A report of three cases of jaundice with thyrotoxicosis

Background: Jaundice and hepatic dysfunction have been reported in patients with thyrotoxicosis and could be due to different mechanisms. Objective: To describe three cases of jaundice occurring in patients with thyrotoxicosis and to illustrate the importance of early institution of thionamides when indicated. Methods: We present the clinical and laboratory features of three patients presenting within a year with thyrotoxicosis and jaundice and whose clinical conditions improved remarkably following treatment with thionamides. In addition, current literature on the subject is reviewed and summarised. Results: The three patients presented with goitre and jaundice. None of the patients had received blood products, undergone scarification markings or experienced any previous episode of jaundice. Thyroid function tests in the three patients were consistent with a diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis. Liver function tests showed elevated bilirubin and transaminases. All patients improved remarkably following treatment with thionamides. Conclusion:It is important to rule out thyrotoxicosis in patients with jaundice of unknown cause and consider early use of thionamides for treatment of the thyrotoxicosis, if confirmed

Insulin resistance in Nigerians with essential hypertension

Background: Reports on the association between hypertension and insulin resistance have been inconsistent even though most studies show a definite association. It is also not certain if the association between insulin resistance and hypertension applies to all populations. Objective: To determine the prevalence of insulin resistance in hypertensive Nigerians and to examine the association of insulin resistance with hypertension and some anthropometric indices. Methods: Thirty five adults with essential hypertension and thirty five normotensives were studied. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, fasting glucose and insulin were measured. Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) was used to determine insulin resistance (IR). Results: The hypertensive subjects had significantly higher fasting insulin and HOMA-IR compared with normotensives (p =0.02 and 0.04) respectively. There were significant correlations between HOMA-IR, BMI, waist and hip circumference in subjects with hypertension. At multiple linear regression, hypertension and body mass index were found to be the only significant predictors of insulin resistance. Conclusion: The hypertensives we studied had a higher occurrence of insulin resistance compared to the normotensives. This makes it necessary for persons with hypertensive to have regular screening for diabetes and other categories of glucose intolerance as the increased insulin increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus

Ethnoveterinary practices among sheep rearers in Ona-Ara Local Government of Oyo state, Nigeria

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to generate data on ethnoveterinary practices used for maintaining the health and curing diseases of sheep in Ona - Ara Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeria. Information was collected from fifty two indigenous sheep rearers using direct observation of household and interview with key informants with the aid of questionnaires. The data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics to generate frequencies and percentages. Demographic characteristics of the respondents show that 57.7% were males while 42.30% were females, 57.69% household sheep owners used extensive system of management while the rest used semi-intensive system. Major causes of losses were diseases and predation. About 7.69% used purely local concoction in solving the problem of ectoparasites and diseases and those who used local remedies claimed to have gained the knowledge through friends, family, radio, books, extension service and others. Data collected revealed that there is low documentation of ethnoveterinary knowledge among sheep owners in Ona-Ara Local Government and this has been responsible for the low patronage of this useful aspect of veterinary services in addressing challenges and complexities of health problems of the modern period.Keywords: Ethnoveterinary medicine, Ethnoveterinary knowledge, Nigeria, Oyo State, Shee

Modeling of magnetic cooling power of manganite-based materials using computational intelligence approach

Magnetic refrigeration (MR) technology has been identified as a potential replacement for the gas compression system of refrigeration due to its environmental friendliness and high level of efficiency. This technology utilizes manganite-based materials as magnetic refrigerants due to the dependence of magnetic properties as well as relative cooling power (RCP) of this class of materials on the concentration and nature of the dopants. Quantifying the effect of dopants on RCP of manganite-based materials requires a long experimental procedures and techniques that are costly and time-consuming. In order to circumvent these challenges, we propose a model, based on support vector regression (SVR), which quickly estimates the RCP of doped manganite-based materials with high level of accuracy using crystal lattice constants as descriptors. The accuracy and ease with which the proposed SVR-based model estimates RCP of doped manganite-based materials is very promising and effective in designing MR system of desired RCP

Ensemble-based support vector regression with gravitational search algorithm optimization for estimating magnetic relative cooling power of manganite refrigerant in magnetic refrigeration application

Magnetic refrigeration technology (MRT) is considered an energy-efficient and environmental-friendly system of refrigeration that has a considerable potential of replacing the classical gas-compression expansion method of refrigeration. Inclusion of manganite-based material (MBM) in MRT as a magnetic refrigerant has attracted significant attention recently due to cost effectiveness of the refrigerant as well as better resistance to oxidation and corrosion as compared to the commonly used metal gadolinium refrigerant. Relative cooling power (RCP) is one of the most important parameters to be considered while assessing the usefulness of MBM. Its value can be altered through doping with external materials and accurate estimation of the dopant influence is required to achieve the right amount of RCP. This present research work proposes support vector regression (SVR) ensemble models with gravitational search algorithm (GSA) hyper-parameters optimization, for estimating RCP of MBM and to determine the influence of dopants on RCP using ionic radii and dopant concentrations as descriptors. GSA-SVR ensemble model (GSE) is developed by employing the outputs of five different SVR models as descriptors while GSA-SVR ensemble model with averaging (GSEA) uses the average of the five different SVR models as its descriptor. The novel ensemble models outperform other SVR models, specifically; GSE performs better than GSA-SVR model and the conventional SVR model with performance improvement of 269.14% and 283.61%, respectively on the basis of root mean square error (RMSE). Furthermore, GSEA outperforms GSE, GSA-SVR model and conventional SVR with performance improvement of 27.51%, 370.70%, and 389.14%, respectively on the basis of RMSE. The developed GSE and GSEA also perform better than the existing RCP model in the literature with performance improvement of 11.53% and 42.21%, respectively. The results of this research work will not only serve to circumvent the experimental challenges of RCP measurement without loss of experimental precision but also further promotes environment-friendly system of refrigeration