Glocalization of COVID-19 responses and management of the pandemic in Africa

ABSTRACT

The study explores how glocalization of COVID-19 responses affects the management of the pandemic in Africa. Using data from 20 selected African countries, the study found that the reliance on local medicines alongside other salient global initiatives for containment of COVID-19 is effective in managing the pandemic in Africa. It concluded that despite the high vulnerabilities of African countries to COVID-19, the glocal approach has yielded positive outcomes by increasing the number of patients that recover from COVID-19 and scaling down the fatalities compared with the other regions.     

Acetylcholinesterase-polyaniline biosensor investigation of organophosphate pesticides in selected organic solvents

The behavior of an amperometric organic-phase biosensor consisting of a gold electrode modified first with a mercaptobenzothiazole self-assembled monolayer, followed by electropolymerization of polyaniline in which acetylcholinesterase as enzyme was immobilized, has been developed and evaluated for organophosphorous pesticide detection. The voltammetric results have shown that the formal potential shifts anodically as the Au/MBT/PANI/AChE/PVAc thick-film biosensor responded to acetylthiocholine substrate addition under anaerobic conditions in selected organic solvent media containing 2% v/v 0.05 M phosphate buffer, 0.1 M KCl (pH 7.2) solution. Detection limits in the order of 0.147 ppb for diazinon and 0.172 ppb for fenthion in acetone-saline phosphate buffer solution, and 0.180 ppb for diazinon and 0.194 ppb for fenthion in ethanol-saline phosphate buffer solution has been achieved.     

Alkaline hydrothermal conversion of fly ash precipitates into zeolites 3: the removal of mercury and lead ions from wastewater

In this paper, the utilisation of zeolites synthesised from fly ash (FA) and related co-disposal filtrates as low-cost adsorbent material were investigated. When raw FA and co-disposal filtrates were subjected to alkaline hydrothermal zeolite synthesis, the zeolites faujasite, sodalite and zeolite A were formed. The synthesised zeolites were explored to establish its ability to remove lead and mercury ions from aqueous solution in batch experiments, to which various dosages of the synthesised zeolites were added. The test results indicated that when increasing synthesised zeolite dosages of 5-20 g/L were added to the acid mine drainage (AMD) wastewater, the concentrations of lead and mercury in the wastewater were reduced accordingly. The lead concentrations were reduced from 3.23 to 0.38 and 0.17 microg/kg, respectively, at an average pH of 4.5, after the addition of raw FA zeolite and co-disposal filtrate zeolite to the AMD wastewater. On the other hand, the mercury concentration was reduced from 0.47 to 0.17 microg/kg at pH=4.5 when increasing amounts of co-disposal filtrate zeolite were added to the wastewater. The experimental results had shown that the zeolites synthesised from the co-disposal filtrates were effective in reducing the lead and mercury concentrations in the AMD wastewater by 95% and 30%, respectively.     

Covid-19 lockdown and physical distancing policies are elitist: towards an indigenous (Afro-centred) approach to containing the pandemic in sub-urban slums in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This study explores the experience of the sub-urban slum residents in Okpoko (Anambra State), Ngwa-road Aba (Abia State), Ajegunle (Lagos State) and Gwagwalada (Abuja), to underscore the elitist and western contexts of Covid-19 lockdown and physical distancing policies. The study apprehends these policies as being counter-productive due to Nigeria’s peculiar socio-economic circumstances, and brainstorms on the need and prospects for adaption and institutionalisation of an indigenous Afro-centred approach towards the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. The use of herbal mixtures or local concoctions such as parboiled garlic cloves, lemon and ginger juice in the treatment and/or prevention of Covid-19 pandemic is a popular home-grown indigenous approach/practice which is generally believed to have inhibitory effects against Covid-19 by majority of the local people. These herbal remedies should be formally investigated, validated and encouraged in Nigeria as an alternative indigenous approach for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 pandemic.     

Evaluation of pesticides residues distribution in fresh and smoked body parts of Clarias gariepinus and assessment of possible health risks in Nigeria

Pesticides residues in fresh and smoked body parts of Clarias gariepinus were investigated to evaluate their contamination status and risks to human health. The results gave an overview of the contamination levels of these (head, body trunk and liver) fish parts. The pesticides [organochlorine (OC), organophosphorus (OP), pyrethroids (PY) and others like: guazatine, methoprene, metalaxyl and imidachloprid] concentration in the fresh and smoked body parts ranged from 0.002 to 0.221 µg/kg and 0.002 to 0.175 µg/kg, with mean concentration of 0.002–0.218 µg/kg and 0.002–0.126 µg/kg, respectively. Smoking was observed to reduce the overall pesticide concentration as follows: head (0.23 µg/kg or 17.3%), liver (0.34 µg/kg or 29.8%) and muscles (0.41 µg/kg or 27.2%). The pesticides contents were significantly lower than standard daily intake and the risk associated with consumption of the fish also showed that the fish posed no potential threat to consumers.     

交通源对西安夏季空气质量影响模拟研究

本文应用WRF-CHEM模式模拟分析了2016年6月西安市大气污染过程。模式准确地模拟了西安地区大气臭氧(O_3)、细颗粒物(PM_(2.5))以及二氧化氮(NO_2)的时空变化趋势,较好地再现了天气形势以及大气污染的演变过程。根据近年来西安市交通排放量的增加制定敏感性试验,结果表明:西安市20%交通排放量在研究时段内平均PM_(2.5)质量浓度贡献量为4.5μg?m~(-3),模拟时段内O_3平均贡献量为4.8μg?m~(-3),西安市20%交通排放量在研究时段内的平均NO_2贡献量为2.7μg?m~(-3),而且污染物浓度越高,交通源排放量的影响越显著。     

Mercaptobenzothiazole-on-gold organic phase biosensor systems: 1. Enhanced organosphosphate pesticide determination

This paper reports the construction of the gold/mercaptobenzothiazole/polyaniline/acetylcholinesterase/polyvinylacetate (Au/ MBT/PANI/AChE/PVAc) thick-film biosensor for the determination of certain organophosphate pesticide solutions in selected aqueous organic solvent solutions. The Au/MBT/PANI/AChE/PVAc electrocatalytic biosensor device was constructed by encapsulating acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme in the PANI polymer composite, followed by the coating of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) on top to secure the biosensor film from disintegration in the organic solvents evaluated. The electroactive substrate called acetylthiocholine (ATCh) was employed to provide the movement of electrons in the amperometric biosensor. The voltammetric results have shown that the current shifts more anodically as the Au/MBT/PANI/AChE/PVAc biosensor responded to successive acetylthiocholine (ATCh) substrate addition under anaerobic conditions in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, KCl (pH 7.2) solution and aqueous organic solvent solutions. For the Au/MBT/PANI/AChE/PVAc biosensor, various performance and stability parameters were evaluated. These factors include the optimal enzyme loading, effect of pH, long-term stability of the biosensor, temperature stability of the biosensor, the effect of polar organic solvents, and the effect of non-polar organic solvents on the amperometric behavior of the biosensor. The biosensor was then applied to detect a series of 5 organophosphorous pesticides in aqueous organic solvents and the pesticides studied were parathion-methyl, malathion and chlorpyrifos. The results obtained have shown that the detection limit values for the individual pesticides were 1.332 nM (parathion-methyl), 0.189 nM (malathion), 0.018 nM (chlorpyrifos).