Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National Crop Wild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents.

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results.

Combating Zika virus through health counseling interventions.

Previous research efforts on Zika virus (ZikV) appear to have only focused on biomedical interventions for the patients without realizing that their culture of silence to the psychological aspect is highly reprehensible. The role and importance of health counseling cannot be overemphasized given how it helped in the fight against the Ebola virus disease. It is possible that mental health counselors and clinical psychologists around the world, Nigeria, and Pakistan can provide health counseling intervention that is culturally acceptable, effective and instrumental in tackling ZikV, its spread, and the horrific psychological impacts of the disease.

Effects of cognitive behavioral coaching on depressive symptoms in a sample of type 2 diabetic inpatients in Nigeria.

Background: Depression is one of the mental health problems confronting those with diabetes mellitus and may result from self-defeating thoughts and lifestyles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive behavioral coaching (CBC) program on depressive symptoms in a sample of the Type 2 diabetic inpatients in Onitsha metropolis of Anambra State, Nigeria.

Methods: The design of the study was pretest-post-test randomized control group design.

Effects of Rational-Emotive Health Education Program on HIV risk perceptions among in-school adolescents in Nigeria.

Exploring beliefs about personal risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is essential to understanding what motivates people to engage in behaviors that reduce or increase their risk of HIV infection. Therefore, the current study's objective was to examine the effects of a Rational-Emotive Health Education Program (REHEP) on HIV risk perceptions among in-school adolescents in Anambra State, Nigeria.Forty-four participants were identified as having high-risk perceptions about HIV infection through a self-report questionnaire and met the inclusion criteria.

Epidemiology of tree-hole breeding mosquitoes in the tropical rainforest of Imo State, south-east Nigeria.

The study of tree-hole breeding mosquitoes was carried out in the tropical rainforest of Imo State Nigeria (two rural areas and two forest reserves in some parts of Orlu Senatorial Zone) between May-October 2002. Using standard entomological procedures, two macrohabitats (natural tree-holes and bamboo traps) and two microhabitats (leaf axils of cocoyams/pineapples and leaf axils of plantain/banana) were sampled for various mosquito species. Mosquitoes were recovered from all the various biotypes sampled.

Ecology of mosquitoes of Midwestern Nigeria.

Background & Objectives: The ecology and distribution of various mosquito species is important in the determination of mosquito vector abundance and associated diseases prevalence. The distribution of various mosquito genera in natural and artificial habitats and their relative species abundance was studied between August 2002 and July 2003 in three foci (Uromi, Ekpoma and Auchi) comprising the Esan and Etsako regions of Midwestern Nigeria.

Methods: Sampling was carried out by the method of Hopkins (1952) by dipping using a pipette or ladle depending on container types.

Epidemiological implications of preferences of breeding sites of mosquito species in Midwestern Nigeria.

The relative abundance of the aquatic stages of mosquito species distribution in two macrohabitats was studied between August 2001 and July 2002 using four different microhabitats (plastic cups, metal cans, bamboo cups and earthenware pots). The macrohabitats were subdivided into Areas of Derived/Secondary Vegetation (ADSV) and Areas of High Human Activities (AHHA). The results revealed mosquito species belonging to three genera (Anopheles, Culex and Aedes species), which are known vectors of four different human diseases (yellow fever, arboviruses in general, bancroftian filariasis, and malaria).

Control of endemic dracunculiasis in Ebonyi state, south-eastern Nigeria.

A field study was carried out in Ozibo and the Ebonyi local government area of Ebonyi state, south-eastern Nigeria to determine the effectiveness of several intervention strategies in the control of endemic dracunculiasis in that area. During the initial study prior to the application of such measures, 14,421 subjects were examined. A total of 8,688 (60.

Endemicity of vesical schistosomiasis in the Ebonyi Benue river valley, south eastern Nigeria.

The investigation on the prevalence of patent and clinically severe infections with Schistosoma haematobium was carried out amongst inhabitants of Ebonyi Benue river valley, South Eastern Nigeria between August 2000 and June 2001. The inhabitants are predominantly farmers. Of the 3296 subjects examined from 15 randomly selected villages in the valley, 776 (23.

Dracunculiasis in the north eastern border of Ebonyi State, south eastern Nigeria.

Between January and August 2000, a house-to-house survey of dracunculiasis was conducted in 15 communities along the north eastern border of Ebonyi State, south eastern Nigeria. Of the 3,777 subjects examined, 192 (5.1%) had active cases of guinea worm comprising 109 males (5.