Analysing the contributory role of the accounting profession to save our planet Sustainability and sustainable development are often contested concepts associated with a wide range of meanings and ...theories. Different worldviews by people and organisations influence the different concepts entertained in respect of sustainable development. Furhermore, pursuing sustainable and sustainability concepts is usually in direct conflict with the drive to generate profits. This review article focuses on potential developments and adjustments in the business world to ensure sustainability. With the sustainability concept in mind, the purpose of the article is to explore the role and contribution of the accounting profession with regard to sustainable development. Previous studies indicate that Financial Accounting is prone to standardisation and regulation in accordance with international and local accounting standards and that it is therefore problematical to accommodate sustainability. The next step was to analyse the manner in which the sustainability concepts could be incorporated into Management Accounting. As the measurement and reporting of environmental costs continue to be problematic, a whole new discipline has been developed, namely Environmental Management Accounting. The relationship between monetary information and increased output while simultaneously reducing environmental pollution or natural resource consumption can be expressed in an eco-efficiency ratio or an economic efficiency indicator (EDI). These trends of measuring and analysing require the establishment of new subject disciplines as part of Environmental Management Accounting, including the development of new specialist fields such as Water Accounting and Carbon Accounting. The implementation of a large number of environmental management accounting tools is fundamental to promote integration and sustainability. The above developments and trends, considered from the perspective of the accounting profession, can make a positive contribution to the protection of our environment. Greater collaboration between researchers, academics and professional accounting bodies can promote the sustainability of our planet.
Aim
To identify the sources of Salmonella contamination, distribution, prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, which have significant impact on public and animal health, and ...international trade.
Methods and Results
A total of 1888 samples were collected by stratified random sampling from 2009 to 2011 from cattle, camels, poultry, fish, vegetables and humans. All identified Salmonella isolates were serotyped and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by MIC determinations. A total of 149 Salmonella isolates comprising 17 different serovars were obtained (7·9% prevalence). Salmonella Hadar (37%), S. Eko (17%), S. Enteritidis (10%), S. Kentucky (7%) and S. Uganda (7%) were isolated from different sources. The occurrence of antimicrobial resistance was generally low, but S. Enteritidis and S. Eko showed variable antimicrobial resistance patterns, while all S. Kentucky isolates were resistant to seven of 17 tested antimicrobials, including ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid. Three S. Hadar isolates revealed reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and susceptibility to nalidixic acid and harboured the plasmid‐mediated quinolone resistance gene qnrS1.
Conclusions
Salmonella serovars Hadar, Enteritidis and the previously very rarely reported Eko were the major serovars associated with human infections, animal and environmental contamination in the north‐eastern region of Nigeria.
Significance and Impact of the Study
These serovars constitute a health risk to poultry, environment and human population in the region.
A comprehensive study of bacterial and biotoxin contaminants of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods in Nigeria is yet to be reported. Hence, this study applied 16S rRNA gene sequencing and a dilute-and-shoot ...LC-MS/MS method to profile bacteria and biotoxins, respectively, in 199 RTE food samples comprising
(n = 30)
bread (n = 30), shawarma (n = 35),
(n = 35), biscuits (n = 34), and
(n = 35). A total of 631 bacterial isolates, clustered into seven operational taxonomic units, namely
,
,
,
and
,
, and
, that are reported for the first time were recovered from the foods. One hundred and eleven metabolites comprising mycotoxins and other fungal metabolites, phytoestrogenic phenols, phytotoxins, and bacterial metabolites were detected in the foods. Aflatoxins, fumonisins, and ochratoxins contaminated only the artisanal foods (
,
and
), while deoxynivalenol and zearalenone were found in industrially-processed foods (biscuit, bread, and shawarma), and citrinin was present in all foods except
. Mean aflatoxin (39.0 µg/kg) in artisanal foods exceeded the 10 µg/kg regulatory limit adopted in Nigeria by threefold. Routine surveillance, especially at the informal markets; food hygiene and safety education to food processors and handlers; and sourcing of high-quality raw materials are proposed to enhance RTE food quality and safeguard consumer health.
In this study red mud was stabilized along with different Eko Soil Enzyme (ES) content. The variation of ES in the samples had been made 1-7% by volume of water. 7 samples of varying ES content of ...red mud were prepared and tested for index and engineering properties. The unconfined compression strength samples were cured for 7, 28, 45 and 90 days to study the effect of longstanding curing at room temperature. The CBR tests on unsoaked and soaked samples were carried out to understand the mechanism of ES as stabilizing materials. Based on the experimental investigations it is found that addition of ES (up to 4%) to red mud increases the maximum dry density and decreases the optimum moisture content. The optimum mix was RM+ 4% which increase the soaked CBR by 580.9% and UCS by 578% at for curing period of 45 days. The aggregation and cementation may be the reason for the higher strength of red mud specimen stabilized with ES. The permeability and leachate characteristics are studied for different flowing periods from 1 to 7 days of RM+4%ES combination. An attempt further was made to understand the metal concentration in the leachate of raw red mud, red mud and ES combinations.
U Hrvatskoj se posljednjih godina povećala ukupna površina pod ekološkom poljoprivredom kao i površine pod ekološkim voćnjacima. Analizom ponude na izravnim i neizravnim prodajnim kanalima u Gradu ...Zagrebu tijekom 2017. godine utvrđeno je da je domaće ekološko voće prvenstveno zastupljeno u izravnim kanalima (tržnice). U neizravnim kanalima (hipermarketi i specijalizirane prodavaonice) ponuda voća je veća, no ono je prvenstveno iz zemalja EU. Ponuda domaće proizvedenog ekološkog voća na području Grada Zagreba nije zadovoljavajuća, ali budući da se radi o višegodišnjim kulturama, možemo očekivati povećanje ponude, homogeniju kvalitetu i dostatne količine te prisutnost i na drugim prodajnim kanalima.
Despite threats emanating from the influence of climate and non-climate forcing on the barrier island coastal region of southwestern Nigeria, the extent of the coastal erosion is poorly understood. ...We report evidence of coastal erosion and sediment accumulation in the region over a 34-year period (1973-2017), using Landsat imagery at intervals of approximately six years. Landsat image corrections and various water-extraction algorithms were used to systematically delineate coastal erosion and accumulation in the area. The region was subdivided into western and eastern subregions separated by Lagos Harbour. In the west, erosion took place during the periods 1973-1979, 1979-1984, 1990-1999 and 2005-2011, whereas in the east, erosion occurred during 1973-1979, 1990-1999 and 1999-2005. Coastal sediment accumulation occurred in the east during 1979-1984, 1984-1990, 2005-2011 and 2011-2017, whereas gains in the west occurred during 1984-1990, 1999-2005 and 2011-2017. The study revealed substantial net erosion of 1 228.1 ha in the region as a whole, over the full period. Sediment accumulation accompanying the coastal erosion appears to be linked to longshore drift. Erosion between 1973 and 2011 was probably attributable to climate change (storms and tidal conditions), longshore drift, the inflow and outflow of water at Lagos Harbour, coastal morphology and, possibly, human impacts. However, the coastal changes between 2011 and 2017 were more obviously associated with human activities, such as development of the Eko Atlantic construction project. Coastal surveillance, together with the use of environmentally sensitive protective measures, could possibly help to reduce coastal erosion in the region. Careful coastal management practices, including artificial nourishing and the installation of resilient structures (e.g. seawalls), should be undertaken to protect human settlements that are already at risk from sea-level rise.
As the slave trade entered its last, illegal phase in the 19th century,
the town of Lagos on West Africa's Bight of Benin became one of the most important
port cities north of the equator. Slavery ...and the Birth of an African City explores
the reasons for Lagos's sudden rise to power. By linking the histories of
international slave markets to those of the regional suppliers and slave traders,
Kristin Mann shows how the African slave trade forever altered the destiny of the
tiny kingdom of Lagos. This magisterial work uncovers the relationship between
African slavery and the growth of one of Africa's most vibrant cities.
Removal of certain organic pollutants from the environment may be difficult due to their poor water solubility and high vapour pressure. Particularly, these are factors limiting the use of biological ...remediation methods because they affect the bioavailability of xenobiotics. Therefore, an important issue in the biofiltration of gasses is the removal of hydrophobic compounds. This paper presents the results of research showing relation the application of a chosen surfactant (betaine) to the efficiency of toluene biofiltration. The research was conducted on a laboratory-scale biofilter. Elimination capacity and removal efficiency at different biofilter loads have been researched. The maximum elimination capacity was 21.2 and 32.3 g/m
3
h for the control bed and for the bed to which the betaine solution was applied, respectively. For the results of the experiment, statistical analyses and model calculations were performed. The results were compared with the reference literature.
This paper analyses two different models (methods) used for determination of water consumption in residential buildings. For this purpose, some basic sanitation facilities were implemented in the ...models as typical household equipment. As there is a big variety of sanitary solutions available, in order to achieve a significant reduction in water consumption, a novel classification of faucets (taps and mixers) is proposed. This classification also allows for the assessment of energy efficiency ratings of sanitary appliances. On the basis of this classification, water savings resulting from the use of faucets with different water efficiency ratios were determined. Depending on the type of faucet, it is possible to achieve more than 50% water savings, as well as a significant reduction in energy demand for heating and pumping water to customers. The paper also discusses the equations used to determine the energy demand for domestic hot-water preparation and its pumping to consumers. The results of the energy consumption calculations for the above-mentioned purposes were determined per person.
α-Synuclein (α-Syn) is a small presynaptic protein and its mutant forms (e.g. A53T) are known to be directly associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ...α-Syn-mediated neurodegeneration in PD still remain to be explored. However, several studies strongly support that overexpression of mutant α-Syn causes reduced release of dopamine (DA) in the brain, and contributes to motor deficits in PD. Using a favorable genetic model
larva, we examined whether reduced DA release is enough to induce key PD symptoms (i.e. locomotion deficiency and DA neurodegeneration), mimicking a PD gene α-Syn. In order to reduce DA release, we expressed electrical knockout (EKO) gene in DA neurons, which is known to make neurons hypo-excitable. EKO led to a decrease in a DA neuronal marker signal (i.e., TH - tyrosine hydroxylase) and locomotion deficits in
larva. In contrast, acute and prolonged exposure to blue light (BL, 470 nm) was sufficient to activate channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2) and rescue PD symptoms caused by both α-Syn and EKO. We believe this is for the first time to confirm that locomotion defects by a genetic PD factor such as α-Syn can be rescued by increasing DA neuronal excitability with an optogenetic approach. Our findings strongly support that PD is a failure of DA synaptic transmission, which can be rescued by optogenetic activation of ChR2.
PDF
