Assessment of background radiation levels in selected diagnostic radiology department across Ondo State, Nigeria

The indoor and outdoor ionizing radiation exposure levels were measured in some randomly selected radiological laboratories of some hospitals across Ondo State, Nigeria using a Kindenoo PG - 15 Geiger Muller detector. Measurements were taken in each of the radiological laboratories of the hospitals in two phases: first, when the x-ray machines were energized and second, when the x-ray machines were not energized. The mean indoor and outdoor annual effective doses varied from 20.53±1.07 to 39.12±0.09 and 0.63±0.32 to 1.17±0.45 mSv/y respectively for the first phase in the radiological laboratories and from 1.68±0.04 to 2.26±0.07 and 0.28±0.02 to 0.42±0.02 mSv/y respectively for the second phase. Using statistical tools, a post-hoc test was carried out to test for the statistical significant difference between the indoor and outdoor annual effective dose in the study area. The test showed a significant difference between the indoor and outdoor annual effective dose at the radiological laboratories when the x-ray machine was energized and when the x-ray machine was not energized.Keywords: Indoor radiation exposure, Outdoor radiation exposure, X-ray, Annual effective dos

The Origins and Future of Sentinel: An Early-Warning System for Pandemic Preemption and Response

While investigating a signal of adaptive evolution in humans at the gene LARGE, we encountered an intriguing finding by Dr. Stefan Kunz that the gene plays a critical role in Lassa virus binding and entry. This led us to pursue field work to test our hypothesis that natural selection acting on LARGE—detected in the Yoruba population of Nigeria—conferred resistance to Lassa Fever in some West African populations. As we delved further, we conjectured that the “emerging” nature of recently discovered diseases like Lassa fever is related to a newfound capacity for detection, rather than a novel viral presence, and that humans have in fact been exposed to the viruses that cause such diseases for much longer than previously suspected. Dr. Stefan Kunz’s critical efforts not only laid the groundwork for this discovery, but also inspired and catalyzed a series of events that birthed Sentinel, an ambitious and large-scale pandemic prevention effort in West Africa. Sentinel aims to detect and characterize deadly pathogens before they spread across the globe, through implementation of its three fundamental pillars: Detect, Connect, and Empower. More specifically, Sentinel is designed to detect known and novel infections rapidly, connect and share information in real time to identify emerging threats, and empower the public health community to improve pandemic preparedness and response anywhere in the world. We are proud to dedicate this work to Stefan Kunz, and eagerly invite new collaborators, experts, and others to join us in our efforts