Transition of hemoglobin between two tertiary conformations: The transition constant differs significantly for the major and minor hemoglobins of the Japanese quail (Cortunix cortunix japonica)

We demonstrate that 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) – DTNB – reacts with only CysF9[93]β and CysB5[23]β among the multiple sulfhydryl groups of the major and minor hemoglobins of the Japanese quail (Cortunix cortunix japonica). Kequ, the equilibrium constant for the reaction, does not differ very significantly between the two hemoglobins. It decreases 430-fold between pH≈5.6 and pH≈9: from a mean of 7±1 to a mean of 0.016±0.003. Quantitative analyses of the Kequ data based on published X-ray and temperature-jump evidence for a tertiary structure transition in liganded hemoglobin enable the calculation of Krt, the equilibrium constant for the r←→t tertiary structure transition. Krt differs significantly between the two hemoglobins: 0.744±0.04 for the major, 0.401±0.01 for the minor hemoglobin. The mean pKas of the two groups whose ionizations are coupled to the DTNB reaction are about the same as previously reported for mammalian hemoglobins

Torsion of an Ovarian Cyst in Pregnancy

Torsion of the ovary is the partial or total rotation of the ovary over its pedicle. It is unusual for it to occur in the second trimester. We report a case  of a 35year old G10P9+0A7 at 17weeks gestation who presented with acute severe abdominal pain. She was found to have an ovarian cyst in pregnancy. She had Exploratory Laparotomy where a huge gangrenous cyst was found and Salpingoophorectomy was performed. The pregnancy continued without any problems. The histology report showed a Simple Cyst. Key words: Torsion, Ovarian Cyst, Pregnanc

Experimental investigation of sand minimum transport velocity in multiphase fluid flow in pipes.

The production of reservoir fluid through long tiebacks/pipelines has emerged as one of the cost effective alternative especially for many marginal fields which can now be produced as clusters into a common processing facility. However, sand is often co-produced with the reservoir fluid especially when produced from unconsolidated formations. The sand will settle to form beds along the bottom of the pipe if the fluid velocity is below the minimum transport velocity required (MTV). In order to prevent solid deposition and ensure flow assurance, it is therefore critical to identify and measure the MTV. Two approaches are generally recognised for development of solid minimum transport velocity models in pipelines, the analytical and empirical methods. Because of the complexities of multiphase flow, the analytical approach will often require some assumptions and inputs from empirical measurement. This study presents the results of the experimental investigation for minimum transport velocity (MTV) both in suspension and rolling. The minimum transport velocity was found to be greatly influenced by the flow patterns and pipe inclinations. It was observed that the slug flow provides better solid carrying capacity in pipes when compared with other observed flow patterns. It was also observed that the influence of pipe inclination diminishes beyond 20{deg}. The acquired experimental data will ultimately provide a comprehensive data base for testing and validations of analytical models for improved accuracy. The justification for experimental work was evident from the inconsistent and inaccurate results obtained using existing analytical models for MTV predictions

Effect of Environmental Factors on the Growth of Aspergillus Species Associated with Stored Millet Grains in Sokoto.

Fungi constitute a major problem in the storage of agricultural products especially cereals. In the present study, the effects of light, relative humidity and temperature on the growth of Aspergillus species (Aspergillus candidus, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger and A.oryzae) associated with stored millet grains were investigated. Light stimulus had no significant effect on the mycelial growth of the fungi. Of the relative humidity regimes tested, 85% and 100% were the most favourable for the growth of Aspergillus species. Growth was generally poor at 32.5 and 50.5% relative humidities. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences in the growth of Aspergillus species with respect to temperature regimes. Generally, high growth was obtained under incubation temperatures of 30°C and 35°C. Cereals in general and millet grains in particular exposed to high humidity and temperature range of 30°C and 35°C may be susceptible to contamination by Aspergillus species.Keywords: Aspergillus species; environmental conditions; millet; storageNigerian Journal of Basic and Applied Science (2011), 19(2):218-22

The perception of community radio as public sphere and its potential impact on political action: lessons from Tanzania

This study takes initial look at the promise of community radio as a public sphere. Given the interest that community radio has generated in the communication for development (C4d) arena, particularly its portrayal as a tool for democracy and good governance, the study attempts to ascertain whether the model through its flagship genre – political talk-back program can enact political participation or engender political efficacy within the African context. Data for the study came from a field research conducted in the United Republic of Tanzania. The study combines a survey with focus group and in-depth interviews. Relationships between engagement with community radio, political participation and interest, and political efficacy were examined, as well as its association with individual’s level of interpersonal discussion of local issues. A key finding shows that involvement with political talk programs on community radio can promote political participation and interest. Similarly, the result reveals an association between participation on talk program and political efficacy. These results are encouraging in that they point to community radio as serving useful democratic purpose in empowering citizens by giving voice to those considered “marginalized”, and at the same time fulfilling a major role of providing valued information at the local levels. As the foundation of public sphere, the stations seem to encourage active citizen participation and a healthy diversity of opinion. Certainly, this form of communication is needed for the occurrence of sustainable democratic development.Keywords: community radio, public sphere, political efficacy, political awareness, Tanzani

Relative Effectiveness of Water Hyacinth, Bacteria and Fungi in Purifying Sewage

The relative effectiveness of water hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) (phytoremedian), bacteria and fungi (bioremedians) used for the purification of domestic sewage was carried out using Completely Randomised Design (CRD) replicated three times. Treatments imposed include: no treatment (control), 1kg and 2kg water hyacinth, bacteria and fungi cultures. Physical, bacteriological and chemical properties of domestic sewage were investigated before and after purification. The results show that for suspended solids, cultured tanks treated with 2kg water hyacinth reduced the sewage concentration from 73mg/l to 37.5mg/l, dissolved solids was reduced from 312mg/l to 266mg/l, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) was reduced from 11.2mg/l to 4.37mg/l, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was reduced from 7.6mg/l to 2.7mg/l. Dissolved Oxygen increased from 6.8mg/l to 7.17mg/l for 2kg hyacinth treatment due to photosynthesis but reduced to 3.7 for fungi. The cultured tanks treated with bacteria performed best in reducing turbidity and bacteriological properties of sewage. Turbidity was reduced from 5.8NTU to 1.2NTU for tanks cultured with bacteria. During the first three weeks, the hyacinth's growth was very rapid. It effectively depleted the nutrients present in the sewage, by the 4th week, gradual wilting of water hyacinth was noticed and by the end of the 5th week, serious wilting occurred due to deficiency in essential nutrients. The 2kg water hyacinth tanks wilted permanently due to total consumption of sewage. The results show that purification potential of water hyacinth is related to plants population with the 2kg hyacinth's tanks purifying better than the 1kg hyacinth density and also that bacteria purifies sewage better than fungi. Generally the 2kg water hyacinth was best in reducing the physio-chemical properties of the sewage better than the other treatments applied while the tanks treated with bacteria performed best in reducing bacteriological properties of sewage. Keywords:-Purification, sewage, phytoremediation, water hyacinth, bioremediation, bacteria and fungi.

Mechanical and Microstructural Characterization of Alkali-Activated Coconut Shell Ash Mortar

In this paper, potential of alkaline activation of coconut shell ash (CSA) as binder in mortar was investigated. Coconut shells were collected and calcined at temperature ranges between 500 and 900°C at interval of 100 for 30, 60 and 90 minutes to determine optimum burning condition that produces ash of higher silica content. Chemical composition of the ashes was then determined using X-ray Florescence (XRF) technique. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) of different concentrations of 10, 12, 14 and 16 Molar (M) was used as alkaline activator, while mortar of mix ratio 1:3 was produced, while ratio of the alkali to CSA was of 0.5.  Mortar prisms of size 40 mm  40 mm  160 mm were cast and cured in an oven at a temperature of 80  for 7, 28, 56, 90 and 120 days. Thereafter, flexural and compressive strengths were determined at the end of each curing ages, following standard procedures. Scanning Electron micrographs of the hydrated mortar at 120 days were obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) The results showed the oxide composition did not follow any pattern with increase in temperature but CSA produced at 800 for 1h gave the highest combined silica, alumina and ferric oxides above 70%, which is accepted as minimum value for pozzolanic materials.  Both compressive and flexural strengths of the activated mortar samples were found to increase with increase in activator concentration up to 14M and decline thereafter. At 120 days, the compressive strength was 13.9 N/mm2 while the flexural strength was 6.88 N/mm2. These values were higher than the strengths recommended by Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) for load bearing blocks. It was concluded that activation of CSA with NaOH could be used as binder for non-structural use. The SEM results indicated that mortar made from 14 M had structure that was densely packed compared to other mortar samples produced from other concentrations

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of volatile oils of Periscopsis laxiflora leaf and stem

ABSTRACT. Pericopsis laxiflora (Fabaceae) is a savannah shrub used traditionally to treat headache, stomach ulcers, heart pain and abdominal pain. Air-dried leaves and stem of the plant were extracted by hydrodistillation and the oils obtained were characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial assay was carried out by agar well diffusion method against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiellae pneumonia, (gram negative bacteria), Staphylococcus aureus,  Salmonella typhi, Bacillus subtilis, (gram positive bacteria);  Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Penicillum notatum and Rhizopus stolonifer (fungi) while antioxidant activity was determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical method. Oxygenated monoterpenes (32.92%), monoterpenes (22.58%) and sesquiterpenes (21.63%) hydrocarbons dominated the leaves’ oil and monoterpenes (33.63%), sesquiterpenes (18.42%) and diterpenes (21.48%) hydrocarbons dominated the stem’ oil. The leaf oil showed better scavenging activity at 1.0 mL (60.56%) than the stem oil (46.58%) comparing activity with ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA) in the antioxidant assay. P. laxiflora stem oil showed highest activity against K. pneumonia and E. coli at 100 µg/mL and 50 µg/mL with comparable activity to gentamicin and tioconazole which are antibacterial and antifungal standards respectively. This study therefore showed that the colourless volatile oils exhibited comparable bioactivity with standards thus, justifying the plant’s ethno medicinal application.   KEY WORDS: Pericopsis laxiflora, Fabaceae, Monoterpenes hydrocarbons, Antimicrobial, antioxidant  Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2022, 36(3), 717-725.                                                               DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i3.20                                                     &nbsp

Impact of Government Expenditure on Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria

This study seeks to explain the impact of government expenditure on economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1970 – 2017. Secondary data were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria and World Bank. The study applied a modified version of endogenous growth model using Autoregressive distributed lag model. The adopted model was fitted with six variables- capital stock, labour force, capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure, inflation and trade openness. The study employed ADF-unit root test, Phillips-Perron test and Pairwise Granger causality test. All the variables used were found to be integrated at first difference except labour and inflation and a stable long run equilibrium relationship exist between the dependent and independent variables. Empirical findings revealed that two variables: capital and recurrent are statistically significant and hence these are the significant variables in explaining the impact of government expenditure on economic growth. The Granger causality test demonstrates a unidirectional causality from government expenditure to economic growth, in validation of Keynesian theory. In line with above, the study recommends among others that: government should intensify effort to ensure resources are properly managed and invested in productive sectors so as to foster economic growth