Determination of the Phytochemical Constituents and Antifungal Properties of Annona senegalensis Leaves (African Custard Apple)

Phytochemical screening of Annona senegalensis leaves was carried out in order to identify and to quantify the bioactive compounds that are present in the plant. Methanol extracts and aqueous extracts of the plant leaves were screened for the presence of ten metabolites. The qualitative study indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenols, steroids, cardiac glycoside and carbohydrates for both the aqueous extracts and the methanol leaves extract. Tannins and terpenoids were only present in the aqueous extract and saponins were only present in the methanol extract. Anthraquinones were absent in both of the extracts. Quantitative analysis showed the amount of alkaloid that was present in both the leaves extract of Annona senegalensis. Antifungal activities of the methanol extracts and the aqueous extracts of Annona senegalensis were investigated and assessed against cultured Trichoderma spp fungus. The susceptibility of the tested fungus on the extracts was determined by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones formed around the well. The highest anti-fungal activity was observed in the aqueous extracts of the leaf. This gave an inhibition zone of 14.5mm. The methanol extract of the leaf gave the lowest inhibition zone of 8.3mm. Keywords: Annona senegalensis, bioactive, extracts, metabolites, leaves, phytochemical, antifunga

A dai-liao hybrid conjugate gradient method for unconstrained optimization

One of todays’ best-performing CG methods is Dai-Liao (DL) method which depends on non-negative parameter  and conjugacy conditions for its computation. Although numerous optimal selections for the parameter were suggested, the best choice of  remains a subject of consideration. The pure conjugacy condition adopts an exact line search for numerical experiments and convergence analysis. Though, a practical mathematical experiment implies using an inexact line search to find the step size. To avoid such drawbacks, Dai and Liao substituted the earlier conjugacy condition with an extended conjugacy condition. Therefore, this paper suggests a new hybrid CG that combines the strength of Liu and Storey and Conjugate Descent CG methods by retaining a choice of Dai-Liao parameterthat is optimal. The theoretical analysis indicated that the search direction of the new CG scheme is descent and satisfies sufficient descent condition when the iterates jam under strong Wolfe line search. The algorithm is shown to converge globally using standard assumptions. The numerical experimentation of the scheme demonstrated that the proposed method is robust and promising than some known methods applying the performance profile Dolan and Mor´e on 250 unrestricted problems.  Numerical assessment of the tested CG algorithms with sparse signal reconstruction and image restoration in compressive sensing problems, file restoration, image video coding and other applications. The result shows that these CG schemes are comparable and can be applied in different fields such as temperature, fire, seismic sensors, and humidity detectors in forests, using wireless sensor network techniques

Synchronization of patient data among health facilities through electronic medical records system: a case study of Kabgayi District Hospital

Background: The use of modern technology in healthcare system aims to increase the reliability, accessibility and productivity of delivered services. In most developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) has been dominated by paper-based system. In Rwanda, EMRs started in 2011 with a baseline of 8% and reached 50% in 2017 within 516 health facilities, but patient data synchronization among health facilities is still a problem. The aim of this research was to identify factors hindering EMRs implementation and propose applied solutions.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design with qualitative and quantitative approach was used. A purposive method to select the research participants among the target population was also used.Results: It was found that, despite the improvement of hospitals’ management and healthcare efficiency via EMRs system, factors affecting synchronization of patients’ data among health facilities still persist. The study also revealed the need for the interoperability in the integration of EMRs system among health facilities.Conclusion: The OpenMRS EMR-based data synchronization can reduce gaps in HIV care. It avoids a duplication of patient identification number (PID) at the same health facility for more than one visit and missing data among health facilities. As part of implementable solutions for effective service delivery, cloud-based server and patient identification were suggested as solutions for much more success in Open MRS EMRs system.Keywords: Electronic Medical Record, Data synchronization, Cloud computing technolog

Rural Households’ Attitude to Diversification into Non-farm Enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria

The study investigated the rural households’ attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 256 farmers for the study. Data were obtained with the aid of questionnaire and analyzed using percentage and regression analysis. The most positive attitude was “that non-farm enterprise is a crucial pathway to food security for rural households”.  It was closely followed by “non-farm enterprise is a source of agricultural household savings used for food purchase in hard times” and “non-farm enterprise provides a means to cope or survive when farming fails”. Farmers expressed positive attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises and do not depend on agriculture as a sole means of livelihood but diversified income sources; the diversified farmers had higher income level. Government should support the existing non-farm enterprises and encourage creation of new ones; also improve formal credit access. Furthermore, technical support and skills acquisition training programs should be provided to enhance the performance and efficiency of non-farm enterprises in rural areas

Rural Households’ Attitude to Diversification into Non-farm Enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria

The study investigated the rural households’ attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 256 farmers for the study. Data were obtained with the aid of questionnaire and analyzed using percentage and regression analysis. The most positive attitude was “that non-farm enterprise is a crucial pathway to food security for rural households”.  It was closely followed by “non-farm enterprise is a source of agricultural household savings used for food purchase in hard times” and “non-farm enterprise provides a means to cope or survive when farming fails”. Farmers expressed positive attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises and do not depend on agriculture as a sole means of livelihood but diversified income sources; the diversified farmers had higher income level. Government should support the existing non-farm enterprises and encourage creation of new ones; also improve formal credit access. Furthermore, technical support and skills acquisition training programs should be provided to enhance the performance and efficiency of non-farm enterprises in rural areas

Rural Households’ Attitude to Diversification into Non-farm Enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria

The study investigated the rural households’ attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises in Katsina State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 256 farmers for the study. Data were obtained with the aid of questionnaire and analyzed using percentage and regression analysis. The most positive attitude was “that non-farm enterprise is a crucial pathway to food security for rural households”.  It was closely followed by “non-farm enterprise is a source of agricultural household savings used for food purchase in hard times” and “non-farm enterprise provides a means to cope or survive when farming fails”. Farmers expressed positive attitude to diversification into non-farm enterprises and do not depend on agriculture as a sole means of livelihood but diversified income sources; the diversified farmers had higher income level. Government should support the existing non-farm enterprises and encourage creation of new ones; also improve formal credit access. Furthermore, technical support and skills acquisition training programs should be provided to enhance the performance and efficiency of non-farm enterprises in rural areas

Nutritional and Antinutritional Profile of Borassus aethiopum Mart (African Palmyra Palm) Shoots

Borassus aethiopum (African palmyrah palm) shoots was analysed for its nutritional and antinutritional compositions. The proximate composition showed 56.33%w/w moisture, 11.2%DW crude fibre, 6.9%DW crude protein and 81%DW available carbohydrate. Mineral content (per 100g dried sample) indicates the presence Mg (640mg), Ca (433.3mg), K (236.7mg), Mn (12.85mg), Zn (12.74) and Fe (11.5mg/100gDW) as the most abundant. The level of toxic Pb and Cd in the shoot is of great concern considering their health effect. Amino acids analyses showed that the shoot is not a good protein source when compared to WHO/FAO/UNU reference standard for school children. Nevertheless, the shoot contains an appreciable amount of essential amino acids (lysine, threonine, phenylalanine and tyrosine) above the reference standard for adult. The concentrations of hydrocyanic acid, nitrate, oxalate and phytate were lower than the reference toxic standard level. The results indicate that the B. aethiopum shoot is a food stuff with appreciable levels of both macro and micro nutrients as well as safe levels of antinutritional factors

Effectiveness of Treatment Outcomes of Public Private Mix Tuberculosis Control Program in Eastern Nigeria

Effective tuberculosis treatment has been shown to have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis. Completion of treatment of active cases is therefore the most important priority of tuberculosis control programmes. Descriptive statistics with a retrospective cohort study design used to analyze secondary data set (2007-2010) of patients accessing TB-DOTS treatment in two facilities (Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, NAUTH and Department of Health Services Tuberculosis and Leprosy  Control Unit Nnewi North Local Government Area (L.G.A.) Secretariat, DHSTLCU ) as public health facilities and other two facilities ( Immaculate Heart of Catholic Church Hospital, IHCCH  and Diocesan Anglican Communion Hospital, DACH) as private health facilities in Nnewi North L.G.A., Anambra State. Gender of patients were male: female 54%(1016 patients) : 46% (883 patients) and 53%(63 patients) : 47%(56 patients) in public and private health facilities respectively . Using WHO (1996) standards the health facilities adjudged as efficient were: in 2007, private facilities using the indicator  of treatment failure rate; private facilities using the indicator of death rate;  public facilities and private facilities using  the indicator of transfer-out rate ; public facilities using the indicator of  treatment completion rate. In 2008, effective health facilities were: private health facilities using the indicator of failure rate; public and private health facilities using the indicator of transfer-out rate; private facilities using the indicator of treatment completion rate. In 2009, effective health facilities were public and private health facilities using indicator of treatment failure rate; public and private health facilities using the indicator of death rate; public and private facilities using the indicator of transfer out; public and private facilities using the indicator of treatment completion rate. In 2010, effective health facilities were: private health facilities using the indicator of  cure rate; private facilities using the indicator of death rate ; public and private facilities using the indicator of transfer-out; public facilities using the indicator of treatment completion rate. In conclusion, private health facilities were more effective than public health facilities  by the several indicators over the four year period.  Future research is needful to use primary and secondary data sets in assessment of TB control program effectiveness; technical efficiency assessment using non-parametric statistics will assess the validity of assessing effectiveness using only the WHO standards; identify centre-specific factors associated with poor treatment outcome; institutionalizing a reward system for effective TB-DOTS facilities will engender healthy competition in the Public Private Mix for sustained effectiveness; the Monitoring and Evaluation tools especially the treatment card for data capture should be improved upon for comprehensiveness of patients socio-economic history. Keywords: Tuberculosis, Effectiveness, Treatments Outcomes, Public Private Mi

Management of Power Out Rage towards maintaining cold-chain system for Vaccines (Case Study Of Kafin Hausa Local Government)

Control of power failure is yet to be achieved in Nigeria despite the government efforts toward eliminating effect of power failure on vaccine. The aim of this research was to clearly show the effect of high temperature on vaccine potency. How to maintain vaccine potency during short and frequent power outrage. Types of vaccines and how they contribute on boosting human immunity. Temperature range of various vaccines and how to maintain their efficacy. The study employed a cross sectional research design was used in seeking the information pertaining the research and through the analysis of data collected from questionnaires. The research find out that most of the respondents agree that power failure has an implication on vaccines storage and few respondents does not agree, because 70% of respondents answer yes to the question while 30% answer N0.Similarly,the research find out that most of the facilities have been provided with standby source of power, which will serve as a penances to any power outrage from national grid. There were also a number of barriers such as operational cost, lack of knowledge and policies that hindered the smooth implementation power stability in Nigeria. The study concluded that there is a growing evidence for what works within power outrage and gaps in scale and sustainability at present. Ultimately, constant power supply can help in providing effective healthcare service delivery. The study recommended that Healthcare solution providers must therefore focus on developing products and services that are easy to use with or without electricity/power

Mobile Technology for Health, Its Practicability and Cost Effectiveness in Improving Health Service Delivery in Nigeria: A Study of Potiskum Local Government

Mobile technology for Health, Its Practicability and Cost Effectiveness in Improving Health Service Delivery in Nigeria: A case study of Potiskum Local Government. This study was guided by the following research objectives: i) to establish the practical use of mobile technology in the health sector of Potiskum Local Government; ii) to examine the effectiveness of mobile technology in improving health service delivery in Potiskum Local Government; iii) to identify barriers to mobile technology implementation in the health sector of Potiskum Local Government and iv) to determine the relationship between mobile technology and service delivery in the health sector of Potiskum Local Government, Nigeria. The study employed cross-sectional survey design and data was collected using both open and closed ended questionnaires from a sample size of 377 respondents comprising of the patients, health workers and health system managers.The study established that the practical use of mhealth in the Health Sector of Potiskum Local Government included among others healthcare telephone helpline, emergency toll free telephone services and mobile phone technology for recording patient information. The study also revealed that mhealth is an efficient platform in improving healthcare service delivery. However, its potential is not yet fully explored in Potiskum Local Government. There were also a number of barriers such as operational cost, lack of knowledge and policies that hindered the smooth implementation of mhealth technology. Furthermore, the study indicated a significant correlation between mhealth technology and service delivery in Potiskum Local Government (r=0.985, r<0.000).The study concluded that there is a growing body of evidence for what works within mHealth and where the underlying barriers to and gaps in scale and sustainability are at present. Ultimately, mobile healthcare services and devices are only effective if adopted by healthcare professionals and patients. The study recommended that Healthcare solution providers must therefore focus on developing products and services that are easy to use, without additional layers of complexity. Healthcare professionals must see clear and immediate benefits from any new device before adding it to an already bulging doctor or nurse’s bag