HIV infection in orphanages in South Western Nigeria

Background: As a result of the expanding HIV epidemic, affected children may end up in institutionalized care. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of HIV infection among children into orphanages in South Western Nigeria . Admission policies, knowledge and attitude of caregivers with respect to HIVwere also assessed Design: This was a cross sectional study in which interviewer administered questionnaires were used to collect information on consecutive children, heads of the orphanages and caregivers. Rapid HIV antibody testing was carried out. Results: A total of 190 children were enrolled from 7 homes with males accounting for 89 (46.8%). The main reasons for admission into the orphanages were; orphaned 85 (44.7%), abandoned 79 (41.6%) and mental illness in mother 11(5.8%). Two children were HIV positive, giving a prevalence rate of 1.05%. All the homes (100%) had a policy which excluded admission of HIV positive children but seldom carried out HIV testing at entry. Fear of disease transmission to others was the reason given for not admitting such children. Conclusion: The policy which excluded admission of HIV infected children may have contributed to the low prevalence of the infection in the orphanages. There needs to be a reform on the current policies in order to reduce discr iminat ion against HIV orphans.Keywords: HIV; Prevalence; Children; Orphanages; Admission policies; Caregiver

Morbidity and mortality pattern in hospitalized children with sickle cell disorders at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

Objectives: To determine the causes of hospitalization and outcome of children with sickle cell disorders at the University CollegeHospital, Ibadan.Methods: Case files of patients with sickle cell disease who were admittedbetween March 2009 and February 2012 were analysed. Data extractedinclude demographic variables, diagnoses, types of crises, associated infections, complications and outcome of treatment.Results: There were 174 admissions of 161 children with a male femaleratio of 1.3:1. Their ages ranged from nine months to 18 years witha mean of 7.3(4.0) years. Vasoocclusive crisis was present in 107(61.5%), hyper haemolytic crisis in 29 (16.7%) and acute splenic  sequestration in 12 (6.9 %) of all admissions. Associated infectionswere septicaemia in 56 (32.2 %), malaria in 49 (28.2 %), acute osteomyelitis in 24 (13.8%), pneumonia in 23 (13.2%), urinary tract infection in 12 (6.9%) and septic arthritis in 10 (5.7%). Haematocrit was less than 15 % in 36 (20.7%) and blood transfusion administered in 68(39.1%) of admissions. There were three (1.7%) deaths from  cerebrovascular accident, adverse reaction to blood transfusion and meningitis.Conclusion: Prevention and prompt management of crises and infectionsin sickle cell disease is recommended to reduce morbidity andmortality

Virtuality in human supervisory control: Assessing the effects of psychological and social remoteness

Virtuality would seem to offer certain advantages for human supervisory control. First, it could provide a physical analogue of the 'real world' environment. Second, it does not require control room engineers to be in the same place as each other. In order to investigate these issues, a low-fidelity simulation of an energy distribution network was developed. The main aims of the research were to assess some of the psychological concerns associated with virtual environments. First, it may result in the social isolation of the people, and it may have dramatic effects upon the nature of the work. Second, a direct physical correspondence with the 'real world' may not best support human supervisory control activities. Experimental teams were asked to control an energy distribution network. Measures of team performance, group identity and core job characteristics were taken. In general terms, the results showed that teams working in the same location performed better than team who were remote from one another

Multicenter data acquisition made easy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The process for data collection in multicenter trials may be troublesome and expensive. We report our experience with the spreadsheet function in Googledocs for this purpose.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In Googledocs the data manager creates a form similar to the paper case record form, which will function as a decentral data entry module. When the forms are submitted, they are presented in a spreadsheet in Googledocs, which can be exported to different standard spreadsheet formats.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For a multicenter randomized clinical trial with five different participating hospitals we created a decentral data entry module using the spreadsheet function in Googledocs. The study comprised 332 patients (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00815698) with five visits per patient. One person at each study site entered data from the original paper based case report forms which were kept at the study sites as originals. We did not experience any technical problems using the system.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The system allowed for decentral data entry, and it was easy to use, safe, and free of charge. The spreadsheet function in Googledocs may potentially replace current expensive solutions for data acquisition in multicenter trials.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov NCT00815698</p

Deciphering Network Community Structure by Surprise

The analysis of complex networks permeates all sciences, from biology to sociology. A fundamental, unsolved problem is how to characterize the community structure of a network. Here, using both standard and novel benchmarks, we show that maximization of a simple global parameter, which we call Surprise (S), leads to a very efficient characterization of the community structure of complex synthetic networks. Particularly, S qualitatively outperforms the most commonly used criterion to define communities, Newman and Girvan's modularity (Q). Applying S maximization to real networks often provides natural, well-supported partitions, but also sometimes counterintuitive solutions that expose the limitations of our previous knowledge. These results indicate that it is possible to define an effective global criterion for community structure and open new routes for the understanding of complex networks.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Self-Organization, Layered Structure, and Aggregation Enhance Persistence of a Synthetic Biofilm Consortium

Microbial consortia constitute a majority of the earth’s biomass, but little is known about how these cooperating communities persist despite competition among community members. Theory suggests that non-random spatial structures contribute to the persistence of mixed communities; when particular structures form, they may provide associated community members with a growth advantage over unassociated members. If true, this has implications for the rise and persistence of multi-cellular organisms. However, this theory is difficult to study because we rarely observe initial instances of non-random physical structure in natural populations. Using two engineered strains of Escherichia coli that constitute a synthetic symbiotic microbial consortium, we fortuitously observed such spatial self-organization. This consortium forms a biofilm and, after several days, adopts a defined layered structure that is associated with two unexpected, measurable growth advantages. First, the consortium cannot successfully colonize a new, downstream environment until it selforganizes in the initial environment; in other words, the structure enhances the ability of the consortium to survive environmental disruptions. Second, when the layered structure forms in downstream environments the consortium accumulates significantly more biomass than it did in the initial environment; in other words, the structure enhances the global productivity of the consortium. We also observed that the layered structure only assembles in downstream environments that are colonized by aggregates from a previous, structured community. These results demonstrate roles for self-organization and aggregation in persistence of multi-cellular communities, and also illustrate a role for the techniques of synthetic biology in elucidating fundamental biological principles

Identification of a novel type of spacer element required for imprinting in fission yeast

Asymmetrical segregation of differentiated sister chromatids is thought to be important for cellular differentiation in higher eukaryotes. Similarly, in fission yeast, cellular differentiation involves the asymmetrical segregation of a chromosomal imprint. This imprint has been shown to consist of two ribonucleotides that are incorporated into the DNA during laggingstrand synthesis in response to a replication pause, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here we present key novel discoveries important for unravelling this process. Our data show that cis-acting sequences within the mat1 cassette mediate pausing of replication forks at the proximity of the imprinting site, and the results suggest that this pause dictates specific priming at the position of imprinting in a sequence-independent manner. Also, we identify a novel type of cis-acting spacer region important for the imprinting process that affects where subsequent primers are put down after the replication fork is released from the pause. Thus, our data suggest that the imprint is formed by ligation of a not-fullyprocessed Okazaki fragment to the subsequent fragment. The presented work addresses how differentiated sister chromatids are established during DNA replication through the involvement of replication barriers

Evaluation of computer-based computer tomography stratification against outcome models in connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease: a patient outcome study

Table S1. Lobar visual scores were adjusted using scintigraphic and gas dilution measures of the physiological contribution of each lobe to the total lung volume in health (top row). The figure was divided by the proportion of each lung representing a lobe (16.7%), or in the case of the left upper lobe, which included the lingula, two lobes (33.3%). Table S2. Single determination standard deviation values of visual CT scores for connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease cases. Table S3. Patient age, gender, smoking status and measures of pulmonary function indices, CALIPER and visually scored CT parameters and echocardiography data for the four groups of the ILD-GAP index. Data represent mean values with standard deviations. CTD, connective tissue disease; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC, forced vital capacity; DLco, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide; Kco, carbon monoxide transfer coefficient; TLC, total lung capacity; CPI, composite physiologic index; ILD, interstitial lung disease; GGO, ground glass opacity; PVV, pulmonary vessel volume; TxBx, traction bronchiectasis; PA, pulmonary artery; AAo, ascending aorta; RVSP, right ventricular systolic pressure. Table S4. P values demonstrating differences between automated stratified groups calculated using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction for continuous variables and t-test with Bonferroni correction for categorical variables. ILD, interstitial lung disease; PA, pulmonary artery; Ao, ascending aorta; HC, honeycombing; DLco, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide; Kco, carbon monoxide transfer coefficient; CPI, composite physiologic index; RVSP, right ventricular systolic pressure. * not significant. Figure S1. CONSORT diagram illustrating the selection of patients for the final study population. ILD, interstitial lung disease; CTD, connective tissue disease; IPAF, interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features; LCH, Langerhans cell histiocytosis; LAM, lymphangioleiomyomatosis; CT, computed tomography. (DOCX 67 kb