Hepato-renal toxicological studies of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia in wistar rats

This study evaluated the hepato-renal toxicological indices following 21 days administration of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia in Wistar rats. Acute toxicity studies with very high concentrations of the crude extract was carried out followed by sub chronic toxicities studies involving administration of 250mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg body weight of the ethyl acetate extract to the  experimental animals for 21 days. Liver and Kidney toxicological indices were evaluated from the sera as well as e tissues of the experimental animals after the 21 days period of administration. The results of acute toxicity studies indicate that this extract is well tolerated at doses as high as 5000mg/kg body weight. The results of sub-chronic toxicity studies indicate that there was a significant increase in the activities of ALP , while AST activities was significantly lower (p<0.05) compared to the control. There was no significant changes in (P<0.05) ALT and Unconjugated bilirubin levels in the test groups compared to the control. Similarly, the result of kidney toxicological indices showed that the levels of urea, Na+, HCO32- and Cl- were significantly higher in the test animals compared to the control while K+ and creatine levels showed no significant change in the extract  administered groups compared to the control (p<0.05). Histopathology examination of the liver and kidneys showed mild hepatic damage at the highest dose (1000mg/kg body weight).Keywords: Vitex simplicifolia, Hepato-renal, Toxicological Studies

The influence of ZnS crystallinity on all-electroplated ZnS/CdS/CdTe graded bandgap device properties

Electrodeposition of zinc sulphide (ZnS) was achieved from electrolytic bath containing zinc sulphate monohydrate (ZnSO4·H2O) and ammonium thiosulphate ((NH4)2S2O3) in a two-electrode electroplating configuration. The cyclic voltammetric studies show that ZnS layers can be electroplated between (1350 and 1550) mV. The grown layers were characteristically explored for their structural, optical, morphological and electronic properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, UV–Visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell and DC conductivity measurements respectively. The structural analysis shows that crystalline ZnS can be deposited within a narrow cathodic deposition range between (1420 and 1430) mV. The UV–Visible spectrophotometry shows that the bandgap of both as-deposited and heat-treated ZnS films are in the range of ~(3.70 and 3.90) eV. The SEM shows small grains depicting the wetting property of ZnS. The PEC results show that the electroplated ZnS below 1425 mV is p-type and above 1425 mV is n-type under both as-deposited and heat treated condition. The DC conductivity shows that the highest resistivity is at the inversion growth voltage (Vi) for the ZnS layers. The glass/FTO/n-ZnS/n-CdS/n-CdTe/Au devices were fabricated using crystalline-ZnS and amorphous-ZnS buffer layers. The devices were explored using current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) techniques. As expected, devices fabricated with c-ZnS show improved device parameters (ideality factor n=1.60, depletion width W=1092 nm, open-circuit voltage Voc=730 mV, short-circuit current density Jsc=34.1 mAcm-2, fill factor FF=0.57, conversion efficiency η=14.2%) when compared to device parameters (n=1.85, W=900 nm, Voc=720 mV, Jsc=29.9 mAcm-2, FF=0.52, η=11.2%) of these devices fabricated with a-ZnS buffer layers

Effects of ethyl acetate leaf extracts of Vitex simplicifolia on antioxidant vitamins, sod, liver glycogen content and lipid profile in alloxan induced - diabetic wistar rats

The effects of oral administration of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia on vitamins A, E and C, Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lipid profile levels in alloxan induced diabetic Wistar rats were investigated. The study was conducted with 30 Wistar rats, assigned into six groups of five rats each, and daily administration of ethyl acetate leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia for 21 days was done. Diabetes mellitus was induced in overnight fasted rats by a single intraperitoneal injection (i.p) of 150 mg/kg body weight of alloxan monohydrate. Group 1 was the normal control group 2 was the diabetic control, group 3 was administered 10mg/kg of glibenclimide (positive control) and groups 4, 5, and 6 were administered 250,500 and 1000mg/kg body weight of aqueous leaf extracts of Vitex simplicifolia respectively. There were no significant changes (p<0.01) in the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerol (TAG), low density lipoprotein – cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein –cholesterol (HDL –C), SOD, vitamins A, E and C for the animals administered with the extract compared with the control groups. The result of this study suggests that aqueous leaf extract of Vitex simplicifolia has no antioxidant and hypolipidemic effect.Keywords: Vitex simplicifolia, SOD, Lipid Profile, Antioxidant Vitamin

15.3% efficient graded bandgap solar cells fabricated using electroplated CdS and CdTe thin films

Making use of previously designed and experimentally tested results of graded bandgap devices, and the comprehensive electrodeposition of semiconducting materials knowledge, a three layer n-n-p device structure was fabricated and tested for their electronic properties and solar cell performance. Glass/FTO/n-CdS/n-CdTe/p-CdTe/Au devices were fabricated and studied as a first step towards development of graded bandgap devices using electroplated materials. Efficiencies up to 15.3% were observed for lab-scale small devices

Investigating the effect of GaCl3 incorporation into the usual CdCl2 treatment on CdTe-based solar cell device structures

The incorporation of GaCl3 into the usual CdCl2 post-deposition treatment solution of CdTe-based solar cells has been investigated. Both CdS and CdTe layers used in this work were prepared by electroplating technique and they are n-type in electrical conduction as observed from photoelectrochemical cell measurement technique. Before applying the chemical treatments to the device structures, the effect of GaCl3 incorporation into the usual CdCl2 treatment was first studied on the structural and optical properties of CdTe thin films. The results of the optical properties show that the bandgap of CdTe thin films treated with a mixture of GaCl3 + CdCl2 is closer to that of bulk CdTe layers than the ones treated only with CdCl2 solution. The structural properties also showed that CdTe thin films treated with GaCl3 + CdCl2 is more crystalline than CdTe thin films treated only with CdCl2 solution. The addition of GaCl3 into the CdCl2 solution have been seen to drastically enhance the solar-to-electric conversion efficiency of CdS/CdTe based solar cells. One of the effects of Ga incorporation into the usual CdCl2 treatment was seen in the series resistance reduction which ultimately leads to enhancement in the observed short-circuit current density, fill factor and overall solar cell efficiency. For the glass/FTO/n-CdS/n-CdTe device structures, the cell efficiencies were observed in the range 1.9–2.1% after being treated with CdCl2 solution only. When treated with CdCl2 + GaCl3, the efficiency increased to 6.1–6.4%. Subsequent study on multi-junction graded bandgap solar cells using the GaCl3 + CdCl2 chemical solution for the surface treatment of glass/FTO/n-ZnS/n-CdS/n-CdTe device structures results in solar cell efficiency >10%

Large-scale magnetic fields from inflation due to a CPTCPT-even Chern-Simons-like term with Kalb-Ramond and scalar fields

We investigate the generation of large-scale magnetic fields due to the breaking of the conformal invariance in the electromagnetic field through the $CPT$-even dimension-six Chern-Simons-like effective interaction with a fermion current by taking account of the dynamical Kalb-Ramond and scalar fields in inflationary cosmology. It is explicitly demonstrated that the magnetic fields on 1Mpc scale with the field strength of $\sim 10^{-9}$G at the present time can be induced.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, version accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J.

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Efficacy and Safety of Fondaparinux Versus Enoxaparin in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes Treated With Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors or Thienopyridines Results From the OASIS 5 (Fifth Organization to Assess Strategies in Ischemic Syndromes) Trial

ObjectivesThis study sought to evaluate the relative safety and efficacy of fondaparinux and enoxaparin in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) treated with glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridines.BackgroundThe OASIS 5 (Fifth Organization to Assess Strategies in Ischemic Syndromes) trial showed that fondaparinux reduced major bleeding by 50% compared with enoxaparin while preserving similar efficacy. Whether this benefit is consistent in the presence or absence of concurrent antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors is unknown.MethodsPatients with ACS (n =20,078) were randomized as a part of the OASIS 5 trial to receive either fondaparinux or enoxaparin. The use of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridines was at the discretion of the treating physician. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare outcomes.ResultsOf the 20,078 patients randomized, 3,630 patients received GP IIb/IIIa and 13,531 received thienopyridines. There was a 40% reduction in major bleeding with fondaparinux compared with enoxaparin in those treated with GP IIb/IIIa (5.2% vs. 8.3%, hazard ratio [HR]: 0.61, p < 0.001). A similar reduction was found in those treated with thienopyridines (3.4% vs. 5.4%, HR: 0.62, p < 0.001). Ischemic events were similar between the groups, resulting in a superior net clinical outcome (death, myocardial infarction, refractory ischemia, or major bleeding) favoring fondaparinux (GP IIb/IIIa subgroup 14.8% vs. 18.9%, HR: 0.77, p = 0.001 and thienopyridines subgroup 11.0% vs. 13.2%, HR: 0.82, p < 0.001).ConclusionsIn patients receiving GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridines, fondaparinux reduces major bleeding and improves net clinical outcome compared with enoxaparin