Socio-economic Characteristics and Returns of Dates Palm Marketing in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria: agricultural policies, resource economics and agribusiness.

The study examined the socio-economic characteristics and returns of date palm marketing in Gombe metropolitan markets. Questionnaires were distributed to fourty respondents randomly selected. Data were collected from ten respondents in each of the market location. Descriptive statistic and marketing margin was used to analyse the data. The results shows that 37.5% of the respondents were young within the age of 21-30, those with Quar’anic educational qualification constituted 45% of the total respondents, marketers who were married constituted 75% while those with household size ranging from 6-10 had the highest percentage of 40. Mean while, years of marketing experience for those ranging from 1-5 had the highest percentage of 62.5 and the marketing margin of 20% was realised from both small tin (0.11kg) and big tin (0.22kg). The major constraint among others faced by the marketers was pest and insect attacked with 62.3%. It was therefore recommended that appropriate means of products preservation should be introduced in dates palm marketing. Keywords: Socio-economic, Characteristics, Dates palm, Returns, Marketer

Entrepreneurship Intention and Involvement in Agribusiness Enterprise among Youths in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria: Potentials of Agribusiness in Nigeria

The study examines the Entrepreneurship Intention and Involvement in Agribusiness Enterprise among Youths in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria. Questionnaires were distributed to 440 respondents within the 11 wards in the metropolis, in which 40 respondents were randomly selected from each of the wards with 20 questionnaires distributed to those who have the intention and 20 also to those who were involved. The wards comprises of Bolari south, Bolari East, Nasarawa, Ajiya, Dawaki, Shamaki, Jekadafari, Herwagana, Kwunbiyakwunbiya, Pantami and Bajoga where data were collected from them. Descriptive statistic was used to analyse the data. The result revealed that the youths that had the intention of engaging themselves were within the age of 23-27, had the highest percentage of 45 for the respondent of age ranging from 28-32, most of them were single constituting 84% for those that had the intention while those that were involved had same percentage of 50 each, those with tertiary educational level that had the intension had 43 percent while the percentage of those that were involved constituted 45of those with secondary education and majority of them are male with 57% of the respondents that had the intention of engaging themselves in agribusiness entrepreneurship while 59% that were involved were also male. It was also revealed that the respondent who had intention on engaging in fish enterprise in livestock production and marketing had the highest percentage of 23 while those that were involved the same enterprise constituted 56%. Orchid had been the most preferred enterprise for those respondents that had the intention of engaging in crop production and marketing with 14 percentages among other enterprises while those that were involved were on cowpea production and marketing. Lack of fund was identified as problem with the highest percentage of respondent constituting 71% and inadequate extension services with 12%.It was recommended that government and nongovernmental organization should intervene by providing fund to youth in order to encourage them to involve in agribusiness and adequate extension services should be provided. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, Youths, intention and involv

Profitability Assessment of Cattle Marketing in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria.

The study examined the profitability assessment of cattle marketing in Gombe metropolis. Questionnaires were administered to 40 marketers which were randomly selected in the cattle market. Descriptive statistics and farm budget model were used for data analysis. The result indicated that majority of the marketers falls within the age group of 31-40 years and their Marketing experience falls within 16-20 years. It also revealed that the net profits were N17307.8, N18418.8 and N32170.7 for the small, medium and large size of cattle respectively. Similarly the marketing margins were found to be 34.6%, 28.9% and 20.5% respectively. Inadequate capital, high cost of transportation, lack of good roads was identified as the most serious constraints to marketing of cattle in the study area. It was recommended that there should be improvement of institutional credit facilities, rehabilitation and provision of roads .Keywords: Profitability, Assessment, Cattle, Marketing, Metropoli

Spatial Profit Differential of Yam Marketing in Gombe Metropolis, Gombe State, Nigeria.

The study examines the spatial profit differentials of yam marketing in Gombe metropolis. Primary data were collected using questionnaires which were administered to 40 randomly selected respondents, 10 from each selected markets. Farm budget model was used to analyse the data. The result indicated that 60% of the respondents were within the age bracket of 21 to 40 years and the literacy level of the respondents was moderate, where those with primary and secondary education constituted 25% each  out of the total respondent. The highest profit was realised in Pantami market with N19.2/tube and the lowest was in Gombe Old market with N32.5/tube. The major constraints to yam marketing were insufficient capital with 32.5 percent while high cost of transportation and poor storage facilities constituted 25% each. It was therefore recommended that appropriate means of products  preservation and famers should form associations in order to  have access to loans which  would boast yam marketing. Keywords: Spatial, Differential, Marketing, Ya

Detecting Schistosoma mansoni infections among pre-school-aged children in southern Ghana: a diagnostic comparison of urine-CCA, real-time PCR and Kato-Katz assays

Background In Ghana, pre-school-aged children (PSAC) are at risk of intestinal schistosomiasis and are living in need of praziquantel treatment. To better assess the infection burden within this vulnerable demographic group, we have provided a comparative assessment of the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni in pre-school-aged children by urine circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) dipsticks, real-time PCR Taqman® faecal assays and Kato-Katz coproscopy. Methods In all, 190 pre-school-aged children were sampled from three endemic communities (viz. Tomefa, Torgahkope/Adakope, and Manheam) around Weija dam, Southern Ghana. Fresh stool and urine samples were collected from all participants for diagnosis. Results Among all the three communities, the urine-CCA assay recorded the highest prevalence values of 90.5% (95% CI 80.4–96.4), 87.9% (95% CI 76.7–95), and 81.2% (95% CI 69.9–89.6) in Tomefa, Torgahkope/Adakope, and Manheam respectively. Prevalence by real-time PCR was 50% (95% CI 35.5–64.5), 8% (95% CI 2.2–19.2) and 16.7% (95% CI 8.3–28.5), while by Kato-Katz was 55.6% (95% CI 42.5–68.1), 8.6% (95% CI 2.9–19) and 11.6% (95% CI 5.1–21.6) respectively. Children aged 1 year and over were found to be positive with the urine-CCA assay; by the ages of 3–4, over 50% were urine-CCA patent. The sensitivity and specificity of the POC-CCA dipsticks, when compared against the combined results of Kato-Katz/TaqMan results was found to be 84.1% (95% CI = 72.7–92.1) and 12.9% (95% CI = 6.6–22) respectively. Conclusions We propose that the urine-CCA dipstick may be a useful rapid diagnostic tool to estimate the prevalence of intestinal schistosomiasis in PSAC, particularly in rapid identification of at-risk areas. However, our assessment has shown that it possible to record false positives when compared to combined Kato-Katz and qPCR results. To guide PSAC praziquantel treatment needs, we propose the urine CCA assay should be included in routine surveillance of intestinal schistosomiasis alongside other diagnostics such as Kato-Katz and urine filtration

Estimation of zinc levels among children with malnutrition at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Northwestern Nigeria

Objective: Zinc plays a critical role in many body functions and its deficiency is associated with impaired cognitive function, behavioral problems, memory impairment, growth retardation, increased incidence of diarrhoea and recurrent infections. Although severe zinc deficiency is not common, mild to moderate deficiency is quite common globally. It is estimated that some form of zinc deficiency affects about one third of the world population, with estimates ranging from 4% to 73% across sub Saharan Africa. To determine the prevalence of zinc deficiency among malnourished children at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.Methods: Study was descriptive cross-sectional, carried out at the Paediatric department of UDUTH, Sokoto from April 2013 to June 2014. It was conducted among children aged between 6 and 60 months who presented to the OPD and those that were admitted into paediatric wards of UDUTH with malnutrition. Children with similar characteristics that were well nourished served as controls. Cohorts were recruited consecutively until the required sample size was obtained. 5mls of venous blood was taken for serum zinc analysis from each child.Results: A total of 550 children were studied with 275 apiece for cohorts. The mean age of the malnourished children was 26.2±14.6 months compared to 28.2±17.0 months recorded for the controls (p=0.157).The mean serum zinc levels for the study subjects 13.5±3.3μmol/Lwas significantly lower than that of the controls (15.8±1.9μmol/L) (t=9.42, df=548, p=0.0001).Conclusion: The prevalence of zinc deficiency among both malnourished children and the controls was 0% using WHO reference value for children below the age of 5 years. Prophylactic doses of zinc should be given in all malnourish children in situation where mineral mix is not added to feed or f75 and f100 are not available. There is need to adhere to and use recommended cut off values recommended by WHO for defining zinc deficiency by researchers.Keywords: zinc, malnutrition, Sokot

The effects of seaward distance on above and below ground carbon stocks in estuarine mangrove ecosystems

Mangrove forests have gained recognition for their potential role in climate change mitigation due to carbon sequestration in live trees, and carbon storage in the sediments trapped by mangrove tree roots and pneumatophores. Africa hosts about 19% of the world’s mangroves, yet relatively few studies have examined the carbon stocks of African mangroves. The available studies report considerable differences among sites and amongst the different pools of carbon stocks. None considered the effects of seaward distance. We present details of AGC and SOC carbon stocks for Lindi in Tanzania, and focus on how these values differ with increasing seaward distance and, how our results compare to those reported elsewhere across Africa

Pearl millet genome sequence provides a resource to improve agronomic traits in arid environments

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., syn. Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone], is a staple food for over 90 million poor farmers in arid and semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. We report the ~1.79 Gb genome sequence of reference genotype Tift 23D2B1-P1-P5, which contains an estimated 38,579 genes. Resequencing analysis of 994 (963 inbreds of the highly cross-pollinated cultigen, and 31 wild accessions) provides insights into population structure, genetic diversity, evolution and domestication history. In addition we demonstrated the use of re-sequence data for establishing marker trait associations, genomic selection and prediction of hybrid performance and defining heterotic pools. The genome wide variations and abiotic stress proteome data are useful resources for pearl millet improvement through deploying modern breeding tools for accelerating genetic gains in pearl millet.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa

Abstract: Neuroscience research in Africa remains sparse. Devising new policies to boost Africa’s neuroscience landscape is imperative, but these must be based on accurate data on research outputs which is largely lacking. Such data must reflect the heterogeneity of research environments across the continent’s 54 countries. Here, we analyse neuroscience publications affiliated with African institutions between 1996 and 2017. Of 12,326 PubMed indexed publications, 5,219 show clear evidence that the work was performed in Africa and led by African-based researchers - on average ~5 per country and year. From here, we extract information on journals and citations, funding, international coauthorships and techniques used. For reference, we also extract the same metrics from 220 randomly selected publications each from the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Our dataset provides insights into the current state of African neuroscience research in a global context