A Cross-Sectional Survey on Knowledge and Perceptions of Health Risks Associated with Arsenic and Mercury Contamination from Artisanal Gold mining in Tanzania.

An estimated 0.5 to 1.5 million informal miners, of whom 30-50% are women, rely on artisanal mining for their livelihood in Tanzania. Mercury, used in the processing gold ore, and arsenic, which is a constituent of some ores, are common occupational exposures that frequently result in widespread environmental contamination. Frequently, the mining activities are conducted haphazardly without regard for environmental, occupational, or community exposure. The primary objective of this study was to assess community risk knowledge and perception of potential mercury and arsenic toxicity and/or exposure from artisanal gold mining in Rwamagasa in northwestern Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey of respondents in five sub-villages in the Rwamagasa Village located in Geita District in northwestern Tanzania near Lake Victoria was conducted. This area has a history of artisanal gold mining and many of the population continue to work as miners. Using a clustered random selection approach for recruitment, a total of 160 individuals over 18 years of age completed a structured interview. The interviews revealed wide variations in knowledge and risk perceptions concerning mercury and arsenic exposure, with 40.6% (n=65) and 89.4% (n=143) not aware of the health effects of mercury and arsenic exposure respectively. Males were significantly more knowledgeable (n=59, 36.9%) than females (n=36, 22.5%) with regard to mercury (x²=3.99, p<0.05). An individual's occupation category was associated with level of knowledge (x²=22.82, p=<0.001). Individuals involved in mining (n=63, 73.2%) were more knowledgeable about the negative health effects of mercury than individuals in other occupations. Of the few individuals (n=17, 10.6%) who knew about arsenic toxicity, the majority (n=10, 58.8%) were miners. The knowledge of individuals living in Rwamagasa, Tanzania, an area with a history of artisanal gold mining, varied widely with regard to the health hazards of mercury and arsenic. In these communities there was limited awareness of the threats to health associated with exposure to mercury and arsenic. This lack of knowledge, combined with minimal environmental monitoring and controlled waste management practices, highlights the need for health education, surveillance, and policy changes

Levofloxacin: Insights into antibiotic resistance and product quality

Counterfeit and substandard medicines are recognized as one of serious threats to public health. The product quality of antibacterial medicine will compromise patients' recovery and increase the chance of antibacterial resistance. The review aims to provide a summary of low quality levofloxacin issues and the risk factors as well as suggesting the aspects of product quality that need to be regulated strictly. Quality of the active ingredient, levofloxacin, has an important role to contribute to successful therapy. The poor quality of raw material, directly and indirectly, causes treatment failure as the presence of insufficient dose, mislabeled content, and poor dissolution characteristics can lead to lower bioavailability. Identifying and reporting these factors can potentially help in improving the quality of drug marketed in various developing countries and may also reduce the incidences of treatment failure. Dissolution test is used for testing the dissolution profiles and the rate of drug release from solid formulation such as oral formulations, thus providing information regarding the in vivo performance of a formulation and its bioequivalence. On the other hand, quality-Testing procedures are used for comparing the quality of products

Urea Super Granule: A Good Source of Nitrogen on Growth Yield and Profitability of Cabbage in Sylhet

An experiment was conducted in Sylhet under AEZ-20 (Eastern Surma-Kushiyara Floodplain) during 2007-08 and 2008-09 to find out the effect of Urea Super Granule (USG) on cabbage. There were five treatments viz. T1: recommended nitrogen (N) dose as prilled urea (PU), T2: recommended N dose as USG, T3: 10% less than recommended dose of N as USG, T4: 20% less than recommended dose of N as USG, and T5: farmers practice (average of 20 farmers N dose used as PU) used in the experiment. Results revealed that yield of cabbage increased significantly due to application of USG over PU. The highest head yield of cabbage 92.04 and 91.36 t ha-1 were obtained from the USG (recommended dose) in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively which was statistically similar with USG 10% less than recommended dose (84.78 t ha-1) instead of traditional PU. The treatments T3 and T4 were found more effective over PU, and N loss was also minimum than that of prilled urea where 10-20% N fertilizer could be saved by using USG instead of traditional PU. Regarding economic analysis, the higher returns were also obtained from the treatment T2 which was more profitable in terms of higher gross returns as well as Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v5i1.11595 J. Environ. Sci. &amp; Natural Resources, 5(1): 295-299, 2012</jats:p

Effect of seed stalk pruning and boron application on the seed yield of summer onion (Allium cepa L.) in the high barind tract

The experiment was carried out at FSRD site, Kadamshahar, Godagari, Rajshahi during 2009-10 and 2010-11 to find out the number of seed stalk and optimum boron dose for seed production of summer onion in High Barind Tract (AEZ 26). The treatments comprised three levels of seed stalk (0, 4, and 6) and three rates of boron application (0, 1, and 2 kg/ha). It revealed that the seed stalks and boron either in single or combination had significant effect on the yield and yield contributing characters of onion seed. The combination comprising 4 stalks with 2 kg B/ha and 6 stalks with 1 kg B/ha were found to be the best choice for achieving higher seed yield of onion. The highest seeded fruit/umbel (4.06 and 4.55) and seed yield (669 and 713 kg/ha) were recorded from 6 stalks/plant fertilized with 1 kg boron/ha which was statistically identical to 6 stalks/plant fertilized with 2 kg boron/ha and 4 stalks/plant with 2 kg/ha boron in the High Barind Tract. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v38i4.18870 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 38(4): 573-578, December 2013</jats:p

Effect of tillage intensity, fertilizer and manure on root mass density, soil properties and their correlation on rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield

An experiment was carried out at the Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm, Mymensingh during the Aman season of 2008 to study the effect of tillage intensity, fertilizer and manure on the root mass density soil properties and their correlation on rice yield (BRRI dhan 41). The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications. The treatments were three tillage operations as factor A: one passing (P1), two passing (P2), and three passing (P3) of a power tiller and four fertilizer and manure treatments as factor B: recommended dose of fertilizers (FM0), 50% of N plus rest of recommended dose of fertilizers + cowdung @ 5 t/ha (FM1), 50% of N plus rest of recommended dose of fertilizers + rice straw @ 5 t/ha (FM2) and 50% of N plus rest of recommended dose of fertilizer + cowdung @ 2.5 t/ha plus rice straw @ 2.5 t/ha (FM3). The highest and the lowest bulk densities were found in P1FM0 and P3FM treatments, respectively. The maximum soil moisture content and air filled porosity were obtained in P3FM1 treatment, whereas PM1FM0 demonstrated the lowest soil moisture content. The maximum (8.09 mg cm-3) and minimum (1.63 mg cm-3) root mass densities were observed in P3 (10 cm depth) and P1 (10-20 cm depth) treatments, respectively. The highest grain yield was recorded in P3FM0 treatment. Root mass density was positively correlated with soil moisture content and grain yield, but negatively with bulk density. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 37(3): 529-535, September 2012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v37i3.12129</jats:p

Adaptability Of Wheat Varieties In Strongly Acidic Soils Of Sylhet

A field trail was carried out at South-Surma, Sylhet, in 2009-10 and at FSRD site Jalalpur, Sylhet in 2010-11 in collaboration with WRC and OFRD, BARI to examine the response of 7 wheat varieties at two levels of lime in split-plot design where lime was applied in main plots and different wheat varieties were grown in sub-plots. The seeds were sown on 05 December 2009 and 30 November 2010 for the growing season of 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. The wheat varieties used in this study were Shatabdi, Sufi, Sourav, Bijoy, Prodip, BARI Gom-25 and BARI Gom-26. The index of relative performance of each variety in comparison to mean yield of all varieties under the contrast conditions of liming and non-liming was estimated to determine relative adaptability of wheat variety under experimental soil conditions. The result indicated that most of the yield components viz., spikes/m2, 100-grain weight, and grain yield of wheat were significantly improved by liming for both the years and locations. There were variations in lime response among the wheat varieties. The index of relative adaptability (IRA %) for yield of BARI Gom-26 and Bijoy was more than 100% for both the years. The results indicated that these two wheat varieties are relatively tolerant to low pH and could be adapted in acidic soil of Sylhet. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 38(1): 97-104, March 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v38i1.15194</jats:p

Study on factors affecting the conception rate in Red Chittagong Cows

The research was undertaken to identify the factors affecting the conception rate in Red Chittagong cows (RCC). A total of 130 questionnaires were filled up to collect the related data during artificial insemination (AI) and subsequently pregnancy diagnoses were done after three months of AI at five upazillas (Satkania, Chandanaish, Potia, Anwara and Raozan) in Chittagong district. Conception rate of heifers and cows delivered 1, 2, 3 and 4 calves were 64.52, 72.73, 64.86, 60 and 53.33%, respectively. Conception rates were 19.4% higher in 1st delivered cows than that of the older cows attained the 4th or more parities. Red Chittagong Cows producing 3 kg or more milk during AI period had lower conception rate than the low producing cows. The conception rates of RCC were higher when inseminated between 10 to &gt;14 hours after onset of estrous and the value was 74.19%. The conception rates of RCC were higher at a thawing period of 10-12 seconds than 5-7 seconds and 15-17 seconds and varied significantly. The conception rate was 10.62% higher in RCC for semen deposited in the body of uterus than deposited at the middle of the cervix. The conception rate of RCC for normal, difficult calving, retained placenta, uterine infectious and cystic ovaries cows were 70.27, 50, 33.33, 25 and 0%, respectively and the overall conception rate of disordered cows were 31.57%. In this study, the overall conception rate of RCC was found in 63.85%. This figure can be improved by taking different measures like; insemination at observing clear mucus and 10.0-14.0 hours after the onset of estrous, thawing of straw at 37ºC for at least 10-12 seconds, heating of insemination devices, service at docile condition, placement of semen at the body of the uterus and avoid crossing of RCC with exotic blood to ensure protection from health disorder like difficult calving and retained placenta. Key words: Red Chittagong cows; Artificial insemination; Conception rate DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v39i1-2.9676 Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2010, 39(1&amp;2): 52-57</jats:p