ELEMENTAL AND MYCOCHEMICAL PROFILE, ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES AND USES OF THE SCLEROTIUM OF PLEUROTUS TUBERREGIUM, A MEDICINAL MUSHROOM IN GHANA

The etiopathogenic hypothesis for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) suggests an immune mediated process originates from an inappropriate response of immune system. This study was performed to evaluate the role of IL-33 and sST2 in pathogenesis of IBD and to correlate their levels with the disease activity and with serum levels of p-ANCA and ASCA. Fifty five patients with IBD (41 UC patients and 14 CD patients) and 25 subjects as controls were participated in this study. Blood samples were collected from all patients and controls to assess serum concentrations of IL-33, sST2, p- ANCA and ASCA by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay. There was significant elevation in serum level of IL-33 among UC and CD patients as compared to controls, where a serum level of sST2 was increase significantly only in UC patients when compared to controls. In addition the serum level of IL-33 was lower in treated patients with infliximab than patients on other treatments but statistically not significant. While the comparison between patients who receive infliximab versus patients with other treatment revealed significant differences in serum level of sST2. High positively of p-ANCA in UC patients and ASCA in CD patients were found as compared with control. Another important result in UC patients there was positive correlation between serum IL-33 and sST2 and the disease activity, also IL-33 level was positively correlated with each of sST2 and p-ANCA. IL-33 and sST2 might be a crucial mediator in pathogenesis of IBD. In addition, the increased levels of IL33 and sST2 correlated with disease activity of UC possibly reflect an acute response due to inflammation. Also, in particular, IL-33 may regulate by TNF-? in UC.

Roosting in birds is a common phenomenon in Avian Biology. Roosting behavior includes the mode, timing, duration, distance, ecological and seasonal patterns which are topics of primary consideration for the naturalists and avian ecologists. One of the aspects of the bird roosting is its hazardous effects on the airfields. In Pakistan a number of accidents have occurred every year as a result of bird collisions with aircraft. This is of concern for the aircrafts. Some accidents have caused damage to civilian aircrafts as well in Pakista and the present study is undertaken with special reference to three aerodromes in Karachi. Reporting of the wildlife collisions with aircraft is recorded all over the world.. According to the literature, collision between the birds and aircrafts are known to cause substantial loss in the avian industry in terms of damage and delay every year. The existing information reveals that the changes in the bird population around airfield should be noted. The relationship between the bird abundance and strike frequency is complex and the changes in bird number coincide with changes in strike frequency. In the present study 47 species of birds have been recorded with their seasonal occurance data which pose a great threat to aircrafts during Flight, Landing and Take Off. 44 species of flora were recorded which play an important role in providing nesting and roosting areas for avifauna. Globally, bird strikes have been of great safety concern. It is expected that proposed research would advance knowledge about the roosting of birds and methodologies to turn the airport into safe areas.

Environmental sustainability depends on various factors, one of them being the suppression of potential metal contaminants from fossil fuel sources. According to the documented literature, research associated with the retention of toxic and heavy metals in the asphaltene residuum is limited. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore the phenomena that govern metal retention in asphaltenes and examine the potential environmental outcomes. Asphaltene fractions were isolated from virgin crude oil, purified, digested and analysed for metal and toxic components using ICPMS. The instrument was standardised with certified materials and adjusted for background and matrix effects according to standard protocol. A range of selected toxic elements were determined, including: Be, Al, Se, Ag, Cd, Sb, Pb and Bi. The elemental levels ranged between 2-1500 ppm in the asphaltene phase; and 1-100 ppm in crude oil. These concentrations are elevated and clearly represent a potential environmental hazard. Wide differences existed in metal levels between asphaltene and crude oil samples and suggested metal transfer to the asphaltene phase at the point of precipitation. The experimental data are discussed in terms of environmental impact and the prospect of remediation. Our work contributes to environmental sustainability and fuels research.

The study investigated the effect of colchicine on germination of cowpea seeds, as well as morphological and selected growth traits of cowpea plant (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp). Dry cowpea seeds were treated with colchicine at concentrations of 0.05g/dl, 0.10g/dl, 0.15g/dl and 0.20g/dl. Quantitative characters such as percentage germination, plant height, number of leaves, length of longest branches, number of primary branches, pod and seed yield were measured. Percentage germination was high in the control (89.3) and0.05g/dl (90.2) of first generation of colchicine treatment (C1). Significant differences (P<0.05) were recorded in the mean of most of the quantitative characters such as number of leaves, branches and seeds per plant in some of the colchicine treatments in the study.

The present study assessed the influence of health education on stress management among undergraduates in Nigeria, focusing on Babcock University. Selected students were stratified into control and experimental groups with 50 participants in each group. Descriptive factors examined included age, gender, religion and marital status. Also, the respondents were classed into different stress personality types using standardized Emotional Stress Inventory Questionnaire. Students in the experimental group were exposed to health education intervention and their responses to Standardized Stress Behaviour Inventory Questionnaire (SSBIQ) at baseline were compared to endline report and the response from the control group using t-test at p<0.05. The majorities of the respondents (78%) were less than 20 years old, female (54%), single (96%), belong to the Yoruba ethnic group (56%) and are Christians (91%). Also, at baseline 60% and 58% of the respondents belonged to the high stress level personality type A in the control and experimental groups respectively. At post-intervention, the health education had significantly influenced the behaviour of the students in the experimental group as measured by SSBIQ. Furthermore, frequency of stress type A reduced to 46%. Policies and programmes geared towards enhancing effective stress coping strategies should be put in place by appropriate educational ministries and by the University administration.

This study was conducted at Doba in northern Ghana with the aim of characterizing litter production and decomposition in relation to different natural baobab stands. Purposive sampling technique was used to select baobab trees based on three aggregation regimes of the stands: highly-clumped trees, moderately-clumped trees and isolated trees. Each stand type was replicated three times. In each stand category, four 1x1 m square litter traps were placed in the four cardinal directions under the tree canopies. The accumulated litter in each trap was collected at two-week intervals from January to December, a period of one year. Litter decomposition was carried out using the litter bags technique. Each stand category received a total of 30 nylon litter bags (10 x15 cm) with 1.0 mm mesh size. In each litter bag, 50g of litter was placed and the litter bags buried at a depth of about 20 cm randomly in each respective stand category and litter decomposition determined. The results showed that the total amount of litter produced in one calendar year under isolated, moderately-clumped and the highly-clumped stands were 3146.26gm-2, 2963.04gm-2 and 3859.20 gm-2 respectively. The main litter components were leaf, flower, fruit, bark and twig. Litter decomposition varied significantly (P < 0.001) and the decomposition pattern in the three baobab stands showed an initial lag phase followed by rapid mass loss phase. However, litter decomposition in the highly-clumped stands was faster than those of the moderately-clumped and isolated baobab stands. The results further showed that the decomposition constants (k) obtained for the litter of the isolated and the highly-clumped stands were the same, while that of the moderately-clumped stand was slightly higher.

Most of patients with acromegaly suffer from DM2. Excess GH production in active acromegaly indicate that inhibits osteoclasts throughout RANK-RANKL axis. Our aim is to determine the differences in the levels of RANKL in male patients with diabetic acromegaly and compare with male DM 2 patients and some related parameters, and if their level can possible use to follow up the patients with active acromegaly. Forty eight were enrolled in this study, (28) patients with DM2, (28) acromegaly patients with DM 2 and (28) healthy subject as a control group. Serum of RANKL, GH and insulin resistance were measured in all groups. RANKL level were showed significant decreased differences in patients with diabetes acromegaly compared with control group, non significant decreased differences in patients with DM2 when compared with control group and a significant negative correlation between RANKL and GH and IR. We conclude that serum RANKL levels were decrease in active acromegaly and its correlate with GH, so that possible RANKL can be used to follow up the male patients with active acromegaly and we suggest that it can be used therapeutically for better management of patients with active acromegaly.

The direct and indirect effects of sizes of withers height, rump height, body length, chest peripheral, head length and leg length on live weight of dogs were investigated by path analysis. In this study, the body sizes of dogs between 1 and 6 aged were used. According to the results of analysis, it was determined that the relationships between all body sizes effecting live weight of dog were positive and significant(P<0.05 and P<0.01). The highest correlations at 5 aged dogs were determined between live weight and respectively rump height and withers height (r =0.799 and r =0.796). The direct effects of withers height, rump height, body length, chest peripheral, head length and leg length on live weight at 6 aged dogs were determined, respectively as 51.250, 17.748, 34.823, 15.197, 16.934% and 24.155%. The indirect effects of withers height, rump height, body length, chest peripheral, head length and leg on live weight were determined respectively as 14.333, 8.875%, 8.400, 6.833 and 10.275%

A comparative study of toxic speciation in crude oil and asphaltenes has not been previously reported and contributes to knowledge in fuels research. Crude oil is used on land farms; and asphaltenes are converted to asphalt for constructing roads. Toxic components in these substances could, therefore, pose a distinct threat to the environment. In this study, asphaltene fractions were isolated from crude oil samples via soxhlet extraction. The native crude oil and abstracted asphaltenes were then subjected to investigation for toxicity using an ultra-sensitive hyphenated facility. A Perkin Elmer SCIEX DRC-e ICP-MS was coupled with a liquid chromatographic system (HPLC) for simultaneous detection and convenient resolution of all four species. Stationary and mobile phases were prepared according to standard protocol. The elution rate was 1.2 mL/min; and corresponding retention times (min) were: As3+: 1.61; As5+: 4.06; Cr3+: 3.71; and Cr6+: 5.80. The system possesses a built-in dynamic reaction cell (DRC) to enhance mass detection. The oxygen flow in the DRC was controlled to give a rate of ~0.4 mL/min. Following mass detection, m/z values of 52 characterized the Cr3+/ Cr6+ species; while the arsenic components were detected as adduct ions, AsO+, m/z, 91, after coalescing with oxygen. The levels of the species of interest were compared for crude oil and asphaltenes and the data revealed a preponderance of the detected species in the asphaltene phase. The feasibility of applying the experimental data in “fingerprinting” studies was examined; and the impact of our study in terms of environmental protection and sustainable development is discussed

Insect pests are major constraints on crop production, the use of synthetic insecticides as a control against this pest has resulted in environmental concerns. The insecticidal activities of the essential oil of Piper umbellatum were investigated in the laboratory against bean weevil (Callosbruchus maculatus) and rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae). The essential oil from P. umbellatum was extracted by steam distillation and graded into different concentrations, 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 7.5, 10 ml/l. The chemical component of the oil was analyzed by GC-MS. The toxicity of each dose was evaluated against bean weevil (C. maculatus) and rice weevil (S. oryzae) at different exposure time. The essential oil was toxic to both insects, toxicity of the essential oil was dose and time dependent (P<0.05). Essential oil of P. umbellatum induces higher toxicity in bean weevil than in rice weevil in all assay conducted. Analysis by GC-MS revealed the presence of 37 components in the essential oil, the major component are aromadendrene (13.74%), caryophyllene (10.44%), linalool (8.55%) and ?- bisabolene (8.06%). Based on present study results, it is suggested that the plant is suitable for possible use as insect pest control

In this paper a real-time security protection model for scanning the security files is presented. In this model, a workflow mechanism is presented for real-time scanning Dynamic Link Library files. A specification relation between the proposed model and the Kripke structure is presented that enables the verification of the system specifications. By presenting the appropriate formal semantics, we discuss that how labeling functions permits navigating information and specifications of the security system. We illustrated expected properties of the system which can be verified and specified by using temporal logic. So, we defined satisfaction relations for verifying the system specifications. We also described how some of expected properties of the system are verified. Finally, we implemented some properties of proposed model in NuSMV model checker. The verification results show that our proposed real-time security protection model is reachable, deadlock free and fair

The cost of control system for education is getting higher and is placing extra load on the universities budgets. It is formidable to see more than five people running an experiment. The number of people joining in one experiment should be as low as possible. However, this might imply that the university/college must either have funds for buying four or five replicates of the same device or appoint more than one engineer to run the experiment. A feasible alternative is suggested in this work in which the students run the experiment through computers communicating with a PLC controlled test rig through a wireless network. A suitable number of students/computer is selected by the university. The wireless network control is for two main purposes: firstly to accept entries for various control parameters from the students and secondly to display the pressure response for them. All computers show the same display. The system includes: calibration for the sensors, the actuator, manual control part (open loop control) and automatic control (closed loop control part)

This paper examines that Agile Methodologies such as Scrum, Feature Driven Development, Extreme Programming, Lean Software Development, Hybrid and Adaptive Software Development have an impact on software quality, team productivity and cost of software development in Pakistan. In this study, questionnaire was developed and distributed to different organizations working in Pakistan in order to know their familiarity and experience with Agile Methodologies and the reason behind adoption or rejection. Data analysis was done through Microsoft Excel. The results were astonishing and all the methodologies have positive impact on productivity of employees, software quality and cost of development in software organizations of Pakistan

In this paper the performance of different nonlinear static analysis methods and their accuracy in predicting the seismic response of structures isolated by sliding base isolators has been compared. For this purpose, first,5 and 10-story isolated steel structures with special moment frames located in LA, US were designed according to AISC 360, AISC 341, and ASCE 7 design requirements. In this study, friction pendulum system (FPS) has been used as isolation system. Results of non-linear static pushover analyses of the models with triangular, uniform, and PSC (Protective Systems Committee) load patterns, modal pushover analysis (MPA), and N2 method were compared with the results obtained by nonlinear dynamic time history analysis as a criterion for accuracy in this study. According to the results, it was concluded that in predicting the story shear responses, pushover analysis with triangular load pattern had accurate response compared to other studied methods. Also in predicting floor displacement responses and story drifts, pushover analysis under uniform load pattern, N2, and MPA methods resulted in more accurate responses regarding the other methods. Overall, N2 method had the most accuracy with respect to nonlinear dynamic analysis in predicting story shears, story drifts, floor displacements and maximum hinge rotations in structures isolated by sliding base isolators

In this paper, we consider discrete time dynamical system generated by a continuous mapping f defined in a metric space X along with the induced set-valued mapping and the fuzzified Zadeh extension . We study the asymptotic behaviour of these systems using the concept of bi-shadowing and the limit bi-shadowing property. 2010 AMS Mathematics Subject Classification: 37C50, 47H04