Shortest Route: A Mobile Application for Route Optimization using Digital Map

Businesses that have embarked on using digital maps have been able to increase employee productivity, communicate visually; reduce cost of logistics, planning, resources by more than half of its initial cost. Many industries that have benefitted from this technology include Online Markets, Delivery companies, Agriculture, Real Estate, Engineering, Media, Energy and Utilities, Insurance, Architecture. Seeing this need especially in Nigeria where cost of logistics is high, resources are wasted in the process and productive time is also wasted leading to fatigue and low outcome; there is therefore the need for route optimization for businesses in Nigeria. TSP (Travelling Salesman Problem) - Nearest Neighbour Algorithm is used to solve the problem of route optimization on Google MAP. This study developed a mobile application in Java, HTML and Google SDKs, to find shortest route between various numbers of locations enumerated on digital maps on a smart device. The application was implemented successfully on the Android Operating System for mobile devices. Anyone can download it from the Google play store, install and freely use

Fasting Blood Glucose Profile among Secondary School Adolescents in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Background. Over the past two decades there has been an increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in children. Baseline data is needed to assess the impact of changing lifestyles on Ado-Ekiti, a previously semiurban community in Southwest Nigeria. This study was therefore conducted to assess the fasting blood glucose (FBG) of adolescents in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Methodology. This was a cross-sectional study involving 628 adolescents from three different secondary schools in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. With parental consent, volunteers completed a structured questionnaire, and an overnight FBG was measured. Results. There were 346 males and 282 females (male : female ratio = 1.2 : 1). Their ages ranged from 10 to 19 years (mean age: 14.2±1.7 years). Four hundred and forty-four (70.7%) had normal FBG, while 180 (28.7%) and 4 (0.6%) had FBG in the prediabetic and diabetic range, respectively. Female gender, age group 10–14 years, and family history of obesity were significantly associated with impaired FBG (P value <0.001, <0.001, and 0.045, resp.). Conclusion. Impaired FBG is common among secondary school adolescents and it is more prevalent among younger female adolescents (10–14 years) with positive family history of obesity

Facility-Based Treatment of Under Five Diarrhoea in Cross River State: A Clinical Audit

Introduction: Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of under-five mortality globally and ranks second among the top 10 priority child health problems in Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended some cost-effective, evidence- based interventions for diarrhoea case management. It is needful to evaluate the current practice in the treatment of diarrhoea in under-fives in health facilities in the country.Objective: To determine the extent to which current treatment practice for diarrhoea in underfives conforms to the WHO recommendation.Method: A clinical audit was conducted between May and June 2013 in 32 health facilities in the Southern Senatorial district of Cross River State, Nigeria. Trained field workers extracted information from patients’ case records using a validated audit tool. Treatment was checked as appropriate, inappropriate, wrong or none, based on prescription on patients’ case records.Result: Of the 370 case records audited, prescription for diarrhoea was appropriate in 40 (10.8%), inappropriate in 231 (62.4%), wrong in 82 (22.2%) and no prescription was made in 17 (4.6%).Conclusion: Treatment of diarrhoea in under-fives in health facilities in the State is suboptimum. Retraining of health workers on the current WHO and UNICEF treatment guidelines is highly recommended.Keywords: Diarrhoea, Underfives, Health Facilities, Prescription, Clinical Audi

Artemisinin-naphthoquine versus Artemether-lumefantrine for treating uncomplicated plasmodium falciparum malaria in children: A randomized controlled trial of efficacy and safety

Introduction: Artemether-lumefantrine (AL), the most frequently prescribed ACTs for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, requires multiple doses which may militate against adherence. It is necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of single dose ACT like Artemisininnaphthoquine (ANQ) to enhance adherence.Methods: This was an open label randomized controlled clinical trial. Eligible children were assigned to receive either a single dose of ANQ or six doses of AL following parental consent. A total of 108 children aged 5 – 14years with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were enrolled and assigned as follows: 58 (ANQ) and 50 (AL). Participants were observed for 28 days and clinical and parasitological assessments carried out. Outcomes were  assessed based on World Health Organization protocol.Results: A total of 97 patients completed the study. Overall 28-day cure  rate was 87.0% (47/54) and 81.4% (35/43) for ANQ and AL respectively. One patient (2.2%) in the AL group had Early Treatment Failure while seven (16.3%) had Late Parasitological Failure (LPF). LPF was also reportedin seven (13.0%) patients in the ANQ group. There was no Late Clinical Failure. A mild selflimiting papular rash was noted in one child in ANQ group. There was no serious adverse event.Conclusions: The therapeutic efficacies of ANQ and AL were comparable.A more robust, adequately powered, dose optimization study with  PCR-confirmed parasitological  outcome measures is needed.Key words: Malaria, artemetherlume f a nt r ine , a r t emi s i nin -naphthoquine, adherence, single and multiple dose therap

Effectiveness of a 6-dose regimen of Artemether-Lumefantrine for unsupervised treatment of uncomplicated childhood malaria in Calabar, Nigeria

Background: The six dose regimen of Artemether- Lumefantrine (AL), has high efficacy in clinical trials and is the first -line drug for treating uncomplicated malaria in Nigeria. The complex dosage schedule could militate against its effectiveness.Objective: To assess the effectiveness of AL prescribed under routineoutpatient conditions in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria.Methods: An open label, noncomparative trial to assess the effectivenessof AL in children 6 to 59 months with uncomplicated P. falciparum and parasite density between 1,000 and 250,000/ìL. Enrolled children received 6-dose course of AL (20/120mg tablets). The first dose was administered in the health facility and caregivers were instructed on how to administerthe remaining five doses at home.Results: Of the 1035 screened, 215 eligible children were enrolled and193 completed the study. Twenty two (22) patients withdrew from thestudy (18 were lost to follow-up, 3 violated protocol and 1 withdrewconsent). Adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) was observed in 90.7%; late clinical failure in 7 (3.6%) and late parasitologicalfailure in 11 (5.7%).Conclusion: This study showed high efficacy of AL in treating uncomplicatedP. falciparum malaria in under-fives in Nigeria. Adherence by caregivers to the treatment regimen was quite good and so, should continue to be used in the home setting.Key words: Artemetherlumefantrine, effectiveness, adherence, uncomplicated malaria

Effects of engaging communities in decision-making and action through traditional and religious leaders on vaccination coverage in Cross River State, Nigeria: a cluster-randomised control trial

BACKGROUND: Vaccination coverage levels fall short of the Global Vaccine and Action Plan 90% target in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). Having identified traditional and religious leaders (TRLs) as potential public health change agents, this study aimed at assessing the effect of training them to support routine immunisation for the purpose of improving uptake of childhood vaccines in Cross River State, Nigeria. METHODS: A cluster-randomised controlled study was conducted between 2016 and 2019. Of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGA) in Cross River State, eight (four urban and four rural LGAs) were randomized into the intervention and control study arms. A multi-component intervention involving the training of traditional and religious leaders was implemented in the four intervention LGAs. Baseline, midline and endline surveys collected information on children aged 0-23 months. The effect of the intervention on outcomes including the proportion fully up-to-date with vaccination, timely vaccination for pentavalent and measles vaccines, and pentavalent 1-3 dropout rates were estimated using logistic regression models using random effects to account for the clustered data. RESULTS: A total of 2598 children at baseline, 2570 at midline, and 2550 at endline were included. The intervention was effective in increasing the proportion with at least one vaccine (OR 12.13 95% CI 6.03-24.41p<0.001). However, there was no evidence of an impact on the proportion of children up-to-date with vaccination (p = 0.69). It was effective in improving timeliness of Pentavalent 3 (OR 1.55; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.12; p = 0.005) and Measles (OR 2.81; 96% CI: 1.93-4.1; p<0.001) vaccination. The odds of completing Pentavalent vaccination increased (OR = 1.66 95% CI: 1.08,2.55). CONCLUSION: Informal training to enhance the traditional and religious leaders' knowledge of vaccination and their leadership role can empower them to be good influencers for childhood vaccination. They constitute untapped resources in the community to boost routine immunisation. Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR) PACTR202008784222254

17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases involved in local oestrogen synthesis have prognostic significance in breast cancer

The 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17HSD) enzymes are involved in the local regulation of sex steroids. The 17HSD type 1 enzyme catalyses the interconversion of the weak oestrone (E1) to the more potent oestradiol (E2), whereas 17HSD type 2 catalyses the oxidation of E2 to E1. The aim of this study was to correlate the expression of these enzymes in the tumour with the recurrence-free survival of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients. We used real-time reverse transcriptase PCR to investigate the mRNA expression of 17HSD types 1 and 2 in tumour samples from 230 postmenopausal patients. For the patients with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, we found a statistically significant positive correlation between recurrence-free survival and expression of 17HSD type 2 (P=0.026). We examined the ratio of 17HSD types 2 and 1, and ER-positive patients with low ratios showed a significantly higher rate of recurrence than those with higher ratios (P=0.0047). ER positive patients with high expression levels of 17HSD type 1 had a significantly higher risk for late relapse (P=0.0051). The expression of 17HSD types 1 and 2 in breast cancer differs from the expression of these enzymes in normal mammary gland, and this study indicates that the expression has prognostic significance in breast cancer

Species Used for Drug Testing Reveal Different Inhibition Susceptibility for 17beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1

Steroid-related cancers can be treated by inhibitors of steroid metabolism. In searching for new inhibitors of human 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17β-HSD 1) for the treatment of breast cancer or endometriosis, novel substances based on 15-substituted estrone were validated. We checked the specificity for different 17β-HSD types and species. Compounds were tested for specificity in vitro not only towards recombinant human 17β-HSD types 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 but also against 17β-HSD 1 of several other species including marmoset, pig, mouse, and rat. The latter are used in the processes of pharmacophore screening. We present the quantification of inhibitor preferences between human and animal models. Profound differences in the susceptibility to inhibition of steroid conversion among all 17β-HSDs analyzed were observed. Especially, the rodent 17β-HSDs 1 were significantly less sensitive to inhibition compared to the human ortholog, while the most similar inhibition pattern to the human 17β-HSD 1 was obtained with the marmoset enzyme. Molecular docking experiments predicted estrone as the most potent inhibitor. The best performing compound in enzymatic assays was also highly ranked by docking scoring for the human enzyme. However, species-specific prediction of inhibitor performance by molecular docking was not possible. We show that experiments with good candidate compounds would out-select them in the rodent model during preclinical optimization steps. Potentially active human-relevant drugs, therefore, would no longer be further developed. Activity and efficacy screens in heterologous species systems must be evaluated with caution

A philosophycal appraisal of human trafficking in Africa

No Abstract.International Journal of Development and Policy Studies Vol. 2 (1) 2002: pp. 255-27