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Knowledge, attitudes and practices of processors of deep-fried fish and potato chips with regard to cooking oil quality – A case of Kampala District, Uganda
No full textIt is a common practice amongst processors of deep-fried foods to recycle cooking oil to save costs. However, the quality of the oil deteriorates with every frying cycle yielding by-products that have harmful effects on human health. This study evaluated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of processors of deep-fried potato chips and fish in the five divisions of Kampala with regard to recycled cooking oil quality. A face-to-face interview with 301 processors was conducted. The majority (84.4 %) were females and more than half (52.7 %) were aged 19–28 years. Most processors (70.8 %) deep-fried potato chips and up to 78.9 % had less than 5 years’ experience in the business. The processors had sufficient knowledge (average score = 65.6 %) and attitudes (67.7 %) with regard to oil quality. The self-reported practices were just above the average score (54.8 %). Most (71.8 %) were not aware of the good quality characteristics of cooking oil. Most of the processors (87 %) kept cooking oil on heat for longer than is recommended. There was no significant relationship between knowledge and attitudes (p > 0.05). However, significant relationships (p˂0.05) between knowledge and practices and between attitudes and practices were observed. Therefore, this study showed that sufficient knowledge and attitudes on cooking oil quality amongst the processors in Kampala did not necessarily translate into good practices. Behavioral change communication and training on food safety practices may be essential in promoting the adoption of appropriate practices by processors
Family socio-economic status, parent-child engagement and girl-child retention in public secondary schools in Rubaga division, KCCA, Uganda
No full textxiii, 84 p. ;Completing education is one of the key factors in the life success and empowerment of the girl child. Full involvement in education and staying in school has been a challenge among secondary school girls in most urban areas of Uganda, especially after COVID-19. This study examined the relationship between Family Socio-economic Status, Parent-Child Engagement and Girl-Child Retention in government-aided secondary Schools in Rubaga Division, KCCA. Using a correlational design, data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire from a random sample of 315 students, selected from 5 Government aided secondary schools in the division. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the Family Socio-Economic Status was positively (r =.34) related to Girl Child Retention and predicted about 15 % of Girl Child Retention. A positive and significant relationship (r =.51), existed between Parent-Child Engagement and Girl Child Retention and it contributed 15.2% to retention. It was found that a positive and significant relationship (r =.36), existed between Family Socio-Economic Status and Parent-Child Engagement. Parent-child engagement increased the contribution of Family Socio-Economic Status to Girl Child Retention by 15.2 %. Good Socio-Economic Status of the family, enables parents to have a clear vision for their children, and be actively involved in the lives of their children, thus improving parent-child engagement and reducing intentions to drop out of school. Schools with strong parent relationships, partnerships, and communication, sustain effective strategies for reducing girl-child school dropout. It is recommended that parents and guardians strengthen their relationship with the school and especially the teachers of their children as this may enable them to monitor their performance and character better. Parents should always pay their students’ school fees on time to enable students to concentrate on their studies and limit their intentions to drop out. A comparison study of government-aided and private secondary schools on Family socio-economic status, parent-child engagement and Girl-child retention is needed
Use of assistive technologies in teaching and learning of learners with visual impairment in primary schools in kasulu district, Tanzania
No full textx, 135 p. : ill. (some col.) ;This study examined the use of ATs in teaching and learning of LwVI in primary schools in Kasulu District, Tanzania. It was guided by three objectives namely; to establish the available ATs for teaching and learning of LwVI; to examine how ATs are used to facilitate the teaching and learning of LwVI, and investigate how ATs might be enhancing the learning of LwVI in primary schools. The study was guided by the Delone and Maclean (D&M) IS Success model as a comprehensive theoretical framework to examine how ATs are successfully used to facilitate the teaching and learning of LwVI. A case study design under a qualitative research approach was adopted and the data was collected using two methods namely; observation which was conducted to analyze the available ATs and other enabling infrastructures for use of ATs; then interviews, where semi-structured interviews were held with twelve participants in categories of teachers; the deputy head teacher; learners with visual impairments, and a District special Needs Education Officer. The data obtained was subjected to thematic analysis to generate meaning for inferences. The study reveals that primary schools have some ATs but many of them are not available and those that are available are not sufficient to cater for LwVI. On another side, the school is constrained with limited collection of low-tech ATs and extremely few high-tech ATs and that some of the available ATs are not operating due to breakdown and lack of repair. It also shows that the use of ATs is hindered by poor infrastructure. Though limited, teachers and LwVI were making use of ATs in different ways and the learning of LwVI was therefore to some extent enhanced. The study, therefore, concludes that the schools had very few ATs, the use of ATs in primary schools was limited due to existing challenges, and the learning of LwVI was slightly enhanced. Lastly, the study recommends that efforts be made by stakeholders including the MoEST in collaboration with the PO-RALG, TIE, NGOs should equip primary schools with ATs and put in place necessary enabling infrastructure, improve pre-service and in-service teacher training programs. The study further recommends proper budget allocation to cater for acquisition of ATs for primary schools in Tanzania if learning among LwVI is to be enhanced
Characterization of glucose syrup and ethanol from starch extracted from selected cassava and maize varieties grown in Uganda
No full textxii, 207 p. : ill. (some col.) ;The research aimed to extract starch from the selected cassava and maize varieties, evaluate enzymatic and acid hydrolysis processes for glucose syrup production, and assess ethanol production. Characterization of the resulting glucose syrup and ethanol was also performed. A total of four (4) cassava varieties and four (4) maize varieties were used in this study. These included two local varieties of cassava (Mukumba and Mwezi mukaaga), two improved cassava varieties (TME 14 and NAROCASS 1), two open pollinated maize varieties (Longe 4H and Longe 5H) and two hybrid maize varieties (H 5355 and H 2115). Cassava was harvested at twelve (12) months while maize was harvested at four (4) months (120 days) after planting.
Cassava and maize starch were extracted in three independent replicates using the wet and alkaline extraction methods, respectively. Glucose syrup was produced using acid and enzyme hydrolysis. Glucose syrups were fermented using Young’s dried active yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to obtain ethanol.
There was no significant difference in the starch yield of the local and improved varieties for either cassava or maize. H 2115 produced the highest yield of 50.83% among the maize varieties while Mwezi mukaaga had the highest yield (29.1%) among the cassava varieties.
Selection of the varieties for starch characterization was based on starch yield. Swelling power and solubility for all the starch varieties increased with increasing temperatures with Mwezi mukaaga having the highest swelling power (18.23 g/g) at 90°C and TME 14 having the highest solubility (2.45%) at 90°C. The content of amylose of cassava starch was higher than that of maize with Mwezi mukaaga having highest amylose content of 24.25%. Maize had higher resistant starch content than cassava with H2115 having the highest resistant starch content of 0.82%. The gelatinization temperatures for all starch varieties were not significantly different (p>0.05). Cassava varieties were much lighter than the maize varieties. The cassava starch granules were round, truncated with larger particle sizes (17.40 and 17.95 μm) as compared to the maize starch granules which were round, irregular and polygonal with smaller particle sizes (11.05 and 9.10 μm).
Acid hydrolysis significantly produced higher (p>0.05) sugar concentration for both crop types as compared to enzyme hydrolysis. Among maize varieties, H 2115 had highest sugar content of 46.1 g/100 g (acid hydrolysis) and H 5355, 40.3 g/100 g (enzyme hydrolysis), while among cassava varieties, TME 14 had the highest sugar content of 31.2 g/100 g (acid hydrolysis) and Mukumba, 12.41 g/100 g (enzyme hydrolysis).
Enzyme hydrolyzed samples showed highest sugar consumption by the yeast hence a higher alcohol (ABV) content and ultimately a better fermentation efficiency. Enzyme hydrolyzed glucose syrups had a higher ethanol content than the acid hydrolyzed syrups, with no difference between maize and cassava varieties in each treatment. These results propose that maize and cassava are good sources of starch, glucose syrup and ethanol with the maize varieties used in this study giving higher sugar concentrations than the cassava varieties
Safety, health and environmental impacts of commercial motorcycles in Sub-Saharan African cities
No full textIn Sub-Saharan Africa, vulnerable road users make up approxi-
mately 50% of all traffic fatalities. Despite the dangers of using
motorcycles for transportation, the usage of motorcycles—and
more recently, motor tricycles—for both personal and commercial
purposes has increased exponentially in most Sub-Saharan African
cities. The study sought to study the safety, health and environ-
mental impact of commercial motorcycles in Sub-Saharan African
cities. Two cities—the national capital and a secondary city—were
selected in each of our five study countries: Ghana, Liberia, Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda. Using a mixed-methods approach, motor-
cycle taxi operators were surveyed and key transport stakeholders
were interviewed in these ten cities. In Ghana, where both motor-
cycle and motor-tricycle taxis are officially banned but continue to
operate, we also surveyed motor-tricycle taxi operators. The results
indicated variability in accident occurrence across countries for
both minor and major road traffic collisions (RTCs) among motor-
cycle/tricycle taxi riders. Apart from Liberia, motorcycle/tricycle taxi
unions in our study countries contribute to improving the safety of
their riders. Interest in electric bikes is low amongst riders in all five
countries, with education and infrastructure provision required to
cause a shift from conventional bikes to electric bikes
Levels, economic savings and determinants of technical efficiency in public health centre III facilities in south western Uganda
No full textxii, 81 p. ;Basic to human welfare is good health and it is fundamental for socioeconomic development of any economy. Faced with resource constraints especially in the health sector, technical efficiency among the healthcare agents is a global concern to ensure proper utilization of the scarce resources to deliver good healthcare services to people. About 20 to 40 percent of the 7.5trillion US dollars spent on health sector globally is wasted to inefficiency (Xu et al., 2018).
The general objective was to investigate the determinants of Technical Efficiency in public Health center (HCIII) facilities in South Western Uganda. The study was guided by three specific objectives namely (i) to estimate the TE scores among HCIII facilities, (ii) to establish the level of economic savings that can be achieved when technically inefficient facilities achieved technical efficiency and finally (iii) to examine the socioeconomic determinants of technical efficiency in HCIII facilities in South Western Uganda.
The study uses a cross sectional descriptive research design with a sample of 30 public HCIII facilities in South Western Uganda. A Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique was adopted to estimate TE and slack values for economic savings while a Tobit regression second stage model was applied for the socioeconomic determinants of TE among various public HCIII facilities. Secondary data was obtained from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), District Health Information System (DHIS) and District Planning Units for health inputs and outputs as well as socioeconomic characteristics of the population in South Western Uganda for the financial year 2020/21.
The findings of the study reveal that 47 percent of the public HCIII facilities were technically efficient and the average TE score was 72 percent implying that the facilities need to improve resource utilization by 28 percent to become technically efficient.
The study concludes that unemployment rate, infectious diseases patients, catchment population, patient population below 5 and above 65 years, urban location and competition were the significant determinants of TE for HCIII facilities in South Western Uganda. The study finally recommends reallocation of resources within facilities, increasing resources for facilities and improving social services facilities to improve on the technical efficiency levels for HCIII facilities in South Western Uganda
Examining the use of technology in literature teaching and learning at university in Uganda
No full textEven though the use of digital media and technologies has become a dominant ubiquitous norm in teaching and learning experiences at higher education levels in Uganda, there remains a significant dearth of scholarship on their use in a literature classroom. The full effects of digital media and technologies on literary studies remains unexamined. This chapter thus explores the use of ICTs (i.e., electronic teaching and learning materials accessed online and/or local media technology or platforms) in a Literature in English classroom at Kyambogo University, Uganda, using data drawn from oral interviews with key informant interviewees, focus group discussions and questionnaires administered to lecturers and pre-service trainee teachers of Literature in English at Kyambogo University. Results from the study show that the use of technology in teaching and learning of Literature in English at university in Uganda engenders both positive and negative results, providing unimaginable opportunities (e.g., increasing access to study materials) and challenges (e.g., low ICT self-efficacy) for teachers and learners, but also presenting serious threats to the teaching and learning of Literature (e.g., increasing the digital divide between marginalized and privileged learners and between skilled and unskilled learners)
Contextual reading of 2 kings 5:1-15 in relation to african ideological perspectives on disease: a case study of covid-19
No full textvii, 77 p. ;The study focused on contextual reading of 2Kings 5:1-15 in relation to African ideological perspectives on disease. The study used qualitative research methodologies and approaches and was based on library and document sources; using documents as the key tool in data collection. The study falls in a broad framework of African postcolonial interpretation of the Bible. A detailed examination of 2 Kings 5: 1-15 was done, with focus put on understanding the text in its own context. Centering the theme of Naaman’s leprosy in the broader ideological context of the ancient biblical world. The study further reads 2 Kings 5:1-15 in relation to the Africa epistemological construct of mystical diseases like Covid-19, Ebola, Nodding Diseases, Leprosy and among others. In view of African spirituality, the study focuses on the causation, attitudes, and response to such diseases. Chapter six of this study encompasses a contextual approach where the epistemological worldviews of 2 Kings 5:1-15 are read in correlation with African ideological perspectives on disease. The study reveals a mutual relationship between the biblical and African understanding of diseases of mystical nature. Such diseases are perceived to be of a spiritual causation, hence requiring a spiritual response. Their contagious nature is in both the text and context linked to a transfer of negative mystical powers. Victims of such diseases are perceived as condemned and infectious, and can only be handled in specialized spiritual ways. Though the control measures of such mystical diseases look synonymous to modern scientific pandemic standard operating procedures, the motivation behind such measures are different when compared with those of modern science. Besides, African religious approaches to disease have often conflicted to national authorities that recognize World Health Organization SOPs. The study highlights the influence of attitude and perception to mystical disease management and implores the African modern scientists to make use of the African Ideological Perspectives on disease in their response to and dealership with Africans in the face of pandemic
Effect of increased heavy metal toxicity on the quality of vermicomposted biosolids: (a case study of sludge from bugolobi and lubigi wastewater treatment plants)
No full textxii, 88 p. : ill. ;Sewage sludge management is one of the current global environmental issues. In many developing countries like Uganda, the problem is amplified due to uncontrolled and untreated industrial effluents. This tends to increase heavy metal toxicity of wastewater and consequently that of sewage sludge thereby posing danger to human health and the environment. This research explored means of stabilising such sewage sludge of increased heavy metal toxicity through vermicomposting to allow for safe disposal. Sewage sludge samples were picked from Bugolobi and Lubigi sewage treatment plants and tested for quality and bio-safety. An optimal earthworm stocking density for sewage sludge vermicomposting was determined using 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.5kgworms/square meter of exposed surface area of vermicompost bins. Using an optimal earthworm stocking density, vermicomposting of sewage sludge at higher heavy metal concentration was carried out and the resulting biosolids assessed with respect to their Total Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Organic Carbon, Carbon-Nitrogen ratio, faecal coliforms, and electro-conductivity. The results from the tests were compared with standards for organic fertilizers set by Uganda National Bureau of Standards. The results indicated the presence of faecal coliforms, Lead levels, and Electro-conductivity beyond maximum permissible limits. The characteristic of sewage sludge was observed to improve with age while sewage sludge from Lubigi treatment plant which predominantly receives domestic waste water exhibited relatively better characteristics in comparison to sludge from Bugolobi treatment plant. Earthworm stocking density had significant influence on the level of faecal coliforms and electro-conductivity of vermicompost. The research ascertained that a stocking density of 2.5kgworms/m2 was optimal for sewage sludge vermicomposting. Heavy metal toxicity was observed to cause earthworm mortality beyond 0.0021 moles of Lead in sewage sludge. Increased bio-accumulation of heavy metals Lead and Zinc in earthworms was observed at higher heavy metal concentrations. Vermicomposting at higher heavy metal toxicity levels yielded better quality biosolids in terms of bio-safety and quality except for increment in concentration of the spiked metals and electro-conductivity. Further research, therefore, on speciation of spiked heavy metal concentrations after vermicomposting is recommended in order to conclusively ascertain the absence of any potential threat of such vermicompost to the environment.
Keywords: - Vermicomposting, Heavy metal, Toxicity, Biosolid, Sludge, Stocking densit
Exploring waste leaves as an alternative material for making indoor sculpture
No full textx, 77 p. : ill. (some col.) ;This study explored the use of waste leaves as a reliable alternative material for indoor sculpture. Indoor sculptures have been made from different conventional materials obtained from the environment such as; metal, wood, ivory, silver, gold, bronze, clay among others. Most of these materials apart from wood and clay are very costly and not easily accessible. Wood and clay have been few of the easily accessible materials used by sculptors however, human activities such as construction, deforestation, dumping of waste products, farming, human settlements, charcoal burning, brick making and many others, have tampered with the environment hence the access to these materials is equally difficult. The researcher therefore investigated the use of waste leaves as an alternative material for indoor sculpture. The objectives of the study were to investigate the type of materials used in producing indoor sculpture in Kyambogo University school of Art and industrial design, to explore how waste leaves can be used as an alternative material for producing indoor sculpture and to produce sculpture samples from waste leaves as a reliable and alternative material for sculpture. The study was qualitative and employed a case study research design to collect data among respondents at the school of Art and Industrial design in Kyambogo University.
The findings of this study affirm that waste leaves are a reliable alternative material for indoor sculpture, waste leaves can be used to produce indoor sculpture by using various sculpture techniques such as additive, subtractive or casting techniques and waste leaves can be used with an amateur for easy application of material and to give shape to the sculpture. This study recommends the use of waste leaves for production of sculpture to cut the cost of production using other materials and to save the environment. The study also recommends further research on the preservation of the finished sculptures for easy cleaning and restoration and using this material on outdoor sculpture.
The continuous negative impact of human activities on environment reduce the availability of materials for sculpture because the different materials for sculpture such as wood, clay, silver, Gold, bronze among others are obtained from the environment therefore there is no future for the future sculptor.
Well prepared waste leaves with a suitable adhesive, can produce a suitable, reliable and alternative material for indoor sculpture