Audit of stillbirths in a Nigerian teaching hospital Kuti

Objective: The purpose of this study is to classify the stillbirths (SBs) in our institution and to determine the avoidable contributors using a pro forma that was developed in our perinatal unit.Materials and Method: All mothers who delivered SBs at Obafemi Awolowo University Hospitals Complex Ile‑Ife, Nigeria, from April 2014 to August 2015 were the subjects of this study. At our weekly perinatal mortality meeting, every SB was reviewed in detail to determine the cause of death and identify gaps in the care. The causes of fetal death were classified using three classification systems – Simplified CODAC, ReCoDe, and our newly developed Ife Perinatal Death Classification System. Remote contributors to fetal demise were assigned using a purpose–designed “Avoidable Factor Proforma” A SB was deemed avoidable if one or more factors were identified.Results: The total number of deliveries during the study was 2,142 with 109 SBs giving a gross SB rate of 51/1000 total births. The SB rate was significantly lower among booked patients than their unbooked counterparts (15 vs. 140 per 1000; P < 0.005). Antepartum death constituted 82.6% of SB among booked patients compared to 41.2% in the unbooked. The most common cause of SB among booked mother was intrauterine growth restriction (21.7%) while obstructed labor (23.3%) was the leading cause among unbooked mothers. Using our classification system, only 3.8% of SBs were unexplained, as against 5.7% for ReCode, and 26.4% for Simplified CODAC. Majority (81.7%) of the SBs were avoidable; and the most common avoidable factor was deficiency in health care. Access to the point of care was not associated with any of the avoidable deaths.Conclusion: Our SB rate remains unacceptably high, with a preponderance of antepartum deaths among booked patients. Majority of the SBs are avoidable dictating the need for training in modern methods of fetal surveillance and improved efficiency of our health‑delivery systems.Keywords: Avoidable Factors , Classification,. Stillbirth

Health Risks Associated with Consumption of Vegetables Grown using Domestic Wastewater in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

Most vegetables consumed in the cities of developing countries are grown using wastewater discharged through township drainage network. This paper, therefore, investigates the risk involved in the consumption of such vegetables. The human daily intake rate (DIR) and Health Risk Index (HRI) of heavy metals were calculated using established formulae and the values of DIR ranged from 0.10 mg/kg/day to 0.71 mg/kg/day in wastewater plots in dry season for adults and 0.10 mg/kg/day to 0.14 mg/kg/day for children. Health risk index (HRI) values ranges from 0.40 mg/kg/day to 0.75 mg/kg/day in wastewater plots for adults in dry season and 0.20 mg/kg/day to 0.95 mg/kg/day for children. In wet season wastewater plots, the HRI ranges from 0.40 mg/kg/day to 0.95 mg/kg/day for children. The values of Hazard index (HI) ranged between 1.00 mg/kg/day and 1.21 mg/kg/day for all the seasons. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the wet and dry season values for all the parameters assessed. Finally, uptake of heavy metals from the soil by all the vegetable crops under investigation was established. Therefore proper monitoring needs to be carried out to regulate consumption of vegetables produced from the experimental sites as continuous application of the industrial wastewater may lead to further accumulation of these heavy metals

QED With Unequal Charges: A study of spontaneous Zn symmetry breaking

We study two-dimensional QED with unequal charges at finite temperature, and show that there is a phase with a spontaneously broken $Z_n$ symmetry. In spite of this, we were not able to establish the presence of domain walls. The relevance for QCD in higher dimensions is discussed.Comment: 14 Page

Assessment of Heavy Metals Uptake by Vegetables Cultivated on Soil Receiving Industrial Wastewater in Minna, Nigeria

Consumption of vegetable crops grown on soil irrigated with industrial wastewater has been the order of the day in most urban towns and cities of Nigeria, despite reports of its serious health impact. This study assessed the possibility of uptake of heavy metals by crops grown on soil receiving industrial wastewater during rainy and dry seasons. The crops investigated are Spinach, Cayenne Pepper, Jute mallow, roselle and lady’s fingers okra. The initial composition of the wastewater was analyzed to contain 0.89 mg/l of chromium, 0.74 mg/l of cadmium, 1.04 mg/l of copper and 2.81 mg/l of iron. Control water used for this experiment contain no trace of any of these heavy metals. The experimental soil was also analyzed and contained 0.10 mg/kg of chromium, 0.06 mg/kg of iron before irrigation in dry season. After irrigation at the wastewater plots, the heavy metal concentrations in soil had increased to 6.24 mg/kg of chromium and 7.50 mg/kg of iron. In wet season, the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil were 0.00 mg/kg of chromium and 2.32 mg/kg of iron before irrigation. After irrigation in wet season, the concentrations increased to 6.01 mg/kg of iron. Mean difference of heavy metal concentrations were significantly high in vegetables in dry season, with values ranging from 0.03 mg/kg to 211mg/kg in wastewater plots, 0.20 mg/kg to 215 mg/kg in wet seasons wastewater plots, 0.00 mg/kg to 157 mg/kg in dry season. It is however recommended that consumption of vegetables irrigated with domestic/industrial wastewater be strongly discouraged because of its serious health implications.&nbsp

The Distribution of Constituent Charm Quarks in the Hadron

Using a statistical approach in the framework of non-covariant perturbation theory the distributions for light and charmed quarks in the hadron have been derived, taking into account the mass of the charmed quark. The parameters of the model have been extracted from the comparison with NA3 data on hadroproduction of J/psi particles. A reanalysis of the EMC data on charm production in muon-nucleon scattering has been performed. It has been found in comparison with the conventional source of charmed quarks from photon-gluon fusion, that the EMC data indicate the presence of an additional contribution from deep-inelastic scattering on charmed quarks at large x. The resulting admixture of the Fock states, containing charmed quarks in the decomposition of the proton wave function is of the order of 1%. The approach presented for the excitation of the Fock states with charmed quarks can also be applied to states with beauty quarks as well as to the hadronic component of the virtual photon (resolved photon component).Comment: 23 pages, 4 PostScript figures, Latex2e. In revised version in comparison with the original one all (?) mistypings have been corrected, one more thank has been added and the comparison of the pion and the proton J/psi production is described in more detai

Characterization of the Subsurface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's Abydos Site

We investigate the structure of the subsurface of the Abydos site using a cometary nucleus model with parameters adapted to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and the Abydos landing site. We aim to compare the production rates derived from our model with those of the main molecules measured by Ptolemy. This will allow us to retrieve the depths at which the different molecules still exist in solid form

Origin of molecular oxygen in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Molecular oxygen has been detected in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with abundances in the 1-10% range by the ROSINA-DFMS instrument on board the Rosetta spacecraft. Here we find that the radiolysis of icy grains in low-density environments such as the presolar cloud may induce the production of large amounts of molecular oxygen. We also show that molecular oxygen can be efficiently trapped in clathrates formed in the protosolar nebula, and that its incorporation as crystalline ice is highly implausible because this would imply much larger abundances of Ar and N2 than those observed in the coma. Assuming that radiolysis has been the only O2 production mechanism at work, we conclude that the formation of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is possible in a dense and early protosolar nebula in the framework of two extreme scenarios: (1) agglomeration from pristine amorphous icy grains/particles formed in ISM and (2) agglomeration from clathrates that formed during the disk's cooling. The former scenario is found consistent with the strong correlation between O2 and H2O observed in 67P/C-G's coma while the latter scenario requires that clathrates formed from ISM icy grains that crystallized when entering the protosolar nebula.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, in pres

Burden of cytopaenias among HIV positive pregnant women at the University College Hospital, Ibadan

Introduction: Few studies have examined cytopaenia among HIV positive pregnant women.Objectives: To assess burden of cytopaenia among HIV positive pregnant women.Methodology: This cross-sectional study of women on HAART <6months, defined anemia as hematocrit <33%, leucopenia as total white blood cell count <3,000 cells/mm3 and thrombocytopenia as absolute platelet count <100,000 cells/mm3. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed.Results: Over 8 years, of 1,197 women, the mean age was 29.02(±5.4) years and mean gestational age 25.9(±8.1) weeks. Prevalence of anaemia was 76.8%, leucopaenia 6.9% and thrombocytopenia 4.7%. The mean haematocrit was 28.5%(±4.5); median white blood count 5,500/mm3 ; median platelet count 200,000/mm3 and median CD4 323 cells/mm3.Mean haematocrit was highest (29.7%±5.3) in women in the first trimester but lowest (28.4% ±4.6) in women in second trimester (p=0.04). Compared with earlier trimesters, women in the third trimester had higher median white blood count (5,600 cells/mm3), higher neutrophil (61.0% ±11.2) but lower lymphocytes(28.3%± 9.2) (p=0.18; 0.00, 0.00). Median absolute platelet count was highest (206,000 cells/mm3) in the first trimester but lowest (195,000 cells/mm3) in third trimester (0.04). Women with lower CD4 had higher prevalence of cytopaenias.Conclusion: Cytopaenias are not uncommon in this population especially with lower CD4