AN ARCHITECTURE-BASED TECHNIQUE TO MOBILE CONTACT RECOMMENDATION FOR EMERGENCY SITUATION IN NIGERIA

Smart technologies such as smart phones, iPad and Tablets are ubiquitous in today’s society. They possess increasing computing and storage potentials. Thus, emerging as a dominant computing platform for different kinds of end-users. However, these technological possibilities have not been fully explored for emergency situations where close relatives must be contacted. This paper therefore presents an Emergency Contact Recommendation Model (ECRM) that was implemented into an emergency contact recommendation system. An architectural based approach was employed to highlight the contribution this paper made to extant knowledge. The leveraged of the Dust miner algorithmic technique, the direct discriminative pattern mining, and the Bayesian Inference Network technique were used to formulate the ECRM. The ECRM was implemented using the Java development and android tool kit. The model demonstrated commendable capabilities - considering the foregoing techniques when compared with what obtains in literature- to make useful recommendation in emergency situation(s) after implementation.   http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i12

Incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus totalis in a day old neonate: Case report and review of the literature

Dextrocardia with situs inversus are rare congenital anomalies which can be asymptomatic and compatible with normal life. They are characterized by mirror images of all intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal viscera. Our aim isto report an incidental finding of dextrocardia with situs inversus in a neonate with neonatal sepsis. A day-old male term neonate presented with features of infection. Physical examination revealed cardiac apex on the 4th right   intercostal space, along the mid-clavicular line. Chest radiograph and  abdominal ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis of dextrocardia with situs inversus. Bilateral cervical ribs were also seen on chest radiograph. He was managed with antibiotics  and  discharged . Newborn babies should have a thorough physical examination after delivery before discharge to enable early diagnosis of congenital anomalies for appropriate referral.Key words: Dextrocardia, neonate, neonatal sepsis

Antibiogram of pharyngeal isolates of children with pharyngotonsillitis in a specialist hospital in Gusau, North-Western Nigeria

Pharyngotonsillitis is one of the common childhood infections caused by bacteria in 30 to 40% of cases. Bacterial causes are important due to the non suppurative sequalae caused by Streptococcus pyogenes and also associated complications. These microorganisms undergo constant changes and antibiotic resistance have been reported. Objective: To document organisms isolated from throat swab microscopy and culture with their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in children diagnosed with pharyngotonsillitis. Methodology: This was a retrospective analysis of throat swabs microscopy, culture and sensitivity results of children aged 0-13 years with a diagnosis of pharyngotonsillitis over a four-year period. Results: Of the 144 results reviewed; 120 samples yielded 122 isolates, giving a culture positive yield of 83.3%. Males were 81 (56.2%) with a M:F ratio of 1.3:1. Majority of the children were under fives (58.3%). Gram positive organisms were 118 (96.7%), with Streptococcus pyogenes being the commonest organism isolated (79.5%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (13.9%). Gentamicin (85.0%), Ofloxacin (64.2%) and Augmentin (51.7%) had the highest susceptibility rate, while the least was seen with Cefixime, Tetracycline, Levofloxacin and Netillin. Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureuswere susceptible to Gentamicin and Ofloxacin, while all the Streptococcus pneumoniae were susceptible to Gentamicin. Multi drug resistance was seen with Providencia spp and Serratia marcescens. Conclusion: Streptococcus pyogenes was the commonest organism and Gentamicin, Ofloxacin and Augmentin were the antibiotics with the highest susceptibility. Gram negative organisms display high rate of multidrug resistance. Gentamicin could be considered as an option or an adjunct in the treatment of pharyngotonsilliti

Hepatitis b, c and hiv serological markers in children with sickle cell anaemia in a tertiary hospital, Gusau, North-Western Nigeria

Sickle Cell Anaemia patients are considered to be among the high-risk groups for hepatitis B and C viral infections. These viruses and HIV share common routes of transmission and similar risk factors and their infections coexist. Objective: This study was aimed at determining the seroprevalence of hepatitis B, C and HIV viral markers of infections in children with SCA. Methodology: A cross sectional Hospital based study conducted on 89 confirmed SCA Children aged 6 months – 13 years in steady state attending Haematology Clinic in a Specialist Hospital Gusau from July 2017 to March 2018. Approval for the study was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee of the Hospital. The age, gender, history of blood transfusion, traditional scarification, uvulectomy, circumcision and immunization of the subjects were recorded. Serological test was carried out to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B, C and HIV using the viral markers and HIV 1& 2 rapid test kits. Results: Eighty-nine subjects were recruited with 46(51.7%) males and 43(48.3%) females. The mean age was 5.06 ±3.4 years. The seroprevalence of HBsAg, HBsAb, HBcAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, AntiHCV and HIV 1& 2 were 3(3.4%), 3(3.4%), 5(5.7%), 1(1.1%), 6(6.9%) and 0% respectively. No co-infection among the studied subjects. There is no significant difference in the age or gender distribution and seroprevalence of the viruses among SCA children. p = > 0.05 Conclusion: Hepatitis C infection is found to be high as opposed to Hepatitis B which is lower among SCA Children in this community

Poor availability of context-specific evidence hampers decision-making in conservation

Evidence-based conservation relies on reliable and relevant evidence. Practitioners often prefer locally relevant studies whose results are more likely to be transferable to the context of planned conservation interventions. To quantify the availability of relevant evidence for amphibian and bird conservation we reviewed Conservation Evidence, a database of quantitative tests of conservation interventions. Studies were geographically clustered, and few locally conducted studies were found in Western sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, South East Asia, and Eastern South America. Globally there were extremely low densities of studies per intervention - fewer than one study within 2000 km of a given location. The availability of relevant evidence was extremely low when we restricted studies to those studying biomes or taxonomic orders containing high percentages of threatened species, compared to the most frequently studied biomes and taxonomic orders. Further constraining the evidence by study design showed that only 17–20% of amphibian and bird studies used reliable designs. Our results highlight the paucity of evidence on the effectiveness of conservation interventions, and the disparity in evidence for local contexts that are frequently studied and those where conservation needs are greatest. Addressing the serious global shortfall in context-specific evidence requires a step change in the frequency of testing conservation interventions, greater use of reliable study designs and standardized metrics, and methodological advances to analyze patchy evidence bases

Colostomy closure: how to avoid complications

Purpose: Colostomy is an operation frequently performed in pediatric surgery. Despite its benefits, it can produce significant morbidity. In a previous publication we presented our experience with the errors and complications that occurred during cases of colostomy creation. We now have focused in the morbidity related to the colostomy closure. The technical details that might have contributed to the minimal morbidity we experienced are described. Methods: The medical records of 649 patients who underwent colostomy closure over a 28-year period were retrospectively reviewed looking for complications following these procedures. Our perioperative protocol for colostomy closure consisted in: clear fluids by mouth and repeated proximal stoma irrigations 24 h prior to the operation. Administration of IV antibiotics during anesthesia induction and continued for 48 h. Meticulous surgical technique that included: packing of the proximal stoma, plastic drape to immobilize the surgical field, careful hemostasis, emphasis in avoiding contamination, cleaning the edge of the stomas to allow a good 2-layer, end-to-end anastomosis with separated long-term absorbable sutures, generous irrigation of the peritoneal cavity and subsequent layers with saline solution, closure by layers to avoid dead space, and avoidance of hematomas. No drains and no nasogastric tubes were used. Oral fluids were started the day after surgery and patients were discharged 48-72 h after the operation. Results: The original diagnoses of the patients were: anorectal malformation (583), Hirschsprung\u27s disease (53), and others (13). 10 patients (1.5%) had complications: 6 had intestinal obstruction (5 due to small bowel adhesions, 1 had temporary delay of the function of the anastomosis due to a severe size discrepancy between proximal and distal stoma with a distal microcolon) and 4 incisional hernias. There were no anastomotic dehiscences or wound infection. There was no bleeding, no anastomotic stricture and no mortality. Conclusion: Based on this experience we believe that colostomy closure can be performed with minimal morbidity provided a meticulous technique is observed. © 2010 The Author(s)

Insights from two decades of the Student Conference on Conservation Science

Conservation science is a crisis-oriented discipline focused on reducing human impacts on nature. To explore how the field has changed over the past two decades, we analyzed 3245 applications for oral presentations submitted to the Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) in Cambridge, UK. SCCS has been running every year since 2000, aims for global representation by providing bursaries to early-career conservationists from lower-income countries, and has never had a thematic focus, beyond conservation in the broadest sense. We found that the majority of projects submitted to SCCS were based on primary biological data collected from local scale field studies in the tropics, contrary to established literature which highlights gaps in tropical research. Our results showed a small increase over time in submissions framed around how nature benefits people as well as a small increase in submissions integrating social science. Our findings suggest that students and early-career conservationists could provide pathways to increase availability of data from the tropics and address well-known biases in the published literature towards wealthier countries. We hope this research will motivate efforts to support student projects, ensuring data and results are published and data made publicly available.The project was made possible through funding from: JG: EUs Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie program (No 676108) and VILLUM FONDEN (VKR023371), HA-P; National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (203407/2017-2), TA: The Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT180100354), The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and The Kenneth Miller Trust, APC: the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC DTP [NE/L002507/1]), LC: Cambridge International Scholarship from the Cambridge Trust, FH: the Newton International Fellowship of the Royal Society, DM: the Australian Government, Endeavor Postgraduate Scholarhip, HM: Branco Weiss Fellowship Administered by the ETH Zürich and Drapers' Company Fellowship, Pembroke College BIS: the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC DTP[NE/L002507/1 and NE/S001395/1]) and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellowship, HW: Cambridge Trust Cambridge-Australia Poynton Scholarship and Cambridge Department of Zoology J. S. Gardiner Scholarship

Characterization of ftsZ Mutations that Render Bacillus subtilis Resistant to MinC

Background: Cell division in Bacillus subtilis occurs precisely at midcell. Positional control of cell division is exerted by two mechanisms: nucleoid occlusion, through Noc, which prevents division through nucleoids, and the Min system, where the combined action of the MinC, D and J proteins prevents formation of the FtsZ ring at cell poles or recently completed division sites. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a genetic screen to identify mutations in ftsZ that confer resistance to the lethal overexpression of the MinC/MinD division inhibitor. The FtsZ mutants were purified and found to polymerize to a similar or lesser extent as wild type FtsZ, and all mutants displayed reduced GTP hydrolysis activity indicative of a reduced polymerization turnover. We found that even though the mutations conferred in vivo resistance to MinC/D, the purified FtsZ mutants did not display strong resistance to MinC in vitro. Conclusions/Significance: Our results show that in B. subtilis, overproduction of MinC can be countered by mutations that alter FtsZ polymerization dynamics. Even though it would be very likely that the FtsZ mutants found depend on other Z-ring stabilizing proteins such as ZapA, FtsA or SepF, we found this not to be the case. This indicates that the cell division process in B. subtilis is extremely robust.