Rohana Yusof

Evaluating the strength of concrete structure on terrace houses

The concrete structure is the main component to support the structure of the building, but when concrete has been used for an extended period hence, it needs to be evaluated to determine the current strength, durability and how long it can last. The poor quality of concrete structures will cause discomfort to the user and, the safety will be affected due to lack of concrete strength. If these issues are not monitored or not precisely known performance, and no further action done then, the concrete structure will fail and eventually it will collapse. Five units of terrace houses that are built less than 10 years old with extension or renovations and have cracks at Taman Samar Indah, Samarahan, Sarawak have been selected for this study. The instrument used in this research is Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV), with the objective to determine the current strength and investigate the velocity of a pulse at the concrete cracks. The data showed that the average velocity of the pulse is less than 3.0 km/s and has ...

Reconciling theory and practice on the participation of the downtrodden in poverty intervention policies and programs

The advocacy for the inclusion of community participation in policy process and consideration for the vox populi (voice of the people) in poverty intervention policies and programs has become a global mantra., Albeit, there are dearth of study that integrates theory and practice of participation to empirically test the effect of participation of the downtrodden on policies that affect them. This paper adopts mixed method to relate the theory and practice vis-a-vis examine the efficacy of participation of the downtrodden in poverty intervention programs in Niger state rural area. The quantitative findings indicate significant relationship between participation of the downtrodden in policy initiation and poverty reduction, while the qualitative result reveals that participation is theoretically faultless but empirically faultyit is elite dominating and more of indoctrination, political gimmick, deceit, pretense, and mere formality than reality. Resolutions where neither reflected in the policy agenda nor implemented. Consequently, participation of the downtrodden in policy is not suffice to alleviate poverty, thus, the study recommends for legal empowerment of an instituted advocacy group, featuring the Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the like of Civil Society Organization (CSO), dominant beneficiaries of intervention programs and stakeholders to checkmate the assumed excessive power of all and sundry connected to the intervention programs.

The Practice of Modern Family Planning Methods Amongst Married Muslim Women in Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria

The study is aimed at identifying the changing attitude of married Muslim women on the acceptance and usage of modern family planning methods within the Katsina metropolis. Two hundred women were selected randomly from the four maternal health centres in Katsina metropolis for the study. They were socio-demographically characterised by different ages and varied educational status but from the same ethnic and religious background. Questionnaires were used to gather the data from the four maternal centres, which were administered through the nurses in charge of the four family planning units in the four maternal health centres. The results showed that the respondents (i.e. married Muslim women) in spite of their cultural and religious background have good knowledge of modern family planning methods and have high acceptance of modern family planning contraceptives. The results also indicated that age or religious beliefs do not constitute hindrance to the acceptance and practice of modern family planning contraceptives. However, the results indicated that acceptance of modern family planning contraceptives is low amongst the rural women who are illiterates. The study recommends a holistic approach (i.e. all stakeholders, parents, husbands, religious/educational institutions, NGOs and government) towards the acceptance and practice of family planning in order to achieve the goals of the 2004 national policy on population. This can be achieved through more enlightenment campaigns particularly to attract less educated rural women on the use of modern contraceptives to space their children, establish more maternal health centres in the rural areas and provide free counselling services and contraceptives as a motivation towards acceptance and practice of family planning methods.