Assessment of Radiological Hazards Indices in Vegetables Grown Around Ririwai Tin Mines, Kano State, North Western Nigeria

Mining industry in Nigeria provides economic benefits of wealth creation and employment opportunities. Presently there are numbers of artisanal and large scale mining activities going on across Nigeria and most of these artisanal miners currently under take only surface mining. The process produced large volumes of tailings and waste that may contain naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). Some of the NORMs are soluble in water and have the tendency to leach into water bodies and farm lands.    This work assessed the radiological hazard indices in vegetable grown around Ririwai Tin Mine Kano State North Western Nigeria using Direct Gamma Spectroscopy (NaI (Tl)), The results shows that the mean activity concentration in vegetable samples were 259.25±4.77, 28.05±4.97 and 54.56±2.58Bq/kg respectively for 40K, 226Ra and 232Th, the mean absorbed dose rate was 45.043±1.98nGyh-1 the mean committed effective dose for 40K is 0.091±0.002mSv/year, 226Ra has a mean committed effective dose of 0.471±0.083mSv/year while 232Th has a mean committed effective dose of 0.753±0.036mSv/year. The total committed effective dose in vegetable has a mean value of 1.320±0.125mSv/year. The risk estimated for fatality cancer, lifetime  fatality cancer risk, severe hereditary effect and life time hereditary effect in vegetable were 7.26 x 10-5, 5.29 x 10-3, 2.60 x 10-6 and 1.84 x 10-4 respectively. The values obtained in this study are relatively high such that consumption of vegetable grown in the area could pose  radiological health hazards. Keywords: Activity Concentrations, Absorbed dose, Committed effective dose, Risk

Growth Performance of the Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis Niloticusf Cultured in Cages in Two Dams in the Bongo District of Ghana

This study was carried out to compare the growth performance and survival rate of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus cultured in cages in two different dams in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana. Three cages with the same structural characteristics were constructed in each of the dams as replicates. Each cage was stocked with 9500 all male O. niloticus fingerlings and fed with 48 % nourish plus feed thrice daily for a period of eight weeks. Twenty-five samples of the fishes were randomly collected bi-weekly from each cage and measurements such as standard length and body weight recorded. Other growth characteristics such as specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), mean weight gain (MWG), condition factor (K) and survival rate (SR) were estimated. The results revealed that, O. niloticus cultured in the Soe-Yidongo community dam recorded the highest growth performance in terms of final body weight, standard length, weight gain, specific growth rate, condition factor and protein efficiency ratio, and they were significantly different (p < 0.05) from those recorded in the Bon-Gurigo community dam which was attributed to the variations recorded in the physicochemical parameters of the two dams. It was concluded that tilapia cultured in cages might be an important alternative livelihood strategy for poor people in rural communities in Ghana

Assessing Municipal Solid Waste Management Practices and Challenges in the Techiman Municipality, Ghana

Managing waste efficiently is essential for building sustainable, livable and healthy communities but this remains a challenge for many municipal governments due to limited municipal budget and other logistical challenges. Such challenges result in ineffective waste collection and disposal. However, identifying the challenges associated with municipal solid waste management often lead to developing solutions to mitigate the problem. This paper assesses the waste management practices and challenges within the Techiman municipality, the regional capital of the Bono East Region. By sampling residents’ perceptions and experiences it was observed that households and patrons were dissatisfied with Techiman’s Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). Statistically the per capita per day rate of waste generation was 0.48kg/ per capita/per day, being higher than Ghana’s municipal waste generation of 0.40 kg/per capita/per day. Lack of collection of waste from the transfer stations to the landfill sites has resulted in about 67 heaps of uncollected waste in the municipality. The results show that lack of source separation and recycling, broken down trucks, low participation of private sector in waste collection, non-compliance of by-laws, poor road infrastructure leading to the landfill site, and inefficient landfill site have contributed to the waste problem in the municipality. Resorting to source separation, educating the public on waste management bye laws, increasing private sector participation and establishing engineered landfill sites can substantially contribute to sustainable Municipal Waste Management in the Techiman Municipality

Potential benefits of genetic modification (GM) technology for food security and health improvement in West Africa: Assessing the perception of farmers in Ghana and Nigeria

We assessed the perception of farmers towards potential adoption of genetic modification (GM) technology for improving health, food security and agricultural productivity using a semi-structured interview. A total sample of 54 small-scale farmers participated in 6 focus group meetings (FGMs) and 23 in-depth interviews at six locations in Ghana and Nigeria (West Africa). Our results reveal that most farmers have a very poor understanding of GM technology which they often misunderstood as traditional plant breeding biotechnology. While most respondents focused on the potential benefits of GM technology including high-yielding varieties, better nutritional value and shorter growing cycle crop traits, only a few respondents were concerned about the potential health and environmental risks of GM technology. Root and tuber crops such as cassava, yam and sweet potato were mostly discussed for health improvement and food security through GM technology. This study emphasizes the need to recognize challenges such as lack of awareness, inadequate training, low level of education and poor extension services among others in introducing new technology including GM technology to resource poor farmers in African countries like Ghana and Nigeria. We conclude that failure to address these challenges will impede the adoption of GM technology. Therefore, Ghanaian and Nigerian government(s) must put in place policy measures to address these problems.Keywords: Food security, health improvement, genetic modification (GM) technology, Ghana, Nigeria, West Africa farmersAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 245-256, 8 January, 201

Optimum Portland Cement-Ceramic Waste Powder Blend as Filler in Bituminous Macadam

Industrial and technological advancements have led to an increase in environmental waste. Natural sources of construction materials have depleted over time making access to quality materials difficult. Recurrent deterioration of asphalt pavements, especially those subjected to heavy truck traffic has also become prevalent recently. This paper aims to evaluate the strength properties of Bituminous Macadam Surfacing (BMS) prepared with blends of Portland cement (PC) /Ceramic Waste Powder (CWP) as filler; replacing PC with CWP in 20 % increments (20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 % and 100 %). The Marshall properties of the mixes were tested and the results were compared with standard specifications as stipulated in the Nigeria General Specification for Roads and Bridges. The results showed that CWP significantly improved the Marshall properties, especially stability. At 80 % CWP and 5 % bitumen content (optimum bitumen content), stability of 11.2 kN was observed compared to 9.84 kN at 0 % CWP (control sample); representing a 13.82 % increase in stability. Similar improvement was observed in Marshal flow and volumetric properties. An 80 % CWP (by weight of filler) gave optimum values for all Marshall parameters and obtained values fall within the limits adjudged by The Nigerian Federal ministry of works & housing. An 80 % CWP by weight of filler is therefore recommended for the construction of BMS

Iron Ore Tailings as Partial Replacement for Fine Aggregate in Concrete Production – Review

Normal River sand is one of the major components of concrete, generally termed fine aggregate. A large volume of sand is needed annually for construction work globally. Mining or extraction of sand from the river bed, ocean beds, beaches, and inland dunes is accompanied by several problems such as; lowering of the water table, sinking of bridge piers and erosion of river bed and instability of river bed on the environment, etc. To decrease these environmental impacts and the cost of conventional fine aggregates, alternative materials like mining waste have been studied by several researchers to replace partially fine aggregates in concrete production. Iron ore tailings (IOT) are one of the mining wastes obtained from the beneficiation process of iron ore concentrates. This paper presents an overview of the work carried out on the use of IOT as a partial replacement of fine aggregate in concrete and its effects on the workability, mechanical, and durability properties of concrete

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Awareness and Choice of Indigenous Practices in Adapting to Climate Change and Variability in Northern Ghana

Farmers in Northern Ghana adapt to the adverse effects of climate change using traditionalpractices. However, farmers’ awareness of these practices is a spring-board to their choicesof available indigenous climate related adaptation strategies. This study examined farmers’awareness and usage of indigenous adaptation strategies using the Heckman Two-Stage Sample Selection Model. Questionnaire was administered to 285 randomly selected households to determine the factors influencing farmers’ awareness and choice of indigenous adaptation strategies. The empirical results showed that majority of farmers are aware of and employed soil related indigenous adaptation strategies. Education, membership of farmer-based organisation, farmer-farmer extension contacts and farming experience significantly determine farmers’ awareness of indigenous adaptation strategies. Farmers’ level of education, farming experience, farmer-farmer extension contacts, membership of farmer group, labour hours and age significantly influenced farmers’ choice of indigenous climate related adaptation strategies.Based on these findings, it is recommended that farmers should endeavour to form groups toserve as a platform to share knowledge on indigenous farming practices for effective climatechange adaptation

Patterns of Street-Begging, Support Services and Vocational Aspirations of People Living With Disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study investigated patterns of street-begging, support services and vocational aspirations of people living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive survey design. Purposive random and stratified sampling techniques were used in selecting street-beggars living with disabilities. The target population of this study was all street beggars living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. A total 131 male and female street-beggars including both young and old who are blind, hearing impaired (deaf), crippled, intellectually disabled, emotionally disabled etc were randomly selected from Ilorin, Nigeria. The results revealed that the street-begging among people living with disabilities occurred mostly at the entrance of stores, super markets and petrol stations, while the support services were derived from the family, and friends. It was recommended among others that in order to eradicate the incidence of street-begging in Nigeria, rehabilitation and vocational training centers should be established across 774 Local Governments Areas in Nigeria. It was also recommended among others, that street-begging should be banned in Nigeria

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications

A Fuzzy Classifier-Based Penetration Testing for Web Applications

The biggest challenge of Web application is the inestimable losses arising from security flaws. Two approaches were advanced by a number of scholars to provide security to Web space. One of such approach is vulnerability assessment, which is a conscious effort to isolate, identify and recognize potentials vulnerabilities exploited by attackers. The second being the estimation and determination of level of risks/threats posed to Web applications by vul- nerabilities obvious to the developer (or tester); this is generally referred to as penetration testing. Recently, there is Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) that combined these two schemes to improve safety and effec- tively combat the menace of attackers on Web applications. This paper proposed Fuzzy Classifier-based Vulnerability and Assessment Testing (FCVAPT) model to provide security for sensitive data/information in Web applications. Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Structured Query Language (SQL) injections were selected for evaluation of proposed FCVAPT model. FCVAPT model’s classification performance for MSE, MAPE and RMSE were 33.33, 14.81% and 5.77% respectively. FCVAPT is considerably effective for detecting vulnerability and ascertaining the nature of threats/risks available to Web applications