Isolation and Characterization of Photorhabdus Spp. (Enterobacteriaceae) Isolated From Heterorhabditis Bacteriophora in Kashere, Nigeria

Photorhabdus bacteria are symbiotically associated with the infective juveniles of entomopathogenic nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis. These bacteria after infecting a susceptible host, produces a host of lethal toxins that killthe insect hosts within 24 to 72 hours. Consequently they have emerged and are trending as excellent biological control agents against insect pests of agricultural crops. Therefore, this study aim to isolate, identify and test the pathogenicity of Photorhabdus bacteria isolated from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, entomopathogenic nematode from Kashere, Gombe State, Nigeria. To this end phenotypic and biochemical tests were conducted. The tests conducted showed that the isolate exhibited characteristics similar to those of Photorhabdus bacteria that have been identified. Last instar larvae of G. mellonella exposed to different concentrations of the bacterial isolate showed some level of susceptibility of the larvae to the bacterial isolate confirming its biological control potential

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil

Efforts have been made worldwide to find alternative fluids for industrial applications. Vegetable oil appears to be a perfect alternative, but using most of the vegetable oil as a feedstock made its use for industrial purposes challenging. The recent trend is to develop coolants/lubricants from non-edible seed oil. This work investigates the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on viscosity of transesterified neem oil. The crude neem oil was purified, transesterified and nanoparticles were dispersed in the transesterified oil at concentrations ranging from 0.0% to 1.0% at 0.2% intervals. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra were used to examine the structures of the samples and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to examine the surface morphology of the samples. Viscosity were examined. Among other things, it was found that a small amount of ZnO (0.6%) nanoparticles in the oil could improve the viscosity of the fluid. The nanoliquid with a ZnO concentration of 0.6% appears to have optimal properties

Mapping the Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities on Vegetation in the Area Councils of FCT using Remote Sensing

Globally, amongst all the factors threatening the existence of landcover in the biosphere, agriculture and urbanization plays the most potent role aside from the natural factor of climate. The study examines the effect of human factors on vegetal cover and identifies the drivers of the changes within the area councils of the FCT over a period of three decades. The need to conserve limited natural resources is threaten by the effect of increased population and their continuous anthropogenic activities on this limited resource, thus the vegetation cover which represents an important natural resource for both humans and other species is lost due to reckless and unsustainable usage. Using geospatial techniques, the magnitude of human activities of development is assessed as it affects vegetation cover. The results of the analysis show a tremendous impact of anthropogenic activities as the landcover continue to deplete from 1987 – 2016. Human impacts were identified as the major driver of vegetal cover change in all area councils as it increases from 11510.89km2 to 85563.01km2 in AMAC, 765.55km2 to 82820.74km2 in Gwagwalada, 1621.73km2 to 54267km2 in Kwali, 1259.49km2 to 4985.56km2 in Abaji, 6621.80km2 to 34295.20km2 in Kuje and 15678.82km2 to 24925.94km2 in Bwari.The study recommends that continuous inventory of human impacts should be carried out to check mate the unsustainable management practices of human induced activities in the study area. It concludes that anthropogenic activities are on the rise thus measures should be taken to mitigate its effects to ensure better environmental sustainability

Improving the bending strength of porcelain by replacement of quartz by Rice Husk Ash (RHA)

This study develops the bending strength of porcelain ceramics by substitution of quartz by rice husk ash (RHA) at various temperatures. Rice husk ash was used as a substitute for quartz with different replacement levels (0 to 25 wt%) to produce porcelain at different temperatures; 1000℃, 1100℃, 1200℃,1300℃. The properties of the samples such as, bending strengthand XRD were analyzed. It was observed that progressive substitution of quartz by RHA in a porcelain composition and increase in temperature resulted in early vitrification of the mixture. The bending strength was the highest when the porosity was the least at a temperature of 1200℃ on 20 wt% substitution of RHA. Furthermore, microstructural observations show that the grain size depends on the temperature, the substitution and is directly related to its bending strength

In Vitro Assessment of anti plasmodial activity of Albizia chevalieri extracts against Plasmodium falciparum

Medicinal plants play a key role in malaria control in Africa, especially in remote areas where health facilities are limited. This study was carried out with the aim to investigate the anti plasmodial activity of Albizia chevalieri against Plasmodium falciparum. The three aerial parts of Albizia chevalieri were extracted using methanol via maceration process. Anti plasmodial assay was carried out in duplicate in the 96-well microtitre plate. The anti Plasmodial activity of A. chevalieri methanolic extracts observed in this study may be attributed to the presence of some bioactive compounds. The effect of A. chevalieri methanolic extracts and reference drugs showed a decrease in percentage parasitaemia with increasing concentration. With regard to concentrations administered, a dose-dependent antimalarial activity was clearly shown for crude extract, isolates and the reference drugs. Artemether, the root isolate and leaf isolate exhibited a remarkable antiplasmodial activity. Root, leaf extracts and the pure isolates when compared with the standard drug that has the highest percentage inhibition shows no significance difference at (P>0.05). However, when compared with the other drugs such as Chloroquine, Quinine shows a significance percentage inhibition difference at (P>0.05). Considering the inhibitory effect of A. chevalieri methanol extracts on the growth of P. falciparum as reported in this study, it is concluded that the anti plasmodial activity of the plant on P. falciparum suggests its potency in the treatment of malaria infection. Further study on this plant is on-going to isolate, identify and characterize the bioactive compounds from this plant responsible for this bioactivity, and also to carry- out the drug synthesis