scholarly journals Aflatoxins in roasted peanut in Khartoum a hidden and notorious risk to children

Food Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Esameldin Bashir Mohamed Kabbashi ◽  
Mohamed Ali Elnour ◽  
Safa Hassan Ahmed

Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of about twenty species of the genus Aspergillus. The most important of these species is Aspergillus flavus which was reported for the first time and referred as responsible for the X – turkey disease in 1960 in Great Britain which later on named aflatoxicosis. These toxins pose a limitless risk to man and his domestics by causing a number of diseases and carcinomas. However, since the production of these toxins is rather inevitable accordingly an interdisciplinary management is the answer for managing them. The management of these toxins includes preharvest and postharvest measures such as good agricultural practices (GAP), check of imports, exports, food and feed stuffs, specifying tolerable and action limits and curing by suitable methods.This experiment aimed at having a rapid check for the total aflatoxins in roasted peanut in samples (five groups and 25 in total) collected from the three main cities of the triangular capital Khartoum (Khartoum proper, Khartoum North and Omdurman).Rapid check of aflatoxins has a lot of merits and edge over the other laboratory methods. Twenty five samples of roasted peanut were checked using Aflacheck® test kids (the method used enabled checking 10 ppb total aflatoxins in test samples). Readings revealed that the contamination percentage was 60% for each of the sample groups collected from the two sites in Khartoum proper and 100% for the sample groups collected from two sites in Khartoum north and Omdurman, separately. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in contamination (at 5% confidence level) between the results from Khartoum proper from one side and the samples collected from Khartoum North and Omdurman areas in the other side. However, the overall contamination percentage was 84%.These results,collectively, are alarming (0 tolerance) fora deadly health risk of this roasted peanut contaminated with aflatoxins to consumers of who the majority are children.

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-120
Author(s):  
Christopher C. Smyth ◽  
Mary E. Dominessy

An experiment with 15 U.S. Army enlisted military subjects was conducted to compare the performance of an oculometer, head-fixed reticle, and touch panel for data entry on a generic tactical air combat display. The subjects used voice or switch to designate data items on the display that were selected with the oculometer or fixed reticle. The touch panel was included as a standard data entry device. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in performance for the five configurations at the .0001 level. The reticle/switch, oculometer/switch, and touch panel are significantly faster than the reticle/voice, which in turn is significantly faster than the oculometer/voice. The reticle methods are faster than the oculometer methods. The switch action is faster than voice entry. The touch panel is twice as accurate as the other methods, all of which have about the same spatial accuracy whether oculometer or reticle, voice or switch. However, the oculometer/voice has nearly twice as many selection errors as the other methods.


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Mary ◽  
Coralie Laveau ◽  
Pascal Lecomte ◽  
Marc Birebent ◽  
Jean-Philippe Roby

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aim:</strong> The aim of the survey was to investigate if the grafting type influences the foliar expression of Esca during summer.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and Results:</strong> Observations were conducted on plots distributed in two French winegrowing regions (two different climatic regions) with two varieties (Cabernet-Sauvignon in the Bordeaux region and Mourvèdre in Provence). Three grafting types were compared: Omega graft, Whip and Tongue graft, and full cleft graft. For both varieties, we found a significant effect of the type of grafting on the foliar development of Esca symptoms. Full cleft grafted plots showed a significantly lower percentage of Esca foliar symptoms than the other two modalities, which were not significantly different from one another. Concerning Omega grafted plots, a significant difference in the rate of Esca foliar symptoms was highlighted compared to full cleft grafted plots, with a higher rate on Omega grafted plots, but these plots were also younger.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The study established, for the first time, the difference between full cleft field grafted plots and Omega and Whip and Tongue grafted plots, revealing a higher incidence of Esca on the latter types of grafting.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Significance and impact of the study:</strong> The spread of mechanical graft could be one of the factors explaining the increasing incidence of Esca in vineyard.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-488
Author(s):  
Fernanda Elfan ◽  
Suryo Kuncorojakti ◽  
Nusdianto Triakoso

The present study aimed to determine the effects of borax (Na2B4O7.10H2O) addition on the changes of histological cerebrum imaging in the brains of white mice (Rattus norvegicus). The current research was an experimental study with randomization of 24 white mice that were divided into four treatment groups with five replications. Borax was dissolved for each treatment with a dose of 19 mg/mouse/day, 26 mg/mouse/day, and 37 mg/mouse/day, and it was administered orally for 14 days. Then, it was analyzed statistically using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The statistical analysis results suggested that there were significantly different results in each treatment group. The control treatment with an administration dose of 26 mg/rat/day had a significantly different result in the worst cloudy swelling degeneration of cerebrum in histopathology imaging on Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus). Using the Mann-Whitney test, it was found that the dose of borax at 37 mg/rat/day led to significant difference, compared to the other treatment groups, which means that 37 mg/rat/day of borax caused the worst pyramidal cell necrosis in histopathology imaging of the cerebrum on white mice. Borax exposure on Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) can cause cloudy swelling at a dose of 26mg/head/day, and pyramidal cell necrosis at a dose of 37 mg/head/day.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Seamans ◽  
Allen Gosser

Conflicts between humans and birds likely have existed since agricultural practices began. Paintings from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Roman civilizations depict birds attacking crops. In Great Britain, recording of efforts at reducing bird damage began in the 1400s, with books on bird control written in the 1600s. Even so, the problem persists. Avian damage to crops remains an issue today, but we also are concerned with damage to homes, businesses, and aircraft, and the possibility of disease transmission from birds to humans or livestock. Bird dispersal techniques are a vital part of safely and efficiently reducing bird conflicts with humans. The bird must perceive a technique as a threat if it is to be effective. No single technique can solve all bird conflicts, but an integrated use of multiple techniques, each enhancing the other, generally provides relief.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-324
Author(s):  
Elisa Sánchez-Godínez

La retención estudiantil es una meta que persiguen todas las instituciones de enseñanza de un país o de una nación en cualquiera de sus niveles, ya sea en educación primaria, secundaria o universitaria. Es por esta razón que orientan todos sus esfuerzos a lograr que el y la estudiante inicien y culminen con éxito su formación. El otro extremo de la retención es la deserción, que es el desgranamiento o abandono de los estudios reflejado en un grupo de estudiantes desde que ingresa a una carrera hasta que toma la difícil decisión de no continuar en ella. Este trabajo pretende abordar este tema en la Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica en un periodo de quince años, para lograrlo se le da seguimiento a una cohorte de estudiantes que ingresó por primera vez en el año 1998. La técnica de recolección de datos se basa en los registros administrativos;  para su análisis se utiliza la técnica estadística llamada tabla de mortalidad, la cual es aplicada a la población de estudiantes de la UNED en el periodo 1998-2012. AbstractThe student retention, is a goal that all the educational institutions want to achieve in any of their levels (primary, high school or university), regardless the nation or the country. Is for this reason that all their efforts are oriented to motivate all the students since the beginning to the end of the entire process with successful. The other side of the retention is the desertion. The desertion is the abandonment of any kind of education and it can be reflected in a group of students since the first of their studies. This work aims to approach the student desertion in the “Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Rica (UNED)”, in a period of fifteen years. For make this article, is necessary a cohort of students that they were in the UNED for the first time in 1998. The recollection of the data is based on administrative records and for their statistical analysis is going to use the mortality tables as a statistical technique, the same is applied to cohort the students of the UNED in the period 1998-2012. Keywords: desertion, abandonment, mortalitytables


1983 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Rainey ◽  
Greg Murphy

Forty first-time mothers were randomly allocated to two groups, half who received the service of a home visitor and half who did not. The home visitor commenced visitation during the last month of pregnancy and continued until the baby was three months old, visiting or contacting the mother approximately once weekly. Pre and post measures of self-esteem, anxiety, locus of control and acceptance were taken, the only significant difference between the treated and the control group was a lower trait anxiety in the target group. However, the other results were in the predicted direction. While all of the mothers requested the service, those mothers who received the service stated they valued it highly. Three mothers in the target group were identified as being “at risk” and received appropriate treatment; they had not been located by any of the health services with whom they were in contact. The present study raised a number of issues associated with the delivery of such primary prevention services, particularly the need for more adequate program evaluation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tolga Topcuoglu ◽  
A. Altuğ Bicakci ◽  
M. Cihat Avunduk ◽  
Z. Deniz Sahin Inan

Introduction. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of screw design and force application on the stability of miniscrews, using RTT, SEM, and histomorphometric analyses.Materials and Methods. Eighty cylindrical, self-drilling, and Ti6Al4V alloy miniscrews (1,6 × 6 mm) were used. Four mini-screws were inserted in fibulas of each rabbit, and 115 Gof force was immediately applied. Four miniscrews were inserted in the other fibula, on which no force was applied. Eight weeks after insertion, osseointegration between miniscrew and the surrounding bone was evaluated by the histomorphometric analyses, SEM, and RTT. Kruskal-Wallis and the pairedt-tests were used for statistical analysis.Results. Values obtained from Group I were significantly higher than those of the other loaded groups (). There were no differences in RTT scores among Groups II, III, and IV. Similar findings were also observed for unloaded mini-screws. There was no significant difference between Groups I and , while the differences between loaded and unloaded controls for each miniscrew were statistically significant.Conclusions. Immediate loading of miniscrews does not impair screw stability. Also, the diameter of miniscrew and more frequent thread pitches have a positive effect on stability; however, length of miniscrews does not have a significant effect on the stability.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Waqas ◽  
Shahzad Zafar Iqbal ◽  
Ahmad Faizal Abdull Razis ◽  
Wajeeha Pervaiz ◽  
Touheed Ahmad ◽  
...  

Aflatoxins (AFs) are secondary metabolites toxic to humans as well as animals. The environmental conditions, conventional agricultural practices, and illiteracy are the main factors which favor the production of AFs in food and feed. In the current study 744 samples of vegetable seeds and oils (soybean, sunflower, canola, olive, corn, and mustard) were collected and tested for the presence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and total AFs. Liquid-liquid extraction was employed for the extraction of AFs from seeds and oil samples. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography equipped with fluorescence detection was used for the analysis. The results have shown that 92 (56.7%) samples of imported and 108 (57.0%) samples of local edible seeds were observed to be contaminated with AFs. All samples of edible seeds have AFB1 levels greater than the proposed limit set by the European Union (EU, 2 µg/kg) and 12 (7.40%) samples of imported seeds and 14 (7.40%) samples of local seeds were found in the range ≥ 50 µg/kg. About 78 (43.3%) samples of imported edible oil and 103 (48.3%) sample of local edible oil were observed to be positive for AFs. Furthermore, 16 (8.88%) and six (3.33%) samples of imported vegetable oil have levels of total AFs in a range (21–50 µg/kg) and greater than 50 µg/kg, respectively. The findings indicate significant differences in AFs levels between imported and local vegetable oil samples (t = 22.27 and p = 0.009) at α = 0.05 and a significant difference in AFs levels were found between vegetable seeds and oil samples (t = −17.75, p = 0.009) at α = 0.05. The highest dietary intake was found for a local sunflower oil sample (0.90 µg/kg/day) in female individuals (16–22 age group). The results have shown considerably high levels of AFB1 and total AFs in seeds and oil samples and emphasise the need to monitor carefully the levels of these toxic substances in food and feed on regular basis.


2011 ◽  
pp. 45-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusica Ivanov ◽  
Radmilo Colovic ◽  
Bojana Beljkas ◽  
Jovanka Levic ◽  
Slavica Sredanovic

This investigation is concerned with supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using CO2, as an analytical technique for total fat extraction from food and feed samples. Its most significant advantages are safety, cleanness, and shorter extraction time. The main limitation of this technique includes the difficulty of extracting polar lipids due to the non-polar character of the solvent (CO2) used for the extraction. The influence of ethanol as a co-solvent on the SFE of mash pig feed was investigated in this paper. Total fat content was determined by SFE and Soxhlet method for ten commercially available mesh pig feeds. Yields of the fat extracted by both methods were plotted one against the other and compared. Statistically significant difference (p ? 0.05) has been found only between the total fat obtained by the Soxhlet extraction and SFE by pure CO2. Based on the mathematical model, maximum yield of the extracted fat is achieved at an ethanol addition of 0.67 ml/g of sample, when the other parameters are the same as recommended by the producer?s procedure.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089875642110542
Author(s):  
Jerzy Gawor ◽  
Katarzyna Jodkowska ◽  
Emilia Klim ◽  
Michał Jank ◽  
Celine S. Nicolas

Giving dental chews to dogs is part of the passive homecare that helps prevent the formation of plaque and tartar. The objectives of these studies were to assess the effectiveness of a vegetable-based dental chew (VF) to maintain oral health, and to compare it to 2 different reference chews (RC) with a proven effectiveness. The first study was conducted on 45 small dogs (<10 kg) and the second on 60 larger dogs (15-30 kg) who were randomly assigned to 3 different groups. During 30 days, one group received no chew (control) while the second and third group received either one RC (RC1 or RC2) or one VF per day. All dogs had their teeth scaled on Day 0. On Day 30, scores were given for plaque and calculus. Gingival parameters were also assessed. Statistical analysis (analysis of variance and Tukey tests ± Bonferroni's adjustment) were performed to compare groups with α set at .05 for significance. The 3 types of chews were found to be efficacious to reduce plaque and calculus formation and the gingival bleeding compared to control ( P < .05). There was no significant difference between RCs and VF in both trials except for the gingival bleeding parameters which showed a greater improvement with VF. Therefore, daily administration of the VF is effective to reduce plaque and calculus formation and gingival bleeding and has a better efficacy on gingival bleeding than the other reference products tested. It can therefore be used with confidence at home for preventative dental care.


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