Pediatric Endocrinology Practice in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward

The prevalence of endocrine disorders in children in Nigeria is not well known. Therefore the burden of these diseases is often overlooked as most cases are undiagnosed or diagnosed too late; and yet they constitute a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children. There has been a paucity of Paediatric Endocrinologists, absence of laboratory equipments and even drugs for the treatment of these diseases are often not in stock. The desired attention these endocrine diseases should receive from both health care institutions and the government is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this review article was to highlight the challenges facing the practice of Paediatric endocrinology in Nigeria and to proffer a way forward to building a robust endocrine care services in health institutions in Nigeria. Keywords: Challenges, endocrinology, paediatrics, way forwar

Aegilops tauschii Introgressions Improve Physio-Biochemical Traits and Metabolite Plasticity in Bread Wheat under Drought Stress

With the aim of providing genetic materials for breeding drought-resistant wheat varieties, the physiological and metabolic plasticity of three drought-resistant wheat multiple synthetic derivative lines (MSDLs) and their backcross parent “Norin 61” (N61) were evaluated in response to drought stress. The results indicated that the D-genome introgressions from Aegilops tauschii into the MDSLs improved their drought-adaptive traits. Specifically, MNH5 and MSD345 showed higher photosynthesis rates and triose phosphate utilization than N61 under control conditions, resulting in greater accumulation of glucose and sucrose in the shoots. However, under drought stress, MNH5 and MSD345 had higher intrinsic water use efficiency than MSD53 and N61. The total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase activity increased in all three MSDLs, whereas no significant changes were found in N61 in response to drought stress. Metabolome analysis identified six common drought-induced metabolites in all of the investigated genotypes. However, four metabolites (adenine, gamma aminobutyric acid, histidine, and putrescine) each specifically accumulated in an MSDL in response to drought stress, suggesting that these metabolites are important for MSDL drought resistance. In conclusion, MNH5 and MSD345 showed better adaptive responses to drought stress than MSD53 and N61, suggesting that these two MSDLs could be explored for breeding drought-resistant wheat lines

Salinity Effects on Morpho-Physiological and Yield Traits of Soybean (Glycine max L.) as Mediated by Foliar Spray with Brassinolide

Salinity episodes that are common in arid regions, characterized by dryland, are adversely affecting crop production worldwide. This study evaluated the effectiveness of brassinolide (BL) in ameliorating salinity stress imposed on soybean at four levels (control (1.10), 32.40, 60.60 and 86.30 mM/L NaCl) in factorial combination with six BL application frequency (control (BL0), application at seedling (BL1), flowering (BL2), podding (BL3), seedling + flowering (BL4) and seedling + flowering + podding (BL5)) stages. Plant growth attributes, seed yield, and N, P, K, Ca and Mg partitioning to leaves, stems and roots, as well as protein and seed-N concentrations, were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced by salinity stress. These trends were ascribed to considerable impairments in the photosynthetic pigments, photosynthetically active radiation, leaf stomatal conductance and relative water content in the leaves of seedlings under stress. The activity of peroxidase and superoxidase significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased with salinity. Foliar spray with BL significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the photosynthetic attributes, as well as nutrient partitioning, under stress, and alleviated ion toxicity by maintaining a favourable K+/Na+ ratio and decreasing oxidative damage. Foliar spray with brassinolide could sustain soybean growth and seed yield at salt concentrations up to 60.60 mM/L NaCl

Ethical issues and tobacco usage among secondary school students in Cross River State, Nigeria

Introduction: Even though tobacco is not a banned substance, there are moral principles guiding its use and advertisement. Among the ethical or moral principles guiding tobacco use are the sale of tobacco products to minors and the smoking in public places. Enforcement of legislation on such moral principles appear to be weak or nonexistent. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine ethical (moral) issues and the use of tobacco among secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was guided by three research questions. The survey research design was adopted in the study. The population of the study comprised 6,361 public secondary school students from 77 public secondary schools in the study area. Stratified and proportionate sampling techniques were used in selecting a sample of 620 respondents from 25 randomly selected secondary schools in the area. The instrument used for the study is a self-structured and administered questionnaire tagged: “Ethical Issues and Students' Tobacco Use Questionnaire (EISTUQ).” The instrument was treated using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method, to obtain internal consistency. A coefficient of .864 suggests that the instrument was usable for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and percentage. Results: The result of the analysis indicated that a ban on direct sales of cigarettes to minors, open advertisement of tobacco products, and ban on smoking in public places, significantly influenced students' use of tobacco respectively. Recommendations: Based on the results, it was recommended that government at all levels, should strictly enforce the ban on direct sales of cigarettes to minors; open advertisement of tobacco products through various advertorial channels; and ban on smoking in public places

Aegilops tauschii Introgressions Improve Physio-Biochemical Traits and Metabolite Plasticity in Bread Wheat under Drought Stress

With the aim of providing genetic materials for breeding drought-resistant wheat varieties, the physiological and metabolic plasticity of three drought-resistant wheat multiple synthetic derivative lines (MSDLs) and their backcross parent “Norin 61” (N61) were evaluated in response to drought stress. The results indicated that the D-genome introgressions from Aegilops tauschii into the MDSLs improved their drought-adaptive traits. Specifically, MNH5 and MSD345 showed higher photosynthesis rates and triose phosphate utilization than N61 under control conditions, resulting in greater accumulation of glucose and sucrose in the shoots. However, under drought stress, MNH5 and MSD345 had higher intrinsic water use efficiency than MSD53 and N61. The total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase activity increased in all three MSDLs, whereas no significant changes were found in N61 in response to drought stress. Metabolome analysis identified six common drought-induced metabolites in all of the investigated genotypes. However, four metabolites (adenine, gamma aminobutyric acid, histidine, and putrescine) each specifically accumulated in an MSDL in response to drought stress, suggesting that these metabolites are important for MSDL drought resistance. In conclusion, MNH5 and MSD345 showed better adaptive responses to drought stress than MSD53 and N61, suggesting that these two MSDLs could be explored for breeding drought-resistant wheat lines

Foliarly Applied 24-Epibrassinolide Modulates the Electrical Conductivity of the Saturated Rhizospheric Soil Extracts of Soybean under Salinity Stress

The accumulation of salts within the rhizosphere is a common phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions where irrigation water is high in salts. A previous study established the ameliorative effect of foliarly applied 24-epibrassinolide (BR) on soybean under salinity stress. As a follow-up to that study, this work evaluated the effects of BR on the electrical conductivity of saturated soil extracts (ECses) under soybean exposed to salt stress. Three salinity levels (3.24, 6.06 and 8.63 dS/m) in a factorial combination with six frequencies of BR application—control, seedling, flowering, podding, seedling + flowering and seedling + flowering + podding—were the treatments, and the rhizospheric ECse was monitored from 3 to 10 weeks after the commencement of irrigation with saline water (WAST). The principal component analysis revealed that samples in saline BR treatments clustered together based on the BR application frequencies. There was a significant increase in ECse with increases in salinity and WAST. The frequent application of BR significantly reduced ECse to 5.07 and 4.83 dS/m relative to the control with 6.91 dS/m, respectively, at week 10. At 8.63 dS/m, the application of BR (seedling + flowering + podding) reduced ECse by 31.96% compared with the control. The underlining mechanism is a subject for further investigation