IMPACT : International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences

1-8

Authors: Raveesh Kumar Gangwar, Shaily Javeria, Komal Yadav, Swati Tyagi & Ramesh Singh

A survey was conceded on the insect-pests incidence in Basmati rice ecosystem in western Uttar Pradesh of India. In Western U. P. mainly Pusa Basmati-1121, Pusa Basmati-1, Pusa Basmati-6, Pusa Basmati-1509 and Vallabh-22 Basmati varieties are cultivated in which about 60 % area is covered by PB-1121. The crop is infested by many insect-pests which play a significant role in limiting Basmati rice production. Insect-pests infest all parts of the plant at all growth stages, and a few transmit viral diseases such as leafhoppers and plant hoppers. In Basmati rice ecosystem some defender viz. dragon fly, spiders and praying mentis also were noticed. In Western Uttar Pradesh some other insect-pests as gundhi bug, rice hispa, brown plant hopper, grasshopper etc. were also found at Rice field. During the survey it was observed that the leaf folder and stem borer were found to be at significance level. A large number of insecticides have been tried for insect-pests management; indiscriminate use of pesticides has led to severe ecological consequences, residues in consumable products and ultimately resistance to the pesticides. The increasing concern for environmental safety and global demands for pesticide residue free food evoked keen interest in pest control through eco-friendly methods

13-26

Authors: Majid K. Hussain, Dhafer A. F. Alkoofee & Alaa Salah Jumaah

Background Breast cancer is a malignant tumor arising from the terminal duct lobular unit of the breast tissues. It is most prevalent malignancy in women and its incidence is increasing globally and the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer between 5-10%. Tumor suppressor geneTP53 is essential for preventing inappropriate cell proliferation and maintaining genome stability and integrity following genotoxic stress. TP53 gene is the most commonly mutated gene in cancer and approximately 20% of breast cancer. Thus, gene expression was investigated. Patients and Methods One hundred formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues samples of malignant breast tumor as well as 100 FFPE samples of normal breast tissues samples obtained from same patients were investigated. The blocks of breast cancer patients were collected from Al Sadder Medical City, Najaf, Iraq. Ages of patients were expressed as Mean ± S.D 48.4 ± 10.90 year with a minimum to maximum of 20 -75 years. Nucleic acid (RNA) isolated and evaluated by picodrop spectrophotometer for the expression of TP53 gene by qRT-PCR. cDNA was prepared using the High Capacity RNA-to-cDNA (ABI). For real-time quantitative PCR (RTQ-PCR), 100 ng cDNA was added to SYBR Green Master Mixture (Applied Biosystems) and run in Corbett Real-time PCR System. Results The current study involved investigated of TP53 gene expression in FFPE tissues of breast cancer tissues. TP53 gene expression was indicated to be 44 fold (P<0.001) relative to housekeeing gene (18S rRNA). Conclusions TP53 gene is a major tumor suppressor that is altered by mutations in 50% of human cancers and functionally inactivated in other 50%.

33-44

Authors: ANI JOSEPH, BOBAN, V. L & JAYAPRAKAS V

The ornamental fishes are important not only because of their aesthetic value but also due to their immense commercial value in export trade. Biologists all over the world fear that the genetic strains and variability of wild fish stocks are being depleted at a rapid pace. So they are trying to preserve germplasm of various fishes through gene banks. Various parameters that play major roles in the viability of spermatozoa such as, duration of sperm motility in different media, at different temperatures, in different salinities and at various pH levels were evaluated along with the influence of various factors on the duration of motility and viability of spermatozoa when preserved for short and long terms. The fishes used for the study were Rasbora daniconius, Puntius filamentosus, Parambassis dayi and Hyporhamphus xanthopterus, collected from Vellayani Lake in Trivandrum district of Kerala, India. High percentage of spermatozoan viability and sperm cell concentration was observed in four species of fishes. Longest duration of spermatozoan motility was observed in fertilizing solution. The spermatozoa showed longer duration of motility at lower temperature in the four species. Longer duration of spermatozoon motility can be found in alkaline pH. Motility of spermatozoa in dilute salt solutions maintained longer than in freshwater. In the short term preservation, spermatozoa of oxygenated samples were motile up to 72 hours. In the unoxygenated samples the spermatozoa were motile only up to 24 hours. Three different extenders (Extender I - Fish Ringer solution, Extender II - 7% Glucose solution, Extender III – 7% Sucrose solution) with different concentrations of two cryoprotectants, DMSO and Glycerol were used for the cryopreservation of spermatozoa. In the cryopreserved milt of P. dayi, the highest motility was recorded in extender I and 7.5% DMSO combination. In H. xanthopterus, the maximum duration of motility was exhibited by 7.5% DMSO in combination with extender III.

61-70

Authors: KOLA M OWONIKOKO, WAKEEL O MURITALA, ADETUNJI O ADENIJI & OLUSEYI O. A. ATANDA

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is one of the pillars of safe motherhood. For a successful pregnancy outcome, the support of the family especially the husband cannot be over emphasized. Objective: To assess the knowledge of husbands’ of primigravidae on ANC using the knowledge score. Methodology: Cross sectional descriptive study among consenting husbands of primigravidae attending the ANC at Tertiary and Secondary Health facilities in Ogbomoso with the aid of a structured, pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire given to the primigravidae to be filled by their husbands and brought back at their next visit. Result: The mean age of respondent was 30.6 ±5.3 years. The mean knowledge score was 13.55±6.27. Only 45.4% of respondents have knowledge score above the mean. The educational status (P< 0.001), Occupation (P< 0.001), Type of marriage (P=0.005) and average income earned per month (P <0.002) were statistically related to the level of knowledge. Conclusion: The knowledge of husbands’ of primigravidae on ANC was poor. There is great need to increase the sensitization of husbands of primigravidae on ANC, as each member in the family has a role to play in the course of pregnancy, towards the delivery of a healthy baby to a healthy mother. However, improving level of education, provision of more skillful employment opportunities and improving the remuneration of people will go a long way in achieving this objective.

79-86

Authors: M. M. A. El-Sheikh, R. Sallam & Nahed A. Mohamady

The oscillation of solutions of the second order nonlinear damped dynamic equation (r(t)ψ (x(t))x^Δ (t))^Δ+ p(t)x^Δ (t) + f(t,x(τ (t))) = 0 on an arbitrary time scale T is investigated. A generalized Riccati transformation is applied for the study of the Kamenev-type oscillation criteria for this nonlinear dynamic equation. Several new sufficient conditions for the oscillation of solutions are obtained to extend some known results in the literature

95-108

Authors: AVTAR SINGH RAHI

Teaching perhaps is the only profession which accommodates new and unproven, places at the same situation as veteran and provides no organized support. Academic progress of students depends heavily on talent and skills of the teacher leading their classroom. Teaching may be described as a commitment to “care and welfare of pupils” or even as the “Journey through the Heart”. Teachers are now considered as “Social Reformers”. Processes of becoming a good and effective teacher involve varying degrees of personal and professional growth. Professional learning should always address identified gaps in student achievement. Teacher professional learning can focus on real issues and avoid providing information that may not benefit the participants. Our work in educational institutions is about bridging the knowledge gap between educators and their practice. There is need to identify whether student perceptions, classroom observations and assessments of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge are aligned with value-added measures to find the areas where teachers need to become more effective. The goal of this paper is to use classroom observations to help teachers improve student outcomes. Teaching is a complex task and value-added measures can captures the impact of differences in teacher effectiveness.

117-124

Authors: Sofeme Reuben Jebson & Amos Zamni Hena

The study investigated the attitude of students toward science subjects in senior secondary schools in Adamawa state. Three objectives were raised and to these objectives one research question and two hypotheses were raised. The target population was all the Adamawa state government secondary school students. The study is survey type which used stratified random sampling technique to select a sample of 250 science students. These students responded to valid and reliable instrument known as Science Students’ Attitude Questionnaire (SSAQ). The data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics as well as t-test and chi-square test. The results showed that students in Adamawa state have positive attitude towards science subjects and gender has significant effect (p<0.05) on their attitude. The results indicated that boys have more positive attitude toward science subjects than their girls’ counterpart. Age difference among boys and girls in the sampled secondary schools in Adamawa state does not have influence on their attitude toward the study of science subjects. Based on the results of this study recommendations were made on how positive attitude of students can be maintained and improved upon particularly the attitude of girls in Adamawa state

133-150

Authors: FARZANA JAHAN, SHAMIMA HOSSAIN & KAZI MD. FARHAD MAHMUD

Women empowerment is a pre-requisite of any country’s development and decision making power of women is an indicator of women empowerment. Most of the previous studies of women decision making mainly focused on the influence of women’s decision making on the child health, child mortality, maternal health care, children drop out from school or some other socio-economic matter of women. However there have been a few studies identifying the responsible factors that influence women’s decision making power inside household. But none of the studies focused on urban women’s decision making ability inside household and empowerment. This study makes an attempt to determine the factors affecting decision making power of urban women on six indicators in order to assess their actual situation of empowerment by using the Bangladesh Urban Health Survey data. By the use of six different models for six types of decision making, this study revealed some of the determinants of women empowerment are similar to the previous studies and also discovered a new factor that have significant effect on urban women’s decision making inside household