Town Area Research Articles

Identification of Culinary Tourism in Padang City

Padang City is renowned for its picturesque landscape, rich cultural heritage, and delectable cuisine. However, its culinary tourism potential has not yet been fully realized, which may result in suboptimal travel experiences for tourists. This study aimed to identify culinary tourism attractions in Padang City. The research methodology employed a mixed-methods approach that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Data were gathered through questionnaires, interviews, observations, and documentation analysis. The findings indicate that culinary tourism in Padang City can be categorized into three main types: restaurants, cafés, and street food. Based on the menu offered, restaurants can be further classified into two distinct categories: traditional Minang restaurants and fusion restaurants. Some notable clusters of culinary tourism destinations were concentrated in the Padang Beach Area, GOR H. Agus Salim Area, Old Town Area, Gado-Gado Hill Area, Tangsi Back Area, Earthquake Monument Area, and Pondok Area.

Lung Function Indices among Marble Workers with Age Matched Healthy Individuals in Lahore

Background: Marble dust predominantly comprises of free silica which is a principal constituent of Earth’s crust. Production of toxic substances, chemicals, and respirable dust in marble industry offers an occupational threat to the workers. Free silica dust is generated during quarrying, grinding cutting and polishing of marble and is responsible for occupational pulmonary diseases. Objective: This study was conducted to compare pulmonary function test results among the workers of marble industry and healthy persons of same age in district, Lahore. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Study was conducted in marble workshops workers, located in Township area College Road, Institute of Public Health, Lahore Pakistan. Duration: Six months from 05 May 2021 to 04 August 2021. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 individuals. Forty-five male persons, each were selected from cutting, grinding and polishing sections along with office workers from the marble workshop. Forty-five age matched healthy individuals selected from the same community. After getting approval from the Institutional Review board, the data was collected in a pretested standardized questionnaire after taking informed written consent by the respondents. Lung function tests were conducted by a Spiro Lab Spirometer which included forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second and ratio of forced expiratory volume to forced vital capacity. Results: The mean years of work experience of respondents was 11.58 ±5.92 and that of non-exposed healthy individuals was 11.23±5.32 years. A significant relationship of marble dust and deranged pulmonary function tests (p-value≤0.001) was noted which was normal in case of non-exposed individuals. Duration of work in marble industry and age in years had significant relationship with reduction in pulmonary function tests (p- value<0.001 in each). About 83 (46%) marble workers working in different sections had reported abnormal spirometry as compared to non-exposed individuals (p-value<0.001). Conclusion: According to the current study, individuals who had worked in the marble industry for more than 15 years had a steady reduction in their lung function indices, which ultimately had a detrimental effect on their health and when compared to healthy individuals of the same community, marble workers' pulmonary function tests showed significant impairments.

Organic nutrient availability and extracellular enzyme activities influence harmful algal bloom proliferation in a coastal aquaculture area

Small-scale but highly destructive harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly observed in coastal aquaculture areas. However, the impact of elevated organic nutrients generated during mariculture production and their bioavailability for HABs are not yet fully understood. This study investigated the population dynamics of HAB-causing species and the hydrolytic dynamics of different extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) along with variations in environmental inorganic and organic nutrients during a dinoflagellate bloom of Prorocentrum shikokuense adjacent to the coastal aquaculture area in Sansha Town, located in the East China Sea. The results indicated that both inorganic and organic nutrients were enriched in the study area, with organic nutrients comprising more than half of the total nutrient content. The presence of enriched organic nutrients and a high N:P ratio significantly contributed to bloom occurrence. Organic nutrient concentrations played a predominant role in controlling both the density and duration of the P. shikokuense bloom. The significant increase in EEAs during the bloom stages, primarily contributed by P. shikokuense, emphasized the crucial hydrolytic role of extracellular enzymes in nutrient recycling and supply for the bloom. The enzymatic kinetic parameters indicated enhanced efficiency in the recycling of organic nutrients as the bloom progressed. This study highlights the significant role of organic nutrients facilitated by EEAs in determining the occurrence, duration, and magnitude of HABs in coastal aquaculture areas.

RESEARCH ON SPATIAL CONSISTENCY CHECKING ACCORDING TO NATIONAL TECHNICAL REGULATION ON BASIC GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Spatial consistency checking identifies logical inconsistencies according to pre-specified spatial rules, including data omission or commission, data overlap, and spatial connection. This research experimentally checks the consistency of these components according to national technical regulations on basic geographic information and the construction of checking rules based on GIS analysis methods to determine the relationship between geometric objects within a layer and between two different layers. In experiments using the ArcGIS software suite on some typical feature classes of the transportation group of the uncalibrated and uncorrected geographic database of the Bien Hoa town area at a scale of 1:5,000, it was shown that: the largest percentage of errors is the relationship between the traffic bridge (CauGiaoThong) layer and the road centerline (DoanTimDuongBo), 14.22%; next is the error of duplicate data of the road network node feature class (NutMangDuongBo), at 12.11%; then the relationship between the road surface and the road boundary, at 3.52; and the error of dangles of the road centerline, at 0.97%.

CONTRACT NURSE UTILIZATION AND FACILITY AND COMMUNITY FACTORS

Abstract While NHs have long been plagued by nursing staff shortages, the situation has further deteriorated with the COVID 19 pandemic. The NH industry has attempted to address the persistent shortage of nursing staff by increasingly relying on contract nurse staffing. Research suggests that the increased utilization of contract nurses may have negative implications for NH quality and financial performance. However, all NHs are not equally likely to utilize nurse contract staffing. For instance, potentially, NHs with poorer quality of care and financial challenges may be forced to rely more on contract nurse staffing. The primary purpose of this paper is to explore the antecedents---facility and community factors---associated with increased utilization of nurse contract staffing. Employing a pooled cross-sectional observational study design, we extracted secondary data from the PBJ nurse staffing, Nursing Home Compare, Rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) codes, and the American Community Survey (ACS) for the period 2017-2021. To test the relationship between the ratios of contract nurses and facility/community factors, we employed multivariate mixed-effects maximum likelihood regression. We ran three separate regressions for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs. Our results suggest that among facility level factors, NHs with more beds, higher occupancy rates, and higher proportion of Medicare residents were generally more likely to employ contract nurse staffing with some minor differences across the three models (RNs, LPNS, CNAs). Among community factors, location in micropolitan/small town areas, higher poverty rates, and higher education levels were positively associated with nurse contract utilization. Policy and managerial implications are discussed.

Healthcare access for children in a low-income area in Cape Town: A mixed-methods case study.

In Cape Town, the under-5 mortality rate has plateaued to 20 per 1000 live births, with 60% of child deaths occurring out of hospital. The southern subdistrict has the largest paediatric population in Metro West and accounts for 31% of deaths. This study aimed to uncover the access barriers and facilitators underlying this high burden of out-of-hospital deaths. An exploratory mixed-methods case study design employed three data collection strategies: a quantitative survey with randomly sampled community members, semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled caregivers whose children presented critically ill or deceased (January 2017 - December 2020) and a nominal group technique (NGT) to build solution-oriented consensus among purposively sampled health workers, representing different levels of care in the local health system. A total of 62 community members were surveyed, 11 semi-structured caregiver interviews were conducted, and 11 health workers participated in the NGT. Community members (74%) experienced barriers in accessing care. Knowledge of basic home care for common conditions was limited. Thematic analysis of interviews showed affordability, acceptability, and access, household and facility factor barriers. The NGT suggested improvement in community-based services, transport access and lengthening service hours would facilitate access. While multiple barriers to accessing care were identified, facilitators addressing these barriers were explored. Healthcare planners should examine the barriers within their geographic areas of responsibility to reduce child deaths.Contribution:This study uncovers community perspectives on childhood out-of-hospital deaths and makes consensus-based recommendations for improvement.

Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Diet Quality, Lifestyle, and Body Composition of 7-12-Years-Old Polish Students: Study Protocol of National Educational Project Junior-Edu-Żywienie (JEŻ).

Increasing students' nutrition knowledge is an important goal of school education which may improve their lifestyle and consequently reduce the incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases, including obesity. This research aimed at assessing the dietary habits, nutrition-related knowledge and attitudes, and nutritional status of Polish students aged 7-12 years. Additional objectives included recognizing nutrition-related knowledge among their parents and teachers as well as the school food and nutrition environment. The final goal was to develop a nutrition education program. This study protocol presents a general and detailed approach for realizing the above-mentioned issues, including conducting quantitative and qualitative research. The study was designed as cross-sectional, covering primary school students from all over Poland, including rural, town, and metropolitan areas. Data on eating habits, lifestyle, nutrition-related knowledge, and attitudes were collected with questionnaires. Measurements of body weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, and handgrip strength were performed in accordance with the International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment (ISAK) recommendations. Body composition was assessed with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Ultimately, 2218 schools from all 16 voivodeships in Poland registered for the project. In total, quantitative data were collected among 27,295 students, 17,070 parents, and 2616 teachers. Anthropometric measurements were taken among 18,521 students. The results allow us to develop a multifaceted educational program based on knowledge and adapted to the perception of students. Our research may contribute to the identification of subpopulations of children and adolescents at risk of excessive body weight and define the predictors of obesity risk in Poland.

Climate change adaptation through nature-based solution: examining the case of Thakurani Khal of Mongla Port Municipality, Bagerhat Bangladesh

PurposeUrban areas, especially in the coastal region of Bangladesh, face environmental degradation due to rapid urbanization, uncontrolled socio-economic activities and experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change. Nature-based solutions (NbS) as options for restoring, preserving, maintaining and elevating natural features or systems are becoming popular for reducing vulnerabilities caused either by natural hazards or human-induced activities. With this understanding, this study aims to explore the need of practicing NbS by studying the condition of a tidal canal (known as Thakurani Khal) and its peripheral areas of Mongla Port Municipality, a coastal and seaport town in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThis case study-based research uses multiple inquiries, including focus group discussions, pair-wise comparison, observation, GIS-based mapping, key informant interviews and secondary climate data review, to understand the spatial development of the area and community reactions to the changes in the urban environment.FindingsThe natural water flow of this canal is controlled by sluice gates that indirectly allowed the dweller to encroach its lands and convert the canal into a solid waste dumping area. These human-induced activities as well as the climate change-induced events (i.e. extreme heat, intensive and irregular rainfall, increased number of cyclones, etc.) have made the adjacent areas prone to waterlogging and drainage congestion. In this context, the revival of the original natural quality of the canal has been identified as an alternative to ensuring an adaptive urban environment.Originality/valueThis research highlights the importance of practicing NbS for developing urban resilience in the context of climate change.

Use of machine learning-based classification algorithms in the monitoring of Land Use and Land Cover practices in a hilly terrain.

The current high rate of urbanization in developing countries and its consequences, like traffic congestion, slum development, scarcity of resources, and urban heat islands, raise a need for better Land Use Land Cover (LULC) classification mapping for improved planning. This study mainly deals with two objectives: 1) to explore the applicability of machine learning-based techniques, especially the Random forest (RF) algorithm and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm as the potential classifiers for LULC mapping under different scenarios, and 2) to prepare a better LULC classification model for mountain terrain by using different indices with combination of spectral bands. Due to differences in topography, shadows, spectral confusion from overlapping spectral signatures of different land cover types, and a lack of access for ground verification, classification in mountainous terrain is difficult task compared to plain terrain classification. An enhanced LULC classification model has been designed using two popular machine learning (ML) classifier algorithms, SVM and RF, explicitly for mountainous terrains by taking into consideration of a study area of Gopeshwer town in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state, India. Online-based cloud platform Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used for overall processing. Four classification models were built using Sentinel 2B satellite imagery with 20m and 10m resolutions. Two of these models (Model 'i' based on RF algorithm and Model 'ii' based on SVM algorithm) were designed using spectral bands of visible and infrared wavelengths, and the other two (Model 'iii' based on RF algorithm and Model 'iv' based on SVM algorithm) with the addition of indices with spectral bands. The accuracy assessment was done using the confusion matrix based on the output results. Obtained result highlights that the overall accuracy for model 'i' and model 'ii' were 82% and 86% respectively, whereas these were 87.17% and 87.2% for model 'iii' and model 'iv' respectively. Finally, the study compared the performance of each model based on different accuracy metrics for better LULC mapping. It proposes an improved LULC classification model for mountainous terrains, which can contribute to better land management and planning in the study area.

Rabies suspected human cases in and around Jimma zone, south west Ethiopia

Rabies, a viral disease affecting warm-blooded animals, poses a significant public health concern in Ethiopia, particularly concerning human transmission through dogs. To shed light on the status of suspected rabies cases in humans in the Jimma zone and surrounding areas, a retrospective study was conducted at the Jimma Town Health Center from November 2021 to May 2022. The area's rabies status had been unknown since 2012. From 2019 to 2022, a total of 2,223 suspected human rabies cases were recorded at the Health Center, with Jimma town and Xiro Afeta districts of Jimma zone reporting the highest (62%) and lowest (0.3%) numbers, respectively. Of these cases, 96.9% (2,155) resulted from dog bites, with children under 15 years old constituting the majority (52.8%) of victims. Town areas accounted for 66.8% (1,378) of the cases. Significantly variable occurrences were observed in relation to religious category, season, source of exposure, affected body part, and districts within the Jimma zone (P=0.000). The main challenges identified included an increase in stray dog populations, the absence of control centers, lack of awareness about pre-exposure vaccination for owned dogs, a scarcity of rabies vaccine in local veterinary services, and the unavailability of post-exposure prophylaxis at district health centers. Addressing these issues through awareness campaigns for dog owners on pre-exposure vaccination and ensuring the provision of post-exposure prophylaxis to all district health centers is crucial for controlling and preventing rabies in the study area. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. 2023, 9 (4), 126-133

Alzheimer’s pathology in older people with HIV in South Africa: protocol of a case‐control study examining mechanisms of inflammation and infection

AbstractBackgroundDue to the success of modern antiretroviral therapy, people with HIV in South Africa are now living into older age. This provides an opportunity to study Alzheimer’s pathology in the context of chronic inflammation and infection. Here we present the protocol of a large case‐control study examining Alzheimer’s pathogenesis.Method250 South African people over 70 years of age will be recruited from a low‐income area of Cape Town with high HIV prevalence. Half will be living with HIV and half will be HIV‐negative and sociodemographically similar. Our primary outcome is CSF biomarkers of amyloidopathy. We have power to detect a 1.5‐fold increase in CSF amyloid positivity from 40% to 60%. Secondary analyses will compare clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease, and correlate indicators of HIV‐related neuroinflammation with degree of amyloidopathy.ResultProtocol presentation only. Funding is from the Race Against Dementia.ConclusionThis unique cohort will provide a valuable resource for mechanistic studies of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis.

STUDY OF DIVERSITY OF BUTTERFLIES IN BHAGALPUR DISTRICT OF BIHAR IN INDIA

The butterflies are a vital ecosystem component, acting as pollinators, food sources, and good indicators of ecological changes. The present study mainly focuses on identifying butterfly species and their diversity in India?s Bhagalpur district of Bihar. During the survey, 48 butterfly species were recorded. Among these, 19 species were recorded for the first time from Bihar. The surrounding rural areas had rich butterfly diversity comprising 48 species belonging to 5 families compared to the town area, where only 32 species were recorded. A maximum of 16 species were recorded from the nymphalidae family (33.33%). The most abundant species in the target area were Ariadne ariadne, Danaus chrysippus, Euploea core, Junonia almana, Junonia iphita, Leptosia nina nina, Lerodea eufala, Melanitis leda ismene, Papilio demoleus demoleus, and Ypthima huebneri. However, a few species, such as Cigaritis vulcanus, Curetis acuta, Iambrix salsala, and Spialia galba, were rarely found. Maximum diversity was observed in winter, whereas minimum diversity was observed in summer.. KEYWORDS :Butterfly, Diversity, New Records, Nymphalidae

Financial management in fee-paying public schools in South Africa: How responsible is the school governing body?

The South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996, stipulates how schools should manage and involve stakeholders in financial management. The literature suggests that stakeholders at non-fee-paying schools in the township and rural areas do not play a dominant role in their schools’ financial management decision-making processes, which is contrary to the dictates of the South African Schools Act. However, in the study on which this article is based, we focused on the financial management decision-making processes in fee-paying public schools. We followed a qualitative research approach with a multiple case study design. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and were analysed thematically. The findings reveal that members of school governing bodies in Quintile 5 fee-paying public primary schools were educated professionals who, as required by the South African Schools Act, exerted a strong influence on the financial management responsibilities in their schools.

Deciphering environmental factors influencing phytoplankton community structure in a polluted urban river

Tuojiang River Basin is a first-class tributary of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River—which is the longest river in China. As phytoplankton are sensitive indicators of trophic changes in water bodies, characterizing phytoplankton communities and their growth influencing factors in polluted urban rivers can provide new ideas for pollution control. Here, we used direct microscopic count and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding methods to investigate phytoplankton community structure in Tuojiang River Basin (Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China). The association between phytoplankton community structure and water environmental factors was evaluated by Mantel analysis. Additional environmental monitoring data were used to pinpoint major factors that influenced phytoplankton growth based on structural equation modeling. At the phylum level, the dominant phytoplankton taxa identified by the conventional microscopic method mainly belonged to Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, and Cyanophyta, in contrast with Chlorophyta, Dinophyceae, and Bacillariophyta identified by eDNA metabarcoding. In α-diversity analysis, eDNA metabarcoding detected greater species diversity and achieved higher precision than the microscopic method. Phytoplankton growth was largely limited by phosphorus based on the nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios > 16:1 in all water samples. Redundancy analysis and structural equation modeling also confirmed that the nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio was the principal factor influencing phytoplankton growth. The results could be useful for implementing comprehensive management of the river basin environment. It is recommended to control the discharge of point- and surface-source pollutants and the concentration of dissolved oxygen in areas with excessive nutrients (e.g., Jianyang–Ziyang). Algae monitoring techniques and removal strategies should be improved in 201 Hospital, Hongrihe Bridge and Colmar Town areas.

Accurate identification of sludge contamination sources by classification-based PMF and machine learning with consideration of sewer network distribution differences

The application of source identification such as PMF for large-scale pollution source analysis frequently produces ambiguous outcomes. In this study, we utilized a classification-based method to accurately track key pollution sources in the sludge. In the study, we categorized the wastewater treatment plants into two groups: T1 and T2, according to the pipeline network. T1 sewage treatment plants are the main sewage plants in urban areas, covering a large area and connected to industrial wastewater treatment plants for secondary treatment. T2 sewage treatment plants are typically smaller in size and usually responsible for treating sewage in rural or township areas. The PMF analysis indicates that industrial pollution sources contribute 3.4 times more to T1 sludge than to T2 sludge, making industrial pollution the primary factor causing the disparity. The application of Random Forest and Adaboost based on pollutant concentrations for classification and fitting of sludge resulted in the identification of the main pollutants: Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cyanide, which align with characteristic pollutants from the electroplating industry. The GIS analysis shows a significant correlation between the distance of wastewater treatment plants with abnormal environmental risk and electroplating industrial parks, all within a 20 km radius. Indeed, when conducting large-scale pollution source identification studies, utilizing classification-based analysis can effectively improve the accuracy of pollution source identification, leading to more valuable analysis results.

Hydrogeological Investigations of Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions in the Berg River Catchment, Western Cape, South Africa

The Berg River Catchment based in the Western Cape Province, South Africa services the greater Cape Town area with water, subsequent to supplying the vast agricultural activities that exist in the middle and the lower reaches. This study thus investigates the hydrogeochemical interactions between surface and groundwater in the Berg River Catchment with the aim of establishing trends and transfer of constituents between the surface and groundwater systems, investigates the role that geology plays in water chemistry as well as identifies the geochemical processes controlling surface and groundwater chemistry in the catchment. This study was carried out using three types of research designs namely i) experimental research design; ii) field research design and meta-analysis research design. Furthermore, the study made use of hydrochemical data ranging from 2003 to 2013 obtained from the National Water Monitoring Database owned and maintained by the Department of Water and Sanitation and data that were sampled in 2016 by authors and analyzed using the ICP-MS Technique Ground Water Chart, Arc-GIS and Geosoft (Oasis Montaj) were further employed to model the data. The results indicated that: i) in the Upper Berg there is not much interaction and transfer of constituents between surface and groundwater; ii) the Middle Berg, however, indicated a degree of interaction with the sharing of constituents between the two water systems and iii) the Lower Berg indicated only NaCl water type also noting that the area situated near the river mouth whereby there is the mixing of river and seawater.

ROLE OF ELECTRIC RICKSHAWS IN LANKA TOWN AND ITS HINDER LANES OF HOJAI DISTRICT, ASSAM

Electric rickshaws are three wheeler battery operated para transit vehicles. From economic point of view they are far better than auto rickshaws which are run on petrol or diesel. India, Govt. had been funding with the help of Ministry of Non-conventional energy sources(MNES) to design and develop more safe and economic variety of E-rickshaws since 2000 till date. The present study on E- rickshaw is made to know role of E- rickshaws in passenger movement in Lanka town and its hinder lanes. Drivers of para transit was interviewed to know their socio-economic status and how it provide employment to poor literate in habitant of Lanka to serve their family livelihood. It is a cheap and environment friendly means of transport in town areas which produces negligible air pollution. Hence, conventional (petrol/diesel) auto-rickshaws are going to become past and E-rickshaws are going to become future day by day. KEY WORDS: E-rickshaw, livelihood, para transit, hinder lanes.

The Development of Text Messages to Support People at Risk of Diabetes in Low-Resourced Communities: The South African Diabetes Prevention Programme.

Emerging evidence suggests that the addition of text messages to standard healthy lifestyle interventions may improve the outcomes of diabetes prevention programs (DPP). This paper describes the process of developing text messages targeting behavior change in people at risk of developing diabetes in low-resourced communities as part of the South African DPP (SA-DPP). The development comprised multiple steps led by nutrition and physical activity experts. The steps included the following: (1) text message development based on the existing SA-DPP curriculum and its formative research; (2) text message evaluation for readability/understandability in terms of content, language, and quality, with 75 participants from two low-resourced areas in Cape Town; (3) text message refinement by the expert panel; (4) evaluation of the refined text messages by participants from Step 2; and (5) text bank finalization. Based on the readability survey, 37 of the 67 formulated text messages [24 of the 44 encouraged healthy eating, and 13 of the 23 promoted physical activity] were refined. Based on focused discussions with participants, seven more messages were refined to consider alternative terminology. The final text bank includes a total of 67 messages comprising topics related to fruit and vegetable consumption as well as the importance of having variety in the diet (n = 15), limiting fat intake (n = 10), avoiding sugar (n = 11), avoiding salt (n = 5), promoting fiber-rich foods (n = 1), messages promoting physical activity (n = 21), and general check-in messages (n = 4). Most of the text messages were acceptable, understandable, and largely feasible to all participants, with some of the nutrition-related messages being less feasible for participants due to their socioeconomic position. The next step is to assess the text messages in the SA-DPP intervention trial.

Antibiotics Susceptibility Profile of Biofilm-Forming Bacteria Isolated from Soybean Milk Drinks Sold in Abakaliki Metropolis, Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the antibiotic susceptibility profile of biofilm-forming bacteria isolated from locally produced soybean milk drinks sold within the Abakaliki metropolis. A total of 150 soybean milk samples comprising 15 samples from each location were collected using random sampling techniques from 10 different locations namely Nkaliki, Presco Junction, Azugwu, Kpirikpiri, Ahiaofu, Mile 50, Rice mill, Mechanic site, international market and Abofia area of Abakaliki town in Ebonyi State metropolis. The collected soybean milk samples were analyzed for the presence of bacteria using standard microbiology techniques which include; culturing, Gram staining and biochemical tests. The screening for biofilm formation on isolated bacteria species was done using the tube method. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of the isolated biofilm-forming bacteria was determined using the disc diffusion method. The result showed that a total of 100 (66.6%) bacteria were isolated from the locally produced soybean milk comprising of 5 bacteria genera namely: Staphylococcus aureus 25 (25%), Escherichia coli, 27 (27%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 10 (10%), Klebsiella species 15 (15%) and Salmonella species 23 (23%). The biofilm production screening test revealed that Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are biofilm-forming bacteria (are all the isolated bacteria of S. aureus, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa all biofilm producers. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of biofilm-forming bacteria varies between antibiotics. The result showed that all Staphylococcus aureus isolates were (100%) susceptible to ceftazidime, 80% resistant to imipenem and 72% resistant to ciprofloxacin, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, isolates were 100% and 80% resistant to cefoxitin and ofloxacin while E. coli isolates were 70.3% and 63% resistant to ofloxacin and cefotaxime respectively. The study showed the poor hygienic quality of locally produced soybean milk marketed within the Abakaliki metropolis and this call for public awareness as it could be the source of disease outbreak/spread within this community.

Mill, Market, Mandir, Masjid: The Geographies of Communal Conflict in Colonial Bombay, c. 1929–39

This article reframes a crucial period in the history of popular politics in colonial Bombay. Focusing on Hindu-Muslim antagonism between 1929 and 1939, it highlights the centrality of everyday urban spaces and places in shaping the context, dynamics and nature of communal conflict in a putatively cosmopolitan city. The first section shows how recurrent communal discord in Bombay was the outcome of two spatially contingent political developments that occurred concurrently in the years between 1929 and 1933. On the one hand, intra-class tensions engendered by industrial strife in tandem with the rapid ascendancy of the communist-led Girni Kamgar Union in the mill districts resulted in a communal backlash. On the other hand, the launch of the Congress’ Civil Disobedience movement deepened Hindu-Muslim differences in the market areas of the Indian town. The second section focuses on clashes over religious places and processions, which became a chronic feature of urban life in the 1930s. Through a range of examples, it underscores how local disputes over sacred sites and religious rites became integral to the political construction of communal identities in late colonial Bombay.