Influence of Poultry Manure on Aggregate Stability and Infiltration Rates of a Disturbed Sandy Loam Soil

An evaluation of soil aggregate stability and infiltration rate is significant in the assessment of soil management practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of poultry manure on aggregate stability and infiltration rate on a disturbed sandy loam soil of Bauchi. Poultry manure was applied at 0, 10, 15, 20, and 25 Mg/ha at three replications in a completely random design. Four weeks after, aggregate stability and infiltration rates were determined by wet sieving method and double ring infiltrometer respectively. Treatment levels showed an increase in aggregate stability of the soil by mean weight diameter (MWD) indices from 0.337mm (control ) to 0.473 – 0.934mm (for 10 – 25Mg/ha treatments).Infiltration rates also showed a significant increase as the manure was added from 1.3mm/min for the control plot, to 2.7 – 3mm/min for 10 – 25 Mg/ha treatment levels respectively. The results also indicates that application of poultry manure did significantly (P ˂ 0.05) affects aggregate stability and infiltration as determined by ANOVA. It was then concluded that poultry manure was effective in increasing soil aggregate stability and infiltration rates, but decreasing bulk density from 1.35g/cm3 for control plot to 1.33 – 1.25 g/cm3 for 10 – 25M g/ha treatment levels in the tillage zones. Keywords: – Aggregate stability, Poultry manure, Infiltration rates, Treatment levels, Sandy Loam and Bulk density

In vitro antioxidant activity of n-butanol extract of Curcuma longa and its potential to protect erythrocytes membrane against osmotic-induced haemolysis

Antioxidant activity of Curcuma longa rhizomes (Turmeric) has been widely investigated in Asia. This work evaluated the antioxidant potential of Nigerian variety of Curcuma longa with the main hypothesis that variation in plant phytochemicals in type and/or amount is a function of geographical location/soil type. The experimental models used for the antioxidant studies include: iron (III) reducing capacity, total antioxidant capacity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay and in vitro inhibition of osmotic-induced haemolysis. The extract was found to reduce osmotic pressure-induced haemolysis of mammalian erythrocytes in a dose-dependent manner and also gave high total antioxidant capacity. At 1000 μg/mL concentration, its DPPH radical scavenging ability compared favourably well with those of the standard compounds - ascorbic and garlic acids. The implications of these findings in the usage of Curcuma longa as food additives and ethnomedicinal practice in Nigeria are discussed.Keywords: Curcuma longa, In vitro, Antioxidant potential, mammalian erythrocyte

Antiepileptic Drug Targets: An Update on Ion Channels

Different mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain the effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) including modulation of voltage‐dependent sodium calcium and potassium channels, enhancement of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)‐mediated neuronal inhibition, and reduction in glutamate‐mediated excitatory transmission. Recent advances in understanding the physiology of ion channels and genetics basis of epilepsies have given insight into various molecular targets for AEDs. Conventional AEDs predominantly target voltage‐ and ligand‐gated ion channels including the α subunits of voltage‐gated Na+ channels, T‐type, and α2‐δ subunits of the voltage‐gated Ca2+ channels, A‐ or M‐type voltage‐gated K+ channels, the γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor channel complex, and ionotropic glutamatergic receptors. Molecular cloning of ion channel subunit proteins and studies in epilepsy models suggest additional targets including hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated cation (HCN) channel subunits, responsible for hyperpolarization‐activated current (Ih), voltage‐gated chloride channels, and acid‐sensing ion channels. This chapter gives an update on voltage‐ and ligand‐gated ion channels, discussing their structures, functions, and relevance as potential targets for AEDs

On Sylow Subgroups of Permutation Groups

A research on Sylow Subgroups of permutation groups is carried out in this paper. The research investigates the nature of Sylow subgroups of permutation groups and examines its behaviors

On Radical Groups of Permutation Groups

In this paper a new theorem has been stated and proved concerning the radical group of permutation groups. Symmetric groups, alternating groups, dihedral groups and groups generated by semidirect products of two permutation groups have been considered in the research being them as permutation groups

Method for real-time measurement of the nonlinear refractive index

In this work, we propose a novel method for continuous real-time measurement of the dynamics of the nonlinear refractive index n2. This is particularly important for characterizing phenomena or materials (such as biological tissues, gases and other compounds) whose nonlinear behavior or structure varies rapidly with time. The proposed method ingeniously employs two powerful tools: the spectral broadening induced by self-phase modulation and the real-time spectral analysis using the dispersive Fourier transformation. The feasibility of the technique is experimentally demonstrated, achieving high-speed measurements at rates of several MHz

ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATIONS OF SOILS FROM DUMP SITES IN JOS METROPOLIS, NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

A study was carried out to determine the heavy metal contamination of the soils in three refuse dumpsites in Jos metropolis located in Rayfield Resort, Dariye Park and Farin Gada within the Jos-Bukuru Complex of Younger Granite Province of northcentral Nigeria. Six (6) soil samples were collected at depth of 40 cm from the three dumpsites. The soil samples were subjected to X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis to determine the concentrations of heavy metals. The values of heavy metals in the soils from the three dumpsites were foundto be: zirconium (382.537-1045.734 ppm), strontium (54.584-185.030 ppm), uranium (8.496-12.055 ppm), rubidium (60.189-111.280 ppm), thorium (13.305-30.138 ppm), lead (26.790-277.342 ppm), arsenic (7.971- 27.819 ppm), zinc (129.790-734.643 ppm), copper (31.899-247.048 ppm), nickel (42.454-72.670 ppm), iron (22162.547-64319.262 ppm) and manganese (214.146-449.344 ppm).&nbsp

Predictors of unintentional childhood injuries seen at the Accident and Emergency Units of three tertiary health care centres in Jos

Background: Unintentional childhood injuries pose a major health challenge especially in developing countries.Aim: This study sought to determine the predictors of unintentional childhood injuries in the three tertiary health centres studied.Methods: The study was a cross- sectional study. Sociodemographic data, history and physical examination, type of injury and the outcomes were obtained using structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 174 children were enrolled, 108 (62.1%) were males and 66 (37.9%) were females; 63 (36.2%) were < 5years while 65 (37.4%) were>10 years. Of the injuries observed; 99 (56.9%) were by vehicular objects, 15 (8.6%) were burns, 41 (23.6%) were from falls and 19 (10.9%) poisoning. Those who were treated as outpatients were 141 (81.0%) and 25 (14.4%) were admitted for inpatient care. About ninety four percent (94.3%) of the children had no significant effect or disability, 3.4% had short-term disability while 2.3% had long term disabilities or died post-injury. There was no statistically significant relationship between the age of the subjects, gender, duration of the injury prior to presentation and the educational status of their care givers with the pattern of the injury.Conclusion: This study showed that 81% (141) of the children studied were treated as outpatients, 56.9% were by vehicular objects, 62.1% were in males and the pattern of injuries were not related to age, gender, educational status of care givers, place or time of injuries. There is need to incorporate these findings in the provision of preventive messages in school health services and in the interventions targeting the safety of children against injuries. Further studies to identify risk factors and plan necessary interventions will also be necessary.Keywords: Predictors, unintentional, childhood injuries, emergency departments, out-patient, tertiary health centre

Pulse processing in optical fibers using the temporal Radon-Wigner transform

It is presented the use of the temporal Radon-Wigner transform (RWT), which is the squared modulus of the fractional Fourier transform (FRT) for a varying fractional order p, as a processing tool for pulses with FWHM of ps-tens of ps. For analysis purposes, the complete numerical generation of the RWT with 0 < p < 1 is proposed to select a particular pulse shape related to a determined value of p. To this end, the amplitude and phase of the signal to be processed are obtained using a pulse characterization technique. To synthesize the processed pulse, the selected FRT irradiance is optically produced employing a photonic device that combines phase modulation and dispersive transmission. The practical implementation of this device involves a scaling factor that depends on the modulation and dispersive parameters. It is explored the variation of this factor in order to obtain an enhancement of the particular characteristic sought in the pulse to be synthesized. To illustrate the implementation of the proposed method, numerical simulations of its application to compress signals commonly found in fiber optic transmission systems, are performed. The examples presented consider chirped Gaussian pulses and pulses distorted by group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation.Facultad de Ingenierí