Short-term COVID-19 vaccine adverse effects among adults in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Background: The safety of the COVID-19 vaccines has been a topic of concern globally. This issue of safety is associated with vaccine hesitancy due to concerns about the adverse effects of the vaccines. Consequently, this study determined the short-term safety profile of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Comparative study of antipyretic potency of extracts of morinda lucida leaves and fruits of capsicum frutescens in albino rats.

Background: leaves and fruits of are used locally in the management of fever in Nigeria. No scientific credence has been lent to this claim.

Objective: To investigate the antipyretic effect and potency of aqueous extracts of leaves and fruits of in albino rats.

Monkeypox: Emerging virus of concern; antivirals and vaccines therapeutic options.

The detection of >400 Monkeypox virus cases in the month of May 2022 and increase to 57,527. confirmed cases by September 9th 2022, across the world, emphasizes the need of new therapeutics for this emerging viral epidemic in humans. Largely the cases seen in Europe, Australia and America are among men who have sex with men making transmission through intimate contact with infectious skin lesions the likely mode of transmission.

SARS-CoV-2: vaccinology and emerging therapeutics; challenges and future developments.

As SARS-CoV-2 emerge, variants such as Omicron (B.1.1.

Magnitude of missed opportunities for prediabetes screening among non-diabetic adults attending the family practice clinic in Western Nigeria: Implication for diabetes prevention.

Background: For many decades, hypertension guidelines recommended dual-arm blood pressure measurement. However, this practice is poor in Nigeria and its significance is largely unidentified. Hence, this study was done to determine the point prevalence of inter-arm blood pressure difference and its relationship with hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

IVC Stent to Improve Ventricular Assist Device Filling Following Pediatric Cardiac Transplant.

Poor ventricular assist device filling is often seen in patients supported with the Berlin Heart Excor. Caval stenosis is an uncommon complication following the bicaval approach to orthotopic heart transplantation. We report the case of a five-year-old female patient post heart transplantation whose poor right ventricular assist device filling immediately resolved following management of caval stenosis.

Parental monitoring and substance use among youths: A survey of high school adolescents in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Background: Risk behaviours including marijuana use, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking have a significant impact on the present and future health of adolescents. There are limited studies in sub-Saharan Africa to show evidence, if it exists, of the relationship between parental monitoring practices and the prevalence of substance use among adolescents. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between parental monitoring practices and alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and marijuana use among in-school adolescents in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, South-Western Nigeria.

Duct Stenting Versus Modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt in Neonates With Duct-Dependent Pulmonary Blood Flow: Associations With Clinical Outcomes in a Multicenter National Study.

Background: Infants born with cardiac abnormalities causing dependence on the arterial duct for pulmonary blood flow are often palliated with a shunt usually between the subclavian artery and either pulmonary artery. A so-called modified Blalock-Taussig shunt allows progress through early life to an age and weight at which repair or further more stable palliation can be safely achieved. Modified Blalock-Taussig shunts continue to present concern for postprocedural instability and early mortality such that other alternatives continue to be explored.

Novel Cardiovascular Risk Markers in Nigerian Cigarette Smokers.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. While the effect of cigarette smoking on conventional markers that account for <50% of CVD s has been well studied, there are only a few studies on the effect of cigarette smoking on novel cardiovascular (CV) risk markers.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on the novel CV markers such as homocysteine (HCY), lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), and C-reactive protein (CRP).

Health workforce and governance: the crisis in Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, several challenges have been reported within the health sector, especially in training, funding, employment, and deployment of the health workforce. We aimed to review recent health workforce crises in the Nigerian health sector to identify key underlying causes and provide recommendations toward preventing and/or managing potential future crises in Nigeria.

Methods: We conducted a scoping literature search of PubMed to identify studies on health workforce and health governance in Nigeria.

Atrioventricular block: an unusual complication of Graves' disease.

We report the case of a 10-year-old girl treated with atenolol and carbimazole for tachycardia and hypertension associated with Graves' disease who developed symptomatic 2:1 heart block. 2:1 heart block resolved following cessation of atenolol, reduction in carbimazole dose and treatment of suspected tonsillitis. First-degree atrioventricular block persisted, but gradually normalised following improvement in thyroid status.

Individual and county level predictors of asthma related emergency department visits among children on Medicaid: A multilevel approach.

Objective: Disparities in asthma outcomes are well documented in the United States. Interventions to promote equity in asthma outcomes could target factors at the individual and community levels. The objective of this analysis was to understand the effect of individual (race, gender, age, and preventive inhaler use) and county-level factors (demographic, socioeconomic, health care, air-quality) on asthma emergency department (ED) visits among Medicaid-enrolled children.

Antimalarial activity of fractions of aqueous extract of Acacia nilotica root.

Background: The problem of resistance of malarial parasites to available antimalarial drugs makes the development of new drugs imperative, with natural plant products providing an alternative source for discovering new drugs.

Aim: To evaluate the antimalarial activity of eluted fractions of Acacia nilotica root extract and determine the phytochemicals responsible for its antimalarial activity.

Materials And Methods: The extract was eluted successively in gradients of solvent mixture (hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol) in multiples of 100 ml, and each fraction was collected separately.

Toxicological studies of aqueous extract of Acacia nilotica root.

Acacia nilotica is a widely used plant in traditional medical practice in Northern Nigeria and many African countries. The aim of this study was to determine the toxicological effects of a single dose (acute) and of repeated doses (sub-acute) administration of aqueous extract of A. nilotica root in rodents, following our earlier study on antiplasmodial activity.

Development and evaluation of a panel of filovirus sequence capture probes for pathogen detection by next-generation sequencing.

A detailed understanding of the circulating pathogens in a particular geographic location aids in effectively utilizing targeted, rapid diagnostic assays, thus allowing for appropriate therapeutic and containment procedures. This is especially important in regions prevalent for highly pathogenic viruses co-circulating with other endemic pathogens such as the malaria parasite. The importance of biosurveillance is highlighted by the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.

Next-generation sequencing for typing and detection of resistance genes: performance of a new commercial method during an outbreak of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has the potential to provide typing results and detect resistance genes in a single assay, thus guiding timely treatment decisions and allowing rapid tracking of transmission of resistant clones. We evaluated the performance of a new NGS assay (Hospital Acquired Infection BioDetection System; Pathogenica) during an outbreak of sequence type 131 (ST131) Escherichia coli infections in a nursing home in The Netherlands. The assay was performed on 56 extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL) E.

Repeated oral administration of Febi super bitters correlated with some tissue toxicity in male Wistar rat.

This study investigated the toxic implication of Febi Super Bitters in Male Wistar rats because of upsurge in its usage for therapeutic reasons. Eighteen rats, with an average weight of 86.2 +/- 4.

Protective effects of Vernonia amygdalina against sodium arsenite-induced genotoxicity in rat.

Objectives: Contamination of the environment with arsenic (As) from both human and natural sources is known as a global problem. This study investigated the chemoprotective potential of Vernonia amygdalina leave extract against sodium arsenite-induced genotoxicity and hepatotoxicity.

Materials And Methods: Genotoxic effects were evaluated in the rat bone marrow using micronuclei.

Attitudes and expectations of gastroenterology outpatients about the importance of diet and possible relationship to their symptoms.

Objectives: To evaluate gastroenterology outpatients' attitudes to the importance of diet and its relationship to their symptoms, as well as their expectations of dietary advice from health professionals.

Design: Prospective clinical audit.

Setting: Gastroenterology outpatient department of St George's Healthcare NHS Trust.

Nigerian secondary school children's knowledge of and attitudes to mental health and illness.

Background: Children tend to lack knowledge of, and hold negative attitudes towards mental illness. However, most of the work undertaken in Nigeria has been done with adults.

Aims: To establish the views and knowledge about mental health and illness in pupils at four secondary schools in rural and urban Southwest Nigeria.

Anharmonic vibrational spectroscopy calculations for proton-bound amino acid dimers.

Results of anharmonic frequency calculations carried out for GlysLysH(+) and GlyGlyH(+) are presented and compared to gas phase electrospray ionization (ESI) spectroscopy experiments. Anharmonic frequencies are obtained via correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent field (CC-VSCF) calculations. The potential used is based on the PM3 semiempirical electronic structure method, but improved by fitting to ab initio MP2 calculations at the harmonic level.

Vibrational spectroscopy of protonated imidazole and its complexes with water molecules: ab initio anharmonic calculations and experiments.

The results of anharmonic frequency calculations on neutral imidazole (C3N2H4, Im), protonated imidazole (ImH+), and its complexes with water (ImH+)(H2O)n, are presented and compared to gas phase infrared photodissociation spectroscopy (IRPD) data. Anharmonic frequencies are obtained via ab initio vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) calculations taking into account pairwise interactions between the normal modes. The key results are: (1) Prediction of anharmonic vibrational frequencies on an MP2 ab initio potential energy surface show excellent agreement with experiment and outstanding improvement over the harmonic frequencies.

Anharmonic vibrational calculations modeling the raman spectra of intermediates in the photoactive yellow protein (PYP) photocycle.

The role of anharmonic effects in the vibrational spectroscopy of the dark state and two major chromophore intermediates of the photoactive yellow protein (PYP) photocycle is examined via ab initio vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) calculations and time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. For the first time, anharmonicity is considered explicitly in calculating the vibrational spectra of an ensemble consisting of the PYP chromophore surrounded by model compounds used as mimics of the important active-site residues. Predictions of vibrational frequencies on an ab initio corrected semiempirical potential energy surface show remarkable agreement with experimental frequencies for all three states, thus shedding light on the potential along the reaction path.

Prediction of HIV-1 integrase/viral DNA interactions in the catalytic domain by fast molecular docking.

This study details the separate analyses of binding specificity of HIV-1 integrase (IN) and viral B-DNA forms through ligand-receptor docking studies by means of a fast molecular docking method. The application of solvated electrostatics with the University of Houston Brownian Dynamics Program (UHBD) and configurational sampling by the Daughter of Turnip (DOT) docking program resulted in the computation of energies of more than 113 billion configurations for each ligand-receptor docking study, a procedure considered computationally intractable a few years ago. A specific binding pattern of viral DNA to the IN catalytic domain region has been predicted as a result of these calculations.