Appendiceal Knotting: A Rare Complication Causing Intestinal Obstruction in a Child

Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdomen in children. Its common complications are; perforation, gangrene and appendix mass. The most dreaded complication is portal pyemia which could be fatal. Appendiceal knotting is a rare complication. No patient with this complication has been reported in literature. We therefore present the management of this rare complication seen as a cause of intestinal obstruction in a child at our centre. KEY WORDS: Appendicitis Complication, Knotting

Appendiceal Knotting: A Rare Complication Causing Intestinal Obstruction in a Child

Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdomen in children. Its common complications are; perforation, gangrene and appendix mass. The most dreaded complication is portal pyemia which could be fatal. Appendiceal knotting is a rare complication. No patient with this complication has been reported in literature. We therefore present the management of this rare complication seen as a cause of intestinal obstruction in a child at our centre. KEY WORDS: Appendicitis Complication, Knotting

Effects of highly active antiretroviral treatment on liver and renal functions of HIV-infected patients attending the day care clinic of the Bamenda Regional Hospital, Cameroon

Background: Though the development of antiretroviral therapy has brought some relief to the menace of HIV infections, the side effects and toxicity of these drugs can still present a major challenge to users, thus leading to a switch or discontinuation of treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of antiretroviral treatment on some biochemical markers of liver and renal functions among HIV-infected patients receiving treatment at the Day Care Clinic of the Regional Hospital, Bamenda, Cameroon.Methodology: A case control study design comprising 100 HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and 100 HIV-negative controls was conducted from February to May 2019. The serum activity of aspartate amino transferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT), and serum creatinine levels for each group were measured using BIOSMART 240 autoanalyzer. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault formula while proteinuria was determined with the CYBOW 11M strips. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21.0. Differences in the serum activity and levels of the biomarkers between the case and control groups were analyzed using the Chi-square test.Results: The prevalence of transaminitis (AST and ALT >40.0 U/L) among HAART-treated participants was 26.0% for AST and 20% for ALT while that of HIV-negative controls were 15% and 12% respectively but the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Elevated serum creatinine level (>1.4 mg/dL) was seen in 25% of HAART-treated group compared to 7% in HIV-negative control (p=0.0010) while renal impairment (eGFR<60 ml/min/1.73m2) was seen in 24% of HAART-treated and 14% of HIV-negative group (p=0.1048). Elevated activity of transaminases and levels of creatinine, proteinuria and abnormal eGFR in HAART-treated patients were mostly seen in those who were on first line antiretroviral therapy, and those who have been on treatment for over 5 years.Conclusion: HAART is associated with transaminitis and elevated serum creatinine but no increase in renal impairment compared to the general population. It is important that following initiation of HAART, liver and kidney functions are regularly monitored. Keywords: HIV; HAART; AST; ALT; eGF

PiRaNhA: A server for the computational prediction of RNA-binding residues in protein sequences

The PiRaNhA web server is a publicly available online resource that automatically predicts the location of RNA-binding residues (RBRs) in protein sequences. The goal of functional annotation of sequences in the field of RNA binding is to provide predictions of high accuracy that require only small numbers of targeted mutations for verification. The PiRaNhA server uses a support vector machine (SVM), with position-specific scoring matrices, residue interface propensity, predicted residue accessibility and residue hydrophobicity as features. The server allows the submission of up to 10 protein sequences, and the predictions for each sequence are provided on a web page and via email. The prediction results are provided in sequence format with predicted RBRs highlighted, in text format with the SVM threshold score indicated and as a graph which enables users to quickly identify those residues above any specific SVM threshold. The graph effectively enables the increase or decrease of the false positive rate. When tested on a non-redundant data set of 42 protein sequences not used in training, the PiRaNhA server achieved an accuracy of 85%, specificity of 90% and a Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.41 and outperformed other publicly available servers. The PiRaNhA prediction server is freely available at http://www.bioinformatics.sussex.ac.uk/PIRANHA. © The Author(s) 2010. Published by Oxford University Press

Building peace in post-conflict societies: An exploration of the role of women in Liberia's peacebuilding architecture.

Doctor of Philosophy in Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies. University of KwaZuku-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2018.Post-conflict situations raise questions about the level to which the notion and practice of peacebuilding can contribute to sustainable peace, reconstruction, and development through transformative gender-responsive and inclusive processes. Embedded in these inquiries are the different standpoints and accentuation that the role and contributions of women in peacebuilding are an important contextual component for (post-)conflict agendas and are very much interlinked to their human and civil rights to participation and representation in public and official decision-making processes. This notwithstanding, the question regarding women’s participation, representation, and the consideration of their interests in the array of post-conflict approaches and processes still remain subject to a complexity of institutional, structural, socio-economic injustices and challenges, even at the grassroots levels. This study recognizes the manner and extent to which the importance of demystifying misconceptions about women and integrating their lived experiences into peacebuilding is imperative for the effectiveness and sustainability of post-conflict drives and its environment. Therefore, to understand the processes of peacebuilding in post-conflict transitions and address the question regarding the role of women therein, this study capitalizes on the Liberian experience as a macrocosm that embodies these themes. It provides a nuanced perspective and context of the role of women and women's organizations in Liberia’s peacebuilding architecture using a qualitative research methodology that comprises the review of relevant secondary info and primary data generated from focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with selected women organizations, institutions, and individuals in Liberia. The study identifies the absence of comprehensive scholarship that specifically examines women’s role in relation to each defined pillar of what constitutes post-conflict transition processes. Likewise, it uncovers dearth in literature inherent in the areas of policy implementation and domestication as well as the tendency to homogenize women and women’s organizational roles and significance. In response to these gaps, the study adopts a post-conflict peacebuilding, reconstruction and development theoretical framework, and Maxine Molyneux’s organizational theory. These theories serve as the lens through which the study expounds on the underlying importance of women’s peacebuilding agencies as being practically and strategically diverse as their experiences of conflict and the approaches that inform the different post-conflict processes. Hence, the study generates critical insights on women’s opportunities and challenges of engagement as well as the importance of using transformative stances to peacebuilding programmes; cognizant of the proactive rolewomen are playing and their underplayed contributions in Liberia. It arrives at several findings, including that Liberian women through their distinctive and shared experiences of conflict provide a gendered specific and transformative perspective to peace and security agendas both at the structural and practical levels. It also establishes that diverse women initiatives remain(ed) the core interventionist platform for women’s efforts in peace and decision-making processes during and in (post-) conflict Liberia and that there are numerous barriers to women’s peacebuilding efforts. The study concludes with several recommendations and the contention that women’s initiatives and agency for peace if genuinely supported would represent and serve as a strategy to progressively advance their different gender interests, participation, and representation in decision-making. It would equally increase the effective implementation as well as eventual sustainability of peacebuilding and development processes in Liberia

Managing the challenges of conflict transformation and peace-building in South Sudan.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.Since its independence on July 9, 2011, the Republic of South Sudan, with the assistance of various internal and external stakeholders, has been working towards viable and constructive political and socio-economic change in the new state. These processes of change are aimed at the effective development of South Sudan as a sovereign, peaceful and stable nation-state that is capable of serving the short- and long-term needs and expectations of its citizens and the environment at large. However, the successful realisation of this transformation is facing serious challenges. These challenges are partly attributable to the unresolved issues and consequences of South Sudan’s protracted years of civil war with Sudan, and the difficulties that often confront post-conflict societies, especially a post-independence state like South Sudan, which came into existence after two prolonged civil wars. Given the complexity of South Sudan’s post-independence environment, this study aims to gain a clearer understanding of South Sudan’s complex transformational and peace-building challenges as an independent state; and to propose recommendations on how they can be managed. This will be achieved through the use of historical and qualitative research methods, which locate the study within a framework that provides the basis for the analyses of the data collected on South Sudan and on the subjects of conflict transformation and peace-building. As South Sudan celebrated its one-year anniversary on July 9, 2012, it was recalled that the country’s official independence was regarded as a historic event for the African continent at large. While there were high expectations among the South Sudanese population and the international community that this signalled an end to Africa’s longest conflict, it was soon clouded by a myriad of political, economic, socio-cultural, peace, security and development challenges. These include building an entirely new state out of the ruins of war, confronting the unresolved resource and border demarcation conflicts with Sudan, and tackling South Sudan’s own internal ethnic confrontations, among many other human resources and capacity challenges. Given South Sudan’s challenging post-conflict and post-independence environment, this study contends that contrary to the notion that the resolution and transformation of the Sudan-South Sudan conflict and the birth of the new Republic of South Sudan ended the conflict between the two entities, the secession did not create a cohesive and robust new state that is free from serious internal and external challenges. The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and external and internal stakeholders, including the African Union (AU); the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD); the United Nations (UN); civil society organisations (CSOs) and various individual countries (among many other initiatives) have been and are actively engaged in joint efforts to address and manage the challenges that confront South Sudan as an independent state. However, such endeavours have mainly concentrated on state-building issues, resources and border demarcation conflicts, and have focused less on the problems of nation-building. As such, internal complexities such as social and national identity, the decentralisation of power/broader representation in government and state affairs and growing ethnic conflicts have continued to receive less attention. Bearing this in mind, this study argues that unless these internal matters are given serious consideration, sustainable peace and development in South Sudan will remain elusive. While negotiations to resolve the cross-border South Sudan-Sudan conflicts continue, a solution that is acceptable to all parties is only possible if all the conflicting parties are invited to the negotiation table to engage in peaceful dialogue and find the means to reconcile their differences and build trustworthy and mutually beneficial relationships. The study also identifies a need for the promotion and coordination of a constructive relationship between the South Sudanese state and civil society. It further recognises the importance of building inclusive political processes to facilitate a state-society cooperative environment, and the development of state capacity to perform its duties in a manner that satisfies the expectations of the population that they will enjoy the fruits of their long-drawn out struggle for independence. In terms of how these processes can be achieved, the study recommends an indigenous intervention mechanism that encourages the active engagement of the entire post-conflict society in its own peace-building and development initiatives. This mechanism is encapsulated in John Paul Lederach’s Pyramid Model of conflict transformation, which emphasises the importance of coordinating peace-building activities between and among the various leadership levels – the top, middle and grassroots leaders of the post-conflict society. This model also advocates that the local community be encouraged to develop and drive its own peace-building and development activities, which is a major step forward in reconciling differences, building a sense of belonging, trust, mutual respect and ultimately societal cohesion. These are very important considerations for any society or state with the long-term goal of sustainable peace and development. The research study thus recommends this model for managing South Sudan’s challenges. It urges all stakeholders to promote the involvement of the local community in peace-building and development activities and to facilitate peaceful dialogue and reconciliation within South Sudan and with Sudan in order to achieve viable peace and development in the longer term

Human lysosomal sialidase : biogenesis, structure and molecular pathology in childhood inherited disorders, galactosialidosis and sialidosis

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

A Technique to Avoid the Marginal Artery During Divided Colostomy in Neonates

Colostomy is a frequently performed procedure in neonates presenting with anorectal malformation and Hirschsprungs disease. A divided colostomy is more commonly performed but has a definite risk of injury to the marginal artery during the procedure, leading to stoma necrosis. This is a description of a technique which identifies, displaces and preserves the marginal artery during colostomy construction and therefore ensures a safer colostomy in neonates without the danger of necrosis. Key words: Technique. Marginal artery, Colostom