Archives-December 2015

Calculated indices are now emerging as clinically useful tools for the preliminary diagnosis for a variety of disorders/diseases. Such indices are derived from a measured analyte or set of analytes and they will then be used as tools to monitor/evaluate the preliminary clinical condition associated with a particular organ such as liver, kidney or respiratory related problems. Among such calculated parameters, eGFR and FENa for renal, liver enzyme ratios, FIB-4 and APRI for liver and anion gap for acid base disorders have been extensively used. This review article highlights the recent research findings in the use of such calculated parameters for clinical use, and its merits and demerits in providing awareness to clinicians about its significance and use in clinical practice.

The groundwater of Igbokoda Coastal Area of Nigeria is characterized by high iron concentrations. Excess iron (Fe) at concentrations above 0.3mg/L in water can give an unpleasant metallic taste and its health effects may include warding off fatigue and anemia. This study therefore assessed the implications of excess Fe in Igbokoda coastal groundwater. The research was carried out using the WHO recommended guideline values, the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) and Larson Index (LI). Hydrochemical results revealed that the pH ranged from 6.8 – 9.8, EC from 67 – 2440(µS/cm), TDS from 43.55 – 1586 (mg/L) and TH from 66.36 – 369.22mg/L. In addition, the selected anions (mg/L) including HCO3, SO4 and Cl ranged from 15.25 – 152.50, 0.00 – 5.32 and 72.00 – 2592.00 respectively. Calcium varied from19.21 – 104.32mg/L and Mg from 3.36 – 75.01mg/L. Iron ranged between 0.01 and 13.74(mg/L) with Mn from 0.00 – 1.00(mg/L). The hydrochemical contents are within approved WHO standard values for potable water except for EC, TH, Cl, Fe and Mn concentrations that exceeded the standard values in some locations. About 97% of the groundwater samples for this research have TH>80mg/L and may not be suitable for domestic purposes as it coagulates soap lather. The chloride values were higher than approved WHO standard of 250mg/L in twenty one locations representing 54% of the groundwater samples. The high chloride values were attributed to saltwater intrusion in the area and could accelerate corrosion of stainless steel even at values as low as 50mg/L. In this research, all LI values in all groundwater samples were greater than 0.5 while 78% have negative LSI values indicating corrosive water. Both LI and LSI revealed significantly that the groundwater of Igbokoda coastal area is corrosive. High levels of Fe and Mn in the groundwater of the study area can result in discoloured water, stain plumbing fixtures and inflict unpleasant metallic taste on the water. In addition, it could result into diseases of aging (Alzheimer’s disease, other neurodegenerative diseases, arteriosclerosis, diabetes mellitus). The groundwater in the coastal area of Igbokoda must be treated by aeration or chlorination which should be followed by physical filtration to allay the health risks of excess iron in the groundwater of the study area.

The structurally similar cresol derivatives of o-cresol, m-cresol and p-cresol were characterized by FT-IR, FT-Raman experimental techniques, ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations. The calculated and experimental results covering molecular structures, assignments of fundamental vibrational modes and thermodynamic properties were investigated. The complete vibrational assignments of wave numbers were made on the basis of potential energy distribution (PED). The comparisons and assignments of vibrational frequencies indicate that, the experimental spectra coincide satisfactorily with those of theoretically simulated spectrograms. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies show the charge transfer occurs within the molecule. The charge density distribution and site of chemical reactivity of the molecules has been obtained by mapping electron density isosurface with electrostatic potential surfaces (ESPs).

This study focuses on the efficiency of financial indicators to influence the decisions of investors. It investigates the effect of information content of financial statements on shareholders’ investment decisions. The study is vital as it portrays the extent to which shareholders of firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchanged (NSE) are influenced by the contents of published accounts in their investment decisions. The annual financial reports provided by the accounting system, is considered the main source for information for decision-makers especially the investors. Therefore, the validity and accuracy of the decisions depend on the understanding, reliability and proper analysis of financial statements. In order to determine the relationship between information contents of financial statements and shareholders’ investment decisions, some of the key contents of financial statement were used to derive the proxy variables used in the study, namely profitability, dividend per share, earnings per share, leverage, and liquidity; while shareholders’ investment decisions is represented by change in number of shares. Data for the study were obtained from the published annual financial report of the selected firms. Regression model was employed to establish the relationship between the variables. The findings generally indicate that though shareholders in the Nigerian capital market do not rely much on financial statements as a major determining factor for their investment decisions, still the financial analysis factors constitute the main tool in attracting investment. It was observed that other factors or variables outside firms’ annual reports such as regularity and amount of dividend payment and what is in-vogue or everybody is doing (herding) affect market price of shares and are vital to shareholders’ investment decisions. The study recommends proper awareness creation by the appropriate agencies to enhance shareholders’ understanding of the relevance of published accounts to enable them to know the financial states of the companies (banks) of their interest before making investment decisions. Besides, shareholders should seek the advice of financial analysts so as to be properly guided in their investment decisions.

Fluoxetine is an antidepressant which is also known as the trade names Prozac, and Sarafem. It is used for the treatment of depressive disorders such as depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder, alcohol dependence and panic disorder. In this study, histopathological effects of fluoxetine on zebrafish gill tissue were investigated. 150 ng/L fluoxetine were exposed to adult individuals and after 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 8 days fishes were dissected. In 15, 30 and 60 minutes experimental groups, minimal defects were defected. In the 8 day exposure group, thinning at secondary lamellae of gill tissues were observed. Growth were detected in the cell nuclei. Expansion were monitored at the central vena of gills.

In Indian textile industry, the number of factors affects on energy consumption. A detailed study was conducted for small the scale textile industry in depth for the various processes involved, chemicals required, operating parameters, mass to liquor ratio(MLR), energy requirements during processes including different losses etc. and to study effect of MLR on dyeing process in order to achieve acceptable good quality of cotton coloured products. The process temperature and time, water inlet temperature and liquor ratio were found to be the main parameters that affect energy destruction rates. In addition, some technical information’s has been included with schematics processes used for production as also machineries.

Quantum chemical calculations of energies, geometrical structures and electronic absorption spectra of 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole (DAT) were carried out by ab initio HF/6-311+G(d,p), DFT (B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)). The optimized geometric bond lengths and bond angles obtained by HF method show best agreement with the experimental values. Comparison of the observed fundamental vibrational frequencies of DAT with calculated results by HF and density functional methods indicates that B3LYP is superior to the scaled Hartree-Fock approach for molecular vibrational problems. The difference between the observed and scaled wave number values of most of the fundamentals is very small. A detailed interpretation of the FT-IR and FT- Raman, NMR spectra of DAT was also reported. Thermodynamic properties were also calculated and discussed. UV–vis spectrum of the compound was recorded and the electronic properties, such as HOMO and LUMO energies, were performed by time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) approach. Finally the calculations results were applied to simulated infrared and Raman spectra of the title compound which show good agreement with observed spectra. The Mulliken charge analysis indicates that the nitrogen atoms of the triazole ring and the amino group attached to the ring are the main reactive centers of 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole. And the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic properties of constant pressure (Cp), entropy (S) and enthalpy change (?H0?T) for DAT were also determined.

This paper presents effective method and to determine optimal machining parameters in a turning operation on annealed Beryllium copper alloy to enhance the metal removal rate and minimize the surface roughness. The scope of this work is extended to Multi objective optimization. Response Surface Methodology is opted for preparing the design matrix. Artificial Neural Networks are used to train and validate the data prepared through experimentations. Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm is used for optimization of the performance measures of the process. A powerful model would be obtained with high accuracy to analyse the effect of each parameter on the output. The input parameters considered in this work are cutting speed, feed and depth of cut.

In the present paper we have formulated the renal blood flow along the capillaries in case of renal disease Diabetes . keeping in the view the nature of renal circulatory system in human body. P.N.Pandey and V.Upadhyay have considered the blood flow has two phased one of which is that of red blood cells and other is plasma. According to Fahreaus-Lindqvist effect the blood flow in two separated layers while passing through capillaries. The plasma layer which flows along the surface of the capillaries contains almost no blood cells. The second layer the core layer containing blood cells which flows in plasma along the axis of capillary. We have collected a clinical data in case of Diabetes for hematocrit v/s blood pressure. The graphical presentation for particular parametric value is much closed to the clinical observation. The overall presentation is in tensorial form and solution technique adapted is analytical as well as numerical. The role of hematocrit is explicit in the determination of blood pressure drop in case of renal disease Diabetes

Platelets rich plasma (PRP) is reported to facilitate muscle regeneration both in vitro and animal studies. The aim of the study was to evaluate the intramuscular of PRP on growth factors and the regeneration of exercise induced muscle damaged (EIMD).Volunteers were assigned to a control (n=6) or PRP (n=6), and performed exhaustive exercise with one repetition maximum (1RM-80%) maximal voluntary contraction of the elbow. The arms were treated with saline or PRP post-24h exercise and blood samples were obtained in the morning to establish a baseline value and also 1-4 days post-exercise. The baseline levels of plasma insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were different whilst growth hormone (GH) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) levels were similar in both groups. However, 24 h following exercise increased levels of IGF-1, GH and IGFBP-3 in control were observed. PRP up-regulated PDGF-BB and VEDF, it also inhibited GH, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels post-exercise.