Associated anomalies in cleft lip and palate: analysis of 811 consecutive patients

Introduction: Clefts are common birth defects and may be associated with oro-facial congenital anomalies. It has not been established if specific types of anomalies are frequently related with clefts, or which organ is most commonly affected. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of associated anomalies in consecutive cleft lip and palate patients treated at two referral centres in Northern Nigeria.Methods: Cleft lip and palate at two referral hospitals in Northern Nigeria from January 2012 to December 2015 were studied. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.Results: A total of 811 cleft lip and palate patients were managed. Fifty-five percent (447) were male and 45% (364) were female while 71% (578) were children and 29% (233) were adults. The prevalence of associated anomalies was 11.5%. The most common associated anomaly among cleft patients was facial anomaly (64% of cleft patients). Associated anomalies were most prevalent in patients with isolated cleft palate. Hypertelorism was the commonest type of facial anomaly recorded.Conclusion: Our study showed a low incidence of associated anomalies with a higher incidence in isolated cleft palate cases.Key Words: Cleft lip, Cleft Palate, Associated Facial Anomaly, Congenital anomal

Routine antenatal syphilis screening in South West Nigeria - a questionable practice

Background: Untreated maternal syphilis is strongly associated with adverse birth outcomes, especially in women with high titre syphilis. The WHO recommends routine serological screening in pregnancy. Some workers have advised a reappraisal of this practice, having demonstratedlow sero-prevalence in their antenatal population. In view of this, the aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis in the antenatal population presenting at a major hospital in south-west Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross sectional study of healthy pregnant Nigerian women attending Adeoyo Maternity Hospital in the capital of Oyo State. The case record of every pregnant woman presenting for their first antenatal clinic visit over a 4-month period (September 1st to December 31st 2006) was reviewed.Results: During the study period, two thousand six hundred and seventy-eight women sought antenatal care. Three hundred and sixty-nine women (369; 13.4%) had incomplete records and were excluded from analysis. The records of the 2,318(86.6%) women with adequate records were subsequently reviewed. The mean age of the women was 27.4years (± 5.34) and the mean gestational age 26.4 weeks (±6.36). The modal parity was 0. Only three patients were found to be reactive for syphilis giving a prevalence of 0.13%. Conclusion: The sero- prevalence value in this study is quite low and may justify the call to discontinue routine antenatal syphilis screening. However, a more rigorous screeningprogram using diagnostic tests with higher sensitivity maybe necessary before jettisoning this traditional aspect of antenatal care.Keywords - Pregnancy; syphilis; prevalence; serology; screenin

MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS, HUMAN CAPITAL AND PRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY: EVIDENCE FROM WEST AFRICAN FARMERS

Little empirical work has quantified the transitory effects of macroeconomic shocks on farm-level production behavior. We develop a simple analytical model to explain how macroeconomic shocks might temporarily divert managerial attention, thereby affecting farm-level productivity, but perhaps to different degrees and for different durations across production units. We then successfully test hypotheses from that model using panel data bracketing massive currency devaluation in the west African nation of Cote d'Ivoire. We find a transitory increase in mean plot-level technical inefficiency among Ivorien rice producers and considerable variation in the magnitude and persistence of this effect, attributable largely to ex ante complexity of operations, and the educational attainment and off-farm employment status of the plot manager.Labor and Human Capital, O1, Q12, Q18,

Assessment of Metropolitan Urban Forms and City Geo-spatial Configurations using Green Infrastructure Framework: The Case Study of Lagos Island, Lagos State, Nigeria

For over three decades, the economic and commercial activities of both local and foreign organizations, firms, industries and institutions have been moving to the Lagos Island in search for a reputable business atmosphere and this has led to the emergence of vertical urbanizations of the area thereby turning it into a foremost Central Business District (CBD). The Lagos metropolis is the economic hub of West Africa and the Lagos Island has the bulk of the economic activities. Most of the ill-controlled infrastructural developments are along the major streets and the Island districts are supposed to have certain spatial configurations expected of a metropolitan city like Lagos. The basic urban form design policies and theories had beenneglected long time ago thereby making the streets faced with chaotic smart growths, worrisome urban resilience and harsh biophilic architecture with little or no consideration to green landscapes. This study is situated upon the Urban Morphological Theory which investigates the relationships between urban designspatial configurations, landscape and ecological urbanism and some other green city conceptual frameworks. Scholars in the field of landscape urbanism had made divergent or opposed theoretical, conceptual and methodological choices, opportunities in the metamorphosis of a city forms and streetscapes. The normative, descriptive and the critical analysis of the theories were holistically investigated and assessed which informed the study objectives. How do we conceptualize the spatial order of contemporary Lagos Island?What models can best describe its emergent urban forms almost without any green innovations and infrastructures? Land use and detailed geodetic data were obtained from various analysis conducted by the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), interviews and personal deductions. This study identifies the different barriers, green innovative strategies for achieving sustainable urban morphology, exploring relationships between quality of life in cities, wellbeing of citizens and mobility, exploring relationships between spatial configurations and equity, exploring implications of emerging technologies for urban development and dynamics, exploring implications of emerging lifestyles and/or business practice for dwellers. This paper demonstrates and evaluates the present upheavals in the urban spatial configurations and geomorphology, social development framework and socioeconomic masterplans for Africa’s business districts

Rice Pests in the Ivory Coast, West Africa: Farmers’ Perceptions and Management Strategies

An understanding of farmers’ perceptions of pests and their existing pest control methods can make an important contribution to the development of effective integrated pest management strategies. While the relatively successful rice IPM technologies in Asia have been extensively documented in studies examining farmers’ pest perceptions and management practices, studies examining, specifically, perceptions and management practices of West African rice farmers are rare. This may reflect the more limited success to date in the implementation of rice IPM strategies in the region. This paper describes rice pests, pest perceptions, and management practices of smallholder rice farmers in the Ivory Coast. It was found that the major rice pests, as perceived by farmers, are weeds, vertebrates (birds and rodents), and insects. Farmers are generally unable to diagnose rice plant diseases and thus did not consider them as important production constraints. Implications are derived for an integrated pest management strategy that incorporates farmers’ perceptions and builds on their existing cultural control practices

Stochastic frontier modelling of working capital efficiency across Europe

This paper adopts the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to model working capital efficiency (WCE) on a sample of 6,170 European firms from 2009 to 2018. We find: (i) larger firms are more efficient with their working capital management (WCM) than smaller firms, (ii) higher cash holding contributes to WCE, (iii) high competition is less conducive to WCE than low competition, (iv) export and sales growth potential decrease WCE and (v) WCE increases with access to bank credit. In the analysis, a distinction is made between the "old" EU countries and the "new" EU countries. The results are sensitive to the year of admission into the EU. The results are robust to omitted variable bias, using a more novel approach

TIME SERIES FORECAST MODELS FOR FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY

Technicalities in foreign exchange forecasting have been of interest to investors and academia, particularly in a developing economy. Data of foreign exchange are time series in nature and several techniques have been developed to modeling and forecasting foreign exchange rates. In this study, Nigeria's foreign exchange rate against three world-leading currencies (US Dollars, Euro and Pounds Sterling) are modeled with ARIMA, Auto. arima, Box-Cox, random walk forecast, and Exponential Smoothing and subjected to comparative tests using  Diebold-Mariano criteria with a modern model time series model. The empirical analysis shows that that the modern model outperforms some of the other techniques in forecasting Nigeria exchange rates against world-leading currencies particularly when the forecast horizon is low

Determinants of utilisation of traditional birth attendant services by pregnant women in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Background: This study was designed to assess the determinants of utilization of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) services by pregnant women in different communities in Ogbomoso, Nigeria.Methods: This was a community- based cross-sectional study. Fisher's formula was used to calculate the sample size and a total of 270 eligible pregnant women were enrolled for the study using multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using pretested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20 and results were presented in frequencies and percentages.Results: Factors found to have a significant influence on the utilization of TBA services in this study include: low educational status (p <0.001), lower socioeconomic status (p <0.001), and compassionate care given by the TBAs (p=0.004). Other factors include service proximity and lower cost of TBA services.Conclusions: The impact of TBAs and their services cannot be overemphasized in the present state of maternal and child health in Nigeria.  Lower educational status among others has been found to be a strong predictor of utilization of TBA services. There is, therefore, the need to improve the educational and socioeconomic status of women in order to allow them to access quality health care services that will safeguard their well-being. Inculcating compassionate care into orthodox healthcare delivery will go a long way to improve patronage and discourage TBA utilization

Optimization of the Adsorptive Dehydration of Ethanol –Water System

This work has explored the use of enzyme modified corn starch for the dehydration of ethanol – water mixtures. The X - RD analysis revealed that the enzyme modified corn starch is amorphous in nature while the Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the enzyme modified corn starch particles are spherical and irregular in shape with the existence of pores in the starch molecule. Optimization and modelling of the process variables was carried out using the RSM (BBD) design of experiment. The optimum process variables obtained were 2.75mm, 61.69min, and 49.99oC for particle size, time, and temperature respectively at an initial concentration of 90wt% with predicted value of 95.4065wt%. The model was validated at the optimum conditions which gave an experimental value of 95.00wt% ethanol concentration. The experimentally result obtained is 99.574% close to the result obtained from the predicted optimum value. Keywords: Response surface methodology, Enzyme Modified Corn starch, X – RD, SEM, Optimization, Ethanol – water mixtures, Box – Behnken design

COTTON FARMERS’ PERCEPTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Climate change has been a major threat to agriculture in Nigeria. This study was carried out in Imeko Afon Local Government Area. Purposive selection of all practicing cotton farmers (54) at the time of survey was made from the study area. The mean age of respondents is 56years. The household size is 7persons and the average annual income is N9, 972.00k. The mean score of famers’ perception about the climate change and its effects on cotton production is 2.62. Farmers’ stated that there is an increase temperature due to change in climatic condition (Ẍ= 3.45, S.D ± 1.152), and fluctuation in rainfall pattern (Ẍ= 4.04, S.D ± 0.999). Adopted coping strategies to cushion effects of climate change include; increase use of agro-chemicals (Ẍ = 3.35, S.D ± 0.677), integrated weed pest management (Ẍ = 3.44, S.D ± 0.839) and application of fertilizer to improve the depleted soil nutrients (Ẍ = 3.19, S.D ± 0.646). Results indicates a significant relationship between respondents perceived effects on climate change and coping strategies (r =0.890**, P&lt; 0.05). The study recommends that government agricultural and meteorological agencies should provide timely information to farmers on the climate and means of ameliorating the effects of climate change. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp