Proximate And Mineral Composition Of Two Soups As Prepared In The South-West And South-South Regions Of Nigeria

The proximate and mineral composition of okro and ogbono soups prepared with two different Nigeria traditional (South/West, i.e. Yoruba, and South/South, i.e. Efik/Ibibio) recipes was assessed in this study. The crude protein, fat, Ca and Na nutrient composition (30.53 + 0.15% dry weight, 32.58 + 1.32% dry weight, 1132.42 + 9.26mg/100DM and 1803.95 + 130.47mg/100DM respectively), of okro soup prepared with South/South (S/S) recipe were significantly higher (

PolymiRTS Database: linking polymorphisms in microRNA target sites with complex traits

Polymorphism in microRNA Target Site (PolymiRTS) database is a collection of naturally occurring DNA variations in putative microRNA target sites. PolymiRTSs may affect gene expression and cause variations in complex phenotypes. The database integrates sequence polymorphism, phenotype and expression microarray data, and characterizes PolymiRTSs as potential candidates responsible for the quantitative trait locus (QTL) effects. It is a resource for studying PolymiRTSs and their implications in phenotypic variations. PolymiRTS database can be accessed at

Extensive complement-dependent enhancement of HIV-1 by autologous non-neutralising antibodies at early stages of infection

Background: Non-neutralising antibodies to the envelope glycoprotein are elicited during acute HIV-1 infection and are abundant throughout the course of disease progression. Although these antibodies appear to have negligible effects on HIV-1 infection when assayed in standard neutralisation assays, they have the potential to exert either inhibitory or enhancing effects through interactions with complement and/or Fc receptors. Here we report that non-neutralising antibodies produced early in response to HIV-1 infection can enhance viral infectivity.Results: We investigated this complement-mediated antibody-dependent enhancement (C'-ADE) of early HIV infection by carrying out longitudinal studies with primary viruses and autologous sera derived sequentially from recently infected individuals, using a T cell line naturally expressing the complement receptor 2 (CR2; CD21). The C'-ADE was consistently observed and in some cases achieved infection-enhancing levels of greater than 350-fold, converting a low-level infection to a highly destructive one. C'-ADE activity declined as a neutralising response to the early virus emerged, but later virus isolates that had escaped the neutralising response demonstrated an increased capacity for enhanced infection by autologous antibodies. Moreover, sera with autologous enhancing activity were capable of C'ADE of heterologous viral isolates, suggesting the targeting of conserved epitopes on the envelope glycoprotein. Ectopic expression of CR2 on cell lines expressing HIV-1 receptors was sufficient to render them sensitive to C'ADE.Conclusions: Taken together, these results suggest that non-neutralising antibodies to the HIV-1 envelope that arise during acute infection are not 'passive', but in concert with complement and complement receptors may have consequences for HIV-1 dissemination and pathogenesis

Gate-controlled Guiding of Electrons in Graphene

Ballistic semiconductor structures have allowed the realization of optics-like phenomena in electronics, including magnetic focusing and lensing. An extension that appears unique to graphene is to use both n and p carrier types to create electronic analogs of optical devices having both positive and negative indices of refraction. Here, we use gate-controlled density with both p and n carrier types to demonstrate the analog of the fiber-optic guiding in graphene. Two basic effects are investigated: (1) bipolar p-n junction guiding, based on the principle of angle-selective transmission though the graphene p-n interface, and (2) unipolar fiber-optic guiding, using total internal reflection controlled by carrier density. Modulation of guiding efficiency through gating is demonstrated and compared to numerical simulations, which indicates that interface roughness limits guiding performance, with few-nanometer effective roughness extracted. The development of p-n and fiber-optic guiding in graphene may lead to electrically reconfigurable wiring in high-mobility devices.Comment: supplementary materal at http://marcuslab.harvard.edu/papers/OG_SI.pd

Experimental study of Taylor's hypothesis in a turbulent soap film

An experimental study of Taylor's hypothesis in a quasi-two-dimensional turbulent soap film is presented. A two probe laser Doppler velocimeter enables a non-intrusive simultaneous measurement of the velocity at spatially separated points. The breakdown of Taylor's hypothesis is quantified using the cross correlation between two points displaced in both space and time; correlation is better than 90% for scales less than the integral scale. A quantitative study of the decorrelation beyond the integral scale is presented, including an analysis of the failure of Taylor's hypothesis using techniques from predictability studies of turbulent flows. Our results are compared with similar studies of 3D turbulence.Comment: 27 pages, + 19 figure

Onstage and off: The shifting relevance of gender in women’s prisons

uncorrected proofEven though international research on men’s prisons is no longer oblivious to gender, approaches to women’s prisons have tended to be more gender-bound as a whole. Besides having informed a specific reflexive agenda of representation, the angle of gender has presided to most research issues as an analytical overall parti pris: from the gendered nature of prison regimes to the gendered character of prison cultures, socialities and ‘pains of imprisonment’. This more ‘gendercentric’ agenda is however becoming more diversified for theoretical and empirical reasons alike. These involve a recognition of the diversity of women prisoners’ experiences and identities, and an attention to a wider variety of aspects of carceral life. Drawing on field approaches to the Portuguese carceral world spanning three decades, I propose to take this debate further by focusing on contextual shifts in the actual saliency of gender as a category of identity and social life in women’s prisons.(undefined)(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio