Quality Assessment of Borehole Water in-Terms of Selected Physicochemical Parameters in Maiduguri Urban Areas, Borno State, Nigeria

In Nigeria, over 120 million peoples use boreholes as their main source of drinking water and in-view of the increasing volume of solid waste materials in Maiduguri, it has become exigencies to evaluate the quality of borehole waters in the city. The objective of this paper is therefore to evaluate some physicochemical characteristic of borehole water samples in Maiduguri urban areas Borno State, Nigeria using standard methods. Result obtained revealed that the pH of all the water samples was within the range of 6.5 to 8.5 as recommended limit by World Health Organization (WHO). Except for the pH of borehole water at Bulumkutu ward which is acidic (6.2). The pHs of all the water from the three wards were alkaline. The total dissolved solid and the electrical conductivity of water samples from the three wards fall within the limit of WHO, except water samples from Ngarannam (1100 mg/l) and (2220 uS/cm). The concentration of major ions (Na, Mg and K) fall far below the WHO recommended limit and thus the water can said to be excellent in terms of these elements. Except for Cl ion (262 mg/g) at borehole water in Gwange ward fall above the permissible limit by WHO. The study recommends performing regular testing of different water sources within the study area to ensure that commensurate attention given is maintaining a healthy population

PREVENTIVE AND CURATIVE HEALTH SERVICES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BORNO STATE, NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNSELLING

The study which was a survey, investigated the preventive and curative health services in secondary schools in Borno State. Target population of the study comprised of 6,786 senior secondary school students. However, 7,500 staff and students constituted the sample for the study. Researchers’ self-authored instrument tagged “School Health Services Questionnaire” (SHSQ) was used in collecting data for the study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Three research questions and two null-hypotheses piloted the study. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages were used in answering the research questions while t-test was used in testing the null-hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. Results of the study revealed that nutritional, medical, immunization and preventive health services are the top most preventive and curative health services rendered in secondary schools in Borno State, while health evaluation and health counselling constituted the least health services rendered. The study also revealed significant differences between school location and health services rendered in secondary schools and that significant differences also exist between school type and health services rendered in secondary schools in Borno State, Nigeria. The implications of these findings to counselling were discussed.  Article visualizations

Domestic groundwater abstraction in Lagos, Nigeria: a disjuncture in the Science-Policy-Practice Interface?

The rapid development of groundwater systems as part of urban water supplies around the globe is raising critical questions regarding the sustainable management of this essential resource. Yet, in many major cities, the absence of an effective policy regime means that the practice of groundwater exploitation is driven by the actions of domestic households and drilling contractors. Understanding what shapes the decisions and practices of these actors, their understandings of the groundwater resource and the extent to which scientific knowledge shapes this understanding, is an area of critical importance that is currently under-researched. Using a mixed-methods methodology, the paper explores domestic practices of groundwater abstraction in Lagos, Nigeria. It finds that there is a disjuncture between the households who are actively shaping exploitation of the groundwater resource on a day-to-day basis and science and state actors. This disjuncture results in household decisions that are influenced by commonly held, but potentially outdated, perceptions of the groundwater resource rather than scientific evidence or policy instruments. The unseen nature of groundwater resources effectively renders the scale of changing groundwater conditions invisible to households and the state, adding to the challenge of influencing practice. Addressing this disjuncture requires not just more scientific knowledge, but also the active construction of interfaces with, and between, non-state actors through which knowledge can be confronted, discussed and shared

Resilience in groundwater supply systems: integrating resource based approaches with agency, behaviour and choice

Access to safe and reliable water supplies is a key goal for households and governments across most of Africa. Groundwater reserves can play a critical role in achieving this, yet risks of contamination and over-abstraction threaten to undermine the resilience of this supply. A rapidly rising trend for privately-developed wells and boreholes raises additional concerns about the vulnerability of water supplies to natural or man-made environmental shocks. The potential scale of the situation is particularly marked in Nigeria where the use of boreholes has increased exponentially since 1999 (from 10% of the population to 38% in 2015), with most other forms of water supply, notably piped tap water, falling. Developing effective groundwater management approaches that build the resilience of communities is challenging, not least given the range of different actors involved, their competing interests and demands, and variations in the hydrogeological environment. Insights from resilience studies in social science emphasise how the resilience of ecological resources to shocks and change is critically linked to the adaptive capacity of social systems and their agents. Choices made now have long-lasting effects, yet these choices are little understood. Understanding the choices made by consumers, drillers and policy actors requires a strong interdisciplinary dimension and argues for new perspectives as to how the resilience of communities and societies might be built. The project brings together a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between academics from the UK and Nigeria working in the fields of economic geography, psychology, hydrogeology and journalism studies

Glubodies: randomized libraries of glutathione transferase enzymes

AbstractBackground: The immunoglobulin framework has been mutagenized to engineer recombinant libraries of proteins as potential diagnostics and novel catalysts, although the often shallow binding cleft may limit the utility of this framework for binding diverse small organic molecules. By contrast, the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family of enzymes contains a deep binding cleft, which has evolved to accommodate a broad range of hydrophobic xenobiotics. We set out to determine whether GST molecules with novel ligand-binding characteristics could be produced by random mutagenesis of segments of the binding cleft.Results: We have identified two ligand-recognition segments (LRSs) in human GST P1, which are near the active site in the folded protein, but have characteristics indicating that the integrity of their sequence is not essential for the overall structure or activity of the protein. Libraries of GST P1-derived proteins were produced by substituting randomized sequences for an LRS or inserting random sequences into an LRS. The recombinant proteins in the libraries, collectively designated as ‘glubodies,’ generally retain enzymatic activity but differ markedly both from each other and from the parent enzyme in sensitivity to inhibition by diverse small organic compounds. In some instances, a glubody is inhibited by completely novel structures.Conclusions: We have shown that a non-antibody framework can be used to create large libraries of proteins with a wide range of binding specificities for small organic molecules. The glubodies provide a rich source of data for correlating the structural and functional features of proteins relevant to ligand binding. The criteria applied for identifying an LRS in GST P1 are generally applicable to other protein frameworks

Risks and resilience of private boreholes in Lagos, Nigeria

Water security is one of the most pressing risks facing the world. In urban areas, rapidly growing population coupled with rising incomes, falling costs, and often an absent or unreliable public water supply, mean that increasing numbers of households are choosing to install private boreholes to meet their domestic water needs. This trend is particularly prevalent in emerging global mega-cities such as Lagos, Nigeria. This multidisciplinary study begins to address the question: Does the proliferation of private boreholes strengthen or weaken the resilience of Lagos and its residents to future environmental shocks

Understanding risks and resilience of private boreholes in Lagos, Nigeria

Water security is one of the most pressing risks facing the world. In urban areas, rapidly growing population coupled with rising incomes, falling costs, and often an absent or unreliable public water supply, mean that increasing numbers of households are choosing to install private boreholes to meet their domestic water needs. This trend is particularly prevalent in emerging global mega-cities such as Lagos, Nigeria. Through a series of internet, household, and water point surveys, this multidisciplinary study begins to address the question: does the proliferation of private boreholes strengthen or weaken the resilience of Lagos and its residents to future environmental shocks? A broad internet survey shows that 68% of 500 respondents make use of private boreholes on a daily basis, either as their primary water source or used conjunctively with other sources. Attitudes to groundwater are overwhelmingly positive, with a majority considering this a reliable source in terms of quality and quantity, and agreeing that access to a private borehole increases households’ water security, helping families to cope with possible water shortages in future. The majority of borehole owners perceive no risks associated with long-term groundwater availability, with 89% agreeing that water is abundant and 86% holding the view that borehole owners should be able to abstract as much water as they like. The results of a focused water-point and household survey, carried out at 40 private groundwater sources across Lagos, agree with these findings. Of those surveyed, the majority derive their domestic water from privately owned hand-dug wells and boreholes, and sachet water. Water point users have positive perceptions of the water quality from these sources, with 90% of boreholes and 80% of hand-dug wells thought to provide good quality water. However, water quality analyses show that individual’s perceptions do not always reflect reality. One third of boreholes and over 80% of shallow wells surveyed display unsafe levels of E. Coli. Of those sources perceived as good quality, almost 40% are classed as unsafe for drinking, according to measured levels of E. Coli. The collective enthusiasm for unlimited and expanding groundwater extraction in the city of Lagos coupled with a demonstrated lack of groundwater governance and regulation, while increasing individuals’ resilience to issues of water shortage in the present, may decrease the resilience of the wider community in the long-term. Understanding the role of agency and communicating the potential risks associated with uncontrolled groundwater development, across a range of actors and agencies, may be critical to avoid future conflict between individual and societal resilience to environmental shocks

A systematic review on the effect of sweeteners on glycemic response and clinically relevant outcomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The major metabolic complications of obesity and type 2 diabetes may be prevented and managed with dietary modification. The use of sweeteners that provide little or no calories may help to achieve this objective.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We did a systematic review and network meta-analysis of the comparative effectiveness of sweetener additives using Bayesian techniques. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and CAB Global were searched to January 2011. Randomized trials comparing sweeteners in obese, diabetic, and healthy populations were selected. Outcomes of interest included weight change, energy intake, lipids, glycated hemoglobin, markers of insulin resistance and glycemic response. Evidence-based items potentially indicating risk of bias were assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 3,666 citations, we identified 53 eligible randomized controlled trials with 1,126 participants. In diabetic participants, fructose reduced 2-hour blood glucose concentrations by 4.81 mmol/L (95% CI 3.29, 6.34) compared to glucose. Two-hour blood glucose concentration data comparing hypocaloric sweeteners to sucrose or high fructose corn syrup were inconclusive. Based on two ≤10-week trials, we found that non-caloric sweeteners reduced energy intake compared to the sucrose groups by approximately 250-500 kcal/day (95% CI 153, 806). One trial found that participants in the non-caloric sweetener group had a decrease in body mass index compared to an increase in body mass index in the sucrose group (-0.40 vs 0.50 kg/m², and -1.00 vs 1.60 kg/m², respectively). No randomized controlled trials showed that high fructose corn syrup or fructose increased levels of cholesterol relative to other sweeteners.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Considering the public health importance of obesity and its consequences; the clearly relevant role of diet in the pathogenesis and maintenance of obesity; and the billions of dollars spent on non-caloric sweeteners, little high-quality clinical research has been done. Studies are needed to determine the role of hypocaloric sweeteners in a wider population health strategy to prevent, reduce and manage obesity and its consequences.</p

Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa

Abstract: Neuroscience research in Africa remains sparse. Devising new policies to boost Africa’s neuroscience landscape is imperative, but these must be based on accurate data on research outputs which is largely lacking. Such data must reflect the heterogeneity of research environments across the continent’s 54 countries. Here, we analyse neuroscience publications affiliated with African institutions between 1996 and 2017. Of 12,326 PubMed indexed publications, 5,219 show clear evidence that the work was performed in Africa and led by African-based researchers - on average ~5 per country and year. From here, we extract information on journals and citations, funding, international coauthorships and techniques used. For reference, we also extract the same metrics from 220 randomly selected publications each from the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Our dataset provides insights into the current state of African neuroscience research in a global context