Diversity of processes for transformation of fresh fish in Northern Cameroon

Fish as a foodstuff of high nutritional value is considerably perishable. It must be transformed in order to improve the duration of its conservation. Drying and smoking are the most popular processes to transform fish in northern Cameroon. These steps usually affect the quality of the finished products. In order to improve the quality of locally transformed fish in a handmade manner and to typify such activity, an survey was conducted in three fishing ponds in the Northern part of Cameroon with 160 fishermen and fish transformers. It appears that the technique of transforming fish in those main fishing ponds in Northern Cameroon vary at the level of preprocessing and dehydration phases of fresh fish. Smoking is done in a traditional oven followed by cleaning (4.1% in the Adamawa Region and 33.0% in the North and Far North Region) or flaking of the fish (95.9% in Adamawa and 61.1% in the North and the Far North Region). Then, come emptying (95.9% in Adamawa and 61.1% in the North and Far North), cutting into small pieces (11.1% in the Far North) or cracking (82.6% in the Adamawa Region). At the end, washing (95.9% in the Adamawa and 72.2% in the North and Far North), spinning (100%), smoking (100%) and then packaging of the fish (100%) complete the process. All these operations are conducted without equipment for protection, on uncleaned surfaces and with irregularly washed materials with clean water. The drying process is done on bare ground on top of a drying stall is a constant step in the Far North (54.9%) and North (28.6%) regions and scarce in the Adamawa region (9.3%). A particular emphasis should be laid on hygienic measures to ensure a sanitary quality of dry fish at the end of both smoking and drying processes. Keywords: Processing, smoking, drying, Northern Cameroon, Transformatio

A biomimetic molecular switch at work: coupling photoisomerization dynamics to peptide structural rearrangement

In spite of considerable interest in the design of molecular switches towards photo-controllable (bio)materials, few studies focused on the major influence of the surrounding environment on the switch photoreactivities. We present a combined experimental and computational study of a retinal-like molecular switch linked to a peptide, elucidating the effects on the photoreactivity and on the a-helix secondary structure. Temperature-dependent, femtosecond UV-vis transient absorption spectroscopy and high-level hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methods were applied to describe the photoisomerization process and the subsequent peptide rearrangement. It was found that the conformational heterogeneity of the ground state peptide controls the excited state potential energy surface and the thermally activated population decay. Still, a reversible a-helix to a-hairpin conformational change is predicted, paving the way for a fine photocontrol of different secondary structure elements, hence (bio)molecular functions, using retinal-inspired molecular switches

Deciphering the pH-dependence of ground- and excited-state equilibria of thienoguanine

The thienoguanine nucleobase (thGb) is an isomorphic fluorescent analogue of guanine. In aqueous buffer at neutral pH, thGb exists as a mixture of two ground-state H1 and H3 keto-amino tautomers with distinct absorption and emission spectra and high quantum yield. In this work, we performed the first systematic photophysical characterization of thGb as a function of pH (2 to 12). Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies, supplemented with theoretical calculations, enabled us to identify three additional thGb forms, resulting from pH-dependent ground-state and excited-state reactions. Moreover, a thorough analysis allowed us to retrieve their individual absorption and emission spectra as well as the equilibrium constants which govern their interconversion. From these data, the complete photoluminescence pathway of thGb in aqueous solution and its dependence as a function of pH was deduced. As the identified forms differ by their spectra and fluorescence lifetime, thGb could be used as a probe for sensing local pH changes under acidic conditions

APPLICATION OF DESIGN SPACE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LC METHODS FOR SIMULTANEOUS ANALYSIS OF 18 ANTIRETROVIRAL MEDICINES AND 4 MAJOR EXCIPIENTS USED IN VARIOUS PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATIONS

peer reviewedtAs one of the world’s most significant public health challenges in low- and middle-income countries,HIV/AIDS deserves to be treated with appropriate medicines, however which are not spared from coun-terfeiting. For that, we developed screening and specific HPLC methods that can analyze 18 antiretroviralmedicines (ARV) and 4 major excipients. Design of experiments and design space methodology wereinitially applied for 15 ARV and the 4 excipients with prediction thanks to Monte Carlo simulations andfocusing on rapidity and affordability thus using short column and low cost organic solvent (methanol)in gradient mode with 10 mM buffer solutions of ammonium hydrogen carbonate. Two other specificmethods dedicated to ARV in liquid and in solid dosage formulations were also predicted and opti-mized. We checked the ability of one method for the analysis of a fixed-dose combination composedby emtricitabine/tenofovir/efavirenz in tablet formulations. Satisfying validation results were obtainedby applying the total error approach taking into account the accuracy profile as decision tool. Then, thevalidated method was applied to test two samples coded A and B, and claimed to contain the tested ARV.Assay results were satisfying only for sample B

Coherent ultrafast torsional motion and isomerization of a biomimetic dipolar photoswitch

Femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion, UV-Vis and IR transient absorption spectroscopy are used to study the photo-isomerization dynamics of a new type of zwitterionic photoswitch based on a N-alkylated indanylidene pyrroline Schiff base framework (ZW-NAIP). The system is biomimetic, as it mimics the photophysics of retinal, in coupling excited state charge translocation and isomerization. While the fluorescence lifetime is 140 fs, excited state absorption persists over 230 fs in the form of a vibrational wavepacket according to twisting of the isomerizing double bond. After a short "dark'' time window in the UV-visible spectra, which we associate with the passage through a conical intersection (CI), the wavepacket appears on the ground state potential energy surface, as evidenced by the transient mid-IR data. This allows for a precise timing of the photoreaction all the way from the initial Franck-Condon region, through the CI and into both ground state isomers, until incoherent vibrational relaxation dominates the dynamics. The photo-reaction dynamics remarkably follow those observed for retinal in rhodopsin, with the additional benefit that in ZW-NAIP the conformational change reverses the zwitterion dipole moment direction. Last, the pronounced low-frequency coherences make these molecules ideal systems for investigating wavepacket dynamics in the vicinity of a CI and for coherent control experiments

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass