ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE - SECTORS PARTNERSHIP (PPP) IN HOUSING DELIVERY IN, NIGER STATE. NIGERIA

Abstract: One of the greatest challenge confronting both rural and urban residents in Niger State is the need to provide adequate shelter. This study examined the individual significant contribution of the public and private sector in public-private partnerships (PPP) in housing contracts in Niger State, Nigeria. The study review that PPP has so far achieved little success in providing decent and unaffordable housing accommodation to Nigerlites. Accordingly to Niger State housing corporation 2 bedrooms flat worth N3,500,000.00 and 3 bedrooms flat worth N4,500,000.00 so it’s clear that the houses are unaffordable to low and medium incomes earners. The researcher finding that the private sector in Niger State can be said to have contributed very little to the development of an urban project in the state, however, even this insignificant level of participation has been serious challenges by poor funding and lack of policy framework to regulate it activities. Therefore, it is paramount importance that the state should develop a regulatory framework and partner with the private sector in this regard so as to ensure that the resident of Niger State has access to this important component of the human environment. Researcher concluded that to ensure the effective participation of the private sector in housing delivery in Niger State in general and Minna in particular, the following recommendation has been put forward (1) Aside from providing enabling environment for the private sector to develop real estate, government should also invest more in provision of site and services scheme this will hasten the development of estate sector.  (2) The establishment a power federal mortgage bank (FMB) and  urban development bank would guarantee investors access to loan and other facilities needed for mass housing development.(3) strengthening the activities of the Niger State Ministry of land and housing in order to ensure that both the formal and informal neighborhood save provided with sanction and neighborhood facilities and (4) The establishment of a PPP steering committee in the Niger State that would be responsible for the general oversight of state’s PPP arrangement. (5) Finally, the study recommends that to ensure the success of public and private partnership in housing delivering, all tiers of government must strive to complement the weakness of the public sector with the strength of the private sector.

The effect of endometrial thickness on In vitro Fertilization (IVF)-Embryo Transfer/Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Outcome

The value of measuring the endometrial thickness and studying the endometrial receptivity in the context of assisted conception remains a contentious issue. A prospective analysis was carried out todetermine the effect of endometrial thickness on IVF - embryo transfer / ICSI outcome in dedicated Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) units in Abuja and Rivers State, Nigeria. Two hundred and fifty one patients who met the inclusion criteria were analysed. They were grouped on the basis of endometrial thickness into 3 groups; 14 mm. The main outcome measure was clinical pregnancy. There were significantly more pregnancies in the 7 – 14 mm endometrial thickness group compared to the 14mm groups, p=0.004 and

The Effect of Endometrial Thickness on In vitro Fertilization (IVF)-Embryo Transfer/Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) Outcome

The value of measuring the endometrial thickness and studying the endometrial receptivity in the context of assisted conception remains a contentious issue. A prospective analysis was carried out todetermine the effect of endometrial thickness on IVF - embryo transfer / ICSI outcome in dedicated Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) units in Abuja and Rivers State, Nigeria. Two hundred and fifty one patients who met the inclusion criteria were analysed. They were grouped on the basis of endometrial thickness into 3 groups; 14 mm. The main outcome measure was clinical pregnancy. There were significantly more pregnancies in the 7 – 14 mm endometrial thickness group compared to the 14mm groups, p=0.004 and

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Awareness and Choice of Indigenous Practices in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability in Northern Ghana

Farmers in Northern Ghana adapt to the adverse effects of climate change using traditionalpractices. However, farmers’ awareness of these practices is a spring-board to their choicesof available indigenous climate related adaptation strategies. This study examined farmers’awareness and usage of indigenous adaptation strategies using the Heckman Two-Stage Sample Selection Model. Questionnaire was administered to 285 randomly selected households to determine the factors influencing farmers’ awareness and choice of indigenous adaptation strategies. The empirical results showed that majority of farmers are aware of and employed soil related indigenous adaptation strategies. Education, membership of farmer-based organisation, farmer-farmer extension contacts and farming experience significantly determine farmers’ awareness of indigenous adaptation strategies. Farmers’ level of education, farming experience, farmer-farmer extension contacts, membership of farmer group, labour hours and age significantly influenced farmers’ choice of indigenous climate related adaptation strategies.Based on these findings, it is recommended that farmers should endeavour to form groups toserve as a platform to share knowledge on indigenous farming practices for effective climatechange adaptation

An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could restimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts

Anticonvulsant and sedative activities of aqueous leave extract of Leucas martinicensis (Jacq.) R. Br

Leucas martinicensis is a medicinal plant used in traditional medicine to treat convulsions and epilepsy. The present study was to evaluate the anticonvulsant and sedative effects of the aqueous leave extract of L. martinicensis in Wistar rats. The anticonvulsant activities of L. martinicensis (50, 100, 200 or 400 mg/kg i.p.) were evaluated using maximal electroshock seizure (MES) - and strychnine (STR) -induced seizure models while the sedative properties were evaluated using the diazepaminduced sleep model in Wistar rats. The 400 mg/kg of the extract protected rats (100%) against seizures in both models while at 200 mg/kg seizure protection (100%) was only in STR model. There was a significant (p<0.05) delay in the onset and reduction in the duration of seizure in the two models in unprotected rats. L. martinicensis exerted sedative effect by significantly reducing the onset (sleep latency) and increasing the total duration of sleep induced by diazepam. These results suggest that aqueous extract of L. martinicensis may possess anticonvulsant and sedative properties that might show efficacy against primary generalised seizures and secondarily generalised tonic -clonic seizures in humans. It also lends pharmacological credence to the use of the plant in traditional medicine for the management of epilepsy and convulsions.Keywords: Leucas martinicensis; Epilepsy; Traditional medicine; Anticonvulsant; slee

Emergence and spread of two SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest in Nigeria.

Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome