Breast milk is the safest and most common natural food for an infant. Despite efforts by the county and national government as well as non-governmental organizations, breastfeeding uptake in Garissa County was low. This study therefore assessed attitudes towards breastfeeding and the relationship between women’s attitudes and breastfeeding practice. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The target population for the study included lactating mothers in Bulla Adaan, Garissa County. A sample size of 373 was calculated using the Yamane [1], formula. Majority 271 (72.7%) of the respondents had poor breastfeeding practices. In addition, majority 266 (71.3%) of the respondents had negative attitudes towards breastfeeding. There was a significant relationship (χ² = 25.020, df = 8, p = 0.002) between attitudes towards breastfeeding on breastfeeding practices. The study concluded that respondents’ attitudes affected their breastfeeding practices whereby respondents with negative attitudes were highly likely to have poor breastfeeding practices. It was therefore recommended that the government and other private institution in the health sector should carry out mass education particularly the women on the importance of breastfeeding to the infants as this has more benefits to both the mother and the infant as well as the society.

The study examined the effectiveness of television in disseminating COVID-19 control messages to rural areas of Kwara State, Nigeria. The State consist of four ADP administrative zones. From the selected zones, 80 respondents were selected using random sampling technique. Thus, a total 160 respondents were selected for the study. Interview schedule was used to elicit information from the respondents. Respondents were made to watch a special documentary video that centred on COVID-19 over a period of two days, after which there was a ‘before and after’ evaluation after watching the documentary video. In order to determine the level of effectiveness of the message, the evaluation results were subjected to statistical analysis. The results reveals that the television message resulted in about 25% increase in the awareness and knowledge level of respondents about COVID-19 in the study areas. The study concluded that the use of television as the only means of communicating COVID-19 control messages in rural areas was not too effective. It was therefore recommended that the use of television should be effectively combined with a host of other means of communication in order for COVID-19 messages to effectively impact rural dwellers in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Our investigation is a cross-sectional study carried out to measure and evaluate certain biological markers linked to nutrition in women during pregnancy in Yopougon (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), particularly during the different trimesters of pregnancy. This study involved 150 pregnant women, with 50 women per trimester of pregnancy, compared to 50 control (non-pregnant) women between 18 and 35 years old. The results indicated at the haematological level, a drop in all erythrocyte parameters with increasingly high prevalence of anemia depending on the different trimesters of pregnancy (36; 62; 72%). Three types of anemia have been recorded. Normocytic normochromic anemia (ANN) presented much higher proportions during trimesters (16; 22 and 46%) followed by microcytic hypochromic anemia: AHm (10; 22; and 14%) and finally anemia normocytic hypochromic (AHN) with 10; 18 and 10% respectively in the first, second and third trimester. Leukocyte parameters showed hyperleukocytosis (12%) particularly in the second trimester of pregnancy. At biochemical level, lipid parameters revealed hyperlipidemia characterized by an increase in all parameters and particularly an increasing hypertriglyceridemia during pregnancy (24; 58 and 78%). Renal (creatine) and hepatic (total protein, transaminase) parameters were significantly reduced. In terms of minerals, the results reported hypercalcemia (40; 36; 38), decreasing hyponatremia during pregnancy (66; 52; 44%) and greater hypochloremia in the first and second trimesters (70; 76; 52%). In addition, the pregnant women in our study did not present a risk of developing gestational diabetes and cardiovascular disease in terms of their blood sugar levels and atherogenicity indices 1 and 2, for the most part showing normal values.

Trichoderma longibrachiatum is a soil fungus which is found all over the world but mainly in warmer climates. Trichoderma longibrachiatum T6 has been shown to promote wheat growth and induce plant resistance to parasitic nematodes, but whether the plant-growth-promoting fungi T6 can enhance plant tolerance to salt stress is unknown. Soil salinity is a serious problem worldwide that reduces agricultural productivity. Trichoderma longibrachiatum T6 (T6) has been shown to promote wheat growth and induce plant resistance to parasitic nematodes, but whether the plant-growth-promoting fungi T6 can enhance plant tolerance to salt stress is unknown. The effect of plant-growth-promoting fungi T6 on wheat seedlings’ growth and development under salt stress and investigated the role of T6 in inducing the resistance to NaCl stress at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. Legumes, through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, meet a major part of their own N demand and partially benefit the following crops of the system by enriching soil. In realization of this sustainability advantage and to promote pulse production, United Nations had declared 2016 as the “International Year of pulses”. Grain legumes are frequently subjected to both abiotic and biotic stresses resulting in severe yield losses. Global yields of legumes have been stagnant for the past five decades in spite of adopting various conventional and molecular breeding approaches. Furthermore, the increasing costs and negative effects of pesticides and fertilizers for crop production necessitate the use of biological options of crop production and protection. The use of plant growth-promoting (PGP) fungus T6 for improving soil and plant health has become one of the attractive strategies for developing sustainable agricultural systems due to their eco-friendliness, low production cost and minimizing consumption of non-renewable resources.