Postnatal probiotic supplementation can prevent and optimize treatment of childhood asthma and atopic disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background: Although several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published over the past 5 years show that prenatal or postnatal probiotics may prevent or optimize the treatment of childhood asthma and atopic disorders, findings from the systematic reviews and meta-analyses of these studies appear inconsistent. More recent RCTs have focused on postnatal probiotics, and linked specific probiotic strains to better disease outcomes. Objective: This systematic review aimed to determine if postnatal probiotics are as effective as prenatal probiotics in preventing or treating childhood asthma and atopic disorders. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, and EMBASE databases for RCTs published within the past 5 years (from 2017 to 2022). We included only full-text RCTs on human subjects published in or translated into the English language. We retrieved relevant data items with a preconceived data-extraction form and assessed the methodological quality of the selected RCTs using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trials. We qualitatively synthesized the retrieved data to determine any significant differences in study endpoints of the probiotic and placebo groups. Results: A total of 1,320 participants (688 and 632 in the probiotic and placebo groups) from six RCTs were investigated. One RCT showed that early Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) led to a reduction in the cumulative incidence rate of asthma. Another study demonstrated that mixed strains of Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus fermentum could support clinical improvement in children with asthma while one trial reported a significant reduction in the frequency of asthma exacerbations using a mixture of Ligilactobacillus salivarius and Bifidobacterium breve. Three trials showed that a combination of LGG and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus alone, and a probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus LOCK strains improved clinical outcomes in children with atopic dermatitis and cow-milk protein allergy. Conclusions: Postnatal strain-specific probiotics (in single or mixed forms) are beneficial in preventing and treating atopic dermatitis and other allergies. Similarly, specific strains are more effective in preventing asthma or improving asthma outcomes. We recommend more interventional studies to establish the most useful probiotic strain in these allergic diseases

ASSESSMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS NEEDED FOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT BY BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

This study on assessment of entrepreneurial skills needed for self-employment by business education graduates in Delta State was necessitated by need to equip business education graduates with skills for entrepreneurship. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The entire population of 377 was studied without sampling as the size was manageable. A 5-point rating scale questionnaire containing 30 items in three clusters which was validated by experts with grand reliability coefficient of 80 was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse data to answer the research questions and determine the homogeneity or otherwise of the respondents views while the z-test was used to test the null hypotheses a. 0.05 level of significance. Findings indicate that business education graduates in Delta State highly need accounting and office technology and management skills but moderately need marketing skills for self-employment. Also gender did not significantly affect the respondents mean ratings on the extent business education graduates need accounting and office technology and management skills for self-employment but did on the extent they need marketing skills. Based on the findings, it was concluded that business education graduates in Delta State need entrepreneurial skills such as accounting, office technology and management, and marketing skills for self-employment. It was recommended among others that business educators should use innovative instructional strategies to adequately equip their students with skills for entrepreneurial success.  Article visualizations

Compressive shock resulting from gastric distension after arterial switch operation: a case report

Compressive shock is an important cause of reversible cardiovascular compromise. Abdominal causes of compressive shock have been known to be difficult to diagnose. We report our experience in the management of compressive shock resulting from gastric distension. We consider gastric distension to be an unusual cause of compressive shock. Immediate relief of intra-abdominal tension is key in the management

Is meat inspection suitable for the surveillance of animal health (AH) in the pig sector?

In England & Wales, ante and post-mortem (PM) data for lesions observed during meat inspection at the abattoir are recorded in the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Collection and Communication of Inspection Results (CCIR) system. FSA data are reported to livestock producers but are not used systematically to monitor trends of specific conditions, nor to detect changes in disease syndromes. An advantage of using FSA data for AH surveillance purposes is the high population coverage; a disadvantage is the lack of accuracy. The voluntary BPEX Pig Health Scheme, BPHS, provides more accurate reports from standardised abattoir assessments of 12 PM lesions that reflect disease and welfare conditions of economic significance. FSA data were compared with BPHS data, for respiratory and tail bite lesions, from the same period (June 2008 - May 2012). There were approximately 900,000 BPHS pigs (from 2,543 premises) and 19 million pigs (31,578 premises) in CCIR. Generalised linear mixed models were used to examine the data to detect significant differences in trends and seasonality. Additionally, specific batches were compared in three abattoirs during four trials in 2013. Agreement between the two datasets, in the four trials, was evaluated using the correlation coefficient and the Kappa value, while significance was assessed using McNemar and paired t-test. National temporal trend analysis showed an increase in respiratory disease in both datasets but seasonality and prevalence differed. For tail bite lesions, the temporal trend and seasonal patterns were completely different. In the four trials, 332 batches of pigs were compared. The correlation of respiratory disease was low between the datasets as was the identification of positive batches for conditions such as tail bite. These results lead to the conclusion that, although routine meat inspection data has potential for AH surveillance purposes, it needs significant improvement to replace the BPHS

The UK Voluntary Monitoring Schemes for Pig Health and Welfare: working towards improved health status

A pork industry with high health status will have less disease, use fewer antibiotics and present less risk to public health. The United Kingdom has three voluntary pig health schemes (PHS); Wholesome Pigs Scotland (WPS) in Scotland, the BPEX Pig Health Scheme (BPHS) in England and Wales and the Pig Regen health and welfare checks (NIH&W). They capture information on different macroscopic conditions detected in slaughter pigs. In this study, the prevalence, seasonal variations and year trends of eight conditions as assessed by these PHS were compared and evaluated. Data collected between July 2005 and December 2012 were used. In total 2,061,779 pigs, from 4,420 pig units in 46,321 batches of pigs supplied to 25 abattoirs were examined. The respiratory conditions assessed were: enzootic pneumonia-like lesions, pleurisy, pleuropneumonia, abscesses in the lung; while the non-respiratory conditions were: pericarditis (PC), milk spots (MS), papular dermatitis (PD) and tail biting. The shape of year and seasonal effects among schemes were visualised and the effects were quantified across schemes. The shapes of year trend differed between the PHS for respiratory conditions but were similar for non-respiratory conditions. WPS and NIH&W had a lower prevalence of respiratory conditions than BPHS. This was also observed for PC and PD; however, BPHS had a lower prevalence for MS compared to the other schemes. Non-respiratory lesions showed marked seasonal effects. Continuous standardised monitoring of lesions at slaughter is an effective tool for monitoring disease incidence. Early detection of changes, when combined with comparison of similar schemes in countries with a similar profile of pig production and management, could enable prompt investigation and ultimately lead to ‘safer’ pork

Evaluations of the Disease Surveillance Centre network in Scotland: What parts has it reached?

Regular evaluation is a prerequisite for systems that provide surveillance of animal populations. Scotland's Rural College Veterinary Services' Disease Surveillance Centre (DSC) network plays an integral part in surveillance to detect new and re-emerging threats within animal populations, predominantly livestock. In response to surveillance reviews and proposed changes to the network, an initial evaluation of diagnostic submissions data in 2010 to mid-2012 established a baseline “footprint,” while highlighting challenges with the data. In this recent evaluation for the period 2013–2018, we developed a new denominator using a combination of agricultural census and movement data, to identify relevant holdings more accurately. Iterative discussions between those processing submissions data and those involved in collection at source took place to understand the intricacies of the data, establish the most appropriate dataset, and develop the processes required to optimise the data extraction and cleansing. The subsequent descriptive analysis identifies the number of diagnostic submissions, the number of unique holdings making submissions to the network and shows that both the surrounding geographic region of, and maximum distance to the closest DSC vary greatly between centres. Analysis of those submissions classed as farm animal post-mortems also highlights the effect of distance to the closest DSC. Whether specific differences between the time periods are due to changes in the behavior of the submitting holdings or the data extraction and cleaning processes was difficult to disentangle. However, with the improved techniques producing better data to work with, a new baseline footprint for the network has been created. This provides information that can help policy makers and surveillance providers make decisions about service provision and evaluate the impact of future changes. Additionally, the outputs of these analyses can provide feedback to those employed in the service, providing evidence of what they are achieving and why changes to data collection processes and ways of working are being made. In a different setting, other data will be available and different challenges may arise. However, the fundamental principles highlighted in these evaluations and the solutions developed should be of interest to any surveillance providers generating similar diagnostic data

The effect of weather on porcine disease conditions using data from the UK voluntary pig health schemes

Previous studies of macroscopic conditions detected in slaughter pigs at abattoir through voluntary pig health schemes have shown that some lesions have strong seasonal effects. This led us to investigate if weather and other climatic conditions are associated with increases or decreases in the prevalence of the conditions

Assessment of Selected Physico Chemical Properties of Soil for Site Suitability for Waste Disposal in Abakaliki, Southeast, Nigeria

An assessment of the physicochemical properties of soil for site waste disposal was carried out in Abakaliki urban, southeastern Nigeria. Three sites namely: Waterworks road (WR), Hill top (HT) and Azuiyiokwu (AZ) were randomly selected. Soil samples were collected from 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm depths from the sites. The soil samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties. The results showed variations in soil properties of the three sites which indicate suitability of the different sites or otherwise for waste disposal. The relationship between  percent sand  moisture content on dry mass basis and total porosity was generally highly significant (P>0.01). Similarly, the relationship between percent sand and saturated hydraulic conductivity was also highly significant. Available P highly correlated with total porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The sites with high sand percentage are good for refuse disposal while the ones with high clay percentage have problems of water logging and  build up of pollution for ground water. Dumpsites Water works road (WR) and Hilltop (HT) are better for waste disposal than dumpsite Azuiyiokwu (AZ). Keywords: Dumpsites, physicochemical, refuse, soil