Bending force of LLDPE monofilaments at high temperatures measured in DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer)

The bending force of monofilaments used as pile layer in artificial turf football fields is a very important property due to the strong relation with the performance of the entire system being the force that mostly influences the deformation of monofilaments. The existing test methods for measuring this force can only be used to perform tests at room temperature. Nowadays, artificial turf surfaces are being installed worldwide, even in regions with very high values of air temperature, leading to the need of evaluating the performance of monofilaments and thus, of testing their bending force at elevated temperatures. The aim of this paper is to use the DMA's advantage of testing at high temperatures, by using a new test method developed for measuring the bending force of monofilaments at room temperature and to evaluate the results obtained. For this purpose, six different LLDPE (Low Linear Density Polyethylene) monofilaments are tested at temperatures 25 degrees C, 50 degrees C and 80 degrees C and the bending force is measured. The DMA is used successfully on performing tests at high temperatures. Considering the results, an analysis of the bending behavior of LLDPE monofilaments depending on the temperature is done. All fibers show the same trends regarding this influence, with decreasing of the bending force while increasing the temperature

Transfer factor of radionuclides from soil-to-palm oil produced from Elere palm tree plantation near Ibadan Oyo state, Nigeria

The migration of contaminants including radionuclides from soil-to-plant system is usually predicted by mathematical models commonly employed in a soil-to-plant transfer factor for activity concentration. Local palm trees found mostly in Nigeria are very tall and their fruits are used for production of red palm oil. Ibadan and its environs including Elere are underlain by crystalline basement complex which is known to be rich in natural radionuclides. Hence enhanced radioactivity and soil-toplant transfer factor influenced by physical-chemical form of the radionuclides in the soil and types of plant could be obtained. The study is aimed at determining the radioactivity levels of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the soil and palm oil; and calculating the soil to palm oil transfer factor. A total number of 20 palm trees were randomly selected in the study areas. From each palm tree, bunches of palm fruits were collected to prepare palm oil and the soil samples at the spot of the tree were also collected. The activity concentration of the natural radionuclides were determined using a single crystal 0.51cm x 0.51cmNaI (Tl) detector coupled through a Hamamatsa (R1306NSV3068) photomultiplier tube to a Multichannel Analyser, MCA (2100R:01). The activity concentrations of 40K, 238U and 232Th in palm oil ranged from 50.48 Bqkg-1 to 112.16 Bqkg-1; 6.35 Bqkg-1to 12.80 Bqkg-1and 6.08 Bqkg-1to 10.13 Bqkg-1 respectively. The activity concentrations of 40K, 232U and 232Th in the soil samples ranged from 412.43 Bqkg-1to 672.16 Bqkg-1; 10.25 Bqkg-1to17.43 Bqkg-1and 8.12 Bqkg-1to 12.48 Bqkg-1respectively. The mean transfer factors were 0.17±0.02, 0.27±0.06 and 0.28±0.02 for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The 40K, 238U and 232Th radioactivity levels in the soil are comparable to the world average values of 420Bqkg-1, 32 Bqkg-1and 40 Bqkg-1respectively. The transfer factors indicated that about 17%, 27% and 28% of 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively are transferred from soil to the palm.Keywords: radionuclide, transfer factor, mathematical model, palm oil, Ibada

Automatic extraction of angiogenesis bioprocess from text

Motivation: Understanding key biological processes (bioprocesses) and their relationships with constituent biological entities and pharmaceutical agents is crucial for drug design and discovery. One way to harvest such information is searching the literature. However, bioprocesses are difficult to capture because they may occur in text in a variety of textual expressions. Moreover, a bioprocess is often composed of a series of bioevents, where a bioevent denotes changes to one or a group of cells involved in the bioprocess. Such bioevents are often used to refer to bioprocesses in text, which current techniques, relying solely on specialized lexicons, struggle to find

Parental Marital Status as Predictor of Undergraduates’ Mental Health Status

Parenting plays a major role in the development and transformation of young adults. However, in recent years, the aptness of parents has been greatly reduced. Considering the increase of broken marriages and single parenting in Nigeria, young adults may be at risk of depreciating mental health due to unexpected emotional challenges with respect to the immediate family. This cross-sectional survey examined the mental health status of undergraduates as a function of parent’s marital status. One hundred and fifty-six undergraduates selected from three higher institutions responded to the Awaritefe Psychological Index (API), measuring mental health status. Two hypotheses were tested at p=0.05 level of significance and the results revealed that parent’s marital status did not significantly predict undergraduates’ mental health status (β=-0.076, t=0.951, p>0.05); however, the type of higher institution significantly predicted undergraduates’ mental health status (β=0.159, t= -1.985, p<0.05). Since this study revealed that the institution of learning is an effective predictor of undergraduates’ mental health status, it is recommended that institutions of learning should be made more academically conducive for undergraduates to foster better mental health

Risk in CNS drug discovery: focus on treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Despite rapid progress in our understanding of disease mechanisms and an exploding list of new targets for therapeutic intervention, drug discovery and development remains a highly risky business. Understanding the risk involved requires appreciation of the differing perspectives of risk held by the various stakeholders involved in drug research. Risk can be reduced by thoughtful management of drug candidate selection, careful planning and program execution by a team of engaged experts, and disciplined decision making. Drug development is particularly challenging for treatments of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, in which translation from animal models of efficacy to human success is poor or unknown, the timelines for clinical study are long, and the markers of efficacy are still evolving. Despite this there are several therapies in clinical development that hold the promise of influencing this disease through novel and possibly synergistic mechanisms

Mentoring and Quality Service Delivery in Nigerian Public Universities: Does Organizational Culture Matter?

The study sought to investigate the effect of mentoring on quality service delivery in Nigerian public Universities by adopting the cross-sectional survey research design involving the administration of a questionnaire on a sample of 1900 respondents. The structural equation modelling was used to estimate the specified model. The results showed that supervisory mentoring and career development mentoring significantly affect quality service delivery. Similarly, peer review mentoring and role modelling significantly positively affect quality service delivery. Our study shows that organisational culture moderates the relationship between mentoring and quality service delivery. The study recommends that the management of Universities in Nigeria should institutionalise mentoring programmes to support employee career development and encourage senior employees to take on the responsibility of role modelling so that younger employees could emulate their work attitudes and improve the quality of service delivery in the institutions. The study’s result bears an important implication for public universities in Nigeria which must prioritize mentoring to foster the career growth of young faculty members and enhance quality service delivery

Kinstate intervention in ethnic conflicts : Albania and Turkey compared

Albania and Turkey did not act in overtly irredentist ways towards their ethnic brethren in neighboring states after the end of communism. Why, nonetheless, did Albania facilitate the increase of ethnic conflict in Kosovo and Macedonia, while Turkey did not, with respect to the Turks of Bulgaria? I argue that kin-states undergoing transition are more prone to intervene in external conflicts than states that are not, regardless of the salience of minority demands in the host-state. The transition weakens the institutions of the kin-state. Experiencing limited institutional constraints, self-seeking state officials create alliances with secessionist and autonomist movements across borders alongside their own ideological, clan-based and particularistic interests. Such alliances are often utilized to advance radical domestic agendas. Unlike in Albania's transition environment, in Turkey there were no emerging elites that could potentially form alliances and use external movements to legitimize their own domestic existence or claims

The Orexigenic Effect of Ghrelin Is Mediated through Central Activation of the Endogenous Cannabinoid System

INTRODUCTION Ghrelin and cannabinoids stimulate appetite, this effect possibly being mediated by the activation of hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key enzyme in appetite and metabolism regulation. The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) antagonist rimonabant can block the orexigenic effect of ghrelin. In this study, we have elucidated the mechanism of the putative ghrelin-cannabinoid interaction. METHODS The effects of ghrelin and CB1 antagonist rimonabant in wild-type mice, and the effect of ghrelin in CB1-knockout animals, were studied on food intake, hypothalamic AMPK activity and endogenous cannabinoid content. In patch-clamp electrophysiology experiments the effect of ghrelin was assessed on the synaptic inputs in parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, with or without the pre-administration of a CB1 antagonist or of cannabinoid synthesis inhibitors. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Ghrelin did not induce an orexigenic effect in CB1-knockout mice. Correspondingly, both the genetic lack of CB1 and the pharmacological blockade of CB1 inhibited the effect of ghrelin on AMPK activity. Ghrelin increased the endocannabinoid content of the hypothalamus in wild-type mice and this effect was abolished by rimonabant pre-treatment, while no effect was observed in CB1-KO animals. Electrophysiology studies showed that ghrelin can inhibit the excitatory inputs on the parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus, and that this effect is abolished by administration of a CB1 antagonist or an inhibitor of the DAG lipase, the enzyme responsible for 2-AG synthesis. The effect is also lost in the presence of BAPTA, an intracellular calcium chelator, which inhibits endocannabinoid synthesis in the recorded parvocellular neuron and therefore blocks the retrograde signaling exerted by endocannabinoids. In summary, an intact cannabinoid signaling pathway is necessary for the stimulatory effects of ghrelin on AMPK activity and food intake, and for the inhibitory effect of ghrelin on paraventricular neurons