December 2009
Tissue engineered devices for ligament repair, replacement and regeneration
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of five ligaments in the knee that are important for stability and kinematics. It is also the most commonly injured ligament of the knee and due to its poor healing potential, severe damage warrants surgical intervention including complete replacement. Ligaments are longitudinally arranged, complex tissues; the mechanical properties of ligaments are a direct result...
December 2009
DNA molecules and human therapeutics
Nucleic acid molecules are championing a new generation of reverse engineered biopharmaceuticals. In terms of potential application in gene medicine, plasmid DNA (pDNA) vectors have exceptional therapeutic and immunological profiles as they are free from safety concerns associated with viral vectors, display non-toxicity and are simpler to develop. This review addresses the potential applications of pDNA...
December 2009
Agricultural biotechnology research and development in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is an agrarian country that can have enormous benefit from the applications of biotechnology for increasing its agricultural productivity. The country is at initial stages of research and development in agricultural biotechnology with scattered efforts underway in various public institutions. Research efforts and applications in crop production include plant tissue culture, biofertilizers and...
December 2009
Constructions, applications and the environment of greenhouses
A greenhouse is essentially an enclosed structure, which traps the short wavelength solar radiation and stores the long wavelength thermal radiation to create a favourable microclimate for higher productivity. The sun’s radiation incident on the greenhouse has two parts: direct radiation and an associated diffuse sky radiation. The diffuse part is not focused by the lenses and goes right through Frensel...
December 2009
Physiological responses of food animals to road transportation stress
The increasing demand in proteins to feed the ever-growing world population has necessitated the industrialization and transportation of livestock using different means of transportation across several ecological zones with different climatic conditions. The stress factors acting on animals during road transportation are numerous and the responses of the animal to them are complex, non-specific and often...
December 2009
Identification of subdominant lactic acid bacteria in dawadawa (a soup condiment) and their evolution during laboratory-scale fermentation of Parkia biglobosa (African locust beans)
The successive colonization of fermenting African locust beans (Parkia biglobosa) by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was investigated for seven days. The LAB isolated were Pediococcus pentosaceus, Lactobacillus raffinolactus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc sp, Pediococcus halophilus, Pediococcus sp, Lactobacillus sp, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus...
December 2009
Efficiency of resource-use and elasticity of production among catfish farmers in Kaduna, Nigeria
This study employed the use of the Stochastic Frontier Production Function in the empirical analysis of efficiency of resource-use and elasticity of production among catfish farmers in Kaduna, Nigeria. The simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting 60 catfish farmers drawn from the sampling frame obtained from the list of list of Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) contact farmers in the...
December 2009
The role of biotechnology on the treatment of wastes
The biological processes improving fast are shown among the future technologies. In these processes which biological materials are used as degraders, raw wastes are processed to remove the contaminants in them. Biotechnological processes are used for wastewater treatment, gas treatment and disposal of solid wastes in environmental engineering. Also, these processes can be utilized for the production of biogas...
December 2009
Effects of high-pressure processing (HPP) on the microbiological, physico-chemical and sensory properties of fresh cheeses: A review
High pressure processing (HPP) is an increasingly popular food processing method that offers great potential within the food industry. The drive to use HPP is to provide minimally processed foods which are safe and have extended shelf-life that rival traditional methods of food processing. HPP is currently being applied to a wide variety of food products, although to date the dairy industry has received...
December 2009
Exotic multifaceted medicinal plants of drugs and pharmaceutical industries
Cassia alata Linn, Nauclea latifolia, Clerodendron splendens and Bryophyllum pinnatum are some of the Nigerian exotic medicinal plants. These plants not only acts as ornamental but also exhibit antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. They are sources of drugs and are used in herbal medicine to treat measles, malaria, asthma, eczema,...
December 2009
Impact of gari consumption on the water resource of Nigeria
The consumption of gari (or roasted cassava granule) is connected to a chain of impacts on the water resource in the country where cassava crop is grown, processed and consumed. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of gari consumption on the water resource of Nigeria. The paper elaborates on two types of impact: evaporation of infiltrated rainwater for cassava plant growth (green water use) and the...
December 2009
An overview of the potentials of natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) engineering for the production of valuable proteins
Nigeria has in recent times exhibited great commitment to the use of biotechnology as a tool to enhance agricultural and general socioeconomic development. Plant biotechnology and genetic engineering have led to the production of various pharmaceutical proteins from plant sources. Plants are potential bio-farming factories because they provide an inexpensive and convenient system for the large scale...
December 2009
Loss of heterozygosity in colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. The development and progression of CRC is a multistep process, which involves many dietary and environmental factors. A great number of oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes and DNA repair genes contribute to molecular and biological features of CRC, providing us much essential information about the pathogenesis of this disease. Loss of...
December 2009
A review of the use of prebiotic in aquaculture for fish and shrimp
It has been documented in a number of food animals that gastrointestinal bacteria play important roles in affecting the nutrition and health of the host organism. Thus, various means of altering the intestinal bacteria to achieve favorable effects such as better resistance to pathogens, enhancing growth and immune stimulation of the host organism have been investigated in various fish and shrimp. In this...
December 2009
The role of laboratory confirmations and molecular epidemiology in global eradication of measles
This review reports on the role of laboratory confirmation and molecular epidemiology in global eradication of measles. The role of laboratory confirmation and molecular epidemiology in defining the origins of measles outbreaks cannot be overemphasized. New serological tests based on recombinant proteins detect only a fraction of the total measles virus (MV) specific antibodies. Several assays based on...
December 2009
Antimicrobial activity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with respect to immunological response: Diclofenac sodium as a case study
The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as the name implies are compounds of non-steroidal origin, with the capability of inhibiting/reducing inflammatory response associated with tissue injury which could be as a result of physical trauma, noxious chemicals or microorganisms. There is however reason to believe that these drugs, which confound disease progression by suppressing fever, pain and...
December 2009
Advantages and disadvantages on photosynthesis measurement techniques: A review
Through photosynthesis, green plants and cyanobacteria are able to transfer sunlight energy to molecular reaction centers for conversion into chemical energy with nearly 100% efficiency. Speed is the key as the transfer of the solar energy takes place almost instantaneously such that little energy is wasted as heat. How photosynthesis achieves this near instantaneous energy transfer is a long-standing mystery...
December 2009
Quantitative approach of Min protein researches and applications: Experiments, mathematical modeling and computer simulations
Cell division in prokaryotes is a process (known as binary fission) where the parent cell divides into daughter cells. In this process, the dynamics of Min proteins is an important factor in the accurate positioning at the midcell in Escherichia coli. This site specificity is regulated by the oscillatory behavior of Min proteins. Numerous studies of Min protein dynamics have focused on dynamic...
December 2009
Molecular research and genetic engineering of resistance to Verticillium wilt in cotton: A review
Verticillium dahliae, a soil-borne pathogen, causes Verticillium wilt, one of the most serious diseases in cotton, deleteriously influencing crop’s production and quality. Verticillium wilt has become a major obstacle in cotton production sinceHelicoverpa armigera, the cotton bollworm, became effectively controlled in recent years. The wilt is becoming a key subject of research in cotton-resistance...
December 2009
Applications of natural products in the control of mosquito-transmitted diseases
Mosquito-transmitted diseases remain one of the most significant causes of mortality in the African continent, despite successes in controlling these diseases in other regions of the world. The disproportionate impact in areas of poverty suggests a need for control that is efficient and does not require complex technological control strategies. Focusing on the vectors of disease, the mosquito, there are many...
December 2009
Ethnic differences in susceptibilities to A(H1N1) flu: An epidemic parameter indicating a weak viral virulence
The current A(H1N1) flu has showed sub-population dependent susceptibility and fatality as early as April and May of 2009 in its first wave of spreading. After the pandemic outbreak spreads globally for more than seven months, the subpopulation dependence of this flu, including ethnicity, age and gender selectivity, has been recognized by several research groups. This paper attempts to discussed how to...
December 2009
The cultivation, bioactive components and pharmacological effects of Armillaria mellea
Armillaria mellea, a symbiotic fungus in the underground tubers of Chinese medicinal orchid Gastrodia elata, is one of the main biological active components and pharmaceutical effects of its host gastrodia. The purpose of this review is to bring attention to the biological properties of this unique A. mellea mushroom and its constituents, as well as to suggest the potential for the development...
December 2009
Mathematical modeling tendencies in plant pathology
Nowadays plant diseases represent one of the major threats for crops around the world, because they carry healthy, economical, environmental and social problems. Considering this, it is necessary to have a description of the dynamics of plant disease in order to have sustainable strategies to prevent and diminish the impact of the diseases in crops. Mathematical tools have been employed to create models which...
December 2009
Forest decline of the world: A linkage with air pollution and global warming
Various forest declines and forest health conditions have been described for forest ecosystems throughout the world. The connection to global warming and air pollution is clear in some area, but not in others. In this study, some evidences that support or contradict air pollution and global warming being causal factors in reported cases of decline in Eastern North America, Central Europe and Republic of...
December 2009
Role of diet in absorption and toxicity of oral cadmium- A review of literature
The role of diet or its components in the absorption, distribution and toxicity of cadmium (Cd) has received attention in recent times. Experimental evidence in literature strongly suggests that the absorption of Cd is dependent on factors such as age, pH, diet and intestinal metallothionein (MT) production. The chemical forms of Cd such as Cd-MT in foods or inorganic Cd administered directly in foods or...
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