AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE MARKETING AND GENDER EMPOWERMENT: A CASE OF WOMEN’S CROSS BORDER TRADE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

The study examined agricultural produce marketing in relation to gender empowerment in cross border along Nigeria-Niger border with the aim of identifying the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identifying characteristics of respondents’ cross border trade and the constraints faced by the respondents. One hundred respondents were selected with the use of systematic random technique. Primary data were collected from the respondents with the aid of interview guide structured in form of questionnaire and focus group discussion with other stakeholders like custom officials, as well as agriculture quarantine officers was performed. Univariate analysis like percentages, tables and pie charts and 3 point Likert scale were used to achieve the stated objectives. The study revealed that the respondents averagely made between N10,000 to N40,000 on monthly basis which helped in meeting family needs. About 78% indicated that one of their constraints was absence of modern financial institutions, inadequate storage facilities and about 82% signified that their major constraint was poor transport system while all affirmed that they experienced inadequate security among others. The study recommended that adequate security, global mass media facilities and adequate storage facilities should be provided to promote cross border trade.Produce marketing, Gender empowerment, Cross border trader, northern Nigeria, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing,

Pattern of birth defects at a university teaching hospital in Northern Nigeria: Retrospective review over a decade

Background: Major birth defects are common causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality which have become a global phenomenon. Its occurrence in the developing nations like Nigeria requires due consideration most especially to its pattern and risk factors.Objectives: This review was conducted to determine the pattern of birth defects and investigate the factors associated with birth defects and its outcome at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano.Methods: This was a 10‑year retrospective study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Department of Paediatrics (Special Care Baby Unit) of AKTH, Kano, between April 2007 and March 2017. Data retrieved from patients’ file were collected using a purpose‑designed proforma to obtain information on the required parameters and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20, 2009 software. Frequencies and percentages were calculated and the results were presented in tabular forms.Results: There were 6990 deliveries within the study period, out of which 305 babies had birth defects, giving a prevalence of 4.4%. Among women who delivered baby with birth defects, maternal age ranged from 16 to 45 years with a mean age of 30 ± 5 years. The highest incidence (48%) of birth defects occurred among the 26–35 years age group. Anomalies that affected single system are significantly higher than anomalies that affected multiple systems. A higher percentage (52.5%) of birth defects occurred in male neonates. The gastrointestinal system was the most commonly affected (32.5%), while musculoskeletal system was the least (3.75%) affected system. Drug intake among 120 mothers who delivered neonates with birth defects when considered as a risk factor was found to constitute 81% of traditional concoction/herbs; while 12.5% were orthodox and intake of social drug was found to be only 6.5%. Hypertension was found to be the highest chronic medical disorder, while chorioamnionitis following premature rupture of membrane was recorded as the most commonly occurring maternal infection. Sixty percent of these neonates with birth defects were managed conservatively, surgical treatment was given in 23.5%, while 16.5% underwent medical treatment. Discharge rate was 82.5%; 9% left against medical advice, while neonatal mortality rate was about 8.5% and a majority (91.8%) of the death occurred among the neonates with multiple birth defects.Conclusion: The prevalence of birth defect in AKTH was 4.4% of the total deliveries over the study period. Gastrointestinal system was found to be the most commonly affected system. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and ingestion of traditional herbs were found to be the most common medical disorder and drug intake, respectively, among the mothers who delivered neonates with birth defects. Although the outcome of the management was good, and the study could not establish direct causation, there is need to counsel  mothers on the inherent dangers of traditional herbs ingestion and the need to pay adequate attention to medical conditions in pregnancy.Keywords: Anomaly; birth defect; morbidity; neonate; prevalence rat

Effect of maltodextrin concentration and slurry temperature on pineapple powder using ultrasonic spray dryer

In order to prolong the shelf life of the pineapple, one of the methods that can be applied is spray drying. Ultrasonic Spray Drying (USD) relies on an electromechanical device that vibrates at a very high frequency. The main objective of this work is to study the effect of maltodextrin concentrations and pre-heat slurry temperature in order to improve pineapple powder yield and moisture content. The spray dryer model used was equipped with ultrasonic system and the samples were run at different preheat slurry temperatures of 30° C, 40°C, and 50°C. Maltodextrin (MD) was used as a carrier agent at different concentrations ranging from 10% to 30% w/w. The pineapple powder then was analyzed for its yield, moisture content and colour. It was found that at higher pre-heat slurry temperature and MD concentration, the drying yield of pineapple powder had also increased. The moisture content of pineapple powder decreased with an increase of preheat slurry temperatures and MD concentration. The pineapple was found to be spray dried best at 40°C pre-heat slurry temperature with 20% w/w MD concentration highest yield recorded was 127 g. It was observed that the lightness colour of the powder is the highest at 40°C of slurry temperature and 20% w/w MD concentration. The pineapple slurry with high water to pineapple ratio resulted in low moisture content. In addition, the result shows that an increased amount of pineapple slurry and MD concentrations gives higher pineapple powder

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the mass difference between top quark and antiquark in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Mechanical stability of the CMS strip tracker measured with a laser alignment system

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Search for massive resonances decaying in to WW,WZ or ZZ bosons in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

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Search for R-parity violating supersymmetry with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

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