Incidence of the Metabolic Syndrome among Patients with Epilepsy Attending a Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda

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Background & Aims: Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a combination of diverse metabolic disorders (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, high triglycerides, increased waist circumference, and low high density cholesterol, HDLc), is a well known public health problem worldwide, and its prevalence is increasing dramatically. MetS is a confirmed great risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Presently, limited information exists about incidence and the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients with epilepsy.  We prospectively estimated the incidence of MetS in patients with epilepsy.

Methods: We recruited 322 participants, 161 patients with epilepsy and 161 healthy volunteers all of them free of any MetS criteria at the baseline and followed-up them for one year. New onset cases of MetS were defined according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII) criteria.

Results: Over a 1-year follow-up, we observed 8 incident cases of MetS (7 individuals in patients group and 1 individual in control group) resulting in an annual cumulative incidence rate of 2.5%. We observed 9 cases losses to follow up. Patients with epilepsy presented a higher risk of developing MetS (RR=7.00, 95% CI: 0.891 – 1.67, p=0.032) than in control group. Sedentariness was associated with higher risk for MetS (hazard ratio, HR=6.537, 95%; confidence interval, C.I=1.269-33.685, p value =0.025.

Conclusion: Anti-epileptic therapy combined with sedentariness increases the risk of developing MetS among patients with epilepsy. Holistic clinical management of patients with epilepsy will significantly contribute to MetS prevention.

Child Temperament and Academic Performances among Kindergarteners

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The study examined the relationship between child temperament and academic performances among kindergarteners in the Wa East and Wa West districts of the upper west region of Ghana. A sample of 150 fathers were selected at random from the two districts to participate in the study. Children of the fathers selected were made of 69 boys and 81girls. Self-reported data from questionnaires were used to examine the relationship between child temperament and academic performances among the kindergarten children of the selected region.

Analyses of the data revealed that low intensity, anger/frustration, attentional focusing, fear, and falling reactivity/soothability characteristics of child temperament categories predicted the academic performances of the kindergarten children within the two districts. It was also realized from the study that the occupation of fathers exhibited significant relationship with the academic performances of the kindergarten children. However, child gender, their ages and that of fathers’, fathers’ income levels, and the districts of origin showed no relationship with the academic performances of the kindergarten children.

It is hereby recommended that behavioral disorder/disability centers should be established at kindergarten centers to guide and counsel practice on behave management and practices.

The Relationship between Introversion, Extraversion and Statuses in Cyberbullying among Teenagers in Bangkok

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Cyberbullying, a form of bullying with the use of digital technologies, has become increasingly common among teenagers. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms, and previous studies provide several lines of evidence that no relationship is found between cyberbullying and the influences of introversion and extraversion. To further investigate the impact of cyberbullying, this research was conducted with the aim of finding relationship between introversion, extraversion and cyberbullying among teenagers in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey questionnaire that contained questions for assessing both the cyberbullying behavior and the personality of participants. Eysenck’s Personality Inventory (EPI)1 was used in this survey to assess the type of personality in teenagers. The results showed that there was no correlation between cyberbullying and personality.

Pharmacological Studies on Dregea Volubilis and Derris Trifoliate – The Medicinal Plants

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The present work aims to study the pharmacological studies such as physico-chemical and phytochemical screening on Dregea volubilis and Derris trifoliate. The samples were collected, washed, dried in hot air oven and were grinded to form fine powder. Both the powders were subjected to various physic-chemical tests such as ash value, water soluble ash, acid insoluble ash and loss on drying. Solvent optimization was carried out and it was found that water and organic solvent Methanol showed best extractive values. Further Methanolic extract was subjected to phytochemical screening which showed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloid, flavonoids, tannins and phenols were present in both the plants.

Saponins were only present in Dregea volubilis plant powder.

The Influence of Principal Leadership toward Teacher Performance: A Literature Review

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The objectives of this research were to examine the Influence of Principal Leadership toward Teacher Performance. This research consists of independent variables (Principal Leadership) and the dependent variable (Teacher performance). This research was used a qualitative descriptive method by Literature Review. Data collected by a search engine, google scholar, to search the articles with keywords. Principal’s leadership and teacher performance. Based on the results of the literature review we found that there is the influence of principal leadership toward teacher performance across various countries, in general, it can be concluded that there is the influence of principal leadership toward teacher performance.

Legal Protection of Minority Shareholders under Corporate Governance Process

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In recent days, most of the corporate are failing in managing business effectively and the major cause for this is conflicts between majority and minority shareholders of the company which lead to direct or indirect destruction of business at the end. Even though, there are certain laws and provisions made for the sake of minority shareholders, those are enforced well and needs to make them as utmost safeguards to minority shareholders.

In this paper, we will discuss the issues for conflict including rights of minority shareholders as well as roles and responsibilities of shareholders by analyzing possible solution for conflicts between majority and minority shareholder.

Smart Production of Lipids as Bio-Fuel in Spirulina Platensis (=Arthrospira Fusiformis), and Bio-Oxygen and Bio-Electricity in Media Cultured in Supernatant of Digested Poultry Waste

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An experiment was conducted to evaluate growth performances and production of bio-fuel of Spirulina platensis (Gomont), and bio-oxygen and bio-electricity of culture media in supernatant of three different amount of digested poultry waste (DPW), and Kosaric medium (KM) as control. Three different amounts (concentrations) such as 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 g/L poultry waste were allowed to digest under aeration. After 17 days, 700 ml grayish coloured supernatant was taken with addition of 9.0 g/L NaHCO3 and 0.50 ml/l micronutrient in 2.0 L conical flask with three replications and then autoclaved. Spirulina was inoculated to grow in these three treatments including KM (Control) after 72 hours of autoclave and then allowed to grow for a period of 14 days. This duration was estimated through repeated growth trials. The cell weight of spirulina was attained a maximum of 12.58 ± 1.25 mg/L (dry wt. basis) in KM followed by 11.46 ± 1.03, 9.16 ± 0.84 and 8.13 ± 0.73 mg/L in supernatant of 4.0, 2.0 and 6.0 g/L DPW, respectively on the 10th day of culture. Similar trend was also observed in the cases of optical density of the media contained spirulina, chlorophyll a content (mg/L), cell weight, total biomass (mg/l) and specific growth rates on the basis of cell weight and chlorophyll a. Cell weight of spirulina grown in these media had highly significant (P < 0.01) correlation with the chlorophyll a content (r = 0.993) of spirulina. Crude protein of spirulina grown in supernatant of DPW was lower than that of spirulina cultured in KM. Crude lipids as bio-fuel of spirulina cultured in supernatant of 4.0 g/L DPW was almost three times higher than that of spirulina grown in KM which may be due to high phospholipids bioaccumulation. Phosphate-P was decreased in media of DPW due to its use for high lipids biosynthesis as phospholipids. Bio-oxygen was produced higher ranged from 2.1 ± 11 mg/L on initial day to 10.20 ± 0.54 mg/L on 10th day grown in supernatant of 4.0 g/L DPW media. Bio-electricity as green electricity ranged from 135 ± 4 on initial day to 284 ± 7 mV on 10th day when spirulina cultured in supernatant of 4.0 g/L DPW which was higher than grown in other media. pH followed the similar trend like bio-oxygen and bio-electricity. It was found that the production of bio-oxygen, bio-fuel and bio-electricity had direct relation with pH in culture media of spirulina. Therefore, mass production of Spirulina platensis might be done in supernatant of 4.0 g/L digested poultry waste to get high total lipids as bio-fuel, bio-electricity and bio-oxygen.

Growth and Instability in Production and Export of Almond in Afghanistan

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The almond is native to Iran and surrounding countries as well as Asia. In 2017, world production of almonds was 2.2 million tones, with the United States providing 46% of the total. According to FAO Afghanistan is one of the 10 top producers of almonds. The study examined the growth and instability of area, production, export and consumption of almond in Afghanistan from 2000 to 2017. Exponential function fitted to estimate compound annual growth rates (CAGR) in area, production, export and consumption of almond, and Cuddy – Della Valle indices are used in the study. The compound growth rates for area, production and productivity of almonds in Afghanistan were 5.77 %, 7.37 % and 1.52 % respectively. Area under almond crop exhibited medium (19,52) instability, where production and productivity shown high (50.05 and 49.01) instability respectively, during this period. Almond consumption grew by 6.75 per cent and export grew with compound annual growth rate of 6.12 per cent from the year 2000 to 2017.Both export and consumption of almond registered high instability in this period.

Health Hazards and Protocol for Management of Used Facemasks Outside Hospitals during SARCOV-2 Pandemic

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Background: SARS-CoV-2 is highly infectious pathogenic disease leading to infection and death of millions of people all over the world till the date according to the data provided by John Hopkins University. Peoples have started using various types of mask to protect themselves from getting infected from the deadly corona virus. There has also been large amount of confusion in general public about disposal of the mask as most of them are using for first time in their life. Even healthcare professionals may be unaware of the methods of disposal of the masks outside their hospitals. This mask may carry infections from asymptomatic, SARS-CoV-2 patients that if it comes in contact with other peoples and animals may have severe bio health hazards.

Observation & Management of facemasks: Since the SARS-COV-2 pandemic outbreak since March 2020, personally, we found out that peoples a carelessly throwing masks everywhere including streets, parking lots, beaches, building complexes, sewages and homes. These masks may have been used by asymptomatic carriers or have got infected with these viruses is hazardous not only to the health of the public but also for the household waste collectors, pet animals and marine animals. Disinfecting with sodium hypochlorite * decontaminating methods like washing facemasks and drying in sunlight, pressure cooker sterilisation method, boiling, by using laundry detergent and hot dryer and cleaning in washing machine, etc.

Conclusion & Relevance: The objective of these articles is to alert the public & health care professionals to understand the hazards of throwing the facemasks at public places and preventive measure to be taken during this pandemic time and various methods of decontamination, pre-treatment and disposal of facemask avoiding severe health hazards.

Characterisation of Phytolith Production and Their Taxonomic Use among Five Species of Aristida

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Phytoliths are amorphous silicon dioxide depositions in and around the cells of certain plants. Phytoliths of Poaceae are of great importance in the field of taxonomy and Archeology. Present study confirms the use of phytolith characters in the delimitation of Aristida species. Five species of Aristida were included in the study. Various characters like presence or absence of prickle hairs, nature of margins in lobate phytoliths, shank length in relation to the length of lobes etc. proved to be promising characters in the delimitation of the taxa. A taxonomic key to the identification of species is also provided.