Analysis of optimum combination of integrated crop-livestock enterprise in North-West, Nigeria

The study was conducted to determine the optimum combination of integrated crop-livestock enterprises in north-west, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained through structured questionnaire and interview schedule. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 3 states, 3 zones, 21 LGAs, 84 villages, and 428 crop-livestock farmers made up of 178, 128 and 122 farmers in Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states respectively. Descriptive statistics and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to achieve the objective of the study. The results of socio-economic characteristics showed that about 89% of the pooled farmers were male with mean age of 48 years and household size of 10 persons per farmer. The findings from DEA revealed the mean total efficiency, pure efficiency and scale efficiency of 0.79, 0.91 and 0.86 respectively. DEA results further indicated that farmers can reduce the quantity of farm size, labour, seed, fertilizer, manure and agrochemical inputs by 0.2, 12.9, 17.6, 6.6, 35.9 and 26.4 %, respectively. Results further specified that 17.3, 26.25 and 56.5 % of farmers operated at optimal, sub-optimal and super-optimal scale, respectively. Tobit regression model used to determine factors influencing technical efficiency established that coefficients of age (0.0210), marital status (0.0016), household size (0.0616), education level (-0.1247), farming experience (0.1412), extension contact (-0.2548) and cooperative membership (-0.1102) were statistically significant variables at different level of probability. There should be synergy between crop and animal scientists; extension agents and agricultural economists to bring into bearing the needs for farmers to imbibe integrated crop-livestock farming to achieve optimum level of efficiency

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

In-vitro Anti-Microbial and Brine-Shrimp Lethality Potential of the Leaves and Stem of Calotropis procera (Ait).

Calotropis procera (Family, Asclepiadeae) is implicated in a variety of ethno-medicinal therapies ranging form oral, skin, gastro-intestinal to respiratory problems. The effects of this plant on the sensitivity of micro-organisms need verification and its potential for cytotoxicity needs to be investigated. Thus, the anti-microbial and brine–shrimp lethality studies on the leaves and stem were carried out. The crude ethanolic extract of the stem and its ethylacetate fraction elicited good antibacterial activity against clinical strains of Bacillus subtilis , Staphylococcus aureus but gave minimal activity against Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella typhi but none against the fungal isolate; Candida albicans . The brine-shrimp lethality assay analyzed using the Finney probit method showed that the crude ethanolic extracts of the leaves and stem displayed LD50 values at 192 ppm and 182 ppm respectively. These findings indicate the potential of the plant as panacea for infectious diseases and also reveal a novel potential in the fight against tumors in man

Performance, serum biochemical indices and crude protein utilization by broiler chickens fed diets based on two varieties of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) grits II. Finisher Phase

Effects of feeding diets based on grits from two varieties of cassava on performance, selected serum biochemical indices and crude protein  utilization by broiler finisher chickens was studied. In a completely randomized design, Abor Acre broiler chickens (n=210) aged 21 days were allotted to seven dietary treatments; each replicated thrice comprising 10 birds per replicate. Seven isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets were  formulated; diet 1 contained 50 % maize and 0% cassava grits while diets 2, 3 and 4 had 25, 50 and 75% of maize replaced, respectively with cassava grits from TMS 01/1371, diets 5, 6 and 7 had their maize replaced with cassava grits from TME 419 at 25, 50 and 75%, respectively. Chickens were fed on respective experimental diets and offered water ad libitum for three weeks. Feed intake, weight gain, feed and conversion ratio (FCR) differed significantly (P<0.05) while metabolizable crude protein (MCP) values were similar (P>0.05). Higher daily weight gain (DWG) was obtained in birds on diet 7 (69.56 g), 1 (62.71) and 4 (60.25) compared with those on diets 6 (58.10), 3 (54.76), 2 (52.02) and 5 (50.07). Serum albumin (g/dL) were lowerbut similar in birds on diets 2 (2.35), 3 (2.03), 4(1.97) 5 (1.98). Globulin values varied significantly (P<0.05) across treatments. There was however, no significant effect of treatments (P<0.05) on total protein, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, serum urea nitrogen and creatinine. Interactions of grit varieties and increased dietary inclusion levels of TMS 01/1371 reduced metabolizable crude protein of finishers' broiler significantly (P<0.05). This relationship was not significant for TME 419 (P>0.05). Dietary cassava grits from both varieties of cassava had no deleterious effect on overall broiler chickens performance. However, there was gross reduction in metabolizable crude protein with increasing dietary inclusion of cassava grits. Keywords: Broiler performance, Serum biochemical indices, Cassava grits, â-carotene cassava, Metabolizable crude protei

Performance, serum biochemical indices and crude protein utilisation by broiler chickens fed diets based on two varieties of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) grits I. Starter Phase

Effect of dietary inclusion of cassava grits (Manihot esculenta Crantz) from two cassava varieties TME 419 and TMS 01/1371 as replacement for maize on performance, serum biochemical indices and crude protein utilization of broiler chicks was investigated in a three-week trial with Abor Acre plus broiler chicks (n=210). In a completely randomized design, birds were allotted to seven treatments, each replicated thrice with 10 birds per replicate. Diet 1 comprised 50 % maize and 0 % cassava grits, diets 2, 3 and 4 had their respective maize content replaced at 25, 50 and 75 % with cassava grits  from TMS 01/1371 while diets 5, 6 and 7 was replaced correspondingly with cassava grits from TME 419 at 25, 50 and 75 %, respectively for a duration of 21-day. Increased dietary cassava grits significantly lowered (P<0.05) weight gain and metabolizable crude protein of broiler chicks. Birds on diets 3, 4, 6 and 7 had similar weight gain, feed conversion ratio and metabolizable crude protein. Except for significantly increased (P<0.05) total  protein and alkaline phosphatase due to interactions of cassava varieties and inclusion levels, effects of cassava varieties and inclusion levels on other serum indices were similar (P>0.05). Regression of metabolizable crude protein on graded cassava grit inclusion for both varieties were negative and significant (P<0.05) for TME 419 (R2=0.355) and highly significant (P<0.01) for TMS 01/1371 (R2=0.6639). Both graphs clearly depicted decreased metabolizable crude protein due to increased cassava grits in the diets. Increased dietary cassava grits of both varieties resulted in lowered metabolizable crude protein and serum indices with concomitant increased feed conversion ratio of broiler starter chicks. Keywords: Performance, serum biochemical indices, cassava grits, metabolizable crude protein, starter phas

Healthcare access and quality index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015: A novel analysis from the global burden of disease study 2015

Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r=0·88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r=0·83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r=0·77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This frontier allowed us to better quantify the maximum levels of personal health-care access and quality achieved across the development spectrum, and pinpoint geographies where gaps between observed and potential levels have narrowed or widened over time. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, nearly all countries and territories saw their HAQ Index values improve; nonetheless, the difference between the highest and lowest observed HAQ Index was larger in 2015 than in 1990, ranging from 28·6 to 94·6. Of 195 geographies, 167 had statistically significant increases in HAQ Index levels since 1990, with South Korea, Turkey, Peru, China, and the Maldives recording among the largest gains by 2015. Performance on the HAQ Index and individual causes showed distinct patterns by region and level of development, yet substantial heterogeneities emerged for several causes, including cancers in highest-SDI countries; chronic kidney disease, diabetes, diarrhoeal diseases, and lower respiratory infections among middle-SDI countries; and measles and tetanus among lowest-SDI countries. While the global HAQ Index average rose from 40·7 (95% uncertainty interval, 39·0-42·8) in 1990 to 53·7 (52·2-55·4) in 2015, far less progress occurred in narrowing the gap between observed HAQ Index values and maximum levels achieved; at the global level, the difference between the observed and frontier HAQ Index only decreased from 21·2 in 1990 to 20·1 in 2015. If every country and territory had achieved the highest observed HAQ Index by their corresponding level of SDI, the global average would have been 73·8 in 2015. Several countries, particularly in eastern and western sub-Saharan Africa, reached HAQ Index values similar to or beyond their development levels, whereas others, namely in southern sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia, lagged behind what geographies of similar development attained between 1990 and 2015. Interpretation This novel extension of the GBD Study shows the untapped potential for personal health-care access and quality improvement across the development spectrum. Amid substantive advances in personal health care at the national level, heterogeneous patterns for individual causes in given countries or territories suggest that few places have consistently achieved optimal health-care access and quality across health-system functions and therapeutic areas. This is especially evident in middle-SDI countries, many of which have recently undergone or are currently experiencing epidemiological transitions. The HAQ Index, if paired with other measures of health-system characteristics such as intervention coverage, could provide a robust avenue for tracking progress on universal health coverage and identifying local priorities for strengthening personal health-care quality and access throughout the world. Copyright © The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd