HIV and Social Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Future goals for Protecting the Children in Sub-Sahara Africa

The onerous task of protecting orphans in Africa requires a multifarious effort aimed not only at infusion of public private or international funding into the care and treatment of HIV AIDS but also the building of economic and legal systems that integrates social and cultural representation and identity of the people such as those that energize the primary base and involve these vulnerable victims of HIV AIDS Goals and objectives of governments and institutions working in this field of health should be a collaborative effort towards an effective coordination of work strategically designed for children in partnership with mental health social medical and legal personnel It is my opinion that this will promote easy access to all available resources especially in countries such as Nigeria Uganda and South Africa where HIV AIDS is very endemic In order to prevent abuse and improve access to health care ethical and legal issues much attention should be paid to the underlying social and economic problems that contributed to the spread of the disease Orphans have been greatly affected by the high level of poverty infectious diseases reaching epidemic levels lack of education and inadequate health legal social and economic infrastructure

Assessment of On-Farm Travel Characteristics of Small Scale Farmers In Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria

Transport needs of the farmers have not been properly quantified, most importantly on the farm which is the main hub of his activities. A study was conducted to assess on-farm travel characteristics of small scale farmers in Nigeria during farming activities. On-farm movement parameters such as working speed, workrate, field efficiency, power consumption and distance travelled were evaluated for some farm operations. The working speed during planting of maize and fertilizer application (manual) were both 0.088 m/sec; bed construction had a working speed of 0.013 m/sec. The workrate of planting operation was 0.044 ha/hr while bed making operation had a workrate of 0.0062 ha/hr. The results showed that operations like bed construction, ridging and weeding which were more tedious operations had lower workrate, working speed and travel distance compared to the less tedious operations like planting and fertilizer application. Also more power was consumed for ridging and bed construction than planting or fertilizer application. &nbsp

Risk perception and correlates of alcohol use among out-of-school youth in motor parks in Lagos State, Nigeria

Background and Aim: The prevalence of alcohol use has increased globally. Out-of-school youth are a vulnerable group who might have missed opportunities for learning healthy behaviours in a formal school environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk perception, pattern of use, and correlates of alcohol use among out-of-school youth in Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 380 out-of school youth in motor parks in Lagos State, Nigeria, using interviewer administered questionnaires.Results: The lifetime prevalence of alcohol use was 61.1%, while 55.5% were current drinkers. Beer (57.3%) was the most consumed type of alcohol, followed by distilled spirits (29.8%). Using the CAGE scoring system, more than half (57.8%) of the current drinkers had a drinking problem. Almost three quarters (70.1%) had experienced at least one episode of alcohol intoxication within the past month. A considerable number of current drinkers (63.5%) desired to reduce their alcohol intake or stop drinking, while 45.5% had made unsuccessful attempts to do so within the past year. Only 28.9% had received assistance to quit or reduce their drinking and of these less than half (39.3%) received assistance from a professional or healthcare worker. Males were more likely to be current drinkers and to have experienced episodes of alcohol intoxication. Parental and peer drinking were associated with alcohol use but not with intoxication.Conclusions: It is important to design specific programmes to reduce alcohol use among out-of-school youth in these settings

PRODUCTION OF PAVING BLOCK FROM RECYCLED POLYETHYLENE

The production of paving block from sand and cement is becoming of immense and popular in Nigeria and is being used as finishing material in landscaping. Presently the cost of cement is becoming high and polythene waste is increasing daily causing pollution all over the land. This project researched into recycling of the polyethene and using it as binding agent in the production of paving blocks. The pure water sachet nylon was collected, washed and dried. It was cut and melted in a machine fabricated to recycled the sachet water nylon. The recyclate was collected and mixed with sand at different temperature range of 200 – 300 OC. The condensate was mixed with sand poured in a mould and allowed to cool. Compression and hardness test were performed on the paving block produced. The result shows that increase in temperature increases the compressive test of pave block and the more the content of the sand the higher the compressive strength of the paving block. The hardness test revealed that the pave block produced at 300 OC has a higher value than that at 200 OC while the pave block with higher sand content has greater hardness value

Iron bioavailibity from a tropical leafy vegetable in anaemic mice

Telfairia occidentalis is a vegetable food crop that is indigenous to West Africa. The leaves and seeds are the edible parts of the plant and are used in everyday meals by incorporation into soups and stews. Previous studies have attributed improved haematological indices to the vegetable and have advocated the use of T. occidentalis in the treatment of anemia. This study investigates the ameliorative effects of T. occidentalis when compared to FeSO4 as a reference salt in anaemic mice. It also compares the bioavailability of test iron and hepatic hepcidin expression for the estimation of iron absorption in the mice. Non-haem iron was determined in the liver of mice after the experimental feeding treatments. Hepcidin mRNA expression was carried out by quantitative RT-PCR. Administration of T. occidentalis leaves led to a modest increase in haemoglobin (Hb) levels in anaemic mice that were comparable to the Hb repletion in anaemic mice given FeSO4. Hepatic iron increase in the mice given either T. occidentalis or FeSO4 led to a corresponding enhancement of hepcidin mRNA expression. Induced hepcidin mRNA expression was enhanced by the addition of ascorbic acid to the test dose of iron. Hepatic hepcidin mRNA expression was found to be responsive to increase in the relative bioavailability of iron from test diets

Feeding habits, Overweight, Obesity and Hypertension and Associated Factors among Polytechnic Students in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

Overweight and obesity is a risk factor to chronic non-communicable diseases. This study assessed level of overweight/obesity and blood pressure among students of a higher institution in Southwest Nigeria. This cross-section study involved 300 students of a public higher institution in Ado-Ekiti, Southwest, Nigeria. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on personal characteristics, feeding pattern and lifestyle of the students. Body Mass Index (BMI) was categorized into normal weight (BMI<25) and overweight/obesity (BMI ≥ 25). Waist circumference and waist-hip-ratio (WHR) were classified as normal and at risk. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg. Chi square test was used to establish relationship between variables at 5% level of significance. The mean age of the students was 22.25 years and 62.8% were above 20years. Monthly allowanceless than ₦30000.00 was received by 64.4% of the students, 47.3% skipped breakfast meal, 96% consumed carbonated soft drinks and 37.1% did not engaged in physical exercise. Prevalence of general obesity was 17.1% (BMI≥25); 7% and 15.5% were at risk of abdominal and central obesity respectively. Students in systolic pre-hypertension and stage I hypertension were 33.3% and 3% respectively whereas 15.5% and 2.4% were in diastolic pre-hypertension and stage I hypertension respectively. Female gender, monthly allowance less than ₦30000.00 and adolescent stage were associated with obesity. Older age, male gender and monthly allowance less than ₦30000.00 were associated with BP. Nutrition education is recommended for this population group

A positive-weight next-to-leading-order Monte Carlo for e⁺e ^- annihilation to hadrons

We apply the positive-weight Monte Carlo method of Nason for simulating QCD processes accurate to Next-To-Leading Order to the case of e+e- annihilation to hadrons. The method entails the generation of the hardest gluon emission first and then subsequently adding a `truncated' shower before the emission. We have interfaced our result to the Herwig++ shower Monte Carlo program and obtained better results than those obtained with Herwig++ at leading order with a matrix element correction

Physicochemical Quality and Genotoxic Potential of Wastewater Generated by Canteen Complex

Canteens generate high volumes of wastewater that should constantly be subjected to physicochemical and genotoxicity screening. In this study, the wastewater generated by a canteen complex was screened for physicochemical properties and genotoxic potential using standard procedures and Allium cepa chromosome assay. Results showed that the wastewater had total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and total hardness concentrations of 120.70 mg/l, 554.50 mg/l, and 500.00 mg/l, respectively. The chloride concentration of the wastewater (7873.60 mg/l) was much higher than the recommended limit of 250 mg/l. The wastewater inhibited root growth in A. cepa at 0.1%, 1%, 10%, 25%, 50%, and 100% concentrations but promoted root growth at 2% and 5% concentrations. The wastewater was highly mitodepressive, with mitotic inhibition generally increasing with rising concentrations. The major chromosomal aberrations observed in A. cepa exposed to different concentrations of canteen wastewater were vagrant, sticky, and bridged chromosomes. No chromosomal aberration was observed in onion roots exposed to water (control). The differences in total chromosomal aberrations across wastewater concentrations were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In view of these results, the practice of discharging untreated canteen wastewater into drainage canals may not be environmentally sustainable

An Appraisal of Effective Financial Management of Local Government Funds: A Case of Ido-Osi Local Government Area, Nigeria

This research work deal extensively on the appraisal of effective financial management of Local Government funds in Ido- Osi Local Government area. The population focus on local Government system in order to examine the level of financial management. Thus, the population sample is selected within Ido- Osi Local government area in Nigeria. Out of the sixteen local governments, sampling is selected randomly. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources such as textbooks, Journal, government gazette while primary sources include questionnaire and personal interview. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed by the application of Regression Coefficient in providing necessary conclusion and recommendation. Hence, this study revealed that there is an urgent need for local Government System in Nigeria to improve their financial control mechanism and to rationalize its expenditure patterns, in order to achieve optimum performance. Keywords: Appraisal, Conceptualization, Effectiveness, Financial Management and Local Government Authorit