PREVALENCE OF URINARY SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN PART OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The current study is to apply molecular techniques in producing data on the prevalence of urinary Schistosomiasis in parts of Ogun state, Nigeria. This study evaluated the prevalence of S. haematobium in urine samples collected from 250 primary school pupils in 8 communities of 8 local government areas (LGAs). The number of pupils selected are 48 from Ijebu Ogbere ((Ijebu East LGA), 20 from Fidiwo (Obafemi Owode LGA), 40 from Sabo (Shagamu LGA), 22 from Iweke (Yewa South LGA), 20 from Ketu/Adiowe (Ado Odo/Ota LGA), 36 from Abule-titun (Odeda LGA), 24 from Itori (Ewekoro LGA) and 40 from Ijoun (Yewa North LGA) of Ogun State, Nigeria Urine samples from 250 pupils were screened for Schistosomiasis using haematuria and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of schistosoma Dra1repeat. Heamaturia revealed 28.8% prevalence rate among the pupils while PCR showed 45.6%. Results revealed a cumulative prevalence of 29% and 46% S. haematobium infection in the pupils as detected by haematuria and PCR techniques respectively. Ijebu Ogbere recorded the highest prevalence of 83.0% and 64.5% PCR and haematuria respectively. This was followed by Abule titun (66.6%) and (33.3%), Ijoun (55%) and (27.5%), Shagamu (35%) and (25.0%), Iweke (27.2%) and (13.6%), Itori (25%) and (16.6%) and Fidiwo recorded the least prevalence of 10% and 5.0% respectively. The mean prevalence of schistosomiasis for PCR and haematuria dip stick were 37.7% and 23.2% respectively.  The proportion of males infected using haematuria were 16% when compared to females 13%, whereas the ratio by PCR was males (22%) and females (23%). There was a high prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium infection among the participants. PCR was able to detect infection in cases otherwise shown to be negative by haematuria, thereby making possible for all the infected participants to receive treatment. Key Words:PCR-RFLP;  Urinary schistosomiasis; Prevalence; Pupils; Ijebu east;

Gastrointestinal helminths in calves and cows in an organic milk production system

The main aim of this study was to determine the distribution of populations of gastrointestinal helminths in lactating crossbred cows and calves during the grazing season in an organic milk production system. In addition, the potential importance of the peripartum in relation to the parasite load was examined. Between January 2007 and December 2008, parasitological fecal examinations were performed on cattle belonging to the Integrated Animal Production Program of Embrapa Agrobiology. The cows' parasite load remained low during the study period, and there were no statistical differences (p > 0.05) in comparisons between the seasons. The average egg count showed a positive correlation (0.80) with the peripartum, such that egg elimination per gram (p < 0.05) was higher during the week of labor than during the pre and postpartum periods. Calves showed low parasite loads, with significantly higher egg elimination (p < 0.05) during the winter. The study indicated that infection with gastrointestinal helminths was not a limiting factor for milk production in the organic system. Specifically, it was concluded that the nematode load can be maintained at moderate levels throughout the production system, even in the absence of anthelmintic treatment

Nanoscratch Characterization of GaN Epilayers on c- and a-Axis Sapphire Substrates

In this study, we used metal organic chemical vapor deposition to form gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers on c- and a-axis sapphire substrates and then used the nanoscratch technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to determine the nanotribological behavior and deformation characteristics of the GaN epilayers, respectively. The AFM morphological studies revealed that pile-up phenomena occurred on both sides of the scratches formed on the GaN epilayers. It is suggested that cracking dominates in the case of GaN epilayers while ploughing during the process of scratching; the appearances of the scratched surfaces were significantly different for the GaN epilayers on the c- and a-axis sapphire substrates. In addition, compared to the c-axis substrate, we obtained higher values of the coefficient of friction (μ) and deeper penetration of the scratches on the GaN a-axis sapphire sample when we set the ramped force at 4,000 μN. This discrepancy suggests that GaN epilayers grown on c-axis sapphire have higher shear resistances than those formed on a-axis sapphire. The occurrence of pile-up events indicates that the generation and motion of individual dislocation, which we measured under the sites of critical brittle transitions of the scratch track, resulted in ductile and/or brittle properties as a result of the deformed and strain-hardened lattice structure

Dendritic Spine Shape Analysis: A Clustering Perspective

Functional properties of neurons are strongly coupled with their morphology. Changes in neuronal activity alter morphological characteristics of dendritic spines. First step towards understanding the structure-function relationship is to group spines into main spine classes reported in the literature. Shape analysis of dendritic spines can help neuroscientists understand the underlying relationships. Due to unavailability of reliable automated tools, this analysis is currently performed manually which is a time-intensive and subjective task. Several studies on spine shape classification have been reported in the literature, however, there is an on-going debate on whether distinct spine shape classes exist or whether spines should be modeled through a continuum of shape variations. Another challenge is the subjectivity and bias that is introduced due to the supervised nature of classification approaches. In this paper, we aim to address these issues by presenting a clustering perspective. In this context, clustering may serve both confirmation of known patterns and discovery of new ones. We perform cluster analysis on two-photon microscopic images of spines using morphological, shape, and appearance based features and gain insights into the spine shape analysis problem. We use histogram of oriented gradients (HOG), disjunctive normal shape models (DNSM), morphological features, and intensity profile based features for cluster analysis. We use x-means to perform cluster analysis that selects the number of clusters automatically using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC). For all features, this analysis produces 4 clusters and we observe the formation of at least one cluster consisting of spines which are difficult to be assigned to a known class. This observation supports the argument of intermediate shape types.Comment: Accepted for BioImageComputing workshop at ECCV 201

Central Diabetes Insipidus: An Unusual Complication in a Child With Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia and Monosomy 7

Central diabetes insipidus (DI) is well-documented as a presenting feature of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia in adults. However, DI is unusual in pediatric patients with myeloid malignancies. We report here this rare complication in a child with neurofibromatosis type 1 who developed juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia and monosomy 7. Our case and previously reported cases of DI arising as a complication in myeloid malignancies demonstrate a close association with deletion of chromosome 7. The clinical characteristics and outcomes of these uncommon cases in children are reviewed and discussed.postprin

Genetic variation for tuber mineral concentrations in accessions of the Commonwealth Potato Collection

The variation in tuber mineral concentrations amongst accessions of wild tuber-bearing Solanum species in the Commonwealth Potato Collection (CPC) was evaluated under greenhouse conditions. Selected CPC accessions, representing the eco-geographical distribution of wild potatoes, were grown to maturity in peat-based compost under controlled conditions. Tubers from five plants of each accession were harvested, bulked and their mineral composition analysed. Among the germplasm investigated, there was a greater range in tuber concentrations of some elements of nutritional significance to both plants and animals, such as (Ca, Fe and Zn; 6.7, 3.6, and 4.5-fold respectively) than others, such as (K, P and S; all <3-fold). Significant positive correlations were found between mean altitude of the species' range and tuber P, K, Cu and Mg concentrations. The amount of diversity observed in the CPC collection indicates the existence of wide differences in tuber mineral accumulation among different potato accessions. This might be useful in breeding for nutritional improvement of potato tubers

Graded reductions in pre-exercise muscle glycogen impair exercise capacity but do not augment cell skeletal muscle signalling: implication for CHO periodisation

We examined the effects of graded muscle glycogen on exercise capacity and modulation of skeletal muscle signalling pathways associated with the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis. In a repeated measures design, eight males completed a sleep-low, train-low model comprising an evening glycogen depleting cycling protocol followed by an exhaustive exercise capacity test (8 x 3 min at 80% PPO, followed by 1 min efforts at 80% PPO until exhaustion) the subsequent morning. Following glycogen depleting exercise, subjects ingested a total of 0 g kg-1 (L-CHO), 3.6 g kg-1 (M-CHO) or 7.6 g kg-1 (H-CHO) of carbohydrate during a 6 h period prior to sleeping, such that exercise was commenced the next morning with graded (P < 0.05) muscle glycogen concentrations (Mean ± SD) (L-CHO: 88 ± 43, M-CHO: 185 ± 62, H-CHO: 278 ± 47 mmol kg-1 dw). Despite differences (P < 0.05) in exercise capacity at 80% PPO between trials (L-CHO: 18 ± 7, M-CHO: 36 ± 3, H-CHO: 44 ± 9 min) exercise induced comparable AMPKThr172 phosphorylation (~4 fold) and PGC-1α mRNA expression (~5 fold) post- and 3 h post-exercise, respectively. In contrast, exercise nor CHO availability affected the phosphorylation of p38MAPKThr180/Tyr182, CaMKIIThr268 or mRNA expression of p53, Tfam, CPT-1, CD36 or PDK4. Data demonstrate that when exercise is commenced with muscle glycogen below 300 mmol kg-1 dw, further graded reductions of 100 mmol kg-1 dw impair exercise capacity but do not augment skeletal muscle cell signaling

NR4A Gene Expression Is Dynamically Regulated in the Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons and Is Related to Expression of Dopamine Neurotransmission Genes

The NR4A transcription factors NR4A1, NR4A2, and NR4A3 (also known as Nur77, Nurr1, and Nor1, respectively) share similar DNA-binding properties and have been implicated in regulation of dopamine neurotransmission genes. Our current hypothesis is that NR4A gene expression is regulated by dopamine neuron activity and that induction of NR4A genes will increase expression of dopamine neurotransmission genes. Eticlopride and γ-butyrolactone (GBL) were used in wild-type (+/+) and Nurr1-null heterozygous (+/−) mice to determine the mechanism(s) regulating Nur77 and Nurr1 expression. Laser capture microdissection and real-time PCR was used to measure Nurr1 and Nur77 mRNA levels in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Nur77 expression was significantly elevated 1 h after both GBL (twofold) and eticlopride (fourfold). In contrast, GBL significantly decreased Nurr1 expression in both genotypes, while eticlopride significantly increased Nurr1 expression only in the +/+ mice. In a separate group of mice, haloperidol injection significantly elevated Nur77 and Nor1, but not Nurr1 mRNA in the VTA within 1 h and significantly increased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter (DAT) mRNA expression by 4 h. These data demonstrate that the NR4A genes are dynamically regulated in dopamine neurons with maintenance of Nurr1 expression requiring dopamine neuron activity while both attenuation of dopamine autoreceptors activation and dopamine neuronal activity combining to induce Nur77 expression. Additionally, these data suggest that induction of NR4A genes could regulate TH and DAT expression and ultimately regulate dopamine neurotransmission

From design to implementation - The Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) program: A descriptive report of an electronic web-based diabetes management program

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Joint Asia Diabetes Evaluation (JADE) Program is a web-based program incorporating a comprehensive risk engine, care protocols, and clinical decision support to improve ambulatory diabetes care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The JADE Program uses information technology to facilitate healthcare professionals to create a diabetes registry and to deliver an evidence-based care and education protocol tailored to patients' risk profiles. With written informed consent from participating patients and care providers, all data are anonymized and stored in a databank to establish an Asian Diabetes Database for research and publication purpose.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The JADE electronic portal (e-portal: <url>http://www.jade-adf.org</url>) is implemented as a Java application using the Apache web server, the mySQL database and the Cocoon framework. The JADE e-portal comprises a risk engine which predicts 5-year probability of major clinical events based on parameters collected during an annual comprehensive assessment. Based on this risk stratification, the JADE e-portal recommends a care protocol tailored to these risk levels with decision support triggered by various risk factors. Apart from establishing a registry for quality assurance and data tracking, the JADE e-portal also displays trends of risk factor control at each visit to promote doctor-patient dialogues and to empower both parties to make informed decisions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The JADE Program is a prototype using information technology to facilitate implementation of a comprehensive care model, as recommended by the International Diabetes Federation. It also enables health care teams to record, manage, track and analyze the clinical course and outcomes of people with diabetes.</p