THE PROFITABILITY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF ‘ADIRE’ PRODUCTION IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Clothing materials are one of the basic necessities of life.  Traditional clothing materials popularly called ‘adire’ thrive in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria due to the rising demand from an expanding population. This study revealed that over 70% of the producers are female with 23.3% male.  The ‘adire’ industry provides income and employment and thus contributes to the GDP of the nation.  Despite its significance, effluents from the industry contribute to environmental degradation and further affect the health of producers.  Health problems identified include skin rashes, ulceration, swelling, respiratory diseases and complications during delivery.  In addition, available water bodies serve as waste receptacle for effluents from the industry thereby disturbing aquatic biodiversity while those discharged on land affect the terrestrial diversity.  Despite the negative impact, the cost and return analysis of the industry showed profitability. At Itoku, a profit of N117,600 was made and at Asero, a profit of N110,700 was made from small enterprises producing ‘adire’ in the two locations. As a result, more people will be attracted into the industry.  In view of this, recommendations were made to protect man and the environment from effluents discharge of the indigenous industry.  Such recommendations include education, proper waste management and legislation to improve production methods and consequently enhance living standards. &nbsp

THE PROFITABILITY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF ‘ADIRE’ PRODUCTION IN ABEOKUTA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Clothing materials are one of the basic necessities of life.  Traditional clothing materials popularly called ‘adire’ thrive in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria due to the rising demand from an expanding population. This study revealed that over 70% of the producers are female with 23.3% male.  The ‘adire’ industry provides income and employment and thus contributes to the GDP of the nation.  Despite its significance, effluents from the industry contribute to environmental degradation and further affect the health of producers.  Health problems identified include skin rashes, ulceration, swelling, respiratory diseases and complications during delivery.  In addition, available water bodies serve as waste receptacle for effluents from the industry thereby disturbing aquatic biodiversity while those discharged on land affect the terrestrial diversity.  Despite the negative impact, the cost and return analysis of the industry showed profitability. At Itoku, a profit of N117,600 was made and at Asero, a profit of N110,700 was made from small enterprises producing ‘adire’ in the two locations. As a result, more people will be attracted into the industry.  In view of this, recommendations were made to protect man and the environment from effluents discharge of the indigenous industry.  Such recommendations include education, proper waste management and legislation to improve production methods and consequently enhance living standards.Â

Thrombolytic removal of intraventricular haemorrhage in treatment of severe stroke: results of the randomised, multicentre, multiregion, placebo-controlled CLEAR III trial

Background: Intraventricular haemorrhage is a subtype of intracerebral haemorrhage, with 50% mortality and serious disability for survivors. We aimed to test whether attempting to remove intraventricular haemorrhage with alteplase versus saline irrigation improved functional outcome. Methods: In this randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multiregional trial (CLEAR III), participants with a routinely placed extraventricular drain, in the intensive care unit with stable, non-traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage volume less than 30 mL, intraventricular haemorrhage obstructing the 3rd or 4th ventricles, and no underlying pathology were adaptively randomly assigned (1:1), via a web-based system to receive up to 12 doses, 8 h apart of 1 mg of alteplase or 0·9% saline via the extraventricular drain. The treating physician, clinical research staff, and participants were masked to treatment assignment. CT scans were obtained every 24 h throughout dosing. The primary efficacy outcome was good functional outcome, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score (mRS) of 3 or less at 180 days per central adjudication by blinded evaluators. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00784134. Findings: Between Sept 18, 2009, and Jan 13, 2015, 500 patients were randomised: 249 to the alteplase group and 251 to the saline group. 180-day follow-up data were available for analysis from 246 of 249 participants in the alteplase group and 245 of 251 participants in the placebo group. The primary efficacy outcome was similar in each group (good outcome in alteplase group 48% vs saline 45%; risk ratio [RR] 1·06 [95% CI 0·88–1·28; p=0·554]). A difference of 3·5% (RR 1·08 [95% CI 0·90–1·29], p=0·420) was found after adjustment for intraventricular haemorrhage size and thalamic intracerebral haemorrhage. At 180 days, the treatment group had lower case fatality (46 [18%] vs saline 73 [29%], hazard ratio 0·60 [95% CI 0·41–0·86], p=0·006), but a greater proportion with mRS 5 (42 [17%] vs 21 [9%]; RR 1·99 [95% CI 1·22–3·26], p=0·007). Ventriculitis (17 [7%] alteplase vs 31 [12%] saline; RR 0·55 [95% CI 0·31–0·97], p=0·048) and serious adverse events (114 [46%] alteplase vs 151 [60%] saline; RR 0·76 [95% CI 0·64–0·90], p=0·002) were less frequent with alteplase treatment. Symptomatic bleeding (six [2%] in the alteplase group vs five [2%] in the saline group; RR 1·21 [95% CI 0·37–3·91], p=0·771) was similar. Interpretation: In patients with intraventricular haemorrhage and a routine extraventricular drain, irrigation with alteplase did not substantially improve functional outcomes at the mRS 3 cutoff compared with irrigation with saline. Protocol-based use of alteplase with extraventricular drain seems safe. Future investigation is needed to determine whether a greater frequency of complete intraventricular haemorrhage removal via alteplase produces gains in functional status

Infrared heating under optimized conditions enhanced the pasting and swelling behaviour of cowpea starch

Native starches are not suitable for industrial use and must be modified for improved functionality. In this study, the effect of moisture preconditioning and infrared heating time on physicochemical properties of cowpea starch was investigated using a two-factor central composite rotatable design. Factors (moisture levels:10–40 g/100 g starch and infrared heating time:10–60 min) with their corresponding α mid-point values resulted in 13 experimental runs. Selected functional and pasting properties were determined as response variables. Starch samples produced under optimized conditions were compared with corn starch and their physicochemical properties determined. Except for pasting temperature, cowpea starch prepared using the optimal conditions (moisture: 46.21 g/100 g starch, dry basis and heating time of 32.88 min) had higher functional and pasting properties compared with the native cowpea starch. Infrared heating significantly reduced the gelatinization temperatures of cowpea starch but did not significantly change that of the corn starch. The crystallinity and double-helical order structure of moisture conditioned cowpea starch also reduced after modification. Cowpea starch showed a bigger granule size, higher swelling power but lower water absorption capacities and pasting properties compared with the control. The infrared heating process is a novel and promising modification method for improving the swelling properties of starch.The Faculty-University Research Committee Fellowship at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijbiomac2022-06-25hj2022Consumer ScienceFood Scienc

Diffusion-weighted imaging reveals distinct patterns of cytotoxic edema in patients with subdural hematomas

Subdural hematomas (SDHs) are increasingly common and can cause ischemic brain injury. Previous work has suggested that this is driven largely by vascular compression from herniation, although this work was done before the era of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We thus sought to study SDH-related ischemic brain injury by looking at patterns of cytotoxic edema on diffusion-weighted MRI. To do so, we identified all SDH patients at a single institution from 2015 to 2019 who received an MRI within 2 weeks of presentation. We reviewed all MRIs for evidence of restricted diffusion consistent with cytotoxic edema. Cases were excluded if the restricted diffusion could have occurred as a result of alternative etiologies (e.g., cardioembolic stroke or diffuse axonal injury). We identified 450 SDH patients who received an MRI within 2 weeks of presentation. Twenty-nine patients (∼6.5% of all MRIs) had SDH-related cytotoxic edema, which occurred in two distinct patterns. In one pattern