Pasting,Color, and Granular Properties of Starches From Local and Improved Cassava Varieties in High Rainfall Region of Nigeria

This study investigated the pasting, color, and granule properties of starches produced from 39 different cassava varieties (36 varieties resistant to cassava mosaic disease and three checks, TMS 30572, 4(2) 1425, and 82/00058) in two planting seasons at the experimental farm of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Onne, Rivers State, Nigeria. Varieties screened showed significant seasonal differences (p?<?0.05) in all the properties over two harvesting seasons. The peak viscosity during heating ranged from 241.13 RVU to 485.21 RVU in year 1 and from 232.46RVU to 407.63RVU in year 2. Pasting time of the different starches ranged from 3.20–3.70 min in year 1 and from 3.6–4.2 min in year 2. Pasting temperature of the different starches ranged from 63.93–65.35 °C and from 73.15–77.15 °C in the years 1 and 2, respectively. Starch color intensity ranged from 85.05–94.49% in year 1 and from 90.27–92.96% in year 2. The structure of starches from cassava varieties was round in shape with granule size ranging from 12.50–22.50 μm in two years with varieties 97/0211 and 98/0510 as the smallest and variety 96/1632 as the largest. This study, therefore, showed that there were significant genotypic and seasonal variations in the pasting, color, and morphological properties of native starches from cassava.     

Free convective flow of heat generating/absorbing fluid between vertical porous plates with periodic heat input

This study investigates the free convective flow of heat generating/absorbing fluid between vertical parallel porous plates due to periodic heating of the porous plates. The analysis is performed by considering fully developed flow and steady-periodic regime. The momentum and energy equations, which arise from the definition of velocity and temperature, are written in dimensionless form. Separating the temperature and velocity fields into steady and periodic parts, the resulting second order differential equations are solved to obtain the expressions for velocity, temperature, skin friction and the rate of heat transfer. The effects of various flow parameters such as the suction/injection (s), heat source/sink (δ), Strouhal (St) and Prandtl (Pr) numbers on the skin friction coefficient, rate of heat transfer, velocity and temperature profiles are discussed with the aid of line graphs and contour maps.     

Survey of air pollution in Cotonou, Benin--air monitoring and biomarkers

Exposure to genotoxic compounds present in ambient air has been studied in Cotonou, Benin, a city where two-stroke motorbikes are the major form of transportation and gasoline quality is poor. Personal monitoring and biomarkers were used to assess the exposure. Non-smoking taxi-moto drivers (city) and village residents were the study subjects. Benzene exposure was significantly higher in the city, as compared to the village (76.0+/-26.8 microg/m(3) versus 3.4+/-3.0, p=0.0004). Urinary excretion of benzene and S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) were also highest in subjects living in the city, whereas 1-hydroxypyrene was not different. The level of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), associated with particles, ranged from 76.21 to 103.23 in Cotonou versus 1.55 ng/m(3) for the village. Determination of DNA damage in lymphocytes showed that subjects from the city had elevated number of lesions compared to subjects in the village in terms of bulky DNA adducts, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine and 5-methylcytosine, whereas DNA fragmentations analysed by alkaline gel electrophoresis was not different between the subjects. In conclusion, this study shows that air pollution is pronounced in Cotonou, Bénin and is associated with elevated levels of DNA damage in residents of the city compared to people living in a non-polluted rural village.     

Nutritional quality of complementary food prepared from unmalted and malted maize fortified with cowpea using extrusion cooking

The nutritional quality of extruded unmalted or malted maize fortified with cowpea as complementary food was assessed based on its proximate analysis, amino acid composition and results from rat feeding with the blends. Results indicated a slight decrease and increase in protein content due to malting and extrusion respectively. The changes in fat, crude fibre and ash content were not significant. The blends were a good source of energy, ranging from 1831 to 2045 kJ per 100 g. Extrusion significantly increased the amino acid content of the blends, while malting had a varied effect on each of the amino acids. There was no significant difference in the protein efficiency ratio (PER), net protein ratio (NPR) and weight gain of rats fed the blends when compared with the control (casein diet). The present study shows that malting improved the nutritional quality of the blends. Rats fed the casein diet had higher values for total digestibility (TD) and net protein utilisation (NPU). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the internal organ weights of rats fed all blends except the protein‐free diet. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Adomian decomposition method for the effect of transpiration on natural convection MHD flow in a vertical annulus with heat generation/absorption

This article studies the effect of transpiration on a fully developed natural convection MHD flow in a vertical annulus with heat generation/absorption. The governing coupled differential equations are solved by an estimated analytical method identified as the Adomian decomposition method with initial conditions and an appropriate initial guess condition. Furthermore, the effect of several parameters illustrating the flow phenomena is considered through graphs and the numerical computations are obtained and presented through tables. However, it is observed that there is a decrease in velocity due to the effect of the suction of fluid on the heated porous wall with concurrent injection. Also, heat generation parameter enhances the temperature of the fluid on both the isothermal and constant heat flux.     

Automated insertion of package dies onto wire and into a textile yarn sheath

Microsystem Technologies - Wider adoption of electronic textiles requires integration of small electronic components into textile fabrics, without comprising the textile qualities. A solution is to...     

Access,local language and public sphere: Phone-in R/TV programme as a platform for citizen journalism in a Nigerian election

The paper is a report of a special phone-in programme of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) during the general elections held in Nigeria in April 2007. The paper specifically considers the edition of this programme aired on April 14 in its coverage and monitoring of the conduct of the Oyo State gubernatorial (governorship) election held on that day. Realising that it cannot be everywhere and that people need be involved in the process of democracy, the Radio/Television station gave out some phone lines to which people could call to report their experiences of the conduct of the election in their localities. Participation of the people in this programme was possible because of the ubiquity, affordability and portability of radio sets and cell phones; and the proficiency of expression which the local language programme afforded them. Even at polling centres, people were able to monitor the programme with their transistor radios and were able to report their experiences with their cell phones. The harvest of election reports from this exercise was tremendous, and at the same time revealing. Reports that the professional journalists could not have been able to give because of the volatility of the political situation in the State were given live on air and uncensored by aggrieved electorate. There was also an informal inter-reports reliability (peer-review) mechanism in the sense that if a member of the public felt a particular report given by a particular caller was inaccurate and false, the unsatisfied member of the public would call into provide his own account of the happenings. The general public would then be left to decide on their own which of the accounts was more appropriate. Thus, in essence, a public sphere was created.