Poor Feeder Research Articles

CONSTRAINTS TO YAM (DIOSCOREA SPP) PRICE FORMATION IN THE URBAN AND RURAL MARKETS OF THE CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Price formation of yam in the urban and rural markets of the Western agricultural zone of Nassarawa State, Nigeria has been an issue as many factors has been found to be contributing factors in the formation of yam price in the study area. Well-structured questionnaire was used to source for data from 141 hundred randomly selected yam marketers from the urban and rural markets in the zone, the rural markets were Andaha, Anguwan Zaria, Sabon Gida and Gudi while the urban markets includes Garaku, Akwanga, Nassarawa Eggon and Wamba. Descriptive statistic such as frequency, mean, and percentages was used to analyze the data. The result obtained revealed that majority (60%) and (62.5%) were male in the urban and rural markets respectively, with the mean ages of 47 years and 43.9 years respectively. The mean household size was 7 and 6 members for the urban and the rural households respectively. The average yam prices in ₦/kg in the urban /rural markets shows that the highest price was recorded in the urban market (Nassarawa Eggon) and the least price recorded in the rural market (Andaha), the Jarque-Bera test of normality shows that the prices of yam were normally distributed, of all the constraints to yam price formation, poor feeder roads, few number of buyers ranked most in the urban while poor feeder roads, and inadequate access to credit facilities ranked topmost in rural markets. Therefore the research suggests a deliberate government policy towards rehabilitation of roads linking the rural and urban markets, and this may enhance trade between urban and rural markets.

PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS OF DRY SEASON FLUTED PUMPKIN PRODUCTION AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN OKIGWE, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

The study analyzed the profitability of dry season fluted pumpkin production among smallholder farmers in Okigwe, Southeastern Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule using simple random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result showed that the smallholder fluted pumpkin farmers in the area had mean age of 39 years and majority (61.7%) were female who were mostly (76.7%) married with household size of 5 persons. Majority (51.7%) had secondary education with mean farming experience of 5 years and mean farm size of 0.5417 hectare. Majority (66.7%) were none members of cooperative society and greater percentages (71.7%) have never had extension contact but their mean annual farm income was N73,550. Result further showed that, the total cost and total revenue of production were N163,005 and N338,340 respectively. Net return was N175,335, Benefit to cost ratio was 2.08 and return on investment was 1.08, with shepherd future of 48%. The sources of water for dry season production analyzed, showed that majority (55%) of the farmers use perennial stream, and wastewater (26.7%). Results also, revealed the constraints on profitable fluted pumpkin production in the area. These constraints were categorized into production, economic and managerial. The major production constraints were inadequate improved varieties of seeds (0.518), and poor feeder roads (0.581). Also the economic constraints were high cost of inputs (0.526), and inadequate credit facilities (0.5331). The major managerial constraints were inadequate extension contact (0.5885), poor market information (0.563), and Lack of irrigation facilities (0.518). However, dry season fluted pumpkin production in the area was profitable and recommended regular extension contacts, provision of irrigation facilities and good road network.

Uncommon sublingual ulceration in an infant

Sir, An eight-month-old girl was referred to our department with an extensive lingual ulceration. The parents noted that she had habitually bitten her tongue since the release of her first teeth at the age of six months. She was a poor feeder and did not sleep well because of the painful lingual ulceration. There was no family history of developmental disorders or congenital syndromes. Intraoral examination revealed a deep, circular, and extensive ulceration of the whole ventral surface of the tongue with intermittent bleeding in the tongue (Figs. 1a – c). An examination of the rest of the intraoral mucosa revealed that the lower central incisors had recently erupted. However, there were two other ulcerations of the palmar surface of the second and third fingers caused by nocturnal finger biting. Neurological examination noted a lack of pain sensitivity related to peripheral neuropathy diagnosed as congenital insensitivity to pain. Based on the clinical features and the particular site on the ventral surface of the tongue against the lower central incisors and ulcerative lesions of the fingers due to self-biting, the lesion was diagnosed as Riga–Fede disease. Because of the size of the ulceration, significant pain during feeding led to inadequate nutrient intake associated with permanent sleep disturbances. Radical treatment was chosen and the lower central incisors were extracted. Topical corticosteroids were prescribed to help with healing. The term Riga–Fede disease has been used to describe a traumatic ulceration that has occurred on the ventral surface of the tongue in newborn babies and infants. It is most commonly related to neonatal or natal teeth but may also occur in infants after the eruption of the primary lower incisors [1]. This benign ulceration occurs as a result of repetitive mechanical trauma caused to the oral mucosal surfaces by the teeth and is most commonly located on the ventral surface of the tongue against the teeth [1,2]. Riga–Fede disease may reveal an underlying developmental or neurologic disorder, including congenital insensitivities to pain [3]. The case of our patient was associated with congenital insensitivity to pain. Failure to diagnose may lead to dehydration and inadequate nutrient intake in the infant because of the significant pain during feeding. No biopsy is needed. The diagnosis of Riga–Fede disease is based on clinical characteristics [1,2]. Treatment should focus on eliminating the source of trauma. Conservative treatment is attempted at first by grinding the sharp edges of the teeth and placing composite resin in a dome shape or by placing a protective ring. If conservative treatment fails to heal the wounds, radical treatment may be necessary, such as extraction of the teeth [2,3]. We believe that Riga–Fede disease must be recognized by clinicians to avoid misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.

MARKETING OF MELON AND PRICE ANALYSIS OF TRANSACTION COSTS IN BIDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NIGER STATE,

The study assessed the transaction cost of Melon ‘egusi’ in Bida Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, Nigeria. A Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to draw samples from the study area. Data collected with the aid of questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as gross margin analysis. The results revealed that majority (57%) of the sample marketers were males. Also, the results revealed that larger proportion of these actors were between the ages of 36 and 40 years with a mean age of 38 years. Majority (77%) of the marketers were married, with larger proportion (30.0%) having marketing experience of between 6-10 years. The mean marketing experience was 13 years. Larger proportion (33.0%) of the respondents had between 6-10 persons as family size, with a mean household size of approximately 11 persons. Majority (81.0%) had one form of modern education stitches or the other. The effect of marketing cost on final price of melon in the study area showed an R2 value of 0.685. However, the variables such as cost of loading, cost of offloading, distance from the farm to market, quantity of melon transported to the market and cost of transportation were positively related to the final price of marketing melon. The significant variables that influence the final price were; cost of loading, cost of off-loading, and distance from farm to the market. Cost of loading and distance to the market were significant at P≤0.01 Also, the coefficient for cost of off-loading was significant at 10%. The generated revenue from the sales of melon was N35,093.33, whereas, the total costs incurred from the melon marketing was N32,645.0, with a net income of N2,448.30. The constraints to melon marketing in the study area include; poor feeder road (68.3%), price instability (66.7%), and low demand/supply (31.7%). It was recommended that government and other stakeholders should help provide good marketing infrastructure for efficient marketing such as good feeder roads that link the rural areas to major cities/major consuming centres. It was also recommended that there should be regular capacity building to empower the marketers to acquire skills for effective negotiations so as to reduce transaction costs (loading, off-loading, security) and farm gate price will reduce the final price.

Intervention Strategies for the Poor Feeder in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit: External Pacing versus Imposed Regulation

Intervention Strategies for the Poor Feeder in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit: External Pacing versus Imposed Regulation

Granule size distributions after twin-screw granulation – Do not forget the feeding systems

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of qualitatively different powder feeder performances on resulting granule size distributions after twin-screw granulation of a highly drug loaded, hydrophobic mixture and a mannitol powder. It was shown that powder feeder related problems usually cannot be identified by trusting in the values given by the feeder. Therefore, a newly developed model for the evaluation of the performance of powder feeders was introduced and it was tried to connect this model to residence time distributions in twin-screw granulation processes. The influence of feeder performances on resulting granule size distributions varied, depending on the applied screw configuration and the used powder. Regarding the hydrophobic and highly drug loaded formulation, which was granulated at an L/S-ratio of 0.5, a pure conveying screw and a medium kneading configuration, consisting of 60° kneading blocks were negatively influenced by poor feeder settings. For optimal settings more narrow distributions could be obtained. For an extensive kneading configuration good and poor settings resulted in mono-modal granule size distributions but were differing in the overall size. Mannitol, a model substance for a liquid sensitive formulation was granulated at an L/S-ratio of 0.075. It was even more important to maintain optimal feeding as mannitol was highly affected by poor feeder performances. Even an extensive kneading configuration could not level the errors in powder feeder performance, resulting in qualitatively different granule size distributions. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of detailed knowledge about applied feeding systems to gain optimal performance in twin-screw granulation.

Food and Feeding Ecology of the Non-native Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the River Yamuna, India

Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus is the dominant invasive species of the river Yamuna. Gut analysis showed that the majority of the food items ingested consisted of Chlorophyceae, Myxophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and detritus. Among the diatoms—Synedra spp. (80.75 %), Melosira spp. (73.5 %), Cyclotella spp. (73 %), Meridion spp. (71.75 %) and Nitzchia spp. (73.25 %), the green algae—Ankistrodesmus spp. (71.00 %), Coelastrum spp. (61.5 %), Scenedesmus spp.(52 %), Tribonema spp. (49.5 %), Protococcus spp. (58.5 %), Oocystis spp. (49.75 %) and Pediastrum spp. (49.5 %) and among blue green algae, Oscillatoria spp. (70.5 %), Anacystis spp. (61.5 %) and Phormidium spp. (46.5 %) showed high frequency of occurrence. The Gastrosomatic Index in males and females ranged from 0.23 to 0.93 and 0.25 to 1.1 respectively with no significant difference between males and females throughout the year (t test, p > 0.05). In addition to this, higher percentage of males and females showing low feeding intensity during all the months except in January indicted the species to be the poor feeder. However, the condition factor >1 suggested the species to be in good condition throughout the year in both males and females. Dominancy of detritus and pollution indicator genera Synedra spp., Anacystis spp., Ankistrodesmus spp., Melosira spp., Nitzchia spp., Oscillatoria spp., Phormidium spp. and Scenedesmus spp. suggested Nile tilapia to be the cleaner of the polluted river Yamuna.

Safe Use of Opioid Analgesics for Chronic Pain in Pregnancy

Poster Presentation Objective To identify safe practices for management of chronic pain in pregnancy. Design Retrospective chart review. We studied three commonly used opioid analgesics, compared neonatal outcomes for each of the agents, and identified potential contributing factors to the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Sample Neonatal outcomes were evaluated for all singletons delivered full term during a 42‐month period, whose mothers met inclusion criteria and were taking codeine, hydrocodone, or oxycodone at any dosage three or more times per week. Methods The first phase was the retrospective chart review. Charts for every patient delivered by the perinatology practice for the specified time frame were individually reviewed for appropriateness for the study. Data were manually gathered onto an individual data sheet and de‐identified. Once all charts were reviewed and data collected, data were coded and entered into a spreadsheet and analyzed for trends in neonatal outcomes using descriptive statistics. The second phase was to use the information collected combined with available data from other studies to create practice guidelines. Implementation Strategies Outcomes examined included gestational age at delivery, birth weight, APGAR score, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), diagnosis of NAS, length of stay, and treatment required. Maternal demographics were evaluated for any potential impact on neonatal outcome trends. Results Thirty‐one charts met criteria for the study. Nine neonates required a NICU admission. Length of NICU stay ranged from 2 to 10 days with an average NICU stay of 5 days. Two neonates required medical management with methadone. They were the only two with a diagnosis of NAS. Six of the nine were admitted for transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN) and one was diagnosed as a poor feeder. Baseline data indicated that there is no association between NICU stay and agent used or between specific dosages or use of more than one agent. The study was limited by small sample size and multiple potential contributing factors to observed neonatal outcomes. Conclusion/Implications for Nursing Practice Obstetric and neonatal nurse and practitioners must become knowledgeable about the use of opioid analgesics in pregnancy. The findings of this study indicate the need for further research but support the judicious use of opioid analgesics at minimum effective doses. Thorough evaluation of the neonate at delivery for signs of NAS and TTN is warranted, and supportive care in a NICU environment can ease the transition to extrauterine life without opioid exposure.

Social foraging in stingless bees: how colonies of Melipona fasciata choose among nectar sources

In an experimental set-up, a colony of the stingless bee Melipona fasciata demonstrated its ability to choose the better of two nectar sources. This colony pattern was a result of the following individual behavioural decisions: continue foraging, abandon the feeder, restart foraging and initiate foraging. Only very rarely did individuals switch from one feeder to the other. With the first combination of a rich (2.7 M) and a poor (0.8 M) feeder M. fasciata behaved differently from Apis mellifera. Recruitment occurred to both feeders and the poor feeder was not abandoned completely. When the poor feeder was set to 0.4 M, M. fasciata abandoned the poor feeder rapidly and allocated more foragers to the rich feeder. These patterns were similar to those reported for A. mellifera with the first combination of feeders. Over a sequence of 4 days, experienced bees increasingly determined the colony patterns, and the major function of communication between workers became the reactivation of experienced foragers. The foragers modulated their behaviour not only according to the profitability of the feeder, but also according to previous experience with profitability switches. Thus, experience and communication together regulated colony foraging behaviour. These findings and the results of studies with honeybees suggest that M. fasciata and honeybees use similar decision-making mechanisms and only partly different tools.

Congenital indifference to pain mistaken for non-accidental injury

Congenital indifference to pain is a rare autosomal recessive inherited condition with cutaneous and skeletal lesions that mimic non-accidental injury(NAI). We present this case to illustrate the difficulty in differentiatingthe two conditions in early childhood and to demonstrate discriminatory features in the older child. The affected boy, born in the UK to Pakistani parents, first came to medical attention aged 6 months. (He had escaped the obstetric profession having been delivered by his father in the family car in the hospital car park!) When admitted to investigate recurrent chest infections, he was noted to have burns on his left hand. His parents explained that he had touched anelectric heater while crawling. He was underweight, but his parents claimedthat he was a poor feeder. Over a 6 month period there were several furtheradmissions with chest infections, mainly affecting the right upper lobe. Nounderlying cause was found. The pneumonias resolved and were retrospectively attributed to episodes of aspiration. A further unexplained feature was recurrent oral and labial ulceration including one deep lesion on the tongue. At 18 months of age he was taken to the Accident Department by his parents who had noticed a boggy mass over his occiput. An occipital fracture was present (Fig. 1). No explana-tion was offered by his parents. Further suspicion of nonaccidental injury (NAI) was raised by burns on the fingers of the right hand, deep cuts to both index fingers and a number of bruises about the trunk and limbs (Fig. 2). One revealing note by the admitting physician was his father's comment that the child was always running into things but never cried. This admission was following by a case conference under the Child Abuse Procedures at which close supervision by his GP and community services were urged.

The use of peripheral blood feeder layers as a source of GM-CSF for human bone marrow cultures.

The use of peripheral blood feeder layers as a source of stimulus for colony formation by human granulocytic progenitor cells in semi-solid agar cell cultures was examined. Comparison with various conditioned media demonstrated that cultures stimulated by peripheral blood feeder layers produced the greatest number and largest colonies. The cell concentration in the feeder layers was more important than the total cell number. Feeder layer plates containing 2 X 10(5) cells at a concentration of 1 X 10(6) cells/ml proved to be just potent as the conventional feeder layer plates containing 1 x 10(6) cells/ml in 1 ml. Thus feeder layer plates can be more economical in terms of cell numbers than has previously been reported. By using a known panel of donors for the leukocytes, the number of sub-optimal batches of feeder layers was reduced. Addition of 1 microM adenosine 3':5'-cyclic-monophosphate or 10 micrograms/ml Li2CO3 to poor feeder layers enhanced their colony-stimulating ability.

Central nervous system disease in a newborn infant.

THE POSSIBLE etiology of central nervous system (CNS) disease in a newborn infant is discussed by three physicians. A representative case is presented. This communication is the result of a clinical conference at the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Report of a Case History. —A 10-day-old boy was admitted to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles because of a loss of appetite. The infant weighed 2,666 gm (5 lb 14 oz) at birth and was delivered without complications. Tenacious mucus was noted in his oropharynx at birth. The baby was a poor feeder and gavage feedings with modified milk food (Similac) were instituted. At 3 days of age he was jaundiced with a total serum bilirubin of 9.3 mg/100 cc. At 1 week of age, the infant weighed 2,467 gm (5 lb 7 oz); he was discharged from the hospital at the insistence of the parents. At home the infant

北太平洋に産する重要魚族の消化系と食餌とに就いて

The writer examined the digestive tract and its contents to study the feeding habit of adult forms of two kinds of cods, viz., Gadus macrocephalus (J. N. Madara) and Theragra chalcogramma (J. N. Suketô), both of which were collected during the summer of 1933 in Bristol Bay. The former species being, as is shown in the Table 2, exceedingly voracious, feeds greedily upon the bottom creatures, such as crabs, sand-living worms etc.. Fishes, such as Suketô and several flat-fishes, are also very often eaten by the cod. The fact that a cod feeds on the other kind of cods is worthy of attention and noted here again, although similar cases have been observed and reported by some authors (3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). The latter species, on the contrary, as is shown in the Table 4, is poor feeder and feeds upon creatures of small size and the plankton, such as copepods and small shrimps. Thus, these two cods show essential difference in their feeding habit. As the cause of such a difference, the fact may be noted that the former species lives near the bottom of the sea, while the latter in the middle or the upper layer of the water. And at the same time, it would be worth mentioning that the construction of the digestive systems of the two species shows different features; in the former species the apparatuses for seizing the food (the mouth, the teeth and the tongue) and the organs of digestion (the stomach, the digestive mucous membrane, the vascular supply on the stomach and the pyloric appendages) are all well developed, while in the latter not so. It is also of interest that the former species has coarse gill-rakers which cannot collect fine food such as the plankton, while the latter has fine ones which are favourable to retain it.