Review of adherence to malaria rapid diagnostic testing in different health care settings

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityBackground: The antimalarial prescription response that community health workers (CHWs) and hospital workers in Africa give when faced with the new rapid diagnostic testing technologies for malaria. Objectives: To understand why health workers subsequent treatment patterns are not always in alignment with the diagnostic result, especially when faced with negative test results- they frequently prescribe anti-malaria drugs despite these negative results. Data Sources: Articles stemming from PubMed, the WHO, and the CDC. In reference to the PubMed articles used for the presentation of published results, the articles range from 2007-2012 and were found via PubMed using the MeSH search terms Africa, malaria, rapid, Malaria/diagnosis, health, community, residence characteristics, hospital, and hospitals. [TRUNCATED

The kynurenine pathway as a therapeutic target in cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders

Understanding the neurochemical basis for cognitive function is one of the major goals of neuroscience, with a potential impact on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders. In this review, the focus will be on a biochemical pathway that remains under-recognised in its implications for brain function, even though it can be responsible for moderating the activity of two neurotransmitters fundamentally involved in cognition – glutamate and acetylcholine. Since this pathway – the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism - is induced by immunological activation and stress it also stands in an unique position to mediate the effects of environmental factors on cognition and behaviour. Targetting the pathway for new drug development could, therefore, be of value not only for the treatment of existing psychiatric conditions, but also for preventing the development of cognitive disorders in response to environmental pressures

Assessment of Information Needs of Shea Butter Processors’ on Modern Processing Technologies in North Central Agro-Ecological Zone of Nigeria

To ensure sustainable shea butter production in North Central Agro-ecological zone of Nigeria using modern shea butter processing technologies necessitated this study. The major objective of the study was to identify the information needs of shea butter processors’ on modern shea butter processing technologies whilst examining the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics, ascertaining their awareness, areas of information needs, sources of information, and perception on the effect of inadequate information on modern processing technologies were the specific objectives. Primary data were collected from 216 processors’ using multi-stage sampling procedure. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that most (90.3%) of the processors’ were females, young and married with little or no formal education and having between 6 to 15 years of processing experience. Respondents obtained information mostly from fellow processors ( =70) and cooperative societies ( = 67). Perceived areas of information need include kneading ( = 89), crushing ( = 88), roasting ( = 85) and milling ( = 84). Perceived effects of inadequate information on modern processing technologies were low yield of shea butter ( = 78), low income ( = 76), and local use of local technologies ( = 71) and poor packaging of shea butter ( = 78). Respondents’ sex (χ2 = 22.076, 0.000), educational level (χ2 = 86.983, 0.000) and years of processing experience (χ2 = 22.076, 0.000) had significant association with their perception of information needs. Creation of awareness on modern shea butter processing technologies through the use of more radio programmes aired at appropriate time and the use of leaflets produced both in English and local languages is recommended

The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Pediatric Obesity and Bariatric Surgery

Obesity affects 42.4% of adults and 19.3% of children in the United States. Childhood obesity drives many comorbidities including hypertension, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Prior research suggests that aberrant compositional development of the gut microbiome, with low-grade inflammation, precedes being overweight. Therefore, childhood may provide opportunities for interventions that shape the microbiome to mitigate obesity-related diseases. Children with obesity have gut microbiota compositional and functional differences, including increased proinflammatory bacterial taxa, compared to lean controls. Restoration of the gut microbiota to a healthy state may ameliorate conditions associated with obesity and help maintain a healthy weight. Pediatric bariatric (weight-loss) surgery is an effective treatment for childhood obesity; however, there is limited research into the role of the gut microbiome after weight-loss surgery in children. This review will discuss the magnitude of childhood obesity, the importance of the developing microbiome in establishing metabolic pathways, interventions such as bariatric surgery that may modulate the gut microbiome, and future directions for the potential development of microbiome-based therapeutics to treat obesity