Contribution to the knowledge of entomophagy in Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Niassy ◽  
S. Ekesi
Keyword(s):  
Diverse Group ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Insects As Food

The use of insects as food and feed is probably one of the most exciting topics in entomology in recent times. It is estimated that over 2 billion people worldwide consume insects and with the expanding interest on the subject, an exponential increase of this figure is highly likely. Insects are the largest and the most diverse group of organisms in the animal kingdom, with over 1 million species identified. Globally over 2,000 species are known to be edible and Africa alone consumes ~500 different species.

scholarly journals Nutritional Qualities and Enhancement of Edible Insects

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold van Huis ◽  
Birgit Rumpold ◽  
Cassandra Maya ◽  
Nanna Roos
Keyword(s):  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Edible Insects ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Nutritional Values ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Nutritional Qualities ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
Insects As Food

Over the last decade, the urgency to find alternative and sustainable protein sources has prompted an exponential increase in the interest in insects as a human food source. Edible insects contribute suitable amounts of energy and protein, fatty acids, and micronutrients to the human diet. Nutritional values of insects can be manipulated to meet specific needs. Edible insects in food-insecure countries can contribute to improving diets and preventing undernutrition. Bioactive compounds in insects may reduce health risks. Food safety risks are low and mainly relate to those of allergenicity. Strategies to overcome barriers to the consumption of insect products include emphasizing their sustainability, increasing their tastiness, and developing the ability to disguise insects in familiar products. A new sector of insects as food and feed is emerging. Major challenges include legislation, lowering prices by automation and cheap substrates, developing insect products that appeal to consumers, and exploring the health benefits. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Nutrition, Volume 41 is September 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals “At Home with Zoe”: Becoming Animal in Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things

Humanities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Bárbara Arizti
Keyword(s):  
Gender Issues ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Sexual Involvement ◽  
Period Term ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Seamless Connection ◽  
Natural Way ◽  
The Continuum

This paper focuses on Charlotte Wood’s 2015 dystopian novel The Natural Way of Things. Set in an unnamed place in the Australian outback, it recounts the story of 10 girls in their late teens and early twenties who are kept prisoners by a mysterious corporate organisation for their sexual involvement with an array of powerful men. The novel’s title invites two main readings: the first, and perhaps more obvious, along gender lines; and the second, which will provide the backbone to my analysis, within the framework of the natural world, the animal kingdom in particular. The Natural Way of Things has been described as a study in contemporary misogyny and the workings of patriarchy. The ingrained sexism of society—the insidious, normalised violence against females, often blamed on them, glossing over male responsibility—is undoubtedly the central topic of Wood’s work. Without losing sight of gender issues, my approach to Wood’s novel is inspired by Rosi Braidotti’s posthuman theories on the continuum nature–culture and the primacy of zoe—“the non-human, vital force of life”—over bios, or life as “the prerogative of Anthropos” (Rosi Braidotti). According to Braidotti, the current challenges to anthropocentrism question the distinction between these two forms of life, highlighting instead the seamless connection between the natural world and culture and favouring a consideration of the subject as embodied, nomadic and relational. My reading of The Natural Way of Things in light of Braidotti’s insights will be supplemented by an analysis of the novel in the context of transmodernity, both a period term and a distinct way of being in the world theorised by critics such as Rosa M. Rodríguez Magda and Marc Luyckx, who emphasise the relational, interdependent nature of contemporary times from a more human-centred perspective. The Natural Way of Things is also a story of female empowerment. This is especially the case with Yolanda Kovacs and Verla Learmont, the two protagonist women, who step out of their roles as victims and stand up to their guards. My analysis of the novel will revolve around these two characters and their different reactions to confinement and degradation. I conclude that although a more zoe-centred conception of the human subject that acknowledges the human–animal continuum should definitely be welcomed, literally “becoming animal”, as Yolanda does, deprives one of meaningful human relationality, embodied in the novel in Verla’s memories of her caring, empathic relationship with her father.

scholarly journals The evolution of asymmetric genitalia in Coleoptera

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1710) ◽  
pp. 20150400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Menno Schilthuizen ◽  
Paulien de Jong ◽  
Rick van Beek ◽  
Tamara Hoogenboom ◽  
Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Male Genitalia ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Median Lobe ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Antagonistic Coevolution ◽  
Informal Assessment ◽  
Left Right Asymmetry ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution ◽  
Male Genital

The evolution of asymmetry in male genitalia is a pervasive and recurrent phenomenon across almost the entire animal kingdom. Although in some taxa the asymmetry may be a response to the evolution of one-sided, male-above copulation from a more ancestral female-above condition, in other taxa, such as Mammalia and Coleoptera, this explanation appears insufficient. We carried out an informal assessment of genital asymmetry across the Coleoptera and found that male genital asymmetry is present in 43% of all beetle families, and at all within-family taxonomic levels. In the most diverse group, Cucujiformia, however, genital asymmetry is comparatively rare. We also reconstructed the phylogeny of the leiodid tribe Cholevini, and mapped aspects of genital asymmetry on the tree, revealing that endophallus sclerites, endophallus, median lobe and parameres are, in a nested fashion, increasingly unlikely to have evolved asymmetry. We interpret these results in the light of cryptic female choice versus sexually antagonistic coevolution and advocate further ways in which the phenomenon may be better understood. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left–right asymmetry’.

scholarly journals Computer vision, camouflage breaking and countershading

2008 ◽  
Vol 364 (1516) ◽  
pp. 529-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Tankus ◽  
Yehezkel Yeshurun
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Visual Detection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Flat Background ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Image Edges ◽  
Multiple Edges ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Camouflage is frequently used in the animal kingdom in order to conceal oneself from visual detection or surveillance. Many camouflage techniques are based on masking the familiar contours and texture of the subject by superposition of multiple edges on top of it. This work presents an operator, D arg , for the detection of three-dimensional smooth convex (or, equivalently, concave) objects. It can be used to detect curved objects on a relatively flat background, regardless of image edges, contours and texture. We show that a typical camouflage found in some animal species seems to be a ‘countermeasure’ taken against detection that might be based on our method. Detection by D arg is shown to be very robust, from both theoretical considerations and practical examples of real-life images.

scholarly journals Insects as food and feed, a new emerging agricultural sector: a review

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. van Huis
Keyword(s):  
Organic Waste ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
Insects As Food ◽  
Processing Techniques

During the last five years the scientific knowledge on insects as food and feed has been growing exponentially. At the same time, the industrial sector is increasingly engaged in rearing, processing and marketing of edible insects. Considerable attention is given to the black soldier fly as it can convert organic waste streams and transform it into several feed, food and industrial products. The farming of insects has an environmental impact which is lower than that of livestock species. The profitability of industrial production of insects as feed depends very much on the availability and applicability of cheap non-utilised side-streams. Microbial communities and their relationship with insects deserve full attention as it may help in the conversion of organic side streams of low economic value. Nutrition and health benefits for animals and humans need further exploration, also considering that insects have the largest anti-microbial peptide reservoir of all animals. Plant health can also be promoted by using chitin-containing leftover substrates as fertiliser. As insects have only recently been considered as food or feed, legislation trails developments. Therefore, politicians need to be assured that rearing and processing techniques are such that insect products are guaranteed free of chemical and microbial contaminants. Consumers are becoming more and more aware that insects as food are a viable option. Insects need to be processed into ingredients, that can be applied for safe and appetising products. The insect sector is maturing fast, but still faces many challenges, which can only be met when all stakeholders closely cooperate.

scholarly journals Structural-semantic analysis of the English metaphors in road, aviation, and maritime terminology

Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 106-114
Author(s):  
Il'ya Valentinovich Grubin ◽  
Elizaveta Igorevna Dmitrieva ◽  
Ol'ga Viktorovna Ishaeva ◽  
Tamila Vladimirovna Petrenko
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
English Language ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Animal Kingdom ◽  
Statistical Indicator ◽  
Structural Peculiarities ◽  
Scientific Technical ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Structural Perspective

The goal of this article consists in the analysis of metaphors pertaining to transport in the English language on the example of road, aviation, and maritime terminology. According to the authors, metaphor is the use of words and phrases in a figurative sense based on similarity or analogy. It is established that transport terminology contains a wide variety of terms that are formed with the use of metaphors. The subject of this research is metaphors in the scientific-technical text. The object is metaphors in transport terminology. The relevance of this article is substantiated by the fact that despite sufficient coverage of private terminological systems of specific types of transport, there are very few comprehensive and comparative works. In the course of research, the author determines a new statistical indicator – the index of metaphoricity of terminological system, as well as describes the key semantic and structural peculiarities of the terms-metaphors of different branches of transport. The analysis of language material allows determining that most of the terms formed with the use of metaphors are attributed to metaphors based on associations with the elements of human body and animal kingdom. From structural perspective, it is established that terminological combinations are widely represented among the terms-metaphors of all terminological systems that were subjected to analysis, while simple terms – in the terminological systems of road and aviation transport.

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