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Biosynthesizing of silver nanoparticles using microorganisms or various plant parts have proven more environmental friendly, cost-effective, energy saving and reproducible when compared to chemical and physical methods. This investigation demonstrated the plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles using the aqueous leaf extract of Thevetia peruviana. UV-Visible spectrophotometer was used to measure the surface plasmon resonance of the nanoparticles at 460 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared showed that the glycosidic -OH and carbonyl functional group present in extract were responsible for the reduction and stabilization of the silver nanoparticles. X ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Selected Area Electron Diffraction analyses were used to confirm the nature, morphology and shape of the nanoparticles. The silver nanoparticles are spherical in shape with average size of 18.1 nm. The synthesized silver nanoparticles showed activity against fungal pathogens and bacteria. The zone of inhibition observed in the antimicrobial study ranged between 10 and 20 mm.

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Herein we present a simple solution-based protocol to produce a highly efficient photocatalyst consisting of a 3D assembly of 2D nanostructures via one-pot synthesis. Such hierarchical assembly allow a very high surface/volume ratio and facing of active photocatalytic surface. Morphological and structural investigations of the as-grown CuO nanostructures have been performed by FESEM, STEM, HRTEM, SAED and XRD analyses. A detailed study of the photocatalytic activity has been carried out, comparing CuO with reference TiO 2 nanoparticles: a very high photocatalytic activity has been measured, higher than that of commercial TiO 2 and among the best reported in literature for CuO. This can be reasonably ascribed to the synthetic procedure: on the one hand the hierarchical assembly exhibit a very high surface to volume ratio; on the other, the surfactant-free approach allows the whole surface of the nanostructure to be exposed to the chemical environment and hence maximize the photo-degradation of organic pollutants.

Background: Anatomical variations have been genetically linked and the difference in the length of the big toe relative to the second toe (Morton's toe) is not an exception; however, its prevalence and inheritance pattern has been a scientific debate. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and inheritance pattern of Morton's toe among Nigerians in Rivers State. Materials and Methods: A total of 101 families comprising of 101 parents (fathers and mothers) and 135 offspring were conveniently sampled for this study. The observed big toe pattern was described as “L BT ” and “S BT ” representing big toe longer than the second toe and big toe shorter or equal to the second toe, respectively. The offspring trait was tabulated alongside the parental combination patterns (i.e., when both parents had L BT , both parents S BT and a combination of L BT and S BT ). XLSTAT 2012 (version 4.2.2) Chi-square analysis tested the association between sex and Morton's toe. Mendelian Chi-square gene distribution model evaluated the conformance to simple dominance-recessive pattern, while the Hardy–Weinberg (H-W) equation for allele frequency compared the parental allele frequency to that of the offspring. Results: L BT (218; 64.7%) was more in the studied population than S BT (119; 35.3%); with males (63; 18.7%) having slightly higher proportion of SBT (Morton's toe) than females (56; 16.6%), which was without sexual preference (χ 2 = 0.141, P > 0.932). The test of offspring gene distribution in conformance to Mendelian simple dominant-recessive monohybrid cross had rather weak result. The H-W equation showed a deviation of offspring allele distribution (1:3:2.5 [2:6:5]) from the parents (1:3:2). Conclusion: Morton's toe could be said to be genetically linked, however, its inheritance pattern does not conform to the simple dominant-recessive model, but a more complex pattern. It should be noted that the large frequency of a trait in a population does not make it dominant.