Organic waste materials as soil amendments are one of the topical approaches applauded for achieving sustainable agriculture world-over. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of urban-based biosoli...Organic waste materials as soil amendments are one of the topical approaches applauded for achieving sustainable agriculture world-over. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of urban-based biosolid waste (UBBW) application on heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn and Pb) bioaccumulation by maize (<em>Zea mays</em> L.) plants. A pot experiment was conducted three times, using an acid Ferralsol from Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyolo (MUARIK) in Uganda. Treatments included the application of three types of UBBW, namely sewage, brewery and abattoir, each applied independently at the rates of 0, 50 and 100 g per pot filled with 4 kg soil. This was equivalent to 0, 2.5 and 5.0 metric tonnes of dry materials per hectare. Phosphorus fertiliser was also applied at 0, 0.795 and 1.591 g P per pot, equivalent to rates of 0, 25 and 50 kg P ha<sup>-1</sup>. The brewery waste applied at rates ≥ 2.5 t<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>ha<sup>-1</sup> and phosphorus at 25 kg P ha<sup>-1</sup> resulted in shoot Cu concentrations below the World Health Organisation (WHO) safe limit (73.3 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>);and Zn slightly above the WHO safe limit (99.4 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>). In contrast, the concentrations of chromium in the maize plants were well above the WHO safe limit (2.3 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>), irrespective of the applied type of UBBW. Shoot metal bioaccumulation followed the order zinc > copper > chromium, with Pb being below the detection limit. The safest UBBW was abattoir waste;while the least environmentally suitable was sewage waste. It is clear that irrespective of the type of UBBW, their application to Ferralsol causes less bioaccumulation of Pb and Cr in maize plants compared to Zn and Cu.展开更多
During the post-antibiotic golden age, it has seen a massive antibiotic/antibacterial production and an increase in irrational use of these few existing drugs in the medical and veterinary practice, food industries, t...During the post-antibiotic golden age, it has seen a massive antibiotic/antibacterial production and an increase in irrational use of these few existing drugs in the medical and veterinary practice, food industries, tissue cultures, agriculture and commercial ethanol production globally. The irrational drug use has been further exacerbated by the increased marketing and promotion of these drugs by the pharmaceutical companies thus increasing their accessibility in the public and hence their improper use. The lack of production and introduction of the newer and effective antibiotic/antibacterial drugs in clinical practice in the post-antibiotic golden age has seen an increase in the emergence of the resistant pathogenic bacterial infections creating a significant problem in the global health of humankind. The massive productions of the antibiotic/antibacterial drugs have contributed to the poor disposal of these drugs and hence many of them are discharged in various water bodies contributing to the environmental antibiotic/antibacterial drug pollution. In the environment, these drugs exert pressure on the environmental bacteria by destroying useful bacteria that are responsible for the recycling of the organic matter and as well as promoting the selection of the resistant pathogenic bacteria that can spread in human and animal population thus causing an increase in the observed bacterial disease burden and hence a significant global public health problem. The resistant bacterial diseases lead to the high cost, increased occurrence of adverse drug reactions, prolonged hospitalization, the exposure to the second- and third-line drugs like in MDR-TB and XDR-TB that leads to toxicity and deaths as well as the increased poor production in agriculture and animal industry and commercial ethanol production.展开更多
Oral lesions, diarrhoea, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections are some of the opportunistic infections (OIs) which arise when the CD4 cells of the HIV/AIDS patient fall below 200 c...Oral lesions, diarrhoea, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections are some of the opportunistic infections (OIs) which arise when the CD4 cells of the HIV/AIDS patient fall below 200 cells/mm3. HIV/AIDS infection complications include tissue damage from oral lesions accompanied with pains. Pain is a disagreeable sensory and sensitive experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. This condition requires immediate treatment with analgesics and antibiotics. However, the inability of rural dwellers to afford readily available drugs is a consequence for using herbs like Bidens pilosa whose local usefulness in the management of oral lesions of HIV/AIDS has not been proven scientifically. Therefore, the objective of this study was to provide the scientific basis in rats for the traditional healers’ use of Bidens pilosa leaves’ extracts in managing pain associated with oral lesions of HIV/AIDS patients in South Western Uganda. Assessment of the analgesic effects of Bidens pilosa was conducted using acetic acid in mice, formalin-induced pain and tail flick methods in rats. Both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Bidens pilosa produced statistically significant dose dependent inhibition of acetic acid induced pain, non dose dependent pain reduction in formalin induced pain, (p < 0.05;student t-test) and non dose dependent tail withdrawal pattern (p < 0.05, Multivariate ANOVA test). Hence, we conclude that extracts of Bidens pilosa have an analgesic basis for their local use in treatment of oral lesions associated pain in HIV/AIDS patients in South-Western Uganda.展开更多
Background: The objective of this study was to examine the adsorption-de- sorption phenomena of heavy metals in an agricultural Ferralsol treated with sewage solid waste at rates usually applied for soil fertility man...Background: The objective of this study was to examine the adsorption-de- sorption phenomena of heavy metals in an agricultural Ferralsol treated with sewage solid waste at rates usually applied for soil fertility management. Methods: The study was carried out under laboratory conditions, using a Ferralsol sourced from Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyolo (MUARIK). Soil and sewage solid waste were analysed for pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity and heavy metals (copper, zinc, chromium and lead). Soil was treated with sewage solid waste at input rates of 0, 50, 100, and 150 g per pot (equivalent to 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 metric tones·ha﹣1?respectively);and supplemented with phosphorus. The phosphorus was applied at rates of 0, 0.795, 1.591 and 2.385 g per pot (equivalent to 0, 25, 50 and 75 kg·ha﹣1, respectively). Batch adsorption was used to study the sorption-desorption of heavy metals on the treated soil and the Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to analyse the data. Results: Adsorption and desorption isotherms fitted better to Freundlich equation than Langmuir model. Chromium was the most sorbed and retained metal;while lead was the least retained overall. The desorption process was virtually irreversible, considering the low amounts of the metals desorbed. Chromium fitted relatively better to both models than the copper, zinc and lead. All the four metals were less desorbed at high metal concentrations. Conclusion: The four metals would not be available at high metal concentrations especially when the application rate used is ≥ 5.0 tones·ha﹣1 of the sewage solid waste. Thus, the metals would not be available for plant uptake and the chance to contaminate groundwater is very limited especially for chromium.展开更多
The objective of the study was to determine the antibacterial efficacy of Bidens pilosa Aqueous (BPA), Bidens pilosa Ethanolic (BPE), Ageratum conyzoides Aqueous (ACA), Ageratum conyzoides Ethanolic (ACE), Ocimum suav...The objective of the study was to determine the antibacterial efficacy of Bidens pilosa Aqueous (BPA), Bidens pilosa Ethanolic (BPE), Ageratum conyzoides Aqueous (ACA), Ageratum conyzoides Ethanolic (ACE), Ocimum suave Aqueous (OSA) and Ocimum suave Ethanolic (OSE) extracts on HIV/AIDS patients’ oral bacteria. Healthy green leaves of the plants were collected in Ishaka Uganda, processed and portions separately extracted with hot distilled water and cold ethanol. The susceptibility, MIC and MBC of each extract were determined using standard protocols. The bacteria had significant (p Bidens pilosa, Ageratum conyzoides and Ocimum suave on oral lesions of HIV/AIDS patients made by traditional healers and local people in South-Western Uganda. We recommend a detailed study of structural identities and activities of the active antibacterial principle(s) in these plants for possible new drug entities and verification of the interactive effects of the principle(s) with ARVs and cotrimoxazole used daily by HIV/AIDS patients.展开更多
文摘Organic waste materials as soil amendments are one of the topical approaches applauded for achieving sustainable agriculture world-over. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of urban-based biosolid waste (UBBW) application on heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn and Pb) bioaccumulation by maize (<em>Zea mays</em> L.) plants. A pot experiment was conducted three times, using an acid Ferralsol from Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyolo (MUARIK) in Uganda. Treatments included the application of three types of UBBW, namely sewage, brewery and abattoir, each applied independently at the rates of 0, 50 and 100 g per pot filled with 4 kg soil. This was equivalent to 0, 2.5 and 5.0 metric tonnes of dry materials per hectare. Phosphorus fertiliser was also applied at 0, 0.795 and 1.591 g P per pot, equivalent to rates of 0, 25 and 50 kg P ha<sup>-1</sup>. The brewery waste applied at rates ≥ 2.5 t<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>ha<sup>-1</sup> and phosphorus at 25 kg P ha<sup>-1</sup> resulted in shoot Cu concentrations below the World Health Organisation (WHO) safe limit (73.3 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>);and Zn slightly above the WHO safe limit (99.4 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>). In contrast, the concentrations of chromium in the maize plants were well above the WHO safe limit (2.3 mg<span style="white-space:nowrap;">·</span>kg<sup>-1</sup>), irrespective of the applied type of UBBW. Shoot metal bioaccumulation followed the order zinc > copper > chromium, with Pb being below the detection limit. The safest UBBW was abattoir waste;while the least environmentally suitable was sewage waste. It is clear that irrespective of the type of UBBW, their application to Ferralsol causes less bioaccumulation of Pb and Cr in maize plants compared to Zn and Cu.
文摘During the post-antibiotic golden age, it has seen a massive antibiotic/antibacterial production and an increase in irrational use of these few existing drugs in the medical and veterinary practice, food industries, tissue cultures, agriculture and commercial ethanol production globally. The irrational drug use has been further exacerbated by the increased marketing and promotion of these drugs by the pharmaceutical companies thus increasing their accessibility in the public and hence their improper use. The lack of production and introduction of the newer and effective antibiotic/antibacterial drugs in clinical practice in the post-antibiotic golden age has seen an increase in the emergence of the resistant pathogenic bacterial infections creating a significant problem in the global health of humankind. The massive productions of the antibiotic/antibacterial drugs have contributed to the poor disposal of these drugs and hence many of them are discharged in various water bodies contributing to the environmental antibiotic/antibacterial drug pollution. In the environment, these drugs exert pressure on the environmental bacteria by destroying useful bacteria that are responsible for the recycling of the organic matter and as well as promoting the selection of the resistant pathogenic bacteria that can spread in human and animal population thus causing an increase in the observed bacterial disease burden and hence a significant global public health problem. The resistant bacterial diseases lead to the high cost, increased occurrence of adverse drug reactions, prolonged hospitalization, the exposure to the second- and third-line drugs like in MDR-TB and XDR-TB that leads to toxicity and deaths as well as the increased poor production in agriculture and animal industry and commercial ethanol production.
文摘Oral lesions, diarrhoea, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections are some of the opportunistic infections (OIs) which arise when the CD4 cells of the HIV/AIDS patient fall below 200 cells/mm3. HIV/AIDS infection complications include tissue damage from oral lesions accompanied with pains. Pain is a disagreeable sensory and sensitive experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. This condition requires immediate treatment with analgesics and antibiotics. However, the inability of rural dwellers to afford readily available drugs is a consequence for using herbs like Bidens pilosa whose local usefulness in the management of oral lesions of HIV/AIDS has not been proven scientifically. Therefore, the objective of this study was to provide the scientific basis in rats for the traditional healers’ use of Bidens pilosa leaves’ extracts in managing pain associated with oral lesions of HIV/AIDS patients in South Western Uganda. Assessment of the analgesic effects of Bidens pilosa was conducted using acetic acid in mice, formalin-induced pain and tail flick methods in rats. Both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Bidens pilosa produced statistically significant dose dependent inhibition of acetic acid induced pain, non dose dependent pain reduction in formalin induced pain, (p < 0.05;student t-test) and non dose dependent tail withdrawal pattern (p < 0.05, Multivariate ANOVA test). Hence, we conclude that extracts of Bidens pilosa have an analgesic basis for their local use in treatment of oral lesions associated pain in HIV/AIDS patients in South-Western Uganda.
文摘Background: The objective of this study was to examine the adsorption-de- sorption phenomena of heavy metals in an agricultural Ferralsol treated with sewage solid waste at rates usually applied for soil fertility management. Methods: The study was carried out under laboratory conditions, using a Ferralsol sourced from Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyolo (MUARIK). Soil and sewage solid waste were analysed for pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity and heavy metals (copper, zinc, chromium and lead). Soil was treated with sewage solid waste at input rates of 0, 50, 100, and 150 g per pot (equivalent to 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 metric tones·ha﹣1?respectively);and supplemented with phosphorus. The phosphorus was applied at rates of 0, 0.795, 1.591 and 2.385 g per pot (equivalent to 0, 25, 50 and 75 kg·ha﹣1, respectively). Batch adsorption was used to study the sorption-desorption of heavy metals on the treated soil and the Langmuir and Freundlich models were used to analyse the data. Results: Adsorption and desorption isotherms fitted better to Freundlich equation than Langmuir model. Chromium was the most sorbed and retained metal;while lead was the least retained overall. The desorption process was virtually irreversible, considering the low amounts of the metals desorbed. Chromium fitted relatively better to both models than the copper, zinc and lead. All the four metals were less desorbed at high metal concentrations. Conclusion: The four metals would not be available at high metal concentrations especially when the application rate used is ≥ 5.0 tones·ha﹣1 of the sewage solid waste. Thus, the metals would not be available for plant uptake and the chance to contaminate groundwater is very limited especially for chromium.
文摘The objective of the study was to determine the antibacterial efficacy of Bidens pilosa Aqueous (BPA), Bidens pilosa Ethanolic (BPE), Ageratum conyzoides Aqueous (ACA), Ageratum conyzoides Ethanolic (ACE), Ocimum suave Aqueous (OSA) and Ocimum suave Ethanolic (OSE) extracts on HIV/AIDS patients’ oral bacteria. Healthy green leaves of the plants were collected in Ishaka Uganda, processed and portions separately extracted with hot distilled water and cold ethanol. The susceptibility, MIC and MBC of each extract were determined using standard protocols. The bacteria had significant (p Bidens pilosa, Ageratum conyzoides and Ocimum suave on oral lesions of HIV/AIDS patients made by traditional healers and local people in South-Western Uganda. We recommend a detailed study of structural identities and activities of the active antibacterial principle(s) in these plants for possible new drug entities and verification of the interactive effects of the principle(s) with ARVs and cotrimoxazole used daily by HIV/AIDS patients.