Fundus first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with gall stone disease and the Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome

Background: To present this experience using the fundus-first technique during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the management of symptomatic gall stone disease with an intra-operative finding of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.Methods: This is a prospective review of patients who had the fundus-first dissection during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The study was carried out at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), and FOMAS hospital, both of which are tertiary hospitals located in Jos. Patients were recruited from January 2017 - January 2019. All patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy who had an intraoperative diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, and who had the fundus-first dissection, were included in the study. Patients who had fundus-first dissection for indications other than Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, were excluded from the study. Demographic and clinical information of patients included age, sex, duration of surgery, complications, and duration of hospital stay. Descriptive statistics were applied.Results: A total of 76 patients had elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies over the study period. Of that number, 17 (22.4%) patients had an intra- operative diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, and had the fundus-first dissection. The mean patient age was 46.3 years (SD = 11.7 years). All patients were female. The mean operating time was 70 minutes (SD = 23 minutes). The duration of hospital stay was 24 hours. There was one conversion due to uncontrollable intraoperative bleeding.Conclusions: This study revealed that the fundus-first dissection is suitable for removing the gall bladder during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with gall stone disease, and an intraoperative finding of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome

Morphological characterization and genotypic identity of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa Hochst ex. A. Rich. Harms) germplasm from diverse ecological zones

Open Access Article; Published online: 15 Mar 2021African yam bean (AYB) is an affordable protein source capable of diversifying the food base in sub-Saharan Africa. However, research efforts made towards the crop's improvement and in expanding production are limited. This study characterized 169 AYB accessions at Jimma, Ethiopia, using 31 phenotypic characters. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant (P < 0.01) differences for days to 50% flowering, days to first flowering, leaf area, number of seeds per pod, pod length, seed thickness, total seed weight, petiole length and significant (P < 0.05) difference for terminal leaf length. Accession TSs62B produced the highest number of seeds per pod (17.65) and recorded the highest 100 seed weight (25.30 g), while 3A was the earliest to flower at an average of 84.50 d. Principal component analysis (PCA) of qualitative traits attributed 77.6% of observed variations to the first five principal components, of which the first two PC axes accounted for 53.6% of total variations. Cluster analysis and PCA biplot distinctly grouped the accessions into two major groups, cluster I had the highest number of accessions (108). The analytical approaches used confirmed considerable diversity across the germplasm with a distance matrix ranging from 0.37 to 0.85. The extent of diversity reflected in the current study provides breeders the baseline information to design breeding strategies, which might help identify materials for release as variety or parental lines for hybridization programmes

Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of anterior abdominal wall defects in sub Saharan Africa; simple but often missed

Background: Congenital anterior abdominal wall defects (AAWD) is a spectrum of abdominal wall defects that includes omphalocele, gastroschisis, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, prune belly syndrome and pentalogy of Cantrell. Early Prenatal diagnosis of AAWD provides opportunity for abnormal karyotypes screening and planned delivery in a specialized centre. Ultrasound can detect these defects during pregnancy. This study aims to evaluate the detection rate of AAWD during routine obstetric ultrasonography in our region.Methods: A retrospective study of all patients that presented with AAWD to our centre from January 2008 to July 2020. Data included patient’s age, sex, birth weight, diagnosis, resuscitation time, outcome, maternal age, parity and antenatal ultrasound scan (USS) records. Antenatal USS before 12 weeks only, were excluded. Data analysed using excel.Results: Of the 140 with AAWD, 84.29% had omphalocele, 10% gastroschisis, 2.14% prune belly syndrome and 0.71% each with bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy and pentalogy of Cantrell. There were 123 booked pregnancies. Majority (112) had antenatal care elsewhere while 11 attended our Centre. Ultrasonography of 108 pregnancies scanned at12 weeks or beyond, had 4 confirmed prenatal diagnosis of AAWD. All done in our centre. Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 24weeks. Outcome was rupture1 (25%) and 25% mortality (prenatally diagnosed) and 51.92% mortality for patients with missed diagnosis.Conclusions: Our obstetric ultrasound detection rate of AAWD is very low. There is a need for improvement in training to improve perinatal care of these defects

Dystocia in Friesian cows and its effects on postpartum reproductive performance and milk production

A total of 1,243 records for 585 dairy Friesian cows from 1997–2004 were used to study the factors affecting dystocia and its effects on reproductive performance and milk production. The overall incidence of dystocia was 6.9%. The percentage of dystocia decreased with increasing live body weight, age, and parity of cows (P < 0.05); however, it increased with increasing birth weight of calves (P < 0.05). The highest percentage of dystocia was detected in winter season, but the least percentage was in summer season (P < 0.05). The percentage of incidence of dystocia was significantly (P < 0.05) higher with winter feeding compared to summer ration (8.2% vs. 5.1%). The percentage of incidence of dystocia was significantly (P < 0.05) higher with twinning than single calving (15.5% vs. 6.5%), while not significantly affected by the sex of born calves. Incidence of dystocia had adverse effects on reproductive performance and milk yield. The service interval, service period, days open, and calving interval were significantly (P < 0.05) longer in cows afflicted with dystocia compared to normal cows. The conception rate was lower (P < 0.05), but the number of service per conception was higher (P < 0.05) in cows afflicted with dystocia compared to normal cows (60.5% vs. 73.0% and 3.4 vs. 2.7, respectively). Average daily milk yield was lower (P < 0.05) by 1 kg for cows with incidence of dystocia compared to normal cows

Evaluation of 93 accessions of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) grown in Ethiopia for physical, nutritional, antinutritional, and cooking properties

Open Access Journal; Published online: 31 May 2022African yam bean has immense food and nutrition potential and is resilient to adverse environmental conditions. Despite its potential, the crop is underutilized, which could be attributed to seed hardness (requiring about 6–24 hours of cooking time); and the abundance of antinutrient factors (tannin, phytate, and oxalate). This study evaluated the physical (seed hardness, cooking time) and chemical compositions (crude protein, tannin, phytate, and oxalate) of 93 AYB accessions grown in Ethiopia. The seed hardness of each accession was determined by the compression force and compression time using Texture Analyzer, whereas cooking time was ascertained using Mattson Bean Cooker. The accession’s crude protein level, tannin, oxalate, and phytate were investigated from flour samples using standard laboratory procedures. Highly significant () differences were observed for cluster means of compression force, cooking time, and oxalate. The accessions were grouped into three clusters: cluster-II was prominent with 42 accessions, while cluster-I had the least (25). The mean values for compression force ranged from 50.05 N ± 10.25 (TSs-423) to 278.05 N ± 13.42 (TSs-378) whereas compression time varied from 0.35 secs ± 0.02 (TSs-334) to 5.57 secs ± 6.12 (TSs-62B). Cooking time ranged from 127.50 mins ± 2.12 (TSs-82A) to 199.50 mins ± 10.61 (TSs-138B); crude protein ranged from 15.41% ± 0.11 (TSs-269) to 24.51% ± 0.22 (TSs-446). Tannin ranged from 0.61 mg/g  ± 0.02 (TSs-47) to 9.62 mg/g ± 0.03 (TSs-334) likewise, phytate ranged from 0.28 ± 0.01 (TSs-137) to 7.01 ± 0.10 (TSs-3). Accessions TSs-55; TSs-82 showed the lowest oxalate content of 0.21% ± 0.01; 0.21% ± 0.00, respectively. Similarly, TSs-352; TSs-47 revealed the most abundant tannin content of 0.70 ± 0.00 and 0.70 ± 0.07. The correlation analysis revealed a low positive and significant () association (r = 0.24) between protein and phytate content

Most common intestinal parasites affecting swine production practiced in extensive farms in Mayo-Belwa Adamawa state, North-eastern Nigeria

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Genetic diversity and population structure of an African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) collection from IITA GenBank

Open Access Journal; Published online: 15 Mar 2022African yam bean, AYB (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), is an underutilized legume of tropical Africa. AYB can boost food and nutritional security in sub-Saharan Africa through its nutrient-rich seeds and tubers. However, inadequate information on germplasm with desirable agro-morphological traits, including insufficient data at the genomic level, has prevented the full exploitation of its food and breeding potentials. Notably, assessing the genetic diversity and population structure in a species is a prerequisite for improvement and eventual successful exploitation. The present study evaluated the population structure and genetic diversity of 169 accessions from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) collection using 26 phenotypic characters and 1789 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The phenotypic traits and SNP markers revealed their usefulness in uniquely distinguishing each AYB accession. The hierarchical cluster of phenotypes grouped accessions into three sub-populations; SNPs analysis also clustered the accessions into three sub-populations. The genetic differentiation (FST) among the three sub-populations was sufficiently high (0.14–0.39) and significant at P = 0.001. The combined analysis revealed three sub-populations; accessions in sub-population 1 were high yielding, members in sub-population 2 showed high polymorphic loci and heterozygosity. This study provides essential information for the breeding and genetic improvement of AYB

A collective approach to reducing carbon dioxide emission: A case study of four University of Lagos Halls of residence

A major focus of existing literature on energy conservation is the modelling and quantification of energy savings and the corresponding carbon dioxide emissions from lightings. While many studies have established theoretical frameworks concerning these issues, very little documentation exists relating to energy savings and emission levels in students’ hostels. This paper considers the lighting efficiency improvement of four University of Lagos halls of residence for the purpose of quantifying energy saving and the minimization of carbon dioxide that can be made. Compact fluorescent lamps are considered alternatives to the current primary usage of conventional fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. The existing electricity consumption data obtained from energy audit are used in combination with conversion factors to estimate the annual CO2 contributed to the atmosphere by lighting in each of the buildings. The result of the study shows that over 45% reduction in carbon dioxide emission can be achieved. There is a lot individuals can do to reduce the emissions, for example, using energy saving appliances, turning off appliances when not in use, less use of fossil fuels, are simple measures that can be adopted to reduce annual carbon footprint, improve economic growth, enhance environment, health and save the planet