The Effect of Social Problem Solving Skills in the Relationship between Traumatic Stress and Moral Disengagement Among Inner-City African American High School Students

This study examined the relationship between traumatic stress, social problem solving, and moral disengagement among African American inner-city high school students. Participants consisted of 45 (25 males and 20 females) African American students enrolled in grades 10 through 12. Mediation was assessed by testing for the indirect effect using the confidence interval derived from 10,000 bootstrapped resamples. The results revealed that social problem-solving skills have an indirect effect on the relationship between traumatic stress and moral disengagement. The findings suggest that African American youth that are negatively impacted by trauma evidence deficits in their social problem solving skills and are likely to be at an increased risk to morally disengage. Implications for culturally sensitive and trauma-based intervention programs are also provided

Using the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 on a Community Sample of African American and Latino/a Juvenile Offenders to Identify Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Needs

The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2) is a brief screening tool used to identify youth in the juvenile justice system that are at-risk for mental health related difficulties. The MAYSI-2 was administered to 5,205 African American and Latino/a youth throughout Chicago, Illinois who were on probation and residing in the community. This study investigated differences (i.e., legal status, gender, age, race/ethnicity) in reporting of mental health symptoms and substance use on the MAYSI-2. Females scored above the clinical cutoffs more frequently than males and there were few differences found between diverted and adjudicated youth. Age comparisons revealed mixed results. Overall, youth in the current sample scored above the clinical cutoffs less often than youth in the MAYSI-2 norm reference groups. Nonetheless, during the first phase of this study the MAYSI-2 demonstrated effectiveness by accurately identifying a substantial portion of youth in need of mental health and/or substance abuse treatment

From cassava to gari: Mapping of quality characteristics and end-user preferences in Cameroon and Nigeria

User's preferences of cassava and cassava products along the value chain are supported by specific root quality characteristics that can be linked to root traits. Therefore, providing an evidence base of user preferred characteristics along the value chain, can help in the functional choice of cassava varieties. In this respect, the present paper presents the results from focus group discussions and individual interviews on user preferred quality characteristics of raw cassava roots and the derived product, gari, ‐ one of the major cassava products in Sub Saharan Africa ‐ in major production and consumption areas of Cameroon and Nigeria. Choice of cassava varieties for farming is mainly determined by the multiple end‐uses of the roots, their agricultural yield and the processing determinants of roots that support their major high‐quality characteristics: size, density, low water content, maturity, colour and safety. Processing of cassava roots into gari goes through different technological variants leading to a gari whose high‐quality characteristics are: dryness, colour, shiny/attractive appearance, uniform granules and taste. Eba, the major consumption form of gari in Cameroon and Nigeria is mainly characterized by its textural properties: smoothness, firmness, stickiness, elasticity, mouldability. Recommendations are made, suggesting that breeding will have to start evaluating cassava clones for brightness/shininess, as well as textural properties such as mouldability and elasticity of cassava food products, for the purpose of supporting decision‐making by breeders and the development of high‐throughput selection methods of cassava varieties. Women are identified as important beneficiaries of such initiatives giving their disadvantaged position and their prominent role in cassava processing and marketing of gari

Genetics of Latin American Diversity Project: Insights into population genetics and association studies in admixed groups in the Americas

Latin Americans are underrepresented in genetic studies, increasing disparities in personalized genomic medicine. Despite available genetic data from thousands of Latin Americans, accessing and navigating the bureaucratic hurdles for consent or access remains challenging. To address this, we introduce the Genetics of Latin American Diversity (GLAD) Project, compiling genome-wide information from 53,738 Latin Americans across 39 studies representing 46 geographical regions. Through GLAD, we identified heterogeneous ancestry composition and recent gene flow across the Americas. Additionally, we developed GLAD-match, a simulated annealing-based algorithm, to match the genetic background of external samples to our database, sharing statistics (i.e., allele and haplotype frequencies) without transferring individual-level genotypes. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of GLAD as a critical resource for evaluating statistical genetic software in the presence of admixture. By providing this resource, we promote genomic research in Latin Americans and contribute to the promises of personalized medicine to more people

Implications of Rapid Urban Expansion on Rural Land Use in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria

A Thesis in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning Submitted to the Faculty of the Social Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) the University of Ibadan, IbadanThe implications of rapidly expanding cities on rural hinterlands have been documented in the literature. However, such implications are understudied in developing nations including Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the implications of rapid expansion of Damaturu, Yobe State, the fastest expanding state capital in northern Nigeria on rural land use pattern from 1986 to 2009. Environmental resource carrying capacity and distance decay effect provided the analytical framework. Survey research design was employed, while sampling elements were clustered and randomly sampled. The Local Government Areas surrounding Damaturu city (Damaturu, Tarmuwa, Fune, Gujba and Kaga) were purposively selected while the four major roads linking Damaturu with the neighbouring states provided the basis for subdividing the study area into four zones. Settlements in each zone were grouped into three, based on distance from Damaturu (30km). Two settlements were randomly selected from each group. Two sets of questionnaire were administered to the population (household heads and firewood merchants/local building resource merchants) to elicit information on socio-demographic characteristics (population, age, sex, income), perception of urban expansion, implications on rural land use changes, rural resources depletion and severity index. There were 8,180 residential buildings in the selected settlements, 409 (5.0%) were randomly selected from which household heads were sampled. Similarly, 10.0% of 351 firewood merchants, 652 local building resource (soil, sand, gravel) merchants were randomly sampled. Imagery data collected were analysed using appropriate software. Pre- and post-classification comparison methods were employed to measure the changes of bare surface land, built-up area, tree-cover area and water-bodies. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, weighted opinion assessment and Severity Index (SI) at p30km), while mean SI was 2.16 (very severe). The implications (rapid rural land use conversion, fast depletion of local building resources, decreasing water bodies) were perceived by 85.9% of the respondents as being negative. Fire-wood merchants viewed the expansion as negative because they expended more energy and cover longer distances for same quantity of resource. Local building resource merchants viewed increasing distance and rural degradation as negative, but made more sales to physical developers. Coping strategies of the household respondents included relocation of farm sites (78.0%), intensive agriculture (14.0%) and land conservation (8.0%). Fire-wood and local building resource merchants underwent longer distances for resources. Rapid rural land use conversion and rural resource depletion were viewed as negative implications of Damaturu expansion. Therefore, there is the need to evolve strategies to manage these negative implications on rural land use and resources

Urine effects on soil chemical properties and the impact of urine and dung on pearl millet yield

Most farming systems in semi-arid West Africa rely on organic matter recycling for maintaining soil fertility. The cycling of biomass through ruminant livestock into dung (faeces) and urine that fertilize the soil has long been an important factor in the nutrient cycling processes of these integrated, mixed crop/livestock systems. While dung greatly improves soil properties and crop yields, little is known about the effects of urine on soil chemical properties and the impact of dung and urine on crop production. An average voiding of sheep urine applied to a sandy, siliceous soil in the Republic of Niger increased soil pH, available phosphorus and ammonium levels dramatically in the upper 10-15 cm of soil, especially during the first week following application. Losses of applied urine nitrogen via volatilization were in the order of 30-50 percent. A four-year field trial was conducted on the same soil type to evaluate the effects on pearl millet and weed yields of corralling cattle or sheep overnight on cropland (dung plus urine applicaiton) for one, two or three nights, every one, two or three years versus the effects of applying only dung at the same application rates and intervals achieved with corralling. The main results of this field trial were that (1) urine had large positive effects on millet grain, threshed panicle, leaf, stem and weed yields, (2) sheep dung was more effective than cattle dung in increasing yield, (3) two nights of dung application was adequate for maximum yield and (4) the positive effects of dung and urine on yield lasted two to three cropping seasons after application

Social problem solving skills mediates the relationship between traumatic stress and moral disengagement among inner-city African American high school students.

This study examined the relationship between traumatic stress, social problem solving, and moral disengagement among African American inner-city high school students. Participants consisted of 45 (25 males and 20 females) African American students enrolled in grades 10 through 12. Mediation was assessed by testing for the indirect effect using the confidence interval derived from 10,000 bootstrapped resamples. The results revealed that social problem-solving skills have an indirect effect on the relationship between traumatic stress and moral disengagement. The findings suggest that African American youth that are negatively impacted by trauma evidence deficits in their social problem solving skills and are likely to be at an increased risk to morally disengage. Implications for culturally sensitive and trauma-based intervention programs are also provided

Comparative Assessment of Urine Circulating Cathodic Antigen (CCA) Detection Cassette and Microscopy for the Diagnosis of Schistosomiasis in North Central Nigeria

This study was carried out between May and December 2019 in four States (Benue, Kogi, Kwara and Niger) in North Central Nigeria to determine the prevalence of schistosomiasis (urinary and intestinal) among primary school pupils using the newly developed Schisto point-of-care (PoC) Urine Circulating Cathodic Antigen (CCA) detection cassette and microscopy in order to evaluate the performance of the CCA detection cassette test. One thousand, one hundred and seventy-six stool and urine specimens were collected from participants and examined using urine CCA detection cassette test and microscopy (Kato-Katz method for stool and urine filtration techniques for urine specimens). A total of 524 (40.9%) out of the1,176 pupils sampled tested positive using CCA detection cassette, while 381 (33.5%) pupils were positive using microscopy. The difference in the prevalence of schistosomiasis using CCA detection cassette and microscopy was statistically significantly (p = 0.000). The sensitivity and specificity of CCA detection cassette using latent class analysis (LCA) were 76.3% and 76.9% respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity of microscopy were 62.5% and 86.5% respectively. The prevalence of schistosomiasis in males and females was 42.6% and 38.2% respectively using CCA detection cassette, while microscopy method had a prevalence of 32.4% in males and 35.3% in females (p = 0.693) respectively. There were no significant differences in prevalence in both sexes using CCA detection cassette and microscopy It was concluded that the newly developed Urine CCA detection cassette having identified more schistosomiasis cases than the old microscopic methods, stands to be more promising for clinical and community diagnosis of schistosomiasis as compared to the old microscopic methods although further evaluation is required. Key words: Comparative Assessment, Newly Developed, Urine Circulating Cathodic Antigen, Detection, Microscopy