Second order linear homogeneous ordinary differential equations are solved using fuzzy Laplace transform method with generalized Hukuhara differentiability concept. The results obtained is in this study is in the form of generalized triangular fuzzy number. Existence and uniqueness of solution are also obtained. However, based on the cases presented, the results have shown that relationship existed between the FLT of second order and its kth derivative for k ≥1.
Hybridization is significant in producing higher breeds, it produces new breeds and strain and reduce inbreed. The study examined the percentage fertilization, hatchability, heterosis and survival of the hatchlings in a complete randomized design. The cross established high fertilization rate across the hybrids. Clarias gariepinus male (Cl♂) x Heterobranchus bidorsalis female (Hb♀) recorded the highest fertilization (100%), Hb♂ x Cl♀ and Hb♂ x Hb♀ had (90 %), and the least was in Cl♂ x Cl♀ (60%), respectively. Pure strain Hb♂ x Hb♀ performed significantly higher (p<0.05) in final weight (234.7±0.0577g) and length (119.7±0.374mm) in all the trials from the onset of exogenous feeding with Blue Crown feed for 56 days. The best and least specific growth rate (SGR) 3.64 and 3.55 were recorded in Hb♂ x Cl♀ and Hb♂ x Hb♀ respectively. Hb♂ x Cl♀ and Hb♂ x Hb♀ survived 90% followed by Cl♂ x Hb♀ with 80% but the least survival was in Cl♂ x Cl♀ (30%). The growth of the hybrids revealed a hope for aquaculture improvement in Nigeria, and a means of promoting the availability of fish all year round if employed in the farm.
High levels of heavy metals in polluted soils are common, and concerns about their possible hazards to humans, livestock, and crops cannot be overemphasized. This study was carried out to determine the effects of Chromium (Cr) and Copper (Cu) on germination and seedling growth of Sammaz, Oba super and Oba 98 maize (Zea mays) cultivars in order to determine their potentials as susceptibility (bioindicators) or tolerance (bioremediators). Treatments of the heavy metal ranged 2.88, 5.76, 8.63, 11.51, and 23.02 mg kg-1 for Cr, and 5000, 10000, and 15000 mg kg-1 for Cu, and no chemical treatment (control). Heavy metals from the plants were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) machine. All chemicals used had different levels of their effects on germination percentage (%) in the following pattern of increasing order of magnitude Cr ˃Cu. Initial seedling growth and development were strongly impeded by Cu, except Cr in all the three maize cultivars with a little bit development in the root and shoot. The concentration of Cr in the shoot of the three maize cultivars is in the order of Oba 98 ˃Oba Super˃ Sammaz while that of the root is in the order of Oba 98˃Sammaz˃Oba super. It can be concluded that the toxicity of Cr and Cu at the concentrations used in this experiment showed susceptibility of all the three maize cultivars and the toxic effects of these heavy metals. Thus, the maize cultivars could be bio-indicators of Cr and Cu toxicity.
Benzyl imidazole (1a) was successfully synthesized from the N-alkylation of imidazole with benzyl bromide. The product (1-benzylimidazole) was further alkylated using neat butyl bromide to yield an imidazolium ionic liquid, (1-Benzyl-3-butylimidazoliumbromide (2a)). Similarly, 1-methylimidazole (1b) was reacted with benzyl bromide to yield 1-Methyl-3-butylimidazolium bromide (2b). The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques and elemental compositions were established on the basis of C, H, N elemental analyses. Proton NMR of both ionic liquids 2a and 2b reveals the presence of downfield signals at 10.08 and 11.681 ppm respectively, which were assigned to the C-2 proton of the imidazole rings in the respective 2a and 2b confirming the successful synthesis of the two ionic liquids.
In recent years, focus on plant research has increased to show the potential of some medicinal plants in discovery of novel compounds which could be used in treatment of some diseases. Petroselinum crispum is widely used traditionally as a food additive and herbal remedy for many ailments. This study is aimed to assess the effects of Petroselinum crispum on some liver enzymes and some haematological parameters in Carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) - induced hepatotoxicity in male wistar rats. A total of 25 wistar rats were used, which were divided into 5 groups of 5 rats each. Group 1: (control); Group 2: received IP injection of 120mg/kg mixture of CCL4 and olive oil (1:1), Groups 3, 4 and 5 were orally administered 250, 500 and 1000mg/kg extract + IP injection of 120mg/kg mixture of CCL4 and olive oil for 21 days respectively. On the 22nd day, the animals were sacrifice using chloroform anesthesia and the effects of the aqueous extract were assessed by quantifying liver enzymes such as serum aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total serum protein (TP). The haematological parameters were assessed by analysis of parked cell volume (PCV), red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), haemoglobin (Hb) concentrations and platelet count (PLT) and followed by histopathological studies of the liver tissues. The three doses of the plant extract used in this study, showed some level of protective effect on CCL4-induced hepatotoxicity as evident by the significant reduction (P < 0.05) in serum levels of AST, ALT, and ALP along with the improved histopathological liver sections compared to CCL4 -treated animals. However the extract is more effective in the 500mg/kg compared to the 250mg/kg and 1000mg/kg. Also the results obtained for all the haematological parameters used in the study showed no significant difference among all the groups (P > 0.05).
A study was conducted to determine the condition factor and hepato-somatic index of Bagrus bayad and Synodontis nigrita in a reservoir. The body weight and total length of specimens collected was used for condition factor determination. The range of condition factor for Bagrus bayad was from 0.972 to 2.118. Condition factor variation for Synodontis nigrita was between Synodontis nigrita and 3.050. The monthly condition factor values variation was significant at P<0.05. There was significant variation between male and female condition factor. Seasonal fluctuation in both species was not significant. Hepato-somatic index for Bagrus bayad changed from 1.772 to 4.132 to 1.772. That of Synodontis nigrita was within the range of 1.304 and 2.299. . Hepato-somatic index varied significantly at P<0.05. Sexual hepato-somatic index difference was not significant. Bagrus bayad hepato-somatic index seasonal difference was not significant. The dry and rainy season difference was for Synodontis nigrita was significant. The recommended range of condition factor is above the range obtained in the present study.
Hypercholesterolemia is characterized by high blood cholesterol. It is a leading cause of disease burden accounting for one-third of ischemic heart diseases and one-fifth of stroke and reports reveal a rising prevalence across many low- income countries including Nigeria. While the quest for a therapeutic remedy is ongoing, this study investigated the effect of Momordica charantia butanol fraction (MCB) on lipid profile (TC, TG, LDL-c and HDL-c) of hypercholesterolemic and normolipidemic albino rats. Crude extract of M. charantia was fractionated by liquid-liquid extraction. Acute toxicity (LD50) of MCB was determined. The components of the MCB were examined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Biochemical analyses of serum lipids were performed by reflectance photometry. Twenty-eight albino rats were divided into seven groups of four rats each. Group 1 (Control) fed on basal diet (BD). Group 2 fed on high fat diet (HFD). Group 3 and 4 fed on HFD and orally administered MCB at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. Group 5 fed on HFD and administered 100mg/kg of Atorvastatin. Group 6 and 7 fed on BD and administered MCB at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg respectively. The LD50 of MCB was found to be ≥ 3807.89mg/kg. All treated groups showed a significant (P< 0.05) suppression of body weight compared to control and untreated HFD group (group 2). Also, a significant (P<0.05) decrease in the levels of TC, TG and LDL-c was observed in all treated high fat diet groups (group 3, 4 and 5) compared to group 2. However, HDL-c levels of treated HFD groups significantly (P<0.05) increased compared to group 2. No significant difference (P>0.05) in the level of all lipid profile parameters of treated basal diet groups (group 6 and 7) compared to the control. These findings illustrated that MCB possess hypocholesterolemic potential and may be valuable for preventing hypercholesterolemia induced by high fat diet.
This report demonstrates a simple procedure for the preparation of three Ru(II) hydrazine and hydrazone complexes formulated as [Ru(NH2NH2)2L4][BPh4]2 (L = ethyldiphenylphosphine (3), and [Ru(NH2:CMe2)2L4][BPh4]2 (L = methyldiphenylarsine (4), L = ethyldiphenylphosphine (5). The complexes were characterized by IR, elemental analysis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. All the three complexes show N−N absorption in the range between 1031 – 1029 cm-1 indicating the presence of coordinated hydrazine. Evidence of ethyldiphenylphosphine coordination to the Ru(II) centre was further established by 31P NMR spectroscopic analysis of 3. The obtained complexes could have potential applications in other fields such as catalysis and synthesis of nanomaterials.
Hands are the chief organs for physical manipulation of the environment. As a paired organ, the hand is controlled by the opposing brain hemisphere and enables one to all manner of conscious and unconscious activities. The hand serves as a medium for the propagation of microorganism from place to place and from one person to another. A well-structured questionnaire bothering on age, sex and parental social status of the pupils was administered to three hundred and sixty (360) respondents recruited for the purpose of this study in University of Benin Teaching Hospital Staff School (UBTHSS). The mean heterotrophic Bacterial Count ranged from 2.10±0.19 x 106 to 3.77±0.26 x 106 cfu/cm2. Total coliform count ranged from 0.88±0.08 x 106 to 2.08±0.18 x 106. November recorded the highest heterotrophic and coliform counts ranging from 2.70±0.24 x 106 to 3.77±0.26 x 106 cfu/cm2 and 1.14±0.11 x 106 to 2.08±0.18 x 106cfu/cm2. The male pupils had the highest Heterotrophic and coliform counts of 4.132 x106cfu/cm2 and 2.273x106cfu/cm2 against the female of 1.433x106cfu/cm2 and 0.667x106cfu/cm2. The mean heterotrophic bacterial counts of parental status ranged from 2.78±0.10 x 106 to 2.83±0.08 cfu/cm2 and total coliform counts of 1.24±0.05 x 106 to1.35±0.15 x 106. The mean Heterotrophic barial and coliform counts of age ranged from 2.51±0.74 x 106 to 3.38±0.15 x 106 cfu/cm2 and 0.59 -3.43 x 106 to 0.35 - 2.62 x 106cfu/cm2. A total of ten (10) Gram positive and negative bacterial were isolated in this study. The bacterial isolates with the highest frequency of occurrence were staphylococcus aureus and E.coli (12.00%), E.coli and the least frequency was salmonella enterica (7.3%). The antimicrobial sensitivity pattern showed that the bacteria isolates exhibits varying degree of resistance to the antibiotics before and after curing. The isolates were found to harbor plasmid of different sizes but below 1000bp.There was no plasmid after curing.
If fixation is not adequate, the other processes that follow such as dehydration, clearing, infiltration, embedding, microtomy and staining, will also be inadequate. A poorly processed tissue will make it difficult for the Pathologist/Histoscientist to render a proper diagnosis. This article is aimed at elucidating more on fixatives and fixation process in histopathology. The information presented in this review was gathered primarily from an extensive literature search on PubMed, Scopus and Textbooks. Fixatives in histopathology can be grouped into simple and compound fixatives. Simple fixative is a solution or gas which contains only one active ingredient or that has a singlechemical solution. Examples include; Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, Mercuric Chloride, Potassium Dichromate, Picric Acid, Osmium Tetroxide, Acetic Acid, Ethanol, Acetone and Chromic Acid. When two or more simple fixatives are combined in a solution, the resulting solution is called a compound fixative. This can be further divided into Microanatomical and cytological fixatives. Examples of a micro-anatomical fixatives include; 10% formal-saline, Heidenhain’s Susa, Boiun’s fluid, Formol Sublimate. Cytological fixatives are grouped into cytoplasmic and nuclear fixatives. Fixation terminates any ongoing biochemical reactions, and also increases the mechanical strength or stability of the treated tissues. To accomplish this, tissue samples are usually immersed immediately in a fixative fluid. The fixatives employed prevent autolysis and putrefaction from taking place. Fixatives are integral substances used in histopathology to forestall the actions of autolysis and putrefaction in tissue samples.
This study entails the production of bioethanol from the peels of sweet potato of white cultivar variety obtained in Zaria, Kaduna State Nigeria. Fresh cultivar with the proximate composition of 72% moisture content, 9.71% ash content, 24.52% crude fiber, 78.74% total carbohydrate and crude protein of 6.42% were hydrolyzed with 3% sulphuric acid solution at 130oC and 60 minutes in an improvised reactor to generate 54.5ml of hydrolyzate after steam pretreatment step. The fermentable reducing sugar of 10.68% was achieved through glucose standardization with UV-spectrophotometer at 540nm wavelength. The fermentation of the hydrolyzate –yeast/media mixture (155ml) at 30oC for 72hours was achieved by commercial grade saccharomyces cerevisiae to yield 20.5g/54.5ml, which corresponds to 0.8198g/ml specific gravity and 93.6% ethanol concentration. The molecular sieve was eventually adopted in dehydrating the bioethanol to 99.9% (0.8072g/ml) concentration and the final yield of 1.61% per 50g of w. cultivar. FTIR spectrum that declares the ethanolic identity with the stretching vibrations of O-H, C-O and C-H at 3391, 1055 and 2981cm-1 respectively with the symmetric stretching vibration of the methyl groups at 2930cm-1.
Various concepts of techniques for incorporating carbon nanotubes in quartz, glass and glass-ceramic matrices are overviewed. Mechanical; in particular fracture toughness, hardness and strength, physical; density and microstructures, and functional; thermal and electrical conductivities of the fabricated CNT-loaded nanocomposites via different processing route and measuring techniques were compared and reported. Processing challenges such as the homogenous dispersion of the CNTs in the quartz, glass and glassceramic matrices and the loss of graphitic nanotubes during the consolidation process are still the major impending issues in CNT-quartz/glass/glass-ceramic matrix nanocomposites. There is need to explore in-situ production techniques, spark plasma sintering consolidation method, and controlled colloidal/sol-gel processes for CNTquartz/glass/glass-ceramic matrix nanocomposites.
Consolidated functionalized carbon nanotubes/silica refractory ceramic nanocomposites (FCNTs/silica) were fabricated by pressureless sintering technique. Thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites with various amounts of carbon nanotubes (0, 1, and 4 wt.%) were investigated. The thermal conductivity increases with temperature, 1 wt. % FCNTs/silica nanocomposite gave the highest thermal conductivity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising reinforcement for improving thermal conductivity of the silica refractory ceramics.
Pollution of surface water by toxic metals has received considerable attention due to its risk to human health and ecology. Consequently, the present study focused on the assessment of the heavy metal concentrations in the water from Mairua dam. This research reveals the concentrations of the selected toxic metals (Pb, Cd, Co, Cr and Ni) in water samples. The following trend was observed across the sampling points; Co> Cr> Cd> Ni> Pb. The concentrations of Pb across the sampling points were within the WHO (2011) permissible limits. However the Cd concentrations across the sampling points were within the WHO limits of 0.003 mg/kg with exemption of W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W8 and W10 respectively. Similarly the concentrations of Co in the analyzed water samples were all above WHO (2011) tolerable limits of 0.01 mg/kg. The elevated level of cobalt in the water may be attributed to leachates from farmlands and domestic waste. The concentrations of Cr across the sampling points were within the WHO (2011) permissible limits of 0.005 mg/kg with exemption of samples W2, W3, W4, W7, W8, W10 and W11 respectively. However, the concentrations of Ni across the sampling points were higher than WHO (2011) permissible limits of 0.01 mg/kg. Nickel is introduced into the environment from both natural and man-made sources. The results obtained for Contamination Factors reveals low contamination (Cf<1) with an exemption of Cd in points W1 and W2. PLI denotes no pollution and Hazard quotient values also showed that the analyzed water has no potential health effects with exemption to Cd. The results also shows that there was no significant difference in the analyzed samples at p<0.005 across the sampling sites. Pollution of the water by Cd may be as a result of anthropogenic activities that are released into the dam. It is recommended to periodically monitor the water.
Anthropometry is defined as the measurements of different parts of the body and is widely used in surveys as an indicator of nutritional and health status. Studies revealed that large number of socio-economic variables are associated with the physical development of children. These variables consist of parental profession, income, education, birth order, family size, and urbanization. Materials used for the study were Stadiometer, non-elastic measuring tape, Skin fold caliper. The study involved a cross-sectional survey comprising of 863 pupils randomly selected from public primary schools in Kazaure emirate. The subjects were noted for sex and age. A stadiometer was used to measure height to the nearest 0.1 cm and weight to the nearest 0.5 kg. A non-elastic measuring tape was used for the measurement of head, neck, chest, mid upper arm, hip, waist and calf circumferences to the nearest 0.1cm respectively. A Harpenden skin fold caliper was used for the measurement of biceps and triceps skin fold thicknesses to the nearest 0.1 mm respectively. The study participants were apparently healthy public primary school pupils aged between 5 - 12years, from Kazaure Emirate and ofHausa ethnic group (parents and grandparents are Hausa). Based on lack of parents’ formal education, males had higher values of neck circumference (NC) and chest circumference (CTC) than females with statistical difference at p<0.05. However,females had higher values ofcephalic index (CI) than males with statistical difference at p<0.05.Based on the level of education of parents (primary, secondary and tertiary education), males had higher values of height (HT), weight (WT), BMI, head circumference (HDC), NC, CTC, waist circumference (WC) and calf circumference (CC) than females with statistical difference at p<0.05. However, females showed higher mean values of triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) and hip circumference (HC) than males with statistical difference at p<0.05. Males had higher values ofhead length (HDL), head breadth (HDB), facial length (FL) and facial breadth (FB) than females with statistical difference at p<0.05. Conversely, females showed higher mean value ofcephalic index (CI) than males with statistical difference at p<0.05.Males had higher values of right humerus length (RHML), left humerus length LHML), right ulna length (RUL), left ulna length (LUL), right radial length (RRL), left radial length (LRL), right hand length (RHNL), left hand length (LHNL), right hand breadth (RHNB) and left hand breadth (LHNB) than females with statistical difference at p<0.05. Males had higher values of right tibial length (RTBL), left tibial length (LTBL), right fibula length (RFBL), left fibula length (LFBL), right foot length (RFTL), left foot length (LFTL), right foot breadth (RFTB) and left foot breadth (LFTB) than females with statistical difference at p<0.05.
Guiera senegalensis is a shrub that grows up to a height of 3 to 5 m and has tremendous medicinal properties. However, there is difficulty in the identification of medicinal plants leading to substitution of one plant for another. This problem can be addressed by establishing fingerprints of the medicinal plants. The aim of this research is to establish FTIR fingerprint of G. senegalensis leave. G. senegalensis leave were collected from the wild in Jigawa, Kaduna and Zamfara states, shade dried and size reduced. Samples (2 mg) were analysed in triplicate using Agilent technologies FTIR Carry 630 in the mid-IR region 4000-650 cm-1 at resolution 8 cm-1 with 16 scans. The level of similarity and differences was determined by Chemometrics using similarity and discriminant analysis. The level of differences between the samples was insignificant (p<0.05) as indicated by low values of eigenvalue (0.048) and canonical correlation (0.215) as well as high Wilks’ Lambda value (0.954). High level of similarity between the samples was further proven by their correlation and Tuckers’ congruence coefficients values, which were close to unity. However, significant (p<0.05) difference in the concentration of phytochemicals was observed between the samples. The Guiera senegalensis leaf samples were similar with respect to their phytochemical constituents however, differences in the phytochemical concentrations were observed.
Adsorption of Eriochrome Black T (EBT) dye from aqueous solution by activated typha grass (T. latifolia) was studied using batch system. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods, as well as the point of zero charge (PZC). Adsorption parameters including effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration and pH were studied and the adsorption capacity (qe) was found to be 47.619mg/g. The adsorption isotherm for the adsorption processes were also modelled and evaluated and the data fitted Freundlich isotherm model with R2 of 0.9943 relative to other models tested. The kinetic data were best described by pseudo-second order model with R2 values of 0.999 and rate constant (k) of 6.30mol-1dm3s-1 out of the four models tested. The thermodynamic quantities of the adsorption process including the entropy change (ΔS) which describe the degree of disorderliness of the dye-adsorbent interphase was found to be 2.108Jmol- 1K-1 indicating an increase in the interphase disorderliness, the enthalpy change (ΔH) describing the nature of energetic interaction between the dye molecules and the adsorbent surface has a value of -9.223kJmol-1 proving an exothermic process and the Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) of the range -8.563 to -8.718kJmol-1 were obtained indicating the process to be feasible and spontaneous in nature. Hence, the activated carbon produced from typha grass can be a potential adsorbent for the removal of hazardous dyes such as Eriochrome Black T from industrial effluent.
Excessive intake of alcohol has been documented to initiate different pathological conditions. Although various researchers have reported these associations, the modulatory effects on endogenous thiols are not well studied. This study investigated the effects of alcohol-graded concentrations on some thiol utilizing enzymes in rats. Adults’ male rats were divided into four main groups and treated with distilled water, 30 %, 40 % and 50 % alcohol (3.20 g / Kg body weight). Five rats from each group were sacrificed at the end of 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 day(s) of the experiment. Assay of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase specific activities along with total thiols levels were carried out. Alcohol administration resulted in an upregulation of the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase with concomitant depletion of total thiols concentrations. Conclusively, this study affirms that graded dosages of alcohol administration to rats induced perturbations in the thiol utilizing system in a non-time dependent consistent manner.
Milk is a food that inherently favours microbial growth and due to its characteristics, several precautions must be taken to prevent contamination in its production, processing and consumption, which are routinely subject to changes. Raw milk is a complex mixture which is highly nutritious, contain high level of water (85%) and a pH close to neutral which makes it highly perishable and a suitable medium for the growth and multiplication of microorganisms. This study was carried out to evaluate the bacteria associated with raw milk from a dairy farm. A total of seven (7) raw milk samples were -gotten from different lactating cows. The samples were examined for pH, organoleptic property, and turbidity. Isolation of bacteria was done using the pour plate method, gram staining and various biochemical test were conducted to identify the organisms. The pH value of the samples ranged from 6.5 to 6.9. The total bacterial count ranged from 4.3x106 to 9.0x104 CFU/ml, and total coliform count ranges from 5.1x106 to 4.0x104 the bacteria isolated were Bacillus spp Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp and Streptococcus spp. The high bacteria count obtained in this study is an indication of poor sanitary condition and this calls for strict hygienic measure during handling of raw milk and its products.
