Pattern of Eye Disorders in Ogbodo: A Rural Community in Rivers State.

Background: The incidence and prevalence of poor vision and blindness in the world, especially among the rural communities in developing countries is on the increase. This had led to the WHO/IAPB-driven “Vision2020 right to sight: ”global initiative against blindness in rural communities, aimed at reducing global blindness to the barest level by the year 2020. As part of its contribution in the global fight against blindness in the rural communities, Rotary International, a humanitarian global organization encourages all Rotary clubs worldwide to undertake eyecamps in rural communities as part of their community service. We report the pattern of eye disorders found among subjects of Ogbodo, a rural community in the Ikwerre local government area of Rivers state, during a one day Rotary eye camp.Objectives: To determine the pattern of visual problems and eye disorders in the Ogbodo rural community and to sensitize and educate members of the community about eye care and prevention of blindness.Methods: The eye camp held in February 2010. All eligible subjects, presenting at the camp had detailed eye examination comprising, visual acuity, refraction, and detailed ophthalmologic evaluation as permissible in a field study. Findings were captured in a pre-designed data sheet for analysis.Results: One-hundred and thirty-nine subjects were eligible for examination. They comprised 53 males and 86 females (M/F=0.6:1) with a mean age of 36.8 +15.1 years(range 8 to 90 years.). Using WHO criteria for visual assessment, 15.0% of the subjects had low vision in the better eye, with a mean age of 56.3 +12.9 years, 11.6 % were blind , with a mean age of 76.3 +15.3 years. Vision deteriorated with increasing age. Presbyopia was the commonest error of refraction occurring in 72.9% of the patients with a mean age of 51.9 +12.5 years. Glaucoma(19.4%) with a mean age of 55.1 + 20.8 years; Cataract (11.1%) mean age 65.5 +25.1years; allergic conjunctivitis (17.5%) , mean age 41.5 +21.4 years, and optic atrophy 5.6%, mean age 32.3 + 27.2 years respectively, were the most frequent ophthalmologic disorders encountered. Bilateral blindness was observed in 10(7.2%) of the subjects with cataract being the commonest cause, responsible for 40% of the blindness.Conclusion: Visual impairment and blindness are common among subjects of the Ogbodo rural community of Rivers state. Presbyopia, Cataracts, glaucoma allergic conjunctivitis and optic atrophy were the commonest eye disorders and causes of visual impairment and blindness in the community. The need for Government to extend eye care service to rural communities as a way of reducing the prevalence of visual impairment and blindness in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized.Key words: Pattern of eye disorders; Rural community; Ogbodo; Nigeria

Algorithms in nature: the convergence of systems biology and computational thinking

Biologists rely on computational methods to analyze and integrate large data sets, while several computational methods were inspired by the high-level design principles of biological systems. This Perspectives discusses the recent convergence of these two ways of thinking

The development of a robust, autonomous sensor network platform for environmental monitoring.

This paper describes an approach to the approaches being explored for a Sensor Network platform being developed for the DTI/NextWave technologies programme. The approach being adopted is to develop the system as a community of devices which use self-organising techniques to provide key functions. The devices are, largely, based on commodity technologies, thus providing a low cost basis. We give an outline of the approach and project and illustrate the techniques being developed with specific functions for: control, management, data retrieval and data quality control. The target application is off shore sea shelf monitoring; but the techniques being developed may be applied to a range of problems

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Nigerian Antenatal Population

Context: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is defined as carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity, with onset or first recognition during the index pregnancy. Previous studies of the problem of pregnancy and diabetes in parts of Nigeria failed to distinguish between GDM (as defined) and pregnancy occurring in a previously diagnosed diabetic. Thus the actual prevalence of GDM in Nigeria antenatal populations is not known. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and the pattern, behaviour, level of care and outcome of GDM pregnancies in a Nigerian antenatal population. Study Design & Setting: Cohort observational study in a university teaching hospital. Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence of GDM, glycaemic profile of GDM pregnancy, maternal and fetal complications, mode of delivery and outcome of GDM pregnancies. Results: The GDM prevalence was 2.98 per 1000 pregnancies. Maternal age and gestational age at diagnosis (mean + SD) were 31.0 ± 2.4 years and 23.88 ± 8.2 weeks respectively. Fasting venous blood glucose level at diagnosis was 7.76 ± 1.6 mmol/L while the cumulative mean FVBG throughout pregnancy was 6.56 ± 0.79 mmol/L. Pre-eclampsia 26.7%, mid-trimester abortion 6.7%, intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) 6.7% were the major antenatal complications. Caesarian section rate was 10%, gestational age at delivery - 37.55 ± 1.94 weeks and birthweight - 3.75 ± 0.55 kg. Conclusion: Prevalence of GDM in this antenatal population remains low (but within the global range of 0.15 — 3.0%). Overall care and metabolic control of GDM pregnancies in our population remain sub-optimal with attendant poor feto-maternal outcomes. (Tropical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: 2001, 18(2): 56-60

Distributed algorithm implementation and interaction in Wireless Sensor Networks

The SECOAS project is exploring the use of wireless sensor networks as an alternative to traditional oceanographic data acquisition methods for monitoring harsh and inaccessible environment. In this paper we present our approach to the development of the distributed applications that runs on the sensor nodes to give collaborative processing, with an emphasis on creating clusters of nodes with similar spatial attributes. The use of distributed algorithms fulfil the requirements of a self-organising, self-managing and self-optimising network, and provide the extra benefit of the simple addition, removal and alteration of functionality. Our approach is illustrated with a description of clustering and auto-positioning algorithms to show self-organisation and emergence of global order by applying simple local rules. Dissemination of operational parameters between algorithms are realised by the gossip protocol. The distributed algorithms are supported by the light-weight operating system in SECOAS which is called kOS. The way this platform supports the algorithms as well as collaboration between them is discussed in the paper.Lam Ling Shum, Ibiso Wokoma, Toks Adebutu, Aghileh Djafari Marbini, Lionel Sacks, Matthew Britto