Socio-economic status, lifestyle and childhood obesity in Gombe.

Background: Childhood obesity is a complex condition resulting from an interplay of genetic predisposition, environmental factors and socio-economic status. The prevalence has been increasing all over the world, probably due to economic transition and rapid urbanization as well as globalisation. This relationship should be well established for Improved Health Planning in Gombe State and Nigeria.Objectives: To establish the prevalence of Childhood Obesity and it`s relationship with the Socio-Economic Status of Parents and guardians.Methodology: Anthropometric measurements of children and adolescents in both public and private schools from primary to secondary levels were taken and their BMI calculated. The socioeconomic statuses of their parents, as well as the lifestyle of the children were assessed.Results: Overweight and obesity were more prevalent in children whose parents belonged to the middle and upper socio-economic class; these children had televisions and computers in their rooms and were driven to schoolConclusion: The picture is completely the reverse of what is obtainable in the developed and industrialised nations where overweight and obesity are more prevalent in children of the lower socio-economic class. Authors` contribution: The first author is the lead researcher and is a staff of Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe while the second author, a staff of University of Maiduguri is the first supervisor who gave guidelines and made corrections. The second and the third authors are members of staff of the University of Melbourne in Australia; the third author provided a template on which the questionaire was based while the fourth author who is also the second supervisor, is a tutor of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology; she facilitated the acceptance of the proposal and the sponsorship for the research. The research was carried out in Gombe, the capital of Gombe State in North Eastern NigeriaKeywords: Socio-Economic, Childhood, Obesity, Nigeri

Antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of organisms causing urinary tract infection in children with sickle cell anemia in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Background: Patients with sickle cell disease have increased tendency to develop frequent and severe infections, especially of bones and urinary tract.Objective: The knowledge of antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of common etiological agents will serve as a guide to empiric treatment while results of urine culture and sensitivity are being awaited.Materials and Methods: Antimicrobial sensitivity test was carried out on bacterial isolates from the urine of febrile children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and children with HbAA in Maiduguri. Urine specimens were collected and cultured by standard methods. Sensitivity to 15 antimicrobials (based on availability of sensitivity disc) was tested using the disc.diffusion technique of stokes.Results: Significant bacteriuria was obtained from 65 (26%) of the 250 children with SCA and 51 (20.4%) of the 250 controls. The isolates were E. coli, Klebsiella, Coliforms, Proteus, Staph aureus and Salmonella. Sensitivity was highest to 3rd generation cephalosporins, followed by the quinolones: ciprofloxacin (86.2%), ofloxacin (83.1%), and peflacine(73.8%). Sensitivity of the organisms to some of the commonly used antibiotics like ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, and nalidixic acid was generally low. In general, the pattern of bacteriuria and their sensitivity in the SCA group was similar to the pattern in the control group.Conclusion: Etiological agents of childhood urinary tract infections (UTI) in this environment are resistant to most of the drugs commonly recommended for its treatment. Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefuroxime, and gentamicin, are recommended as first.line drugs for treatment of UTI while awaiting results of culture and sensitivity. Ceftriaxone andceftazidime should be reserved for case of non response to first.line drugs and severe infections

Factors infleuncing neonatal septicaemia in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Neonatal septicaemia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in the tropics. The risk factors vary, and the clinical features of neonatal septicaemia may be vague and nonspecific, therefore a high index of suspicion is vital to early diagnosis and treatment. The aetiological agents and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern have continued to change (in the same centre over time), hence the need to have undertaken this study.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of the study was to determine the risk factors influencing the aetiology of neonatal septicaemia at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was prospective and all the newborn that had clinical diagnosis of septicaemia were consecutively enrolled and admitted to the Special Care Baby Unit of the Department of Paediatrics of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). The patients were appropriately investigated including blood cultures, cerebrospinal fluid cultures and urine culture among others.RESULTS: One hundred and ten neonates were studied, of these 46(42.0%) had positive blood culture, while 64 (58.0%) were blood culture negative. Eighteen (39.1%) of the septicaemic neonates were inborn, while 28 (60.9%) were out born. The incidence of neonatal septicaemia among babies delivered at UMTH was 5.9/1000 live births and the male to female ratio among septicaemic neonates was 1.9:1. The common risk factors for NNS were prolonged rupture of membrane (PROM), prematurity and low socioeconomic status of parents among others. Fever was the commonest clinical feature at presentation (87%), others include: poor feeding (64 %), excessive crying (33%), tachypnoea, hepatomegaly were some of the common examination findings. Staphylococcus aureus 16(69.6%) and Streptococcus pyogenes 5(21.8%) were the predominant Gram positive organisms isolated while Escherichia coli 9(39.1%) and Klebsiella Pneumoniae 7(30.4%) were the predominant Gram negative organisms isolated.CONCLUSION: Mortality was high in infection associated with Gram negative organisms and in the presence of conditions/complications like urinary tract infections, tetanus and meningit

Profitability as a Factor That Spurs Corporate Green Investment Practices in Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Listed Firms

Present studies show corporate reluctance and a lack of interest regarding stimulation towards green investment initiative. This paper investigated the association involving profitability and corporate green investment practices in 100 South African CDP companies on the JSE. Using, Chi-square tests, the outcomes of the test demonstrate that profitability influences green investment practices in these JSE listed firms. Furthermore, a positive direct correlation between profitability and green investment practices in these JSE listed firms was determined. The paper hence indicates that firms can experience improved performance (profitability) if green investment activities are integrated

Designing the social Internet of Things

Copyright © 2017 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. (ACM). What role do people have in the Internet of Things? Compared to the impressive body of research that is currently tackling the technical issues of the Internet of Things, social aspects of agency, engagement, participation, and ethics, are receiving less attention. The goal of this 'Designing the Social Internet of Things' workshop is to contribute by shedding light on these aspects. We invite prospective participants to take a humanistic standpoint, explore people's relations with 'things' first, and then build on such relations so as to support socially relevant goals of engagement, relatedness, participation, and creativity

Seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 and its clinical effect among anaemic SCA patients in Northeastern Nigeria

ABSTRACT Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a globally widespread genetic disorder affecting 5% of the world's over 6 billion people. Parvovirus infection and the resulting aplastic crisis is a recognised complication in individuals with SCA. Aplastic crisis increases the need for blood transfusion and its attendant risk of Transfusion Transmissible Infection (TTI). Hence there is a vicious cycle in which Parvovirus B19 causes aplastic crisis which in turn causes increased transfusion need; and transfusion increases risk of transfusion transmissible infection in which parvovirus B19 is included in certain parts of the world. Sickle cell anaemia is associated with foetal death and infection with parvovirus B19 increases the risk to early mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 among SCA and compare with that of controls in the study area. Furthermore clinical and laboratory profile of subjects were analysed to identify possible correlation with parvovirus B19 seropositivity and explore the possibility of involvement of white cell and platelets. A total of 90 subjects comprising 45 consecutive SCA case subjects and 45 age-and sex-matched non SCA controls were studied in a cross sectional comparative study. Ten millilitres of blood was drawn from the antecubital fossa of each subject after obtaining informed consent. The 10mls of blood was divided into two aliquots, 4.5 mls was added into EDTA anticoagulated bottle and was used for basic complete blood count (CBC), while the remaining 5mls was added into a plain specimen container allowed to clot and serum obtained to test for anti-parvovirus B19 IgG and IgM using an immunochromatography based technique specifically BIOCARD TM Parvo B19 diagnostic test kit. There was male preponderance in the study. The SCA subjects comprised 26 males and 19 females (male to female ratio = 1.4:1), while the non-SCA controls comprised 25 males and 20 females (male to female ratio 1.3:1).. The analysis of anti-parvovirus B19 IgG antibody revealed a prevalence of 23.3% among SCA cases with 18.9% among controls. The haematological profile is not affected by IgG seropositivity. However pregnancy outcome revealed that the total number of stillbirths is 12 among IgG seropositive SCA cases which is higher than the 6 encountered in IgG seronegative SCA subjects; the difference is statistically significant (p=0.04)