Hypolipidemic activity of an aqueous extract of Morinda citrifolia fruit in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

This study was undertaken to investigate the hypolipidemic activity of Morinda citrifolia fruit extract. Aqueous extract of M. citrifolia in concentrations ranging from 0.25 g/kg (low dose), 0.50 g/kg (medium dose) and 1.00 g/kg (high dose) were orally administered on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats for 6 weeks. The hypolipidemic effect of M. citrifolia extract in rats was determined by measuring the total lipid, total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in blood (plasma) and liver tissue. The administration of medium dose of M. citrifolia extract had significantly (p <0.05) reduced the cholesterol content in blood and liver of normal rats as compared to the normal control rats. For the diabetic rats, the administration of medium and high doses of M. citrifolia extracts successfully reduced the plasma triglyceride level significantly (p <0.05) as compared to diabetic control rats. The concentration of triglyceride and total lipid in the liver were also decreased significantly (p <0.05) in the diabetic rats which had received high dose of M. citrifolia extract as compared to control rats. Results showed that M. citrifolia exhibits the potential in lowering the concentration of certain lipid components in blood and tissue of experimental rats

Hypoglycemic activity of Morinda citrifolia extract in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

The hypoglycemic activity of Morinda citrifolia extract was tested through an acute and subchronic study. In the acute study, a single dose of M. citrifolia extract (0.25 g/kg) was orally administered to normal and diabetic rats for an oral glucose tolerance test. In the subchronic study, an aqueous extract of M. citrifolia in concentrations of 0.25 g/kg (low dose), 0.50 g/kg (medium dose) and 1.0 g/kg (high dose) of body weight were orally administered to normal and diabetic rats for 6 weeks. Glibenclamide, a reference drug was also orally administered to the diabetic rats at a dosage of 5 mg/kg for both studies. In the acute hypoglycemic study, the blood glucose level in normal and diabetic rats did not change significantly as compared to their relative controls. A similar result was also observed in the glibenclamide-treated rats. In the subchronic study, blood glucose levels were reduced significantly (p <0.05) in normal and diabetic rats at medium (0.5 g/kg) and high (1.0 g/kg) dose of M. citrifolia extracts as compared to the controls. Supplementation of glibenclamide also reduced the glucose level significantly (p <0.05) in diabetic rats

Cellular automata model for pedestrian evacuation in fire spreading conditions

In this paper, a two-dimensional cellular automata model presented to simulate pedestrians evacuation in fire spreading conditions.In this proposed model, the movement of pedestrians is represented as “chaotic”, mimicking panic egress behaviors during a fire evacuation.This model includes a fire circular front shape based on the spiral movement technique. Simulation results show that this model can be used to predict the number of pedestrians who have evacuated safely or have been killed

The Impact of collaborative Knowledge and Organizational Memory on the Quality of the Managerial Decisions in the Libraries of Jordanian Public Universities

This study aimed to discuss the importance of the collaborative knowledge and organizational knowledge and their ability to maintain the performance of the library that is based on the experience, knowledge and making strategic decisions. In addition to specifying the required knowledge sharing, applying and evaluating it in order that the library obtain a permanent competitive advantage, through its contribution to enable the library to adopt further innovations represented in new goods and services. The process of collaborative knowledge is considered the tool of the library for intellectual capital investment, by making access to knowledge generated for other people in need easy and possible. The quality of managerial decisions depends on the concentration on adopting correct and appropriate choices, generated through making knowledge and developing networks linking employees to share knowledge. The study has focused on the discussion of the impact of collaborative knowledge and organizational memory on the quality of the decisions taken at the university libraries, and by identifying the impact libraries could identify strengths and weaknesses in sharing knowledge between employees engaged in the library. So trying to enhance the strengths and developing it to increase the efficiency of employees and achieving competitive advantage. The researcher has adopted the descriptive analytical approach in data collection, analysis and reaching to the results. Based on the results of the study it has been recommended that the departments and decision-makers in university libraries in Jordan should identify impediments to the process of applying the active participation of knowledge, and work to reduce them in order to achieve its goals and enhance its competitive position. Keywords: collaborative Knowledge, Memory, Quality, Managerial Decisions, Libraries, Universities

Case report of homozygous E200D mutation of PRNP in apparently sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Background: Inherited prion diseases are rare autosomal dominant disorders associated with diverse clinical presentations. All are associated with mutation of the gene that encodes prion protein (PRNP). Homozygous mutations with atypical clinical phenotypes have been described but are extremely rare. Case presentation: A Chinese patient presented with a rapidly progressive cognitive and motor disorder in the clinical spectrum of sCJD. Investigations strongly suggested a diagnosis of CJD. He was found to carry a homozygous mutation at PRNP codon 200 (E200D), but there was no known family history of the disorder. The estimated allele frequency of E200D in East Asian populations is incompatible with it being a highly penetrant mutation in the heterozygous state. Conclusion: In our view the homozygous PRNP E200D genotype is likely to be causal of CJD in this patient. Homotypic PrP interactions are well known to favour the development of prion disease. The case is compatible with recessively inherited prion disease

Behavior of thin-walled tubes with combined cross-sectional geometries under oblique loading

Hollow tubes are the most important part of any structure because of their load-bearing capacity, lightweight and inexpensive manufacturing cost. One of the methods for improving the performance under quasi-static loading is to vary the cross-sectional shapes. In the real case, structures are seldom subjected to pure axial or pure bending rather they are subjected to a combination of two load cases i.e. oblique loading. In this paper, the circular cross-section was combined with four different polygonal cross-sections namely tetragon, hexagon, octagon and decagon and a total of 13 geometries were obtained. The buckling behavior of each tube was investigated numerically at various angles of inclination. Each tube was modeled in SOLIDWORKS and then was analyzed in ANSYS. Linear buckling code was used for finding the critical load at various angles ranging from 0° to 14°. The overall result was then compared and it was found that the proposed geometry can be a good alternative over conventional circular tubes in terms of load-bearing capacity at angular load

Acute and subchronic toxicity studies of an aqueous extract of Morinda citrifolia fruit in rats

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the toxicity of an aqueous extract Morinda citrifolia fruit on Sprague-Dawley male rats through acute (LD50) and subchronic studies. In the LD50 test, rats were given three dosages of M. citrifolia extracts (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 g/kg of body weight). They were observed for any toxic signs, especially death for the first 24 hours and continued up to 14 days. In the subchronic study, effects of M. citrifolia extracts in rats (0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 g/kg of body weight) were determined for 6 weeks by measuring the blood biochemical parameters such as plasma glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine and enzymes (aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase and γ glutamyl transferase)

Effects of milling methods on tensile properties of polypropylene / oil palm mesocarp fibre biocomposite

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of milling methods on tensile properties of polypropylene (PP) / oil palm mesocarp fibre (OPMF) biocomposites. Two types of mills were used; Wiley mill (WM) and disc mill (DM). Ground OPMF from each milling process was examined for its particle size distribution and aspect ratio by sieve and microscopic analyses, respectively. Results showed that DM-OPMF had smaller diameter fibre with uniform particle size compared to the WM-OPMF. Surface morphology study by SEM showed that DM-OPMF had rougher surface compared to WM-OPMF. Furthermore, it was found that PP/DM-OPMF biocomposite had higher tensile strength compared to PP/WM-OPMF, with almost two-fold. Thus, it is suggested that small diameter and uniform size fibre may improve stress transfer and surface contact between the fibre and polymer matrix and cause welldispersion of filler throughout the polymer resulted in better tensile strength of PP/DM-OPMF compared to PP/WM-OPMF biocomposite. Overall, it can be concluded that disc milling could serve as a simple and effective grinding method for improving the tensile properties of biocomposite

Two-dimensional cellular automation model to simulate pedestrian evacuation under fire-spreading conditions

A pedestrian evacuation under fire-spreading conditions is simulated by using a two-dimensional cellular automaton model.The proposed model presents a non-static fire-spreading behavior to avoid considerable discrepancies between reality and simulation.The proposed model adopts a circular fire front shape based on spiral fire movement.Moreover, four dynamic parameters are introduced to simplify the decision-making process of a pedestrian’s movement inside the layout during fire spreading.In addition, the proposed model includes the number of victims (i.e., caught in the fire) and the number of pedestrians who were evacuated safely.By analyzing these variables, a suitable evacuation plan enabling the control of crowd movements in different situations such as fire disasters can be consequently designed