Cassava intake and vitamin A status among women and preschool children in Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria

Background As part of the HarvestPlus provitamin A-biofortified cassava program in Nigeria we con- ducted a survey to determine the cassava intake and prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among children 6-59 months and women of childbearing age in the state of Akwa Ibom. Methods A cluster-randomized cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2011 in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The usual food and nutrient intakes were estimated using a multi-pass 24-hour recall with repeated recall on a subsample. Blood samples of children and women were collected to analyze for serum retinol, serum ferritin, and acute phase proteins as indicators of infection. Vitamin A deficiency was defined as serum retinol < 0.70 ? mol/L adjusted for infection. Results A total of 587 households of a mother-child dyad participated in the dietary intake assess- ment. Cassava was very widely consumed in Akwa Ibom, mainly as gari or foofoo . Daily cassava consumption frequency was 92% and 95% among children and women, respec- tively. Mean ( ± SD) cassava intake (expressed as raw fresh weight) was 348 ± 317 grams/ day among children and 940 ± 777 grams/day among women. Intakes of most micronutri- ents appeared to be adequate with the exception of calcium. Median vitamin A intake was very high both for children (1038 ? g RAE/day) and women (2441 ? g RAE/day). Red palm oil and dark green leafy vegetables were the main sources of vitamin A in the diet, with red palm oil alone contributing almost 60% of vitamin A intake in women and children. Preva- lence of vitamin A deficiency ranged from moderate (16.9 %) among children to virtually non-existent (3.4 %) among womenConclusion Consumption of cassava and vitamin A intake was high among women and children in Akwa Ibom with a prevalence of vitamin A deficiency ranging from moderate in children to non-existent among women. The provitamin A biofortified cassava and other vitamin A inter- ventions should focus dissemination in states where red palm oil is not widely consumed.Background As part of the HarvestPlus provitamin A-biofortified cassava program in Nigeria we con- ducted a survey to determine the cassava intake and prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among children 6-59 months and women of childbearing age in the state of Akwa Ibom. Methods A cluster-randomized cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2011 in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The usual food and nutrient intakes were estimated using a multi-pass 24-hour recall with repeated recall on a subsample. Blood samples of children and women were collected to analyze for serum retinol, serum ferritin, and acute phase proteins as indicators of infection. Vitamin A deficiency was defined as serum retinol < 0.70 ? mol/L adjusted for infection. Results A total of 587 households of a mother-child dyad participated in the dietary intake assess- ment. Cassava was very widely consumed in Akwa Ibom, mainly as gari or foofoo . Daily cassava consumption frequency was 92% and 95% among children and women, respec- tively. Mean ( ± SD) cassava intake (expressed as raw fresh weight) was 348 ± 317 grams/ day among children and 940 ± 777 grams/day among women. Intakes of most micronutri- ents appeared to be adequate with the exception of calcium. Median vitamin A intake was very high both for children (1038 ? g RAE/day) and women (2441 ? g RAE/day). Red palm oil and dark green leafy vegetables were the main sources of vitamin A in the diet, with red palm oil alone contributing almost 60% of vitamin A intake in women and children. Preva- lence of vitamin A deficiency ranged from moderate (16.9 %) among children to virtually non-existent (3.4 %) among womenConclusion Consumption of cassava and vitamin A intake was high among women and children in Akwa Ibom with a prevalence of vitamin A deficiency ranging from moderate in children to non-existent among women. The provitamin A biofortified cassava and other vitamin A inter- ventions should focus dissemination in states where red palm oil is not widely consumed

Biological Status and Dietary Intakes of Iron, Zinc and Vitamin A among Women and Preschool Children in Rural Burkina Faso

Abstract Backgroun

The Promigratory Activity of the Matricellular Protein Galectin-3 Depends on the Activation of PI-3 Kinase

Expression of galectin-3 is associated with sarcoma progression, invasion and metastasis. Here we determined the role of extracellular galectin-3 on migration of sarcoma cells on laminin-111. Cell lines from methylcholanthrene-induced sarcomas from both wild type and galectin-3−/− mice were established. Despite the presence of similar levels of laminin-binding integrins on the cell surface, galectin-3−/− sarcoma cells were more adherent and less migratory than galectin-3+/+ sarcoma cells on laminin-111. When galectin-3 was transiently expressed in galectin-3−/− sarcoma cells, it inhibited cell adhesion and stimulated the migratory response to laminin in a carbohydrate-dependent manner. Extracellular galectin-3 led to the recruitment of SHP-2 phosphatase to focal adhesion plaques, followed by a decrease in the amount of phosphorylated FAK and phospho-paxillin in the lamellipodia of migrating cells. The promigratory activity of extracellular galectin-3 was inhibitable by wortmannin, implicating the activation of a PI-3 kinase dependent pathway in the galectin-3 triggered disruption of adhesion plaques, leading to sarcoma cell migration on laminin-111

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio