804 research outputs found
Exploring the Impact of Cemetery Leachates on Groundwater Quality in Benin City Metropolis, South-South Nigeria
No full text<p><em><span>Worldwide, research conducted under various time frames and environmental circumstances consistently identifies leakage from cemeteries as a significant contributor to groundwater contamination. The study evaluated the quality of groundwater from selected boreholes around second cemetery in Benin City metropolis, using electrical resistivity approach and water quality assessment method. Groundwater samples were collected randomly from fifteen (15) different boreholes around second cemetery. The water samples were analyzed in triplicates to obtain the mean value and standard deviation of each water quality test parameters. For the analysis of the water quality data, the average weighted index method was employed to estimate the overall water quality index (WQI) of individual boreholes. Factor analysis was use to analyse the information content of the water quality indicators in order to get reasonable information on the critical water quality parameters that requires adequate attention towards improving the overall groundwater quality around second cemetery. The spatial distribution of the WQIs was determined using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) while hydro-geochemical facies were inferred using an adaptation of the Piper-Hill diagram. The profile maps from both traverse obtained from the electrical resistivity data confirmed the cemetery operations as the source of the leachate plume resulting to the contamination of the subsoil. Evaluation of the WQIs indicated that more than 70% of the water samples collected around second cemetery was unsuitable for consumption and the degree of suitability of the borehole water was found to be positively correlated with distance from the cemetery. The outcome of the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that; </span><span>calcium, electrical conductivity, iron, dissolved oxygen, nitrite, chloride, pH, nitrate, sodium, zinc, sulphate, copper and carbonate are the parameters mostly affected by necroleachate from human decomposition.</span><span> Hydrochemical analysis result shows that the origin and geochemical composition of the groundwater varied spatially. The types of water that have been identified include Ca-Cl<sub>2</sub>, Mg-Cl<sub>2</sub>, Ca-Mg-Cl<sub>2</sub>, and Mg-Ca-SO<sub>4</sub></span></em></p>
Still waiting for the smoke to clear - lasers in the treatment of onychomycosis
No full textIn 2009, the first lasers indicated in the treatment of onychomycosis reached the shores of the United Kingdom with the aspirations of being a revolution in the treatment of this common, stubborn nail infection. It has now been five years since their arrival and we have witnessed the emergence of specialist nail clinics offering laser treatments to patients across the country. Despite the revolution on the high street, with large sums of money changing hands for both the purchase of these devices and for treatment, the flow of evidence assessing the lasers real effectiveness has been rather slower to follow. In this article the author discusses the current issues and evidence on lasers in onychomycosis, from a UK perspective
Mitigating Climatic Changes Through Emission Reduction Technology
Get PDFThis paper considers the role of technology in emission
reduction strategies. This includes carbon
sequestration, use of renewable emission- free and
environmentally friendly energy sources, energy
conservation efficiency, atmospheric variability
studies modeling of mixing height and the use of
biofuels [bioethanol and biodiesel] as measures to
check the continuous release of poisonous gases into
the environment. Data on variations in temperature
according to height for a particular environment was
computed for three weeks. Average readings were
used to model the mixing height for that particular
environment. This model aimed to determine the most
effective height stack to guarantee maximum
dispersion of any plume released around that
particular environment. Attempt was also made to
analyse the negative impact of gaseous emissions in an
immediate environment. Some of such negative
impacts discussed in this research paper include:
Stratospheric ozone layer depletion, the issue of acid
rain deposition and the greenhouse effect. The focus is
on achieving a healthy and emission-free environmen
Evaluating the performance of Moringa Oleifera as plant based coagulant for water treatment using statistical Design of Experiment (DOE) and multi–objective optimization
No full textNatural plant materials are cost effective and environmentally friendly; they do not produce poisonous secondary by-products and therefore cannot result to climate change. They are also locally available and readily implementable. These characteristics makes them potential alternative to aluminium sulphate in water coagulation. In this research, the potential of purified protein powder of Moringa oleifera as plant based coagulants for the treatment of turbid water was studied. The extract of Moringa Oleifera was prepared and characterized using AAS and Biochemical Analyzer and its potential as plant based coagulant was assessed by its ability to reduce to the barest minimum the level of turbidity, conductivity and total dissolved solids of turbid water with known turbidity of 55NTU, conductivity of 240S/cm and total dissolved solids of 186ppm. Statistical design of experiment using response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to conduct a laboratory batch experiment having extract dosage, treatment time and treatment temperature as the input variables with turbidity, conductivity and total dissolved solids as the response variable. Analysis of the result revealed that 92.624% reduction in turbidity, 87.755% reduction in conductivity and 85.100% reduction in total dissolved solids was achieved when 2.00ml of moringa extract was employed for a treatment time of 12.94 minutes at temperature of 400C
Towards An Effective Capacity Building Programme For Sustainable Development
Get PDFThe paper considers the overwhelming role of capacity building towards sustainable development. Attempt was
this research paper to review the relations/zip between capacity building and sustainability, it was concluded that
effective capacity building programmes, there can be no meaningful sustainability. The research also reveals
concept of capacity building goes beyond training, it also involve global awareness campaign, provision and
of quality information and infrastructural availabity. The paper also highlights the needfor capacity building,
that is the clients of capacity building and the various strategies towards ensuring an effective capacity
programmes~ such as provision of effective learning curriculum. bl(ilding a virile science and research unit,"
awareness campaign among others. Also highlighted are the factor~ militating against an effective capacity
programmes coupled with the contributions of local and central government in ensuring that this mitigating
properly addressed. Altlzouglz the content of this paper is not completely exhaustive on this subject matter, but it
a bird eye information to the role of capacity building to sustainability
Derivation of empirical model for computing the sorption capacity of Pb(II), Cr(III) and Mn(II) ion adsorption onto zinc chloride activated sawdust
No full textThe work investigated the performance of zinc chloride activated sawdust as potential adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II), Cr(III) and Mn(II) ions from aqueous solution. The raw sawdust was collected, processed and characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) to assess its potential for the removal of lead, chromium and manganese from effluent wastewater. Thereafter, batch adsorption technique was employed to evaluate the effects of adsorption variables such as pH, initial metal ion concentration and adsorbent dosage including contact time on the sorption efficiency of the sawdust. Experimental data obtained were then analyzed using selected reaction controlled kinetic model such as Pseudo-First order, Pseudo-Second order and the simple elovich kinetic model. The kinetic model that best described the adsorption data was thereafter selected by employing non-linear regression techniques using selected error function models. Based on the kinetic models that best explained the adsorption data, empirical models were derived using the procedures and assumptions of HO and McKay 2000. SEM and FT-IR results revealed the presence of micropores and polar functional group within the structure of the sawdust thus making it a good candidate for metal ion removal. More also, the empirical model derived have been adequately executed and can form the bedrock for further research in related areas
Characterization of sugarcane bagasse and Moringa Oleifera as potential adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater containing heavy metals
Get PDFActivated carbon from sugarcane bagasse and Moringa oleifera were prepared and their textural properties were evaluated using Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The chemical composition of sugarcane bagasse and Moringa oleifera was determine with the aid of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) while the surface area, micropore volume and total pore volume were estimated with the aid of structural characterization (SCAC) software using the iodine value and methylene blue number as the input parameters. The calculated iodine value and methylene blue value of sugarcane bagasse was 24.56mg/g and 2.27g/100g while for moringa oleifera, it was 29.48mg/g and 3.02g/100g. Based on these values, the surface area and total pore volume of sugarcane bagasse was estimated as 234m2/g and 0.14cm3/g, for Moringa oleifera it was 277.4m2/g and 0.21cm3/g. Results of the textural analysis revealed the presence of O-H stretching (which is the site for adsorption) in both the sugarcane bagasse and moringa oleifera. In addition, significant morphological differences were observed between the sugarcane bagasse and moringa oleifera with Moringa oleifera exhibiting better irregular and porous surface characteristics of different lamellae sizes.Keywords: Sugarcane bagasse, Moringa oleifera, Adsorption, Textural analysi
Investigation of Heavy Metals Level in selected Boreholes around the Vicinity of some Cemeteries in Benin City, Nigeria
Get PDFGroundwater pollution by heavy metals such as lead, copper, nickel and iron is one of the major environmental issues of concern which has developed into a widely studied area. In this study, attempt was made to investigate the level of heavy metals in selected boreholes around the vicinity of cemeteries in Benin City. Seventy-two (72) samples of groundwater were taken from boreholes in 9 stations around the three cemeteries in Benin City on monthly basis. The samples were analysed for 7 heavy metals, in accordance with standard procedures. The heavy metals include; Zinc, Lead Iron, Copper, Cadmium, Nickel and Mercury. From the results of the study, a variation in the mean concentration of zinc was observed. The mean concentration of zinc in site 1 was 0.450mg/l, for site 2, it was 0.140mg/l and for site 3, it was 1.0533mg/l. For iron, mean concentration was 0.072mg/l in site 1. For site 2, mean concentration of iron was 2.140mg/l and for site 3, mean concentration of iron was 0.560mg/l. It was further revealed based on the results that mean value of heavy metals in groundwater around cemeteries in Benin City were generally lower during dry season compared to wet season. In addition, result of computed pollution index (Pi) revealed that the heavy metal with the highest potential to pollute groundwater is Cadmium, with Pi of 0.5333 and 0.400 representing dry season and wet season respectively
POLARIZATION BEHAVIOR OF I.R. DIFFRACTION GRATINGS
No full textAuthor Institution: Bausch and Lomb Inc.Interaction between incident electromagnetic radiation and the regular groove structure of a diffraction grating gives rise to polarization phenomena whenever the groove spacing is less than about 5 times the wave-length. Theory predicts the general behavior but fails to account for some of the details observed experimentally. For many problems in I.R. spectroscopy and T.R. lasers, it is important to be aware of what actually takes place. Special equipment for obtaining data on diffracted energy in both planes of polarization will be described and results typical of commonly used gratings will be compared with theory
Multivariate Analysis of Vehicular Emissions in Parts of Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Get PDFThe focus of this study is to monitor the incidence of vehicular emissions in some parts of Benin City in addition to studying the spatial variation of the pollutant using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Seven (7) georeferenced sampling points were employed for data collection and gaseous pollutants such as; dinitrogen oxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) including the total radiation were monitored in the morning and evening for 35 days with the aid of portable toxic gas monitors and radiation alert meters. Also measured were maximum temperature and wind speed using infra-red thermometers and portable anemometer respectively. From the result, it was observed that for temperature, the mean ± standard deviation during morning session was 30.549 ± 1.3716 and during evening season it was 28.879 ± 1.1788. For NO2, the mean ± standard deviation during morning session was 0.0181 ± 0.01119 and during evening season it was 0.0230 ± 0.01282. For CO, the mean ± standard deviation during morning session was 0.5428 ± 0.36396 and during evening season it was 0.6169 ± 0.32395. For total radiation, the mean ± standard deviation during morning session was 0.247 ± 0.1285 and during evening season it was 0.281 ± 0.1298. On the significance difference of the overall results, it was revealed that the difference in concentration of vehicular emissions during the early hours of the morning and peak hours of evening is significant. With a calculated partial Eta squared based on Pillai’s trace of 0.325, it was concluded that; there exist about 32.50% variability among the dependent variables
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