Systolic blood pressure of Nigerian children with sickle cell disease

Background: Blood pressure readings of adult Nigerians with sickle cell disease (SCD) are reported to be lower than that of the general population but similar studies in children are unavailable.Objectives: To determine the systolic blood pressure (SBP) of children with SCD and compare it with that of healthy controls. Also, to correlate the SBP of children with SCD with age, gender, height and weight.Methods: Children with SCD were recruited from the Paediatric Haematology Clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Data collected included bio-demographic details, social classification, height and weight measurements and present clinical status. SBP was measured using a Doppler (VASCUTRACK 120®) and a mercury sphygmomanometer. Similar data were obtained from age and sex matched apparently healthy children.Results: One hundred and twenty three children with SCD and 62 apparently healthy controls were studied; 62% were females. The mean age of the children with SCD was 8.93±3.91years (range 1-17years) and was similar to the controls. SBP was similar in both groups of children (90.9±12.7 versus 92.2±15.2 mmHg; p=0.53) and increased with age. In 91 (74%) children with SCD the SBP was below the 50th centile for the general population. Multiple linear regressions involving sex, age, height and weight found no independent factor to be a significant predictor of the SBP in children with SCD.Conclusion: The SBP of children with SCD is similar to that of age and sex-matched controls. The sex, age, weight and height did not significantly predict SBP in multiple linear regression

SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GRASSES HARVESTED FROM THE NATURAL PASTURE IN OGUN STATE SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

The research was carried was carried out to evaluate the chemical composition of the dominant grasses harvested from the natural pasture in selected villages in Ogun State, South-western Nigeria at different seasons. The study was carried out using a 4 × 6 factorial arrangement comprising four seasons (early rain, late rain, early dry and late dry) at six locations (Afami, Atokun, Ibooro, Ileniku, Ipaaya, and Okerori). Results showed that the crude protein (CP) content significantly (p<0.05) varied from 5.56 % for Okerori to 7.34 % for Ibooro and the grasses harvested at Afami had the highest (72.75 %) neutral detergent fibre (NDF) values with the least (68.75 %) value recorded for Okerori, while the acid detergent fibre (ADF) values ranged from 41.00 % for Atokun to 48.25 % for Okerori. Also, CP value as affected by the season ranged from 4.23 % for late rainy to 9.44 % for the early rainy season and NDF values from 67.33% for late dry to 72.33 % for late rainy season while the early dry season had the highest value (48.00 %) for ADF with the least value (40.33 %) was recorded for the early rainy season. The phosphorus (P) value was highest at Ipaaya (2.99 g/kg) with the least value observed at Okerori (1.62 g/kg). The value for calcium ranged from 2.55 g/kg at Afami to 6.59 g/kg at Okerori. The P value of grasses as affected by seasons ranged from 1.46 g/kg for early dry to 2.66 g/kg for early rainy seasons.   &nbsp

Achieving carbon neutrality in post COP26 in BRICS, MINT, and G7 economies: The role of financial development and governance indicators

Pledges and commitments from governments of wealthy nations were made at the COP26 Glasgow summit, thereby rejuvenating hope among nations to confront the climate change challenge. Thus, the study examines the complementarity of financial development and carbon emissions, while accounting for the conditional influence of good governance under three disaggregated indicators – economic, institutional, and political governance for the BRICS, MINT, and the G7 economies. First, the study reveals that financial development depending on the adopted indicator has mixed effects on environmental pollution levels. Specifically, financial development triggers the highest pollution effect via domestic credit to the private sector compared to foreign direct investments, while financial development index reduces environmental pollution. Secondly, economic governance promotes environmental quality by reducing environmental pollution through quality regulation. Third, institutional governance through weaker rule of laws induces pollution, while the control of corruption antagonizes pollution levels. Furthermore, only the voice of accountability supports the pollution-mitigating effect of political governance. On a bloc-to-bloc comparative analysis, governance effectiveness promotes environmental pollution in all the three economic blocs albeit at different magnitudes while the voice of accountability exerts a significant desirable impact on pollution only in the G7 countries. Lastly, renewable energy and trade liberalization exerts a negative and positive influence on environmental degradation respectively. © 2023 The AuthorsInternational Monetary Fund, IMFIn the contemporary world, a polluted environment is often seen as a major barrier to sustainable economic growth. Several studies have noted that environmental quality improvement is still necessary to achieve sustainable development (Zafar et al., 2020; Bekun et al., 2022; Gyamfi et al., 2022; Onifade and Alola, 2022). Additionally, the works of Usman et al. (2020) and Zafeiriou et al. (2022) support the idea that financial development (FD) and institutional mandates might be a catalyst for environmental protection. However, this remains a research gap since there is a lack of solid empirical data. Additionally, to best of the our knowledge, no research has been conducted to contrast this occurrence within the context of the three economic blocs (i.e. BRICS, MINT & G7).Following the motivation of the study outlined above, three(3) strands of research gaps are identified: First, despite the expanding body of knowledge, it is still unclear whether financial development has a good or adverse impact on environmental deterioration. Second, this study broadens the scope of FD by expanding the proxies of financial development. Importantly, the current analysis uses a relatively new FD measure developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in addition to two proxies from the world bank to provide a wholesome outlook on FD. Additionally, among the numerous innovative approaches, it is crucial to consider the role of the government in various policy alternatives when developing an environmental plan for mitigating carbon emissions. In closing this gap, this study would moderate the impact of good governance in mitigating the adverse effect or otherwise of financial development on the environment. In deepening the moderation effect, the study uses subset categories of governance metrics that would better inform policy engagement as espoused by (Omri and Ben Mabrouk, 2020). The last shortcoming in the literature is often the scope of the investigation which is either country-specific or solely on economic blocs. However, this work bridges this gap through a comparative analysis of the three major economic blocs mentioned earlier. Thus, this work opens up an important step toward addressing the ongoing financing disparity between mitigation and adaptation initiatives arising from the discussion at cop26 (Mountford et al., 2021). Moreover, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of governance in mitigating the harmful influence of financial boom on ecosystems.We obtained data from the World Development Indicators (WDI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Governance Indicators (WGI). The starting period is chosen based on the data available for governance indicators. The definition and origin of the variables are listed in Table 1. Given that a balanced panal data is employed for the study, missing values especially for the governance indicators were computed by using linear interpolation. This computation approach essentially helps in estimating possible intermediate observations between available data values through a straight line between two available adjacent values (Meijering, 2002; Cox, 2005).Prior to the estimation of the main results of the study, a series of pre-estimation procedures were performed to ascertain the suitability of the dataset for the model estimation. To begin with, we performed the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test and Bartlett's sphericity test (BS) to investigate the importance of the study variables as proposed by the determining factors of CO2 emissions (Table 2). The results presented in Table 2 reveal that the estimated outcomes are within acceptable ranges. Fig. 1 presents the scree plot for the principal component analysis (PCA) and it supports that the independent variables are relevant in determining the dependent variables of the study

Nutrient composition, in vitro digestibility, and methane production of two tropical grasses: Effect of grazing frequency and plant spacing

This study aimed to evaluate the dry matter yield, nutrient composition, in vitro and methane produced from Megathyrsus maximus (Ntchisi) and Cenchrus purpureus grazed at two grazing frequency (3 and 6-week, (GF)) with two plant spacing (0.5 m x 1 m and 1 m x 1 m). The design of this experiment was split-split plot design in 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. Milled samples were analyzed for chemical composition, In vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), total gas production, methane (CH4) production, total volatile fatty acid content, content of acetate, butyrate, propionate and acetate: propionate ratio. The M. maximus grazed at 6-week GF with 1 m x 1 m spacing had the highest dry matter yield. The crude protein (CP) content of the grasses ranged from 104.24 – 181.35 g/kg DM with C. purpureus grazed at 3-week with 1 m x 1 m spacing ranked highest in CP content and protein fraction A, B1, and B2. Megathyrsus maximus at 6-week GF with 1 m x 1 m spacing produced the highest content of acid detergent fibre. Metabolizable energy (ME), short chain fatty acid and volume of gas produced at 48 h of incubation was highest for M. maximus grazed at 3-week GF with 0.5 m x 1 m spacing. Megathyrsus maximus at 3 and 6-week GF with 0.5 m x 1 m spacing displayed highest CH4 value. Acetate, propionate, and total volatile fatty acid were significantly (P<0.05) highest for M. maximus grazed at 6-week with 0.5 m x 1 m spacing

\u3cem\u3eIn vitro\u3c/em\u3e Digestibility and Methane Production of Two Tropical Grasses: Plant Spacing and Grazing Frequency

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of plant spacing and grazing frequency on the in vitro gas production, digestibility, and methane production of Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) and Elephant grass (Cenchrus purpureus) in the humid southwest part of Nigeria. The experiment was laid in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement in a split-split-plot design with three replicates, which consisted of two grazing frequency (3 and 6-week) as the main plot, two grass species: Guinea grass (M. maximus) and Elephant grass (C. purpureus) as the sub plot and two plant spacing (1m x 1m and 0.5m x 1m) as the sub-sub plot. A total area of 2496 m2 of an existing plot established April 2019 was used in conducting this experiment. In May 2020, the grasses were cut back at the commencement of this experiment to 15cm above ground surface and NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer was applied 8 days after cut back at the rate of 120 kg N/ha. The result showed a significant (Pin vitro gas production, digestibility (IVDMD) and methane gas production. The CP content of C. purpureus (18.14 %) grazed at 3-week GF with 1 m x 1 m spacing was significantly (PM. maximus grazed at 3-week at the narrower spacing with the IVDMD been the highest (64.53% DM) and the least gas volume was produced by C. purpureus grazed at 3-week with a narrower spacing, whereas the least digested was C. purpureus grazed at 6-week with narrower spacing. The methane production of C. purpureus grazed at 3-week with wider spacing was the least (5.53 ml/200mg DM) while the highest methane was produced by M. maximus also grazed at 3-week with 0.5m x 1m spacing though not statistically (P\u3e0.05) different from the methane of same species with same plant spacing at 6-week grazing frequency. It can be concluded that grazing at 3-week grazing frequency and narrower spacing will help reduce methane for C. purpureus and improve digestibility for M. maximus

The seasonality of tuberculosis, sunlight, vitamin D, and household crowding.

BACKGROUND: Unlike other respiratory infections, tuberculosis diagnoses increase in summer. We performed an ecological analysis of this paradoxical seasonality in a Peruvian shantytown over 4 years. METHODS: Tuberculosis symptom-onset and diagnosis dates were recorded for 852 patients. Their tuberculosis-exposed cohabitants were tested for tuberculosis infection with the tuberculin skin test (n = 1389) and QuantiFERON assay (n = 576) and vitamin D concentrations (n = 195) quantified from randomly selected cohabitants. Crowding was calculated for all tuberculosis-affected households and daily sunlight records obtained. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of vitamin D measurements revealed deficiency (<50 nmol/L). Risk of deficiency was increased 2.0-fold by female sex (P < .001) and 1.4-fold by winter (P < .05). During the weeks following peak crowding and trough sunlight, there was a midwinter peak in vitamin D deficiency (P < .02). Peak vitamin D deficiency was followed 6 weeks later by a late-winter peak in tuberculin skin test positivity and 12 weeks after that by an early-summer peak in QuantiFERON positivity (both P < .04). Twelve weeks after peak QuantiFERON positivity, there was a midsummer peak in tuberculosis symptom onset (P < .05) followed after 3 weeks by a late-summer peak in tuberculosis diagnoses (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The intervals from midwinter peak crowding and trough sunlight to sequential peaks in vitamin D deficiency, tuberculosis infection, symptom onset, and diagnosis may explain the enigmatic late-summer peak in tuberculosis

Adsorption of Pb2+, Co2+, and Cd2+ from Aqueous Solution Using Nitric Acid Modified Kola Nut Husk Adsorbent

The potential of nitric acid modified kola nut pod adsorbent (MKNP) in removing selected heavy metals such as lead (Pb2+), cobalt (Co2+), and cadmium (Cd2+) ions from aqueous solution was investigated. FTIR spectra before and after the adsorption indicates the presence of functional groups such as hydroxyl and carboxylic acid which are responsible for its surface chemistry. The percentage removal largely depends on pH, contact time and temperature. The results showed that metal ions removal at optimum pH, contact time and temperature were: (Pb2+: 89.58, 97.04, 97.11%); (Co2+: 77.53, 75.17, 65.42%), and (Cd2+: 96.99, 97.06, 96.94%) respectively. The thermodynamic studies revealed that the enthalpy change was negative across the initial metal ion concentrations, indicating that the adsorption process was exothermic. The Gibb’s free energy change (∆G) values at all temperatures (298, 313, 328, 343 and 358K) were also negative, indicating that the adsorption process was spontaneous and feasible. Kinetics parameters obtained showed that pseudo-second order was obeyed throughout the adsorption process. In conclusion, from the favorability of the adsorption process, MKNP would be an efficient, eco-friendly and cheap adsorbent in removing toxic heavy metals ions from wastewater and industrial effluents

Patients infected by tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus facing their disease, their reactions to disease diagnosis and its implication about their families and communities, in Burkina Faso: a mixed focus group and cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: Patients facing tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection receive particular care. Despite efforts in the care, misconceptions about TB and HIV still heavily impact patients, their families and communities. This situation severely limits achievement of TB and HIV programs goals. This study reports current situation of TB patients and patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) facing their disease and its implications, by comparing results from both qualitative and quantitative study design. METHODS: Cross sectional study using mixed methods was used and excluded patients co-infected by TB and HIV. Focus group included 96 patients (6 patients per group) stratified by setting, disease profile and gender; from rural (Orodara Health District) and urban (Bobo Dioulasso) areas, all from Hauts-Bassins region in Burkina Faso. Quantitative study included 862 patients (309 TB patients and 553 PLWHA) attending TB and HIV care facilities in two main regions (Hauts-Bassins and Centre) of Burkina Faso. RESULTS: A content analysis of reports found TB patients and PLWHA felt discriminated and stigmatized because of misconceptions with its aftermaths (rejection, emotional and financial problems), mainly among PLWHA and women patients. PLWHA go to healers when facing limited solutions in health system. There are fewer associations for TB patients, and less education and sensitization sessions to give them opportunity for sharing disease status and learning from other TB patients. TB patients and PLWHA still need to better understand their disease and its implication. Access to care (diagnosis and treatment) remains one of the key issues in health system, especially for PLWHA. Individual counseling is centered among PLWHA but not for TB patients. With research progress and experiences sharing, TB patients and PLWHA have some hope to implement their life project, and to receive psychosocial and nutritional support. CONCLUSION: Despite international aid, TB patients and PLWHA are facing misconceptions effects. There is a need to reinforce health education towards patients and healers, inside community, health centers and associations, and for specific settings. International aid must be adapted to specific targets and strategies implementing programs. Maintaining psychosocial and nutritional support is crucial for better outcomes of medication adherence. Individual counseling has to be centered among TB patients and PLWHA