24,533 research outputs found
Improving the Quality of Women’s Gold in Mali, West Africa: The Case of Shea
No full textThe collection, primary processing, and subsequent sale of shea-based products make an important contribution to rural women’s cash income in many of Mali’s shea producing areas. Internationally, shea has recently become popular in high-valued cosmetics thanks to its therapeutic properties— a deviation away from its historic use as a cheap cocoa-butter substitute. For these reasons, international development actors have targeted the Malian shea value chain as part of their private-sector-development and rural-poverty-alleviation programs and strategies. Information asymmetry in the production and marketing of shea has led to a “Market for Lemons” scenario much like that described by Akerlof (1970), thereby compromising the subsector’s potential to serve as a powerful source of rural income growth and poverty alleviation. A combination of tools is used to describe the Malian shea value chain, including the “Structure, Conduct, Performance” framework borrowed from the industrial organization literature and the “Subsector Studies” approach popular in current export-led international development strategies. Analogies from subsectors historically plagued by adverse selection and moral hazard are used to identify potential leverage points and intervention strategies for stakeholders to help improve shea quality and returns to primary producers. The analysis suggests the Malian government has the potential to play an important role in this process as a coordinating body and channel captain, with donors and private enterprises playing complementary roles.Information asymmetry, karité, Mali, rural development, shea, women’s income, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, Marketing, Q13, Q23, L15, L24, 013, O17,
Soap Production From Shea nut Butter
No full textThe study was carried out to explore the use of shea butter for soap production. The traditional method of extraction of the shea nut oil was employed. A simple cold-process alkali hydrolysis of the shea nut oil, which is a village adoptable technology was used in producing the soap. The chemical analysis of the oil revealed that it had saponification, iodine and acid values of 183.1 mgKOH/g, 53.6 I2/100g and 10.3 mgKOH/g respectively. Keywords: Shea nut butter, soap, saponification, village technology International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences, 5(4): 410-412, 200
Impact of mental stress, the circadian system and their interaction on human cardiovascular function.
No full textThe risk for adverse cardiovascular events (e.g., myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death) peaks in the morning, possibly due to the effects of the endogenous circadian system on cardiovascular risk factors, or the occurrence in the morning of specific triggers, such as mental stress. To assess any interacting effects on cardiovascular function of mental stress and the circadian system, 12 healthy adults underwent a 240-h protocol with all measurements and behaviors scheduled evenly across the circadian cycle. Mental stress was repeatedly induced by performance-motivated serial addition tasks. Cardiovascular measures included hemodynamic function (heart rate, blood pressure), circulating catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine), and estimates of sympathovagal balance and cardiac vagal modulation derived from heart rate variability analyses. Mental stress increased hemodynamic function, sympathovagal balance and epinephrine, and decreased cardiac vagal modulation. Endogenous circadian variation occurred in all cardiovascular measures: sympathovagal balance peaked in the circadian morning (∼9 AM), cardiac vagal modulation in the circadian night (∼4 AM), and heart rate and circulating catecholamines in the late circadian morning/early afternoon (∼12 PM). Importantly, the effects of mental stress and the endogenous circadian system on cardiovascular function occurred in conjunction, such that mental stress in the circadian morning caused greatest sympathovagal balance. This summation of effects could contribute to the increased morning cardiovascular vulnerability
Physico-Chemical characteristics of shea butter(<i>Vitellaria paradoxa</i> C.F. Gaertn.) oil from the Shea district of Uganda
No full textShea oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the seeds of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.). It constitutes an important source of fat in food and cosmetics. Although shea oil can be marketed both locally and internationally, increasing demand worldwide for exportable products calls for their certification. Characterization of shea oil is one step towards developing its certification system. In this study, the physico-chemical characteristics of shea oil in different shea zones ofUganda were assessed. Samples of shea fruits were collected between the months of June-August 2007 in the districts of Pader, Lira, Katakwi and Arua representing Acholi, Lango, Teso, and West Nile shea zones, respectively. Seed oil was extracted by Soxhlet apparatus using n-hexane solvent and analysed for colour, refractive index, viscosity, oil content, acid value, peroxide value, saponification value, iodine value,ƒ¿-tocopherols and fatty acid profile. Shea oil content, colour, refractive index and viscosity ranged from 41-54%, orange to orange.yellow, 1.670-1.690 and 2.4-2.8 cP, respectively. Acid and peroxide values ranged between 2.3-12.59 mgKOH/kg and 2.10 to 2.50 meq/kg, respectively. Saponification, iodine and ƒ¿- tocopherols valueswere between 160 mgKOH/g and 192mgKOH/g, 39.21 I2g/100 and 41.37 I2g/100g and 26.3-44.4 mg/100g, respectively. Fatty acid profile for palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and arachidic fatty acids ranged between 6.52-8.12%, 28.65-30.94%, 55.54-57.63%, 6.18-7.79% and 0.65-0.90%, respectively. Although there was significant variation in the oil yield (P.0.05), the physico-chemical characteristic and fatty acid profile showed no significant variation in the shea zones of Uganda (P.0.05). The fact that physico- chemical characteristics of shea oil from the different shea zones of Uganda are comparable to other high value edible vegetable oils indicates its suitability as raw material for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. This characterization is a bench mark for monitoring the quality of shea oil from Uganda and can be used to enhance its local and international trade
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Comparative studies on Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) in some edible oil (shea butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil) sold in Nigeria
No full textPolyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ever-present lipophilic substances, having varying levels of concentration in edible oils. Shea butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are used in Africa as component of traditional ointment. The study evaluated the concentration of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in Shea butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The polyaromatic hydrocarbons identified and quantified are: napthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenapthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene for Shea butter samples; napthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene for coconut oil samples while palm kernel oil samples have napthalene, acenaphthene, acenaphthylene,fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(k)fluoranthene, The concentration of the sum of PAHs of Shea butter ranged from 7.63 - 44.71 ppm, coconut oil samples 7.81 - 19.24 ppm and palm kernel oil samples 25.09 - 71.55 ppm. Shea butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil samples have concentration of benzo(a)pyrene above the set maximum permissible limit as revealed in the study. It is important that further research on the reduction and/or elimination of PAHs in Shea butter, coconut oil and palm kernel oil be developed
Proximate And Mineral Composition Of Shea ( Vitellaria Paradoxa C.F. Gaertn) Fruit Pulp In Uganda
No full textThe shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa,C.F.Gaertn) is an indigenous fruit
tree distributed in the shea parklands of Africa. The shea fruit is an
important source of food for rural communities especially at time of
food shortages, hunger and other disasters in addition to providing
enormous health benefit and income. Because of its role in combating
food insecurity and sustaining rural livelihoods, an assessment of the
nutritional composition of shea fruit pulp was carried out in Uganda.
Samples of shea fruits were collected from Katakwi, Lira, Pader and
Arua districts in Teso, Lango, Acholi and West Nile sub regions in
Uganda, respectively, between April and August 2007. For each district,
a composite shea fruit sample was analysed for moisture content, total
ash, crude oil, crude fibre, crude protein, vitamin C, carbohydrates
and calorific values. The mineral composition was analysed for calcium,
sodium, potassium, magnesium and iron. The total ash, crude oil, crude
fibre, crude protein, total carbohydrate, vitamin C and caloric values
ranged between 3.6-5.9%, 1.5-3.5%, 10-15%, 3.1-4.2%, 12.4-19.4%,
85.6-124.9mg/100g and 77.6-89.2 Kcal/100g, respectively (dry weight
basis). Ca, K, Mg, Na and Fe values in the pulp ranged from 35.2-95.6
mg/100g, 42.0-63.6 mg/100g, 18.1-24.2mg/100g, 7.1-18.1mg/100gm and
3.4-3.8 mg/100g, respectively. There was a significant variation
(P≤0.05) in the crude proteins, crude fibre, Vitamin C values and
mineral compositions of the shea fruit pulp from the different shea
sub-regions in Uganda. These variations could be due to differences in
prevailing environmental factors. The results show clearly that shea
fruit pulp has adequate nutrients equivalent to other edible fruits and
should be promoted in human nutrition. Its Na/K ratio (0.14-0.35) also
makes the shea fruit a valuable resource for managing high blood
pressure; an emerging non-communicable disease in most developing
countries. To promote wide consumption of shea fruits, the influence of
environmental factors and season of harvest on its nutritional
composition needs to be investigated
Language Change and SA-OT: The case of sentential negation
No full textSimulated Annealing for Optimality Theory (SA-OT) updates Optimality Theory by adding a model of performance to a theory of linguistic competence. Our aim is to show that SA-OT can contribute to language change simulations. Performance "errors" are considered to be one of the causes of variation and change. We have chosen to model the evolution of sentential negation (SN). The descriptive background adopts Jespersen's Cycle, according to which the evolution of sentential negation follows three main stages (1. pre-verbal, 2. discontinuous, and 3. post-verbal). Therefore, we advance a novel model for SN, based on SA-OT. It reproduces the three pure and the two observed mixed stages, whereas it correctly predicts the lack of an intermediate stage between 3 and 1. The success of the approach corroborates the computational, performance-based approach to the data. Finally, we employ the iterated learning paradigm to reproduce historical changes in a "simulated corpus study". This enterprise turns out to be more difficult than one would naively believe.Appeared open access as: Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal (CLIN), vol. 1 (2011), pp. 21-40, and is available at http://www.clinjournal.org/sites/default/files/Lopopolo.pdfA. Lopopolo and Biró, T., “Language Change and SA-OT. The case of sentential negation”, Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal, vol. 1, pp. 21-40, 2011.Peer Reviewe
Comparative Energy Values Of Sorghum Distillers Waste, Maize Cob And Shea Butter Waste For Pigs
No full textA balance trial aimed at determining the energy values of Sorghum Distiller's Wastes (SDW), Maize cob (MC) and Shea butter Waste (SBW) for barrows was conducted using a 4 x 4 Latin square cross- over experimental design. While feed intake was influenced (P < 0.05) by the test feed ingredients, the weight gained was not significantly affected (P > 0.05). Digestibilities of dry matter and gross energy (GE) as well as metabolizability of digestible energy (DE) were not influenced (P > 0.05) by the dietary treatment. The energy values (i.e. GE, DE, uncorrected metabolizable energy (ME), and metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen retention (MEn) determined for the ingredients were different (P < 0.05). DE values of 7.19, 6.73 and 15.54 MJ/kg DM; ME values of 5.90, 4.79 and 12.94 MJ/DM dm and MEn values of 5.72, 4.95 and 12.90 MJ/kg DM were established for SDW, MC and SBW respectively. These ingredients have potentials as alternative low-energy feedstuffs in pig feeds.Keywords: Energy value, sorghum distillers waste, maize cob, shea butter waste, pig
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