Management of calcaneal fractures: a case series

Background: Untreated or inappropriately treated, calcaneal fractures can result in arthritis, chronic ankle pain, and ankle deformity which can significantly impact the lifestyle of affected patients. Even though calcaneal fractures are common among those with multiple injuries, they can easily be missed, and not treating them would significantly impact on the patient negatively. Case Presentation: This article is a retrospective recall of the six patients seen with calcaneal fractures that were treated in our hospital between 2010 and 2018, they were mainly multiply injured and the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) protocol helped to delineate these fractures, the use of modern-day operative and non-operative methods of management and rehabilitation were employed. Discussion and conclusion: Calcaneal fractures are mostly associated with high-energy trauma which includes falls from heights or vehicle accidents with almost 50% soft tissue involvement. This is similar to cases presented in this paper as all the patients were either involved in road traffic accidents or had fallen from a height, however, soft tissue destruction manifesting as open fractures were absent in our series. Calcaneal fractures are rare and can easily be missed as patients may present as multiply injured. Prompt and adequate Rehabilitation is important to improve function

Mapping academic literature on governing inclusive green growth in Africa: geographical biases and topical gaps

A strong indigenous capacity for credible, salient and legitimate knowledge production is crucial to support African countries in developing their economies and societies inclusively and sustainably. In this article, we aim to quantify the current and historic capacity for African knowledge production to support the green economy in Africa, and identify important topical gaps. With a focus on topics relating to Governing Inclusive Green Growth in Africa (GIGGA), our research mapped how much Africa-focused research is being produced, from where and which African countries have higher or lower supply; and the topical focus of the research, mapping it against the African GIGGA policy discourses visible in government strategies. To do this we undertook a systematic review using a two-stage process, mapping the literature for GIGGA. This resulted in 960 verified citations. Content analysis of core metadata and article abstracts enabled mapping of the research focus. The analysis revealed a significant role for South Africa as both the pre-eminent producer of GIGGA literature as well as the geographic focus of GIGGA research, with Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya representing emerging loci of credible, African-relevant knowledge production. Topically, there was a strong emphasis on development, policy and environment while topics important for growth that is inclusive in character were infrequent or absent. Overall the results reinforced the view that investment is needed in research on inclusive green growth, linked to capacity building for knowledge production systems in Africa. Furthermore, from a policy perspective, policy makers and academics need to actively explore best to collaborate to ensure that academic research informs government policy

Optimised Method for the Production and Titration of Lentiviral Vectors Pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike

The use of recombinant lentivirus pseudotyped with the coronavirus Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 would circumvent the requirement of biosafety-level 3 (BSL-3) containment facilities for the handling of SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Herein, we describe a fast and reliable protocol for the transient production of lentiviruses pseudotyped with SARS-CoV-2 Spike (CoV-2 S) proteins and green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporters. The virus titer is determined by the GFP reporter (fluorescent) expression with a flow cytometer. High titers (>1.00 E+06 infectious units/ml) are produced using codon-optimized CoV-2 S, harbouring the prevalent D614G mutation and lacking its ER retention signal. Enhanced and consistent cell entry is achieved by using permissive HEK293T/17 cells that were genetically engineered to stably express the SARS-CoV-2 human receptor ACE2 along with the cell surface protease TMPRSS2 required for efficient fusion. For the widespread use of this protocol, its reagents have been made publicly available. Graphic abstract: Production and quantification of lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with the SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein

Information Technology and Transcription of Reading Materials for the Visually Impaired Persons in Nigeria

Studies have shown inadequate reading materials for the visually impaired in Nigeria. Information technology has greatly advanced the provision of information to the visually impaired in other industrialized climes. This study investigated the extent of application of information technology to the transcription of reading materials for the visually impaired in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design of the ex-post facto to select 470 personnel as respondents. A questionnaire titled Information Technology Use Scale (α=0.74), and Interview Schedule (α=0.75), were used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The findings indicate that information technology in transcription was low and a significant positive relationship between application of information technology and transcription of information materials (r=0.62: p<0.05). The study recommended among others that Multi-National Corporations should be sensitized to extend their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to help in procuring modern information technology devices and software to enhance transcription

A primer set for the rapid isolation of scFv fragments against cell surface antigens from immunised rats

Antibody phage display is a powerful platform for discovery of clinically applicable high affinity monoclonal antibodies against a broad range of targets. Libraries generated from immunized animals offer the advantage of in vivo affinity-maturation of V regions prior to library generation. Despite advantages, few studies have described isolation of antibodies from rats using immune phage display. In our study, we describe a novel primer set, covering the full rat heavy chain variable and kappa light chain variable regions repertoire for the generation of an unbiased immune libraries. Since the immune repertoire of rats is poorly understood, we first performed a deep sequencing analysis of the V(D)J regions of VH and VLK genes, demonstrating the high abundance of IGVH2 and IGVH5 families for VH and IGVLK12 and IGVLK22 for VLK. The comparison of gene’s family usage in naïve rats have been used to validate the frequency’s distribution of the primer set, confirming the absence of PCR-based biases. The primers were used to generate and assemble a phage display library from human CD160-vaccinated rats. CD160 represents a valid therapeutic target as it has been shown to be expressed on chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells and on the surface of newly formed vessels. We utilised a novel phage display panning strategy to isolate a high affinity pool (KD range: 0.399–233 nM) of CD160 targeting monoclonal antibodies. Subsequently, identified binders were tested for function as third generation Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR) T cells demonstrating specific cytolytic activity. Our novel primer set coupled with a streamlined strategy for phage display panning enable the rapid isolation and identification of high affinity antibodies from immunised rats. The therapeutic utility of these antibodies was demonstrated in CAR format

Nanostructured Clay (NC) and the Stabilization of Lateritic Soil for Construction Purposes

The use of Nanostructured Clay additive in lateritic soil stabilization and their effect at different percentages on the natural soil was investigated. The preliminary tests on the soil showed it was an A-2-7 soil, according to AASHTO classification. The soil sample was also observed to be silty clayey sand and the general rating as a sub-grade material was ‘GOOD’. The consistency limits result shows that the value of the LL for the natural soil is 47% and 25.15% was recorded for the plastic limit (PL) and finally the PI was 21.85% i.e. highly plastic soil. Further, the effect of the addition of NC in the proportions of 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% and 15% by weight of the stabilized Umuntu Olokoro lateritic soil was investigated. The consistency limits results showed that the addition of variable proportions of NC considerably improved the plasticity of the stabilized soil which gave 13.8%; a medium plastic material at 15% NC addition, compared to the preliminary result of 0% by weight additive which gave 21.85%; a highly plastic material. The strength properties’ test showed significant improvements with the addition of NC; CBR test result recorded 29% at 15% by weight proportion of NC which satisfies the material condition for use as sub-base material and the UCS test results similarly improved consistently and recorded a maximum UCS of 340.18kN/m2 at 15% by weight proportion of NC addition which satisfies “very stiff” material consistency for use as sub-base material. With the foregoing, the addition of various proportions of NC to the stabilized lateritic soil has presented to be a Geotechnical solution to the varied environmental failures on the road pavements. Hence NC satisfies all the material conditions for use as a sub-base material for the stabilization and improvement of the strength characteristics of lateritic soils. Finally, we call on the relevant agencies to use NC as an additive in stabilizing weak lateritic soils for use as either sub-grade or sub-base materials to save both cost and the structural failures on the roads in south eastern Nigeria. Keywords: Environmental Geotechnics; Pavement Geotechnics; Soil Stabilization; Weak Lateritic Soil; South Eastern Nigeria

Census politics in deeply divided societies

Population censuses in societies that are deeply divided along ethnic, religious or linguistic lines can be sensitive affairs – particularly where political settlements seek to maintain peace through the proportional sharing of power between groups. This brief sets out some key findings from a research project investigating the relationship between census politics and the design of political institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya, Lebanon and Northern Ireland

Molecular Detection of Mycobacterium bovis in Cattle Milk in Enugu State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to detect Mycobacterium bovis in cattle milk in Enugu. Fifty Milk samples were collected from cattle at Fulani settlements which comprised of 13 from Gariki, 16 from 9th Mile and 21 from Monarch in Enugu. DNA was extracted from milk samples using Relia prep DNA spin column method and screened for Tuberculosis using Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with specific Tuberculosis primer; Insertion sequence 6110 (IS6110) while Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (IS6110- RFLP) method was used to differentiate between Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis using Nar 1 digestion enzyme. Statistical tools used to analyze the data were: Chi-square, fishers’ exact test and non parametric t test. 9 (18%) samples out of the 50milk samples were positive for tuberculosis with the PCR method. 1 (2%) out of the 9 positive milk samples was found to be Mycobacterium tuberculosis while the remaining 8 (16%) were detected to be Mycobacterium bovis after using the digestion enzyme. 1 (6.3%) of the 16 milk samples collected from the Fulani settlement in 9th Mile was positive for M.bovis while a total of 2 (15.4%) out of the 13 milk samples from Gariki were positive for M.bovis and a total positive of 6 (28.6%) were detected out of the 21 milk samples analyzed from Monarch, 5 (23.8%) of which were found to be M.bovis while M. tuberculosis was detected in 1 (4.8%). The differences however, were not statistically significant (P&gt;0.05). Keywords: Tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, DN

Characterisation of a novel ACE2-based therapeutic with enhanced rather than reduced activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants

The human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 acts as the host cell receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and the other members of the Coronaviridae family SARS-CoV-1 and HCoV-NL63. Here we report the biophysical properties of the SARS-CoV-2 spike variants D614G, B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 with affinities to the ACE2 receptor and infectivity capacity, revealing weaknesses in the developed neutralising antibody approaches. Furthermore, we report a pre-clinical characterisation package for a soluble receptor decoy engineered to be catalytically inactive and immunologically inert, with broad neutralisation capacity, that represents an attractive therapeutic alternative in light of the mutational landscape of COVID-19. This construct efficiently neutralised four SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. The decoy also displays antibody-like biophysical properties and manufacturability, strengthening its suitability as a first-line treatment option in prophylaxis or therapeutic regimens for COVID-19 and related viral infections. IMPORTANCE Mutational drift of SARS-CoV-2 risks rendering both therapeutics and vaccines less effective. Receptor decoy strategies utilising soluble human ACE2 may overcome the risk of viral mutational escape since mutations disrupting viral interaction with the ACE2 decoy will by necessity decrease virulence thereby preventing meaningful escape. The solution described here of a soluble ACE2 receptor decoy is significant for the following reasons: While previous ACE2-based therapeutics have been described, ours has novel features including (1) mutations within ACE2 to remove catalytical activity and systemic interference with the renin/angiotensin system; (2) abrogated FcγR engagement, reduced risk of antibody-dependent enhancement of infection and reduced risk of hyperinflammation, and (3) streamlined antibody-like purification process and scale-up manufacturability indicating that this receptor decoy could be produced quickly and easily at scale. Finally, we demonstrate that ACE2-based therapeutics confer a broad-spectrum neutralisation potency for ACE2-tropic viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in contrast to therapeutic mAb

Tunable control of CAR T cell activity through tetracycline mediated disruption of protein-protein interaction

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are a promising form of cancer immunotherapy, although they are often associated with severe toxicities. Here, we present a split-CAR design incorporating separate antigen recognition and intracellular signaling domains. These exploit the binding between the tetracycline repressor protein and a small peptide sequence (TIP) to spontaneously assemble as a functional CAR. Addition of the FDA-approved, small molecule antibiotic minocycline, acts as an "off-switch" by displacing the signaling domain and down-tuning CAR T activity. Here we describe the optimization of this split-CAR approach to generate a CAR in which cytotoxicity, cytokine secretion and proliferation can be inhibited in a dose-dependent and reversible manner. Inhibition is effective during on-going CAR T cell activation and inhibits activation and tumor control in vivo. This work shows how optimization of split-CAR structure affects function and adds a novel design allowing easy CAR inhibition through an FDA-approved small molecule