Amaranths cruentus is a flowering plant species that yields the nutritious staple amaranth grain. Zinc in grain amaranth is reported to contribute to boosting the immune system and iron is required by enzymes for oxygen metabolism. This study is to exploit the multi-benefits of amaranth which ranged from improved well-being to recovery of severely malnourished children; increased body mass index of people formerly wasted by HIV/AIDS; environmental adaptability, yield, and recipes development. The study focused on determining the nutritional and medicinal properties of grain amaranth cultivar obtained from Rural Extension with Africa Poor (REAP) in Kenya which was propagated in Kwara State, Nigeria, harvested after 65 days, and prepared as samples for the study. Standard procedures of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Flame Photometer, and Spectrophotometer were used to determine the macro/micronutrients in the grains. Results revealed that the grains contained protein, lipid, Iron-66 mg/100g, Zinc-11.34 mg/100g, Calcium-78.7 mg/100g, Manganese-37.1 mg/100g, Magnesium-2845 mg/100g, Potassium-400 mg/100g; Thiamine-0.2756 mg (%), Riboflavin-0.734 mg (%) and Niacin-1.042. More research efforts are needed on growing, inclusion in diets, consumer behavior and market acceptability of Amaranth cruentus based products in order to contribute to the efforts of addressing food security, poverty reduction, nutritional, and medicinal needs of vulnerable communities.
Allergic and health implications associated with gardening and waste-scavenging necessitated this study. Blood samples of 27 waste-workers and 16 non-waste workers (control) were digested and analysed for Lead, Cadmium, Nickel and Chromium. Samples were analysed for haematological parameters White Blood Cell (WBC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, Liver function parameters aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Mixed solid waste samples from dumpsites and road soils were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Pb concentrations between 16.0 -29.5 mg/Kg were found in road soils and least Cd contamination between 0.5 -2.0 mg/Kg were recorded. Insignificant difference in metals deposit in road soils and mixed solid wastes, except for Pb and Cd were observed. Least deposited metals (Cd, Cr and Ni) had approximately same deposit level and the highest metal deposit was Pb. Zero difference existed between Cr concentrations in blood samples of both groups. However, results showed true difference between baseline Pb and Cd concentrations of the groups. Haematological parameters and liver function values showed insignificant difference in the groups. Lead was the highest heavy metal found in road soil, solid-waste worker's blood.
Background. As resources become scarce, information from material and substance flow analysis can help to improve material recovery policy. The flow of toxic substances such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) can be used as a basis for appropriate risk management decisions for optimum environmental quality. Objectives. The present study examined a material and substance flow analysis of used lead acid batteries (ULAB) from motor vehicles and implications for environmental quality in Nigeria. Methods. Information on motor vehicle imports was obtained from the literature. Mathematical models were constructed and used for the material and substance flow analysis. Samples of 50 brands of ULAB pastes were digested using a microwave digestion system followed by elemental determination (Pb, Cd, silver (Ag), As, cobalt (Co), calcium (Ca), Cr, copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), Sb, selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te)) with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Results. Approximately 4.8 million tons (Mt) lead acid batteries (LAB) from vehicles was used in Nigeria between 1980 and 2014, out of which approximately 2.6 Mt had reached end-of-life (EoL) stages. From the total amount in EoL, approximately 2.3 Mt was recycled, and 0.3 Mt was landfilled. Among the toxic elements, Pb, Cd and As were the most abundant in ULAB; and of the valuable elements, Fe and Cu had the highest levels. Approximately 3.5 Mt of Pb was used in the past (1980–2014) in ULAB for motor vehicles, out of which approximately 1.9 Mt tons was in EoL stages. Discussion. The results revealed that the battery pastes were heterogeneous. Only Pb exceeded the total threshold limit concentration (TTLC) of 1000 mg/kg. The TTLC describes the safe levels or concentration of heavy metals in the environment. The levels observed for other metals in this study were below the TTLC values. The present study estimated an average life span for lead acid batteries in motor vehicles in Nigeria of 5 years, suggesting an additional 2.2 Mt at EoL by 2019. High concentrations of Pb in air, water and soil carry the potential for contamination of food products, especially in Nigeria, where food is traditionally prepared and sold in open air markets in an unregulated manner. Conclusions. High amounts of toxic elements present in the various life cycle stages signal potential environmental and human health hazards. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Magnetic reconnection can be used for studying the geoeffective processes in the coupled Sun–Solar wind – Magnetosphere dynamics leading to geomagnetic disturbance. In this study, 1-hour resolution solar wind plasma parameters from OMNIweb were used to investigate the relationship between moderate southward interplanetary magnetic field, IMF-Bz (i.e., Bz > -10 nT) and geomagnetic storm time disturbance, Dst , during the ascending, maximum and descending phases of solar cycle 23. Occurrences of different classes of geomagnetic storms during moderate southward Bz are reported. The occurrence of weak and moderate geomagnetic storms is more predominant during maximum solar activity than intense and super intense storms. It was found that 10.11 % (181) of all the classes of the storm were intense, and 0.17 % (3) were super intense storms. Furthermore, it was found that 4 (2.2 %) out of the 181 intense storms were caused by southward Bz > -10 nT which were associated with the complex structure due to the high-speed solar wind stream and corotating interacting region. In such a complex structure and Bz > -10 nT, we observed that an intense geomagnetic storm rarely occurs and if it does, would be predominant around solar maximum. It was found that long-duration (\Delta t > 6 hrs) of southward Bz (i.e., -10 nT < Bz <= -3.6 nT ) can also lead to an intense geomagnetic storm during the solar maximum and descending phase (moderate solar activity) of a solar cycle. The complex structure of intense geomagnetic storms associated with the Bz > -10 nT is rare and possesses a special configuration of magnetic field and solar wind parameters structures which are CIR manifestations.
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