Comparative physico-chemical and proximate analysis of oils of Shea nut, Sesamum indicum, Cucurbita pepo, Cucumis melo seeds commonly cultivated in West Africa

In rural areas of developing countries like Burkina Faso, nutritive elements are mainly composed of  vegetable source. Shea nut, seeds of Sesamum indicum, Cucumis melo and Cucurbita pepo, four species widely consumed were studied. The proximate parameters: moisture, proteins and fat were analysed. Saponification value, iodine value, acid value and peroxide value of selected nut and seeds oils and fatty acids were also evaluated. The results for moisture content of oils were significantly different (P˂0.05) and ranged between 3.22 ± 0.36 to 6.74 ± 0.83%. Protein rate was ranged between 12.93 ± 2.60 to 19.96 ± 0.73 with significant difference (P˂0.05). Fat content was ranged at significant difference (P˂0.05) as 49.14 ± 0.06, 43.82 ± 0.12, 42.01 ± 0.20 and 41.07± 0.73 for S. indicum, shea nut, C. melo and C. pepo, respectively. The acid value obtained from S. indicum, C. pepo, C. melo ranged between 2.51 ± 0.13, 1.29 ± 0.05 and 1.16 ± 0.06 mg/KOH/g, respectively with significant difference (P˂0.05). The iodine value of the oil samples showed significant difference (P˂0.05). The significant difference (P˂0.05) of saponification value ranged between 197.4 ± 0.70, 191.8 ± 2.23, 117.13 ± 2.37 and 112.54 ± 0.03 from shea nut, S. indicum, C. pepo and C. melo, respectively. The different samples showed significant difference (P˂0.05) of peroxide value ranged between 6.5 ± 0.18, 3.38 ± 0.20, 1.45 ± 0.02 and 1.33 ± 0.15 from shea nut, S. indicum, C. melo, C. pepo, respectively. The composition of fatty acids of oils revealed the presence of high amount of linoleic acid 59.12 ± 1.91 and 62.97 ± 0.62%. Key words: Shea nut, sesame, cucurbitaceae, oil, physico-chemical, fatty acids

Identification moléculaire des souches de mycobactéries

L’identification moléculaire des souches de mycobactéries disponibles dans notre laboratoire a été réalisée. L’amplification par PCR des gènes de hsp, ARNr16S, espaceurs intergéniques ARNr16S-23S suivie de l’électrophorèse sur gel d’agarose des fragments obtenus avec les oligonucléotides Tb11 et Tb12, 248 et 42, Int16S et Int23S, révèle la constance dans la taille des fragments pour toutes les souches et par paire d’oligonucléotides. Ces résultats sont confirmés par la RFLP qui ne montre pas de différences significatives entre les différentes souches. Dans ce cas la discrimination des souches est difficile, on peut penser qu’il s’agit d’un seul genre. Par contre la taille des fragments obtenus avec les oligonucléotides H49 et H50, GyrAF et GyrAR permet de distinguer trois groupes de souches, les souches 6PY, C-8, C-18, et C-19 forment un premier groupe, les souches BHF004, C-20 et SPYR forment un deuxième groupe, et enfin la souche PYR-1 forme un troisième groupe.Le séquençage et l’alignement multiple avec Clustal des séquences en comparaison d’une part avec Mycobacterium gilvum pour le premier groupe et d’autre part avec Mycobacterium vanbaalenii et Mycobacterium austroafricanum pour le deuxième groupe, confirment par le taux de similarité élevé (99- 100%) cette classification. Un arbre phylogénétique basée sur les séquences partielles du gène hsp65, permet de situer les nouvelles par rapport aux autres mycobactéries .Cela corrobore bien avec nos résultats, tout en confirmant la cohérence de ces trois espèces dans le genre monophylétique Mycobacterium.Mots-clés : mycobactéries, oligonucléotides, amplification par PCR, séquençage, alignement multiple

An overview of adakite, tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG), and sanukitoid; relationships and some implications for crustal evolution.

Abstract Examination of an extensive adakite geochemical database identifies two distinct compositional groups. One consists of high-SiO 2 adakites (HSA) which is considered to represent subducted basaltic slab-melts that have reacted with peridotite during ascent through mantle wedge. The second group consists of low-SiO 2 adakites (LSA) which we interpret to have formed by melting of a peridotitic mantle wedge whose composition has been modified by reaction with felsic slab-melts. The chemical composition of less differentiated (primitive) Archaean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) magmas evolved from 4.0 to 2.5 Ga. Mg# (molecular Mg/(Mg+Fe 2+ ), Ni, and Cr contents increased over this period of time and we interpret these changes in terms of changes in the degree to which the TTG magmas interacted with mantle peridotite. Over the same period, concentrations of (CaO+Na 2 O) and Sr also increased, as the amount of plagioclase, residual from basalt melting, decreased in response to increased pressures at the site of slab-melting. In the Early Archaean, it appears that these interactions were very rare or absent thus leading to the conclusion that subduction was typically flat and lacked the development of a mantle wedge. In contrast, the relatively lower heat production by~2.5 Ga meant that slab-melting occurred at greater depth, where plagioclase was no longer stable, and where the development of a thick mantle wedge ensured interaction between the slab-melts and mantle peridotite. Close compositional similarities between HSA and Late Archaean TTG (Tb~3.0 Ga) strongly suggest a petrogenetic analogy. However, an analogy between the older Archaean TTG and HSA is not complete because evidence for mantle wedge interaction is missing in most Early Archaean TTGs. Late Archaean sanukitoids and the compositionally similar Closepet-type granites have compositions significantly different from TTG of all ages. However, they show some affinity with LSA which could be considered as their possible analogue. These magmas are all thought to result from melting of a mantle peridotite whose composition has been modified by reaction with slab-melts. We propose that all these magmas are directly linked to slab-melting. Archaean TTG and HSA represent slab-melts that have interacted with peridotite to varying extent, whereas sanukitoids, Closepet-type granites, and LSA correspond to melts of peridotite previously metasomatised by slab-melt. The changes observed from Early Archaean TTG to Late Archaean TTG and to sanukitoids reflect change in both the nature and efficiency of interaction between slab-melt and mantle wedge peridotite. Comparisons between all of these rocks suggest that ancient styles of subduction that have operated since at least~3.3 Ga persist in a limited way today. The secular changes in the degree and style of these interactions is a direct consequence of the cooling of Earth that modified the thermal and dynamic parameters at the subducted slab-mantle wedge interface.

School Delay of Child in Brazzaville (Congo)

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of school delay in school age children and to identify its determinants in Brazzaville. A case-control study, comparing school age children with a school delay (Group 1 or cases) to those who had not school delay (Group 2 or control), was carried out between February and July 2013. It included students of CM2 (primary 6) and those of 3 ème (form 4) of both public and private schools of Brazzaville. The sample selection was made according to a random survey by strata, the number of strata was set to 2. The sample consisted of 2064 pupils including 1138 girls (55.1%). A total of 2064 students (1138 male/926 female), 792 of them had a school delay, with a prevalence of 38.3%. It was 27% in the private sector and 46.9% in the public one; 28.2% in primary education compared to 48.1% in the college; 27.8% in girls and 48.8% in boys (p < 0.001). 21.4% of students in CM2 (primary 6) of the public and 16.7% in the private sector had repeated classes 3 times; 4.2% of students in 3ème (form 4) of the public education had repeated classes 4 times. Kindergarten program attendance had a positive effect on later school performances (p < 0.05). The parent's level of education and socio-economic status of the family (low and mean for students in CM2 of public schools and of 3ème of private schools, high for pupils in CM2 of private schools) and underweight among pupils in CM2 of the private sector were significantly correlated with school delay (p < 0.05). The prevalence of school delay was high in Brazzaville (38.3%), boys were more affected than girls. The kindergarten program attendance was found to have a positive effect on later school performances, while parent's low level of education and low socioeconomic status of the family significantly influenced the rate of school delay in children in Brazzaville. The high prevalence of school delay in child in Brazzaville imposed substantial actions, in addition to the efforts already made. Keywords School Delay, Child, Brazzaville J. R. Mabiala-Babela et al. 42

A large-scale study of a poultry trading network in Bangladesh: implications for control and surveillance of avian influenza viruses

Since its first report in 2007, avian influenza (AI) has been endemic in Bangladesh. While live poultry marketing is widespread throughout the country and known to influence AI dissemination and persistence, trading patterns have not been described. The aim of this study is to assess poultry trading practices and features of the poultry trading networks which could promote AI spread, and their potential implications for disease control and surveillance. Data on poultry trading practices was collected from 849 poultry traders during a cross-sectional survey in 138 live bird markets (LBMs) across 17 different districts of Bangladesh. The quantity and origins of traded poultry were assessed for each poultry type in surveyed LBMs. The network of contacts between farms and LBMs resulting from commercial movements of live poultry was constructed to assess its connectivity and to identify the key premises influencing it

Obesity, but not hypohydration, mediates changes in mental task load during passive heating in females

Background The independent effects of hypohydration and hyperthermia on cognition and mood is unclear since the two stresses often confound each other. Further, it is unknown if obese individuals have the same impairments during hyperthermia and hypohydration that is often observed in non-obese individuals. Methods The current study was designed to assess the independent and combined effects of mild hypohydration and hyperthermia on cognition, mood, and mental task load in obese and non-obese females. Twenty-one healthy females participated in two passive heating trials, wherein they were either euhydrated or hypohydrated prior to and throughout passive heating. Cognition (ImPACT), mental task load (NASA-TLX), and mood (Brunel Mood Scale; BRUMS) were measured before and after a 1.0 °C increase in core temperature (TC). Results After a 1.0 °C TC elevation, hypohydration resulted in greater (p  0.05). Hyperthermia, regardless of hydration status, impaired (∼5 A.U) measures of memory-based cognition (verbal and visual memory), and increased mental task load, while worsening mood (p  0.05). Conclusion These data indicate that hyperthermia independently impairs memory-based aspects of cognitive performance, mental task load, and leads to a negative mood state. Mild hypohydration did not exacerbate the effects of hyperthermia. However, obese individuals had increased mental task load during hyperthermia

Feedback between deformation and magmatism in the Lloyds River Fault Zone : an example of episodic fault reactivation in an accretionary setting, Newfoundland Appalachians

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Tectonics 25 (2006): TC4004, doi:10.1029/2005TC001789.The Lloyds River Fault Zone is a 10–15 km wide amphibolite-grade shear zone that formed during the Ordovician Taconic Orogeny. It separates ophiolites and arc–back-arc complexes formed in Iapetus from a peri-Laurentian microcontinent (Dashwoods microcontinent). The Lloyds River Fault Zone comprises three high-strain zones, dominantly composed of mylonitic amphibolites, separated by less deformed plutonic rocks. Structural, age and metamorphic data suggest the Lloyds River Fault Zone accommodated sinistral-oblique underthrusting of ophiolites underneath the Dashwoods microcontinent prior to 471 ± 5 Ma at 800°C and 6 kbar. Plutonic rocks within the Lloyds River Fault Zone comprise two suites dated at 464 ± 2 plus 462 ± 2 and 459 ± 3 Ma, respectively. The younger age of the plutons with respect to some of the amphibolites, evidence for magmatic deformation, and the elongate nature of the plutons parallel to the Lloyds River Fault Zone suggest they were emplaced within the fault zone during deformation. Both intrusive episodes triggered renewed deformation at high temperatures (770–750°C), illustrating the positive feedback between deformation and magmatism. Offshoots of the plutons intruded undeformed ophiolitic gabbros outside the Lloyds River Fault Zone. Deformation localized within the intrusive sheets, coeval with static contact metamorphism of the host gabbros, leading to the development of new, small-scale shear zones. This illustrates that channeling of plutons into shear zones and nucleation of shear zones in melt-rich zones may occur simultaneously within the same fault system.This research is funded by a scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of Ottawa, to C.J.L. and a NSERC grant to C.v.S in his position as Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa

Spatial and temporal control of Archean tectonomagmatic regimes

Secular trends in plutonic whole-rock geochemistry pose critical, although non-unique, constraints to early Earth tectonics. Here, we present a large whole-rock geochemical (879 collated samples) dataset for granitoids from the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, applying it to test the link between secular trends and proposed tectonic mechanisms. We show that the spatio-temporal distribution of granitoid trace element geochemistry is constrained within discrete lithotectonic blocks supporting the reconstruction of its tectonomagmatic evolution. Time-sliced geochemical contour mapping of key petrogenetic ratios indicates the craton underwent rifting ∼3.2 Ga (billion years ago), marking a transition from predominantly sodic magmatism to a broader magmatic compositional spectrum. Our results demonstrate that rift-assisted breakup of proto-cratons is a viable craton growth mechanism. We identify a possible evolutionary sequence beginning with drips and upwellings below a Paleoarchean mafic plateau, which is subsequently dismembered by rifting. These plateau fragments form rigid blocks in the Mesoarchean, between which weaker, thinner crust accommodates minor convergence and divergence manifested as short-lived mobile lid-like features before stabilization. We conclude that these features do not require an active lid, plate tectonic regime

The stability of cratons is controlled by lithospheric thickness, as evidenced by Rb-Sr overprint ages in granitoids

The ancient cores of modern continents, cratons, are the oldest blocks of “stable” lithosphere on Earth. Their long-term survival relies on the resistance of their underlying thick, strong, and buoyant mantle keels to subsequent recycling. However, the effect of substantial geographical variations in keel thickness on the post-assembly behaviour and mass movement within these continental cores remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the spatial distribution of fluid-reset in-situ Rb-Sr ages for Paleo-Mesoarchean (3.6–2.8 billion years ago; Ga) granitoids of the Pilbara Craton, Australia shows remarkable correlation with independently-constrained lithospheric thickness models. Without craton-wide heating/magmatic events, these anomalously young Rb-Sr ages document episodes of fluid infiltration into granitoid complexes as a response to lithospheric reactivation by far-field stresses. This correlation implies that craton-wide fluid mobilization triggered by extra-cratonic Neoarchean to Mesoproterozoic (2.8–1.0 Ga) tectonic events is facilitated by variations in lithospheric strength and thickness. Compared to areas of older overprints, the two-thirds of the craton comprised of younger reset ages is underlain by comparatively thin lithosphere with higher susceptibility to reactivation-assisted fluid flow. We propose that even the strongest, most pristine cratons are less stable and impermeable than previously thought, as demonstrated by the role of granitoid complexes and cratons as selective lithospheric “sponges” in response to minor tectonic forces. Therefore, variations in lithospheric thickness, likely attained before cratonization, exert a crucial control on billions of years of fluid movement, elemental redistribution and mineralization within ancient continental nuclei