Archives-February 2012

This work aimed to apply a thermochromatic polymer based on 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) monomer as a temperature sensor. This polymer has specific chemical structure enabling it to vary its color parameters, namely CIE L (brightness), a (red-green) and b (yellow-blue), with the temperature transitions. These color parameters were calculated in accordance to the American standard ASTM number E308-2001. All changes in the temperature were found to be easily tuned with the visual color and the color difference (DE). These changes were found to be recyclable and reversible in the studied temperature range of 25-105^oC with regression factor equals unity.

Flyash particles are formed during the combustion of coal at very high temperature (above 1500⁰C); it contains some ions as Iron, Aluminium, Silica in their oxide form. It also contains Glass particle along with Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Se, Pb, Zn, Fl, Hg, particles. Heavy metals from industries are known to have adverse effect on the environment. Similarly, fly ash coming from power plants also has adverse effect on every organism. It was observed that Spirogyra was not found in fly ash discharged water pond while it was present in all the nearby water bodies. ,disasterous effects of heavy metals present in flyash may be the reason. Thus, our present study is mainly focused to elucidate the effect of fly ash on green filamentous algae Spirogyra. It was already found that Microtubules are very sensitive especially to the presence of Cd ions (P. P?ibyl, V. Cepák and V. Zachleder,2008), depending on the Cd concentration present in fly ash and to the time of exposure the disintegration was seen. Microtubules got disintegrated into short fragments or some even completely disappeared.

Livestock industry in Nigeria is ridden with myriad of problems, which have resulted to a gross shortage of meat and other animal products. The growth rate of agriculture sector in Nigeria is still below the potentials of the natural and human resources due to high cost of agricultural inputs. To increase protein intake in Nigeria, there is urgent need to increase broiler production at household and commercial holdings. This research was conducted to assess the weight gained by the broiler chickens served fluted pumpkin leaves extract and also to examine the possible combination of number of weeks and  quantity of fluted pumpkin leaves extract that can result in maximum weight of the broiler chickens. The data were collected as a secondary data from the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology (I.A.R & T), Ibadan. An 8-weeks experiment was conducted to assess the weight gained by the broiler chickens served with fluted pumpkin leaves extract (FPLE). Forty day old Anak 2000 broiler chicks were randomly distributed to 5 treatments which contained 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 ml of FPLE per litre of water for A, B, C, D and E, respectively, in a completely randomized design. Each treatment was replicated four times with two birds per replicate. The birds were fed with the same starter and finisher diets. The feed and water were served. Factorial design was used to study the main and interaction effects of number of weeks and quantity of FPLE on the weight of broiler chickens. Response surface model was fitted and subjected to canonical analysis to the characterization of the nature of its turning point and to capture the combination of number of weeks and quantity of FPLE that brings maximum weight of the broiler chickens. The results showed that the average body weight gained was significant (P<0.05). It was least in control compared to the birds served with 30-120 ml of FPLE. Factorial Design revealed that birds served with FPLE gained more weight than those in control. The birds served 120 ml of FPLE per litre of water for 8 weeks had the best performance in terms of weight gain. The use of FPLE in broiler chickens production is most effective from five weeks of age. The fitted Response Surface Model indicated that number of weeks and quantity of FPLE together with their mutual interaction significantly (P<0.05) determined the weight of broiler chickens. The maximum weight was achieved when number of week was ten with 100ml of FPLE. Number of weeks, FPLE and their mutual interaction play a key role in obtaining maximum weight of broiler chickens. These factors should be put into consideration in making of feed for broiler chickens.

Mathematics is typically one of the subjects with which many students struggle. To improve mathematics achivement, it is helpful for students to gain proficiency in mathematics vocabulary. The importance of developing vocabulary as a means of improving comprehension has long been understood by educators and researchers. Students who are exposed to academic vocabulary are usually more successful in their content area classes; yet, the relative effectiveness of vocabulary strategies to build content area vocabulary comprehension in mathematics at the secondary level has had limited research. In this study, two vocabulary strategies were compared in a six-week long investigation to determine the relative effectiveness of each strategy on students’ content area vocabulary development in an Algebra II class - a Modified Cloze/Maze procedure and a Concept of a Definition word map. The research findings conducted from this study are relevant to all content area teachers, in particular math teachers at the secondary level.

A good insight of performance or execution in projects along with needed requirements of project management has the most important effect on customers’ satisfactions in a project-based organization. The performance result of each project in an organization has direct relationship with interaction manner of executive processes with project.In this paper, the combination of Delphi and Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Friedman Test have  been applied to detect and rank the best strategy for improving customer’s satisfaction and determining its most important sub-indexes.Based upon obtained results, cost as the main area of project management has the most important effect on customer’s satisfaction in case of applying Information Technology (IT) in BRP of PBO, and the most important strategy in improving and boosting customers’ satisfaction in PBOs is BRP. Furthermore, IT and software are respectively the most important and considerable sub-indexes of structures and IT in BRP of PBOs.

A successful entrepreneur is a unit of society and hence, an entrepreneur is the contribution of constellation of factors or forces working in tandem within a cultural context. At the same time an entrepreneur is also a reflection of the cultural context he/she is a part of. Hence, it becomes imperative to highlight and explicate the role of those socio-cultural factors in a country like India where cultural diversity with regards to norms, values, beliefs, religion, kinship and institutions forms the bedrock for conditioning and tailoring of an individual to become a successful entrepreneur. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs are the creations of the socio-cultural environment. Thus, this paper with the objective of bringing to fore the imperative role of socio-cultural milieu in tailoring an entrepreneur in an Indian society is purely based on the secondary literature.

The present investigation was carried in the experimental test organism, Mugil cephalus exposed to cadmium, copper, lead and zinc in acute and chronic toxicity test. The raw survival data from the acute toxicity test were utilized for the prediction of No Observed Effect Concentration (NOEC). The data obtained from the laboratory and the predicted endpoints were then compared with the heavy metal concentrations in the Ennore creek. Acute toxicity tests revealed that fingerlings were sensitive to copper, followed by cadmium, lead and zinc, and the 96-hour LC₅₀ values were 4.29 mg/l Cd, 2.29 mg/l Cu, 6.90 mg/l Pb and 7.92 mg/l Zn. Experimental NOEC had strong correlation with the predicted NOEC at P=0.0001 and P=0.005. Correlations were significant at P<0.01 (2-tailed), (? =0.05). The predicted and the experimental NOEC values were lower than the heavy metal concentrations in the Ennore creek. The concentrations of heavy metals in the Ennore creek were relatively higher than the NOEC values for juvenile marine organisms tested in the laboratory. Hence, there exists threat for survival and an urgent need for the enactment and enforcement of stringent laws to control the heavy metal pollution in the Ennore creek as well as to protect estuarine and marine bio-resources.

In the present study, two cotton cultivars viz. LD 694 (Gossypium arboreum L.) and LH 2076 (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were used to investigate the effects of MS (Murashige and Skoog) and DKW (Driver and Kuniyuki) basal media compositions supplemented with different concentrations of BA (6-benzylaminopurine) and Kin (Kinetin) on the sprouting response (development of shoot bud primordia), morphogenetic response, and induction and regeneration of multiple shoots from shoot tip explants excised from 5-7 day-old seedlings cultured in vitro. The mean sprouting response in both cultivars LD 694 (81.66%) and LH 2076 (79.44 %) was higher in MS medium than in DKW medium. The best treatment for the formation of adventitious shoots (73.80%) in LD 694 was MS + 2.00 mg/l BA, while MS + 1.00 mg/l BA + 1.00 mg/l Kin was optimum for the formation of adventitious shoots (74.78%) in LH 2076. LD 694 and LH 2076 produced a maximum number of shoots/explant (3.96 and 3.85, respectively) when cultured on MS supplemented with 2.00 mg/l BA. Highest root development (62.38%) was obtained when shoots were cultured on ½ MS medium supplemented with 0.05 mg/l NAA in both cultivars. Plantlets raised in vitro were placed in water for two weeks and then transferred to small polythene bags filled with a sand : soil mixture in the greenhouse. These plantlets grew into healthy plants and reached maturity. The results of this study will facilitate the application of mass multiplication of elite breeding material including CMS lines or transgenic cotton cultures.

The crystal structure of the new complex [Cu(C5H7N3O)4]Cl2.5H2O has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and the compound was characterized by infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with lattice parameters a = 15.304(4), b = 13.528(3), c = 15.071(4) Å, ? = 90.120 (5)°, V = 3120.0 (13) Å3, and Z = 4. The solid state structure exhibits pronounced pseudosymmetry emulating an orthorhombic Pccn setting which is broken only by ordering of solvate water and chlorine anions in channels stretching along the c-axis of the unit cell. Structural and IR data indicate that the title compound is present as the keto tautomer 2-amino-6-methylpyrimidin-4-(1H)-one rather than in the enol form 2-amino-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinol. The Cu(II) atoms are four-coordinated in a square planar fashion by nitrogen atoms of four 2-amino-6-methylpyrimidin-4-(1H)-one ligands. The crystal structure is stabilized by O–H•••O, N–H•••O, N–H•••Cl and O–H•••Cl hydrogen bonds with pillars of the cationic complexes alternating with channels occupied by the chlorine anions and water molecules.

Textile industry waste water from dyeing and finishing processes constitute a substantial source of water pollution which imparts intense colour, high chemical oxygen demand, fluctuating pH and other suspended particles. This coloured waste water must be treated before final discharge to attain legal standards. Conventional methods for removing dyes from industrial waste water consist mainly of biological and physiochemical treatments and their various combinations. Biological methods are cheaper than other methods but dye toxicity usually inhibits bacterial growth and limits therefore the efficiency of decolourisation. Physical methods usually need additional chemicals which produce secondary pollution and a huge volume of sludge. Water treatment based on electro coagulation technique has been recently proving to evade most of the problems also being economically attractive. This review deals with better understanding of the decolourisation of the textile waste water through Electrocoagulation process. Although there are various electrochemical methods for the treatment of waste water Electrocoagulation has proved to be a clean, versatile, selective, flexible and a powerful process. Decolourisation of the dyeing and finishing waste is greatly affected by the important operating parameters such as the current density, pH, dye concentration, treatment time, type of electrode material used, electrolyte and its concentration. Upon survey it is found that Electrocoagulation combined with other processes also has proved good in the improvement of the decolourisation efficiency.