Assessment of Lead and Cadmium Concentrations in Raw Cow Milk from Farms near Namanve Industrial Park in Kira Division, Wakiso District, Uganda

Lead and Cadmium concentrations were analysed in raw cow milk samples collected from smallholder zero grazing households near Namanve Industrial Park in Kira Division in Wakiso district near Kampala city, Uganda. The concentration of heavy metals in milk was tested with atomic absorption spectrophotometry using the Perkin Elmer AAA Model 2380 after acid digestion. The overall mean concentration of lead and cadmium was 0.01 and 0.0083 mg/kg respectively. Of the three wards, Bweyogerere had the highest lead concentration (0.014mg/kg) and cadmium (0.011mg/kg). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test of the mean concentrations of lead between and within wards showed significant differences (F = 10.85, P < 0.05) and the findings were similar for cadmium (F=4.77, P < 0.05). Multiple comparison tests (Bonferroni) showed Bweyogerere raw milk had significantly higher lead concentration than milk from Kireka (P=0.008) and milk from Kirinya (P < 0.0001) and also significantly higher cadmium concentration than milk from Kirinya (P = 0.0009). Mean concentration of each metal residue was below the recommended minimum hazardous intake in diet as per Codex/Uganda National Bureau of Standards at 0.02 mg/kg for both lead and cadmium. Therefore, milk from cows reared around Namanve presents no public health-related lead and cadmium hazards

Optimal unit commitment of a power plant using particle swarm optimization approach

Economic load dispatch among generating units is very important for any power plant. In this work, the economic load dispatch was made at Egbin Thermal Power plant supplying a total load of 600MW using six generating units. In carrying out this study, transmission losses were assumed to be included into the load supplied. Also three different combinations in the form of 6, 5 and 4 units commitment were considered. In each case, the total load was optimally dispatched between committed generating units using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Similarly, the generation cost for each generating unit was determined. For case 1, the six generators were committed and the generation cost is 2,100,685.069$/h. For case 2, five generators were committed and the generation cost is 2,520,861.947$/h. For case 3, four generators were committed and the generation cost is 3,150,621.685$/h. From all considered cases, it was found that, the minimum generation cost was achieved when all six generating units were committed and a total of 420,178.878$/h was saved

Clinical outcome of skin yaws lesions after treatment with benzathinebenzylpenicillin in a pygmy population in Lobaye, Central African Republic

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Yaws is a bacterial skin and bone infectious disease caused by <it>Treponema pallidum pertenue</it>. It is endemic, particularly among pygmies in Central African Republic. To assess the clinical cure rate after treatment with benzathinepenicillin in this population, we conducted a cohort survey of 243 patients in the Lobaye region.</p> <p>Findings and conclusion</p> <p>The rate of healing of lesions after 5 months was 95.9%. This relatively satisfactory level of therapeutic response implies that yaws could be controlled in the Central African Republic. Thus, reinforcement of the management of new cases and of contacts is suggested.</p

On-going malaria transmission in The Gambia despite high coverage of control interventions: a nationwide cross-sectional survey

Background: As indicators of burden of malaria have substantially decreased in The Gambia, reaching a pre-elimination status may be attainable. Achieving this goal requires in-depth understanding of the current burden of Plasmodium falciparum infection. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2012 to determine the prevalence of P. falciparum infection, and to describe its heterogeneity and associated risk factors. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for microscopy, species-specific PCR and haemoglobin measurement. Results: A total of 9,094 participants were included and median age was 11.9 years (IQR 5, 28). Overall prevalence of P. falciparum was 16.01 % with marked heterogeneity between sites (4.32-36.75 %) and within villages in each site (1.63-49.13 %). Across all sites, 51.17 % (745/1,456) of infections were asymptomatic and 35.61 % (448/1,258) were sub-microscopic. The odds of P. falciparum infection were higher in older children; 5-15 years (OR = 1.90; 95 % CI 1.60-2.26), adults (OR = 1.48; 95 % CI 1.24-1.78) and participants with moderate anaemia (OR = 1.62; 95 % CI 1.32-1.99). Conclusions: The current malaria control interventions are not sufficient to interrupt transmission in The Gambia as malaria prevalence is still relatively high in the eastern part of the country. New interventions aiming at interrupting transmission are needed and should be urgently evaluated

Preparation and use of maize tassels’ activated carbon for the adsorption of phenolic compounds in environmental waste water samples

The determination and remediation of three phenolic compounds bisphenol A (BPA), ortho-nitrophenol (o-NTP), parachlorophenol (PCP) in wastewater is reported. The analysis of these molecules in wastewater was done using gas chromatography (GC) × GC time-of-flight mass spectrometry while activated carbon derived from maize tassel was used as an adsorbent. During the experimental procedures, the effect of various parameters such as initial concentration, pH of sample solution, eluent volume, and sample volume on the removal efficiency with respect to the three phenolic compounds was studied. The results showed that maize tassel produced activated carbon (MTAC) cartridge packed solid-phase extraction (SPE) system was able to remove the phenolic compounds effectively (90.84–98.49 %, 80.75–97.11 %, and 78.27–97.08 % for BPA, o-NTP, and PCP, respectively) . The MTAC cartridge packed SPE sorbent performance was compared to commercially produced C18 SPE cartridges and found to be comparable. All the parameters investigated were found to have a notable influence on the adsorption efficiency of the phenolic compounds from wastewaters at different magnitudes