Determination of Soil Erosion and Sediment Yield in the Bonsa River Basin Using GIS and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE)

The Bonsa river is an important tributary of the Ankobra river in the Western Region of Ghana. The catchment of the Bonsa river has been undergoing rapid land cover changes due to human activities such as farming, illegal mining, population growth, among others which are likely to promote soil erosion and sediment yield in the river basin. To estimate the amount of soil eroded over a period and subsequent sediment yielded along the Bonsa river basin, the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) to model the spatial distribution patterns in soil erosion and sediment yield within the catchment. Data used included annual rainfall records, soil map, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and land-use map of the study area. Parameters of the model were determined and converted into raster layers using the raster calculator tool in ArcMap to produce a soil erosion map. The concept of Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was applied to determine the annual sediment yield by combining a raster SDR layer with soil erosion map. The predicted soil loss and sediment yield values were found to be low. This may be due to high soil protective cover provided by vegetation as well as low topographic relief in the river basin. Though, the elements and processes responsible for soil erosion and sediment yield prevailing in the basin was found to be low, adverse situations could be developed with time if the prevailing conditions are not checked, as soil erosion is a natural gradual slow process. The gains made could be sustained by putting measures in place to control human activities, particularly, illegal mining (galamsey) in the basin, indiscriminate cutting down of trees and farmining activities along the Bansa river basin. This study will support monitoring, planning of water resources and help to improve sustainable water quality

Landfill Lifespan Estimation: A Case Study

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is one of the most serious environmental challenges facing the world at large due to the decomposing effect from the toxic gases being released into the environment by the MSW. The siting of landfill in any environment is a vital consideration that must be looked at due to the many factors such as the lifespan of the landfill, site selection, design, construction, operation and management. For this reason, it is important to estimate the lifespan of landfill accurately so as to explore the risk involved in acquiring new lands for landfills. Moreover, it is also necessary to consider proper methodology for estimating the lifespan of landfills. Based on these factors enumerated, various researchers have performed several laboratory tests in order to conclude on appropriate model that could be used to predict the lifespan of modern landfills. Mathematical models or expressions have also been suggested in literature as an alternative approach to the estimation of landfills lifespan. This research used the future value of money equation to estimate the lifespan of the Aboso landfill in Tarkwa, Ghana. The result showed that the landfill could operate for the next twelve years before it could exhaust its usefulness. Keywords: Landfill, Municipal Solid Waste, Lifespan Estimatio

Improving Fall Prevention Strategies in an Acute-Care Setting

Falls with or without injuries among the elderly have become a public health concern, with falls among adults age 65 years and older increasing every year. Nurses play a role in ensuring patient safety by following fall prevention guidelines. The purpose of this evidence-based study was to implement the RE-AIM evaluation tool to determine the impact of the Safe Five program on staff compliance with the program; patients\u27 awareness of the need for falls prevention; and falls among older adults, ages 65 years and older, admitted to an acute care nursing unit. The literature supports implementing a falls prevention program with multifactorial and interdisciplinary components, and an evaluation plan to help decrease falls in acute care settings. The Safe Five falls prevention program was implemented on the acute care nursing unit in an effort to decrease the inpatient falls rate on the unit. The inpatient falls data were collected retrospectively, 2 years pre implementation of the Safe Five program, and 8 to 10 months post implementation. Data were collected from the Safe Five checklists, recorded inpatient fall rates, and high fall risk chart audits provided by staff and nurse manager; they were then analyzed using the RE-AIM evaluation tool. The long-term effects of the Safe Five program include an 18% increase in patients\u27 awareness of the importance of preventing falls, an 18% increase in staff compliance with the program, and a 14% decrease in inpatient fall rate on the unit. It is projected that the decrease in inpatient falls will result in decreased healthcare costs and improved patient satisfaction with the healthcare system, communication among the interdisciplinary team, and health outcomes for the patients

Effet de l’eau oxygénée (H2O2) sur la germination et la croissance de la roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L. var. sabdariffa) au Gabon

Les quantités de roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L. var. sabdariffa) produites au Gabon ne sont pas suffisantes pour satisfaire la demande locale. Pour augmenter les productions de cette plante, un essai d’intensification des rendements a été réalisé en utilisant de l’eau oxygénée (H2O2). Les graines de roselle ont pour cela été traitées par trempage pendant 48 h dans différentes concentrations de ce composé, puis cultivées en serre. Les résultats obtenus ont montré qu’aux concentrations comprises entre 0,02 M et 0,1 M l’eau oxygénée réduisait tous les paramètres morphométriques mesurés, à savoir : la germination des graines, les croissances longitudinale et tangentielle des tiges et les surfaces foliaires des plantes. Aux faibles concentrations de 0,01 M, ce composé a toutefois provoqué une légère et non significative stimulation des paramètres étudiés. Dans les gammes de concentrations utilisées, l’eau oxygénée n’est donc pas recommandable pour l’amélioration des productions de roselle au Gabon.Mots clés: Roselle, eau oxygénée, graines, tiges, feuilles, croissanc

PDB91 Systematic Literature Review of Health State Utilities for Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract not availabl

Distributions of dissolved trace metals (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, Ag) in the southeastern Atlantic and the Southern Ocean

International audienceComprehensive synoptic datasets (surface water down to 4000 m) of dissolved cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb) and silver (Ag) are presented along a section between 34° S and 57° S in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean to the south off South Africa. The vertical distributions of Cu and Ag display nutrient-like profiles similar to silicic acid, and of Cd similar to phosphate. The distribution of Mn shows a subsurface maximum in the oxygen minimum zone, whereas Pb concentrations are rather invariable with depth. Dry deposition of aerosols is thought to be an important source of Pb to surface waters close to South Africa, and dry deposition and snowfall may have been significant sources of Cu and Mn at the higher latitudes. Furthermore, the advection of water masses enriched in trace metals following contact with continental margins appeared to be an important source of trace elements to the surface, intermediate and deep waters in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Hydrothermal inputs may have formed a source of trace metals to the deep waters over the Bouvet Triple Junction ridge crest, as suggested by relatively enhanced dissolved Mn concentrations. The biological utilization of Cu and Ag was proportional to that of silicic acid across the section, suggesting that diatoms formed an important control over the removal of Cu and Ag from surface waters. However, uptake by dino- and nano-flagellates may have influenced the distribution of Cu and Ag in the surface waters of the subtropical Atlantic domain. Cadmium correlated strongly with phosphate (P), yielding lower Cd / P ratios in the subtropical surface waters where phosphate concentrations were below 0.95 μM. The greater depletion of Cd relative to P observed in the Weddell Gyre compared to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current could be due to increase Cd uptake induced by iron-limiting conditions in these high-nutrient-low-chlorophyll waters. Similarly, an increase of Mn uptake under Fe-depleted conditions may have caused the highest depletion of Mn relative to P in the surface waters of the Weddell Gyre. In addition, a cellular Mn-transport channel of Cd was possibly activated in the Weddell Gyre, which in turn may have yielded depletion of both Mn and Cd in these surface waters

SARM1 depletion rescues NMNAT1-dependent photoreceptor cell death and retinal degeneration

Leber congenital amaurosis type nine is an autosomal recessive retinopathy caused by mutations of the NA

Natural Pig Plasma Immunoglobulins Have Anti-Bacterial Effects: Potential for Use as Feed Supplement for Treatment of Intestinal Infections in Pigs

There is an increasing demand for non-antibiotics solutions to control infectious disease in intensive pig production. Here, one such alternative, namely pig antibodies purified from slaughterhouse blood was investigated in order to elucidate its potential usability to control post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD), which is one of the top indications for antibiotics usage in the pig production. A very cost-efficient and rapid one-step expanded bed adsorption (EBA) chromatography procedure was used to purify pig immunoglobulin G from slaughterhouse pig plasma (more than 100 litres), resulting in >85% pure pig IgG (ppIgG). The ppIgG thus comprised natural pig immunoglobulins and was subsequently shown to contain activity towards four pig-relevant bacterial strains (three different types of Escherichia coli and one type of Salmonella enterica) but not towards a fish pathogen (Yersinia ruckeri), and was demonstrated to inhibit the binding of the four pig relevant bacteria to a pig intestinal cell line (IPEC-J2). Finally it was demonstrated in an in vivo weaning piglet model for intestinal colonization with an E. coli F4+ challenge strain that ppIgG given in the feed significantly reduced shedding of the challenge strain, reduced the proportion of the bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae, increased the proportion of families Enterococcoceae and Streptococcaceae and generally increased ileal microbiota diversity. Conclusively, our data support the idea that natural IgG directly purified from pig plasma and given as a feed supplement can be used in modern swine production as an efficient and cost-effective means for reducing both occurrence of PWD and antibiotics usage and with a potential for the prevention and treatment of other intestinal infectious diseases even if the causative agent might not be known