Demand for non-alcoholic beverages among urban households in southwest, Nigeria

This study examined the roles of income, prices and household demography in household demand for non-alcoholic beverages (NABs) in two cities – Abeokuta and Ibadan in Southwest Nigeria. The study was based on primary data obtained from a cross-section of 407 households (211 from Abeokuta and 198 from Ibadan) drawn by multistage sampling technique across six Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 60 National Population Commission (NPC) enumeration areas (EAs). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on households NABs expenditure, income, prices and other relevant socio-economic variables. The data were analysed within the framework of a linear approximation of an Almost Ideal Demand System. The study found that an average household, consisting of five (5) members, expended an average N5, 235.89 per month on NABs (approximately US$34.21 at N153.06/US$1 exchange rate in 2010). The bulk (67%) of the NABs expenditures were devoted topurchase of dairy products (36%) and cocoa-based products used in preparing chocolate drinks (31%). The estimated income elasticity of demand for the six categories of NABs studied were positive while all the own price elasticity of demand were negative. Demand for dairy products and cocoa based drinks were found to be price elastic, while those of carbonated drinks, malt drinks, fruit juice and other NABs were price inelastic. Increase in education of the household heads was found to be associated with significant increase in the budget shares of dairy products (p<0.01) and fruit juice (p<0.10), but a significant reduction in budget shares of cocoa-based products (p<0.05), carbonated drinks (p<0.01) and malt drinks (p<0.05). The study concludes that policies aimed at promoting increased demand and healthy choices of NABS must pay some attention to raising real income and increasing level of education among the citizenry. Profitability of business enterprises involved in dairies and cocoa-based products would also be better enhanced if the firms adopt cost saving strategies as against price hikes in a bid to enhance performance.Key words: Demand, Non-Alcoholic Beverages, LA-AIDS mode

Microcredit Effect on Agricultural Productivity: A Comparative Analysis of Rural Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study examines the effect of access to credit on the productivity of rural farming households in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data were collected, with the use of well structured questionnaire, from 240 small-scale rural farmers, who were categorized into users and non-users of micro-credit based on their statement, through multi-stage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, budgetary technique and multiple regression analysis, involving the use of ordinary least square (OLS) method of estimation, were employed in analyzing data for this study. The results revealed that total cost per hectare of credit user farmers is higher (N41,632.53) than that of non-credit user farmers (N32,667.79), indicating misallocation of resources by credit-user farmers. Again, profit per hectare of credit users farmer is greater (N44,466.59) than that of non-credit users (N27,833.03), suggesting that, access to credit could lead to improved farmers' productivity and higher income in form of revenue and profit. Regression analysis showed that only fertilizer and farm size, both being positive, affect credit users farmer's output, whereas, planting material, agrochemical, farm size and fixed inputs affects non-credit users farmer's output. R2 values suggested that variation in output by the two categories of farmers is explained by 57 and 52 percent of explanatory variables in their production functions, respectively. F-value of 9.84 and 10.11 recorded for the two categories of farmers respectively, and being significant at 1 percent each, led to the rejection of the hypothesis of inputs having no significant effect on output. It is thus concluded that credit could bring about higher productivity and profit in agricultural production, hence, this study recommends that existing banks should be encouraged to have more rural outlets, while there should be federal government policy of empowering rural farmers to have access to more agricultural lands.Keywords: Micro-credit, Productivity; Rural-farmers; Ogun State, Nigeri

Discovery of High-Affinity Protein Binding Ligands – Backwards

BACKGROUND: There is a pressing need for high-affinity protein binding ligands for all proteins in the human and other proteomes. Numerous groups are working to develop protein binding ligands but most approaches develop ligands using the same strategy in which a large library of structured ligands is screened against a protein target to identify a high-affinity ligand for the target. While this methodology generates high-affinity ligands for the target, it is generally an iterative process that can be difficult to adapt for the generation of ligands for large numbers of proteins. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have developed a class of peptide-based protein ligands, called synbodies, which allow this process to be run backwards--i.e. make a synbody and then screen it against a library of proteins to discover the target. By screening a synbody against an array of 8,000 human proteins, we can identify which protein in the library binds the synbody with high affinity. We used this method to develop a high-affinity synbody that specifically binds AKT1 with a K(d)<5 nM. It was found that the peptides that compose the synbody bind AKT1 with low micromolar affinity, implying that the affinity and specificity is a product of the bivalent interaction of the synbody with AKT1. We developed a synbody for another protein, ABL1 using the same method. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This method delivered a high-affinity ligand for a target protein in a single discovery step. This is in contrast to other techniques that require subsequent rounds of mutational improvement to yield nanomolar ligands. As this technique is easily scalable, we believe that it could be possible to develop ligands to all the proteins in any proteome using this approach

Demand For Non-Alcoholic Beverages Among Urban Households In Southwest, Nigeria

This study examined the roles of income, prices and household demography in household demand for non-alcoholic beverages (NABs) in two cities – Abeokuta and Ibadan in Southwest Nigeria. The study was based on primary data obtained from a cross-section of 407 households (211 from Abeokuta and 198 from Ibadan) drawn by multistage sampling technique across six Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 60 National Population Commission (NPC) enumeration areas (EAs). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on households NABs expenditure, income, prices and other relevant socio-economic variables. The data were analysed within the framework of a linear approximation of an Almost Ideal Demand System. The study found that an average household, consisting of five (5) members, expended an average N5, 235.89 per month on NABs (approximately US$34.21 at N153.06/US$1 exchange rate in 2010). The bulk (67%) of the NABs expenditures were devoted to purchase of dairy products (36%) and cocoa-based products used in preparing chocolate drinks (31%). The estimated income elasticity of demand for the six categories of NABs studied were positive while all the own price elasticity of demand were negative. Demand for dairy products and cocoa based drinks were found to be price elastic, while those of carbonated drinks, malt drinks, fruit juice and other NABs were price inelastic. Increase in education of the household heads was found to be associated with significant increase in the budget shares of dairy products (p<0.01) and fruit juice (p<0.10), but a significant reduction in budget shares of cocoa-based products (p<0.05), carbonated drinks (p<0.01) and malt drinks (p<0.05). The study concludes that policies aimed at promoting increased demand and healthy choices of NABS must pay some attention to raising real income and increasing level of education among the citizenry. Profitability of business enterprises involved in dairies and cocoa-based products would also be better enhanced if the firms adopt cost saving strategies as against price hikes in a bid to enhance performance

TNF-α and Microglial Hormetic Involvement in Neurological Health & Migraine

Environmental enrichment, i.e., increased intellectual, social, and physical activity makes brain more resilient to subsequent neurological disease. The mechanisms for this effect remain incompletely defined, but evidence shows tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is involved. TNF-α, at acutely high levels, possesses the intrinsic capacity to enhance injury associated with neurological disease. Conversely, the effect of TNF-α at low-levels is nutritive over time, consistent with physiological conditioning hormesis. Evidence shows that neural activity triggers low-level pro-inflammatory signaling involving TNF-α. This low-level TNF-α signaling alters gene expression, resulting in an enhanced resilience to disease. Brain-immune signaling may become maladaptive when increased activity is chronic without sufficient periods of reduced activity necessary for nutritive adaptation. Such tonically increased activity may explain, for example, the transformation of episodic to chronic migraine with related increased susceptibility to spreading depression, the most likely underlying cause of this malady. Thus, TNF-α, whose function is to alter gene expression, and its principal cellular source, microglia, seem powerfully positioned to orchestrate hormetic immune signaling that establishes the phenotype of neurological health and disease from brain activity