The need for an online collection of traditional african food habits

Amongst the difficulties facing the indigenous people of Africa today is the deleterious shift from traditional food habits to the processed and packaged food products of western-owned corporations. This nutrition transition has been implicated in the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) throughout Africa. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether there is a current need to document traditional African food habits via an online collection in an attempt to stimulate further research in this area and potentially improve the health status of indigenous Africans threatened by the nutrition transition. A systematic  search was performed to assess possible gaps in online collections focused on traditional African food habits. A questionnaire was administered to opinion leaders in the nutritional sciences at the 18th International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) in Durban, South Africa, September 2005, to determine the level of awareness of the importance of traditional African food habits within the context of the nutrition transition, and to determine the support among this cohort for an online collection of traditional African food habits. Our systematic review resulted in nine collections being identified. None of these collections were specifically  designed to raise  awareness of traditional African food habits however. Findings from the survey revealed that 86% of our cohort agreed that Africa is currently undergoing a  nutrition transition. Nearly 80% believed that knowledge of traditional African food habits is being lost. Indigenous African interviewees noted reduced consumption of sorghum and millet and an increased   consumption of wheat and rice within their region of origin. Approximately 82% believed that there was currently a gap in online collections focused on presenting information on traditional African food habits. Ninety-two percent of the cohort indicated their preparedness to make use of a novel, online collection of data on traditional African food habits. The findings revealed a critical need to collate and present data on traditional African food habits via a novel, online collection that could be used to stimulate education and research of food habits and their health implications, to provide a well-rounded forum in which such information is presented and shared.Key words: Africa, traditional foods, wild species, dietary practices, information networks and database

Management of an extended clivus fracture: a case report

Background: Clivus fractures are highly uncommon. The classification by Corradino et al. divides the different lesions in longitudinal, transverse and oblique fractures. Longitudinal types are associated with the highest mortality rate between 67 – 80%. Clivus fractures are often found after high velocity trauma, especially traffic accidents and falls. The risk of neurologic lesions is high, because of the anatomic proximity to neurovascular structures like the brainstem, the vertebrobasilar artery, and the cranial nerves. Longitudinal clivus fractures have a special risk of causing entrapment of the basilar artery and thus ischemia of the brainstem. Case presentation: This lesion in our patient was a combination-fracture of the craniocervical junction with a transverse clivus fracture. In this case, the primary closed reduction of the clivus fracture and the immobilization with a halo device was the therapy of choice and led to consolidation of the fracture. Conclusion: Therapy advices and examples in the literature are scarce. We present a patient with a clivus fracture, who could be well treated by a halo device. Through detailed research of the literature a therapy algorithm has been developed.<br

Highly site-specific H2 adsorption on vicinal Si(001) surfaces

Experimental and theoretical results for the dissociative adsorption of H_2 on vicinal Si(001) surfaces are presented. Using optical second-harmonic generation, sticking probabilities at the step sites are found to exceed those on the terraces by up to six orders of magnitude. Density functional theory calculations indicate the presence of direct adsorption pathways for monohydride formation but with a dramatically lowered barrier for step adsorption due to an efficient rehybridization of dangling orbitals.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (1998). Other related publications can be found at http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Plasmonic nanoparticle monomers and dimers: From nano-antennas to chiral metamaterials

We review the basic physics behind light interaction with plasmonic nanoparticles. The theoretical foundations of light scattering on one metallic particle (a plasmonic monomer) and two interacting particles (a plasmonic dimer) are systematically investigated. Expressions for effective particle susceptibility (polarizability) are derived, and applications of these results to plasmonic nanoantennas are outlined. In the long-wavelength limit, the effective macroscopic parameters of an array of plasmonic dimers are calculated. These parameters are attributable to an effective medium corresponding to a dilute arrangement of nanoparticles, i.e., a metamaterial where plasmonic monomers or dimers have the function of "meta-atoms". It is shown that planar dimers consisting of rod-like particles generally possess elliptical dichroism and function as atoms for planar chiral metamaterials. The fabricational simplicity of the proposed rod-dimer geometry can be used in the design of more cost-effective chiral metamaterials in the optical domain.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys.

Challenges and barriers to improving care of the musculoskeletal patient of the future - a debate article and global perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With greater technological developments in the care of musculoskeletal patients, we are entering an era of rapid change in our understanding of the pathophysiology of traumatic injury; assessment and treatment of polytrauma and related disorders; and treatment outcomes. In developed countries, it is very likely that we will have algorithms for the approach to many musculoskeletal disorders as we strive for the best approach with which to evaluate treatment success. This debate article is founded on predictions of future health care needs that are solely based on the subjective inputs and opinions of the world's leading orthopedic surgeons.</p> <p>Hence, it functions more as a forum-based rather than a scientific-based presentation. This exposé was designed to stimulate debate about the emerging patients' needs in the future predicted by leading orthopedic surgeons that provide some hint as to the right direction for orthopedic care and outlines the important topics in this area.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The authors aim to provide a general overview of orthopedic care in a typical developed country setting. However, the regional diversity of the United States and every other industrialized nation should be considered as a cofactor that may vary to some extent from our vision of improved orthopedic and trauma care of the musculoskeletal patient on an interregional level.</p> <p>In this forum, we will define the current and future barriers in developed countries related to musculoskeletal trauma, total joint arthroplasty, patient safety and injuries related to military conflicts, all problems that will only increase as populations age, become more mobile, and deal with political crisis.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>It is very likely that the future will bring a more biological approach to fracture care with less invasive surgical procedures, flexible implants, and more rapid rehabilitation methods. This international consortium challenges the trauma and implants community to develop outcome registries that are managed through health care offices and to prepare effectively for the many future challenges that lie in store for those who treat musculoskeletal conditions.</p

Crystal structures of the HCl salts of pseudopeptidic macrocycles display ‘‘knobs into holes’’ hydrophobic interactions between aliphatic side chains

The crystal structures of three HCl salts of pseudopeptidic macrocycles show a H-bonding tubular stack of the rings, where the amino acidic side chains (Val, Leu, Ile) display an inter-columnar “knobs into holes” hydrophobic interaction patter

Sensitivity of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances to Bulk and Local Changes in the Optical Environment

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physical Chemistry C copyright © 2009 American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp810322qSingle rod-shaped and disk-shaped gold nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 60 to 162 nm were analyzed using dark-field scattering spectroscopy. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of each nanoparticle to both a bulk and a local change in the refractive index of the environment was obtained by monitoring the change in the spectral position of the LSPR. It was found that the rods were more sensitive to changes in both the local environment and the bulk environment, in particular rods with a length > 110 nm. This behavior was confirmed by finite element modeling of the structures that clearly indicated a saturation of the relative wavelength shift for the disks as the diameter increased whereas the sensitivity of the rods continued to increase linearly with increasing length. This disparity in the behavior of the two types of nanoparticle may in part be attributed to two principal effects associated with the presence of the substrate: first, that the proportion of the surface area of the nanoparticle in contact with the substrate is larger for the disk than for the rod; second, that the LSPR electromagnetic field is more concentrated within the superstrate for the rod compared to the disk. Further analysis of data obtained from modeling a changing local environment indicates that, although the rods are more sensitive, both rods and disks exhibit a similar field confinement

Production of scFv-Conjugated Affinity Silk Powder by Transgenic Silkworm Technology

Bombyx mori (silkworm) silk proteins are being utilized as unique biomaterials for medical applications. Chemical modification or post-conjugation of bioactive ligands expand the applicability of silk proteins; however, the processes are elaborate and costly. In this study, we used transgenic silkworm technology to develop single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-conjugated silk fibroin. The cocoons of the transgenic silkworm contain fibroin L-chain linked with scFv as a fusion protein. After dissolving the cocoons in lithium bromide, the silk solution was dialyzed, concentrated, freeze-dried, and crushed into powder. Immunoprecipitation analyses demonstrate that the scFv domain retains its specific binding activity to the target molecule after multiple processing steps. These results strongly suggest the promise of scFv-conjugated silk fibroin as an alternative affinity reagent, which can be manufactured using transgenic silkworm technology at lower cost than traditional affinity carriers