EFFECT OF CLASS SIZE ON THE LEARNING OF MOTOR SKILL AMONG SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN IFE CENTRAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

The effect of class size on the learning of motor skill among selected secondary school students of Ife Central Local Government of Area of Osun state, Nigeria was examined. The study was experimental in nature and it involved pre-test and post-test using a novel skill (push pass in hockey). Three secondary schools where the game of hockey was neither taught nor played were purposively selected for the study. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling method with sex as the stratum. Participants for the study comprised 56 male and female students age 11-15 years that were not familiar with the skill. Three classes were drawn from the three schools. A small class size was drawn from School A with eight participants. In school B, a medium class size of 16 participants was drawn. The large class size of 32 participants was drawn from School C. Each of the classes had equal number of male and female participants. Push pass in hockey was measured at pre-test and post-test. Skill training took place after the pre-test measures. Mean and standard deviation were the descriptive analysis while t-test was the inferential statistic used for the data. The results of the analysis show that participants in medium class performed significantly better than participants in the large (t= 2.81: 46 p˂0.05) and small (t= 3.44: 22 p< 0.05) classes in the learning of motor skill. Females in medium class size also performed significantly better than those in large class size (t= 4.13: 22 p<0.05) and those in small class size (t= 4.15:10 p<0.05). Gender is a significant factor in such learning.  Article visualizations

Activities of a Cellulase of the Termite, Ametermes Eveuncifer (Silverstri) Soldier: Clue to Termites Salt Intolerance

Table salt which contains predominantly NaCl is both toxic and lethal to termites and is therefore used to control the insect traditionally. In an attempt to find out a scientific explanation for this treatment and possibly design a pesticide for the destructive insect, we carried out some tests on the effects of NaCl (table salt), some other chloride and sodium salts on some important enzymes produced by termites. At 0.1mM concentration, all the chloride salts inhibited all the enzymes. Acid phosphatase and arginase were however mildly inhibited. Interestingly, some chloride salts were more potent than NaCl the conventional pesticide.  The greatest inhibition was by the chlorides of mercury (81%), manganese (78%), and sodium (76%). The inhibitory effect was more on cellulolytic enzymes; β-glucosidase and cellulase than on detoxifying enzymes; 3-MST and rhodanese. Again, all the sodium salts tested inhibited cellulase drastically with most of them more potent than NaCl. Thus both the sodium and chloride ions contributed immensely to the inhibition. Form these discoveries, one of the chloride salts of mercury, manganese and sodium or a combination of at least two can be used as a pesticide for termites. Almost all the sodium salts tested or a combination of at least two can also be used. Keywords: cellulase, cellulose, termites, salts, insects, enzyme

RGU-ISTI-Essex at TREC 2011 Session Track

Mining query recommendation from query logs has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. We propose to use query recommendations extracted from the logs of a web search engine to solve the session track tasks. The runs are obtained by using the Search Shortcuts recommender system. The Search Shortcuts technique uses an inverted index and the concept of “successful sessions” present in a web search engine’s query log to produce effective recommendations for both frequent and rare/unseen queries. We adapt the above technique as a query expan- sion tool and use it to expand the given queries for Session Track at TREC 2011. The expansion is generated by using a method which aims to consider all past queries in the session. The expansion terms obtained are then used to build a global, uniformly weighted, representation of the user session (RL2). Furthermore, the expansion terms are then combined with a ranked list of results in order to boost terms appearing more frequently in the final results lists (RL3). Finally, we also integrate dwell times and the weighting method obtained taking both result lists and clicks into account for assigning weights to the terms to expand the final query of the session. In addition to that, we submitted a baseline run. It is based on the observation that using the term “wikipedia” to expand the query resulted in a better retrieval performance for the tasks at last year’s session track at TREC 2010

Effect of Oral Administration of Honey on Arginase Activity of Rats Exposed to Smoke

In this paper, we report the effect of oral administration of 125 mg/kg honey on the liver and kidney arginase activity of rats exposed to smoke from hydrocarbon-fueled lantern. Eighteen Wistar albino rats (weighing 150-200 g) were randomly assigned into three groups of 6 rats each. Group one served as the control (CTR) that was not exposed to smoke while Group two and three were exposed to smoke alone (SMW) and smoke with honey (SMH) respectively for 12 weeks. Results showed that the inhalation of smoke by the rats for 12 weeks significantly (p<0.05) reduced the total weight gain of experimental rats. The integrity of the liver and kidney were compromised in the SMW group as compared to the control and the SMH rats. There was a significant increase in arginase activity of SMW rats as compared to the control rats; Liver (0.71 ± 0.04 μmol/ml/min), Kidney (0.50 ± 1.07 μmol/ml/min). In addition, there was a significant reduction of arginase activity in the SMH rats as compared to the SMW rat; Liver (0.50 ± 0.06 μmol/ml/min), kidney (0.38 ± 0.60 μmol/ml/min). Our findings suggest that honey has a protective effect on liver and kidney in animals exposed to smoke.Keywords: Smoke, inhalation, honey, arginase, liver, kidne

APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS AND GENETIC ALGORITHMS IN DRYING OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES : A REVIEW

oai:ojs2.laujet.com:article/1Fruits and vegetables play an important role in the diet of human beings and economic development of a country. They are cheapest and most available sources of important proteins, vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids. Considering the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables it is necessary to preserve them and drying is one such method to do it. The drying of fruits and vegetables is a complex operation that demands much energy and time. Due to this complexity, the use of drying mathematical models in estimating the drying kinetics, the behaviour and the energy needed in the drying of fruits and vegetables becomes indispensable. Numerous mathematical models, empirical and semi-empirical, have been proposed to estimate the drying characteristics of fruits and vegetables. But these models are generally solutions of simultaneous heat and mass transfer differential equations and the final result may be very complicated and difficult to use in actual drying systems. This article present a comprehensive review on the applications of artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms in drying of fruits and vegetables. The paper starts with the drying of fruits and vegetables, the introduction of basic theoretical knowledge of ANN and GA. Then summarize their application on modeling, predicting, and optimization of heat and mass transfer, thermodynamic performance parameters, and quality indicators as well as physicochemical properties of dried fruits and vegetables. Conclusively, opportunities and limitations of ANN and GA technique in are outlined to provide more ideas for research and development in this field

Sesamum indicum diet prevents hyperlipidemia in experimental rats

Cardiovascular diseases and metabolic complications caused by hyperlipidemia are the leading cause of death globally. In this study, the hypolipidemic potency of Sesamum indicum (SI) seeds was investigated. Of the thirty-five (35) male rats used in the study, five (5) were randomly selected for baseline measurements and thirty (30) were fed high fat diet (HFD) for four (4) weeks before random assignment into three (3) groups. The experimental group was treated with 50% SI seed, the positive control group was given a hypolipidemic drug, atorvastatin (5 mg/kg/day) while the untreated group served as the negative control. With SI administration, the dyslipidemia induced by the HFD consumption in the plasma and the investigated body organs was reversed to a comparable degree with that of atorvastatin treatment. Taken together, this study demonstrates the hypolipidemic potency of SI in ameliorating hyperlipidemia and its associated complications, facilitated by the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity

Gross embryonic diffrentiation of the one humped camel(Camelus dromedarius) stomach

An embryonic gross differentiation study was conducted on the stomach of 35 foetuses of the one-humped camel collected from the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir, over a period of five months at different gestational ages. The approximate age of the foetuses was estimated from the crown vertebral rump length (CVRL) and samples were categorised into first, second and third trimester. The mean body weight of the foetus at first, second third trimester ranged from 1.40 ± 0.06 kg, 6.10 ± 0.05 kg and 17.87 ± 0.6 kg respectively. The mean weights of the entire digestive system at first, second and third trimester were 0.80 ± 0.07 kg, 2.13 ± 0.04 kg and 4.86 ± 0.08 kg respectively. The mean weights of the digestive tract at first, second and third trimester were 0.53 ± 0.07 kg, 1.03 ± 0.05 and 2.43 ± 0.07 kg respectively. Camels’ stomach was observed to comprise of the voluminous smooth compartment rumen, a relatively small beans shape reticulum and a tubular abomasum at first trimester. At second and third trimester the stomach was found to comprise of a voluminous compartment I (rumen) which is subdivided by a strong muscular pillar into a dorsal smooth part and a ventral coarse part, a relatively small compartment II (reticulum) and a tubiform compartment III (Abomasum). Based on the findings in the study, camels’ stomach had little/few similarities with true ruminant in terms of development

Characterization of a thermostable Bacillus subtilis f-amylase isolated from decomposing peels of Cassava ( Manihot esculenta )

f-Amylase (\u3b1-1, 4 glucan maltohydrolase; E.C:3.2.1.2) is used in the food processing, brewing and distilling industries due to its capacity to produce maltose syrup from starch. Here, we report the purification and characterization of f-amylase from Bacillus subtilis isolated from cassava peel waste obtained from a milling factory in Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. The enzyme was extracted, fractionated at 90% (NH4)2SO4 and further purified using DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 34.67 Kd. The specific activity of the partially purified enzyme was approximately 1.35 units per mg of protein (Umg-1), Kinetic analysis of its starch hydrolysis activity gave a Km value of 2.496 \ub1 0.025% and a Vmax of 1.136 \ub1 0.055 units min-1. The optimum pH and temperature were determined to be 5.5 and 70 0C respectively, and the thermal stability curve gave a maximum activity of 9.75 U at 70oC for 60 min of incubation. Bacillus subtilis f-amylase is valuable for maltose production, which can be hydrolyzed further by other groups of amylase for the production of high cassava glucose syrup used as sweeteners in the food industry

Characterization of Thiosulphate: Cyanide sulphur transferase from the gut and body segments of Earthworm Hyperiodrilus africanus

Cyanide compounds that are by products of industrial activities are known to pose serious environmental pollution. The use of these cyanide compounds by the mining industry, along with limitations in the analysis and monitoring of these compounds, raises serious concerns regarding environmental protection and public safety. Hyperiodrilus africanus (earthworm) is directly employed within bioremediation strategies to promote biodegradation of organic contaminants and thus could be employed to rejuvenate cyanide contaminated soils. Cyanides detoxification could also prevent the risk of cyanide poisoning in poultry animals by converting cyanides in forages to a less toxic compound. This work is designed to extract and characterize rhodanese (thiosulphate: cyanide sulphur transferase, (EC 2.8.1.1) from the gut and body segments of H. africanus collected from the swampy area along Uren bank river in Ikenne community of Ogun State, Nigeria. Our results show total rhodanese activities of 1434.50 RU and 2274.28 RU and specific activities of 108.01 RUmg-1 and 83.1901 RUmg-1 in the gut and body segments of H. africanus respectively. The optimum temperature of 25 \u2daC and optimum pH of 10.5 were obtained for both the gut and body segments enzymes. The enzyme obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetics and the kinetic constants, Km and Vmax in the gut segment were 33.33 mM and 62.50 RU/ml for KCN substrate and 22.22 mM and 41.67 RU/ml for Na2S2O3 substrates. In the body segment, the Km and Vmax were 33.33 mM and 83.33 RU/ml; 15.38 mM and 4.00 RU/ml for the KCN and Na2S2O3 substrates respectively. Hence, we conclude that the enzyme is more specific for Na2S2O3 than KCN as substrates, though maximum activity was observed in the body segment for KCN substrate. Ca2+, Mg2+, Ba2+, K+, Na+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ metal ion salts activated the body segment rhodanese at 1 mM and 5 mM concentrations while they have no effect on the gut segment rhodanese from earthworm. On the basis of these findings we conclude that earthworm could detoxify cyanide-containing wastes/forages and therefore promote biodegradation