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The formation of informal settlements is increasing rapidly, especially in some developing economies such as the Port Harcourt Municipality in Nigeria. These settlements are vulnerable to several urban challenges from natural and anthropogenic disasters, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The landscape of Port Harcourt Municipality is inundated with the proliferation of informal urban settlements especially around its southern fringes, which has engendered these settlements to become vulnerable to the vagaries of any occurring disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study attempts to unfold residents' lived experiences in these informal settlements to get the narratives of their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of forty-one (41) informal settlements were identified, out of which three (3) of those settlements (Okrika, Nembe and Ibadan) were selected purposively due to ease of accessibility, safety and spread around the municipality. The study adopted the qualitative approach by applying semi-structured interviews with key informants in these selected informal settlements. A total of nine (9) key informants were selected, with three (3) comprising the head of the community development committee (CDC), Youth and Women representatives from each settlement were interviewed. In addition, photographs of these selected informal settlements were taken to depict the characteristics of those settlements. Content analysis was used to analyse the outcome of the interviews. Some key findings include poor orientation of residents regarding disease spread, no effective urban renewal scheme to improve residents' quality of life, no proper planning of those settlements and residents were not included in the planning of those settlements. This study recommends proper enlightenment of residents regarding the management of disease spread. The provision of sustainable measures that will build resilience and adaptive capacities for the dwellers and continuous urban renewal schemes to ensure the provision of basic social infrastructure that would improve the residents' quality of life. However, the study concludes that the identification and characterisation of informal settlements will provide a better understanding and knowledge of the settlements as a resource to improve the social and economic conditions of the dwellers, distribution of infrastructural facilities and services, and wealth, thereby enhancing the quality of life and wellbeing of the residents and the general urban affairs as this will equally present opportunities for proper urban planning and management.

In recent times the consequences of flooding on farmlands have been majorly attributed to climate change which has contributed to the distortions in the social and economic activities in Rivers State, Nigeria. This study aims to identify adaptive mitigative measures to manage the social and economic impact of farmlands flooding in selected communities in Etche Local Government Area in Rivers State. The objectives include the identification of the significant causes of farmland flooding in the study area, determining the social and economic impacts of farmland flooding in the study area, and identify mitigation measures put in place to combat farmland flooding in the study area. The study adopted the Mixed Methods Research approach using a concurrent triangulation research design. The data sources include questionnaire administration (using a 5-scale Likert Scale), key informant in-depth interviews, personal observation, photographs, and published materials from institutions. A total of 146 questionnaires were administered across these selected communities, including Nihi, Isu and Umuechem. A purposive sampling technique was deployed, and a total of 96 questionnaires were retrieved and validated for analysis. Some of the leading causes of farmland flooding include the blockage of storm-water channels, overgrazing and bush burning, overpopulation due to increased development (structures), heavy rainfall and drainage failure. The study further revealed that the social and economic impacts on farmland, communities and inhabitants are depression, stress, anger, and social vices. Other effects include loss of farmland and produce, increase in goods and services, loss of livelihood system, loss of income and damage to properties. The anticipated mitigative measures by respondents are a collaboration of stakeholders (farmers, communities, and government agencies), warning signals, reconstruction of failed drainages, quick responses, and adequate relief materials. In addition, the study recommended proper education and enlightenment of the vulnerable population on how to avoid the negative consequences of flood disasters. vulnerable people should prepare for any eventuality, real-time data on flood vulnerability mapping of the study area to enable the government, government agencies like the (NIMET) and the vulnerable population to know the extent of flooding and duration of every flooding episode. Furthermore, effective Spatial planning of those vulnerable communities to reduce the negative consequences of flood disaster and afforestation should be encouraged to mitigate adverse impacts of the flood.

The apparent disconnect of different modes of transport in the Port Harcourt metropolis is causing difficulty in urban mobility among commuters. The study has assessed the integration of road and water transport systems to build a sustainable urban environment in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are to identify the road and water infrastructure transport systems in Port Harcourt metropolis and their state of functionality, identify and examine the disconnect existing in the street and water transportation in the study area, identify the challenges facing the integration of road and water transportation in the study, and provide physical planning strategy to achieving the integration of road and water transport systems in the study area. The study adopted a Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach using a concurrent triangulation research design to obtain the relevant data and information that addressed the study aim and objectives of the study. In addition, the study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques, including the key informant method. A total of four hundred (400) commuters, fifty (50) each, were interviewed from six (6) major road corridors and two (2) jetties in Port Harcourt City (Aggrey, Trans-Amadi and Olu-Obasanjo Roads) and Obio/Akpor (Akpajo-Elelenwo-Oil Mill, NTA and Agip Roads) and two (2) jetties: Port Harcourt City (Bille/Bonny/Nembe Jetty) and Obio/Akpor (Feltaco Jetty). Some Key informants from the transport sector like the Rivers State Ministry of Transport (RSMT) staff Rivers State Ministry of Urban Development and Physical Planning (RSMUDPP). Others are staff of the Rivers State Transport Company (RTC), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Rivers State Marine Transport Company, waterways transport operators, and Town Planners were among those interviewed. The study found potential for integrating road and water transport systems in the study area, and some of the infrastructures are obsolete and lack maintenance, thereby impeding interconnectivity and interlinkage between both systems. The study also revealed that government unwillingness to harness and develop the potential poor urban planning and management, and poor urban governance contribute to the disconnect of the road and water transport systems observed, affecting the quality of life and well-being of residents and poor urban sustainability. Thus, to improve the potentials and challenges identified, the study suggested that the government should develop an integrated transportation policy framework to enhance the integration of road and water transport systems. The government should upgrade and rehabilitate roads and water transportation infrastructure to improve intermodal connectivity and linkages for efficiency and effectiveness in the study area. The Public-Private Partnership approach should be developed and adopted in the planning and management of the transport sector in the study area; develop all waterways within the study area through canalisation and channelisation, and the government should adopt sound governance principles to involve all stakeholders of the transport sector.

Wetlands globally contribute to valuable ecosystem services to both natural species habitat and human tourist attractions in any location including those found in Port Harcourt Municipality. Wetlands are also beneficial and significant serving as breeding regions for wildlife and safe spaces for sea creatures, support a diversity of species and provide some climate restraining components, characteristic of any natural habitat. This study highlights some resilient responses residents put up in the aftermath of wetland reclamation and conversion in neighbourhoods. The study aims to ascertain the environmental and physical challenges of wetland loss on the wetland dwellers and subsequently identify resilient paradigms adopted to cope with such associated stress. Forty-one wetland settlements were identified within the Port Harcourt municipality and three out of those settlements were chosen purposively. A total of 293 questionnaires were distributed and SPSS was used to analyse the data. ERDAS Imagine 2014 version was used to show spatial changes between the years 1986 to 2000, and 2000 to 2016. The study shows that from 1986 to 2000, Port Harcourt municipality lost a total of 1,255,500m2. This translates to a 5% loss with an average rate of 89,678.57m2 per annum. Between 2000 and 2016, the rate of loss was 108,956.25m2 per annum, and approximately 7.69% of wetlands totalling 1,743,300m2 were lost to urbanisation and other activities. The result indicates that some of the challenges of wetland loss include flooding, poor refuse disposal system, and unplanned settlements. Indigenous knowledge, social capital and symbolic power are some of the resilient responses displayed by the vulnerable population to build resilience capacities. The study recommends periodic mapping of all wetlands and an effective development control framework to monitor incursions into existing wetlands.

Revive capsule, also called Kedi Revive capsule is a polyherbal formulation manufactured by Kedi healthcare company limited in Hong Kong, China. The drug is widely used around the globe, especially in Africa and Asia for the treatment of erectile dysfunction or enhancement of libido in men. Each capsule contains 400 mg of the constituent herbs including 80 mg of herb Epimedii, 80mg of Radix ginseng, 40 mg of Cordyceps militaris, 80mg of Tribulus terrestris, 80mg of Radix polygoni multiflori, and 40 mg of Eucommia ulmoides, with its effects exerted four hours after administration via the oral route. The adult man dosage is two capsules (800 mg) to be taken once daily for at least 28 days (before significant improvements may be observed when used to treat erectile dysfunction). Phytochemical analysis of the drug reported the presence of flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, tannins, polyphenols, alkaloids and quinones. Due to its speculated use in the treatment of erectile dysfunction or enhancement of libido, it may be referred to as an herbal phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitor, that acts by selectively inhibiting the enzyme phosphodiesterase type-5, and thus enhancing increased arterial blood flow into the penis, which results in penile erection; however, the mechanism of action of this drug may be attributed to the contained phytochemicals. Additionally, due to its increased use, it is highly recommended that further studies be conducted on this drug to ascertain its effects on some biochemical components and vital organs of the body.

Recently, there has been a notably increased use of microwave energy for heating and processing foods particularly in catering services and in our homes owing to its speed, convenience and efficiency compared to the traditional heating method. Due to the availability and affordability of plastic containers, they are mostly used to contain foods for preheating in a microwave. However, these plastics pose great risk on humans’ health if they get scratched or heated, and leach out chemicals into the contained foods. Also, the microwave energy has been speculated to have posed risks to the health of humans considering the electromagnetic radiations it emits. This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of ingested foods preheated (with microwave) in plastic containers on the reproductive profile of male albino rats. A total of twenty-four (24) male albino rats weighing between 120 to 200 g were used for this study. The rats were divided into three (3) groups (group I, II and III) of eight (8) rats per group. The rats were fed ad libitum with porridge beans and jellof rice with meat and fish daily for 40 days. The foods ingested by group I rats were not preheated in a microwave; the foods ingested by group II rats were put in ceramics and preheated in a microwave for 2 minutes daily; while the foods ingested by group III rats were put in plastic containers (not labeled as ‘‘microwave safe’’) and preheated in a microwave daily for 2 minutes. After an overnight fast, the rats were anaesthetized using chloroform, and blood samples obtained (via cardiac puncture) were used to analyze serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone using the ELISA method. The epididymis was also excised and immediately macerated to obtain semen, which was used for semen analysis. The results obtained showed a significantly decreased (p

This research was to evaluate the quality of life of the urban dwellers in Yenagoa, Amarata and Ekeki cities to ascertain if there is a decline in the quality of life residents in those selected neighbourhoods with a view to highlight such causal factors. The study adopted the Passive-Observational survey design such that the research respondents were observed in-situ without experimental manipulation. The research population was purposively drawn, and data was drawn from primary and secondary sources. Objective and subjective dimensions of quality of life were viewed in the form of physical, social and economic domains were assessed with emphasis on the type of housing, recreational preferences and employment status of respondents. Findings indicate that the quality of life of residents in Yenagoa, Amarata and Ekeki has progressively declined from when Yenagoa was a local government headquarters to becoming a capital city of an oil and gas producing state. As evident, the predominant housing type is rooming housing that does not befit its status, with limited recreational space and a phenomenal 45% unemployment rate. Findings further depict a bleak and rapidly declining quality of life of residents. The study recommends that there should be deliberate government intervention to improve housing conditions, provision of adequate functional recreational facilities that would enhance social interaction and physical wellbeing. There should be deliberate government policy with the requisite framework to stimulate industrial growth to reduce the phenomenal unemployment were recommended.

Consumption of foods, water, vegetables, fruits, undercooked/ground/raw meat, unpasteurized milk or milk products contaminated with the bacterium strain Escherichia coli 0157:H7 has become a serious public health concern. This strain naturally inhabits the digestive tract of healthy cattle, and is released into the environment through the faeces of the animal. This strain cause haemorrhagic enterocolitis or gastroenteritis, and then haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). HUS is a disorder characterised by haemolytic anaemia, low platelet count and acute kidney failure, and this disorder is a consequence of the production and action of Shiga-like toxin produced mainly by this bacterial strain (accounting for 90 percent of all cases), and occurs mainly in children less than five (5) years of age, but also occurs in the elderly. After infection with this bacterial strain, the disorder begins with intestinal perforation and ulceration leading to bloody diarrhoea, and consequently acute kidney injury, thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia. In conjunction with clinical manifestations, several laboratory investigations (haematological, biochemical and microbiological assays) are implicated in the diagnosis of HUS. There is currently no specific treatment for HUS; however, supportive care (such as treatment of hypertension, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, haemodialysis, blood transfusion, etc) happens to be the only ameliorative measure for this disorder.

Heavy metals gain entry into biological systems mainly via inhalation and ingestion, and also via radiation or radio-therapeutic measures. The accumulation of these heavy metals in biological systems overtime may cause several deleterious health challenges such as liver, kidney and brain damages amongst others. Intoxication with heavy metals may either be acute or chronic, and because the kidney has the ability to reabsorb and accumulate divalent metals, it happens to be the primary target organ for heavy metal toxicity, inducing renal damage. The extent of this damage depends on the dose, nature, route and duration of exposure to the metal. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by a permanent loss of nephrons accompanied by an eventual decline in glomerular filtration rate (GFR); this (to a greater extent) maybe due to heavy metal intoxication and the renal reabsorption of these heavy metals. Although 70 percent of the heavy metals are reabsorbed in the proximal tubule, all segments of the nephrons are involved in the reabsorption of these metals, where several transporters such as the Divalent Metal Transporter (DMT)-1, Na+/amino acid co-transporter, Zinc Transporter (ZnT)-1 and stretch-activated cation channels (SAC) facilitate the reabsorption. In the nephrons of each kidney, heavy metals are primarily reabsorbed via the apical membrane and accumulate at the basolateral membrane; these heavy metals do not readily exit the basolateral membrane, which overtime may result in chronic inflammation of the nephrons, fibrosis and kidney failure. However, the loss of nephrons and decline in GFR in CKD are compensated by certain changes (glomerular and cellular, enhanced renal blood flow, enhanced single nephron glomerular filtration rate and tubular hypertrophy) in the remaining functional nephrons. These changes help to deliver solutes to the remaining functional nephrons for uptake by the epithelial cells of the renal tubules. Also, because the luminal and basolateral surfaces of tubular epithelial cells of the remaining healthy nephrons are also potentially exposed to higher levels of metabolic wastes, xenobiotics, heavy metals and other nephrotoxicants, renal injury, tubular or glomerulosclerosis, and death of these nephrons occur. These compensatory changes become insufficient once about 75 percent of the nephrons are no longer functional and incapable of maintaining homeostasis and renal function. This results in the accumulation of metabolic wastes in the blood, and induction of metabolic disturbances and/or organ intoxication.

In this study, the concentrations of urea were assayed in both blood and saliva of 130 haemodialysis patients; before haemodialyis(pre-haemodialysis) and after haemodialysis (post haemodialysis); and 60 healthy individuals who made up the control group. The method used for urea assay was urease method. The mean±SD concentrations of salivary urea in pre and post haemodialysis patients, as well as control group, were 17±0.6 mmol/l, 9.1±0.5 mmol/l and 4.0±0.3 mmol/l respectively. The mean±SD concentrations of blood urea in pre and post haemodialysis patients, as well as control group, were 21.6±0.5 mmol/l, 9.1±0.4 mmol/l and 4.2±0.2 mmol/l respectively. The correlation coefficient between blood and salivary urea in pre-haemodialysis patients is 78.8% while that for post haemodialysis patients is 60.6% and for the control group is 90%. The ANOVA results of salivary urea in the three groups (pre, post and control) showed a significant difference with P-value ˂0.05. The ANOVA results of blood urea in the three groups (pre, post and control) showed a significant difference with P-value ˂0.05. From the various results obtained, saliva can serve as a diagnostic biofluid for renal disease especially with the salivary urea as the biomarker. Also, the salivary renal biomarker (urea) responds to changes in concentrations after therapeutic consideration. This study is in consonance with other literature that saliva is a diagnostic fluid for kidney disease; however, there is a need to carry out more research works to continually unveil the diagnostic potential of saliva in kidney disease.

Rivers generally have been source of livelihood for several persons in both developed and developing countries, and the rivers have been exploited without recourse to the consequences of this action by those involved. The aim of this research is to assess the social and economic consequences of sand mining on communities along the Victory River. The objectives are to: examine residents’ perception, identify the impacts of sand mining in their domain and propose mitigation measures for moderate and major negative impacts and enhancement measures for positive impacts of sand mining. Hazards and effects management process (HEMP) was used identify the impacts of sand mining on the communities and propose mitigation measures for moderate and major negative impacts and enhancement measures for positive ones. The study adopted multistage sampling technique by identifying all the communities along the Victory River and purposively four (4) communities were selected for the study. Mixed methods were used to collect data with one-hundred and twenty-three (123) structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. The study found that continuous river sand mining had altered the river courses and increased the width and depth of the Victory River. Livelihood chain of the people have been distorted leading to diminished purchasing power, increased poverty level and other associated social vices. There were also identified socio-economic benefits like employment and revenue generation for the communities. The study recommends that: river channel cross sections should be benchmarked using aerial photographs and periodic hydrographic survey, effective social management plan and enhancement measures be taken, enforcement of relevant laws to control the activities of sand miners and their host communities alike.