Prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and the use of malaria prevention measures in pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: Malaria complicates up to 58.1% of pregnancies in  Nigeria. Preventive measures include intermittent preventive treatment and consistent use of insecticide-treated nets. However, uptake of these interventions can often be sub-optimal.Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of malaria in pregnancy in peri-urban and rural communities of Ibadan, Nigeria and its  association with the use of preventive measures.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, pregnant women were recruited from selected primary health centres and blood films were taken for malaria parasites. Explanatory variables were the use of bed nets and chemoprophylaxis; the primary outcome was presence of peripheral malaria parasitaemia.Results: Malaria prevalence was 4.3% (67 of 1570 participants); two-thirds of women with parasitaemia had malaria symptoms. Four hundred and thirty-eight (27.9%) used prescribed sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine prophylaxis, 784 (49.9%) women reported that they consistently slept under insecticide-treated nets, and 236 (15%) complied with both interventions. Bed net use appeared more protective than chemoprophylaxis. However, the protection from malaria in those who used preventive measures was not statistically significant (p=0.075).Conclusions: Malaria prevalence was low. No association was determined between malaria and the use of preventive measures; the lack of association may be due to the low prevalence. Keywords: Malaria, Pregnancy, Chemoprevention, Insecticide-treated be

Serum total IgG and tetanus specific IgG in Nigerian human immunodeficiency virus infected primigravidae and the cord blood of their babies at birth

Background: HIV infection affects millions of women and children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Tetanus also causes significant maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Since the main effect of HIV is immunosuppression, there is potential for a negative influence the host immune response to tetanus in women with HIV.Objective: This case-control study evaluated the effect of HIV infection on maternal tetanus antibody production and neonatal tetanus antibody levels.Methods: Thirty registered primigravidae were recruited from the clinic;15 were HIV positive and 15 were HIV negative. Serum samples of maternal and cord blood were obtained from both groups at delivery. Maternal total IgG and cord blood tetanus-specific antibody were estimated by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay.Results: There was no significant difference in the total IgG level of HIV positive mothers compared with HIV negative mothers. No significant difference in the tetanus-specific IgG level in the cord blood of babies of HIV positive mothers compared with cord blood of babies of the HIV negative mothers.Conclusion: HIV infection did not significantly reduce total IgG production in Nigerian primigravidae. Tetanus-specific IgG levels were above protective levels in neonates of HIV positive mothers suggesting adequate protection.Keywords: Tetanus, Antibody, Pregnancy, Immunisation, HI

Medication knowledge and beliefs in patients with major depressive disorder at a tertiary health facility in north east Nigeria

Background: Achieving positive clinical outcomes with antidepressant drug therapy depends on patients having adequate knowledge and positive beliefs about their prescribed medication.Objectives: To assess medication related knowledge and beliefs about medicines in patients with major depressive disorder.Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out from December 2018 to March 2019 at Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria. Patients who agreed to participate in the study (n=151) were interviewed with patient knowledge about medication and belief about medicine questionnaires.Results: About 82.8 % of the patients had suboptimal knowledge of their medications. Over half (60.3%) of them had strong beliefs regarding the necessity of their prescribed medications. Almost half (47.7%) of them also had strong concerns about the potential harm and adverse effects of their medications. The odds for strong beliefs regarding the necessity of their prescribed medication were about 8 times greater in patients with primary level of education than those with no formal education (p=0.026, OR=8.00) and 4 times in married people (p=0.024, OR=4.77).Conclusion: Patients with major depressive disorder in this study had suboptimal knowledge of their medication and an appreciable number of them had strong beliefs regarding the need for their medications. However, about half of the patients also had strong beliefs about the potentials of their medications to cause harm. The odds to have strong beliefs on the need for medication were positively associated with disease severity, being married and increasing level of education. Interventions aimed at improving medication knowledge and addressing negative beliefs about medications are therefore recommended.Keywords: Medication knowledge, Medication beliefs, Major depressive disorder, Nigeri

Resting serum concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in sportsmen and untrained male adults

There is an inverse relationship between regular physical activity and concentration of serum inflammatory markers, with variations in resting CRP in trained and  untrained subjects. The effect of acute and prolonged exercises has been studied on inflammatory markers with dearth of information and controversies on the resting serum values of high sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP). Therefore, this study sought to  identify and compare variations that occur in serum levels of high sensitivity CRP in groups of sportsmen (6) and physically active untrained subjects. Eighty-one healthy male participants made up of 21 untrained (control), 10 footballers, 10 athletes, 10 karates, 10 volleyballers, 10 basketballers, and 10 baseballers  voluntarily participated in the study. Participants rested while in sitting position for about 30 minutes during which blood pressures and heart rates were taken. 5 mls of venous blood was withdrawn from the antecubital vein of the participants  (aseptically) between 7:00 and 10:00 am into lithium heparin bottles following an overnight fast. The supernatant was decanted and centrifuged at 3000 rpm, serum was collected and stored at -20ºC prior to biochemical assay which was done with the use of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for hs-CRP. Differences in the means within the sporting groups were analysed using one-way ANOVA while the difference between the trained sportsmen and untrained young adults was analysed using the independent T-test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The Mean ±SEM age, weight, height, and BMI of the participants were 22.0±0.8 years, 64.1±2.2 kg, 1.74±0.3 m, and 20.6±0.2 kg/m2 respectively. The resting concentration of hs-CRP (μg/ml) was 1.0±0.2 in the untrained, 2.6±0.7 in footballers, 3.6±2.1 in track athletes, 2.4±0.5 in basketballers, 2.2±0.5 in volleyballers, 2.4±1.3 in baseballers, and 1.7±0.5 in karate respectively. There was no significant difference in the resting hs-CRP amongst the sporting groups, and in the sportsmen and untrained group. Resting serum levels of hs-CRP falls within normal range, and varies insignificantly in groups of sports, and in sportsmen and untrained young male adults. This may suggest that the types of sporting activities or participation in sports has no impact on the resting serum hs-CRP.Keywords: Resting hs-CRP, Sportsmen, Young male adult

Exploring the Effect of Operational Factors and Characterization Imperative to the Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles

The synthesis and application of silver nanoparticles are increasingly becoming attractive. Hence, a critical examination of the various factors needed for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles as well as the characterization is imperative. In light of this, we addressed in this chapter, the nitty-gritty on the operational parameters (factors) and characterization relevant to synthesis of silver nanoparticle. The following characterization protocols were discussed in the context of silver nanoparticle synthesis. These protocols include spectroscopic techniques such as ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV –Vis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

Kinetics and isotherm modeling of adsorption of rhodamine B dye onto chitosan supported zerovalent iron nanocomposite (C-nZVI)

The kinetics and isotherm modeling of adsorption of Rhodamine B (RhB) Dye onto chitosan supported zerovalent iron nanocomposite (C-nZVI) was successfully studied in a batch technique. The quantity adsorbed increased with increase in initial concentration from 49.33 mg – 242.37 mg for 200 ppm to 1000 ppm and high percentage removal efficiency (%RE) of 99.72% attained at 90 minutes contact time. Equilibrium data were analyzed by six isotherm models: Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin-Kaganer-Raduskevich (DKR), Redlich-peterson and Halsey isotherm model. Equilibrium data best fitted to Freundlich isotherm supported by Halsey isotherm model. Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity (256.41 mg/g) of C-nZVI obtained greater than most adsorbent reported for adsorption of RhB. The mean adsorption free energy, E per molecule evaluated from DKR model was less than 8 KJmol -1 indicating a physisorption mechanism. The kinetic data best fitted to pseudo second-order kinetic model as validated by sum of square error (SSE) statistical model and the mechanism controlled by pore dif usion. The study revealed the great potential of C-nZVI for ef ective removal of RhB dye. C-nZVI is therefore recommended for civic and industrial ef luents treatment

A 50 ps resolution monolithic active pixel sensor without internal gain in SiGe BiCMOS technology

A monolithic pixelated silicon detector designed for high time resolution has been produced in the SG13G2 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology of IHP. This proof-of-concept chip contains hexagonal pixels of 65 µm and 130 µm side. The SiGe front-end electronics implemented provides an equivalent noise charge of 90 and 160 e- for a pixel capacitance of 70 and 220 fF, respectively, and a total time walk of less than 1 ns. Lab measurements with a 90Sr source show a time resolution of the order of 50 ps. This result is competitive with silicon technologies that integrate an avalanche gain mechanism. © 2019 CERN

Testbeam results of irradiated ams H18 HV-CMOS pixel sensor prototypes

HV-CMOS pixel sensors are a promising option for the tracker upgrade of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, as well as for other future tracking applications in which large areas are to be instrumented with radiation-tolerant silicon pixel sensors. We present results of testbeam characterisations of the 4th generation of Capacitively Coupled Pixel Detectors (CCPDv4) produced with the ams H18 HV-CMOS process that have been irradiated with different particles (reactor neutrons and 18 MeV protons) to fluences between 1× 1014 and 5× 1015 1−MeV− neq. The sensors were glued to ATLAS FE-I4 pixel readout chips and measured at the CERN SPS H8 beamline using the FE-I4 beam telescope. Results for all fluences are very encouraging with all hit efficiencies being better than 97% for bias voltages of 85 V. The sample irradiated to a fluence of 1× 1015 neq—a relevant value for a large volume of the upgraded tracker—exhibited 99.7% average hit efficiency. The results give strong evidence for the radiation tolerance of HV-CMOS sensors and their suitability as sensors for the experimental HL-LHC upgrades and future large-area silicon-based tracking detectors in high-radiation environments