Journal of Scientific Research and Reports

Radioactivity distribution and transfer factor (TF) in plants are crucial parameters used to assess radioactive contamination in the environment, impact of soil radioactivity on agricultural crops and its risks to humans.  The root crop cassava (Manihot esculenta) provides about 50 percent of the calories consumed in Nigeria. Gamma - ray spectroscopy was used to measure activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in cassava root and soil. The average activity concentration of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th in cassava was 565.31± 13.17, 21.89±5.94 and 817.28±2.52 Bqkg^-1 respectively. The mean activity concentration   ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th in soil range from 92.07±35.08 to 689.28±14.35 Bqkg^-1with a mean value of 413.64±21.22 Bqkg^-1, 5.37 ± 8.90 to 64.93 ± 7.23 Bqkg^-1 with a mean value of 54.43 ± 3.22 and BDL to 928.15 ± 2.36 Bqkg^-1 with a mean value of 561.67 ± 2.21 Bqkg^-1. The transfer values for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were in the range of 0 to 1.81, 0 to 3.41 and 0.68 to 4.5 respectively. The high value of transfer factor for ⁴⁰k may be due to its importance in plant growth, fertilization and adaptability of plant to environmental pressures. It may have also been enhanced by the application of NPK fertilizers in those farms. Thorium showed the highest mean transfer factor which may be due to its higher accumulation in soil and higher uptake by plants (Figure 3). The average transfer factors of ²²⁶Ra (0.99) < ⁴⁰K (1.55) < ²³²Th (1.66) show that although activity concentration of the natural radioisotopes in the area under study are high, the rate at which they are transferred to cassava are still moderate.  The average values of radium equivalent activity (Raeq), absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose rate (AEDE), internal hazard index and excess life cancer risk (ELCR) are 1009.27 Bqk^-1, 346.50 nGyh^-1, 1.51 mSvy^-1, 2.78 and 3.92 x 10^-3 for respectively. These values were higher than their corresponding permissible values of 370Bqk^-1, 55nGyh^-1, 1.0 mSvy^-1, 1.0 and 0.29 x 10^-3 respectively. The mean values of H_ex and H_in are greater than unity and may, therefore, constitute a significant radiological health risk. The mean annual gonad dose estimated value of 2943.90 mSvy^-1  was above the world acceptable value of 300 mSvy^-1 and the annual effective dose in all the samples except in few locations as shown in Figure 2, exceeded the safe value of 1.0 mSvy^-1. The use of soil from these farms and the crops may constitute a threat to the bone marrow and general health conditions of the inhabitants.

Agroecology is the science that establishes the basis for construction of sustainable farming styles. The consortium usually to stand out as alternative interesting small for producers with structural and financial limitations, because it is an effective cropping system practiced long ago and found in all parts of the world, with greater diversity in the tropics. The experiment was conducted between August to November 2012 in the municipality of Garanhuns-PE/Brazil It had as objective to observe how the lettuce would behave in consortium with the carrot in an agroecological system of production. The parameters evaluated in the experiment were plant height, total weight of the plant, weight of leaves and number of leaves. The data obtained were submitted to a statistical comparison test between averages of the consortium and non-consortium beds, using Student's t-test at a significance level of 5%. It was observed that the consortium between lettuce and carrot presented a significant difference for most of the studied variables, negatively influencing its growth.

This research investigated the effects of varying concentrations of crude oil on some physicochemical characteristics of crude oil polluted agricultural soils from Igodan- Lisa, Oba-Ile and Ido-Ani areas of Ondo State, Nigeria. The soil samples were exposed to 1-4% (w/w) crude oil and analyzed monthly for six periods using standard physical and chemical analytical techniques. Results indicated that the physicochemical properties were altered. The physicochemical parameters varied with increase in the amount of crude oil spilled and time. The pH and moisture contents (MC) progressively decreased with increase in concentration of crude oil applied to the samples. Polluted soils had lower pH values (4.91- 6.17) and MC (15.24% to 26.83%) relative to control samples. The organic matter content increased with increased amount of crude oil spilled in the range of 6.65-10.93%. The organic carbon contents progressively increased with concentration of crude oil and sampling days. At 4% crude oil pollution, the organic carbon content in the samples were 6.04-8.28%, 5.39-7.82% and 6.05-8.21% for Igodan-Lisa, Oba-Ile and Ido-Ani soils respectively at 0-180 days of experiment. The changes in soil physicochemical suggested that soil integrity and quality is altered by crude oil contamination. The increased acidity with time also suggested the release of acidic metabolites in bioremediation by intrinsic microorganisms.

This study evaluated ergonomically the workers of a furniture industry making sofa structures, located in the city of Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais State, between August 2016 and December 2016, aiming to evaluate the quality of life and the ergonomic risks of the workers present. It was evaluated a population of 66 workers, including assemblers of sofa structures and carpentry machine operators, both males. Initially, all of these were submitted to the pain test, performed by means of questions regarding the greatest and least muscular discomfort, with the help of a map of the musculature of the human body. A sample of the workers with the highest rates of muscular pain was withdrawn from this population. The sample was submitted to WHOQOL-Bref (World Health Organization Quality of Life - Bref) questionnaire, which evaluates the perception of quality of life; After the kinesiological analysis of the work, observing the positions adopted and the assembly time of the structures of the sofa; the RULA method (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment), responsible for evaluate possible damage to limbs, such as the arm, forearm, wrist, neck, trunk and legs; and finally the biomechanical evaluation of static and postural forces, using 3DSSPP software (3D Static Strength Prediction Program). The results of WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire revealed that, in general, the perception of the sample about quality of life at work was classified as "very satisfactory" and the "physical environment was the one with the lowest degree of satisfaction. The kinesiological and biomechanical analyzes showed that the factors most critical to the work routine are related to wrist flexion, ulnar deviation and flexion of the indicator. However, based on static and postural forces, this activity can be developed without health risks by 97% of the workers. The load on workers during the working day did not prove to be crucial for triggering musculoskeletal disorders, so most workers are able to develop their work activities without health risks.

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the indicator based climate change vulnerability of south west coastal Bangladesh and its future.

Place of Study: Four districts form south west coastal Bangladesh, having a total of 50 upazilas, have been selected as the study area. They are Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Barguna and Patuakhali districts.

Methodology: This study has been conducted, using multivariate statistical techniques, to assess the vulnerabilities of the coastal region of Bangladesh by considering the IPCC framework of vulnerability studies. A total of 31 indicators have been selected of which 23 are socio-economic and 8 are biophysical which have been retrieved from the secondary sources. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied to derive unbiased weights of all indicators considering both present (2011) and the future (2050) climate change scenarios.

Results: This study has identified 7 principal components through PCA which has been grouped as PC1 (Demographic Vulnerability), PC2 (Economic Vulnerability), PC3 (Climatic Vulnerability), PC4 (Health Vulnerability), PC5 (Agricultural Vulnerability), PC6 (Infrastructural Vulnerability) and PC7 (Water Vulnerability). For all 7 PCA groups (termed as vulnerability profile), the number of high and medium vulnerable coastal Upazilas will be significantly changed in the future. No of highly vulnerable Upazila will increase from 0 to 1 for PC1, unchanged for PC2, increase from 0 to 1 for PC3, from 32 to 33 for PC4, from 47 to 68 for PC5, decrease from 48 to 46 for PC6, and an increase from 14 to 21 for PC7, respectively.

Conclusion: Discrete spatial maps of each profile have been generated to assess the regional variation of all vulnerability profiles across the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. The findings of this study might be useful for policy makers and planners.