Analysis of the technical efficiency of rice farms in Ijesha Land of Osun State, Nigeria

This study estimated technical efficiencies on rice farms in Osun State, Nigeria, and identified some socioeconomic factors, which influence productive efficiency. These technical efficiencies were estimated using the stochastic frontier production function approach applied to primary data. A translog production function was used to represent the production frontier of the rice farms. The study showed that the levels of technical efficiency ranged from 29.4% to 98.2% with a mean of 86.6%, which suggests that average rice output falls 13.4% short of the maximum possible level. Therefore in the short run there is scope to increase technical efficiencies on rice farms in the study area. The study also showed that these efficiencies are positively and significantly correlated with the application of traditional preparation methods, and with off-farm income.Crop Production/Industries,

Intersectoral linkages and Agricultural growth in Swaziland for the period 1971-2011

Agriculture plays an important role in the Swazi economy as it is the primary source of employment, livelihood and food security. The future success of the contribution of agriculture to economic growth depends largely on how agriculture stimulates growth of the other sectors and especially how the other sectors growth spills over and stimulates agricultural growth. Using bound test approach to cointergration, Granger causality and Impulse Response framework, the study therefore examined the interrelationships between agriculture and the rest of the sectors of the economy and their impact on economic growth over the period of 1971 to 2011 in Swaziland. The empirical results indicated that a long run relation exists among agriculture, the rest of the economy and overall economic growth. Granger causality analysis indicated that there is bidirectional causality between agriculture and economic growth, unidirectional causality between agriculture and services, running from services to agriculture and independence between agriculture and industry. The Impulse Response showed that contribution to GDP forecast error by the industry sector is the highest, followed by agriculture and service sectors. This study recommended that agriculture should be given more priority in order to grow the economy. Keywords: Agriculture growth, ARDL, Granger causality tests, Inter-sectoral linkages, UECM, Variance decomposition

Histological changes in the vital organs of male rats following short term exposure to smoke extract of Cannabis sativa

Introduction: Beneficial effects of cannabis intake by any route of administration has since ages been trailed with controversial reports of scientific studies. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of short term exposure to smoke of Cannabis sativa on the vital organs (heart, lungs, liver, kidney and testes) of male rats.Methods: Ten (10) male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with average weight of 140 g were randomly divided into two (2) groups (A and B). Animals in group A (experimental group) were exposed to smoke from a completely burnt 0.74g leaves of Cannabis sativa, wrapped in 0.5g of sterilized cotton wool for 5 minutes three times daily (7am, 10am, and 1pm) while animals in group B (control group) were exposed to smoke from completely burnt 0.5g of sterilized cotton wool. All animals vg.had 5 day exposure to smoke of Cannabis and were sacrificed at least three hours after the last smoke exposure by cervical dislocation. In essence, all animals in the control and treatment groups were exposed to normal air in-between treatments. The rationale behind exposing animals in the control group to cotton wool smoke is to show that sterile cotton wool used as the vehicle for cannabis in the treatment group did not have any extra cytological/histological effect. The vital organs were carefully excised, rinsed, blotted dry and were transferred into (bouin's fluid and 10% formol saline) for at least 72 hours before further histological protocol and analysis.Discussion: different histological changes observed in these vital organs include mild edema and destruction of myocardial fibers, degeneration of the hepatocytes, slugging off of the germ cells, enlargement of the alveoli and distortion of the renal cortex.Conclusion: We inferred that short term exposure to smoke of Cannabis sativa may be associated with damage to some vital organs in SD rats.Keywords: Cannabis, vital organs, histological change

Analysis of the Relationship between Inflation, Economic growth and Agricultural growth in Swaziland from 1980-2013

While there is an on-going debate on the nexus between economic growth and inflation, with some authors arguing a positive relationship and others arguing a negative relationship, policymakers are faced with the need to balance economic growth with low inflation. Although monetary policies have been undertaken to curb inflation in Swaziland, its economic growth remains slow. This study investigated the relationship between inflation, agricultural growth and economic growth in Swaziland for the period 1980 to 2013. The existence of long-run relationship and causality were tested. The study also determined the inflation threshold in Swaziland. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ADRL) model, a long-run relationship between these variables was found to exist. Granger causality results show that, in 1980-2013, there was uni-directional causality in Swaziland that flows from economic growth to inflation, no causality was detected between economic growth and agricultural growth, and between inflation and agricultural growth. Using the non-linear model, Swaziland’s inflation threshold was estimated at 12.56% with respect to economic growth and 10.36% with respect to agricultural growth. The elasticities from the long-run and short-run regressions showed that inflation has a negative impact of about 2% in the long-run on the economy and  impacts positively by about 0.05% in the short-run. In the short-run, the agricultural growth has a positive relationship with the economic growth in Swaziland, with an influence of 15% on economic growth.Based on these findings it is recommended that the Government promote the agricultural sector and that the monetary authorities in Swaziland Government pay more attention to the inflation trend and pursue policies that will ensure single digit inflation. Keywords: Agricultural growth, ARDL, GDP, economic growth, inflation, threshol

THE IMPACT OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES ON AGRICULTURE IN SWAZILAND: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS (1980-2012)

Policymakers in Swaziland view agriculture as an engine to foster economic growth, reduce poverty and eradicate inequality among the populace when the right policies are formulated and implemented within their rightful institutional framework. This study is an empirical investigation of the effect of macroeconomic policies on the agricultural sector in Swaziland using annual time-series data for the period 1980 to 2012. The study used the bound test approach to cointegration to analyse the data. The cointegration results revealed that there was long run relationship amongst the variables of agriculture GDP and export. The results also revealed that real money supply, real exchange rate, real GDP, and real government expenditure had a significant long run impact on agriculture GDP with elasticity coefficients of 0.07, 0.24, 0.88 and -0.3 respectively, while short run coefficients were -0.002,0.23,-0,94 and -0.4 respectively.  In the case of agriculture exports, the results further revealed that real money supply, real government expenditure, discount rate, real exchange rate and real GDP had a significant impact on the sector`s exports with long run elasticity coefficients of 0.13,-0.32,-0.01,0.5 and 2.53 respectively, while short run elasticities were 0.06,0.35,0.01,0.46 and -1.34 respectively.The Central Bank of Swaziland needs to adopt policies aimed at providing affordable credit to agriculture. In terms of the low response of the agricultural sector to macro-policy variables the study recommends that policymakers should intensify the promotion of finished or processed agriculture exports and create a disincentive to imports. Keywords: Agriculture, exports, prices, macroeconomic policy, cointegration, autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), Swaziland

Ficus exasperata vahl improves manganese-induced neurotoxicity and motor dysfunction in mice

Manganese is an important element in the biological system, however, excessive exposure may lead to a neurological disorder known as manganism. The present study sought to investigate the ameliorative effects of Ficus exasperata Vahl (E.Vahl) on motor function and neuronal integrity of the Substantia nigra (SNc) and Corpus striatum (CPu) after acute exposure to manganese. Fifty adult male Balb/c mice weighing between 25 – 35g were divided into 5 groups – Group A (normal saline), Group B (Manganese), Group C (E.Vahl), Group D (Post-treatment), Group E (concurrent treatment). Manganese was intraperitoneally administered at 40mg/kg b.w, while E.Vahl orally at 200 mg/kg b.w. Motor coordination was assessed in the animals using Rotarod and Parallel Bar tests. Animals were later sacrificed; brain tissue extracted and processed for histology/immunohistochemistry. Manganese-exposed group showed decreased motor activity on the Rotarod test. Decreased motor activity shown by the increase in latency of turn (LoF) was recorded in the Parallel Bar test. Manganese induced activation of microglia and astrocytic cells in the SNc and CPu, which plays an important role in neurodegeneration as observed in the reduction of TH cells. Indistinct Nissl granules were also noticed in the manganese-exposed group. Treatment with E.Vahl produced significant motor improvement, as well as ameliorative effect on the histoarchitecture of the SNc and CPu. The present investigation has demonstrated the motor-enhancing and neuro-restorative potential of E.Vahl after manganese exposure in adult mice.Key Word: Neurodegeneration; Manganism; Ficus exasperata; Rotarod; immunohistochemistry

Global Best Practices on Disability Rights: What Lessons for Nigeria?

Prominent among the concerns agitating curious minds of civil societies and Human Rights Organisations in Nigeria is how to safeguard, by proper implementation, the rights of disabled persons in Nigeria. This worrisome issue, which is barely attracting attention in Nigeria, has been the cynosure of human rights concerns in various countries of the world owing to the increased level of recurrent violations to which these vulnerable persons are being exposed. Unfortunately, Nigeria is one of the State-Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”) and its Optional Protocol, which was adopted by the United Nations on 13th December, 2006 and to which Nigeria subscribed on 24th September, 2010. This paper, therefore, examines the state of disability rights in Nigeria vis-à-vis its comparative standing in other countries. The authors have posited that while there are progressive actions in other jurisdictions to mainstream disability concerns into development agenda, the Nigerian situation, however, remains otherwise. Accordingly, this paper has recommended, inter alia, that to catch up with lagging development concerns in Nigeria, proactive legislative, executive and collaborative actions with foreign partners are most germane and same should be pursued vigorously

A Refreshing Perspective on the Means of Proof of Contents of Public Documents under the Nigerian Law

The use of credible and admissible evidence, oral or documentary, in proof of a fact in question in any judicial proceeding, is a sine quo non to the success of a case. In the case of documentary evidence, whether private or public, the law requires that same is preferably proved by producing the primary evidence and, in its absence, secondary evidence of varying kinds. With respect to a public document, the means of proving same is, nonetheless, un changed save however, that its exclusive secondary means of proof is by producing a certified true copy thereof. This paper attempts to examine the concept of public documents as a means of proving facts in evidence, its underlining principles and other prevailing trends, including misconceptions, amidst legal authors, practitioners and judicial officers

Purification characterization and inhibition studies on Phospholipase C from Opisthacanthus capensis (Black Scorpion) venom

Phospholipase C from Opisthacanthus capensis venom was partially purified and characterized. The enzyme was purified 105.2 fold with an overall yield of 13% using various purification steps involving ammonium sulphate precipitation, protamine sulphate treatment, sephadex G-75  fractionation and DE-52 anion exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme was  homogeneous with a molecular weight of 29 kDa. The  phospholipase C has pH and temperature optima of 7.2 and 600C, respectively with activation energy of 25KJ/mol and t1/2 of 1.50 hr. Initial velocity studies on O. capensis venom phospholipase C revealed a KM of 0.02 mM and Vmax of 0.015 μmol/min. Studies on the effect of pH on KM and Vmax gave PKa1 of 6.9 and PKa2 of 7.4 with enthalpy of ionization of 20 KJ/mol suggesting  histidine in the active site. The enzyme was positively modulated by Mg2+, Zn2+ and Ca2+ and negatively by Fe2+. While Hg2+ produced complete inhibition. Various concentrations of leaf aqueous extract of Momordica charantia also inhibited the activity of O. capensis venom phospholipase C in vitro with a competitive pattern. This study revealed the presence of phospholipase C in O. capensis venom and gave some scientific basis for the use of theplant in the treatment of scorpion envenomation.Keywords: Phospholipase C; Opisthacanthus capensis;  Momordica charantia; Veno

Factors associated with teenage pregnancy in southwest Nigeria

Background: Teenage pregnancy is a major contributor to maternal and child mortality, and to the vicious cycle of ill-health and poverty worldwide and thus, requires urgent intervention. This cross-sectional study therefore assessed the prevalence and contextual factors associated with teenage pregnancy in south-west Nigeria.Method: A total of 350 consenting teenagers between ages 13 and 19 were recruited using a multi-stage sampling technique. The validated semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on socio-demographic characteristics of teenagers, risk factors and prevalence of teenage pregnancy.Results: The mean age ± SD of the respondents is 16.79 ± 1.52 years. Majority (341, 97.4%) of them were single. More than a quarter (28%) of the girls were sexually active with over half sexual debut occurring at age 16 and thereafter, while, pleasure was the most cited reason (59.2%) for engaging in sexual intercourse. The prevalence of teenage pregnancy and childbirth was 7.7% and 3.4% respectively, with over half (59.3%) of the pregnancy resulting into an abortion. Individual and socio-economic factors such as age, early marriage, ethnicity, lack of formal education, family disruptions, poverty, early sexual debut, sex for financial gains, having pregnant sibling, use of alcohol, social media naive and a positive attitude towards premarital sex significantly increase the vulnerability of girls to becoming pregnant.Conclusion: The findings of this study show that though numerous, these contextual factors are largely modifiable through effective policy and interventions on early marriage, comprehensive sexuality education, ensuring girls enrolment in schools, community poverty alleviation programmes targeted at vulnerable girls and families as well as addressing gender norms that expose girls unduly