Lipid profile among diabetes patients in Gaborone, Botswana

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the serum lipid profile of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients receiving treatment at Gaborone City Council clinics. A total of 401 patients were studied over a 3-month period. It was found that 33.5% had hypercholesterolaemia and 38.9% hypertriglyceridaemia. The mean low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were higher in females than in males, but there was no difference in LDL levels between type 1 and 2 DM patients. There was no difference in cholesterol, triglyceride and highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) levels between genders or between type 1 and 2 patients. Hyperlipidaemia was associated with high body mass index. Only hypertriglyceridaemia was associated with high blood pressure. Hyperlipidaemia was not associated with exercise, smoking or alcohol consumption in the DM patients studied. Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa Vol. 11(1) 2006: 32-3

Timing, choice and duration of perioperative prophylactic antibiotic use in surgery: A teaching hospital based experience from Eritrea, in 2009

Background: The continuum from surgically clean, through antiseptic techniques to the use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis has revolutionized surgical practice and significantly reduced morbidity. Adherence to use of prophylactic antibiotic guidelines varies in different set ups and different diseases. Objective: To document the practice of perioperative prophylactic antibiotic use in a teaching hospital in Eritrea Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in 2009 in Halibet Hospital, Asmara, Eritrea Results: One hundred and one patients were enrolled in the study. Sixty nine percent received prophylactic antibiotics. Of these, 30% were preoperatively and 39% postoperatively. Twenty one percent the majority of whom were in the clean/contaminated group did not receive the required prophylaxis. The surgery site infection rate was 6% mostly from emergency operations recognized during the period of hospitalization. Discussion and conclusion: The use of prophylactic antibiotics in Halibet Hospital needs to be standardized and monitored based on evidence and international benchmarks

Study on the seroprevalence of small ruminant brucellosis in and around Bahir Dar, North West Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was carried out from October 2008 to April 2009 to determine the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminants in and around Bahir Dar, northwest Ethiopia. The sampling method used was purposive sampling technique for districts and simple random for the study animals. A total of 500 serum samples (270 from sheep and 230 from goats) were collected from extensive management system with no history of vaccination. All serum samples were initially screened by Rose-Bengal-Plate Test (RBPT) and positive reactors to RBPT (n=6) were further tested by complement fixation test (CFT) for confirmation. Accordingly, the overall prevalence of brucellosis in small ruminants was 0.4 % (2/500). Rose Bengal Plate Test detected 6 (1.2%) of the samples as seropositive. Up on further testing by CFT only 2 (0.4%) were positive which were adult goats. The seroprevalence of brucellosis was found higher in females (0.4%) than males (0%). Although seropositive animals are low in number, it was found out that animals more than 1 year of age were more affected than others. The result of the present study revealed that the seroprevalence of small ruminant brucellosis in the study area was very low. However, the existence of the disease in the study area has possible risk of spread in the future. Accordingly, elimination of positive seroreactors has been recommended to control the spread of brucellosis in these species of animals

Social capital and its role to improve maternal and child health services in Northwest Ethiopia: A qualitative study

Published: April 21, 2023BACKGROUND: Social capital is a set of shared values that allows individuals or groups receive emotional, instrumental or financial resources flow. In Ethiopia, despite people commonly involved in social networks, there is a dearth of evidence exploring whether membership in these networks enhances uptake of maternal and child health (MCH) services. This study aimed to explore perspectives of women, religious leaders and community health workers (CHWs) on social capital to improve uptake of MCH services in Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: We employed a qualitative study through in-depth interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions. A maximum variation purposive sampling technique was used to select 41 study participants (11 in-depth interviews and 4 FGDs comprising 7-8 participants). Data were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was employed using ATLAS.ti software. RESULTS: Four overarching themes and 13 sub-themes of social capital were identified as factors that improve uptake of MCH services. The identified themes were social networking, social norms, community support, and community cohesion. Most women, CHWs and religious leaders participated in social networks. These social networks enabled CHWs to create awareness on MCH services. Women, religious leaders and CHWs perceived that existing social capital improves the uptake of MCH services. CONCLUSION: The community has an indigenous culture of providing emotional, instrumental and social support to women through social networks. So, it would be useful to consider the social capital of family, neighborhood and community as a tool to improve utilization of MCH services. Therefore, policymakers should design people-centered health programs to engage existing social networks, and religious leaders for improving MCH services.Endalkachew Worku Mengesha, Gizachew A. Tessema, Yibeltal Assefa, Getu Degu Alen

Cytomorphological studies of a spontaneous triploid in Pennisetum hohenackeri Hochst. ex Steud

During studies on the genomic relationships of the wild species of the genus Pennisetum, one spontaneous triploid (3x = 27) plant was identified among the diploid cytotypes (2n = 18) of Pennisetum hohenackeri Hochst. ex Steud. The triploid plant resembled the diploid in most morphological characters, except for the reduced number of spikelets. Chromosome associations of 9 II + 9 I were observed at diakinesis and metaphase I. The bivalents divided normally, while the univalents lagged and formed a separate nucleus, which was included in one of the daughter cells. On the basis of these studies, this plant was considered to be an allotriploid and might have originated as a spontaneous hybrid between diploid P. hohenackeri and an unknown tetraploid (amphidiploid) taxon with one of its genomes homologous to that of diploid P. hohenackeri. The possible donor of this genome could be P. orientale, which is a tetraploid with a basic chromosome number of x = 9.Key words: allotriploid, meiosis, diakinesis, univalents, micronuclei, laggard

Social capital and maternal and child health services uptake in low- and middle-income countries: mixed methods systematic review

Background: Social capital has become an important concept in the field of public health, and is associated with improved health services uptake. This study aimed to systematically review the available literature on the role of social capital on the utilization of maternal and child health services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: Mixed-methods research review and synthesis using three databases PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct for peer-reviewed literature and Google Scholar and Google search engines for gray literature were performed. Both quantitative and qualitative studies conducted in LMICs, published in English and in grey literature were considered. Prior to inclusion in the review methodological quality was assessed using a standardized critical appraisal instrument. Results: A total of 1,545 studies were identified, of which 13 records were included after exclusions of studies due to duplicates, reading titles, abstracts, and full-text reviews. Of these eligible studies, six studies were included for quantitative synthesis, and seven were included for qualitative synthesis. Of the six quantitative studies, five of them addressed the association between social capital and health facility delivery. Women who lived in communities with higher membership in groups that helps to form intergroup bridging ties had higher odds of using antenatal care services. Synthesized qualitative findings revealed that women received some form of emotional, informational, and instrumental support from their network members. Receiving health information from trusted people and socio-cultural factors influenced the use of maternal and child health services. Conclusions: Social capital has a great contribution to improve maternal and child health services. Countries aiming at improving maternal and child health services can be benefited from adapting existing context-specific social networks in the community. This review identified limited available evidence examining the role of social capital on maternal and child health services uptake and future studies may be required for an in-depth understanding of how social capital could improve maternal and child health services.Endalkachew Worku Mengesha, Getu Degu Alene, Desalegne Amare, Yibeltal Assefa, and Gizachew A Tessem

Visceral leishmaniasis patients display altered composition and maturity of neutrophils as well as impaired neutrophil effector functions

Immunologically, active visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is characterised by profound immunosuppression, severe systemic inflammatory responses and an impaired capacity to control parasite replication. Neutrophils are highly versatile cells, which play a crucial role in the induction as well as the resolution of inflammation, the control of pathogen replication and the regulation of immune responses. Neutrophil functions have been investigated in human cutaneous leishmaniasis, however, their role in human visceral leishmaniasis is poorly understood. In the present study we evaluated the activation status and effector functions of neutrophils in patients with active VL and after successful anti-leishmanial treatment. Our results show that neutrophils are highly activated and have degranulated; high levels of arginase, myeloperoxidase and elastase, all contained in neutrophils’ granules, were found in the plasma of VL patients. In addition, we show that a large proportion of these cells are immature. We also analysed effector functions of neutrophils that are essential for pathogen clearance and show that neutrophils have an impaired capacity to release neutrophil extracellular traps, produce reactive oxygen species and phagocytose bacterial particles, but not Leishmania parasites. Our results suggest that impaired effector functions, increased activation and immaturity of neutrophils play a key role in the pathogenesis of VL

On the variational limits of lattice energies on prestrained elastic bodies

We study the asymptotic behaviour of the discrete elastic energies in presence of the prestrain metric $G$, assigned on the continuum reference configuration $\Omega$. When the mesh size of the discrete lattice in $\Omega$ goes to zero, we obtain the variational bounds on the limiting (in the sense of $\Gamma$-limit) energy. In case of the nearest-neighbour and next-to-nearest-neibghour interactions, we derive a precise asymptotic formula, and compare it with the non-Euclidean model energy relative to $G$

Genetics of White Sheath and Bleached Leaf Mutants in Pearl Millet

Two spontaneous chlorophyll-deficient mutant traits, white sheath and bleached leaf, were identified from Pennisetum glaucum [P. americanum] germplasm accessions IP7626 (India) and IP10729 (Sudan), respectively. Normal light green leaf sheaths of the white sheath mutant turned white one week after germination. Maximum expression occurred at flowering, although the mutant plant character persisted until maturity. F2 segregation of reciprocal crosses between normal and mutant plants indicated that the white sheath trait is controlled by a single recessive gene, ws. Normal leaves of the bleached leaf mutant tended to turn yellow from the tip toward the base 10 days after emergence, whereas the bottom third of the leaf blades, the midribs and a small portion on either side of the midribs remained green. Bleached leaf expression increased until floral initiation when plants became green. Inheritance studies indicated that the bleached leaf mutant trait is controlled by a single recessive gene, bl. Linkage studies showed that there are 43 crossover units between the bleached leaf and glossy traits and 45 - 54 between the white sheath and yellow leaf trait