Strategies To Improve Comprehension in College Students: Focus on the Process or the Product?

The purpose of the study is to see whether process-vs. product-oriented instructions, or a combination of both, influence the degree to which readers engage in paraphrasing (restating text in your own words), comprehension monitoring (reflecting on one’s understanding), predicting, self-explaining the content of a text, or other processes (called “special cases”) during reading. The materials used for this experiment included a text entitles How the Piloses Evolved Skinny Noses, and a shortened version of the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (as a measure of prior knowledge). The Piloses text was taken from a children’s novel that uses text and picture to introduce the topic of natural selection and evolution. A significant result was found for special cases, such that the control and the product-only group generated more special cases than the process-only and the process-and-product groups. In addition, self-explanation scores for the control and the product-only group were lower than the process-only and the process-and-product groups. Finally, there were no differences related to comprehension monitoring and predictions. There were significant results for subcategories for Paraphrasing. Controlling for prior knowledge, the process-only and process-and-product groups engaged in more paraphrasing, and their paraphrase were more lexically similar, more complete and more accurate. Overall, our study emphasizes the importance of teaching students a process in order to effectively study rather than simply explaining the end goal

Phytochemical Screening and Nutritional Composition of Datura Innoxia Mill Extract as Traditional Medicine for Certain Illnesses in Eastern Part of Sierra Leone.

The aim of the present study was to determine the phytochemical and nutrient compositions of two morphological parts of D. innoxia; leaf and seed in order to provide Phytochemical and nutrient information about it. Phytochemical and nutrient composition was carried out on Datura innoxia leaf and seed.  Phytochemical screening result revealed the presence of atropine, alkaloids, scopolamine, essential oils, saponins, flavonoids, polyphenols, as well as cardiacs glycosides; while tannins, Coumarins, Carboxylic acid and Valepotriates were absent in all the plant parts examined. The phytochemical screening based on the standard methods of tube reactions has been performed with ethanol extracts. The quantitative estimation of total polyphenols was made by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and that of flavonoids by the use of aluminum trichloride. The phytochemical screening revealed that leaves and seeds of this plant contain alkaloids, polyphenols, flavonoids, coumarins, tannins, triterpenes and saponin. Phenolic contents of ethanol extracts are 30.97 ± 0.33 mg equivalent gallic acid / g in leaves and 14.02 ± 0.15 mg equivalent gallic acid / g in seeds; those of flavonoids are 15.13 ± 0.2 mg equivalent of quercetin / g in the leaves and 4.93 ± 0.41 mg equivalent of quercetin / g in the seeds. The three tests showed that the leaves have a higher level of antiradical activity in vitro than seeds. The nutrient composition analysis indicated significant (P < 0.05) variation in crude protein content which ranged from 2.09% in the root to 17.21% in the leaf, moisture content (10.00% in seed to 7.5% in seed), crude lipid content 15.52% in the seed and 7.5% in the leaf. Total ash was highest in the leaf (21.59%) and least in the seed (8.26%) while nitrogen free extract was (46.67%) and 42.25% in the seed and leaf respectively. The phytochemical screening of the D. innoxia revealed the presence of important pharmacological bioactive substances as well as medicinal and nutritional potentials in the leaf, seed, stem, pod and root. It is thus suggested that more studies on concentrations of active ingredients, anti-nutritional factors and toxicity level be carried out. The aim of the present study was to determine the phytochemical and nutrient compositions of two morphological parts of D. innoxia; leaf and seed  in order to provide Phytochemical and nutrient information about it. Further more there were some constrais/ limitation during the research with regards getting the seeds since it a seasonal plant and the study was only limited to the Eastern part of sierra Leone, Kenema to be specific

Establishing a Mouse Model of Glioblastoma (GBM) And Developing Strategies to Eliminate Cancer Cells.

As the tenth leading cause of cancer death in the United States with a 6.8% five-year survival rate, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a very deadly disease with a poor prognosis. Therefore, a curative treatment is in high demand. Among the widely used anti-metabolites (Chemotherapeutic agents, CAs), each compound approved for human use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has side effects. Three main phenomena contribute to the side effects and the reappearance of cancer: (a) the cancer cells become resistant to chemo- and radiation therapy; (b) this chemo-resistance prompts the use of higher doses of the chemotherapeutic agents; and (c) the higher doses of the CAs also kills the proliferating immune cells, thereby causing immune-suppression and associated infections that often kill the patients. Amid such mixed success, a latent question has remained, “Could we invent an effective but simple strategy of turning at least some of the chemotherapeutic agents into side effect-free anti-metabolites that could bring about long-term cancer remission?” Our earlier publications targeted curcumin (CC) to antibodies, an approach that killed melanoma and glioblastoma brain cancer cells. In the current study, we developed methods for brain cancer cell implantation, immunohistochemistry of the tumor tissue, and tumor-cell dispersion for flow cytometry to help study curcumin-mediated repolarization of TAMs and recruitment of NK cells to eliminate GBM. Additionally, we attempted to develop CA-CC adducts to achieve repolarization of TAMs and eliminate chemoresistance in the GBM cells

Non-communicable diseases in the Western Area District, Sierra Leone, before and during the Ebola outbreak.

Setting: Twenty-seven peripheral health units, five secondary hospitals and one tertiary hospital, Western Area District, Sierra Leone. Objectives: To describe reporting systems, monthly attendances and facility-based patterns of six non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the pre-Ebola and Ebola virus disease outbreak periods. Design: A cross-sectional study using programme data. Results: Reporting was 89% complete on the six selected NCDs pre-Ebola and 86% during the Ebola outbreak (P < 0.01). Overall, marked declining trends in NCDs were reported during the Ebola period, with a monthly mean of 342 cases pre-Ebola and 164 during the Ebola outbreak. The monthly mean number of cases per disease in the pre-Ebola and Ebola outbreak periods was respectively 228 vs. 85 for hypertension, 43 vs. 27 for cardiovascular diseases, 36 vs. 18 for diabetes and 25 vs. 29 for peptic ulcer disease; this last condition increased during the outbreak. There were higher proportions of NCDs among females during the Ebola outbreak compared with the pre-Ebola period. Except for peptic ulcer disease, the number of patients with NCDs declined by 25% in peripheral health units, 91% in the secondary hospitals and 70% in the tertiary hospital between the pre-Ebola and the Ebola outbreak periods. Conclusion: Comprehensive reporting of NCDs was suboptimal, and declined during the Ebola epidemic. There were decreases in reported attendances for NCDs between the pre-Ebola and the Ebola outbreak periods, which were even more marked in the hospitals. This study has important policy implications

Fungicidal effect of three plants extracts in control of four phytopathogenic fungi of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L.) fruit rot.

Fungicidal effect of leaf aqueous extracts of Azadirachta indica, Tithonia diversifolia and Chromolaena odorata were determined on rot causing fungi. In the study, the phytopathogenic fungi isolated from the infected tomato fruit parts and identified based on morphological and cultural characters were: Aspergillus Niger Van Tiegh, Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht, Geotrichum candidium Link and Rhizopus stolonifer Ehrenb. ex. Fr. as confirmed by pathogenicity tests. Leaf aqueous extracts of different concentrations (20, 40, 80, 60 and 100 % w/v) of A. indica, T. diversifolia and C. odorata were added to growth media prior to inoculation. All aqueous extracts of the tested plants significantly (p < 0.05) reduced mycelial growth of the fungal pathogens and this effect gradually increased with increasing concentration. Fungicidal activity was strongly exhibited by A. indica extract at 100% w/v against all the pathogenic fungi. In the case of T. diversifolia extracts inhibitiory effects at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% w/v were greater than those of C. odorata on A. Niger , F. oxysporum and G. candidium while for R. stolonifer inhibition, C. odorata produced the highest in the all five concentrations than T. diversifolia extracts. It could be emphatically concluded that the tested plant extracts can effectively control rot causing fungi disease of tomato. This makes them potential biocide in diseases management in that they are cheap and environmentally safe as they showed fungicidal and fungitoxic ability

Boosting understanding of Lassa Fever virus epidemiology: Field testing a novel assay to identify past Lassa Fever virus infection in blood and oral fluids of survivors and unexposed controls in Sierra Leone.

BACKGROUND: Despite identification 50 years ago, the true burden of Lassa Fever (LF) across Africa remains undefined for reasons including research focus on hospitalised patients, lack of validated field-feasible tools which reliably identify past infection, and the fact that all assays require blood samples making large-scale surveys difficult. Designated a priority pathogen of epidemic potential requiring urgent research by the World Health Organisation, a better understanding of LF sero-epidemiology is essential to developing and evaluating new interventions including vaccines. We describe the first field testing of a novel species-neutral Double Antigen Binding Assay (DABA) designed to detect antibodies to LF in plasma and oral fluid. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Paired plasma and oral fluid were collected in Sierra Leone from survivors discharged from Kenema Government Hospital Lassa Fever Unit between 1980 and 2018, and from controls recruited in Freetown in 2019. Epidemiological sensitivity and specificity of the DABA measured against historical diagnosis in survivors and self-declared non-exposed controls was 81.7% (95% CI 70.7%- 89.9%) and 83.3% (72.7%- 91.1%) respectively in plasma, and 71.8% (60.0%- 81.9%) and 83.3% (72.7%- 91.1%) respectively in oral fluid. Antibodies were identified in people infected up to 15 years and, in one case, 40 years previously. Participants found oral fluid collection easy and painless with 80% happy to give an oral fluid sample regularly. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Given the difficulties of assay validation in a resource-limited setting, including unexpected exposures and diagnostics of varying accuracy, the new assay performed well in both plasma and oral fluid. Sensitivity and specificity are expected to be higher when case/control ascertainment is more definitive and further work is planned to investigate this. Even at the performance levels achieved, the species-neutral DABA has the potential to facilitate the large-scale seroprevalence surveys needed to underpin essential developments in LF control, as well as support zoonotic investigations

Diagnostic Analysis of the Canary Current System of West Africa: The need for a paradigm shift to proactive natural resource management

Large exports of land-based contaminants to the ocean exacerbate the effects of climate change, pollute ocean waters, disrupt biogeochemical cycles, harm marine organisms, and consequently jeopardise food security and the livelihoods of ocean-dependent communities. The Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) is characterised by a mix of the Atlantic Ocean basin waters, reverse flow from the Mediterranean Sea, and inland waters from adjacent countries. This biodiversity-rich ecosystem is a source of ecosystem goods and services that provide sustenance for populations in the coastal states of West Africa and beyond. However, with the ocean surface warming, ocean productivity and fisheries’ outputs have declined across multiple trophic levels. Therefore, in this diagnostic study based on a systematic literature review (publications from 2009 to 2020), we (a) provide an integrative assessment of the CCLME with the exception of Morocco, in the context of the modular large marine ecosystem framework using the categories ‘environmental’ (productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution, and ecosystem health) and ‘non-environmental’ (socioeconomic and governance), and (b) identify knowledge gaps and data scarce regions. The key drivers of change in the CCLME were identified as fishing pressure, land-based pollution, coastal habitat loss, and climate change. Productivity, land-based pollution, and ecosystem health were priority areas for data collection in the CCLME, with data deficiencies particularly apparent in The Gambia and Guinea. Therefore, to mitigate further degradation and accelerate progress toward sustainable management of the CCLME, research should be conducted in these priority areas of data deficiency. Furthermore, as most drivers of change in this ecosystem are related to weak management and a lack of regulatory enforcement, we recommend effective implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of existing national and transboundary regulations, as well as ecosystem-based human-centred management approaches, as proactive strategies for decoupling anthropogenic disturbances from climate change and optimising the productivity of the CCLME

Rehabilitation and Integration of Social Work: Issues & Challenges on International Perspectives

The incidences of social problems in human society are geometrically increasing due to the multifaceted factors, we are all aware with high rate of crime, juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, prostitution, unemployment, poverty, disability, mental illness, natural and human disaster, poor social welfare services, programs and institutions as well as human rights violation. It is believed that the above-mentioned challenges would be tackled by professional social workers equipped with modern scientific knowledge and techniques of dealing with them. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify roles of professional social workers and social work profession towards rehabilitative services in the community and Secondary data have been used to substantiate the facts

Clinical Illness and Outcomes in Patients with Ebola in Sierra Leone

Background Limited clinical and laboratory data are available on patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). The Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, which had an existing infrastructure for research regarding viral hemorrhagic fever, has received and cared for patients with EVD since the beginning of the outbreak in Sierra Leone in May 2014. Methods We reviewed available epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory records of patients in whom EVD was diagnosed between May 25 and June 18, 2014. We used quantitative reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction assays to assess the load of Ebola virus (EBOV, Zaire species) in a subgroup of patients. Results Of 106 patients in whom EVD was diagnosed, 87 had a known outcome, and 44 had detailed clinical information available. The incubation period was estimated to be 6 to 12 days, and the case fatality rate was 74%. Common findings at presentation included fever (in 89% of the patients), headache (in 80%), weakness (in 66%), dizziness (in 60%), diarrhea (in 51%), abdominal pain (in 40%), and vomiting (in 34%). Clinical and laboratory factors at presentation that were associated with a fatal outcome included fever, weakness, dizziness, diarrhea, and elevated levels of blood urea nitrogen, aspartate aminotransferase, and creatinine. Exploratory analyses indicated that patients under the age of 21 years had a lower case fatality rate than those over the age of 45 years (57% vs. 94%, P=0.03), and patients presenting with fewer than 100,000 EBOV copies per milliliter had a lower case fatality rate than those with 10 million EBOV copies per milliliter or more (33% vs. 94%, P=0.003). Bleeding occurred in only 1 patient. Conclusions The incubation period and case fatality rate among patients with EVD in Sierra Leone are similar to those observed elsewhere in the 2014 outbreak and in previous outbreaks. Although bleeding was an infrequent finding, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal manifestations were common. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.