Participatory radio as the voice of the community : a comparative study of selected radio stations in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

This research project was aimed at assessing whether community radio stations are indeed the voice of the community or are set out to fulfil their own agenda. This study therefore looked at three different categories of community radio stations, namely the faith-based radio (Kingfisher FM), geographic community radio (Radio Grahamstown) and institutional community radio (Forte FM) with the aim of studying their activities and comparing the three. Relevant literature has been reviewed and data have been collected using both quantitative and qualitative methods through questionnaires, personal interviews and focus group interviews. The study however leans more on the qualitative approach and a quantitative approach has merely been used to identify the trends of the views of the participants. The analysis of data highlights the views of the respondents about these radio stations as the voice of the community. The views of the respondents from the three radio stations showed that these stations enjoy a very good patronage from the listeners in Port Elizabeth (Kingfisher FM), Grahamstown (Radio Grahamstown) and Alice (Forte FM), respectively. The results and discussions confirm that these radio stations meet their various individual needs of the listeners and that of the community at large. In addition, the fact that participants of the focus groups and survey respondents for these three selected radio stations reported that the Station regularly fulfils the major functions of a radio station, which is to inform, educate and entertain them, showed that these radio stations are acting socially responsible as well. This study was also able to confirm that these community radio stations do give opportunities to listeners to contribute to programme content development, which shows the willingness of these stations to give voice to the listeners and allow them to be part of their own personal development and that of the community at large

Vulnerability of Teenage Girls to Pregnancy in Ibarapa Central Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

The study examined the vulnerability of teenage girls to pregnancy in Ibarapa Central local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria. Simple random sampling was used to select 140 teenage girls for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were used to elicit information from the respondents. While Interview Schedule was used to collect quantitative data, Focus Group Discussion Guide and In-depth Interview was used to gather qualitative data. Data were analysed using a descriptive method of analysis. Analysis of the data obtained showed that the average age of teenage girls in the study area was 15 years; the majority were Yoruba ethnic group (96.7%), lived with their relatives (77.5%) reside in multi-unit flats (62.2%) and had a primary education (76.1%). Results obtained from Focus Group Discussion and In-depth Interviews revealed causes of teenage pregnancy in the study area as: poor parental care, poverty, single parenting, peer-group, disciplinary actions from parents, the advent of technology and civilization. The study, therefore, recommends the need for enlightenment programmes on sex education by government agencies and non-governmental organizations for teenagers, parents as well as the general community

Rooting, growth and sustainability of yellow Ficus (Ficus retusa ‘Nitida’) as affected by growth media under nursery conditions

A greater percentage of yellow ficus (Ficus retusa ‘Nitida’) seedlings die out at the nursery production stage as they can be stressed easily. Rooting time is slow (30-60 DAP) and any disturbance in the root system could be fatal. Some die without any reason. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the rooting, growth and sustainability of yellow ficus in varying growth media to determine the efficient growth media for its propagation. A cutting of yellow ficus each with eight (8) nodes was planted per black polythene nursery bag each filled with different growth media. The growth media utilised were: topsoil alone, sawdust alone, topsoil + cow dung (4:1), topsoil + poultry manure (4:1), cow dung + sawdust (1:4), sawdust + poultry manure + topsoil (1:1:3) and sawdust + cow dung + topsoil (1:1:3). The experimental design was Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Significantly (P<0.05) highest vegetative and root length was produced by plants grown on a mixture of sawdust, cow dung and topsoil (1:1:3). Root length of Ficus retusa ‘Nitida’ was best supported by the medium topsoil alone (16.43, 12.16) > sawdust alone (15.18, 12.78) > sawdust + cow dung + topsoil (1:1:3) (8.35, 6.80) > topsoil + cow dung (4:1), (8.79, 4.71) > topsoil + poultry manure (4:1) (5.24., 4.65) > cow dung + sawdust (1:4) (3.00, 3.36) at both plantings. The growth medium Sawdust + cow dung + topsoil (1:1:3) significantly (at P<0.05) affected the number of leaves produced, root length and branch girth of yellow ficus. It supported the highest number of leaves produced. More branches were encouraged by the medium sawdust + cow dung + topsoil (1:1:3) (0.14, 0.15) (at both plantings) > topsoil alone (0.12, 0.13); > topsoil + cow dung (4:1) (0.11, 0.12) > topsoil + poultry manure (4:1) (0.11, 0.10). Significant growth media influences on the number of branches and branch lengths of this plant were observed. Sawdust + cow dung + topsoil (1:1:3) medium most favorably supported establishment and sustenance of yellow ficus plants.Keywords: Ficus, Potting media, response, seedlings, sustenance, vegetative growth

Determination of heavy metal genotoxicity and their accumulation pattern in different fish organs of selected fish species collected from the Asa River, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

This study investigated bioaccumulation of heavy metals and cytogenotoxic effects that could result from exposure of fish to heavy metals in the Asa River, Ilorin, Nigeria. The three different fish species, Tilapia zilli, Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon galilaeus were obtained from the Asa River and the fourth species, Clarias gariepinus was cultured in the laboratory to serve as control. The fish organs; bone, gills, kidney and liver from the four fish species were carefully dissected for the determination of some heavy metals. The results showed that the metal concentration levels were in the order Pb> Cr > Zn > Cd. The highest lead concentration value was observed in the gills of Tilapia fish. The lowest level of Cd was observed in the bone tissue of Oreochromis niloticus. The values of heavy metals found in the cultured fish species were very low in concentration compared to the ones sourced from Asa River. Micronuclei and frequencies of nuclear abnormalities were assessed in the blood erythrocytes of both laboratory cultured fish and the ones obtained from Asa River. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed for mean frequencies of micronucleus induction in the blood erythrocytes of Oreochromis niloticus, Sarotherodon galilaeus. As for other nuclear abnormalities, significant differences (P<0.05) were observed for mean frequencies in the blood erythrocytes, gills and liver of Tilapia zilli and Oreochromis niloticus. Genotoxicity results in this study showed that the Asa river water contains genotoxic metals say be responsible for the micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities observed in the aquatic environment.Keywords: Genotoxicity, bioaccumulation, organs, cultured, metals, fish organ

An Assessment of Public Works Programmes as a Poverty Reduction Strategy for Rural Zimbabwe: A Study on Chivi District

With the progression of the new millennium, a new socio-economic order has taken charge in most developing countries, unfavourable to the well-being of the less economically advantaged populations. Seemingly, Zimbabwe was not an exception to this development. Increasing concerns have been expressed about the effects of the several interventions aimed at poverty reduction in Zimbabwe, both from within and outside the country. The programmes and projects that have been devised to address poverty nationally and at local levels since 1980 have allocated vast amounts of resources and funding to different projects and initiatives. The nature of these initiatives have not demonstrated huge and resounding successes mostly because there have been serious shortcomings in their conceptualization and implementation. Based on the social development theory that believes that the human being should be the centre of development, this paper conceived poverty as deprivation of means of securing necessities in life. This study focused on assessing why the contribution of Food-for-work and Cash-for-work (public works) programmes towards reducing vulnerability of households to the problems of food deprivation, unemployment, and social exclusion in making important decisions in life has not produced resounding results. From the discussions held it was established that, poverty in the Chivi District is strongly linked to a failure of productive agriculture and exclusion from formal or urban wage employment. The main conclusions are that the public works programme has neither brought all the benefits its proponents expected, nor negatively affected the society as badly as critics of the programme might have believed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p173

Graves’ disease presenting as paranoid schizophrenia in a Nigerian woman: a case report

Paranoid syndromes in Graves’ disease are rare. The true incidence is lacking. Most reports have emanated from developed countries where medical investigations are readily available. No report of such has emanated from Nigeria. We report a 43-year-old female Nigerian with Graves’ disease associated with paranoid schizophrenia and review the literature

Advances in non-invasive biosensing measures to monitor wound healing progression

Impaired wound healing is a significant financial and medical burden. The synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) in a new wound is a dynamic process that is constantly changing and adapting to the biochemical and biomechanical signaling from the extracellular microenvironments of the wound. This drives either a regenerative or fibrotic and scar-forming healing outcome. Disruptions in ECM deposition, structure, and composition lead to impaired healing in diseased states, such as in diabetes. Valid measures of the principal determinants of successful ECM deposition and wound healing include lack of bacterial contamination, good tissue perfusion, and reduced mechanical injury and strain. These measures are used by wound-care providers to intervene upon the healing wound to steer healing toward a more functional phenotype with improved structural integrity and healing outcomes and to prevent adverse wound developments. In this review, we discuss bioengineering advances in 1) non-invasive detection of biologic and physiologic factors of the healing wound, 2) visualizing and modeling the ECM, and 3) computational tools that efficiently evaluate the complex data acquired from the wounds based on basic science, preclinical, translational and clinical studies, that would allow us to prognosticate healing outcomes and intervene effectively. We focus on bioelectronics and biologic interfaces of the sensors and actuators for real time biosensing and actuation of the tissues. We also discuss high-resolution, advanced imaging techniques, which go beyond traditional confocal and fluorescence microscopy to visualize microscopic details of the composition of the wound matrix, linearity of collagen, and live tracking of components within the wound microenvironment. Computational modeling of the wound matrix, including partial differential equation datasets as well as machine learning models that can serve as powerful tools for physicians to guide their decision-making process are discussed