Evaluation of CD4+ T Cells in HIV Patients Presenting with Malaria at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Nigeria

CD4 count is an important immunological marker of disease progression in HIV seropositive patients. This study was carried out to determine the effect of malaria or fever of unknown origin on the population of CD4+ T lymphocytes of HIV seropositive patients attending the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. 36 subjects were selected for this study. Ongoing history of fever was used as a case definition for malaria and malaria was confirmed from microscopic examination of thick and thin film of blood sample obtained from the patients during presentation with fever. The CD4 count was evaluated during presentation of fever and post-fever using flow cytometry. There was significant decrease in CD4 count of the patients. However, upon classifying the patients into 2 groups - those that returned to the clinic after a week and those that returned after a month - a significant increase in CD4 count was noticed in the group that returned after a week, while a significant decrease was noticed in the group that returned after a month (at p value of 95%). Further classification of the patients based on presence of malaria parasite, and body temperature resulted in varying effects on CD4 count post-fever (in the general group, 27 were positive for malaria parasites. Of these 27, there was an increase in CD4 count in 9 (33.3%). However in the group that returned after a week, all 6 (100%) that were positive for malaria parasites showed increase in CD4 count. Five (26.3%) of the 19 patients that had body temperature within the range of 35.5-37.4^o^C showed an increase in CD4 count, while 7 (41.2%) the 17 patients that had body temperature of 37.5^o^C and above showed an increase in CD4 count. The results led to the conclusion that while some components of the immune response to malaria could strengthen the immune system of HIV seropositive patients by increasing their CD4 count, other components will suppress their immunity by decreasing their CD4 count, accelerating the progression to AIDS

The Role of Health Education on Breast Cancer awareness among University of Calabar Female Undergraduates

The study sought to determine the role of health education on breast cancer awareness among University of Calabar female undergraduates. To achieve the purpose of the study, three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Related literature was reviewed, while a survey research design was adopted for the study. Appropriately develop and validated instrument: Awareness and Breast Cancer Disease reduction Questionnaire was validated with acceptable reliability indices. The research instrument was administered to 152 University of Calabar female undergraduates. The resulting data was analyzed using chi-squared (X²) statistical technique. The results showed that breast cancer awareness significantly affect individual’s knowledge of the symptoms and risk factors of breast cancer, as well as their practice of breast self-examination. Most importantly the result showed that Health Education has a positive significant role in the reduction of breast cancer. In conclusion, it was recommended among others that more of this kind of study should be carried out regularly to educate student about their health, and health education as a subject be adopted as a core subject in our schools curriculum. Also Government and Non-governmental organizations should organize seminars, health awareness talk shows and campaign on other health related issues. Keywords: Health Education, Breast cancer awareness, Breast-self examination, Symptoms and risk factors

Gerontology And Its Implications For Adult Education

The study of the elderly is a recent field of study and as such, has not been given its proper place in the human society. The elders or the retired workforce are in most cases regarded as people who have exhausted all their potentials of life during their services at their various places of work. They can no longer make meaningful contributions to the development of the society. This paper however, takes the position that adult education has a role to play in making people understand and appreciate the fact that the elderly or retired elderly people can still contribute meaningfully to the betterment of the human society. They should as well appreciate the message coded in gerontology. This paper explains the concept of ageing and its perspectives, gerontology and its implications to adult education. This paper concluded that adult education could be used in reducing the challenges faced by the elderly people by providing them with appropriate programmes of guidance and also proper counselling that will help in adjusting and assisting them to cope with the declining functions of the organ of the body and contribute meaningfully to improve the society

Degradation of some illicit compounds in sewage sludge batch tests

The batch tests enabled determination of the degradation of the compounds at different temperatures and times, using various sludge types after characterization. Removal rates of cocaine (91.0%), benzoylecgonine (90.6%), heroin (97.9%), morphine (99.7%), 6 monoacetylmorphine (93.3%) and diazepam (99.7%) were measured after 3 hours equilibration; partition coefficients (Kd) for these six substances ranged from 1.2 – 68.1 Kg L-1. The degradation of compounds at 19 ± 0.5o C was relatively greater but it still occurred slowly at 4 ± 0.5o C, at between 5 and 10%. Work encompassed in this study directly measures illicit drug removal rates in laboratory studies for the first time. The application of batch studies in calculating removal rates in sewage works is an improvement over prior studies where assumptions on removal rates at STW were made

Fate of drugs and their metabolites in the environment

The individual use of these pharmacologically active substances which generate great but underappreciated levels of other toxicologically potent and associated bioactive metabolites through purposeful and inadvertent discharge to the environment via excreta and by illegal disposal has become a global issue. This work reviews aspects of drugs occurrence, metabolism, transport routes, stability, analysis and environmental distribution of these emerging contaminants and highlights current developments in investigating and monitoring their fate and potential effects in aquatic environments. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) and high performance liquid chromatography are the preferred methods for trace drugs analysis in wastewaters as their measurements depend largely on successful application of a fast and reliable method for qualitative and quantitative determination. The application of this method to the actual influents, effluents, sludge and environmental sediments from sewage treatment works (STWs) allows the assessment of drugs content and the extent at which STW helps in the transport of these pollutants (via different media) into the environment. The capability is also outlined for furthering our understanding of fate and behaviour of drugs with particular reference to illicit drugs, abused pharmaceuticals and environmental processes in our quest to understand the overall issues of drugs and make available exposure data for the aquatic realm

Un nuevo antioxidante: 6,6'-(butano-1,1-diil)bis(4-metil-benceno-1,2-diol)

A novel compound, 6,6'-(butane-1,1-diyl)bis(4-methylbenzene-1,2-diol) (BMB), was synthesized through an acid-catalyzed condensation reaction between 4-methylcatechol (HPC) and butyraldehyde. When evaluated by the Rancimat and deep frying methods, BMB exhibited a stronger antioxidant activity than TBHQ. Its DPPH radical scavenging activity was also fairly higher than TBHQ, but lower compared to its mother phenol, HPC, due to its relative ease of binding DPPH•. BMB had the strongest scavenging ability of the 4-methylcatechol analogues reported to date. It could be used effectively to retard lipid peroxidation in both moderate and high temperature food preparations.Un nuevo compuesto, 6,6'-(butano-1,1-diil)bis(4-metilbenceno-1,2-diol) (BMB) fue sintetizado mediante una reacción de condensación catalizada por ácido entre el 4-metilcatecol (HPC) y el butiraldehído. Cuando se evaluó mediante los métodos Rancimat y de fritura, el BMB mostró una actividad antioxidante más fuerte que el TBHQ. Su actividad de eliminación de radicales DPPH también fue bastante mayor que la del TBHQ, pero menor en comparación con el fenol de partida, HPC, debido a su relativa facilidad para unirse a DPPH•. BMB tiene una actividad de eliminación más fuerte que los análogos de 4-metilcatecol reportados hasta la fecha. Podría usarse eficazmente para retardar la peroxidación de lípidos en la preparación de alimentos a temperatura moderada y alta

The Impact of Strategic Environmental Management Capabilities on the Competitiveness of an Oil and Gas Industry’s Supply Chain: An Empirical Evaluation of the Natural Resource-Based View of Firms

The Oil and Gas (O&G) industry has been subjected to stringent environmental regulations and increasing stakeholders’ criticisms because of its devastating negative environmental impacts. Consequently, firms operating in the industry’s supply chain are increasingly facing intense pressures to develop the strategic capabilities for implementing green practices to reduce the environmental impacts of operations. From a theoretical perspective, the Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV) suggests that the strategic environmental capabilities of pollution prevention (PPC), product stewardship (PSC) and clean technology (CTC) can generate sustained competitive advantage for firms. However, the extant empirical research investigating the impact of the three NRBV strategic environmental capabilities (PPC, PWC and CTC) on firms’ competitive performance has yielded inconsistent results. Therefore, this paper adopts the theoretical lens of NRBV to develop and empirically assess an integrated framework of strategic environmental management capabilities (SEMC) and competitiveness in the context of the Nigerian O&G industry. Using a multiple regression technique to analyse the responses of 214 managers across the supply chain of the Nigerian O&G industry, this study examines the impact of the three NRBV-based SEMC (PPC, PWC and CTC) on the economic and environmental competitiveness of the firms operating in the supply chain of the Nigerian O&G industry. First, the results indicate that the three SEMCs have positive impacts on the environmental competitiveness of the O&G firms. However, while PPC and PSC are positively related to the economic competitiveness of firms, CTC has no statistically significant impact on economic competitiveness. These findings suggest that O&G firms in developing nations need to channel efforts to build their SEMCs for implementing green practices to enhance their economic and environmental competitiveness. The results further highlight the need for policymakers in petroleum-producing nations to promote policies that foster the adoption of green practices by O&G firms

Sequences of numbers obtained by digit and iterative digit sums of Sophie Germain primes and its variants

Sequences were generated by the digit and iterative digit sums of Sophie Germain and Safe primes and their variants. The results of the digit and iterative digit sum of Sophie Germain and Safe primes were almost the same. The same applied to the square and cube of the respective primes. Also, the results of the digit and iterative digit sum of primes that are not Sophie Germain are the same with the primes that are notSafe. The results of the digit and iterative digit sum of prime that are either Sophie Germain or Safe are like the combination of the results of the respective primes when considered separatel

Propiedades fisicoquímicas de snacks extrusionados de patatas y batatas con aceite de palma roja

Extruded potato (P) and sweet potato (SP) products with red palm oil (RPO) were prepared under different conditions. Superior product characteristics such as sensory score, expansion ratio, and water solubility index, among others, were obtained at high extrusion temperature (150-155 °C) and low water feed rate to the extruder (50.4-50.8 mL/min). The optimal products, P1 and SP1, had high micronutrients as their total contents of β-carotene, squalene, tocopherols, and tocotrienols were 883.2, 304.4, 262.4, and 397.0 mg/kg of oil, respectively. The average peroxide value was 4.3 meq O2/kg oil, p-anisidine value 3.3, and induction period (100 °C) 11.4 h. Moreover, RPO extruded with P showed a better extrusion behavior but lower micronutrient retention and oxidative stability than that extruded with SP. Thus, the finding herein is important for investigating extrusion conditions, increasing variety, improving nutritional quality, assessing applicability and predicting the shelf-life of RPO-P/SP-extruded food.Se prepararon snacks extrusionados de patatas (P) y batatas (B) con aceite de palma roja (APR) en diferentes condiciones. Se obtuvieron unas características superiores de los productos, como puntuación sensorial, relación de expansión, índice soluble en agua, entre otros, a alta temperatura de extrusión (150-155 °C) y baja velocidad de alimentación de agua al extrusionador (50,4-50,8 mL/min). Los productos óptimos, P1 y SP1, contenían altos micronutrientes ya que su contenido total de β-caroteno, escualeno, tocoferoles y tocotrienoles fue de 883,2; 304,4; 262,4 y 397,0 mg/kg de aceite, respectivamente. El índice de peróxido promedio fue de 4,3 meq O2/kg de aceite, el valor de p-anisidina de 3,3 y el período de inducción a 100 °C de 11,4 h. Además, el APR utilizado para la extrusión de P mostró un mejor comportamiento de extrusión, pero menor retención de micronutrientes y estabilidad oxidativa que el extrusionado con SP. Por lo tanto, los datos aquí obtenidos son importantes para profundizar en las condiciones de extrusión, aumentar la variedad, mejorar la calidad nutricional, evaluar la aplicabilidad y predecir la vida útil de los alimentos extrusionados con APR-P / B

A Study of Vasuclar and Extra-Vasucular Forms in African Trypanosomiasis

Patterns of parasitaemia of rodent bloodstream trypanosomes were studied on agar with phase-contrast microscopy (agar technique). The parasites were three strains of Trypanosoma hrucei rhodesiense isolated from man in Botswana and Zambia. The parasitaemias in the normal and immunodepressed rats were oleomorphic. In all the three strains the patterns of parasitaemia were transiently enhanced by dexamethasone acetate but the enhancement exhibited when total body x-irradiation was applied was sustained. The superiority of the agar technique over the length-measurement methods in assessing pleomorphism is indicated. Light microscopy showed the possibilities of characterisation of animal and human species of African trypanosomiasis. This was based on the number, location and distribution of the biochemically stable linoprotein granules. Scanning electron microscopy illustrated details of the various forms of vascular trypanosomes of medical and veterinary importance. The existence, characteristics and relationship of the cylindrica 1 lv-shaped long-narrow trypanosome is discussed in contrast to the characteristics of the other major flat-looking forms. The appendages or filaments associated with the different forms are also exhibited. Stages of in vivo as well as in vitro phago-cvtosis of T.h. rhodesiense by peritoneal macrophages were also observed by scanning electron microscopy. Salicylhydroxamic acid in conjunction with glycerol was used to clear the blood of trypanosomes. The new populations were shown to be agranular in form and some of these were long-narrow. Observation on tsetse- transmitted infections and on the bloodstream culture forms showed that the first wave of parasites were agranular but no long-narrow forms could be identified. Forms from the peritoneal fluid in rats and ascites tumour fluid in mice were found to be pleomorphic. These included the giant forms of multinuclear, multi- flagellar and multikinetoplastic types. The roundbodied trypanosomes found in these fluids are related to those found in the vascular system while the multinuclear forms in the fluids are similar to those in the tissues. The tissue forms of Botswana strain of T.b. rhodesiense were studied by electron transmission microscopy. Some parasites located in the choroid plexus of SHAM-treated and untreated rats were discovered to be intracellular. The implication of this discovery in relation to life- cycle, pathology and chemotherapy is outlined