Assessment of Mosquito Diversity and Evaluation of Impact of House Treatment with DDT on Their Population in Amauro, Okigwe Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria.

Malaria, a disease that has increasingly been ravaging human population still has no sustainable remedy. Therefore, mosquito diversity and impact of house treatment with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) on their population were investigated by the use of miniature Centre for Disease Control light trap (model 512) and WHO – approved compression sprayer in Amauro, Okigwe Local Government Area, Imo State, Nigeria. A total of 9,114 adult mosquitoes belonging to Anopheles, Aedes and Culex genera were captured and identified in this study prior to the DDT indoor residual spray. Virtually all the living houses (93) in the area were treated with a total of 25kg of DDT active ingredient (concentration of DDT active ingredient: 10%). Mosquito populations reduced significantly (P<0.05) by 89.82% six months after house treatment with DDT. This shows that DDT insecticide is highly effective in controlling mosquito vectors. Mosquito species incriminated by this study suggest serious public health implications in the area.Key words: Mosquito, diversity, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, indoor residual spray, public health

Variations in soil seed banks of abandoned farmlands of various ages in Umukabia Umuagbom, Abia State, Nigeria

A 3 x 5 Factorial Experiment in Randomized Complete Block design Experiment was used to study seeds stocked in soils of four abandoned farmlands and a secondary forest regrowth at Umukabia, Nigeria. Soil monoliths 25.0 x 25.0 x 10.0 cm were collected from the depths 0-10 cm and 10.0-20.0 cm from four abandoned farmlands and a secondary forest regrowth in the months of August, September and October, 2008. The experiment was replicated twice at each site for each month. Sieving- floatation method was adopted and two sieves of 1.85 mm and 0.80 mm mesh opening were used to sieve each soil monolith. The left over after sieving were air dried under the room temperature. The dried soil materials for each sample were viewed with a 10 magnifying hand lens to sort and enumerate the number of seeds contained in each sample. The seeds found at both depth of 0 - 10 cm and 10 - 20 cm were identified. After collection of the seeds, the data obtained were analyzed and the differences between the treatment means were separated using Fisher’s - Least Significant differences (F-LSD) at P<0.05. The total number of seeds counted from soil monoliths collected from the depths of 0.0 – 10.0 cm and 10.0-20.0 cm were 344 and 99, respectively. For months, September with a mean of 12.90 seeds had the highest number of seeds while seven year old abandoned farmland with a mean of 14.67 seeds had the highest number of seeds amongst the various abandoned farmlands. Except  seeds of Canariums chweinfurthii and Dialium guineense no other tree seeds were recorded. It was concluded that man should help in tree seeds dispersal and seedlings maintenance within abandoned farmland of the tropical rainforest to minimize the danger of most tree species being classified as being rare or endangered. © 2013 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: seed stocked, soil, sieving-floatation, secondary forest, regrowth

A Mouse Model for Osseous Heteroplasia

GNAS/Gnas encodes Gsa that is mainly biallelically expressed but shows imprinted expression in some tissues. In Albright Hereditary Osteodystrophy (AHO) heterozygous loss of function mutations of GNAS can result in ectopic ossification that tends to be superficial and attributable to haploinsufficiency of biallelically expressed Gsa. Oed-Sml is a point missense mutation in exon 6 of the orthologous mouse locus Gnas. We report here both the late onset ossification and occurrence of benign cutaneous fibroepithelial polyps in Oed-Sml. These phenotypes are seen on both maternal and paternal inheritance of the mutant allele and are therefore due to an effect on biallelically expressed Gsa. The ossification is confined to subcutaneous tissues and so resembles the ossification observed with AHO. Our mouse model is the first with both subcutaneous ossification and fibroepithelial polyps related to Gsa deficiency. It is also the first mouse model described with a clinically relevant phenotype associated with a point mutation in Gsa and may be useful in investigations of the mechanisms of heterotopic bone formation. Together with earlier results, our findings indicate that Gsa signalling pathways play a vital role in repressing ectopic bone formation

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Background: Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. // Methods: We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung's disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. // Findings: We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung's disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middle-income countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in low-income countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. // Interpretation: Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Assessment of insect invaders of decaying banana and plantain (musa spp.) Pseudo stems in Umuagwo, Ohaji – Egbema local government area, Imo state, Nigeria

Insect invaders of decaying banana and plantain pseudo stems in Umuagwo, Ohaji-Egbema, Imo State were investigated in randomly selected crop plots near living homes (1.78) = 0.0375]. This suggests that site of crop plot has no obvious impact on the abundance of insect invaders of banana andplantain pseudo stems. Insects of medical/veterinary importance to man (Diptera, Siphunculata and Dictyotera) were found to be significantly more abundant in crop plots nearer homes [P (Z>2.00) = 0.0228]. This significant observation could implicate the health of man and his domestic animals

Iron status of some pregnant women in Orlu town-Eastern Nigeria

BACKGROUND:  High prevalence of anaemia has been reported among pregnant women especially in developing nations. This paper considers maternal haemoglobin (Hb) level, serum total iron, iron binding capacity, and serum ferritin in antenatal women in Orlu- Imo State Nigeria. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Haemoglobin level, serum iron, serum ferritin, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were measured in different trimesters among 90 pregnant women aged 20-45 years, on iron supplements attending antenatal clinic of Imo State University Teaching Hospital Orlu. First trimester comprised of 16.7% (n=15), second trimester comprised of 50% (n=45) while as third trimester comprised of 33.3% (n=30). 30 non-pregnant women aged 26-40 years were used as controls.RESULT:   The mean Hb level was 11.28 ± 1.4 g/dl in first trimester, 9.5 ± 1.9g/dl in second trimester, 10.4 ± 1.2g/dl in third trimester, and 10.9 ± 1.5g/dl in controls. Mean serum iron level was 142 ± 23µg/ml in first trimester, 235 ± 118µg/ml in second trimester, 251 ± 118µg/ml in third trimester, and 99±19.4µg/ml in controls. Mean serum ferritin was 57.7 ± 30ng/ml in first trimester, 37.6 ± 17ng/ml in second trimester, 37.3±20ng/ml in third trimester, and 86.7±16.9ng/ml in controls. TIBC was 337±90 µg/dl in first trimester, 441±119µg/dl in second trimester, 482 ± 149µg/dl in third trimester and 271.8±89.0µg/ml in controls.Hb level was relatively stable in pregnancy, but was significantly (p&lt;0.05) lowest in the second trimester compared with controls. Serum iron and TIBC progressively increased from first trimester to third trimester. Conversely, serum ferritin declined progressively from first trimester to third trimester. The increments in serum iron was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05) between first and second trimester, but not significant between second and third trimester. TIBC was significantly higher in third trimester compared with first trimester.  Serum ferritin was significantly lower in second and third trimesters compared with controls. This implies a progressive mineral transfer from mother to fetus. TIBC and serum iron were significantly (p&lt;0.05) lowest in non-pregnant controls compared with the three trimesters of pregnancy. Conversely ferritin was significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher among the non-pregnant controls compared with the three trimesters of pregnancy. This implies that the non-pregnant women had more iron store and had less iron need than their pregnant counterpart. The higher iron need in pregnancy necessitated its mobilization from its stores. CONCLUSION: This study encourages more critical antenatal care especially at second trimester of pregnancy with much emphasis on dietary supplementation of iron and minerals through adequate consumption of local vegetables and other food diets rich in iron. There was poorest antenatal attendance in the first trimester. Pregnant women in this environment should be encouraged to register early for antenatal care.KEYWORDS: Pregnancy, anaemia, Iron status