Adsorption isotherms and thermodynamics properties of water yam flour

Adsorption isotherms of water yam flour were determined by static gravimetric method of saturated salt solutions in the range of water activities between 0.11 and 0.96 and at temperatures of 25, 35 and 45 °C. The experimental sorption data was fitted to five models: Guggenheim-Anderson-De Boer (GAB), Peleg, Iglesias-Chirife, Exponential and Oswin and the differential enthalpy and entropies were determined. Equilibrium moisture contents decreased with increase in temperature at all the water activities studied. Peleg model gave the best fit for the sorption isotherm of water yam flour. Monolayer moisture content values estimated from the GAB-model were found to decrease with increases in temperature. The differential enthalpy and entropy decreased with increases in moisture content. The isokinetic temperature was 371.32 K and the compensation theory was satisfied

Mineral and antinutrient content of high quality cassava-tigernut composite flour extruded snack

This study investigated the mineral and antinutrient composition of extruded snack produced from different blends of high quality cassava and tigernut flour. The extruded snacks were produced using a single-screw laboratory extruder at constant feed moisture (27%), screw speed (60 rpm) and barrel temperature (80C). It was observed that the extrudates had higher values for mineral composition (phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron) than the composite flour which showed that extrusion cooking improves the absorption of the minerals. The antinutrient (tannin, phytate, saponin, oxalate, alkaloids and total phenolic) contents of all the flour blends significantly (P < 0.05) increased with tigernut flour inclusion. Extrusion cooking resulted in significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the antinutrients of the extrudates. The study showed that extrusion cooking reduced the antinutritional factors thereby increasing the bioavailabilty of minerals. Also, the minerals were not affected by the extrusion cooking process probably because minerals are heat stable

Causal attribution of mental illness in south-eastern Nigeria

Background: Understanding of mental illness in sub-Saharan Africa has remained under-researched in spite of the high and increasing neuropsychiatric burden of disease in the region. Aims: This study investigated the causal beliefs that the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria hold about schizophrenia, with a view to establishing the extent to which the population makes psychosocial, biological and supernatural attributions. Method: Multi-stage sampling was used to select participants (N = 200) to which questionnaires were administered. Results: Mean comparison of the three causal models revealed a significant endorsement of supernatural causation. Logistic regressions revealed significant contributions of old age and female gender to supernatural attribution; old age, high education and Catholic religious denomination to psychosocial attributions; and high education to biological attributions. Conclusions: It is hoped that the findings would enlighten, augment literature and enhance mental health care service delivery

Single-Trait and Multi-Trait Genome-Wide Association Analyses Identify Novel Loci for Blood Pressure in African-Ancestry Populations

Hypertension is a leading cause of global disease, mortality, and disability. While individuals of African descent suffer a disproportionate burden of hypertension and its complications, they have been underrepresented in genetic studies. To identify novel susceptibility loci for blood pressure and hypertension in people of African ancestry, we performed both single and multiple-trait genome-wide association analyses. We analyzed 21 genome-wide association studies comprised of 31,968 individuals of African ancestry, and validated our results with additional 54,395 individuals from multi-ethnic studies. These analyses identified nine loci with eleven independent variants which reached genome-wide significance (P \u3c 1.25×10−8) for either systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension, or for combined traits. Single-trait analyses identified two loci (TARID/TCF21 and LLPH/TMBIM4) and multiple-trait analyses identified one novel locus (FRMD3) for blood pressure. At these three loci, as well as at GRP20/CDH17, associated variants had alleles common only in African-ancestry populations. Functional annotation showed enrichment for genes expressed in immune and kidney cells, as well as in heart and vascular cells/tissues. Experiments driven by these findings and using angiotensin-II induced hypertension in mice showed altered kidney mRNA expression of six genes, suggesting their potential role in hypertension. Our study provides new evidence for genes related to hypertension susceptibility, and the need to study African-ancestry populations in order to identify biologic factors contributing to hypertension

Non-random distribution of deleterious mutations in the DNA and protein-binding domains of IRF6 are associated with Van Der Woude syndrome

Background: The development of the face occurs during the early days of intrauterine life by the formation of facial processes from the first Pharyngeal arch. Derangement in these well-organized fusion events results in Orofacial clefts (OFC). Van der Woude syndrome (VWS) is one of the most common causes of syndromic cleft lip and/or palate accounting for 2% of all cases. Mutations in the IRF6 gene account for 70% of cases with the majority of these mutations located in the DNA-binding (exon 3, 4) or protein-binding domains (exon 7-9). The current study was designed to update the list of IRF6 variants reported for VWS by compiling all the published mutations from 2013 to date as well as including the previously unreported VWS cases from Africa and Puerto Rico.Methods: We used PubMed with the search terms; "Van der Woude syndrome," "Popliteal pterygium syndrome," "IRF6," and "Orofacial cleft" to identify eligible studies. We compiled the CADD score for all the mutations to determine the percentage of deleterious variants.Results: Twenty-one new mutations were identified from nine papers. The majority of these mutations were in exon 4. Mutations in exon 3 and 4 had CADD scores between 20 and 30 and mutations in exon 7-9 had CADD scores between 30 and 40. The presence of higher CADD scores in the protein-binding domain (exon 7-9) further confirms the crucial role played by this domain in the function of IRF6. In the new cases, we identified five IRF6 mutations, three novel missense mutations (p.Phe36Tyr, p.Lys109Thr, and p.Gln438Leu), and two previously reported nonsense mutations (p.Ser424*and p.Arg250*).Conclusion: Mutations in the protein and DNA-binding domains of IRF6 ranked among the top 0.1% and 1% most deleterious genetic mutations, respectively. Overall, these findings expand the range of VWS mutations and are important for diagnostic and counseling purposes.</p

Uganda Genome Resource Enables Insights into Population History and Genomic Discovery in Africa.

Genomic studies in African populations provide unique opportunities to understand disease etiology, human diversity, and population history. In the largest study of its kind, comprising genome-wide data from 6,400 individuals and whole-genome sequences from 1,978 individuals from rural Uganda, we find evidence of geographically correlated fine-scale population substructure. Historically, the ancestry of modern Ugandans was best represented by a mixture of ancient East African pastoralists. We demonstrate the value of the largest sequence panel from Africa to date as an imputation resource. Examining 34 cardiometabolic traits, we show systematic differences in trait heritability between European and African populations, probably reflecting the differential impact of genes and environment. In a multi-trait pan-African GWAS of up to 14,126 individuals, we identify novel loci associated with anthropometric, hematological, lipid, and glycemic traits. We find that several functionally important signals are driven by Africa-specific variants, highlighting the value of studying diverse populations across the region.Main funding: This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust, The Wellcome Sanger Institute (WT098051), the U.K. Medical Research Council (G0901213-92157, G0801566, and MR/K013491/1), and the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute Uganda Research Unit on AIDS core funding