Students' Opinion on Substance Use,Violent Behavior and Possible Intervention Strategies in a Nigerian Public University

This study investigated students’ opinion on substance use, violent behavior and possible intervention strategies in a Nigerian public university. Two hundred and ninety three participants consisting of 147 males and 146 females with the mean age of 23.67 (SD=3.77) were sampled. A questionnaire designed to elicit student’s opinion on substance use prevalence and proclivity for violent behavior as a result of substance use was administered on the participants using a descriptive cross-sectional research design for data collection. Analysis revealed that majority of the students saw substance abuse as a problem in the university (80.5%), and majority have witnessed violence resulting from substance use (61.4%). Alcohol and marijuana were the top two on the list of substances abused by male and female students and it was reported that violent behaviors like sexual assault, physical assault and violent crimes were common to students after they had abused substance. It was suggested by the respondents that the university authority should use regulation and enlightenment to control substance abuse and use punishment and counseling among others to control violent behavior among student

Studies on genetic polymorphism of improved cowpea varieties using Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) marker

Open Access JournalBackground and Objective: Several new varieties are released from breeding programs targeted at solving specific threats to cowpea production in Nigeria. As part of efforts to promote crop improvement, this study was carried out to determine the level of genetic polymorphism and phylogenetic relationship that exists among four selected improved varieties of cowpea (SAMPEA-14, SAMPEA-15, SAMPEA-17 and SAMPEA-18) using ten SSR molecular markers. Materials and Methods: The DNA was extracted from 14 days old seedling using the CTAB method. A total of 10 SSR primers were used in the DNA amplification process on a programmed thermal cycler followed by electrophoresis, visualization and scoring of the banding pattern. Data were analyzed on the Minitab 16.0 software for clustering patterns while the Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) of each primer was calculated. Results: Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.619 in RB20 to 0.881 in RB38 primers. The top three markers in PIC values were RB38 (PIC = 0.881), CLM0342 (PIC = 0.873) and RB7 (PIC = 0.866). The mean PIC of the ten primers was 0.884. The genetic similarity index of the dendrogram was very low as SAMPEA-17 showed the lowest similarity coefficients of 18.35 away from other varieties while SAMPEA-15 had similarity coefficients of 33.33. Conclusion: This study has revealed high genetic differences among the four varieties studied. All of the varieties may be used as genetic materials in breeding work to improve local landraces to achieve sustainable cowpea production and food security in Nigeria

Epidemiology of stone disease across the world

Abstract Nephrolithiasis is a highly prevalent disease worldwide with rates ranging from 7 to 13% in North America, 5-9% in Europe, and 1-5% in Asia. Due to high rates of new and recurrent stones, management of stones is expensive and the disease has a high level of acute and chronic morbidity. The goal of this study is to review the epidemiology of stone disease in order to improve patient care. A review of the literature was conducted through a search on Pubmed®, Medline®, and Google Scholar®. This review was presented and peer-reviewed at the 3rd International Consultation on Stone Disease during the 2014 Société Internationale d\u27Urologie Congress in Glasgow. It represents an update of the 2008 consensus document based on expert opinion of the most relevant studies. There has been a rising incidence in stone disease throughout the world with a narrowing of the gender gap. Increased stone prevalence has been attributed to population growth and increases in obesity and diabetes. General dietary recommendations of increased fluid, decreased salt, and moderate intake of protein have not changed. However, specific recommended values have either changed or are more frequently reported. Geography and environment influenced the likelihood of stone disease and more information is needed regarding stone disease in a large portion of the world including Asia and Africa. Randomized controlled studies are lacking but are necessary to improve recommendations regarding diet and fluid intake. Understanding the impact of associated conditions that are rapidly increasing will improve the prevention of stone disease