Prevalence of malaria infection in children attending emergency paediatrics unit of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching hospital, Sokoto - Nigeria

Background: Malaria infection in children has been of concern in this part of the world - the sub-Saharan Africa. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of this deadly infection in children attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto.Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty four (124) capillary blood samples were collected from patients attending the Emergency Pediatrics Unit side laboratory. The 'gold standard' method was applied using Giemsa stain to carry out the investigation. Both thick and thin blood films were investigated for malaria parasite concentration and specie identification respectively.Results: Out of the 124 samples collected, 82 (66.13%) tested positive and 42 (33.87%) were negative for malaria infection. A total of 49 (39.52%) males and 33 (26.61%) females were positive for the infection. Of all the positive samples children within the age range of 0 – 5 years had the highest prevalence of 72 (58.06%) while the other age group of 6 – 10 years had a relatively lower prevalence of 10 (8.07%). However, using Chi-square test of independence, statistical analyses suggest that there is no statistically significant association between the distribution of malaria infection and age or gender.Conclusion P. falciparum accounted for about (84.15%) of the cases of malaria infection in the study area.Keywords: Malaria, children, prevalence, UDUTH, Chi-Square

Health facility-based survey of poliovirus antibody prevalence amongst children in Kebbi state, North west, Nigeria.

Background: High level of Poliovirus protective antibodies, must at all times be sustained in a community if poliomyelitis eradication is to be achieved. For some time now children have been vaccinated against poliomyelitis through various means in Northern Nigeria without authorities taking steps to evaluate the effectiveness of such activities. Aim: This research was focused on assessing the overall success of the Immunization programme using children whose mothers have access to immunization facilities. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey was designed to enroll children whose mothers had access to Health Facilities across the state. Eighty blood samples of under - five years old children in Kebbi state were collected and tested for the presence of poliovirus antibodies. Indirect ELISA was used to detect for the presence of the antibodies. Results: Out of these samples collected, 65 (81.3%) have antibodies to all the serotypes. While 75 (93.8%), 71 (88.8%) and 74 (92.5%) have antibodies to poliovirus serotypes 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Older children 48 – 59 month had the highest poliovirus antibody prevalence 21 (95.5%). Female children had higher prevalence than males. Children who have not received any vaccination against Poliovirus had lowest antibody prevalence 9 (64.3%). Children who had more than four doses of the vaccine had the highest prevalence of Poliovirus antibodies. Urban children had higher Poliovirus antibody prevalence than their rural counterparts. Children whose fathers educational were up to tertiary level had higher antibody prevalence than those with either primary or secondary school level. Conclusion: This study found out that age of the children and educational level of the children fathers had a significant effect on the prevalence of antibodies at P = 0.05. More work needs to be done in order to sustain the apparent success achieved in stopping the poliovirus circulation and outbreaks within the populace in Kebbi state Nigeria.Keywords: Antibodies, Children, Kebbi State and Prevalence

Drug-coated balloon treatment in coronary artery disease: Recommendations from an Asia-Pacific Consensus Group

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is currently the leading cause of death globally, and the prevalence of thisdisease is growing more rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region than in Western countries. Although the useof metal coronary stents has rapidly increased thanks to the advancement of safety and efficacy of newergeneration drug eluting stent (DES), patients are still negatively affected by some the inherent limitationsof this type of treatment, such as stent thrombosis or restenosis, including neoatherosclerosis, andthe obligatory use of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with unknown optimal duration.Drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment is based on a leave-nothing-behind concept and therefore it is notlimited by stent thrombosis and long-term DAPT; it directly delivers an anti-proliferative drug whichis coated on a balloon after improving coronary blood flow. At present, DCB treatment is recommendedas the first-line treatment option in metal stent-related restenosis linked to DES and bare metal stent.For de novo coronary lesions, the application of DCB treatment is extended further, for conditions suchas small vessel disease, bifurcation lesions, and chronic total occlusion lesions, and others. Recently,several reports have suggested that fractional flow reserve guided DCB application was safe for largercoronary artery lesions and showed good long-term outcomes. Therefore, the aim of these recommendationsof the consensus group was to provide adequate guidelines for patients with CAD based on objectiveevidence, and to extend the application of DCB to a wider variety of coronary diseases and guide theirmost effective and correct use in actual clinical practice

MicroRNAs targeting oncogenes are down-regulated in pancreatic malignant transformation from benign tumors

BACKGROUND MicroRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been described in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but these have not been compared with pre-malignant pancreatic tumors. We wished to compare the miRNA expression signatures in pancreatic benign cystic tumors (BCT) of low and high malignant potential with PDAC, in order to identify miRNAs deregulated during PDAC development. The mechanistic consequences of miRNA dysregulation were further evaluated. METHODS Tissue samples were obtained at a tertiary pancreatic unit from individuals with BCT and PDAC. MiRNA profiling was performed using a custom microarray and results were validated using RT-qPCR prior to evaluation of miRNA targets. RESULTS Widespread miRNA down-regulation was observed in PDAC compared to low malignant potential BCT. We show that amongst those miRNAs down-regulated, miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d regulate known PDAC oncogenes (targeting BCL2, CRK and KRAS respectively). Notably, miR-126 also directly targets the KRAS transcript at a "seedless" binding site within its 3'UTR. In clinical specimens, miR-126 was strongly down-regulated in PDAC tissues, with an associated elevation in KRAS and CRK proteins. Furthermore, miR-21, a known oncogenic miRNA in pancreatic and other cancers, was not elevated in PDAC compared to serous microcystic adenoma (SMCA), but in both groups it was up-regulated compared to normal pancreas, implicating early up-regulation during malignant change. CONCLUSIONS Expression profiling revealed 21 miRNAs down-regulated in PDAC compared to SMCA, the most benign lesion that rarely progresses to invasive carcinoma. It appears that miR-21 up-regulation is an early event in the transformation from normal pancreatic tissue. MiRNA expression has the potential to distinguish PDAC from normal pancreas and BCT. Mechanistically the down-regulation of miR-16, miR-126 and let-7d promotes PDAC transformation by post-transcriptional up-regulation of crucial PDAC oncogenes. We show that miR-126 is able to directly target KRAS; re-expression has the potential as a therapeutic strategy against PDAC and other KRAS-driven cancers

Relationship between disease course in the temporomandibular joints and mandibular growth rotation in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis followed from childhood to adulthood

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To investigate the relationship between radiographic JIA disease course in the TMJs and mandibular growth rotation, compared with growth in healthy individuals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From a larger series of JIA patients followed from childhood to adulthood, 26 were included; 11 without and 15 with bilateral radiographic TMJ involvement. Joint morphology and function were assessed at baseline, 2-, 4-, 6- and 27 years follow-up. Mandibular growth rotation (anterior, posterior or none) was assessed from cephalometric evaluations at childhood and adulthood, with observations from 16 healthy individuals as controls. TMJ disease course and mandibular growth rotation were assessed independently and their relationship analysed. Non-parametric statistical methods were applied to test differences between groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the normal TMJ group of JIA patients the joint morphology was similar at the follow-ups and all patients had good function both in childhood and in adulthood. The mandibular growth rotation was similar to that of healthy controls, i.e. predominantly in anterior direction. In the abnormal TMJ group different JIA TMJ disease courses were observed and associated with changes in the mandibular growth rotation (p = 0.007).</p> <p>Progressing JIA TMJ disease course was related to posterior mandibular growth rotation and improving disease course to anterior mandibular growth rotation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A relationship was found between JIA disease course in the TMJs and mandibular growth rotation, suggesting that a favourable growth could be regained in patients with improvement in TMJ morphology and/or TMJ function. To confirm this, further research on larger patient series is needed.</p

Pollutant-Induced Modulation in Conformation and β-Lactamase Activity of Human Serum Albumin

Structural changes in human serum albumin (HSA) induced by the pollutants 1-naphthol, 2-naphthol and 8-quinolinol were analyzed by circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The alteration in protein conformational stability was determined by helical content induction (from 55 to 75%) upon protein-pollutant interactions. Domain plasticity is responsible for the temperature-mediated unfolding of HSA. These findings were compared to HSA-hydrolase activity. We found that though HSA is a monomeric protein, it shows heterotropic allostericity for β-lactamase activity in the presence of pollutants, which act as K- and V-type non-essential activators. Pollutants cause conformational changes and catalytic modifications of the protein (increase in β-lactamase activity from 100 to 200%). HSA-pollutant interactions mediate other protein-ligand interactions, such as HSA-nitrocefin. Therefore, this protein can exist in different conformations with different catalytic properties depending on activator binding. This is the first report to demonstrate the catalytic allostericity of HSA through a mechanistic approach. We also show a correlation with non-microbial drug resistance as HSA is capable of self-hydrolysis of β-lactam drugs, which is further potentiated by pollutants due to conformational changes in HSA

Physical activity, smoking, and genetic predisposition to obesity in people from Pakistan:the PROMIS study

Background: Multiple genetic variants have been reliably associated with obesity-related traits in Europeans, but little is known about their associations and interactions with lifestyle factors in South Asians. Methods: In 16,157 Pakistani adults (8232 controls; 7925 diagnosed with myocardial infarction [MI]) enrolled in the PROMIS Study, we tested whether: a) BMI-associated loci, individually or in aggregate (as a genetic risk score - GRS), are associated with BMI; b) physical activity and smoking modify the association of these loci with BMI. Analyses were adjusted for age, age(2), sex, MI (yes/no), and population substructure. Results: Of 95 SNPs studied here, 73 showed directionally consistent effects on BMI as reported in Europeans. Each additional BMI-raising allele of the GRS was associated with 0.04 (SE = 0.01) kg/m(2) higher BMI (P = 4.5 x 10(-14)). We observed nominal evidence of interactions of CLIP1 rs11583200 (P-interaction = 0.014), CADM2 rs13078960 (P-interaction = 0.037) and GALNT10 rs7715256 (P-interaction = 0.048) with physical activity, and PTBP2 rs11165643 (P-interaction = 0.045), HIP1 rs1167827 (P-interaction = 0.015), C6orf106 rs205262 (P-interaction = 0.032) and GRID1 rs7899106 (P-interaction = 0.043) with smoking on BMI. Conclusions: Most BMI-associated loci have directionally consistent effects on BMI in Pakistanis and Europeans. There were suggestive interactions of established BMI-related SNPs with smoking or physical activity

Biomechanical testing of fixed and adjustable femoral cortical suspension devices for ACL reconstruction under high loads and extended cyclic loading

Purpose: To compare loop elongation after 5000 cycles, loop-elongation at failure, and load at failure of the fixed-loop G-Lok device and three adjustable-loop devices (UltraButton, RigidLoop Adjustable and ProCinch RT), during testing over extended cycles under high loading. Methods: Five devices of each type were tested on a custom-built rig fixed to an Instron machine. The testing protocol had four stages: preloading, cyclic preconditioning, incremental cyclic loading and pull-to-failure. Outcome measures were loop elongation after 5000 cycles, loop-elongation at failure, and load at failure. Results: The loop elongation after 5000 cycles for G-Lok was 1.46 ± 0.25 mm, which was comparable to that of RigidLoop (1.51 ± 0.16 mm, p = 1.000) and ProCinch (1.60 ± 0.09 mm, p = 1.000). In comparison, the loop elongation for UltraButton was 2.66 ± 0.28 mm, which was significantly larger than all other devices (p = 0.048). The failure load for all devices ranged between 1455 and 2178 N. G-Lok was significantly stronger than all adjustable-loop devices (p = 0.048). The elongation at failure was largest for UltraButton (4.20 ± 0.33 mm), which was significantly greater than G-Lok (3.17 ± 0.33 mm, p = 0.048), RigidLoop (2.88 ± 0.20 mm, p = 0.048) and ProCinch (2.78 ± 0.08 mm, p = 0.048). There was no significant difference in elongation at failure for the rest of the devices. Conclusions: Our study has shown that the G-Lok fixed-loop device and the three adjustable-loop devices (UltraButton, RigidLoop Adjustable and ProCinch RT) all elongated less than 3 mm during testing over an extended number of cycles at high loads, nonetheless, the fixed loop device performed best in terms of least elongation and highest load at failure.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.published version, accepted versio