Technical Efficiency and its Determinants in Water Melon Production in Borno State, Nigeria

This Study examined technical Efficiency of Watermelon in Borno State, Nigeria. Primary data collected through the use of structured questionnaire from 120 randomly selected watermelon farmers from six (6) villages in the two local government areas were used. Stochastic frontier production function was used to analyze the technical efficiencies of watermelon farmers. The results of the stochastic frontier function analyses revealed a mean technical efficiencies levels of 86%, implying that there was scope for increasing efficiencies by 14%. The main sources of technical inefficiencies were years of farming experience, extension contact, membership of cooperative societies, amount of credit obtained and educational level. The study recommends that extension contact, years of cooperative membership and access to credit were the sources of the inefficiencies and should be addressed through adequately trained and equipped extension workers, right use of credit facilities and the formation of cooperative societies and making membership a condition for microcredit benefit

Kinematic Modelling of FES Induced Sit-to-stand Movement in Paraplegia

FES induced movements from indication is promising due to encouraging results being obtained by scholars. The kinematic model usually constitute the initial phase towards achieving the segmental dynamics of any rigid body system. It can be used to ascertain that the model is capable of achieving the desired goal. The dynamic model builds on the kinematic model and is usually mathematically cumbersome depending on the number of degrees-of-freedom. This paper presents a kinematic model applicable for human sit-to-stand movement scenario that will be used to obtain the dynamic model the FES induced movement in a later study. The study shows that the 6 DOF conceptualized sit-to-stand movement can be achieved conveniently using 4 DOF. The 4 DOF has an additional joint compared to similar earlier works which makes more it accurate and flexible. It is more accurate in the sense that it accommodates additional joint i.e. the neck joint whose dynamics could be captured. And more flexible in the sense that if future research uncover more contributions by the segments it can be easily incorporated including that of other segments e.g. the trunk, neck and upper limbs

Relative Contribution of Different Upper Glycolytic Components in the Maintenance of the Retinal Vascular Endothelial Cell Barrier

Introduction: Damage to the retinal vascular endothelium is implicated in the progression of retinal degenerative diseases, including diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME). The retinal endothelial cells constitute the inner blood-retinal barrier (iBRB), and disruption of this barrier allows for the dysregulation of fluid and solute passage into the retina. Moreover, under normal physiological conditions, glycolytic metabolism is critical to the functioning of endothelial cells and maintenance of the iBRB. Conversely, in hyperglycemic environments, unregulated glycolytic metabolism leads to a buildup of glycolytic intermediates, which is thought to contribute to disruption of the iBRB and is associated with retinal cell damage and neovascularization. However, the metabolic mechanisms underlying these processes remain unclear. In this study, we looked to further characterize the roles of upper glycolytic enzymes, those involved in the ATP consumption phase of glycolysis, in the maintenance of the iBRB. Methods: Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technology was used to assess in real-time the role of different glycolytic enzymes in maintaining the barrier functionality of human retinal endothelial cells (HREC). Furthermore, the endothelial cellular viability was assessed through lactate dehydrogenase cytotoxicity assay following 24h, 48h, and 72h time intervals. Results: Inhibition with heptelidic acid (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GA3PDH) inhibitor) significantly reduced the resistance (R) and thus the integrity of the HREC barrier at concentrations of 1.0 μM and 10 μM. PFK158 (phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK1) inhibitor) also significantly reduced R, but only at a concentration of 10 μM. Similarly, administration of PFK158 reduced HREC viability throughout all three time intervals (24h, 48h, and 72h) at a concentration of 10 μM. However, administration of heptelidic acid showed reduced HREC viability only at the 72h time interval, but also at a concentration of 10 μM. The other inhibitors tested did not demonstrate significant reduction in resistance of the HREC barrier or in cellular viability. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the differential roles of glycolytic enzymes in maintaining the barrier functionality of HRECs. We specifically showed that the functions of GA3PDH and PFK-1 are the most important components in regulating HREC barrier integrity. These observed differences are significant since they could serve as the basis for future pharmacological and gene expression studies aiming to improve the activity of GA3PDH and PFK1 and thereby provide avenues for therapeutic modalities in endothelial-associated retinal diseases

Comparative analysis on the effect of heavy metals: a case study of selected states in Nigeria

In the toxicological aspect, uncontrolled amount of heavy metals is deadly, to the environment and its inhabitants. To complicate issues, reviewed work has revealed that technological advancement is one of the key sources of heavy metals. This can lead to outbreak of diseases, decrease of life span, cancer, and other related effects. Providing sustainable environment, the concentration of these metals need to be periodically regulated. This research studies the effect of some selected heavy metals (Fe, Cd, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, Zn and Mn) in Kano State Nigeria, using Atomic Absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The results were compared with other related work conducted in some states across Nigeria (Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Kaduna, and Bauchi States) and standard international values (WHO, FAO, SEPA and US EPA). The parameters analysed were; Concentration, Bioaccumulation (Plant concentration factor –PCF), Transfer factor (TF), Daily Intake of Metals (DIM), and Health Risk Index (HRI). Statistical package (SPSS) was used, to establish the relationship between these metals in all the sites. The result showed that there were substantial absorption of these metals by the plants and the consumers. Children were more exposed than adults in terms of DIM and the HRI. The comparison showed sequential order in the parameters investigated. All the biological samples exhibited Phytoremediation quality with the TF>1, this will aid in having sustainable environment to the resident and citizen of the state in particular and the nation in general, as well as serving as an impetus for the initiation of safe comprehensive remedy of the subject matter. The PCF for all the samples varied across states and plants.Keywords: AAS, Adults, ANOVA. Children, Concentration, DIM, HRI, PCF, Phytoremediatio

Design and Implementation of Iris Pattern Rec-ognition Using Wireless Network System

Abstract The goal of this paper is to propose a fast and accurate iris pattern recognition system by using wireless network system. This paper consists of three parts: the first part includes two methods of the iris pattern recognition system: Libor Masek and genetic algorithms, the second part includes the compression-decompression process of iris image using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as a data reduction method, in order to reduce image size, and the third part talks about wireless network. In this work, an iris image is transferred across wireless network which contains two independent-parallel lines connected to the central Personal Computer (PC) in order to be recognized at the end of each line, then the results of recognition are sent back to the central PC. The proposed genetic algorithm, which is used in this paper is more accurate than Masek algorithm and has low computational time and complexity, which makes this method better than Masek method in recognizing iris patterns

Community pharmacists' management of minor ailments in developing countries: A systematic review of types, recommendations, information gathering and counselling practices

Aims: To conduct a systematic review of the management of minor ailments by community pharmacists in developing countries, and to identify the specific minor ailments encountered, the medications recommended or requested and the information gathering and counselling practices. Method: Observational studies from developing countries published in English language from inception to 2019 and report the management of minor ailments by community pharmacists were systematically searched in PubMed, ScienceDirect and Cochrane Library. Results: Thirty full-text studies, out of 7876 retrieved and screened, were included in the systematic review. Minor ailment-induced encounters by patients with community pharmacists are generally pervasive and involve mainly verbal request for specific medicines by name (60%). The most frequent minor ailments reported were respiratory, gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal conditions, and the most common medicines recommended or requested for were cough/cold preparations, antimotility and oral rehydration preparation, and analgesic/antipyretic. Inappropriate recommendation of antibiotics were reported for acute diarrhoea and cough/colds (40%) (10/25). Community pharmacists encountered 11-30 customers with minor ailments per day, with an average of about 4.8 (1.3-20.5) minutes per encounter. None of the studies reported the availability and/or use of a specific protocol to guide the management of minor ailments. There was wide variation in the type and depth of information gathered and used for the management of minor ailments; and the counselling information provided by community pharmacists, and there was no evidence of the documentation activities related to the management of minor ailments. Conclusions: Community pharmacists' encounter with and management of minor ailments appear extensive in developing countries and probably present an opportunity to contribute significantly to reduce disease burden and enhance public health. However, the management process is currently unstructured, unguided by a specific protocol and vary in the quality of recommendations, information gathering and counselling practices.Qatar National Research Fund, UREP24-147-3043; Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library

Production of Lettuce Edible Vaccine for Cholera Disease Using Chloroplast Genetic Engineering.

Lettuce is one of the most important edible plant worldwide. At the timethat lettuce isthe candidate plant to carry the foreign vaccine gene forhuman. The B subunits of toxin of Vibrio cholerae(CTB) are candidatevaccine antigens. This research was conduct to express CTB gene in lettucechloroplast. Genesrequired in this study were obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)technique using specific forward and reverse primers, and these genes wereCTB, BADH, prrnpromoter and many other regulatory genes. Some ofthese genes were isolated from their hosts and some were obtained fromprevious work available at Daniell laboratory. All these genes beside manytechniques for ligation, extension, sequencing, orientation confirmationwere used to construct the cassette vector pLS-BADH-LS-CTB whichcarries the gene of interest. In this work the CTB gene with BADH genewere transferred to the chloroplast of lettuce plant and selection oftransgenic plant was performed on the MS medium containing BA andNaCl without any antibiotic selectable marker. Integration of an unmodifiedCTB-coding sequence into chloroplast genomes (up to 1000 copies per cell)resulted in the accumulation of up to 6.2% of total soluble lettuce leavesprotein as functional oligomers (620-fold higher expression levels than thatof the unmodified CTB gene expressed via the nuclear genome). PCR andSouthern blot analyses confirmed stable integration of the CTB gene andBADH gene into the chloroplast genome in addition to the integration in theright orientation and in specific region between trnaI rnA.Western blotanalysis showed that the chloroplast synthesized CTB assembled intooligomers and were antigenically identical with purified native CT

Unraveling The Link Between Lymphopenia And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Implications For Disease Severity And Potential Treatment Strategies

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation that can potentially impact any body part. Lymphopenia, abnormal low lymphocyte numbers, are frequently observed in individuals with active SLE. This short review examines the correlation between lymphopenia and SLE. Databases of Scopus, PubMed, Elsevier, Wiley, and Google Scholar were searched for related publicationS. The results showed that lymphopenia is correlated with disease severity in SLE patients. The underlying mechanism is unclear, but it may be due to increased apoptosis of lymphocytes and the autoantibodies production that target lymphocyte surface receptors. Various therapies, including immunosuppressive, corticosteroids, and antiangiogenic agents, have been used for SLE management. However, their efficacy is varied in SLE patients with lymphopenia. These therapies may improve lymphocyte counts and disease vigorousity. Lymphopenia has been found to be linked with several factors in SLE patients, including lupus nephritis, higher steroid doses, cyclophosphamide uses and complement depletion. In SLE, abnormal angiogenesis has been linked to the disease pathogenesis. Thus, angiogenesis therapy for SLE selectively targeted the process of abnormal blood vessel growth that is associated with SLE. In summary, lymphopenia may serve as an indicator of disease severity, however, further studies are required to explore the efficacy of targeted and non-targeted therapies in managing SLE patients with lymphopenia

Improvement of Lactuca sativa slat Tolerance by Plastid Transformation with BADH Gene

Salinity is one of the major factors that limits geographical distribution of plants and adversely affects crop productivity and quality.Here high-level expression of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) was reported in cultured explantsof lettuce via plastid genetic engineering. Lettuce (Lactucasativa) plant was primarilyexperimented for tolerance of betaine aldehyde (BA) and soudium chloride(NaCl) by tissue culture technique and it was found that the wild typelettuce tolerated 10 and 75 mM from each substance respectively. Genesrequired in this study were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)technique using specific forward and reverse primers, and these genes wereBADH, prrn promoter and many other regulatory genes. Some ofthese genes were isolated from their hosts and some were obtained fromprevious work available at Daniell laboratory. All these genes beside manytechniques for ligation, extension, sequencing, orientation confirmationwere used to construct the cassette vector pLS-BADH-LS whichcarries the gene of interest. Homoplasmic transgenic plants exhibiting high levels of salt tolerance were regenerated from bombarded cell cultures via somatic embryogenesis. Transgenic lettuce plants expressing BADH grew in the presence of high concentrations of NaCl (up to 150mM), the highest level of salt tolerance reported so far among genetically modified lettuce, and the tolerance to betaine aldehyde was 30 mM

Enhancement of the Injection Grade Polypropylene using Extrusion Grade Polypropylene and Calcium Carbonate

the invention provides for study properties of polypropylene (injection grade) / polypropylene (extrusion grade) blend filled with calcium carbonates. In four formulations of PP(Injection grade)/PP(Extrusion grade)) viz. 95/5, 90/10, 85/15 and 80/20 in ratio of weight percentage were prepared for injection molding machine. This PP(Injection grade)/PP(Extrusion grade) (80/20) blend was selected and investigated at different three fractions of calcium carbonate. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation test were investigated. The rheological properties such as melt flow index (MFI) and melt density were evaluated. The results indicated that incorporate calcium carbonate increase the (MFI), melt density and elongation decreased while increase the tensile strength. It was obtained that increase calcium carbonate content into PP(Injection grade)/PP(Extrusion grade) blends will increase the density. Taking into consideration, it was concluded that, the optimum composition provided the good mechanical, rheological properties and density is PP(Injection grade)/PP(Extrusion grade)/Calcium carbonate (80/20/22.5) wt%