A study of the participating women in Lake Alau's fishery

The article discusses the increasing participation of women in artisanal fishery in Nigeria. The concept of involvement of women in poverty alleviation, food security and social development activities should have high priority and should put women on the research agenda as one of the means of bridging the gap in knowledge regarding their status and contribution in rural development in Nigeri

In vitro Gas Production and Fermentative Characteristics of Cottonseed and Cottonseed By-products

A study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro gas production and post-incubation parameters of cotton seed (Gossypium spp) and cotton seed by-products. Cotton seed was processed into four different sample types regarded as treatments i.e. raw cotton seed(A), parboiled cotton seed (B), roasted (C) and cotton seed cake (D). All the chemical constituents investigated were all similar for all treatments (p>0.05). Highest DM (90.07% DM) and CP (24.72% DM) results were obtained from cottonseed cake (D). In vitro gas production characteristics of cotton seed and cotton seed by-products were determined at 24hrs of incubation. The gas production results were significantly different (p<0.05) in all the cottonseed by-products. The result revealed after 24hrs, that cotton seed cake had the highest value of in vitro gas production from soluble and insoluble fraction, potential extent gas production as well as the volume of gas produced at incubation time. It can be concluded from the chemical constituent findings of this research, that cottonseed cake had highest crude protein and digestibility (or possess good fibre content) when compared to feeds consisting of other cottonseed by-products.      Keywords: Proximate analysis; Fibre fractions; Post-incubation parameter

Prospective follow up study of maternal and foetal outcome in abruption placenta

Background: Abruptio placentae (AP) which is a major cause of maternal morbidity, mortality and perinatal mortality.  Abruptio placentae are one of the leading causes of perinatal deaths. Abruptio placentae increase the neonatal morbidity and mortality. It is one of the recognized causes of low birth weight. The purpose of this study was to examine the risk factors for abruptio placentae together with the maternal and fetal outcome in a tertiary care government medical college hospital.Methods: All cases of abruptio placentae admitted in the Department of Obstetrics, Government Raja Mirasdar Teaching Hospital, attached to Government Thanjavur Medical College, Tamilnadu, India during the period August 2014 to July 2015 for the period of one year were included in the study. All infants born to those cases were analyzed as live birth or stillbirth.  Apgar score and weight of live born infants were also analyzed. Maternal complications such as DIVC, Renal failure, PPH were also analyzed.Results: The total number of abruptio placentae collected during this period was 102, while the total number of births during the same period was 14620 giving and incidence of 102/14620 (0.69% or 6.9 per thousand live births) for abruptio placentae. The combined stillbirths and first month deaths were 20.2%. Abruptio placentae were associated with pre-eclampsia, diabetes, polyhydramnios and hypertension. Parity and maternal age were not associated with an increased incidence of abruption placentae.Conclusions: We found an increased risk for abruptio placentae associated with maternal diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia and polyhydramnios. Abruptio placentae were associated with adverse maternal and foetal outcomes

Prospective study of fetomaternal outcome in eclampsia in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Objective of the study was to evaluate fetomaternal outcome in patients with eclampsia.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Government Thanjavur Medical College Hospital, Tamilnadu, India over a period of 15 months from January 2015 to March 2016 in all eclampsia cases. Total 146 eclampsia cases were admitted of which 113 were antepartum eclampsia, 4 were intrapartum eclampsia and 29 cases were postpartum eclampsia. In all cases of antepartum eclampsia pregnancy was terminated irrespective of gestational age.Results: This study showed that incidence of eclampsia in our hospital is 0.83%. It is more common in the age group of 20 to 25 years (78.8%) and primigravidae (69.2%). Maximum number of cases had seizures before the onset of labour (77.39%). 53.85% eclamptic cases presented with seizures at ≥37 completed weeks. Commonest mode of delivery was caesarean section (62.33%). Out of 146 patients, 9 (6.16%) cases died, 35 (23.97%) had complications. 75.64% cases delivered live babies but 26.36% had early neonatal death.Conclusions: Eclampsia is still one of the important and common obstetric emergencies, which has a significant role in maternal and perinatal outcome. Regular Antenatal Care (ANC), proper health education, improvements of socio-economic conditions and spreading of awareness in the community has major roles in prevention of eclampsia. Timely and appropriate intervention including primary management, early referral and judicious termination of pregnancy help in reducing morbidity and mortality of both mother and fetus

First Level Arabic

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94558/1/39015087418698.pd

Comparative study of thermal insulation boards from leaf and bark fibres of camel’s foot ( Piliostigma thonningii L.)

Plants and agricultural wastes with high degrees of fibrous content in form of lignocellulose compounds have been identified as main ingredient in composites, making them suitable for manufacturing of insulation boards and panels. Thus, several researches have succeeded in using these plants and agro waste fibres in developing renewable and environmentally friendly thermal insulation products. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of insulation boards made from leave and bark fibres of Pilios tigma thonningii L.in terms of density, water absorption, apparent thermal conductivity, specific heat and thermal diffusivity. The leave and the bark fibres were prepared in form of squared boards of 200 mm x 200 mm and thickness of 20 mm using natural ru bber latex as a binder. The fibre to binder ratio was varied with a composition of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. The LFB recorded densities between 528.6 kg/m 3 and 538.4 kg/m3 while in the BFB the densities are between 558.3 kg/m3 and 711.8 kg/m3 at various compositions. The Percentage water absorption for the LFB is between 36.51% and 12.03% while the BFB is between 25.02% and 13.23%. Similarly, the apparent thermal conductivity values for LFB are between 0.032096 W/mK and 0.040855 W/mK while that of the BFB are between 0.039439 W/mK and 0.043406 W/mK. The specific heat values of the LFB are between 2901.88 J/kg.K and 3656.48 J/kg.K and that of the BFB are between 2044.46 J/kg.K and 2512.61 J/kg.K while the thermal diffusivity is between 2.05E-8m2/s and 8.07E-9m2/s for the LFB and 1.57E-8m2/s to 2.68E-8m2/s for BFB. The boards recorded thermal properties that are comparable to those of the commercially available products with LFB performing consistently better than the BFB. Key words: Thermal Insulation, Leave fibres, Bark fibres, apparent thermal conductivity, Lignocellulose compounds, Fibrous conten

Home delivery, umbilical cord care practices and postnatal care utilization among mothers in a rural community of Sokoto State

Introduction: The postnatal period is critical to the health and survival of mothers and newborns as it provide opportunities for promoting healthy behaviour including appropriate cord care practices. The study aimed to assess home delivery, cord cares practices and utilization of postnatal care services by mothers.Methods: A community-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 352 mothers of children less than one year in a rural community. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents from the households. Close-ended pretested questionnaire were used to collect data through face-to-face interview and data analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23.0.Results: Prevalence of home births was 70.7% and 48.2% of these deliveries were conducted by traditional birth attendants. More than three-quarters of mothers cleaned their baby’s umbilical cord but only 40.7% used cotton wool with methylated spirit. The most prevalent cleaning technique was cleaning cord base and surrounding skin simultaneously. Only 18.5% of the respondents went to the hospital following home delivery. Among these, 45.7% of them visited hospital for postnatal care within the first 24 hours, 10.9% visited on second day and 21.7% before the end of the first week.Conclusion: Home deliveries, inappropriate umbilical cord care practices and low utilization of postnatal care services are still prevalent practices in this community in spite of availability of a health facility. More health education programmes to promote appropriate newborn care practices are recommended.Keywords: Home deliveries, Cord care, Post-natal services utilizatio

Rural Off-grid Hybrid Wind/Hydro Renewable Power Generation for Rapid Development in Africa

Many rural communities in Africa located far away from transmission corridors do not enjoy electricity supply and cannot hope to be connected to their national grids in the foreseeable future. However, many among such communities have small hydro potential and moderate wind resources. In this paper, an off-grid, hybrid, wind-hydro power generation model is proposed for such communities. Candidate sites for this model would possess small hydro capacity of up to 500 kW and annual mean wind speed of 7 – 10 m/s at 10 m hub height. The operation of an existing small, run-of-river hydro station in conjunction with a hypothetical, in-situ wind farm feeding loads typical of rural areas was simulated to demonstrate the feasibility of the scheme. Simulation results for the system operation were found to be satisfactory. Further, it was demonstrated that, in spite of being an off-grid scheme, the wind turbine generators, aided by the STATCOM are capable of Low Voltage Ride Through in the event of a severe three-phase fault on a major feeder in accordance with grid code requirements. It is anticipated that, with the provision of subsidy by government and/or development agencies, implementation of this model will translate into rapid economic and social transformation of numerous rural areas across Africa

Catching the “Tail/Tale” of Teaching Qualitative Inquiry to Novice Researchers

This article responds to the call for deeper examination of qualitative inquiry teaching practices by presenting representative examples from the pedagogies of three teacher-educators who have taught Qualitative Research Methods courses for the past 15 years. We focus in particular on the pedagogical complexities of teaching data analysis, which is a topic that remains under-theorized and under-represented in contemporary scholarship on qualitative methodologies. Using a critical friends framework, we analyze and synthesize our pedagogical responses to key dilemmas we have encountered in our respective contexts, all state universities, to introducing qualitative inquiry to novice researchers who often enter the analytic process with positivist notions of knowledge creation. They sometimes enter the analytic process with the belief if they can only “catch the tail” of this thing called qualitative research they will be able to “do it right.” Yet, as the metaphor implies, catching a fierce beast by the tail, thinking you can control its actions, can intrude on the inductive and holistic character of the qualitative inquiry process

Gene transformation potential of commercial canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivars using cotyledon and hypocotyl explants

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is one of oil crops cultivated in many areas of Iran. Its molecular breeding and production of varieties with new characteristics using genetic engineering needs the establishmentof efficient transformation methods in commercial varieties. In this research transformation potential of 8 commercial cultivars; Licord, SLM046, RGS003, Zarfam, Okapi, Sarigol, Modena and Opera adapted to different regions of Iran was studied using cotyledon and hypocotyl explants. Agrobacterium tumifaciens strain AGL0 containing the plasmid pCAMBIA3301 was used for transformation. Cotyledonand hypocotyl explants after inoculation with Agrobacterium were co-cultivated on MS medium containing 1 mg/l 2,4-D and 4.5 mg/l BAP, respectively. Cotyledonary explants after co-cultivation weretransferred on selection MS medium, containing 4.5 mg/l BAP and 3 mg/l phosphinothricin. Hypocotyl explants were transferred to selection MS medium containing 4 mg/l BAP, 2 mg/l Zeatin and 5 mg/lphosphinotricin. The regenerated plants were analyzed by PCR and histochemical GUS assay for gene transformation. The results showed that all of genotypes had gene transformation potential usinghypocotyl segments, while this potential was limited to some cultivars using cotyledonary explants. Among transgenic plants regenerated from hypocotyls, Licord cultivar had the most transformation rate(15.26%) and Sarigol the least (0.2%). Also among regenerated plans from cotyledon, SLM046 cultivars had the most transformation frequency (4.7%), and Modena, Opera and Zarfam cultivars did not respond to transformation