Trends in the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus among pregnant women in Keffi, north central Nigeria.

Background: Infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus remains a major global health challenge. Nigeria is committed to reaching universal access targets as well as meeting the MDG goal of halting and reversing the spread of the HIV epidemic by 2015. The Nigerian National HIV Sero-prevalence Sentinel Survey has recorded a decreasing prevalence since 2008. Federal Medical Centre Keffi has also made prudent strides to help attain this national target.Objective: To determine the trends in the prevalence of HIV infection among antenatal clinic attendees at Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, North Central Nigeria.Method: This is a cross-sectional study of women attending antenatal clinic at the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2013.Results: A total of 13,661 clients booked for ante-natal care at Federal Medical Centre, Keffi during the study period. All were counseled and tested for HIV with an opt - out rate of 0.0%. Nine hundred and fifty – three clients tested positive giving an overall prevalence of 7.0%. The number of patients tested increased by the years from 1018 in 2007 to 2886 in 2013. The prevalence of HIV infection decreased over the years from 17.8% in 2007 to 2.0% in 2013.Conclusion: This study has shown a consistently decreasing prevalence in HIV infection among pregnant women despite a persistent increase in the total number of antenatal attendance over the years. There was also no opt out of HIV testing after the counseling. To maintain a decreasing prevalence, we recommend concerted efforts aimed at decreasing the incidence of HIV infection while striving to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and support.Key words: Trends, HIV, Pregnant women, Keffi Nigeri

ANKLE JOINT COMPLEX KINEMATIC AND KINETIC ADAPTATION DURING THIRTY-MINUTES OF TREADMILL RUNNING: A CASE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to assess kinematic and kinetic adaptation during a 30 min run. It was hypothesized that kinematics and kinetics would adapt at different rates. A recreationally trained runner with approximately 10 years of running experience was recruited for the study. Three dimensional kinematic and kinetic variables were assessed during a 30 min run. All measures exhibited varied adaptation trends with most measures not stabilizing during the exercise period. A longer running period may be needed in running gait analysis to produce a more comprehensive adaptation profile

For the last time: temporal sensitivity and perceived timing of the final stimulus in an isochronous sequence

An isochronous sequence is a series of repeating events with the same inter-onset-interval. A common finding is that as the length of a sequence increases, so does temporal sensitivity to irregularities - that is, the detection of deviations from isochrony is better with a longer sequence. Several theoretical accounts exist in the literature as to how the brain processes sequences for the detection of irregularities, yet there remains to be a systematic comparison of the predictions that such accounts make. To compare the predictions of these accounts, we asked participants to report whether the last stimulus of a regularly-timed sequence appeared ‘earlier’ or ‘later’ than expected. Such task allowed us to separately analyse bias and performance. Sequences lengths (3, 4, 5 or 6 beeps) were either randomly interleaved or presented in separate blocks. We replicate previous findings showing that temporal sensitivity increases with longer sequence in the interleaved condition but not in the blocked condition (where performance is higher overall). Results also indicate that there is a consistent bias in reporting whether the last stimulus is isochronous (irrespectively of how many stimuli the sequence is composed of). Such result is consistent with a perceptual acceleration of stimuli embedded in isochronous sequences. From the comparison of the models’ predictions we determine that the improvement in sensitivity is best captured by an averaging of successive estimates, but with an element that limits performance improvement below statistical optimality. None of the models considered, however, provides an exhaustive explanation for the pattern of results found

A simulation-driven performance testing method for Web applications

2003-2004 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Late-onset bloodstream infection and perturbed maturation of the gastrointestinal microbiota in premature infants

Late-onset bloodstream infection (LO-BSI) is a common complication of prematurity, and lack of timely diagnosis and treatment can have life-threatening consequences. We sought to identify clinical characteristics and microbial signatures in the gastrointestinal microbiota preceding diagnosis of LO-BSI in premature infants.Daily faecal samples and clinical data were collected over two years from 369 premature neonates (<32 weeks gestation). We analysed samples from 22 neonates who developed LO-BSI and 44 matched control infants. Next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene regions amplified by PCR from total faecal DNA was used to characterise the microbiota of faecal samples preceding diagnosis from infants with LO-BSI and controls. Culture of selected samples was undertaken, and bacterial isolates identified using MALDI-TOF. Antibiograms from bloodstream and faecal isolates were compared to explore strain similarity.From the week prior to diagnosis, infants with LO-BSI had higher proportions of faecal aerobes/facultative anaerobes compared to controls. Risk factors for LO-BSI were identified by multivariate analysis. Enterobacteriaceal sepsis was associated with antecedent multiple lines, low birth weight and a faecal microbiota with prominent Enterobacteriaceae. Staphylococcal sepsis was associated with Staphylococcus OTU faecal over-abundance, and the number of days prior to diagnosis of mechanical ventilation and of the presence of centrally-placed lines. In 12 cases, the antibiogram of the bloodstream isolate matched that of a component of the faecal microbiota in the sample collected closest to diagnosis.The gastrointestinal tract is an important reservoir for LO-BSI organisms, pathogens translocating across the epithelial barrier. LO-BSI is associated with an aberrant microbiota, with abundant staphylococci and Enterobacteriaceae and a failure to mature towards predominance of obligate anaerobes

Eigenlogic: a Quantum View for Multiple-Valued and Fuzzy Systems

We propose a matrix model for two- and many-valued logic using families of observables in Hilbert space, the eigenvalues give the truth values of logical propositions where the atomic input proposition cases are represented by the respective eigenvectors. For binary logic using the truth values {0,1} logical observables are pairwise commuting projectors. For the truth values {+1,-1} the operator system is formally equivalent to that of a composite spin 1/2 system, the logical observables being isometries belonging to the Pauli group. Also in this approach fuzzy logic arises naturally when considering non-eigenvectors. The fuzzy membership function is obtained by the quantum mean value of the logical projector observable and turns out to be a probability measure in agreement with recent quantum cognition models. The analogy of many-valued logic with quantum angular momentum is then established. Logical observables for three-value logic are formulated as functions of the Lz observable of the orbital angular momentum l=1. The representative 3-valued 2-argument logical observables for the Min and Max connectives are explicitly obtained.Comment: 11 pages, 2 table

Dynamic consolidation problems in saturated soils solved through u-w formulation in a LME meshfree framework

A meshfree numerical model, based on the principle of Local Maximum Entropy (LME), including a B-bar algorithm to avoid instabilities, is applied to solve axisymmetric consolidation problems in elastic saturated soils. This numerical scheme has been previously validated for purely elastic problems without water (mono phase), as well as for steady seepage in elastic porous media. Hereinafter, an implementation of the novel numerical method in the axisymmetric configuration is proposed, and the model is validated for well known theoretical problems of consolidation in saturated soils, under both static and dynamic conditions with available analytical solutions. The solutions obtained with the new methodology are compared with a finite element commercial software for a set of examples. After validated, solutions for dynamic radial consolidation and sinks, which have not been found elsewhere in the literature, are presented as a novelty. This new numerical approach is demonstrated to be feasible for this kind of problems in porous media, particularly for high frequency, dynamic problems, for which very few results have been found in the literature in spite of their high practical importance

Time-dependent response of scoliotic curvature to orthotic intervention: when should a radiograph be obtained after putting on or taking off a spinal orthosis?

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study; 2-group design. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the time response of scoliotic spines to orthotic intervention using clinical ultrasound. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Patients with moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis are generally advised orthotic treatment. However, the time to reach maximum correction after donning spinal orthosis or the time to return to pretreatment curvature after doffing spinal orthosis is not fully understood. METHOD: Subjects were divided into 2 groups, the don-orthosis group and the doff-orthosis group where the time reaching maximum correction and the time returning to pretreatment curvature were investigated accordingly. To avoid excessive radiation exposure via obtaining repeated radiographs, a validated method of estimating Cobb angle using radiation-free clinical ultrasound was applied at an interval of every 30 minutes up to 180 minutes. The spinal flexibility (estimated from supine radiographs) and body mass index were collected from the subjects for analyses. RESULT: Nine female patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were recruited. There was no immediate change in the Cobb angles. A change of more than 5° could be observed in both groups only after 30 minutes and maximum change was found at/after 120 minutes. In the doff-orthosis group, the subject with the lowest body mass index took the longest time to increase more than 5° after doffing spinal orthosis. In the don-orthosis group, the subject with the highest body mass index took the longest time to achieve curve correction more than 5°. CONCLUSION: This investigation demonstrated that there is a time lag between application of spinal orthosis and its effect on scoliotic curvature. This is likely due to the low-stiff and viscoelastic properties of the spine. The clinical relevance of this study is that for patients with scoliosis undergoing orthotic treatment, radiograph should not be obtained within 2 hours of putting on or taking off spinal orthosis because it may not show the maximum effect. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.postprin