A Note on the Multiplicity of Solutions of a Boundary Value Problem Arising From the Theory of Microwave Heating of Cancerous Tumor.

This paper investigates the multiplicity of solutions of a boundary value problem arising from the theory ofmicrowave heating of cancerous tumor. It is shown that the problem has two solutions. However,prescribing an initial gradient results in the existence of a unique solution.Keywords: Cancer, Heating, Hyperthermia, Multiplicity, Tumo

Participation and Hindrances to Students’ Recreation at Selected Universities in Ondo State, Nigeria

Recreation has several benefits, one of which is the health advantage that it brings to those who engage in it. Apart from being beneficial to health, one of the other benefits is in connection with good academic performance that it stimulates. This study focused on three selected public universities in Ondo State, Nigeria. It investigates the availability of recreational facilities, students' level of participation in recreational activities, and hindrances to students’ recreational participation in the selected universities. A purposive sample of 300 students was adopted and disaggregated into 106, 139 and 55 for the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), and Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OSUSTECH) respectively, using the relative population of students in the three universities. Data acquisition instruments included a questionnaire, interview and observation. The questionnaire administration involved a multi-stage sampling procedure that cumulated in obtaining data from the final-year students of each university's faculties and departments. Findings revealed that students' participation in recreation was at low ebb in the three universities with varying degrees of hindrances to participation across the institutions. Poor or absent facilities were the most dominant hindrance to recreation. The worst case was in OSUSTECH where the school authority did not provide any recreational facility on campus. Recommendations include sensitization programs to enlighten students on the need for recreation and the benefits of same to their health and educational pursuit; and upscaling of recreational facilities in the studied institutions

Potential of replacing pawpaw fruit and leaves with cabbage peels as a natural feedstuff in the diet of Achatina achatina linne (African giant land snail)

An experiment was carried out to assess the growth performance of African Giant Land Snail Achatina achatina Linnie fed with three natural feedstuff; pawpaw fruit, pawpaw leaves and cabbage leaves. A total of 24 growing snails of approximately one year old were used for the study. These were randomly divided into six groups and then allotted into the three experimental diets, arranged in a completely randomised design (CRD) order. Dry matter intakes of feed being served every other days, weight gain and size increase of snails were assessed fortnightly. The results showed that pawpaw leaf is higher in protein than cabbage leaf and pawpaw fruit. However, cabbage leaf contains some essential mineralelements, which are useful in body building than the other two feedstuffs. It also showed that snails fed with cabbage leaves had the highest dry matter intake and weight gain of 14.2 and 18.6 g, respectively.Highest shell length and circumference increase of 0.3 and 0.6 cm were obtained in pawpaw fruit and pawpaw leaf respectively. Although there was no significance difference (p > 0.05) in the weight gain ofsnails fed with pawpaw fruit and cabbage leaves, cabbage leaf seems to be richer in protein and other essential mineral elements than pawpaw fruit. It was therefore concluded that cabbage leaf could serve as a good substitute for pawpaw fruit and leaves, which hitherto were known as the preferred natural feedstuff of snails

Bankfull curves for the temperate rainforests in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina

Bankfull hydraulic geometry relationships, also called regional curves, relate bankfull stream channel dimensions and discharge to watershed drainage area. This paper describes results of bankfull curve relationships developed for the temperate rainforests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains primarily on Western North Carolina Mountain streams in the Southeastern United States. Gauge stations for small and larger catchments were selected with a range of 10 to 50 years of continuous or peak discharge measurements, no major impoundments, no significant change in land use over the past 10 years, and impervious cover ranges of <20%. Cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys were measured at each study reach to determine channel dimension, pattern, and profile information. Log-Pearson Type III distributions were used to analyze annual peak discharge data for nine small watersheds sites gauged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and for eleven larger watersheds gauged by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Power function relationships were developed using regression analyses for bankfull discharge, channel cross-sectional area, mean depth, and width as functions of watershed drainage area

A SMART SYSTEM FOR MONITORING OIL PIPELINE INSTALLATIONS USING FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

Oil Pipeline installations are national infrastructures of high economic value. This makes monitoring and protection of such installations against the threat of economic saboteurs a national issue for any government. In this paper, a system for smart monitoring of oil pipeline using optical fiber cable is presented as a solution to the inadequacy of the traditional human and/or animal physical monitoring. The designed system employs fiber optic as sensor laid along the oil pipeline installation and a software that analyses the optical signal generated to determine the occurrence of threat to the installations. The smart system takes advantage of the effect of environmental phenomenon on optical signal traversing the optical fiber sensor in the automated monitoring of oil pipeline installations. On the basis of the mathematical relationship between light intensity and applied pressure, the system is able to determine (against a pre-set threshold), an attempt or the actual vandalization of oil pipeline installation

Blindness in Tuberous Sclerosis: A Case Report

Tuberous sclerosis (TS) is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with variable penetrance characterised by glial cell tumor which arises from the cerebral and the retina. Blindness in association with Tuberous sclerosis (TS) is rare. When visual loss occurs it may be associated with hamartomas from retinal or optic nerve involvement or from intracranial (brain) tumours that affect either the part of the brain that processes visual information or from optic nerve damage following raised intracranial pressure. Very few cases of TS with blindness have been reported globally. Deterioration in academic performance might be the first pointer to the visual impairment. We report a case of a 13 year old girl who presented with increasing number of facial rash over an 11 years period, recurrent headache and deteriorating academic performance of 1 year and loss of vision of 6 months with a recent episode of convulsion. Similar skin rashes without other associated symptoms were noticed on the mother and one of the younger siblings. She was a Tanner stage one in development. She had facial angio fibromas, shagreen patches over the left hypochondria, back regions and face. Ophthalmic evaluation showed a visual acuity of being able to count fingers at not more than one meter from the face and only perception of light in the right and left eye respectively, both eyes had brisk pupillary activities, good mydriasis and clear media. The retinal and optic nerve head appeared normal in the right eye whereas in the left eye was a huge tuberous hamartoma of the optic disc and macular as well as generalised vascular occlusion and subretinal fluid. The Computerized tomography (CT) scan showed an Intraventricular tumour, with calcification within the tumours and subependymal. There was associated obstructive hydrocephalus. Patient was managed by a multi disciplinary team of ophthalmologists, neurosurgeons and radiologists, coordinated by a paediatrician.Conclusion: The diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) was based on the lesions found on clinical examination, imaging, and pathologic studies. The blindness was multi-factorial in cause including intracranial, retinal and optic nerve tumours. Comprehensive medical history, detailed physical examinations and neuroimaging study are essential in making a diagnosis of TSC. Our patient was mis-diagnosed at various health facilities for many years. This delay in making appropriate diagnosis and instituting treatment could have contributed to the eventual outcome.Keywords: Tuberous Sclerosis, Blindness, Deteriorating Academic Performanc

Evaluation of the functional potential of Weissella and Lactobacillus isolates obtained from Nigerian traditional fermented foods and cow's intestine

The characterisation of 24 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates from Nigerian traditional fermented dairy foods, including some cow's intestine isolates, was conducted in order to select isolates for potential use as probiotics. LAB isolates were identified by partial sequencing the 16S rRNA gene as belonging to the species Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus brevis and mainly Weissella confusa. At the end of a characterisation process, 2 L. paracasei and 2 W. confusa isolates were selected, and their resistance to a simulated gastrointestinal digestion and their ability to adhere to eukaryotic cell lines were assessed. The survival to the simulated gastrointestinal passage was higher when bacterial suspensions were made in skimmed milk (2.0 ± 0.8 log units reduction) or at the simulated gastric juice pH 3 (2.7 ± 0.9 log units reduction) than at pH 2.0 (5.5 ± 0.7 log units reduction). Adhesion of LAB to both intestinal and vaginal epithelial models was comparable or higher than that of the reference Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG. However, some of the isolates increased the adhesion of the pathogen Escherichia coli LMG2092 to HT-29 and HeLa monolayers. Overall, isolates L. paracasei UI14 and W. confusa UI7 are good candidates for further studying potential benefits that support their use as probiotics. This is one of the few articles reporting the characterisation and the probiotic potential of Weissella, although more studies are needed in order to establish their safety for potential probiotic applications. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.This work was financed by FEDER funds (European Union) and the Spanish Plan Nacional de I + D+I through the project AGL2009-09445. Borja Sánchez was the recipient of a postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Peer Reviewe

Hydrogen peroxide and lime based oxidative pretreatment of wood waste to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis for a biorefinery: Process parameters optimization using response surface methodology

Response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted for the optimization of process variables in the alkaline peroxide oxidation (APO) pretreatment of Vitellaria paradoxa sawdust based on central composite design (CCD) experiments. A 23 five level CCD with central and axial points was used to develop a statistical model for the optimization of process variables. Maximum response for the pretreatment was obtained when applying the optimum values for temperature (150 �C), time (45 min), and 1% (v/v) H2O2. At the optimum conditions, up to 70% of the initial hemicellulose was removed in treatments, which also caused some delignification (up to 11% of the initial lignin was removed), whereas cellulose was almost quantitatively retained in the solid phase. Alkaline peroxide assisted wet air oxidation (APAWAO) pretreatment at the optimum conditions resulted in enrichment up to 60% cellulose content along with solubilization of 80% hemicellulose and 17% of lignin initially present in the raw sawdust. Reducing sugars yield after 72 h enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass at optimized APO conditions was 177.89 mg equivalent glucose g�1 dry biomass. Addition of 10 bar air pressure at the optimized pretreatment conditions increased the sugars yield to 263.49 mg equivalent glucose g�1 dry biomass

Survival during times of disruptions: rethinking strategies for enabling business viability in the developing economy

There exists a noticeable void in the literature about strategies that business operators, especially those in highly vulnerable economies, can adapt to sustain their survival and to achieve growth in economically turbulent times. This study investigated strategies that can support the viability and survival of businesses in times of environmental disruptions. The study adopted a qualitative research design that involved the interview of 31 business owners across different sectoral groups including fashion and telecommunication that are operating in Nigeria’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector. The interview sessions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. The findings reveal that amid disruptions, the business owners were resilient and established diverse digital strategies that helped them to keep their businesses afloat throughout the time of disruption. This finding contributes to the field of entrepreneurship as it offers practical strategies for supporting business owners during times of disruptions, especially in a developing country context