Quantitative Fluorescence Microscopy of Protein Dynamics in Living Cells

The advent of confocal microscopy, fast microcomputers with high storage capacity and, moreover, the availability of fluorescent proteins of various excitation and emission properties have made fluorescence microscopy the method of choice in the study of protein behaviour in living cells. In this thesis we investigated in detail two important quantitative methods, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). Model systems used in demonstrating the complementarity of the techniques and their merits included the nuclear excision repair (NER) system, transcription regulation by the androgen receptor (AR), and signal transduction by two membrane receptors, the EGF receptor and the IL2-receptor. In Chapter 1 an introduction to microscopy is given. A brief history traces the development of microscopy from the modest lens arrangement of Zacharias Janssen to modern fluorescence microscopes allowing quantitative investigation of protein dynamics in living cells. A discussion of fluorescence properties of the GFP is presented and several quantitative fluorescence microscopy techniques used are discussed. Also the model systems studied are described. In Chapter 2 the long-lived dark state of EGFP, the fluorescent tag used in most live cell studies, is investigated as observed in a set-up similar to a typical fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiment. A method is presented to measure light in

Framing the features of Brownian motion and thermophoresis on radiative nanofluid flow past a rotating stretching sheet with magnetohydrodynamics

AbstractThis article addresses the combined effects of chemical reaction and viscous dissipation on MHD radiative heat and mass transfer of nanofluid flow over a rotating stretching surface. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis in the presence of heat source. Similarity transformation variables have been used to model the governing equations of momentum, energy, and nanoparticles concentration. Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method with shooting technique is applied to solve the resulting coupled ordinary differential equations. Physical features for all pertinent parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient, and heat and mass transfer rates are analyzed graphically. The numerical comparison has also presented for skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number as a special case for our study. It is noted that fluid velocity enhances when rotational parameter is increased. Surface heat transfer rate enhances for larger values of Prandtl number and heat source parameter while mass transfer rate increases for larger values of chemical reaction parameter

Workplace Conflict Management Styles: Comparative Study of Indian and Nigerian Employees

Conflict is all pervasive in nature and organizations around the world are not untouched with it. Present study deals with interpersonal conflict in corporate and academic organizations of India and Nigeria on a comparative basis. The study has a non-experimental, descriptive, and quantitative research design, in which a sample size of 103 Indian and 88 Nigerian employees was analyzed through stratified random sampling. Statistical measures like Cronbach’s alpha, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and associated Games Howell procedure for multiple comparisons, bivariate correlation and chi square tests were employed to analyze the data. Examination of various independent variables and findings of the research reveal that there is a significant difference in how employees of both the countries differ in their approach to conflict handling. Interpersonal conflict understanding is crucial for smooth functioning of globalized organizations. Managers today are devising innovative handling techniques as conflict poses a great challenge for them. The present study can facilitate the management practitioners in understanding the concept and its implications in Indian and Nigerian context, the two countries which share a very warm, solid and seasoned socio-economic relationship. Keywords: Organizations, Conflict, Handling Style, Employees, India, Nigeri

Relativistic mean field formulation of clustering in heavy nuclei

Very little is known about clustering in heavy nuclei and in particular the interaction between the correlated cluster nucleons and remaining core nucleons. Currently the phenomenological Saxon-Woods plus cubic Saxon-Woods core-cluster potential successfully predicts the alpha decay half-life and energy band spectra of a number of heavy nuclei. This model, however, lacks a microscopic understanding of clustering phenomenon in these heavy nuclear systems. A fully relativistic microscopic formalism is presented, which generates the core-cluster potential by means of the McNeil, Ray and Wallace based double folding procedure. The core and cluster baryon densities are calculated by using a relativistic mean field approach. The Lorentz covariant IA1 representation of the nucleon-nucleon interaction is folded with the core and cluster densities. Theoretical predictions of the ground-state decay half-life and positive parity energy band of 212Po are obtained with the relativistic mean field formalism and which are compared to the results from the phenomenological Saxon-Woods plus cubic Saxon-Wood core-cluster potential and microscopic M3Y interaction

Effect of annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Undoped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were prepared by a sol-gel method. The effect of annealing temperature from 500 to 700°C on the structural and optical properties of the films was studied. The films nanostructure characterized by the X-ray diffraction method showed that the films were single phase ZnO with wurtzite structure. The surface morphology studied using the field emission scanning electron microscope showed that the thickness of the films increased with the increment of annealing temperature. The grain size of the films increased with the increment of the annealing temperature. The film surface roughness measured using the atomic force microscope showed that the surface roughness of the film decreased (from 2.3 to 1.02 nm ), when the annealing temperature increased from 500 to 600°C then it increased to 3.06 nm at 700°C. The optical properties were studied by the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The results showed that the films had high transmittance (above 80%) in the visible range and the exciton absorption occurred at a wavelength of 379 nm. The energy gap decreased with the increment of annealing temperature

Studies on the performance of organic and inorganic fertilizer on the growth and yield of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Experiments were conducted in the Botanical Garden of the Department of Biology of Kaduna State University to study the effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizer on the growth and yield of Cucumis sativus L. The seeds for the experiment were locally sourced. Four (4) days after transplanting, a rate of 2ton/ha, 4ton/ha, 6ton/ha poultry manure was applied. Similarly, a rate of 25g/ha, 50g/ha, 75g/ha of NPK was also applied and a control. Seeds of cucumber were planted by broadcasting on the seed bed the seedlings were transplanted after germination. The plants were subjected to irrigation by watering morning and evening. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated significance difference among the treatments with respect to the parameters studied (p < 0.05). Highest plant height of 33cm was recorded with 6ton/ha compared to the control which had 11.5cm. However, highest number of leaves was recorded with 4ton/ha and was followed by the 6ton/ha. The best stem girth of 1.8cm, was observed with 4ton/ha while the control had 0.88cm stem girth. Excellent vigour was produced by the 6ton/ha, while the lowest vigour was observed with the 2ton/ha. The best plant yields of was observed with 6ton/ha compared with the control which had the least performance. On the other hand, 25kg/ha of NPK had the highest plant height of 20.5cm while the lowest plant height of 13cm was observed with 75kg/ha, compared to the control which had 11.5cm. The 25kg/ha gave the highest number of leaves followed by the 50kg/ha and 75kg/ha which both had the lowest number of five (5) leaves. Similarly, 50kg/ha had the highest stem girth of 1.2cm while the lowest stem girth was observed with the control which had 0.7cm stem girth. The best vigour was recorded with the 25kg/ha compared to the control which had the least vigour. Also, highest plant yields was recorded with 25kg/ha and the lowest plant yield was observed in the control. The application of poultry manure in the propagation of Cucumis sativus remarkably influenced the growth and yield of Cucumber

Antiknock Properties and Volatility Criteria of Some Gasoline-Butanol Blends

Antinock properties and volatility criteria were studied for all-hydrocarbon gasoline before and after blending with 8 and 12 volume percent n-and iso-butanol. Composition and specifications of the hydrocarbon- base gasoline and the formulated gasoline- oxygenate blends, were determined through gas chromatographic analysis and the standard test methods. The effects of n-and iso-butanol addition on driveability performance and volatility criteria, were studied. Keywords: oxygenated gasoline, gasoline-butanol blend volatility criteria, antiknock properties.

Comparative analyses of growth parameters of pure Clarias gariepinus and its hybrid in monosex culture

This study compared sexual differences in growth parameters of pure and hybrid African catfishes (Clarias gariepinus and Clariabranchus) raised in a monosex culture. The two species were obtained from 281 fishes comprising 150 pure breed and 131 hybrids in an earlier study and grouped by sex separately as male and female in four separate plastic tanks, representing two replicates per sex. Ten each of the pure clarias and its hybrid were reared in each tank. In all, 40 male and 40 female fish comprising 20 each of the pure clarias and its hybrid for each sex were evaluated for the growth parameters. A total of 80 fish were included in this study and the study lasted nine (9) weeks. The fish were fed commercially compounded feed twice daily throughout the period of the experiment. Length-weight relationship and growth parameters such as Mean Growth Rate (MGR), Specific Growth Rate (SGR), Absolute Growth Rate (AGR), Relative Growth Rate (RGR), Condition Factor (CF) were computed and evaluated for sex effect. All statistical analyses involving descriptive, general linear model analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc test were done using Minitab® 17 Statistical Software. Sex had significant (P<0.05) effects on all growth parameters except Absolute Growth Rate (AGR) albeit at different levels, but specie only had significant (P<0.05) effect on Mean Growth Rate (MGR), while the interaction of sex x specie exerted significant (P<0.05) effects on all growth parameters except Condition Factor (CF). This study revealed that growth performance is significantly (P<0.05) affected by sexual dimorphism and also by interaction of sex and specie. &nbsp