In plant breeding programs, potential genotypes are usually evaluated in different environments (locations and years) before desirable ones are selected. Genotype x environment (G x E) interaction is associated with the differential performance of materials tested at different locations and in different years, and influences selection and recommendation of cultivars. Highly stable genotypes are desirable. Performance and stability of grain maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes were evaluated at four locations in Peninsular Malaysia viz. Padang Rengas (Perak), Rhu Tapai (Terengganu), Sungai Udang (Melaka) and UPM, Serdang (Selangor), in two years. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the G x E interactions effects, and to identify high yielding genotypes at each location and their stability by using different stability parameters. The experiments at the locations were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Recommended agronomic practices were used at each location. Evaluations were conducted from June 2000 to March 2002. Genotype and G x E interaction effects were highly significant indicating high variability among genotypes, and genotypes responded differently to the changing environments. Among the 14 genotypes evaluated, GxA, Selected GxA, SC-2, Putra J-58 and TWC-4 revealed high performance and have good potential to be used as source populations for future breeding programs. Comparing performance of genotypes for grain yield and yield components, Selected GxA was found to have the highest grain yield (5726 kg ha-1), shelling percentage (84.9 %), 100-grain weight (25.5 g) and ear weight per plant (149.5 g), earliest in flowering (50.6 days to tasseling, and 53.2 to silking) and longest ears (15.5 cm). TWC-2 was found to be earliest to mature. SC-3 revealed the shortest plants, while Suwan 1 was the tallest and was late in maturity. The highest ear diameter was observed on SC-1. Terengganu in 2000 was found to be the most favourable environment, as shown by its highest environmental index. The stability analyses indicate that Selected GxA and DC-1 were identified as having the highest grain yields and the most stable. Some genotypes showed specific adaptability to specific locations, such as GxA in Perak, Putra J-58 in Terengganu and Selected GxA in Melaka and Selangor. This study has led to the identification and possible release of a new, high yielding and stable grain maize synthetic variety, Selected GxA, and a promising hybrid variety, DC-1.

Fabricated soil was created for the rehabilitation of the damaged mining soil that is abundant in Western Pennsylvania. Ourmajor goal was to evaluate mineral and microbial content of fabricated (manufactured) soil and to identify if this soil is a long-term or a short-term solution for maintenance of soil health. We also considered plant-soil-microbiota interactions as the contributors to ecological sustainability.The recipe of this soil contains parts of top soil, old mushroom compost, pond sediment, dry leaves and saw dust. This compositionmakes a favorable ratio of main nutrient elements,N, P, and K, as well as a sufficient ratio of carbon and nitrogen (1:5). The microbial composition of FS consists of fungi imperfecti and various bacteria species. During the five years of the experiment, trees of poplar andwillows were grown on the fabricated soil. The level of fungi was diminished and the presence of bacteria increased or varied over the years of research. Five years of investigating FS showed a decrease in the nitrogen level, but phosphorus and potassium were not changed actively. The addition of clay in the form of pond sediment increased the level of Al and Si in the FS composition.

Preparation and characterisation of biosorbents from maize tassel were studied. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) isotherm was used to model experimentally obtained N2-adsorption data (up to P/Po= 0.30); the results indicated that the powdered material is mesoporous with specific surface area (SBET), total pore volume (up to P/Po= 0.98) and average pore width (4V/A BET) values of 2.52 m2/g, 0.0045 cm3/g and 7.2 nm, respectively, for the 150-300 ?m particle size fraction. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) revealed a microstructure showing predominantly flattish rod like particles. The material exhibited stability to thermal decomposition up to about 230 ºC, as evidenced by the results obtained from simultaneous thermogravimetrydifferential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Chemoprevention using readily accessible natural substances from vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices is presently considered as one of the most noteworthy strategies for cancer prevention. The herb, Eclipta alba Linn (Family: Compositae) found commonly in moist places all over India is traditionally used as a tonic and deobstruent in hepatic and spleen enlargements .It has also got anti- inflammatory effect and may be applied to insect bites, stings, swellings and other skin diseases. The present investigation was undertaken to explore the anti tumor promoting activity of Eclipta alba on two stage skin carcinogenesis, induced by a single topical application of 7, 12 Dimethyl benz (a) anthracene (50?g/ 50?l of acetone) and two weeks later, promoted by repeated application of croton oil (1% in acetone for 3 times a week) till the end of the experiment (15 weeks). Topical application of the hydro alcoholic extract of the herb, Eclipta alba for 15 weeks at the pre, peri and post initiational stages on the shaven backs of Swiss albino mice was found to be effective in decreasing the tumor incidence (90, 77.77 and 66.6% respectively) in comparison to the control (100%). The cumulative number of papillomas, tumor yield and tumor burden were also found to be reduced significantly in E. alba treated mice. The histo-pathology of the affected skin tissue also indicated a significant reduction in the tumor size and slow growth of the tumors in the treated groups in comparison to the control. The results thus suggest a possible chemopreventive property of E. alba against DMBA induced skin papillomagenesis.

Micron gold particles were used in this study to assess potential protein-metal interactions. A total of three rounds of biopanning with the gold particles were carried out using a phage display peptide library. In this system, the random 12-residue peptides are displayed at the N-terminus of pIII gene of M13mp19 phage. Peptides that bind to gold particles with high affinity were amplified after each round of the biopanning process. After 3 rounds of biopanning selection, five clones were isolated and the affinities of the clones were estimated and confirmed by ELISA analysis. The deduced peptide sequence, VGAHYNYGVIML was obtained through translation of DNA sequencing data. Overall, the ELISA results showed strong binding affinity of this peptide towards gold.

The effects of 28-homobrassinolide (28-homoBL) on growth, lipid peroxidation and antioxidative enzyme activities in the Zea mays L. (var. Partap-1) seedlings exposed to zinc (Zn) metal were studied. The surface sterilized seeds of Zea mays were given treatments of different concentrations of Zn metal (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mM) alone or in combination with 28-homoBL (10-4, 10-6 and 10-8 mM) for seven days. The activities of antioxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1) catalase (EC 1.11.1.6), ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.11), guaiacol peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7) and glutathione reductase (EC 1.6.4.2)), protein and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were analyzed in seven days old seedlings. It was observed that 28-homoBL treatments stimulated the activities of antioxidative enzymes and the level of MDA content was decreased, thus indicating the stress-ameliorative effects of 28-homoBL.

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of exposure of two pesticide groups organophosphate and pyrethroid on the activity of enzymes cholinesterase (ChE) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in liver, kidney and brain tissue of Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis. LD50 of each pesticide was determined. The frogs were treated by 5 and 10% of Sandaphos. The results showed decrease in ChE activity in the liver, kidney and brain upto 10.0 and 15.0% (F2,6=5.23, P=0.048) in liver, 10.0 and 50.0% (F2,6=7.00, P=0.027) in kidney, and 55.55 and 66.66% (F2,6=87.17, P=0.001) in the brain, respectively. Under the treatment of same concentrations of ?-cypermethrin the ChE activity decreased upto 20.0 and 30.0% (F2,6=13.28, P=0.006) in liver, 30.0 and 40.0% (F2,6=6.80, P=0.029) in kidney and 33.33 and 44.44% (F2,6=22.99, P=0.002) in the brain, respectively. The effects of same concentrations of both pesticides were also observed on alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in the liver, kidney and brain of E. cyanophlyctis. In case of sandaphos it decreased upto 50.0 and 62.50% (F2,6=91.00, P=0.001) in liver, 16.66 and 33.33 % (F2,6=1.31, P=0.337) in kidney, and 11.11 and 33.33 % (F2,6=2.25, P=0.186) in the brain, respectively, while under the treatment of same concentrations of ?-cypermethrin the ALP activity in the liver decreased upto 12.5 and 25.0% (F2,6=1.19, P=0.368), 16.66 and 33.33% (F2,6=1.66, P=0.267) in kidney, and 22.22 and 55.55 % (F2,6=1.92, P=0.227) in the brain, respectively.

The potentials of cassava as animal feed and its toxicity implications were investigated in rabbits, using spectrophotometeric and enzymatic methods. Two groups of rabbits were maintained on cassava diets containing 110.93mg CN 100g-1(for high cyanide group) and 44.03mg (for low cyanide group) with protein supplement in the form of vitamin-free caesin for 28days. Analysis of the biochemical indicators of cyanide toxicity along the stomach, small intestine, as well as in the urine and serum of animals was carried out. The levels of total cyanide in their urine ranged between 2.08± 0.34-5.0 ± 0.72 ?g/ml. The amount of thiocyanate measured in the serum and urine of these animals were 2.70± 74- 3.47± 0.21 and 5.01 ± 0.72- 10.20± 0.91 ?g/ml respectively. The serum total protein was found to be within normal value, while the albumin levels were very low 2.63 ± 1.3- 2.82 ± 1.7 g/dl. Assay of some clinical important enzymes indicated increases in the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (ALT) by 41.7% and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) by 33.3% above normal (for high cyanide group) but within normal range for the other group and control. Alkaline phosphatase activity and bilirubin levels in all the groups were within normal range. Significant elevation in blood glucose of the two groups of rabbits was also observed. These results indicate exposure of the animals to cyanide poisoning resulting from ingestion of cassava diets containing substantial amount of cyanide. The toxicological implications of these findings are discussed.

Blood is removed from the animals for a variety of scientific purposes. This process may well be unnecessarily stressful for an animal, simply because of the handling, the type of anaesthetic used or the discomfort associated with a particular technique. The physiological changes associated with increased stress may even invalidate the results. Cannulation is considered when repeated samples of blood are required so as to avoid multiple needle entries at any one site. This enables us to design complex experiments in which time course information or evaluation of repeated treatments is necessary. It in turn reduces the number of animals necessary to acquire such information and thus facilitates the compliance with the animal use. In this paper we have described a simple microsurgical technique to collect blood samples from the right atrium through a catheter (cannula) implanted into the right external jugular vein of the adult rats. Blood is easily sampled while the rats reside in their home cages.

Mercury is rated third after heavy metals like arsenic and lead in the top ten of the priority list as provided by the American Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The clean up of Hg requires the removal of this metal. Since Hg is toxic at very low concentrations, its removal from water bodies is not possible with chemical treatment. Phytoremediation can prove to be most effective eco-friendly technique for removal of this heavy metal. Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms is being used successfully for the phytoremediation of trace elements in natural and constructed wetlands. The present investigation was undertaken to study the role of antioxidative system of E. crassipes cultured in solutions containing mercuric chloride. It was found from the results of present work that malondialdehyde content of the plants increased up to 3.7-fold thereby indicating a high level of Hg stress. It was observed that the plants counteracted this stress by stimulation of the antioxidative enzymes viz. superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and catalase (CAT) and molecular antioxidant vitamin E. The activities of these enzymes and antioxidant increased up to 0.8, 3.9, 24.6 and 3.7-fold respectively under Hg stress.

The present study investigated the susceptibility of rodents and chicks to Gardnerella vaginalis colonization. A total of seventy five rodents including albino rats, guinea pigs and rabbits were inoculated intra-vaginally and intra-muscularly respectively with G. vaginlis. Also, thirty day old and two week old chicks were inoculated intra-rectally and intra-muscularly. The animals were observed for three weeks. The respective rectal swabs were cultured and screened for G. vaginalis while the sera were examined for G. vaginalis antibody using agglutination and complement fixation tests. The rectal temperatures were determined. The vital organs including kidney, liver, heart, vagina, uterus, rectum and spleen were also screened for G. vaginalis colonization. The result of the study indicated G. vaginalis colonization in the vital organs of the rats and chicks inoculated with G. vaginalis (102-105 CFU/mL). Anti G. vaginalis antibody were detected in all the rodents and chicks inoculated. No colonization however was observed in the organs of guinea pigs and rabbits inoculated with G. vaginalis. This study therefore showed that albino rats and chicks are susceptible to G. vaginalis colonization and could serve as laboratory models for the study of G. vaginalis. However, the implication of this susceptibility with regard to the epizootiology of G. vaginalis associated diseases remain to be determined.

In order to create a multi-sample-multi-probe DNA microarray on a circular disk (CD), we have designed numerous equiforce spiral microchannels on it. Hydrodynamic DNA sample hybridizations occurred in these channels when the samples were delivered by centrifugal pumping. The main goal of the use of the equiforce microchannel is to ensure a constant liquid flow velocity as the sample is filled through an empty spiral channel. Nevertheless, the design of the equiforce spiral channel has not been reported. In this work, the mathematical equation of the spiral curve and its physical basis for the equiforce condition are reported for the first time, and the constant flow velocity has been proven by a detailed image analysis of the liquid front advancing inside the microchannel. The sensitivity tests of various design parameters on the flow velocity in the spiral channel were revealed in detail.

The effects of 1 MeV neutrons irradiation on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) characteristics are experimentally investigated. It is found that quantum efficiency of VCSELs changes as the radiation dose changes threshold current (increase of ? 0.3Ith). This effect is explained as a result of minorities carrier lifetime decrease. Red or blue shifts in the peak emission profile due to neutrons radiation were also noticed. Kind of shift depends on the radiation effect considered where active region temperature could increase (red shift) or the attenuation coefficient of photons in the energy gap might also increase (blue shift). Neutrons exposure may induce ‘self-pulsations’ in the output of some VCSELs while other devices became more stable after same dose of radiation. Knowledge of the behavior of VCSELs under neutrons radiation exposure will be useful for their applications in hostile environment.

Tropical sapric peat soil with severe leaching problems and poor hydraulic conductivities was converted into a functional filter media via heat treatment at 500 °C for 3 hours and agglomerated with natural rubber latex. The optimum weight ratio of peat material to rubber latex was 10:1. The peat-rubber agglomerates (PRA) had improved hydraulic conductivities, neutral pH and low organic leaching. PRA was found to be effective in the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from molasses wastes and domestic wastewater. Adsorption isotherms analysis showed that the uptake of COD by PRA followed both the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Both adsorption and biological processes occurred in the removal of COD. The presence of rubber had improved the rate of bacteria growth on PRA. Sustainable removal of about 80% COD from molasses solution was achieved upon its recycled applications. This self-regenerating characteristics was proven to be due to the growth of bacteria on the surface of the adsorbent.

Onggok tapioca is a low value byproduct from tapioca industry. It provides a cheap source of starch and has potential for being applied as substrate in fermentations to produce lactic acid. Lactic acid production from onggok tapioca by Streptococcus bovis was investigated in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of lactic acid. Lactic acid yields were inversely proportional to initial onggok tapioca concentration within the experimental area (30-100 g/L). The highest lactic acid productivity in batch fermentation, 1.70 g/L.h was obtained with 50 g/L onggok tapioca. Lactic acid fermentation using onggok tapioca was significantly affected by yeast extract concentration. The maximum lactic acid productivity was obtained 2.13 g/L.h at 20 g/L of yeast extract.

A simple, sensitive and selective spectrophotometric method for the assessment of methyl parathion in water samples through various formulations is described. The method is based on the coupling of methyl parathion (MP) in alkaline conditions which gives the greenish yellow to lime yellow colored product having the maximum absorption at 395nm.The product is stable for 4 hours. The Beer’s limit in the concentration range of 0.1?g ml-1 to 1.5 ?g ml-1 has been observed. The molar absorptivity was found to be 0.047L mol-1 cm-1. The recovery of MP in distil water have been found to be less than tap water.

Radon has been recognized by various international health organizations as a major lung carcinogen. The onset of cellular carcinogenesis involves DNA damage to bronchi epithelial cells by particles emitted by radon progeny. Radon diffusion is an important release mechanism for radon that is produced inside a building material. The physical parameter that characterizes this process is the radon diffusion coefficient D (m-2 s-1). The diffusion constant and diffusion length has been measured as 2.15 x 10-6 m-2 s-1, 1.01 m for soil, 1.65 x 10-6 m-2 s-1, 0.89 m for sand and 0.21 x 10-6 m-2 s-1, 0.31 m for Saudi crushed aggregate respectively. The values were found to be the lowest that shows that Saudi crushed aggregates are least permeable to radon flow as compared with the other building materials studied so far. The results obtained in this study are comparable worldwide.

In this paper using a minimax theorem of Ricceri , we prove a result ensuring the existence of a point x* ? X such that 0 ( *, ), I F x ? ? ? ? I where X is a topological space, I is a real interval and F is a multifunction from X × I to a normed space.

The main objective, however, till date remains device miniaturization to reduce unit cost per function, to improve device speed, to reduce power consumption and to improve performance. A major creative challenge which the circuit and system VLSI designers facing today is to design new generation products which can consume minimum power. Spintronic devices have the ability to provide digital system with very less power consumption. In today’s digital world, the general decimal numbers have almost their significance and the binary digits ‘0’ and ‘1’ reign supreme. Indeed, use of digital systems has given today’s gadgets signal processing capabilities, robustness and sophistication that were unheard of when analog systems were in vogue. In the present work, a code converter is designed by employing spintronic devices where low power consumption, high operating speed and high component integration density are financially indispensable. The system is designed for four bits. The different codes that are considered in this circuit are binary, BCD, Gray and excess-3. This conversion system can be extended for any number of bits by cascading technique.

The combined action of sodium fluoride and aluminum chloride on Cholinesterase activity was studied by exposing fresh water fish Oreochromis mossambicus to varying concentration at different time intervals. In cerebellum, Cholinesterase activity decreased at 150ppm and 337.5ppm of aluminum chloride. In 225ppm of aluminum chloride no significant inhibition was found. In the brain tissue of medulla oblongata, Cholinesterase activity was significantly increased at (P<0.05) at 48 hrs and 96 hrs for 150ppm for aluminium chloride. The Cholinesterase activity significantly decreased (P<0.05) for 225ppm and 337.5ppm of aluminium chloride exposure the same was observed for all duration of exposures. Cholinesterase activity was significantly high at all duration of exposure. In the liver tissue the acetyl chloine activity decreased at all low concentration of exposure with respect to aluminium chloride. Whereas higher concentration (337.5ppm) significant (p<0.05) enzyme inhibition was decreased at 96hrs and 21 day of exposure. Sodium fluoride significantly (P<0.001) increased the enzyme activity at 24hrs and 96hrs of exposure alone. But the effect was counteracted when same animal was exposed to aluminium chloride for all duration of exposure periods.