Comparison of mechanical properties of wheat and rice straw influenced by loading rates

This study investigates the comparison of mechanical properties of wheat and rice straw such as shear strength, specific shearing energy and cutting forces. The experiments were conducted at three loading rate of 15, 20 and 25 mm min-1 and three internode positions 70 (N1), 130 (N2) and 190 (N3) mm down from the ear. Results show that by increasing the loading rate, strength of wheat and rice straw changed from 8.12 to 22.94 and 6.06 to 14.33 MPa and specific shear energy was varied from 12.10 to 18.64 and 10.40 to 16.17 mJ mm-2, respectively. Moreover, the values of cutting forces of wheat and rice straw were within the ranges 13.23 to 19.50 and 9.40 to 16.70 N. Whereas the shear strength, specific shearing energy and cutting force were higher at higher loading rate at the third internode of both straw internode positions. The shear strength, specific shearing energy and cutting force of rice straw were significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of wheat straw. With respect to the findings of the present research study, it is concluded that with decreasing loading rate of cutting blade toward the first internode, more energy can be saved by harvesting and threshing machines.Keywords: Cutting force, rice straw, shear strength, specific shearing energy, wheat strawAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(10), pp. 1068-107

Several prognosis factors of severe pertussis in children treated at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital (2019-2020)

A prospective, descriptive study was conducted on 382 pediatric patients diagnosed with pertussis at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital over a two-year period, from January 1st, 2019, to December 31st, 2020. Of all patients participating in this study, children with severe conditions accounted for 30.1% (115/382). Several factors were found to be associated with the risk of this condition with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), including a decrease in the duration of the onset phase by 5 days [OR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.002-2.34], fever [2.49, 1.18-5.24], cyanosis [9.59, 2.9-31.7], pneumonia [14.45, 6.06-34.5], pulmonary hypertension [4.15, 1.02-16.83], an increase of 10 g/l in white blood cell (WBC) count in the full blood count (FBC) test [1.39, 1.05-1.84], a 5-cycle reduction in Cycle threshold (Ct) value in the pertussis real-time PCR test [1.36, 1.01-1.84], and superinfection [3.94, 1.84-8.48 times]. A WBC count in FBC of ≥30 g/l could be used as a prognostic factor for the risk of severe illness condition (sensitivity 46.1%, specificity 90.6%), the requirement for mechanical ventilation (sensitivity 57.1%, specificity 88.5%), and mortality (sensitivity 100%, specificity 91%)

Changes in the levels of immunological markers after treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis

Introduction: Monitoring changes in the levels of immune markers is of great significance in evaluating the effectiveness of treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis. Objectives: Determine the change in the concentration of immune markers after treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis caused by cotton dust. Methods : A descriptive, single-group, comparative before and after intervention study on 52 patients with allergic rhinitis caused by cotton dust. Comparison of immunological markers results before and after 36 months of treatment. Results: Total IgE concentration after treatment decreased, the median decreased from 1227.756 U/mL to 676.805 UI/mL. Serum levels of IgG, IgG4, and IgG1 in patients after treatment increased compared to before (p< 0.001). The cytokines also changed in the direction of no longer responding toward allergy. Median IL-17 decreased from 1.752 mg/dL to 0.417 mg/dL. Conclusion: In patients with allergic rhinitis after specific sublingual desensitization treatment, IgE levels and cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-17 are significantly reduced and IgG, IgG4 and IgG1 levels are increased after treatment

INDIGENOUS VESICULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI EFFECT ON MAIZE UNDER DIFFERENT TEXTURES

Plant health and biomass relies on nutrient availability and the efficiency with which nutrients are taking in by plants. Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) is a symbiotic association between plant roots and fungus. VAM improve plant growth by modifying its rhizosphere soil and helps in nutrient uptake by plants. Our aim was to evaluate the growth of maize (Zea mays) and quantify mycorrhizae under different textures and in phosphorous deficient soils. Treatments include different types of soil texture (pure soil, pure sand and 1:1 soil+sand) along with recommended rate of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer while no phosphorous fertilizer was used. Root colonization, growth rate of plant, biomass of plant root and shoot and effect of VAM and roots on rhizosphere soil pH were observed. Results showed that shoot biomass was significantly improved in plain soil treatment as compared to sandy texture soils. Root:shoot ratio was significantly decreased in plain soil as compared to plants in sand. pH was reduced in all treatments significantly. Root colonization ranges from 40-49% and colonization rates higher in sandy soils than others. Results suggested that VAM infection show well growth in its natural environment and improve plant growth and yield

Synthesis and biological evaluation of shikimic acid derivatives

From shikimic acid, new series of oseltamivir analogues containing either ether sulfur or ether oxygen at C-3 position were prepared and evaluated for their biological activities. This is the first report on synthesis of oseltamivir analogues with ether sulfur at C-3. Except for compounds 4d, 4f, 7c and 7d, the remaining compounds were found to be active against MCF-7, LU-1 and KB cell lines. As oseltamivir had no cytotoxicity against different cell lines such as MCF-7, LU-1, KB, MDCK, MRC-5, VERO, MK and 293, the modification of alkyl groups at C-3 of the oseltamivir ring framework could significantly increase the cytotoxicity for this class of compounds. Loss of neuraminidase inhibition activity of these synthetic oseltamivir analogues suggested that the alkyl ether groups at C-3 should be critical for their anti-neuraminidase activity

A modern purification by accelerated solvent extraction and centrifugal partition chromatography and biological evaluation of capsaicin from Capsicum chinense

A special alkaloid compound known as capsaicin, which can only be found in the fruit of the Capsicum plant, was isolated and tested for its anti-inflammatory activity. The purpose of this work is to establish a simple and quick approach for capsaicin purification utilizing centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) as well as an effective method - accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), for extracting capsaicin from Capsicum chinense. After purification, capsaicin was validated by HPLC-DAD at 281 nm to be &gt; 90% purity. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated capsaicin was also investigated, and the IC50 value of the capsaicin was determined to be 57.61 µg/mL. The current work emphasizes how an ASE and CPC system may combine to extract high-purity capsaicin from Capsicum chinense, which have the anti-inflammatory activity, as we evaluated in the experiment

Exploiting Idioms and Proverbs of Vietnamese Regions in Teaching Mathematics in Primary Schools

Mathematics and idioms, as well as proverbs, all reflect the laws of life. At the same time, primary school children may have heard idioms and proverbs before attending school. Therefore, there are many possibilities to exploit and apply idioms and proverbs in teaching mathematics in primary schools. This study aims to identify appropriate situations and apply idioms and proverbs in different regions of Vietnam to teaching mathematics. The researchers selected 1155 expressions related to mathematics from many typical pieces of research on idioms and proverbs in Vietnam. After surveying 1822 teachers three times in many provinces and cities in all 3 regions of Vietnam: the North, the Central and the South, the researchers have classified the data according to the criteria from closed to open-ended questions. The results show a prominent level of interest (level 4/5) of all teachers participating in the survey, and there is no difference in the effectiveness in the three regions, but there is a clear difference in regions in using idioms and proverbs. Particularly, identifying situations to teach geometric and quantitative knowledge, as well as probability and statistics, allows one to apply idioms and proverbs at a high level. It is concluded that if idioms and proverbs from Vietnamese regions are appropriately selected and applied in teaching mathematics in primary schools, they will contribute to improving students' mathematical ability and preserving the national cultural heritage. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-SIED-015 Full Text: PD

Structure elucidation off seven steroids from Sinularia conferta.

Seven steroids were isolated from the methanol extract of the soft corals Sinularia conferta. These steroids were elucidated as 7a-methoxyergosta-5,24(28)-diene-3b-ol (1), ergosta-5-ene-3β,7α-diol (2), 3β,7α-dihydroxyergosta-5,24(28)-diene (3), 3β-hydroxyergosta-5,24(28)-diene-7-one (4), ergosta-24(28)-ene-3β,5α,6β-triol-6-acetate (5), ergosta-24(28)-ene-3β,5α,6β-triol (6), and ergosta-3β,5α,6β-triol (7) by 1D and 2D-NMR experiments and comparison with reported data. Keywords. Sinularia conferta, Alcyoniidae, soft coral, steroid

STUDY OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF ARSENIC IN GROUNDWATER DUE TO DRAIN BY USING GIS

Industrial activity is one of the major reason of groundwater contamination. Arsenic is one, which is responsible for the contamination of the groundwater. Its testing in groundwater is considered as an important activity due to its serious effects on human health. Arsenic problem in Pakistan has been identified recently as a result of field testing. In Faisalabad, arsenic has been found in groundwater within permissible limit. But due to increasing industrial activities the concentration of arsenic is increasing day by day. Drain passing through the city is one of the sources of arsenic in groundwater. The research work was conducted at Syedabbad, Faisalabad. Samples were taken from the selected drain portion and from the groundwater by the help of water pumps. The sampling points were drawn on GIS map by the help of GPS receiver to study the spatial variability of arsenic contamination The results shows that there 10109.9 mg per second intake of arsenic due to drain. Results show that there is no temporal variability of arsenic within the research period but they have spatial variabilit

STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION OF FOUR STEROIDS FROM THE SOFT CORAL SINULARIA NANOLOBATA

Four steroids namely 3β-hydroxyergosta-5,24(28)-diene-7-one (1), dissesterol (2), 16α-hydroxysarcosterol (3), and sarcophytosterol (4) were isolated form the soft coral Sinularia nanolobata using various chromatographic methods. Their structures were elucidated by detailed analysis of the 1D and 2D NMR data and comparison with the reported values