Dilemmas over individual and state responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law

This paper attempts an explanation to some of the complex legal issues surrounding the whole concept of responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. The arguments here are based on reflections on the draft articles on the responsibility of states for the violations of international humanitarian law adopted by the international law commission as well as opinions of experts on the subject, treaties, conventions international jurisprudence, and internationally recognized principles and customs that govern conduct in armed conflicts so as to limit human suffering particularly of non combatants

PiRaNhA: A server for the computational prediction of RNA-binding residues in protein sequences

The PiRaNhA web server is a publicly available online resource that automatically predicts the location of RNA-binding residues (RBRs) in protein sequences. The goal of functional annotation of sequences in the field of RNA binding is to provide predictions of high accuracy that require only small numbers of targeted mutations for verification. The PiRaNhA server uses a support vector machine (SVM), with position-specific scoring matrices, residue interface propensity, predicted residue accessibility and residue hydrophobicity as features. The server allows the submission of up to 10 protein sequences, and the predictions for each sequence are provided on a web page and via email. The prediction results are provided in sequence format with predicted RBRs highlighted, in text format with the SVM threshold score indicated and as a graph which enables users to quickly identify those residues above any specific SVM threshold. The graph effectively enables the increase or decrease of the false positive rate. When tested on a non-redundant data set of 42 protein sequences not used in training, the PiRaNhA server achieved an accuracy of 85%, specificity of 90% and a Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.41 and outperformed other publicly available servers. The PiRaNhA prediction server is freely available at http://www.bioinformatics.sussex.ac.uk/PIRANHA. © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University Press

SAM68 is a physiological regulator of SMN2 splicing in spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by loss of motor neurons in patients with null mutations in the SMN1 gene. The almost identical SMN2 gene is unable to compensate for this deficiency because of the skipping of exon 7 during pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) processing. Although several splicing factors can modulate SMN2 splicing in vitro, the physiological regulators of this disease-causing event are unknown. We found that knockout of the splicing factor SAM68 partially rescued body weight and viability of SMAΔ7 mice. Ablation of SAM68 function promoted SMN2 splicing and expression in SMAΔ7 mice, correlating with amelioration of SMA-related defects in motor neurons and skeletal muscles. Mechanistically, SAM68 binds to SMN2 pre-mRNA, favoring recruitment of the splicing repressor hnRNP A1 and interfering with that of U2AF65 at the 3' splice site of exon 7. These findings identify SAM68 as the first physiological regulator of SMN2 splicing in an SMA mouse model

Women’s Emancipation in the Western Grasslands of Cameroon, 1975-2010: Inculcating International Conventions

Every 8th March is celebrated in Cameroon as the International Women’s day in a bid to galvanise and continue to create awareness, on the strides made by women in so far as women emancipation is concerned worldwide. All these stemmed from without and within as it were international and national obligation to ensure that women should not still be relegated behind in matters of development. Ever since this wave of thought began in the 1940s with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and beyond the women of the Western Grasslands of Cameroon have come a long way but were still to reach their destination as far as full emancipation was concerned. What were the obstacles? Through observatory and statutory data, and manifestations, gender equality was still far-fetched when it came to customary tenets of ethnic groups found in this region. However, International Conferences, National and Non-Governmental Organisations have played greater roles in enhancing the emancipation of women in various domains as examined by this paper in the Western Grasslands of Cameroon. Hence government should come up with more mechanisms with which more enforcement of international and national laws should be upheld to the fulles

Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practice of hand hygiene among Bachelor of Nursing Science students at AhmaduBello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria

Microorganisms from the hands of healthcare workers is a source of cross-infection in hospitals and can be prevented by hand washing. Hand hygiene is a foremost technique to reduce nosocomial infections. It is the simplest method for control of nosocomial infections if done properly. This help prevent from a lot of costs and fatalities. Due to constant relationship with patients, nurses play very important role in proper execution of hand hygiene among clinical personnels.  This study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitudes and practice of hand hygiene among Undergraduate Nursing Students on clinical posting at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used.  The objectives of the study were; To determine the level of knowledge of hand hygiene among the students, determine the students attitude towards hand hygiene compliance, identify the practice of hand hygiene  and determine the relationship between knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among the student. The questionnaire was the tool for data collection. Out of 48 questionnaires distributed, 43 (90%) were retrieved and analyzed using SPSS version 22. The result showed that the majority (62%) of the students had good knowledge about hand hygiene. Most (88.8%) had a  positive attitude towards hand hygiene compliance. More than half (61.6%) of the respondents practiced hand hygiene. The study also revealed a strong relationship between knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among the respondents with (X2) of 25.533 at P = 0.000. It was recommended that there is a need for the authority of ABUTH to increase regular training among BNSc students with regard to hand hygiene and periodically monitor and record adherence to hand-hygiene performed by the students and provide feedback regarding their performance

Role of Sam68 in post-transcriptional gene regulation

The STAR family of proteins links signaling pathways to various aspects of post-transcriptional regulation and processing of RNAs. Sam68 belongs to this class of heteronuclear ribonucleoprotein particle K (hnRNP K) homology (KH) single domain-containing family of RNA-binding proteins that also contains some domains predicted to bind critical components in signal transduction pathways. In response to phosphorylation and other post-transcriptional modifications, Sam68 has been shown to have the ability to link signal transduction pathways to downstream effects regulating RNA metabolism, including transcription, alternative splicing or RNA transport. In addition to its function as a docking protein in some signaling pathways, this prototypic STAR protein has been identified to have a nuclear localization and to take part in the formation of both nuclear and cytosolic multi-molecular complexes such as Sam68 nuclear bodies and stress granules. Coupling with other proteins and RNA targets, Sam68 may play a role in the regulation of differential expression and mRNA processing and translation according to internal and external signals, thus mediating important physiological functions, such as cell death, proliferation or cell differentiation

The Dynamics of Child Trafficking in West Africa

The phenomenon of human trafficking remains a scourge in Africa as it consistently serves as a source and transit route for this illicit activity. In West Africa, child trafficking has gained so much attention as children are trafficked across borders of member states for the purpose of child labour within the sub-region and beyond for various forms of exploitation. While some of them are victims of kidnap garnered from rural areas close to the highways between Cote d\u27Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, some are willing released by their parents and some are abused by relatives who they live with. This study through a documentary research design utilised a case study approach in examining the efforts of the West African states towards tackling this menace and expunged the lacuna making it easy for trafficking to take place across West African borders. The study\u27s findings showed there is still a lacuna in the domestication of the UN Protocol on Human Trafficking by West African states. The study thus recommended that States should take the issues around trafficking of women and children more seriously such that women and children could be rightly empowered/ positioned to live a good life within the sub region

Appendiceal Knotting: A Rare Complication Causing Intestinal Obstruction in a Child

Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdomen in children. Its common complications are; perforation, gangrene and appendix mass. The most dreaded complication is portal pyemia which could be fatal. Appendiceal knotting is a rare complication. No patient with this complication has been reported in literature. We therefore present the management of this rare complication seen as a cause of intestinal obstruction in a child at our centre. KEY WORDS: Appendicitis Complication, Knotting