced by the instrumental. Comprehensive local risk management (CLRM) and information systems (IS) in the field of environmental health (EH) are analyzed ignoring the actor's conception and the time from which they start. Common practice does not respect the ontological character that we recognize as artisanal and based on movements of social re-association and re-assembly. Because of this it is necessary to catch up with the innovations of the actors, in order to know and learn about the collective existence from their own point of view, without imposing any order, limiting diversity, teaching what they are or adding reflexivity to their practice. The purpose of this article is to challenge CLRM and IS as a technical answer without questions, versus a CLRM and IS as a territory, that is, as a space with questions based on institutions, procedures and concepts capable of bringing together and re-relating the social. For this purpose, we will analyze the science that moves in the dimension of philosophy and recover the passion that represents the question; the territory as a space of the singular and site of acting, where the relational and the symbolic are expressed crossed by capitals and fields that exceed the epistemological simplicity; equity and equality to reduce long-term risk; the moments of the processual logic of an SI in the reference framework: data, information, knowledge, communication for action (DIKCA); cognitive justice; the processes of co-building knowledge essentially constituted by the word and conversations that trigger processes. We affirm that environmental health is a key tool of social practice. It corresponds to all this vast set of practices and knowledge that a society sets in place to know its health and environment, in order to transform it. Therefore, the proposal is to cease understanding CLRM and SI as rational products, and to come to understand them as a human product and, therefore, made by humans who construct language a central feature of their existence. We believe that change is necessary, that new, or not so new problems cannot be solved with outdated ideas. However, acquiring and developing renewed ideas or concepts can create the false illusion that everything is easy, but it is not. The challenge is daunting, as much as the need is inescapable.
Abstract: At present, the act of thinking appears as idle and is displaced by the instrumental. Comprehensive local risk management (CLRM) and information systems (IS) in the field of environmental health (EH) are analyzed ignoring the actor's conception and the time from which they start. Common practice does not respect the ontological character that we re...
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Work and Nature: Collective Health Challenges Towards the Sustainable Development Goals After the COVID-19 Pandemic
Marcelo Amable,
Rocio Gonzalez Francese,
Cecilia Schneider
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
49-57
Received:
4 January 2021
Accepted:
20 February 2021
Published:
9 March 2021
Abstract: Work is a central concept to understand social metabolism. Human work is the process that getting the social metabolism that creates those goods necessary for to life. The industrial revolution laid the foundation for an insurmountable contradiction between capitalism and environmental sustainability. The advance of market power over the use of natural resources to sustain globalized lifestyles is responsible for various manifestations of the ecological crisis. As in the rest of the world, in Latin America this type of economic growth has a negative impact on ecosystems in general and on biodiversity in particular. A productive structure that is extractive and intensive of natural resources that not only show its unsustainability, but also its incapability to produce development and well-being. The current COVID-19 pandemic highlights the economic system's vulnerabilities on an unsuspected scale. The SDG issued in 2015, acknowledges the ecological crisis and recognition the impossibility of finding global governance mechanisms with regulatory capacity. The COVID-19 pandemic called into question the economic paradigm perspective on which some of the SDG are based: economic growth and globalization. It is the field of health where the impact of COVID-19 pushes SDG further away. The public health response is limited in the face of the impacts of an epidemic that strikes at the SDG's multiple dimensions. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is profound. The SDG are not exempt from that perspective, if they manage to prove themselves as guiding principles for global governance. We argue that the opportunity to find structural solutions with long-term horizons will rise from radical changes in the ways we produce, distribute and consume. Collective health could contribute to the redefinition of the SDG if it faces the challenge of a public health that takes up ecosocial approaches by redefining the social uses of work and nature. The first condition to initiate those structural changes is a progressive de-commodification of life. The second fundamental condition for sustainable welfare is the democratization of social life. Finally, collective health can contribute to redefine the SDG if faces the challenge of a public health that takes up eco-social approaches.
Abstract: Work is a central concept to understand social metabolism. Human work is the process that getting the social metabolism that creates those goods necessary for to life. The industrial revolution laid the foundation for an insurmountable contradiction between capitalism and environmental sustainability. The advance of market power over the use of nat...
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An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Modeling in Social Science
Juan Carlos Jesus Vazquez,
Julio Javier Castillo,
Leticia Edith Constable,
Marina Elizabeth Cardenas,
Juan Carlos Guillermo Vazquez
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
58-68
Received:
4 January 2021
Accepted:
20 February 2021
Published:
17 March 2021
Abstract: Computer Science has contributed to social sciences since decades ago: connecting people that build virtual communities where the interactions can be investigated, developing tools for statistically analytics, designing models that allow the analysis and simulation of the most diverse types, among many others. In this article, we describe an artificial neural network to model a theoretical framework for risk, housing, and health problematic, called DRVS (Diagnostic methodology for risk determination of urban housing for health), which uses a holistic approach for community and environmental health. The methodology also exposes digital clinic history for families and communities, developed to support the acquisition of necessary data. This software has advantages for the transference and application of the DRVS in different locations since it constitutes an expert system for the determination of local social indexes and supports the quantitative validation process for the underlying social theory. On the other hand, as many artificial intelligence techniques, it has constraints: unlike explicit logic inferences, artificial neural networks work as «black boxes», not explaining how they got the result; they have a strong dependency of the representativeness of training data and introducing new knowledge that may improve their results and performance is difficult (new data, addition or remotion of determining factors for the underlying social model, weighting factors, etc.). This article also shows some techniques and ideas on how to deal with the identified constraints.
Abstract: Computer Science has contributed to social sciences since decades ago: connecting people that build virtual communities where the interactions can be investigated, developing tools for statistically analytics, designing models that allow the analysis and simulation of the most diverse types, among many others. In this article, we describe an artifi...
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Epidemiological Approach to the Hantavirus Outbreak and the Role of the Social Dimension of Health Care
Jorge Elias,
Emiliano Biondo,
Jorge Diaz
Issue:
Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2021
Pages:
69-75
Received:
4 January 2021
Accepted:
20 February 2021
Published:
26 March 2021
Abstract: In late 2018, in the town of Epuyén, Argentine Patagonia, the outbreak of Andes hantavirus begins. Evidence led to the interhuman transmission hypothesis. The comparative analysis carried out by the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud) Malbrán of Argentina showed that the viral genotype was Andes Sur. The percentage of genetic identity reached 99.9% and confirmed, univocally, that the transmission mechanism was from person to person. This finding indicates a unique and extraordinary event that required a multidimensional approach, incorporating the collective health approach to transform biomedical therapeutics through an intersectoral, interinstitutional and intercultural work based on the dynamics of social determination and its impact on the health/disease/attention/care process. The chain of contagion had 4 clusters with 34 confirmed cases and 11 deaths. Overall mortality was 32.4%, women doubling the number of deaths compared to men. This article presents not only the hard data of the outbreak, but also the observation of the socio-cultural context in which it took place and the value of social determination in the health care process, criteria without which selective respiratory isolation (ARS, aislamiento respiratorio selectivo), the main tool for containing the outbreak, would not have been possible in the multiethnic and multicultural context of the Patagonian region. Incidentally, 8.7% of the population of Chubut province recognizes itself as indigenous and more than half of the 100 communities are distributed in the area where the outbreak occurred. The concept of indigenous health is linked to a holistic view of balance between the individual and the universe, confronting the hegemony of the bio-model. This confrontation challenged the health team to look more deeply into the social collective and to find there the agreements and synergies that allowed the successful continuation of the intervention until the resolution and conclusion of the outbreak.
Abstract: In late 2018, in the town of Epuyén, Argentine Patagonia, the outbreak of Andes hantavirus begins. Evidence led to the interhuman transmission hypothesis. The comparative analysis carried out by the National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes (ANLIS, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud) Malbrán of Argenti...
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