Characterizations on microencapsulated sunflower oil as self-healing agent using In situ polymerization method

This paper emphasizes the characterization on the microencapsulation of sunflower oil as self-healing agent. In-situ polymerization method mainly implicates in the microencapsulation process. The analysis of microencapsulated sunflower oil via prominent characterization of yield of microcapsules, microcapsules characteristics and Fourier Transmission Infa-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR). The prime optimization used was reaction time of microencapsulation process in the ranges of 2, 3 and 4 h. The higher reaction time of microencapsulation process resulted in a higher yield of microcapsules. The yield of microcapsules increases from 46 to 53% respectively by the increasing of reaction time from 2 to 4 h. The surface morphology study associating the diameter of microcapsules measured to analyse the prepared microcapsules. It was indicated that microcapsules were round in shape with smooth micro-surfaces. It was discovered that the diameter of microcapsules during microencapsulation process after 4 h reaction time was in average of 70.53 μm. This size was measured before filtering the microcapsules with solvent and dried in vacuum oven. Apparently, after filtering and drying stage, the diameter of microcapsules specifically identified under Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) showing the size of 2.33 μm may be due to the removing the suspended oil surrounded the microcapsules. Sunflower oil as core content and urea formaldehyde (UF) as shell of microcapsules demonstrated the proven chemical properties on characterization by FTIR with the stretching peak of 1537.99 - 1538.90 cm-1 (-H in -CH2), 1235.49 - 1238.77 cm-1 (C-O-C Vibrations at Ester) and 1017.65 - 1034.11 cm-1 (C-OH Stretching Vibrations). It was showed that sunflower oil can be considered as an alternative nature resource for self-healing agent in microencapsulation process. The characterization of microencapsulated sunflower oil using in-situ polymerization method showed that sunflower oil was viable self-healing agent to be encapsulated and incorporated in metal coating

Hydrochemical Characteristics and Groundwater Quality Evaluation of Roni Area, Northwestern Nigeria

Rapid population growth rate in the study area results to an increasing demand of water for various uses. It necessitated the geoscientists to evaluate the water quality of the area for potability. Twenty (20) water samples were collected using plastic bottles and properly labelled. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) were used to analyse the water quality. The in-situ measured parameters of water are mostly within limit of NIS, 2007 and WHO, 2011. Cations and anions analyses revealed, they were within the range of acceptable standard, except higher concentration of Fe2+, Pb2+and Mn2+which might have resulted from acidic water of the area and weathering of silicate minerals. The cations preponderance is of the order Na+> K+ ˃Mg2+> Ca2+> while for the anions dominance are HCO3− > Cl- > SO42-. The dominant water facies are Na+-HCO3−. These facies might have sources from rock-water interaction of silicate minerals. Wilcox plot of salinity hazard of the water samples indicated that, the water of the area is good for irrigation. It can be classified, the value of electrical conductivity of 0 – 250 excellent, 250 – 750 good, 750 – 2250 doubtful and ˃ 2250 μS/cm unsuitable. Field study and petrographic analysis revealed that, the area is underlain by three (3) major rocks units which are muscovite schist, porphyritic granite, sandstone (Chad Formation) with quartzite occurring as the minor lithology. Keywords: Hydrochemical characteristics, ground water, water quality, concentration, electrical conductivit

Antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa seed extracts

The development and alarming increase of bacterial resistance to existing antimicrobial agents has become a real challenge and a serious problem facing patients suffering from various infections worldwide. This study was designed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of black seed extracts against bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The powdered seeds were extracted using percolation technique with methanol and petroleum ether. Agar well diffusion method was used to test the antibacterial activity. Methanolic extracts at 100mg/ml had a remarkable activity against S. aureus (19mm) and P. aeruginosa (12mm). Also the petroleum ether extract had the same activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa (10mm). This implies that methanolic and petroleum ether extracts of N. sativa were found to be active against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. While E. coli showed resistance to the extracts at all concentrations. Our study shows that species, strains and concentrations of N. sativa extracts are some of the factors that may influence the sensitivity of tested organisms.Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Nigella sativa, Black seed extract, Agar well diffusion, Bacterial isolate

Persistence of Ebola virus RNA in some body fluids of Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors – the Nigerian experience

Introduction: Ebola virus (EBOV) has been shown to persist in some body fluids of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) survivors with implication for future transmission particularly in Nigeria where EVD was experienced for the first time in 2014. Thus, this paper was aimed at providing information on the duration of persistence of EBOV in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Ten consenting EVD survivors were enrolled. Baseline specimens; urine and semen (males), urine and high vaginal swab (HVS) (females) were obtained within one month after discharge from the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) and subsequently every fortnight. Samples were analyzed using quantitative Real-Star Filovirus Screen RT-PCR kit 1.0 at the National Reference Laboratory in Lagos.Results: Ten EVD survivors comprising 4 (40%) males and 6 (60%) females with age ranges of 28 to >33 years (mean age: 33.0 ± 6.9 years) were evaluated. EBOV RNA was not detected in the urine of all the participants and HVS from the females. However, EBOV RNA was detected in the semen of all 4 (100%) male participants at baseline, and at 2 months after discharge from the ETC. Two men were still positive for EBOV RNA 4 months after discharge from the ETC despite persistent negative vireamia. Conclusions: Our data confirm that a negative viremia in the convalescent period is not predictive of the absence of the virus in semen. Despite an early clearance of the virus from the urine and HVS, there was persistence of EBOV RNA in semen of male survivors 4 months after recovery

Supplemental Information 4: Raw data.

This study evaluated pollution levels in water and sediments of Península de Paraguaná and related these levels with benthic macrofauna along a coastal area where the largest Venezuelan oil refineries have operated over the past 60 years. For this, the concentration of heavy metals, of hydrocarbon compounds and the community structure of the macrobenthos were examined at 20 sites distributed along 40 km of coastline for six consecutive years, which included windy and calm seasons. The spatial variability of organic and inorganic compounds showed considerably high coastal pollution along the study area, across both years and seasons. The southern sites, closest to the refineries, had consistently higher concentrations of heavy metals and organic compounds in water and sediments when compared to those in the north. The benthic community was dominated by polychaetes at all sites, seasons and years, and their abundance and distribution were significantly correlated with physical and chemical characteristics of the sediments. Sites close to the oil refineries were consistently dominated by families known to tolerate xenobiotics, such as Capitellidae and Spionidae. The results from this study highlight the importance of continuing long-term environmental monitoring programs to assess the impact of effluent discharge and spill events from the oil refineries that operate in the western coast of Paraguaná, Venezuela

Mechanical stability of the CMS strip tracker measured with a laser alignment system

Peer reviewe

Search for massive resonances decaying in to WW,WZ or ZZ bosons in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for R-parity violating supersymmetry with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurements of differential production cross sections for a Z boson in association with jets in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe