Anaemia and thrombocytopenia among pregnant women attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State, North Western Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Pregnancy induces a number of physiologic changes either directly or indirectly that affect the haematologic parameters. The most frequent haematologic complication associated with pregnancy is anaemia and thrombocytopenia.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this case-control study was to investigate the prevalence of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among one hundred and twenty consecutively-recruited pregnant subjects and sixty age-matched non-pregnant controls.

METHOD

Socio-demographic and clinical data were obtained using a questionnaire. Three milliliters of blood were obtained from both the pregnant subjects and non-pregnant controls and distributed into EDTA and used for full blood count was determined using the fully automated Mythic 18 3-part differential haematology analyzer.

RESULT

The socio-demographic distribution among the subjects showed that the age group 25-29 years had the higher number of participants 41 (34.2%) followed by 30-34 years 39 (32.5%). Distribution based on socio-demography indicated that majority of the subjects were of Hausa ethnic group 47 (78.3), had no formal or Islamic education 53 (44.2%) and predominantly housewives 74 (61.7%). Distribution based on obstetric variables indicated that majority of the subjects were multiparous 86 (71.7%), had no problem in their previous pregnancies 99 (82.5%) and are not having problem in this current pregnancy 109 (90.8%). The HBG and HCT were significantly lower among the pregnant subjects compared to controls (p= 0.05 and 0.0308) respectively. The prevalence of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among the pregnant subjects was 75% and 6.7% respectively. The prevalence of anaemia (80%) and thrombocytopenia (8.0%) was higher among pregnant women in the second trimester compared to those in the first and third trimesters.

CONCLUSION

The values obtained from this research showed an increase in prevalence of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among pregnant women compared to the non-pregnant controls. It is vital to routinely monitor the indices of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among pregnant women to reduce the incidence of these diseases and of their complications.

Executive Functions and Response to Intervention: Identification of Students Struggling with Reading Comprehension

Inadequate responders demonstrate significant risk for learning disabilities. Previous investigations of the cognitive profiles of inadequate and adequate responders have not included measures of executive functions (EF), which have well-documented associations to reading comprehension. We evaluated EF performance on a common factor comprised of shared variance across tasks as well as five separable EF factors in the context of an intensive reading intervention for struggling fourth graders. To determine if EF performance at pretest is associated with subsequent responder status, we compared EF performance of three subgroups of students: inadequate and adequate responders and typical students not at-risk for reading disabilities. Results of discriminant function analyses and linear regression models comparing groups were largely null; EF performance at pretest demonstrated only small associations with responder status. These results suggest that the assessment of EF may have limited value in predicting which individual students will respond to intensive reading interventions.

Parent-Adolescent Concordance in Borderline Pathology and why it Matters

The aims of the current study were to: 1) identify patterns of agreement between parent-adolescent dyads on reports of adolescent borderline personality features utilizing latent class analysis (LCA) and 2) examine the clinical implications of class membership for indices of psychiatric severity and internal psychological resources. The sample included 643 adolescent inpatients. Borderline personality features were assessed by both adolescents and parents using the Borderline Personality Features Scale - Child (BPFS-C; Crick et al. 2005) and Borderline Personality Features Scale - Parent (BPFS-P; Sharp et al. 2010), respectively. Following recommended statistical approaches for evaluating rater concordance, LCA was utilized to identify distinct classes of parent-adolescent dyads based on concordance/discrepancy in BPFS reports. The subsequent classes were then related to outcome measures of psychiatric severity and internal psychological resources (emotion regulation and experiential acceptance). LCA identified 3 classes of parent-adolescent dyads: 2 convergent classes demonstrating BPFS-P and BPFS-C agreement at a moderate and high level and a divergent class consisting of dyads reporting clinically significant scores on the BPFS-P but clinically negligible BPFS-C scores. Both convergent classes evidenced higher rates of psychiatric severity and lower access to internal resources. The current study is the first to use LCA to examine the relation between informant concordance on reports of DSM-based adolescent borderline pathology in a clinical sample. The significance of the discrepancies within and between classes is discussed with relation to psychosocial outcomes, the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and implications for what it means when parents and adolescents disagree.

Detection of Platelet Desensitization in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension Is Dependent on the Agonist Used

The aggregation of platelets from women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (P.I.H.), or with normal pregnancies, in response to arachidonic acid, ADP, collagen or platelet activating factor (PAF) was examined. No differences in platelet aggregation between the normotensive and hypertensive women were detected when arachidonic acid or collagen were used to stimulate in vitro platelet aggregation. Higher concentrations of ADP and PAF were required to aggregate platelets from women with P.I.H. compared with platelets from normotensive controls. Platelets from women with normotensive pregnancies (n = 80) aggregated maximally in response to 20 nM PAF without exception. Reversible aggregation by platelets from women with P.I.H. (n = 25) was observed at the same concentration of PAF; again, this was found in all subjects tested. These results indicate that PAF at a concentration of 20 nM can clearly demonstrate differences in aggregation of platelets from women with normotensive pregnancy and women with P.I.H.

Trypanosoma equiperdum in the horse – a neglected threat?

Dourine is a contagious disease caused by Trypanosoma equiperdum that is transmitted directly from animal to animal during coitus. Dourine is known as an important disease in many countries, and it threatens equidae worldwide. It is reported to be widespread in South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, Namibia and Ethiopia. The disease can be carried to various parts of the world through the transportation of infected animals and semen. Since knowledge of the prepatent infectiousness of a recently infected animal is lacking, introduction of the disease is in principle an ever-present threat. Definitive diagnosis depends on the identification of the parasite by means of direct microscopy. This is rarely possible in practice and therefore, diagnosis in the field is based on the observation of typical clinical signs, together with serological tests. This paper is an endeavour to review briefly and compile information on the appearance and importance of Dourine in terms of its epidemiological and clinical features, as well as on its diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

Reversal of stress fibre formation by Nitric Oxide mediated RhoA inhibition leads to reduction in the height of preformed thrombi

Evidence has emerged to suggest that thrombi are dynamic structures with distinct areas of differing platelet activation and inhibition. We hypothesised that Nitric oxide (NO), a platelet inhibitor, can modulate the actin cytoskeleton reversing platelet spreading, and therefore reduce the capability of thrombi to withstand a high shear environment. Our data demonstrates that GSNO, DEANONOate, and a PKG-activating cGMP analogue reversed stress fibre formation and increased actin nodule formation in adherent platelets. This effect is sGC dependent and independent of ADP and thromboxanes. Stress fibre formation is a RhoA dependent process and NO induced RhoA inhibition, however, it did not phosphorylate RhoA at ser188 in spread platelets. Interestingly NO and PGI₂ synergise to reverse stress fibre formation at physiologically relevant concentrations. Analysis of high shear conditions indicated that platelets activated on fibrinogen, induced stress fibre formation, which was reversed by GSNO treatment. Furthermore, preformed thrombi on collagen post perfused with GSNO had a 30% reduction in thrombus height in comparison to the control. This study demonstrates that NO can reverse key platelet functions after their initial activation and identifies a novel mechanism for controlling excessive thrombosis.

The Effects of One versus Two Years of Intensive Reading Intervention Implemented with Late Elementary Struggling Readers

We examined the effectiveness of a researcher-provided reading intervention with 484 fourth graders with significant reading difficulties. Students were randomly assigned to one year of intervention, two years of intervention, or a business-as-usual comparison condition (BAU). Students assigned to two years of intervention demonstrated significantly greater gains in reading fluency compared to students who received one year of intervention and the BAU group. Students in both the one- and two-year groups demonstrated similar and significantly larger gains in word reading in comparison to the BAU group. There were no statistically significant differences between the three groups on standardized measures of reading comprehension. We discuss these results in the context of research with late elementary and secondary students targeting reading comprehension.

Parent-adolescent concordance on the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R) and the Childhood Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder (CI-BPD)

While the degree of concordance between parent and adolescent self-report of internalizing and externalizing pathology is well studied, virtually nothing is known about concordance in borderline pathology and the implication of parent-adolescent discrepancies for outcomes. The present study aimed to (1) examine discrepancies between parents and adolescents on two interview-based measures of borderline personality disorder (BPD)-the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R²² ) and the Childhood Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder (CI-BPD²³ ); and (2) investigate the implications of discrepancies for clinical outcomes. Diagnostic concordance on the DIB-R and CI-BPD showed rates of 82% and 94% respectively, with lower concordance demonstrated for dimensionally scored variables. Standardized difference scores between adolescent and parent reports on both borderline measures were significantly correlated with few interview-based axis I diagnoses as reported by parents, but not adolescents themselves. Implications regarding the use of each measure for the assessment and diagnosis of borderline personality disorder are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Relation of Knowledge-Text Integration Processes and Reading Comprehension in 7th- to 12th-Grade Students

The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Reading times for the second sentence in a pair (Jane's headache went away) were compared in conditions where the first sentence was either causally or temporally related to the first sentence (Jane took an aspirin vs. Jane looked for an aspirin). Mixed-effects explanatory item response models revealed that at higher comprehension levels, sentences were read more quickly in the causal condition. There were no condition-related reading time differences at lower comprehension levels. This interaction held with comprehension- and inference-related factors (working memory, word and world knowledge, and word reading efficiency) in the models. Less skilled comprehenders have difficulty in knowledge-text integration processes that facilitate sentence processing during reading.

Histo-pathological Features of Genital Tract Malignancies as Seen in a Tertiary Health Center in North-Western Nigeria: A 10-year Review

Background:

The pattern of gynecological malignancies varies among nations and even within health institution in the same country. Understanding the histo-pathological pattern of these malignancies will help in the management of the patient.

Aim:

The aim of the following study is to establish the frequency, histo-pathological features, and distribution of genital tract malignancies as seen in a tertiary health institution in North - western Nigeria.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective analysis of data from ward admissions and discharge records, surgical biopsy materials from the theater and the histopathology laboratory results of slides. The study was carried out at the Usmanu Dan-Fodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria. Data were entered into a study proforma and analysis was through SPSS version 15 (Chicago IL) for windows. The results were expressed in simple percentages, tables and charts.

Results:

During the study period (2000-2009), there were 404 cases of gynecological malignancies recorded in the hospital. Cervical cancer was the most common gynecological malignancy 274/404 (69%), followed by choriocarcinoma 52/404 (13.1%), ovarian cancer 46/404 (11.4%) while the least common was vaginal cancer 1/404 (0.3%). The mean age of the cancers was 54 years (28.3). The mean age of incidence of all ovarian cancers was 52.5 years (SD ± 16.2). Epithelial ovarian tumors had a mean age incidence of 67 (12) years, while that of ovarian germ cell tumors was 18.5 (8) years. The incidence of cervical cancer showed a rising trend. Moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histological variant of cervical carcinoma 170/252 (67.5%). Among the ovarian tumors, epithelial cancers were the most common 38/46 (82.6%), and were followed by the germ cell tumors 5/46 (10.9%). Dysgerminoma was the predominant ovarian germ cell tumour 4/5 (80%). There were 50 deaths from these cancers in our hospital.

Conclusion:

Cervical cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy in our centerand it was followed by Choriocarcinoma. Efforts to reduce the cancer burden should focus on heath education of the masses, national organized screening especially for cervical cancer and establishing regional centers for monitoring and evaluation of these programs.

First Report of Verticillium Wilt of Mango (Mangifera indica) Caused by Verticillium dahliae in Italy

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an important fruit crop in many tropical and subtropical countries. This crop has been recently introduced in Italy, mainly in Sicily (southern Italy), where it proves to be a good commodity for the national market. However, the future of mango cultivation in Sicily is threatened by diverse biotic and abiotic factors, which may limit production and fruit quality. For this reason, an investigation into soilborne diseases of mango was carried out in summer 2009 and spring 2010 (1). During May 2009, typical symptoms of Verticillium wilt were observed in four young mango orchards, cv. Kensington Pride, in Catania Province. The symptoms observed included gradual leaf yellowing, marginal browning, slow growth, and dieback on one side of the shoots. The dead leaves remained attached to infected branches and no defoliation was observed. Cross sections of affected branches showed brown vascular discoloration. The incidence of infected trees was about 25% of 96 examined trees. Small pieces of brownish, vascular wood tissues were surface disinfested and placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA). After 5 days of incubation at 25°C in the dark, the isolates were purified using the single-spore isolation method. Pathogen identification was initially based on morphological characteristics, and then confirmed by molecular methods. The colonies produced from all the tested isolates showed irregular shape, black microsclerotia, and hyaline, elliptical, single-celled conidia developed on verticillate conidiophores (2). For molecular identification, two specific primer pairs (Ver2-Ver3 and Vd7b-Vd10) of the intergenic spacer region (IGS) were used (3). A fragment of 339 bp was obtained by Ver2-Ver3 primer pair, which is a genus-specific primer, while a fragment of 139 bp was amplified by Vd7b-Vd10 primer pair specific for V. dahliae. To fulfil Koch's postulates, 10-month-old mango plants cv. Kensington Pride were inoculated by dipping the roots in Verticillium conidial suspension for 10 min. Conidial suspension was approximately 4 × 10⁶ conidia/ml, prepared from Verticillium isolates Vd-1 and Vd-2 (10 plants for each isolate). Plants dipped in sterile water were used as controls. All plants were kept in a greenhouse at 25°C and 90 to 95% relative humidity. After 10 months, all inoculated plants showed symptoms identical to those observed in mango plants in the field; plants inoculated with water did not show symptoms. V. dahliae was consistently isolated from symptomatic plants but not from plants inoculated with water. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Verticillium wilt caused by V. dahliae on mango in Italy. Verticillium wilt is known to be a serious threat for the mango industry worldwide. The disease, still localized in Catania Province, may soon affects all Sicilian mango-growing provinces with serious economic consequences. References: (1) Y. M. Ahmed et al. J. Plant Pathol. 92:S4.71, 2010. (2) D. L. Hawksworth and P. W. Talboys. CMI Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria, No. 256. CAB International, Wallingford, UK, 1970. (3) L. Schena et al. Phytopathol. Mediterr. 43:273, 2004.

Developmental Relations between Reading and Writing at the Word, Sentence and Text Levels: A Latent Change Score Analysis

Relations between reading and writing have been studied extensively but the less is known about the developmental nature of their interrelations. This study applied latent change score modeling to investigate longitudinal relations between reading and writing skills at the word, sentence and text levels. Latent change score models were used to compare unidirectional pathways (reading-to-writing and writing-to-reading) and bidirectional pathways in a test of nested models. Participants included 316 boys and girls who were assessed annually in grades 1 through 4. Measures of reading included pseudo-word decoding, sentence reading efficiency, oral reading fluency and passage comprehension. Measures of writing included spelling, a sentence combining task and writing prompts. Findings suggest that a reading-to-writing model better described the data for the word and text levels of language, but a bidirectional model best fit the data at the sentence level.

First Report of Citrus Root Rot Caused by Phytophthora palmivora in Egypt

During spring-summer 2009, a survey was conducted to determine the species of Phytophthora present in citrus nurseries in Egypt. A total of 300 samples of soil and fibrous roots were collected from the rhizosphere of symptomatic Volkameriana lemon (Citrus volkameriana Tan. & Pasq.) plants growing in Delta (Benha-Qalyubia) and a desert (Cairo/Alexandria desert road) citrus nurseries. Plants showed various symptoms. Canopies of affected plants showed few and yellowish leaves, a general stunted growth, no new vegetation, and sometimes sudden desiccation; the root system showed few dark brown feeder roots, no new yellow-white apexes, and a fibrous appearance of the rootlets due to disintegration of the cortical bark but not of the xylem. Collected rootlets and soil were plated in Petri dishes containing a selective medium for the oomycete Phytophthora (2) and incubated for 3 to 6 days at 19 ± 1°C as described by Ippolito et al. (1). Pure cultures were obtained by single-hypha transfers and the isolates were identified as Phytophthora palmivora (Butler) Butler on the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics (3). Isolates formed stoloniferous colonies on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and grew between 10 and 30°C, with the optimum at 25°C. On V8 juice agar, they showed a highly fluffy pattern and produced terminal and intercalary globose chlamydospores. Sporangia were papillate, elliptical (45 to 51 × 29 to 35 μm; length/breadth ratio of 1.3:1.8), and were caducous with short pedicel. All isolates were A2 mating type, forming spherical oogonia and amphigynous antheridia in dual cultures with reference P. palmivora isolate of A1 mating type. Identification of the isolates was further confirmed by amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region using the universal primers ITS4 and ITS6. BLASTn analysis of ITS sequences (GenBank Accession No. HE583183) showed 99% homology with P. palmivora isolates available in GenBank. Pathogenicity tests for P. palmivora were conducted by inoculating three groups of ten 6-month-old Volkameriana lemon plants, transplanted into 1.4 liter pots with growing medium artificially inoculated at the rate of 1% (v/v) of P. palmivora inoculum produced according to Yaseen (4). Ten uninoculated plants served as a control. Two months after the inoculation, plants were analyzed for canopy symptoms and the presence of pathogen in feeder roots. More than 50% of inoculated plants showed foliage symptoms and extensive decay of feeder roots. Colonies of Phytophthora were recovered from necrotic rootlets and identified as P. palmivora, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. palmivora as a pathogen to citrus plants in the Egyptian nurseries. P. palmivora should be considered a potential threat to the Egyptian citrus industry since it may negatively influence the nurseries and orchards production in the future. References: (1) A. Ippolito, V. De Cicco, and M. Salerno. Rivista di Patologia Vegetale 2:57, 1992. (2) H. Masago, M. Yoshikawa, M. Fukada, and N. Nakanishi. Phytopathology 67:425, 1977. (3) D. J. Stamps. Revised tabular key to the species of Phytophthora. CAB International Mycological Institute, Kew, Surrey, 1990. (4) T. Yaseen. Molecular diagnosis and biological control of Phytophthora-citrus root rot. PhD thesis. University of Bari, Italy, 2004.