The nutritive value of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and its utilisation in fish feed

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Occupational Lyme Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lyme disease (LD) can have significant consequences for the health of workers. The frequency of infection can be estimated by using prevalence and incidence data on antibodies against Borrelia Burgdoferi (BB). A systematic search of studies published in English between 2002 and 2021 and a meta-analysis were conducted in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. Out of a total of 1125 studies retrieved, 35 articles were included in the systematic review. Overall, in these studies, outdoor workers showed a 20.5% BB seroprevalence rate. Meta-analysis, performed on 15 studies (3932 subjects), revealed a significantly increased risk in outdoor activities (OR 1.93 95%CI 1.15–3.23), with medium-level heterogeneity (I2 = 69.2%), and non-significant publication bias. The estimated OR in forestry and agricultural workers was 2.36 (CI95% 1.28; 4.34) in comparison with the controls, while a non-significant increase in risk (OR = 1.05, CI95% 0.28; 3.88) was found in the remaining categories of workers (veterinarians, animal breeders, soldiers). The estimated pooled risk was significantly higher in the studies published until 2010 (OR 3.03 95% CI 1.39–6.61), while in more recent studies the odds became non-significant (OR 1.08 95% CI 0.63–1.85). The promotion of awareness campaigns targeting outdoor workers in endemic areas, and the implementation of local programs aimed at controlling range expansion of vectors, are key strategies for protecting workers

Variations in modern contraceptive uptake and its correlates in South West and North East Nigeria: a comparative analysis

Background: Family planning programs are implemented specifically to address the sexual and reproductive health challenges of women of childbearing age but these interventions are yet to address regional differences in modern contraceptive usage in Nigeria. Hence, this study aimed to examine correlates of modern contraceptive uptake in South West and North Eastern, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional survey data for women aged 15-49 years was extracted from Nigeria demographic and health surveys 2018 (NDHS). Data analyses were based on a weighted sample of 10,907 (North East= 5406 and South West = 5501) women of reproductive age. The outcome variable was modern contraceptive use. The main explanatory variables were age, employment status, religion, Number of living children, education, and marital status. Frequency distribution, Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis (α=0.05).Results: The result showed the mean age of women of reproductive age in South West and North East to be 32years and 30 years respectively. More women in South West used modern contraceptive than women in North East. About 91.5% and 75.8% of women in North East and South West respectively did not used any modern method. The result showed that, in the South West, number of living children (OR:4.06, CI: 2.794-5.921), education (OR:1.35, CI: 1.045-1.754) and wealth index (OR:1.77, CI: 1.053-2.973) increased the odds of contraceptive uptake, while maternal age (OR:0.52, CI: 0.282-0.965), religion (OR:0.25, CI: 0.184-0.347) and place of residence (OR:0.68, CI: 0.504-0.916) significantly reduced the odds of modern contraceptive uptake in North East.Conclusions: This study concludes that there are regional variations in uptake and predictors of modern contraceptives use in Nigeria. Therefore, sexual and reproductive health interventions that considers the study’s significant variables should be put in place to increase uptake

Impact of air pollution on global burden of disease in 2019

Air pollution consisting of ambient air pollution and household air pollution (HAP) threatens health globally. Air pollution aggravates the health of vulnerable people such as infants, children, women, and the elderly as well as people with chronic diseases such as cardiorespiratory illnesses, little social support, and poor access to medical services. This study is aimed to estimate the impact of air pollution on global burden of disease (GBD). We extracted data about mortality and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to air pollution from 1990 to 2019. The extracted data were then organized and edited into a usable format using STATA version 15. Furthermore, we also estimated the impacts for three categories based on their socio-demographic index (SDI) as calculated by GBD study. The impacts of air pollution on overall burden of disease by SDI, gender, type of pollution, and type of disease is estimated and their trends over the period of 1990 to 2019 are presented. The attributable burden of ambient air pollution is increasing over the years while attributable burden of HAP is declining over the years, globally. The findings of this study will be useful for evidence-based planning for prevention and control of air pollution and reduction of burden of disease from air pollution at global, regional, and national levels

Assessment of Catfish Effluents Management in Lagos State, Nigeria

Catfish is one of the major sources of dietary protein in Nigeria. Lagos State is one of culturing areas with abundant fresh water and marine environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the catfish rearing industry and its effluents management and make appropriate recommendations. Forty fish farms were randomly selected in Lagos State for the study. Questionnaire and in-depth interview were used for data collection on water sources, equipment operations, and waste management. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that over 80% of water for fish rearing was from shallow wells and 95% of the waste water generated was not treated before disposal into the environment. Effluents disposals employed were open pit (12.5%), drainage canal (32.5%), bare-land (20.0%), stream (22.5%) and re-used on farm (12.5%) and these methods of disposal were not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). Only a few farmers carried out simple treatment before disposal namely; infiltration (2.5%) and sedimentation (2.5%). If the effluent management conditions were not improved, it could pose a threat to the environment in the study areas. Pond effluent must be treated before being disposed into the environment and waste water from fish pond effluent should be reused as irrigation water

Prevalence, risk factors and prevention of burnout syndrome among healthcare workers: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Introduction: Burnout syndrome (BOS) is a psychological syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. This umbrella review aimed to investigate BOS among healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses concerning the prevalence of BOS among physicians, nurses, medical students and other HCWs, and its associated factors was conducted across PubMed Central/Medline, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO and Epistemonikos databases. Only systematic reviews and meta-analyses from inception to 15 January 2020 and restricted to English language documents were included. Results: A total of 43 studies met the full inclusion criteria and were included. Among them, there were 3 meta-analyses, 26 systematic reviews, and 14 systematic reviews with meta-analysis. The prevalence of BOS was highest among nurses, younger persons, and trainees. The most frequent risk factors associated with BOS included stress, lack of family support, and organizational risk factors such as prolonged night shifts, length of experience, and exposure to traumatic events. Individual coping strategies such as exercise and communication with peers, and organizational strategies such as periodic review of shift schedule should be undertaken. Discussion: BOS has profound effects on the mental health states of HCWs. Individuals and the hospital authority need to pay specific attention to work-related stress risk factors to improve the psychological well-being of HCWs

Rainfall variability and drought characteristics in two agro-climatic zones: An assessment of climate change challenges in Africa

This paper aims at examining drought characteristics as an evidence of climate change in two agro-climatic zones of Nigeria and farmers' perceptions of impacts and adaptation strategies. The results show high spatial and temporal rainfall variability for the stations, in consequence, there are several anomalies in rainfall in recent years but much more in the locations around the Guinea savanna. The inter-station and seasonality statistics reveal less variable and wetter early growing seasons and late growing seasons in the Rainforest zone, and more variable and drier growing seasons in other stations. The probability (p) of dry spells exceeding 3, 5 and 10 consecutive days is very high with 0.62≤p≥0.8 in all the stations, though, the p-values for 10day spells drop below 0.6 in Ibadan and Osogbo. The results further show that rainfall is much more reliable from the month of May until July with the coefficient of variance for rainy days 0.30), though CV-RD appears higher in the month of August for all the stations. It is apparent that farmers' perceptions of drought fundamentally mirror climatic patterns from historical weather data. The study concludes that the adaptation facilities and equipment, hybrids of crops and animals are to be provided at a subsidized price by the government, for farmers to cope with the current condition of climate change

a-Amylase inhibition, anti-glycation property and characterization of the binding interaction of citric acid with a-amylase using multiple spectroscopic, kinetics and molecular docking approaches

The quest to suppress complications associated with diabetes mellitus is ever increasing, while food additives and preservatives are currently being considered to play additional roles besides their uses in food enhancement and preservation. In the present study, the protective prowess of a common food preservative (citric acid, CA) against advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation and its binding interaction mechanism with a-amylase (AMY), an enzyme linked with hyperglycemia management, were examined. Enzyme inhibition kinetics, intrinsic fluorescence, synchronous and 3D fluorescence spectroscopies, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermodynamics, and molecular docking analyses were employed. Results obtained showed that citric acid decreased a-amylase activity via mixed inhibition (IC50 = 5.01 ± 0.87 mM, Kic = 2.42 mM, Kiu = 160.34 mM) and suppressed AGEs formation (IC50 = 0.795 ± 0.001 mM). The intrinsic fluorescence of free a-amylase was quenched via static mechanism with high bimolecular quenching constant (Kq) and binding constant (Ka) values. Analysis of thermodynamic properties revealed that AMY-CA complex was spontaneously formed (DG DH), with involvement of electrostatic forces. UV–Vis, FT-IR and 3D fluorescence spectroscopies affirmed alterations in aamylase native conformation due to CA binding interaction. CA interacted with His-101, Asp-197, His- 299, and Glu-233 within AMY active site. Our findings indicated that CA could impair formation of AGEs and interact with a-amylase to slow down starch hydrolysis; vital properties in management of type 2 diabetes complications

Use of multidimensional item response theory methods for dementia prevalence prediction: an example using the Health and Retirement Survey and the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study

Background: Data sparsity is a major limitation to estimating national and global dementia burden. Surveys with full diagnostic evaluations of dementia prevalence are prohibitively resource-intensive in many settings. However, validation samples from nationally representative surveys allow for the development of algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence nationally. Methods: Using cognitive testing data and data on functional limitations from Wave A (2001–2003) of the ADAMS study (n = 744) and the 2000 wave of the HRS study (n = 6358) we estimated a two-dimensional item response theory model to calculate cognition and function scores for all individuals over 70. Based on diagnostic information from the formal clinical adjudication in ADAMS, we fit a logistic regression model for the classification of dementia status using cognition and function scores and applied this algorithm to the full HRS sample to calculate dementia prevalence by age and sex. Results: Our algorithm had a cross-validated predictive accuracy of 88% (86–90), and an area under the curve of 0.97 (0.97–0.98) in ADAMS. Prevalence was higher in females than males and increased over age, with a prevalence of 4% (3–4) in individuals 70–79, 11% (9–12) in individuals 80–89 years old, and 28% (22–35) in those 90 and older. Conclusions: Our model had similar or better accuracy as compared to previously reviewed algorithms for the prediction of dementia prevalence in HRS, while utilizing more flexible methods. These methods could be more easily generalized and utilized to estimate dementia prevalence in other national surveys

Global, Regional, and National Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived With Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for 29 Cancer Groups, 1990 to 2016: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study

Importance: The increasing burden due to cancer and other noncommunicable diseases poses a threat to human development, which has resulted in global political commitments reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan on Non-Communicable Diseases. To determine if these commitments have resulted in improved cancer control, quantitative assessments of the cancer burden are required. Objective: To assess the burden for 29 cancer groups over time to provide a framework for policy discussion, resource allocation, and research focus. Evidence Review: Cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were evaluated for 195 countries and territories by age and sex using the Global Burden of Disease study estimation methods. Levels and trends were analyzed over time, as well as by the Sociodemographic Index (SDI). Changes in incident cases were categorized by changes due to epidemiological vs demographic transition. Findings: In 2016, there were 17.2 million cancer cases worldwide and 8.9 million deaths. Cancer cases increased by 28% between 2006 and 2016. The smallest increase was seen in high SDI countries. Globally, population aging contributed 17%; population growth, 12%; and changes in age-specific rates, -1% to this change. The most common incident cancer globally for men was prostate cancer (1.4 million cases). The leading cause of cancer deaths and DALYs was tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer (1.2 million deaths and 25.4 million DALYs). For women, the most common incident cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths and DALYs was breast cancer (1.7 million incident cases, 535¿000 deaths, and 14.9 million DALYs). In 2016, cancer caused 213.2 million DALYs globally for both sexes combined. Between 2006 and 2016, the average annual age-standardized incidence rates for all cancers combined increased in 130 of 195 countries or territor. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Large disparities exist between countries in cancer incidence,deaths, and associated disability. Scaling up cancer prevention and ensuring universal access to cancer care are required for health equity and to fulfill the global commitments fornoncommunicable disease and cancer control.The Institute for Health Metricsand Evaluation received funding from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation