A social marketing approach used both qualitative and quantitative methods to develop a hygiene behaviour intervention in rural north-east Thailand. Behaviours were preselected from a previous study and the intervention was designed to promote hand washing, especially before feeding a baby, cooking, eating, and after defaecation or cleaning a baby's bottom, and dish washing immediately after eating. A bacteriological indicator (enumerating faecal streptococci using a finger impression technique) was developed to measure changes in hand washing behaviour and observation (spot checks) of dirty dishes to indicate dish washing practice. There was a significant improvement in both behaviours and a significant reduction in diarrhoeal disease as a result of the intervention. Furthermore, both indicators were retrospectively found to be positively related to diarrhoeal disease incidence. However, receiving and being able to recall the intervention messages was not necessarily sufficient to ensure behaviour change, as some adults found it difficult to change old habits. Villages showing the greatest improvement tended to have a stronger sense of community than others and to have more people actively involved in the intervention.
Treated effluent from an aerated lagoon and facultative pond system in southern Portugal, was used to irrigate fields planted to maize (Zea mays L.). The effluent was characterised with respect to its nitrogen and phosphorus content and applied by drip irrigation in response to crop evapotranspiration requirements. Nitrification of ammonia in the effluent by soil microorganisms caused a reduced soil pH early in the growing season, but this was reversed as the season continued. For most of the growth season plant nitrogen demand ensured a low soil nitrogen concentration, but towards the end of plant growth the continuous nitrogen supplied in the effluent exceeded crop requirements with a result that nitrate accumulated in the soil. The applied effluent also had a high phosphorus concentration but there was only a slight accumulation of this in the soil. The fertiliser value of the treated effluent was demonstrated by increased yields at physiological maturity and the N yield was within the range of expected values for this crop. The main removal mechanism for N during irrigation was crop uptake whereas P was removed primarily by soil processes. The advantages of wastewater reuse together with the importance of appropriate management practices for re-use are discussed.
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