ROLE OF WOMEN FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF BAUCHI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAUCHI STATE.

This study was aimed at examining the role of Women farmers’ cooperative Societies in Agricultural Production in Bauchi Local Government Area of Bauchi State Nigeria. A total of eighty (80) women farmers were randomly selected from eight Cooperative societies which represent 50% of all registered and viable Cooperative Societies in the study area. Data were collected using well-structured pre-tested interview schedules, and analysed by means of descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, percentages and means). The results indicated that women Cooperative Societies in the study area were engaged in agricultural activities, such as land clearance (62.5%), planting and transplanting (62.5%) weeding (40%), fertilizer application (75%), food processing (87.5%), food storage (95%) and animal production and management (94%) respectively. The average land size of the respondents was 1.3 hectare. Constraints to their development efforts included inadequacy of finance; lack of training of their members, inadequate farm implements and lack of suitable machines for Women farmer’s use. Government should provide soft and medium term loan to women cooperative societies. Extension staff should make women cooperative societies as a target group for quick delivery of extension services. Apparently technologies for Women farmers should be made available and affordable to all women farmers particularly members of Cooperative Societies.Agribusiness,

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF BROILER PRODUCTION AT MIANGO PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

This paper evaluate the economics of broiler production at Miango, Plateau State, Nigeria using a – 9 years record (1992 – 2000). During the period, 76 batches of broilers were reared to point of slaughter. The results shows that the enterprise incurred an average total variable cost of N620,6333.31 out of which feeding cost, day old chicks (stock) and mortality cost represents 58.13%, 19.13% and of 9.64% of the total cost of production, respectively. Total revenue within the period was estimated to be N763,969.44 which was mainly generated from the sales of broiler birds. The gross margin was found to be N143,334.13 with N0.23 as the returns per naira invested in the enterprise. Thus the broiler production is a profitable venture in the study area.Broilers, Income, Investment & Profitability, Livestock Production/Industries,

Incidence of staphylococcus spp and some members of enterobacteriaceae family and their susceptibilty to leaf extracts of Momordica balsamina (balsam apple)

Study was carried out on the incidence of Staphylococcus spp. and some members of the family Enterobacteriaceae family, in lettuce and cabbage. And their susceptibility to Momordica balsamina leaf extracts. Forty samples each of lettuce and cabbage were analyzed. Salmonella species were isolated from 32 (80%) lettuce and 30 (75%) cabbage samples. Staphylococcus species were isolated from all the lettuce and cabbage samples. Only three (7.5%) of the lettuce samples yielded Shigella species, and none from cabbage. Escherichia coli was isolated from 5 (12.5%) lettuce and 6 (15%) cabbage samples. E. coli 0157:H7 was not detected in any of the samples. All the isolates were tested for susceptibility to the methanol, ethanol and aqueous leaf extracts of M. balsamina using disc diffusion method Disc concentrations of 1.0, 10, 100, 1000, 2000, and 3000μg/disc were prepared from the leaf ectracts of M. balsamina Highest activity was recorded with ethanolic extracts on Shigella spp and E. coli with zone diameter of inhibition of 14mm and 13mm respectively. Other extracts were active against the test organisms with varying degree of inhibition, while some were not active. The susceptibility of Staphylocuccus species to the extracts was insignificant and seemed to be the most resistant bacteria among the text organisms. The study therefore stresses the need to sanitize vegetables adequately before consumption

Determination of Antinuclear Antibody and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Selected Patients Attending University Medical Center (Sickbay) A.B.U, Zaria Nigeria

SLE is an auto-immune disease that is largely under-reported in most developing countries as the syndrome often resembles rheumatoid arthritis. This research was therefore carried out to determine, the level of Antinuclear, Antibody (ANA) in patients with suspected Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in University Medical Center (Sickbay) Samaru, Zaria. Out of 100 blood samples collected, 23 samples (23%) were tested positive for SLE and 77 samples (77%) were tested negative for SLE. Then 92 out of the 100 samples were also screened for ANA, where 55 samples (59.8%) were found to be positive and 37 samples (40.2%) were tested negative for ANA.  From ANA positive patients, 22 (40%) were found to be SLE positive and 33 (60%) were found to be SLE negative, while among ANA negative patients none was found to be SLE positive and 37 (100%) were found to be SLE negative. Age-range of 31-40years had the highest prevalence among the SLE patients with 7 (46.7%) positive and below 20 and above 50 years had the lowest prevalence. Among the ANA positive patients, age range of 31-40 years had the highest prevalence of 21 (85.7%) and above 50 years had the lowest 9 (34.6%) prevalence. Hepatitis patients had the highest prevalence 8 (57.1%) among the SLE positive patients. Finally, this research revealed that female patients had the highest prevalence with a total of 20 positive (33.3%) out of the 23 SLE positive patients and also female patients had the highest prevalence of 37 (66.9%) out of the 55 patients tested positive for ANA. In respect to this, females should therefore avoid doing things that will increase the risk of infections since they are at high risk of been infected. It is therefore recommended among others that ANA tests should be recommended as major diagnosis of SLE as the disease is confirmed to be the major triggering factor for ANA. Keywords: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Antinuclear, Antibody (ANA), rheumatoid arthriti

Fungal Contamination of Some Poultry Houses in Kaduna State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to assess the level of fungal contamination of poultry houses with emphasis on Aspergillus species contamination of litter, feeders, drinkers and the housing materials. Ten swabs each from ten locations and materials (100) of the 10 poultry houses were collected for fungal isolation. A total of 126 fungi belonging to 5 genera were isolated from the different parts of the poultry environment viz; Aspergillus, Mucor, Candida, Rhizopusand Penecillium species with Aspergillus and Candida species having the highest frequency of isolation, 69 (54.76%) and 27 (20.93%) respectively. Three species of Aspergillus were isolated A. fumigatus (22), A. flavus (22) and A. niger (18). Fungi were isolated from all parts of the poultry sampled with a higher rate of isolation from the doors, window nets, roof and feeders. The presence of Aspergillus and Candida species which are important poultry pathogens i.e causing Aspergillosis, mycotoxicosis and Candidaisis indicates an economic threat the farmers as well as to the health of the bird

Cross-sectional survey of knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers and community members toward the Ebola virus disease and antimicrobial resistance pathogens outbreaks in Nigeria

Introduction: the 2014 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria has further raised the awareness of health-care workers (HCWs) and community members (MCs) on the threat posed by infectious diseases and the need for improvement on infection control practices. However, awareness of dangers of increasing incidences of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in hospitals and communities remained low. Methods: a cross-sectional survey of awareness of 195 HCWs and 265 MCs toward EVD and AMR was conducted through a structured questionnaire. Results: majority of HCWs (95.4%) and MCs (82.8%) still have knowledge of EVD´s danger and give reasons like its unique way of killing and unavailability of drugs for their awareness. Only 17.2% of MCs are aware of AMR as a problem, and only 3.4% of MCs and 10.3% of HCWs agreed that AMR is more dangerous than EVD. On the contrary, 76.4% of doctors, 95.1% nurses, 67.9% laboratory scientists, 66.7% pharmacists, 77.4% students and 100% of civil servants, drivers and religious leaders believed that EVD is more horrific and spread faster. They both attributed the rapid awareness of EVD in Nigeria, despite being new at the time of the outbreak, to the seriousness with which stakeholders and the media fought EVD, the gesture AMR is yet to receive. Though both HCWs and MCs agreed that prevention, not treatment is the best option to tackle Ebola like-diseases, but surprisingly, about 37% and 65% of HCWs and MCs respectively, still believe that traditional medicines can be used to treat Ebola related illnesses. Conclusion: AMR awareness remains low among MCs and some HCWs when compared with EVD. It is recommended that efforts put in place during EVD outbreak by all stakeholders and the media need to be doubled to increase the knowledge of both HCWs and MCs toward AMR

An Inertial Algorithm of Generalized f -Projection for Maximal Monotone Operators and Generalized Mixed Equilibrium Problems in Banach Spaces

In this paper, we study a modified hybrid inertial algorithm of generalized f-projection for approximating maximal monotone operators and solutions of generalized mixed equilibrium problems in Banach spaces. Our results generalize and improve many recent announced results in the literature

Environmental contribution to antimicrobial resistance: A largely ignored global health issue

Environmental contribution to the continued occurrence of antibiotic resistance has been largely unexplored. There has been much focus on clinical isolates for their resistant nature but non-clinical bacterial isolates in the environment have been considered as the chief contributing factors that facilitate the spread and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ABR) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). The natural environment acts as a reservoir for bacteria, providing them with a favourable condition for their emergence and breeding of resistance. One such environmental leverage is inter/intra-specie exchange of genes encoding resistance factors. It was argued that human activities aid immensely in the emergence of antibiotic resistance in the environment. The rationale for this review is to examine extensively the complex interplay of antibiotic resistance from the natural environmental perspective and factors that influence the occurrence and dissemination of such resistance. It also seeks to stress the biological factors that facilitate the emergence of resistance and link it to general biological processes. The review has been structured to capture the general threat posed by the circulation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their genes, as well as the influence of the environment in contributing to this global health threat. In addition, the review looked at the effective methods used to tackle the silent pandemic, by controlling the spread of resistance in the environment. Environmental stakeholders and policymakers are recommended to be included in tackling the development of antibiotic resistance

Pharmacognostic and Acute Toxicity Study of Burkea Africana Root

Burkea africana is a plant that belongs to then family Fabaceae; it is widely spread in tropical Africa including Nigeria. It is of valuable in  ethnomedicine especially in the treatment of antidote for venomous stings and bites, cutaneous and sub cutaneous parasitic infection, convulsion and pulmonary troubles. Despite the fact that roots of Burkea africana have several medicinal properties, no standardization parameter has been  assessed. Due to lack of standard parameters, proper identification and ascertaining quality and purity in the events of adulteration has been thwarted. The objective of the study was to establish some important pharmacognostic profile and safety margin of Burkea africana root with the hope of assisting in its standardization for quality, purity and safety. Elemental analysis was carried out using acid digestion method and phytochemical composition of the plants was evaluated using standard method. Acute toxicity was achieved using Lorke method to determine the LD50. Chemomicroscopical evaluation revealed the presence of cellulose, tannins, starch, lignin, calcium oxalate, suberin, aleurone grain and mucilage with the exception of calcium carbonate. The average moisture contents, total ash, acid insoluble, water soluble ash, alcohol extractive value and water extractive values in the powdered plant material were 3.8%, 7.5%, 4.43%, 8.07%, 25.0% and 20.33% respectively. In addition, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Cd and Cu were found to be within the safety limit. Phytochemicals which include alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, carbohydrates and triterpenes were detected in both aqueous and methanolic extracts. The LD50 of Burkea africana was found to be greater than 5000 mg /kg and could be considered safe for consumption. Keywords: Elemental analysis, Burkea africana, Pharmacognostic, Phytochemica