The present study is the first report for decay treatment of Japanses cypress wood by white-rot and brown-rot fungi. Japanese cypress is well-known as a refractory wood. Investigation of pretreatments to increase the fragility of Japanese cypress wood should aid with development of techniques to overcome the durability of any wood material. In the present study, the effects of ultraviolet (UV)/ozone exposure and decay treatment using the white-rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and brown-rot fungus Wolfiporia cocos with or without addition of linoleic acid were investigated. The proportion of the ‘available component’ (potential substrate for bioconversion) of Japanese cypress wood particles increased from 9% to 27% in the decay treatment using W. cocos for 2 months after UV/ozone exposure. UV/ozone exposure and addition of linoleic acid in the decay treatment were both effective for enhancing its suitability for bioconversion. Further optimization of a method combining C. subvermispora and W. cocos treatment has great potential for shortening the treatment period and/or improvement of the suitability of Japanese cypress wood for bioconversion.

Field experiments were conducted at the research farm of the College of Agriculture Lafia in the Southern guinea savanna agro ecological zone of Nigeria (080 30/N and 080 30/E, 18m above sea level) during the rainy seasons 2006 and 2007 to study the effects of nitrogen (0, 2.5 and 5.0 kg ha-1) and poultry manure rates (0, 2.5 and 5.0t ha-1) on the growth and calyx yield of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.). The nine treatment combinations were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of branches per plant and total dry matter per plant were all significantly increased by both nitrogen and poultry manure application up to 120 kg N ha-1 and 5 t ha-1 respectively. Number of days to 50 percent flowering was neither affected by nitrogen nor does poultry manure application. Significant increase in the number of calyx per plant, calyx yield per plant and dry calyx yield per hectare were obtained by the application of 60 kg N ha-1 and 2.5 t ha-1 of nitrogen and poultry manure respectively. 60 kg N ha-1 and 2.5 t ha-1 therefore seemed to be the ideal nitrogen and poultry manure rates for the yield and yield attributes of roselle while 120kg N/ha and 5.0t/ha for vegetative growth in the Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria.

The close relationship between diet, lifestyle and heart related diseases such as hypertension, have been well established. This study assessed nutrition transition (NT) and indicators of hypertension among farming households in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. One hundred and ninety two households were selected using simple random sampling proceedure. Descriptive statistics and the logit regression model were used in analyzing the data collected. Result obtained showed that majority of the farmers (87%) fall within the low income class and they spend more than 50 percent of their income on food. The respondents were mostly non- vegetarians (88%) and they all reported mild to high level transition in all the food classes considered in the study. The regression result showed that increases in family size (p<0.1), level of education (p<0.01), size of farm (p<0.05), average income (p<0.01) and decreases in gender (i.e female, p<0.01), marital status (i.e single, p<0.01) and farming activities (p<0.01) will increase the probability of NT while, increases in age (p<0.10), education (p<0.10), incidence of NT (p<0.05), average income (p<0.05) and decreases in gender (i.e female, p<0.05), farm size (p<0.01) and farming activities (p<0.10) will increase probability for hypertension risks (HR) among study population. The study recommends incorporation of health education into extension education. Furthermore, female farmers should be encouraged to go for periodic blood pressure check and enroll for couselling since high risk for hypertension is apparent among them. Finally government effort at ameliorating hypertension should be intensified in developing communities through media campaign.

The biodegradation of soy biodiesel by two microorganisms isolated from fields contaminated with crude oil, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pichia guilliermondii, were compared using initial pH values of 4.0, 5.0 and 7.0 and initial biodiesel concentrations of 10, 20 and 30%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most efficient at pH 7.0, presenting degradation of 80, 33.9 and 25.7% of the respective biodiesel concentrations of 10, 20 and 30%. Picchia guilliermondii showed only a 31.2% reduction in medium containing 10% of the fuel at pH 7.0. Rapid degradation of soy biodiesel by Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed that the biodegradation of biodiesel depends on the degree of contamination and initial pH.

With an objective to find new marine-derived antibiotics and antioxidants, marine bacteria were isolated from sediment samples collected from depths of 556 m and 698 m in Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. The antibacterial and antioxidant activity of these bacteria was studied. Preliminary assays revealed that none of the isolates possess antibacterial activity. However, exposure to gamma radiation resulted in synthesis of metabolites in one of the strain leading to the observation of antibacterial effect. Parallel to this, all the strains were evaluated for their antioxidant activity. The same strain, which exhibited antibacterial activity after gamma-irradiation, showed potent antioxidant activity. The extract which showed biological activity was studied by thin layer chromatography studies. The isolated strain was characterised to be Bacillus sonorensis based on phylogenetic analyses using molecular biological techniques.

Hazarganji Chiltan National Park (HCNP) was established in 1980 for the protection and conservation of Chiltan Markhor (Capra aegagrus chialtanensis). The present study was undertaken during 2006-2009 on bioecology and fauna of Hazarganji Chiltan National Park and development of ecotourism in protected areas. During the study 30 species of mammals, 120 species of avifauna, 25 species of reptiles and 4 species of amphibians have been recorded. The main habitats of Hazarganji Chiltan National Park were Hazarganji Foothill Plains, Hazarganji/Chiltan Reserve Forest, Scrub Grasslands, Steep Mountain Slopes, Vertical Cliffs, Deep Ravines and Gorges, Juniper Scrub Grassland, Rocky Cliffs, Riperian Habitat, Human Settlements and some nearby cultivated areas. The important wildlife habitat sites include Sham Thal, Razo Nullah, Tar Moro Top, Shamtal Top, Kangari, Tal, Kumbi, Dozchur, Hazarganji Nullah, Ziarat Nullah, Raghi, Paiti, Ziarat Sakht, Chkuli Top, Ziarat Nullah Tal, Shordrang, Hanari, Mulki, Yalli, Gulgulabi, Wadd, Doki, Namtal, Spait, Chapar, Eatly, Daghari, Tut Nullah, Dagari, Loori Khusht, Khulli, Nulli, Nulli Tooghi, Gidhahar, Hanjiri, Garak, Koolry, Kooshak, Mandooki Ghat, Bunap, Tooghi Karkhasa, Chiltan Forest and Hazarganji Reserve Forest. Several other protected sites were also studied for the development and promotion of ecotourism such as Khunjerab National Park, Ghamot National Park, Deva Vatala National Park, Haleji Lake, Keenjhar Lake and Hub Dam with proposed activities like Wildlife Safari, Bird Safari, Nature Safari, Nature Trails and Tracks, Sightseeing, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Para Gliding, Mountaineering, Snow Leopard Safari, Boating, Fishing etc.

Direct multiple shoot induction and regeneration from the cotyledonary nodal explants of two Indian cultivars of upland cotton, G. hirsutum (hybrid H8 and Khandwa-2) and four cultivars of G. arboretum (BD-1, BD-6, Sarvottam and Jawahar Tapti BD) were investigated, using varying concentrations of BAP. An overall average of 5.5 shoots per explant was achieved in the study. The best multiple shoots formation (9 shoots per explant) was obtained from the two G. hirsutum cultivars cultured on 3.0 mg L-1 BAP. Shoots were harvested and elongated in the presence of 0.5 mg L-1 GA3. Root formation was achieved on hormone-free MS medium.

Calcium Oxide (CaO) has a potential to be developed as adsorbent material to capture CO2 at high temperature. This work provides review on the performance of the sorbent in term of source of the material and also the methods of preparation. On the other hand, the experimental research on modification CaO using ethanol-water hydration method was performed. Result on the modified CaO using ethanol-water hydration method has show improvement on the capturing performance from 20.16% to 72.65% conversion in thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA). In addition, the performance of this modified CaO has maintained over 50% conversion after 5 cycles. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation concluded that the CaO was converted to the Ca(OH)2 after modification and its characteristics have improved in which the surface area and pore volume has evolved from 2.18m2/g and 0.006m3/g to 29.22m2/g and 0.157m3/g, respectively. The comparison with other similar work shows different in performance observed and this is due to different CaO source used. In conclusion, ethanol water hydration has proven enhancing CO2 capture performance and it prolonged the performance of the adsorbent for multi-cycles utilization.

Differential Quadrature (DQ) is a numerical method for evaluating derivatives of a sufficiently smooth function. Of the various numerical solutions, differential quadrature (DQ) method has distinguished itself because of its high accuracy, straightforward implementation and generality in a variety of problems. In this paper differential quadrature method is used to solve buckling problem of column. Critical buckling load is obtained for prismatic and non-prismatic column and various boundary conditions are applied. The obtained critical buckling load is compared with exact solution. Equally spaced and Chepeshev-Gauss-Lobatto grid points are chosen to show the effect of the grid points on the solution, also the effect of the number of grid points on the solution is studied. Direct substitution method is used to implement various boundary conditions. A treatment of clamped - free boundary conditions is shown where modified weighting coefficients formula is driven. Also the effect of the non-prismatic constant on the buckling load is studied.

The desire in this work is to make an attempt to answer the several questions posed on the safety level of the RF radiated from GSM Base Stations (BSs). In Nigerian some people believed that exposure to radiation from BSs for long period could cause different diseases like cancer, destroys reproductive organs, congenital anomalies, epilepsy and persistent headache and some of the BSs were installed near the home of residence. Power densities were measured in every 10s at 100m and 200m away from GSM BSs installed at Lokuwa/Barama ward Mubi Nigeria few centimeters from home of residence with the view to establish whether exposure to RF would have relationship with Human health. Average amount of power density measured at 100m were 1.48?W/m2, 1.32?W/m2, 1.50?W/m2, at 200m were 1.8?W/m2, 1.87?W/m2 and 2.26?W/m2 with corresponding values of specific absorption rate (SAR) as 0.005, 0.0007, 0.0005, 0.008, 0.006 and 0.0007Kg/m2 for the major GSM Operators in Mubi that is ZAIN, MTN and GLOBALCOM respectively. The analysis shows that the SAR fall far below recommended level when compared with the general public safety guide line for limiting radiation exposure and SAR given by the world health Organization (WHO) and international Commission on non ionizing radiation protection (ICNIRP).

The emergence of information technology has changed many aspects of businesses and generated new ways of doing businesses. Organizations are adopting latest technologies to optimize their business processes in order to provide effective services and products to customers. Financial institutions especially banks in Saudi Arabia have adopted information technology in one way or another to providing financial services over internet that is e-banking. E-banking provides opportunities to gain maximum share in marketplace by expanding business, reducing cost of operation and improving customer loyalty. Companies adopt technologies in viewing customers’ acceptance and various studies have been reported for customers’ acceptance in adoption of technology. This research study presents the various influencing factors that impact the adoption of internet technology in banking sector in Saudi Arabia. A survey instrument has been used in collecting data from various banks. Based on the data this paper presents recommendations for the improvement of e-services in banking sector in Saudi Arabia.

The present paper aims at studying the net-shape closed-die sinter-forging of centrally located cylindrical preforms within closed dies. The net-shape sinter-forging has been considered in two stages; where first stage consists of preform free barreling and the second stage consists of constraint deformation during which die corners are continuously formed and filled till the process is completed. The experiments were carried on a hydraulic press using closed-die set having upper and lower punches with centrally located cylindrical recess cavities having diameter equal to that of the cylindrical preforms, so that preforms can be loaded centrally with respect to the axis of the central container. Three separate modes of deformation were considered during the theoretical analysis using ‘Upper Bound’ approach, which were based on the different division of preform. The generalized expressions for the velocity field, strain rates, internal, frictional, inertia, energy dissipations and average forging loads have been formulated for each of these cases. The effect of die velocity, preform aspect ratio on energy dissipations, die cavity fills and die loads were investigated and results were verified experimentally and compared. It is expected that the present work will be useful for the analysis of net-shape forging of sintered materials.

The purpose of this paper is to study the geometry of an n-dimensional anti-invariant maximal spacelike submanifold M immersed in a 2(n+p)-dimensional indefinite complex space form M(c),c ?0 of holomorphic sectional curvature c and index 2p and give a pinching result of the Ricci and scalar curvatures of M. We have shown that if the Ricci curvature R is less than ( ) ( )( ) ( ) 1 2 1 4 2 4 1 c n n n p n p ? + + ? ??? ? + + ? ??? then M is totally geodesic. Moreover the scalar curvature ( ) ( )( ) ( ) 1 2 1 4 2 4 1 c n n n n p n p ? ? + + ? ? ??? ? + + ? ??? and if ? is less than ( ) ( )( ) ( ) 1 2 1 4 2 4 1 c n n n n p n p ? + + ? ??? ? + + ? ??? them M is totally geodesic.

Multiple linear regression models were developed to estimate the monthly from daily sunshine hours using four meteorological parameters for a period of eleven years (1997 to 2007) for Uyo, Nigeria (Latitude of 5o18’53.7’’N). The parameters include Relative Humidity (RH), Maximum and Minimum Temperature (T), Rainfall (RF) and Wind Speed (W). The result of the four variable correlations gives the highest value of correlation coefficient R. This gives the best result when considering the error term, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The correlation is given as S = -16.876 – 2.065RF + 0.237W + 1.278T + 0.129RH The developed correlation is a veritable tool which can be used for estimating Sunshine hours for other locations with similar climatic conditions.

In this paper, a new kind of covering axiom, fuzzy -closedness, stronger than fuzzy s-closedness due to Sinha and Malakar (1994) is introduced in fuzzy topological spaces (Chang, 1968) in terms of fuzzy semi- - -open sets and fuzzy semi- - -closures. Several characterizations via fuzzy prefilterbases and fuzzy nets (Pu and Liu, 1980) along with various properties of such concept are obtained. AMS Subject Classification Codes: 54A40, 54D99.

The fresh ambition to make computers seamlessly interoperable in dynamic and heterogeneous systems triggered the rush on Web Services by the computing community. We established that this rush may lead us into shambles unless we address the issue of poor scalability of Web Services. We have examined the technology to unveil the root cause of its poor scalability and figure out a key to improving it. Web Service support for replication was identified as one such key. We examined available replication schemes with a view to determining the one most suited to Web Services. The three tier replication scheme appears to have stood out. We have explored the possibility of making Web Service support this replication scheme in building scalable Web Services solution by application programmers. The result is proposed Replication Oriented Architecture (ROA) for building Web Services solution. ROA is unique in its application of replication to Web service in that it employs a non conventional replication technique; it is server side oriented and transparent to consumer applications. ROA solutions therefore free Web Services consumers from issues of Web Services server selection schemes. This proposed architecture however has some critical issues which were also exposed.