Increasing coverage of insecticide-treated nets in rural Nigeria: implications of consumer knowledge, preferences and expenditures for malaria prevention

BACKGROUND: The coverage of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) remains low despite existing distribution strategies, hence, it was important to assess consumers' preferences for distribution of ITNs, as well as their perceptions and expenditures for malaria prevention and to examine the implications for scaling-up ITNs in rural Nigeria. METHODS: Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) and questionnaires to 798 respondents from three malaria hyper-endemic villages from Enugu state, south-east Nigeria were the study tools. RESULTS: There was a broad spectrum of malaria preventive tools being used by people. The average monthly expenditure on malaria prevention per household was 55.55 Naira ($0.4). More than 80% of the respondent had never purchased any form of untreated mosquito net. People mostly preferred centralized community-based sales of the ITNS, with instalment payments. CONCLUSION: People were knowledgeable about malaria and the beneficial effects of using nets to protect themselves from the disease. The mostly preferred community-based distribution of ITNs implies that the strategy is a potential untapped additional channel for scaling-up ITNs in Nigeria and possibly other parts of sub-Saharan Africa

Ionization Driven Fragmentation of Gas Outflows Responsible for FeLoBALs in Quasars

We show that time variations in the UV ionizing continuum of quasars, on scales of $\sim$1 year, affect the dynamic structure of the plasmas responsible for low ionization broad absorption lines. Variations of the ionizing continuum produce non-equilibrium photoionization conditions over a significant fraction of the absorbing clouds and supersonically moving ionization fronts. When the flux drops the contraction of the ionized region drives a supersonic cooling front towards the radiation source and a rarefaction wave in the opposite direction. The pressure imbalance is compensated by an increased speed of the cool gas relative to the front. When the flux recovers the cool gas is re-ionized and re-heated by a supersonic ionization front traveling away from the radiation source and a forward shock is created. The reheated clouds equilibrate to a temperature of $\sim 10^4$ K and are observed to have different radial velocities than the main cloud. Such fragmentation seems consistent with the multicomponent structure of troughs seen in some objects. The velocity differences measured among various components in the quasars QSO 2359--1241 and SDSS J0318--0600 can be reproduced by our model if strong magnetic fields ($\sim$10 mG) are present within the clouds.Comment: 2 figure, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Malaria treatment perceptions, practices and influences on provider behaviour: comparing hospitals and non-hospitals in south-east Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>People seek treatment for malaria from a wide range of providers ranging from itinerant drug sellers to hospitals. However, there are lots of problems with treatment provision. Hence, factors influencing treatment provision in hospitals and non-hospitals require further investigation in order to remedy the situation.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To examine the knowledge, pattern of treatment provision and factors influencing the behaviour of hospitals and non-hospitals in the treatment of malaria, so as to identify loci for interventions to improve treatment of the disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 225 providers from hospitals and non-hospitals about their malaria treatment practices and factors that influence their provision of malaria treatment services in south-east Nigeria. The data from hospitals and other providers were compared for systematic differences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>73.5% of hospitals used microscopy to diagnose malaria and only 34.5.1% of non-hospitals did (p < 0.05). Majority of the respondents considered ability to pay bills (35.2%), already existing relationship (9.4%) and body mechanism (35.2%) of the patient before they provided malaria treatment services. Pressure from wholesalers to providers to repay the cost of supplied drugs was the major influence of the type of drugs provided to patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There are many challenges to appropriate provision of malaria treatment services, although challenges are less in hospitals compared to other types of non-hospitals. Improving proper diagnosis of malaria and improving the knowledge of providers about malaria are interventions that could be used to improve malaria treatment provision.</p

Consumers stated and revealed preferences for community health workers and other strategies for the provision of timely and appropriate treatment of malaria in southeast Nigeria

BACKGROUND: The African Heads of State meeting in Abuja, Nigeria on Roll Back Malaria adopted effective treatment of malaria nearer the home as one of the strategies for malaria control in Africa. A potentially effective strategy for bringing early, appropriate and low cost treatment of malaria closer to the home is through the use of community health workers (CHWs). There is paucity of information about people's actual preferences for CHWs and how stated preferences relates to revealed preferences for both the CHW strategy and other strategies for improving the timeliness of malaria treatment in not only Nigeria but in many malaria endemic countries. OBJECTIVES: To determine peoples' stated and actual preferences for different strategies for improving the timeliness and appropriateness of treatment of malaria before and after the implementation of a community health workers (CHW) strategy in their community. METHODS: A prospective study was undertaken in a rural malaria holo-endemic Nigerian community. A questionnaire was used to collect information on health-seeking from householders before (first survey) and after (second survey) implementation of a CHW malaria treatement strategy. RESULTS: The consumers mostly preferred the CHW strategy over self-treatment in the homes and other strategies of treatment. The use of community health workers (CHWs) increased from 0% to 26.1% (p < 0.05), while self-treatment in the homes decreased from 9.4% to 0% (p < 0.05) after the implementation of the CHW strategy. Use of patent medicine dealers also decreased from 44.8% to 17.9% (p < 0.05) after CHW strategy was implemented. CONCLUSION: Community health workers can be used to improve and ensure timely and appropriate treatment of malaria. The CHW strategy could also be sustained since it was preferred and used by consumers over self-treatment in the homes as well as other strategies for improving treatment. Hence, the CHW strategy is a feasible and promising method of improving home-management of uncomplicated malaria

The role of honey in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a review of literature

The use of honey in the control of hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus is a current option being explored globally. Honey bees which are named in Latin as Apis, use the collected nectar from plants to produce honey after regurgitation and digestion of nectar. Carbohydrate constitutes about 80% of the components of honey. It includes monosaccharides [fructose (37.5%) and glucose (30.6%), disaccharides (sucrose (1.6%) and maltose (2.7%)] and oligosaccharides. Natural honey also contains water (17.2%), proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, acids such as flavonoids, phenolic acids and other components. Honey is rich in antioxidant content and these antioxidant compounds function as endogenous cellular antioxidant defences against free radicals in diabetes mellitus. Antioxidants have also been shown to exert a beneficial effects on blood glucose. Fructose and other bioactive constituents of honey have also been linked with amelioration of hyperglycemia. Besides the beneficial effects of honey on blood glucose, honey is widely used in the management of diabetic foot ulcers, an important complication of diabetes mellitus. The wound-healing benefits of honey are attributed to its antioxidant constituents and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Though additional studies are needed, the use of honey in the management of diabetes mellitus holds much promise

Chandra High Energy Grating Observations of the Fe Ka Line Core in Type 2 Seyfert Galaxies: A Comparison with Type 1 Nuclei

We present a study of the core of the Fe Ka emission line at ~6.4 keV in a sample of type II Seyfert galaxies observed by the Chandra High Energy Grating (HEG). The sample consists of 29 observations of 10 unique sources. We present measurements of the Fe Ka line parameters with the highest spectral resolution currently available. In particular, we derive the most robust intrinsic line widths for some of the sources in the sample to date. We obtained a weighted mean FWHM of 2000 \pm 160 km/s for 8 out of 10 sources (the remaining sources had insufficient signal-to-noise). From a comparison with the optical emission-line widths obtained from spectropolarimetric observations, we found that the location of Fe Ka line-emitting material is a factor of ~0.7-11 times the size of the optical BLR. Furthermore, compared to 13 type I AGNs for which the best Fe Ka line FWHM constraints were obtained, we found no difference in the FWHM distribution or the mean FWHM, and this conclusion is independent of the central black hole mass. This result suggests that the bulk of the Fe Ka line emission may originate from a universal region at the same radius with respect to the gravitational radius, ~30,000 Rg on average. By examining the correlation between the Fe Ka luminosity and the [O IV] line luminosity, we found a marginal difference in the Fe K line flux between type I and type II AGNs, but the spread in the ratio of L(Fe) to L([O IV]) is about two orders of magnitude. Our results confirm the theoretical expectation that the Fe Ka emission-line luminosity cannot trivially be used as a proxy of the intrinsic AGN luminosity, unless a detailed comparison of the data with proper models is applied.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, and 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Pharmacological effect of walnuts consumption on metabolic syndrome: a current view

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide (WHO, 2017). In addition to the global and national morbidity and mortality burdens of the disease, it imposes a substantial economic burden on society. The American heart association predicts that by 2035, 45% of Americans will suffer from CVD with costs expected to reach $1.1 trillion annually. Clinical trials have demonstrated that a nut-containing diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, while high in poly and monounsaturated fatty acids has a beneficial effect on plasma lipids and lipoproteins when compared with either a low fat or average American diet. Other bioactive compounds present in walnuts, including micronutrients, fiber, and phytochemicals, may also contribute to their cardio protective effect by reducing inflammation, improving vascular reactivity, and lowering oxidative stress. It has been demonstrated that the consumption of walnuts resulted in significant reduction in body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat, increased lean body mass and an increased amount of water in the body. A large population cohort study also demonstrated a marked reduction in body weight and other anthropometric parameters in people on regular consumption of walnuts

Constraining spins of supermassive black holes from TeV variability. II. fully general relativistic calculations

The fast variability of energetic TeV photons from the center of M87 has been detected, offering a new clue to estimate spins of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We extend the study of Wang et al. (2008) by including all of general relativistic effects. We numerically solve the full set of relativistic hydrodynamical equations of the radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAFs) and then obtain the radiation fields around the black hole. The optical depth of the radiation fields to TeV photons due to pair productions are calculated in the Kerr metric. We find that the optical depth strongly depends on: (1) accretion rates as \tautev\propto \dot{M}^{2.5-5.0}; (2) black hole spins; and (3) location of the TeV source. Jointly considering the optical depth and the spectral energy distribution radiated from the RIAFs, the strong degeneration of the spin with the other free parameters in the RIAF model can be largely relaxed. We apply the present model to M87, wherein the RIAFs are expected to be at work, and find that the minimum specific angular momentum of the hole is $a\sim0.8$. The present methodology is applicable to M87-like sources with future detection of TeV emissions to constrain the spins of SMBHs.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Minor typos corrected. published version in Ap

Effects of Agro-based Adsorbents on the Biochemical Profiles of Wistar Rats Exposed to Cyanide

Background: Cyanide is a very toxic chemical that reacts with the ferric cytochrome oxidase in the mitochondrial system to form a stable complex. This complex inhibits the process of oxidative phosphorylation, thereby interrupting aerobic respiration in the organism. It is postulated that activated charcoal (AC) intercepts the ingested cyanide in the gastrointestinal tract before it is absorbed into the system. Methods: A single dose of 3 mg/kg body weight of potassium cyanide (KCN) was orally administered to the rats in each of the five groups, each consisting of 6 rats. After 15 minutes, all rats in each group were given AC from different agro-based materials. The control group (group 1) received standard commercial AC orally at 1 g/kg. group 2 received AC from plantain peels, group 3 received AC from castor oil seed shell, group 4 received AC from coconut shell and group 5 received a combination of AC from plantain peels, castor oil seed shell, and coconut shell. Blood samples were collected sequentially from rats in each group for biochemical assays using standard procedures. Results: The control group, which received KCN and standard commercial AC, exhibited the highest alanine transaminase (ALT) value (60.09±0.10 U/L) on day seven. Similarly, the highest aspartate transaminase (AST) value (196.28±0.72 U/L) was observed in the control group. Alkaline phosphate (ALP) levels followed a similar pattern. On day seven, the serum creatinine levels were 3.81±0.11 mg/dL for group 1 and 3.45±0.05 mg/dL for group 5. Subsequently, all biochemical parameters decreased after day 7, with the lowest levels recorded in rats that received AC derived from coconut shells. Conclusion: The administration of locally prepared agro-based adsorbents to Wistar rats after exposure to sublethal doses of cyanide significantly mitigated the effects of the cyanide on the liver, kidneys, and heart, as indicated by the biochemical parameters of the albino Wistar rats in the study

A Correlation Between the Ionization State of the Inner Accretion Disk and the Eddington Ratio of Active Galactic Nuclei

X-ray reflection features observed from the innermost regions of accretion disks in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) allow important tests of accretion theory. In recent years it has been possible to use the Fe K line and reflection continuum to parametrize the ionization state of the irradiated inner accretion disk. Here, we collect 10 measurements of xi, the disk ionization parameter, from 8 AGNs with strong evidence for reflection from the inner accretion disk and good black hole mass estimates. We find strong statistical evidence (98.56% confidence) for a nearly linear correlation between xi and the AGN Eddington ratio. Moreover, such a correlation is predicted by a simple application of alpha-disk accretion theory, albeit with a stronger dependence on the Eddington ratio. The theory shows that there will be intrinsic scatter to any correlation as a result of different black hole spins and radii of reflection. There are several possibilities to soften the predicted dependence on the Eddington ratio to allow a closer agreement with the observed correlation, but the current data does not allow for an unique explanation. The correlation can be used to estimate that MCG-6-30-15 should have a highly ionized inner accretion disk, which would imply a black hole spin of ~0.8. Additional measurements of xi from a larger sample of AGNs are needed to confirm the existence of this correlation, and will allow investigation of the accretion disk/corona interaction in the inner regions of accretion disks.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Ap