Reaction of Pearl Millet Infected with Downy Mildew (Sclerospora Graminicola (Sacc.) Schroet) Intercropped Cowpea with on Days to 50% Heading and Grain Yield in the Savanna Zone of Northern Nigeria

Field trials were carried out at the Teaching and Research farm of Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil with three pearl millet varieties in 2003, 2004 and 2005 rainy seasons to find out the reaction of cowpea intercropped with pearl millet infected with downy mildew on days to 50% heading and grain yield. The experiment was a 3 x 2 factorial in randomized blocks of six plots with three pearl millet varieties (LCIC 9702, Ex-Borno and Zango) and each variety was intercropped with a cowpea and planted sole making six treatments. Data collected on days to 50% heading and grain yield were subjected to T-test for the separation of means of sole and intercropped to bring out the differences between them at 1% and 5% levels of significance. Results showed that intercropped LCIC pearl millet variety had significantly (P≤0.05) more days to 50% heading than other varieties either planted sole or intercropped in 2004. Similarly, from the combined result, it showed that intercropped LCIC pearl millet variety had significantly (P≤0.05) more days to 50% heading than other varieties either solely planted or intercropped. Maximum grain yield was however obtained from sole Zango and intercropped LCIC 9702 pearl millet varieties. Combined result shows only intercropped LCIC 9702 had significantly (P≤0.05) maximum grain yield than other pearl millet varieties. It is imperative to grow sole LCIC 9702 pearl millet variety than intercropped with cowpea for less number of days to 50% heading. But for maximum grain yield, it is advisable to grow sole Zango and intercrop LCIC 9702 with cowpea.&#160

Cancer of the Cervix in Unscreened West African Women

Background: Cancer of the cervix remains an important health problem amongst women worldwide. Widespread comprehensive cervical cancer control programs have resulted in a marked reduction in the incidence and mortality in most developed countries. Developing countries bear over 80% of the global burden, with only 5% of the global resources for the control of cancer. Majority of the cases in these countries present late and are incurable at the time of diagnosis.Aim: To review the presentation and histopathological types of cervical cancer cases seen in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, over a sixteen-year period (1995–2010).Materials and Methods: Case records of histopathologically diagnosed cases of cancer of the cervix were retrieved. Demographic data, stage of the tumor at presentation, and histopathologic type were extracted. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Six hundred and sixty gynecological cancers were seen during the study period, with cancer of the cervix accounting for 58.5% (386/660) cases. Among these cases with cancer of the cervix 71.1% (275/386) were grand multiparous and majority 89.7 % 346/386 presented with advanced disease. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounted for 86.3% (333/386) of the cancers, adenocarcinoma contributed 12.4%,(48/386) and others contributed 1.3% (5/386).Conclusion: Cancer of the cervix is the commonest gynecological cancer at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. SCC is the commonesthistological type. Keywords: Africa, cervical cancer, screenin

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with hard and light intensity physical activity but not time spent sedentary in 10–14 year old schoolchildren: the HAPPY study

Sedentary behaviour is a major risk factor for developing chronic diseases and is associated with low cardiorespiratory fitness in adults. It remains unclear how sedentary behaviour and different physical activity subcomponents are related to cardiorespiratory fitness in children. The purpose of this study was to assess how sedentary behaviour and different physical activity subcomponents are associated with 10–14 year-old schoolchildren's cardiorespiratory fitness

Successful radiation treatment of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma metastatic to the right cardiac atrium and ventricle in a pacemaker-dependent patient

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare, aggressive malignancy, which is known to metastasize to the heart. We report a case of a patient with ATC with metastatic involvement of the pacemaker leads within the right atrium and right ventricle. The patient survived external beam radiation treatment to his heart, with a radiographic response to treatment. Cardiac metastases are usually reported on autopsy; to our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful treatment of cardiac metastases encasing the leads of a pacemaker, and of cardiac metastases from ATCs, with a review of the pertinent literature

Relationship between human tumour angiogenic profile and combretastatin-induced vascular shutdown: an exploratory study

Combretastatin-A4-phosphate (CA4P) acts most effectively against immature tumour vasculature. We investigated whether histological angiogenic profile can explain the differential sensitivity of human tumours to CA4P, by correlating the kinetic changes demonstrated by dynamic MRI (DCE-MRI) in response to CA4P, with tumour immunohistochemical angiogenic markers. Tissue was received from 24 patients (mean age 59, range 32–73, 18 women, 6 men). An angiogenic profile was performed using standard immunohistochemical techniques. Dynamic MRI data were obtained for the same patients before and 4 h after CA4P. Three patients showed a statistically significant fall in Ktrans following CA4P, and one a statistically significant fall in IAUGC60. No statistically significant correlations were seen between the continuous or categorical variables and the DCE-MRI kinetic parameters other than between ang-2 and Ktrans (P=0.044). In conclusion, we found no strong relationships between changes in DCE-MRI kinetic variables following CA4P and the immunohistochemical angiogenic profile

High-level classification of the Fungi and a tool for evolutionary ecological analyses

High-throughput sequencing studies generate vast amounts of taxonomic data. Evolutionary ecological hypotheses of the recovered taxa and Species Hypotheses are difficult to test due to problems with alignments and the lack of a phylogenetic backbone. We propose an updated phylum-and class-level fungal classification accounting for monophyly and divergence time so that the main taxonomic ranks are more informative. Based on phylogenies and divergence time estimates, we adopt phylum rank to Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Glomeromycota, Entomophthoromycota, Entorrhizomycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota and Olpidiomycota. We accept nine subkingdoms to accommodate these 18 phyla. We consider the kingdom Nucleariae (phyla Nuclearida and Fonticulida) as a sister group to the Fungi. We also introduce a perl script and a newick-formatted classification backbone for assigning Species Hypotheses into a hierarchical taxonomic framework, using this or any other classification system. We provide an example of testing evolutionary ecological hypotheses based on a global soil fungal data set.Peer reviewe