Psycho-Cognitive Predictors of Eye Healthcare Seeking Behaviours among Secondary School Students in South-West Nigeria

Purpose: Poor eye healthcare seeking behaviour remains a global challenge among youth populations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This has further impeded global efforts in eliminating avoidable causes of blindness among at-risk individuals and directly accounts for poor outcomes in their quality of life and the potentials of their contribution to economic development. This study sought to investigate the psychocognitive predictors of eye healthcare seeking behaviours of secondary school students in a semi-urban community of south-west Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey design that adopted a multistage sampling technique to collect data in respect of demographic  characteristics and psycho-cognitive disposition of 422 consenting students attending eight secondary schools in Ikenne LGA, Ogun State. A self-administered 57-item validated instrument was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency, tables, means, standard deviation and multiple regression with statistical significance at 5% level.Results: Demographics of the respondents revealed that 44.3% were between the ages of 15 and 17 while 56.4% of the respondents were female. Psycho-cognitive disposition of respondents comprising knowledge of eye care, attitudinal disposition towards eye care were significant predictors (p≤.0001), while perceived threat/susceptibility to eye infections was also a significant predictor (p=.017).Conclusion: The eye healthcare seeking behaviours of secondary school students in the study remained poor. Quality eye health education on good ocular hygiene and promotion programmes need to be conducted for the students to increase their eye healthcare seeking behavior. Keywords: Eye healthcare seeking, blindness, cognitive factor

Global phylogeography and ancient evolution of the widespread human gut virus crAssphage

Microbiomes are vast communities of microorganisms and viruses that populate all natural ecosystems. Viruses have been considered to be the most variable component of microbiomes, as supported by virome surveys and examples of high genomic mosaicism. However, recent evidence suggests that the human gut virome is remarkably stable compared with that of other environments. Here, we investigate the origin, evolution and epidemiology of crAssphage, a widespread human gut virus. Through a global collaboration, we obtained DNA sequences of crAssphage from more than one-third of the world’s countries and showed that the phylogeography of crAssphage is locally clustered within countries, cities and individuals. We also found fully colinear crAssphage-like genomes in both Old-World and New-World primates, suggesting that the association of crAssphage with primates may be millions of years old. Finally, by exploiting a large cohort of more than 1,000 individuals, we tested whether crAssphage is associated with bacterial taxonomic groups of the gut microbiome, diverse human health parameters and a wide range of dietary factors. We identified strong correlations with different clades of bacteria that are related to Bacteroidetes and weak associations with several diet categories, but no significant association with health or disease. We conclude that crAssphage is a benign cosmopolitan virus that may have coevolved with the human lineage and is an integral part of the normal human gut virome

Glyphaea brevis (Spreng) Monachino (Tiliaceae) leaf fractions protect against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced convulsion in mice

Purpose: To investigate the anticonvulsant effect of Glyphaea brevis leaf fractions using a pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizure model in mice. Methods: Glyphaea brevis leaf methanol extract was partitioned using n-hexane and hydro-methanol (8:2). Seizure was assessed in terms of onset of myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizure, duration of seizure and frequency of seizure. The concentrations of glutathione of catalase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde in the brain of the mice were also determined. Results: The administration of the different fractions of Glyphaea brevis leaf prior to induction of seizure with PTZ prolonged the latency of convulsion in mice as well as a significant (p < 0.05) decline in the intensity of convulsion was observed. In relation to the untreated mice, there was a rise in the levels of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the brain, but a decrease in malondialdehyde levels. Conclusion: The study results show that the fractions of Glyphaea brevis leaf have anticonvulsive properties, proving that the plant’s use in folklore medicine for treating convulsion

Antioxidant Properties of Polyalthia longifolia

ABSTRACT: Polyalthia longifolia is a plant found in the tropical areas of the world. The plant is used as an ornamental tree. The seeds of the plant were investigated for its toxicity, phytochemicals and antioxidant activities. The acute toxicity studies of the plant revealed LD 50 of 400mg/kg which indicates that the seeds of the plant are non-toxic and save for human consumption. The plant was found to contain alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates, fats and oils, tannins, steroids and terpenoids. The antioxidant activities of the ethanol extract of the seeds were assayed using rat liver homogenate. Nitric oxide, ferrous sulphate and carbon tetrachloride-induced lipid scavenging activities carried out showed that there were inhibition in the formation of free radicals; indicating a possible antioxidant property. The use of the plant on humans can alleviate the incidence of oxidative stress

Successful Management of Blue Rubber Bleb Nevus Syndrome (BRBNS) with Sirolimus

Blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome (BRBNS) is a rare disease with vascular malformations in several systems of the body, most commonly the skin and gastrointestinal tract. Bleeding from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a major complication, which may lead to chronic iron deficiency anemia and the need for frequent blood transfusions due to ongoing gastrointestinal blood loss. In this case report, we describe a now 19-year-old female with BRBNS who required six blood transfusions per year and after starting sirolimus is symptom- and transfusion-free

Early events in the evolution of spider silk genes.

Silk spinning is essential to spider ecology and has had a key role in the expansive diversification of spiders. Silk is composed primarily of proteins called spidroins, which are encoded by a multi-gene family. Spidroins have been studied extensively in the derived clade, Orbiculariae (orb-weavers), from the suborder Araneomorphae ('true spiders'). Orbicularians produce a suite of different silks, and underlying this repertoire is a history of duplication and spidroin gene divergence. A second class of silk proteins, Egg Case Proteins (ECPs), is known only from the orbicularian species, Lactrodectus hesperus (Western black widow). In L. hesperus, ECPs bond with tubuliform spidroins to form egg case silk fibers. Because most of the phylogenetic diversity of spiders has not been sampled for their silk genes, there is limited understanding of spidroin gene family history and the prevalence of ECPs. Silk genes have not been reported from the suborder Mesothelae (segmented spiders), which diverged from all other spiders >380 million years ago, and sampling from Mygalomorphae (tarantulas, trapdoor spiders) and basal araneomorph lineages is sparse. In comparison to orbicularians, mesotheles and mygalomorphs have a simpler silk biology and thus are hypothesized to have less diversity of silk genes. Here, we present cDNAs synthesized from the silk glands of six mygalomorph species, a mesothele, and a non-orbicularian araneomorph, and uncover a surprisingly rich silk gene diversity. In particular, we find ECP homologs in the mesothele, suggesting that ECPs were present in the common ancestor of extant spiders, and originally were not specialized to complex with tubuliform spidroins. Furthermore, gene-tree/species-tree reconciliation analysis reveals that numerous spidroin gene duplications occurred after the split between Mesothelae and Opisthothelae (Mygalomorphae plus Araneomorphae). We use the spidroin gene tree to reconstruct the evolution of amino acid compositions of spidroins that perform different ecological functions

Early Events in the Evolution of Spider Silk Genes

<div><p>Silk spinning is essential to spider ecology and has had a key role in the expansive diversification of spiders. Silk is composed primarily of proteins called spidroins, which are encoded by a multi-gene family. Spidroins have been studied extensively in the derived clade, Orbiculariae (orb-weavers), from the suborder Araneomorphae (‘true spiders’). Orbicularians produce a suite of different silks, and underlying this repertoire is a history of duplication and spidroin gene divergence. A second class of silk proteins, Egg Case Proteins (ECPs), is known only from the orbicularian species, <em>Lactrodectus hesperus</em> (Western black widow). In <em>L. hesperus,</em> ECPs bond with tubuliform spidroins to form egg case silk fibers. Because most of the phylogenetic diversity of spiders has not been sampled for their silk genes, there is limited understanding of spidroin gene family history and the prevalence of ECPs. Silk genes have not been reported from the suborder Mesothelae (segmented spiders), which diverged from all other spiders >380 million years ago, and sampling from Mygalomorphae (tarantulas, trapdoor spiders) and basal araneomorph lineages is sparse. In comparison to orbicularians, mesotheles and mygalomorphs have a simpler silk biology and thus are hypothesized to have less diversity of silk genes. Here, we present cDNAs synthesized from the silk glands of six mygalomorph species, a mesothele, and a non-orbicularian araneomorph, and uncover a surprisingly rich silk gene diversity. In particular, we find ECP homologs in the mesothele, suggesting that ECPs were present in the common ancestor of extant spiders, and originally were not specialized to complex with tubuliform spidroins. Furthermore, gene-tree/species-tree reconciliation analysis reveals that numerous spidroin gene duplications occurred after the split between Mesothelae and Opisthothelae (Mygalomorphae plus Araneomorphae). We use the spidroin gene tree to reconstruct the evolution of amino acid compositions of spidroins that perform different ecological functions.</p> </div