How much do school teachers know about childhood asthma in Ilesa, Nigeria?

Background: Childhood asthma is affected by events and conditions of the school environment. Teachers as de-facto caregivers of children with asthma have a major role to play in ensuring good asthma control in school. This study set out to determine the level of knowledge of school teacher about childhood asthma and factors influencing this knowledge.Methods: Four secondary schools (two private and two public) in Ilesa, South West Nigeria were selected by multistage sampling method. All the teachers in these schools were required to fill a self -administered questionnaire incorporating a validated 40-item asthma knowledge questions. Factors associated with the level of knowledge were determined appropriately.Results: A total of 132 teacher (M: F = 1:2) participated in the study with 85 (64.4%) from private school. The mean (SD) age of the teachers was 38.0 (9.1) years and median (IQR) years in teaching service was 7.0 (5.0 to 15.0) years. Majority (56.1%) of the teachers had university education while only 7 (5.3%) had a post graduate degree. The mean (SD) score of the 40 item questions was 21.5 (7.2) and majority (51.5%) had poor asthma knowledge (score < 22). Poorer knowledge was observed in questions related to the nature and management of childhood asthma than triggers and manifestations. No significant correlation was found between knowledge and age, teaching experience and qualifications (p > 0.05). However, teachers with previous training about childhood asthma had relatively good knowledge about the condition. (p <0.05)Conclusion: The level of knowledge about childhood asthma among school teachers in Ilesa is poor particularly as regards to nature and management of the disease. We advocate for training of school teachers about common childhood conditions including asthma to ensure optimal symptoms control in school.Keywords: Childhood asthma, Knowledge, School teacher

Stakeholders’ Perceptions on the Effects of Forest Offences on Sustainable Forest Management in Ogun State, Nigeria

The study assesses stakeholders’ perceptions on forest offences and its effects on Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Ogun State, Nigeria with a view to stimulating the state government to accord forestry sector with appropriate political will and proper funding. Data for the exercise were obtained from a stratified random sampling of 70 respondents in four categories namely Egba, Yewa, Ijebu and Remo through structured questionnaire. The respondents include forestry officials, saw millers and timber contractors. The results indicated that 452 (36%) staff are available in the Ministry of Forestry, Ogun State which was far below the expected staff strength of 1252 (100%) for all the categories of the staff to sustainably manage all the forest reserves in the four divisions. The chi-square result (4.63, P < 0.05) showed that sustainability is significantly dependent on illegal felling rate. Chi-square (X2) result (0.4895, P>0.05) shows that sustainability does not significantly depend on the category of forest user alone. However, Chi-square result (28.78, P< 0.05) showed that felling of undersized trees, illegal felling, failure to produce log certificate and non-renewal of property hammer committed in the study area are significantly dependent on the category of forest users. Thirty two percent of the native respondents in the study area committed felling of undersized tree. On the contrary, 67% of the non-native respondents committed illegal felling. All the categories of forestry staff affirmed that irregular salary and lack of logistics have had adverse effect on delegation of authority and the protection of forest estate. Chi-square result (11.87, P<0.05) shows that protection duty is significantly dependent on the salary structure of the staff cadres. It is recommended that the managers of forest resources acting on behalf of the public goods and services must exhibit exemplary attributes in their professional conduct and the government should provide forestry officials with the necessary financial support and adequate logistics to enable them carry out their duties promptly and effectively

Effect of generational differences, housing systems and seasonal variations on the reproductive performance of rabbits raised in humid tropics

Reproductive data from 24 does (Chinchilla X New Zealand White) of twenty weeks, were analyzed to determine the effect of generation, housing systems and season on the reproductive performance of rabbits raised in the humid tropics. The experiment was carried out during four seasons namely: early dry season (EDS-September to November), late dry season (LDS- December to February), early rainy season (ERS-March to May) and late rainy season (LRS June to August). The study was repeated in the second generation and the data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance in a 2x2x4 factorial arrangement. Factors considered were generations, housing systems, and seasons respectively. Highest breeding efficiency of 83.33% was obtained in the first generation and maximum litter size at birth (35) and weaning (28) were observed in caged-does that kindled in EDS of first and second generations respectively, while does housed on deep litter system produced the smallest litter size at birth (24) and weaning (18) in the ERS of the second generation. Highest (12) and least (4) pre-weaning losses were recorded in caged-does that kindled in ERS of the first and second generation respectively, whereas highest average birth weight (120.58g) was observed in litters of deep litter-does that kindled in EDS of the second generation. These results indicated that the production of rabbits for breeding purposes is better achieved during early dry season (September-November) and also revealed that deep litter system allows satisfactory performance and has comparative advantage over wooden cage system considering the reduction in housing cost and can be used to improve the nutritional status of the family and also to obtain some supplementary income.Keywords: Season, Breeding efficiency, Litter size, Cage, Deep litte

Preliminary evaluation of some aspects of the ecology (growth pattern, condition factor and reproductive biology) of African pike, Hepsetus odoe (Bloch 1794), in Lake Eleiyele, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract A preliminary investigation of length-weight relationship, condition factor and reproductive ecology of African pike fish, Hepsetus odoe, was conducted between June to August 2010 in Lake Eleiyele. A total of 90 samples of the fish species were caught by fishermen using gill nets. The results obtained showed that fish species had isometric growth pattern (contrary to negative allometry expected) with the growth exponent, b value of 2.64, that is not statistically different from 3 and with high statistical power of 0.866 when tested. The mean condition factor, K, was found to be 2.6, indicating that the fish species were in good condition in the study area. For reproductive biology, mean fecundity and gonadosomatic index were found to be 1349 eggs and 3.53% respectively. This study was necessary to fill the knowledge gap and provide information for management and conservation of the investigated species in the lake system. This study recommended that further research needs to be conducted because the sampling was carried out in the rainy season period and within a quarter of a year