Bio-Therapeutic, Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Efficacies of Oyster Mushroom (<i>Pleurotus ostreatus</i>) Obtained from the Wild

Pleurotus ostreatus was obtained from the wild and evaluated for its antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The antibacterial activities of the methanolic and aqueous extracts against clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli with vancomycine and amicosin as positive control against the isolates were examined using agar well diffusion assay and the zones of inhibition for the methanolic extract varied for different organisms as zones of inhibition were highly pronounced in Escherichia coli having 18.0 ± 1.41 mm followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae of 17.0 ± 0.58 mm then Staphylococcus aureus of 14.0 ± 1.53 mm and finally Pseudomonas aeruginosa 13.0 ± 0.58 mm. While for the aqueous extract, no inhibition was observed in three isolates apart from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in which the zone of inhibition was just 8.0 ± 1.00 mm. The total antioxidant activity of aqueous Pleurotus ostreatus differed significantly with total phenolic of 12.55 ± 0.11 mg GAE/g, total flavonoid of 7.22 ± 1.60 mg QE/g, ABTS of 1.99 ± 0.06 mmol TEAC/100g, FRAP of mean value of 5.25 ± 0.25 mg/g and also Pleurotus ostreatus was able to scavenged DPPH in a dose-dependent manner of 0 - 13.3 mg/ml. The inhibitory effect of Pleurotus ostreatus can therefore be attributed to the presence of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in the extract. Also, the result of the ABTS+ scavenging ability of Pleurotus ostreatus as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) revealed that the extracts of Pleurotus ostreatus has ABTS scavenging ability. The FRAP mean value shows the ability of Pleurotus ostreatus extract to reduced Iron (III) to Iron (II) indicates its redox potential which presents the mushroom a good antioxidant source, suitable for health benefits when consumed.

Mechanisms of action of aqueous extract from the Hunteria umbellata seed and metformin in diabetes

The plant kingdom is an important potential source of effective treatment for various diseases.Most herbs have long been used for medicinal purposes,and plant metabolites with their derivatives had been used in ethnomedicine.However,concerns exist about the quality and safety of herbal medicine products,particularly relating to safety,dosage,and mechanism of action.This mini review reveals some insights about the Hunteria umbellate seed,which is similar to that of insulin secretagogue metformin.Studies have validated its beneficial role in hyperglycemic,insulin resistance and obesity conditions,which are components of metabolic syndrome.However,none of these studies evaluated the mechanisms by which this plant extract performs its antihyperglycemic,insulin resistance and anti-obesity actions in metabolic syndrome.This understanding would provide considerable progress toward drug design using this plant material.Hence the need for this awareness to sensitize the researchers in this field who are passionate about drug design to consider the pathways discussed below for Hunteria umbellata seeds.Hunteria umbellata seed extract may represent a new therapeutic strategy for type-2 diabetes in place of metformin if it is well-studied.

Biopharmaceutical Assessment of Active Components of <i>Deadaleopsis confragosa</i>and <i>Ganoderma lucidum</i>

The spread of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria makes it necessary to discover new classes of antibacterial and compounds that inhibit these resistant mechanisms. Hence, this study investigated the antimicrobial activities of Ganoderma lucidum and Deadaleopsis confragosa extracts against some bacterial isolates of medical importance. Using agar well diffusion assay, aqueous, ethanolic and petroleum ether extracts were obtained from Ganoderma lucidum and Daedaleopsis confragosa and assayed for antimicrobial on five bacterial species, viz: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In vitro bioassay revealed that the aqueous extract of G. lucidum inhibited P. aeruginosa S. aureus, E. coli and K. Pneumoniae with inhibition zones of 11.0 ± 0.02 mm, 10.0 ± 0.02 mm, 13.0 ± 0.03 mm and 14.0 ± 0.0 mm respectively. The ethanolic extract of G. lucidum also inhibited P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and E. coli with inhibition zones 12.0 ± 0.01 mm, 11.0 ± 0.02 mm and 16.0 ± 0.01 mm. Petroleum ether extract of G. lucidum inhibited P. aeruginosa, S. aureus and E. coli with inhibition zones of 12.0 ± 0.01 mm, 11.0 ± 0.03 mm and 12.0 ± 0.02 mm. For Daedaleopsis confragosa, the aqeous extract inhibited P. aeruginosa and E. coli with inhibition zones of 12.0 ± 0.01 and 12.0 ± 0.02 mm respectively while the petroleum ether extract inhibited S. aureus and E. coli with inhibition zones of 19.0 ± 0.02 mm and 13.0 ± 0.01 mm respectively. All these inhibitions on clinical isolates are therefore attributed to the presence of some bioactive compound as shown by the phytochemical screening of the mushrooms which include tannins, phenolics, flavonoids and saponin.

Hematocrit and Slip Velocity Influence on Third Grade Blood Flow and Heat Transfer through a Stenosed Artery

A theoretical investigation concerning hematocrit and slip velocity influence on the flow of blood and heat transfer by taking into account the externally applied magnetic field has been carried out. The mathematical models considered in this work treated blood as a non-Newtonian fluid obeying the third grade fluid model. A suitable geometry of the stenosis is taken into account. Galerkin weighted residual and Newton Raphson methods are used to solve the equations that govern the flow of blood and heat transfer. Analytical expression for the velocity profile, temperature profile, volume flow rate, wall shear stress and resistance to flow were obtained. Graphical representation of results shows that the flow velocity, volumetric flow rate and shear stress increase while resistance to flow and heat transfer rate decrease when the slip velocity increases. Also, flow velocity and volume flow rate decrease while shear stress, heat transfer rate, and resistance to flow increase when the hematocrit parameter increases. Finally, increases in magnetic field parameter lead to decrease in flow velocity, flow rate and shear stress but increase the flow resistance.

Trends in Vegetation Response to Drought in Sudano-Sahelian Part of Northern Nigeria

This study was carried out to evaluate the drought occurrence and its implication on vegetation cover over the Sudano-Sahelian zone of the Northern part of Nigeria. Monthly mean Rainfall data for the period 40 years (1971-2010) were obtained from Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) for each of the meteorological stations present and functioning in this region for climatic analysis. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was used to analyze drought occurrence on a time scale of five (5) months that cover the period of raining season over the study area. Also Satellite data over the selected part of the study area for three different epochs, 1986, 2000 and 2005 were used for vegetation response analysis. The SPI values were interpolated using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation technique in ArcGIS 9.3 to generate Drought Spatial Pattern Map for each selected modeled years. The vegetation response indicators used are land cover maps and Greenness Index (GI) maps. Land cover categories were classified into five levels: Dense Vegetation, less dense Vegetation, Settlement/built up, Bare Surface and Water body. The results based on the ground truth (rainfall) data show that many years of drought episode were experienced over the study area. On the other hand, the prime indicators (Land cover and GI maps) used in this study also depicts the changes that took place over the study area in response to this climatic anomaly (drought) and it could be noted that there was dramatic reduction in the occurrence towards the end of the last two decade, 1990-1999, which simply indicated improvement in rainfall even in 2000 and the later years.

Spatio-Temporal Variability in Land Surface Temperature and Its Relationship with Vegetation Types over Ibadan, South-Western Nigeria

Ibadan has experienced a rapid urbanization over the past few decades due to heavy influx of people from different parts of the country as a result of improved economy of the region. This development induced a great change in land use and land cover over the region which has become a major environmental concern recently. This study assessed Land Surface Temperature (LST) and its spatio-temporal relationship with land cover type over Ibadan. Land use/Land cover dynamics were assessed using index maps generated from Landsat Satellite data (TM, ETM+ and OLI) of Ibadan. The corrected thermal Infrared bands of the Landsat data were used to retrieve LST. The results revealed a notable increase in built-up areas from 5.64% of the total land cover area in 1984 to 14.05% in 2014. This change has caused increase in surface temperature of Ibadan from 3.56?C to 8.54?C between 1984 and 2014 respectively. The study recorded a continuous decrease in the vegetal part of Ibadan (from 43.28% in 1984 to 14.76 in 2014) which could be attributed to anthropogenic activities as the vegetated land area lost was been converted to other form of land use. The change was found to be positively correlated to the surface temperature intensity over the region with correlation coefficient, r value of 0.9251, 0.8256 and 0.7017 in 1984, 2000 and 2014 respectively. It is recommended that Policies should be considered for planting trees, new guidelines for urban landscape design and construction.

Weed Management in Rainfed Upland Rice Fields under Varied Agro-Ecologies in Nigeria

The demand for rice to meet the dietary need in low-income countries is expected to witness an exponential rise as the population increases.Meeting the rice demand domestically has remained challenging due to significant yield loss caused by several biotic and abiotic factors.Among these factors,one of the most important is the high weed pressure that ravages the upland rice ecology.In Nigeria,several independent weed control techniques,such as physical,chemical and cultural methods,have been recommended and adopted for weed control across varying rice upland ecologies.However,outcomes of these approaches when used independently have not consistently led to an increase in yield.There remains an outstanding deficit between the actual yield and the potential rice yield.This review aimed to identify potential research gaps,and quest effective and sustainable weed management strategies in smallholder upland rice farming systems in Nigeria.A critical analysis of studies suggests the potential of sustainable weed management practices if adopted and adapted smartly in different upland ecologies in Nigeria.Competitiveness of upland rice against weeds can be enhanced through strategic integration of weed competitive cultivars,optimum nitrogen application timings(within weed-free periods),uniform plant spacing,and high seeding rates,with conventional herbicide/manual weed control practices.However,such management practices can only be engaged where inputs are supplied on time and the technical know-how is extended to farmers.The review equally highlights potential research gaps for further studies.

Using Database Management System to Generate, Manage and Secure Personal Identification Numbers (PIN)

A number of problems are associated with the generation, management and security of PINs, a subset of password. The PINs may be recharge card used by GSM operators or for authentication in ATM. The problems associated with the use of these PINs range from scratching off any of the recharge PIN numbers in recharge card to loss of PIN number or entering invalid number in the case of authentication. It usually takes time for the customer service of the service provider or system administrator to provide convincing solution to these problems promptly when it occurred. PINs generation could seem like simply arranging ranges of number and feeding it into the telecommunication systems such as mobile handsets or ATM to grant access but it requires a specialized and secured way to generate, store and manage it in order to achieve prompt access. This paper focused on the development of database concept to provide solution to these problems by desiging a system by which the PINs generated can be effectively stored and managed so that userss can have immediate access to the PINs if they can provide the identification number on the card. Succintly, the paper discusses the design of a system that generates, manages and secures PINs application using Visual Basic Version 6.0 for designing the front and interface and Microsoft Access 2007 as the database. The system was implemented using real data and the result was successful.

Analysis of Pulsatile Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Third Grade Blood Flow in a Stenosed Artery

In this research, we modeled MHD third grade blood flow in a stenosed artery. The blood viscosity and the density have been modeled into the shear thinning/thickening parameters, the most important rheological properties of blood. We used regular perturbation method and obtained the flow characteristics such as the flow velocity, the volume flow rate, the shear stress and the resistance to the flow considering a single layered stenosed artery. The results however showed that there is significant increase in volume flow rate and the velocity with increase in the magnetic field intensity H and the shear thinning Λ and reduces with increase in the shear thickening Ω.

A Full Text Retrieval System in a Digital Library Environment

The volume of information being created, generated and stored is huge. Without adequate knowledge of Information Retrieval (IR) methods, the retrieval process for information would be cumbersome and frustrating. Studies have further revealed that IR methods are essential in information centres (for example, Digital Library environment) for storage and retrieval of information. Therefore, with more than one billion people accessing the Internet, and millions of queries being issued on a daily basis, modern Web search engines are facing a problem of daunting scale. The main problem associated with the existing search engines is how to avoid irrelevant information retrieval and to retrieve the relevant ones. In this study, the existing system of library retrieval was studied. Problems associated with them were analyzed in order to address this problem. The concept of existing information retrieval models was studied, and the knowledge gained was used to design a digital library information retrieval system. It was successfully implemented using a real life data. The need for a continuous evaluation of the IR methods for effective and efficient full text retrieval system was recommended.

Plane Stagnation Double-Diffusive MHD Convective Flow with Convective Boundary Condition in a Porous Media

A numerical analysis has been carried out to study the problem of plane stagnation double-diffusive MHD convective flow with convective boundary condition in a porous media. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations have been reduced to systems of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by the similarity transformations. The transformed equations are solved numerically by using the classical fourth order Runge-Kutta method together with the shooting technique implemented on a computer program. The effects of the physical parameters are examined on the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles. Numerical data for the skin-friction coefficients, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers have been tabulated for various parametric conditions and are also shown graphically and discussed.

Fenton treatment via oxidative mechanism and its kinetics on soil polluted with automatic gas oil

The effectiveness,viability and feasibility of applying Fenton reactants in treating soil contaminated with automatic gas oil(AGO)was investigated ex-situ.Soil was simulated to achieve 10%contamination using AGO(diesel)as the primary contaminant.Physicochemical properties and heavy metal contents were characterized using standard analytical methods,while total petroleum hydrocarbon(TPH)content was determined by molecular spectroscopy.An investigation of the soil physicochemical properties shows severe impact of the contaminant on pH,conductivity,phosphorus and(TPH)content.The optimum concentration of Fenton reactants determined from the optimization study was found to be 350,000 ppm H2O2 and 600 ppm FeSO4 at optimum room temperature range of 27e30
C and optimum pH of 4.7.The highly exothermic Fenton oxidation treatment resulted in significant decrease in TPH content by 87.6%after 6 h of periodic monitoring;breaking down the hydrocarbons into non-toxic environmental friendly products.Kinetics analysis and evaluation shows pseudo-first order mechanism for the Fenton treatment with a calculated rate constant of 0.226 h-1 and half life of 3 h 4 min.The Fenton method is found to be very effective and efficient not only for the removal of the diesel contaminant,but also for the restoration of lost physicochemical properties occasioned by the effect of the contaminant.The environmental friendliness and fast response time towards effective clean up gives the technique a cutting edge advantage over other conventional methods.It therefore presents potentials for remediation experts in outright applications on real field challenges.