Effect of HIV/AIDS Prevalence on Farm Income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria

The study was on effect of HIV/AIDS prevalence on farm income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of PLWHA who are small scale farmers, determined the factors affecting the farm income of PLWHA, and identified the major problems encountered by PLWHA in the study area. A simple random sampling method was used. Three health care facilities and one community based organization were selected. Thirty (30) PLWHA-small scale farmers were randomly selected from each of the facilities making a total of 120 respondents. Data were gathered through questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and mean score were used for data analysis. The results showed that 45.8% of the respondents were widow with non-formal education and a household size of 6-10. 60% of the respondents were full time farmers with farming experience of 11-15 years. Age, technology adoption and labour lost as a result of HIV/AIDS were significant variables affecting the farm income of PLWHA. Labour lost had a negative coefficient while age and technology adoption were positively related to farm income. The major problems encountered by PLWHA who are small scale farmers include low earnings, stigmatization, discrimination, inadequate capital, and lack of credit facilities. The study recommends that government should take necessary measures to control the spread of the disease. Also, soft loan should be made available and accessible to PLWHA who are small scale farmers

Output Projections for Maize in Nigeria (2015 - 2030), Implication on its Importation

This study analyzed the trend of maize output in Nigeria, in order to make estimates and forecast for future production. Time series data for a period of twenty years (1995-2014) were collected from secondary sources and the analytical tools used were descriptive statistics, Ordinary Least Square regression model, and Simple Growth Rate Supply Model. Results indicate that there was a general rise in maize output in Nigeria from 2001-2006 after which a sharp decrease was recorded in 2007. The period, 2008-2011 witnessed another general rise in the quantity of maize supply. The trend in maize production in Nigeria had been on the increase but at a very slow pace. Producer price of maize and per capital supply of maize in the previous year were positively signed and significant at 10%. The supply projection indicates that the quantity of maize supply in Nigeria will increase from 7748 thousand metric tones in 2015 to 11043 thousand metric tones in 2030. However, there was a decline in the growth rate. This projected figure calls for policies that would encourage maize farmers to increase the area of land put under maize cultivation and improve their productivity. Foreign and local investors should capitalize on the suitable land and readily available market by investing massively in maize production and its industrial value addition in Nigeria.Â

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

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

An Assessment of the Adoption of Improved Rice Processing Technologies: A Case of Rice Farmers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Aim: To ascertain the adoption of improved rice processing technologies among rice farmers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Study Design: Survey research. Place and Duration of Study: Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, between June and August, 2016. Methodology: A simple random sampling technique was used to select 240 rice farmers from four of the six agricultural zones as delineated by the FCT Agricultural Development Project (FCT-ADP) for the study. Descriptive statistics, sigma scoring method and binary logistic model were used to analyse primary data obtained through questionnaire administration. Results: Results from the findings showed that 72.5% of the farmers were male with an average age of 43 years. Rice farmers in the area had a mean farming experience of 9 years and operated on an average farm size of 4 hectares with average annual income from processing activities of N158, 244. The results further indicated a generally low level of adoption with respect to improved paddy steaming (sigma score = 5.1) and improved drying (sigma score = 4.1). The marginal effect of access to credit, awareness, and years of processing experience directly influenced the probability of adoption of improved rice processing technologies among rice farmers in the area at 5%, while household size decreased adoption at 1%. Conclusion: There was low adoption of processing technologies among rice farmers due to high purchase costs and other constraining socioeconomic variables. The study therefore recommends the establishment of effective linkage system and collaboration of the major stakeholders towards appropriate technology development and dissemination

An Assessment of the Adoption of Improved Rice Processing Technologies: A Case of Rice Farmers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Aim: To ascertain the adoption of improved rice processing technologies among rice farmers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Study Design: Survey research. Place and Duration of Study: Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, between June and August, 2016. Methodology: A simple random sampling technique was used to select 240 rice farmers from four of the six agricultural zones as delineated by the FCT Agricultural Development Project (FCT-ADP) for the study. Descriptive statistics, sigma scoring method and binary logistic model were used to analyse primary data obtained through questionnaire administration. Results: Results from the findings showed that 72.5% of the farmers were male with an average age of 43 years. Rice farmers in the area had a mean farming experience of 9 years and operated on an average farm size of 4 hectares with average annual income from processing activities of N158, 244. The results further indicated a generally low level of adoption with respect to improved paddy steaming (sigma score = 5.1) and improved drying (sigma score = 4.1). The marginal effect of access to credit, awareness, and years of processing experience directly influenced the probability of adoption of improved rice processing technologies among rice farmers in the area at 5%, while household size decreased adoption at 1%. Conclusion: There was low adoption of processing technologies among rice farmers due to high purchase costs and other constraining socioeconomic variables. The study therefore recommends the establishment of effective linkage system and collaboration of the major stakeholders towards appropriate technology development and dissemination

Stakeholders’ perceptions on shortage of healthcare workers in Primary Healthcare in Botswana: focus group discussions

Background An adequate health workforce force is central to universal health coverage and positive public health outcomes. However many African countries have critical shortages of health-care workers, which are worse in primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of healthcare workers, policy makers and the community on the shortage of healthcare workers in Botswana. Method Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with three groups of policy makers, six groups of healthcare workers and six groups of community members in rural, urban and remote rural health districts of Botswana. All the participants were 18 years and older.Recruitment was purposive and the framework method was used to inductively analyze the data. Results There was a perceived shortage of healthcare workers in primary healthcare, which was believed to result from an increased need for health services, inequitable distribution of healthcare workers, migration and too few such workers being trained. Migration was mainly the result of un favourable personal and family factors, weak and ineffective healthcare and human resources management, low salaries and inadequate incentives for rural and remotearea service. Conclusions Botswana has a perceived shortage of healthcare workers, which is worse in primary healthcare and rural areas, as a result of multiple complex factors. To address the scarcity the country should train adequate numbers of healthcare workers and distribute them equip-tably to sufficiently resourced healthcare facilities. They should be competently manage