Proceedings of the Nigerian Academy of Science (Journal)
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EDITORIAL: Philanthropy and the Development of Science in Sub-Saharan Africa
Full text linkSub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the most complex challenges requiring rigorous scientific enquiries. Two such challenges, health and agriculture, are critical to the region’s economic and social development. In the last four decades, the region has experienced diseases and epidemics that have ravaged countries and significantly impaired their social, political and cultural fabrics. Four disease examples are relevant here: malaria, Ebola, HIV/AIDS and, most recently, COVID-19. The region is also faced with a food security crisis, with 234 million people chronically undernourished, more than 50 million children under the age of five being stunted, and over 14 million wasting (World Bank, 2018, World Vision, 2021). Agricultural development, particularly through crop improvement, is urgently needed
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE - Food habit and ecological balance of fish species in Osun river, Nigeria
Full text linkThe food habit and ecological balance of fish species in Osun River were investigated for a period of 12 months (November 2017 to October 2018) with monthly sampling of water and fish species in the river. Fish were sampled using monofilament gill nets of mesh size between 25mm and 101mm. A total of 4544 individuals belonging to 19 species and 10 families were captured. They were grouped based on their feeding habits into herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Carnivores dominated the River (38.63%) with Cichlids being the most abundant family (95.10%) and Oreochromis niloticus the most abundant fish species (14.10%). The Forage - Carnivore ratio (F/C) for the dry, wet and combined season was 0.64, 0.34 and 0.48 respectively. T-test showed significant differences (P 0.05) between all the trophic groupings in relation to seasons. The mean values recorded across the sampling months were Temperature (18.70 oC ± 2.69), pH (7.10 ± 0.25) and Dissolved Oxygen (3.20 mg/L ± 0.54) while Ammonia (1.20 mg/L ± 0.18) was significantly different (P 0.05) across the months of study. For the sampling points, mean values recorded were Temperature (17.90 oC ± 0.31), pH (7.20 ± 0.12), Dissolved Oxygen (3.20 mg/L ± 0.27 mg/L) and Ammonia (0.10 mg/L ± 0.21). The abundance of carnivores is not desirable, and it is therefore essential to maintain the ratio of forage and carnivorous fish species in the river for conservation of fish species
REVIEW PAPER - Building Biosecurity Capacity in Africa to Respond to Biological Threats
Full text linkThe recent Ebola outbreak in West African is reported to have started in December 2013 in Guinea from where it spread to the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal (Abayomi et al., 2016). Consequently, this attracted a great attention from all quarters such as humanitarian NGOs, local and international health organisations, governmental agencies, research and development facilities as well as pharmaceutical companies.During the outbreak, a large number of patients were screened for the Ebola Virus (EBOV) with thousands of biomedical samples generated over a short period of time and in rapid succession. These samples were sent to laboratories including mobile laboratories hastily formed to manage the situation due to the absence of infrastructure to deal with such instance in West Africa. A good number of these samples were destroyed, exported out of the country of origin with the government’s consent and documentation and in other cases without such consent while the remaining samples were stored in facilities without adequate biosafety or biosecurity (Abayomi et al., 2016).Ebola virus along with other pathogens of high consequence requires specialized facilities such as Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) and Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4) to handle during research and identification for surveillance. Similarly, facilities of such high infrastructure and security are needed to store and secure such samples and their products
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE - Efficiency of crude oil degradation and peroxidase production by indigenous bacteria isolated from Ogoni land, River State, Nigeria
Full text linkDetrimental impacts of crude oil spills on life below water require urgent intervention. With the emergence of microbial remediation technology as a viable strategy for clean-up of oil spill, low degradation efficiency by many bacteria remains a major challenge. Exploring new bacterial isolates with improved crude oil degradation efficiency is therefore crucial. In this study, bacterial isolates from crude oil contaminated site in Ogoniland, Rivers State, Nigeria were screened for ability to grow on crude oil and glucose (control) as sole carbon sources. Three isolates exhibited higher growth on crude oil based medium (COBM) than on glucose based medium, and were identified using 16S rRNA sequencing as Bacillus cereus and Paenibacillus alvei strains 1 and 2. They were further investigated for their growth kinetics, degradation efficiency and total peroxidase production on varying concentrations of crude oil (30, 50 and 75 g/L) at 30°C and 180 rpm for 288 h. Results revealed exponential decline in residual crude oil during the logarithmic growth phase of the three bacteria. Total peroxidase activity increased as crude oil degradation progressed. Highest enzyme yields of 1.79 U/mg, 1.39 U/mg and 1.69 U/mg were recorded from B. cereus, P. alvei strain 1 and P. alvei strain 2, respectively at 240 h of cultivation in 50 g/L COBM with degradation efficiency of 87.52%, 90.90% and 84.95%. Remarkably, these bacteria showed ≥ 80% crude oil degradation efficiency at the peak of peroxidase production which suggests that the enzyme played significant role in crude oil degradation by the bacterial isolates
Electrochemical quantification of the levels of hydrogen peroxide in cassava using glassy carbon electrode modified with chitosan/silver nano-hybrid
Full text linkThis study correlates the production of hydrogen peroxide in cassava with its rapid postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD). Chitosan/silver nanohybrid was synthesized and immobilized on glassy carbon electrode for improved detection of hydrogen peroxide in electrochemical studies. The cathodic peak current for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen occurred at -550 mV and β-carotene contents of the cassava cultivars were quantified using UV-Vis spectroscopy at a wavelength of 480 nm. No significant amount of hydrogen peroxide was found in the root tubers on the first, second, third and fourth day. However, the production of hydrogen peroxide from the different cultivars on the fifth and sixth day after harvest was found to correlate with their respective β-carotene contents. The cultivar with the highest β-carotene content (Yellow roots- IBA070593: 0.0044 mg/g) was found to have the lowest level of hydrogen peroxide on day 5 and day 6: 0.096 mmol/g FW and 0.037 mmol/g respectively; while that with the least β-carotene level (White roots- IBA980505: 0.0000 mg/g) demonstrated the highest level of hydrogen peroxide content on day 5 and day 6: 0.177 mmol/g FW and 0.096 mmol/g respectively; and highest percentage increase from the fifth to the sixth day of the PPD process. It is seen from this study that an increase in the level of hydrogen peroxide indicates PPD, and that antioxidants with hydrogen peroxide scavenging properties can help increase shelf-life of cassava cultivar
GUEST EDITORIAL - SDG 14 - life below water: trend and trajectory in Nigeria
Full text linkThe United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 14 is focused on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources. Specifically, target 14.1 is aimed at preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution of all kinds in particular from land-based sources including marine debris and nutrient pollution. Aquatic ecosystems in Nigeria are diverse including freshwaters, brackish and coastal waters as well as marine ecosystems. They support a diversity of animal species which serve as food for man and support ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, these ecosystems provide significant services to man including transport, abstraction of water for domestic and industrial use, power generation, reservoir of hydrocarbon deposits which has been the backbone of the Nigerian economy for over five (5) decades (Akinlo et al., 2012), food security, among others. However, the pollution of these ecosystems has been reported by many researchers over the years and remains the subject of studies to date. Aquatic ecosystems such as those in the Niger Delta, Lagos lagoon, Ogun River, River Onne, Calabar River, among others have been reported to have been subjected to various anthropogenic influences from point and diffuse sources with consequent adverse impacts on water quality, aquatic biota, other wildlife, livestock and even humans (Sogbanmu et al., 2016; Ubiogoro and Adeyemo, 2017; Ibor et al., 2017, Adeyemo et al., 2019)
Notes from the Editor in Chief
Full text linkEarly in 2020, the editorial board of the Proceedings of the Nigerian Academy of Science resolved to dedicate themed editions and its regular editions to fielding research results and innovations that address the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially within the context of the sub-Saharan African region. It is against this background that this special edition of the journal focuses on addressing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, with the theme “life under water”. The edition features seven original research articles, one review article, and an editorial that elucidate various aspects of this theme, with the idea to galvanize further actions and research for achieving this specific goal in the African region
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE: The Hepatoprotective Activity of the Methanol Leaf Extract of Lasimorpha Senegalensis against Liver Injury Induced by Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) in Albino Wistar Rats
Full text linkThe leaf extract of Lasimorpha senegalensis is used in Nigerian traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the hepatoprotective ability of Lasimorpha senegalensis methanol leaf extracts on paracetamol-induced toxicity in order to validate or invalidate its traditional use in the treatment of liver disease. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectometry analysis of the extract revealed the presence of Cycloheptasiloxane tetradecamethyl- and 3, 4-Dihydroxyphenylglycol, a strong antioxidant capable of protecting the cell membrane from assaults. Thirty Wistar rats of mixed sexes were randomly assigned to six groups of five rats each. Group 1, which was the normal control received only normal saline. Groups 2-4 were pre-treated with the extract at various doses, twice daily for 4 days. Silymarin, a known hepatoprotective drug was administered in the same manner to group 5 at 100 mg/kg body weight for 4 days. One hour after the last pre-treatment on the fourth day, groups 2-6 received 2500 mg/kg of paracetamol (PCM) orally in order to induce hepatotoxicity. Eighteen hours after PCM intoxication, blood samples were collected for haematology and biochemical analyses. All the animals were sacrificed and the liver cells were harvested for histopathological examinations. The liver function markers (ALT, AST, ALP), total and direct bilirubin were estimated. This present study has shown that the extract under investigation exhibits hepatoprotective activities since they reduce cell membrane disturbances induced by PCM in the isolated liver cells of the rats. These activities were comparable with that of silymarin, a reference hepatoprotective drug
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE - Assessment of the health risks associated with human dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Nile tilapia from Agboyi creek, Southwest Nigeria
Full text linkIncreasing levels of persistent organic pollutants in aquatic ecosystems have been a major challenge in many regions of the world due to their potential adverse effects on ecological receptors and humans via the food chain. This study assessed the risk associated with dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in muscle tissues of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus from Agboyi creek in Southwest-Nigeria. The concentrations of PAHs were determined using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) following United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) methods. Of the 16 priority PAHs screened, the mean concentration of Acenaphthene (60.51 ± 69.85 μg/kg), the most dominant of all detected PAHs accounted for 19 % of total PAHs while Benzo (a) pyrene with the lowest mean concentration of 0.08 ± 0.17 μg/kg accounted for 0.03 % of total PAHs recorded. Estimated human daily intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) of PAHs in fish through human consumption were less than the reference dose (RfD) and threshold value. However, obtained toxic equivalent concentration (TEC) for Benzo (b) fluoranthene (35.79 μg/kg) and Dibenz (a, h) anthracene (56.25 μg/kg) as well as the estimated excess cancer risk (ECR) values for 7 most toxic PAHs in fish tissues exceeded the calculated screening value of 0.0027 μg/g and the 'acceptable' range of risk (˃ 10-6) set by the United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) respectively. Dietary exposure to some PAHs recorded in the tissue of Nile tilapia from Agboyi creek may have consequent health implications on the consumers
COMMENTARY - Contributing to a Healthier Nigeria through Public Health Workforce Capacity Development: Afenet Experience in Nigeria
Full text linkThe recent upsurge in the number and magnitude of outbreaks of infectious diseases in Nigeria has been managed effectively and efficiently by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in an increasingly epidemiology guided approach led by a skilled workforce within the one health collaborative agenda.1–4 The increasing number of the outbreaks of re-emerging infectious diseases could not have been unconnected to the effect of global warming with its resultant effect in the changing population activities and interaction with nature.5–7Nigeria could not have effectively contained these emerging public health challenges had she not taken steps in developing her public health infrastructure, the laboratory capabilities and manpower development. Since 2008, the Nigeria Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP), a collaborative effort by NCDC, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) with financial and technical support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been building epidemiology capacity for disease prevention and control. Field epidemiology, the art and practice of epidemiology in the field, has been adopted as an effective tool and practice in preventing, detecting and controlling emerging public health threats and crisis. Field epidemiology provides the scientific evidence for public health actions.