Soil Characterization and Land Use of Arondizogu Inland Valley in Imo State Nigeriaeria

The soils Arondizogu inland valley were characterized by investigating their morphological, physical and chemical properties. Also studied were the land use activities of the area. Soil colour was dark brown in the dry upland and gray in the wet valley bottom. Soil texture varied from sandy clay loam in the surface soil to clay in the subsoil. The pH of the soils were strongly to moderately acidic (4.7-5.8); total N were poorly supplied (0.03-0.30%); organic carbon was low to moderate (0.3-3.5%) the values decreased with depth. Effective cation exchange capacity was low (4.60-6.39 meg/100g). Similarly, exchangeable acidity was generally low in the surface soil but increased with depth. The upland areas are used for yam based crop mixture (YBCM) on mound while the valley bottom is restricted to a monoculture of rainy season rice production on flat seedbeds. Higher crop productivity in the area requires fertilizer input, improved crop varieties and use of ridges to check soil erosion

Performance of Phaseolus vulgaris L. in a soil contaminated with spent-engine oil

Phytoremediation is an alternative low cost approach for in situ treatment of polluted soils. This study evaluated growth and biochemical composition of Phaseolus vulgaris as influenced by spent engine oil contaminated soil. The experiment was conducted in a pot during the 2005 cropping season. The soil received (0% (control), 1, 5 and 10%) v/w of oil and was completely randomized with three replications per treatment. Significant treatment effects were observed in plant height, number of leaves and dry weight. However, plant height 42 days after planting (DAP) and dry weight 28 DAP were not significantly different (

Effects of Vitamin C Treatment on Serum Protein, Albumin, Beta-Globulin Profiles and Body Weight of Trypanosoma Brucei-Infected Rattus Noregicus

The effect of vitamin C supplements on serum protein profile and body weight of Trypanosoma brucei-infected rats was investigated. The rats were inoculated with trypanosomes intraperitoneally and samples were collected on fourth, eight, twelfth and sixteenth days of post infection (pi). Sixty (60) parasite free-albino rats were used, which were divided into four groups. Group A (control) was left uninfected with trypanosomes, group B and C were infected with Trypanosomes and treated with 40mls and 60mls of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), respectively. Trypanosoma brucei infection caused significant (p<0.01) decreases in serum total proteins, albumin, beta globulin and body weight levels in untreated rats. Consumption of Vitamin C, however, prevented these diseaseinduced anomalies in the treated infected rats. Analyses of the sera using Bradford method and cellulose acetate electrophoresis showed that Vitamin C infected the state of serum protein, albumin and gamma globulin in the trypanosome-infected treated rats. It was concluded that consumption of the Vitamin C ameliorated the pathological changes in serum protein and body weight of T. brucei – infected rats.Keywords: Trypanosoma brucei, Rattus norvegicus, Ascorbic acid, Body weight, Serum protei

Falls among pregnant women in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria

Background: Falls during pregnancy are major public health issues and a common cause of maternal injury during pregnancy. There is paucity of data on prevalence and risk factors of falls during pregnancy in African population including Nigeria.Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with falls during pregnancy in Enugu, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: This was a cross.sectional study of 332 consecutive pregnant women presenting in labor for delivery at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria between 1st May and 31st December, 2012.Results: The mean age of the women was 32.2 } 2.7 (range: 20.42) years. One hundred and eight women (32.5%) reported falling at least once during the index pregnancy. Women aged . 30 years had twofold risk of falling during pregnancy than women aged > 30 years [41.1% (69/168) vs. 23.8% (39/164); odds ratio (OR): 2.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39.3.58; P < 0.001)]. Similarly, women . 160 cm in height had significantly higher risk of falling during pregnancy than women < 160 cm in height [43.5% (70/161) vs. 22.2% (38/171); OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.23.0.60; P < 0.0001)]. Furthermore, primigravidae had almost threefold risk of falling during pregnancy than multigravidae [45.3% (63/139) vs. 23.3% (45/193); OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.70.4.37; P < 0.0001)].Conclusion: Falls during pregnancy is common in Enugu, Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommended that women should be counseled during pregnancy on this public health problem and the above.identified risk factors emphasized in order to reduce the prevalence and morbidity.Key words: Enugu, falls, Nigeria, pregnant women, prevalence, risk factor

Assessment of the validity of rapid diagnostic test kits available in the Nigerian market for Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Early diagnosis is important in TB disease control. The use of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits drastically reduces the time required for reaching clinical diagnosis and this has been successful in diagnosis of HIV, syphilis and more recently malaria to mention a few. What is the case for RDTs for diagnosis of tuberculosis? Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the performances of results produced by different rapid diagnostic test strips available in the Nigerian market for TB. A total of one hundred and eighty-four (184) subjects aged between 12-68 years were recruited for the study. These were referred from the chest clinic with a high index of suspicion of TB. Sputum samples were collected for AFB detection using the Ziehl-Neelsen and Auramine-phenol staining techniques. Blood samples were collected for serology tests using five (5) different rapid diagnostic test kits from different manufacturers, HIV status determination and evaluation of the haematological parameters we carried out. As a result, there were significant differences in the results obtained between AFB tests and serological methods with P<0.01 in all cases. The sensitivity and specificity respectively of the five different kits were 28.6% and 32.0% (Nova), 19.5% and 29.2% (Fistech), 9.1% and 27.1% (Diaspot), 12.4% and 27.7% (Abcon) and 12.4% and 27.7% (Global).finally, findings from this study show that these rapid serological tests are poor in diagnosing tuberculosis and cannot be recommended for use in this environment.© 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Tuberculosis, rapid diagnostic tests, acid fast bacill

Convergence and stability theorems for the Picard-Mann hybrid iterative scheme for a general class of contractive-like operators

In this paper we use the general class of contractive-like operators introduced by Bosede and Rhoades (J. Adv. Math. Stud. 3(2):1-3, 2010) to prove strong convergence and stability results for Picard-Mann hybrid iterative schemes considered in a real normed linear space. We establish the strong convergence and stability of the Picard iterative scheme as a corollary. Our results generalize and improve a multitude of results in the literature, including the recent results of Chidume (Fixed Point Theory Appl. 2014:233, 2014)

Improving adherence to glaucoma medication: a randomised controlled trial of a patient-centred intervention (The Norwich Adherence Glaucoma Study)

Background Improving adherence to ocular hypertension (OH)/glaucoma therapy is highly likely to prevent or reduce progression of optic nerve damage. The present study used a behaviour change counselling intervention to determine whether education and support was beneficial and cost-effective in improving adherence with glaucoma therapy. Methods A randomised controlled trial with a 13-month recruitment and 8-month follow-up period was conducted. Patients with OH/glaucoma attending a glaucoma clinic and starting treatment with travoprost were approached. Participants were randomised into two groups and adherence was measured over 8 months, using an electronic monitoring device (Travalert® dosing aid, TDA). The control group received standard clinical care, and the intervention group received a novel glaucoma education and motivational support package using behaviour change counselling. Cost-effectiveness framework analysis was used to estimate any potential cost benefit of improving adherence. Results Two hundred and eight patients were recruited (102 intervention, 106 control). No significant difference in mean adherence over the monitoring period was identified with 77.2% (CI, 73.0, 81.4) for the control group and 74.8% (CI, 69.7, 79.9) for the intervention group (p = 0.47). Similarly, there was no significant difference in percentage intraocular pressure reduction; 27.6% (CI, 23.5, 31.7) for the control group and 25.3% (CI, 21.06, 29.54) for the intervention group (p = 0.45). Participants in the intervention group were more satisfied with information about glaucoma medication with a mean score of 14.47/17 (CI, 13.85, 15.0) compared with control group which was 8.51 (CI, 7.72, 9.30). The mean intervention cost per patient was GB£10.35 (<US$16) and not cost-effective. Conclusions Adherence with travoprost was high and not further increased by the intervention. Nevertheless, the study demonstrated that provision of information, tailored to the individual, was inexpensive and able to achieve high patient satisfaction with respect to information about glaucoma medication. Measurement of adherence remains problematic since awareness of study participation may cause a change in participant behaviour

Use of RDTs to improve malaria diagnosis and fever case management at primary health care facilities in Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early and accurate diagnosis of malaria followed by prompt treatment reduces the risk of severe disease in malaria endemic regions. Presumptive treatment of malaria is widely practised where microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are not readily available. With the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for treatment of malaria in many low-resource settings, there is need to target treatment to patients with parasitologically confirmed malaria in order to improve quality of care, reduce over consumption of anti-malarials, reduce drug pressure and in turn delay development and spread of drug resistance. This study evaluated the effect of malaria RDTs on health workers' anti-malarial drug (AMD) prescriptions among outpatients at low level health care facilities (LLHCF) within different malaria epidemiological settings in Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All health workers (HWs) in 21 selected intervention (where RDTs were deployed) LLHF were invited for training on the use RDTs. All HWs were trained to use RDTs for parasitological diagnosis of all suspected malaria cases irrespective of age. Five LLHCFs with clinical diagnosis (CD only) were included for comparison. Subsequently AMD prescriptions were compared using both a 'pre - post' and 'intervention - control' analysis designs. In-depth interviews of the HWs were conducted to explore any factors that influence AMD prescription practices.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 166,131 out-patient attendances (OPD) were evaluated at 21 intervention LLHCFs. Overall use of RDTs resulted in a 38% point reduction in AMD prescriptions. There was a two-fold reduction (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.55-0.70) in AMD prescription with the greatest reduction in the hypo-endemic setting (RR 0.46 95% CI 0.51-0.53) but no significant change in the urban setting (RR1.01, p-value = 0.820). Over 90% of all eligible OPD patients were offered a test. An average of 30% (range 25%-35%) of the RDT-negative fever patients received AMD prescriptions. When the test result was negative, children under five years of age were two to three times more likely (OR 2.6 p-value <0.001) to receive anti-malarial prescriptions relative to older age group. Of the 63 HWs interviewed 92% believed that a positive RDT result confirmed malaria, while only 49% believed that a negative RDT result excluded malaria infection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Use of RDTs resulted in a 2-fold reduction in anti-malarial drug prescription at LLHCFs. The study demonstrated that RDT use is feasible at LLHCFs, and can lead to better targetting of malaria treatment. Nationwide deployment of RDTs in a systematic manner should be prioritised in order to improve fever case management. The process should include plans to educate HWs about the utility of RDTs in order to maximize acceptance and uptake of the diagnostic tools and thereby leading to the benefits of parasitological diagnosis of malaria.</p