A Tussle for Decolonization of the Mind: Representation of the Whiteman in “A Grain of Wheat”

The main aim of this paper is to critically examine the representation of the Whiteman (the colonizer) in the African prose narrative context and Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “A Grain of Wheat” specifically. The thrust has emerged from the main concepts of the binary opposites postulated by the critic Franz Fanon regarding the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Hence, the postcolonial theory is adopted as a literary analytical theoretical framework in this paper, for it works as a boundary line that explicates such texts. Via a close analysis of the selected text based on the tenants of postcolonialism, orientalism, Occidentalism its concluded that A Grain of Wheat is one of the literary texts that represents African elites’ tussle for decolonizing the mind

The amelioration of vitamin E on histological changes of rabbit’s brain treated with zinc oxide nanoparticles

Zinc-oxide in nanoparticles is suggested to be one of the crucial nanoparticles due to its expanse implementation in many industries, like electrons, food supplements, and maquillage and makeup. This led to more individual exposure to ZnO NPs through inspiration and skin penetration. This study objected to estimating the toxic impact of ZnO NPs on the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum in male rabbits by studying the gross and histological changes. Twenty-four adult male rabbits were divided randomly into four groups, comprising six animals. The first group was considered as the control group left without treatment; the second group was treated with 100 mg/kg BW of vitamin e orally, the third group was treated intraperitoneally with ZnO NPs 600 mg/kg BW, and the fourth group was treated with I/P 600 mg/kg BW of ZnO NPs in addition to 100 mg/kg BW orally of vitamin e twice weekly for twenty-one days. The histological results showed degenerative, necrotic changes in neurons with a vascular and inflammatory response in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum in the second group of rabbits treated with ZnO NPs. In contrast, the treated rabbits with ZnO NPs and vitamin E revealed slight improvement in the histological picture of brain sections. Also, there was an alteration in acetylcholine levels in all groups compared with the control group

The impact of nano zinc oxide particles on the histology of the male reproductive system of adult male rabbits

The goal of our research is to evaluate the histological impact of nano ZnO particles (NZnO) on the testis and epididymis of adult male rabbits treated with I.P of 600mg/kg body weight of nano ZnO particles twice a week for three weeks and to the protective effect of vitamin E versus the effect of nano zinc oxide particles. Twenty-four adult male rabbits were used in this research and divided into four groups. The first group was the control group injected with intraperitoneal distal water, and the second group was injected with 600mg/kg body weight of nano Zno particles I.P. twice a week for three weeks, the third group was injected with 600 mg/kg body weight of nano Zno particles I.P. and co-administrated with 100 mg/kg body weight of vitamin e orally, while the fourth group received 100mg/kg body weight of vitamin e orally. The histological results showed that the nano ZnO particles treatment causes noticeable changes in the testis and epididymis. These changes are characterized by thickening of tunica albuginea of testis, degenerative and necrotic changes of germ cells lining the seminiferous tubules, arrest of spermatogenesis, giant cell formation, degeneration, and necrosis of epithelial cells lining epididymis canals. The canals are free from sperms is observed. As for the group of animals treated with nano ZnO particles co-administrated with vitamin e showed improvement in the histological changes compared with the control and group treated with vitamin e only showed normal architecture of testis and epididymis. Moreover, there is a decrease in the level concentration of Testosterone of the animals treated with nano ZnO particles compared with other groups

Adsorption thermodynamics and prediction of phase equilibria for activated carbon synthesized from waste grease.

The research is conducted to evaluate the thermodynamic parameters of adsorption processes and to predict the phase equilibria for carbon produced from a mixture of waste grease and raw sulfur. Phenol and p-nitrophenol were used for adsorption isotherm at different concentrations and temperatures. Thermodynamic functions such as Gibbs function (∆G), enthalpy (∆H) and entropy (∆S) changes during adsorption were calculated. The melting point measurements of waste grease and raw sulfur mixtures were obtained for different ratios. The lever rule is used to represent a quantitative determination in the two-phase region of a phase diagram using a certain equation.The phenol adsorption was mostly an endothermic process while the p-nitrophenol adsorption was an endothermic process for all samples as indicated by positive values of the enthalpy. Generally the adsorption processes were spontaneous as pointed out by entropy and free energy values. Various phases and boundaries were occurred at three regions with 2-phase while 1-phase is exist in the system especially at high temperatures. The ratio of lliquid/lsolid was increased with reducing temperature and the amounts of liquid were reduce

Comparison between two medical drugs' effect on the crushed sciatic nerve healing in dogs

This article was conducted to evaluate the role of therankeron and methylprednisolone on the healing and regeneration process of the damaged sciatic nerve by crushing in dogs. Eighteen adult dogs were used. The animals were divided into three equal groups. The sciatic nerve of the left hind limb in all experimental animals was damaged by crushing forceps for two minutes. In group one, the damaged nerve was left without any medical therapy, while in groups two and three, methylprednisolone and therankeron were used to treat the crushed sciatic nerve, respectively. The Clinical signs and histopathological changes depended on the 30th and 60th postoperative days to evaluate the degree of nerve repair. In group one, all animals did not use their affected limb with loss of sensation completely, while early and pronounced enhancement in the hind limb function was shown, especially in group three than in group two. In group one, the histopathological changes were characterized by the presence of areas of nerve fiber necrosis and disconnection of it, inflammatory cell infiltration with blood vessel congestion, and edema formation between the nerve fibers in both following periods. The same changes were shown in groups two and three, in addition to the presence of nerve fibers' regeneration, especially in group three, superior to group two. In conclusion, the results of this article revealed positive clinical and histopathological effects of both theranekron and methylprednisolone on the healing and regeneration of the crushed sciatic nerve, with priority for therankeron in dogs

Acetylcholine Esterase Gene Expression in Salivary Glands of Albino Rats after Treatment with amitriptyline or/and Ashwagandha

Acetylcholinesterase is required as an enzyme to counteract the effects of acetylcholine. The aim of the study is to assess how amitriptyline and Ashwagandha affect the acetylcholinesterase gene in rat salivary glands. Forty healthy albino rats were divided randomly into four equal groups: Group I (control) received distilled water for 30 days. Group II received amitriptyline (10mg/kg) for 30 days. Group III received ashwagandha watery root extract (200mg/kg) orally for 30 days and Group IV received the combination of amitriptyline orally and ashwagandha root extract orally for 30 days. Rats in each group were sacrificed after day 30 and salivary glands were dissected for measurement of the acetylcholinesterase gene using a Polymerase Chain Reaction technique (PCR). Acetylcholinesterase gene measurements reveal an increase in groups treated with amitriptyline alone (1.55±0.11) and in the group treated with a combination of amitriptyline with Ashwagandha (1.92±0.16), in comparison with the control group. There were no discernible differences between the Ashwagandha treated group (1.073± 0.25) compared to the control group (0.76±0.19).In conclusion, Amitriptyline alone and, when combined with Ashwagandha cause transcription of the acetylcholinesterase gene

Costus-loaded silver nanoparticles mitigated AMPK and related pathways in the albino rat atherosclerosis model

In the present study, the role of silver nanoparticles (AgNP)-loaded S. costus was investigated in an atherosclerosis Albino rat model by testing AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) genetic pathways and related biomarkers, including apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), serum amyloid A (SAA), oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), visfatin, and lactate dehydrogenase enzyme (LDH). This pathway has been identified as a key regulator of cellular metabolism and energy homeostasis. Also, it is linked to atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects arterial walls and is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. Nanoparticles in medicine have gained attention due to their unique properties and potential applications. One such nanoparticle that has shown promising results in treating atherosclerosis is silver nanoparticles. The costus extract was prepared and characterized to do so, followed by the synthesis of costus-loaded nanoparticles. The synthesized product was characterized by various methods, including UV-visible spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared, X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, Atomic Force Microscopy, and Energy dispersive spectroscopy. Rats were treated with costus-loaded nanoparticles. The results of AMPK gene pathways and related biomarkers (ApoA1, SAA, oxLDL, visfatin, and LDH) were measured and compared between positive and negative control groups. The results have confirmed that costus-loaded nanoparticles have greatly influenced and reduced AMPK gene pathways and related biomarkers (ApoA1, SAA, ox-LDL, visfatin, and LDH) compared to the positive control group of atherosclerosis rat models. The study concluded that costus-loaded nanoparticles are important in atherosclerosis and improve rat status by reducing the genetic and proteomic pathways linked to atherosclerosis

Model Free Approach for Non-Isothermal Decomposition of Un-Irradiated and γ-Irradiated Silver Acetate: New Route for Synthesis of Ag2O Nanoparticles

Kinetic studies for the non-isothermal decomposition of unirradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate with 103 kGy total γ-ray doses were carried out in air. The results showed that the decomposition proceeds in one major step in the temperature range of (180–270 °C) with the formation of Ag2O as solid residue. The non-isothermal data for un-irradiated and γ-irradiated silver acetate were analyzed using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and nonlinear Vyazovkin (VYZ) iso-conversional methods. These free models on the investigated data showed a systematic dependence of Ea on α indicating a simple decomposition process. No significant changes in the thermal decomposition behavior of silver acetate were recorded as a result of γ-irradiation. Calcinations of γ-irradiated silver acetate (CH3COOAg) at 200 °C for 2 hours only led to the formation of pure Ag2O mono-dispersed nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction, FTIR and SEM techniques were employed for characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles

Study the biochemical, hematological, and histopathological alteration in heat-stress fish treated with an immune stimulant

Levamisole effects on the biochemical, hematological, and Histopathological parameters on heat stress fish.40 Cyprinus carpio fish were distributed into 4 groups, raised in a glass aquarium, and provided with a basic diet for ten days. Control groups as G1 and three treated groups were tested G2 with the elevated water temperature at 30°C, G3 was treated with a concentrated dose of 125 mg/L of levamisole, and the water temperature was25°C. At the same time, G4 elevated water temperature to 30°C and treated with the same dose of levamisole. At the end of the experiment, all groups were euthanized. Blood samples were collected for packed cell volume, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, cortisol, glucose, immunoglobulin, albumin, and histopathological investing from all groups also done. The results showed that the G2 and G3 showed highly significant variation in the level of glucose and albumin in contrast to others, as well G4 showed highly significant variation in the level of the biochemical parameters, G4 showed a higher level of biological parameters changes in contrast to the other groups. At the same time, the hematological value was higher in the G3. The pathological alterations of G2, G3 and G4 represented vascular changes such as hemorrhagic congestion, disturbances of growth infiltration of inflammatory cell, necrosis, hyalin cast and dilution of bowman’s capsule; all these changes were graded as mild, moderate, and severe changes and were more severe in G2.Our results refer that immune stimulant agents enhance the biochemical and hematological parameters, but it leads to changes in the liver and kidney due to the effects of heat stress