Mangrove Species Distribution and Composition, Adaptive Strategies and Ecosystem Services in the Niger River Delta, Nigeria

Mangroves of the Niger River Delta grade into several plant communities from land to sea. This mangrove is a biodiversity hot spot, and one of the richest in ecosystem services in the world, but due to lack of data it is often not mentioned in many global mangrove studies. Inland areas are sandy and mostly inhabited by button wood mangroves (Conocarpus erectus) and grass species while seaward areas are mostly inhabited by red (Rhizophora racemosa), black (Laguncularia racemosa) and white (Avicennia germinans) mangroves species. Anthropogenic activities such as oil and gas exploration, deforestation, dredging, urbanization and invasive nypa palms had changed the soil type from swampy to sandy mud soil. Muddy soil supports nypa palms while sandy soil supports different grass species, core mangrove soil supports red mangroves (R. racemosa), which are the most dominant of all species, with importance value (Iv) of 52.02. The red mangroves are adapted to the swampy soils. They possess long root system (i.e. 10 m) that originates from the tree stem to the ground, to provide extra support. The red mangrove trees are economically most viable as the main source of fire wood for cooking, medicinal herbs and dyes for clothes

The Impact of Landscape Reclamation on Mangrove Forest and Coastal Areas in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Coastal area is in serious danger from land reclamation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. This is because of land expansion activities such as urban development. Landscape reclamation is intended for urban city expansion, road construction, housing project, crude oil exploration and sand mining. Reclamation is carried out by both government and private developers. The government sometimes forcefully acquires coastal areas from the native community, remove the mangrove forest and sand fill the area in other to establish projects beneficial to the public. Private investors reclaim coastal areas to execute private business that would boost their economic fortunes. Oil companies clear coastal forest and set up oil wells and pipelines in swampy locations. Increasing population in small communities had also led to the reclamation of coastal areas to create room for the construction of houses to accommodate more people. However, many land reclamation activities are not development-centered, but business-centered. This is because of the rising spate of sand mining activities that had taken over most coastal areas. Sand mines are often abandoned after some years of operation. Reclamation is done without proper environmental impact assessment. This situation had led to the loss of many species

Municipal Solid Waste Disposal in Mangrove Forest: Environmental Implication and Management Strategies in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Niger Delta is an oil rich region situated in the southern part of Nigeria. It is made up of nine states which hosts oil industries. There are a handful of businesses (super market, manufacturing companies, etc.) that service the over 40 million people living in the cities. This situation had led to the increase in solid waste in the city. Because of the problem of over population, and poor waste management strategies (e.g., lack of recycling habit and lack of equipment) the mangrove forest had become a dumping ground for waste. This action has impacted the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and has created a public health disaster for citizens because of increase in heavy metal concentration up the food chain. This chapter therefore, identifies poverty, lack of planning, poor behavior and poor technology as key factors affecting effective waste management in the Niger Delta. It suggests that good waste management system can be worked out if there is coordination between research institution and government in the implementation of recommendation by research institutes. Attitudinal change is also necessary on the part of citizens and government to enable a healthy interaction for the purpose of managing waste effectively

Mangrove Habitat Loss and the Need for the Establishment of Conservation and Protected Areas in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Niger Delta mangroves are the largest in Africa, but uncontrolled anthropogenic activities had reduced their population size. The reduction from large to small mangrove stand has some ecological implications on species populations. For instance, stochastic events such as flooding, landslides, sea level rise, high temperature, and humidity affect small populations. Human-mediated actions of random deforestation for firewood production, canalization, and de-silting of waterways, lead to the complete elimination of mangrove stands in specific locations. The cumulative effect of these actions can result in local extinction and loss of genetic variation of mangroves. Destruction of mangroves over the years is detrimental to other species that inhabit the mangroves in the Niger Delta (e.g., fishes, crabs, etc.). This situation can be reversed or stopped if effective protective measures are adopted. Strict protective measures can be done in areas that are highly impacted i.e., regions where oil and gas exploration or massive deforestation activities had occurred. Limited protection can be done in areas with low impact, and is known as a win-win conservation where the peoples welfare is considered. Here, indigenous people are employed to help in the protection of the forest and in return are allowed to exploit its resources

Mangrove Restoration under Different Disturbances Regime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Mangroves of the Niger Delta are the largest in Africa and are the source of numerous ecosystem services such as firewood, seafood, building materials and medicinal herbs. Their sustainable use and protection are important for future generations. However, anthropogenic activities such as oil and gas exploration, urbanization, industrialization, dredging, overexploitation and sand mining are the major disturbances that have pushed the mangroves to the brink of extinction. Therefore, in other to restore lost areas of the mangroves natural and artificial means can be adopted to bring them to a restored state. More often than not emphasis of recovery had been placed on artificial remediation and restoration, where polluted sites are cleaned with chemicals and nursery seedlings transplanted to remediated such sites. Nevertheless, this chapter discusses the possibility of utilizing natural means of forest recovery through seedling recruitment and regeneration. This can be achieved by establishing the right environmental conditions such as setting up of a hydro-channel to ensure smooth inflow and out flow of river water carrying seeds, availability of parent mangrove trees to supply the seeds, and the availability of the right soil condition to enable seedling germination and growth. The use of dried and ground mangrove parts as a new way for restoring polluted soil is discussed; in addition, the unconventional proposition of using low key pollution to manage and increase forest resilience is highlighted in this work even though further studies are recommended. Future direction of mangrove restoration should be tilted towards the application of the force of nature, which has the potentials of reversing the adverse effect of anthropogenic activities in well managed and protected sites

Can adrenergic blockers prevent or retard the progression of common cancers?

Introduction Significant developments have been made in the treatment and prevention of cancer. Despite these developments, a third of the population of the UK will get cancer in their lifetime and a quarter of the population are likely to die from it, making it a leading cause of death in the UK[1, 2]. There is an increase in the numbers of cancers being largely driven by the ageing and expanding population.[2, 3]Conventional anti-cancer and anti-metastatic approaches such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are effective because these approaches mostly inhibit cell division in proliferating cancer cells or make the tissue environment hostile to cancer cell growth and migration. However, the non-selectiveness of these approaches often causes serious side effects leading to the damage of healthy tissue. Significant gains have been made through the development of targeted therapies and early detection with the benefit of personalising medicine for a specific target thereby minimising harm. However, there is a problem of drug resistance in about 50% of patients with these forms of treatment. Progress in developing these treatments for disease remain slow, with traditional approaches inadequate and rational new therapies needed to tackle cancer. As a result, an alternative strategy for drug development such as using previously approved drugs for new medical indications is beginning to be explored.[4] This strategy will potentially remove substantial risks, costs and time from the pathway of drug development.[4] Recent evidence has shown the potential anti-neoplastic effects of some cheaper and safer medications. Among the best examples of this is the near 50% reduction in cancer specific mortality from colorectal cancer recently shown in those starting Aspirin after diagnosis[5], which has already led to a randomised controlled trial.[6] In vitro and in vivo studies suggest a role for beta blockers and alpha blockers in inhibiting the proliferation and migration of cancer cells. A series of case-control and cohort studies was therefore conducted using the large population based Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and associated datasets as the data source to explore the impact of beta and alpha blockers on cancer incidence and overall and cancer mortality. Epidemiological studies on the effect of adrenergic blockers on cancer incidence have proved inconclusive with particularly limited evidence from large population based studies on cancer incidence. A case-control study was therefore conducted to assess the effect of adrenergic blockers upon incidence of cancers of the prostate, lung bowel and breast cancers. Additionally, epidemiological studies have examined the potential beneficial effects of adrenergic blocker on cancer survival, but these are still inconclusive with limited evidence from large population-based studies. Cohort studies were therefore carried out to examine the effect of beta and alpha blocker exposure post diagnosis on cancer specific and overall mortality. Furthermore, laboratory studies have demonstrated the effect of alphablockers in reducing induced angiogenesis and suppress metastasis in mouse models. A study was therefore conducted to examine in detail the effect of alpha blockers on mortality outcomes in a cohort of prostate cancer patients and additionally considering their indication of use. Finally observational studies have investigated the anti-proliferative effects of beta blocker use on survival outcomes but not specifically in those without metastases who might be most likely to benefit. This study therefore investigated the effect of adrenergic blockers on mortality outcomes in a large population based UK cohort of non-metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The objectives of this thesis were: To test the hypothesis that: β-blocker use is associated with a reduced incidence of breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancer. To test the hypothesis that: α-blocker use is associated with a reduced incidence of breast, lung and colorectal cancer. To test the hypothesis that: α-blocker use is associated with a reduction in cancer specific and overall mortality in prostate cancer patients. To test the hypothesis that: β-blocker &α-blocker use is associated with a reduction in cancer specific and overall mortality in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. To test the hypothesis that: β-blocker use is associated with a reduction in cancer specific and overall mortality in those diagnosed with prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancer. To test the hypothesis that: α-blocker use is associated with a reduction in cancer specific and overall mortality in those diagnosed with breast, lung and colorectal cancer. To test the hypothesis that: β-blocker &α-blocker use is associated with a reduction in cancer specific and overall mortality in those diagnosed with non-metastatic breast, lung and prostate cancer. Methods A frequency matched case-control study was carried out using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to assess the effect of adrenergic blockers upon incidence of prostate, lung, bowel and breast cancer. Amongst patients aged 18 years or older contributing at least 2 years of usable data between 01/01/1987 – 31/12/2012. Incident cases of relevant cancers and controls were selected and frequency matched 10:1 by age. Those with 2 or more prescriptions for alpha or beta blockers in the 2 years prior to cancer diagnosis were considered exposed and also assessed effect of the dose and duration of use. Logistic regression was used to adjust effect estimates for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use, and a number of potentially confounding co-morbidities and co-prescriptions. A cohort study of colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancer patients was conducted and selected from linked UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, Hospital Episode Statistics and National Cancer Intelligence data between 1998 and 2010. Beta blocker and alpha blocker exposure were assessed in the 6 months post cancer diagnosis and its effect on all cause and cancer specific mortality was assessed. Data were analysed using cox proportional hazards modelling. Confounding by age, sex, cancer stage, grade and important comorbidities and co-prescriptions was adjusted for. The indication of use, dose and pre-diagnosis exposure was also examined. Additionally, from the linked data sources above, a cohort of 3164 non-metastatic colorectal cancer patients was selected and conducted a cohort study using similar methods but additionally considering the cardio-selectivity of beta blocker drugs. Results For the case-control study 18968 colorectal, 19082 lung, 21608 prostate and 29109 breast cancers were identified. There was no evidence of a protective effect of α or β blockade in lung and prostate cancer and found a slightly increased risk of colorectal and breast cancer in users. This was largely explained by the effects of confounding in a multivariate analyses with final OR estimates of lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer of 0.99, 95% CI [0.96-1.04]1.14, 95% CI [1.09 – 1.18]1.10, 95% CI [1.06 – 1.14]1.01, 95% CI [0.98-1.05] respectively for beta blocker exposure and 1.03, 95% CI [0.97 – 1.09]1.13, 95% CI [1.07 – 1.20]1.08, 95% CI [1.00 – 1.17] for alphablocker exposure. Stratification by dose and duration did not reveal any statistically significant findings. For the cohort study of common solid cancers 15636 colorectal, 13646 lung, 23877 breast and 18654 prostate cancer patients were selected with a median follow up of 3.7, 0.6, 5.5 and 4.4 years respectively. There were no significant effects observed on all-cause mortality in any cancers and similarly no significant effects observed on cancer specific mortality in patients on betablockers compared to those who were not. For alphablocker exposure, there were no significant effects observed on all-cause mortality in any cancers and similarly no significant effect on cancer specific mortality except in prostate (HR0.874, 95% CI [0.781 – 0.978]) and colorectal(HR1.878, 95% CI [1.108 – 3.182]) cancer patients. There were no clear significant effects observed by dose or prediagnosis exposure. For the cohort study of non-metastatic colorectal cancer patients during a median follow up time of 4 years no significant effects were observed on all-cause mortality (HR0.995, 95% CI [0.811 – 1.220]) or cancer specific mortality (HR1.153, 95% CI [0.868 – 1.530]) in patients on beta blockers compared to those who were not. Similar null findings were observed with alpha blockers: HR0.946, 95% CI [0.709 – 1.262] for all-cause mortality and (HR1.037, 95% CI [0.701 – 1.534]) for colorectal cancer mortality. Stratification by dose, prediagnosis exposure and cardio-selectivity showed no significant effects. For the cohort study of prostate cancer patients during a median follow up time of 4.4 years, alpha blocker exposure was associated with decreased all-cause mortality (HR: 0.839, 95% CI [0.776 – 0.908]) and cancer specific mortality (HR: 0.874, 95% CI [0.781 – 0.978]). Limiting analysis to those taking alpha blockers to treat hypertension rendered the effect on all-cause mortality non-significant (HR: 0.857, 95% CI [0.728 – 1.217], but a significant decrease in cancer specific mortality remained (HR: 0.692, 95% CI [0.534 – 0.897]). No modifying effects were observed by dose and pre-diagnosis exposure. Conclusion In these large population-based case-control and cohort studies investigating the impact of beta and alphablocker use on cancer incidence and mortality, limited evidence was found to suggest that adrenergic blocker use prevents the incidence of common cancers. Indeed, a slight increased risk of colorectal and breast cancer was found which may reflect residual confounding and health seeking behaviours. Furthermore, beta or alpha blocker use post diagnosis was not associated with a decreased risk of cancer-specific or all-cause mortality in colorectal, lung or breast cancer patients or in those with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. However, our results do provide evidence that alphablockers are associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer

Adrenergic blockers and the risk for common solid cancers: a case-control study

Laboratory studies have suggested that adrenergic blockers may inhibit the proliferation and migration of cancer cells, but epidemiological evidence of their effect on cancer incidence has proven inconsistent. We therefore conducted a case-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to assess the effect of adrenergic blockers on the incidence of prostate, lung, bowel and breast cancers. From among patients aged 18 years or older who contributed at least 2 years of prospectively gathered data between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2012, we selected incident cases of relevant cancers and controls, frequency matched 10 : 1 by age. Logistic regression was used to adjust effect estimates for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use, and a number of potentially confounding comorbidities and coprescriptions. A total of 18 968 colorectal, 19 082 lung, 21 608 prostate and 29 109 breast cancers were identified. We found no evidence of a protective effect of adrenergic blockade in lung and prostate cancers and found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers in users. This was largely explained by the effects of confounding in multivariate analyses, with final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers of 0.99 [95% confidence interval (0.96-1.04)], 1.14 (1.09-1.18), 1.10 (1.06-1.14), and 1.01 (0.98-1.05), respectively, for beta-blocker exposure, and final odds ratio estimates for lung, colorectal and breast cancer of 1.03 (0.97-1.09), 1.13 (1.07-1.20), and 1.08 (1.00-1.17), respectively, for alpha-blocker exposure. We found no evidence to suggest that adrenergic blocker use prevents common cancers. Indeed, we found a slightly increased risk for colorectal and breast cancers, which may reflec

Methanol poisoning in South- South Nigeria: Reflections on the outbreak response

The methanol poisoning outbreak in Rivers State in May 2015, involved 84 persons in five local government areas. An incident management system comprised of an Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) committee and the Local Government Area Rapid Response Teams in an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). The EOC teams conducted case finding activities, line listing, and descriptive analysis, a retrospective cohort study and collection of local gin samples for laboratory investigation. They also coordinated community mobilization and sensitization activities, intervention meetings with local gin sellers, trace back activities and case management. Those affected were male (72; 85.7%) aged between 20 and 79 years. Of the 55 persons whose socio-demographics were obtained, forty-one persons (74.6%) were married, and 23 (41.8%) had primary education. Case fatality rate was 83.3% with an attack rate of 16 per 100,000 persons. Those exposed to ingestion of adulterated gin were six times more likely to develop methanol poisoning than those not exposed RR=6 (1.0-38.5); P=0.0078. It is hoped that this experience has positioned the state for better preparedness towards future outbreaks

Genomic characterisation of human monkeypox virus in Nigeria

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopox genus in the family Poxviridae. First identified in 1958, MPXV has caused sporadic human outbreaks in central and west Africa, with a mortality rate between 1% and 10%.1 Viral genomes from west Africa and the Congo Basin separate into two clades, the latter being more virulent.2 Recently, MPXV outbreaks have occurred in Sudan (2005), the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (2009), and the Central African Republic (2016).3 A suspected outbreak of human MPXV was reported to WHO on Sept 26, 2017, by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) after a cluster of suspected cases had occurred in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.4 Since the onset of the outbreak, 155 cases have been reported by the NCDC, of which 56 were confirmed.4 A subset of these samples was sent to the WHO Collaborating Center at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) in Senegal for confirmation by PCR

A rare cause of stridor: Isolated tracheal amyloidosis

A 50-year-old man presented to clinic with a two-year history of progressive exertional dyspnea and voice hoarseness. This history suggested upper airways obstruction, which was confirmed on computed tomography imaging that revealed extensive thickening of the proximal tracheal wall causing severe luminal narrowing. Bronchoscopic debulking was then performed and the samples obtained confirmed tracheal amyloidoisis. Extensive investigation confirmed that disease was localized solely to the trachea. Ultimately, after multiple discussions, the chosen treatment modality was radiotherapy, which proceeded relatively uneventfully and achieved excellent radiological and clinical response. Although tracheal amyloidosis is rare, it is most commonly observed as part of a multisystem presentation. The present report describes the even more uncommon diagnosis of isolated tracheal amyloidosis and highlights the role of radiotherapy in its management