Peer education: The effects on knowledge of pregnancy related malaria and preventive practices in women of reproductive age in Edo State, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is limited uptake of measures to prevent malaria by pregnant women in Nigeria which is often related to the lack of knowledge on Malaria in Pregnancy (MIP) and its effects on mother and foetus. This study, explored peer to peer education as a tool in raising knowledge of MIP among women of child bearing age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>1105 women of child bearing age were interviewed in their households using a structured questionnaire about their knowledge of malaria in general, MIP and use of preventive measures. Thereafter, a peer education campaign was launched to raise the level of knowledge in the community. The interviews were repeated after the campaign and the responses between the pre- and post-intervention were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the pre-assessment women on average answered 64.8% of the question on malaria and its possibility to prevent malaria correctly. The peer education campaign had a significant impact in raising the level of knowledge among the women; after the campaign the respondents answered on average 73.8% of the questions correctly. Stratified analysis on pre and post assessment scores for malaria in general (68.8 & 72.9%) and MIP (61.7 & 76.3%) showed also significant increase. Uptake of bed nets was reported to be low: 11.6%</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Peer education led to a significant increase in knowledge of malaria and its prevention but we could not asses its influence on the use of preventive measures.</p

The association between Toll-like receptor 2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Toll-like receptors (TLR) are key innate immunity receptors participating in an immune response. Growing evidence suggests that mutations of TLR2/TLR9 gene are associated with the progress of cancers. The present study aimed to investigate the temporal relationship of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of TLR2/TLR9 and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this single center-based case-control study, SNaPshot method was used to genotype sequence variants of TLR2 and TLR9 in 211 patients with HCC and 232 subjects as controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two synonymous SNPs in the exon of TLR2 were closely associated with risk of HCC. Compared with those carrying wild-type homozygous genotypes (T/T), risk of HCC decreased significantly in individuals carrying the heterozygous genotypes (C/T) of the rs3804099 (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.493, 95% CI 0.331 - 0.736, <it>P </it>< 0.01) and rs3804100 (adjusted OR, 0.509, 95% CI 0.342 - 0.759, <it>P </it>< 0.01). There was no significant association found in two TLR9 SNPs concerning the risk of HCC. The haplotype TT for TLR2 was associated significantly with the decreased risk of HCC (OR 0.524, 95% CI 0.394 - 0.697, <it>P </it>= 0.000). Inversely, the risk of HCC increased significantly in patients with the haplotype CC (OR 2.743, 95% CI 1.915 - 3.930, <it>P </it>= 0.000).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggested that TLR2 rs3804099 C/T and rs3804100 C/T polymorphisms were closely associated with HCC. In addition, the haplotypes composed of these two TLR2 synonymous SNPs have stronger effects on the susceptibility of HCC.</p

Do the mutations of C1GALT1C1 gene play important roles in the genetic susceptibility to Chinese IgA nephropathy?

Background: The deficiency of beta 1,3 galactose in hinge region of IgA1 molecule played a pivotal role in pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Cosmc, encoded by C1GALT1C1 gene, was indispensable to beta 1,3 galactosylation of IgA1. We designed a serial study to investigate the relationship between the mutations of C1GALT1C1 gene and the genetic susceptibility to IgAN. Methods: Nine hundred and thirty-eight subjects, including 661 patients with IgAN and 277 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Firstly, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of C1GALT1C1 gene were screened. Then the c.-347-190G&gt; A was analyzed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) for further case-control association analysis. Secondly the somatic mutations of DNAs from peripheral blood B lymphocytes were detected in 15 patients and 7 normal controls. Results: No significant association was observed between the different alleles or genotypes of c.347-190G&gt;A and IgAN. The patients with different genotypes of C1GALT1C1 gene did not significantly associate with clinical manifestations, including hematuria, proteinuria, and serum creatinine of patients with IgAN. There was no somatic mutation detected in total 202 clones of 22 individuals. Conclusion: The c.-347-190G&gt;A polymorphism and the somatic mutation of encoding region of C1GALT1C1 gene were not significantly related to the genetic susceptibility to IgAN in Northern Chinese population.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000271285100001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Genetics &amp; HereditySCI(E)PubMed1ARTICLE1011

Errors in CGAP xProfiler and cDNA DGED: the importance of library parsing and gene selection algorithms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP) xProfiler and cDNA Digital Gene Expression Displayer (DGED) have been made available to the scientific community over a decade ago and since then were used widely to find genes which are differentially expressed between cancer and normal tissues. The tissue types are usually chosen according to the ontology hierarchy developed by NCBI. The xProfiler uses an internally available flat file database to determine the presence or absence of genes in the chosen libraries, while cDNA DGED uses the publicly available UniGene Expression and Gene relational databases to count the sequences found for each gene in the presented libraries.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We discovered that the CGAP approach often includes libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues (one third of libraries were incorrect on average, with some tissue searches no correct libraries being selected at all). We also discovered that the CGAP approach reported genes from outside the selected libraries and may omit genes found within the libraries. Other errors include the incorrect estimation of the significance values and inaccurate settings for the library size cut-off values. We advocated a revised approach to finding libraries associated with tissues. In doing so, libraries from dependent or irrelevant tissues do not get included in the final library pool. We also revised the method for determining the presence or absence of a gene by searching the UniGene relational database, revised calculation of statistical significance and sorted the library cut-off filter.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results justify re-evaluation of all previously reported results where NCBI CGAP expression data and tools were used.</p

A molecular imprinting-based turn-on Ratiometric fluorescence sensor for highly selective and sensitive detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)

A novel molecular imprinting-based turn-on ratiometric fluorescence sensor was constructed via a facile sol-gel polymerization for detection of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) on the basis of photo induced electron transfer (PET) by using nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) as detection signal source and quantum dots (QDs) as reference signal source. With the presence and increase of 2,4-D, the amine groups on the surface of QDs@SiO2 could bind with 2,4-D and thereby the NBD fluorescence intensities could be significantly enhanced since the PET process was inhibited, while the QDs maintained constant intensities. Accordingly, the ratio of the dual-emission intensities of green NBD and red QDs could be utilized for turn-on fluorescent detection of 2,4-D, along with continuous color changes from orange-red to green readily observed by the naked eye. The as-prepared fluorescence sensor obtained high sensitivity with a low detection limit of 0.14 mu M within 5 min, and distinguished recognition selectivity for 2,4-D over its analogs. Moreover, the sensor was successfully applied to determine 2,4-D in real water samples, and high recoveries at three spiking levels of 2,4-D ranged from 95.0% to 110.1% with precisions below 4.5%. The simple, rapid and reliable visual sensing strategy would not only provide potential applications for high selective ultratrace analysis of complicated matrices, but also greatly enrich the research connotations of molecularly imprinted sensors. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polymorphic Variation in TIRAP Is Not Associated with Susceptibility to Childhood TB but May Determine Susceptibility to TBM in Some Ethnic Groups

Host recognition of mycobacterial surface molecules occurs through toll like receptors (TLR) 2 and 6. The adaptor protein TIRAP mediates down stream signalling of TLR2 and 4, and polymorphisms in the TIRAP gene (TIRAP) have been associated with susceptibility and resistance to tuberculosis (TB) in adults. In order to investigate the role of polymorphic variation in TIRAP in childhood TB in South Africa, which has one of the highest TB incidence rates in the world, we screened the entire open reading frame of TIRAP for sequence variation in two cohorts of childhood TB from different ethnic groups (Xhosa and mixed ancestry). We identified 13 SNPs, including seven previously unreported, in the two cohorts, and found significant differences in frequency of the variants between the two ethnic groups. No differences in frequency between individual SNPs or combinations were found between TB cases and controls in either cohort. However the 558C→T SNP previously associated with TB meningitis (TBM) in a Vietnamese population was found to be associated with TBM in the mixed ancestry group. Polymorphisms in TIRAP do not appear to be involved in childhood TB susceptibility in South Africa, but may play a role in determining occurrence of TBM

Association of PPARγ2 polymorphisms with carcass and meat quality traits in a Pietrain x Jinhua F2 population

The PPARγ2 gene is a key regulator of both proliferation and preadipocyte differentiation in mammals. Herein its genotype and allele frequencies were analyzed using PCR-SSCP in eight pig breeds (N = 416). Two kinds of polymorphisms of the PPARγ2 gene were detected, including a previously reported shift SNP A177G (Met59Val) in exon 1 and a novel silent mutation G876A in exon 5. The results revealed that European pig breeds carry a higher allele A frequency at the A177G locus and a fixed GG genotype at the G876A locus. Allele A at the G876A locus was only found in Jinhua pigs. The association between haplotype (A177G/G876A) and carcass and meat quality traits was analyzed in a Pietrain x Jinhua F2 population (N = 248). The PPARγ2 gene was found to be significantly associated with backfat thickness at the shoulder (p < 0.05), 6–7th ribs (p < 0.01), last rib (p < 0.01), gluteus medius (p <0.05) and ham weight (p < 0.01). Significant effects of different haplotypes on ham weight and backfat thickness at the 6–7th ribs, last rib, and gluteus medius were also observed