Dietary intake and Optimal gestational weight gain is an important factor linked with positive outcome for both mothers and their infants. Women who consume inadequate diet and gain inadequate weight during pregnancy are at risk of bearing a baby with low birth weight whereas those who gain excessive weight are at increased risk of preeclampsia, having microsomal babies and gestational diabetes. In developing countries, data on dietary intake gestational weight gain and its determinants are s...
Suboptimal complementary feeding practices contribute to stunted growth in many countries,including Ghana. Effective strategies, including engaging men, especially fathers, in complementary feeding practices are needed. Although fathers have a critical role in providing support to improve child nutrition, there are few studies on male involvement in nutrition and feeding practices. Therefore, this study assessed the level of male involvement in child feeding and its association with the dieta...
Anaemia in pregnancy continues to be a major public health problem affecting 45% of pregnant women in Ghana and 47% in the Northern Region. This study examined the impact of anaemia during the third trimester of pregnancy on birth outcomes in Tatale- Sanguli and Zabzugu districts. The study employed a prospective cohort design using simple random sampling technique to sample 359 respondents. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using the Statistical Package fo...
The sawdust stove (SOS) has been introduced in Ghana as a cook stove using a- renewable energy resource (RER) - sawdust, for almost thirty years now. Over these years however, the sawdust stove is not as widely in domestic use as the wood stove and charcoal "pot" even where sawdust abounds. This study therefore sought to find the reasons behind the non-adoption of the sawdust stove, and based on the findings, recommend practical and money-saving ways of using the stove. Literature review on s...
Abstract The presence of surface functional groups is key to the performance of an adsorbent material. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of functional groups on banana leaf petiole and on biochar made from banana leaf petiole. These functional groups assist in determining the potential of the material as an adsorbent for pollutants and heavy metals in waste water. Banana leaf petioles were collected from a single plantation and analyzed using the Fourier transform infrared s...
Abstract There has been a rise in the number of reported cases of mental illness in both High Income Countries (HICs) and Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) seldom make use of mathematical modeling. This research suggests eight first-order differential equations to form the basis of a mathematical model for psychiatric disorders. There are eight distinct categories created to reflect the public at large: the vulnerable, the working and jobless, drug add...
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on global health and has highlighted the importance of understanding the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. This study aimed to construct a COVID-19 transmission matrix in Kenya using the Markov chain and to examine the equilibrium distribution and steady states for COVID-19 transmission in Kenya. The study utilized data from the Ministry of Health in Kenya and other sources to estimate the transition probabilities used in t...
Abstract Rearing chicken has contributed positively to global nutrition, especially egg production. This practice attracts both large and small-scale poultry keeping within the world’s economy. Egg storage has been a problem due to ineffective methods subjecting many farmers and egg retailers to losses. These methods include various models involving statistical analysis of the storage conditions on the egg quality. However, they do not provide sufficient information. Therefore, confusion p...
Abstract Source direction-of-arrival estimation problem has received much attention in recent years following its significant role in array-signal processing and wide range of applications such as radar, wireless communication, sonar, seismology among others. Direction finding has been solved by several techniques such as Maximum likelihood estimator, MUltiple Signal Classification, Estimation of Parameters via Rotational Invariance Technique and Cram´er- Rao bound using array of sensors in...
Abstract Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation is an important branch in the field of array signal processing. It can be applied in such fields as wireless communication, sonar, radar, biomedicine, and radio detection. This fact together with the development of the geometries used in the past years is the principal motivation of this research project. Although various studies have focused on the uniform hexagonal array for direction finding, there is scanty use of the uniform hexagonal array...
Abstract This study set out to examine and map the spatial variation of infant mortality in Kenya. We used data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) database to explore spatial variation. Generalized linear mixed inodel(GLMM) with Enumeration Areas (EA) specific random effects was used to assess the effects of geographical heterogeneity and other covariates. The model based Geostatistical methods were used to quantify the spatial variations of the observations using the variograms and fi...
Abstract This study is a critical review of theoreticalissues that underline the linear mixed effects (LME) and nonlinear mixed effects (NLME) models. These two areas are revisited under maximum likelihood and restricted maximumlikelihood estimation frameworks. We also review methods of estimating parameters in both linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. In the case of LME, we consider different ways of developing the likelihood estimators, key among these methods are the “pseudo-data�...
Abstract This study was undertaken in Kakamega South Sub-County in Kakamega County where small-scale farmers depend on rain fed agriculture and over the years have had frequent crop failure due to seasonal drought. This study’s main objective was to establish adaptive strategies to agricultural drought effects on small scale crop production in Kakamega South Sub-county. The study established the evidence of climate change and agricultural drought on small scale crop production, determined ...
Abstract Sugarcane production worldwide has been declining due to many challenges in several countries as their population grows. Earlier studies in the sugar industry have through years offered suggestions and solutions to how the ailing industry could be revived and improved but have not been successful. In Kenya, some sugarcane industries are closing down yet more sugar is needed. This study examined the challenges facing small scale sugarcane farming in Malava sub–county, Kakamega Coun...
Abstract Urbanization has caused unprecedented land use changes around urban settlements leading to enormous social-economic impacts on peri urban residents. Currently, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, a figure that is predicted to reach 60 percent by the year 2030. If existing urbanization trend persist, urban dwellers will hit 68 percent by 2050. In order to satisfy the rising metropolitan population, urban areas have expanded spatially beyond legal limits into their hin...