Cost-benefit analysis of replacing maize with rice husk supplemented with grindazyme, nutrsea xyla or roxazyme g enzyme supplementation in the diet of Arbor Acres broilers

The experiment was carried out to investigate the cost-­‐benefit of replacing maize with rice husk supplemented with enzymes in the diet of arbor acres broilers. The experimental design was a 2×4 factorial combination of two dietary level of rice husk (0 or 25%) with four levels of different enzymes 0E (without enzyme 0ppm), 100E (100ppm of Nutrase xyla), 150E (150 ppm of Roxazyme G), or 350E (350ppm of Grindazyme). Rice husk was added at the expense of maize in the control diet and each experimental diet was tested during a 56-­‐day feeding trial in triplicate. One hundred and ninety-­‐two (192) one-­‐day old unsexed Arbor acres chicks were used in the trial. Each of these was undertaken in the presence of no enzyme 0E (0ppm) or with different types of commercial enzymes at recommended level, which are 100E (100ppm of Nutrase xyla), 150E (150ppm of Roxazyme G), and 350E (350ppm of Grindazyme). Cost of each ingredient was used to calculate the total cost; there were reductions in the cost of raising 1Kg of Arbor acre broiler on supplementation of the rice husk diets with commercial enzymes. The 25% replacement of maize with rice husk supplemented with commercial enzymes has no detrimental effect on the performance of the birds; rather the saving cost was associated with improved weight gain. The inclusion of rice husk supplemented with any of the enzymes in the diets reduced the cost of producing broilers and hence increased profit

Contact Tracing and the COVID-19 Response in Africa: Best Practices, Key Challenges, and Lessons Learned from Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.

Most African countries have recorded relatively lower COVID-19 burdens than Western countries. This has been attributed to early and strong political commitment and robust implementation of public health measures, such as nationwide lockdowns, travel restrictions, face mask wearing, testing, contact tracing, and isolation, along with community education and engagement. Other factors include the younger population age strata and hypothesized but yet-to-be confirmed partially protective cross-immunity from parasitic diseases and/or other circulating coronaviruses. However, the true burden may also be underestimated due to operational and resource issues for COVID-19 case identification and reporting. In this perspective article, we discuss selected best practices and challenges with COVID-19 contact tracing in Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. Best practices from these country case studies include sustained, multi-platform public communications; leveraging of technology innovations; applied public health expertise; deployment of community health workers; and robust community engagement. Challenges include an overwhelming workload of contact tracing and case detection for healthcare workers, misinformation and stigma, and poorly sustained adherence to isolation and quarantine. Important lessons learned include the need for decentralization of contact tracing to the lowest geographic levels of surveillance, rigorous use of data and technology to improve decision-making, and sustainment of both community sensitization and political commitment. Further research is needed to understand the role and importance of contact tracing in controlling community transmission dynamics in African countries, including among children. Also, implementation science will be critically needed to evaluate innovative, accessible, and cost-effective digital solutions to accommodate the contact tracing workload

Patient characteristics associated with COVID-19 positivity and fatality in Nigeria: retrospective cohort study

Objective: Despite the increasing disease burden, there is a dearth of context-specific evidence on the risk factors for COVID-19 positivity and subsequent death in Nigeria. Thus, the study objective was to identify context-specific factors associated with testing positive for COVID-19 and fatality in Nigeria. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting: COVID-19 surveillance and laboratory centres in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory reporting data to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Participants: Individuals who were investigated for SARSCoV-2 using real-time PCR testing during the study period 27 February–8 June 2020. Methods: COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors independently associated with both outcome variables, and findings are presented as adjusted ORs (aORs) and 95% CIs. Results: A total of 36 496 patients were tested for COVID-19, with 10 517 confirmed cases. Of 3215 confirmed cases with available clinical outcomes, 295 died. Factors independently associated with COVID-19 positivity were older age (p value for trend<0.0001), male sex (aOR 1.11, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.18) and the following presenting symptoms: cough (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.32), fever (aOR 1.45, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.71), loss of smell (aOR 7.78, 95% CI 5.19 to 11.66) and loss of taste (aOR 2.50, 95% CI 1.60 to 3.90). An increased risk of mortality following COVID-19 was observed in those aged ≥51 years, patients in farming occupation (aOR 7.56, 95% CI 1.70 to 33.53) and those presenting with cough (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.41 to 3.01), breathing difficulties (aOR 5.68, 95% CI 3.77 to 8.58) and vomiting (aOR 2.54, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.84). Conclusion: The significant risk factors associated with COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality in the Nigerian population are similar to those reported in studies from other countries and should guide clinical decisions for COVID-19 testing and specialist care referrals

Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome: A rare cause of amenorrhea in a patient with normal stature and secondary sexual characteristics

Pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS) is a rare disorder characterized by the imaging triad of thinned or absent pituitary stalk, ectopic posterior pituitary lobe, and hypoplastic or absent anterior lobe. Patients typically present with 1 or more anterior pituitary lobe hormone deficits, most commonly growth hormone or gonadotropin, but patients may achieve normal stature and secondary sexual characteristics. Here, we present a case of a young female patient presenting with amenorrhea, normal stature, and sexual development, and an imaging triad of PSIS. To our knowledge, this is the first case of PSIS to present with hyperprolactinemia and an otherwise normal pituitary hormone profile

Investigation on Biochemically Processed Castor Seed Meal in Nutrition and Physiology of Japanese Quail

Native de-oiled and treated castor seed meal was subjected to proximate analysis and quantification of antinutrients (phytochemicals). Seed cake was treated by biochemical technique of solid state fermentation with Aspergillus niger and addition of calcium oxide (CaO) to give treated castor seed meal (TCSM). One hundred and twenty Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were fed four (4) iso-nitrogemous and iso-caloric diets containing 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5% TCSM corresponding to the diet 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. While the feeding trial lasted for 56 days, feed and water were supplied ad libitum. Data on proximate composition showed that raw seed, defatted residue (cake) and the processed castor seed meal contained valuable nutrients like dry matter, crude protein, fat, fibre, mineral matter and soluble carbohydrate (NFE). Phytochemical quantification gave high levels of the anti-nutrients such as ricin, allergens, ricinine in the raw seed. However, levels of these phytochemicals were reduced by defatting and treatments of the cake meal by solid state fermentation, A. niger and CaO. Performance traits indicated decreases in feed intake, weight gain, growth and increases in mortality rates especially on the diet with the highest (7.5%) inclusion of TCSM compared to the control diet (P0.05). Enzyme activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) showed decreasing trend with increasing level of CSM in diets (P<0.05). Profiling electrolytes in the fed quails showed significant variations in concentrations of Ca++ and HCO3- on TCSM based diets (P<0.05) comparable with the control diet values. Conclusively, despite treating CSM by solid state fermentation with A. niger and CaO addition in this trial, TCSM addition still appears to induce toxic and deleterious effects on the quails. Subsequent works to enable inclusions at acceptable and higher levels after treatments are on-going