Functional roles of mangroves of the Niger Delta to the coastal communities and national economy

Mangrove swamps supply various goods and provide invaluable ecological services, especially as critical habitats for fish breeding. These functions are discussed in the context of rural livelihoods of coastal dwellers in the Niger Delta in particular, and the contribution to national economies in general. The decline in capture fisheries production in Nigeria is partly linked to massive mangrove loss in the Niger Delta. This provides basis for urgent evolution of effective mangrove conservation schemes in the Niger Delta and for focused research on the interaction between the delta mangroves and inland/coastal fish recruitment and production dynamics

Water quality of Bodo Creek in the lower Niger Delta basin

The dynamics of some physicochemical parameters of Bodo Creek on the upper reaches of theAndoni-Bonny river system were studied between December 2005 and July 2006. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in Secchi Disc Transparency and salinity, while temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand(BOD), phosphate and nitrate concentrations were similar (P>0.05) between the spatial grids. The values recorded ranged from 26.7 to 30.1°C (Temperature);73-157 cm (Secchi Disc Transperancy); 6.2-22.7%0 (Salinity); 4.6-11.8 mgtl (DO); 0.7-8.2 mgtl (BOD); 0.047-2.300 mgtl (Phosphate) and 0.013 to 0.873 mgtl (nitrate). There were obvious seasonal flux in the ecological variables (P<0.05), except nitrate concentrations that were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The usefulnessof the results infuture monitoring and possible reasons for the observed environmental gradients are discussed

Evaluating communicable disease surveillance in resource-poor settings: A new approach applied to meningitis surveillance in Chad.

Background The costs of improving surveillance systems in resource-poor settings are largely unknown. Though several communicable disease surveillance systems have been evaluated, they rarely provide precise evidence to facilitate decision making or support appeals to increase and sustain surveillance system investments. This thesis seeks to empirically test the potential benefit of a novel evaluation approach, which assesses both cost and performance of surveillance. Methods The thesis and PhD research compromises four components: 1) a structured literature review to describe and examine evaluation methods of communicable disease surveillance systems; 2) an application of the ingredients costing approach to retrospectively determine meningitis surveillance costs in Chad in 2012; 3) a work-process analysis structured evaluation and identification of performance gaps through interviews at health facilities and at each administrative level across seven districts in southern Chad; and 4) an estimation of the costs to upgrading and implementing a more sensitive system to assess the long term impact of the newly introduced serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine in Chad. Results The literature review highlighted the necessity of granular evaluation methods in low-resource settings where surveillance data at supra-peripheral levels are less reliable. In Chad, optimal surveillance was severely hampered by limited resources. Only four percent of probable meningitis cases had a known outcome. Missing and unreliable data affected case detection; in three of the districts, zero meningitis cases were reported during 2012. In the other four districts, reported cases varied between 11 and 149 per 100,000 populations. The total costs of meningitis surveillance in Chad were estimated at US$393,000, equivalent to US$ 0.03 per capita. The work-process analytic 3 approach was used to detail an upgrading plan of resources and inputs and a 123% incremental increase in annual costs was estimated as needed to upgrade meningitis surveillance to an optimal standard. Sentinel district case-based surveillance was recommended as the most feasible and sustainable strategy. Conclusion The systematic approach for assessing performance gaps and the associated costs provided rich data that stakeholders found useful for policy and programme change. This approach underscores the benefit of understanding specific contexts in order to yield the most relevant and meaningful evidence for surveillance system strengthening

Mortality rates of fish species within the Andoni River, Niger Delta, Nigeria and management measures

Pooled one-year (January to December, 1999) length-frequency data of fish species sampled from catches of five randomly selected artisanal fishers, using unmotorized dug-out canoe were fed into FISAT (FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tool) to evaluate mortality coefficients. The resultant natural mortality coefficients of the11 commercially important fish species showed that Sarotherodon melanotheron (2.24y ('), Galeoides decadactylus (1.96y(1), Eucinostomus melanopterus (1.58 y(,), Tilapia guineensis (1.44 y('), Pseudotolithus elongatus (1.22 y(,) and Ilisha africana (1.08 y(1) had the highest natural mortality rates and indicative of fast growth (i.e. rapidly approaching asymptotic length (Loo); the reverse being true for Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (0.66 y(1); Pomadasys jubelini (0.74 y('); Ethmalosa fimbriata (0.78 vr'). Lutjanus goreensis and Uzagrandisquamis (0.87 yr'). The generally high total mortality values of 0.88 y(1 for C. nigrodigitatusto3.83 y(' (P. elongatus) points to death due not only to legal fishing activities but also great impacts from illegal and obnoxious fishing practices, pollution, environmental degradation, and the consequent need for management of the fishery resource within the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Management measures such as enforced licensing and registration of fishers and fishing craft, establishment of marine reserve areas and fishing registration centers would enhance sustainable use of the economically viable fishery resources within the coastal states of Nigeria and West Africa at large. Pooled one-year (January to December, 1999) length-frequency data of fish species sampled from catches of five randomly selected artisanal fishers, using unmotorized dug-out canoe were fed into FISAT (FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tool) to evaluate mortality coefficients. The resultant natural mortality coefficients of the11 commercially important fish species showed that Sarotherodon melanotheron (2.24y ('), Galeoides decadactylus (1.96y(1), Eucinostomus melanopterus (1.58 y(,), Tilapia guineensis (1.44 y('), Pseudotolithus elongatus (1.22 y(,) and Ilisha africana (1.08 y(1) had the highest natural mortality rates and indicative of fast growth (i.e. rapidly approaching asymptotic length (Loo); the reverse being true for Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (0.66 y(1); Pomadasys jubelini (0.74 y('); Ethmalosa fimbriata (0.78 vr'). Lutjanus goreensis and Uzagrandisquamis (0.87 yr'). The generally high total mortality values of 0.88 y(1 for C. nigrodigitatusto3.83 y(' (P. elongatus) points to death due not only to legal fishing activities but also great impacts from illegal and obnoxious fishing practices, pollution, environmental degradation, and the consequent need for management of the fishery resource within the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Management measures such as enforced licensing and registration of fishers and fishing craft, establishment of marine reserve areas and fishing registration centers would enhance sustainable use of the economically viable fishery resources within the coastal states of Nigeria and West Africa at large

Assessment of the Physicochemical Parameters of Bodo Creek, Rivers State, Nigeria: A Pre-spill, Post-spill and Post-clean-up Review

Water bodies are a source of ecosystem services such as water supply, production, recreation, and aesthetics. In 2008, two major oil spills took place in Bodo creek. A major challenge with the assessment and monitoring of an environment is the lack of baseline data. However, Bodo Creek has been studied extensively. This paper, therefore, reviews pre-spill, post-spill, and post-clean-up studies on physicochemical parameters in Bodo Creek. This paper revealed that the difference in the levels of the physicochemical parameters including pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and temperature in Bodo Creek, before and after the oil spill was not statistically significant (P &gt; 0.05); other physicochemical parameters examined in this paper are alkalinity, total hardness, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total dissolved solids (TDS). This paper also revealed that pH and temperature were higher in the post-cleanup study, while DO and conductivity were higher in the pre-cleanup study. BOD was significantly higher in the post-spill study than the pre-spill study, indicating a high level of pollution as a result of the oil spill. This review also shows that there are higher pH and temperature levels in post-clean-up studies than the pre-cleanup studies. Preclean-up DO and conductivity were higher than the levels in the post-clean-up study

Canagliflozin for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events: results from the CANVAS Program (Canagliflozin Cardiovascular Assessment Study)

BACKGROUND : Canagliflozin is a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor that significantly reduces the composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and elevated cardiovascular risk. The comparative effects among participants with and without a history of cardiovascular disease (secondary versus primary prevention) were prespecified for evaluation. METHODS : The CANVAS Program (Canagliflozin Cardiovascular Assessment Study) randomly assigned 10 142 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus to canagliflozin or placebo. The primary prevention cohort comprised individuals ≥50 years of age with ≥2 risk factors for cardiovascular events but with no prior cardiovascular event, and the secondary prevention cohort comprised individuals ≥30 years of age with a prior cardiovascular event. The primary end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. Secondary outcomes included heart failure hospitalization and a renal composite (40% reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate, renal replacement therapy, or renal death). RESULTS : Primary prevention participants (N=3486; 34%) were younger (63 versus 64 years of age), were more often female (45% versus 31%), and had a longer duration of diabetes mellitus (14 versus 13 years) compared with secondary prevention participants (N=6656; 66%). The primary end point event rate was higher in the secondary prevention group compared with the primary prevention group (36.9 versus 15.7/1000 patient-years, P<0.001). In the total cohort, the primary end point was reduced with canagliflozin compared with placebo (26.9 versus 31.5/1000 patient-years; hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75-0.97; P<0.001 for noninferiority, P=0.02 for superiority) with no statistical evidence of heterogeneity (interaction P value=0.18) between the primary (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.74-1.30) and secondary prevention (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.95) cohorts. Renal outcomes (HR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.44-0.79 versus HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.39-1.02; interaction P value=0.73) and heart failure hospitalization (HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.90 versus HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.35-1.15; interaction P value=0.91) were similarly reduced in the secondary and primary prevention cohorts, respectively. Lower extremity amputations were similarly increased in the secondary and primary prevention cohorts (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.43-3.00 versus HR, 1.52; 95% CI, 0.70-3.29; interaction P value=0.63). CONCLUSIONS : Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and prior cardiovascular events had higher rates of cardiovascular outcomes compared with the primary prevention patients. Canagliflozin reduced cardiovascular and renal outcomes with no statistical evidence of heterogeneity of the treatment effect across the primary and secondary prevention groups. Additional studies will provide further insights into the effects of canagliflozin in these patient populations. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION : URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifiers: NCT01032629 and NCT01989754

Structure and Regulation of Type II Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase in Central Nervous System Neurons

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