Citrus farmers production constraints and attitude to training on improved techniques of citrus production

Emerging trends and advances in the citrus industry globally necessitates updating farmers knowledge and skill base to cope profitably in the industry. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the disposition of farmers to training on improved techniques of citrus production and also examine production constraints confronting them. Randomly selected 321 citrus farmers from Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states were assessed through the use of pretested interview schedule. Data generated were analysed through frequency counts, percentages,and means . Results showed that 74.7% and 60.5% of farmers in Ekiti and Osun states had a favourable attitude to training. Four topmost constraints limiting production are: pest problem > low yielding trees> premature fruit drop > lack of capital. Farmers should be trained in integrated pest management techniques for citrus to handle pest issues, and also encouraged to plant improved budded citrus seedlings which are high yielding. Reduction of bureaucratic procedures involved in accessing special government agricultural loans should be minimized to assist the farmers address capital constraint. Capacity of farmers favourably disposed towards training should be strengthened through organized training programmes

A population-based study of effect of multiple birth on infant mortality in Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multi-foetal pregnancies and multiple births including twins and higher order multiples births such as triplets and quadruplets are high-risk pregnancy and birth. These high-risk groups contribute to the higher rate of childhood mortality especially during early period of life.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined the relationship between multiple births and infant mortality using univariable and multivariable survival regression procedure with Weibull hazard function, controlling for child's sex, birth order, prenatal care, delivery assistance; mother's age at child birth, nutritional status, education level; household living conditions and several other risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Children born multiple births were more than twice as likely to die during infancy as infants born singleton (hazard ratio = 2.19; 95% confidence interval: 1.50, 3.19) holding other factors constant. Maternal education and household asset index were associated with lower risk of infant mortality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Multiple births are strongly negatively associated with infant survival in Nigeria independent of other risk factors. Mother's education played a protective role against infant death. This evidence suggests that improving maternal education may be key to improving child survival in Nigeria. A well-educated mother has a better chance of satisfying important factors that can improve infant survival: the quality of infant feeding, general care, household sanitation, and adequate use of preventive and curative health services.</p

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

Effect of Information Technology Communication (ICT) on women farmers’ utilization of soya bean in conflict prone areas of Taraba State Nigeria

This research examines the effect of (ICT) component on women farmers&#8217; utilization of Soya bean in conflict prone areas of Taraba state. ICT components were used to disseminate Soya beans packages to women farmers with the aim of providing solutions to nutritional deficiency among children and women farmers in flash points. Villages where malnutrition predominates after the conflict were purposively selected. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 360 women farmers from various women groups in the village. Data were collected using interview schedule, and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. Majority (95%) and 75.2% of women farmers received Soya beans information from the combination of radio and extension agents aswell as combination of radio and telephone respectively. It was found that interpersonal ICT and print media made maximum contribution towards utilization with a positive regression coefficient. The 6 combination of ICTs&#8217;components jointly explained 88% of variation in utilization level of Soya bean packages. Soya milk and fortification of Soya bean with locally prepared baby feed recorded the highest utilization scores of 7.5 and 6.8respectively. There is significant difference among utilization mean scores of Soya bean packages with Least Significant Difference of 5.4 . Hence, there is need to promote combination of ICTs&#8217; component in thedissemination of technologies to farmers

Radio listening habits of pupils of Nomadic Pastoralists and Migrant Fisherfolks in Nigeria

The need to integrate Nigeria with other nations in the world that have achieved landmark results in Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) innovation necessitated this study on radio listening habits of pupils of nomadic pastoralists and migrant fisherfolks in Nigeria. The study was carried out in four pastoralists&#8217; states of Borno, Katsina, Taraba and Plateau and migrant fisherfolks States of Rivers and Bayelsa. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, 200 of pupils were selected across the study areas and data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Results showed that 83.5% of the respondents listen to radio and this they do more often in groups (62.5%) than alone (20.9%). Majority indicated their willingness to listen to programmes on learning English (92.3%), Numeracy (81.1%) and Natural Sciences (85.5%) with no clear-cut differences in such expressions between pastoralists and fisherfolks. Respondents indicated Fulfude/Hausa (41.3%) and English (10.4%) as the languages they willcomfortably listen to in any radio developmental programme. The languages are location specific as more respondents from fisherfolks states preferred radio programme in English whereas respondents from pastoralist states indicated preference for broadcast in Hausa/Fulfude. Also, there was an overwhelming (90.1%) support from both pastoralists and fisherfolks states for teachers using radio to support teaching by pupils. Herding/fishing (16.6%) and death/mourning (9.7%) were indicated as the cultural factors that could prevent nomads from participating in radio educational programme. The study concluded that there are prospects for the adoption of IRI strategy for pastoralists and Fisher folks in Nigeria

Prevalence of bovine coccidial infection in the semi-arid region of northeastern Nigeria

A study was undertaken on the prevalence of coccidial infections of bovine in the semi-arid region of north-eastern Nigeria. Of the 147 bovine faecal samples examined, 108 (62.1%) had coccidial oocysts. According to breeds, however, no statistical variation (p>0.05) existed in the prevalence of infection between the Wadara 99 (61.9%), White Fulani 5 (62.5%), Sokoto Gudali 2 (66.7%) or Crosses 2 (66.7%). Similarly, the prevalence of infection between male and female was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Meanwhile, the younger age group of 1 - 3 years had significantly (

Development and validation of an oral anticoagulation knowledge tool (AKT)

© 2016 Obamiro et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background Assessing and improving patients' anticoagulation knowledge can lead to better treatment outcomes.While validated knowledge instruments exist for use in people taking warfarin, these tools are not necessarily applicable to patients taking direct-acting oral anticoagulants. Objective To develop and validate an oral anticoagulation knowledge instrument that is applicable to all oral anticoagulant medications. Methods Ten anticoagulation experts participated in the development of the Anticoagulation Knowledge Tool to ensure content validity. The knowledge instrument was administered to three groups of participants comprising of 44 pharmacists, 50 patients and 50 members of the general public. A subgroup of participants in the patient and pharmacist group were retested approximately 2-3 months after the initial testing. Statistical tests were conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the scale, and item analysis was used to determine the performance of individual questions. Results The 28-item instrument developed had a scale content validity index of 0.92, supporting content validity. The pharmacist group's mean score was significantly higher than that of the patient group, and the patient group scored significantly higher than the general public group (94% vs 62% vs 20%, respectively; p&lt;0.001), supporting construct validity. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable with a Cronbach's a value of &gt; 0.7 across the three groups, and the test-retest reliability was confirmed with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.72 and 0.78 for the pharmacist and patient groups, respectively. Conclusion The Anticoagulation Knowledge Tool is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in routine clinical practice to assess patients' anticoagulation knowledge