Comparative effects of Varying Rates of Moringa Leaf, Poultry Manure and NPK Fertilizer on the Growth, Yield and Quality of Okra (Abelmoschusesculentus L. Moench)

The fertilizer management practices have not ensure the desired improvement in yield for okra (Abelmoschusesculentus L. Moench) due to differences in fertilizer types. The search continues for nutrient sources that would provide adequate nutrition for the crop on the season. A pot experiment was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria to evaluate the growth and fruit yield responses of okra (Abelmoschusesculentus L. Moench) to the application of air-dried milled moringa leaf (MML), poultry manure (PM) and NPK fertilizer. The MML was applied at 400, 800, and 1200 kg/ha; NPK 15-15-15 at 250 kg/ha and PM at 10 t/ha separately and in all possible combinations in completely randomized design in three replicates. The parameters measured were plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf area, number of fruits and fruit weight. The single treatments differed significantly (P = 0.05) with the combinations of the treatments giving better performance. The 800 kg/ha MML + PM treatment gave the tallest plants (103.33 cm) and followed by single application of PM (102.33 cm). The application of 400 kg/ha MML + PM + NPK produced the highest number of fruits but 800 kg/ha MML + PM + NPK gave the highest fresh fruit (42.70 g) and dry fruit (20.50 g) weight. 800 kg/ha gave best growth performance among MML but 1200 kg/ha gave best yield. This suggests that MML can be used as source of nutrients to grow okra

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Heavy Metal Contamination of a Dumpsite Environment as Assessed with Pollution Indices

Indiscriminate refuse dumping in and around Ado-Ekiti combined with improper management of few available dumpsites, such as Ilokun dumpsite, posed the threat of heavy metals pollution in the surrounding soils and underground water that needs assessment using pollution indices. Surface soils (0-15 cm) were taken from the centre of Ilokun dumpsite (0 m) and environs at different directions and distances during the dry and wet seasons, as well as a background sample at 1000 m away, adjacent to the dumpsite at Ilokun, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. The concentration of heavy metals used to calculate the pollution indices for the soils were determined using Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer. The soils recorded high concentrations of all the heavy metals above the background concentrations irrespective of the season with highest concentrations at the 0 m except Ni and Fe at 50 m during the dry and wet season, respectively. The heavy metals concentration were in the order of Ni > Mn > Pb > Cr > Cu > Cd > Fe during the dry season, and Fe > Cr > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd > Mn during the wet season. Using the Contamination Factor (CF), the soils were classified to be moderately contaminated with Cd and Fe to very high contamination with other metals during the dry season and low Cd contamination (0.87), moderate contamination with Fe, Pb, Mn and Ni and very high contamination with Cr and Cu during the wet season. At both seasons, the Pollution Load Index (PLI) indicates the soils to be generally polluted with heavy metals and the Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) calculated shown the soils to be in unpolluted to moderately polluted levels. Enrichment Factor (EF) implied the soils to be deficiently enriched with all the heavy metals except Cr (7.90) and Cu (6.42) that were at significantly enrichment levels during the wet season. Modified Degree of Contamination (mCd) recorded, indicated the soils to be of very high to extremely high degree of contamination during the dry season and moderate degree of contamination during the wet season except 0 m with high degree of contamination. The concentration of heavy metals in the soils combined with some of the pollution indices indicated the soils in and around the Ilokun Dumpsite are being polluted with heavy metals from anthropogenic sources constituted by the indiscriminate refuse dumping