Evaluation of Revenue Channels and Challenges in Sustainable Management of Oyo State Forest Reserves, Nigeria

Forest revenue system is an instrument used by government to achieve various goals and objectives in forest management. This paper evaluates the various challenges of revenue collection and remittance in Oyo forestry service in Nigeria. A total of 94 forest officials were identified and reached (100%) in all the forestry administrative zones in Oyo State, including the headquarters through a set of structured questionnaire and data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit regression at \u3b10.05. Theaverage age of the respondents was 39.7\ub16.5 years, mostly male (71%), married (75.6%) and had secondary education (63%). Challenges confronting adequate revenue collection included lack of proper law enforcement, payment of cash by revenue collectors and inability of field officers to withstand armed illegal fellers with odds-ratio of 55694.85, 668.78 and 20.79 respectively. Problems facing adequate revenue remittance were remittance by field staff, inaccessibility of bank on time, lack of provision of incentives for running cost by the government and possibilities of field officers indulging in printing of fake receipts with odds-ratio of 140.18, 116.80, 3.65 and 3.44 respectively. The study exposed the various challenges facing adequate revenue collection and remittance in Oyo State forestry service, it is therefore necessary for the forest managers in the State to utilize this information wisely for the betterment of revenue generation

Real-world effectiveness and costs of vertical oscillatory pressure manipulation for low back pain

Introduction. Real-world evidence studies using routinely collected data, such as patient clinical records, are innovative ways of generating insight into the effectiveness of healthcare interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of vertical oscil-latory pressure (VOP) on selected clinical outcomes for patients with low back pain (LBP) using routinely collected data. Methods. Retrospective analysis was carried out on the medical records of patients diagnosed with LBP in a tertiary hospital in south-west Nigeria over a 10-year period. Clinical outcomes (pain intensity and functional disability) in patients who received VOP (n = 201) for their LBP were compared with controls that had traditional physiotherapy (TP) (n = 138) in a routine clinical setting. Total costs of intervention were estimated in terms of direct and indirect costs. Results. There were significant differences within group (from baseline to 4th and 8th week of intervention) for the VOP group in pain intensity (p = 0.001) and functional disability (p = 0.001). However, TP group showed no significant differences in pain intensity and functional disability across baseline and week 8 of the study. There was a significant difference in pain intensity (2.95 ± 1.38 vs. 4.16 ± 2.48; p = 0.013) between VOP and TP at week eight. A higher direct and indirect costs associated with VOP compared with TP (both p = 0.042). Conclusions. The findings of this study suggest that VOP is an effective intervention for LBP in the ‘real-world’. VOP is more effective compared to TP on its effect on pain intensity over time

Structure-Function Analysis of STRUBBELIG, an Arabidopsis Atypical Receptor-Like Kinase Involved in Tissue Morphogenesis

Tissue morphogenesis in plants requires the coordination of cellular behavior across clonally distinct histogenic layers. The underlying signaling mechanisms are presently being unraveled and are known to include the cell surface leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase STRUBBELIG in Arabidopsis. To understand better its mode of action an extensive structure-function analysis of STRUBBELIG was performed. The phenotypes of 20 EMS and T-DNA-induced strubbelig alleles were assessed and homology modeling was applied to rationalize their possible effects on STRUBBELIG protein structure. The analysis was complemented by phenotypic, cell biological, and pharmacological investigations of a strubbelig null allele carrying genomic rescue constructs encoding fusions between various mutated STRUBBELIG proteins and GFP. The results indicate that STRUBBELIG accepts quite some sequence variation, reveal the biological importance for the STRUBBELIG N-capping domain, and reinforce the notion that kinase activity is not essential for its function in vivo. Furthermore, individual protein domains of STRUBBELIG cannot be related to specific STRUBBELIG-dependent biological processes suggesting that process specificity is mediated by factors acting together with or downstream of STRUBBELIG. In addition, the evidence indicates that biogenesis of a functional STRUBBELIG receptor is subject to endoplasmic reticulum-mediated quality control, and that an MG132-sensitive process regulates its stability. Finally, STRUBBELIG and the receptor-like kinase gene ERECTA interact synergistically in the control of internode length. The data provide genetic and molecular insight into how STRUBBELIG regulates intercellular communication in tissue morphogenesis

Bio-composting oil palm waste for improvement of soil fertility

Sources of bio-compost as agro-industrial wastes includes wide range of oil palm wastes viz. waste, biomass, palm kernels, empty fruit bunch, mill effluent, trunk and frond compost. Various composting processes are summarized in brief with distinct reference of oil–palm composting covering aerated static pile, and co-composting with earthworms (vermicomposting). However, in-vessel composting and windrow composting has meritorious advantages in composting. This review article refers to various significant roles played by microorganisms associated. Noteworthy study of bio-compost applications and procedures are correspondingly glosses framework of ecological, economical and agro-ecosystemic benefits

Osteopontin is induced by hedgehog pathway activation and promotes fibrosis progression in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a leading cause of cirrhosis. Recently, we showed that NASH-related cirrhosis is associated with Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation. The gene encoding Osteopontin (OPN), a pro-fibrogenic extracellular matrix protein and cytokine, is a direct transcriptional target of the Hh pathway. Thus, we hypothesized that Hh signaling induces OPN to promote liver fibrosis in NASH. METHODS: Hepatic OPN expression and liver fibrosis were analyzed in wild-type (WT) mice, Patched-deficient (Ptc+/−) (overly-active Hh signaling) mice, and OPN-deficient mice before and after feeding methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diets to induce NASH-related fibrosis. Hepatic OPN was also quantified in human NASH and non-diseased livers. Hh signaling was manipulated in cultured liver cells to assess direct effects on OPN expression, and hepatic stellate cells (HSC) were cultured in medium with different OPN activities to determine effects on HSC phenotype. RESULTS: When fed MCD diets, Ptc+/− mice expressed more OPN and developed worse liver fibrosis (p<0.05) than WT mice, while OPN-deficient mice exhibited reduced fibrosis (p<0.05). In NASH patients, OPN was significantly up-regulated and correlated with Hh pathway activity and fibrosis stage. During NASH, ductular cells strongly expressed OPN. In cultured HSC, SAG (a Hh agonist) upregulated, while Cyclopamine (a Hh-antagonist) repressed, OPN expression (p<0.005). Cholangiocyte-derived OPN and recombinant OPN promoted fibrogenic responses in HSC (p<0.05); neutralizing OPN with RNA-aptamers attenuated this (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: OPN is Hh-regulated and directly promotes pro-fibrogenic responses. OPN induction correlates with Hh pathway activity and fibrosis-stage Therefore, OPN inhibition may be beneficial in NASH

Silencing of the Rice Gene LRR1 Compromises Rice Xa21 Transcript Accumulation and XA21-Mediated Immunity

Abstract Background The rice immune receptor XA21 confers resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of bacterial leaf blight. We previously demonstrated that an auxilin-like protein, XA21 BINDING PROTEIN 21 (XB21), positively regulates resistance to Xoo. Results To further investigate the function of XB21, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen. We identified 22 unique XB21 interacting proteins, including LEUCINE-RICH REPEAT PROTEIN 1 (LRR1), which we selected for further analysis. Silencing of LRR1 in the XA21 genetic background (XA21-LRR1Ri) compromises resistance to Xoo compared with control XA21 plants. XA21-LRR1Ri plants have reduced Xa21 transcript levels and reduced expression of genes that serve as markers of XA21-mediated activation. Overexpression of LRR1 is insufficient to alter resistance to Xoo in rice lines lacking XA21. Conclusions Taken together, our results indicate that LRR1 is required for wild-type Xa21 transcript expression and XA21-mediated immunity