Technology Differentials and Production Efficiency in Cassava-Based Production in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study was undertaken to analyse technology differential and production efficiency of traditional and modern farms cassava farmers in Nigeria, using as a case study farmers in Ogun State, which is one of the highest producers of cassava in the south-west geo-political zone. It considered the different net incomes of various farm categories and the relative levels and possible causes of the technical inefficiency as well as the nature of returns to scale between traditional and modern, small and large scale, and between mono and mixed crops cassava farmers. Ogun State is divided into four agricultural zones namely: Ilaro zone, Abeokuta zone, Ikenne zone and Ijebu zone. Two cells were randomly selected from each block. Data were collected during the field survey from 400 cassava farmers, selected through a multi-stage selection process using systematic random sampling technique. The translog stochastic frontier production function was fitted on the data. This was done using the stochastic frontiers version 4.1. Results of the study showed that cassava-based food crop production in Ogun State is characteristically carried out on smallholders production basis with a few of the farmers cultivating more than three hectares. Budgetary Analysis result revealed that traditional and modern farms made net farm profits of about (N220,760.35 and N222,030.85). The estimated small and large farms’ net farm profits was about N213,174.87 and N247,737.57 respectively. Also, mono and mixed crop farm generated net farm income of about N293,132.48 and N294,556.96 per annum, respectively. The finding implied that the current level of output from cassava farms can be increased by about 38% for all farms (aggregate), if all farm inputs are effectively utilized. It is thus recommended that a well monitored credit policy be put in place to enable the farmers acquire the necessary production inputs to boost their output. It is also recommended that government should intensify efforts to encourage the small-holders to improve upon their production practices. Keywords: Technology, Efficiency, Differential, Budgetary, Stochasti

Technology Adoption among Cassava Producers in Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of Ogun State

The main objective of this research work was to find out the adoption of technology among cassava producers in the study area. A multistage random sampling procedure was adopted to collect primary data from 80 cassava farmers who were randomly selected from some selected communities in the study area. Descriptive statistics, logit regression analysis and budgetary analysis were used to analyze the data collected. The result revealed that majority of the respondents have low formal education, as about 68% of the farmers only attended primary school, 67% of respondents fall within the age bracket of 31 to 50 years which is the normal age group for the working population, also revealing that majority of the respondents (farmers) are males with about 78% of entire respondents being males, the research also revealed that 91% of the farmers are married with an average income of N34,153.21. Furthermore, the regression analysis showed that age of farmers, farm size, hired labour (mandays) and cropping patterns showed significant influence at different levels on the probability of adopting improved technologies in cassava production as age had a positive and significant influence on the probability of adopting improved technologies. This influence is significant at 10% level. The coefficient of farmer’s age and education is positive meaning that as farmers age increase by one unit, the probability of adopting improved technologies will also increase. The budgetary analysis revealed that the average total revenue is N34,153.52, the average farmer’s net income is N22,094.99 and gross margin is N25,818.77 with the profitability index as 0.6469. Based on the problems identified, it has been recommended that the government should provide incentives for the farmers as well as increasing the rate of visit of extension agents in the study area so as to boost their level of adoption of technologies on cassava farming. Keywords: Farming, Technology, Profitability, Adoption, Incentive

Effects of Soil Erosion on Technical Efficiency of Cassava Farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of soil erosion on technical efficiency of cassava farming in Enugu State, Nigeria with a view to identifying the effects of erosion on cassava production.  A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 200 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected on respondents’ socio-economic characteristics such as age, gender, educational level, marital status, farm size, as well as on quantities and prices of inputs and outputs using a pre-tested questionnaire. Technical efficiency (TE) estimates showed that most farmers operated below the production frontier, with a significant difference (p< 0.05) between the mean TE of eroded farms (56 ± 0.19) percent and non-eroded (77 ± 0.17) farms. Farm size, labour, cassava stem cuttings, and fertilizer significantly (p<0.05) increased the level of TE in non-eroded farms, while only fertilizer significantly affected the TE in eroded farms. Significant (p<0.05) inefficiency factors on non-eroded farms were education, age, household size, and extension contact, while education and age were significant (p<0.05) in eroded farms. It was concluded that farmers in eroded farms were less technically efficient in their use of resources than farmers in non-eroded farms in Enugu State. Keywords: Enugu state, Erosion, maximum likelihood, stochastic frontier, technical efficienc

Improved identification of abdominal aortic aneurysm using the Kernelized Expectation Maximization algorithm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) monitoring and risk of rupture is currently assumed to be correlated with the aneurysm diameter. Aneurysm growth, however, has been demonstrated to be unpredictable. Using PET to measure uptake of [18F]-NaF in calcified lesions of the abdominal aorta has been shown to be useful for identifying AAA and to predict its growth. The PET low spatial resolution, however, can affect the accuracy of the diagnosis. Advanced edge-preserving reconstruction algorithms can overcome this issue. The kernel method has been demonstrated to provide noise suppression while retaining emission and edge information. Nevertheless, these findings were obtained using simulations, phantoms and a limited amount of patient data. In this study, the authors aim to investigate the usefulness of the anatomically guided kernelized expectation maximization (KEM) and the hybrid KEM (HKEM) methods and to judge the statistical significance of the related improvements. Sixty-one datasets of patients with AAA and 11 from control patients were reconstructed with ordered subsets expectation maximization (OSEM), HKEM and KEM and the analysis was carried out using the target-to-blood-pool ratio, and a series of statistical tests. The results show that all algorithms have similar diagnostic power, but HKEM and KEM can significantly recover uptake of lesions and improve the accuracy of the diagnosis by up to 22% compared to OSEM. The same improvements are likely to be obtained in clinical applications based on the quantification of small lesions, like for example cancer

The United Kingdom Diabetic Retinopathy Electronic Medical Record Users Group, Report 1: baseline characteristics and visual acuity outcomes in eyes treated with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for diabetic macular oedema

Aims: To describe baseline characteristics and visual outcome for eyes treated with ranibizumab for diabetic macular oedema (DMO) from a multicentre database. Methods: Structured clinical data were anonymised and extracted from an electronic medical record from 19 participating UK centres: age at first injection, ETDRS visual acuity (VA), number of injections, ETDRS diabetic retinopathy (DR) and maculopathy grade at baseline and visits. The main outcomes were change in mean VA from baseline, number of injections and clinic visits and characteristics affecting VA change and DR grade. Results: Data from 12 989 clinic visits was collated from baseline and follow-up for 3103 eyes. Mean age at first treatment was 66 years. Mean VA (letters) for eyes followed at least 2 years was 51.1 (SD=19.3) at baseline, 54.2 (SD: 18.6) and 52.5 (SD: 19.4) at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Mean visual gain was five letters. The proportion of eyes with VA of 72 letters or better was 25% (baseline) and 33% (1 year) for treatment naïve eyes. Eyes followed for at least 6 months received a mean of 3.3 injections over a mean of 6.9 outpatient visits in 1 year. Conclusions: In a large cohort of eyes with DMO treated with ranibizumab injections in the UK, 33% of patients achieved better than or equal to 6/12 in the treated eye at 12 months compared with 25% at baseline. The mean visual gain was five letters. Eyes with excellent VA at baseline maintain good vision at 18 months

United Kingdom Diabetic Retinopathy Electronic Medical Record (UK DR EMR) Users Group: report 4, real-world data on the impact of deprivation on the presentation of diabetic eye disease at hospital services.

AIM: To assess the impact of deprivation on diabetic retinopathy presentation and related treatment interventions, as observed within the UK hospital eye service. METHODS: This is a multicentre, national diabetic retinopathy database study with anonymised data extraction across 22 centres from an electronic medical record system. The following were the inclusion criteria: all patients with diabetes and a recorded, structured diabetic retinopathy grade. The minimum data set included, for baseline, age and Index of Multiple Deprivation, based on residential postcode; and for all time points, visual acuity, ETDRS grading of retinopathy and maculopathy, and interventions (laser, intravitreal therapies and surgery). The main  outcome measures were (1) visual acuity and binocular visual state, and (2) presence of sight-threatening complications and need for early treatment. RESULTS: 79 775 patients met the inclusion criteria. Deprivation was associated with later presentation in patients with diabetic eye disease: the OR of being sight-impaired at entry into the hospital eye service (defined as 6/18 to better than 3/60 in the better seeing eye) was 1.29 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.39) for the most deprived decile vs 0.77 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.86) for the least deprived decile; the OR for being severely sight-impaired (3/60 or worse in the better seeing eye) was 1.17 (95% CI 0.90 to 1.55) for the most deprived decile vs 0.88 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.27) for the least deprived decile (reference=fifth decile in all cases). There is also variation in sight-threatening complications at presentation and treatment undertaken: the least deprived deciles had lower chance of having a tractional retinal detachment (OR=0.48 and 0.58 for deciles 9 and 10, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.90 and 0.29 to 1.09, respectively); in terms of accessing treatment, the rate of having a vitrectomy was lowest in the most deprived cohort (OR=0.34, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.58). CONCLUSIONS: This large real-world study suggests that first presentation at a hospital eye clinic with visual loss or sight-threatening diabetic eye disease is associated with deprivation. These initial hospital visits represent the first opportunities to receive treatment and to formally engage with support services. Such patients are more likely to be sight-impaired or severely sight-impaired at presentation, and may need additional resources to engage with the hospital eye services over complex treatment schedules

Assessment of different quantification metrics of [¹⁸F]-NaF PET/CT images of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm

Background: We aim to assess the spill-in effect and the benefit in quantitative accuracy for [18F]-NaF PET/CT imaging of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) using the background correction (BC) technique. Methods: Seventy-two datasets of patients diagnosed with AAA were reconstructed with ordered subset expectation maximization algorithm incorporating point spread function (PSF). Spill-in effect was investigated for the entire aneurysm (AAA), and part of the aneurysm excluding the region close to the bone (AAAexc). Quantifications of PSF and PSF+BC images using different thresholds (% of max. SUV in target regions-of-interest) to derive target-to-background (TBR) values (TBRmax, TBR90, TBR70 and TBR50) were compared at 3 and 10 iterations. Results: TBR differences were observed between AAA and AAAexc due to spill-in effect from the bone into the aneurysm. TBRmax showed the highest sensitivity to the spill-in effect while TBR50 showed the least. The spill-in effect was reduced at 10 iterations compared to 3 iterations, but at the expense of reduced contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). TBR50 yielded the best trade-off between increased CNR and reduced spill-in effect. PSF+BC method reduced TBR sensitivity to spill-in effect, especially at 3 iterations, compared to PSF (P-value ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: TBR50 is robust metric for reduced spill-in and increased CNR

The UK Diabetic Retinopathy Electronic Medical Record (UK DR EMR) Users Group, Report 2: real-world data for the impact of cataract surgery on diabetic macular oedema

Aim: To assess the rate of ‘treatment-requiring diabetic macular oedema (DMO)’ in eyes for the two  years before and after cataract surgery. Methods: Multicentre national diabetic retinopathy (DR) database study with anonymised data extraction across 19 centres from an electronic medical record system. Inclusion criteria: eyes undergoing cataract surgery in patients with diabetes with no history of DMO prior to study start. The minimum dataset included: age, visual acuity (all time-points), injection episodes, timing of cataract surgery and ETDRS grading of retinopathy and maculopathy. Main outcome measure: rate of developing first episode of treatment-requiring DMO in relation to timing of cataract surgery in the same eye. Results: 4850 eyes met the inclusion criteria. The rate of developing treatment-requiring DMO in this cohort was 2.9% in the year prior to surgery versus 5.3% in the year after surgery (p<0.01). The risk of ‘treatment-requiring DMO’ increased sharply after surgery, peaking in the 3–6 months' period (annualised rates of 5.2%, 6.8%, 5.6% and 4.0% for the 0–3, 3–6, 6–9 and 9–12 months' post-operative time periods respectively). Risk was associated with pre-operative grade of retinopathy: risk of DMO in the first year post-operatively being 1.0% (no DR pre-operatively), 5.4% (mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy; NPDR), 10.0% (moderate NPDR), 13.1% (severe NPDR) and 4.9% (PDR) (p<0.01). Conclusions: This large real-world study demonstrates that the rate of developing treatment-requiring DMO increases sharply in the year after cataract surgery for all grades of retinopathy, peaking in the 3–6 months' postoperative period. Patients with moderate and severe NPDR are at particularly high risk

A potent betulinic acid analogue ascertains an antagonistic mechanism between autophagy and proteasomal degradation pathway in HT-29 cells

Betulinic acid (BA), a member of pentacyclic triterpenes has shown important biological activities like anti-bacterial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory and most interestingly anticancer property. To overcome its poor aqueous solubility and low bioavailability, structural modifications of its functional groups are made to generate novel lead(s) having better efficacy and less toxicity than the parent compound. BA analogue, 2c was found most potent inhibitor of colon cancer cell line, HT-29 cells with IC50 value 14.9 μM which is significantly lower than standard drug 5-fluorouracil as well as parent compound, Betulinic acid. We have studied another mode of PCD, autophagy which is one of the important constituent of cellular catabolic system as well as we also studied proteasomal degradation pathway to investigate whole catabolic pathway after exploration of 2c on HT-29 cells. Mechanism of autophagic cell death was studied using fluorescent dye like acridine orange (AO) and monodansylcadaverin (MDC) staining by using fluorescence microscopy. Various autophagic protein expression levels were determined by Western Blotting, qRT-PCR and Immunostaining. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) was used to study the colocalization of various autophagic proteins. These were accompanied by formation of autophagic vacuoles as revealed by FACS and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Proteasomal degradation pathway was studied by proteasome-Glo™ assay systems using luminometer.The formation of autophagic vacuoles in HT-29 cells after 2c treatment was determined by fluorescence staining – confirming the occurrence of autophagy. In addition, 2c was found to alter expression levels of different autophagic proteins like Beclin-1, Atg 5, Atg 7, Atg 5-Atg 12, LC3B and autophagic adapter protein, p62. Furthermore we found the formation of autophagolysosome by colocalization of LAMP-1 with LC3B, LC3B with Lysosome, p62 with lysosome. Finally, as proteasomal degradation pathway downregulated after 2c treatment colocalization of ubiquitin with lysosome and LC3B with p62 was studied to confirm that protein degradation in autophagy induced HT-29 cells follows autolysosomal pathway. In summary, betulinic acid analogue, 2c was able to induce autophagy in HT-29 cells and as proteasomal degradation pathway downregulated after 2c treatment so protein degradation in autophagy induced HT-29 cell