Consumption of the variegated grasshopper in Africa: importance and threats

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kekeunou ◽  
J.L. Tamesse
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Zonocerus Variegatus ◽  
Rapid Population Growth ◽  
Crop Pest ◽  
Field Crops ◽  
Inorganic Substances ◽  
Continue Research ◽  
Salt And Pepper ◽  
Variegated Grasshopper

Zonocerus variegatus (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) is a crop pest widely distributed in Africa. It is an insecttraditionally consumed by humans in Africa. It is therefore important to make an inventory on the consumption of Z. variegatus in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses. This literature review shows that Z. variegatus is collected in field crops and fallows and is best consumed after being fried in red oil with salt and pepper. Z. variegatus consumption brings to the human body several organic and inorganic substances such as fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins. However, a cross-section of the African population do not consume Z. variegatus because consumption of this grasshopper is not part of their customs and/or because of rotten-odours rejected by this insect. When disturbed, it secretes a pungent smelly substance that can justify the rejection expressed against this insect bypredators. The rejection of this insect by predators raised the issue of its toxicity. The toxicity of Z. variegatus would be linked to the presence of alkaloids in the body of this grasshopper. Before the widespread consumption of this insect in our societies, it is important to continue research on: (1) the role of Z. variegatus as a vector (transmissionof diseases); and (2) its ability to poison animals and humans. The outcome of these researches, might enlightenus on the role this insect could play in the mismatch that exists today between rapid population growth in Africa and the availability of foods.

scholarly journals Circadian variation in metabolite and enzyme activities in the femoral and thoracic muscles of adult variegated grasshoppers, Zonocerus variegatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
Kehinde Olutoyin Ademolu ◽  
Samuel Agbeje ◽  
Abiodun Oladipupo Joda ◽  
Adebola Adedoyin Osipitan ◽  
Adewunmi Batabunde Idowu
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activities ◽  
Circadian Variation ◽  
Organic Substances ◽  
Zonocerus Variegatus ◽  
Enzymes Activities ◽  
Daily Variations ◽  
Inorganic Substances ◽  
Locomotor Activities ◽  
Thoracic Muscles ◽  
Variegated Grasshopper

Abstract The African variegated grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus, exhibits daily variations in its feeding and destructive activities. A study to investigate circadian variation in metabolites (lipids, protein, glucose, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−) concentrations and enzymes (lipase, amylase, proteinase, α-glucosidase) activities in the femoral and thoracic muscles of adult Z. variegatus was carried out by collecting samples at 06:00, 12:00, 18:00 and 24:00 hrs GMT. The four enzymes were present throughout the day in both thoracic and femoral muscles but at varying levels. Significantly (p<0.05) higher enzymes activities were measured during the day (between 06:00 and 18:00 hours GMT) (except proteinase) than at night (24:00 hrs). Organic substances in the two tissues were present in significantly higher concentrations during the day than at night. Similarly, significantly more inorganic substances were recorded in the afternoon (12:00-18:00 hrs) than at night in both femoral and thoracic muscles. It can thus be concluded that locomotor activities in Z. variegatus reach a peak during the day.

scholarly journals Role of biometals in pathogenesis treatment of Parkinson's disease (overview)

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
A. A. Pilipovich ◽  
V. L. Golubev ◽  
Al. B. Danilov ◽  
R. R. Tyutina
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Trace Elements ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
The Body ◽  
Early Therapy ◽  
Inorganic Substances ◽  
Effects Of Radiation ◽  
The One

The role of exogenous factors in the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases has been shown in many works: on the effects of radiation, neurotoxicants, pesticides and other organic and inorganic substances. One of the interesting and promising areas for studying the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration is the analysis of the composition and ratio of trace elements in various tissues and organs of a person. The influence of trace elements on the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is given special attention, since such patients show multiple disorders in the homeostasis of the main endogenous brain biometals (calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, etc.). On the one hand, in a cell or its components, where metals play a key role in biological processes, a metal deficiency can occur, on the other hand, metals can accumulate in pathological proteins, causing cell dysfunction and death. Protein aggregation is a common feature of all neurodegenerative diseases. Specific changes in the concentration of biometals in various environments of the body can be considered as early biomarkers of neurodegenerations. And the identification of reliable biomarkers is considered a paramount task for the development of the direction of early therapy and prevention of the disease, in particular PD. A change in the distribution of metal, cell deficiency and sequestration in pathological proteins are abnormalities that must be addressed during neurodegeneration. Currently, approximately 800 compounds are used or tested for the treatment of PD, of which approximately 250 have the expected or established chelation properties of metals (CuII, CuI, FeII, FeIII, MnII, ZnII) that are involved in dyshomeostasis in PD. Today's knowledge of the pathogenesis of the most common neurodegenerations, such as AD and PD, is still not enough to develop clear recommendations for therapy with biometals and other trace elements, but work in this direction is actively ongoing.

The Role of Polyphenols in the Modulation of Plasma Non-Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC)

2012 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Serafini ◽  
Giuseppa Morabito
Keyword(s):  
Antioxidant Capacity ◽  
Dietary Intervention ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dietary Polyphenols ◽  
Enzymatic Antioxidant ◽  
Endogenous Antioxidant

Dietary polyphenols have been shown to scavenge free radicals, modulating cellular redox transcription factors in different in vitro and ex vivo models. Dietary intervention studies have shown that consumption of plant foods modulates plasma Non-Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC), a biomarker of the endogenous antioxidant network, in human subjects. However, the identification of the molecules responsible for this effect are yet to be obtained and evidences of an antioxidant in vivo action of polyphenols are conflicting. There is a clear discrepancy between polyphenols (PP) concentration in body fluids and the extent of increase of plasma NEAC. The low degree of absorption and the extensive metabolism of PP within the body have raised questions about their contribution to the endogenous antioxidant network. This work will discuss the role of polyphenols from galenic preparation, food extracts, and selected dietary sources as modulators of plasma NEAC in humans.

The Role of Computer Modeling in Electrocardiography

1990 ◽  
Vol 29 (04) ◽  
pp. 282-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. van Oosterom
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Activity ◽  
Computer Modeling ◽  
Body Surface ◽  
Electrical Current ◽  
The Body ◽  
Volume Conductor ◽  
Current Generator ◽  
Cardiac Electrical Activity ◽  
Source Models

AbstractThis paper introduces some levels at which the computer has been incorporated in the research into the basis of electrocardiography. The emphasis lies on the modeling of the heart as an electrical current generator and of the properties of the body as a volume conductor, both playing a major role in the shaping of the electrocardiographic waveforms recorded at the body surface. It is claimed that the Forward-Problem of electrocardiography is no longer a problem. Several source models of cardiac electrical activity are considered, one of which can be directly interpreted in terms of the underlying electrophysiology (the depolarization sequence of the ventricles). The importance of using tailored rather than textbook geometry in inverse procedures is stressed.

Questions on the role of biofilms for the adaptation of microorganisms to unfavorable environmental factors by the example of P. aeruginosa

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-383
Author(s):  
Vasily N. Afonyushkin ◽  
N. A. Donchenko ◽  
Ju. N. Kozlova ◽  
N. A. Davidova ◽  
V. Yu. Koptev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Barrier Function ◽  
Infectious Agent ◽  
Antagonistic Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Pathogenic Potential ◽  
The Face

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a widely represented species of bacteria possessing of a pathogenic potential. This infectious agent is causing wound infections, fibrotic cystitis, fibrosing pneumonia, bacterial sepsis, etc. The microorganism is highly resistant to antiseptics, disinfectants, immune system responses of the body. The responses of a quorum sense of this kind of bacteria ensure the inclusion of many pathogenicity factors. The analysis of the scientific literature made it possible to formulate four questions concerning the role of biofilms for the adaptation of P. aeruginosa to adverse environmental factors: Is another person appears to be predominantly of a source an etiological agent or the source of P. aeruginosa infection in the environment? Does the formation of biofilms influence on the antibiotic resistance? How the antagonistic activity of microorganisms is realized in biofilm form? What is the main function of biofilms in the functioning of bacteria? A hypothesis has been put forward the effect of biofilms on the increase of antibiotic resistance of bacteria and, in particular, P. aeruginosa to be secondary in charcter. It is more likely a biofilmboth to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and provide topical competition in the face of food scarcity. In connection with the incompatibility of the molecular radii of most antibiotics and pores in biofilm, biofilm is doubtful to be capable of performing a barrier function for protecting against antibiotics. However, with respect to antibodies and immunocompetent cells, the barrier function is beyond doubt. The biofilm is more likely to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and providing topical competition in conditions of scarcity of food resources.

Receptions of the Past: Commemoration, Racism, Desire

Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
Michael Connors Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
White Privilege ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

This article investigates the ways in which the work of The Body Politic (TBP), the first major lesbian and gay newspaper in Canada, comes to be commemorated in queer publics and how it figures in the memories of those who were involved in producing the paper. In revisiting a critical point in the history of TBP from 1985 when controversy erupted over race and racism within the editorial collective, this discussion considers the role of memory in the reproduction of whiteness and in the rupture of standard narratives about the past. As the controversy continues to haunt contemporary queer activism in Canada, the productive work of memory must be considered an essential aspect of how, when and for what reasons the work of TBP comes to be commemorated. By revisiting the events of 1985 and by sifting through interviews with individuals who contributed to the work of TBP, this article complicates the narrative of TBP as a bluntly racist endeavour whilst questioning the white privilege and racially-charged demands that undergird its commemoration. The work of producing and preserving queer history is a vital means of challenging the intentional and strategic erasure of queer existence, but those who engage in such efforts must remain attentive to the unequal terrain of social relations within which remembering forms its objects.

A Good Sentencing Precedent is Hard to Find

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-144
Author(s):  
Brian A. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Federal Sentencing

In federal criminal cases, federal law requires that judges consider the sentences other courts have imposed in factually similar matters. Courts and parties, however, face significant challenges in finding applicable sentencing precedents because judges do not typically issue written sentencing opinions, and transcripts of sentencings are not readily available in advanced searchable databases. At the same time, particularly since the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in United States v. Booker, sentencing precedent has come to play a significant role in federal sentencing proceedings. By way of example, this article discusses recent cases involving defendants with gambling addictions, and recent cases involving college admissions or testing fraud. The article explores the ways the parties in those cases have used sentencing precedent in their advocacy, as well as the ways the courts involved have used sentencing precedent to justify their decisions. Given the important role of sentencing precedent in federal criminal cases, the article finally looks at ways in which the body of sentencing law could be made more readily available to parties and courts alike.

Putting the Madhyamaka Trick in Context: A Contextualist Reading of Huntington’s Interpretation of Madhyamaka

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-124
Author(s):  
Michael Dorfman
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Correspondence Theory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Rational Analysis ◽  
At Command ◽  
Rational Argumentation ◽  
Logical Fallacies ◽  
Key Terms

In a series of works published over a period of twenty five years, C.W. Huntington, Jr. has developed a provocative and radical reading of Madhyamaka (particularly Early Indian Madhyamaka) inspired by ‘the insights of post- Wittgensteinian pragmatism and deconstruction’ (1993, 9). This article examines the body of Huntington’s work through the filter of his seminal 2007 publication, ‘The Nature of the M?dhyamika Trick’, a polemic aimed at a quartet of other recent commentators on Madhyamaka (Robinson, Hayes, Tillemans and Garfield) who attempt ‘to read N?g?rjuna through the lens of modern symbolic logic’ (2007, 103), a project which is the ‘end result of a long and complex scholastic enterprise … [which] can be traced backwards from contemporary academic discourse to fifteenth century Tibet, and from there into India’ (2007, 111) and which Huntington sees as distorting the Madhyamaka project which was not aimed at ‘command[ing] assent to a set of rationally grounded doctrines, tenets, or true conclusions’ (2007, 129). This article begins by explicating some disparate strands found in Huntington’s work, which I connect under a radicalized notion of ‘context’. These strands consist of a contextualist/pragmatic theory of truth (as opposed to a correspondence theory of truth), a contextualist epistemology (as opposed to one relying on foundationalist epistemic warrants), and a contextualist ontology where entities are viewed as necessarily relational (as opposed to possessing a context-independent essence.) I then use these linked theories to find fault with Huntington’s own readings of Candrak?rti and N?g?rjuna, arguing that Huntington misreads the semantic context of certain key terms (tarka, d???i, pak?a and pratijñ?) and fails to follow the implications of N?g?rjuna and Candrak?rti’s reliance on the role of the pram??as in constituting conventional reality. Thus, I find that Huntington’s imputation of a rejection of logic and rational argumentation to N?g?rjuna and Candrak?rti is unwarranted. Finally, I offer alternate readings of the four contemporary commentators selected by Huntington, using the conceptual apparatus developed earlier to dismiss Robinson’s and Hayes’s view of N?g?rjuna as a charlatan relying on logical fallacies, and to find common ground between Huntington’s project and the view of N?g?rjuna developed by Tillemans and Garfield as a thinker committed using reason to reach, through rational analysis, ‘the limits of thought.’

Ghrelin and Obesity-An Update

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gandhi M. ◽  
Swaminathan S.
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Cardiac Output ◽  
Energy Balance ◽  
Vascular Resistance ◽  
The Body ◽  
Ghrelin Receptor ◽  
Type2 Diabetes ◽  
Type2 Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Natural Hormones

Ghrelin as human natural hormones is involved in fundamental regulatory process of eating and energy balance. It is a stomach derived hormone that acts as at the ghrelin receptor in multiple tissues throughout to the body. Its properties includes increasing appetite, decreasing systemic inflammation, decreasing vascular resistance ,increasing cardiac output, increasing glucose and IGF-1 levels, Hence it may play a significant role in Diabetes mellitus. Many studies have linked ghrelin to obesity and this paper is an attempt to bring out recent findings on the role of ghrelin in Diabetes Mellitus, particularly type2 Diabetes mellitus.

Effectiveness Of Toilet Training Education On Mother's Behavior And Toddler Age Toilet Training Ability (18-36 Months)

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Hafiko Andresni ◽  
Zahtamal Zahtamal ◽  
Winda Septiani ◽  
Mitra Mitra ◽  
Lita Lita
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
T Test ◽  
The Body ◽  
Toilet Training ◽  
Wilcoxon Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Maternal Knowledge ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
Significant Difference

ABSTRACT Toilet training is an effort to train children to be able to control and urinate (BAK) and defecate (BAB). Toilet training is one of the main tasks of children at toddler age. Toilet training is one of the main tasks of children in toddler age which is very important to be done to create independence in children in controlling BAK and BAB and children know the parts of the body and their functions. Data in 2012 shows that ± 60% of parents do not teach toilet training to children from an early age. The aim of the study was to find out the effectiveness of toilet training education on maternal behavior and toilet skills in toddler age training (18-36 months). The study was conducted in July-August 2018. This type of quantitative research used the design of the Quasy pretest and posttest experiment with non-equivalent control group design. Samples were 36 mothers and 36 children with purposive sampling technique. Data analysis used Paired t test, Wilcoxon test, Man-Whitney test an Independent t test. The results showed that toilet training education through lecture methods, modules and maze games was more effective than toilet training education through lecture and leaflet methods on children's knowledge and abilities. Conversely, for the role of mothers in supervision there is no significant difference in effectiveness. Health education is recommended in health promotion programs to increase maternal knowledge, the role of mothers and the ability of toilet training children independently. Keywords: Toilet training, Lecture method, Module, Maze game, Leaflet, Knowledge, Role of mother, Children's ability.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document