Pattern of presentation of oral health conditions by children at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu: A retrospective study

Aim: The study aimed to determine the pattern of occurrence of oral conditions among children that attended the Child Dental Health clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu over a 45 months period.Materials and Methods: Clinical records of 305 patients, aged 3 days to 16 years, who attended the Child Dental Health Clinic of the UNTH from April 2008 to December 2011 were retrieved and analyzed.Results: Out of a total of 305 children who visited the Child Dental Health Clinic within this period, there were 148 (48.5%) males and 157 (51.5%) females. The ages ranged from 3 days to 16 years with a mean age of 9.05 years, only 4.6% made asymptomatic visit while 95.4% made symptomatic visit. 68.2% had caries and its sequeale, with no significant difference across the gender (P = 1.472). Nearly 91.1% had periodontal diseases, with a significant difference noted (P = 0.020) 2% had tooth developmental anomalies, 10.5% had traumatic dental injuries, 12.1% had malocclusion and other esthetic problems, 15.1% had other oral pathologies, 14.4% had abnormalities of tooth eruption.Conclusion: A significant 95.4% of the children made symptomatic visit. Periodontal disease was the most prevalent finding followed by dental caries. There is an urgent need to increase dental health awareness among children through school based continuing dental education program and also among other pediatric care givers such as parents, teachers, and pediatricians.Key words: Asymptomatic visits, oral health conditions, pattern of presentation, symptomati

Compliance of agrochemical marketers with banned cocoa pesticides in southwest Nigeria

This study investigated the compliance of marketers of agrochemicals with the approved and banned cocoa pesticides in selected cocoa producing states of southwest Nigeria. Primary data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected agrochemical marketers. All the marketers (100%) were aware of the recently banned cocoa pesticides, however, majority still have the pesticides in stock. About 70.6% of the marketers in Osun state and 58.8% in Ogun state stated that they did not receive information on the banned pesticides from government agencies but through other channels. More than half of the marketers (52.9% in Ogun, 55% in Kwara and 47.1% in Osun) strongly disagreed that government should place a ban on pesticides. Availability of banned pesticides in their stock, insufficient information from the concerned government agricultural agencies, and fear of short supply of approved pesticides are among the reasons proffered by the marketers for not supporting the ban of pesticides. Relevant government regulatory agencies should conduct a comprehensive inventory of pesticides offered for sale by the marketers of agrochemicals. There should be massive public awareness programme, and wellcoordinated association for all the marketers of agrochemicals. Agrochemical manufacturers should translate instructions and warnings on pesticide labels to local languages understood by the farmers.U ovom radu je istraživana usaglašenost prodavaca agrohemikalija sa odobrenim i zabranjenim pesticidima koji se koriste u državama jugozapadne Nigerije koje prizvode kakao. Primarni podaci su prikupljeni pomoću struktuiranog upitnika koji je podeljen slučajno odabranim prodavcima agrohemikalija. Svi prodavci (100%) su bili upoznati sa nedavno zabranjenim pesticidima za kakao, ali ipak većina njih i dalje ima te pesticide u ponudi. Oko 70,6% prodavaca u državi Osun i 58,8% u državi Ogun je navelo da nisu dobili nikakvu informaciju u vezi sa zabranjenim pesticidima od vladinih agencija, već putem drugih kanala. Više od polovine prodavaca (52,9% u državi Ogun, 55% u državi Kwara i 47,1% u državi Osun) se oštro usprotivila tome da vlada treba da stavi zabranu na pesticide. Dostupnost zabranjenih pesticida u skladištima, nedovoljno informacija od odgovarajućih vladinih agencija za poljoprivredu, kao i strah od nestašice odobrenih pesticida su među razlozima za nepodržavanje zabrane korišćenja pesticida koje su naveli prodavci. Relevantne vladine regulacione agencije treba da sastave svebuhvatan spisak pesticida koje prodaju prodavci agrohemikalijama. Takođe bi trebalo obezbediti i program o javnoj svesti, kao i dobro koordinisano udruženje za sve prodavce agrohemikalija. Proizvođači agrohemikalija bi trebalo da prevedu uputstva i upozorenja na etiketama koje se nalaze na ambalažama pesticida na lokalne jezike koje poljoprivrednici razumeju.http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AGShb201

Safety of maintaining elective and emergency surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic with the introduction of a Protected Elective Surgical Unit (PESU): A cross-specialty evaluation of 30-day outcomes in 9,925 patients undergoing surgery in a University Health Board

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented health care challenges mandating surgical service reconfiguration. Within our hospital, emergency and elective streams were separated and self-contained Protected Elective Surgical Units were developed to mitigate against infection-related morbidity. Aims of this study were to determine the risk of COVID-19 transmission and mortality and whether the development of Protected Elective Surgical Units can result in significant reduction in risk. Methods A retrospective observational study of consecutive patients from 18 specialties undergoing elective or emergency surgery under general, spinal, or epidural anaesthetic over a 12-month study period was undertaken. Primary outcome measures were 30-day postoperative COVID-19 transmission rate and mortality. Secondary adjusted analyses were performed to ascertain hospital and Protected Elective Surgical Unit transmission rates. Results Between 15 March 2020 and 14 March 2021, 9,925 patients underwent surgery: 6,464 (65.1%) elective, 5,116 (51.5%) female, and median age 57 (39–70). A total of 69.5% of all procedures were performed in Protected Elective Surgical Units. Overall, 30-day postoperative COVID-19 transmission was 2.8% (3.4% emergency vs 1.2% elective P  70, male sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade > 2, and emergency surgery were all independently associated with mortality. Conclusion This study has demonstrated that Protected Elective Surgical Units can facilitate high-volume elective surgical services throughout peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic while minimising viral transmission and mortality. However, mortality risk associated with perioperative COVID-19 infection remains high

Design of Compact Signal Distribution Device for Hoffman Reflex Methodologic Applications in Sports Medicine

A study is presented on the design of compact sized signal distribution device for Hoffman reflex methodological applications in sports medicine. Established conventional method for measuring and recording human or animal nervous system response to external electrical stimulus was considered in this study. Challenges with measuring and recording techniques which introduces inaccuracies and unreliability of reflex response data obtained was analyzed, this work is aimed at improving the reliability of H-reflex d measuring and recording technique for the purpose of reducing inaccuracies introduced to data obtained because of conventional methodologic approach. Inaccuracies due to changes in subject muscle geometry and body part positioning was considered and method was devised to expand the stimulus signal delivery channels to cover entire limb length. Expanded output channels was achieved through designed signal distribution device which offers low impedance (≤ 150mΩ), low power dissipation (≤ 200mW), low inductance(≤1.00mH) and low resistance(≤100mΩ) signal travel path. The distribution sequence of the signal was controlled by Arduino controller in conjunction with multiplexer which determines the signal travel path through relay activation process. The device was tested with 5v input signal, data obtained establishes the minimum effective signal processing speed for the device to be 20ms.This processing time is lower than required processing speed (100ms), hence distributed stimulus was effectively distributed through the output channels of designed device. Device performance was evaluated in simulated environment by testing real electric stimulus from constant current stimulator at both minimum current amplitude (1mA), voltage amplitude (100v), pulse duration (50μs) and maximum current amplitude (10mA), voltage amplitude (400v), pulse duration (2ms) tested on simulated human body resistance and response at each setting monitored on oscilloscope. Results obtained confirms all expectations as designed device was able to deliver electric stimulus to the simulated human body resistance set up with minimum signal propagation delay at 75mΩ average resistance. Incorporation of designed multi-channel device in the methodological delivery of stimulus to human muscle was established to significantly improve reliability of response data obtained. Details of the methodology, simulation and real-time implementation results are presented and recommendation for future work briefly outlined

Orthogonal-Based Second Order Hybrid Initial Value Problem Solver

This work focuses on development of an initial value problem solver by employing a new class of orthogonal polynomial, the basis function. We present the recursive formula of the class of polynomials constructed and adopt collocation technique to develop the method. The method was analyzed for its basic properties and findings show that the method is accurate and convergent.AMS Subject Classification: 65L05, 65L06 Keywords: Orthogonal polynomials, Algorithm, Block method, Collocation, Interpolation, Zero-Stable