Archives-December 

Proximate and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compositions were analyzed in raw and smoked samples of two exotic fish species; mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) obtained from a local market in Umuahia, Nigeria. The fish were procured in triplicate and split into two equal parts. One part was analyzed raw while the other was smoked with firewood before analysis. Moisture content was higher in the raw samples compared to their corresponding smoked samples. Crude protein was higher in horse mackerel samples for both raw and smoked categories while other parameters were generally higher in mackerel. Horse mackerel had the higher value of 44.784 mg/kg for total mean PAH (?mPAH) but PAH4 (sum of the four indicators of PAH contamination; benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and chrysene) was similar in raw mackerel and horse mackerel. Mean BaP concentrations were higher than the EU limits (2 µg/kg) while PAH4 values were within the EU limit (12 µg/kg) in raw samples of both species. For the smoked samples, Mean BaP concentrations and mean PAH4 exceeded the EU maximum limits in the muscle of smoked fish and public health authorities are urged to take appropriate action.

This study was conducted to determine the proximate composition as well as the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Mn, As, Zn, and Cd in the muscles, liver and gizzards of chicken consumed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Proximate analysis was done on the different parts of chicken using standard methods and the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Mn, As, Zn, and Cd were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean levels of trace metals were ranged between 0.210±0.014-0.268±0.014mg/kg for Pb; 0.342±0.017-0.437±0.033mg/kg for Ni; 0.483±0.221-0.518±0.025mg/kg for Mn; 0.030±0.025-0.048±0.002mg/kg for As; 2.567±0.025-2.981±0.06mg/kg for Zn; and 0.024±0.04-0.17±0.025mg/kg for Cd. The mean moisture contents of various parts were 67.03±0.03, 66.0±0.002 and 67.23±0.004% for muscle, liver and gizzard respectively. The protein content ranged from 26.22±0.005 -28.35±0.03%; 1.32±0.05-1.23±0.121% for ash; and 0.91±0.01-1.11±0.111% for fat. The results indicated that chicken meat in this study were rich sources of nutrients. The concentrations of trace metals in this study were below tolerance limits except Pb, which was slightly higher than the WHO/FAO permissible limit. Therefore, it can be concluded that chicken meat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State has a high nutritional value and it is safe for human consumption.

The development and maintenance of user interface software is surely a challenging task. Organizations who use secured authentication system tolerate no leakage. Cryptographic primitives are useful tools but security of these primitives does not guarantee security of the system. Using patterns for authentication is a system that provides patterns as passwords to the users. Users tend to choose their passwords through random art generation which can be captured by malicious users by video capturing or photo clicking. In lieu of the traditional password based system, several attempts had been reported in literature about authentication schemes which are successful in increasing the strength of the system against some of the known attacks. In this paper, Random Pattern based Flexible User Interface for an effective Secured Authentication Protocol (SAP-RP) is presented. With iterations of random patterns, the users enter different passwords (which are based on the original images selected by them) for every login attempt that is converted to hashed value. It is compared with registered hashed value stored in the database which ensures confidentiality and authentication in the network plane using server and flexible user interface based authentication mechanism.

This study tends to investigate the application of psychological research methods in the fashion endeavor. The prospect of this challenge is to quantify, formalize and investigate the causal relationships connecting clothing style, preference, personality factors, emotions and mood with an observation to an improved understanding of the psychological profile of the fashion consumer. The result specifies strong relationships between mood and important relationships among three out of five personality factors and clothing style preference; mood was an important predictor of preference, at the same time as personality was restrained. Personality, emotion and mood were exposed to be managed and reflected through clothing with propositions for assistance in consumer clothing service training, resolution, and strategies for personal shoppers, market segmentation and design. The methodology derivative from a combination of research methods coupled with definite wearing experience, previously not studied collectively. This is a vital demonstration of how important this combination is in order to fully be pleased about the psychological profile of the fashion consumer.

The present study determined serum selenium, blood glucose, Glycosylated HbA1, and blood lipoprotein in diagnosed cases of type 2 Diabetes mellitus subjects (T2DM). Place and Duration: Department of Medicine, Liaquat University Hospital Jamshoro/Hyderabad from January 2015 to February 2016. Subject & Methods: A sample of 350 T2DM was selected through non probability purposive sampling according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Blood glucose, HbA1c, serum triglycerides (TAG), total cholesterol (TC), VLDL, LDLc, and HDLc were estimated. Serum selenium was measured by atomic absorption technique. The Data was analyzed by SPSS 22.0 (USA) using appropriate statistical tests at 95% confidence interval. Results: Serum selenium deficiency was observed in 229 (65.4%) of cases. Serum selenium in normal (?70µg/L) and deficient (<70µg/L) was noted as 97.7± 1.29 and 63.9± 4.7 µg/L respectively (p=0.0001). Serum selenium showed negative correlation with TAG, TC, LDLc, VLDL, blood glucose and glycosylated HbA1. Conclusion: The present study reports serum selenium deficiency in majority of type 2 diabetics. Serum selenium showed negative correlation with TAG, TC, LDLc, VLDL, blood glucose and Glycosylated HbA1. Key words: Type 2 DM Serum selenium Glycemic control Dyslipidemia

The infrared and Raman spectra of L-cysteine molecule has been recorded in the nujol mull as well as in the aqueous solution in the range of 4000-400cm-1. The observed infrared and Raman frequencies are assigned on the basis of the theoretically calculated vibrational frequencies for the most stable structure of zwitterionic cysteine hydrated with six water molecules at B3LYP/6-311G* level. The electronic absorption spectrum of the cysteine molecule has been measured in solution at different concentrations and at different pH in the range of 400- 200 nm. It is observed that the electronic absorption band shifts with the change of pH as well as the concentrations. The TDDFT calculations for the same molecule (zwitterionic cysteine + six water molecules) has also been carried out at B3LYP/6-311G* level. The optimized bond lengths and bond angles for the most stable structure of cysteine hydrated with six water molecules were compared with those reported for X-ray data for cysteine.

Metal- ligand complexation in solutions was studied in water-methanol media by pH-metric titration with the standard glass electrode at ionic strength of 0.1M KNO_3. The titrations were carried out at various temperatures 35^oC, 45^oC, and 55^oC and the pKa values (stability constants) were determined. Copper (II) with benzimidazole gave pKa’s of 2.86, 2.52, and 2.46; Stability constant (logK) 338.80, 331.13 and 288.40 while Nickel (II) benzimidazole gave pKa’s 2.51, 2.60 and 2.38 and Stability constant (logK) 323.59, 398.11 and 239.85 respectively.  It was revealed that the stability constants of the metal complexes decreased as the temperature increases. Formation constants obtained for these complexes showed that metal- ligand ratio were in the range of 1:1 and 1:2. The thermodynamic parameters were also determined at the working temperatures and the results obtained showed negative ?H and Gibb’s free energy (?G) indicating exothermic and spontaneous reactions.

The negative implications of rising poverty and inequality have awakened research concern in recent time due to the perceived correlation between both issues. This study was carried out with the aim of investigating the effect of the relationship between income poverty and inequality in Nigeria because few researchers have studied them together in past studies. The head count index was used to estimate the incidence of poverty while the Gini coefficient was used to estimate income inequality based on household data from a Living Standard Survey of households in Nigeria. The national estimates of the head count and Gini coefficient were 0.34 and 0.69. For the six geo-political zones, the estimates were North East (0.36, 0.81); North West (0.30, 0.76); South South (0.36, 0.66); South West (0.33, 0.63); North Central (0.24, 0.61) and South East (0.26, 0.57) respectively. The results indicated that poverty was highest in the North East (0.36) and lowest in the North Central (0.24). Also, income inequality was highest in the North East (0.81) and lowest in the South East (0.57). This study has revealed the positive correlation between poverty and inequality because results had shown that poverty was highest where inequality was also highest. Therefore to reduce poverty, efforts should be made to ensure reduction in income inequality.

Benzoyl Glycine (BG) an organic nonlinear optical crystal was synthesized and grown by slow evaporation method at room temperature. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study reveals that the crystal belongs to orthorhombic system and crystallizes in the non centro symmetric space group P212121. Powder X-ray diffraction was recorded and the peaks were indexed. Absorption spectrum shows that the crystal is transparent in the entire visible region. The functional groups present in the material were interpreted by FTIR spectral analysis. TG-DTA was performed to study the thermal stability of the crystal. Microhardness and etching studies were also carried out. The SHG efficiency of BG was 2.5 times higher than that of KDP.

Corrosion inhibition efficiency of newly synthesized Schiff’s bases viz. N-(4-N,N’ dimethyl amino benzal)-1- naphthyl amine (SB₁), N-(4-methoxy benzal)-1-naphthyl amine (SB₂) and N-(4-methoxy benzal)-2- amino pyridine (SB₃) for aluminium in HCl solution was studied using weight loss, potentiometric and thermometric  methods. Inhibition efficiency was found to be increase with increasing concentration of inhibitor as well as with acid strength. Results obtained by all methods have been found in good agreement with each other. Results revealed that SB₂ is better corrosion inhibitor than SB₁ and SB₃. Maximum efficiency was found 99.23% in 2.5N HCl solution for 0.4% concentration of SB₂.