This study represents a few basic steps of municipal solid waste management practiced in the six major cities of Bangladesh, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal, and Sylhet. A six-month field study was conducted to identify the solid wastes management steps such as storage at source, separation, on-site storage, collection, transportation, treatment, reuse, recycling, and ultimate disposal. This study addresses the role of the city authority to meet the demand of the city dwellers in solving this emerging socioenvironmental issue and the initiatives taken by some nongovernmental organizations and community based organizations. The problems and constraints of the solid wastes management system are also identified to find a sustainable management concept for the urban areas of Bangladesh.

Palm oil is one of the leading agricultural crops in the world, as it dominates 34% of the global vegetable oil market, with approximately 64.6*103 million kgs of production in 2017. However, along with its breakthrough, the generation of palm oil mill effluent (POME) as uncontrolled waste has become a serious matter and requires proper management to reduce its negative effects on the environment. Subsequently, the high organic content of POME makes it possible to convert waste into value-added products, such as biogas. A ratio of 0.5 for biological oxygen demand to chemical oxygen demand (BOD/COD) indicates a high possibility for biological treatment. Recently, the utilisation of POME as a cheap source for biogas production has gained an extraordinary amount of attention, and intensive research has been conducted on the upstream to downstream process. Finding the most suitable and efficient pretreatment technique and reactor configuration are vital parameters for the treatment and conversion of POME to biogas. This review describes existing pretreatment processes for POME and recommends recently manufactured high-rate anaerobic reactors as the most suitable and efficient pretreatment technique for maximising the extraction of biogas from POME.

Steel slag is a byproduct obtained from steel industry. It is generated as a residue during the production of steel. Because of the high disposal cost as a waste material and the overall positive features of steel slag, it has been declared a useful construction material, not an industrial waste by most of the developed countries. Successively, it is recycled as an aggregate for the construction of roads, soil stabilization, and base and for the surfacing of flexible pavement.  Despite this, a large amount of steel slag generated from steel industries is disposed of in stockpiles to date. As a result, a large area of land is being sacrificed for the disposal of this useful resource. Many researchers have investigated the use of steel slag as an aggregate in the design of asphalt concrete for the road construction. The best management option for this by product is its recycling. This leads to reduction of landfills reserved for its disposal, saving the natural resources and attaining a potential environment. The purpose of this paper is to review the engineering properties of steel slag and its utilization for road construction in different ways.

Introduction: Frequent touch surfaces encountered in shopping malls can play a role in transmission of microbial pathogens and the dissemination of infectious diseases. This study aims at assessing the bacterial contamination of such surfaces in 4 large shopping malls in Sharjah, UAE. Materials and Methods: A total of 224 samples were collected from 4 different malls in Sharjah, UAE, in 2014, using sterile cotton swabs. The swabs were transferred and spread on Nutrient agar plates and incubated for 48 h at 37°C. Colony forming units were counted for each plate, then isolated and identified using colony morphology, differential staining, and growth capabilities on different types of media.Results: Out of all collected samples, 192 (amounting to 86%) were positive (contaminated with bacteria). In each mall, more than 80% of all sampled surfaces were contaminated with bacterial growth. The highest bacterial density was found on food courts' trays, food courts tables' surfaces, and food tray handles. Comparing the average bacterial count from all surfaces in the 4 different malls under study, a significant result was observed, with one-way repeated measures ANOVA yielding the following: F(3) = 3.42, P = 0.024. The highest mean bacterial counts were in the malls with the highest numbers of visitors/m 2. Conclusion: Nearly, every single sampled surface yielded a moderate to the heavy degree of bacterial contamination. This is cause for concern because infection risk depends to a large extent on infectious doses of pathogens. Consequently, cleaning services in shopping malls should be improved, and the public should be educated on the best hygiene-related precautions to be taken in malls.

BackgroundSelf-medication and acquisition of over-the-counter (OTC) medications are emerging community health issues. Besides being a cheap alternative for treating common illnesses, the behavior entails serious ramifications, such as medication wastage, increasing pathogen resistance, and adverse drug reactions. The present study was conducted to explore the extent of OTC medications in households in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), including native UAE and expatriate families.MethodsThe study employed a population-based, cross-sectional, analytical study design. The study population included native and expatriate households residing in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. The snowball sampling technique was used, and the sample included a total of 335 households.ResultsExpatriate households acquired more OTC medications than did native households (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.7). The demographic determinants for expatriate households were number of family members (aOR=1.6), age of children in the family (aOR=1.8), and annual income (aOR=0.5). Expatriate households purchased more OTC medication practices than did native households (aOR=2.2). In the statistical sense, expatriate household practices were buying medication upon relatives’ advice (aOR=0.3), storage condition of medication (aOR=2.4), and disposal of expired medication (aOR=0.6). The highest percentages of OTC medications in native and expatriate households were those related to gastric and ear, nose, and throat illnesses.ConclusionThe presence of OTC medications in expatriate households was two-fold more common than in native households in Sharjah, UAE. There were significant associations for behaviors related to the reasons why OTC medications were purchased and stored within the household for both native and expatriate families.