Impact of Health Education in Halting the Spread of Infectious Diseases in Nigerian Schools

The future of a nation depends to a large extent on the health of its citizens. Man from time immemorial has recognized diseases as an inevitable phenomenon that affects the life of Nigerian school pupils. This paper has mentioned the classes of infectious diseases, nature of common infectious diseases in schools as well as control of infectious diseases in Nigerian school system. Recommendations offered are directed towards pupils, school administrators, parents and government

POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY BANKS IN AGRIBUSINESS FINANCING FOR SMALL FARMERS IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

Capital is regarded as a major factor for expanding production and modernizing Agriculture. The need to provide it to farmers is inevitable because it is an instrument in fostering Agricultural development and for improving efficiency in the production process. The contemporary practice of agriculture requires capital support, which is a handicap to small farmers. A research was conducted in Jos South L.G.A to assess the effectiveness of rural credit delivery system of community banks to provide resources to poor farmers. A set of 65 data collection instruments was administered to farmers and bank officials in a multi-stage random selection technique. Descriptive statistics was adopted to analyse socio-economic characteristics of the farmers while inferential statistics was adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings revealed that majority of the farmers are yet to benefit from community banks (88%). The result of the hypotheses test indicates that information gap, inadequate and timely supply of inputs of production, time of loan disbursement, value of loan package are all statistically significant to sourcing of credit from the bank by farmers. It is recommended that farmer friendly banking policy be adopted to encourage farmers to patronize community banks.Agricultural Finance,

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway

Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant

Accelerometer-determined physical activity and its comparison with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire in a sample of Nigerian adults.

IntroductionAccurate assessment of physical activity to identify current levels and changes within the population is dependent on the precision of the measurement tools. The aim of this study was to compare components of physical activity measured with an adapted version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Hausa IPAQ-SF) and the accelerometer in a sample of Nigeria adults.MethodsOne hundred and forty-four participants (Mean age = 32.6 ± 9.9 years, 40.3% women) in a cross-sectional study wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days and completed the Hausa IPAQ-SF questionnaire on the eighth day. Total physical activity, time spent in moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA) and sedentary time assessed by Hausa IPAQ-SF and accelerometer were compared. The absolute and criterion- related validity of the Hausa IPAQ-SF was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis and Spearman Correlation Coefficients, respectively. Specificity and sensitivity were calculated to classify individuals according to the global standard guideline for sufficient physical activity.ResultsCompared with the accelerometer, higher time in MVPA and total physical activity were reported on the Hausa IPAQ-SF (pConclusionsThe Hausa IPAQ-SF overestimated components of physical activity among Nigerian adults, and demonstrated poor to moderate evidence of absolute and criterion validity. Further evaluation of IPAQ and other self-report physical activity instruments in other Africa populations could enhance accurate evaluation of physical activity data in the region countries

POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY BANKS IN AGRIBUSINESS FINANCING FOR SMALL FARMERS IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

Capital is regarded as a major factor for expanding production and modernizing Agriculture. The need to provide it to farmers is inevitable because it is an instrument in fostering Agricultural development and for improving efficiency in the production process. The contemporary practice of agriculture requires capital support, which is a handicap to small farmers. A research was conducted in Jos South L.G.A to assess the effectiveness of rural credit delivery system of community banks to provide resources to poor farmers. A set of 65 data collection instruments was administered to farmers and bank officials in a multi-stage random selection technique. Descriptive statistics was adopted to analyse socio-economic characteristics of the farmers while inferential statistics was adopted to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings revealed that majority of the farmers are yet to benefit from community banks (88%). The result of the hypotheses test indicates that information gap, inadequate and timely supply of inputs of production, time of loan disbursement, value of loan package are all statistically significant to sourcing of credit from the bank by farmers. It is recommended that farmer friendly banking policy be adopted to encourage farmers to patronize community banks

Number (%) of participants classified as being sufficiently active according to physical activity guidelines by self-report (Hausa IPAQ-SF) and by accelerometry (Actigraph).

<p>PA: Physical activity.</p

Descriptive physical activity data from IPAQ and Actigraph, by sex, age, BMI and education; Mean (SD) and Interquartile Ranges.

*<p>- Significant difference between IPAQ-Actigraph tested for total PA, vigorous, moderate, Moderate-to-Vigorous PA, and sitting, respectively, using paired non parametric Wilcoxon test, <i>p</i><0.001;</p>†<p>- Cut-off values for sitting, moderate and vigorous were <100, 761–5724, and >5724 counts, respectively;</p>‡<p>_ Mean (±Standard deviation); <i>IQR</i>_ Interquartile range; BMI_ Body Mass Index; PA_ Physical.</p

Descriptive characteristics of the sample.

<p>*- Significant difference exists between men and women at p<0.05.</p><p>SD- Standard Deviation.</p><p>BMI- Body Mass Index.</p

Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient (Rs) for Total Physical Activity and Time Spent in Physical Activity from IPAQ and Actigraph (n = 144).

†<p>_Cut-off values for sitting, moderate, and vigorous were <100, 1952–5734, and >5724, respectively.</p>‡<p>_IPAQ total PA (MET-min.d-1).</p>‡‡<p>_Actigraph Total Count (count.min-1).</p>*<p>_p<0.05;</p>**<p>_p<0.01.</p><p>MVPA: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.</p

Bland-Altman plot for min.day⁻¹ reported in total physical activity (PA) from the Actigraph and IPAQ.

<p>The mean error scores are illustrated by a solid horizontal line and the limits of agreement (±1.96 SD from the mean) are shown as dashed horizontal lines.</p