Influence of ARVs on Some Biochemical Changes in Liver Non Enzymatic Markers of HIV Positive Patients Attending Specialist Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria

Both HIV infection and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are associated with abnormalities of liver function, revealed by both enzymatic and non-enzymatic markers. This study evaluated the effect of HIV infection and antiretroviral drugs on the liver non enzymatic marker (total and direct bilirubin, total protein and albumin level) of HIV positive patients (pre-highly active antiretroviral therapy and those on therapies) attending the voluntary counselling and testing units in the state. Seventy five subjects were enrolled into the study, which constituted 25 HIV negative individuals (control group), 25 HIV positive patient not on antiretroviral therapy and 25 on the therapy. Bilirubin, albumin, total protein and CD4 cell count were determined using standard methods. Significantly (p<0.05) higher level of total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and total protein in the HIV positive non-treated with ARVs was observed compared to the control group. At the initiation of antiretroviral therapy the levels of the three parameters were lower, though statistically not significant except for total protein. Albumin level and CD4 cell count were significantly (p<0.05) lower in the non-treated group compared to the control subjects. But at the initiation of therapy the serum levels of Albumin and CD4 count was significantly (p<0.05) higher except for albumin level. HIV infection lowers the level of liver non enzymatic markers, which increase at the initiation of antiretroviral therapy.Keywords: Bilirubin, Albumin, Total protein and CD4 cel

Impacts of User Education on Users’ Awareness, Accessibility and Use of Information Resources and Services in Federal Polytechnic Ede Library, Osun State, Nigeria

This study investigated the impacts of user education on users’ awareness, accessibility and use of information resources and services in Federal Polytechnic Ede Library. The study employed a survey research design. The population of this study consisted of all registered student users of the library totaling 6,000; 10% of the entire population amounting 600 was used for the study. The random sampling technique was adopted. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Out of the 600 copies of questionnaire distributed, 517 (86.2%) were retrieved and found valid for analysis. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study show that, user education programmes of the library do not have any significant impact on the users’ awareness, accessibility and utilization of the collections and services in the library due to several challenges among which are; over dependence on one day orientation and lack of examinable library instruction. It was therefore recommended among others, that the Polytechnic Library Management should liaise with the Management of the Institution to ensure immediate commencement of “use of library” as a compulsory, credit-bearing and examinable course for all new students of the institution

Undiagnosed Hypertension and Proteinuria in a Market Population in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Introduction: Hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common in our urban and rural communities but the majority of affected individuals are not aware of their condition. We conducted free medical examination and screening during one of the market days in Odo-Ogbe market, Ile-Ife, Nigeria to evaluate the magnitude of undiagnosed hypertension and proteinuria. Methods: Participants were taken through a brief medical history and had their socio-demographic data taken. Weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Blood pressure (BP) was measured using a mercury sphygmomanometer and urinalysis was done with the aid of dipstick test. Results: A total of 286 participants aged 13-90 years (Mean 49.5 ± 15.7 years) were screened. Females constituted 90.2% of the study population. One-hundred and eight (37.7%) of participants had hypertension and only 20 (6.7%) were previously diagnosed. Sixty-nine participants (24.1%) had stage-1 hypertension while 39 (13.6%) had stage-2 hypertension. Fifty-nine percent of participants had BMI above 25 kg/m2. Eighty five participants (29.7%) had proteinuria while only 13 (4.5%) had glycosuria. A significantly higher percentage of participants with stage-1 and stage-2 hypertension had proteinuria compared with non hypertensives. There was a positive correlation between age and BMI (r = 0.171, P = 0.004), age and systolic BP (r = 0.378, P < 0.0001) as well as age and diastolic BP (r = 0.197, P = 0.001). Conclusion: A high percentage of the studied population (31%) had undiagnosed hypertension and proteinuria (29.7%). Community screening for these disabling non communicable diseases and lifestyle modifications should be encouraged.Keywords: Africans; Blacks; Hypertension; Kidney Disease; Proteinuria; ESR

Trends in mortality by labour market position around retirement ages in three European countries with different welfare regimes

<p>Objectives: In the face of economic downturn and increasing life expectancy, many industrial nations are adopting a policy of postponing the retirement age. However, questions still remain around the consequence of working longer into old age. We examine mortality by work status around retirement ages in countries with different welfare regimes; Finland (social democratic), Turin (Italy; conservative), and England and Wales (liberal).</p> <p>Methods: Death rates and rate ratios (RRs) (reference rates = ‘in-work’), 1970 s–2000 s, were estimated for those aged 45–64 years using the England and Wales longitudinal study, Turin longitudinal study, and the Finnish linked register study.</p> <p>Results: Mortality of the not-in-work was consistently higher than the in-work. Death rates for the not-in-work were lowest in Turin and highest in Finland. Rate ratios were smallest in Turin (RR men 1972–76 1.73; 2002–06 1.63; women 1.22; 1.68) and largest in Finland (RR men 1991–95 3.03; 2001–05 3.80; women 3.62; 4.11). Unlike RRs for men, RRs for women increased in every country (greatest in Finland).</p> <p>Conclusions: These findings signal that overall, employment in later life is associated with lower mortality, regardless of welfare regime.</p&gt

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Prevent the Rejection of Fully Allogenic Islet Grafts by the Immunosuppressive Activity of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 and -9

OBJECTIVE Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to be capable of suppressing immune responses, but the molecular mechanisms involved and the therapeutic potential of MSCs remain to be clarified. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the immunosuppressive effects of MSCs in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Our results demonstrate that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) secreted by MSCs, in particular MMP-2 and MMP-9, play an important role in the suppressive activity of MSCs by reducing surface expression of CD25 on responding T-cells. Blocking the activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in vitro completely abolished the suppression of T-cell proliferation by MSCs and restored T-cell expression of CD25 as well as responsiveness to interleukin-2. In vivo, administration of MSCs significantly reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to allogeneic antigen and profoundly prolonged the survival of fully allogeneic islet grafts in transplant recipients. Significantly, these MSC-mediated protective effects were completely reversed by in vivo inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate that MSCs can prevent islet allograft rejection leading to stable, long-term normoglycemia. In addition, we provide a novel insight into the mechanism underlying the suppressive effects of MSCs on T-cell responses to alloantigen.</p

Earth Observation to Address Inequities in Post-Flood Recovery

Floods impact communities worldwide, resulting in loss of life, damaged infrastructure and natural assets, and threatened livelihoods. Climate change and urban development in flood-prone areas will continue to worsen flood-related losses, increasing the urgency for effective tools to monitor recovery. Many Earth Observation (EO) applications exist for flood-hazard monitoring and provide insights on location, timing, and extent in near real-time and historically to estimate flood risk. Less attention has been paid to flood recovery, even though differing recovery rates and outcomes can have immediate and enduring distributional effects within communities. EO data are uniquely positioned to monitor post-flood recovery and inform policy on hazard mitigation and adaptation but remain underutilized. We encourage the EO and flood research community to refocus on developing flood recovery applications to address growing risk. Translation of EO insights on flood recovery among flood-affected communities and decision-makers is necessary to address underlying social vulnerabilities that exacerbate inequitable recovery outcomes and advocate for redressing injustices where disparate recovery is observed. We identify an unequivocal need for EO to move beyond mapping flood hazard and exposure toward post-flood recovery monitoring to inform recovery across geographic contexts. This commentary proposes a framework for remote sensing scientists to engage community-based partners to integrate EO with non-EO data to advance flood recovery monitoring, characterize inequitable recovery, redistribute resources to mitigate inequities, and support risk reduction of future floods

In vivo conditional deletion of HDAC7 reveals its requirement to establish proper B lymphocyte identity and development

Class IIa histone deacetylase (HDAC) subfamily members are tissue-specific gene repressors with crucial roles in development and differentiation processes. A prominent example is HDAC7, a class IIa HDAC that shows a lymphoid-specific expression pattern within the hematopoietic system. In this study, we explored its potential role in B cell development by generating a conditional knockout mouse model. Our study demonstrates for the first time that HDAC7 deletion dramatically blocks early B cell development and gives rise to a severe lymphopenia in peripheral organs, while also leading to pro-B cell lineage promiscuity. We find that HDAC7 represses myeloid and T lymphocyte genes in B cell progenitors through interaction with myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEFC2). In B cell progenitors, HDAC7 is recruited to promoters and enhancers of target genes, and its absence leads to increased enrichment of histone active marks. Our results prove that HDAC7 is a bona fide transcriptional repressor essential for B cell development

Positive and negative effects of antipsychotic medication: an international online survey of 832 recipients

Background: Antipsychotic medication is currently the treatment of choice for psychosis, but few studies directly survey the first hand experience of recipients. Objectives: To ascertain the experiences and opinions of users of an international sample of antipsychotic drugs regarding positive and negative effects. Method: An online direct-to-consumer questionnaire was completed by 832 users of antipsychotics, from 30 countries – predominantly USA, UK and Australia. This is the largest such sample to date. Results: Over half (56%) thought the drugs reduced the problems they were prescribed for, but 27% thought they made them worse. Slightly less people found the drugs generally ‘Helpful’ (41%) than found them ‘Unhelpful’ (43%). While 35% reported that their ‘quality of life’ was ‘improved’, 54% reported that it was made ‘worse’. The average number of adverse effects reported was 11, with an average of five at the ‘severe’ level. Fourteen effects were reported by 57% or more participants, most commonly: ‘Drowsiness, feeling tired, sedation’ (92%), ‘Loss of motivation’ (86%), ‘Slowed thoughts’ (86%), and ‘Emotional numbing’ (85%). Suicidality was reported to be a side effect by 58%. Older people reported particularly poor outcomes and high levels of adverse effects. Duration of treatment was unrelated to positive outcomes but significantly related to negative outcomes. Most respondents (70%) had tried to stop taking the drugs. The most common reasons people wanted to stop were the side effects (64%) and worries about long-term physical health (52%). Most (70%) did not recall being told anything at all about side effects. Conclusions Clinical implications are discussed, with a particular focus on the principles of informed consent, and involving patients in decision making about their own lives

New Strategies for Research in Clinical Practice: A focus on self–harm.

This article suggests new ways of approaching clinical-based research in an era of evidence-based practice. Using the example of self-harm, we identify three distinct problems with current dominant approaches to research in this area. These include insufficient clarity about target issues, an overreliance on predetermined outcomes which prioritise behavioural measures (such as self-harm cessation) and an undue focus on treatment techniques. We argue that clinical research requires flexible, user-centred and practice-based methods, informed by a focus on principles instead of techniques. Therefore, we outline key practice-based principles that we argue need to be embedded within clinical research strategies. We then demonstrate how traditional behavioural approaches to research can be enriched with more qualitative cognitive and emotionally based data. We conclude that such strategies provide thickened, meaningful and context-specific research which is more relevant for service commissioners, clinicians and service users