Health Risk Assessment on Selected Essential and Non-Essential Elements in Food Crops Grown in Kibera Slum, Nairobi-Kenya

Peri-urban agriculture of food crops is practiced in many slum areas in developing countries. This often uses waste water whose levels of essential and non-essential elements are largely unknown but would be feared to contaminate soils, consequently exposing man to associated health risks. Inhabitants in Kibera slum, Nairobi City practice these growing kales, amaranthus, arrowroots, and spinach. Health risk assessment was done using daily intake of metals (DIM), target hazard quotient (THQ) and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR). Atomic absorption spectroscopy was employed for elemental analysis. The levels of essential elements ranged as follows;Mn 91.04 - 374.44, Mg 261.28 - 532.96, Fe 350.74 - 1273.68, and Zn 1.18 - 6.3 μg/g per dry weight were found to be below the recommended limits by FAO/WHO. Non-essential elements ranged as follows;Cr 1.15 - 4.32 and Pb 0.14 - 0.91 μg/g above the EU recommendation. DIM of Fe 5.81 - 27.61 and Mn 1.97 - 8.12 μg/g is above the recommended daily intake amounts. THQ values for Mn and Fe were more than unit. THQ values for non-essential elements were generally below unit. ILCR showed that from lead alone 73 people (0.043% of 0.17M residents) are likely to develop cancer. There are foreseen health risks associated with consumption of food crops grown in Kibera slum that requires immediate address.

Levels of Selected Essential and Non-Essential Metals in the Soil and Ginger (<i>Zingiber officinale</i>) Cultivated in Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is an important spice and medicinal plant used in different parts of the world. The objective of current study was to determine the level of essential and non-essential metals in ginger and its correlation with concentration of metals in the supporting soil. The level of K, Na, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Cd and Pb in soil and ginger cultivated in the selected districts of Wolaita zone, Southern Ethiopia were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. A 0.5 g ginger sample was digested using a mixture of 4 ml HNO3 and 1.5 ml HClO4 at 210°C for 150 minutes, and a 0.5 g soil sample was digested employing a mixture of 6 ml aqua-regia and 1 ml H2O2 at 280°C for 150 minutes. The metal concentrations range in dry weight basis for ginger samples is decreasing in the order: K (1691 - 3487 mg/kg) > Mg (701 - 1583 mg/kg) > Ca (862 - 1476 mg/kg) > Na (398 - 776 mg/kg) > Mn (325 - 672 mg/kg) > Fe (6.14 - 11.92 mg/kg) > Zn (5.30 - 10.09 mg/kg) > (0.12 - 0.23 mg/kg) for Pb. The concentration of Cd, Cu and Co in ginger samples were below the limit of detection. The results revealed that ginger has the ability to accumulate relatively higher amounts of K and Mg among the determined essential metals. The soil samples have been found to be acidic pH, sandy clay loam in texture, a very low electrical conductivity and moderate level of (CEC, organic carbon, available phosphorus and total nitrogen). Although, a positive correlation between the levels of K, Mg, Zn, Mn in ginger and soil samples were observed. All the non-essential metals analyzed in this study were below the permissible ranges set by FAO/WHO.

Determination of Selected Essential and Non-Essential Metals in Three Types of Teff (<i>Eragrostis tef</i>) Cultivated in Southern Ethiopia

Teff (Eragrostis tef) is used to supply staple food “injera” for many Ethiopians. The present study was aimed toward determining the extent of selected metals that can exist in three types of teff cultivated in selected districts of southern Ethiopia. The level of those metals was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The optimized wet digestion procedure was evaluated employing a spiking method and an acceptable percentage recovery of (91.1% - 108.9%) has been obtained for metals in the teff. Oven dried 1 g of teff samples were digested using 5 mL of HNO3 and 1 mL of HClO4 at 300°C for 3 hours. The result indicated that the mean concentration of metals (in mg/kg dry weight basis) in teff samples were found to be from 1206.9 to 1768.9 of Ca, 2463.9 to 2554.7 of Mg, 82.6 to 109.9 of Na, 2879 to 3075 of K, 207.4 to 239.5 of Fe, 55.9 to 100.4 of Mn, 27.1 to 87.1 of Zn, 5.4 to 45.5 of Cu and 0.118 to 0.130 of Pb respectively. However, Cd is below the method detection limit. A statistical analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) between the mineral content in three teff types and teff from the three districts. Red teff had higher essential metal contents except Cu followed by brown teff. Strong positive correlation was recognized between Mg with Ca and K, the rest have moderate or weak correlation. Further study has been done on the mineral contents of similar variety or three types of teff with the soil analysis from different locations.

A Polymer Flooding Pilot in Thin Layers of Non-essential Reservorirswith Medium-low Permeability and Heterogeneity in Daqing

DaqingOilfieldisalargeinlandfluvialdelta-lacustrinesedimentationreservoirwithmulti-layersandhighreservoirheterogeneity.Fromnorthtosouththereare7localstructuresinDaqingOilfield,andverticallythereare3setsofoil-bearingformations-Saertu,PutaohuaandGaotai...

Effects of Supplemental Glutamine and Lysine on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens

The optimum levels of Lysine and Glutamine needed for growth performance and maintenance of the chicken broilers were evaluated in a randomized 3 × 4 factorial arrangement of dietary treatments. The battery cages measured 99 × 66 × 25 cm that can be sufficient for 5 birds. Day old Chicken broilers totaling 180 were assigned to dietary treatments comprising of 3 concentrations of Lysine (0.85, 1.14, and 1.42) each in combination with 4 concentrations of Glutamine (0, 1, 2, and 3). Each dietary treatment was replicated 3 times and each replication had 5 birds. The birds were given feed and water ad libitum with a 23-hour light regimen for a period of 4 weeks. Then, the experimental birds were evaluated for body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion in order to determine their optimum requirement for dietary Lysine and Glutamine. Based on the findings of this study, the highest performance was observed in birds fed the diet supplemented with 1.42 lysine and 1% glutamine, but the highest improvement in feed conversion was observed in diet contain 1.14 and 1.42 with 1% and 3% glutamine, respectively. Birds fed 1.42 lysine and 1% glutamine had the highest total body weight gain and feed consumption. The lysine requirements in the diet for Chicken are between 1.14 and 1.42 with glutamine level of 1%.

刺络泻血对非酒精性脂肪肝模型大鼠瘦素及脂联素的影响

目的:观察刺络泻血干预对非酒精性脂肪肝模型大鼠血清中瘦素及脂联素的影响。方法:选取清洁级雄性SD大鼠40只,随机分为正常组(10只),模型组(10只),易善复组(10只),刺血干预组(10只)。选用高脂饮食饲料喂养法建立非酒精性脂肪肝模型。造模8周后,各造模组仍给予高脂饲料饲养,易善复组给予易善复0.159 g/(kg·d)灌胃,刺血干预组予"丰隆""太冲"穴三棱针刺血,治疗4周后取材,观察4组大鼠肝指数及肝脏病理变化,用酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)检测血清瘦素、脂联素的水平。结果:与正常组比较,模型组血清瘦素水平显著升高,脂联素水平显著降低,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);与模型组比较,易善复组及刺血干预组瘦素水平明显下降,血清脂联素水平明显升高,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);与易善复组比较,刺血干预组瘦素水平稍高,血清脂联素水平则稍低,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:刺血干预可显著减轻非酒精性脂肪肝大鼠模型肝损伤,其机制可能与降低血清中瘦素水平,上调脂联素水平有关。

易善复治疗90例非酒精性脂肪肝患者的临床疗效分析

目的分析并探讨易善复在治疗非酒精性脂肪肝方面的临床疗效。方法对我院自2009年12月至2011年2月期间收治的180例非酒精性脂肪肝患者,分成两组,分别采用易善复与甘利欣进行治疗,并对疗效进行对比分析。结果观察组治疗前后ALT、AST及TG差异均显著(P<0.05),具统计学意义;对照组治疗前后TG水平无明显差异(P>0.05),不具统计学意义;观察组有效率为94.44%(85/90),对照组有效率为68.89%(62/90),两组比较差异显著(P<0.05),具统计学意义。结论易善复在非酒精性脂肪肝的治疗方面疗效理想,值得广泛推广应用。

水飞蓟素胶囊联合多烯磷脂酰胆碱治疗非酒精性脂肪性肝炎的疗效观察

目的探讨水飞蓟素胶囊联合多烯磷脂酰胆碱对非酒精性脂肪性肝炎(NASH)的临床疗效。方法 80例NASH患者被随机分成2组,观察组采用当飞利肝宁胶囊联合易善复口服治疗,对照组仅采用易善复治疗,于治疗前及治疗8周后观察患者症状、肝功能、血脂、血糖及肝脏彩超变化。结果观察组症状改善情况优于对照组(P<0.01或P<0.05);两组丙氨酸氨基转移酶、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶、总胆固醇降低,肝脏脂肪变性改善,但观察组改善更明显;两组患者总胆固醇水平降低,观察组明显优于对照组(P<0.01)。结论当飞利肝宁胶囊联合易善复治疗非酒精性脂肪性肝炎具有较好的临床疗效,能够有效改善NASH患者的临床症状、肝功能、血脂、血糖及其肝脏影像学变化。

东宝肝泰片联合易善复治疗非酒精性脂肪肝65例

目的研究东宝肝泰片联合易善复治疗非酒精性脂肪肝患者的临床效果。方法使用随机数字表法将收治的126例患者分为对照组61例和观察组65例。对照组给予易善复2粒/次,3次/日;观察组在此基础上给予东宝肝泰片3片/次,3次/日。90 d后检测患者的肝功能和血脂水平,并记录不良反应发生情况。结果与治疗前相比,治疗后两组患者的丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)、天门冬酸氨基转移酶(AST)、总胆固醇(TC)和三酰甘油(TG)均有明显下降(P<0.05),观察组降低更明显,其中TC和TG与对照组比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗后观察组症状体征、肝功能和血脂的复常率均明显高于对照组(P<0.05)。观察组不良反应发生率低于对照组,组间差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),停药后均可自行缓解。结论东宝肝泰片联合易善复治疗非酒精性脂肪肝的临床效果确切,能明显改善患者肝功能和血脂,安全性较好,值得推广。