Farm Family Household Production and Rural Development

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management,

Cointegration analysis of public expenditure on tertiary education and economic growth in Nigeria

The paper investigates the Impact of public expenditure on tertiary education and economic growth in Nigeria using time series data for the period 1990-2011The econometric methodology employed was cointegration and errorcorrection technique. The study concludes that public expenditure on tertiaryeducation has positive impact on economic growth in Nigeria. The study recommended that government and private sectors should partner by mobilizing resources to furnish tertiary institutions and equip them with adequate facilities in order to enhance tertiary education development for sustainable economic growth

Creating and Probing Electron Whispering Gallery Modes in Graphene

Designing high-finesse resonant cavities for electronic waves faces challenges due to short electron coherence lengths in solids. Previous approaches, e.g. the seminal nanometer-sized quantum corrals, depend on careful positioning of adatoms at clean surfaces. Here we demonstrate an entirely different approach, inspired by the peculiar acoustic phenomena in whispering galleries. Taking advantage of graphene's unique properties, namely gate-tunable light-like carriers, we create Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) resonators defined by circular pn-junctions, induced by a scanning tunneling probe. We can tune the resonator size and the carrier concentration under the probe in a back-gated graphene device over a wide range, independently and in situ. The confined modes, revealed through characteristic resonances in the tunneling spectrum, originate from Klein scattering at pn junction boundaries. The WGM-type confinement and resonances are a new addition to the quantum electron-optics toolbox, paving the way to real-world electronic lenses and resonators

Interaction Driven Quantum Hall Wedding cake-like Structures in Graphene Quantum Dots

Quantum-relativistic matter is ubiquitous in nature; however it is notoriously difficult to probe. The ease with which external electric and magnetic fields can be introduced in graphene opens a door to creating a table-top prototype of strongly confined relativistic matter. Here, through a detailed spectroscopic mapping, we provide a spatial visualization of the interplay between spatial and magnetic confinement in a circular graphene resonator. We directly observe the development of a multi-tiered "wedding cake"-like structure of concentric regions of compressible/incompressible quantum Hall states, a signature of electron interactions in the system. Solid-state experiments can therefore yield insights into the behaviour of quantum-relativistic matter under extreme conditions

Dry and wet season performance of selected herbaceous legumes in Uganda

The dry matter production of 9 herbaceous legume species was evaluated over 3 years for their suitability as forage species in the subhumid regions of Uganda. Dry matter production of Centrosema pascuorum (6774), Chamaecrista rotundifolia (Wynn), Clitoria ternatea (9291), Macroptilium atropurpureum (Siratro), Stylosanthes guianesis (Cook), S. guianensis (163), S. hamata (Verano), S. scabra (441) and S. scabra (Seca) was assessed after 3-,6-,9- and 12- weeks regrowth in the wet season and after 6- and 12- weeks regrowth in the dry season. The Stylosanthes species were most productive in both wet and dry seasons. Appropriate seed production technologies need to be developed to make seed available for further studies and for distribution to farmers

In vitro study of interaction between quinine and Garcinia kola

Purpose: To investigate the interaction between quinine and Garcinia kola using an in vitro adsorption study.Methods: In vitro interaction between quinine and G. kola was conducted at 37 ± 0.1 °C. Adsorption of quinine (2.5 - 40 μg/ml) to 2.5 % w/v G. kola suspension was studied. Thereafter, quinine desorption process was investigated. The amount of quinine adsorbed and desorbed was quantified using HPLC. A Freundlich isotherm was constructed to describe the resulting data and percentage of quinine desorbedwas determined from the desorption data.Results: An adsorption isotherm of the data gave a Freundlich constant (K) of 52.66 μg/g, with a slope of 0.69 indicating a high capacity and affinity of G. kola to adsorb quinine at a concentration smaller than 2.41 μg/g of G. kola. However the adsorptive capacity of G. kola for quinine at 37 ± 0.1 °C appears to be a saturable process as observed from the isotherm. Quinine desorption from G. kola peaked at 1 hour (37.51 %) and decreased to a constant amount (about 35 %) over the remaining sampling time.Conclusion: Quinine is adsorbed on G. kola in vitro. This suggests that concurrent administration of quinine and G. kola should be avoided, to prevent potential drug interaction and decreased drug bioavailability.Keywords: Quinine, Garcinia kola, Adsorption, Desorption, Drug interactio

Screening of Non- Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strains for Tolerance to Formic Acid in Bioethanol Fermentation.

Formic acid is one of the major inhibitory compounds present in hydrolysates derived from lignocellulosic materials, the presence of which can significantly hamper the efficiency of converting available sugars into bioethanol. This study investigated the potential for screening formic acid tolerance in non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains, which could be used for the development of advanced generation bioethanol processes. Spot plate and phenotypic microarray methods were used to screen the formic acid tolerance of 7 non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts. S. kudriavzeii IFO1802 and S. arboricolus 2.3319 displayed a higher formic acid tolerance when compared to other strains in the study. Strain S. arboricolus 2.3319 was selected for further investigation due to its genetic variability among the Saccharomyces species as related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and availability of two sibling strains: S. arboricolus 2.3317 and 2.3318 in the lab. The tolerance of S. arboricolus strains (2.3317, 2.3318 and 2.3319) to formic acid was further investigated by lab-scale fermentation analysis, and compared with S. cerevisiae NCYC2592. S. arboricolus 2.3319 demonstrated improved formic acid tolerance and a similar bioethanol synthesis capacity to S. cerevisiae NCYC2592, while S. arboricolus 2.3317 and 2.3318 exhibited an overall inferior performance. Metabolite analysis indicated that S. arboricolus strain 2.3319 accumulated comparatively high concentrations of glycerol and glycogen, which may have contributed to its ability to tolerate high levels of formic acid

Measuring medical students' professional competencies in a problem-based curriculum: A reliability study

Identification and assessment of professional competencies for medical students is challenging. We have recently developed an instrument for assessing the essential professional competencies for medical students in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) programs by PBL tutors. This study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of professional competency scores of medical students using this instrument in PBL tutorials. Methods: Each group of seven to eight students in PBL tutorials (Year 2, n = 46) were assessed independently by two faculty members. Each tutor assessed students in his/her group every five weeks on four occasions. The instrument consists of ten items, which measure three main competency domains: interpersonal, cognitive and professional behavior. Each item is scored using a five-point Likert scale (1 = poor, 5 = exceptional). Reliability of professional competencies scores was calculated using G-theory with raters nested in occasions. Furthermore, criterion-related validity was measured by testing the correlations with students' scores in written examination. Results: The overall generalizability coefficient (G) of the professional competency scores was 0.80. Students' professional competencies scores (universe scores) accounted for 27% of the total variance across all score comparisons. The variance due to occasions accounted for 10%, while the student-occasion interaction was zero. The variance due to raters to occasions represented 8% of the total variance, and the remaining 55% of the variance was due to unexplained sources of error. The highest reliability measured was the interpersonal domain (G = 0.84) and the lowest reliability was the professional behavior domain (G = 0.76). Results from the decision (D) study suggested that an adequate dependability (G = 0.71) can be achieved by using one rater for five occasions. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the written examination scores and cognitive competencies scores (r = 0.46, P < 0.01), but not with the other two competency domains (interpersonal and professionalism). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that professional competency assessment scores of medical students in PBL tutorials have an acceptable reliability. Further studies for validating the instrument are required before using it for summative evaluation of students by PBL tutors.Scopu

Viruses and Autoimmunity: A Review on the Potential Interaction and Molecular Mechanisms.

For a long time, viruses have been shown to modify the clinical picture of several autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1D), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjögren's syndrome (SS), herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK), celiac disease (CD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Best examples of viral infections that have been proposed to modulate the induction and development of autoimmune diseases are the infections with enteric viruses such as Coxsackie B virus (CVB) and rotavirus, as well as influenza A viruses (IAV), and herpesviruses. Other viruses that have been studied in this context include, measles, mumps, and rubella. Epidemiological studies in humans and experimental studies in animal have shown that viral infections can induce or protect from autoimmunopathologies depending on several factors including genetic background, host-elicited immune responses, type of virus strain, viral load, and the onset time of infection. Still, data delineating the clear mechanistic interaction between the virus and the immune system to induce autoreactivity are scarce. Available data indicate that viral-induced autoimmunity can be activated through multiple mechanisms including molecular mimicry, epitope spreading, bystander activation, and immortalization of infected B cells. Contrarily, the protective effects can be achieved via regulatory immune responses which lead to the suppression of autoimmune phenomena. Therefore, a better understanding of the immune-related molecular processes in virus-induced autoimmunity is warranted. Here we provide an overview of the current understanding of viral-induced autoimmunity and the mechanisms that are associated with this phenomenon

Prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors among children and adolescents in the Eastern Cape Province

Obesity is a global public health concern that begins in childhood and is on the rise among people aged 18 and up, with substantial health consequences that offer socioeconomic challenges at all levels, from households to governments. Obesity and associated risk factors were investigated in children and adolescents in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Mt Frere among 209 conveniently selected participants using anthropometric measurements and a structured questionnaire. Chi-squared statistics or Fisher’s exact test were used to evaluate the risk factors predicting different outcomes such as hypertension or diabetes mellitus