The conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 4259 was studied in an anaerobic culture using commercial glycerol as the sole carbon source. The objective of this study was to determine the best concentration of glycerol used for the production of 1,3-propanediol and to study the cell growth kinetics of Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 4259 using fermentation of 10g.L-1 glycerol and to compare the experimental results with those obtained through the traditional mathematics model. The concentrations evaluated of glycerol were 10.0; 30.0 and 60.0g.L-1. The amount of glycerol consumed and the 1,3-PD produced were determined using chromatography. Cell growth kinetics was measured turbidimetrically (at 660nm). The best conversion rate of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol and biomass was 0.31g.g-1 and 0.21g.g-1, obtained from the fermentation of 10g.L-1 substrate. In this research, the Monod model presented a way to express the experimental data, showing the following values of kinetic constants, 0.024h-1 and 0.011g.L-1 to ?max and K respectively.

This study evaluated the effect of aqueous extracts of garlic, ginger, pepper and their mixture on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats. Hypercholesterolemia was induced using a diet containing 1% cholesterol and 25% soybean oil. Thirty six rats of Wistar strain weighing 168±10g were randomly distributed into six groups of six rats each- Group 1: control rats fed on the standard chow, group 2 rats fed on hypercholesterolemic diet and water only, while groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 were rats fed the hypercholesterolemic diet and orally with 0.5 ml of 200 mg/kg body weight extracts each of garlic, ginger, pepper and their mixture respectively for four weeks. At the end of 4 weeks, various biochemical indices as appropriate in the blood, liver and feaces of the rats were investigated. Significant reductions (P<0.05) in the weights, high organ/body weight ratio, atherogenic index (AI) and significantly (P<0.05) elevated lipid profile in the serum of hypercholesterolemic rats compared with the control rats was observed. Weights of rats treated with any of the spices or their mixture was significantly (P<0.05) elevated, increased feacal output of cholesterol and triglycerides in the last three days of the experiment in all the treated rats also indicated that administration of the spice extracts especially of the spice mixture led to significant (P<0.05) increased excretion of lipids. Use of these spices in the diet especially as a mixture, may therefore, ameliorate or prevent hypercholesterolemia in rats.

Despite the widespread use of Pyrenacantha staudtii Engl. In the traditional medicine of Nigeria, there is scanty of information on its efficacy and toxicity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity against the growth of some pathogenic microorganisms and toxicological effects of methanolic extract of the plants in male Wistar albino rats. Phytochemical screening indicated that the extract is rich in alkaloid, tannin, saponins, while anthraquinones, phlobatannins and cardiac glycosides were absent. The histological and heamatological investigations on liver, duodenum and blood samples of the rats that were administered with the extract (acute doses of 30mg/ml and 25mg/ml) showed mild toxicities. However, the control experiment that was given normal saline presented no toxicities on the liver and duodenum cells. The extracts inhibited the growth of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia. coli and Staphylococcus aureus while Shigella dysentriae and Salmonella typhi were resistant to the extract at both concentrations. This is an indication that the extracts may not be completely safe in male rats when continuously administered for 14 days.

Hyperlipidemia is an important factor in the pathogenesis of chronic degenerative and inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and cancer. Persea americana Mill. (Lauraceae) is a plant that has been widely used in folk medicine in the treatment of various ailments including hypertension. This study investigated antiperoxidative and oxidative potentials of aqueous extract of P. americana (AEPA) and methanolic extract of P. americana (MEPA) respectively in rats. Hyperlipidemia was induced by feeding four-week-old male albino rats with high lipid diet containing cholesterol and cholic acid. Hyperlipidemic rats were administered either AEPA or MEPA orally (10 mg kg-1 body weight) for 8 weeks. Control rats received standard chow and water only. The antiperoxidative potential of the extracts was evaluated by measuring the levels of malondialdehyde(MDA), conjugated dienes (CD) and protein carbonyls while the antioxidant effect was assessed by determining the levels of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione (GSH). Administration of AEPA and MEPA lowered oxidative stress as shown by a decrease in protein carbonyl and significant (p<0.05) decline in plasma MDA. The extracts elicited an increase in the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and a significant (p<0.05) increase in GSH compared to the hyperlipidemic control rats. These findings indicate that the leaf extracts of P. americana possess antiperoxidative and antioxidant effects which may be attributed to individual or combined action of the phytoconstituents. This may account for its use in traditional medicine and could be further exploited in the management of diseases associated with hyperlipidemia.

In the present study, the level of heavy metals pollution in poultry chicken Gallus domesticus at Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta were investigated during 2007-2009. A total of 200 random poultry organs (liver, brain and heart) of the same aged groups (12 weeks old) of chickens were collected from poultry shops in 6 selected locations, and four metals Cd, Ni, Cu and Pb were analyzed. Based on the results all chicken samples were contaminated with Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu) and Lead (Pb), whereas Copper had the highest contamination level of all four metals tested. Based on poultry feeds sample analysis, metals may have likely been transferred to Chicken via ingestion of these contaminated poultry feed. Observations made at Karachi poultry feed processing factories showed unhygienic and poor environment which needs improving and revised regulations of the feed processing centers.

This study assessed the renal toxicity potentials of Telfairia occidentalis Hook f, a widely consumed vegetable in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Fifty healthy adult Wistar albino rats were randomly selected and divided into two groups A and B. Each group was divided into 5 sub-groups: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Subgroup 1 served as the control group and was fed with standard animal feed only, while sub-groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were test groups, and in addition to the standard animal feed, 500mg/kg, 1000mg/kg, 2000mg/kg and 4000mg/kg extract of Telfairia occidentalis leaves was orally gavaged to the test groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Animals in group A were tested for acute effect after 10 days of extract administration. Those in group B were similarly assessed for sub-acute effect after 4 weeks of extract administration. Acute phase of extract administration produced significant increases only in K+ and urea levels at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 respectively. In the sub-acute phase, significant increases in total body weight (P < 0.01), kidney weight (P < 0.01), kidney to body weight ratio (P < 0.001), K+ (P < 0.001), HCO- 3 (P < 0.01) and urea (P < 0.01) were obtained. The effect of the extract on renal function indices may be dose-dependent, hence dosage adjustment may be necessary in patients with renal impairment.

The effect of moisture content on some compressive properties of shea kernels was studied so as to provide useful data for the design of appropriate machinery for processing. The effects of moisture content on wet basis (w.b.) and loading on compressive stress, compressive strain, Young’s modulus and crushing energy were examined. Compressive stress, compressive strain and Young’s modulus decreased with increase in moisture content for shea kernel. Compressive stress and strain decreased linearly from 2.0 to 0.8MPa and 0.0085 to 0.002mm/mm as moisture content increased from 5% to 24% respectively. Young’s modulus decreased non-linearly with moisture content from 2000MPa at 5.00% to 100MPa at 24.00%, while crushing energy increased non-linearly from 6 to 135mJ in the moisture content range of 5.00% to 24.00% w.b.

A survey was carried out on the handling and storage of maize and groundnut by wholesalers at Ejura and Techiman markets in Ashanti Region and Brong Ahafo selected as markets close to production centers;Timber market and the Agbogbloshie market in Greater Accra and Asawasi market in Ashanti as markets close to consumption centers. A total of 77 questionnaires were administered to the targeted clientele and samples of produce collected from each respondent. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and moisture of samples determined by a Hydromette Gann 86 moisture meter. Simple bar and pie charts were plotted and used in describing the responses collected. Analyzed data show that bagging was done mainly with jute, infestation was high at markets close to consumption centers, usage of storage structures are not popular among traders, and most of the samples collected had a moisture content above 14% and were observed to be infested with mold and pests.

This present study was investigated the phenotypic traits of the Turkish Kars (Caucasian) Shepherd Dogs raised in Turkey comparing with some other native breeds of Turkey. To this end, a total of 52 (34 male and 18 female) dogs was analyzed using the Minitab 15 statistical software programs using ANOVA and Student’s t-Test. Descriptive statistics and comparison results for live weight 44.6±1.03 kg, and height at shoulders 72.4±0.73, height at rump 71.1±0.77, body length 87.3±1.02, heart girth circumference 84.7±0.85, chest width 31.3±0.36, and cannon circumference 12±0.14 cm respectively. In this study the frequencies of body coat color of the sampled Kars dogs, as percentages, for brown was 30.8%, pied 23.1%, black 21.2%, roan 13.5%, and white 11.5% respectively. The overall results of the study demonstrated that Turkish Kars Shepherd dogs had a very close resemblance to the Turkish Kangal (Karabash) and Akbash Shepherd dogs related with body sizes.

In this study, a high performance liquid chromatographic assay was carried out at room temperature to determine the concentration of active ingredient in paracetamol syrup contaminated by Penicillium expansum. The drug samples were extracted in methanol while the mobile phase was methanol: water (20:80 v/v) mixture. A volume of 20ul of various concentrations of reference standard (4-aminophenol), contaminated and non-contaminated paracetamol syrups were injected separately in triplicate into a C18 analytical column under reverse phase chromatographic conditions. The mean peak height, peak area and retention time for the contaminated sample were 3.47mUA, 23.58mUA2 and 3.51minutes, whereas the non contaminated sample had an average peak height of 368.53mUA, peak area of 2470.04mUA2 and retention time of 3.13 minutes. The standard curve generated from the data yielded perfect linearity with correlation coefficient, r=0.9990. The concentration of paracetamol in the contaminated sample was 0.36ug/ml while the control had 37.53ug/ml. The active component in the contaminated Paracetamol syrup was completely metabolized and transformed into a metabolite with an average peak area of 300.55mUA2, peak height of 20.05mUA and retention time of 3.15 minutes, by Penicillium expansum. These results confirm that Penicillium expansum can degrade some pharmaceutical drugs and transform them to unrelated forms.

This paper primarily examines the capability of using ablative laser technology to assess the uniformity of distribution of trace elements in highly processed solid pharmaceutical samples. The study investigated elemental profiles in the solid phase, both spatially and depth-wise using a 55 ?m-diameter laser beam coupled to an ICP-MS instrument. Solids were subjected to 213-nm irradiation along a 4-point grid, each point separated by a distance of 1.0 mm. The level of the beam energy was 70%, and the laser was programmed to ablate a depth of 5 ?m at each point, with iterative scanning, recording measurements after each ablation to a total depth of 150 ?m. The experimentally determined laser results showed fluctuations in characteristic metal intensity and, in some cases, ‘hotspots’ (or build-up) were observed. The exact mechanism for this random accumulation of trace metals is not clear, but could be partially attributed to uneven mixing. For purposes of general comparison, total concentrations of elements in the individual solid samples, digested in aqueous media, were also determined. These absolute data reflected elevated levels of some toxic metals, which could be linked to potential environmental and biomedical effects.

Samples of hair and nail were collected from different subjects with respect to sex, age, occupationally exposed to heavy metals such as subjects working in a lead battery workshop in Maiduguri Metropolis, Borno State, Nigeria. Also hair and nail samples were collected from smoker and non-smoker subjects for heavy metals determination. Sample collection and preparations were carried out using standard procedures. The concentrations of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Co), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd) Arsenic (As), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) were measured using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS, Unicam 969). From the results of this study, high concentrations of all the metals under study were observed to accumulate in the subjects. It was also observed that of all the metals studied, Zn showed the highest concentrations while Cu showed the least levels. Significantly high levels of heavy metals were observed in smokers, compared to a non-smoker (p<0.05). The levels of all the metals studied were significantly higher in the toenails compared to fingernail samples (p<0.05). The levels of all the metals studied were statistically higher in male subjects compared to female subjects (p<0.05). The concentrations of heavy metals in nail samples were significantly higher than hair samples. The present of these metals in the analyst samples is an indication of the presence of these metals in their work environment. Accordingly there is an instantaneous need for public awareness about the hazards of this occupation and smoking habit in order to enable these volunteers take necessary precautionary measures.

Avoiding resonance and reducing the sound radiation from vibrating beams are crucial objectives in structural design. In this paper, a simple approach for optimizing the natural frequencies and minimizing the radiated acoustic power from vibrating thin-walled beams is presented. The method is basically based on bending the beams at specific key points. The out of plane coordinates of these key points are chosen as design variables. Bending the beam alters its stiffness and its mode shapes and as a result changes its natural frequencies and the radiated sound power. The design method couples the finite element method for modal and harmonic analysis, the Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) for sound power calculation, and Genetic Algorithm (GA) for the optimization process. Several examples using bending technique are provided. The optimization results show the efficiency of bending technique in modifying the natural frequencies and reducing the sound radiation from vibrating clamped beams.

Scandia stabilized zirconia sample, containing 1mole % CeO2, (1Ce9Sc sample) was prepared by using chemical polymeric precursor route called pichini method. Two zirconia samples doped with 10 and 15 mole % CeO2 (10Ce and 15Ce samples) were prepared by using the same method for comparison. Co-doping zirconia with 1 mole % of CeO2 and 9 mole % of Sc2O3 suppressed the undesired rhombohedral phase and fully stabilized this sample in the cubic phase. Addition of 15 mole % of CeO2 fully stabilized zirconia in the tetragonal phase. The dielectric and electrical properties of all the prepared samples were investigated in the frequency range from 10 kHz to 5MHz in the temperature range from 25°C to about 325°C. At temperature range from 125 to 325°C, 1Ce9Sc sample has the highest conductivity. For all the prepared samples, as the frequency increases both the dielectric constant and dielectric loss decreases.

The concentrations, source and contamination status of heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in surface sediments of rivers and canals in the oil producing area of the Niger Delta were investigated. The average concentrations of individual metals ranged from 0.09 to 19.0 ug/g and 0.11 to 24.2 ug/g in rivers and canals sediment samples respectively. All the metals studied have very low Enrichment factor (EF) which indicated a natural origin. An assessment using a set of widely cited sediments guidelines indicated that the levels of heavy metals concentrations in Niger delta sediments do not pose any serious adverse risk to the ecosystem and human health. The concentration of metals in the samples were comparable to those of aquatic systems classified as uncontaminated from other regions of the world.

The silicone sealant bite depth for any double- glass panel is obtained by complex stress analysis. We obtain the optimum air space between the outer and the inner layer of glass by considering the minimum heat transfer across the small air space. Such an air space ranges from h/133 to h/60. Radiation is not to be discussed here.

Time series analysis of Nigerian Inflation Rates (INFL) Data is done. It is observed that it is seasonal. A multiplicative seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, (0, 1, 1)x(0, 1, 1)12, is fitted to the series. The model is shown to be adequate and forecasts are obtained on the basis of the model.

In this paper, the problem of forced vibrations of beams is investigated. The initial-boundary value problem is formulated. The cantilever beam-fixed at one end, and free in the other- is given prescribed initial displacement and velocity. The natural frequencies and the normal modes are obtained as the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of the corresponding eigenvalue problem.

In this study, expressions for the joint probability distributions of the number of normal deliveries and number of cesarean section deliveries in hospitals were obtained when the number of deliveries is assumed to be a random variable. A goodness of fit test was carried out on them using Kolmogorov-Sminov test. Regression equations for predicting the number of normal deliveries for a given number of cesarean deliveries and vice-versa as well as expressions for the correlation coefficients are also obtained. Number of deliveries are assumed to follow the binomial and Poisson distributions. The models are fitted to the data collected from Regina Caeli Hospital (between 2006 and 2010) in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. It was discovered that the Poisson distribution provided a better fit. This model gave a correlation coefficient value of 0 between the number of normal deliveries and that of cesarean deliveries with a conditional variance of 0.4034. The variation between the number of deliveries of different modes (normal or cesarean) widens as the number of deliveries increases.