Biodiversity assessment and environmental risk analysis of the single line transgenic pod borer resistant cowpea.

Background: The discussion surrounding biological diversity has reached a critical point with the introduction of Nigeria's first transgenic food crop, the pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea. Questions have been raised about the potential risks of the transgenic -resistant cowpea to human health and beneficial insects. Public apprehension, coupled with social activists' calling for the removal of this crop from the nation's food market, persists.

Human resources for health: a framework synthesis to put health workers at the centre of healthcare.

Background: Human resources are a key determinant for the quality of healthcare and health outcomes. Several human resource management approaches or practices have been proposed and implemented to better understand and address health workers' challenges with mixed results particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this framework synthesis was to review the human resources frameworks commonly available to address human resources for health issues in LMIC.

Evaluation of Myocardial Injury Using Serum Cardiac Troponin-I in Asphyxiated Neonates at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu, South-East Nigeria.

Background: The burden of perinatal asphyxia remains high in our environment and when asphyxia is severe, vital organs are affected, with resultant multiorgan hypoxic-iscahemic injury to the heart, the brain, adrenals and other organs.

Study Aim: To evaluate for myocardial injury in asphyxiated term neonates with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy using serum cardiac troponin-I (cTnI).

Methods: The study was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study involving sixty term asphyxiated neonates and sixty gestational age-and sex-matched controls.

Dysphagia as an Initial Presentation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Rare Presentation of Myeloid Sarcoma.

Myeloid sarcoma (MS) represents a unique clinical presentation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This report describes a case of MS in a 66-year-old man who presented with dysphagia, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and fatigue. Generalized lymphadenopathy was noted on physical exam and confirmed by CT scans which also showed diffuse esophageal wall thickening.

Organ absorbed doses in the IORT treatment of breast cancer with the INTRABEAM device: a Monte-Carlo study.

: The current prescription and the assessment of the delivered absorbed dose in intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) with the INTRABEAM system rely mainly on depth-dose measurements in water. The accuracy of this approach is limited because tissue heterogeneity is ignored. It is also difficult to accurately determine the dose delivered to the patient experimentally as the steep dose gradient is highly sensitive to geometric errors.

"Trying to be positive in the face of the storm": The experiences of independent college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic created multiple stressors for college students, particularly for young adults experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage. Little is known about the pandemic experiences of independent college students, many of whom are emancipated minors, former wards of the state, and other students who lack familial financial and practical support as they pursue higher education. Twenty-three independent students, ages 18-23, from one northeastern university were interviewed to understand how independent students were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and their needs for support from the university during this time.

Predicting Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia in a High-Risk Population.

Introduction: Gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) is a precancerous lesion. It has a low prevalence rate in the United States. However, GIM is more common among non-White and immigrant populations.

The social dimensions of community delivery of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy in Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Introduction: Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulphadoxine pyrimethamine (IPTp) is a key malaria prevention strategy in sub-Saharan African countries. We conducted an anthropological study as part of a project aiming to evaluate a community-based approach to the delivery of IPTp (C-IPTp) through community health workers (CHWs) in four countries (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique and Nigeria), to understand the social context in order to identify key factors that could influence C-IPTp acceptability.

Methods: A total of 796 in-depth interviews and 265 focus group discussions were undertaken between 2018 and 2021 in the four countries with pregnant women, women of reproductive age, traditional and facility-based healthcare providers, community leaders, and relatives of pregnant women.

Using and improving the PHISICC paper-based tools in the health facility laboratories: Examples of Human Centered Design taking systems thinking into practice, in Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria.

Background: Health workers in low- and middle-income countries are increasingly demanded to collect more and more data to report them to higher levels of the health information system (HIS), in detriment of useful data for clinical and public health decision-making, potentially compromising the quality of their health care provison. In order to support health workers' decision-making, we engaged with partners in Côte d'Ivoire, Mozambique and Nigeria in a research project to conceive, design, produce, implement and test paper-based health information tools: the PHISICC tools. Our aim was to understand the use of PHISICC tools by health workers and to improve them based on their feedback.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) Survivors in Early Pandemic: A Single Healthcare System Retrospective Study.

Introduction:  Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) management in the intensive care unit (ICU) has attracted strong interest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our retrospective study aims to describe the outcomes and predictors of mortality of ARDS associated with COVID-19 within one university-based healthcare system.

Methods:  We identified 165 patients within our healthcare system during the months of April 2020 through July 2020, who were admitted to our medical ICUs and eligible for our study.

Comparison of Placenta Previa and Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder Following Previous Cesarean Section between Women with a Short and Normal Interpregnancy Interval.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of interpregnancy interval (IPI) on the incidence of placenta previa and placenta accreta spectrum disorders in women with a previous cesarean section.

Methods: A prospective cohort three-center study involving parturients who had previous cesarean section was conducted. Participants were included if pregnancy has lasted up to 34 weeks.

Increasing the Awareness of Stroke Among Canadian Women.

Previous studies have shown that there is increased mortality of cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke among Canadian women. The morbidity of stroke is also higher among Canadian women because they are less likely to recover from stroke, and they generally tend to have a greater disability from a stroke when compared to men. In order to help minimize these issues, six interventional strategies were evaluated using four criteria: 1) the evidence-based criterion, 2) the socioeconomic-based criterion, 3) the ethics-based criterion, and 4) the sustainable-based criterion.

A qualitative inquiry of rural-urban inequalities in the distribution and retention of healthcare workers in southern Nigeria.

Introduction: Globally, the population in rural communities are disproportionately cared for by only 25% and 38% of the total physicians and nursing staff, respectively; hence, the poor health outcomes in these communities. This condition is worse in Nigeria by the critical shortage of skilled healthcare workforce. This study aimed to explore factors responsible for the uneven distribution of healthcare workers (physicians and nurses) to rural areas of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of an intervention project engaging Traditional and Religious Leaders to improve uptake of childhood immunization in southern Nigeria.

Vaccination is a cost-effective public health intervention, yet evidence abounds that vaccination uptake is still poor in many low- and middle-income countries. Traditional and Religious Leaders play a substantial role in improving the uptake of health services such as immunization. However, there is paucity of evidence on the cost-effectiveness of using such strategies.

Does an innovative paper-based health information system (PHISICC) improve data quality and use in primary healthcare? Protocol of a multicountry, cluster randomised controlled trial in sub-Saharan African rural settings.

Introduction: Front-line health workers in remote health facilities are the first contact of the formal health sector and are confronted with life-saving decisions. Health information systems (HIS) support the collection and use of health related data. However, HIS focus on reporting and are unfit to support decisions.

Complications of traditional bonesetting in contemporary fracture care in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Objective: To provide an overview of the evidence on the prevalence and pattern of complications among patients treated by traditional bonesetting presenting for modern orthopaedic services in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Methods: Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Articles were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, and Web of Science using the keywords "fracture care", "traditional bonesetters" and "complications".

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Nigeria: Preventive and Control Challenges within the First Two Months of Outbreak.

The spread of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has continued to rise in Nigeria despite all scientifically proven preventive measures. Factors militating against preventive and control efforts are yet to be addressed thus the study examined COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria within the first two months of outbreak and its preventive and control challenges. Data from the daily updates of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) were graphically used to describe the trend of spread while facts from both verified online and print media reports on COVID-19 were used to assess the challenges.

Trust, community health workers and delivery of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy: a comparative qualitative analysis of four sub-Saharan countries.

This qualitative study is part of a project aiming to evaluate a community-based approach to the delivery of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) through community health workers (CHWs) in four sub-Saharan African countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Mozambique and Nigeria. The study aimed to understand the factors that influence the anticipated acceptability of this intervention. A total of 216 in-depth interviews and 62 focus group discussions were carried out in the four country sites with pregnant women, women of reproductive age, community leaders, pregnant women's relatives, CHWs, formal and informal health providers.

A knowledge-based quantitative approach to characterize treatment plan quality: Application to prostate VMAT planning.

Purpose: To characterize treatment plan (TP) quality, a quantitative quality control (QC) tool is proposed. The tool is validated using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans for treatment of prostate cancer by estimating the achievable organ at risk (OAR) sparing, based on the knowledge learned from prior plans.

Methods: Prostate TP quality was investigated by evaluating the achieved OAR sparing in the rectum and bladder, based on their proximity to target surface.

The use of WhatsApp group messaging in the coordination of measles supplemental immunization activity in Cross Rivers State, Nigeria, 2018.

Introduction: Cross Rivers State, in southern Nigeria, conducted measles Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAs) in 2 phases from 2 -15 March, 2018. The SIAs coordination was led by the State technical coordination committee. A total of 90 supervisors from the national and subnational levels, including consultants were deployed to support the SIAs.

Determinants of Choice of Place of Delivery among Women Attending Two Referral Hospitals in Kano North-West Nigeria.

Background: Women are often unable to choose for themselves when, where, and from whom to seek care. This study was undertaken to determine factors that influence a woman's choice of place of delivery among women attending immunization clinics in two referral hospitals in Kano, Nigeria.

Materials And Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among 314 women who delivered in Kano, Nigeria.