Supermanifolds, symplectic geometry and curvature

We present a survey of some results and questions related to the notion of scalar curvature in the setting of symplectic supermanifolds.Comment: Dedicated to Jaime Mu\~noz-Masqu\'e on occasion of his 65th birthda

Studies on the antimicrobial effect of corn steep liquor on some diarrhoea causing organisms

The antimicrobial effect of Corn Steep Liquor (CSL) was investigated over a five day period. The pH and titrable acidity of the liquor were determined, while the antimicrobial effect on some diarrhoea causing organisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteriditis, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus was also determined. Using well diffusion method, 0.1 ml (100 μl) of the liquor effectively inhibited the growth of the test organisms with zones of inhibition ranging from 4.00 ± 0.28 to 20.20 ± 0.14 mm. The zones of inhibition increased with increasing number of days of fermentation of the filtrate on which is the CSL. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the antimicrobial properties of the liquor on day 3 and 4 for S. enteriditis, S. aureus and V. parahaemolyticus. The zone of inhibition on day 5 was significantly different (P<0.05) from all other days except in S. enteriditis whose zone of inhibition was not significantly different from day 4 and 5. The degree of inhibition was highest in E. coli (20.20 ± 0.14 mm), followed by V. paraheamolyticus (18.50 ± 2.12mm); while S. enteriditis showed the minimum degree of inhibition to the CSL (13.20 ± 0.28 mm. The total microbial count and the titrable acidity of the liquor increased with increasing number of days and reached a peak on day 4 (355.60 ± 21.07 cfu/ml and 23.25 ± 2.05%, respectively). The pH however decreased with number of days. The result suggests that corn steep liquor which is considered a waste inhibits the growth of some diarrhoeic microbes especially by day four of fermentation.Keywords: Anti-microbials, diarrhoea, pH, titrable acidityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 332-335, 8 January, 201

A parent body association for the carbonaceous chondrite groups.

Accepted versio

Birth, life and survival of Tidal Dwarf Galaxies

Advances on the formation and survival of the so-called Tidal Dwarf Galaxies (TDGs) are reviewed. The understanding on how objects of the mass of dwarf galaxies may form in debris of galactic collisions has recently benefited from the coupling of multi-wavelength observations with numerical simulations of galaxy mergers. Nonetheless, no consensual scenario has yet emerged and as a matter of fact the very definition of TDGs remains elusive. Their real cosmological importance is also a matter of debate, their presence in our Local Group of galaxies as well. Identifying old, evolved, TDGs among the population of regular dwarf galaxies and satellites may not be straightforward. However a number of specific properties (location, dark matter and metal content) that objects of tidal origin should have are reminded here. Examples of newly discovered genuine old TDGs around a nearby elliptical galaxy are finally presented.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, invited talk at JENAM 2010 symposium on "Dwarf Galaxies", v2:reference and acknowledgements update

MYCOFLORA OF STORED PARKIA BIGLOBOSA (JACQ.) R.BR. EX G.DON (LOCUST BEAN) SEEDS FROM MARKETS IN JOS, NIGERIA AND CHANGES IN THEIR NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION

Fungal deterioration of stored Parkiabiglobosa (locust beans) seeds was investigated in four markets in Jos North, Plateau State, Nigeria. The incidence of fungi on locust bean seeds from the different markets were as follows: Katako (90%), Angwan Rukuba (76.7%), Gada Biu (86.7%) and Farin Gada (70%) respectively for the deteriorated seeds and Katako (10%), Angwan Rukuba (23.3%), Gada Biu (13.3%) and Farin Gada (30%) for the non-deteriorated seeds. There was a significant difference (P≤0.05) in the occurrence of fungi from the different markets for both deteriorating/non-deteriorating seeds; Katako (153/25), Angwan Rukuba (99/14), Gada Biu (109/22) and Farin Gada (36/14). A total of seventeen fungal species were isolated with Aspergillus species being the most dominant. The analysis of nutritional qualities of non-deteriorated and deteriorated locust bean seeds shows that the deteriorated seeds had reduced protein (9.07%), fibre (3.62%) and carbohydrate (23.37%) contents than the non-deteriorated ones. The study demonstrates that fungi is capable of causing damage to stored Parkia biglobosa seeds and contribute to low nutritional worth of the seeds. The health implications of the effects of these spoilage fungi were discussed

Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS(4) x CP(3) superstring

We construct a zero-curvature Lax connection in a sub-sector of the superstring theory on AdS(4) x CP(3) which is not described by the OSp(6|4)/U(3) x SO(1,3) supercoset sigma-model. In this sub-sector worldsheet fermions associated to eight broken supersymmetries of the type IIA background are physical fields. As such, the prescription for the construction of the Lax connection based on the Z_4-automorphism of the isometry superalgebra OSp(6|4) does not do the job. So, to construct the Lax connection we have used an alternative method which nevertheless relies on the isometry of the target superspace and kappa-symmetry of the Green-Schwarz superstring.Comment: 1+26 pages; v2: minor typos corrected, acknowledgements adde

Disease-associated gut microbiome and metabolome changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third commonest cause of death globally, and manifests as a progressive inflammatory lung disease with no curative treatment. The lung microbiome contributes to COPD progression, but the function of the gut microbiome remains unclear. Here we examine the faecal microbiome and metabolome of COPD patients and healthy controls, finding 146 bacterial species differing between the two groups. Several species, including Streptococcus sp000187445, Streptococcus vestibularis and multiple members of the family Lachnospiraceae, also correlate with reduced lung function. Untargeted metabolomics identifies a COPD signature comprising 46% lipid, 20% xenobiotic and 20% amino acid related metabolites. Furthermore, we describe a disease-associated network connecting Streptococcus parasanguinis_B with COPD-associated metabolites, including N-acetylglutamate and its analogue N-carbamoylglutamate. While correlative, our results suggest that the faecal microbiome and metabolome of COPD patients are distinct from those of healthy individuals, and may thus aid in the search for biomarkers for COPD

Towards a manifestly supersymmetric action for 11-dimensional supergravity

We investigate the possibility of writing a manifestly supersymmetric action for 11-dimensional supergravity. The construction involves an explicit relation between the fields in the super-vielbein and the super-3-form, and uses non-minimal pure spinors. A simple cubic interaction term for a single scalar superfield is found.Comment: 22 pp., plain tex. v2: references adde

Effect of injection timing and injection duration of manifold injected fuels in reactivity controlled compression ignition engine operated with renewable fuels

In the current work, an effort is made to study the influence of injection timing (IT) and injection duration (ID) of manifold injected fuels (MIF) in the reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engine. Compressed natural gas (CNG) and compressed biogas (CBG) are used as the MIF along with diesel and blends of Thevetia Peruviana methyl ester (TPME) are used as the direct injected fuels (DIF). The ITs of the MIF that were studied includes 45°ATDC, 50°ATDC, and 55°ATDC. Also, present study includes impact of various IDs of the MIF such as 3, 6, and 9 ms on RCCI mode of combustion. The complete experimental work is conducted at 75% of rated power. The results show that among the different ITs studied, the D+CNG mixture exhibits higher brake thermal efficiency (BTE), about 29.32% is observed at 50° ATDC IT, which is about 1.77, 3.58, 5.56, 7.51, and 8.54% higher than D+CBG, B20+CNG, B20+CBG, B100+CNG, and B100+CBG fuel combinations. The highest BTE, about 30.25%, is found for the D+CNG fuel combination at 6 ms ID, which is about 1.69, 3.48, 5.32%, 7.24, and 9.16% higher as compared with the D+CBG, B20+CNG, B20+CBG, B100+CNG, and B100+CBG fuel combinations. At all ITs and IDs, higher emissions of nitric oxide (NOx) along with lower emissions of smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbon (HC) are found for D+CNG mixture as related to other fuel mixtures. At all ITs and IDs, D+CNG gives higher In-cylinder pressure (ICP) and heat release rate (HRR) as compared with other fuel combinations

Correction to: The novel compound PBT434 prevents iron mediated neurodegeneration and alpha-synuclein toxicity in multiple models of Parkinson's disease.

Following publication of the original article [1], the author identified an error in Fig. 4E. The data and statistics were correct, but the synaptophysin blot was incorrect. The incorrect (Fig. 1) and correct figure (Fig. 2) are shown in this correction article. (Figure presented.)