Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that severely hinders livestock productivity and human health worldwide. The burden that the disease places specifically on low-income countries has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify it as one of the world‘s leading ‗neglected‘ zoonotic diseases. In Uganda, there is scarcity of information on the prevalence and risk factors of brucellosis infection. This study aimed at determining the prevalence and risk factors of brucellosis infection among patients attending Makerere university hospital. A cross-sectional study was carried out on patients suspected of having brucellosis at the outpatient department of University hospital from the period of September to October 2021. A total of 180 respondents were enrolled in this study. Out of these, 98 (54.4%) were female and 82 (45.6%) were male. Results from the laboratory showed that 14 respondents turned positive whereas 166 had negative BAT results. This gave an overall prevalence of brucellosis at 7.8 % in the study population Risk factors found to be associated with brucellosis included: contact with animals, consumption of raw milk and contact with aborted fetus. Gender of respondent, socio economic status, knowledge of brucellosis and education level were non-significant. With this observed high prevalence among the study population, there is need to develop strategies aimed at controlling animal brucellosis and raising awareness about the consumption of raw and poorly prepared milk and milk products, appropriate handling of animal after births and abortions to reduce the incidence of human infection in this study area. Innovative methods to sensitize the community on brucellosis and cost effective methods to control animal brucellosis are recommended.

Lack of a sustainable protein supplement for use in fish feed formulation is a challenge to the aquaculturalists in the 21st century that necessitates identification and testing of conventional sources. This research aimed at determining the potential of earthworm as an alternative protein source in fish feed. A six-week feeding trial was conducted to assess the growth and survival rate of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fry fed on earthworm meal as protein supplement. Diets containing 0% (D0), 25%(D25), 50%(D50) and 100%(D100) replacements of fish meal with earthworm meal were formulated. All diets were isonitrogenous (54%) and fed thrice daily to triplicate groups of O. niloticus fry at 3% body weight. Diet D25 had a significant effect on growth of and feed utilization (p= 0.002) by O. niloticus. Final weight, weight gain, daily weight gain, and specific growth rate, were also highest in fish fed diets D25. A similar growth pattern was observed for length measurements. Fish fed diets exceeding 25% replacement of fish meal with earthworm meal had depressed growth. It is concluded that fish meal can be substituted with earthworm up to 25% in the diet of O. niloticus without adverse effect on growth and feed utilization.

Post-harvest losses (PHL) experienced by maize farmers in Uganda is currently addressed through extension and conduction of post-harvest trainings. However, much as these training programs are conducted, prevalence of PHL is still high among the farmers. This study aimed at examining the impact of participatory post-harvest training of farmers on post-harvest losses of maize in Kibbumba zone in Kamuli district. The study was based on a survey where 80 maize farmers from 80 households were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of questions about farmers’ knowledge and post-harvest handling practices regarding maize production, harvesting, transportation, drying and storage losses in maize. Chi-square tests, (p <0.05) were performed to examine the relationship between PHT and PH practices carried out, PHT and total PHL experienced among the farmers. Results showed that 65% of the respondents were females while 35% were males. The average age of the respondents was 19-49 years. The results indicated that 45% of the farmers had ever attended a post-harvest training. The major causes of post-harvest losses were vermin, especially by birds at harvest stage; spillage and poor handling during transportation from the garden; spillage at drying stage; grain breakage, spillage and scattering of grains at shelling and cleaning stages; rodent and insect damage during storage. The study found out that about 13% of the harvested maize was lost along the value chain whereby one-third of this loss occurred at storage, about 3.6% lost during harvest, 1.3% during transportation, 1.5% during drying and 1.8% at shelling. The results showed a significant relationship between participation in PHT and use of improved post-harvest technologies such as use of tarpaulins while drying, use of shelling machines, drying on bare ground, condition of storage room and use of insect control methods. Results showed that trained farmers were more likely to adopt these improved post-harvest technologies as compared to the non-trained farmers. The study also showed that there was a very strong association between participation in PHT and total post-harvest loss (χ² 12.844, p=0.000). Use of improved technologies such as drying on tarpaulins, and storage in metallic silos have been associated with reduced PHL and thus, adoption of these technologies should further be encouraged among farmers as a way of reducing the losses experienced. More sensitization should also be carried out by the government and other stakeholders such as NGOs to educate farmers about improved post-harvest technologies and their related advantages. More sensitization should also be carried out to equip farmers with more knowledge about integrated pest management as rodent and insect damage were a challenge to most of the farmers. Interventions targeting harvest and affordable improved storage technologies should be developed and passed onto farmers since high losses were realized at these two stages.

According to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), the quality of materials in the construction industry continue to be under much scrutiny due to the collapse of buildings. Among the different materials tested for quality at the different material laboratories are sandcrete blocks. A challenge remains with non-complaint manufacturers who do not carry out simple quality control checks on the blocks they produce so as to meet the necessary required standards and in so doing compromise their quality. Users and known standards contribute largely to the quality of blocks. All these were put into consideration to draw conclusions for this research project. The study aimed at determining the factors affecting the quality of sandcrete blocks on the market. This was to be done by assessing the user preferences, investigating the effectiveness of simple quality control techniques and determining the factors controlling quality at the production point. The results showed that users have a contribution to quality as they normally have a predetermined idea of what they are looking for. The weight of a block was also related to the factors of input to ascertain overall quality of the block. Practical Implications of this study was that in order for quality to be achieved, all the key attributes that play a role must be aligning to each other, that is: users, factors of production and quality control techniques. Lack of access to all the information from different suppliers affected the study in that some of the investigated blocks did not meet the set standards but the reasons were due to production point factors. These specific factors were not explained due to inadequate information which would have affected the accuracy of the study. Answering the question of how to determine the lowest possible cost of attaining desired quality was also affected due to inadequate information. The results contribute to improving standards that the blocks on the market must adhere to as well an eye opener to users on what to look out for as they purchase these blocks.

The exponential growth of data hungry devices accompanied by the dynamic variation in cel- lular network hotspots due to user mobility leads to the varying coverage and capacity require- ments. Even with the changing capacity and coverage needs users still expect the best quality service with seamless connectivity to broadband access therefore moving nodes emerge as an enhancement to the existing Heterogeneous networks so as to eectively respond to the dense location variant hotspot scenarios. Within the framework of moving networks, nomadic nodes (NNs) can enable demand driven service provisioning to extend the coverage area and enhance the network capacity while minimising the energy consumption of the network all this can be done by following the optimization algorithm. In this project, we develop an optimization algorithm to optimize both the density and location of these nomadic nodes. The simulated results show improved network performance in terms of probability of connectivity, probability of rate coverage, probability of SIR coverage, energy efficiency, sum rate, and average user rate when following the optimization algorithm since fewer NNs are required to meet the network requirements as compared to a non-optimal network .

The major purpose of this study was to examine the performance of Mathematics at primary leaving examinations in government aided schools in Bubutu Sub-county, Manafwa District. The study was centred on finding out whether: - methods of teaching, pupils’ attitude towards Mathematics and inadequacy of instructional materials lead to poor performance in Mathematics at Primary Leaving Examinations in government aided schools. The study was carried out using descriptive research design utilizing qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The respondents who participated in the study included ten (10) Head teachers, twenty (20) teachers and twenty (20) pupils totaling to fifty (50) respondents. Teachers and pupils were selected using simple random technique whereas head teachers were selected using purposive sampling technique. The research instruments used to collect data included Questionnaires which were used to collect data from teachers and head teachers and Interview guides were used to collect data from pupils. Generally, it was established that poor methods of teaching greatly affect pupils’ performance in Mathematics. Teaching approaches and techniques that teachers, may employ so as to realize the desired learning outcomes of any subject include different ways of structuring teaching to enhance interaction with the whole classes, groups and individuals. These include the prevailing environment, learners’ needs, and the nature of content to be taught. For performance to be improved, the researcher recommended that the government through the Ministry of Education and Sports should provide refresher courses to update teachers on the methods used when teaching Mathematics. This can be done through adequate facilitation in terms of funding for teachers to attend regular workshops intended to enhance emerging strategies aimed at improving Mathematics teaching and learning