Knowledge, perception and utilization of biofortified cassava and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in selected rural areas in Nigeria

Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in Nigeria. Staple crops are targeted by biofortification efforts because they possess low micronutrient density and are consumed in large quantities by a large proportion of poor households. This study was designed to assess the knowledge, perception and utilization of biofortified cassava and orange-fleshed sweet potato in selected Local government Areas in Abia and Imo States. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional in design. A total of 710 respondents were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to elicit the required information. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential (correlation) analysis. Socio-demographic data revealed a preponderance of females, married, well-educated and working-class respondents. Monthly income above ₦29,000 (US$ 70.54) and household size of 4-6 members were reported in 53.5% and 48.6% of the respondents. Study results further revealed that some (34.9%) of the respondents had good knowledge, while 46.1% and 19.0% had an average and poor knowledge of biofortified staples, respectively. Orange fleshed sweet potatoes and biofortified cassava were purchased at least once monthly by 73.7% of the respondents, however 16.5% and 27.5% of the respondents consumed these biofortified staples on a daily and weekly basis. Low positive perception towards the consumption (27.5%), benefits (39.6%) and barriers (16.9%) of utilizing studied biofortified staples was reported. A positive correlation was observed betweenrespondents’ knowledge of biofortified staples and their benefits perception (p = 0.003), purchase (p =0.001) and consumption (p= 0.001) frequency. Therefore, while a good number of the respondents were fairly knowledgeable about the studied biofortified staples, it significantly influenced the perception and utilization of these staples, despite being reportedly low. Therefore, increased sensitization, price subsidy and availability of these biofortified staples will help improve their acceptance and utilization among rural households

Relationship between sonographic umbilical cord size and gestational age among pregnant women in Enugu, Nigeria

Background: Common fetal parameters for gestational age (GA) estimation have pitfalls especially in advanced pregnancy and pregnancy complicated by fetal structural anomaly.Objective: To assess the relationship between umbilical cord size and gestational age of the fetus.Subjects and Methods: A sonographic cross sectional study involving 300 pregnant women with GA between 14 weeks to 40 weeks was done in Enugu, Nigeria. Gestational ages were first estimated by use of Naegele’s formula for GA estimation based on the date of onset of each subject’s last menstrual period. Fetal parameters such as biparietal diameter, femur length, head circumference and abdominal circumference were measured and also used to estimate GA. Umbilical cord diameters were measured and used to compute the umbilical cord cross-sectional area.Results: The mean umbilical cord diameter and cross-sectional area were 14.5mm + 7.2mm and 201.6mm + 139.5mm2 respectively. Umbilical cord growth rate of 1.0mm/week was noted between the 14th and 35th week of pregnancy. There were significant correlations (p < 0.001) between umbilical cord size and other fetal parameters for GA estimation.Conclusion: Umbilical cord size had strong linear relationship with common fetal GA estimation parameters and could be used to compliment these parameters for GA estimation.Key words: Sonography, umbilical cord size, gestational age, Nigeria

Multiple morbidity across the lifespan in people with Down syndrome or intellectual disabilities: a population-based cohort study using electronic health records.

BACKGROUND: The Down syndrome phenotype is well established, but our understanding of its morbidity patterns is limited. We comprehensively estimated the risk of multiple morbidity across the lifespan in people with Down syndrome compared with the general population and controls with other forms of intellectual disability. METHODS: In this matched population-based cohort-study design, we used electronic health-record data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CRPD) from Jan 1, 1990, to June 29, 2020. We aimed to explore the pattern of morbidities throughout the lifespan of people with Down syndrome compared with people with other intellectual disabilities and the general population, to identify syndrome-specific health conditions and their age-related incidence. We estimated incidence rates per 1000 person-years and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for 32 common morbidities. Hierarchical clustering was used to identify groups of associated conditions using prevalence data. FINDINGS: Between Jan 1, 1990, and June 29, 2020, a total of 10 204 people with Down syndrome, 39 814 controls, and 69 150 people with intellectual disabilities were included. Compared with controls, people with Down syndrome had increased risk of dementia (IRR 94·7, 95% CI 69·9-128·4), hypothyroidism (IRR 10·6, 9·6-11·8), epilepsy (IRR 9·7, 8·5-10·9), and haematological malignancy (IRR 4·7, 3·4-6·3), whereas asthma (IRR 0·88, 0·79-0·98), cancer (solid tumour IRR 0·75, 0·62-0·89), ischaemic heart disease (IRR 0·65, 0·51-0·85), and particularly hypertension (IRR 0·26, 0·22-0·32) were less frequent in people with Down syndrome than in controls. Compared to people with intellectual disabilities, risk of dementia (IRR 16·60, 14·23-19·37), hypothyroidism (IRR 7·22, 6·62-7·88), obstructive sleep apnoea (IRR 4·45, 3·72-5·31), and haematological malignancy (IRR 3·44, 2·58-4·59) were higher in people with Down syndrome, with reduced rates for a third of conditions, including new onset of dental inflammation (IRR 0·88, 0·78-0·99), asthma (IRR 0·82, 0·73-0·91), cancer (solid tumour IRR 0·78, 0·65-0·93), sleep disorder (IRR 0·74, 0·68-0·80), hypercholesterolaemia (IRR 0·69, 0·60-0·80), diabetes (IRR 0·59, 0·52-0·66), mood disorder (IRR 0·55, 0·50-0·60), glaucoma (IRR 0·47, 0·29-0·78), and anxiety disorder (IRR 0·43, 0·38-0·48). Morbidities in Down syndrome could be categorised on age-related incidence trajectories, and their prevalence clustered into typical syndromic conditions, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, and mental health conditions. INTERPRETATION: Multiple morbidity in Down syndrome shows distinct patterns of age-related incidence trajectories and clustering that differ from those found in the general population and in people with other intellectual disabilities, with implications for provision and timing of health-care screening, prevention, and treatment for people with Down syndrome. FUNDING: The European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, the Alzheimer's Society, the Medical Research Council, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Wellcome Trust, and William Harvey Research Limited

Neonatal epididymo-orchitis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a case report

Epididymitis and epididymo-orchitis are an uncommon causes of acute testicular pain in neonatal boys, epididymo-orchitis is infection or inflammation of epididymis and testis it's may be associated with urinary tract infections or reflux of urine predisposed by an underlying vasal anomaly. Pediatricians should examine the testicles meticulously after a baby is born

Bayesian Point Set Registration

Point set registration involves identifying a smooth invertible transformation between corresponding points in two point sets, one of which may be smaller than the other and possibly corrupted by observation noise. This problem is traditionally decomposed into two separate optimization problems: (i) assignment or correspondence, and (ii) identification of the optimal transformation between the ordered point sets. In this work, we propose an approach solving both problems simultaneously. In particular, a coherent Bayesian formulation of the problem results in a marginal posterior distribution on the transformation, which is explored within a Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme. Motivated by Atomic Probe Tomography (APT), in the context of structure inference for high entropy alloys (HEA), we focus on the registration of noisy sparse observations of rigid transformations of a known reference configuration.Lastly, we test our method on synthetic data sets.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure

A CLASP-modulated cell edge barrier mechanism drives cell-wide cortical microtubule organization in Arabidopsis

It is well known that the parallel order of microtubules in the plant cell cortex defines the direction of cell expansion, yet it remains unclear how microtubule orientation is controlled, especially on a cell-wide basis. Here we show through 4D imaging and computational modelling that plant cell polyhedral geometry provides spatial input that determines array orientation and heterogeneity. Microtubules depolymerize when encountering sharp cell edges head-on, whereas those oriented parallel to those sharp edges remain. Edge-induced microtubule depolymerization, however, is overcome by the microtubule-associated protein CLASP, which accumulates at specific cell edges, enables microtubule growth around sharp edges and promotes formation of microtubule bundles that span adjacent cell faces. By computationally modelling dynamic 'microtubules on a cube' with edges differentially permissive to microtubule passage, we show that the CLASP-edge complex is a 'tuneable' microtubule organizer, with the inherent flexibility to generate the numerous cortical array patterns observed in nature

Accounting for the mortality benefit of drug-eluting stents in percutaneous coronary intervention: a comparison of methods in a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce rates of restenosis compared with bare metal stents (BMS). A number of observational studies have also found lower rates of mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction with DES compared with BMS, findings not observed in randomized clinical trials. In order to explore reasons for this discrepancy, we compared outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with DES or BMS by multiple statistical methods.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared short-term rates of all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction for patients undergoing PCI with DES or BMS using propensity-score adjustment, propensity-score matching, and a stent-era comparison in a large, integrated health system between 1998 and 2007. For the propensity-score adjustment and stent era comparisons, we used multivariable logistic regression to assess the association of stent type with outcomes. We used McNemar's Chi-square test to compare outcomes for propensity-score matching.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Between 1998 and 2007, 35,438 PCIs with stenting were performed among health plan members (53.9% DES and 46.1% BMS). After propensity-score adjustment, DES was associated with significantly lower rates of death at 30 days (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.39 - 0.63, <it>P </it>< 0.001) and one year (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.49 - 0.68, <it>P </it>< 0.001), and a lower rate of myocardial infarction at one year (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.59 - 0.87, <it>P </it>< 0.001). Thirty day and one year mortality were also lower with DES after propensity-score matching. However, a stent era comparison, which eliminates potential confounding by indication, showed no difference in death or myocardial infarction for DES and BMS, similar to results from randomized trials.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although propensity-score methods suggested a mortality benefit with DES, consistent with prior observational studies, a stent era comparison failed to support this conclusion. Unobserved factors influencing stent selection in observational studies likely account for the observed mortality benefit of DES not seen in randomized clinical trials.</p

Fungal iron availability during deep seated candidiasis is defined by a complex interplay involving systemic and local events

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Redox proteomics of the inflammatory secretome identifies a common set of redoxins and other glutathionylated proteins released in inflammation, influenza virus infection and oxidative stress

Protein cysteines can form transient disulfides with glutathione (GSH), resulting in the production of glutathionylated proteins, and this process is regarded as a mechanism by which the redox state of the cell can regulate protein function. Most studies on redox regulation of immunity have focused on intracellular proteins. In this study we have used redox proteomics to identify those proteins released in glutathionylated form by macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) after pre-loading the cells with biotinylated GSH. Of the several proteins identified in the redox secretome, we have selected a number for validation. Proteomic analysis indicated that LPS stimulated the release of peroxiredoxin (PRDX) 1, PRDX2, vimentin (VIM), profilin1 (PFN1) and thioredoxin 1 (TXN1). For PRDX1 and TXN1, we were able to confirm that the released protein is glutathionylated. PRDX1, PRDX2 and TXN1 were also released by the human pulmonary epithelial cell line, A549, infected with influenza virus. The release of the proteins identified was inhibited by the anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX), which also inhibited tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α release, and by thiol antioxidants (N-butanoyl GSH derivative, GSH-C4, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which did not affect TNF-α production. The proteins identified could be useful as biomarkers of oxidative stress associated with inflammation, and further studies will be required to investigate if the extracellular forms of these proteins has immunoregulatory functions

Nowhere Home: The Waiting of Vulnerable Child Refugees

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