24 research outputs found
PREVALENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF FALCIPARIUM MALARIA AMONG INFANTS AND CHILDREN IN OTA, OGUN STATE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA
Studies were carried out to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection among infants and
children (0-12yrs) in Ota, Southwestern Nigeria between April and December 2008. The two hospitals used were Ota General Hospital and Covenant University Health Centre, Canaanland, Ota. Thick and thin films were made and stained using standard parasitological procedures. Structured Questionnaires were distributed to ascertain the age, sex, drugs or insecticides used and state of health of the subjects before recruiting them into the study.
Overall, 215 (80.5%) of the 267 children investigated were found to have malaria infection. Age group (0-5 years) had the highest frequency rate of 84.7% with mean parasite density of 900 and the difference between the age groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). Children of illiterates from suburb villages had the highest mean parasite density of 850 with 78.1% prevalence rate. 20% of the children were given local herbs and 22% used orthodox medicine as prophylaxis. Only 18% used insecticide treated mosquito nets while 24% of the parents spray insecticides to prevent mosquito bites.
There is therefore need for more awareness on effective use of drugs and Insecticide Treated bed nets in malaria hyperendemic regions
Microbiological Assessment of Commercial Yogurt Sold in Ota Metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria
Ten authorized Yogurt products purchased within Ota metropolis, Ogun State of Nigeria were
subjected to pH, Total Bacterial Count (TBC) and Total Fungal Count (TFC) analysis. pH values
were in the range of 4.05 to 5.50, the TBC and TFC values ranged between 1.0 x 103 - 5.0 x 105
cfu/ml and 1.0 x 103- 5.0 x 105 cfu/ml respectively. Eleven bacterial isolates were detected in the
yogurt samples. Lactobacillus spp. and Bacillus spp. constituted 16% of the total microbial load,
Corynebacterium spp., Klebsiela spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Pseudomonas spp. constituted
8% while Proteus spp., Micrococcus spp., Shigella spp., Listeria spp., and Streptococcus spp.
constituted 4%. Fungal isolates obtained were Mucor spp. (22%), Geotrichum spp. (17%),
Montospora spp. (11%), while Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus spp., and Fusanrium spp. constituted
6%.The antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that the isolates exhibited susceptible to
Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin and resisted Nitrofurantoin, Augumentin, Cefixime, Ceufuroxime,
Gentamicin and Ceftazidime. The isolates were plasmid encoded, with size range of 20,000-
40,000 Kilo base pairs. Result show no significant difference within the bacteria isolates (P>
0.05), while the fungi isolates showed significant difference (P<0.05). Significant difference also
occurred between the bacteria and the fungi isolate (P< 0.05)
Nanochitosan derived from marine bacteria
Nanochitosans are polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent
deacetylation of chitin and comprise a series of 2-deoxy-2
(acetylamino) glucose linked by ß-(1-4) glycosidic linkages. These are
naturally formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and the
exoskeleton of aquatic arthropods and crustaceans. Reports of
chitosan production from unicellular marine bacteria inhabiting the
sea, and possessing distinct animal- and plant-like characteristics
abound. This capacity to synthesize chitosan from chitin arises from
response to stress under extreme environmental conditions, as a
means of survival. Consequently, the microencapsulation of these
nanocarriers results in new and improved chitosan nanoparticles,
nanochitosan. This nontoxic bioactive material which can serve as an
antibacterial agent, gene delivery vector as well as carrier for protein
and drug release as compared with chitosan, is limited by its
nonspecific molecular weight and higher composition of deacetylated
chitin. This chapter highlights the biology and diversity of
nanochitosan-producing marine bacteria, including the factors
influencing their activities, survival, and distribution. More so, the
applications of marine bacterial nanochitosans in transfection and
gene delivery; wound healing and drug delivery; feed supplement
development and antimicrobial activity are discussed
Significance of African Diets in Biotherapeutic Modulation of the Gut Microbiome
Diet plays an essential role in human development and growth, contributing to health and well-being. The socio-economic values,
cultural perspectives, and dietary formulation in sub-Saharan Africa can influence gut health and disease prevention. The vast microbial
ecosystems in the human gut frequently interrelate to maintain a healthy, well-coordinated cellular and humoral immune signalling to prevent
metabolic dysfunction, pathogen dominance, and induction of systemic diseases. The diverse indigenous diets could differentially act as biotherapeutics to modulate microbial abundance and population characteristics. Such modulation could prevent stunted growth, malnutrition,
induction of bowel diseases, attenuated immune responses, and mortality, particularly among infants. Understanding the associations between specific indigenous African diets and the predictability of the dynamics of gut bacteria genera promises potential biotherapeutics towards improving the prevention, control, and treatment of microbiome-associated diseases such as cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The dietary influence of many African diets (especially grain-base such as millet, maize, brown rice, sorghum, soya, and tapioca) promotes gut lining integrity, immune tolerance towards the microbiota, and its associated immune and inflammatory
responses. A fibre-rich diet is a promising biotherapeutic candidate that could effectively modulate inflammatory mediators’ expression associated with immune cell migration, lymphoid tissue maturation, and signalling pathways. It could also modulate the stimulation of cytokines and chemokines involved in ensuring balance for long-term microbiome programming. The interplay between host and gut microbial digestion is
complex; microbes using and competing for dietary and endogenous proteins are often attributable to variances in the comparative abundances of Enterobacteriaceae taxa. Many auto-inducers could initiate the process of quorum sensing and mammalian epinephrine host cell signalling
system. It could also downregulate inflammatory signals with microbiota tumour taxa that could trigger colorectal cancer initiation, metabolic type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel diseases. The exploitation of essential biotherapeutic molecules derived from fibre-rich indigenous diet promises food substances for the downregulation of inflammatory signalling that could be harmful to gut microbiota ecological balance and
improved immune response modulation
APOE E4 is associated with impaired self-declared cognition but not disease risk or age of onset in Nigerians with Parkinson's disease
The relationship between APOE polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease (PD) in black Africans has not been previously investigated. We evaluated the association between APOE polymorphic variability and self-declared cognition in 1100 Nigerians with PD and 1097 age-matched healthy controls. Cognition in PD was assessed using the single item cognition question (item 1.1) of the MDS-UPDRS. APOE genotype and allele frequencies did not differ between PD and controls (p > 0.05). No allelic or genotypic association was observed between APOE and age at onset of PD. In PD, APOE ε4/ε4 conferred a two-fold risk of cognitive impairment compared to one or no ε4 (HR: 2.09 (95% CI: 1.13-3.89; p = 0.02)), while APOE ε2 was associated with modest protection against cognitive impairment (HR: 0.41 (95% CI 0.19-0.99, p = 0.02)). Of 773 PD with motor phenotype and APOE characterized, tremor-dominant (TD) phenotype predominated significantly in ε2 carriers (87/135, 64.4%) compared to 22.2% in persons with postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) (30/135) and 13.3% in indeterminate (ID) (18/135, 13.3%) (p = 0.037). Although the frequency of the TD phenotype was highest in homozygous ε2 carriers (85.7%), the distribution of motor phenotypes across the six genotypes did not differ significantly (p = 0.18). Altogether, our findings support previous studies in other ethnicities, implying a role for APOE ε4 and ε2 as risk and protective factors, respectively, for cognitive impairment in PD
Incorporating Ecosystems in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Current Perspective and Future Directions
Integrated approaches for managing natural resources are needed to meet the increasing demand for freshwater, energy and food, while, in parallel, mitigating and adapting to climate change, maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, and ensuring equitable access to resources. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus has been proposed as a cross-sectoral approach to understand, analyse, and manage the complex trade-offs and exploit synergies that arise among these resource sectors. Although not initially included as a component of the Nexus, the importance of ecosystems in supporting water, energy and food security is increasingly recognised by the Nexus community of researchers and practitioners. However, attempts to conceptually integrate Ecosystems into the Nexus have yet to converge into a common framework. A group of natural resources management researchers, system thinkers and ecosystem services experts from the European network COST Action CA20138 NEXUSNET have compiled and investigated the various approaches for integrating ecosystems in the WEF Nexus. By combining literature analysis with interdisciplinary workshops – one of which was held in a hybrid format (in person and online) at the University of Oulu, Finland, in September 2022 – we reveal a multiplicity of concepts utilised to represent, partially or fully, ecosystems in the Nexus, namely “natural environment”, “ecosystem services” and “biodiversity”. Disparity was also found in the role attributed to ecosystems in the Nexus framework, being it an underlying layer from which resources for Nexus sectors are extracted or the pillar of an expanded Nexus system – i.e., the WEF-Ecosystems Nexus. Through this collaborative effort, we present possible advantages and disadvantages of adopting differential WEF-Ecosystems Nexus approaches, highlighting their potential complementarity and integration to support future advancement of Nexus research. In the oral presentation, we will show our preliminary findings and encourage the exchange of ideas and feedback from the different scientific disciplines present at the CEMEPE Conference.Tenth International Conference on Environmental Management, Engineering, Planning and Economics (CEMEPE) & SECOTOX Conference organized by:
Division of Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (SECOTOX), Skiathos island, Greece, 2023
Next Generation Nanochitosan Applications in Animal Husbandry, Aquaculture and Food Conservation
Studies have identified the properties of enzymes, functionalized
molecules, and compounds in food industry applications as edible
coatings and encapsulations, that assure prolonged food quality and
standards. These molecules present benefits of longer shelf-life by
delayed deterioration and inhibition of the proliferation of spoilage and
mycotoxigenic microorganisms. However, challenges of reduced
nutrient levels, miniaturized size, and low chemical stability remain
concerning. Chitosan polymers naturally formed from the
deacetylation of shellfish shells and exoskeletons of aquatic
arthropods and crustaceans offer improved benefits when
functionalized into nanoparticles as nanochitosans. These
polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent deacetylation of chitin,
comprise a series of 2-deoxy-2 (acetylamino) glucose linked by ß-(1-
4) glycosidic linkages. This chapter considers the health impacts and
microbiological health hazards associated with animal feeds quality
and the enzyme immobilization potentials of nanochitosans in animalbased
food and feed packages. Thereafter, nanochitosan properties
and benefits are compared against traditional preservatives from
microbes and plants; with highlights on current challenges in the
application of nanochitosan for enzyme immobilization
Nanochitosan derived from marine bacteria
Nanochitosans are polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent deacetylation of chitin and comprise
a series of 2‐deoxy‐2 (acetylamino) glucose linked by ß‐(1‐4) glycosidic linkages. These are naturally
formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and the exoskeleton of aquatic arthropods and
crustaceans. Reports of chitosan production from unicellular marine bacteria inhabiting the sea, and
possessing distinct animal‐ and plant‐like characteristics abound. This capacity to synthesize chitosan
from chitin arises from response to stress under extreme environmental conditions, as a means of
survival. Consequently, the microencapsulation of these nanocarriers results in new and improved
chitosan nanoparticles, nanochitosan. This nontoxic bioactive material which can serve as an
antibacterial agent, gene delivery vector as well as carrier for protein and drug release as compared
with chitosan, is limited by its nonspecific molecular weight and higher composition of deacetylated
chitin. This chapter highlights the biology and diversity of nanochitosan‐producing marine bacteria,
including the factors influencing their activities, survival, and distribution. More so, the applications
of marine bacterial nanochitosans in transfection and gene delivery; wound healing and drug
delivery; feed supplement development and antimicrobial activity are discussed
Chapter 21 - Utilization of nanochitosan in the sterilization of ponds and water treatment for aquaculture
Water pollution constitutes the leading cause of infant mortality,
neonatal deformities, and shrinkage of man’s average life expectancy.
Pollutants come from point and nonpoint sources; and water pollution
arises from the discharge of wastewater containing undesirable
impurities used for domestic, agricultural, and industrial purposes.
More so, high nutrient and wastewater runoffs from fish production
systems contribute to the fouling and eutrophication of recipient water
bodies. Hence, aquaculture which is inextricably linked to the natural
environment is challenged by the dearth of appropriate water quantity
and quality, militating against fish, and fishery production.
Nanochitosans as polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent
deacetylation of chitin, comprise a series of 2-deoxy-2 (acetylamino)
glucose linked by ß-(1-4) glycosidic linkages. They are naturally
formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and exoskeletons of
aquatic arthropods and crustaceans. The unique attributes of chitin
confer a wide range of biotechnological applications on the polymer,
observed in flocculation as a wastewater treatment and purification
route initiated by chitosan. This chapter highlights nanochitosan properties of aquaculture relevance; and elucidates the purification
potentials of nanochitosan, compared to inorganic coagulants and
organic polymeric flocculants. Effects of chitosan on contaminants and
microorganisms, as well as applications in fish pathogens detection,
fish disease diagnosis, and control are discussed
The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe