Influence of Maize Varieties and Date of Planting Cowpea into Maize/Cowpea Intercropping System in Makurdi, Southern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria

نتائج مسابقة عام في عام 2015 م - جامعة الملك عبدالعزيز - كلية الزراعة - جامعة بيرزيت. كانت تجرب عبارة عن قطعة 2 * 2 × 3 مجزأة بتقسيم الانجليزيه ويشكل نظام المحاصيل (وحيد ومتداخل) المؤامرة الرئيسية ، ويقدر الذرة الشامية (ACR 89 DMESR-W و AK 94 DMESR-Y) الذرة) جزء المؤامرة الفرعية. النتائج تم تم تم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تم قيم تمتأثرت كل من الذرة العجيبة (نسبة 50 ٪ من نضج القرون) بشكل كبير بأصناف الذرة. كما تأثر كل أنواع نمو اللوبيا وحروفها (ما عدا 50 ٪ من نضج القرون) تنخفض هذه الأوقات مع 50٪ من الإزهار والأيام إلى 50 ٪ من نضخ القرون والتي تزداد مع تأخير وقت الغرس. أشكال العرض والعضلات ذات الصلة. كان فارايتي AK 94 DMESR-Y مختلفًا بشكل كبير عن مجموعة ACR 89 DMESR-W. تنخفض هذه الأوقات مع 50٪ من الإزهار والأيام إلى 50 ٪ من نضخ القرون والتي تزداد مع تأخير وقت الغرس.أشكال العرض والعضلات ذات الصلة. كان فارايتي AK 94 DMESR-Y مختلفًا بشكل كبير عن مجموعة ACR 89 DMESR-W. تنخفض هذه الأوقات مع 50٪ من الإزهار والأيام إلى 50 ٪ من نضخ القرون والتي تزداد مع تأخير وقت الغرس. أشكال العرض والعضلات ذات الصلة. كان فارايتي AK 94 DMESR-Y مختلفًا بشكل كبير عن مجموعة ACR 89 DMESR-W.تأثرت كل خصائص النمو والعائد (بشكل قريب). LER (1.48 و 1.46) ؛ تم الحصول على LEC (0.52 و 0.49) والنسبة المئوية للأرض المحفوظة عند زراعة اللوبيا في نفس الوقت مع الذرة باستخدام الذرة الشامية ACR 89 DMESR-W التي قبل أعلى مستوى من التوافق بين النظام

Frequency of Cryptococcal Meningitis in HIV-1 Infected Patients in North Central Nigeria

Background: Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is the most common severe life threatening fungal infection in AIDS patients. It is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. There is paucity of data on the prevalence of CM in Nigeria. We aimed to determine the frequency of CM, the clinical presentation and immunological profile.Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), A total of 100 HIV-1 infected patients suspected of having meningitis or meningoencephalitis were subjected to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis (including Indian ink preparation and fungal culture by conventional methods) and CD4 count was determined using flow cytometry (count bit Y-R 1004 Partec Muster Germany).Results: The freguency of CM was 36% in our cohort. The commonest clinical presentation included headache (100.0%), neck stiffness (77.8%), fever (72.0%), vomiting (55.6%), personality changes (55.6%), photophobia (27.8%) and convulsions (27.8%). The mean duration of symptoms was 24 ±22 days with a median of 17 days. The mean CD4 count was 89±60 cells/mm3 with a median of 82 cells/mm3.Conclusion: The high prevalence of CM and the associated severe immunosuppression underscores the importance of early diagnosis of HIV infection which may reduce the incidence of CM. There is the urgent need for access to Amphotericin B and fluconazole in resource constrained settings in addition to a wide access to HAART.Key words: Cryptococcal meningitis, HIV, North central Nigeri

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) genetic diversity and prevalence of antiretroviral drug resistance mutations in treatment-naïve adults in Jos, North Central Nigeria

The presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type-1 diversity has an impact on vaccine efficacy and drug resistance. It is important to know the circulating genetic variants and associated drug-resistance mutations in the context of scale up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of HIV-1 and the prevalence of antiretroviral (ARV) drug resistance mutations among antiretroviral treatment-naïve HIV-1 infected patients in Jos, North Central Nigeria. Plasma samples were collected from 105 ARV drug-naïve patients enrolled for HIV care at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) HIV Treatment Center between October 2010 and April 2011. One hundred (100) samples were successfully amplified. Viral subtyping was done using REGA subtyping tool and by phylogenetic analysis using PAUP software. The drug resistance mutations were determined using the Stanford University HIVdb sequence interpretation algorithm. HIV-1 subtypes identified were; CRF02_AG (48.0%), G (41.0%), CRF06_cpx (6.0%) and A1 (5.0%). 8% of the patients’ isolates had at least one major resistance mutation in the RT gene: Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: M41L (1%), K65KR (1%), M184IM (1%), M184V (2%) and T215ADNT (1%), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors: K103N (2%), K101E (1%), G190A (1%), P225HP (1%), Y181I (1%), Y188L (1%), and Y181C (1%). Among antiretroviral (ARV) naïve patients in Jos, North Central Nigeria, the common HIV-1 subtypes was CRF_02 and G. And the prevalence of drug resistance mutations was found to be high (8%). Further study and national surveillance will be critically important to understand the clinical impact of transmitted resistance mutations on ART naïve individuals in resource limited settings.Keywords: HIV-1 subtypes, antiretroviral (ARV), treatment-naïve, drug-resistance, mutation, accessory and polymorphisms, NigeriaAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(17), pp. 2279-228

Modelling the impact and cost-effectiveness of combination prevention amongst HIV serodiscordant couples in Nigeria

Objective: To estimate the impact and cost-effectiveness of treatment as prevention (TasP), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and condom promotion for serodiscordant couples in Nigeria. / Design: Mathematical and cost modelling. / Methods: A deterministic model of HIV-1 transmission within a cohort of serodiscordant couples and to/from external partners was parameterized using data from Nigeria and other African settings. The impact and cost-effectiveness were estimated for condom promotion, PrEP and/or TasP, compared with a baseline where antiretroviral therapy (ART) was offered according to 2010 national guidelines (CD4+ <350 cells/μl) to all HIV-positive partners. The impact was additionally compared with a baseline of current ART coverage (35% of those with CD4+ <350 cells/μl). Full costs (in US $2012) of programme introduction and implementation were estimated from a provider perspective. / Results: Substantial benefits came from scaling up ART to all HIV-positive partners according to 2010 national guidelines, with additional smaller benefits of providing TasP, PrEP or condom promotion. Compared with a baseline of offering ART to all HIV-positive partners at the 2010 national guidelines, condom promotion was the most cost-effective strategy [US$1206/disability-adjusted-life-year (DALY)], the next most cost-effective intervention was to additionally give TasP to HIV-positive partners (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio US $1607/DALY), followed by additionally giving PrEP to HIV-negative partners until their HIV-positive partners initiate ART (US$7870/DALY). When impact was measured in terms of infections averted, PrEP with condom promotion prevented double the number of infections as condom promotion alone. / Conclusions: The first priority intervention for serodiscordant couples in Nigeria should be scaled up ART access for HIV-positive partners. Subsequent incremental benefits are greatest with condom promotion and TasP, followed by PrEP

Preparing for Life: Plasma Proteome Changes and Immune System Development During the First Week of Human Life.

Neonates have heightened susceptibility to infections. The biological mechanisms are incompletely understood but thought to be related to age-specific adaptations in immunity due to resource constraints during immune system development and growth. We present here an extended analysis of our proteomics study of peripheral blood-plasma from a study of healthy full-term newborns delivered vaginally, collected at the day of birth and on day of life (DOL) 1, 3, or 7, to cover the first week of life. The plasma proteome was characterized by LC-MS using our established 96-well plate format plasma proteomics platform. We found increasing acute phase proteins and a reduction of respective inhibitors on DOL1. Focusing on the complement system, we found increased plasma concentrations of all major components of the classical complement pathway and the membrane attack complex (MAC) from birth onward, except C7 which seems to have near adult levels at birth. In contrast, components of the lectin and alternative complement pathways mainly decreased. A comparison to whole blood messenger RNA (mRNA) levels enabled characterization of mRNA and protein levels in parallel, and for 23 of the 30 monitored complement proteins, the whole blood transcript information by itself was not reflective of the plasma protein levels or dynamics during the first week of life. Analysis of immunoglobulin (Ig) mRNA and protein levels revealed that IgM levels and synthesis increased, while the plasma concentrations of maternally transferred IgG1-4 decreased in accordance with their in vivo half-lives. The neonatal plasma ratio of IgG1 to IgG2-4 was increased compared to adult values, demonstrating a highly efficient IgG1 transplacental transfer process. Partial compensation for maternal IgG degradation was achieved by endogenous synthesis of the IgG1 subtype which increased with DOL. The findings were validated in a geographically distinct cohort, demonstrating a consistent developmental trajectory of the newborn's immune system over the first week of human life across continents. Our findings indicate that the classical complement pathway is central for newborn immunity and our approach to characterize the plasma proteome in parallel with the transcriptome will provide crucial insight in immune ontogeny and inform new approaches to prevent and treat diseases

A cloud-based bioinformatic analytic infrastructure and Data Management Core for the Expanded Program on Immunization Consortium.

The Expanded Program for Immunization Consortium - Human Immunology Project Consortium study aims to employ systems biology to identify and characterize vaccine-induced biomarkers that predict immunogenicity in newborns. Key to this effort is the establishment of the Data Management Core (DMC) to provide reliable data and bioinformatic infrastructure for centralized curation, storage, and analysis of multiple de-identified "omic" datasets. The DMC established a cloud-based architecture using Amazon Web Services to track, store, and share data according to National Institutes of Health standards. The DMC tracks biological samples during collection, shipping, and processing while capturing sample metadata and associated clinical data. Multi-omic datasets are stored in access-controlled Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for data security and file version control. All data undergo quality control processes at the generating site followed by DMC validation for quality assurance. The DMC maintains a controlled computing environment for data analysis and integration. Upon publication, the DMC deposits finalized datasets to public repositories. The DMC architecture provides resources and scientific expertise to accelerate translational discovery. Robust operations allow rapid sharing of results across the project team. Maintenance of data quality standards and public data deposition will further benefit the scientific community