Knowledge Beliefs and Practices Regarding Immunization among Nursing Mothers in Nigeria

Immunization has been recommended for reducing infant morbidity due to communicable diseases like tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis and yellow fever. This study investigated the knowledge, beliefs, and practices (KBP) of nursing mothers concerning utilization of immunization in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. Structured pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from 120 nursing mothers of under 5 children. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that 51% of mothers have at least secondary school education, 60% were of the Yoruba tribe and 65% were Christians.  As a result of mothers’ KBP, 51% had children with incomplete immunization status. Respondents’ had inadequate knowledge especially regarding the number times vaccines must be administered to their infants even though 93% believe that childhood immunization is generally a good initiative. The risk of not having their child adequately immunized and on schedule eludes majority of the respondents, thus, the study recommends that health education campaign highlighting importance of complete schedule of childhood immunization should target nursing mothers to improve the child health status. Key words: Immunization, infant, nursing mothers, knowledge, belief, practice, Nigeri

Improved derivatization protocol for simultaneous determination of alkylphenol ethoxylates and brominated flame retardants followed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry analyses

An improved derivatization protocol for the simultaneous determination of alkylphenol ethoxylates and brominated flame retardants with heptafluorobutyric anhydride under triethylamine amine base was investigated. The derivatization reaction was completed in 30 min at 50°C using hexane as solvent. Under these conditions, it was observed that alkylphenol ethoxylates and tetrabromobisphenol A were derivatized successfully in the presence of hexabromocyclododecane, lower congeners of polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The improved protocol was applied to recovery of analytes of interest from simulated water samples after solid phase extraction. The recoveries achieved were above 60%. The limit of detection and limit of quantification ranged from 0.01–0.20 μg/ℓ and 0.05–0.66 μg/ℓ, respectively.Keywords: Alkylphenol ethoxylates, brominated flame retardants, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, heptafluorobutyric anhydride derivatization, simultaneous determinatio

Investigation and management of a raised serum ferritin

Serum ferritin level is one of the most commonly requested investigations in both primary and secondary care. Whilst low serum ferritin levels invariably indicate reduced iron stores, raised serum ferritin levels can be due to multiple different aetiologies, including iron overload, inflammation, liver or renal disease, malignancy, and the recently described metabolic syndrome. A key test in the further investigation of an unexpected raised serum ferritin is the serum transferrin saturation. This guideline reviews the investigation and management of a raised serum ferritin level. The investigation and management of genetic haemochromatosis is not dealt with however and is the subject of a separate guideline

Définition structurale des linéaments par traitement d’image satellitaire : cas du massif de Ngovayang (Sud Cameroun)

Le massif de Ngovayang représente un domaine clé dans la compréhension géodynamique de la bordure nord du Craton du Congo au sud du Cameroun. Les travaux de télédétection, couplés aux données antérieures de terrain ont permis l’extraction et l’interprétation des linéaments obtenus par images satellitaires aux confins de Lolodorf et Bipindi. La carte des linéaments ainsi obtenue montre sur le plan structural, 821 linéaments disposés suivant trois principales directions ; la direction NW-SE avec 68,4% de fréquence est liée à la foliation générale S1/S2 lors de la deuxième phase de déformation et à un système de plis dissymétriques qualifiés de plis d’accompagnement de la foliation (drap fold) ; La direction NW-SE avec 14,5% d’information représente l’ensemble des structures cassantes (fracture, diaclase, filon, paraclase) attribuée à la phase de déformation terminale D3 ; la direction N-S avec 13,6% de fréquence, correspond à un système de grands décrochements transversaux senestres (faille et cisaillement), transition fragiloductile entre les deux dernières phases de déformation (D2 et D3).Mots-clés : craton du Congo, linéament, massif de Ngovayang

V_H replacement in rearranged immunoglobulin genes

Examples suggesting that all or part of the V<sub>H</sub> segment of a rearranged V<sub>H</sub>DJ<sub>H</sub> may be replaced by all or part of another V<sub>H</sub> have been appearing since the 1980s. Evidence has been presented of two rather different types of replacement. One of these has gained acceptance and has now been clearly demonstrated to occur. The other, proposed more recently, has not yet gained general acceptance because the same effect can be produced by polymerase chain reaction artefact. We review both types of replacement including a critical examination of evidence for the latter. The first type involves RAG proteins and recombination signal sequences (RSS) and occurs in immature B cells. The second was also thought to be brought about by RAG proteins and RSS. However, it has been reported in hypermutating cells which are not thought to express RAG proteins but in which activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) has recently been shown to initiate homologous recombination. Re-examination of the published sequences reveals AID target sites in V<sub>H</sub>-V<sub>H</sub> junction regions and examples that resemble gene conversion

Dark Matter Deficient Galaxies Produced via High-velocity Galaxy Collisions in High-resolution Numerical Simulations

Abstract The recent discovery of diffuse dwarf galaxies that are deficient in dark matter appears to challenge the current paradigm of structure formation in our universe. We describe numerical experiments to determine if so-called dark matter deficient galaxies (DMDGs) could be produced when two gas-rich, dwarf-sized galaxies collide with a high relative velocity of ∼300 km s−1. Using idealized high-resolution simulations with both mesh-based and particle-based gravito-hydrodynamics codes, we find that DMDGs can form as high-velocity galaxy collisions and separate dark matter from the warm disk gas, which subsequently is compressed by shock and tidal interaction to form stars. Then using the large simulated universe IllustrisTNG, we discover a number of high-velocity galaxy collision events in which DMDGs are expected to form. However, we did not find evidence that these types of collisions actually produced DMDGs in the TNG100-1 run. We argue that the resolution of the numerical experiment is critical to realizing the “collision-induced” DMDG formation scenario. Our results demonstrate one of many routes in which galaxies could form with unconventional dark matter fractions.</jats:p

The Incidence and Pattern of Puerperal Pyrexia Amongst Post-Natal Women in Benin City, Nigeria

Based on the fact that statistically, Nigeria contributes significantly to all recorded cases of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality, this study was designed to evaluate the incidence pattern of puerperal illness amongpostnatal women. It was carried out at the post-natal ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, over a period of 6 months (March to August, 2011). A total of 135 patients with illness secondary todelivery, and who gave an informed consent, were recruited for the study. Their demographic details as well as clinical histories were documented. They were also examined for malaria parasite and urogenital infections using standard laboratory procedures. The results showed that the  incidence of puerperal pyrexia was 64.44% and common among patients between the ages of 18–25 years (33 out of 41), low educational status (12 out of 12) and low socioeconomic status (5 out of 6). Although puerperal pyrexia is preventable, the incidence level remains a public health concern if the global Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of reducing maternal mortality by 75% is to be achieved by 2015.Keywords: Puerperal pyrexia, Postnatal, Maternal morbidity and mortality, Millennium Development Goal

Chiral perturbation theory in a magnetic background - finite-temperature effects

We consider chiral perturbation theory for SU(2) at finite temperature $T$ in a constant magnetic background $B$. We compute the thermal mass of the pions and the pion decay constant to leading order in chiral perturbation theory in the presence of the magnetic field. The magnetic field gives rise to a splitting between $M_{\pi^0}$ and $M_{\pi^{\pm}}$ as well as between $F_{\pi^0}$ and $F_{\pi^{\pm}}$. We also calculate the free energy and the quark condensate to next-to-leading order in chiral perturbation theory. Both the pion decay constants and the quark condensate are decreasing slower as a function of temperature as compared to the case with vanishing magnetic field. The latter result suggests that the critical temperature $T_c$ for the chiral transition is larger in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The increase of $T_c$ as a function of $B$ is in agreement with most model calculations but in disagreement with recent lattice calculations.Comment: 24 pages and 9 fig

A service evaluation of phased- and stepped-care psychological support for health and social care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionally affected the mental health of health and social care workers (HSCWs), with many experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological interventions have been offered via mental health services and in-house psychology teams, but their effectiveness in this context is not well documented. AIMS: To evaluate a stepped-care psychological support pathway for HSCWs from Homerton Healthcare Foundation Trust in London, which offered psychological first aid, evidence-based psychological therapies and group-based well-being workshops. METHOD: The service evaluation used a pre-post approach to assess depression, anxiety, functional impairment and post-traumatic stress disorder symptom change for those who attended sessions of psychological first aid, low- or high-intensity cognitive-behavioural therapy or a combination of these. In addition, the acceptability of the psychological first aid sessions and well-being workshops was explored via feedback data. RESULTS: Across all interventions, statistically significant reductions of depression (d = 1.33), anxiety (d = 1.37) and functional impairment (d = 0.93) were observed, and these reductions were equivalent between the interventions, as well as the demographic and occupational differences between the HSCWs (ethnicity, staff group and redeployment status). HSCWs were highly satisfied with the psychological first aid and well-being workshops. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation supports the utility of evidence-based interventions delivered as part of a stepped-care pathway for HSCWs with common mental health problems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the novel integration of psychological first aid within the stepped-care model as a step one intervention, replication and further testing in larger-scale studies is warranted