• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.231-236
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• 2017

Solid waste disposal and management is a critical problem in Nigeria. Annually, a huge quantity of municipal solid waste is generated in Aba. Municipal solid waste disposal in Aba poses severe challenge to environmental safety, public health and welfare of citizens. The situation is made worse by the indiscriminate dumping of refuse at roadsides, streets, waterways and empty lands. The impact of this waste management practice in Aba is environmental deterioration. Efforts to improve waste management in Aba have not recorded significant success. This paper therefore aims to highlight the challenges facing the waste management sector in Aba and proffer solutions on how to improve the sector.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.59-71
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ergonomic risk factors of 119 emergency medical technicians (EMT) with musculoskeletal disorders, performing emergency medical services (EMS) procedures in a firefighter combat challenge. Methods: The evaluated EMT procedures were cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) & intubation, trauma patient assessment, and intravenous (IV) injection. Measurement of working posture was done during training. Results: In CPR & intubation, OWAS-score was 2 (mean 1.9, maximum 4), requiring correction action, while REBA-score was 11 (mean 7.28, maximum 11), requiring immediate improvement. In trauma patient assessment & IV injection, OWAS-score was 4 (mean 2.9, maximum 4), requiring immediate correction action, while the REBA score was 7 (mean 7.5, maximum 11), requiring improvement. Conclusion: Both OWAS score and REBA-score showed improvement of posture and high-risk of musculoskeletal disorders. Occupational health management in EMS procedures during combat challenge and effective injury prevention program in fire stations are warranted.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.64-72
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• 1994

Tolerance to toxic effects of cadmium (Cd), including lethality has been shown following pretreatment with cadmium and zinc. This study was designed to determine if tolerance also develops to Cd-induced hepatotoxicity and renal toxicity. Three groups of rats (A, B, C), each consisting of 108 rats, were studied and each group was divided into three subgroups (1, 2, 3), 12 rats for each subgroup. Rats were subcutaneously pretreated with saline (A), CdCl$_2$ (0.5 mg/kg, B), and ZnCl$_2$ (13.0 mg/kg, C) during time periods of 5 days. At the end of the period, rats were challenged with CdCIa (3.0 and 6.0 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection. As for the cadmium levels in rat tissues after pretreatments, it was highest in the liver. Then kidney, heart, blood and muscle followed it in that order. After 24, 48 and 96 hours of intraperitoneal injection by challenge doses the concentration of cadmium in liver and kidney increased proportionally to the increase of challenge dosage. However metallothioneins in liver and kidney were increased by the pretreatment of cadmium and zinc. These data indicate the liver is a major target organ of acute Cd poisoning, and suggest that cadmium induced hepatic injury, via release of Cd-MT, may play and important role in the nephrotoxicity observed in response to short-term exposure to cadmium. This result suggests that increasing cadmium concentrations, gradually accumulating in liver and kidney as the result of the pretteatmerit, served to induced the synthesis of metallothionein, thus making them resistant to the challenge from cadmium.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 1995

Tolerance to toxic effects of cadmium(Cd), including lethality has been shown following pretreatment with cadmium and zinc. This study was designed to determine if tolerance also develops to Cd-induced hepatotoxicity and renal toxicity. Three groups of rats(A, B, C), each consisting of 52 rats, were studied and each group was divided into three subgroups(1,2,3), 28 rats for each subgroup. Rats were subcutaneously pretreated with saline(A), $CdCl_2$(0.5 mg/kg, B), and $ZnCl_2$(13.0 mg/kg, C) during time periods of 5 days. At the end of the period, rats were challenged with $CdCl_2$(3.0 and 6.0 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection. As for the cadmium levels in rat tissues after 1,3,5,6 days of pretreatments, it was highest in the liver. Then kidney, heart, blood and muscle followed it in that order. After 24, 48 and 96 hours of intraperitoneal injection by challenge doses the concentration of cadmium in liver and kidney increased proportionally to the increase of challenge dosage. However metallothioneins in liver and kidney were increased by the pretreatment of cadmium and zinc. These data indicate the liver is a major target-organ of acute Cd poisoning, and suggest that cadmium induced hepatic injury, via release of Cd-MT, may play an important role in the nephrotoxicity observed in response to short-term exposure to cadmium. This result suggest that increasing cadmium concentrations, gradually accumulating in liver and kidney as the result of the pretreatment, served to induce the synthesis of metallothionein, thus making them resistant to the challenge from cadmium.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.357-364
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• 2006

This study was undertaken to develop a reliable mice model demonstrating similar immunologic phenomena as human atopic dermatitis characterized with predominance of type-2 immune response. BALB/C mice and NC/Nga mice were sensitized twice with $100{\mu}l$ of 1% 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) or vehicle (acetone : olive oil=4:1 mixture) in a week and challenged twice with $100{\mu}l$ of 0.2% DNCB or the vehicle at the following week. Mice were sacrificed at 19 days following the second DNCB or vehicle challenge for NC/Nga mice and at 28 days following the second DNCB or vehicle challenge for BALB/c mice. Upregulation of plasma 1gE, a hallmark of atopic dermatitis occurrence, was evident in the plasma obtained 4 day after the second DNCB challenge from BALB/c mice (approximately 4-fold) and NC/Nga mice (approximately 6-fold) treated with DNCB in comparison with that of the vehicle treated-control mice, and remain higher $3{\sim}4$ week after the second challenge. Ratio of plasma IgG1 versus IgG2a concentration was significantly higher in the mice treated with DNCB than the control mice, which also implies the skewed type-2 reactivity in vivo. Ratio of interleukin-4 versus interferon gamma produced in the splenic T cell culture supernatants was approximately 3-fold higher in the both strains of mice treated with DNCB than their control mice, respectively. The DNCB-treated mice demonstrated atopic dermatitis-like skin legions characterized with erythma, scaling, and hemorrhage, which was not observed with the control mice. Scratching on face or dorsal area was significantly more frequent (approximately 25-fold) in the DNCB-treated mice than the control at next day of the second DNCB challenge, and scratching frequency remains higher (approximately 4-fold) in the mice treated with DNCB than the control at 14 day following the second DNCB challenge. Overall, the mice model developed through sensitization and challenge with DNCB may be useful for research on atopic dermatitis and development of treatment materials for atopic dermatitis.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.4781-4803
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• 2017

Environmental monitoring systems using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) face the challenge of high power consumption, due to the high levels of multi-hop data communication involved. In order to overcome the issue of fast energy depletion, a proof-of-concept implementation proves that adopting a clustering algorithm in environmental monitoring applications will significantly reduce the total power consumption for environment sensor nodes. In this paper, an energy-efficient WSN-based environmental monitoring system is proposed and implemented, using eight sensor nodes deployed over an area of $1km^2$, which took place in the city of Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. The effectiveness of the proposed environmental monitoring system has been demonstrated through adopting a number of real experimental studies.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2008

While in some instances, loss of diversity results from acute toxicity (e.g. major pollution incidents), in most cases it results from long-term sub-lethal effects that alter the relative competitive ability and fitness of certain organisms. In such cases the sub-lethal effects will cause a physiological response in the organism that ultimately leads to community level changes. Very sensitive tools are now available to study sub-lethal responses at the molecular level. However, relating such laboratory measurements to ecological effects represents a substantial challenge that can only be met by investigation at all scales (molecular, individual organism and community level) with an appropriate group of organisms. Among the various in vertebrates which can be used as model organisms in such a way, the soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans appear to be a promising biological model to diagnose environmental quality. This paper reviews the current status of multilevel biomarkers in environmental toxicology, and C. elegans as promising organisms for this approach.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.541-551
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• 2012

The effects of dietary additives and holding time on resistance and resilience of broiler chickens to Clostridium perfringens challenge were investigated by offering four dietary treatments. These were a negative control (basal), a positive control (Zn-bacitracin) and two dietary additives, mannanoligosaccharides (MOS), and acidifier. Two holding times included (a) immediate access to feed and water post hatch (FED) and (b) access to both feed and water 48 h post hatch (HELD). Chicks fed Zn-bacitracin had no intestinal lesions attributed to necrotic enteritis (NE), whereas chicks fed both MOS or acidifier showed signs of NE related lesions. All dietary treatments were effective in reducing the numbers of C. perfringens in the ileum post challenge. The FED chicks had heavier body weight and numerically lower mortality. The FED chicks also showed stronger immune responses to NE challenge, showing enhanced (p<0.05) proliferation of T-cells. Early feeding of the MOS supplemented diet increased (p<0.05) IL-6 production. The relative bursa weight of the FED chicks was heavier at d 21 (p<0.05). All the additives increased the relative spleen weight of the HELD chicks at d 14 (p<0.05). The FED chicks had increased villus height and reduced crypt depth, and hence an increased villus/crypt ratio, especially in the jejunum at d 14 (p<0.05). The same was true for the HELD chicks given dietary additives (p<0.05). It may be concluded that the chicks with early access to dietary additives showed enhanced immune response and gut development, under C. perfringens challenge. The findings of this study shed light on managerial and nutritional strategies that could be used to prevent NE in the broiler industry without the use of in-feed antibiotics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.140-146
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• 2000

Even though coix (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen) has many physiological effects, since it has been known to cause sterility, farmers avoid using coix bran as a forage for their livestock. Therefore, as the consumption of coix increases, coix bran, which is a by product of pounding process, becomes a serious issue of environmental problem. Present study examined the physiological effects of coix bran in normal and diabetic rats for its possible use as a functional material. The effects of coix bran supplementation on plasma and hepatic lipid profile were evaluated in rats fed one of the following diet for 12 weeks : chow diet ; chow-bran diet (chow diet＋25% coix bran), high fat diet and high fat-bran diet (high fat diet＋25% coix bran). Additionally, glucose challenge and lipid metabolism in streptozotocin-diabetic rats were also examined. In normal rats, consumption of coix bran remarkably reduced body weight gain in chow or high fat diet fed rats. Additionally, consumption of coix branreduced blood TG, TC and atherogenic index (26%, 24% and 72%, respectively) in chow diet fed rats. Liver TG and cholesterol concentrations were reduced (43% and 49%, respectively) in high fat fed rats by coix bran supplementation. In diabetic rats, fasting blood glucose level was reduced about 25% by coix bran consumption. Also, glucose challenge pattern was improved and resembled normal pattern : it reaches to peak 15~30 minutes after glucose administration and get back to fasting blood glucose level after 90 minutes. Plasma concentrations of TG were elevated in diabetic rats and were reduced to normal level by coix bran supplementation. Liver TG and cholesterol concentrations were also elevated in diabetic rats and reduced to normal level by consumption of coix bran. These results suggest that coix bran may have beneficial effects on blood lipid and glucose level in normal and diabetic rats.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.345-349
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• 2019

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has long been studying the essential elements of manned planetary exploration and has held several international challenges to encourage the research works related to it. One of them was the NASA Centennial Challenge Programs which started in 2015. Following the second in 2017, the third is currently going on in 2019. Participating "3D-Printed Habitat Challenge", one of the challenges in the second program, this research team designed and developed the 3D printer extruding module for the Lunar Simulant (Korea Hanyang Lunar Simulant-1; KOHLS-1) and the polymer. For optimizing the modul, a cylindrical specimen of ${\varnothing}150{\times}300mm^3$ volume and a specimen of $200{\times}100{\times}650mm^3$ volume were manufactured and their compressive and flexural strengths were tested. The findings can help automatize the space construction in the future.