Zooplankton as bioindicators ofwater quality in Jakara dam, Kano state, Nigeria

The study of zooplankton as bioindicators of water quality in Jakara Dam was carried out for a period of 12 months (March,2013-February 2014). Zooplankton and water samples were collected and analyzed using standard methods. Sampling sites designated as A, B,C,D, and E were chosen. Result of physico-chemical parameters analysed showed that temperature, secchi disk transparency, pH and electrical conductivity ranged between 25.3-23.9, 10.7-57.9 cm, 7.9-7.7 and 856.7- 817.9 μS/cm respectively, so also dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate and phosphate ranged between 4.5-3.3 mg/l, 2.5-1.7 mg/l, 23.8-14.3 mg/l, and 15.8-12.5mg/l respectively. Among the zooplankton, Rotifers were the dominant, contributing 27.10% of the total fauna composition. Cladocerans constituted 26.99%, Cyclopoida 16.15%, Calanoida 15.08%, and Protozoans 14.68%. However, a combined total of 36 zooplankton species were encountered, Rotifers had 10, Cladocerans 10, Cyclopoida 6, Protozoans 6, and Calanoida 4. The total fauna composition recorded was 2606.58 Org/l with the highest zooplankton density recorded at site D (631.64 Org/l) and lowest at site A (384.31 Org/l). Bosmina longirostris had the highest total species count of 250.88 Org/l while Afrocyclops monodi had 7.02 Org/l. Rotifers are signs of deteriorating condition of the water quality. Pearson’s correlation existed between zooplankton, nitrate, phosphate and electrical conductivity at P<0.01. During the period of this study, site A had low secchi disk transparency,high level of nitrate and phosphate. This is due to human activities taking place at the site.In a bid to providing safe water for domestic and industrial uses, water treatment plant should be provided to help in water treatment especially at site A (Bela community) of this research area.Key words: Bela community, Deteriorating, Zooplankton, Water Quality, Jakara Da

Flora composition of phytoplankton as bioindicators of water quality in Jakara dam, Kano state, Nigeria

A study on phytoplankton as bioindicators of water quality in Jakara Dam was carried out for a period of 12 months (March, 2013-February 2014). Phytoplankton and water samples were collected and analyzed using standard methods. Sampling sites designated as A, B, C, D, and E were chosen. Physico-chemical parameters showed temperature, secchi disk transparency, pH, and electrical conductivity ranged between 25.3-23.9, 10.7-57.9 cm, 7.9-7.7 and 856.7- 817.9μs/cm respectively, so also dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate and phosphate ranged between 4.5-3.3 mg/l, 2.5-1.7 mg/l, 23.8-14.3 mg/l, and 15.8-12.5mg/l respectively. Cyanophyceae were the most dominant contributing 56.8% of the total flora composition, followed by Bacillariophyceae (23.2%) and Chlorophyceae (23.0%). A combined total of 23 species of phytoplankton were encountered. Cyanophyceae 9, Bacillariophyceae 7 and Chlorophyceae 7. The total flora count obtained was 3255.93 Org/l. The highest phytoplankton density was recorded at site D (870.18 Org/l) and lowest at site A (454.39 Org/l). Oscillatoria spp. had the highest total species count (1131.58) org/l while Anthophysa vegetans had the lowest (10.53 Org/l). High percentages of organic pollution indicators Oscillatoria spp and Microcystis aerogenosa were signs of deteriorating condition of the water quality. Shannon - Weiner’s and Evenness Indices values were higher in the months of wet season than in dry season, while the Simpson’s Index values were low. The total flora counts were higher in dry season. In the wet season, Pearson’s Coefficient analysis showed that there was positive relationship between temperature and nitrate and BOD at P< 0.05. Likewise between DO and phytoplankton, BOD and nitrate and phosphate at P< 0.01. During the period of this study, site A had low secchi disk transparency, high level of nitrate and phosphate. This is due to human activities taking place at the site. Shannon - Weiner’s Index value indicated that the site is more polluted. Government and stakeholders should strengthen their legislation against indiscriminate and improper waste disposal along water-ways, dams inclusive. This will ease inflow and check contamination to a large extent.Keywords: Bioindicators, Indicies, Jakara Dam, Physico-chemical parameters, Phytoplankto

Potassium Bromate Content of Bread Produced in Sokoto Metropolis

Fifteen different bread samples were randomly collected from various local bakeries located in Sokoto metropolis. The samples were analysed for presence and quantity of potassium bromate. All the samples were analysed using the redox titrimetric method for the detection of potassium bromate. All the samples contained potassium bromate with sample L having the highest quantity (56.20mg/g) and sample D having the lowest quantity of potassium bromate (14.70mg/g). This study has shown that in spite of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) campaign for bromate-free bread most of the bread marketed and consumed in Sokotometropolis contains potassium bromate with the quantity varying from one bakery to another. This suggests that consumers of marketed bread in Sokoto stand the risk of potassium bromate toxicity.Key words: Bread, Potassium, bromat

Free Wave Propagation in Plates of General Anisotropic Media

The propagation of Lamb waves in plates has been the subject of numerous investigations since their postulation by Lamb in 1916 [1,2]. Most of the work in existence deals with various aspects of these guided waves in plates of isotropic materials. Comparatively speaking a limited number of results has appeared in which Lamb or horizontaly polarized SH wave propagation in anisotropic plates has been considered in any detail. For Lamb waves, theoretical analyses have been reported in plates of cubic [3,4], transversely isotropic [5,6], and orthotropic [7,9] media

Monoclonal antibody induced with inactived EV71-Hn2 virus protects mice against lethal EV71-Hn2 virus infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a viral pathogen that belongs to the <it>Picornaviridae </it>family, EV71-infected children can develop severe neurological complications leading to rapid clinical deterioration and death.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, several monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were produced by immunizing mice with the inactived EV71 Henan (Hn2) virus strain. The isolated MAbs were characterised by <it>in vitro </it>neutralizing analysis and peptide ELISA. ELISA assay showed that the neutralizing monoclonal antibody 4E8 specifically reacted with synthetic peptides which contain amino acid 240-250 and 250-260 of EV71 VP1. The <it>in vivo </it>protection assay showed that 4E8 can protect two-day-old BALB/c mice against the lethal challenge of EV71 virus.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The MAb 4E8 could be a promising candidate to be humanized and used for treatment of EV71 infection.</p

Nipah Virus Transmission in a Hamster Model

Based on epidemiological data, it is believed that human-to-human transmission plays an important role in Nipah virus outbreaks. No experimental data are currently available on the potential routes of human-to-human transmission of Nipah virus. In a first dose-finding experiment in Syrian hamsters, it was shown that Nipah virus was predominantly shed via the respiratory tract within nasal and oropharyngeal secretions. Although Nipah viral RNA was detected in urogenital and rectal swabs, no infectious virus was recovered from these samples, suggesting no viable virus was shed via these routes. In addition, hamsters inoculated with high doses shed significantly higher amounts of viable Nipah virus particles in comparison with hamsters infected with lower inoculum doses. Using the highest inoculum dose, three potential routes of Nipah virus transmission were investigated in the hamster model: transmission via fomites, transmission via direct contact and transmission via aerosols. It was demonstrated that Nipah virus is transmitted efficiently via direct contact and inefficiently via fomites, but not via aerosols. These findings are in line with epidemiological data which suggest that direct contact with nasal and oropharyngeal secretions of Nipah virus infected individuals resulted in greater risk of Nipah virus infection. The data provide new and much-needed insights into the modes and efficiency of Nipah virus transmission and have important public health implications with regards to the risk assessment and management of future Nipah virus outbreaks

The Economic Impact of Eradicating Peste des Petits Ruminants:A Benefit-Cost Analysis

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an important cause of mortality and production loss among sheep and goats in the developing world. Despite control efforts in a number of countries, it has continued to spread across Africa and Asia, placing an increasing burden on the livelihoods of livestock keepers and on veterinary resources in affected countries. Given the similarities between PPR and rinderpest, and the lessons learned from the successful global eradication of rinderpest, the eradication of PPR seems appealing, both eliminating an important disease and improving the livelihoods of the poor in developing countries. We conducted a benefit-cost analysis to examine the conomic returns from a proposed programme for the global eradication of PPR. Based on our knowledge and experience, we developed the eradication strategy and estimated its costs. The benefits of the programme were determined from (i) the averted mortality costs, based on an analysis of the literature, (ii) the downstream impact of reduced mortality using a social accounting matrix, and (iii) the avoided control costs based on current levels of vaccination. The results of the benefit-cost analysis suggest strong economic returns from PPR eradication. Based on a 15-year programme with total discounted costs of US$2.26 billion, we estimate discounted benefits of US$76.5 billion, yielding a net benefit of US$74.2 billion. This suggests a benefit cost ratio of 33.8, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 199%. As PPR mortality rates are highly variable in different populations, we conducted a sensitivity analysis based on lower and higher mortality scenarios. All the scenarios examined indicate that investment in PPR eradication would be highly beneficial economically. Furthermore, removing one of the major constraints to small ruminant production would be of considerable benefit to many of the most vulnerable communities in Africa and Asia

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015:a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Non-fatal outcomes of disease and injury increasingly detract from the ability of the world's population to live in full health, a trend largely attributable to an epidemiological transition in many countries from causes affecting children, to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) more common in adults. For the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015), we estimated the incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for diseases and injuries at the global, regional, and national scale over the period of 1990 to 2015.Methods We estimated incidence and prevalence by age, sex, cause, year, and geography with a wide range of updated and standardised analytical procedures. Improvements from GBD 2013 included the addition of new data sources, updates to literature reviews for 85 causes, and the identification and inclusion of additional studies published up to November, 2015, to expand the database used for estimation of non-fatal outcomes to 60 900 unique data sources. Prevalence and incidence by cause and sequelae were determined with DisMod-MR 2.1, an improved version of the DisMod-MR Bayesian meta-regression tool first developed for GBD 2010 and GBD 2013. For some causes, we used alternative modelling strategies where the complexity of the disease was not suited to DisMod-MR 2.1 or where incidence and prevalence needed to be determined from other data. For GBD 2015 we created a summary indicator that combines measures of income per capita, educational attainment, and fertility (the Socio-demographic Index [SDI]) and used it to compare observed patterns of health loss to the expected pattern for countries or locations with similar SDI scores.Findings We generated 9.3 billion estimates from the various combinations of prevalence, incidence, and YLDs for causes, sequelae, and impairments by age, sex, geography, and year. In 2015, two causes had acute incidences in excess of 1 billion: upper respiratory infections (17.2 billion, 95% uncertainty interval [UI] 15.4-19.2 billion) and diarrhoeal diseases (2.39 billion, 2.30-2.50 billion). Eight causes of chronic disease and injury each affected more than 10% of the world's population in 2015: permanent caries, tension-type headache, iron-deficiency anaemia, age-related and other hearing loss, migraine, genital herpes, refraction and accommodation disorders, and ascariasis. The impairment that affected the greatest number of people in 2015 was anaemia, with 2.36 billion (2.35-2.37 billion) individuals affected. The second and third leading impairments by number of individuals affected were hearing loss and vision loss, respectively. Between 2005 and 2015, there was little change in the leading causes of years lived with disability (YLDs) on a global basis. NCDs accounted for 18 of the leading 20 causes of age-standardised YLDs on a global scale. Where rates were decreasing, the rate of decrease for YLDs was slower than that of years of life lost (YLLs) for nearly every cause included in our analysis. For low SDI geographies, Group 1 causes typically accounted for 20-30% of total disability, largely attributable to nutritional deficiencies, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Lower back and neck pain was the leading global cause of disability in 2015 in most countries. The leading cause was sense organ disorders in 22 countries in Asia and Africa and one in central Latin America; diabetes in four countries in Oceania; HIV/AIDS in three southern sub-Saharan African countries; collective violence and legal intervention in two north African and Middle Eastern countries; iron-deficiency anaemia in Somalia and Venezuela; depression in Uganda; onchoceriasis in Liberia; and other neglected tropical diseases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Interpretation Ageing of the world's population is increasing the number of people living with sequelae of diseases and injuries. Shifts in the epidemiological profile driven by socioeconomic change also contribute to the continued increase in years lived with disability (YLDs) as well as the rate of increase in YLDs. Despite limitations imposed by gaps in data availability and the variable quality of the data available, the standardised and comprehensive approach of the GBD study provides opportunities to examine broad trends, compare those trends between countries or subnational geographies, benchmark against locations at similar stages of development, and gauge the strength or weakness of the estimates available. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.</p