Search

Cowpea anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum causes about 75 % yield reduction in Cowpea production in Nigeria. Trichoderma harzianum is a bioagent in controlling fungal diseases. Effect of T. harzianum was investigated on growth, disease incidence and yield of selected varieties of Cowpea infested with C. lindemuthianum. Four improved Cowpea varieties were selected IT07K-292-10, IT07K-318-33, IT98K-205-08, IT99K-573-11 and a local variety DANMISRA. Pure isolate of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and Trichoderma harzianum were each cultured on PDA. Four concentrations of T. harzianum suspensions were prepared at 1x102 conidia/ml, 1x104 conidia/ml, 1x106 conidia/ml, 1x108 conidia/ml and control . Cowpea seedlings were artificially infested with 1x107conidia/ml of C. lindemuthianum at 22 days after sowing. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The result indicated that the infested variety IT99K-573-11 treated with T. harzianum at 1x108 conidia/ml was insusceptible and had significantly (p

Aims Oroantral communication (OAC) represents an opening between the maxillary sinus and the oral cavity most commonly caused by the extraction of maxillary posterior teeth (80%). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and reliability of treating OACs using plasma-rich fibrin (PRF). Also, the most significant recent papers on the topic are briefly summarized in order to compare the surgical procedure and results Materials and methods A retrospective study was conducted in the Maxillofacial Surgery Unit of the Federico II University of Naples from April 2017 to December 2020. A total of 102 OAC patients with a lesion of a diameter of 5 mm or more were enrolled in the study and surgically treated, 63 patients were treated with PRF alone; 39 patients were treated with a buccal flap or buccal fat pad. Results Locoregional healing of the surgical area was observed between 3 and 4 weeks in all patients, no recurrences were recorded. At 6 months the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinus is completely regenerated and resumes normal mucociliary functions. Conclusion Surgical treatment of OAC with PRF is a less invasive surgical technique than using mucous flaps or buccal fat pad. PRF is an autologous material that contains growth factors and allows to preserve the height of the vestibular sulcus. The results of our study showed that PRF can be easily performed and guarantees excellent results in the treatment of OACs with a diameter equal to or greater than 5 mm with a low risk of complications.

This study investigates the effect of degumming process and catalyst type on physiochemical and biodiesel properties of tropical-almond (Terminalia catappa) seed oil (TCSO) extracted via mechanical pressing and solvent extraction method. The oil was degummed using 4% citric acid in amount of 10% by volume of the oil to reduce the acid value, ash content, and water and sediment value of the degummed oil compared to the raw oil. Data obtained show that degumming process reduces the acid value, ash content and water and sediment value from 7.57 mg KOH/g, 0.86 %w/w and 2.48% to 3.82 mg KOH/g, 0.65 %w/w and 2.40% respectively, and the percentage oil yield was 56.30±1.50%. Biodiesel was produced using a two-step reaction system from raw and degummed TCSO catalyzed by NaOH, KOH and CaO/Al2O3. The process yielded a higher yield (97.20±0.35) of biodiesel from degummed oil catalyzed by CaO/Al2O3. The fuel properties of the biodiesels were found to fulfill both ASTM D6751 and EN14214 biodiesel standard except the raw biodiesel. this study confirm that degumming process improves the susceptibility of oil for biodiesel production and that heterogeneous base catalyst produce higher yield and quality fuel than their homogenous counterpart.Keywords: Degummed, Transeterification, Biodiesel, Catalyst, Raw oil, unsaturation

Traumatic events damage the mental and emotional processes and affect brain physiology. According to the DSM V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may present with the following: oNegative alterations in cognitions and mood oSymptoms of irritability and outbursts of anger oRe-experiencing of the traumatic event oSelf-destructive behavior oHypervigilance oAlarm response exaggerated oTrouble concentrating oFalling asleep or staying awake In recent years, many researchers focused on trauma and its symptoms obtaining important results concerning the understanding of traumatic memory, and how it affects the brain and human behavior. Through neuroimaging techniques such as Positron Emission Tomography, (PET); Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT); Electroencephalography (EEG); functional and structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, MRI) it has been possible to identify the brain circuits involved in the pathophysiology of PTSD. Changes in metabolism, brain morphology and networking have been found in the amygdala, the medial Pre-Frontal Cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus (Shin et al., 2006; Yehuda and LeDoux, 2007; Wager et al., 2007; Martin et al., 2009), which together form the so-called Neural Model of PTSD (Shin et al., 2006).

The effect of an inoculant, [triethylamine (TEA)] on the corrosion behavior of multilayered mild steel/Al-Cr plates in guava leaf extract was investigated in 0.5M HCl solution using gravimetric based mass-loss test and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The mild steel plates were sectioned into coupons of 4and then pickled, after which they were coated at 750with an Al-Cr alloy. The gravimetric-based mass loss test was carried out at room temperature for different concentrations and time intervals of 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0%v/v and 24, 48, 72, 96 hours respectively. The result showed that triethylamine (TEA) decreased the corrosion rate at the various concentrations indicating protection efficiency up to 59.02% in the gravimetric-based-mass-loss technique. Equally the potentiodynamic polarization technique indicates higher corrosion resistance of 98.49%. The two methods used for the evaluation of the degradation of multilayered mild steel/Al-Cr plates in 0.5M HCl/guava leaf extract medium were in agreement.

Pregnancy is an important life event for the woman and is often accompanied by many positive changes and events in anticipation of motherhood; especially for primigravidae. However, the physical, physiological, psychological changes and socio-cultural events related to pregnancy qualify pregnancy as a potent stressor. Stress reactivity during pregnancy may increase the risk of spontaneous abortion, low birth weight and development of mental illness in the offspring. This risk may constitute a big burden in our society considering the high pregnancy and birth rate typical of our society; and such data including for primigravidae is very scanty. This study aims to assess perceived stress amongst primigravidae in our local environment and relate it to socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. We hypothesized, that primigravidae in our local environment will have significant perceived stress. A total of 120 primigravidae were recruited in a cross-sectional study in an antenatal clinic of an urban hospital in Kano city, northern Nigeria. Socio-demographic and clinical information was obtained during an interview and physical examination. Perceived stress was assessed using perceived stress score (PSS-10). Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 20.0. The median age of the primigravidae was 20.0 (3) years and 93.3% of them fell within the age range of 16-25 years. Most were secondary school educated house wives living above the poverty line with a singleton pregnancy in the third trimester. The median PSS score of the participants was 13 (8), indicating that the primigravidae had low perceived stress. Majority (53.3%) of the participants had low perceived stress, while the rest had moderate perceived stress and none of them had severe perceived stress. Perceived stress score of the subjects was influenced by the presence or absence of twin pregnancy (Chi = 12.05, P = 0.002). The Perceived stress score was not associated with any of the socio-demographic or clinical characteristics (P > 0.05). It is concluded that the primigravidae generally had low perceived stress which was influenced by the presence or absence of twin pregnancy and not associated with the socio-demographic or clinical characteristics examined.Keywords: Perceived stress, primigravidae, pregnant women, maternal and child health, Kano, Nigeria

The quaternary mirror (M4) of the Extremely Large Telescope will be equipped with an Adaptive Optics Unit, in order to compensate the effects of the atmospheric turbulence. The highly accurate, closed loop actuation of the thin mirror is provided by 5316 contactless actuators. Their core is a voice-coil device, whose magnetic design exploits the concept adopted in all previous units. As some implementation details were changed to deal with the challenges imposed by the performances of the M4 unit, in the present paper we discuss the optimization design of the magnetic circuit carried out by means of COMSOL Multiphysics®, as well as the possible, future study of the dynamic magneto-mechanical behaviour when operating in open and closed loop. The previous actuators, equipping the LBT, VLT, and Magellan telescopes, are demonstrating to fully accomplish the very demanding task of the turbulence correction. The day-to-day experience gained through the use of those units has allowed to point out possible improvements, in order to increase the efficiency of the actuator and its dynamic response. The role played by the various factors potentially able to enhance the performances of the device are analyzed in this paper, in terms of materials and geometry of the magnetic general arrangement. The optimization process allows to increase by approximately 20% the efficiency of the proposed geometry with respect to the LBT and VLT ones, while the preliminary, multi-physics dynamic runs make it possible to anticipate some rather interesting capabilities in terms of closed loop performances.

The incompleteness of the Internet AS-level topology is the most serious pitfall of research studies concerning the Internet inter-domain ecosystem. In this demo we show two projects aimed at filling this gap by offering services to different type of users. The first is Portolan, a smartphone-based crowdsourcing system which provides an app for Android that volunteers can install to run traceroute measurements to discover the Internet topology. Then, we introduce Isolario, which provides real-time services for network operators in change of their full routing table. Finally, we describe joint services provided by Portolan and Isolario and the benefit obtained. © 2014 IEEE.