DOES ASSET OWNERSHIP REDUCE CHRONIC POVERTY?

Assets play an important role in the understanding of chronic poverty. This study was conducted in southern Nigeria to quantitatively assess the poverty level of households with respect to ownership of assets. Using the multistage sampling technique, primary data were obtained from 150 households with the aid of questionnaire. Data were subjected to analyses using the Foster Greer Thorbecke weighted poverty index and stochastic dominance analysis. Results indicate that poverty incidence, depth and severity was lower for households who own certain assets as land, houses, cars, motorcycles and sewing machines. The δ-value of the difference in the two sub-groups’ poverty incidences is significant (P < 0.01). Findings reveal that asset portfolio of majority of households was substantially low as more than 70 percent owned assets valued less than N100,000. Results of stochastic dominance analysis reveal that there was first order stochastic dominance. Result underscores the need to focus on poverty reduction policies that will increase the asset portfolio of rural households who are mostly dependent in farming for their income and food supplie

GROWTH STIMULATING EFFECTS OF ASPILIA AFRICANA FED TO FEMALE PSEUDO-RUMINANT HERBIVORES (RABBITS) AT DIFFERENT PHYSIOLOGICAL STATES

Background: In recent times, there has been a significant short fall between the production and supply of animal protein to meet the ever increasing population. To meet the increasing demand for animal protein, there is need to focus attention on the production of livestock whose nutritional requirement does not put much strain on the limited sources of feed ingredients to which men subscribe. An example of such livestock is rabbit. Rabbit is a pseudo-ruminant herbivore which utilizes much undigested and unabsorbed feed materials as sources of nutrient for maintenance and production. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding Aspilia africana as forage on the growth rates of female pseudo-ruminant herbivores (rabbits) at different physiological states. Method: Thirty (30) dutch breed rabbit does of 5 – 6 months of age were used for the experiment which was conducted in a completely randomized design for a period of four (4) months. The rabbits were divided into three treatment groups, ten (10) does per treatment group; which consisted of mixed forages (Centrosema pubescens (200g), Panicum maximum (200g) and Ipomea batatas leaves (100g) without Aspilia africana (T1; control), fresh Aspilia africana (500g/doe/day) (T2) and wilted Aspilia africana (500g/doe/day) (T3). Rabbits in all treatment groups received the same concentrate (300g/animal/day) throughout the period of the study and mixed forages from the commencement of the experiment till the does kindled. After parturition, fresh and wilted Aspilia africana were introduced in treatments 2 and 3 respectively, whereas the control group continued on mixed forages throughout the study. Conclusion: The result of the study revealed that the initial average body weight of the rabbit does was 1.74kg. At mating and gestation periods, the body weights of the does in T2 was significantly higher (P<0.05) than the rest. There were no significant differences (P<0.05) in the body weights of does at kindling between the various treatment groups. During the physiological states of lactation, weaning and re-mating, the control group (T1) had significantly lower body weight than those of the treated groups (T2 and T3). Furthermore, T2 had significantly higher body weight than T3. The study revealed that Aspiliaafricana; particularly the fresh leaves have greater growth stimulating effects when fed to pseudoruminants (rabbits), thereby enhancing body weights of does during lactation and weaning

Growth Influence of Some Additives on the Mycelial Growth and Fruit Body Development of Pleurotus Ostreatus (Jacq. Et. Fr.) Kummer

Studies were conducted to establish the response of a wood – rotting fungus, Pleurotus ostreatus to different growth substrates (sawdust (SD), dry banana leaves (BL) and a combination of both) and additives [groundnut cake (GC) and palm kernel cake (PKC)]. Spawning (Mycelia running rate) and fruit body development (area of pileus, length of stipe and fresh weight) were assessed. Initiation of mycelial growth took place in both treated and untreated substrate samples within 7 days post inoculation (dpi). Spawn run was delayed in SD substrates treated to PKC beyond 2% and in BL substrates treated with 4% PKC and above. In BL+SD, spawn run was delayed at all levels of PKC treatments. Spawn run in the BL, BL+SD and SD controls were completed in 21, 28 and 35 days respectively, following inoculation. Primordia production occurred in all the samples within 7 days of transfer of bags to the cropping room. Treatment of substrates with additives (GC and PKC) negatively affected the performance of the substrates. Addition of 4% of the additives on BL and BL+SD substrates produced mushrooms with smaller pileus size with the smallest (13.08cm2) observed on 4% PKC-treated BL substrates. Similar trends were observed in length of stipe, fresh weight and biological efficiency of the mushroom. All substrates evaluated supported production of fruit bodies for 70 days making a total of 14 flushes from the inception of cropping. Key words: Additives, Mycelial growth, fruit body production, Pleurotus ostreatus

Immune cell infiltration and interaction with stellate cells in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

PhDPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a disease with very poor prognosis amongst all pancreatico-biliary cancers. PDAC is characterised by a pronounced desmoplastic stroma which upon depletion has been associated with immune cell mediated tumour clearance. In situ analyses of various immune cell markers in the stromal compartments may provide a lucid picture of immune cell migration to the tumour epithelia. Automated, unbiased, high throughput imaging and analysis of specifically designed tissue microarrays, from surgically resected tissue samples of PDAC, advanced PDAC, and other pancreatico-biliary diseases; stained for distinct immune cell markers was carried out in the juxtatumoural stroma and the panstromal compartments. Prognostic significance was determined with X-Tile software. In vitro and in vivo assays were undertaken to outline the possible mechanisms. Immune cell infiltration to PDAC was higher than infiltration to other pancreatico-biliary diseases with the exception of CD8+ T cells. While CD4+, CD68+ and myeloperoxidase+ cells could infiltrate the juxtatumoural stroma of PDAC; CD3+, CD8+, Foxp3+ and CD20+ cells could not in the early stage PDAC patients tissue analysed and also in an independent validation cohort of advanced stage PDAC patients. Survival analyses demonstrated pro-survival effects of having high CD8+ densities. CD8+ T cells could only infiltrate the juxtatumoural compartment of KPC mice after stromal collapse resulting from targeting stellate cells with All-trans Retinoic Acid. 17 In vitro migration assays demonstrated increased CD8+ T cell migration towards activated pancreatic stellate cells compared to quiescent pancreatic stellate cells and appeared to be dependent on CXCL12. T cells are hindered from migrating to the juxtatumoural compartment by activated pancreatic stellate cells as a result of an increase in CXCL12 secretion. Rendering activated pancreatic stellate cells quiescent results in a reduction of CXCL12 secretion which may allow CD8+ T cells to migrate to the tumours and perform cytotoxic functions

Plasmacytoma of the Breast: A Report of a Rare Disease

BACKGROUND: Extramedullary plasma cells tumours are rare. Much more rarer is their occurance in the breast tissue. Our aim is to report a single case of this very rare lesion (at least from an African  perspective) that we incidentally diagnosed histopathologically as a primary extramedullary lesion in a 53 year old woman.CASE DEATILS: Clinical records of a 53 year old postmenopausal woman was referred from a secondary health centre to our clinic with a three weeks’ history of right breast lump were reviewed. There was no associated pain, nipple discharge, weight loss or systemic symptoms nor was there a previous history of  trauma or surgery to the breast. On examination: two discrete lumps measuring 3x2 and 2 x 1.5cm in the upper medial quadrant of the right breast were identified. The lumps were firm, irregular in shape, not  attached to the skin or underlying tissues. Tentative diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the breast was  made, with a differential as fat necrosis. A wide excision biopsy was done four days later for histology,  after an inconclusive cytological examination of smear of which the result revealed plasmacytosis. The  liver function test, Plasma proteins electrophoresis, electrolytes, urea, creatinine, bicarbonate and pelvic X-rays, and abdomino-pelvic ultrasonography were normal. Bence Jones proteins were negative in urine. Histology of bone marrow aspirate revealed scanty plasma cells.RESULTS: She received 20mg dexamethasone, 20mg adramycin, and 2mg vincristine intravenously and 200mg of alloperinol daily by mouth for three days before leaving by the 4th treatment day against medical advice for personal reasons.CONCLUSION: This rare lesion should sometimes be considered as a differential diagnosis of a breast lump, as it does not differ from the common lesions clinically, especially in older women.KEYWORDS: Extramedullary, plasmacytoma, primary, breast, lesio

Dicephalus parapagus conjoined twins discordant for anencephaly: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Cases of conjoined twins occur so rarely that it is important to learn as much as possible from each case. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of 9-hour-old, female, Nigerian dicephalus parapagus conjoined twins discordant for anencephaly diagnosed only after the birth of the twins. The anencephalic twin was stillborn while the normal one died within 9 hours of birth from cardiopulmonary failure. CONCLUSION: Many congenital defects of interest can now be detected before birth. A severe lesion such as that found in our index case, which is incompatible with postnatal life, requires counselling. If detected early enough during a properly monitored antenatal care, it may indicate termination of pregnancy

Poverty and Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership among Households in Southern Nigeria

Whereas gender equality is a basic human right, and closing the gender gap is key to achieving many development objectives, development stakeholders concerned with achieving gender equality are often constrained by inadequate information to justify channeling limited resources toward closing the gender gap. This study was conducted to fill this lacuna by providing information on gender inequality in the ownership of certain assets among households. With the aid of structured questionnaire, data were obtained from 60 households using the multistage sampling technique. Results of analysis were presented using histograms. Results show considerable gender differentiation in the ownership of land, home, business and savings. The degree of gender differentiation in the ownership of consumer durables reveal that women in most households own appliances associated with domestic labour whereas men have a near monopoly in the ownership of transport vehicles, refrigerators and media sets. Result also indicates that poultry was owned by women in majority of the households. Result shows a high degree of gender disparity with respect to the share of male and female homeowners. Because access to land is crucial for the livelihoods of the rural poor, policies to ensure that women who form the bulk of the rural poor have secure access to land and other vital resources should be encouraged. Policy options that will encourage women own occupier homes should also be formulated

On rr-Simple kk-Path

An $r$-simple $k$-path is a {path} in the graph of length $k$ that passes through each vertex at most $r$ times. The $r$-SIMPLE $k$-PATH problem, given a graph $G$ as input, asks whether there exists an $r$-simple $k$-path in $G$. We first show that this problem is NP-Complete. We then show that there is a graph $G$ that contains an $r$-simple $k$-path and no simple path of length greater than $4\log k/\log r$. So this, in a sense, motivates this problem especially when one's goal is to find a short path that visits many vertices in the graph while bounding the number of visits at each vertex. We then give a randomized algorithm that runs in time $$\mathrm{poly}(n)\cdot 2^{O( k\cdot \log r/r)}$$ that solves the $r$-SIMPLE $k$-PATH on a graph with $n$ vertices with one-sided error. We also show that a randomized algorithm with running time $\mathrm{poly}(n)\cdot 2^{(c/2)k/ r}$ with $c<1$ gives a randomized algorithm with running time \poly(n)\cdot 2^{cn} for the Hamiltonian path problem in a directed graph - an outstanding open problem. So in a sense our algorithm is optimal up to an $O(\log r)$ factor

Environmental and Genetic Correlations Between the Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and System Variables Representing Adaptive Immunity, Innate Immunity and Hemostasis

The MS is prevalent in Mexican Americans (MAs) and is projected to increase. It is important therefore to better understand its genetic and environmental determinants. We hypothesized that the MS reflects dysfunction in important biological systems. To evaluate this concept, we analyzed gene expression data for the adaptive-immune, innate-immune, and hemostasis systems in relation to the MS from a study on MAs of San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley