Nutrition status of children in a well-child clinic in Lagos Nigeria

The burden of malnutrition is evident around the world and more pronounced in developing countries affecting vulnerable groups such as infants, children under five years of age and pregnant women. This study assessed the nutritional status of infants and children aged 9-59 months who visited a well-child clinic at a teaching hospital in Lagos Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 207 children consecutively recruited at a well-child clinic in 2013. Data was collected using structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Information collected includes the sociodemographic details of each child and caregiver. In addition, selected anthropometric measurements, biochemical tests comprising serum ferritin and total blood protein levels as well as dietary information for each child participant were obtained by trained data collectors. The sampled children were aged 9-59 months, with slightly over half (53.6%) being 12 months old and above. There were more female children and the number of Fathers 84.1%who had attained tertiary education was higher (84.1%) than that of mothers (76.3%). Serum protein and ferritin levels were less than the normal reference values in 1.8% and 26.2% of the children respectively, while the prevalence of underweight children was 4.9% and 8.1% of the children were overweight based on weight-for-age z-scores. Results from the dietary survey showed that the children consumed fewer proteins than carbohydrates. Furthermore, only 18.8% and 12.6% of parents reported feeding their children fruits and vegetables. Significantly more mothers (97.5%) with tertiary education had children with normal weight for age (P<0.05). Despite the low prevalence of malnutrition among the sampled population, it was found that consumption of fruits and vegetables was low, yet these are major sources of vital micronutrients. Results indicated that the prevalence of malnutrition among the study group was generally low. Therefore, steps must be taken to ensure nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive intervention programs aimed at improving the nutritional status of childrenKey words: Nutritional status, assessment, children, weight, ferritin, protein, diet, malnutrition, clini

Cytomegalovirus antibodies among healthy blood donors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Objectives. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is found worldwide in all geographical locations and socio-economic groups and is the virus most frequently transmitted to a developing child before birth. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for CMV antibodies among healthy blood donors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out among consecutively recruited replacement blood donors attending the blood donor clinic at LUTH. A 5 ml blood sample was collected from each consenting participant and serum-assayed for CMV IgG/IgM using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based kit.Results. A total of 122 healthy donors were recruited; 96% of the donors were IgG anti-CMV positive while 19.5% were IgM anti-CMV positive. Previous history of blood transfusion was not significantly related to CMV positivity.Conclusion. The seroprevalence of CMV appears to be very high in this environment among healthy blood donors. Based on previous studies that showed a decrease in the incidence of CMV disease when blood is screened for CMV (IgM), the incidence of the disease can be decreased in Lagos if blood is screened for CMV

Apparent absence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in wild urodeles in the United Kingdom

This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Whether an infectious disease threat to wildlife arises from pathogen introduction or the increased incidence of an already-present agent informs mitigation policy and actions. The prior absence of a pathogen can be difcult to establish, particularly in free-living wildlife. Subsequent to the epidemic emergence of the fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), in mainland Europe in 2010 and prior to its detection in captive amphibians in the United Kingdom (UK), we tested archived skin swabs using a Bsal-specifc qPCR. These samples had been collected in 2011 from 2409 wild newts from ponds across the UK. All swabs were negative for Bsal. Bayesian hierarchical modelling suggests that Bsal was absent from, or present at very low levels in, these ponds at the time of sampling. Additionally, surveillance of newt mortality incidents, 2013–2017, failed to detect Bsal. As this pathogen has been shown to be widespread in British captive amphibian collections, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the importance of efective biosecurity measures, especially amongst people with captive amphibians, to help minimise the risk of Bsal spreading to the wild. Continued and heightened wild amphibian disease surveillance is a priority to provide an early warning system for potential incursion eventsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA

Stellar Coronal and Wind Models: Impact on Exoplanets

Surface magnetism is believed to be the main driver of coronal heating and stellar wind acceleration. Coronae are believed to be formed by plasma confined in closed magnetic coronal loops of the stars, with winds mainly originating in open magnetic field line regions. In this Chapter, we review some basic properties of stellar coronae and winds and present some existing models. In the last part of this Chapter, we discuss the effects of coronal winds on exoplanets.Comment: Chapter published in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", Editors in Chief: Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Section Editor: Nuccio Lanza. Springer Reference Work

Patient experience of CT colonography and colonoscopy after fecal occult blood test in a national screening programme

OBJECTIVE: To investigate patient experience of CT colonography (CTC) and colonoscopy in a national screening programme. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patient experience postal questionnaires. We included screenees from a fecal occult blood test (FOBt) based screening programme, where CTC was performed when colonoscopy was incomplete or deemed unsuitable. We analyzed questionnaire responses concerning communication of test risks, test-related discomfort and post-test pain, as well as complications. CTC and colonoscopy responses were compared using multilevel logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 67,114 subjects identified, 52,805 (79 %) responded. Understanding of test risks was lower for CTC (1712/1970 = 86.9 %) than colonoscopy (48783/50975 = 95.7 %, p < 0.0001). Overall, a slightly greater proportion of screenees found CTC unexpectedly uncomfortable (506/1970 = 25.7 %) than colonoscopy (10,705/50,975 = 21.0 %, p < 0.0001). CTC was tolerated well as a completion procedure for failed colonoscopy (unexpected discomfort; CTC = 26.3 %: colonoscopy = 57.0 %, p < 0.001). Post-procedural pain was equally common (CTC: 288/1970,14.6 %, colonoscopy: 7544/50,975,14.8 %; p = 0.55). Adverse event rates were similar in both groups (CTC: 20/2947 = 1.2 %; colonoscopy: 683/64,312 = 1.1 %), but generally less serious with CTC. CONCLUSIONS: Even though CTC was reserved for individuals either unsuitable for or unable to complete colonoscopy, we found only small differences in test-related discomfort. CTC was well tolerated as a completion procedure and was extremely safe. CTC can be delivered across a national screening programme with high patient satisfaction. KEY POINTS: • High patient satisfaction at CTC is deliverable across a national screening programme. • Patients who cannot tolerate screening colonoscopy are likely to find CTC acceptable. • CTC is extremely safe; complications are rare and almost never serious. • Patients may require more detailed information regarding the expected discomfort of CTC

Solar-type dynamo behaviour in fully convective stars without a tachocline

In solar-type stars (with radiative cores and convective envelopes), the magnetic field powers star spots, flares and other solar phenomena, as well as chromospheric and coronal emission at ultraviolet to X-ray wavelengths. The dynamo responsible for generating the field depends on the shearing of internal magnetic fields by differential rotation. The shearing has long been thought to take place in a boundary layer known as the tachocline between the radiative core and the convective envelope. Fully convective stars do not have a tachocline and their dynamo mechanism is expected to be very different, although its exact form and physical dependencies are not known. Here we report observations of four fully convective stars whose X-ray emission correlates with their rotation periods in the same way as in Sun-like stars. As the X-ray activity - rotation relationship is a well-established proxy for the behaviour of the magnetic dynamo, these results imply that fully convective stars also operate a solar-type dynamo. The lack of a tachocline in fully convective stars therefore suggests that this is not a critical ingredient in the solar dynamo and supports models in which the dynamo originates throughout the convection zone.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in Nature (28 July 2016). Author's version, including Method

Undifferentiated HepaRG cells show reduced sensitivity to the toxic effects of M8OI through a combination of CYP3A7-mediated oxidation and a reduced reliance on mitochondrial function

\ua9 2024 The AuthorsThe methylimidazolium ionic liquid M8OI (1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, also known as [C8mim]Cl) has been detected in the environment and may represent a hazard trigger for the autoimmune liver disease primary biliary cholangitis, based in part on studies using a rat liver progenitor cell. The effect of M8OI on an equivalent human liver progenitor (undifferentiated HepaRG cells; u-HepaRG) was therefore examined. u-HepaRG cells were less sensitive (&gt;20-fold) to the toxic effects of M8OI. The relative insensitivity of u-HepaRG cells to M8OI was in part, associated with a detoxification by monooxygenation via CYP3A7 followed by further oxidation to a carboxylic acid. Expression of CYP3A7 - in contrast to the related adult hepatic CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 forms - was confirmed in u-HepaRG cells. However, blocking M8OI metabolism with ketoconazole only partly sensitized u-HepaRG cells. Despite similar proliferation rates, u-HepaRG cells consumed around 75% less oxygen than B-13 cells, reflective of reduced dependence on mitochondrial activity (Crabtree effect). Replacing glucose with galactose, resulted in an increase in u-HepaRG cell sensitivity to M8OI, near similar to that seen in B-13 cells. u-HepaRG cells therefore show reduced sensitivity to the toxic effects of M8OI through a combination of metabolic detoxification and their reduced reliance on mitochondrial function

Microduplication of 4p16.3 due to an unbalanced translocation resulting in a mild phenotype

With the widespread clinical use of comparative genomic hybridization chromosomal microarray technology, several previously unidentified clinically significant submicroscopic chromosome abnormalities have been discovered. Specifically, there have been reports of clinically significant microduplications found in regions of known microdeletion syndromes. In general, these microduplications have distinct features from those described in the corresponding microdeletion syndromes. We present a 5½-year-old patient with normal growth, borderline normal IQ, borderline hypertelorism, and speech and language delay who was found to have a submicroscopic 2.3 Mb terminal duplication involving the two proposed Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS) critical regions at chromosome 4p16.3. This duplication was the result of a maternally inherited reciprocal translocation involving the breakpoints 4p16.3 and 17q25.3. Our patient's features are distinct from those described in WHS and are not as severe as those described in partial trisomy 4p. There are two other patients in the medical literature with 4p16.3 microduplications of similar size also involving the WHS critical regions. Our patient shows clinical overlap with these two patients, although overall her features are milder than what has been previously described. Our patient's features expand the knowledge of the clinical phenotype of a 4p16.3 microduplication and highlight the need for further information about it. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83462/1/33916_ftp.pd

Could Public Restrooms Be an Environment for Bacterial Resistomes?

PMCID: PMC3547874This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Patients' opinion on the barriers to diabetes control in areas of conflicts: The Iraqi example

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The health system in Iraq has undergone progressive decline since the embargo that followed the second gulf war in 1991. The aim of this study is to see barriers to glycemic control form the patient perspective, in a diabetic clinic in the south of Iraq.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross sectional study from the diabetes out-patient clinic in Al-Faiha general hospital in Basrah, South Iraq for the period from January to December 2007. The study includes diabetic patients whether type 1 or 2 if they have at least one year of follow up in the same clinic. Those with A1C ≥ 7% were interviewed by special questionnaire, that was filled in by the medical staff of the clinic. The subjects analyzed in this study were adults (≥ 18 years old) with previously diagnosed diabetes (n = 3522). The duration of diabetes range from 1 to 30 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean A1C was 8.4 ± 2 percent, with 835(23.7%) patients with A1C less than 7% and 2688(76.3%) equal to or more than 7%. Of 3522 studied patients, 46.6% were men and 51.5% were women, with mean age of 53.78 ± 12.81 year and age range 18–97 years. Patient opinion for not achieving good glycemic control among 2688 patients with HbA1C ≥ 7% included the following. No drug supply from primary health care center (PHC) or drug shortage is a cause in 50.8% of cases, while drugs and or laboratory expense were the cause in 50.2%. Thirty point seven percent of patients said that they were unaware of diabetics complications and 20.9% think that diabetes is an untreatable disease. Thirty percent think that non-control of their diabetes is due to migration after the war. No electricity or erratic electricity, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is not available, or strips were not available or could not be used, and illiteracy as a cause was seen in 15%, 10.8% and 9.9% respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our patients with diabetes mellitus declared that of the causes for poor glycemic control most of them related to the current health situation in Iraq.</p