Palm Oil Mill Solid Waste Generation and Uses in Rural Area in Benin Republic: Retrospection and Future Outlook

Palm oil is one of the major oil crops in the world, producing important vegetable oils in the world oil and fats market. Its production generates solid wastes whose sustainable management is crucial for the oil chain development in oil palm producing countries. Benin Republic is a small oil palm producing country where oil palm plays social, cultural, and economic roles for farmers. This chapter analyzes the linkage between improvement of palm oil process extraction and palm oil mill solid waste (POMSW) management for sustainable palm oil production. Composed mainly of fibers, the two kinds of POMSW are empty fruit bunches (EFBs) and press mesocarp fibers (PMFs), which are rich in units’ fertilizers and are renewable energy. POMSW in Benin Republic is used in agriculture, in cosmetic, or as energy. The upgrade of traditional mills generates POMSW use as a boiler fuel to reducing wood necessity and increasing farm profit. As this use is not sustainable, research must be made to generate electricity with POMSW and its use for crop fertilization, to ensure environment protection, enhance contribution to food security, restore degraded soils, and increase earnings of producers of rural areas

Évolution de la qualité de vie après un traumatisme crânien par accident de la route : un suivi à cinq ans de la cohorte ESPARR

Continua com: Info Ajuntament+Sostenible : notícies de l'Ajuntament+sostenibl

Nutritional Value of Climate-Resilient Forage Species Sustaining Peri-Urban Dairy Cow Production in the Coastal Grasslands of Benin (West Africa)

: Along the coast of West Africa, grazing ruminants rely on perennial forage species remaining in uncultivated plots, roadsides, and marshlands during the dry season. To assess the quality of these forages, thirteen drought-tolerant plants were harvested at the mature stage, and the samples were evaluated for chemical composition, in vitro fermentation characteristics, and metabolizable energy (ME) content. They are ten drought-tolerant grasses, including: Andropogon virginicus, Brachiaria deflexa, Cenchorus biflorus, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Eragrostis tremula, Leptochloa caerulescens, Loudetia aroundinacea, Paspalum notatum, Paspalum vaginatum, Pennisetum purpureum, two perennial herbs, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, Zornia latifolia, and one multipurpose tree, Elaeis guineensis. Legume species had the highest nutritional value (highest crude protein and ME, and lowest neutral detergent fiber) of the species studied. In terms of the in vitro data, the gas produced after 120 h of incubation ranged from 149 mL/g in E. tremula to 185 mL/g in Paspalum. Z. latifoliaa and had the fastest rate of fermentation, producing half of the total gas in 19.5 h, whereas E. tremula required 49.9 h (p < 0.01). The production of branched-chain fatty acids (isobutyrate and isovalerate) was greatest for E. guineensis and the lowest in both Paspalum species (p < 0.01). The study suggests the need for the protein supplementation of the animals to ensure maximum forage utilization and to satisfy the nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock

The Role of Intravenous Immunoglobulins in Decreasing the Need for Exchange Transfusion in Neonates with Isoimmune Haemolytic Jaundice

Abstract: Background: Neonatal Jaundice secondary to isoimmune haemolytic anemia (Rh and ABO incompatibility) is a cause of high serum bilirubin level due to haemolysis of red blood cells secondary to transplacental passage of antibodies. Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) have been successfully used in isoimmune hemolytic jaundice and were found to decrease hemolysis leading to reduction in serum bilirubin level and subsequently decreasing the need for exchange transfusion. Patients and methods: This study was conducted on 30 full term neonates with isoimmune-hemolytic jaundice admitted in the neonatal intensive care units in New Children&apos;s hospital, Cairo University. They were randomly classified into 2 groups Group I: &quot;Study group&quot; (15) neonates presented with isoimmune hemolytic jaundice treated by phototherapy + single dose of I.V immunoglobulin infusion (0.5 gm/Kg). Group II: &quot;Control group&quot

Nutritive value and in vitro methane production of two perennial grasses under different stocking rates in periurban areas of West-Africa

Background. In sub-Saharan Africa, pasture is the most used practice in ruminant production, and grazing areas characteristics varied in different environment. To improve ruminants’ performances, the quality of forages represents one of the most important factors to keep under control. Objective. To quantify the effects of grazing stocking rate on the nutrient composition, energy content and in vitro fermentation characteristics including volatile fatty acids (VFA) and methane production (CH4) of two local perennial grasses Dactyloctenium aegyptium L. and Leptochloa caerulescens L. Methodology. The forage samples were collected in three locations (Zinvié, Gakpé, Adounko) characterized by different stocking rate (low, medium and high). Their chemical composition, energy content and in vitro fermentation characteristics, including CH4 production, were determined. Results. D. aegyptium showed the highest crude protein, energy content, organic matter degradability and VFA production (p<0.01) when collected in Zinvié, whereas the highest (p<0.01) structural carbohydrates (NDF) content was detected in Gakpé area and the highest CH4 production was recorded from the sample collected in Adounko (p<0.01). Contrariwise, L. caerulescens showed the highest level of crude protein and degradability (p<0.01) when collected in Zinvié, whereas it proved the highest NDF content and the lowest lignin values (p<0.01) when collected in Adounko. The highest CH4 level was obtained from the sample collected in area of Gakpé (p<0.01). Higher (p<0.01) in vitro VFA production were recorded in samples collected in Adounko and Gakpé than in the Zinvié. Implications. The results obtained in this study highlight the significant influence of urbanization and herd concentration, as well as of other environmental conditions, on the nutritional value and potential environmental impact of the studied perennial grasses. Conclusion. Samples from high grazing stocking rate locations produced more in vitro methane. Further in vivo studies are needed to confirm these results

A Comparative Study of Perceived Stress among Female Medical and Non-Medical University Students in Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate any differences between female undergraduate medical and non-medical students for: 1) prevalence and causes of perceived academic stress, and 2) changes in physical, mental, psychological and emotional health as well as life-style since starting college studies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dammam University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in January 2008. All 319 pre-clinical female medical students were included in the study and 297 non-medical students from the College of Applied Studies and Community Services (CASCS) were selected by stratified random sampling. The study instrument was a questionnaire on the “Influence of Studying on Students’ Health”. Results: More medical students (48.6%) reported being frequently stressed due to studies than CASCS students (38.7%, P &lt;0.01). Unsuitable teaching methods, an unsatisfactory study environment, and fear of failure in examinations were more frequently mentioned by medical than non-medical students (P &lt;0.05). While underlying social problems were significantly more common in medical students, economic problems were more prevalent among CASCS students (P &lt;0.05, P &lt;0.05). More medical than non-medical students reported a worse status of physical and mental health, anxiety and depression and negative life-style changes since initiation of the college programme. Conclusion: Medical students were at higher risk of physical and mental health problems than non-medical students due to academic stress. Since a substantial proportion of CASCS students also experienced academic stress, we recommend that a student support committee be established for both colleges to provide counselling and guidance in healthy ways to cope with stress

Pionic Atom Spectroscopy in the (d,3He) reaction at finite angles

We study the formation of deeply bound pionic atoms in the (d,3He) reactions theoretically and show the energy spectra of the emitted 3He at finite angles, which are expected to be observed experimentally. We find that the different combinations of the pion-bound and neutron-hole states dominate the spectra at different scattering angles because of the matching condition of the reaction. We conclude that the observation of the (d,3He) reaction at finite angles will provide the systematic information of the pionic bound states in each nucleus and will help to develop the study of the pion properties and the partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclei.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl