Editorial:The emergence of animal welfare science and policy in Africa, Asia and Latin America

Peer Reviewe

Proceedings From the Symposium on Kidney Disease in Older People: Royal Society of Medicine, London, January 19, 2017

People are living longer. On the whole, they have healthier lives and many of the problems previously seen at a younger age now appear in their later years. Kidneys, like other organs, age, and kidney disease in the aged is a prime example. In the United Kingdom, as in other developed countries, the prevalence of end stage kidney disease is highest in the 70- to 79-year-old age group. There are many older people who require renal replacement and are now considered for dialysis. While older patients with end-stage renal disease invariably aspire for a better quality of life, this needs a specialized approach and management. In January 2017, the Royal Society of Medicine held a seminar in London on “Kidney Disease in Older People” with presentations from a multidisciplinary body of experts speaking on various aspects of kidney problems in this age group and its management. The objectives were to increase awareness and improve the understanding of nephrology in the context of geriatric medicine but also geriatrics in its interface with nephrology, especially in the area of chronic kidney disease

EFFECTS OF ASCORBIC ACID SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE PERFORMANCE INDICES OF STARTER PULLETS IN A HOT - HUMID ENVIRONMENT

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the nutritional effects of supplementary ascorbic acid (AA) at levels of 0, 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg in the diets of starter pullets reared at different seasons (harmattan season and rainy season) in a hot humid environment. Two hundred and forty day-old Harco pullet chicks were used in each trial, they were randomly assigned to each of the four dietary treatments in three replications of twenty chicks per replicate. Each trial lasted 8 weeks during which data were collected and a 2 X 4 factorial arrangement was employed in the analysis of data collected.  Results showed significant (p<0.05) effect of treatments on feed conversion ratio of birds fed dietary treatments. Season of presentation of ascorbic acid significantly affected (p<0.05) feed intake with higher value obtained in the rainy season compared to the dry season (41.89g vs. 39.59). &nbsp

Power maximization of variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbines using passive adaptive neural fault tolerant control

Power maximization has always been a practical consideration in wind turbines. The question of how to address optimal power capture, especially when the system dynamics are nonlinear and the actuators are subject to unknown faults, is significant. This paper studies the control methodology for variable-speed variable-pitch wind turbines including the effects of uncertain nonlinear dynamics, system fault uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. The nonlinear model of the wind turbine is presented, and the problem of maximizing extracted energy is formulated by designing the optimal desired states. With the known system, a model-based nonlinear controller is designed; then, to handle uncertainties, the unknown nonlinearities of the wind turbine are estimated by utilizing radial basis function neural networks. The adaptive neural fault tolerant control is designed passively to be robust on model uncertainties, disturbances including wind speed and model noises, and completely unknown actuator faults including generator torque and pitch actuator torque. The Lyapunov direct method is employed to prove that the closed-loop system is uniformly bounded. Simulation studies are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method

Broadly directed virus-specific CD4+ T cell responses are primed during acute hepatitis C infection, but rapidly disappear from human blood with viral persistence

Vigorous proliferative CD4+ T cell responses are the hallmark of spontaneous clearance of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, whereas comparable responses are absent in chronically evolving infection. Here, we comprehensively characterized the breadth, specificity, and quality of the HCV-specific CD4+ T cell response in 31 patients with acute HCV infection and varying clinical outcomes. We analyzed in vitro T cell expansion in the presence of interleukin-2, and ex vivo staining with HCV peptide-loaded MHC class II tetramers. Surprisingly, broadly directed HCV-specific CD4+ T cell responses were universally detectable at early stages of infection, regardless of the clinical outcome. However, persistent viremia was associated with early proliferative defects of the HCV-specific CD4+ T cells, followed by rapid deletion of the HCV-specific response. Only early initiation of antiviral therapy was able to preserve CD4+ T cell responses in acute, chronically evolving infection. Our results challenge the paradigm that HCV persistence is the result of a failure to prime HCV-specific CD4+ T cells. Instead, broadly directed HCV-specific CD4+ T cell responses are usually generated, but rapid exhaustion and deletion of these cells occurs in the majority of patients. The data further suggest a short window of opportunity to prevent the loss of CD4+ T cell responses through antiviral therapy

Immunodominant HIV-1 Cd4+ T Cell Epitopes in Chronic Untreated Clade C HIV-1 Infection

Background: A dominance of Gag-specific CD8+ T cell responses is significantly associated with a lower viral load in individuals with chronic, untreated clade C human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. This association has not been investigated in terms of Gag-specific CD4+ T cell responses, nor have clade C HIV-1–specific CD4+ T cell epitopes, likely a vital component of an effective global HIV-1 vaccine, been identified. Methodology/Principal Findings: Intracellular cytokine staining was conducted on 373 subjects with chronic, untreated clade C infection to assess interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses by CD4+ T cells to pooled Gag peptides and to determine their association with viral load and CD4 count. Gag-specific IFN-γ–producing CD4+ T cell responses were detected in 261/373 (70%) subjects, with the Gag responders having a significantly lower viral load and higher CD4 count than those with no detectable Gag response (p<0.0001 for both parameters). To identify individual peptides targeted by HIV-1–specific CD4+ T cells, separate ELISPOT screening was conducted on CD8-depleted PBMCs from 32 chronically infected untreated subjects, using pools of overlapping peptides that spanned the entire HIV-1 clade C consensus sequence, and reconfirmed by flow cytometry to be CD4+ mediated. The ELISPOT screening identified 33 CD4+ peptides targeted by 18/32 patients (56%), with 27 of the 33 peptides located in the Gag region. Although the breadth of the CD4+ responses correlated inversely with viral load (p = 0.015), the magnitude of the response was not significantly associated with viral load. Conclusions/Significance: These data indicate that in chronic untreated clade C HIV-1 infection, IFN-γ–secreting Gag-specific CD4+ T cell responses are immunodominant, directed at multiple distinct epitopes, and associated with viral control

Is there a change in the prevalence of stroke risk factors over the past decade in Benin City, Nigeria?

Aim:Stroke remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. Our previous study on the reappraisal of risk factors for stroke over a decade ago identified various risk factors for stroke. With increasing trend in stroke mortality and morbidity in Nigerian Africans, are these stroke risk factors still relevant? This study was designed to identify a decade after, if there has been a change in the pattern of risk factors for stroke. Materials/ Methods:This was an observational cross-sectional study, which recruited eighty-four patients with clinical and neuro-imaging diagnosis of stroke. Risk factors for stroke were determined including hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, obesity, history of previous stroke and cardiac factors. These were compared to stroke risk factors identified in our previous study. Results:The mean age of the subjects was 61.1(12.7) years. 81% of participants were hypertensive and hypertension was still the commonest risk factor for stroke identified. 76.3% had dyslipidaemia while 10.7% were obese which were significantly different from the earlier study. A history of previous stroke (P=0.04), a history of significant alcohol consumption (P=0.026) and a history of cigarette smoking (P=0.014) were associated with more severe strokes. . Conclusion:There has been no major change in the pattern of stroke risk factors. Hypertension remains the most dominant and modifiable risk factor for stroke

Limitations in education, employment and relationship amongst persons with epilepsy: the experiences from Benin City, Nigeria

Background: The persons with epilepsy have higher rates of educational underachievement, unemployment and being unmarried. These socioeconomic consequences of epilepsy can be more difficult to overcome than the seizures. In Nigeria there is a paucity of information on the socioeconomic limitations experienced by persons with epilepsy (PWE). We therefore sought to determine the predictors of these socioeconomic variables amongst PWE in Benin City, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, done at the neurology clinics of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and the Central Hospital, Benin City. Persons on treatment for epilepsy were consecutively recruited. Using a structured questionnaire the demographics, clinical characteristics and socioeconomic experiences with regards to education, employment and relationships were obtained. Results: One hundred and thirty PWE were recruited. The mean age was 37±10.3 years, range 25 to 55yrs, with 54% being males, while 53.1% have had epilepsy for over 10yrs. About 45% have comorbid conditions, 51% are not adherent to antiepilepsy drugs, while 49.2% have had stigma experience. Approximately 47% have had more than 10 years of schooling, about 56.2% are employed while 55.4% are in an intimate relationship. Educational underachievement was predicted by stigmatization, while unemployment and not being in a relationship was predicted by stigmatization and longer duration of epilepsy. Conclusion: The high proportion of the participants with socioeconomic challenges is worrisome. It is hoped that meeting the educational and vocational needs of PWE, in addition to public campaign on epilepsy could reverse the situation