Effects of Different Strategies Adopted by Rural Women on their Food Security in Oyo State

The study assessed the effects of different strategies adopted by rural women on their food securityin Oyo State. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted for this research work. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binomial logit model. Majority (93.5 percent) of the sampled women were married, while 6.5 percent of them were widowed. The mean age was 49 years. Backyard farming (= -1.000333343) had a negative but significant relationship to household food insecurity while reduction of meals (= 1.312270792) had a positive and significant relationship to household food insecurity. It was recommended that, program aimed at reducing poverty should be implemented in other to ensure that households were able to afford adequate mealsalso; backyard farming should be encouraged among rural women

Quality of sleep in an HIV population on antiretroviral therapy at an urban tertiary centre in Lagos, Nigeria

Aim. To determine the prevalence of sleep disturbance and its associated characteristics in HIV-positive outpatients on HAART using the PSQI. Methods. Using a cross-sectional design, 300 patients attending the outpatient HIV/AIDS clinic at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital were recruited. Baseline data obtained included the participants’ demographic data, educational qualification, and marital status. Their treatment history, including duration since HIV diagnosis, the most recent CD4 cell count, and current antiretroviral therapies, was obtained from their case records. Each participant completed the PSQI questionnaire and those with scores ≥5 were diagnosed with poor sleep quality. Results. The participants were made up of 70.7% females and 29.3% males. Their ages ranged between 18 and 74 years with a mean of 38.9 ± 10.3 years. According to the PSQI, 59.3% reported poor sleep quality. The mean score of those with poor quality sleep (9.2 ± 3.3) was comparable to that of those with good quality sleep (1.26 ± 1.4). \u1d443 < 0.001. Significant differences were observed in all the individual components of the PSQI (\u1d443 < 0.001). On multivariate analyses, the independent associations with sleep quality were the duration since HIV diagnosis (\u1d443 = 0.29), efavirenz based regimen (\u1d443 < 0.001), and lower CD4 cell count (\u1d443 < 0.001). Conclusions. Sleep disturbances are quite common in the HIV population even in the era of HAART. Early recognition via routine assessment and effective treatments could prevent the resultant complications and improve quality of life

Business Ethics, Corporate Philosophy and Regulatory Challenges in the Confectionary Industry: An Evaluation of the Bread Market in Nigeria

This study sets out to identify why - in the process of “doing business”- most organizations in Nigeria resort to offering sub standard products to the public, particularly as regards food products. This approach allows businesses to make excess profit without recourse to best ethical practices, the supposed corporate philosophy of their organizations, and to the detriment of the customers. Indiscriminate profit maximization” mentality is now on the increase within the confectionary industry in Nigeria; thus the paper considered the theory of public interest and gives an insight to Kant’s ethical philosophy with a view to critically evaluate the role of The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); the agency charged with the responsibility of upholding best ethical practices among confectionary and related industries in Nigeria. The study also identified some lapses in the discharge of NAFDAC’s regulatory functions which have contributed to the incidence of unethical practices among Nigerian business organisations. The paper therefore recommends that NAFDAC operations be re-evaluated for better operational performanc

Performance and Economic Analysis of Kainji Hydropower Plant in Nigeria

In this study, performance and economic evaluation of Kainji Hydropower Station in Nigeria from 2008 to 2017 was carried out. Data including total energy generated (MWh), station service consumption (MWh), total energy sent out to the grid (MWh), average inflow rate (m3/s) and average gross operating head (m) were obtained from the efficiency department of the Hydropower station from the year 2008 to 2017. Mathematical models were used based on some key parameters which include: Capacity Factor, Plant Use Factor, Availability, Power Generated and Economic Cost of Outages and Operations. The result reveals that the average power generated within the period under review was 363.53MW, with a maximum of 476.95MW in 2010 and 292.44MW in 2014 as against the installed capacity of 760MW. The Capacity Factor of the plant was between 11.04% (2014) and 40.51% (2008) as against industry best practice of between 50% to 80%. The Plant Use Factor ranged between 38.48% in 2014 to 62.76% in 2010 as against acceptable value of 95% and above, while the plant availability hovers between 28.69% in 2015 and 91.26% in 2009 as against the recommended standard of 99.99%. The study further reveals that the revenue loss due to system downtime was ₦169,134,293,297. This revenue loss is about 66.82% of the revenue generated which is by no means a huge amount. The above values call for the need of a total overhaul of the generating plant in order to salvage the terrible state of these plants

Design of a Mobile Agent for Monitoring Activities of Users

Monitoring is an aspect of network management aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the network and that the users play by the rules. This paper presents the design of a mobile agent for monitoring the activities of users in a network. Users’ activities can be localized on their personal workstation or extended to the enterprise network and the Internet, in which case it can impact on the subscribed bandwidth, which is a shared resource of the corporate entity that they represent. All users hope to work in an environment of unlimited resources, including disk space, RAM and bandwidth. However, though the cost of these computing resources have reduced significantly owning to advances in microelectronic technology, they are still far from being free and inexhaustible. In this research, we design a mobile agent tool that can monitor users’ activities in a network environment with a view to enhancing the effective utilisation of system resources, and in particular, the physical memory. The aim is to enable optimal resource utilisation in the network environment. In this paper, we define a mathematical formulation of user activities, load overhead of mobile agents and itinerary partition to avoid the over-bloating problem. The architecture of the mobile agent is explained. Keywords: Mobile Agent; System resources; Computer network; Code Mobility; Monitorin

Design of a Mobile Agent for Monitoring Activities of Users

Monitoring is an aspect of network management aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the network and that the users play by the rules. This paper presents the design of a mobile agent for monitoring the activities of users in a network. Users’ activities can be localized on their personal workstation or extended to the enterprise network and the Internet, in which case it can impact on the subscribed bandwidth, which is a shared resource of the corporate entity that they represent. All users hope to work in an environment of unlimited resources, including disk space, RAM and bandwidth. However, though the cost of these computing resources have reduced significantly owning to advances in microelectronic technology, they are still far from being free and inexhaustible. In this research, we design a mobile agent tool that can monitor users’ activities in a network environment with a view to enhancing the effective utilisation of system resources, and in particular, the physical memory. The aim is to enable optimal resource utilisation in the network environment. In this paper, we define a mathematical formulation of user activities, load overhead of mobile agents and itinerary partition to avoid the over-bloating problem. The architecture of the mobile agent is explained. Keywords: Mobile Agent, System resources, Computer network, Code Mobility, Monitorin

Analysis of Physical and Chemical Composition of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) Peels

Sweet orange is one of the most common fruits in the World. The waste generated from the fruits needs to be put into a beneficial use. In this study some physical and chemical properties of the primary waste of sweet orange was investigated. The result showed sweet orange rinds (peels) as the major waste and contains 45-50% of the total mass of sweet orange fruits. The chemical analysis showed sweet orange rinds to be rich in protein of 7.15% and crude fibre of 12.79% which can be used as ingredients in processed food. These uses will promote sustainable disposal of orange rinds

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Hepatitis C Virus in patients and blood donors in Kano, Nigeria

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease resulting in cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. It is believed to be widespread in Africa but its epidemiology is incomplete and is yet to be determined in many areas of the sub-saharan Africa including Nigeria. Using third generation enzyme immuno-assay (EIA-3) and recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) technique as confirmatory test, we examined the prevalence of HCV antibodies in 226 blood donors and 226 patients attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano, Nigeria and evaluated the risk factors of HCV transmission in this environment. HCV antibodies were detected in 0.4% and 2.2% blood donors and patients respectively. The overall HCV seroprevalence was 1.3%. There was increased infection acquisition with increasing age; one (16.7%) HCV infection occurred in 25-34 years age group and 5 or 83.3% in subjects > 45 years in age which was significant (P< 0.05). The ratio of infection in male to female was 1:5. Evidence of previous exposure via transfusion was common in HCV seropositive subjects and could be a major risk factor of acquisition in this environment. Adequate screening of blood products in sub- Saharan Africa (Nigeria inclusive) may minimize the risk of HCV transmission and associated health complications.Key words: Hepatitis C virus, seroprevalence, patients, blood donors, risk factors

Therapeutic Efficacy of Cervical Traction in the Management of Cervical Radiculopathy: A Control Trial

Background: Severe pain and disability from cervical disorder is second to that of low back pain in musculoskeletal practice. Methods: Forty eight patients who met the inclusion criteria were placed into experimental (n=24) and control (n=24) group randomly. Participants in both groups received massage, cryotherapy and active exercises. Cervical traction was administered to experimental group for 15 minutes, thrice per week for four weeks while the other group served as control. Verbal rating scale (VRS) and Neck Disability Pain Index (NDI) were used as outcome measures. Data were analyzed using descriptive, dependent –t-test and independent-t-test. Results: There was a significant improvement in the pretreatment and post treatment pain intensity (t=10.75, p&lt; 0.001) and neck functional disability (t=2.42, p=0.03) of participants in experimental group. There was a significant difference (t=-3.98, p=0.006) in the post treatment pain intensity between the cervical traction and control group. Conclusion: It could be concluded that application of continuous cervical traction can significantly reduce pain intensity of patients with cervical  radiculopathy.Key words: Cervical traction, cryotherapy, neck disability index, and verbal rating scale