Volume 4 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

World health organization (WHO) data shows that air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year. A nanofiber based biodegradable facemask can keep breath from smoke and other particles suspended in the air. In this study, we propose branched polymeric nanofibers as a biodegradable material for air filters and facemasks. Fibers have been elecrospun using double bubble electrospinning technique. Biodegradable polymers, PVA and PVP were used in our experiment. Two tubes, each filled with one of the polymers, were supplied with air from the bottom to form bubbles of polymer solutions. DC 35-40 kV was used to deposit the fibers on an aluminum foil. Results show that the combination of polymers under specific conditions produced branched fibers with average nanofibers diameter of 495nm. FT-IR results indicate the new trends in the graph of composite nanofibers.

Bangladesh produces a large amount of corn, pumpkin and carrots every year. To meet its huge energy demand and to lessen dependence on traditional fossil fuel these products are cost effective, renewable and abundant source for bioethanol production. The research was aimed to evaluate Bangladeshi corn, rotten carrot and pumpkin for bioethanol production. About 100 g of substrates was mixed with 300 ml distilled water and blended and sterilized. All the experiment was conducted with a temperature of 35oC, pH 6.0 and 20% sugar concentration. For fermentation, 200 ml yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCD) was added to make the total volume 500 ml. Addition of small amount of 1750 unit α-amylase enzyme to the substrate solution was found to enhance the fermentation process quicker. After 6- days of incubation, corn produced 63.00 ml of ethanol with 13.33 % (v/v) purity. Bioethanol production capacity of two different local varieties of pumpkin (red and black color) was assessed. Red pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima L.) produces 53 ml of ethanol with purity 6 %v/v and black color pumpkin produces 40 ml of yield with a low purity 4 %v/v. Carrot (Daucus carota L.) produces 73.67 ml of ethanol with 12.66 % (v/v) purity.

This study aims to synthesize hybrid compounds “via” the coupling of sulphonamide and benzothiazole into one structure that may have improved antibacterial property. The N-(biphenyl-4-yl) thiourea (1) used for the synthesis of the targeted sulphonamides was obtained by reacting diphenylamine and ammonium thiocyanate at room temperature. Cyclization of N-(biphenyl-4-yl)thiourea gave 2-amino-6-phenylbenzothiazole (2) which reacted with benzenesulphonyl chloride and para-toulene sulphonyl chloride to give the targeted sulphonamides (3a & 3b). The synthesized compounds were characterised using melting point, infra-red spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and elemental analysis. Anti-bacterial screening of the synthesised compounds indicated that all the compounds showed anti-bacterial properties, except 2-amino-6-phenylbenzothiazole that did not show any activity on Escherichia coli.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons load in soils of Ogale community, Rivers State, Nigeria and as well delineate the lateral and vertical extensions of the soils and groundwater. Geo-electric characterization of the soils and groundwater, using Electrical Resistivity methods (vertical electrical sounding, VES by Abem Terrameter and Gas chromatograph - Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) for finger-print was employed. The interpreted VES results revealed four geo-electric subsurface layers. The first layer which has a resistivity value of 60Ωm and a thickness of 2.0M was interpreted as top soil. Underlying the first layer is the second layer which had a resistivity value of 122Ωm with a thickness of 3m, interpreted as lateritic sand. The third layer had a resistivity value of 750Ωm and a thickness of 9.0m, and is interpreted as coarse sand. The fourth layer which had a resistivity value of 1255Ωm and a thickness of 49m is interpreted as very coarse sand. Borehole one was used as control and it is 1.85km away from the Resistivity sampling points. The results revealed that the presence of C10-C40 hydrocarbon which indicates un-weathered to fresh hydrocarbon in parts of the study area and heavy metals were below detection limits. The vulnerability of the aquifer to hydrocarbon contamination was due to high permeability, unconsolidated coarse grained and poorly sorted sands, of the vadose zone as well as shallowness of the aquifer. It is recommended that boreholes in the study area should be of deeper depths, and well constructed to avoid contaminated water from the polluted zone entering the borehole through the annulus.

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J.E. Smith) is a pest with devasting effects on maize. A laboratory biassay was conducted to analyse the phytochemicals and determine the efficacy of M. spicata and R. officinalis extracts on FAW. Treatments were laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 replications. The factors included solvent [Methanol (Me), dichloromethane (DCM), distilled water (Di)] and the plant species (M. spicata and R. officinalis). Coragen SC 200 (Co) and Distilled water (Di) were the positive and negative controls, respectively. FAW rearing, plant extract preparation and phytochemical screening were done using standard procedure. Data collection and analysis was done using standard procedures. The extract yield was highest for R. officinalis regardless of the solvent used. Me-R. officinalis and Di-M. spicata extracts yielded the highest. Saponins, glycosides, alkaloid, flavonoids and tannins. Flavonoid contents were 7.9036 mg/mL and 6.0073 ± 0.6117 mg/mL in methanolic extract of M. spicata and R. officinalis, respectively. M. spicatha and R. officinalis extracts caused 100% mortality to 3rd instar larvae. Based on the findings, both M. spicata and R. officinalis have several secondary metabolites that confer insecticidal activity of the plants against FAW, hence should be evaluated under field conditions.

Christia vespertilionis (butterfly wing plant) is an ornamental plant originated from South East Asia with reported usage in traditional medicine practice and potential as an anticancer and antitumor. This research aims to estimate the genome size of C. vespertilionis via flow cytometry (FCM) method. The research was conducted with the optimisation of nuclear suspension preparation followed by the genome size estimation. Two chopping techniques [manual chopping (MC) and BDTM Medimachine (MM)] and two lysis buffers (Otto and LBO1) were tested. Otto buffer with manual chopping was found to be the most suitable method, generated fine DNA peak with minimum debris background, and coefficient of variation (CV) value less than 3%. Five replicates of the FCM analysis were made for the genome size determination. The estimated genome size of C. vespertilionis was found to be 3.22 pg by using Glycine max cv. Polanka (2C=2.5pg) as an external reference standard. Further comparison with other Christia species was not possible due to the lack of data on genome size. The genome size data of C. vespertilionis can be useful for future morphology and genetics studies of Christia species.

Several techniques, in which different homogenous catalysts and procedures, that are in use for transesterification of a vegetable oil or an animal fat have been successful in synthesizing biodiesel, although with some certain limitations. For such a purpose, among the catalysts employed are acidic as well as basic catalysts. It has been found that acidic catalysts can be tolerant with a high content of free fatty acids found in those low value feedstock oils/fats to be transesterified, although some sort of pretreatment by means of esterification might be required in order to synthesize biodiesel. Moreover, with employing homogenous acidic catalysts, it seems that biodiesel purification procedures are simplified; thus, reducing synthesis cost. In fact, these features of homogenous acidic catalysts render them advantageous over basic ones. With basic homogenous catalysts this; however, has not been possible due to the development of saponification reaction. To effectively perform, such catalysts require that the content of free fatty acids in the feedstock oil/fat is minimal. This requirement is also applicable to the moisture level in the feedstock. In terms of corrosive effects; nevertheless, acidic catalysts are disadvantageous compared to basic ones.