Heavy metals, parasitologic and oxidative stress biomarker investigations in Heterotis niloticus from Lekki Lagoon, Lagos, Nigeria

Heavy metal toxicity in aquatic life as a result of human activities poses a grave health threat to water quality, aquatic and human life. Parasites may serve as indicators of heavy metal pollution. This research investigated the health status of the fish Heterotis niloticus viz-a-viz quality of the water and sediments in Lekki lagoon, parasitic infection, presence of heavy metals and oxidative stress response in the liver and intestine of the fish. Parasites recovered were also analyzed for the extent of bioaccumulation of heavy metals. The metals in water, sediments, parasites, and fish were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Heavy metal concentrations in the surface water were generally below regulatory limits of World Health Organization. Sediment had high levels of aluminium (124.78 mg/kg) and iron (327.41 mg/kg); other heavy metals were below regulatory limits. Tenuisentis niloticus, an acanthocephalan, was the only parasite recovered. Seventy (70) out of 100 fish sampled were infected with the parasite. T. niloticus bioaccumulated Cd, Ni, and Pb between 65 to 100 times more than the liver and 12 to 200 times more than the intestine. Other metals bioaccumulated from the host tissues by the parasite had the magnitude between 1 to 12 times as the liver and 1 to 30 times as the intestine. There were significant differences in the activities of antioxidant enzymes between the parasitized and non-parasitized fishes. Fish tissues also showed histological alterations, ranging from mild infiltration of inflammatory cells to moderate inflammation and haemorrhagic lesions. Human activities that introduce stressors into the lagoon should be controlled

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTABLE ARCHITECTURAL STUDIOS FOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Issues arising from the general problem of the inaccessibility of the built environment to people with disabilities (PWDs), have led to a paradigm shift from design approaches aimed at narrow code compliance, to design ideologies aimed at producing usable facilities and environments to meet the needs of everyone, particularly PWDs. One of such approaches is Universal Design (UD), a framework for designing products, buildings, and environments to be accessible and usable by everyone. Consequently, guidelines have been developed for many products and environments, including learning environments, in line with the UD principles. However, these models are considered inadequate to fully address design requirements of architectural studios in learning environments. This study developed a design framework for developing adaptable architectural studios, in line with UD parameters and peculiar needs of students in a traditional and digital studio learning environment. The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Observation and systematic review of relevant literature were used to collect data, which were coded according to themes for easy analysis for the development of the framework. Illustrations were employed to present the findings for clarity and easy understanding. The study outcome is a useful design guide for architects, an education material for teachers and students, and a UD repository reference material for researchers to work with and build upon as we work towards making our world more accessible and usable to all

WHY DO STUDENTS STUDY ARCHITECTURE IN NIGERIA?

It has been observed that an initial love for design is a strong motivating factor attracting students to study architecture. Many creative individuals unfortunately do not find fulfilment in the field of architecture because design is not limited to the study of architecture alone. There are several design professions that are not yet recognised by the National University Commission as certifiable programmes of study. This often constrains students into choosing to study architecture being the closest to their desires, and most prominent among related professions in Nigerian universities. These students often graduate and deviate into other design related professions such as fabric design, graphics designing, product branding, photography, art and crafts among many others. It is in this light that this study investigates how design interest motivated students into studying architecture and what career path they would follow after their study. Questionnaires were used to gather data from both undergraduate and postgraduate students of architecture in four universities in Nigeria. The results show that quite a number of students would love to venture into other professions and are currently developing themselves in that line while still undergoing their architectural training. The conclusion can be drawn that many students were motivated into studying architecture as a result of having no other alternative course of study related to their design interest. Specific recommendations were made for diversifying the design programmes in Nigerian Universities to conform to the worldwide trends