Partial replacement of fish meal by earthworm meal (Libyodrilus violaceus) in diets for African catfish, Clarias gariepinus

A seven-week feeding trial was conducted to examine the possibility of replacing fish meal with earthworm meal in the diets of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus fry. Fish meal protein was replaced by earthworm meal at 0% (D0); 15% (D15); 25% (D25); 35% (D35); and 50% (D50). The diets were isonitrogenous (54%) and fed thrice daily to triplicate groups of African catfish fry at 5% body weight. Diet had a significant effect on growth performance and feed utilization (p≤0.05). Final weight, weight gain, daily weight gain, and specific growth rate, were highest in fish fed diet D25. A similar pattern of growth was observed for length measurements. Fish fed diets exceeding 25% replacement of fish meal with earthworm meal had depressed growth. Feed conversion ratio was highest in fish fed D35. Mortality was not dependent on diet. It is concluded that fish meal can be substituted with earthworm meal up to 25% in the diet of C. gariepinus fry without adverse effects on growth and nutrient utilizatio

An attention-based channel estimation algorithm for next-generation point to point communication systems

Accurate and robust estimation of channel parameters is essential in establishing reliable communication with characteristic optimal resource utilization in next-generation communication systems. Traditional techniques have limitations, such as the need for additional bandwidth and decreased spectral efficiency. Thus, there is a need for novel techniques that enhance the accuracy and robustness of channel parameter estimation in next-generation communication systems. To address this need, we propose in this paper a recurrent neural network (RNN)-based attention mechanism, to improve channel estimation accuracy and robustness in next-generation communication systems. The attention mechanism selectively focuses on the most relevant features while ignoring noise and interference. The attention network weights are initialized and are constantly updated in the course of network training. The weight values determine the significance of the features before passing them to the channel estimator. This allows the algorithm to adapt to varying channel conditions and improve its accuracy in challenging environments. The proposed attention-based algorithm performance is compared with three baseline techniques: learned denoising-based approximate message passing (LDAMP), Wasserstein generative adversarial networks (WGAN), and maximum likelihood (ML). The result evaluations indicate that the attention-based algorithm performs better than the existing artificial intelligence-based channel coding algorithms, in terms of robustness and accuracy

Knowledge, Practice and Willingness to Participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme among Households in Nigerian Capital City

Background: Health insurance is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed health services to persons on the payment of token contributions at regular intervals. The objective of the survey was to determine knowledge, practice and willingness of households in Nigerian Capital City to pay and participate in Community Health Insurance Scheme.Materials and Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was carried out using the multistage cluster sampling technique to obtain data from 300 selected household heads or main financial decision makers. The data was analyzed using EPI-INFO software package. Statistical significance of p < 0.05 and confidence limit of 95% was used.Results: The major findings showed that the level of awareness (13%) concerning Community Health Insurance (CHI) was found to be very low among the respondents. The general principles of CHI were also poorly understood by the respondents. Attitude to the programme was positive as many showed interest in participating and enrolling themselves (97.0%), some family members (96.3%) and entire family members (90.3%).  Borrowing money to settle medical bills in this study has occurred in 30% of instances. Majority of respondents were willing to pay premiums ranging from N450 (96.6%) to N1200 (72.5%) for simple packages that do not include surgery and hospitalization.Conclusions: The community members were willing to participate and enrol if the programme is brought to them. There is a need to adequately subsidize the premiums that respondents were willing to pay in order to meet up with the cost of treatment.Key Words: Willingness, Participate, Community Health Insurance

Prevalence, years lived with disability, and trends in anaemia burden by severity and cause, 1990–2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Anaemia is a major health problem worldwide. Global estimates of anaemia burden are crucial for developing appropriate interventions to meet current international targets for disease mitigation. We describe the prevalence, years lived with disability, and trends of anaemia and its underlying causes in 204 countries and territories. Methods: We estimated population-level distributions of haemoglobin concentration by age and sex for each location from 1990 to 2021. We then calculated anaemia burden by severity and associated years lived with disability (YLDs). With data on prevalence of the causes of anaemia and associated cause-specific shifts in haemoglobin concentrations, we modelled the proportion of anaemia attributed to 37 underlying causes for all locations, years, and demographics in the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Findings: In 2021, the global prevalence of anaemia across all ages was 24·3% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 23·9–24·7), corresponding to 1·92 billion (1·89–1·95) prevalent cases, compared with a prevalence of 28·2% (27·8–28·5) and 1·50 billion (1·48–1·52) prevalent cases in 1990. Large variations were observed in anaemia burden by age, sex, and geography, with children younger than 5 years, women, and countries in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia being particularly affected. Anaemia caused 52·0 million (35·1–75·1) YLDs in 2021, and the YLD rate due to anaemia declined with increasing Socio-demographic Index. The most common causes of anaemia YLDs in 2021 were dietary iron deficiency (cause-specific anaemia YLD rate per 100 000 population: 422·4 [95% UI 286·1–612·9]), haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias (89·0 [58·2–123·7]), and other neglected tropical diseases (36·3 [24·4–52·8]), collectively accounting for 84·7% (84·1–85·2) of anaemia YLDs. Interpretation: Anaemia remains a substantial global health challenge, with persistent disparities according to age, sex, and geography. Estimates of cause-specific anaemia burden can be used to design locally relevant health interventions aimed at improving anaemia management and prevention. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Lysyl-tRNA synthetase as a drug target in malaria and cryptosporidiosis

Malaria and cryptosporidiosis, caused by apicomplexan parasites, remain major drivers of global child mortality. New drugs for the treatment of malaria and cryptosporidiosis, in particular, are of high priority; however, there are few chemically validated targets. The natural product cladosporin is active against blood- and liver-stage; Plasmodium falciparum; and; Cryptosporidium parvum; in cell-culture studies. Target deconvolution in; P. falciparum; has shown that cladosporin inhibits lysyl-tRNA synthetase (; Pf; KRS1). Here, we report the identification of a series of selective inhibitors of apicomplexan KRSs. Following a biochemical screen, a small-molecule hit was identified and then optimized by using a structure-based approach, supported by structures of both; Pf; KRS1 and; C. parvum; KRS (; Cp; KRS). In vivo proof of concept was established in an SCID mouse model of malaria, after oral administration (ED; 90; = 1.5 mg/kg, once a day for 4 d). Furthermore, we successfully identified an opportunity for pathogen hopping based on the structural homology between; Pf; KRS1 and; Cp; KRS. This series of compounds inhibit; Cp; KRS and; C. parvum; and; Cryptosporidium hominis; in culture, and our lead compound shows oral efficacy in two cryptosporidiosis mouse models. X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations have provided a model to rationalize the selectivity of our compounds for; Pf; KRS1 and; Cp; KRS vs. (human); Hs; KRS. Our work validates apicomplexan KRSs as promising targets for the development of drugs for malaria and cryptosporidiosis

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980–2017, and forecasts to 2030, for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017

Background Understanding the patterns of HIV/AIDS epidemics is crucial to tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts in countries. We provide a comprehensive assessment of the levels and trends of HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence, mortality, and coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 1980–2017 and forecast these estimates to 2030 for 195 countries and territories. Methods We determined a modelling strategy for each country on the basis of the availability and quality of data. For countries and territories with data from population-based seroprevalence surveys or antenatal care clinics, we estimated prevalence and incidence using an open-source version of the Estimation and Projection Package—a natural history model originally developed by the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling, and Projections. For countries with cause-specific vital registration data, we corrected data for garbage coding (ie, deaths coded to an intermediate, immediate, or poorly defined cause) and HIV misclassification. We developed a process of cohort incidence bias adjustment to use information on survival and deaths recorded in vital registration to back-calculate HIV incidence. For countries without any representative data on HIV, we produced incidence estimates by pulling information from observed bias in the geographical region. We used a re-coded version of the Spectrum model (a cohort component model that uses rates of disease progression and HIV mortality on and off ART) to produce age-sex-specific incidence, prevalence, and mortality, and treatment coverage results for all countries, and forecast these measures to 2030 using Spectrum with inputs that were extended on the basis of past trends in treatment scale-up and new infections. Findings Global HIV mortality peaked in 2006 with 1·95 million deaths (95% uncertainty interval 1·87–2·04) and has since decreased to 0·95 million deaths (0·91–1·01) in 2017. New cases of HIV globally peaked in 1999 (3·16 million, 2·79–3·67) and since then have gradually decreased to 1·94 million (1·63–2·29) in 2017. These trends, along with ART scale-up, have globally resulted in increased prevalence, with 36·8 million (34·8–39·2) people living with HIV in 2017. Prevalence of HIV was highest in southern sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, and countries in the region had ART coverage ranging from 65·7% in Lesotho to 85·7% in eSwatini. Our forecasts showed that 54 countries will meet the UNAIDS target of 81% ART coverage by 2020 and 12 countries are on track to meet 90% ART coverage by 2030. Forecasted results estimate that few countries will meet the UNAIDS 2020 and 2030 mortality and incidence targets. Interpretation Despite progress in reducing HIV-related mortality over the past decade, slow decreases in incidence, combined with the current context of stagnated funding for related interventions, mean that many countries are not on track to reach the 2020 and 2030 global targets for reduction in incidence and mortality. With a growing population of people living with HIV, it will continue to be a major threat to public health for years to come. The pace of progress needs to be hastened by continuing to expand access to ART and increasing investments in proven HIV prevention initiatives that can be scaled up to have population-level impact

Macromineral Profile of Four Species of Earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus, Eudrilus eugeniae, Libyodrilus violaceus and Alma millsoni from Nigeria

The macro mineral profile of four Nigerian species of earthworm; Hyperiodrilus africanus, Eudrilus eugeniae, Libyodrilus violaceus and Alma millsoni was conducted. using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Five macro minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and phosphorus were determined. Comparatively H. africanus recorded the highest mean Ca (0.494 ±0.038%) while A. millsoni recorded the lowest (0.318±0.034%). Hyperiodrilus africanus also recorded the highest mean Mg (0.154±0.015%) whereas L. violaceus recorded the lowest (0.118±0.017%). Alma millsoni recorded the highest mean K (0.045±0.003% ) whereas H. africanus recorded the lowest (0.027±0.002%). The highest mean Na (74.209±13.699 ppm) was recorded by A. millsoni while the lowest (19.813±2.087 ppm) was recorded by H. africanus. Also A. millsoni recorded the highest mean P (0.701±0.022%) while H.africanus recorded the lowest (0.456±0.034%). A significant difference was observed in the mean % Ca, % M g, % K, ppmNa and % P between the four species of earthworms (p<0.01). The study revealed that these five macro minerals which are requirements of animals w ere well represented and adequate in the earthworms. Therefore, the use of meal prepared from these species as mineral supplement in fish diets could be encouraged

Amino acid profile of four earthworms species from Nigeria

The amino acid profile of four species of earthworms from Nigeria namely Eudrilus eugeniae, Hyperiodrilus africanus, Alma millsoni and Libyodrilus violaceus were evaluated in this study. The amino acid analysis was conducted using the High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) specifically the Technichon TSM-1 (technosequential multisample) analyser for amino acid. Nine essential namely Lysine, Histidine, Arginine, Threonine, Valine, Methionine, Isoleucine, Leucine and Phebylalanine and eight non-essential amino acids namely Aspartic acid, Serine, Glutamic acid, Proline, Glycine, Alanine, Cystine and Tyrosine were recorded in this study. Cystine with a range of 0.64-0.80 g/100kg protein had the least concentration while Glutamic acid with a range of 11.50-13.22 g/100kg protein was the highest. Lysine and methionine, which were limiting amino acids in most feedstuffs, were present in all the earthworm species and ranges from 4.95-5.70 g/100g protein for lysine and 2.08-2.30 g/100g protein for methionin