Anxiety and Depression among Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment in Ghana

Breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy often experience severe levels of anxiety and depression within the African context. There is a gap in the research literature from Africa, particularly Ghana, with few studies focusing on depression among patients undergoing radiation treatment. The purpose of the study was to find various interventions for depression and anxiety among breast cancer patients in Ghana. A mixed method study examined breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy and their responses through a concurrent triangulation involving an interview with selected professional and a detailed patient survey. In all, 100 patients between the ages of 20-89 completed a questionnaire and individual interviews were held with 6 professionals with a minimum of 5 years of work experience. Themes were generated through open coding of the interview data, while multiple regression was performed to determine the relationship between depression and anxiety with the independent variables. In all, 89% had no family history of breast cancer, and the majority (55%) had the disease duration of one to three years. Almost 95% of patients with breast cancer had anxiety and depression in different categories. This included hair loss, discolored finger nails, cost of treatment, and fear of the unknown. Age and monthly income of patients were statistically significant in predicting the anxiety and depression among the patients. Coping mechanisms are essential for all patients undergoing treatment. This study’s implications will lead to positive change when all stakeholders assist in implementing measures to promote coping strategies for breast cancer patients in Ghana

MEAT QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPROVED INDIGENOUS CHICKENS (FUNAAB-ALPHA) FED TURMERIC (Curcuma longa) OR CLOVE (Syzygium aromaticum) AS FEED ADDITIVES

The experiment was conducted to investigate meat quality of improved indigenous chickens (FUNAAB alpha) fed diet containing turmeric (Curcuma longa) and clove (Syzigium aromaticum) powders. One hundred and thirty-five (135) mixed sexed day-old improved indigenous FUNAAB alpha chicks were brooded collectively for two weeks, and assigned into three (3) treatment groups. Each treatment was replicated three times, consisting of fifteen (15) birds. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum through the duration of experiment. The control group was fed the basal diet at starter and  finisher phases (T1), while the other groups were fed clove (Syzygium aromaticum) powder at 3 g/kg (T2) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) (T3) powder at 4 g/kg respectively as additives.   Data obtained were subjected to a One – Way Analysis of Variance in a Completely Randomised Design. Muscle obtained after evisceration was subjected to quality analysis. Proximate composition of meat obtained from chickens fed the basal diet had the highest (p<0.05) moisture content value of 75.45% compared to other treatments. Water absorptive capacity and cook loss of meat obtained from chickens fed 4 g/kg dietary turmeric showed (p<0.05) values of 3% and 16.4% respectively. Meat sensory properties analysed revealed (p<0.05) score in groups fed 3g/kg and 4 g/kg clove and turmeric powders respectively, for tenderness (6.14) and overall acceptability (7.19). Meanwhile (p<0.05) lipoprotein profile was observed in group fed 4 g/kg turmeric powder. Inclusion, turmeric and clove had beneficial effects on FUNAAB Alpha. &nbsp

Non-malarial febrile illness: a systematic review of published aetiological studies and case reports from Southern Asia and South-eastern Asia, 1980-2015.

BACKGROUND: In the absence of definitive diagnosis, healthcare providers are likely to prescribe empirical antibacterials to those who test negative for malaria. This problem is of critical importance in Southern Asia (SA) and South-eastern Asia (SEA) where high levels of antimicrobial consumption and high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance have been reported. To improve management and guide further diagnostic test development, better understanding is needed of the true causative agents of fever and their geographical variability. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of published literature (1980-2015) to characterise the spectrum of pathogens causing non-malarial febrile illness in SA and SEA. We searched six databases in English and French languages: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health (CABI) database, WHO Global Health Library, PASCAL, and Bulletin de la Société Française de Parasitologie (BDSP). Selection criteria included reporting on an infection or infections with a confirmed diagnosis, defined as pathogens detected in or cultured from samples from normally sterile sites, or serological evidence of current or past infection. RESULTS: A total of 29,558 records from 19 countries in SA and SEA were screened, of which 2410 (8.1%) met the selection criteria. Bacterial aetiologies were reported in 1235 (51.2%) articles, viral in 846 (35.1%), parasitic in 132 (5.5%), and fungal in 54 (2.2%), and 143 (6.0%) articles reported more than one pathogen group. In descending order of frequency, Salmonella Typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and coagulase negative Staphylococcus were the commonly reported bacteria, while dengue virus, chikungunya virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus were common viral pathogens reported. Reports of rarely reported or emerging pathogens included a case report of Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) in India in 2010 and reports of Nipah virus in Singapore and India. CONCLUSIONS: This review summarises the reported non-malaria pathogens that may cause febrile illness in SA and SEA. The findings emphasise the need of standardising the reporting of aetiological studies to develop effective, evidence-based fever management and improved surveillance. Research and development of diagnostic tools would benefit from up-to-date epidemiological reporting of the regional diversities of non-malaria fever aetiologies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration, CRD42016049281

Near-surface soil moisture assimilation for quantifying effective soil hydraulic properties using genetic algorithms: 2. Using airborne remote sensing during SGP97 and SMEX02

Pixel-based effective soil hydraulic parameters are crucial inputs for large-scale hydroclimatic modeling. In this paper, we extend/apply a genetic algorithm (GA) approach for estimating these parameters at the scale of an airborne remote sensing (RS) footprint. To estimate these parameters, we used a time series of near-surface RS soil moisture data to invert a physically based soil-water-atmosphere-plant (SWAP) model with a (multipopulated) modified-microGA. Uncertainties in the solutions were examined in two ways: (1) by solving the inverse problem under various combinations of modeling conditions in a respective way; and (2) the same as the first method but the inverse solutions were determined in a collective way aimed at finding the robust solutions for all the modeling conditions (ensembles). A cross validation of the derived soil hydraulic parameters was done to check their effectiveness for all the modeling conditions used. For our case studies, we considered three electronically scanned thinned array radiometer (ESTAR) footprints in Oklahoma and four polarimetric scanning radiometer (PSR) footprints in Iowa during the Southern Great Plains 1997 (SGP97) Hydrology Experiment and Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02) campaigns, respectively. The results clearly showed the promising potentials of near-surface RS soil moisture data combined with inverse modeling for determining average soil hydrologic properties at the footprint scale. Our cross validation showed that parameters derived by method 1 under water table (bottom boundary) conditions are applicable also for free-draining conditions. However, parameters derived under free-draining conditions generally produced too wet near-surface soil moisture when applied under water table conditions. Method 2, on the other hand, produced robust parameter sets applicable for all modeling conditions used. These results were validated using distributed in situ soil moisture and soil hydraulic properties measurements, and texture-based data from the UNSODA database. In this study, we conclude that inverse modeling of RS soil moisture data is a promising approach for parameter estimation at large measurement support scale. Nevertheless, the derived effective soil hydraulic parameters are subject to the uncertainties of remotely sensed soil moisture data and from the assumptions used in the soil-water-atmosphere-plant modeling. Method 2 provides a flexible framework for accounting these sources of uncertainties in the inverse estimation of large-scale soil hydraulic properties. We have illustrated this flexibility by combining multiple data sources and various modeling conditions in our large-scale inverse modeling

HYPOGLYCAEMIC AND HAEMATINIC PROPERTIES OF ETHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF ARTOCARPUS HETEROPHYLLUS IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS.

Background: Anaemia is known to be associated with diabetes; moreover, with the increasing cases of diabetes there is need for the use of more affordable alternative herbal medicines for the treatment of diabetes and anaemia. The aim of this work was to evaluate the hypoglycaemic and haematinic properties of Artocarpus heteropyllus on diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Ethanol leaf extract of Artocarpus heteropyllus was screened for phytochemicals and its acute toxicity was tested on mice. Induction of diabetes was done at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight (b.w) (with exception of the control group). The extract was administered to rats for a period of 7 days at 100, 300 and 500 mg/kg b.w, respectively, following induction. Blood samples of rats were tested for fasting blood sugar (FBS), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin, neutrophil lymphocyte and eosinophil counts. Results: The ethanol leaf extract of A. heterophyllus showed no mortality up to a dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. Administration of the extract to diabetic rats resulted in a decrease in the FBS of diabetic rat, and significant increases (p< 0.05) in RBC, PCV, WBC and haemoglobin levels. Conclusion: The ethanol leaf extract of A. heterophyllus increased the haematological indices of diabetic rats. Our findings support the use of this plant as an herbal alternative in the treatment of diabetes and anaemia associated diabetes