Tourism Planning and Development: A Panacea to Economic Recession in Nigeria

The current economic recession in Nigeria has come down heavily on the nation’s economy in no small way. Even though crude oil still remain the mainstay of the nation’s economy, diversification of economy and exploitation of potentials of tourism resources are seen as a panacea to the current economic meltdown in the country. This paper therefore identified various tourism potentials and resources readily available in the country. This ranges from water tourism resources, vegetal tourism resources to land scape tourism resources and anthropogenic cultural tourism resources. The authors observed that tourism planning and development in Nigeria is under- exploited despite the enormous potentials. Thus, the paper suggests strategies to adopt by the government, private sector, host communities as well as workers in the tourism industry to alleviate the poor state of tourist centres in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the tourism sector has very huge potentials which if fully supported and the menace of terrorism and kidnapping is curtailed in Nigeria, will contribute significantly to the economic diversification everybody is yarning for and Nigeria will bounce back from the two edged sword of economic meltdown ravaging the country. Keywords: Economic recession, Economic diversification, Tourism development, Public-Private partnershi

Sedation practice among Nigerian radiology residents

Background: Providing safe and effective sedation to patients, especially those with multiple medical problems, can be challenging for radiology residents and fellows. This study aimed to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of Nigerian radiology residents concerning sedation.Keywords: anaesthetist, guidelines, radiology residents, resuscitation, sedatio

Combined oral administration of ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel alters the expression of antioxidant and apoptotic markers in female rats

The use of ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel (E/L) for birth control may result in serious adverse effects. Herein, the effect of (E/L) on the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT)), and apoptotic regulator genes (B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2), caspase 1 and 3) was evaluated. Thirty-two rats were randomly divided into four equal groups. Group A (Control) received 0.5% DMSO, Group B, C and D received 0.015, 0.030, and 0.060 mg of E/L orally and daily for 21 days respectively. RNA extracted from brain, liver and kidney were purified, and the genes amplified using RT-PCR. Following analysis of the intensity of the amplicon bands on 1.2% agarose, the gene's relative expression compared with the expression β-actin was determined. There was significant downregulation of SOD and CAT genes in the liver, brain and kidney in all groups treated with E/L compared to control. Caspase 1 and 3 expressions were significantly elevated by 3.8 and 3.5 folds, respectively in the brain at the lowest E/L concentration. Expression of BCL-2 was downregulated in the brain and kidney in animals administered E/L at all concentrations. These findings suggest that E/L could modulate the expression of antioxidant and apoptosis marker genes. Keywords: Ethinylestradiol, Levonorgestrel, Contraceptive, Antioxidant, Apoptosi

Effects of Crude Oil contaminated Water on the reproductive system of Female Wistar Rats

The rising level of infertility in the females have been associated with environmental pollutants and one such pollutants is crude oil. Crude oil pollution occurs in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria and interaction with this toxicant by both humans and animals may adversely the female reproductive system. This study was designed to investigate the effect of crude oil contaminated water on reproductive functions in female Wistar rats. Fifteen (15) female rats weighing between 140g-230g were used for this study and the rats were divided into three (3) groups (1, 2 and 3) and each group had five rats. Group 1 was the control group while group 2 and 3 were the test groups receiving 2.5mls and 5mls of crude oil contaminated water twice daily for four weeks. The stages of Oestrus cycle of the rats were checked daily. The rats were sacrificed after four weeks and the blood collected were used for hormonal assays (Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), Testosterone). The uterus and ovaries were used for histology (Haematoxylin and Eosin staining), Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. The results were analyzed using GraphPad Prism software for windows and data were expressed as mean±standard error of mean. Statistical significance was accepted at p<0.05. There was no significant changes (p>0.05) in the weights and relative reproductive organ weights (uterus and ovary) of among the three groups. FSH and LH in the test group of rats fed with crude oil contaminated water when compared with the control were not statistically significant (p<0.05). Oestradiol was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the test group whereas progesterone and progesterone-oestradiol ratio was significantly elevated (p<0.05) in the test groups when compared with the control. There were degenerative changes in the ovaries and uterus of rats fed with crude oil contaminated water when compared with the control. SOD was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in the test group while MDA was elevated in the ovaries and uterus of the test group. The oestrus cycle was irregular in the test groups.   Crude oil contaminated water has endocrine disrupting effects on the female reproductive system as well as inducing oxidative stress and this may adversely affect female reproductive functions and fertility. KEY WORDS: Crude oil contaminated water, Endocrine disruptor, Female reproductive functions, Oxidative stress DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/72-05 Publication date: June 30th 202

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Reference gene study for forensic body fluid identification

Reference genes are used in forensic body fluid identification studies to normalise data generated during gene expression experiments. The use of reference genes improves the reliability of qRT-PCR. In this study, 10 most common reference genes UCE, TEF, GAPDH, 18S rRNA, ACTB, B2M, B-Actin, OAZ1, RPS 29 and S15 widely used in forensic body fluid identification studies were selected from relevant literature and qPCR efficiency and sensitivity of all the reference genes was tested using SYBR Green detection. Stability was also assayed using samples stored at room temperature for 6 months using Taqman assay probes. All the markers except TEF displayed high sensitivity and were detected down to 25 pg of RNA input. Stability study demonstrates that B2M, ACTB, RPS29, and UCE are ideal markers for normalization in forensic body fluid identification studies. The study confirms that reference genes should be selected only upon adequate validation of their suitabilit