Environment and Forestry

Jatropha curcas seeds have been in use for the production of biodiesel as an ecofriendly fuel. But during biodiesel production from 100 kgs of Jatropha seeds only 30 kgs of oil is produced, while 70 kgs of de-oiled cake is generated as a byproduct. This oil meal contains toxic substances like curcin, toxalbumin and phorebolic acid which makes it unsuitable as an animal feed. It can be either used for biogas production or vermicomposting as can be seen from volatile solids of total solids content of 87.93%. So feasibility of this oil meal as a substrate for vermicomposting using earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae has been studied in detail. Original C/N ratio of the jatropha oil meal was around 42.94 while the raw waste mixture was around 38.57% after mixing with cattle dung and soil, which reduced to 12.6 after vermicomposting, which is an indicator of efficient worm activity. Volatile Solids reduction of 66.19% was observed which indicates efficient worm activity. Results showed good quality vermicompost production with efficient water holding capacity of 72.4100% and porosity of 78.2191%. Bulk density depicted 1.1052 g/cm3 indicating good quality suitable for efficient root penetration. Scanning Electron Microscopy and microbiological analysis confirmed the maturity of the vermicompost.

Customer satisfaction refers to the state of mind or the perception that customers have about an organization and its products or services at the time their perceptions have been met or surpassed. Customer service is an integral part of any organization. Over the past few years, customer satisfaction and technology have become conjoined. Customers today are demanding more and more techno-savvy service that will provide quick and efficient service that will keep pace with the ever changing technological world. The water reticulation system in Mombasa is old and dilapidated and is prone to leaks and bursts. Coupled with this fact is the challenge of illegal connections done by unscrupulous persons who connect to the system unprofessionally leading to leaks. Leaks and bursts may go for days an end without being reported leading to excessive loss of water. However, residents are lax in reporting leaks in their areas and have tended to ignore the issue either out of ignorance or lethargy to report the issue. There appears to be lack of effective communication between the utility and the customers which needs to be addressed. Water services by the Mombasa Water Supply and Sanitation Company (MOWASSCO) thus continue to be unsatisfactory given the key challenge of financial sustainability. Poor services invariably affects the degree of customer satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to establish the role of electronic water monitoring systems in increasing customer satisfaction with services provided by the Mombasa Water Supply and Sanitation Company, despite the several challenges in water service provision as outlined. This research used descriptive survey where the target population totaling 600 was drawn from the five water meter reading zones in Mombasa County namely Island North, Island South, Likoni, Nyali and West Mainland. The study used primary data which was gathered using structured questionnaires. Chapter one dealt with a background of the study including a background of the water supply system and its challenges. A synopsis of customer satisfaction in public institution was given together with a brief of the water supply in Mombasa. A statement of the problem described in depth the current challenges encountered by MOWASSCO in its service delivery. The chapter also gave an insight into the use of technology in enhancing customer satisfaction. Chapter two analyzed the literature review with emphasis on adoption of technology in the service industry and also outlined the conceptual framework. Chapter three outlined the research methodology, while Chapter four analyzed the data and derived conclusions. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression, presented in tables and pie charts extracted from both MS Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software tools version 20.Lastly, Chapter five gave a summary of the study, conclusions, recommendations and further research.

In Malaysia, global tourism has also proven to be capable of creating job opportunities, especially low-level, service-related jobs such as hotel worker, taxi driver, for the local people. The development of the tourism, can additional income for many household and able to increase the standard of living to the local people such as participation in homestay program. This article writes about tourism, community based tourism and homestay in Malaysia.

The feasibility of using spent water from parkia seed (iru) processing were tested on wood samples of Ceiba pentandra as preservative against fungi. Spent water (leachate) from locally produced iru processing was used to treat Ceiba wood. Wood samples were at the sawmill unit of Forest Products Development and Utilization Department of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). Wood samples converted into 15 mm x 15 mm x 25 mm and were inoculated with Sclerotium rolfsii and Pleurotus florida for 12 weeks. Samples soaked for 48 hours had the lowest weight loss (7.143%) for samples inoculated with P. florida thus signifying that the leachate at 48 hours of soaking provided preservative property against P. florida while the 24 hours of soaking was the least effective. But samples inoculated with S. rolfsii show that the leachate was not effective in the control of S. rolfsii.

The growing population puts municipalities under pressure in managing waste The challenging task is to protect the environment and natural resources through waste management programs. If the sources are dumped in the landfill without sending it for treatment, the life span of dumping yard will not sustain. Hence a careful planning is required in carrying out these activities to accomplish this in a optimal way.

This study was performed to evaluation of biosorption technology application for remove heavy metal (Cadmium) in wastewater. At this study, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was applied for biosorption of Cadmium element from industrial wastewater. Effect of Two factors were studied on value of absorption included biomass concentration (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 g/l) and contact time (15, 30, 60 and 120 min). pH value and temperature were fixed at 6 and 25?C in experiment period, respectively. it was determined that Cadmium absorption rate decreased with increasing concentration of biomass adsorbent. Also, Absorption was increased with increasing of time and using of 30, 60 and 120 minutes increased absorption 1.28, 1.85 and 2.61 fold in compare to 15 minute.

This paper reported the marketing of wooden doors in Abeokuta Metropolis. Data were collected through the use of structured Questionnaire administered to the traders in identified locations in Abeokuta metropolis. Descriptive statistics and budgetary techniques were used for the analysis of data collected. The results showed that marketing and trade in this product is male dominated and involved people in their active age of 26-35 years (59%). Majority of the respondents were married and most of them had formal education, at least up to secondary level. Most of the respondents were fulltime marketer and some of the marketer purchase wooden doors from Ijebu-ode and Ibadan at wholesale price. The common wood species used for doors are Gmelina aborea, Tectona grandis, Mansonia altisima, mahogany (khaya spp), Cordia millenii, Nauclea diderrichii. Majority of the respondent started the trade as apprentices. The analysis of cost and returns showed that the marketing of wooden doors is a very profitable business, the rate of returns on investment as a producer was (36.08%) and it was (16.20%) as a wholesaler/retailer. The results of Pearson chi-square showed that age, marital status, other occupations, source of capital, years of experience were the major factors by which variation in monthly profit can be explained and predicted; they were significant at 5% level. It can be concluded from this study that trade in wooden doors is a profitable venture and can provide fulltime employment. However, as the marketers depend on trees planted by the government, they might soon run out of business when the plantations are exhausted. Informed suggestions were offered towards the sustainable management of forest plantation and continued availability of raw materials for production.

Thambraparani River empties in Arabian Sea at Punnakayal area and forms the Punnakayal estuary and it is situated in Tuticorin, South east coast of India. Mangroves are abundant in this area especially Avicennia sp. Diversity of marine fungi colonizing the drift wood samples collected from the intertidal regions at different season of the Punnakayal mangrove environment was studied. They are categorized into rare (0-25% frequency), occasional (26-50% frequency), frequent (51-75% frequency) and common (76-100% frequency) species. A total number of 62 species of fungi under 33 genera were recorded from the drift wood samples. They were assigned to Deuteromycetes (46 species), Ascomycetes (14 species), Trichomycetes (1 species) and Basidiomycetes (1 species).

Iron is one of the major limiting factors and essential nutrients of microbial life. Since in nature it is not readily available in the preferred form, microorganisms produce small high affinity chelating molecules called siderophores for its acquisition. A great variation is seen in siderophore structure produced by many bacteria. There are three main kinds of siderophores known as hydroxamate, catecholate and carboxylate. Siderophores also play a critical role in the expression of virulence and development of biofilms by different microbes. Siderophore and their derivative have large application in agriculture as to increase soil fertility and biocontrol for bacterial and fungal pathogen. This review is intended to provide a general overview on siderophore along with its role and applications.

The development of new technology increases the exposure level to non-ionizing EMF radiations. Recent development of spatial data management in the framework of GIS has created a new trend of environmental mapping. In this work, maps for different EMF sources have been developed for the Baghdad city using Arc Map GIS version 10, the utilization of such spatial analysis maps is very important for future planning and EMF exposure assessment studies. Statistical analysis for measurement data was made using IBM SPSS Version 20. The maximum contribution of EMF exposure was referred to FM radio stations and GSM mobile base station due to high power transmitters and large number of base stations, maximum EMF strength caused by FM radio stations was 10.2 (V/m) and the average exposure level 3.578 (V/m). High-level exposure values unveil the necessity of imposing new recommendations and limits concerning stations site selection and reducing exposure levels in residential areas as low as possible.