The investigation of succinic and malic dehydrogenases in serum.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe aim of the experiment is to search for malic and succinic dehydrogenases in normal plasma or serum. The role which these two enzymes play in cellular metabolism, the unique way in which plasma reflects many cellular metabolic changes, the discovery of so many cellular enzymes in plasma, and the vagueness of knowledge about the relation of cellular enzymes to plasma proteins in general, seem to justify the search. [TRUNCATED

THE PERCEPTION, AWARENESS AND USE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES BY UNDERGRADUATES OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE ABEOKUTA, NIGERIA

This research investigated perception, awareness and use of Guidance and Counselling Services (G&CS) by undergraduates of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB). Simple random sampling technique was used to sample 283 respondents across the ten (10) Colleges in the Institution. Data were collected with the aid of questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, and mean. The questionnaire was subjected to a pilot study that revealed psychometric properties of Cronbach's Apha 0.86. Results revealed that 91.1% of the respondents were aware of G&CS and 74.6% of the respondents currently using the services indicated that it was very helpful. The rating of the counselling needs of the respondents revealed that academic issues with a mean of 3.62 is the most important factor, followed by examination pressure management which had a mean of 3.51. The rating of the perception of students on the quality and effectiveness of G&CS indicated that organized orientation services for fresh students ranked first (mean = 2.55), while effective counselling on personal, social, academic and vocational challenges ranked second (mean = 2.49). The fresher's orientation service received the highest perception (mean = 2.55) among respondents on the quality and effectiveness of G&CS in the institution. The use of G&CS is presently assisting students to attain competencies needed to overcome academic, career and personal concerns. The study concluded that the G&CS needs of the students across the Colleges differ due to the dissimilarities in their disciplines across the University.   &nbsp

Comparative Studies of Some Polypores Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Isolates of four polypores; Ganoderma colossum, Ganoderma lucidum, Trametes cingulata and Daedalea quercina were compared using the High performance liquid chromatographic profiles of their triterpenoids. A higher abundance of colossolactone E was found in Ganoderma colossum isolate (FC 876) when compared with FC 872 obtained at different periods and dried differently and 23- hydroxycolossolactone E found in FC 876 was not observed in FC 872. Equal abundance of constituents was also found in Ganoderma lucidum isolates (FC 871 and FC 875) collected from different hosts and geographical locations. The isolates of Trametes cingulata that were of different ages showed predominance of the major constituents in FC 873 and FC 885 isolates when compared with FC 870. The abundance of the triterpenoid in the isolates of Daedalea quercina was almost doubled in FC 882 when compared with that of FC 878. These conform with the chemical spot test results on these polypores in a previous work. The ability of the polypores to produce triterpenoids is affected by their age, period of collection, geographical location and method of drying, which also affected the High Performance Liquid Chromatography characteristics of their secondary metabolites. African Research Review Vol. 1 (1) 2007: pp. 77-9

Individual and ethnic aspects of preoperative planning for posttraumatic rhinoplasty

The aim of this study was to compare the aesthetic results of post traumatic rhinoplasty among Europeans with populations of healthy Caucasians described in earlier reports, and to collate correct parameters of nasal shape in healthy representatives of both sexes and various races for improvement in aesthetic results of surgery. 3-D scanning of the face was performed in 54 patients after posttraumatic septorhinoplasty. Analysis of 3D model was based on two indices of the nasal proportions and four angles of the region from 18 anthropological points. Parameters of the nasal shape in addition to gender were compared to average values of healthy Caucasian population, described before. Normal characteristics of the nose among individuals of three races from previous studies were also compared to one another. In females, mean height and width of the nose as well as length of both nostrils was smaller. Neither were there any significant differences in width of the nostrils and length of the nasal pyramid nor nasal prominence. Nasal proportions were similar in both sexes. Some of the nasal angles differed in addition to gender. Posttraumatic rhinoplasty resulted in correct shape of the nose similar to the healthy Caucasian population. The aesthetic nose differ among healthy individuals of the three races analysed. While preoperative planning is important, knowledge of the normal values of parameters characterising shape in both genders is equally important as the individual differences in relation to the whole face

Decentralized Approaches to Antiwindup Design with Application to Quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This paper considers the design of structured antiwindup (AW) compensators for open-loop stable plants that themselves have a particular structure: a diagonal dynamic part cascaded with a static invertible part. Two approaches to the design of such compensators are proposed. The first one is a pseudodecentralized AW compensator that is a direct extension of a similar scheme in the literature. The second approach allows the AW compensators to be designed individually for each control channel and, provided that a certain linear program is satisfied, allows the compensators to be implemented in such a way that the nonlinear closed loop is asymptotically stable. The design approaches are applied to a quadrotor UAV, which inspired the work, and results from both simulations and flight tests are reported.</p