A comparative assessment of the methods of control of water hyacinth infestation with regards to fish production

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has been subject of three control methods since its arrival into the Nigerian freshwater lagoon system in 1984 - mechanical, chemical and biological. An assessment of these three methods seems to suggest that mechanical and chemical control methods, both of which being costly, must be applied either solely or integrated to combat the present level of considerable infestation in Nigeria. The biological control methods are advisable for slow, sustained control and can only cope with low levels of infestation. It is thus concluded that the preliminary control method should be mechanical or chemical to effectively abate the nuisance plant, followed by biological control once infestation levels have been sufficiently reduce

Biomarker Discovery by Sparse Canonical Correlation Analysis of Complex Clinical Phenotypes of Tuberculosis and Malaria

Biomarker discovery aims to find small subsets of relevant variables in ‘omics data that correlate with the clinical syndromes of interest. Despite the fact that clinical phenotypes are usually characterized by a complex set of clinical parameters, current computational approaches assume univariate targets, e.g. diagnostic classes, against which associations are sought for. We propose an approach based on asymmetrical sparse canonical correlation analysis (SCCA) that finds multivariate correlations between the ‘omics measurements and the complex clinical phenotypes. We correlated plasma proteomics data to multivariate overlapping complex clinical phenotypes from tuberculosis and malaria datasets. We discovered relevant ‘omic biomarkers that have a high correlation to profiles of clinical measurements and are remarkably sparse, containing 1.5–3% of all ‘omic variables. We show that using clinical view projections we obtain remarkable improvements in diagnostic class prediction, up to 11% in tuberculosis and up to 5% in malaria. Our approach finds proteomic-biomarkers that correlate with complex combinations of clinical-biomarkers. Using the clinical-biomarkers improves the accuracy of diagnostic class prediction while not requiring the measurement plasma proteomic profiles of each subject. Our approach makes it feasible to use omics' data to build accurate diagnostic algorithms that can be deployed to community health centres lacking the expensive ‘omics measurement capabilities

Male knowledge of birth preparedness in Ogun State, Nigeria: A rural/urban comparative cross-sectional study

Objective: This study aimed to compare the knowledge of men concerning birth preparedness between rural and urban dwellers of Ogun State, Nigeria. Methodology: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 440 men each in rural and urban areas of Ogun State using a multistage sampling method to select participants. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to elicit data about respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge of birth preparedness. Knowledge was graded as good and poor knowledge. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 20 and presented as tables. Results: The mean ages of the urban and rural respondents were 36.58±6.760 and 37.61±9.788 respectively. The difference in the mean age of urban and rural residents was not statistically significant (t= -1.819, P=0.069). A higher proportion of urban respondents (53.4%) had a statistically significant good knowledge of birth preparedness compared to 30.2% of rural men (P<0.001). The association between age and knowledge of birth preparedness was statistically significant among rural respondents (P<0.001) unlike urban respondents (P=0.874). A statistically significant association was noted between education and knowledge (P<0.001) in the urban area as against the rural area (P=0.084). Conclusion: Knowledge of birth preparedness is better among male urban dwellers than their rural counterparts. Knowledge is statistically significantly associated with age in the rural area and with the level of education in the urban area. There is a need for an improved appropriate strategy that can raise knowledge of maternity care among rural men

Affinity proteomics reveals elevated muscle proteins in plasma of children with cerebral malaria

Systemic inflammation and sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes are central processes in the pathophysiology of severe Plasmodium falciparum childhood malaria. However, it is still not understood why some children are more at risks to develop malaria complications than others. To identify human proteins in plasma related to childhood malaria syndromes, multiplex antibody suspension bead arrays were employed. Out of the 1,015 proteins analyzed in plasma from more than 700 children, 41 differed between malaria infected children and community controls, whereas 13 discriminated uncomplicated malaria from severe malaria syndromes. Markers of oxidative stress were found related to severe malaria anemia while markers of endothelial activation, platelet adhesion and muscular damage were identified in relation to children with cerebral malaria. These findings suggest the presence of generalized vascular inflammation, vascular wall modulations, activation of endothelium and unbalanced glucose metabolism in severe malaria. The increased levels of specific muscle proteins in plasma implicate potential muscle damage and microvasculature lesions during the course of cerebral malaria

The development of a harmonised business model for South Africa and the SADC sub-region

Business rescue regime has led to dramatic improvement in ailing organizations across the globe in recent years. This work critically examines current South African business rescue option in the context of her role in the SADC sub-region. A robust model, taking into consideration, the legal, socio-cultural, political and economic diversity of SADC members is proposed. It is believed that the model can serve as a template for other regions in the continent

Severe childhood malaria syndromes defined by plasma proteome profiles

BACKGROUND Cerebral malaria (CM) and severe malarial anemia (SMA) are the most serious life-threatening clinical syndromes of Plasmodium falciparum infection in childhood. Therefore it is important to understand the pathology underlying the development of CM and SMA, as opposed to uncomplicated malaria (UM). Different host responses to infection are likely to be reflected in plasma proteome-patterns that associate with clinical status and therefore provide indicators of the pathogenesis of these syndromes. METHODS AND FINDINGS Plasma and comprehensive clinical data for discovery and validation cohorts were obtained as part of a prospective case-control study of severe childhood malaria at the main tertiary hospital of the city of Ibadan, an urban and densely populated holoendemic malaria area in Nigeria. A total of 946 children participated in this study. Plasma was subjected to high-throughput proteomic profiling. Statistical pattern-recognition methods were used to find proteome-patterns that defined disease groups. Plasma proteome-patterns accurately distinguished children with CM and with SMA from those with UM, and from healthy or severely ill malaria-negative children. CONCLUSIONS We report that an accurate definition of the major childhood malaria syndromes can be achieved using plasma proteome-patterns. Our proteomic data can be exploited to understand the pathogenesis of the different childhood severe malaria syndromes

Investigating Science Teachers’ Level of Computer Literacy and Perceptions toward Computer Devices Usage in Teaching in Oyo State

This study investigated Science Teachers’ Level of Computer Literacy and perceptions toward the Use of Computer Devices in Teaching in Oyo State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study comprised all junior secondary school teachers in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State. A sample of 203 Mathematics and Science teachers from 20 schools selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques participated in the study. The research instrument for the study was a questionnaire entitled: Science Teachers’ Level of Computer Literacy and Teaching Questionnaire (STLCLTQ). The instrument was validated by four experts in the areas of Science Education and Educational Measurement and Evaluation. A reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.76 using Cronbach’s Alpha statistic. Frequency counts, percentages and the mean were adopted for the result analysis. The findings showed that most of the teachers were computer literate and they showed positive perceptions and attitudes towards the use of computers in teaching and learning. It was recommended that teachers should be encouraged to attend more computer oriented workshops and seminars to update their knowledge in computer based instructions for effective teaching and learning in order to meet up with the changing trends in the global society and for national development.&nbsp

Early deaths and other challenges to childhood cancer survival in Ibadan, Nigeria

Study to determine the frequency of early deaths and the associated risk factors in children suffering from cancer at the University College Hospital, Ibadan

Casualisation of Work and Employees’ Satisfaction in the BUA Group of Companies, Lagos, Nigeria

Casualisation of work in the globe and certainly in Nigeria is in contrast to the labours’ tenets as this has most often resulted in conflict between employees, their unions, and employers across different workplaces in Nigeria and the world at large. The study investigated the impact of casualisation of work on employees’ job satisfaction in the BUA Group of Companies, Lagos, Nigeria. This was done with a population of 864 and sample size of 273. The hypotheses of the study were tested with the use of Pearson Correlation statistical tool. Findings of the study exhibited a positive significant impact of: temporary employment on staff’s personal growth; and non-standard employment on workers’ job competency in BUA Group of Companies, Lagos. It was concluded that casual workers in the organisation used to enjoy some measures of cares that are given to their permanent counterparts. The study, then recommended stern measures by the Nigerian Government at all levels to make sure that workplaces in the country comply with the provisions of the 2010 Casualisation Prohibition Bill which is capable of guaranteeing equal rights to all workers

Determinants of Foreign News in Nigerian Newspapers

Every day, media professionals are saddled with the responsibility of determining and selecting news that makes it into the news bulletin. This results from limited space and time to consider the teeming number of reports on happenings. While several studies have examined the determinants of news, there is limited knowledge of the determinants of foreign news coverage in Nigerian newspapers. Therefore, this study investigates the determinants of news value of foreign news coverage among Nigerian newspapers to understand the most prominent news values published. The study was anchored on the gatekeeping and news value theory and content analysis method was employed as the methodology. The Vanguard and the Nigerian Tribune constituted the sample for this study and 2021 was the study year. Using Harcup and O’Neil’s (2016) revisited taxonomy of news values, foreign news reports of the selected newspapers were analysed. Findings showed that majority of the reports were in straight news format and most were on sports. Further findings show that the reports had an average of …. News values. This study concludes that newspaper organizations publish foreign reports based on availability and not necessarily any news criteria. Keywords: Gatekeeping theory, Harcup and O’Neill, News determinants, News values, Nigerian Newspapers, journalists