OBSCN Mutations Associated with Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Haploinsufficiency

Studies of the functional consequences of DCM-causing mutations have been limited to a few cases where patients with known mutations had heart transplants. To increase the number of potential tissue samples for direct investigation we performed whole exon sequencing of explanted heart muscle samples from 30 patients that had a diagnosis of familial dilated cardiomyopathy and screened for potentially disease-causing mutations in 58 HCM or DCM-related genes.We identified 5 potentially disease-causing OBSCN mutations in 4 samples; one sample had two OBSCN mutations and one mutation was judged to be not disease-related. Also identified were 6 truncating mutations in TTN, 3 mutations in MYH7, 2 in DSP and one each in TNNC1, TNNI3, MYOM1, VCL, GLA, PLB, TCAP, PKP2 and LAMA4. The mean level of obscurin mRNA was significantly greater and more variable in healthy donor samples than the DCM samples but did not correlate with OBSCN mutations. A single obscurin protein band was observed in human heart myofibrils with apparent mass 960 ± 60 kDa. The three samples with OBSCN mutations had significantly lower levels of obscurin immunoreactive material than DCM samples without OBSCN mutations (45±7, 48±3, and 72±6% of control level).Obscurin levels in DCM controls, donor heart and myectomy samples were the same.OBSCN mutations may result in the development of a DCM phenotype via haploinsufficiency. Mutations in the obscurin gene should be considered as a significant causal factor of DCM, alone or in concert with other mutations

Combined effects of metformin and honey on lipid metabolism in diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats

The study was designed to evaluate the combined effect of metformin and honey treatments on lipid metabolism in diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats. Eighty-five male Wistar rats (80-100g): twenty normal and sixty-five hyperlipidemic rats were used. Sixty-five rats were fed with high fat diet for 30 days to induce hyperlipidemia. Five rats each from control and hyperlipidemic were randomly selected to evaluate fasting blood glucose (FBG) level and hyperlipidemic state. Fifteen normal rats (control) formed Group 1(received 0.3ml/100g b.w distilled water) and the hyperlipidemic rats were divided into 4 groups of fifteen rats. Group 2 (hyperlipidemic control), Group 3 (hyperlipidemic plus metformin 100mg/kg), Group 4 (hyperlipidemic plus honey-1ml/100g); Group 5 (hyperlipidemic plus metformin-100mg/kg) and honey(1ml/100g). All treatments were administered orally, once daily for 28 days and animals were weighed weekly throughout the study. Blood was obtained from 5 rats in each group weekly post treatments through retro-orbital plexus, FBG was assessed using glucometer(Acucheck) and serum from remaining blood sample was used for assessing total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), spectrophotometrically using Agape Biochemical kits. Low density lipoprotein (LDL), Very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), atherogenic index and HDL/LDL ratio were mathematically calculated. Histology of the liver was done using H&E stain. The FBG was significantly reduced in all treatment groups (3, 4 and 5) compared with Groups 1 and 2 (the controls). Group 5 animals showed significant reduction in TC, TG, LDL, VLDL and significant increase in HDL level by day 28 of treatment compared with controls. Histopathological results showed severe diffuse fatty infiltration of the hepatocytes and extensive periportal vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes at day 28 in hyperlipidemic group while group 5 showed very mild diffuse periportal cellular infiltration of the hepatic parenchyma with no visible lesion. It was concluded that the combination of both metformin and honey treatments significantly reduced blood glucose level, serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein and fatty infiltration of hepatic parenchyma and increase high density lipoprotein level which was not achieved with administration of either metformin or honey alone in hyperlipidemic rats.Keywords: hyperlipidemia, Metformin, Honey, Lipid profile, Fasting blood glucos

Current status of malaria parasite among blood donors in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite among blood donors at the  Police Clinic Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The standard parasitological techniques using both thick and thin blood films from the donors for the detection of malaria parasite was followed. Venous blood was collected from 200 blood donors and films were made on clean greese-free glass slide and stained with 10%Giemsa stains and viewed under the microscope using the oil immersion objective. Of the 200 samples examined, 56 (28.00%) were positive with Plasmodium falciparium. The highest prevalence among the males 53(26.50%) and between the ages 21-30years and only 3 (1.50%) of females were positive. Donors having the blood group O were more infected (60.70%) than the other blood groups and the lowest was blood group AB (5.40%). This result shows that there is a relatively high prevalence of malaria parasite among the blood donors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommended that malaria parasite screening test be included among other blood screening tests before any transfusion to avert the deleterious effects of malaria on recipients. © JASEMKeywords: Malaria parasite; Prevalence; Blood Donors; Port Harcourt; Rivers State

Group Strategyproof Pareto-Stable Marriage with Indifferences via the Generalized Assignment Game

We study the variant of the stable marriage problem in which the preferences of the agents are allowed to include indifferences. We present a mechanism for producing Pareto-stable matchings in stable marriage markets with indifferences that is group strategyproof for one side of the market. Our key technique involves modeling the stable marriage market as a generalized assignment game. We also show that our mechanism can be implemented efficiently. These results can be extended to the college admissions problem with indifferences

Esophageal perforation following foreign body ingestion in children: report of three cases

We report three cases of foreign body esophagus, in two of them the foreign body was a coin, and the third child ingested a disc battery. In all three cases the foreign body was impacted in the mid esophagus. All were initially  evaluated by chest X ray which confirmed the diagnosis.One underwent flexible endoscopic extraction initially followed by rigid esophagoscope later and in the other two extractions was performed using rigid esophagoscope, two of them ended with perforation of the esophagus and treated  conservatively with only chest tube insertion and supportive management.In the third child who ingested a disc battery, esophagoscopy revealed  necrosis and perforation at the site of impaction with formation of trachea-esophageal fistula, extraction was performed but the fistula necessitated surgical closure which failed and therefore underwent stent placement to end with complete cure.Keywords: Foreign body; esophageal perforation; children; rigid endoscope

Work Profile of Community Health Extension Workers in Cross River State and implications for achieving MDG 4 and 5.

Introdution: The goal of significant reduction in maternal and child mortality could be achieved if national health services de-emphasizes vertical public health programs and services and strengthen community services9. Community based service are usually directed toward identification of at risk groups in the community such as pregnant women and children U5 years and provide them services not only in the health centers but also in the home. Studies have shown that those at greatest risk of high morbidity and mortality are least likely to make use of health services. A survey of caregiver knowledge of 19 key household and community practices in selected communities in Cross River showed that high proportion of mothers and caregivers lack appropriate health knowledge to correctly manage their sick children in the home7.Onjective: To identify where community health extension workers work and what services they are providing in primary health careMethodology: One hundred and forty one questionnaires were distributed among community health extension workers in two local governments in Cross River State. The instrument was simple structured self administered questionnaire.Results: The study showed that most of the community health extension workers (91%) were fully engaged with activities in the health centres ( Table 2) The study showed that community health extension workers were responsible for immunization, growth monitoring, antenatal and pregnancy care, and curative care (table 3). Although majority of the community health extension workers were aware that they should be working in community but when asked why they did not, their reply was that there was insufficient number of staff in health centers. (Table 4)Conclusion: Nigeria health system is concentrated on facility and curative based services. Community based health care is almost completely absent. The total involvement of community health extension workers in the health centres care rather than to work with mothers and caregivers will make the achievement of the millennium development goals for mothers and children as distant as it was 40 years ago when primary health care strategy was adopted for achievement of health for all in Nigeria. It is recommended that community health extension workers should be recruited to work in the communities.Keywords: Key household and community practices, community health extension worke

Monitoring drought and effects on vegetation in Sokoto state, Nigeria using statistical and geospatial techniques

This paper aimed at assessing drought occurrences and its effects on vegetation cover in Sokoto State, Nigeria using geospatial and statistical techniques. Monthly precipitation data which span through a period of 40 years (1980-2010) and 30 years (1982-2011) respectively were used for generating Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) graphs and maps. LandSat   imageries of bands 3 and 4 acquired by Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) Sensor were used for generating Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). SPI and NDVI were generated for the study area based on inter-annual and decadal timescale. Findings showed that SPI values varied from extremely dry condition to extreme wet condition although near normal condition ranked highest while extremely wet condition ranked least.  It also revealed that most of the Local Government Areas experienced near normal conditions but  Isa, Sabon Birni and little part of the boundary between Goronyo and Wurno experienced moderately wet conditions between 1982 and 1991. It was further observed that the whole region was dominated with near normal condition except Sabon Birni and Isa LGAs that experienced extremely, severely and moderately wet condition between 1992 and 2001. In contrast, the SPI values for over 90% of the state  between 2002 and 2011 fall within the severely dry conditions. Findings further showed that change scenarios observed from the derived NDVI and SPI maps indicated that the climatic variability currently being experienced is likely to increase and intensify in future. It is obvious that urgent attention on drought management over this region is needed.Keywords: Drought, SPI, NDVI, Vegetation Cover, Landsat Imageries, Northern Nigeri

QR-RLS algorithm for error diffusion of color images

Printing color images on color printers and displaying them on computer monitors requires a significant reduction of physically distinct colors, which causes degradation in image quality. An efficient method to improve the display quality of a quantized image is error diffusion, which works by distributing the previous quantization errors to neighboring pixels, exploiting the eye's averaging of colors in the neighborhood of the point of interest. This creates the illusion of more colors. A new error diffusion method is presented in which the adaptive recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm is used. This algorithm provides local optimization of the error diffusion filter along with smoothing of the filter coefficients in a neighborhood. To improve the performance, a diagonal scan is used in processing the image, (C) 2000 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(00)00611-5]

DIABETES RISK SCORE OF STAFF OF AN URBAN MISSION HOSPITAL IN NIGERIA

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a major global health problem which in hospital staff poses a major stress and can lead to migration away from health related posts. Certain features of health work e.g. long hours, shifts and uncertain break times increase the risk for hospital staff. It is critical to predict chronic conditions like diabetes mellitus that have a definable onset in adults so that morbidity and mortality can be mitigated through early recognition and treatment. Aims: To determine the diabetes risk score of health workers in an urban hospital and the associated risk factors. Methods and Materials: A correlational cross sectional survey of staff was conducted and diabetes risk was determined using a modified form of the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score questionnaire. Results and Conclusions: A total of 220 staff representing a response rate of 69.8% completed the study. The mean age was 41.6±9.88, Median duration of employment was 7.2years with a range of (0-37). Majority (66.4%) were in the 25-44 years age group, and most were female (66.4%) and married (70.5%). Mean BMI was 26.62±4.85. The mean Diabetes Risk score for the entire study group was 7.43±4.46 with a median score of 7 and a range of 0-19. About 40.5% had slightly elevated risk, 14.5% had moderate risk, and 5% had high risk. Female gender (AOR 0.17, 95% CI 0.09-0.33), and duration of employment (AOR 2.27, 95% CI 1.18-4.37) were significant predictors of higher diabetic risk score category. KEYWORDS: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes risk; Risk score; Health workforce