Micronucleus cytome assay in the differential assessment of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of cadmium and lead in Amietophrynus regularis

Amphibians are increasingly being used as bio-indicator of contamination in ecosystems due to their sensitivity to xenobiotics in the environment. Cadmium and lead compounds, ubiquitous mutagens and carcinogens, are capable of eliciting genome instability in adult toads which may enhance amphibian decline. Micronucleus cytome (MN-cyt) assay, a comprehensive cytogenetic test for the assessment of genome instability induced by xenobiotics in organisms, was utilized in the differential cytogenotoxic evaluation of Cd and Pb in adult Amietophrynus regularis. A. regularis was exposed to six concentrations (8 – 512 mg/L) of the metal solutions to determine 96 h acute toxicity. Four toads per group were exposed to five sub-lethal concentrations (5 – 75 %) of the 96 h LC50 of the metals for 14 days. At post exposure, bone marrow and peripheral erythrocytes were collected for MN-cyt analysis. The metals induced differential concentration and time-dependent increase in mortality with 96 h LC50 of 36.36 mg/L (Cd) and 112.06 mg/L (Pb). No observable effective concentrations (NOEC); Cd=8 and Pb=32 (mg/L) and Lowest observable effective concentrations (LOEC); Cd=16 and Pb=64 (mg/L) were recorded for the metals. Derived toxicity factor (TF) showed that Cd was 3.08 times more toxic to the toads than Pb. The metal solutions induced significant (p<0.05) increase in frequencies of MN, binucleated, nuclear bud, notch, lobe, vacuolated erythrocytes, apoptosis and necrosis compared to the negative control. Cd elicited 1.42 and 3.26 folds increase in MN and NAs respectively, than Pb. MN-cyt assay is a suitable cytogenetic tool for assessing genome instability in A. regularis. Increased genetic instability induced by Cd and Pb may be associated with genetic related syndromes; neoplasms, reproductive dysfunctions and mortality. This suggests threat to amphibian health and may enhance population decline

Probing the Dynamic of Communal Conflict in Northern Nigeria

The phenomenon of communal conflict has assumed the posture of ethno-religious conflict in its occurrence and destructive potential in this era of democratic development in Nigeria. Its incessant occurrence has not been matched with scholarly investigations like the way ethno-religious conflict has been explored in Northern Nigeria. Therefore, this article explored the conflict with respect to developments in the North. This becomes essential to enable its causes and dynamics be situated in perspectives for better understanding and proffer of coherent policies to arrest it. The changing contours and security dilemma of communal conflict in the North were discussed. The study, therefore, posited that the various communal crises experienced have enthroned developmental crisis in the North, and if not tackled squarely can aggravate the governance crisis already facing the nation and military take-over may be experienced in the country

Dysfunctional Consequences of Conflict on Teachers’ Productivity: A Theoretical Insight

Conflicts have become more prevalent in the educational system than any other social organisation on earth. Despite this, conflicts occurring in schools are the least discussed events in social conflict discourses, making this research necessary for a better understanding of the behaviour of violent conflict in the educational system. The point is that when conflict is misperceived and mismanaged, it will exert unimaginable force which will produce adverse effect on students, teaching and non-teaching staff, the system and the society in general. However, conflict outcomes depend on the nature, ferocity of conflict, and approaches adopted for mitigation. Thus, this study described the dysfunctional consequences of conflict on teachers’ productivity. To achieve the objectives of the study, discussions were woven around six thematic areas which include: the conceptualization of conflict, the issue of teachers’ productivity, the factors influencing teachers’ productivity, the dynamics of dysfunctional conflict, exploration of the effects of violent conflict on education and finally, the issues of dysfunctional conflict and teachers’ productivity

Conflict dynamics and management patterns of student nurses in governement hospitals in Adamawa state, Nigeria / Dinâmica de conflito e padrões de gestão de enfermeiras estudantes em hospitais do governo do estado de Adamawa, Nigéria

The complexities associated with healthcare centres have made conflict a part and parcel of their operational milieus. Student nurses on formal clinical training, being part of the system, are not resistant to the deleterious outcomes of such conflicts. Thus, this is study assessed conflict dynamics and management strategies of student nurses in government hospitals in Adamawa State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted and a sample of 160 student nurses was selected through random sampling technique. A self-structured questionnaire titled “Student Nursing Conflict Questionnaire” (SNCQ) was used to elicit primary data. Data collected were analysed with frequency counts, percentage and standard deviation. The study discovered that the majority of student nurses frequently encountered conflict (50.6%) in hospitals and they often perceived it as something bad (70.6%). Also, the major types of conflict often experienced by student nurses were “nurse-student nurse conflict” (NSC) (36.9%) and “patient relatives-student nurse conflict” (PRSC) (36.9%). The main causes of these conflicts were lateness to the hospital ( = 3.375) and unclear definition of responsibilities between student nurses and other auxiliary health workers ( = 3.338). Furthermore, the main consequences of conflict on student nurses were lowering their productivity ( = 3.550) and discouraging effective training of student nurses ( = 3.569). The conflict management styles often adopted by student nurses were collaborating style ( =3.153) and accommodating style ( =3.025). Based on these findings, it was recommended that medical peace education should be promoted in all ramifications in health establishments in order to help those that wish to become  health practitioners such as student nurses as well as those already practicing in the field to understand conflict behavioural dynamics for constructive mitigation to enhance their productivity and healthcare service delivery

Municipal landfill leachates induced chromosome aberrations in rat bone marrow cells

This study examined the potential mutagenic effects of raw and simulated leachates from Olushosun municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill using rat bone marrow chromosome aberration assay. Rawleachate obtained directly from the landfill and simulated leachate obtained via the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) category-A extraction procedure were examined for their physical andchemical properties. Rats were intraperitoneally exposed to 1 - 25% concentrations of the leachates for 48 h. The erythroblasts of the bone marrow cells examined post treatment show structural chromosomalabnormalities such as breaks, gaps, rings and acentrics. The induction was dose dependent (r =0.80 and 0.85 for ORL and OSL, respectively). Physico-chemical and heavy metal analysis of the test samples showed that they contained high concentrations of toxic anions and cations that are capable of inducing mutation in living cells. The interaction of these constituents with the genetic material in the bone marrow cells of rat caused the observed chromosome aberrations. Our data indicate that MSW leachates can induce genotoxicity in rat and suggest potential health risk to human populations

Genotoxicity and mutagenicity of solid waste leachates: A review

Solid waste production is inevitable and its unsanitary disposal in the environment is of public and environmental health concern. Leachate, generated due to the infiltration of water/precipitation through the waste mass and the wastes biodegradation, is a mixture of dissolved organic matter, inorganic macro-components, heavy metals, xenobiotic organic compounds and microorganisms. Several studies have reported the acute toxicity of leachate using different end points, while evidences are accumulating on their potentials to induce genetic damage. In this wise, different short-term in vivo and in vitro bioassays are being utilized in the evaluations of genotoxicity and mutagenicity of leachates; and the possible mechanisms of genetic damage. This paper reviews reports on leachate-induced genetic damage. There is need for a shift from waste disposal to sustainable waste management. Awareness on possible health impacts or consequences of exposure to solid waste should also be created through health education.Keywords: Solid waste leachate, genotoxicity, mutagenicity, environmental pollutionAfrican Journal of BiotechnologyVol. 12(27), pp. 4206-422

Prevalence and gene frequencies of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste sensitivity, ABO and Rhesus factor (Rh) blood groups, and haemoglobin variants among a Nigerian population

Background: Blood groups and phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) are the most studied genetic traits among human populations around the world. In most of these studies, PTC taste sensitivity was described as a bimodal autosomal trait inherited in a simple Mendelian recessive pattern.ABO blood group is the most studied blood groups followed by Rhesus factors (Rh) and haemoglobin variants. Information from the study of these traits is useful to biologists, geneticists, anthropologists and clinicians. No information on the prevalence and gene frequencies of thesetraits among a population from Nigeria. Aim: This study presents information on the prevalence and gene frequencies of PTC taste sensitivity, ABO blood group and Rhesus factor, and Haemoglobin variants from male and female Nigeriansexamined.Subjects and methods: A total of 232 (51.33%) male and 220 (48.67%) female Nigerians participated in this study. Filter paper impregnated with 81.25 mg/L of saturated solution of PTC wasused to determine PTC tasters, while blood group phenotypes, Rhesus factor and haemoglobintypes were determined by classical method. Hardy–Weinberg method was used to determine allelic frequencies and graphpad 5 computer software was used for the data processing.Results: The percentage frequency for non tasters of PTC was 29.42% with allele frequency t= 0.5424. There were more male (33.62%) non tasters than female (25.0%), but more female (75.0%) tasters than male (66.38%). This observation was statistically significant (p= 0.0444).Our findings support the bimodal inheritance of PTC taste sensitivity among Nigerians. Overall trend of ABO blood group was O > B >A > AB. This same trend was observed for females but differed for males (O> B = A> AB). O blood group was the highest while AB group was the least among studied Nigerians in both genders. The distribution pattern did not differ significantly (p= 0.1406) from those expected under Hardy–Weinberg Law. 93.14% of the studied population was Rh+ (DD and Dd) and there were more Rh+ males than females but more Rh females than males. The proportions and distributions of Rh factor amongstudied population did not show statistical significance (X2= 0.6047, df = 1, P = 0.4624). The overall allele frequency of the blood group as computed according to Hardy–Weinberg Law is r = 0.8201, q= 0.0977 and p= 0.0822. Similar trend in allele frequency was observed for both genders. The allele frequency for Rh+ (D) is 0.7381 and Rh (d)= 0.2619. This trend is also similar in both sexes. Among the six haemoglobin variants common to Nigerians CC was not detected in our study. The other five were observed in the order AA (76.55%)> AS (20.35%)> AC (1.99%) > SS (0.66%) >SC (0.44%). The overall allele frequency was A =0.8772, S =0.1106, C = 0.0122.Conclusion: The findings from this study provide information on the studied traits. It will provide background information for further studies and will be useful to clinicians, geneticists and anthropologists with respect to blood transfusion, marriage counseling and population studies

A correlation study on conflict management styles and teachers’ productivity in public secondary schools in Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between conflict management styles and teachers’ productivity in public secondary schools in Adamawa state, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 1,528 teachers from public secondary schools situated in the five educational zones in the state. A self structured instrument entitled “Conflict Management Styles and Teachers’ Productivity” (CMSTP) was used to gather data for the study. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Teachers most frequently used collaborating style (X̄ =3.1) during conflict situations. Accommodating (r = 0.07; p &lt; 0.05), collaborating (r = 0.32; p &lt; 0.05) and compromising (r = 0.10; p &lt; 0.05) styles were significantly related to teachers’ productivity. Competing style (r = -0.01; p &gt; 0.05) and avoiding style (r = 0.04; p &gt; 0.05) were not significantly related to teachers’ productivity. Thus, teachers should be adequately exposed to conflict dynamics and its management approaches so as to make them more proactive in handling conflicts for better performance in their schools.Keywords: conflict, conflict management styles, teachers productivity, public secondary schoo