Microorganisms associated with the production of volatile compounds in spoilt tomatoes

The microorganisms associated with the production of volatile compounds in spoilt tomatoes has been isolated and identified. The mean heterotrophic bacterial count recorded range between 8.7 x 106 to 9.1 x 106 cfu/g. The highest value was obtained from Bado and the least from Dundaye market. The organisms isolated and identified  include three species of bacteria and four fungal species. These include Bacillus, Listeria, Morganella, Aspergillus, Absidia, and Fusarium. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of eight  compounds dominated by 9, 12 – octadecadienoic acid (31.08%), 2, 3 – Butandiol (28.79%), and n-Hexadecanoic acid (19.85%). This study  suggests that spoilt tomatoes could be exploited for the biogeneration of some volatile compounds that could provide baseline knowledge for curbing post harvest lost

Self-service infrastructure container for data intensive application

Cloud based scientific data management - storage, transfer, analysis, and inference extraction - is attracting interest. In this paper, we propose a next generation cloud deployment model suitable for data intensive applications. Our model is a flexible and self-service container-based infrastructure that delivers - network, computing, and storage resources together with the logic to dynamically manage the components in a holistic manner. We demonstrate the strength of our model with a bioinformatics application. Dynamic algorithms for resource provisioning and job allocation suitable for the chosen dataset are packaged and delivered in a privileged virtual machine as part of the container. We tested the model on our private internal experimental cloud that is built on low-cost commodity hardware. We demonstrate the capability of our model to create the required network and computing resources and allocate submitted jobs. The results obtained shows the benefits of increased automation in terms of both a significant improvement in the time to complete a data analysis and a reduction in the cost of analysis. The algorithms proposed reduced the cost of performing analysis by 50% at 15 GB of data analysis. The total time between submitting a job and writing the results after analysis also reduced by more than 1 hr at 15 GB of data analysis

Antibacterial effect of Jordanian propolis and isolated flavonoids against human pathogenic bacteria

Propolis is a natural product widely consumed in folk medicine. The present study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity of Jordanian propolis, collected from two locations with two different dominant floras (Type1; Pine trees and Type ll; Oak trees). Zones of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined on methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multidrug resistant Escherichia coli and standard strains of both bacteria. Propolis Type I and Type II showed antibacterial activity against MRSA (MIC 4.69 and 18.75 μg ml-1, respectively). Crude propolis from Type I showed higher antibacterial activity than Type II against the tested bacteria. Three pure phenolic compounds (three flavonoids) namely, pinobanksin-3-O-acetate, pinocemberin and chrysin, were isolated from fractions I-2 and I-4, and screened in vitro for antibacterial activity. Pinobanksin-3-O-acetate and pinocembrin exhibited antibacterial activity especially against MRSA, while chrysin was only active against standard S. aureus. This is the first report that shows in vitro antibacterial activity of isolated flavonoids from Jordanian propolis against standard and resistant strains of E. coli and MRSA. Overall, results of this study highlight the important role of propolis botanical source on the antibacterial activity of such natural material which might affect its medical applications.Keywords: Antibacterial activity, human pathogens, flavonoids, propolis, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coliAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5966-5974, 6 September, 201

Adolescents’ Perception of the Psychological Security of School Environment, Emotional Development and Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Gombe Metropolis

The purpose of the study was to determine adolescents’ perceptions of the psychological security of their schools environments and their relationship with their emotional development and academic performance in secondary schools in Gombe Metropolis. A sample of 239 (107 males and 133 females) secondary school students selected via stratified random sampling from four public and private secondary schools in Gombe Metropolis participated in the study. A self-develop questionnaire titled “Psychological Perspective of the Security of School Environment, Emotional Development Academic Performance of Adolescents Questionnaire’ with a Cronbach Alpha reliability of (.71) was used for the study. Simple Percentage and Multiple Regression were used to analyse the data. The findings reveal that adolescents perceived the psychological security of secondary schools environments as insecure; there are significant relationships between insecurity of school environment with emotional development and academic performance of adolescents. It is recommended that Government and school proprietors should fence all schools, school administrators should provide adequate security for teachers and students through good leadership and parents should train their children well

Extadigits: an unusual presentation

Extra digit is a common congenital anomaly in our environment which usually affect the hands and occasionally the feet but very rarely both. A five months old male infant presented with accessory digits of the both hands and feet, with two extra digits on the left hand and one on the right hand, right foot and left foot. The extra digits were well developed, with normal range of motion, good capillary refill and intact sensation. General examination revealed an otherwise healthy child with no associated congenital malformations. The treatment modality used was surgical removal of the extra digits and reconstruction of any associated anomalies in the remaining ray such as longitudinal epiphyseal bracket. After the surgery the patients is no longer experience difficulty with fitting gloves and shoes as well as discrimination among peer groups in his future life

Geospatial modelling of land use/land cover dynamics in the Gongola basin for water resource applications through CA-Markov

The Gongola basin has witnessed tremendous environmental changes over the last three decades as a direct consequence of urban growth, deforestation (including encroachment of existing forest reserves), agricultural expansion, overgrazing, bush burning, drought and recurrent flooding episodes. The impact of these changes is influential on the basin’s hydrology, water resource and ecological process, yet, future land cover information to evaluate possible implications on its hydrology and the overall ecosystem is non-existence. Consequently, this study attempts to simulate future land cover demands of 2028 and 2038 for the basin, based on land cover images of 1988, 2003 and 2018 to develop land use/landcover (LU/LC) scenarios for possible hydrologic impact assessments. The method of the research therefore, premised on the use of cellular automata and Markov chain (CA-Markov) model, driven by a number of factors and constraints. Results indicate the land cover change to be mainly driven by rapid growth in urban and agricultural lands, contrary to the vegetation cover, which had been the dominant land cover type in the past. Besides, during the 30 years period, there were noticeable 37.05, 20.21 and 11.55 % increase in urban built-up, bare surface and agricultural land respectively, at the detriment of natural vegetation, which has itself decreased by 18.78 % over the period, with an estimated annual loss of approximately 330 km2of natural vegetation. The decrease in the coverage area of water body was significant (3.55 %) for the same period. Findings from future simulations of LU/LC trends in the basin, show that urban area would have increased by 39 % and agriculture by 34 % by2028 relative to the baseline period of 2003. Conversely, the natural vegetation trailed a declining trend (39 %) higher in magnitude than the preceding years. The developed LU/LC scenarios for the basin can provide an opportunity for water resource managers and experts to understand the trends in changing land use for effective planning and management

Preliminarna istraživanja polimorfizma hemoglobina i povezanosti s morfometrijskim svojstvima zapadnoafričkih patuljastih koza u sjevernom dijelu središnje Nigerije

The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic pool of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goats using haemoglobin (Hb) polymorphism, as well as the association of some morphological traits with the Hb variants. Blood samples were collected from a total of 104 mature goats of both sexes belonging to the WAD breed in north central Nigeria. The red cell lysates were subjected to cellulose acetate electrophoresis and specific staining procedure to reveal the band patterns of haemoglobin. Three co-dominant alleles, causing the presence of three genotypes (AA, AB and AC) were detected among individual goats. The frequencies of the A, B and C alleles were 0.69, 0.30 and 0.01, respectively. The corresponding genotype frequencies for AA, AB and AC in the goat population were 0.37, 0.61 and 0.02, respectively. The discrepancy between the observed and the expected genotype number was significant (P0.05) by Hb variants. There is a need for further study encompassing more number of goats covering larger areas, use of DNA markers and their relationship with economic traits as well as performance study for detailed understanding of breed characteristics, conservation and genetic improvement of WAD goats in north central Nigeria.Cilj ovog istraživanja bila je genetska karakterizacija zapadnoafričkih patuljastih koza (WAD) pomoću polimorfizma hemoglobina (Hb), kao i povezanost nekih morfoloških obilježja s HB varijantama. Uzorci krvi spolno zrelih koza WAD pasmine (n=104) prikupljeni su u sjevernom dijelu središnje Nigerije. Uzorci su uzeti od oba spola. Za utvrđivanje profila hemoglobina provedena je elektroforeza (celuloza acetat) i specifična tehnika bojanja gela. Tri kodominantna alela koja su uvjetovala prisutnost tri genotipa (AA, AB i AC) utvrđena su između pojedinih koza. Frekvencije alela A, B i C bile su 0,69, 0,30 i 0,01. Frekvencija genotipova AA bila je 0,37, AB 0,61 i AC 0,02. Nesukladnost između promatranog i očekivanog broja genotipova bila je značajna (P0,05) na ostale parametre tijela. Postoji potreba za daljnje istraživanje koje će obuhvatiti veći broj koza koje pokrivaju veća područja, korištenjem DNA markera i njihova odnosa s gospodarskim svojstvima, kao i performans studije za razumijevanje svojstava pasmine, te očuvanje i genetsko unapređenje WAD pasmine koza u sjevernom dijelu središnje Nigerije

Novel Design Of Triple-Band EBG

This paper presents a novel design for a triple band electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures that provides three band gaps, with operating frequency of below 10 GHz, while the ordinary mushroom like EBG structure gives only one band gap. Complexity reduction (reduce the number of unit cells and Vias) was achieved by replacing each four cells of the Mushroom like EBG by the one of double slotted type EBG (DSTEBG) or triple side slotted EBG (TSSEBG). The Mushroom like EBG was further modified by increasing its size and inserting the slots to gain more capacitance and inductance which resulted into triple band stop. The new designs wer compared with bandwidths expressed by other EBGs and-20 dB cut-off frequencies. The size of EBG element and the gap between EBG elements, and slot width were investigated to analyse their effect on the transmission response. The structures were designed from 2.54 mm Rogers RT/Duroid 6010 substrate with relative permittivity of 10.2 and loss tangent of 0.0023. Among the investigated EBGs, the single band mushroom like EBG and the triple band of the TSSEBG demonstrated better bandwidth and lower resonance frequency performance, whereas the DSTEBG showed larger bandwidth for the first and third band. The proposed EBGs could be useful in the antenna design and other microwave circuits

Isolation of Angola-like Marburg virus from Egyptian rousette bats from West Africa.

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Most MVD outbreaks originated in East Africa and field studies in East Africa, South Africa, Zambia, and Gabon identified the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) as a natural reservoir. However, the largest recorded MVD outbreak with the highest case-fatality ratio happened in 2005 in Angola, where direct spillover from bats was not  shown. Here, collaborative studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Njala University, University of California, Davis USAID-PREDICT, and the University of Makeni identify MARV circulating in ERBs in Sierra Leone. PCR, antibody and virus isolation data from 1755 bats of 42 species shows active MARV infection in approximately 2.5% of ERBs. Phylogenetic analysis identifies MARVs that are similar to the Angola strain. These results provide evidence of MARV circulation in West Africa and demonstrate the value of pathogen surveillance to identify previously undetected threats