Evaluation of CD4+ T Cells in HIV Patients Presenting with Malaria at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Nigeria

CD4 count is an important immunological marker of disease progression in HIV seropositive patients. This study was carried out to determine the effect of malaria or fever of unknown origin on the population of CD4+ T lymphocytes of HIV seropositive patients attending the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. 36 subjects were selected for this study. Ongoing history of fever was used as a case definition for malaria and malaria was confirmed from microscopic examination of thick and thin film of blood sample obtained from the patients during presentation with fever. The CD4 count was evaluated during presentation of fever and post-fever using flow cytometry. There was significant decrease in CD4 count of the patients. However, upon classifying the patients into 2 groups - those that returned to the clinic after a week and those that returned after a month - a significant increase in CD4 count was noticed in the group that returned after a week, while a significant decrease was noticed in the group that returned after a month (at p value of 95%). Further classification of the patients based on presence of malaria parasite, and body temperature resulted in varying effects on CD4 count post-fever (in the general group, 27 were positive for malaria parasites. Of these 27, there was an increase in CD4 count in 9 (33.3%). However in the group that returned after a week, all 6 (100%) that were positive for malaria parasites showed increase in CD4 count. Five (26.3%) of the 19 patients that had body temperature within the range of 35.5-37.4^o^C showed an increase in CD4 count, while 7 (41.2%) the 17 patients that had body temperature of 37.5^o^C and above showed an increase in CD4 count. The results led to the conclusion that while some components of the immune response to malaria could strengthen the immune system of HIV seropositive patients by increasing their CD4 count, other components will suppress their immunity by decreasing their CD4 count, accelerating the progression to AIDS

Combined administration of silymarin and vitamin C stalls acetaminophen-mediated hepatic oxidative insults in Wistar rats

AbstractOxidative insult by free radicals has been implicated in drug-induced hepatic damage and this has resulted in frequent episodes of liver disorders. Therapeutic efficacy of antioxidants may provide a possible solution to this menace. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of combined administration of silymarin and vitamin C in rescuing acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Hepatotoxic rats were orally administered with silymarin and vitamin C at 100 and 200mg/kg body weight, respectively. At the end of the experiment, liver function indices, antioxidant parameters and histological analysis were evaluated. We observed that the significantly increased (p<0.05) activities of alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, as well as levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and serum total bilirubin, were markedly reduced following co-administration of silymarin and vitamin C. The compounds also effectively reversed the reduced activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and total protein concentration in the hepatotoxic rats. These findings are indicative of hepatoprotective and antioxidant attributes of the two compounds which are also supported by the histological analysis. The available evidences in this study suggest that the complementary effects of silymarin and vitamin C proved to be capable of ameliorating acetaminophen-mediated hepatic oxidative damage and the probable mechanism is via antioxidative action

A study of dry matter partitioning and concentration in grain Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus)

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Simulated drought influences oxidative stress in Zea mays seedlings

Drought is an abiotic factor that limits the productivity of crop plants survival and productivity. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of simulated drought on the malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant enzymes activity in Zea mays. Seedlings were grown for 8 weeks in nursery bags filled with sandy-loam soil in two categories. Category 1 which serves as a control and received 300 ml of water every three days throughout the experimental period . Category 2 received 300ml of water every 2 days for 5 weeks before subjecting them to simulated drought. Physiological and metabolic parameters which include biomass, relative water content, total chlorophyll, oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activity were evaluated after the treatments. Analysis of variance at 0.05 significance level was used as the statistical tool. The results showed that drought condition caused a significant decrease in biomass, total chlorophyll, relative water content (RWC) of the plant and a significant increase in MDA level, and activity of catalase peroxidase. It was concluded that drought made water absorption by plants difficult and also induced oxidative stress in plants.Keywords: Catalase, drought, oxidative stress, seedlings, Zea may

Behavioural Practices and Climate Change Awareness in Ado Odo/Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria: Implications for Communication and Development Agenda

The Earth's climate pattern has faced its greatest alteration in recent times. The burning of fossils fuels and clearing of land has resulted in the highest levels of greenhouse pollution in our atmosphere, global warming which has led to destruction of lives and property world over. This challenge call for drastic reduction in the amount of pollution we create. It is against this background that this study investigates the practices surrounding climate change and its awareness in Ota local government of Ogun State. Through survey, interview and observation, 970 residents of the local government were be interrogated, as well as key opinion leaders The findings show the current behaviour surrounding climate change in Ota includes burning of waste and bush, indiscriminate disposal of waste, and the use of kerosene, fire wood and coal for domestic purposes, among others. The study recommends urgent communication intervention and the use of television for climate change awareness effective campaign for behaviour modification

Kinematics of Lower Limb Segments during Cycling Session

This paper presents the kinematics of the leg-bicycle five-bar linkage system mechanism including foot segment. Kinematics is very important in the analysis of rigid bodies system whenever theoretical analysis is being sought especially in bicycle-leg linkage mechanism. A lot of experimental works has already been carried out on lower limbs segments biomechanics during cycling which involved the use of positions of the lower limb segments, but there has not been a complete theoretical analysis of the lower limb segments positions in the literature. Therefore, there is need for a complete kinematics of the bicycle-leg linkage mechanism which includes the position analysis of the lower limb segments. The position, velocity, and acceleration equations were derived and the profiles of the thigh, shank and foot segments were plotted against crank angles. It was found that the profiles obtained are reasonable and agrees with experiments. Keywords: Cycling; Five-bar linkage; Kinematics Analysis; Lower Limb Segments

Development of Electromagnet for Laboratory Water Treatment Experiments

Water is said to be magnetized when it flows across the magnetic field and magnetized water finds its application in many areas of life. Despite the numerous benefits of magnetized water, very little works have been reported on the development of magnet for water magnetizer application. In most of the reported works, the detailed theoretical analysis and design procedure required for the development of the magnet was not accounted for; hence the need for the present study. Electromagnetic means of producing flux density is considered in this study due to its advantage of flux density variation, which is not achievable with the use of its permanent magnet counterparts. The design equation of short electromagnet was derived from the existing equations of coil magnetic flux density and then used for the air core electromagnet design. The variation of the magnetic flux density with the distance between two electromagnets was empirically investigated. The performance of the developed electromagnet is satisfactory, as the flux density varies between 814.6 and 510G corresponding to the gap (0 - 4cm) between the coils (i.e., water pipe diameter). Keywords— Air core, Coils, Iron core, Magnetic flux density, Magnetized wate

Physiotherapy Management of Faecal Impaction: A case report*

This case report describes how a physiotherapy modality was used to resolve faecal impaction. A 38-year old man developed faecal impaction after 8 weeks of intensive medical care. A physiotherapist was invited to apply a suitable modality that could bring relief to the patient. The pre-treatment measurement of the distended abdomen was 102 cm. Modified passive mobilization of the lower limbs towards the abdominal surface was carried out. After 6 sessions, the faecal impaction was resolved. The post-treatment measurement of the abdomen was 86.5 cm. This case demonstrates the important role of a physiotherapy modality in the management of faecal impaction. It is hoped that this study will stimulate the interest of physiotherapists in the management of this condition. KEY WORDS: faecal impaction, megacolon, modified passive mobilization, abdominal distention *This case report was presented at the 46th Annual Scientific Conference of the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy, November 2006

PID controller for microsatellite yaw-axis attitude control system using ITAE method

The need for effective design of satellite attitude control (SAC) subsystem for a microsatellite is imperative in order to guarantee both the quality and reliability of the data acquisition. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller was proposed in this study because of its numerous advantages. The performance of PID controller can be greatly improved by adopting an integral time absolute error (ITAE) robust controller design approach. Since the system to be controlled is of the 4th order, it was approximated by its 2nd order version and then used for the controller design. Both the reduced and higher-order pre-filter transfer functions were designed and tested, in order to improve the system performance. As revealed by the results, three out of the four designed systems satisfy the design specifications; and the PD-controlled system without pre-filter transfer function was recommended out of the three systems due to its structural simplicity, which eventually enhances its digital implementation

Quality of Life of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Studies assessing the quality of life of chronic kidney disease patients prior to initiating dialysis therapy are much fewer than studies of patients on dialysis. However many of the factors affecting quality of life during dialysis already exist in the early stage of chronic kidney disease and suitable management of these factors could have a positive influence on the course of the illness. This is a cross-sectional study assessing the relationship between sociodemographic and medical factors with the quality of life of chronic kidney disease patients. The study comprises of 113 consecutive adult chronic kidney disease patients attending the renal clinic of the university of Ilorin teaching hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. Health related quality of life was assessed using the 26 item World Health Organization quality of life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF). Age greater than 60 years (p=0.001), receiving adequate social support (p=0.038) were statistically significantly associated with higher score on Environment domain of WHOQOL-BREF, while being divorced (p=0.005) was significantly related to a lower score (i.e. poorer QOL) on this domain. Among the clinical characteristics, being at an advanced stage of CKD and being on current treatment with RRT were statistically significantly associated with lower scores on overall QOL (p=0.017; p=0.045 respectively). These two clinical characteristics were also associated with lower scores (i.e. poorer QOL) on the physical health (p=0.007; p&lt;0.001 respectively), psychological health domain (p=0.04; p=0.01 respectively) and environment domain (p=0.035; p=0.018 respectively) of the WHOQOL-BREF. Both the presence of complication and using higher number of medications were statistically significantly associated with lower scores on health satisfaction (p=0.026; p=0.01 respectively) and the physical health domain (p=0.006; p&lt;0.001 respectively) of WHOQOL-BREF. Sociodemographic and clinical factors influence the quality of life of chronic kidney disease patients. However, efforts made at early detection and treatment with provision of social assistance may help reduce their negative effects on the quality of life of these patients. Keywords: quality of life; chronic kidney disease; Nigeri