Open Access Research Paper

Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate (LAS) is a biodegradable surfactant, which is commonly utilized industrially and domestically. Concentrations of LAS had never been examined in Pittsburg’s Wastewater Treatment Plant because the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit does not specify any standard for LAS in Pittsburg’s wastewater. This study monitored influent and effluent LAS concentrations three times per day (10:00, 14:30, and 19:00), every day for 12 weeks February 24, 2014 – May 18, 2014). Concentrations were determined by the Methylene Blue Active Substances method. There was very little variation in the effluent concentrations which were much lower (one tenth) and more consistent (0.27 – 0.53mg/L) than those in the influent. LAS concentrations in influent were highly variable by the time of the day, day of the week, and week of the study period. Three weeks that were lower in influent LAS concentrations coincided with university activities (17 March – 22 April – 5 May). These three weeks were significantly different from almost all the other weeks but were not significantly different from each other. They coincided with certain university activities. College students may have a large impact on influent LAS concentrations because they make up 25% of Pittsburg’s population. The week of March 17 was spring break when many of the students were out of town, and the other two weeks were during final exams. During these two weeks, students probably are not doing much laundry. The effectiveness of Pittsburg’s Wastewater Treatment Plant was 90%, which is similar to others reported in the literature.

Adequate nutrition is a key among hospitalized patients. It is crucial and most significant aspect of improving quality of life of inpatients. However, hospitals in developing nations challenged with adequate meal provisions. In Tanzania, meal provision isn’t part of inpatients service. This impacted quality of life, causing an increased number of days in hospital stay. Furthermore, research has demonstrated the significance of food consumption to promote recovery. Cross-sectional study design was used in this study. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistical inferences by using R statistical software. Results showed; determinants of food intake were; distance to hospital, 76% inpatients used more than 60 minutes to arrive at hospital and 31% stayed hospital for 15 days and above. Moreover, dietary study was conducted; results showed 70% of inpatients didn’t meet minimum dietary diversity. Insufficient nutrition awareness was another determinant where, 70% of inpatients didn’t understand balanced diet. Findings revealed that, 86% of inpatients consumed monotonous diet high in starch, 12% of adult inpatients were underweight (BMI 30. Twenty nine percent of children aged 6 to 59 months were severely stunted (SD < -3). In this study, association between dietary intake and distance from home indicated, some patients lacking food services because of leaving far from hospital. It was concluded that, higher pro­portion of inpatients didn’t meet minimum dietary diversity due to monotonous diet they consumed. To meet SDGs challenges of zero hunger, good health and well-being, hospital meal provision is essential.

Land uses are one of the prime causes in the loss or fragmentation of natural habitats and their species. In a small watershed in Agusan del Sur, the diversity of plant species were assessed using standard vegetation sampling technique developed by Hill (2005) as basis for the formulation of an integrated watershed management plan to reduce adverse cost of land use change on the remaining biodiversity. Results showed that the vegetation was composed of about 166 vascular plant species belonging to 134 genera and 64 families having an overall Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H’) of 2.546 described to be moderately high. A number of ecologically sensitive species were encountered in the area such as the critically endangered Shorea palosapis and Shorea contorta. Relative to its area, the watershed has been subjected to diverse land-uses that directly affect richness of plant species either native or introduced in the area. Appropriate monitoring and area control therefore should be taken utmost consideration in the formulation of the management plan.

The earth suffers from many environmental problems which need to be tackled at the individual level, requiring individuals to develop that awareness which will guide them to become environmentally supportive. The study endeavored to determine the significant relationship between the level of awareness and practices among Filipino college students on solid waste management. It employed a descriptive correlational research design with 150 randomly sampled students. Using the adopted standardized survey instrument surfacing the level of awareness of solid waste management of students and their practices. Gathered data were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study showed that the students are aware of the solid waste management. Most of them were aware of the policies and management of SWM but relatively not aware of their roles as students in the implementation of SWM. The students also have good practices in solid waste management in terms of properly disposing of, recycling, and reusing but moderately practice proper segregation and reducing. Results of the inferential statistics revealed that the level of awareness of the students influenced their practices on proper segregation, reduce, and recycling but no influence to their practices on solid waste management in terms of reuse and disposal. Present findings can be a basis for policy development on SWM implementation in the campus level.

In this work, we tried to determine the influence of the environment on the content of the main primary metabolites in Tamarix sp. in different areas of the arid region of Khenchela located in the Algerian East where different species of this genus of the Tamaricaceae family represent a remarkable adaptation, where we recorded rather variable values according to the environment. The dosage of chlorophylls (a+b) gave values ranging from 10.05 (µg/g MF) for the site of Guerat El Taref, 10.78(µg/g MF), for the site of Ouazerne 19.02 (µg/g MF), for the site of Oued El Arab. The determination of total sugars gave 0.178 (µg/g MF) for the site of Guerat El Taref, 0.182 µg/g MF) for the site of Ouazerne and 0.184 µg/g MF) for the site of Oued El Arab. The results of the proline and total protein assay followed the same fluctuation with the lowest values in the Guerat El Taref site, the average values in the Ouazerne site and the highest values in the Oued El Arab site. On the other hand, the DNA and RNA quantification gave a high value of 10.85 (µmol/g MS) for Guerat El Taref, 5.62(µmol/g MS) for the site of Oued El Arab and the lowest value that is 1.79(µmol/g MS) for the site of Ouazerne. Statistical analysis by one-way analysis of variance revealed a significant link between environment and the synthesis of these secondary metabolites as an adaptation strategy adopted by Tamarix.

The ethnomedicinal exploration was conducted in the area of Hangrai which falls in Tehsil Balakot of District Mansehra. Balakot is located between 34°33′N 73°21′E Latitude and 34°33′N 73°21′E Longitude. It is the gateway to Kaghan valley of the Northern Pakistan. The study area harbors rich ethnobotanical resources being the part of Western Himalaya. Extensive field visits were made in the study area during years 2015 and 2016. Data was collected from aboriginal peoples by questionnaire method comprising of open-ended and close-ended interviews. Three hundred informants (180 male and 120 female) were interviewed for various medicinal uses of plants. A total of 143 plant species belonging to 70 families were recorded which were used as medicinally by the local rural inhabitants. Habit wise categorization of plants showed 73.33% herbs, 16% trees and 10.66% shrubs. This study first time not only revealed unique ethnomedicinal uses of plants but also side effects of traditional herbal remedies. Furthermore this study will help to discover novel drugs from medicinal plants and it will also set guidelines for conservation of local flora.

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the amount of heavy metals from River Siran at Khaki site Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The chosenheavy metals were Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Cr and Mn correspondingly. In the current survey,the concentration of heavy metals examined were Zn 1.14-1.85 ppm; Cu 1.04-1.25 ppm; Cd 0.02-1.35 ppm; Pb 0.05-1.27 ppm; Cr 0.04-0.16 ppm and Mn 0.06-0.08 ppm respectively. In the present research Cu, Cd, Pb and Cr were found above the permissible ranges while Zn 1.13-1.88 and Mn 0.01-0.04 were lies within the permissible limits.

This study, which takes stock of the known carbohydrate metabolic effects of oral contraception in order to propose practical conduct, was conducted in the Public Universities of Côte d’Ivoire. A total of 1485 female students were randomly selected. Among the students surveyed from the six Universities, 400 came from Felix Houphouët Boigny University, 243 from Nangui Abrogoua University and 211 were from Jean Lorougnon Guédé University. Those from the University of Man numbered 57 people and the students from the Universities Alassane Ouattara and Péléforon Gon were respectively 343 and 231. The sampling showed that five types of pills were used by the students, namely Pregnon, Levo-BD, Norlevo, Confiance and Stédiril. Among these pills, Pregnon was the most used pill, while Norlevo was the least used. This article also showed that all female students using oral contraception had normal blood sugar levels. And the use of the type of oral contraception depends on age, level of education and number of children.

The appropriate proportion of male and female parents that give a highest number of juveniles is a major concern in tilapia culture Sarotherodon melanotheron due to the oral incubation by males. A study of the ratio “number of males to number of females” on fingerlings production has been performed in order to determine the optimal ratio for S. melanotheron. Five ratios were tested : R1 (1 male to 2 females), R2 (1 male to 3 females), R3 (2 males to 2 females), R4 (2 males to 4 females) and R5 (2 males to 6 females). The experimental device consists of five concrete tanks (1m x 1m x 60cm) filled to 2/3, about 0.17m3 of water. The fish are fed three times a day with a diet containing 35% crude protein. Once a week, the fertilized eggs are collected and incubated in a tank. The hatching rate and larval growth are followed. The experiment was duplicated and lasted 6 weeks to harvest eggs and 40 days to track the growth of larvae. The results show that the number of egg laying is significantly different from a ratio to each other (p ˂ 0.05) and increases with the number of males and females. The highest number of egg laying is obtained with R5 ratio “2 males to 6 females” that seems best for the mass production of juveniles of S. melanotheron. These results provide a basis for the intensive production of S. melanotheron for the aquaculture development in lagoon.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil of Artemisia herba-alba Asso. of southern Algeria. Essential oil of Artemisia herba-alba Asso was extracted by hydrodistillation, and their chemical composition was identified by GC/MS Antioxidant activity of essential oil, has been done by using DPPH assay. The antimicrobial activity of essential oil was realised by the agar disc diffusion method. The essential oil extracted from the aerial parts by hydrodistillation was analysed by GC/MS. 39 constituents, representing 99.3% of the oil, were identified, of which the major ones, Thujone (12,759 %), Camphor (7,751%), Eacalyptol (4,525%), Isoborneol (1,119%). IC50 values observed for DPPH essay were 20,27 ±0,767 mg/ml. On the other hand, this oil was found effective against all tested strains; this activity ranged from 15.67±1.53 mm with Listeria innocua CIP 74915. These results provided evidence that the studied plant might indeed be a potential source of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.