Assessment of Training Needs Among Dairy Cattle Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The training needs of dairy cattle farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria were assessed. A well-structured interview schedule was used to obtain information from 123 respondents. Data were collected on socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, their dairy cattle production enterprises and their training needs which were ascertained in six major areas of cattle production: feeding, breeding, healthcare, housing and management, marketing and finance, product preparation and processing. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analysis using SPPS (V.21). Results revealed that most (30.1%) of the respondents were 24 – 29 years old, married, were male, had no formal education. Results also revealed that more than 90% of dairy cattle farmers perceived the training needs in feeding as most important. The training index in dairy farming indicated that majority (91.8%) of the farmers needed to be trained more on dairy cattle production and management. Based on the result of this study, it was concluded that breeding, feeding and health care were perceived as the “most needed” training by the respondents. Although, training need in marketing and finance, milk preparation and processing, as well as housing and management were also perceived as important. Furthermore age, sex, marital status, religion, education level, source of flock, purpose of production and breeds of cattle had a direct effect on training needs of the respondent while occupation, household, herd size, had an indirect effect on training need of the respondents

Extent of Involvement of Women in Dairy Farming Activities in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to evaluate extent of involvement of women in dairy production in Oyo state. Two stage sampling procedure was used for the study with 112 questionnaires administered through a scheduled interview to obtain information from the respondents. Data were collected on socio-economic characteristics, dairy production enterprise of the respondents and their extent of involvement in dairy production activities. Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The result of the study showed that most of the respondents were older than 25 years; they were Muslims, married, had no formal education and had 5-7 members as household size. The study further revealed that women were more involved in marketing activities (93.2%) and processing activities (92.4%) while they had low involvement in daily management activities and health activities of dairy cattle. The overall involvement index of the respondents show that most (91.1%) of the respondents had high involvement in dairy production activities. Based on the result of the study, it was concluded that most of the respondents were highly involved in processing and marketing of dairy products; they were not involved in daily management and health activities of dairy cattle. It was further concluded that the overall involvement index of the respondents was high in dairy production enterprise. Income and secondary occupation were significant factors influencing extent of involvement in dairy production enterprise

Safety, Quality, and Acceptability of Contraceptive Implant Provision by Community Health Extension Workers versus Nurses and Midwives in Two States in Nigeria.

Task sharing is a strategy with potential to increase access to effective modern contraceptive methods. This study examines whether community health extension workers (CHEWs) can insert contraceptive implants to the same safety and quality standards as nurse/midwives. We analyze data from 7,691 clients of CHEWs and nurse/midwives who participated in a noninferiority study conducted in Kaduna and Ondo States, Nigeria. Adverse events (AEs) following implant insertions were compared. On the day of insertion AEs were similar among CHEW and nurse/midwife clients-0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.92 (95 percent CI 0.38-2.23)-but noninferiority could not be established. At follow-up 6.6 percent of CHEW clients and 2.1 percent of nurse/midwife clients experienced AEs. There was strong evidence of effect modification by State. In the final adjusted model, odds of AEs for CHEW clients in Kaduna was 3.34 (95 percent CI 1.53-7.33) compared to nurse/midwife clients, and 0.72 (95 percent CI 0.19-2.72]) in Ondo. Noninferiority could not be established in either State. Implant expulsions were higher among CHEW clients (142/2987) compared to nurse/midwives (40/3517). Results show the feasibility of training CHEWs to deliver implants in remote rural settings but attention must be given to provider selection, training, supervision, and follow-up to ensure safety and quality of provision

Evidence for risk stratification when monitoring for toxicities following initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy

Laboratory monitoring is recommended during combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), but the pattern of detected abnormalities and optimal monitoring are unknown. We assessed laboratory abnormalities during initial cART in 2000–2010 across the United States

Hematologic, Hepatic, Renal, and Lipid Laboratory Monitoring After Initiation of Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in the United States, 2000–2010

We assessed laboratory monitoring following combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation among 3,678 patients in a large US multi-site clinical cohort, censoring participants at last clinic visit, cART change, or three years. Median days (interquartile range) to first hematologic, hepatic, renal and lipid tests were 30 (18–53), 31 (19–56), 33 (20–59) and 350 (96–1106), respectively. At one year, approximately 80% received more than two hematologic, hepatic, and renal tests consistent with guidelines. However, only 40% received one or more lipid tests. Monitoring was more frequent in specific subgroups, likely reflecting better clinic attendance or clinician perception of higher susceptibility to toxicities

Bridging the gap in African biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics:Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project:

The Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project empowers African scientists and institutions with the skill sets, capacity and infrastructure to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and drive economic growth

HIV Capsid is a Tractable Target for Small Molecule Therapeutic Intervention

Despite a high current standard of care in antiretroviral therapy for HIV, multidrug-resistant strains continue to emerge, underscoring the need for additional novel mechanism inhibitors that will offer expanded therapeutic options in the clinic. We report a new class of small molecule antiretroviral compounds that directly target HIV-1 capsid (CA) via a novel mechanism of action. The compounds exhibit potent antiviral activity against HIV-1 laboratory strains, clinical isolates, and HIV-2, and inhibit both early and late events in the viral replication cycle. We present mechanistic studies indicating that these early and late activities result from the compound affecting viral uncoating and assembly, respectively. We show that amino acid substitutions in the N-terminal domain of HIV-1 CA are sufficient to confer resistance to this class of compounds, identifying CA as the target in infected cells. A high-resolution co-crystal structure of the compound bound to HIV-1 CA reveals a novel binding pocket in the N-terminal domain of the protein. Our data demonstrate that broad-spectrum antiviral activity can be achieved by targeting this new binding site and reveal HIV CA as a tractable drug target for HIV therapy

word~river literary review (2011)

wordriver is a literary journal dedicated to the poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction of adjuncts and part-time instructors teaching in our universities, colleges, and community colleges. Our premier issue was published in Spring 2009. We are always looking for work that demonstrates the creativity and craft of adjunct/part-time instructors in English and other disciplines. We reserve first publication rights and onetime anthology publication rights for all work published. We define adjunct instructors as anyone teaching part-time or full-time under a semester or yearly contract, nationwide and in any discipline. Graduate students teaching under part-time contracts during the summer or who have used up their teaching assistant time and are teaching with adjunct contracts for the remainder of their graduate program also are eligible.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/word_river/1001/thumbnail.jp