Global Warming and Stomatal Complex Types

World leaders, public health specialists, engineers, atmospheric chemists, hydrologists, quantum physicists, mathematicians, botanists, zoologists, have all being striving to stop further release of more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and in the occurrence of these gases, they are trying to purifying or cleansing them. One of the cleaners or purifiers that can be employed is stomata. Stomata are microscopic openings or pores located majorly on the abaxial or lower, and adaxial or upper surfaces of leaves of plants

Ethnobotanical Study of Economic Trees: Uses of Trees as Timbers and Fuelwoods in Ilorin Emirate of Kwara State, Nigeria

A survey of the five local government areas that make up Ilorin Emirate in Kwara State, Nigeria, revealed extensive use of economic trees as timber woods and fuel woods. The forest resources are indiscriminately exploited by the poor inhabitants who solely depend on the forest to earn their livelihood. Tree species such as Pterocarpus erinaceus, Parkia biglobosa, Prosobis africana, Trichilia emetica, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Danielia oliveri, Khaya senegalensis, Tectonia grandis, Milicia excelsa and Vitellaria paradoxa are popular among the inhabitants as fuelwoods, with Vitellaria paradoxa being the most frequently used. Among timber woods, Pterocarpus erinaceus is the most highly demanded by artists, casket builders and furniture workers. The hitherto harmonious relationships between the people and the plants whereby the people of a particular culture use plant to cure many inherent diseases and for other natural benefits have been defeated. Presently, the relationships have turned to destruction of many forests and endangering of many species of trees. Thus many forests have been turned to mere woodlands in the study areas

Prolonged trismus post tetanus in a Nigerian boy: The role of oral baclofen- A case report and literature review

Background: Tetanus is characterized by increased muscle tone and spasms caused by the neurotoxin, tetanospasmin. Management principles include wound debridement, antibiotic therapy, neutralize circulating toxins, spasm control, supportive care and initiation of active immunization.Aim: To highlight the use of oral baclofen in tetanus treatment.Method: The management of a peculiar case of tetanus was highlighted. Medscape and Pubmed were also searched for some related literatures.Case Presentation: A nine year old boy with antecedent history of dirty wound presented with trismus and generalized spasms of one week duration. Though fully conscious, he could neither talk nor eat. He was from a poor socio-economic background. He had wound debridement, I.V metronidazole for seven days, a cocktail of diazepam infusion 5mg/kg/day, I.V chlorpromazine 25mg 12hourly and I.M phenobarbitone for 14 days. Five days into treatment the spasms stopped but trismus persisted up to the third week.By this time the maximal interincisors distance was 0.5cm. Baclofen syrup was commenced at 10mg daily. Five days later the maximal inter-incisors’ distance was 1.0cm, and a week later it was 2.5cm. By the second week of oral baclofen there was complete resolution of trismus and recovery of speech.Conclusion: This report suggests the need for further studies on the use of enteral baclofen during tetanus. Although intratheccal baclofen is in use, during recovery from tetanus, treatment with oral baclofen may reduce morbidity

The global retinoblastoma outcome study : a prospective, cluster-based analysis of 4064 patients from 149 countries

DATA SHARING : The study data will become available online once all analyses are complete.BACKGROUND : Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular cancer worldwide. There is some evidence to suggest that major differences exist in treatment outcomes for children with retinoblastoma from different regions, but these differences have not been assessed on a global scale. We aimed to report 3-year outcomes for children with retinoblastoma globally and to investigate factors associated with survival. METHODS : We did a prospective cluster-based analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 2017, then treated and followed up for 3 years. Patients were recruited from 260 specialised treatment centres worldwide. Data were obtained from participating centres on primary and additional treatments, duration of follow-up, metastasis, eye globe salvage, and survival outcome. We analysed time to death and time to enucleation with Cox regression models. FINDINGS : The cohort included 4064 children from 149 countries. The median age at diagnosis was 23·2 months (IQR 11·0–36·5). Extraocular tumour spread (cT4 of the cTNMH classification) at diagnosis was reported in five (0·8%) of 636 children from high-income countries, 55 (5·4%) of 1027 children from upper-middle-income countries, 342 (19·7%) of 1738 children from lower-middle-income countries, and 196 (42·9%) of 457 children from low-income countries. Enucleation surgery was available for all children and intravenous chemotherapy was available for 4014 (98·8%) of 4064 children. The 3-year survival rate was 99·5% (95% CI 98·8–100·0) for children from high-income countries, 91·2% (89·5–93·0) for children from upper-middle-income countries, 80·3% (78·3–82·3) for children from lower-middle-income countries, and 57·3% (52·1-63·0) for children from low-income countries. On analysis, independent factors for worse survival were residence in low-income countries compared to high-income countries (hazard ratio 16·67; 95% CI 4·76–50·00), cT4 advanced tumour compared to cT1 (8·98; 4·44–18·18), and older age at diagnosis in children up to 3 years (1·38 per year; 1·23–1·56). For children aged 3–7 years, the mortality risk decreased slightly (p=0·0104 for the change in slope). INTERPRETATION : This study, estimated to include approximately half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017, shows profound inequity in survival of children depending on the national income level of their country of residence. In high-income countries, death from retinoblastoma is rare, whereas in low-income countries estimated 3-year survival is just over 50%. Although essential treatments are available in nearly all countries, early diagnosis and treatment in low-income countries are key to improving survival outcomes.The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Wellcome Trust.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/homeam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt

Determine the Relationship Between Teacher Knowledge and Students' Academic Performance Using Teacher Commitment as Mediator

Teacher knowledge has been regarded as important tool for improving students' academic performance. Thus, the knowledge gained by teachers would transform teaching activities in the classroom. It is imperative for Nigeria teachers to keep abreast of latest information that would help teaching and learning in Nigeria secondary schools. Therefore, this study examined structural equation modeling to determine the relationship between teacher knowledge and students' academic performance with mediating effect of teacher commitment. A quantitative research approach was used to determine the relationship among the three variables. Four hundred (400) teachers were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Structural equal modeling (SEM) analysis was employed to test the data fitness in with constructs formulated in the model. Based on the findings of the study, there was direct and significant relationship between teacher knowledge and students and academic performance. Also, teacher commitment was able to mediate on the relationship between teacher knowledge and students' academic performance. The findings encourage the schools to up-date their teachers by given them in-service training

Practicing medicine without borders: tele-consultations and tele-mentoring for improving paediatric care in a conflict setting in Somalia?

OBJECTIVES: In a district hospital in conflict-torn Somalia, we assessed (i) the impact of introducing telemedicine on the quality of paediatric care, and (ii) the added value as perceived by local clinicians. METHODS: A 'real-time' audio-visual exchange of information on paediatric cases (Audiosoft Technologies, Quebec, Canada) took place between clinicians in Somalia and a paediatrician in Nairobi. The study involved a retrospective analysis of programme data, and a perception study among the local clinicians. RESULTS: Of 3920 paediatric admissions, 346 (9%) were referred for telemedicine. In 222 (64%) children, a significant change was made to initial case management, while in 88 (25%), a life-threatening condition was detected that had been initially missed. There was a progressive improvement in the capacity of clinicians to manage complicated cases as demonstrated by a significant linear decrease in changes to initial case management for meningitis and convulsions (92-29%, P = 0.001), lower respiratory tract infection (75-45%, P = 0.02) and complicated malnutrition (86-40%, P = 0.002). Adverse outcomes (deaths and lost to follow-up) fell from 7.6% in 2010 (without telemedicine) to 5.4% in 2011 with telemedicine (30% reduction, odds ratio 0.70, 95% CI: 0.57-0.88, P = -0.001). The number needed to be treated through telemedicine to prevent one adverse outcome was 45. All seven clinicians involved with telemedicine rated it to be of high added value. CONCLUSION: The introduction of telemedicine significantly improved quality of paediatric care in a remote conflict setting and was of high added value to distant clinicians