Growth and Yield of Two Varieties of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L). Moench) as affected by Potassium Fertilizer Sources

Wastes arising from poultry production and oil palm processing mill have constituted environmental hazard in South-West, Nigeria. The use of these wastes as soil organic amendments can be a way of managing the wastes thus reducing the menace of pollution caused by indiscriminate dumping of these wastes especially poultry manure. The effects of four agricultural wastes as sources of potassium fertilizers on growth and yield of two varieties of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L). Moench) were assessed in a pot experiment at the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. Treatments consisted of poultry manure (PM), palm oil mill effluent (POME) at 8t/ha each, muriate of potash (MP) applied at 20kg/ha and no fertilizer (NF) as control as well as two varieties of okro TAE-38 and Clemson spineless (NHAe (47-4). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in three replicates. Twenty four pots were filled with 25kg top soil each. Data of growth and yield parameters; plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, number of pods, length of pods and fresh weight of pods were measured. The results revealed that poultry manure significantly (P<0.05) gave highest plant height of 92.7cm, highest number of pod (18.3) which is 52 and 35% over POME and 89% over NF respectively. POME gave highest fresh pod weight of 23.7g/plant. Maximum yield of 3.3t/ha was obtained with application of poultry manure. The result have shown that organic sources POME and PM could be used as a substitute for K which increase the productivity of the soil in okro production and thereby reduce the pollution caused by these wastes. Keywords: Growth, poultry manure, potassium fertilizer sources, Oil palm mill effluent.

Dry Matter, Protein and Fibre Digestibility by West African Dwarf Sheep Fed Varying Levels of \u3cem\u3eVernonia amygdalina\u3c/em\u3e Meal in Cassava Starch Residue-Based Diets

It is imperative to find alternative source(s) of feed for livestock in lieu of the limited availability of conventional concentrates and the competition for this resource by man. One plant with great potential for the livestock is bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina). It is wide spread with about 200 species, is edible, drought tolerant, nutritious and has been found to have medicinal qualities (John 1994). V. amygdalina has an astringent taste which affects its intake. Bitter leaf meal contains 20-34% crude protein (CP) and can be used as protein supplement (Aregheore et al. 1998). With the recent introduction of trees and shrubs into cropping and grazing systems to provide high protein fodder to supplement post harvest crop residues, it is conceivable that V. amygdalina could play a valuable role in ruminant feeding system. This study was conducted to assess the dry matter, protein and fibre digestibility by WAD sheep fed diets containing various levels of Vernonia amygdalina leaf meal

Identification of active sites on supported metal catalysts with carbon nanotube hydrogen highways

Catalysts consisting of metal particles supported on reducible oxides exhibit promising activity and selectivity for a variety of current and emerging industrial processes. Enhanced catalytic activity can arise from direct contact between the support and the metal or from metal-induced promoter effects on the oxide. Discovering the source of enhanced catalytic activity and selectivity is challenging, with conflicting arguments often presented based on indirect evidence. Here, we separate the metal from the support by a controlled distance while maintaining the ability to promote defects via the use of carbon nanotube hydrogen highways. As illustrative cases, we use this approach to show that the selective transformation of furfural to methylfuran over Pd/TiO2 occurs at the Pd-TiO2 interface while anisole conversion to phenol and cresol over Cu/TiO2 is facilitated by exposed Ti3+ cations on the support. This approach can be used to clarify many conflicting arguments in the literatureWe acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation, Grant CAREER1653935. Use of the Advanced Photon Source is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. MRCAT operations are supported by the Department of Energy and the MRCAT member institutions. E.C.W. and J.T.M. were supported in part by Center for Innovative Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR) by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. EEC-1647722. Open access fees fees for this article provided whole or in part by OU Libraries Open Access Fund.Ye

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension

Aims Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries. Methods and results Eighty-nine countries participated in MMM 2018. Volunteers (≥18 years) were recruited through opportunistic sampling at a variety of screening sites. Each participant had three BP measurements and completed a questionnaire on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, or taking antihypertensive medication. In total, 74.9% of screenees provided three BP readings. Multiple imputation using chained equations was used to impute missing readings. 1 504 963 individuals (mean age 45.3 years; 52.4% female) were screened. After multiple imputation, 502 079 (33.4%) individuals had hypertension, of whom 59.5% were aware of their diagnosis and 55.3% were taking antihypertensive medication. Of those on medication, 60.0% were controlled and of all hypertensives, 33.2% were controlled. We detected 224 285 individuals with untreated hypertension and 111 214 individuals with inadequately treated (systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg) hypertension. Conclusion May Measurement Month expanded significantly compared with 2017, including more participants in more countries. The campaign identified over 335 000 adults with untreated or inadequately treated hypertension. In the absence of systematic screening programmes, MMM was effective at raising awareness at least among these individuals at risk

The Helicobacter pylori Genome Project : insights into H. pylori population structure from analysis of a worldwide collection of complete genomes

Helicobacter pylori, a dominant member of the gastric microbiota, shares co-evolutionary history with humans. This has led to the development of genetically distinct H. pylori subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host and with differential gastric disease risk. Here, we provide insights into H. pylori population structure as a part of the Helicobacter pylori Genome Project (HpGP), a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at elucidating H. pylori pathogenesis and identifying new therapeutic targets. We collected 1011 well-characterized clinical strains from 50 countries and generated high-quality genome sequences. We analysed core genome diversity and population structure of the HpGP dataset and 255 worldwide reference genomes to outline the ancestral contribution to Eurasian, African, and American populations. We found evidence of substantial contribution of population hpNorthAsia and subpopulation hspUral in Northern European H. pylori. The genomes of H. pylori isolated from northern and southern Indigenous Americans differed in that bacteria isolated in northern Indigenous communities were more similar to North Asian H. pylori while the southern had higher relatedness to hpEastAsia. Notably, we also found a highly clonal yet geographically dispersed North American subpopulation, which is negative for the cag pathogenicity island, and present in 7% of sequenced US genomes. We expect the HpGP dataset and the corresponding strains to become a major asset for H. pylori genomics

Protective role of methanol extract of Carpolobia lutea root against cadmium-induced changes in biochemical and antioxidant indices in liver of male Wistar rats

Oxidative stress and impaired antioxidant system have been implicated in the pathophysiology of various disease conditions associated with Cadmium (Cd) toxicity. Carpolobia lutea (C. lutea), has been shown to possess antioxidant properties. Carpolobia lutea root was obtained in Ijare via Akure, authenticated at Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria. Methanolic extract of Carpolobia lutea (MCL) was obtained by Soxhlet extraction and subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify chemical compounds in the extract. Thirty male Wistar rats (150-170 g) were used in this study and treated as follows: Control (1 mL/kg body weight (bw) distilled water), Cd (2 mg/kg bw), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+100 mg/kg bw), Cd+MCL (2 mg/kg+200 mg/kg bw), MCL (100 mg/kg bw), MCL (200 mg/kg bw). The administration of C. lutea was done orally for eight weeks, and a single dose of 2 mg/kg Cd was administered intraperitoneally. Liver levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and histology were assessed. The GC-MS result showed the presence of 21 compounds. The C. lutea extract significantly reduced (P<0.05) ALP, AST and MDA while a significant increase was observed in SOD and CAT activities which were initially altered by administration of cadmium. The C. lutea extract also significantly attenuated the histopathological alterations of the liver rats. C. lutea root extract attenuated cadmium-induced toxicity which are indications of its antioxidant potential and may be responsible for its protecting effect against coadmium-induced liver damage.&nbsp

Slurry Tank Conditioning of Oil Sands: Tailings Behaviour

Slurry tank conditioning as an oil sands process step prior to extraction can be expected to produce a tailings material significantly different from conventional Clark hot water process tailings. Recycle water pond design and operation will depend upon the settling and consolidation properties of the fine tailings stream, and these properties in turn depend upon the chemical and physical conditions to which the oil sands are exposed in the extraction process. Slurry tank conditioning occurs at 50°C and without the addition of any process aides. The release of bitumen from the sand matrix is accomplished using mechanical agitation (stirring) in a tank, prior to desanding and flotation using conventional oil sands separation processes. This is in contrast to the Clark process which conditions the oil sand using tumblers, heat (80°C), and an alkaline water chemistry. The alkaline water chemistry serves to disperse the fine clays, as well as enhance the release of natural surfactants in the bitumen. Both of these effects result in rapid release of bitumen from the sand, allowing for very short residence times (5 to 10 min) in the tumblers. The non-alkanine water chemistry, and (longer residence time) mechanical conditioning in the slurry tank process results in a reduction in dispersion of the fine clays, as well as an increase in the flocculation and settling rate, compared to the Clark process tailings. The rapid flocculation and settling of the fine clays results in a fine tailings stream that begins settling without any induction time and that has a solids free release water. The slurry tank process tailings have an order of magnitude higher permeability than Clark hot water process tailings and they have a significantly improved capacity to support a sand surcharge which will provide a stress to further enhance dewatering, relative to the Clark tailings. The improved capacity to support a sand surcharge indicates that a lower calcium addition would be needed to create CT (relative to Clark tailings). Because of the similar water chemistry, slurry tank and OSLO tailings behaviour will be similar, with the additional potential benefit of tailoring the degree of mechanical conditioning in the slurry tank to maximize bitumen recovery, but minimize clay dispersion. The beneficial fine tailings properties result from both the water chemistry, as well as the more controlled mechanica! conditioning in the slurry tank. Depending upon the connate water chemistry of the oil sands, maintaining a non-alkaline environment after many years of recycle may require chemical treatment of the recycled water. For the lease 13 oil sands tested here, chemical treatment is not likely to he required to control the water chemistry. Toxicity of the release water is significantly lower for the slurry tank conditioned oil sands than for the Clark tailings, although it has some level of toxicity. This means that in any treat and release scenario, the slurry tank conditioned tailings will require less treatment than conventional Clark tailings