STUDIES ON THE ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTICORROSIVE PROPERTIES OF SYNTHESIZED HYBRID POLYURETHANE COMPOSITES FROM CASTOR SEED OIL

Castor seed oil (Ricinus communis) is a prominent feed stock towards the generation of renewable materials for industrial production. The reach presence of ricinoleic fatty acid at 87.5% provides pendant hydroxyl functional groups, which is an essential site for chemical formulations. This paper presents the synthesis, characterization, and evaluations on antibacterial and anticorrosive activities of synthesized hybrid composites from Ricinus communis seed oil. N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy ethyl)-12-hydroxy Ricinus communis oil fatty amide (HERCA) was synthesized via aminolysis polyol formation route. Upon reacting HERCA with succinic acid at a high temperature of about 145 ºC, a polyesteramide (RCPEA) was formed. This ester product undergoes urethanation and subsequently interfaced with modified hybrid material. The synthesized composites were characterized using spectroscopic methods such as FTIR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Selected physicochemical parameters were also carried out on the products. Coating performance on cured resins was examined

Elucidation of Bioactive Compounds in Methanol Extract of Mitracarpus Vilosus Leaf using GC-MS analysis

Mitracarpus vilosus is widely used among the indegenes of Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State for the treatment of skin lesions. This study elucidated the phytochemical constituents in 80% methanolic leaf extract of Mitracarpus vilosus. Phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses were carried out on the leaf extract. The qualitative analyses showed the presence of the following phytochemicals, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, cardiac glycosides and steroids. The phytochemical screen did not reveal any flavonoids. However, Squalene 14.27%, n-Hexadecanoic acid 11.60%, 2-Octylcyclopropene-1-heptanol 8.43%, Octadecanoic acid 5.45%, 1,4-Naphthalenedione 3.19% were the first five major bioactive compounds revealed by GC-MS in the leaf extract. The results of this study validated the bioactive constituents in Mitracarpus vilosus which may be the justification for its use for the treatment of skin lesions and other ailments. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-14-04 Publication date:July 31st 202

Semi analytic method for solving infectious disease model

In this paper, we present a deterministic model that captures the essential dynamics of infectious diseases. Differential Transform Method (DTM) is applied to attempt the series solution of the model. The efficiency of the DTM in solving the model is confirmed by classical fourth-order Runge-Kutta method implemented in Maple 18. The comparisons between the DTM and Runge-Kutta (RK4) solutions were made and there exists positive correlation between the results obtained by the two methods. The outcome of comparison between the DTM and RK4 validates the potential of the DTM in coping with the analysis of modern epidemics

INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEED VIGOUR TRAITS AND FIELD PERFORMANCE IN NEW RICE FOR AFRICA (NERICA) GENOTYPES (Oryza sativa L.)

The study was conducted to examine the relationships between seed vigour traits and field performancein 24 interspecific rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes specifically for Africa. Seeds of these genotypeswere evaluated in the late cropping season of 2003 and early cropping season of year 2004 inthe laboratory for seed vigour traits. Field performances were evaluated at the Teaching and ResearchFarm, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria for field performance traits. Data were collectedfrom the laboratory studies on six seed vigour traits while seven performance traits were assessed onthe field. The data were subjected to Pearson’s correlation to compute correlation coefficient (r) andstep-wise multiple regression analysis to determine percentage contribution of each trait to field emergence.The results of correlation analyses in the 2003, 2004 and across the two seasons revealed thatstandard germination, energy of germination, seedling vigour index-11, seedling vigour index-1 andspeed of germination index exhibited significant positive relationships with field emergence, seedlingestablishment, plant height, seedling dry weight and seed yield/plant. 100- seed weight significantcorrelation with plant height. From these results, all the laboratory seed vigour traits examined except100 seed weight were identified to be good predictors of field performance in NERICA rice. Regressionanalysis ranked speed of germination index as the major contributor to field emergence, accountingfor 58% of the total variation. Also, seedling establishment, standard germination and field emergencewere identified as the major contributors to seed yield/plant, accounting for 79, 77 and 66% ofthe total variation in seed yield/plant. Hence, prediction of field emergence and seed yield of NERICArice genotypes from seed vigour traits in the laboratory is possible and was effective

NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF VOLTERRA INTEGRO-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS BY AKBARI-GANJI’S METHOD

In this study, Akbari-Ganji’s Method (AGM) was applied to solve Volterra Integro-Differential Difference Equations (VIDDE) using Legendre polynomials as basis functions. Here, a trial solution function of unknown constants that conform with the differential equations together with the initial conditions were assumed and substituted into the equations under consideration. The unknown coefficients are solved for using the new proposed approach, AGM which principally involves the application of the boundary conditions on successive derivatives and integrals of the problem to obtain a system of equations. The system of equation is solved using any appropriate computer software, Maple 18. Some examples were solved and the results compared to the exact solutions

Elucidation of Phytochemicals in Mitracarpus Vilosus Flower Extract using GC-MS

Mitracarpus villosus which belongs to the family of Rubiaceae is one of the important medicinal plants widely known for its broad spectrum of pharmacological activities and biological uses which includes antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-ulcer, and antibacterial activities amongst others. It is used in the treatment of various ailments such as ulcers, and skin-related infections like dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, and acne. This study elucidated the phytochemical properties of Mitracarpus villosus flower. This was achieved through the methanolic extraction of M. villosus flower, and further phytochemical analysis of the methanol extract such as the tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, and cardiac glucoside contents. Moreso, the use of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS) technique was employed on the methanolic extract to isolate and characterize the different bioactive compounds present and to further validate the qualitative data obtained from the phytochemical analysis. Results obtained exhibited the presence of tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, and cardiac glucoside, with a noticeable absence of terpenoids. Also, the GC-MS analysis showed spectra of 52 bioactive compounds present in the extract with five specific compounds having the highest composition such as oleic acid (14.76%), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (11.25%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.92%), octadecanoic acid (9.21%), and squalene (8.87%) having the highest composition. The presence of these phytochemicals with their numerous biological activities in the methanolic extract of M. vilosus flower makes it a promising pharmaco-therapeutic agent, and thus should be employed in medicine for the treatment of diseases and also as an active agent in the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical industries. Keywords: Mitracarpus vilosus flower, Phytochemicals, Methanol extracts, GC-MS DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/12-14-05 Publication date:July 31st 202

Antiparasitic Activities of Compounds Isolated from Aspergillus fumigatus Strain Discovered in Northcentral Nigeria

This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial and Anti-infective Activity of Natural Products. The authors are grateful to the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future board for their financial support in conducting the present study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Studies on the Antibacterial and Anticorrosive Properties of Synthesized Hybrid Polyurethane composites from Castor Seed Oil

Castor seed oil (Ricinus communis) is a prominent feed stock towards the generation of renewable materials for industrial production. The reach presence of ricinoleic fatty acid at 87.5% provides pendant hydroxyl functional groups, which is an essential site for chemical formulations. This paper presents the synthesis, characterization, and evaluations on antibacterial and anticorrosive activities of synthesized hybrid composites from Ricinus communis seed oil. N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy ethyl)-12-hydroxy Ricinus communis oil fatty amide (HERCA) was synthesized via aminolysis polyol formation route. Upon reacting HERCA with succinic acid at a high temperature of about 145 oC, a polyesteramide (RCPEA) was formed. This ester product undergoes urethanation and subsequently interfaced with modified hybrid material. The synthesized composites were characterized using spectroscopic methods such as FT- IR, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. Selected physicochemical parameters were also carried out on the products. Coating performance on cured resins was examined

A Wireless Sensor Network Border Monitoring System: Deployment Issues and Routing Protocols

External border surveillance is critical to the security of every state and the challenges it poses are changing and likely to intensify. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are a low cost technology that provide an intelligence-led solution to effective continuous monitoring of large, busy and complex landscapes. The linear network topology resulting from the structure of the monitored area raises challenges that have not been adequately addressed in the literature to date. In this paper, we identify an appropriate metric to measure the quality of WSN border crossing detection. Furthermore, we propose a method to calculate the required number of sensor nodes to deploy in order to achieve a specified level of coverage according to the chosen metric in a given belt region, while maintaining radio connectivity within the network. Then, we contribute a novel cross layer routing protocol, called Levels Division Graph (LDG), designed specifically to address the communication needs and link reliability for topologically linear WSN applications. The performance of the proposed protocol is extensively evaluated in simulations using realistic conditions and parameters. LDG simulation results show significant performance gains when compared to its best rival in the literature, Dynamic Source Routing (DSR). Compared to DSR, LDG improves the average end-to-end delays by up to 95%, packet delivery ratio by up to 20%, and throughput by up to 60%, while maintaining comparable performance in terms of normalized routing load and energy consumption

Creating a web-based electronic tool to aid tuberculosis (TB) cluster investigation: data integration in TB surveillance activities in the United Kingdom, 2013 to 2016.

Molecular technology to identify relatedness between Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates, representative of possible tuberculosis (TB) transmission between individuals, continues to evolve. At the same time, tools to utilise this information for public health action to improve TB control should also be implemented. Public Health England developed the Strain Typing Module (STM) as an integral part of the web-based surveillance system used in the United Kingdom following the roll-out of prospective 24 loci mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) strain typing. The creation of such a system required data integration and linkage, bringing together laboratory results and patient notification information. The STM facilitated widespread access to patient strain typing and clustering results for the public health community working in TB control. In addition, the system provided a log of cluster review and investigation decision making and results. Automated real-time data linkage between laboratory and notification data are essential to allow routine use of genotyping results in TB surveillance and control. Outputs must be accessible by those working in TB control at a local level to have any impact in ongoing public health activity