Assessment of China – Nigeria Trade Relations (1990-2018)

The study assessed China- Nigeria trade relations covering a period of 29 years from 1990 to 2018. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design and obtained data for export and import transactions from the Central Bank of Nigeria statistical bulletin. The study used T-test, charts, and tables to address the engagement of China-Nigeria trade relations. The study used Microsoft excel software package and statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 to analysis the data. The study found that Nigeria has not gained from trade relations with China from 1990 to 2018 and it is only China that benefited from trade relations with Nigeria from 1990 to 2018. The study recommended that the Nigerian Government should re-strategise its industrial sector to enable the country to manufacture industrial goods and manufactured consumable goods as well as medical equipment to export to China. They should try to discover what type of industrial goods that China does not well produce and should re-strategise to produce it with low labour and low capital. The Chinese Government should continue to import goods to Nigeria since they are the ones benefiting from trade relations in Nigeria from 1990 to 2018. They should also encourage the Nigerian government to produce and manufacture industrial goods so that they can face a little competitive with Nigeria in the future for improvement of their products

Natural β-chitin-protein complex film obtained from waste razor shells for transdermal capsaicin carrier

In the literature, the produced β-chitin samples are in powder or flake forms but there is no natural β-chitin based film. Also, the commercially available transdermal patches are produced from synthetic polymers. In this regard,we produced natural β-chitin-protein complex (CPC) film fromthewaste shells of Ensis spp. The obtained natural filmwas characterized by FTIR, TGA and SEM. Additionally, swelling, thickness, contact angle and antioxidant tests were done to learn more about the films. After production and characterization of the film, capsaicin, which is commonly used for pain reliefwas loaded into the film. The loading capacitywas recorded as 5.79%. The kineticmodelswere studied in three different pH, then the resultswere fittedwith Higuchimodelwith high correlation at pH 7.4. After considering all the obtained results, the capsaicin loaded CPC film may be an alternative candidate for transdermal patch instead of the synthetic ones.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gain of function mutation in K(ATP) channels and resulting upregulation of coupling conductance are partners in crime in the impairment of Ca²⁺ oscillations in pancreatic ß-cells

Gain of function mutations in the pore forming Kir6 subunits of the ATP sensitive K+ channels (K(ATP) channels) of pancreatic β-cells are the major cause of neonatal diabetes in humans. In this study, we show that in insulin secreting mouse β-cell lines, gain of function mutations in Kir6.1 result in a significant connexin36 (Cx36) overexpression, which form gap junctional connections and mediate electrical coupling between β-cells within pancreatic islets. Using computational modeling, we show that upregulation in Cx36 might play a functional role in the impairment of glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations in a cluster of β-cells with Kir6.1 gain of function mutations in their K(ATP) channels (GoF-K(ATP) channels). Our results show that without an increase in Cx36 expression, a gain of function mutation in Kir6.1 might not be sufficient to diminish glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations in a β-cell cluster. We also show that a reduced Cx36 expression, which leads to loss of coordination in a wild-type β-cell cluster, restores coordinated Ca2+ oscillations in a β-cell cluster with GoF-K(ATP) channels. Our results indicate that in a heterogenous β-cell cluster with GoF-K(ATP) channels, there is an inverted u-shaped nonmonotonic relation between the cluster activity and Cx36 expression. These results show that in a neonatal diabetic β-cell model, gain of function mutations in the Kir6.1 cause Cx36 overexpression, which aggravates the impairment of glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations.</p

Gain of function mutation in K(ATP) channels and resulting upregulation of coupling conductance are partners in crime in the impairment of Ca²⁺ oscillations in pancreatic ß-cells

Gain of function mutations in the pore forming Kir6 subunits of the ATP sensitive K+ channels (K(ATP) channels) of pancreatic β-cells are the major cause of neonatal diabetes in humans. In this study, we show that in insulin secreting mouse β-cell lines, gain of function mutations in Kir6.1 result in a significant connexin36 (Cx36) overexpression, which form gap junctional connections and mediate electrical coupling between β-cells within pancreatic islets. Using computational modeling, we show that upregulation in Cx36 might play a functional role in the impairment of glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations in a cluster of β-cells with Kir6.1 gain of function mutations in their K(ATP) channels (GoF-K(ATP) channels). Our results show that without an increase in Cx36 expression, a gain of function mutation in Kir6.1 might not be sufficient to diminish glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations in a β-cell cluster. We also show that a reduced Cx36 expression, which leads to loss of coordination in a wild-type β-cell cluster, restores coordinated Ca2+ oscillations in a β-cell cluster with GoF-K(ATP) channels. Our results indicate that in a heterogenous β-cell cluster with GoF-K(ATP) channels, there is an inverted u-shaped nonmonotonic relation between the cluster activity and Cx36 expression. These results show that in a neonatal diabetic β-cell model, gain of function mutations in the Kir6.1 cause Cx36 overexpression, which aggravates the impairment of glucose stimulated Ca2+ oscillations.</p

Understanding the effects of chitosan, chia mucilage, levan based composite coatings on the shelf life of sweet cherry

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) fruits are prone to quality and quantity loss in shelf-life conditions and cold storage due to their short post-harvest life. Until now efforts have been made to extend the shelf life of the sweet cherry. However, an efficient and commercially scalable process remains elusive. To contribute to this challenge, here in this study, biobased composite coatings consisting of chitosan, mucilage, and levan, were applied on sweet cherry fruits and tested for postharvest parameters in both market and cold storage conditions. Results demonstrated that the shelf life of sweet cherries can be extended until the 30th day while retaining important post-harvest properties like decreased weight loss, fungal deterioration, increased stem removal force, total flavonoid, L-ascorbic acid, and oxalic acid. Given the cost-effectiveness of the polymers used, the findings of this study indicate the feasibility of extending the shelf-life of sweet cherries on a larger scale

From Noon to Sunset: Interactive Rendering, Relighting, and Recolouring of Landscape Photographs by Modifying Solar Position

Image editing is a commonly studied problem in computer graphics. Despite the presence of many advanced editing tools, there is no satisfactory solution to controllably update the position of the sun using a single image. This problem is made complicated by the presence of clouds, complex landscapes, and the atmospheric effects that must be accounted for. In this paper, we tackle this problem starting with only a single photograph. With the user clicking on the initial position of the sun, our algorithm performs several estimation and segmentation processes for finding the horizon, scene depth, clouds, and the sky line. After this initial process, the user can make both fine- and large-scale changes on the position of the sun: it can be set beneath the mountains or moved behind the clouds practically turning a midday photograph into a sunset (or vice versa). We leverage a precomputed atmospheric scattering algorithm to make all of these changes not only realistic but also in real-time. We demonstrate our results using both clear and cloudy skies, showing how to add, remove, and relight clouds, all the while allowing for advanced effects such as scattering, shadows, light shafts, and lens flares

Route selection for double balloon enteroscopy in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: Experience from a single center

Background/aims: This study was performed to clarify the best insertion route of double-balloon enteroscopy and to report the characteristics and proportions of small bowel pathologies detected by double-balloon enteroscopy in our patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2009, 75 patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding were enrolled into this study. The procedure was performed by oral route in 60 patients, anal route in 5 patients and both in 10 patients. Mean age of the patients was 50.8 years, and 57.3% of them were male. The main outcome measurements were total length of insertion, total time of double-balloon enteroscopy, diagnostic rates, anatomic location of the lesions, and final diagnosis of lesions detected. Results: Double-balloon enteroscopy was diagnostic in 75% of the patients. This rate was significantly higher in overt bleeding (91.7%). The source of bleeding could not be detected in 19 patients. Mean times of procedures were 119, 144 and 154 minutes for oral route, anal route and both, respectively. The mean insertion length was 310.65 cm (beyond the pylorus) for oral and 166.8 cm (beyond the ileocecal valve) for anal route. The most frequent pathologies were vascular malformations (n=20) and tumors (n=19). All malignant lesions were detected in the proximal part of the small intestine. Vascular malformations were distributed equally through the small intestine. Endoscopic treatment was performed in 30% of patients. Conclusions: Double-balloon enteroscopy is a safe and feasible examination for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. Most lesions were localized in the proximal part of the small intestine. The oral route may be preferred as a first choice, if the imaging modalities including capsule endoscopy cannot detect the lesion