Profitability analysis of plantain marketing in Kaduna metropolis, Kaduna state Nigeria

The study was carried out to analyze the profitability of plantain marketing and to examine the structure of plantain market in Kaduna Metropolis. Seventy five plantain marketers were randomly selected from six purposively selected markets. Structural questionnaires were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, Cost and return analysis, Herfindahl index, Gross ratio, Operating ratio, Expense structure ratio, Return per capital invested, Benefit cost ratio were used to analyze the data. The study showed that majority (64%) of the plantain marketers were male. 65.3% are within the active age range of 31-60 years. Most respondents are married and educated having a household size of between 1-10 members. Herfindahl index of 0.03 revealed that plantain market tends towards perfect competition. The costs and return analysis showed that purchased cost, transportation, labour and storage cost constitute the variable cost and rent, tools and market charges forms the fixed cost. Furthermore, the finding showed that plantain marketing is profitable with the net return of 14,369 naira per month from the sales of 163 plantains bunches. Analysis of the profit revealed that plantain marketing is a profitable business. The constraint militating against marketing of plantain in the area were also identified to be high transportation cost, seasonal price fluctuation, rapid deterioration in quality/ spoilage, inadequate capital, high initial cost of plantain, poor access road and high market charges. The study therefore recommends plantain marketers should come together to form plantain marketer’s cooperative groups from which members could obtain loans at very low interest rates. Also problem of infrastructural facilities such as bad roads should be address by all tiers of governments.Key words: Plantain marketers, Herfindahl index, plantain bunche

Overweight and obesity in Brazilian adolescents

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW+O) among Brazilian adolescents and to identify risks for subpopulations defined according to the five country macro-regions and situation (urban-rural) of the domiciles, income, years of school attendance, age and sex.DESIGN: A nationwide home-based survey representative of the Brazilian civilian noninstitutionalized population, performed in 1989.METHODS: the sampling plans followed a stratified, multistage, probability cluster design in the National Research of Health and Nutrition sample, which collected anthropometric data of 14,455 domiciles. in all, 13,715 adolescents ranging from 10 to 19 y of age were studied. the OW + O was defined from a body mass index (BMI) equal or superior to the 85th percentile of the reference population of the NCHS. the prevalences in the different studied groups were compared using the adjusted odds ratio in logistic regression models.RESULTS: the prevalence of OW + O was of 7.7%, reaching 10.6% within the female group and 4.8% within the male group. A direct relation could be established between the socioeconomic level and OW + O. Adolescents of the most industrialized region of the country presented a risk of OW + O 1.86 (95% Cl 1.51 - 2.30) times higher than that found in the least developed region. Male youngsters who lived in urban areas were more liable (OR = 1.71, 95% Cl 1.30-2.25) to overweight than their counterparts of rural areas. the occurrence of menarche increased two and a half times (OR = 2.58, 95% CI 2.11 - 3.15) the risk of OW + O within the female group of adolescents.CONCLUSIONS: the results demonstrate a low prevalence of OW + O among Brazilian adolescents when compared with adolescents of more industrialized regions. the OW + O is twice as high within the female group, which represents a much greater difference than the one encountered in industrialized countries, probably owing to the muscular work carried out preponderantly by male adolescents of lower socioeconomic levels. Higher prevalences in subpopulations of higher socioeconomic level and of more industrialized regions show the great need for differentiated actions to control overweight and obesity in the country.Univ Fed Pelotas, Fac Nutr, BR-96010900 Pelotas, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Risk factors for incomplete vaccination and missed opportunity for immunization in rural Mozambique

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inadequate levels of immunization against childhood diseases remain a significant public health problem in resource-poor areas of the globe. Nonetheless, the reasons for incomplete vaccination and non-uptake of immunization services are poorly understood. This study aimed at finding out the reasons for non-vaccination and the magnitude of missed opportunities for vaccination in children less than two years of age in a rural area in southern Mozambique.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mothers of children under two years of age (N = 668) were interviewed in a cross-sectional study. The Road-to-Health card was utilized to check for completeness and correctness of vaccination schedule as well as for identifying the appropriate use of all available opportunities for vaccination. The chi-square test and the logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that 28.2% of the children had not completed the vaccination program by two years of age, 25.7% had experienced a missed opportunity for vaccination and 14.9% were incorrectly vaccinated. Reasons for incomplete vaccination were associated with accessibility to the vaccination sites, no schooling of mothers and children born at home or outside Mozambique.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Efforts to increase vaccination coverage should take into account factors that contribute to the incomplete vaccination status of children. Missed opportunities for vaccination and incorrect vaccination need to be avoided in order to increase the vaccine coverage for those clients that reach the health facility, specially in those countries where health services do not have 100% of coverage.</p

Embodying limb absence in the negotiation of sexual intimacy

Some people with physical disabilities experience difficulties in forming and maintaining intimate and sexual relationships (Taleporos and McCabe, 2001). Individuals with physical impairments may variously be seen as inferior, ‘not up to scratch’ and can be less valued than those thought to embody the cultural ideal of ‘normality’ (Edwards and Imrie, 2003). The loss of an anatomical part such as an arm or a leg can therefore set up a complex series of perceptual, emotional and psychological responses that can limit or prevent individuals from fully experiencing the kinds of intimate relationships that many of their ‘non-disabled’ counterparts can more freely enjoy (Oliver, 1990). Drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews and a group visual workshop with five men and two women with varying acquired and congenital limb absences, this study explores the variety of ways in which sexual relationships and intimacies are negotiated and managed. Certain participants reported a great deal of anxiety regarding their perceptions of sexual attractiveness, and experienced feelings of loss of desirability as a sexual partner. Others reported engaging in an ‘active management of visual information’ about the body, through methods of concealment and exposure. Compensatory strategies were also reported as a way to effectively maintain existing intimate relationships. Finally, hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine enactments of sexuality were described within a range of social and intimate contexts as a means to ‘normalise’ the disabled body. The findings of this study provide a richer and more contextualised understanding of the highly complex adjustment process faced by individuals with limb absence, who actively engage in sexual and intimate relationships

Retention and loss to follow-up in antiretroviral treatment programmes in southeast Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: This study generated new information about the outcomes of patients enrolled in antiretroviral treatment programmes, as well as the true outcomes of those lost to follow-up (LTF). METHODS: Anonymized data were collected for patients enrolled over a 12-month period from two programmes (public and private) in southeast Nigeria. Estimates of retention, LTF, mortality and transfers were computed. All LTF enrollees (defined as patients who had missed three scheduled visits) whose contact information met pre-defined criteria were traced. RESULTS: A total of 481 (public) and 553 (private) records were included. Median duration of follow-up was about 14 months. Cumulative retention and LTF proportions were 66·5 and 32·8% (public), and 82·6 and 11·0% (private) respectively. LTF rates at third, sixth, ninth and twelfth months were 7·5, 19·3, 25·4 and 29·6% respectively (public), and 4·1, 7·1, 9·0 and 10·0% (private). LTF was higher among males, patients with CD4(+) cell count ≤200 and public programme enrollees. For the public facility, 56·7% of 104 traceable patients were dead and 38·8% were alive; the figures were 34·2 and 60·5% of 46 patients respectively for the private. Most deaths had occurred by the third month. CONCLUSION: Not all patients enrolled for treatment were retained. Though some died, many were LTF, lived within the community, and could develop and transmit resistant viral stains. Most traced patients were dead by the third month and poor contact information limited the effectiveness of tracing. Antiretroviral treatment programmes need to improve documentation processes and develop and implement tracing strategies

Antibiotic Resistance among bacterial Isolates in Neonatal Septicaemia

Summary: Antibiotic-resistant organisms in septicaemia is reported. This prospective study has revealed an overall rate of septicaemia as being 27.95 per 1000 live births at the Ogun State Uni versity Teaching Hospital (OSUTH). The commonest causative organ ism in the series was Klebsiella species, being responsible for 52.9 per cent of the bacterial isolates in both in-born and out-born patients. Staph aureus and E coli respectively, were the second with 29.4 percent and third with 7.4 percent causative organisms. Klebsiella species was also the commonest resistant isolate with 48 percent resistance in the series. By contrast, 91 percent of other gram-negative organisms were sensitive to gentamicin. The overall 63 percent sensitivity of all the gram-negative organisms to gentamicin in the present series, indicated a declining trend since 1977, from previous findings in different centres in the country. The use of cefotaxime or amikacin as "initial" therapy while awaiting culture results, is recommended

TRANSIENT MONOSACCHARIDE INTOLERANCE IN A NEWBORN INFANT

A newborn infant with transient monosaccharide intolerance of noninfectious origin is described. During the first day of life the patient suffered severe anoxia with several episodes of prolonged apnea and cyanosis. On the second day of life she was fed 5% glucose and water and severe diarrhea ensued. After oral feedings were stopped the diarrhea ceased. On the third and fourth day of life similar episodes of diarrhea induced by glucose and water feedings occurred. The stools were acid and contained carbohydrates. However, when the patient was fed sterile water or a carbohydrate free diet, the diarrhea improved. The stools remained normal with fecal pH of 7.0 and no carbohydrates present as long as she was given no carbohydrates by mouth during the first 22 days of life. The intolerance to oral glucose extended to other monosaccharides like fructose and D-xylose. However, after being free of diarrhea for 16 days she began tolerating increasing quantities of glucose in the diet. The capacity to tolerate fructose and xylose was also recovered at 40 and 42 days of life. Disaccharide intake was begun the 44th day of life. She was fed dextrimaltose as a source of carbohydrate in the diet with good results. Sucrose was not tolerated on the 67th day of life. Severe diarrhea, dehydration, and metabolic acidosis ensued after "sugar and water" was fed. However, this disaccharide was well tolerated by 150 days of life. Lactose was not tolerated on the 81st day of life. Milk formula feedings induced diarrhea with stools being acid and containing large quantities of carbohydrates. However, all dietary carbohydrates were tolerated by 180 days of life, lactose was fed with good results. The patient had no infection of the upper segments of the small intestine demonstrable to account for the monosaccharide and disaccharide malabsorption. It is tempting to speculate that anoxia in the newborn period might have played a role in the intolerance to carbohydrates seen in this patient during the first six months of life.</jats:p

Prevalence of obesity among Nigerian school children

The prevalence of obesity among 457 school children in the age group 6-19 years is 3.2% for males and 5.1% for females based on weight for age. 3.7% males and 3.3% females were classified as obese when triceps skinfold thickness was used as the basis of obesity. Preventable socio-economic factors are responsible for the high prevalence of obesity among, Nigerian school children. This the first study of prevalence of obesity among Nigerian school children.