Gender and Increased Access to Schooling in Cameroon: A Marginal Benefit Incidence Analysis

Of great importance to policy makers is to know if females and poor households benefit more or less than the males or rich households from an expansion in access to public education. This is marginal benefit incidence of public spending which is rarely determined. In this paper, we determine the extent to which an expansion in public education is effective in reducing gender gaps in enrollments and thus, poverty in Cameroon. Government subsidies directed towards higher education are poorly targeted and the poorest income groups receive less than the richest income groups and indeed favor those who are better off. Similarly, gender disparity in access to public schools is higher at the tertiary level and lowest at primary level. Further, contrary to earlier studies which found that primary education expansion mostly benefits the poor, the present paper found that increased subsidy to primary and secondary education is captured by the middle income groups and as such cannot be good as a program that can be directed (explicitly) at fighting poverty. The difference may come from the fact that their enrollment estimates lump together private and public schools enrollments. It is difficult to think of a policy at which private operators will want to expand on their schooling projects

ANTIHYPERGLYCEMIC AND ANTI-OXIDANT POTENTIAL OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF VITEX THYRSIFLORA LEAVES ON DIABETIC RATS

Objective: Vitex thyrsiflora Baker (Verbenaceae) is a glabrous under shrub that is widely distributed in Cameroon. Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, a source of increased oxidative stress and tissue oxidative damage. The objective of current study was to estimate the antihyperglycemic and anti-oxidant potential of ethanol extract of Vitex thyrsiflora leaves on diabetic rats Methods: The antihyperglycemic effect of an ethanol extract of Vitex thyrsiflora leaves was investigated in normal male rats and streptozotocin induced diabetic male rats and its antioxidant potential was evaluated. After preparation of the extract, it was subjected to a phytochemistry screening, and tested on male rats made hyperglycemic in the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and in streptozotocin diabetic rats. Glibenclamide (10 mg/Kg) was served as a positive control in both experiments. The evaluation of the antioxidant potential was done through the determination of the total polyphenols and total flavonoid contents, and by using the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and the free radical scavenging activity on DPPH method. Results: The results show that the extract contains alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins and phenolic compounds. The test on hyperglycemic rats in OGTT showed that, the extract was effective (at a dose of 200 mg/Kg) to significantly decreased glucose-induced hyperglycemia (**p ˂ 0.01). The extract was ineffective on streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The study of the antioxidant potential showed that, polyphenols and flavonoids increase with the concentration of the extracts. IC50 value was found to be 65.97, based on the log (inhibitor) vs. normalized response-Variable slope. Conclusion: FRAP appears to be significantly highly correlated with total polyphenols content and total flavonoids content. This shows that the ethanol extract of V. thyrsiflora leaves could be served to prevent acute hyperglycema, but not a chronic hyperglycemic state.   Peer Review History: Received 28 May 2018;   Revised 24 June; Accepted 4 July, Available online 15 July 2018 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:        Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Dr. Sabah Hussien El-Ghaiesh, Tanta University, Egypt, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Ali Gamal Ahmed Al-kaf, Sana'a university, Yemen, [email protected] Similar Articles: COMPARATIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIOXIDANT PROFILE OF VITAMIN-E AND RED DATES IN PLACEBO AND TESTED GROUPS OF HYPERLIPIDEMIC PATIENT

An Efficient Strategy to Induce and Maintain In Vitro Human T Cells Specific for Autologous Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The efficient expansion in vitro of cytolytic CD8+ T cells (CTLs) specific for autologous tumors is crucial both for basic and translational aspects of tumor immunology. We investigated strategies to generate CTLs specific for autologous Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC), the most frequent tumor in mankind, using circulating lymphocytes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Classic Mixed Lymphocyte Tumor Cultures with NSCLC cells consistently failed to induce tumor-specific CTLs. Cross-presentation in vitro of irradiated NSCLC cells by autologous dendritic cells, by contrast, induced specific CTL lines from which we obtained a high number of tumor-specific T cell clones (TCCs). The TCCs displayed a limited TCR diversity, suggesting an origin from few tumor-specific T cell precursors, while their TCR molecular fingerprints were detected in the patient's tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, implying a role in the spontaneous anti-tumor response. Grafting NSCLC-specific TCR into primary allogeneic T cells by lentiviral vectors expressing human V-mouse C chimeric TCRalpha/beta chains overcame the growth limits of these TCCs. The resulting, rapidly expanding CD4+ and CD8+ T cell lines stably expressed the grafted chimeric TCR and specifically recognized the original NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: This study defines a strategy to efficiently induce and propagate in vitro T cells specific for NSCLC starting from autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes

129-133Analysis of the Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Cocoa Farmers in South West Cameroon

Abstract In this study, we assess the technical efficiency of smallholder cocoa farmers in the Meme division of South West Region, Cameroon. Through stochastic production functions and field surveys, the study further examines how the cocoa sector socioeconomically impacts the Cameroonian economy. Using a participatory research approach, data were collected from 515 household heads across four villages on the quantity of cocoa produced, number of cocoa trees per hectare, quantity of fertilizer, and labour availability and socio-economic characteristics. Our results showed the technical efficiency to range between 0.11 and 0.99, with a mean technical efficiency of 0.86. We also observed access to credit and extension services to significantly influence technical efficiency. Therefore, innovative institutional arrangements that enhance extension and farmer training, accompanied by improved access to credit are likely to efficiently boost cocoa production in this part of Cameroon and elsewhere