Capital Investment Decisions on Entrepreneurial Agricultural Projects in Kwara State

The purpose of this study was to assess the adequacy of the capital investment decisions of Youth Integrated Agricultural Project in Kwara State. The project has two parts: Youth Integrated Farm Training Centre and Farm Settlements. The Youth Integrated Farm Training Centre has produced 650 farmer-graduates, who are now working in the three locations where Farm Settlements are. The sixth batch consisting of 66 farmer-graduates provided the population of the study. From this population a purposive sample of 46 potential respondents was selected. These people filled a researcher-developed questionnaire. Thirty six correctly filled copies of the questionnaire were collected from the respondents. The responses of the thirty six framer-graduates were analyzed based on four research questions derived from the four objectives of the study. The major findings from this analysis were: (i) The Kwara State Government has invested a total of N65,408,129 on the Youth Integrated Agricultural Project in the last ten years; (ii) Seventy two percent of the  respondents disagreed with the statements that the allowance paid to the  trainees was sufficient. Moreover, ninety two percent of them disagreed with the statement that the empowerment packaged given to them to work in the Farm Settlements was adequate. In the same vein, seventy six percent disagreed that infrastructure in the Farm settlements were adequate; (iii)        But the respondents agreed that infrastructure in the Farm Training Centre were adequate. In sum the State Government’s capital investment decisions were not enough to make the Youth Integrated Agricultural project an unqualified succes

Capital Investment Decisions on Entrepreneurial Agricultural Projects in Kwara State

The purpose of this study was to assess the adequacy of the capital investment decisions of Youth Integrated Agricultural Project in Kwara State. The project has two parts: Youth Integrated FarmTraining Centre and Farm Settlements. The Youth Integrated Farm Training Centre has produced 650farmer-graduates, who are now working in the three locations where Farm Settlements are. The sixthbatch consisting of 66 farmer-graduates provided the population of the study. From this population apurposive sample of 46 potential respondents was selected. These people filled a researcher-developedquestionnaire. Thirty six correctly filled copies of the questionnaire were collected from therespondents. The responses of the thirty six framer-graduates were analyzed based on four researchquestions derived from the four objectives of the study. The major findings from this analysis were: (i)The Kwara State Government has invested a total of N65, 408,129 on the Youth Integrated AgriculturalProject in the last ten years; (ii) Seventy two percent of the respondents disagreed with the statementsthat the allowance paid to the trainees was sufficient. Moreover, ninety two percent of them disagreedwith the statement that the empowerment packaged given to them to work in the Farm Settlements wasadequate. In the same vein, seventy six percent disagreed that infrastructure in the Farm settlementswere adequate; (iii) But the respondents agreed that infrastructure in the Farm Training Centre wereadequate. In sum the State Government’s capital investment decisions were not enough to make theYouth Integrated Agricultural project an unqualified success

Prevalence of HIV-infection among under-5 children with protein energy malnutrition presenting at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria

Background: HIV infection is a major health problem worldwide. It is  associated with Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM) among under-5 childrenwith attendant high morbidity and mortality.Objective: To determine the prevalence of HIV-infection among children presenting withvarious subtypes of PEM.Methodology: Children suffering from PEM aged below 5 years admitted into the Paediatric units of UDUTH, Sokoto between October 1st, 2010 and April 30th, 2011 were tested for HIV infection using ELISA tests and HIVDNAPCR. Nutritional status was determined using the modified Wellcome Classification and socioeconomic classification was by the scheme developed by Oyedeji,s. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 statistical package. P-value . 0.05 was considered significant.Results: One-hundred under-5 children (64 males, 36 females) with PEM were studied. The mean (±SD) age was 19.8&#177 9.2 months and the majority were aged 12.0-23.9 months. Twentyseven of the 100 children withPEM had HIV-infection giving a prevalence rate of 27%: 59.3% in males and 40.7% in females. Among the HIV-infected children, the 24.0 . 35.9 months age group was the most affected (53.8%). Infected and non-infected children were comparable in terms of age (χ2=7.35, p=0.12) , gender (χ2=0.36, p=0.55) and socioeconomic (χ2=3.01, p=0.25). Themode of transmission was maternal to child transmission in all cases. The highest prevalence of HIV infection was found among marasmus subgroup (65%). Twenty-two (81.5%) of the 27 cases were discharged home, whilefive patients died giving a case fatality rate of 18.5%.Conclusion: HIV infection is common among under-5 children with PEM with no age, gender or socioeconomic predilection. The clinical type of PEM most often affected is marasmus.Key words: Protein-energy malnutrition, HIV-infection, Under-

Determination of elemental constituents for three herbal plants that are traditionally used to cure cancer

Elemental constituents of fresh leaves of the three herbal plants used traditionally for treatment of cancer namely: Guera Senegalense, Boswellia and Mangifera Indica were analyzed. Results show that all the three samples contain the highest amounts of calcium in parts per million (Guiera Senegalensis 5991 ppm, Boswellia 9413 ppm and Mangifera Indica 2405 ppm) as compared to other constituents. Further studies reveal that presence of calcium in appreciable amount within the metabolic system of human being helps to reduce the risk of cancer and related ailments. Other benefits of calcium in man include strengthening bones and teeth.Keywords: Herbal Medicine, Cancer, Constituents, Carcinoge

FITOREMEDIASI PADA MEDIA TANAH YANG MENGANDUNG Cu DENGAN TANAMAN KANGKUNG DARAT

One of the restoration of contaminated environmental quality method is using phytoremediation techniques. That is recovery contaminated environment using plants. This research studied the ability of kangkung darat (Ipome reptans) to absorb metallic copper and to find out which part of the Kangkung Darat that absorb most of the metal Cu, also to know the difference between absorption and kangkung darat are harvested at 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The research activities are carried out by planting kangkung darat in a contaminated soil media and in the flush of copper metal with a solution of Cu mg / L two times a day. Samples of kangkung darat have been taken from accordance with plant age (2, 4 and 6 weeks), and plant parts (roots, stems and leaves). Used in Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) Simatzu type AA to measure the content of Cu in the sample. Results obtained from this study that Cu accumulation in plants is mainly found in the roots. On the kangkung darat were 2 weeks of Cu contained as much as 5.3403 ppm in the roots, stems and leaves of 2.6637 5.1117. At the age of 4 weeks in a row at the root, stem leaves are 10.6998, 5.8281 and 2.0666 ppm. Mean, at the age of 6 weeks at the root of 10.4605, the leaves on the stem 7.7839 and 9.1863 ppm. From the research results can be concluded that kangkung darat could be used as fitoremediator Cu metal contaminated soil

Can mangroves help combat sea level rise through sediment accretion and accumulation?

Mangroves have substantial roles to induce sedimentation in the vulnerable coastal regions, which subsequently helps to combat climate change induced impacts like sea level rise. Although Sarawak has numerous pristine estuarine mangroves, studies on the roles of these mangroves in regards to sediment deposition are scanty. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the sediment accretion and accumulation pattern of pristine Sibuti mangrove using tiles and sediment traps from January to December 2013. Monthly average accretion and accumulation rate of sediments of this mangrove were 0.55 mm and 0.08 g cm-2, respectively. A total of 6.56 mm and 0.93 g cm-2 sediments were accreted and accumulated annually. Significantly positive correlation (r=0.794) was found for the monthly accretion of sediments with accumulation. Accretion and accumulation of sediments were also positively correlated with rainfall. Comparatively higher rate of accretion and accumulation of sediments were estimated in the months of wet season when the rainfall and tidal inundation duration were high. Erosion was found higher in the months of dry season when the rainfall was low. Seasonal variations were not found for sediment accretion as well as accumulation in the study area. The findings of the study suggest that the roles of this forest in regards to sediment accretion through retention is compatible with the predicted annual rate of sea level rise of 1.8 to 5.9 mm within 21st century by IPCC

Association of masticatory muscle activity with sleep arousal and other concomitant movements during sleep

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to verify the associations among sleep bruxism (SB), sleep arousal (SA) and concurrent body movements. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Subjects underwent a standard overnight polysomnography test and audio-video recordings. Sleep quality was evaluated according to the Rechtschaffen and Kales criteria, while SA was determined as per the American Sleep Disorders Association criteria. Analyses were performed by an external institution after masking of the subjects' information. SB was assessed based on the presence/absence of rhythmic masticatory muscle activity (RMMA) episodes, which were identified by using electromyography of the masseter muscle. The observed simultaneous movements included lower leg movement (LLM), swallowing, face scratching, head movement, body movement, eye blinking, coughing, licking, sighing, body scratching, lip sucking, somniloquy and yawning. The LLM was determined visually, as well as through an increase in the tibialis electromyogram signal. Other movements were visually assessed using audio-video recordings. The incidences of all the simultaneous movements were compared between RMMA with intercurrent SA (SAwRMMA; RMMA episode derived from a masseter electromyogram showing more than 10% of maximum voluntary contraction) and SA without RMMA (SAw/oRMMA). RESULTS: Fourteen subjects were included in this study (females/males: 4/10, mean age: 31.5 ± 5.7 years). Among these, LLM, swallowing, body movement, licking, body scratching and lip sucking were frequently observed in SAwRMMA episodes than in SAw/oRMMA episodes, significantly. However, the non-specific simultaneous movements were higher observed in SAw/oRMMA episodes than that in SAwRMMA. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that SB is concurrently activated with LLM in relation to arousal