Identification of Lubricating Oil-Degrading Microorganisms in Oil Polluted Soils from Five Auto- mechanic Workshops in Accra, Ghana

Trichothecium, Trichoderma, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium, and Penicillium spp. from oil contaminated soil from 5 Mechanic Shops in Accra, Ghana showed zones of clearance of oil on Minimum Salt Enrichment Medium (MSEM) Agar seeded with 1000ppm Engen™ Lubricating Oil (ELO), so were counted as presumptive lubricating oil-utilizing moulds. Significant increases (P ? 0.05) in viable counts, fungal dry weights and optical densities; significant decreases (P ? 0.05) in pH’s of pure cultures of the moulds in MSEM+1.0%(v/v) ELO medium at 30°C for 0 - 25 day’s; positive correlations between viable counts and fungal dry weights, viable counts and optical densities, and fungal dry weights and optical densities; and negative correlations between pH and viable counts, and pH and optical densities, confirmed the moulds as lubricating oil consuming fungi with potential for use in bioremediation of oil polluted soils. Aspergillus niger exhibited the highest bioremediation capacity and Trichothecium the least. Keywords: Lubricating Oil, Pollution, Fungi, Bioremediatio

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

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

Detection of Newcastle Disease antibodies amongst local chicken slaughtered in live bird markets in Kaduna, Nigeria

Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) constitutes a major constraint to the poultry production system in Nigeria. This study was carried out to investigate the seroprevalence of NDV antibodies in local chickens (Gallus domesticus) slaughtered in five different live bird markets (LBMs) in Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria. Three hundred blood samples were collected and screened for antibodies against NDV using Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI). An overall seroprevalence rate of 23% (95%:CI18.5-28.0) was recorded in this study. Seroprevalence based on different LBMs revealed a higher prevalence of 28.3% (95% : Cl 18.0-40.7) in Sabo market, followed by Sokoto road market 26.7% (Cl:16.7-38.9), Kawo market 18.3% (95% Cl: 10.0-29.6), Railway market 13.3% (Cl:6.4-23.5), and the lowest prevalence was recorded in central market 11.7% (Cl:5.2-21.7). The difference in seroprevalence among the LBMs was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Higher seroprevalence of NDV antibodies in female birds 30.5 % (Cl: 24.1-37.6) was recorded compared to male 13.9% (Cl: 8.3-21.4). The study indicated that NDV is endemic in the population. LBMs location had no significant influence on the seroprevalence of NDV in the study area. The difference in seroprevalence between sexes was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Therefore, this study demonstrated the need for a regular strategic vaccination programme against NDV in local chickens in Kaduna metropolis

Developing a Mathematical Formula that can Calculate the Density of MoO3-B2O3-Bi2O3 Glass System from Weight Percentages of its Components

Research on glass systems for radiation shielding involves the fabrication of different samples in a sequential manner. In order to determine their shielding properties their densities have to be found experimentally. This procedure causes time and capital consumption and is associated with health risk due to the biological harms of some chemicals involved in it. Therefore, the objective of this work is to reduce the cost, time and health risks by developing a mathematical model to calculate the density of MoO3 - B2O3 - Bi2O3 glass system from weight percentages of its components using Phy-X/PSD software and Python Programming. The input needed are the densities and percentage weights of the constituent components. The coding made in Python programming language to test the formula shows its ability to reproduce or predict densities of the required samples of this glass system with accuracy within 99.59 – 99.88%. Therefore, making use of this formula will simplify the difficulty of refabricating glasses defined by the expression yMoO3 - xB2O3 - (100 – y – x) Bi2O3 for research purposes, which will reduce the financial cost and health risks

Response of 2-Hydroxymethyl Methacrylate Polymer Gel Dosimeter with Maltose Additive for Radiation within Diagnostic X-Ray Energies

The use of polymer gel dosimeters (PGD) in x-ray radiography has not yet been confirmed. However, if it could be applied, it could help to improve patient dosimetry, dose optimization, and quality assurance through its three-dimensional (3D) image display. This research aimed to evaluate the response of a 2-hydroxymethyl methacrylate (HEMA) polymer gel dosimeter at lower energies for possible use in diagnostic x-ray radiography and to determine the effect of maltose concentrations on the sensitivity. The dosimeter was made under normoxic conditions using Gelatin, HEMA, N, N’- Methylene – bis – acrylamide (BIS), Ascorbic Acid, deionized water, and maltose of various concentrations (10 – 50 mM). The PGDs were then irradiated using a conventional x-ray machine with exposure settings ranging from 10-200 mA, 40-100 kV, and s = 1 s. Afterward, the irradiated dosimeters were scanned using UV-spectroscopy. The result showed that the dosimeters responded to low-energy x-rays, and the effect of the maltose concentration within the tested range was not linear with the sensitivity. We concluded that the HEMA polymer gel dosimeter could be used for clinical x-ray dosimetry, but further research on the effect of maltose concentrations on the sensitivity is needed

Acute insulin response following exercise and its association to lipid changes in sedentary African-American women

Sedentary African-American (AA) women are at increased risk of hypertension, dyslipidemias, metabolic syndrome, and impaired insulin response to exercise. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise on fasting serum insulin and glucose concentrations following 1464 kJ (350 kcal) of exercise and to determine if this response was associated with serum lipid concentrations in overweight AA women. Premenopausal AA women (n = 11, mean ± SD, age = 32.5 ± 4.8 yr., BMI = 29.8 ± 4.8 kg·m-2, % fat = 35.6 ± 6.3, VO2peak = 21.5 ± 3.6 ml·kg-1·min-1, total cholesterol = 4.8 ± 0.6 mmol·L-1, triglycerides = 0.60 ± 0.2 mmol·L-1, HDLC = 3.3 ± 0.5 mg·dL-1) performed 1464 kJ (350 kcal) of treadmill exercise at 60%-70%VO2peak. Fasting plasma insulin and glucose concentrations were collected 24-h prior to, and immediately, 24-h, and 48 h following exercise. Fasting insulin concentration increased immediately following exercise (Baseline=77.1 ± 10.42 vs. Immediately=117.4 ± 15.28 μU·mL-1, 95%CI= 32.71, 47.89; P<0.05). The change in insulin concentration from 24-h pre- to 24-h post-exercise was correlated with BMI (r= 0.51), VO2peak (r= -0.47), and the change in lipoprotein lipase activity (r=0.37) (P<0.05 for all). In conclusion, in sedentary AA women, the insulin response immediately following exercise may be elevated, and is not suppressed below pre-exercise concentrations during the 48-h following exercise. The insulin response 24-h following exercise is modestly associated with markers of lipoprotein metabolism

An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could restimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts

Effect of La2O3 Additive on the Radiation Shielding Properties of Cobalt-doped Borate Glasses

Radiation protection becomes a necessary action in radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and other institutions which make use of radiation. The aim of this work is to evaluate the radiation protection features of cobalt-doped borate glass with La2O3 additive. The glasses named here as S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 with 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mol% of La2O3 respectively were assessed for their Linear Attenuation Coefficient, LAC, Mass Attenuation Coefficient, MAC, Half value Layer, HVL and Effective Atomic Number Zeff. We found that the glasses have LAC, MAC and Zeff higher than ordinary concrete and Ilmenite concrete, especially S3 which has the concentration of 1 mol% of La2O3 and has lowest HVL at lower energies below 0.1 MeV and above 4 MeV than the other samples, and also found that S5 with 2 mol% of La2O3 is more advantageous for energy range 0.1 - 4 MeV. We therefore concluded the applicability of these glasses for radiation shielding and that the addition of La2O3 increases their radiation protection features.

Is the Incidence of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Nigerians Increasing?

Myocardial infarction is thought to be rare in Nigerians. This assumption may not be tenable any longer. We report 4 cases of acute myocardial infarction within one year out of which 3 were Nigerians. This seemingly increasing incidence may not be unconnected with the increase in the number of trained cardiologists and diagnostic tools, the rising incidence of the predisposing factors to myocardial infarction such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia etc. This report is meant to further increase our awareness of the slow but rising incidence of the disease. There is therefore the need for adequate preventive and control measures targeted at the predisposing factors.L'infarctus du myocarde est consid\ue9r\ue9 d'\ueatre rare parmi les Nig\ue9rians. Cette pr\ue9tention parait n'\uea tre plus d\ue9fendable. Nous rapportons 4 cas d'infarctus du myocarde aigu dans une p\ue9riode d'un an dont 3 \ue9taient des Nig\ue9rians. Cette incidence apparemment croissante est tributaire \ue0 l'augmentation du nombre de cardiologues qualifi\ue9s et d'outils diagnostiques, l'augmentation des incidences des facteurs pr\ue9disposant \ue0 l'infarctus du myocarde tels que l'hypertension, diab\ue8te sucr\ue9, et hyperlipid\ue9mie. Ce rapport vise, de plus, \ue0 augmenter notre conscience de l'incidence lente mais montante de la maladie. Il y a donc le besoin de mesures pr\ue9ventives ad\ue9quates et de contr\uf4les vis\ue9s aux facteurs pr\ue9disposant