Clinical Profile and Outcome among Infants of Diabetic Mothers Delivered At the Brooklyn Hospital Center

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the commonest complication of pregnancy, negatively impacting mothers and fetuses. Few studies suggest amelioration of negative outcomes of DM-associated pregnancies in recent years, due in part to improved care. But increasing prevalence of overweight in developed countries is also affecting many women of childbearing age with concomitant poor glycemic control especially in pregnancy. Hyperglycemia, even at sub-diabetic levels, is associated with increased risk of macrosomia and Cesarean section. There is evidence demonstrating that outcomes of DM-associated pregnancies are similar with those characterized by hyperglycemia of sub-diabetic levels. Perhaps, improvement of care for DM-associated pregnancies on one hand, and the impact of obesity epidemic may have changed the relative frequencies of negative outcomes typically reported for infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) compared with controls.Aims/Objective: We re-evaluated the relative frequencies of negative outcomes of pregnancies complicated by DM compared with non-diabetic pregnancies.Method/Design: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted.Result: There were 50 diabetic and 83 non-diabetic mother-infant pairs. Mothers with DM-associated pregnancies had increased risk of delivery by C/Sxn, macrosomic babies, admission to NICU and prolonged hospitalization. Only IDMs had documented birth defects. Notable improvements over previous studies for IDMs include similar gestational ages at delivery and excellent APGAR scores in both groups.Conclusion: IDMs still have higher frequencies of negative outcomes compared with controls but some improvements are noteworthy and should provide impetus for efforts at reducing prevalence of obesity while improving care for DM-associated pregnancies

Women Education and Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria

The paper focuses on the role of women education in ensuring sustainable economic development in Nigeria. The paper relied on the use of secondary source of data collection for data analysis. As such, qualitative method of data analysis was employed. The concept of womanhood was defined as well as the meaning of women education. The meaning of sustainable development was also highlighted. The factors that inhibit the education of women such as cultural beliefs, low self esteem among women and inadequate infrastructures were also highlighted. The role of women in ensuring sustainable economic development such as quality leadership, increase in GDP and reduction in dependency rate in the country were also identified. Ways of improving the education of women in the country such as provision of infrastructures, proper legislation and provision of education grant to female students were similarly suggested. It was therefore recommended that for women education to contribute to sustainable economic development in the country the government must make proper legislation to support women education and the various educational stakeholders must contribute immensely to the success of women education in the country. Key words: Women Education, Sustainable Development, Quality Leadership, Insecurity and Gender Equalit

Survey of Trace Elements and Some Heavy Metals in Goats in Zaria and its Environs, Kaduna State

The aim of this study was to determine the trace minerals in the serum of goats in Zaria and its environs, and to find out the levels of lead and cadmium in the serum of these goats, so as to see if they can serve as biomonitors of pollution. A total of 120 goats were sampled from eight different locations randomly and their serum assayed for trace elements, lead and cadmium using the atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The values obtained were: lead 0.259 ± 0.470mg/L, cadmium 0.006 ± 0.004 mg/L, chromium 0.072 ± 0.064 mg/L, copper 0.089 ± 0.060 mg/L, iron 0.229 ± 0.180 mg/L, zinc 0.256 ± 0.266 mg/L, nickel 0.127 ± 0.086 mg/L, cobalt 0.135 ± 0.095 mg/L, manganese 0.042 ± 0.031 mg/L. Lead was above acceptable levels, cadmium was at acceptable levels, zinc, copper, iron and nickel were deficient, chromium was marginally deficient, while cobalt and manganese were normal. The effects of breed, sex, age and locations were generally not significant. The values obtained from lead is of public health significance, since these goats are sources of food to people in the immediate environment, and also this implies that people in the immediate environment are also exposed to the same sources of lead. There should be regular seromonitoring of blood lead levels in man and animals, and farmers should be enlightened on the need to augment the feeding of their animal with mineral supplements.Key words: Heavy metal; trace element; goat; lead; seromonitoring

Care seeking for under-five children and vaccine perceptions during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos State, Nigeria: a qualitative exploratory study

Objective: To explore healthcare seeking practices for children and the context-specific direct and indirect effects of public health interventions during the first two waves of COVID-19 in Lagos State, Nigeria. We also explored decision-making around vaccine acceptance at the start of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Nigeria. Design, setting and participants: A qualitative explorative study involving 19 semistructured interviews with healthcare providers from public and private primary health facilities and 32 interviews with caregivers of under-five children in Lagos from December 2020 to March 2021. Participants were purposively selected from healthcare facilities to include community health workers, nurses and doctors, and interviews were conducted in quiet locations at facilities. A data-driven reflexive thematic analysis according to Braun and Clark was conducted. Findings: Two themes were developed: appropriating COVID-19 in belief systems, and ambiguity about COVID-19 preventive measures. The interpretation of COVID-19 ranged from fearful to considering it as a ‘scam’ or ‘falsification from the government’. Underlying distrust in government fuelled COVID-19 misperceptions. Care seeking for children under five was affected, as facilities were seen as contagious places for COVID-19. Caregivers resorted to alternative care and self-management of childhood illnesses. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was a major concern among healthcare providers compared with community members at the time of vaccine roll-out in Lagos, Nigeria. Indirect impacts of COVID-19 lockdown included diminished household income, worsening food insecurity, mental health challenges for caregivers and reduced clinic visits for immunisation. Conclusion: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos was associated with reductions in care seeking for children, clinic attendance for childhood immunisations and household income. Strengthening health and social support systems with context-specific interventions and correcting misinformation is crucial to building adaptive capacity for response to future pandemics

Association of serum magnesium with haematological health indices in dogs

Magnesium (Mg) is the second most abundant trace element in the body of both humans and animals and is an essential element for health.  Hypomagnaesemia and hypermagnaesemia have been reported to be common occurrences in critically ill patients and were postulated to determine the prognosis of disease. This study was designed to ascertain the relationship between haematological health indices and serum Mg levels. A total of 103 dogs from the ‘dog market ‘of Jos, Plateau State were sampled. Blood was collected for complete blood count (CBC) using  standard manual procedures: Serum protein analysis was by the biuret colorimetric method, while serum Mg levels were determined with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Result showed that anaemic dogs (PCV < 35 %) had significantly (p<0.05) lower serum Mg (1.9 ± 0.15 mg/dL) than non-anaemic (PCV ≥ 35 %) dogs (2.6 ± 0.12 mg/dL). Dogs with regenerative anaemia (corrected reticulocyte count ≥ 1%) had significantly (p<0.05) lower serum Mg (2.3 ± 0.19 mg/dL) than dogs with non-regenerative anaemia (2.8 ± 0.12 mg/dL). Dogs with thrombocytopenia had significantly  (p<0.05) lower serum Mg (2.00 ± 0.16 mg/dL) than those with normal platelet counts (2.94 ± 0.12 mg/dL). Animals with marked leukopenia, mild neutropenia and marked lymphopenia had significantly (p<0.05) lower serum Mg levels. In conclusion, dogs with poor haematological health indices; low PCV, low platelet counts, low lymphocyte counts and low serum protein were associated with significantly lower serum Mg levels. Keywords: Dogs, Haematological health indices, Serum magnesium, Blood disorder

Učinak invazije vrstom Trypanosoma brucei na involuciju maternice nakon partusa.

This study investigated the effects of Trypanosoma brucei infection on post-partum (PP) uterine involution in the albino rat (Rattus norvegicus). Ninety-six rats (80 females and 16 males) were used for the study. The females were divided into 2 equal groups of 40 infected and 40 uninfected. The males which were uninfected were used for mating with the females. From each of the 2 female groups, 5 were humanely sacrifi ced daily from day 0 to day 7 PP. Body mass (BM), uterine mass (UM), uterine mass as a percentage of body mass (UMPBM), uterine histomorphology, packed cell volume (PCV), level of parasitaemia (LOP) and rectal temperature (RT) were evaluated in the females. Results showed that both the UM and the UMPBM of the infected rats were significantly higher (P<0.01) than those of the uninfected between days 1 and 7 PP. Uterine histomorphology showed that between days 3 and 7 PP, involution was more advanced in the uninfected group. Uterine sections of the infected rats had more glands, which were also larger in size. Endometrial stroma was less cellular in the uninfected rats and the myometrium showed higher nuclei density for myofi brils, which suggests some loss of cytoplasm. The PCV of the infected rats was significantly lower than that of the uninfected (P<0.01) between days 9 and 14 post-infection (PI), while the RT of the infected rats was significantly higher (P<0.01) than that of the uninfected between days 5 and 14 PI. It was therefore concluded that T. brucei infection led to a significant delay in PP uterine involution, as evidenced by the higher UM and UMPBM, and the uterine histomorphological findings in the infected rats.Istraživanje je provedeno s ciljem određivanja učinka protozoona Trypanosoma brucei na postpartalnu involuciju maternice u albino štakora (Rattus norvegicus). Za istraživanje je rabljeno 96 štakora (80 ženki i 16 mužjaka). Ženke su bile podijeljene u dvije jednake skupine tako da je 40 ženki pripadalo kontrolnoj, a 40 invadiranoj skupini. Neinvadirani mužjaci su poslužili za parenje. Iz svake skupine bilo je eutanazirano pet ženki i to svaki dan (od nultog do sedmog dana). Za svaku ženku bila je određena tjelesna masa, masa maternice, odnos mase maternice i tjelesne mase, histološki nalaz maternice, ukupan broj krvnih stanica, razina parazitemije i rektalna temperatura. Rezultati su pokazali da je u invadiranih štakorica maternica bila značajno teža kao što je bila i značajno veća masa maternice u odnosu na tjelesnu masu ženke (P<0,01) u razdoblju od prvog do sedmog dana nakon partusa. Histološkom pretragom dokazano je da je involucija maternice u razdoblju od trećeg do sedmog dana bila izraženija u neinvadiranih ženki što je dokazano i većim brojem povećanih žlijezdi. Stroma endometrija neinvadiranih životinja sadržavala je manje stanica. U miometriju je dokazana veća gustoća jezgara u miofibrilima što govori u prilog gubitku citoplazme. Ukupan broj krvnih stanica u invadiranih štakorica bio je značajno manji u odnosu na neinvadirane (P<0,01) u razdoblju od devetog do četrnaestog dana nakon invazije. Invadirane štakorice imali su višu tjelesnu temperaturu (P<0,01) u razdoblju od petoga do četrnaestoga dana. Na temelju postignutih rezultata zaključuje se da invazija vrstom Trypanosoma brucei dovodi do značajnog kašnjenja involucije što je potvrđeno većom masom maternice, većom masom u odnosu na tjelesnu masu te histomorfološkim nalazom u invadiranih ženki

Toxicity study of diethyl phthalate on Clarias gariepinus fingerlings

Diethyl Phthalate (DEP) is used as a plasticizer, a detergent base, in aerosol sprays, as a perfume binder and after shave lotion. It is known to be a contaminant of fresh water and marine ecosystem. Therefore, a study was designed to determine the acute toxicity effects of DEP on a fresh water fish, Clarias gariepinus fingerlings. The fish was treated with 50, 75, 100 and 150 μg/l. DEP was dissolved in distilled water to determine the LC50. There was 100% mortality observed in 150 μg/l. The LC50 of DEP was estimated at log toxicant concentration as 2.217, 2.734, 3.435 and 3.931 μg/l at 24, 48, 72, 96 h and 1.871μg/l for the total death. This shows that the impacts are dose and time dependent with respect to marked reduction in mortality rate. At sub-lethal concentrations of the test substance at 30, 40, 60 and 80 μg/l in a renewal bioassay system, the water and the test compound were changed intermittently. One group was maintained as a control in dechlorinated water. There was significant difference (P &lt; 0.05) in brain and muscle AchE activity compared to the control. The liver ACP activity was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05) at day 15 while the muscle ACP in other treatment groups showed no significant difference (P &gt; 0.05). Liver AST showed no significance in all treated groups (P &gt; 0.05) and liver ALT activity was statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05) at day 30 only. The haematological parameters (HB, PCV, RBC and WBC) carried out showed that haemoglobin and erythrocyte levels estimated in all treatment groups to the duration of exposure showed no significant difference (P &gt; 0.05) compared to the control. The park cell volume showed a significant difference (P &lt; 0.05) at day 30 only. The leucocyte count throughout the exposure period showed that the mean values are statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05) at day 15 only compared to the control. The mean cell volume (MCV) showed a significant difference at day 15 (P &lt; 0.05) whereas mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) showed no significant difference (P &gt; 0.05) throughout the exposure period. No significant difference was seen between the lymphocytes and the neutrophils. In day 0 and 15 only, the monocytes and the lymphocytes showed a significant difference (P &lt; 0.05). The gill damages indicated toxicity of DEP with raised lamella, oedema of the lamella epithelia, loss of lamellar epithelium, mild oedema and raising of the filament. The liver damage showed focal necrosis and vacuolization, hepatocyte degeneration in the liver. These alterations may have long term effects on that that are continuously exposed to DEP in the aquatic environment.Keywords: Diethyl phthalate, Clarias gariepinus, acute toxicity, sublethal toxicity, heamatology, biochemical, histopathology, environment

Substance Use: Prevalence, Pattern and Risk Factors among Undergraduate Students in a Tertiary Institution in Southwest Nigeria

Background: Substance use is a global public health problem with increasing burden among university students. This study assessed the prevalence, pattern and risk factors of substance use among undergraduate students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of undergraduate students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select respondents. Data collection tool was a structured self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Statistical significance was set at p value &lt;0.05Results: The respondents’ mean age was 19.5 ± 2.0 years and all 416 (100.0%) were aware of substance abuse. The prevalence of substance use was 299 (71.9%). Alcohol 133 (32.0%) and over-the-counter drugs (29.9%) were the two most commonly used substance. Being male (p=0.017) and in 400 level (p=0.047) were associated with substance use while curiosity 112 (37.5%), peer pressure 95 (31.8%) and school stress 85 (28.4%) were reasons given. Predictors of substance use were being a female (aOR: 2.54; 95% CI=1.89-3.66; p=0.011), civil servant mother (aOR: 5.75; 95% CI=1.90-17.4; p=0.002) and mother with secondary education (aOR: 5.27; 95% CI= 2.20- 12.65; p&lt;0.001).Conclusion: There was high prevalence of substance use with curiosity, peer pressure and school stress being influencers of substance use among the study population. Predictors of substance use were being a female, civil servant mother and mother with secondary education. The University authority should institute measures to prevent access to alcohol and other substances by the students