Mycobacterial species causing pulmonary tuberculosis At the korle bu teaching hospital, Accra,

Objective: Characterize mycobacterial species causing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana.Design: Sputum smear positive samples, two (2) from 70 patients diagnosed as having tuberculosis, after they had consented, were collected from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Chest Clinic betweenJanuary and July 2003. Setting: Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Chest Clinic, Accra. Results: Sixty-four mycobacterial isolates wereobtained and confirmed as members of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex by colonial morphology and conventional biochemical assays. Fortyseven (73%) were M. tuberculosis, the human strain, 2 (3%) M. bovis, the bovine strain, 13 (20%) M. africanum I (West Africa type), and 2 (3%) M. africanum II (East Africa type). Conclusion: The results indicate that, there are various strains causing PTB at the Korle-BuTeaching Hospital and of great concern is M. bovis, which mostly causes extra-PTB in humans but found to cause PTB in this study. This calls for the need to conduct a nationwide survey using bothconventional and molecular techniques to characterize various mycobacterial species causing TB in Ghana. This will result in better understanding of the various strains circulating in the country andinform individual TB treatment regimen especially the inclusion or exclusion of pyrazinamide

Improving nutrition through biofortification–A systematic review

Nutritious foods are essential for human health and development. However, malnutrition and hidden hunger continue to be a challenge globally. In most developing countries, access to adequate and nutritious food continues to be a challenge. Although hidden hunger is less prevalent in developed countries compared to developing countries where iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) deficiencies are common. The United Nations (UN) 2nd Sustainable Development Goal was set to eradicate malnutrition and hidden hunger. Hidden hunger has led to numerous cases of infant and maternal mortalities, and has greatly impacted growth, development, cognitive ability, and physical working capacity. This has influenced several countries to develop interventions that could help combat malnutrition and hidden hunger. Interventions such as dietary diversification and food supplementation are being adopted. However, fortification but mainly biofortification has been projected to be the most sustainable solution to malnutrition and hidden hunger. Plant-based foods (PBFs) form a greater proportion of diets in certain populations; hence, fortification of PBFs is relevant in combating malnutrition and hidden hunger. Agronomic biofortification, plant breeding, and transgenic approaches are some currently used strategies in food crops. Crops such as cereals, legumes, oilseeds, vegetables, and fruits have been biofortified through all these three strategies. The transgenic approach is sustainable, efficient, and rapid, making it suitable for biofortification programs. Omics technology has also been introduced to improve the efficiency of the transgenic approach

Enhanced Respiratory Chain Supercomplex Formation in Response to Exercise in Human Skeletal Muscle.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of multiple metabolic complications. Physical activity is known to increase mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle, counteracting age-related decline in muscle function and protecting against metabolic and cardiovascular complications. Here, we investigated the effect of 4 months of exercise training on skeletal muscle mitochondria electron transport chain complexes and supercomplexes in 26 healthy, sedentary older adults. Exercise differentially modulated respiratory complexes. Complex I was the most upregulated complex and not stoichiometrically associated to the other complexes. In contrast to the other complexes, complex I was almost exclusively found assembled in supercomplexes in muscle mitochondria. Overall, supercomplex content was increased after exercise. In particular, complexes I, III, and IV were redistributed to supercomplexes in the form of I+III2+IV. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence that exercise affects the stoichiometry of supercomplex formation in humans and thus reveal a novel adaptive mechanism for increased energy demand

Enhanced down-regulation of ALCAM/CD166 in African-American breast cancer

Background: Variation in tumor biology in African-American (AA) and Caucasian (CAU) women with breast cancer is poorly defined. Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) is a bad prognostic factor of breast cancer yet it has never being studied in the AA population. We tested the hypothesis that ALCAM expression would be markedly lower in cases of AA breast cancer when compared to CAU. Methods: Cases of breast cancer among AA (n = 78) and CAU (n = 95) women were studied. Immunohistochemical staining was used to semi-quantitatively score ALCAM expression in tumor and adjacent non-tumor breast tissues. Clinico-pathological characteristics including histological type, histological grade, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2-neu status were abstracted, and their association with ALCAM expression tested. Results: Univariate analysis revealed that the level of ALCAM expression at intercellular junctions of primary tumors correlates with histological grade (AA; p = 0.04, CUA; p = 0.02), ER status (AA; p = 0.0004, CAU; p = 0.0015), PR status (AA; p = 0.002, CUA p = 0.034) and triple-negative tumor status (AA; p = 0.0002, CAU; p = 0.0006,) in both ethnic groups. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that ethnicity contribute significantly to ALCAM expression after accounting for basal-like subtype, age, histological grade, tumor size, and lymph node status. Compared to CAU tumors, the AA are 4 times more likely to have low ALCAM expression (p = 0.003). Conclusions: Markedly low expression of ALCAM at sites of cell-cell contact in primary breast cancer tumors regardless of differentiation, size and lymph node involvement may contribute to the more aggressive phenotype of breast cancer among AA women

Comparative genomics shows differences in the electron transport and carbon metabolic pathways of Mycobacterium africanum relative to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and suggests an adaptation to low oxygen tension

YesThe geographically restricted Mycobacterium africanum lineages (MAF) are primarily found in West Africa, where they account for a significant proportion of tuberculosis. Despite this phenomenon, little is known about the co-evolution of these ancient lineages with West Africans. MAF and M. tuberculosis sensu stricto lineages (MTB) differ in their clinical, in vitro and in vivo characteristics for reasons not fully understood. Therefore, we compared genomes of 289 MAF and 205 MTB clinical isolates from the 6 main human-adapted M. tuberculosis complex lineages, for mutations in their Electron Transport Chain and Central Carbon Metabolic pathway in order to explain these metabolic differences. Furthermore, we determined, in silico, whether each mutation could affect the function of genes encoding enzymes in these pathways. We found more mutations with the potential to affect enzymes in these pathways in MAF lineages compared to MTB lineages. We also found that similar mutations occurred in these pathways between MAF and some MTB lineages. Generally, our findings show further differences between MAF and MTB lineages that may have contributed to the MAF clinical and growth phenotype and indicate potential adaptation of MAF lineages to a distinct ecological niche, which we suggest includes areas characterized by low oxygen tension.European Research CouncilINTERRUPTB starting grant nr. 311725 (to BdJ, FG, CM, LR, BO, MA) and The UK Medical Research Council and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Grant No. CB. 2007. 41700.007.Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, January 2020

Complement activation in Ghanaian children with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Severe anaemia (SA), intravascular haemolysis (IVH) and respiratory distress (RD) are severe forms of <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>malaria, with RD reported to be of prognostic importance in African children with malarial anaemia. Complement factors have been implicated in the mechanism leading to excess anaemia in acute <it>P. falciparum </it>infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The direct Coombs test (DCT) and flow cytometry were used to investigate the mean levels of RBC-bound complement fragments (C3d and C3bαβ) and the regulatory proteins [complement receptor 1 (CD35) and decay accelerating factor (CD55)] in children with discrete clinical forms of <it>P. falciparum </it>malaria. The relationship between the findings and clinical parameters including coma, haemoglobin (Hb) levels and RD were investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 484 samples tested, 131(27%) were positive in DCT, out of which 115/131 (87.8%) were positive for C3d alone while 16/131 (12.2%) were positive for either IgG alone or both. 67.4% of the study population were below 5 years of age and DCT positivity was more common in this age group relative to children who were 5 years or older (Odds ratio, OR = 3.8; 95%CI, 2.2–6.7, p < 0.001). DCT correlated significantly with RD (β = -304, p = 0.006), but multiple regression analysis revealed that, Hb (β = -0.341, p = 0.012) and coma (β = -0.256, p = 0.034) were stronger predictors of RD than DCT (β = 0.228, p = 0.061). DCT was also not associated with IVH, p = 0.19, while spleen size was inversely correlated with Hb (r = -402, p = 0.001). Flow cytometry showed similar mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) values of CD35, CD55 and C3bαβ levels on the surfaces of RBC in patients and asymptomatic controls (AC). However, binding of C3bαβ correlated significantly with CD35 or CD55 (p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that complement activation contributed to anaemia in acute childhood <it>P. falciparum </it>malaria, possibly through induction of erythrophagocytosis and haemolysis. In contrast to other studies, this study did not find association between levels of the complement regulatory proteins, CD35 and CD55 and malarial anaemia. These findings suggest that complement activation could also be involved in the pathogenesis of RD but larger studies are needed to confirm this finding.</p

Stakeholder perceptions of the benefits and barriers of implementing environmental management systems in the Nigerian construction industry

© 2016 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) Press. This study investigates stakeholder opinions of the major benefits and barriers of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to the Nigerian construction industry, and the perceived issues to EMS adoption among organisations in the industry. The study highlights the environment as an important stakeholder in the industry because it affects and is affected by construction activities on a regular basis. It identifies the importance of ISO 14001 in ensuring adequate consideration for the environment is maintained on construction projects. The research adopts a quantitative approach by analysing responses from an online survey among construction industry professionals in Nigeria. The questions on the survey were drawn from a similar study carried out in Asia and the results were analysed using the Weighted Average and Standard Deviation statistical approach. Results reveal that the major benefits of EMS to the Nigerian construction industry were improved efficiency in waste management and environmental protection, as well as an overall increase in employee motivation due to better opportunities for training and development. Lack of technological support in organisations and the high cost of implementing EMS were viewed as the major barriers towards its uptake in construction companies. The findings also indicate that a feasible EMS implementation strategy must not ignore the unique nature of the Nigerian construction industry, which comprises mostly small and medium enterprises. The study concludes by recommending the use of a waste management plan based on the Reuse-Reduce-Recycle-Recover model and an employee training plan to ensure continuous improvement in the organisation’s environmental management strategy

The relationship between construction sector and the national economy of Sri Lanka

The causal relationship between construction and a country’s economy has received much attention in the past. However, the results provide contrasting views on the nature of this relationship. This paper therefore investigates the direction of the causal relationship between construction and the economy of a developing country, Sri Lanka. It uses empirical data for selected economic and construction indicators for the period 1990–2009. The pattern of the causal relationship was determined using Granger causality test. The findings reveal that for all indicators except construction investment, national economic activities precede that of construction. The study therefore concludes and strengthens the body of knowledge on Sri Lanka that the causal relationship between its construction sector and national economy tend towards a uni-directional relationship with the national economy inducing growth in the construction sector and not vice versa

Systematic review with meta-analysis: Effects of probiotic supplementation on symptoms in functional dyspepsia

The pathophysiology of functional dyspepsia (FD) remains poorly understood, but alterations of the small intestinal microbiome have been observed. The place of probiotics in treatment is uncertain. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the currently available randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the potential beneficial effects and risks of probiotics in FD. Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register were searched (up to May 2019) for RCTs evaluating the effects of probiotic supplementation compared to placebo in adults with FD. Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility, trial quality and extracted information from identified articles. To compare the effects of probiotics with placebo, risk ratios (RRs) with 95 confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random effects models. Six trials, including 422 participants were included but only three RCTs could be included in the meta-analysis. Lactobacillus strains showed potential positive effects in terms of improving upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in patients with FD. Probiotic supplementation tended to improve global dyspepsia score (n = 3 RCTs, risk ratio RR: 1.35, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.84; P = 0.061) and bacterial composition in the GI tract. Probiotics were well tolerated without any serious adverse events. While the available data suggest that supplementation with probiotics may improve GI symptoms in patients with FD, the evidence is insufficient to draw clear conclusions regarding efficacy. Thus, high-quality RCTs are needed to establish the beneficial effects of probiotic supplementation on FD outcomes. © 2020 The Author

A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Health Research and Capacity Building in Disease-Endemic Countries for Helminthiases Control

Capacity building in health research generally, and helminthiasis research particularly, is pivotal to the implementation of the research and development agenda for the control and elimination of human helminthiases that has been proposed thematically in the preceding reviews of this collection. Since helminth infections affect human populations particularly in marginalised and low-income regions of the world, they belong to the group of poverty-related infectious diseases, and their alleviation through research, policy, and practice is a sine qua non condition for the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Current efforts supporting research capacity building specifically for the control of helminthiases have been devised and funded, almost in their entirety, by international donor agencies, major funding bodies, and academic institutions from the developed world, contributing to the creation of (not always equitable) North–South “partnerships”. There is an urgent need to shift this paradigm in disease-endemic countries (DECs) by refocusing political will, and harnessing unshakeable commitment by the countries' governments, towards health research and capacity building policies to ensure long-term investment in combating and sustaining the control and eventual elimination of infectious diseases of poverty. The Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), was given the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps. This paper discusses the challenges confronting capacity building for parasitic disease research in DECs, describes current capacity building strategies with particular reference to neglected tropical diseases and human helminthiases, and outlines recommendations to redress the balance of alliances and partnerships for health research between the developed countries of the “North” and the developing countries of the “South”. We argue that investing in South–South collaborative research policies and capacity is as important as their North–South counterparts and is essential for scaled-up and improved control of helminthic diseases and ultimately for regional elimination