Cor triatriatum sinistrium in a 10 year old Nigerian: A case report

We present a rare and first case of Cor triatriatum sinistrum (CT) in a patient who presents with dyspnoea, easy fatigability, chest pain, murmurs and typical ECG and 2D-echo findings. The purpose of presenting this casereport is to highlight the distinctive manifestation of Cor triatriatumsinistrum and to provide a concise report of this disease with the hopethat such information will help identify patients earlier in the course of their disease. Surgical correction offers good and long term results for both classicand atypical types. In a resource poor country like ours, high index of suspicion, early diagnosis and timely referral are warranted so as to avert death

A multimodal deep learning framework using local feature representations for face recognition

YesThe most recent face recognition systems are mainly dependent on feature representations obtained using either local handcrafted-descriptors, such as local binary patterns (LBP), or use a deep learning approach, such as deep belief network (DBN). However, the former usually suffers from the wide variations in face images, while the latter usually discards the local facial features, which are proven to be important for face recognition. In this paper, a novel framework based on merging the advantages of the local handcrafted feature descriptors with the DBN is proposed to address the face recognition problem in unconstrained conditions. Firstly, a novel multimodal local feature extraction approach based on merging the advantages of the Curvelet transform with Fractal dimension is proposed and termed the Curvelet–Fractal approach. The main motivation of this approach is that theCurvelet transform, a newanisotropic and multidirectional transform, can efficiently represent themain structure of the face (e.g., edges and curves), while the Fractal dimension is one of the most powerful texture descriptors for face images. Secondly, a novel framework is proposed, termed the multimodal deep face recognition (MDFR)framework, to add feature representations by training aDBNon top of the local feature representations instead of the pixel intensity representations. We demonstrate that representations acquired by the proposed MDFR framework are complementary to those acquired by the Curvelet–Fractal approach. Finally, the performance of the proposed approaches has been evaluated by conducting a number of extensive experiments on four large-scale face datasets: the SDUMLA-HMT, FERET, CAS-PEAL-R1, and LFW databases. The results obtained from the proposed approaches outperform other state-of-the-art of approaches (e.g., LBP, DBN, WPCA) by achieving new state-of-the-art results on all the employed datasets

Molecular typing of mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates circulating in Jiangsu Province, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Globally, China is the second place with high burden of tuberculosis (TB). To explore the characteristics of the pathogens of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>(MTB) circulating in this area is helpful for understanding and controlling the spread of the strains. Recent developments in molecular biology have allowed prompt identification and tracking specific strains of MTB spreading through the population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Spacer-oligonucleotide typing (spoligotyping) and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) were performed in combination to yield specific genetic profiles of 260 MTB strains isolated from 30 counties of Jiangsu province in China between June and July 2010. The spoligotyping results were in comparison to the world Spoligotyping Database of Institute Pasteur de Guadeloupe (SpolDB4). Drug susceptibility test (DST) was performed on all strains by proportion method on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture media.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on the spoligotyping method, 246 strains displayed known patterns and 14 were absent in the database. Predominant spoligotypes belonged to the Beijing family (80.4%). By using the 24-loci VNTR typing scheme, 224 different patterns were identified, including 20 clusters and 204 unique patterns. The largest clade comprised 195 strains belonging to the Beijing family. The combination of spoligotyping and 24-loci MIRU-VNTR demonstrated maximal discriminatory power. Furthermore, we observed a significant association between Beijing family strains and drug-resistant phenotypes. The Beijing family strains presented increased risks for developing multi-drug resistant TB, with the OR (95% CI) of 11.07(1.45-84.50).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study demonstrated that Beijing family isolates were the most prevalent strains circulating in Jiangsu province of China. The utility of spoligotyping in combination with 24-loci MIRU-VNTR might be a useful tool for epidemiological analysis of MTB transmission.</p

Chinawa JM Cor triatriatum sinistrium in a 10 year old Nigerian: A case report

Abstract We present a rare and first case of Cor triatriatum sinistrum (CT) in a patient who presents with dyspnoea, easy fatigability, chest pain, murmurs and typical ECG and 2D-echo findings. The purpose of presenting this case report is to highlight the distinctive manifestation of Cor triatriatum sinistrum and to provide a concise report of this disease with the hope that such information will help identify patients earlier in the course of their disease. Surgical correction offers good and long term results for both classic and atypical types. In a resource poor country like ours, high index of suspicion, early diagnosis and timely referral are warranted so as to avert death

Extended pulsated drug release from PLGA-based minirods

The kinetics of degradation and sustained cancer drugs (paclitaxel (PT) and prodigiosin (PG)) release are presented for minirods (each with diameter of ~5 and ~6 mm thick). Drug release and degradation mechanisms were studied from solvent-casted cancer drug-based minirods under in vitro conditions in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) at a pH of 7.4. The immersed minirods were mechanically agitated at 60 revolutions per minute (rpm) under incubation at 37 °C throughout the period of the study. The kinetics of drug release was studied using ultraviolet visible spectrometry (UV-Vis). This was used to determine the amount of drug released at 535 nm for poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) loaded with prodigiosin (PLGA-PG) samples, and at 210 nm, for paclitaxel-loaded samples (PLGA-PT). The degradation characteristics of PLGA-PG and PLGA-PT are elucidated using optical microscope as well as scanning electron microscope (SEM). Statistical analysis of drug release and degradation mechanisms of PLGA-based minirods were performed. The implications of the results are discussed for potential applications in implantable/degradable structures for multi-pulse cancer drug delivery

The Nigeria Parkinson Disease Registry: Process, Profile, and Prospects of a Collaborative Project

BACKGROUND: Clinical disease registries are useful for quality improvement in care, benchmarking standards, and facilitating research. Collaborative networks established thence can enhance national and international studies by generating more robust samples and credible data and promote knowledge sharing and capacity building. This report describes the methodology, baseline data, and prospects of the Nigeria Parkinson Disease Registry. METHODS: This national registry was established in November 2016. Ethics approval was obtained for all sites. Basic anonymized data for consecutive cases fulfilling the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Brain Bank criteria (except the exclusion criterion of affected family members) are registered by participating neurologists via a secure registry website (www.parkinsonnigeria.com) using a minimal common data capture format. RESULTS: The registry had captured 578 participants from 5 of 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria by July 2019 (72.5% men). Mean age at onset was 60.3 ± 10.7 years; median disease duration (interquartile range) was 36 months (18–60.5 months). Young‐onset disease (<50 years) represented 15.2%. A family history was documented in 4.5% and 7.8% with age at onset <50 and ≥ 50, respectively. The most frequent initial symptom was tremor (45.3%). At inclusion, 93.4% were on treatment (54.5% on levodopa monotherapy). Per‐capita direct cost for the registry was $3.37. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first published national Parkinson's disease registry in sub‐Saharan Africa. The registry will serve as a platform for development of multipronged evidence‐based policies and initiatives to improve quality of care of Parkinson's disease and research engagement in Nigeria