Archives-August 2012

This paper analysed the issues of market access, trade agreements of trade and environment on sustainable forest management towards sustainable development. Sustainable forest management is a part of sustainable development. It is a controlling system that participates and stabilities societal, monetary, environmental, racial and mystical requirements to current and forthcoming peers. Firstly, we discussed the market access and trade agreements of trade and environment on sustainable development. Secondly, we analysed the criteria & indicators for sustainable forest management in Malaysia. Finally, we related the sustainable forest management through sustainable development of trade and environment. The purposes of this learning were to high light and simplify the analysing of trade and environment on sustainable development. This study found the potential impacts of the development of market access, trade agreements, criteria & indicators for sustainable forest management and sustainable development in Malaysia.

Determination of the proximate and anti-nutritional composition of two common edible insects: yam beetle (Heteroligus meles) and palm weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) was carried out and the results showed that they both contained an appreciable levels of protein (38.10 and 50.01% respectvely), with moisture, ash, fibre, lipid, carbohydrate and gross energy levels being:(1.01, 5.78, 3.00, 32.01, 20.10% and 521.41Kcal/kg) and (1.16, 4.92, 2.56, 21.12, 20.23% and 480.02Kcal/kg) respectively. The results of the anti-nutritional analysis revealed that oxalate (total and soluble) were (29.00 and 19.32mg/100g) and (21.72 and 14.01mg/100g) for yam beetles and palm weevils respectively. These results were fairly high compared to other anti-nutritional components of the studied insects but generally fall within nutritionally accepted values. The lower values of phytic acid, HCN and tannins (0.311, 2.651 and 0.42mg/100g) and (0.276, 2.531 and 0.481 mg/100g) respectively for yam beetle and palm weevils. These results were generally far below toxic levels in men. Statistically, there exists positively high significant difference between the compositions of the two insects at r0.05 and n-2 degree of freedom while the index of forecasting efficiency (IFE) was very high at 99.5% which indicates that the error of prediction was very minimal. The moisture, ash and crude fibre of the insects were very low compared to fish meat and beef. These insects therefore could serve as additional promising sources of protein and fat for the teaming population and animal feeds formulations.

The use of essential oils in the food industry, as natural sanitizing agents, requires the definition of optimal conditions. The aim of the present work was to evaluate some antifungal activity parameters as mycelial growth inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oil from Benin against Aspergillus (flavus and tamari), Fusarium (poae and verticillioides) and Penicillium (citrinum and P. griseofulvum) species isolated from traditional cheese wagashi. The chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from fresh leaves was studied by GC-FID and GC-MS and showed (E) ethyl cinnamate with (E)-cinnamaldehyde and benzyl benzoate (39.9, 25.0 and 20.5% respectively) as major compounds. The evaluation of fungal activity showed a significant fungistatic activity against both Fusarium species and Penicillium griseofulvum with a MIC ranged from 800 to 1000 mg/L due probably to the prominent concentration in (E)-cinnamaldehyde of C. zeylanicum essential oil. Results obtained in the present study indicate the possibility of exploiting Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential to preserve wagashi from Fusarium and Penicillium contamination.

In order to improve the English teaching effect, we adopt the information system as the assistance with the English teaching. By the online function and automatic management with the system software, teachers and students got more communication and achieved more effective results, especially on spoken English. The practice implies that it is feasible and effective to apply the information system to the English teaching.

Water quality parameters from three sampling stations in Ikpa River, Nigeria were investigated for a period of 12 calendar months from March 2009 to February 2010. ANOVA result showed that all the parameters were significantly different (P<0.05) except transparency and pH. Sampling station and month effect on the parameters showed significance by LSD means separation in all parameters (P<0.05) except air temperature, transparency and pH, thus, some were highly significant while others were significant. pH values in all the stations remained the same indicating uniformity from the upstream to downstream. PC 1 and 2 axes in the combined stations indicated clusters of PO4-P, NO3-N and SO42- which showed that they have high positive correlations with each other, thus, there is inferred eutrophication and subsequent pollution. AT and WT showed high positive correlation in clustering together in all the stations indicated the effect of climate change which is a global environmental menace due to the increased of the earth’s surface. High positive correlation of FCO2 and BOD indicated low dissolved oxygen which endangers the lives of aquatic fauna. The clustering of TDS and transparency together was an indication of high ionic constituents of the water, thus, inferring nitrification. CCA showed effect of environmental factors on phytoplankton species and the main source of pollution to be from organic materials. Seasonal variability showed higher factor loadings during the dry season than during the wet season (P<0.05). Temporal variableness had highest factor loadings occurring in February (P<0.05). The total number of families, genera and species of phytoplankton sampled were 7, 67 and 106 respectively.

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is known to be one of the oldest cultivated trees in the world, claimed to have anti-diarrhoea activity traditionally. Phytochemical components of the plant material are dependable sources for the treatment of health problems. Extract from fruit were screened for bioactivity against Salmonella spp and Shigella spp. The results significantly show activity at various concentrations for the distilled water, methanol and petroleum ether extracts. The crude and chloroform extracts revealed insignificant activities. Phytochemical analysis on the plant extracts reveals the presence of tannins, steroids, flavonoids and alkaloids. However, physiochemical analysis was also carried for the various solvent extract.

The study was designed to identify various factors which affect the job satisfaction of the public sector university teachers. Population of the study comprised of all teachers teaching at the public sector universities of Islamabad. A stratified random sample of 100 male and female teachers was collected from 3 leading universities of Islamabad through a 35 items research questionnaire with six dimensions. Collected data was analyzed through SPSS, results revealed that overall university teachers are satisfied with opportunities of advancement in their profession, satisfied with their management and coworker, but they are unsatisfied with workload, physical work environment and with their present pay structure. Analysis of demographics depicted that female teachers are satisfied with their job as compared to male teachers. Younger university teachers have higher job satisfaction as compared to older ones whereas married teachers are less satisfied with their salaries and unmarried are less satisfied with physical work environment.

There is widespread concern that the cumulative effects of the non-response that is bound to affect any long-running longitudinal study will lead to mistaken inferences about change. We focused this work on the Longitudinal Survey of Oyo town covering the existing fifteen (15) Enumeration Areas to show the patterns of response and non-response. The Surveys started in 2008 and a two-stage stratified random sampling scheme was used in selecting 750 households. Household heads were interviewed in five waves (waves 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). We used an interviewer-administered questionnaire to collect data on the demographic characteristics of the respondents. The Response rates for waves 1 through 5 were 77.86%, 82%, 81.33%, 82% and 80.67% respectively while the non-response rates were 22.14%, 18%, 18.67%, 18%, and 19.33% respectively. The average number of visit ranges from a minimum of 1.2 in Kosobo to a maximum of 4 in Ladigbolu. The average duration of the household interview ranges between a minimum of 7.7 minutes in Monbolaje and a maximum of 18 minutes in Asipa. Finally, fieldwork lasts on average of 11.8 hour in Asipa, but only 6.6 hours in Monbolaje. The most common interview mode is the Pencil-And-Paper (face-to-face) Interview. New entry is linked to eligibility, whereas monotone attrition is mainly due to migration. Occasional responses are due to absences while that of non-responses are due to out of scope and lack of cooperation.

In this study, the effects of seven nanofilm types on organoleptic properties have been investigated and microbial counts of packed volume bread have been studied. Packed of volume bread has been evaluated due to 21 days at three temperatures. Microbial counting was done in 5°C, 20°C and 35°C in fourteenth day. The results analysis indicated that the main factors such as film type, storage temperature and duration had significant effect on the bread staling rate. The lowest and highest staling rate was observed at SC3 film and control regular respectively. With the increasing nanosilver percentage, the total number of microbes declined. In three temperatures greatest number of total germs and mold was related to the control regular. Lowest and the most number of total molds and microbes was found in 5°C and 35°C respectively. Therefore, the SC3 hybrid nanofilm, has been recognized as the best film for keeping bread more fresh.

False smut, caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, has recently been found in temperate agro-climatic conditions of Kashmir and is sporadic where rice is cultivated. In this study, rice false smut was surveyed in major rice production areas of Kashmir during two seasons. Disease incidence and severity varied significantly between seasons and locations. Seed germination in smut infected samples was 72.4% which is 21.45 per cent lower than the non - smutted samples (92.20%). Shoot and rood length were reduced to the extent of 32.53 and 22.65 per cent, respectively. Rice genotypes Jhelum and Shalimar rice-1 were found resistant while Pusa sughandh 3 and 5 were highly susceptible to false smut. Kashmir valley being mono cropped area of rice in Kharif season, further studies are needed to investigate the viability of the fungal spores and sclerotia during winter, variation between fungal isolates, ability to produce mycotoxins and devise control measures using integrated disease management practices.