Application of Solid Phase Extraction with Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry in Geographical Profiling and Characterization of Volatile Organics in Kenyan Honey

Honey from different regions fetch different market prices, this makes it prone to mislabeling in terms of origin. This study aimed at identifying markers specific to Kenyan honey from different regions so as to develop a fast reliable profile that can be used in the geographical profiling of honey. Solid-Phase Extraction followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry was used to extract and identify volatile organic compounds in honey from various regions in Kenya. Various volatile organic compounds were identified, they were classified into the following classes; esters, carboxylic acids, aldehydes ketones, and hydrocarbons. It was established that the presence or absence of certain compounds and their variation in concentration can be used to classify honey from different geographical regions in Kenya. Keywords: Honey, Volatile Organics, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Keny

Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in global lakes:A review and meta-analysis

Lakes are an important source of freshwater, containing nearly 90% of the liquid surface fresh water worldwide. Long retention times in lakes mean pollutants from discharges slowly circulate around the lakes and may lead to high ecological risk for ecosystem and human health. In recent decades, antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been regarded as emerging pollutants. The occurrence and distribution of antibiotics and ARGs in global freshwater lakes are summarized to show the pollution level of antibiotics and ARGs and to identify some of the potential risks to ecosystem and human health. Fifty-seven antibiotics were reported at least once in the studied lakes. Our meta-analysis shows that sulfamethoxazole, sulfamerazine, sulfameter, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, erythromycin, and roxithromycin were found at high concentrations in both lake water and lake sediment. There is no significant difference in the concentration of sulfonamides in lake water from China and that from other countries worldwide; however, there was a significant difference in quinolones. Erythromycin had the lowest predicted hazardous concentration for 5% of the species (HC5) and the highest ecological risk in lakes. There was no significant difference in the concentration of sulfonamide resistance genes (sul1 and sul2) in lake water and river water. There is surprisingly limited research on the role of aquatic biota in propagation of ARGs in freshwater lakes. As an environment that is susceptible to cumulative build-up of pollutants, lakes provide an important environment to study the fate of antibiotics and transport of ARGs with a broad range of niches including bacterial community, aquatic plants and animals

The relationship between world view, African self-consciousness and adjustment of African students and African-American students: A comparative study

This study examined the relationship between world view, African Self-consciousness, and adjustment, using a causal-comparative (ex post facto) design and a survey method to collect the data. Differences between African students and African American students were explored with respect to world view, African self-consciousness, and adjustment. Additionally, these two groups were compared to a group of Caucasian students on the same variables. There were 75 African students, 61 African American students, and 84 Caucasian students all attending the University of Nebraska campuses. The participants completed the Scale to Assess World View (SAWV), a Demographic Data Sheet, and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). African students and African American students also completed the African Self Consciousness Scale (ASC). A multivariate analysis of Variance (MANOVA) using the SAWV showed that there were significant differences between the three cultural groups. More African American students and African students, compared to Caucasian students, perceived human nature as bad, social relations as collateral-mutual, and had a time focus that is both in the past and in the future. African students, compared to African American students and Caucasian students, also more readily saw human nature as good and bad and social relations as lineal-hierarchical. Additionally, there were significant differences between women and men. To a greater extent women perceived social relations as collateral-mutual and believed in an activity orientation that was being-in-becoming. The men compared to the women preferred social relations that were lineal-hierarchical. In terms of adjustment, a MANOVA analysis revealed that African American students and Caucasian students reported better academic adjustment than African students. Furthermore, African American students and African students, compared to Caucasian students, reported better social adjustment and a higher institutional attachment. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the world view orientations that best predicted adjustment were: (a) human nature as bad orientation, (b) social relations that are individualistic, and (c) less future time orientation. Furthermore, African students and African American students who reported a higher level of African self-consciousness were better adjusted than those students who reported a lower level of African self-consciousness. And finally, African students reported a higher African self-consciousness compared to African American students

Projets de développement et réactivation des conflits entre les Pygmées Bakola/Bagyeli et leurs voisins Ngumba et Ewondo

Cet article présente la construction par des ONG des infrastructures sociales pour les Pygmées Bakola/Bagyeli, et s’intéresse à la réactivation des confl qui prévalent entre les Pygmées et leurs voisins Ngumba et Ewondo suite à la mise en œuvre des projets dits de « développement ». À partir d’un travail d’enquête de terrain dans les villages de Ngoyang et de Bidjouka, nous analysons les raisons qui sous-tendent ces confl qui sont survenus au lendemain de la mise en œuvre de ces plans sociaux. Le présent texte retrace les attitudes et les comportements des différents acteurs à travers la logique de leurs représentations sociales qui se révèlent dans les actes quotidiens de l’interaction sociale et qui sont de notre point de vue générateurs de conflit.This paper presents the construction of social infrastructures by NGOs for the Bakola/Bagyeli people and is interested in reactivating conflict prevailing between the Pygmies and their neighbors Ngumba and Ewondo following the implementation of the so-called “development projects”. From a field survey work in the villages of Ngoyang and Bidjouka, we analyze the reasons behind these conflict that occurred after the implementation of these social plans. This text traces the attitudes and behaviors of different actors through the logic of their social representations that reveal themselves in the daily acts of social interaction and are, from our point of view, generating conflict

Write-shops for outcome mapping evaluation : participatory analysis and reporting of program progress and impact

PowerPoint presentationThe presentation provides information on the processes of outcome mapping and how this relates to project evaluation. The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) hosted the event. Examples of knowledge products included the use of unrelated cases to develop guidelines from cross-case analysis. Other examples depict books based on outcomes and impact. Write-shop events and planning for such events are covered in detail

Removal of selected antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs during post‐treatment of municipal wastewater with UV, UV/chlorine and UV/hydrogen peroxide

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are only partially removed by convectional wastewater treatment plants. This study aimed at assessing the post‐treatment degradation of selected antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs by direct UV photolysis and advanced oxidation processes (UV/H2O2 and UV/Cl2) using low‐pressure mercury lamp. The rate of degradation largely followed pseudo first‐order reaction kinetics. Amongst the six studied APIs, sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin and zidovudine were readily degraded by more than 90% using direct UV photolysis. Addition of Cl2 and H2O2 to the UV process led to an increase in the rate of degradation for all the compounds. The effectiveness UV/Cl2 process was affected to a greater extent by the background effluent organic matter. This implies that higher electrical energy and oxidant would be required in the UV/Cl2 process relative to UV/H2O2 process. Generally, electrical energy required to remove 90% of the target compounds increased in the order UV/H2O2 < UV/Cl2 < UV processes.peerReviewe

A multiresidue analytical method for trace level determination of antibiotics and antiretroviral drugs in wastewater and surface water using SPE-LC-MS/MS and matrix-matched standards

An analytical method for simultaneous determination of seven commonly used antibiotics and three antiretrovirals in surface water and urban wastewater at the ng L−1 level has been developed. The method involves concentration and clean-up by solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by identification and quantification by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). The use of matrix-matched calibration curves constructed by spiking surface water was evaluated for quantification and compared with the internal standard method using isotopically labelled compounds. The method gave absolute recoveries of 41–116% with most of the compounds having recoveries >50%. The LOQs ranged from 5 to 63 ng L−1 allowing for the determination of the analytes at trace levels in the environmental samples considered. The difference in the quantification results obtained using surface water matrix-matched standards and internal standards was within a ±20% margin. The method provides an affordable and relatively fast alternative with acceptable accuracy and precision. The method was applied to study the occurrence of the target analytes in the surface water of Lake Päijänne and wastewater from the Jyväskylä wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Central Finland. All target compounds were detected in the WWTP streams with concentrations ranging between 10 and 570 ng L−1 while low ng L−1 levels were measured for some of the analytes in surface waters. The results institute the need for further monitoring in other WWTP streams and receiving waters as well as improvements of the wastewater treatment process with the aim of minimizing the pharmaceutical load in the effluents.peerReviewe