Role of International Fund for Agricultural Development/ Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (IFAD/CBARDP) in Improving the Livelihood of Rural Women: A Case Study of Aliero Local Government Area, Kebbi State, Nigeria

This study examined the role of IFAD/CBARDP on improving rural women’s livelihood in Kebbi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was adopted to select 80 IFAD participating women. Structured questionnaire was used in data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to present the data obtained. Majority of the women were married, and at active productive ages. Qur’anic education was the common educational status of the participants. The findings also reveal that all the IFAD participating women were provided with assistance based on needs and interest and the common assistance provided was the training on tailoring, knitting, soap and cream making and later the participants were provided with such machines. In addition, the participants were also provided cash loan. The programme has lead to improvement of the living standards of the participants after programme participation. Attitudinal dispositional test using 3 points Likert’s scale reveal that the participating women strongly agreed that the programme has improved their living standard, the loan was adequate, and all the assistance provided was based on their needs and interest. It is concluded that the participating women were involved in decision making, most especially on the assistance provided, and the management of the assistance. It’s recommended that effort should be geared towards increasing women participation in any intervention programme that could uplift the livelihood of the rural communities.Keywords: Role, IFAD/CBARDP, Poverty Reduction, participating women, Kebbi Stat

Determinan Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) di Bursa Efek Indonesia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh faktor makro ekonomi terhadap indeks harga saham gabungan (IHSG) di bursa efek Indonesia. Variabel yang diuji dalam penelitian ini adalah Inflasi, Suku Bunga (SBI), Nilai Tukar, dan Cadangan Devisa sebagai variabel independen, sedangkan Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) sebagai variabel dependen. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan deskriptif, Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah indeks harga keseluruhan saham yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) tiap bulan selama periode pengamatan pada tahun 2008-2016. Dengan demikian, populasi pada penelitian ini berjumlah 108. Teknik yang digunakan dalam pengambilan sampel menggunakan sampling jenuh yaitu metode penentuan sampel dimana semua anggota populasi dijadikan sampel. Dengan demikian, sampel pada penelitian ini berjumlah 108. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa inflasi, suku bunga (SBI), nilai tukar, dan cadangan devisa berpengaruh terhadap indeks harga saham gabungan (IHSG)

Preventing CKD in Developed Countries

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important public health concern in developed countries because of both the number of people affected and the high cost of care when prevention strategies are not effectively implemented. Prevention should start at the governance level with the institution of multisectoral polices supporting sustainable development goals and ensuring safe and healthy environments. Primordial prevention of CKD can be achieved through implementation of measures to ensure healthy fetal (kidney) development. Public health strategies to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and obesity as risk factors for CKD are important. These approaches are cost-effective and reduce the overall noncommunicable disease burden. Strategies to prevent nontraditional CKD risk factors, including nephrotoxin exposure, kidney stones, infections, environmental exposures, and acute kidney injury (AKI), need to be tailored to local needs and epidemiology. Early diagnosis and treatment of CKD risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are key for primary prevention of CKD. CKD tends to occur more frequently and to progress more rapidly among indigenous, minority, and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Special attention is required to meet the CKD prevention needs of these populations. Effective secondary prevention of CKD relies on screening of individuals at risk to detect and treat CKD early, using established and emerging strategies. Within high-income countries, barriers to accessing effective CKD therapies must be recognized, and public health strategies must be developed to overcome these obstacles, including training and support at the primary care level to identify individuals at risk of CKD, and appropriately implement clinical practice guidelines

Comparative Performance Analysis of Flower Pollination Algorithm and Harmony Search based strategies: A Case Study of Applying Interaction Testing in the Real World

The main purpose of software testing is to detect software failures to ensure that that a product functions work as expected. Therefore there is need to test hug possible number of input combinations. T-way testing is a sampling approach to minimize input combinations. Recently, adapting optimization algorithm for T-way testing is very interested. As a consequence, many t-way optimization algorithm based strategies have been designed and implemented. In order to guide software tester to choose the best software testing strategy, there is a need to evaluate and benchmark the performance of each strategy against common case studies. In this paper, we present a comparison between two strategies, Harmony Search (HS) and Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) based strategies. Our experiments have performed on a real-world case study. Experiments results demonstrate that the performance is almost the same for both strategies and there is no one strategy can always be the best; however HS-based strategy performs better than FPA-based in many cases

Prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors in Kaduna, Nigeria

Background: Transmission of malaria parasites through blood transfusion is a well-known serious risk. Screening of blood donors for malaria as recommended by WHO is currently not included in the protocols of many Nigerian blood banks. Presence of asymptomatic Plasmodium species carriers (APCs) in some northern parts of the state has already been demonstrated using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopic examination of Giemsa stained blood films. This research was undertaken to determine the prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors in Kaduna state, Nigeria.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the blood donors in the three selected Hospitals of Kaduna state. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding demographic profile. Written informed consent was obtained and questionnaire was completed by respondents selected through simple random sampling. 360 blood donors were tested for malaria parasites through microscopic examination of Giemsa stained thick and thin blood films. The data were analysed using Statistical analysis system (SAS) and statistical software for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.Results: A total of 27 (7.5%) of the blood donors had malaria parasites in their blood. Plasmodium falciparum was the only malaria parasite species encountered. There were no mixed infections and no other blood parasites were observed. The prevalence of malaria parasites in the blood donors was significantly associated with occupation (c2=24.0845, df=6, p= 0.0005) and blood group (c2=10.589, df=4, p= O.032). The infected subjects had parasites densities of between 88-250 parasites/µl with a mean parasite density of 126 parasites/µl of blood.Conclusions: The prevalence of malaria parasites among blood donors was 7.5% Blood donors should be routinely screened for malaria parasites and the blood marked negative or positive as the case may be. Recipients of malaria parasites positive blood should be given prophylactic treatment to prevent transfusion related malaria (TRM).

Comparison Study Of Hydrothermally Grown ZnO Nanorods On Untreated Silicon And Black Silicon Substrates

In this paper, the morphological, structural and optical properties of ZnO nanorods grown using the hydrothermal method was studied on two different substrates: untreated silicon and black silicon. Prior to hydrothermal growth, ZnO seed layer was deposited onto the substrates using radio-frequency (RF) sputtering. FESEM imaging was conducted to study the morphology of ZnO nanostructures grown on the substrates. AFM testing was done to determine the surface roughness of both samples. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra are obtained to determine the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanostructures. Diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) was also obtained to determine the ZnO band gap using the Kubelka-Munk theory

Encapsulation Of Ag Nanoparticle-Carbon Composite And Enhancement Of Visible Light ZnO Nanorods Photodiode

In this paper, the effect of encapsulating silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)- carbon composite onto zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) hydrothermally grown on silicon substrate is characterized and its photodiode performance studied. The composite was dissolved in acetone and drop casted onto ZnO NRs and the samples are baked on a hot plate. FESEM imaging was done and shows the top part of ZnO NRs coated with the composite and EDX testing shows the component are made of carbon as the majority and Ag the minority component. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows the Ag-NPs embedded into the carbon coating. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra shows slight peak broadening of the ZnO main peak at 378 nm. Photodiode measurements shows the encapsulated nanorods has reduced photoresponse to UV light (395 nm) but more responsive to visible light (460 nm) due to creation of new energy states inside the band gap of ZnO

Simulation of Hydrodesulphurization (HDS) Unit of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited

This research was carried out to simulate the Hydrodesulphurization unit using ASPEN HYSYS with the aim of removing impurities such as Sulphur, Nitrogen and Oxygen in raw Kerosene. The simulation is based on conditions and parameters (mass flow rates, temperature and pressure readings) obtained from the Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC). After the successful completion of the simulation, total removal of impurities was achieved as the concentration of sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen in mole fraction present in the treated Kerosene stream was approximately zero. The treated Kerosene composition indicated 0.0021, 0.3342, 0.3322 and 0.3315 mole fractions of n-C13, n-C14, n-C15 and n-C16 respectively. Key words: Simulation, Hydrodesulphurization, Aspen Hysys, Impurities

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Diabetes mellitus, maternal adiposity, and insulin-dependent gestational diabetes are associated with COVID-19 in pregnancy: the INTERCOVID study

BACKGROUND: Among nonpregnant individuals, diabetes mellitus and high body mass index increase the risk of COVID-19 and its severity.OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether diabetes mellitus and high body mass index are risk factors for COVID-19 in pregnancy and whether gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with COVID-19 diagnosis.STUDY DESIGN: INTERCOVID was a multinational study conducted between March 2020 and February 2021 in 43 institutions from 18 countries, enrolling 2184 pregnant women aged >= 18 years; a total of 2071 women were included in the analyses. For each woman diagnosed with COVID-19, 2 nondiagnosed women delivering or initiating antenatal care at the same institution were also enrolled. The main exposures were preexisting diabetes mellitus, high body mass index (overweight or obesity was defined as a body mass index >= 25 kg/m(2)), and gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnancy. The main outcome was a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 based on a real-time polymerase chain reaction test, antigen test, antibody test, radiological pulmonary findings, or >= 2 predefined COVID-19 symptoms at any time during pregnancy or delivery. Relationships of exposures and COVID-19 diagnosis were assessed using generalized linear models with a Poisson distribution and log link function, with robust standard errors to account for model misspecification. Furthermore, we conducted sensitivity analyses: (1) restricted to those with a real-time polymerase chain reaction test or an antigen test in the last week of pregnancy, (2) restricted to those with a real-time polymerase chain reaction test or an antigen test during the entire pregnancy, (3) generating values for missing data using multiple imputation, and (4) analyses controlling for month of enrollment. In addition, among women who were diagnosed with COVID-19, we examined whether having gestational diabetes mellitus, diabetes mellitus, or high body mass index increased the risk of having symptomatic vs asymptomatic COVID-19.RESULTS: COVID-19 was associated with preexisting diabetes mellitus (risk ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.55-2.42), overweight or obesity (risk ratio, 1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.37), and gestational diabetes mellitus (risk ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 0.99-1.46). The gestational diabetes mellitus association was specifically among women requiring insulin, whether they were of normal weight (risk ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-3.01) or overweight or obese (risk ratio, 1.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.28-2.45). A somewhat stronger association with COVID-19 diagnosis was observed among women with preexisting diabetes mellitus, whether they were of normal weight (risk ratio, 1.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-3.17) or overweight or obese (risk ratio, 2.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.82-2.97). When the sample was restricted to those with a real-time polymerase chain reaction test or an antigen test in the week before delivery or during the entire pregnancy, including missing variables using imputation or controlling for month of enrollment, the observed associations were comparable.CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus and overweight or obesity were risk factors for COVID-19 diagnosis in pregnancy, and insulin-dependent gestational diabetes mellitus was associated with the disease. Therefore, it is essential that women with these comorbidities are vaccinated