Compost making from refuse sourced from Kano Metropolitan, Kano State, Nigeria

Municipal-solid waste (MSW) in towns and cities of Nigeria are either allowed to rot or burnt which causes the release of greenhouse gases in the process. The heap of uncollected refuse in Kano municipal causes serious health hazards and menacing public disorder. This research investigated the Kano municipal refuse for compost making, instead of using waste disposal technique such as landfilling. Refuse samples from Dorayi/Zage and Rimin Kira refuse dumping sites Kano Municipal, Kano State Nigeria were collected. The refuse samples were sorted and all the non-biodegradables materials were removed. A compost was made from Sample N in 20 days while 9 days was required to produce a compost from sample P. Kjeldahl Nitrogen determination method and simple procedure for total carbon determination method were used to determine the percentages of nitrogen and carbon in the samples. The results have shown that, the percentages of nitrogen in the samples were found to be 1.64% for sample N and 1.71% for sample P. The percentages of carbon in the samples are 6.8% for sample N and 6.3% for sample P. The C/N ratio for sample N was 4.15:1 and that of sample P was 3.69:1.Kano municipal refuse contains a lot of organic wastes which are very difficult to incinerate. Therefore, Composting method is the best option for the disposal of the refuse rather than directly dumped in the streets.

Epidemiology and predictors of occurrence of SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI infection in a low-endemicity area in northeast Brazil

In Latin America 96% of the cases of schistosomiasis occur in Brazil in low-socioeconomic status populations. The epidemiological characteristics and occurrence predictors of Schistosoma mansoni infection were determined in the Bananeiras community, located in Capistrano, a town in Ceará state, Brazil. Sanitary, environmental, socioeconomic, and behavioral data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. An investigation to assess S. mansoni infection was conducted using the Kato-Katz and Point-of-Care Circulating Cathodic Antigen (POC-CCA) methods. From the 258 subjects were analyzed, 54.3% (n=140) were women, median age 30 years. Thirty-three (12.8%) individuals were positive by either egg- and/or CCA-positivity. The highest positivity rate was found in the 30-39 year old group. There was no piped water supply, sewage network or municipal refuse collection service. Most individuals were illiterate or had not finished elementary school (66.3%). About 29.1% of the families had a monthly income below one Brazilian minimum wage and 91.1% reported contact with natural water sources. We found an association between infection and age group of 20-40 years, illiteracy, household with 7 inhabitants or more, household with up to 3 rooms and an outhouse. Contrarily, being 40 years old or older and household with up to 6 inhabitants were not risk factors. Schistosomiasis remains a public health problem in this municipality, evidencing a strong association with low socioeconomic conditions and high vulnerability. These findings reinforce the importance of identifying the factors associated with the infection for more effective guidance in actions in control programs targeting schistosomiasis prevention and control. KEY WORDS: Schistosomiasis; Schistosoma mansoni; epidemiology; predictors; low endemicity;urim antigen.

Environmental Pollution in China’s Urbanization Process and its Enlightenments

In recent years the haze weather indicates that China has faced serious environmental problems. In China, natural resources are relative scarce. After the reform and opening-up policies, China’s urbanization rate increased rapidly, but at the expense of the environment. Industrial pollution, municipal refuse, the pollution of cultivated land and food security, urban diseases emerge especially in China’s big cities. To coordinate the relationship between urbanization and the environment, the future should focus on investment in science and Technology and carry out reasonable city planning and layout in the progress of urbanization.