Urban sprawl and land use/land-cover transition probabilities in peri-urban Kumasi, Ghana

This paper examines Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) transition probabilities and its implications for Kumasi Metropolis using remote sensing image analysis technique. Methods used for the study include sub-setting of satellite images for the metropolis using the metropolitan shapefile boundary and classification of the images using maximum likelihood image classification algorithm. A Markov Model was applied to predict probabilities of LULC changes in 15 years (2016 - 2031). Study results show the probability of urban lands changing to agricultural land as low and so is the probability of farmland transitioning to urban land use. Vegetation however shows a high probability of change to built-up area while the likelihood of change from water to other land cover types is not a possibility. The study recommends enforcement of relevant land use policies backed by vigorous public education to make sustainable urban land use in the Metropolis a reality. Also, vertical rather than horizontal construction of buildings could stem the sprawling city

Comparative Leaf Anatomy of the Genus Hordeum L. (Poaceae) in Iraq

In this study leaf anatomical characters among the species of the genus Hordeum L. have been evaluated. In Iraq, Hordeum is represented by eight species, namely Hordeum bulbosum L., H.distichon L., H.geniculatum All., H.glaucum Steud., H.leporinum Link, H.marinum var. marinum Huds., H.marinum var. pubescens (Guss.) Nevski, H. spontaneum var. spontaneum C. Koch, H.spontaneum var. proskowetzii Nab., and H. vulgare L. This genus one of the most economically important cereal crops in the tribe Triticeae, has a worldwide distribution mainly in temperate and dry regions of the world. The main objective of this study is to asses the significance of anatomical characteristics of the leaves. For this purpose transverse sections and leaf surfaces were examined. Anatomic features show that leaf blades vary between the taxa in both qualitative and quantitative values. Sclerenchymatic cells, silica bodies, and stomata, furrow and ribs properties, the existence of midrib and bulliform cells, and indumentum properties such as length of prickles and macro-hairs are all included in these diagnostic characteristics . Keywords: Leaf anatomy, Hordeum, Poaceae

Computational and experimental elucidation of the boosted stability and antibacterial activity of ZIF-67 upon optimized encapsulation with polyoxometalates

Water microbial purification is one of the hottest topics that threats human morbidity and mortality. It is indispensable to purify water using antimicrobial agents combined with several technologies and systems. Herein, we introduce a class of nanosized metal organic framework; Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cages encapsulated with polyoxometalates synthesized via facile one-step co-precipitation method. We employed two types of polyoxometalates bioactive agents; phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) that act as novel antibacterial purification agents. Several characterization techniques were utilized to investigate the morphological, structural, chemical, and physical properties such as FESEM, EDS, FTIR, XRD, and N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms techniques. The antibacterial assessment was evaluated using colony forming unit (CFU) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as models of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The PTA@ZIF-67 showed higher microbial inhibition against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 98.8% and 84.6%, respectively. Furthermore, computational modeling using density functional theory was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of PTA when compared to PMA. The computational and experimental findings demonstrate that the fabricated POM@ZIF-67 materials exhibited outstanding bactericidal effect against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and effectively purify contaminated water

A Versatile, Portable Intravital Microscopy Platform for Studying Beta-cell Biology In Vivo

The pancreatic islet is a complex micro-organ containing numerous cell types, including endocrine, immune, and endothelial cells. The communication of these systems is lost upon isolation of the islets, and therefore the pathogenesis of diabetes can only be fully understood by studying this organized, multicellular environment in vivo. We have developed several adaptable tools to create a versatile platform to interrogate β-cell function in vivo. Specifically, we developed β-cell-selective virally-encoded fluorescent protein biosensors that can be rapidly and easily introduced into any mouse. We then coupled the use of these biosensors with intravital microscopy, a powerful tool that can be used to collect cellular and subcellular data from living tissues. Together, these approaches allowed the observation of in vivo β-cell-specific ROS dynamics using the Grx1-roGFP2 biosensor and calcium signaling using the GcAMP6s biosensor. Next, we utilized abdominal imaging windows (AIW) to extend our in vivo observations beyond single-point terminal measurements to collect longitudinal physiological and biosensor data through repeated imaging of the same mice over time. This platform represents a significant advancement in our ability to study β-cell structure and signaling in vivo, and its portability for use in virtually any mouse model will enable meaningful studies of β-cell physiology in the endogenous islet niche

Practical Investigation of Effectiveness of Direct Solar-Powered Air Heater

Solar energy is clean and available, and its use doesn\u27t hurt the environment. Heating conditioned homes and offices in wintertime deduct a large part of the amount of fuel consumed for these purposes. The use of solar radiation to heat the air proved its feasibility and usefulness and is in the research and development process and takes many forms. One of the primary types of solar air heaters is solar air heater of a transparent collector. In this study, a transparent collector solar air heater was designed and manufactured with an area of 1 m2. An aluminum plate was used to be the heating source; it takes its heat from the solar radiation. The tests results confirm the validity of this solar air heater type. The temperature of the heated air increased about 101% of the ambient air. The aluminum plate has proven to work as a source of heat

Manual: fresh cassava roots handling for waxing and relative humidity storage

European Union and technical support of International Fund for Agricultural DevelopmentPeer Revie

A New Formulation of 99mTc-Macroagreggated Albumin (MAA) Freeze-dried Kit for Lungs Scintigraphy

A new formulation of macro aggregated albumin (MAA) to be labeled with 99mTc was prepared by a simple and fast method. The suspension of macroagreggated albumin was prepared by diluting 0.4ml human serum albumin (200mg/ml) with normal saline (sterilized and pyrogen free) Concentrated hydrochloric acid was added to denature the protein and this step was followed by the addition of tin in the form of stannite . 3.5ml of polyethylene glycol (PEG) (1mg/ml) was also added to act as antiagglomerating agent. The pH was adjusted to 5.2 with NaOH and the suspension was heated with continuous stirring to get aggregation The vials contents were allowed to react with 99mTc and high radiochemical purity was obtained (greater than 95%) after 15min. 99mTc-MAA was stable for at least six hours. The organ distribution data in mice showed that more than 93.0% of the injected dose has accumulated in the lungs with a negligible amount of radioactivity to be detected in the non target organs. The size distribution data showed that 80.0% of the particles occur in the range of 10—80μm. The freeze-dried preparation of Sn-MAA kits (sterile and pyrogen free) were stable for at least 170 day

Pancreatic beta cell autophagy is impaired in type 1 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis Pancreatic beta cells are subjected to exogenous damaging factors such as proinflammatory cytokines or excess glucose that can cause accumulation of damage-inducing reactive oxygen species during the pathogenesis of diabetes. We and others have shown that beta cell autophagy can reduce reactive oxygen species to protect against apoptosis. While impaired islet autophagy has been demonstrated in human type 2 diabetes, it is unknown if islet autophagy is perturbed in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. We hypothesised that beta cell autophagy is dysfunctional in type 1 diabetes, and that there is a progressive loss during early diabetes development. Methods Pancreases were collected from chloroquine-injected and non-injected non-obese diabetes-resistant (NOR) and non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. Age- and BMI-matched pancreas tissue sections from human organ donors (N = 34) were obtained from the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes (nPOD). Tissue sections were stained with antibodies against proinsulin or insulin (beta cell markers), microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 A/B (LC3A/B; autophagosome marker), lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1; lysosome marker) and p62 (autophagy adaptor). Images collected on a scanning laser confocal microscope were analysed with CellProfiler and ImageJ. Secondary lysosomes and telolysosomes were assessed in electron micrographs of human pancreatic tissue sections (n = 12), and energy dispersive x-ray analysis was performed to assess distribution of elements (n = 5). Results We observed increased autophagosome numbers in islets of diabetic NOD mice (p = 0.008) and increased p62 in islets of both non-diabetic and diabetic NOD mice (p < 0.001) vs NOR mice. There was also a reduction in LC3-LAMP1 colocalisation in islets of diabetic NOD mice compared with both non-diabetic NOD (p < 0.001) and NOR mice (p < 0.001). Chloroquine elicited accumulation of autophagosomes in the islets of NOR (p = 0.003) and non-diabetic NOD mice (p < 0.001), but not in islets of diabetic NOD mice; and stimulated accumulation of p62 in NOR (p < 0.001), but not in NOD mice. We observed reduced LC3-LAMP1 colocalisation (p < 0.001) in residual beta cells of human donors with type 1 diabetes vs non-diabetic participants. We also observed reduced colocalisation of proinsulin with LAMP1 in donors with type 1 diabetes (p < 0.001). Electron microscopy also revealed accumulation of telolysosomes with nitrogen-dense rings in beta cells of autoantibody-positive donors (p = 0.002). Conclusions/interpretation We provide evidence of islet macroautophagy/crinophagy impairment in human type 1 diabetes. We also document accumulation of telolysosomes with peripheral nitrogen in beta cells of autoantibody-positive donors, demonstrating altered lysosome content that may be associated with lysosome dysfunction before clinical hyperglycaemia. Similar macroautophagy impairments are present in the NOD mouse model of type 1 diabetes

Platelet-type 12-lipoxygenase deletion provokes a compensatory 12/15-lipoxygenase increase that exacerbates oxidative stress in mouse islet β cells

In type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune event increases oxidative stress in islet β cells, giving rise to cellular dysfunction and apoptosis. Lipoxygenases are enzymes that catalyze the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids that can form lipid metabolites involved in several biological functions, including oxidative stress. 12-Lipoxygenase and 12/15-lipoxygenase are related but distinct enzymes that are expressed in pancreatic islets, but their relative contributions to oxidative stress in these regions are still being elucidated. In this study, we used mice with global genetic deletion of the genes encoding 12-lipoxygenase (arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase, 12S type [Alox12]) or 12/15-lipoxygenase (Alox15) to compare the influence of each gene deletion on β cell function and survival in response to the β cell toxin streptozotocin. Alox12−/− mice exhibited greater impairment in glucose tolerance following streptozotocin exposure than WT mice, whereas Alox15−/− mice were protected against dysglycemia. These changes were accompanied by evidence of islet oxidative stress in Alox12−/− mice and reduced oxidative stress in Alox15−/− mice, consistent with alterations in the expression of the antioxidant response enzymes in islets from these mice. Additionally, islets from Alox12−/− mice displayed a compensatory increase in Alox15 gene expression, and treatment of these mice with the 12/15-lipoxygenase inhibitor ML-351 rescued the dysglycemic phenotype. Collectively, these results indicate that Alox12 loss activates a compensatory increase in Alox15 that sensitizes mouse β cells to oxidative stress