Bioactive compounds and functional potential of Uapaca kirkiana (Muell. arg.) fruits

Consumption of Uapaca kirkiana indigenous fruit by the local populace is growing in popularity because of the acclaimed health and  functional benefits. The aim of the study was to determine the bioactive compounds and functional properties of the U. kirkiana fruit. Besides the fruit’s pulp yield, the bioactive phytochemical constituent, physicochemical properties and functional characteristics of the pulp were analysed. The sugar, starch, minerals, and ascorbic acid constituents of the fruit pulp were, respectively determined using the following instruments: brix refractometer, megazyme kit, inductive coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer and 2,6- dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) titration test. The total phenolic content (TPC), tannin, and flavonoid contents were evaluated using Folin Ciocalteau test, tannin binding test and vanillin test, respectively. The average weight of the U. kirkiana fruits harvested from three  regions having different climatic conditions ranged from 23.56 to 34.20 g per fruit. The mean pulp weight was from 12.15 g/100 g to 15.09 g/100 g per fruit. The biochemical and functional parameters obtained include total titratable acid (0.3 - 0.48 g/kg), antioxidantactivity (34.96 - 36.68%), vitamin C (15.74 - 16.63 mg/100 g), dry matter content (28.81 - 29.38%), pH (4.3 - 4.6) and sugar content (20.29 - 21.87 g/100 g). Fructose was the dominant sugar (10.12-11.0 g/100 g). Preliminary phytochemical screening of the pulp indicated the presence of tannins, flavonoids, amino acids and carbohydrate content. Total phenolic content ranged from 67.0 to 82.5 µg GAE/g. The essential elements constituent evaluation of the pulp revealed that Fe content was 11.3 - 12.2 mg/100 g, K (383.07 - 439.8 mg/100 g), Mg (28.7 - 35.1 mg/100 g), Ca (16.4 - 17.3 mg/100 g), P (13.4 - 15.1 mg/100 g), Na (9.08 - 9.78 mg/100 g), Cu (0.8 - 0.94 mg/100 g) and Zn (0.87 - 0.94 mg/100 g). This study, besides establishing U. kirkiana fruit as a good source of micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn), reveals that the fruit is also an excellent source of phenolic compounds, vitamin C and sugars, hence use as a dietary supplement may combat some nutritional deficiencies. We, therefore, recommend U. kirkiana fruits to be used to produce nutritive functional foods with health  benefits such as probiotic jams and as an additive. Key words: Indigenous fruit, micronutrients, phenolic, pulp, phytochemicals, U.kirkiana, megazyme ki

The potential of Uapaca kirkiana fruit jam for the delivery of Lactobacillus rhamnosus yoba as a probiotic food

Probiotics are important in enhancing food quality, reducing incidences of diarrhoea and promoting good health. A fruit jam is an ideal food to deliver probiotics because it is easy to produce, a good source of sugar, and most rural population consume it. A probiotic jam was developed using an underutilised fruit, U. kirkiana, to benefit the resource-poor population in southern Africa. U. kirkiana fruit is found abundant in most semi-dry rural areas of Zimbabwe. Ripe U. kirkiana fruits were obtained from preferred domesticated trees by households residing in semi-dry rural areas of Zimbabwe. The fruits were pulped by removing seeds, mashing and sieving through an 800 μM sieve. Pectin content of the pulp was determined. A probiotic jam was developed using the formulation 55 % (wt/vol) pulp, 43 % (wt/vol) sugar, 1.5 % (wt/vol) pectin, and 0.5 % (wt/vol) citric acid. The fruit pulp was mixed with sugar in a stainless steel pot and cooked at 110 °C. Citric acid was added and stirred whilst cooking until it reached 55 oBrix. Pectin was added and the jam was continuously stirred until it reached 68 oBrix. The jam was inoculated with 0.25 % L. rhamnosus yoba and left to propagate for 24 hours, while bacterial growth was monitored. The physicochemical and functional properties (pH, total soluble solids, sugars, total titratable acidity, iron content, zinc content, and vitamin C), and L. rhamnosus yoba viability in the probiotic jam was analysed. The probiotic jam had vitamin C, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids, and moisture content of 0.34 ±0.02 mg /100 g FW, 2.2 ± 0.11 g / L FW, 68.5 ± 0.2 % FW, and 34.8 ± 1.2 % FW, respectively; iron and zinc content of 4.13 ± 0.52 mg /100 g FW and 0.36 ± 0.02 mg /100 g FW, respectively; high  fructose and sucrose content of 12.84 ± 0.21 g /100 g FW and 24.61 ± 0.12 g /100 g FW, respectively; and a total titratable acidity content of 2.2 g / L at day 0 (after production), 2.37 ± 0.01 g / L FW at day 4, and 2.48 ± 0.02 g / L FW at day 7 of storage (25 °C). The probiotic jam had 6.2 ± 0.2 Log CFU / mL viable cells on point of consumption. U. kirkiana fruit jam can potentially deliver live L. rhamnosus yoba cells as a probiotic food. Key words: Probiotic food, vitamin C, fruit jam, L. rhamnosus yoba, pectin, U. kirkiana fruit, sub-Saharan Afric

The impact of subspecialty services on healthcare delivery - a community health centre based study

Objectives. The objective was to evaluate the role of a paediatric surgical consultant at a primary health care facility. Design. Descriptive and prospective. Setting. In the process of planning and implementation of the 2010 health plan of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, a shift occurred in the delivery of health care to children from a provincially based hospital system to a municipally based primary health care system. To contribute towards enabling this process, the Department of Paediatric Surgery at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital established a paediatric surgical day clinic at a local community health centre during 2001. Subjects. Information was obtained from patient data sheets containing details of consultations at the sub-specialist surgical clinic at Michael Mapongwana Community Health Centre. Results. Over a 58-month period 1 171 children were seen, of whom 655 were male and 427 female. Their ages ranged from 0 to 19 years, the largest group being under 1 year. Eighty per cent of patients were accompanied by their mothers. The correct diagnosis was established by the nurse practitioners in 71%. General paediatric surgical conditions predominated, followed by medical, dermatological, orthopaedic, trauma, otolaryngo-pharyngology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, urology, neurosurgery, malignancy and maxillofacial conditions. The details are set out in the report. In total 597 patients were referred directly to an appropriate care facility and 574 patients could be managed entirely at the clinic level. Conclusions. This study demonstrated the significant public health problem of paediatric surgical disease. It emphasised the preventative and cost-effective role of a surgical clinic at primary health care level. The clinic allowed for timely surgical intervention in 65% of surgical cases, thereby decreasing inappropriate tertiary referrals. We believe that bringing specialists into the community can only strengthen the 2010 health care plan

The utility of computed tomography for recent-onset partial seizures in childhood

No Abstract. South African Medical Journal Vol. 96(9) (Part 2) 2006: 945-94

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Efficacy for Reducing Recidivism Rates of Moderate- and High-Risk Sexual Offenders: A Scoping Systematic Literature Review

Published ArticleThis literature scoping review compared recidivism rates of moderate- and highrisk sexual offenders who received cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) oriented treatments. Ten empirical studies from 2001 to 2014 were selected for review that met the following criteria: (a) Treatment program included a CBT-based intervention with a comparative intervention; (b) participants included adult, male, moderate- and high-risk sexual offenders only; and (c) follow-up data for up to 12 months. Data were analyzed using a summative metric for recidivism rate comparisons (N = 3,073 for CBT and N = 3,588, for comparison approaches). Sexual offense recidivism rates varied from 0.6% to 21.8% (with CBT) and from 4.5% to 32.3% (with comparison intervention). The within-sample median rate of violent recidivism with a history of sexual offense was 21.1% (with CBT) versus 32.6% (comparison). Sexual offenders had a general felonies (within-sample) median recidivism rate of 27.05% (with CBT) versus 51.05% (comparison). The evidence supports the conclusion that CBT in its various forms is an efficacious treatment modality to prevent offense recidivism by sexual offenders. Suggestions for future research are considered

Modelling of natural fire occurrences : a case of South Africa

Abstract: In contemporary literature there have been growing concerns regarding preservations of natural ecosystems. Given the global growth in awareness of global warming, the need for natural fire prediction models has grown rapidly. Using South Africa as a case study, we evaluate the potential of integrating several natural fire prediction models and geographical information system (GIS) platforms. Initially, natural fire prone regions in South Africa were spatially demarcated basing on municipal historical data records. Thereafter, the natural fire prediction models were applied/tested in parallel to identify the best prediction models that give optimum results in predicting natural fires. The models were assessed for accuracy using historical data. Preliminary results reveal locations in the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo province had the highest recorded potential for natural fires. In conclusion, the work demonstrates huge potential of prediction models in informing the likelihood of natural fire outbreaks. Lastly, the work recommends the adoption of natural fire prediction models and the subsequent formulation and use of relevant future natural fire mitigation policies and techniques to avert disasters in time

Faith and HIV prevention: The conceptual framing of HIV prevention among Pentecostal Botswana teenagers

Background There is a huge interest by faith-based organizations (FBOs) in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in HIV prevention interventions that build on the religious aspects of being. Successful partnerships between the public health services and FBOs will require a better understanding of the conceptual framing of HIV prevention by FBOS to access for prevention intervention, those concepts the churches of various denominations and their members would support or endorse. This study investigated the conceptual framing of HIV prevention among church youths in Botswana; - a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence in the world. Method Participants were 213 Pentecostal church members (67% female; age range 12 to 23?years; median age?=?19?years). We engaged the participants in a mixed-method inductive process to collect data on their implicit framing of HIV prevention concepts, taking into account the centrality of religion concepts to them and the moderating influences of age, gender and sexual experience. After, we analysed the data using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) to map the ways the church youths framed HIV prevention. Results The findings suggest the church youth to conceptually frame their HIV prevention from both faith-oriented and secular-oriented perspectives, while prioritizing the faith-oriented concepts based on biblical teachings and future focus. In their secular-oriented framing of HIV prevention, the church youths endorsed the importance to learn the facts about HIV and AIDS, understanding of community norms that increased risk for HIV and prevention education. However, components of secular-oriented framing of HIV prevention concepts were comparatively less was well differentiated among the youths than with faith-oriented framing, suggesting latent influences of the church knowledge environment to undervalue secular oriented concepts. Older and sexually experienced church youths in their framing of HIV prevention valued future focus and prevention education less than contrasting peer cohorts, suggesting their greater relative risk for HIV infection. Conclusion A prospective HIV prevention intervention with the Pentecostal church youths would combine both faith and secular informed concepts. It also would need to take into account the ways in which these youth interpret secular-oriented health concepts in the context of their religious beliefs

Bioactive Compounds and Functional Potential of Uapaca Kirkiana (Muell. arg.) Fruits

ArticleConsumption of Uapaca kirkiana indigenous fruit by the local populace is growing in popularity because of the acclaimed health and functional benefits. The aim of the study was to determine the bioactive compounds and functional properties of the U. kirkiana fruit. Besides the fruit’s pulp yield, the bioactive phytochemical constituent, physicochemical properties and functional characteristics of the pulp were analysed. The sugar, starch, minerals, and ascorbic acid constituents of the fruit pulp were, respectively determined using the following instruments: brix refractometer, megazyme kit, inductive coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer and 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) titration test. The total phenolic content (TPC), tannin, and flavonoid contents were evaluated using Folin Ciocalteau test, tannin binding test and vanillin test, respectively. The average weight of the U. kirkiana fruits harvested from three regions having different climatic conditions ranged from 23.56 to 34.20 g per fruit. The mean pulp weight was from 12.15 g/100 g to 15.09 g/100 g per fruit. The biochemical and functional parameters obtained include total titratable acid (0.3 - 0.48 g/kg), antioxidant activity (34.96 - 36.68%), vitamin C (15.74 - 16.63 mg/100 g), dry matter content (28.81 - 29.38%), pH (4.3 - 4.6) and sugar content (20.29 - 21.87 g/100 g). Fructose was the dominant sugar (10.12-11.0 g/100 g). Preliminary phytochemical screening of the pulp indicated the presence of tannins, flavonoids, amino acids and carbohydrate content. Total phenolic content ranged from 67.0 to 82.5 μg GAE/g. The essential elements constituent evaluation of the pulp revealed that Fe content was 11.3 - 12.2 mg/100 g, K (383.07 - 439.8 mg/100 g), Mg (28.7 - 35.1 mg/100 g), Ca (16.4 - 17.3 mg/100 g), P (13.4 - 15.1 mg/100 g), Na (9.08 - 9.78 mg/100 g), Cu (0.8 - 0.94 mg/100 g) and Zn (0.87 - 0.94 mg/100 g). This study, besides establishing U. kirkiana fruit as a good source of micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn), reveals that the fruit is also an excellent source of phenolic compounds, vitamin C and sugars, hence use as a dietary supplement may combat some nutritional deficiencies. We, therefore, recommend U. kirkiana fruits to be used to produce nutritive functional foods with health benefits such as probiotic jams and as an additive

Effect of secukinumab on clinical and radiographic outcomes in ankylosing spondylitis: 2-year results from the randomised phase III MEASURE 1 study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of secukinumab, an interleukin-17A inhibitor, on clinical signs and symptoms and radiographic changes through 2 years in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: In the phase III MEASURE 1 study, patients were randomised to receive intravenous secukinumab 10 mg/kg (at baseline, week 2 and week 4) followed by subcutaneous secukinumab 150 mg (intravenous 150 mg; n=125) or 75 mg (intravenous 75 mg; n=124) every four weeks, or matched placebo (n=122). Placebo-treated patients were re-randomised to subcutaneous secukinumab 150 or 75 mg from week 16. Clinical efficacy assessments included Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society 20 (ASAS20) response rates through week 104. Radiographic changes at week 104 were assessed using the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS). RESULTS: 97 (77.6%) and 103 (83.1%) patients in the intravenous 150 mg and intravenous 75 mg groups, respectively, completed week 104. In the full analysis set (intent-to-treat), ASAS20 response rates at week 104 were 73.7% and 68.0% in the intravenous 150 mg and intravenous 75 mg groups, respectively. Among patients with evaluable X-rays who were originally randomised to secukinumab (n=168), mean change in mSASSS from baseline to week 104 was 0.30±2.53. Serious adverse events were reported in 12.2% and 13.4% of patients in the 150 mg and 75 mg groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Secukinumab improved AS signs and symptoms through 2 years of therapy, with no unexpected safety findings. Data from this study suggest a low mean progression of spinal radiographic changes, which will need to be confirmed in longer-term controlled studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01358175

The temperature effect on electrokinetic properties of the silica–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) system

The influence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) adsorption on the structure of the diffuse layer of silica (SiO2) in the temperature range 15–35 °C was examined. The microelectrophoresis method was used in the experiments to determine the zeta potential of the solid particles in the absence and presence of the polymer. The adsorption of PVA macromolecules causes the zeta potential decrease in all investigated SiO2 systems. Moreover this, decrease is the most pronounced at the highest examined temperature. Obtained results indicate that the conformational changes of adsorbed polymer chains are responsible for changes in electrokinetic properties of silica particles. Moreover, the structure of diffuse layer on the solid surface with adsorbed polymer results from the following effects: the presence of acetate groups in PVA chains, the blockade of silica surface groups by adsorbed polymer and the shift of slipping plane due to macromolecules adsorption