US to fund research on Garri production.

 US to fund research on Garri production. Garri in the news, this is an indication there is a lot of money to be made from garri production and export.

The United States of America is set to fund breakthrough research on garri production to support nutritional improvement in West Africa.“This innovative research is leading to scientific breakthroughs with huge potential to reduce iron deficiency anaemia and protein-energy malnutrition.” 

 This use of garri to reduce hidden hunger, protein-energy malnutrition is already ongoing in Nigeria, as EchbeeFoods is already churning out such wholesome products. 

 Why use wheat? when garri can be fortified to make for bread, cake cookies and so much more SEE GARRI BREAD: soft garri , nutritious, bro mate and saccharine free.

Enjoy with your cup of tea or milk, school feeding programme idea.

Therapeutic milk for Diabetes in humans.

A research currently ongoing in India has shown the benefits of raising Indian cows and using the milk to treat diabetes. Dr. Sai Butcha Rao, a research associate at International Livestock Research Institute, ICRISAT, Patancheru, is throwing more light on the mechanism. B.V.S.R. Krisham Raju, who took voluntary retirement as a General Manager of power system-equipment company and started an animal farm at Mubarakpur near Sangareddy, is one among them. He acquired a Gir cow from Gujarat. Feed of Gir cow is being formulated with herbal plants, concentrates and roughages and fed to the animal. He is suffering from diabetes for the last ten years and one such volunteer. Three more volunteers from different places, including one from Sangareddy town are using the ‘health value added’ Gir cow milk as part of experiment. According to Dr. Sai, the feedback from the volunteers is encouraging and other problems associated with diabetes like tooth ache and frequent infections are getting minimised. One of his line of research is on clinical properties of milk of Indian cattle breeds. He fed the animal with specially formulated feed and the milk obtained from such cow is reported to have clinical properties to cure diabetes.He selected four volunteers for this purpose and the initial medical tests furnished encouraging results. Dr. Sai Butcha Rao, the approach is health is the value addition in the experiment. The doctor is changing the diet formulation of the animal and adding probiotics and herbal plants.The milk collected from the animal after consuming the feed will have certain medicinal properties. The experiment is being conducted assuming that this will stimulate the pancreatic duct resulting in the production of insulin. Dr. Sai said that from Vedic times Indian cattle breeds played important role in Indian culture and part of life. An Indian cow is eco friendly and plays important role in sustainable development of socio-economic and community health. Not only Gir, but also other Indian cattle breeds (Bos indicus, humped) are also suitable for production of therapeutic milk for diabetes in humans. more

Insecticides mimic melatonin, creating higher risk for diabetes.

A study published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, shows that synthetic chemicals commonly found in insecticides and garden products bind to the receptors that govern our biological clocks. The research suggests that exposure to these insecticides adversely affects melatonin receptor signaling, creating a higher risk for metabolic diseases such as diabetes. The research combined a big data approach, using computer modeling on millions of chemicals, with standard wet-laboratory experiments. Disruptions in human circadian rhythms are known to put people at higher risk for diabetes and other metabolic diseases but the mechanism involved is not well-understood. This study demonstrates how environmental chemicals found in household products interact with human melatonin receptors, research focused on two chemicals, carbaryl, the third most widely used insecticide in the U.S. but which is illegal in several countries, and carbofuran, the most toxic carbamate insecticide, which has been banned for applications on food crops for human consumption . It is still used in many countries, and traces persist in food, plants and wildlife.

Research explores lavender as natural pesticide .

Research explores lavender as natural pesticide source. lavender has long been known for its strong scent and soothing oils, a UBC researcher is exploring the plant’s ability to create natural pesticides. Soheil Mahmoud, an associate professor of biology at UBC’s Okanagan campus, conducts research on organic compounds found in plants—specifically lavender. While lavender is known for its strong scent, and the plant’s oils are said to have a healing, or soothing benefit, Mahmoud says lavender has much more to offer.Research explores lavender as natural pesticide

AGRIBUSINESS: Human urine is best fertilizer for fish pond.

Human urine is best fertilizer for fish pond. A new research shows that ponds fed with human urine generate food for fish faster by four days, while saving farmers at least 24kg of commercial fertilizer required after every two weeks. The research, which was published in the Ecological Engineering journal, said that the readiness to release the rich nitrogen and other ions in the human urine quickened the propagation process of the plankton. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) states that at least 24kg of commercial nitrogenous fertilizer must be applied per acre every two weeks to facilitate growth of zooplanktons,which are colonies of green microscopic organisms that are major sources of food for fish. A new research by the University of Kalyani, India, says half a liter of human urine is required for every 4,500 litres of water to trigger multiplication of zooplankton in four days. The research compared half a kilo of human urine with cowdung, vermicompost, chicken drippings and cow urine. In the various setups, Moina micrura plankton grew four days earlier in the human urine than the others. also

Funding opportunities for agricultural projects.

Funding opportunities for agricultural projects. International Tropical Timber Organization — Freezailah Fellowships 2017. ITTO makes grants through the Freezailah Fellowship Fund for training opportunities, demonstration tours, participation in conferences and workshops, preparation of technical papers, and post-graduate degrees. Grants up to US$10 thousand are in support of sustainable tropical forest management. Applicants are young and mid-career professionals in ITTO’s member countries; most grants are to individuals in the developing countries. The next application deadline is 20 June 2017. Apply New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre — Postdoctoral Fellowship in Livestock Emissions Research Deadline: 30 Jun 2017 The government of New Zealand sponsors LEARN as a program to build international capability in livestock emissions research. The government of New Zealand sponsors LEARN as a program to build international capability in livestock emissions research. LEARN currently invites applications for postdoctoral fellowships of one to two years from technical staff and scientists in developing countries who will work with New Zealand colleagues Applicants need the collaborative support of a New Zealand host organization, which will administer the funds. Expressions of interest (EOI) can be submitted at any time during the year, and full applications must be submitted by 30 June. apply U.S. Department of State — ADAPT Africa. The ADAPT-Africa project aims to increase actions needed at national- and subnational levels in African countries to attract investment that builds resilience to climate change. Interested organizations are expected to propose activities according to their organization’s strengths and experience. The relevant countries are Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Eligibility for funding extends to U.S. non-profit NGOs and for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations in other countries, educational institutions, and public international organizations. The closing date is 22 May 2017 more

RESEARCH : Caffeine from four cups of coffee protects the heart with the help of mitochondria.

RESEARCH : Caffeine from four cups of coffee protects the heart with the help of mitochondria. A new study shows that a caffeine concentration equivalent to four cups of coffee promotes the movement of a regulatory protein into mitochondria, enhancing their function and protecting cardiovascular cells from damage. RESEARCH : Caffeine from four cups of coffee protects the heart with the help of mitochondria. Caffeine consumption has been associated with lower risks for multiple diseases, including type II diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, but the mechanism underlying these protective effects has been unclear. RESEARCH : Caffeine from four cups of coffee protects the heart with the help of mitochondria. The study now shows that caffeine promotes the movement of a regulatory protein into mitochondria, enhancing their function and protecting cardiovascular cells from damage.

RESEARCH: Curcumin may help overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis.

RESEARCH: Curcumin may help overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis. Curcumin may help overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis.New research indicates that curcumin -- a substance in turmeric that is best known as one of the main components of curry powder -- may help fight drug-resistant tuberculosis. RESEARCH: Curcumin may help overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis. In Asia, turmeric is used to treat many health conditions and it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and perhaps even anticancer properties. Investigators found that by stimulating human immune cells called macrophages, curcumin was able to successfully remove Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative bacterium of tuberculosis, from experimentally infected cells in culture. The process relied on inhibiting the activation of a cellular molecule called nuclear factor-kappa B. The ability of curcumin to modulate the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis points to a potential new tuberculosis treatment that would be less prone to the development of drug resistance.

RESEARCH: New skin test detects prion infection before symptoms appear.

RESEARCH: New skin test detects prion infection before symptoms appear. Prions can infect both humans and animals, causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, mad cow disease in cattle, and chronic wasting disease in elk and deer. The infectious, misfolded protein particles often go undetected as they destroy brain tissue, causing memory loss, mobility issues, and ultimately death. Preclinical detection of prions has proven difficult, but new research suggests skin samples hold early signs of prion disease that precede neurologic symptoms. Currently, a definitive diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is dependent on the examination of diseased brain tissue obtained at biopsy or autopsy. It has been impossible to detect at the early preclinical stage," said Wenquan Zou, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In a ground-breaking study published in Nature Communications, Zou and an international team of researchers successfully used two methods to detect prions in skin samples collected from inoculated rodents. The study provides the first proof-of-concept evidence that readily accessible skin samples could be used to detect prion disease early -- before clinical symptoms appear. In the new study, Zou and colleagues successfully detected prions in rodent skin samples as early as two weeks post-infection. They also detected prions in the skin of uninoculated rodents that were housed alongside inoculated cage mates, demonstrating that prion transmission can occur between cohabiting rodents.

Dogs may be able to smell malaria in humans and help with quicker detection.

Scientists hope using dogs could revolutionise how malaria is detected, enabling doctors to identify it quickly and without invasive tests Dogs may be able to sniff out malaria through their acute sense of smell, thereby saving thousands of lives through quick and non-invasive detection, scientists have claimed. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant to commission research into the possibility to scientists at Durham University, Medical Detection Dogs and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, along with counterparts in Gambia. It is hoped the animals may be able to detect odors associated with the condition and which are too subtle to be identified by human smell. Previous research has suggested dogs can be highly accurate in detection cancer in humans. Steve Lindsay, expert in the development of malaria-control measures in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Durham University and principle investigator in the project, said: “Recent research has demonstrated that patients infected with the malaria parasite produce specific odors in their breath that disappear after treatment of the parasite. We also know that malaria mosquitoes prefer to feed on malaria patients, which they almost certainly identify by their odor. “If dogs can be used to identify malaria-infected individuals, they could be used at ports of entry for screening travelers entering areas that are malaria free, but susceptible to re-invasion. Using dogs for detection of parasites has the advantage that it is non-invasive, portable, does not require a laboratory, is fully functional in field settings and can be used to test a high quantity of samples. By using the dogs, we can quickly find and treat those with malaria and thereby hugely accelerating the speed at which we can wipe out this terrible disease altogether.” Dr Claire Guest, CEO of Medical Detection Dogs which trains animals for medical purposes, said: “Dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell. They can detect parts per trillion; that is equivalent to one spoon of sugar in two Olympic-sized swimming pools. In training trials, they have proven themselves to be 93 per cent reliable at detecting cancer. I feel confident they will learn to detect the odor of malaria.” In August of last year, the use of medical detection dogs for sniffing out cancer was approved for use in an NHS trial following evidence the animals are highly reliable at detecting the disease in humans. In 2015, there were an estimated 214 million malaria cases globally and an estimated 438,000 deaths caused by the disease. culled from the independent.co.uk

RESEARCH: Third hand smoke residue exposes children to chemicals.

RESEARCH: Third hand smoke residue exposes children to chemicals.Researchers find that indoor smoking bans may not fully protect children.The harmful effects of exposure to tobacco smoke have been known for many years. Cigarette and cigar smokers are at significantly higher risk of contracting all sorts of respiratory maladies, and research linking secondhand smoke to cancer goes back nearly three decades. But what about the chemicals that stain the walls, ceilings, carpet and upholstery in rooms in which tobacco has been smoked? What about the lingering nicotine on the fingers of smokers? Is there something dangerous in the residue that lingers long. READ: How smoking affects children. Environmental tobacco smoke and children's health Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati have found more evidence of the potentially harmful effects of exposure to the residue and particles left behind by tobacco smoke. In "Nicotine on Children's Hands:

Urgent research shift needed to fight dual threat of malnutrition & obesity

Urgent research shift needed to fight dual threat of malnutrition & obesity: Leading researchers and experts in nutrition policy have come together to propose a global research agenda that aims to shift the focus and find solutions to global issues of food security and under nutrition.

New approach to evaluating agricultural development programs.

New approach to evaluating agricultural development programs. A new research has shown that involving locals in figuring out how to improve their farming and fishing methods provides more lasting and widespread benefits than just introducing new technologies or methods. As the old saying goes, teaching someone to fish is far more helpful than just giving them a fish. Now, research from WorldFish and MIT takes that adage a step further: Better yet, the study found, is working with the fishermen to help develop better fishing methods. The findings are described in the journal Agricultural Systems, shows that over the last few decades has shown that bringing about improvements in agricultural systems is a highly complex challenge, with many interrelationships and feedbacks determining how well new methods and devices take hold or provide a real improvement. Yet government agencies as well as research and nonprofit organizations still mostly evaluate the success of their programs using simple metrics that overlook much of this complexity. more

On-and-off fasting helps fight obesity, study finds.

On-and-off fasting helps fight obesity, study finds.Researchers investigate why periods of sporadic fasting can be beneficial for the metabolism. Up to sixteen weeks of intermittent fasting without otherwise having to count calories helps fight obesity and other metabolic disorders. Such fasting already shows benefits after only six weeks. This is according to a study by Kyoung-Han Kim and Yun Hye Kim in the journal Cell Research which is published by Springer Nature. Intermittent fasting in mice helped to kick-start the animals' metabolism and to burn fat by generating body heat. The research team was led by Hoon-Ki Sung of The Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, Canada. Research has shown that our unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyles are playing a major role in the development of lifestyle-related metabolic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. For this reason, dietary interventions like intermittent fasting are gaining popularity to treat conditions such as obesity.

Macaques Are Learning to Communicate with Touch-screens.

Akita, a 10-year-old Japanese macaque, sits in a glass booth calmly tapping away as colored dots flash on a video touch-screen anchored to a wall in front of him. Red, blue, yellow – he picks the dots in the requisite order, then grabs for his reward: fresh blueberries that pop out of a tube onto the floor next to him. Akita is one of eight adult Japanese macaques at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago being trained to use a touch-screen. For now, he’s mastering simple sequencing tasks. But soon, researchers will start him on new exercises aimed ultimately at getting inside his head—finding out what he and the other macaques think and feel about their life in the zoo. A death or birth among their troop? Too many noisy visitors pressed up to the glass in front of them? Researchers hope to find out how these things affect the animals so that they can adjust animal care in response. Touch-screens, they hope, will provide a way to do this. “The goal is to evaluate and enhance their welfare,” says Katherine Cronin, lead research scientist for the zoo’s macaque project, which she believes to be unique to North America. Melissa Bateson, a professor of ethology at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, has studied ways to communicate with animals and consulted with Cronin. Over the past decade, she says, animal welfare scientists have tried to adapt tasks used to measure emotions in humans to animals, but the process has been “quite laborious,” with a person needed to interact with the animal, offer it choices and record its behavior. “Translation of these tasks to a touch-screen that can offer choices and record data automatically would be a great advance,” she says, and “would pave the way for more widespread use of these novel approaches in applied settings such as zoos.” The research has helped Cronin and her team glean insights into the monkeys’ social environment—a rigidly defined hierarchy that the macaques self-police. This means that the monkeys voluntarily come to the booths during training time (generally mid-day, five days a week) in their ranked order, with alpha Akita first. Even if the macaques don’t get to the point of being able to communicate their cares and woes to their keepers, the touch-screen training has helped enhance their daily lives. Cronin says that research shows engaging in tasks that challenge the monkeys’ minds is in itself “a way to improve their welfare and keep them stimulated, because they’re such smart, complex animals.” culled from discovermagazine.com

Animal voice computer software.

A computer scientist with a passion for horses has embarked on an interdisciplinary animal-computer interaction research project which could help us understand what animals are thinking and feeling. Dr Steve North, a Research Fellow in the Mixed Reality Laboratory (MRL) at The University of Nottingham, is developing a Horse Automated Behavior Identification Tool (HABIT) – new animal-computer interaction software. The aim is to identify horse behavior from unconstrained (amateur) video so we humans can interpret those reactions and understand why they are happening. The research is being carried out in collaboration with Dr Mandy Roshier, an expert in anatomy and behavior at the University's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Dr Carol Hall, an expert in equitation science at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Clara Mancini, a senior lecturer in computer interaction design at the Open University. Human-computer interaction (HCI) is already well established. The emerging scientific discipline of animal-computer interaction (ACI) looks at the relationship between animals and technology. By bringing together experts in animal computer interaction, equitation science, ethology, animal behavior and biomedical engineering the aim of HABIT is to develop a software programme that will automatically identify the behavior horses are exhibiting and tell us whether the horse is stressed, sick or suffering. It could be used on farms, at home on our own animals, in zoos and in veterinary practices. Contributed by phys.org

EGGS AND BREAST CANCER.

The values of eggs cannot be overemphasized as they impact every system of the body to ensure development.

Eggs have been linked to changes in cholesterol levels,but most people dont know the facts; The cholesterol in egg is the good cholesterol necessary for normal system functions.

The high density lipo protein in eggs are the good cholesterol,individuals with high levels of HDL usually have a lower risk of heart disease,stroke, and other health problems.Egg consumption raises HDL level, which translates to reduced health problems.

This is a good indicator for measurement of health risk. In 2008,research from the university of North Carolina found that choline present in the yolk can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 24%,an egg contains 125.5mg of choline. 

 In 2005,another research finding by another group reported that women who ate at least 6 eggs/week have a 44% lower risk of developing breast cancer than women who ate fewer/no eggs.

The research by the Harvard university in 2003 found that eating eggs as an adolescent could prevent breast cancer risk as an adult.

Eating an egg a day is the best recipe to access all benefits of eggs and also reduce health risks.

Plant clinics helping farmers and ensuring food security.

Plant clinic are helping farmers and ensuring food security in Kenya. Majority of Kenya’s population mainly about 75% with the majority concentrated in the rural areas, rely on agriculture not just for food but as a source of income. This sector the country counts on for economic development, contributing over 25 per cent to the economy. The small holder farmers, who form the bulk of the food producers have been grappling with a myriad of challenges, key among them pests and diseases. In fact they lose up to 40 per cent of their yields to these pests according to Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KARLO) the premier research institution in the country. The situation has been exacerbated by changing weather patterns that have seen the emergence of new pests and mutation of others, some which are attacking crops they traditionally didn't. But in the wake of these issues that have threatened food production and ultimately fanning the hunger cycle, Kenya is counting on a model that is giving farmers more personalized attention to tame these diseases. The 'plant clinics', the model which resembles the human health concept, involves officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, researchers from agricultural institutions and scientists who are christened 'plant doctors'. They visit markets, churches and schools on select days and pitch tents there. Farmers then bring samples of their ‘sick plants’ which the doctors analyze before giving a diagnosis and recommending treatment. The concept being championed by both government of Kenya and private research institutions like Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI), have so far been rolled out in major food producing counties in Kenya, and has trained over 268 plant doctors and documented more than 11,600 plant health queries since they were set up in 2010. In Kiambu on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital Nairobi at Kirigiti market, a queue of farmers holding polythene bags snakes its way through the market. Two men are attending to the farmers under a tree. They have a table that has brochures, scalpel, laptops, and magnifying lens. They are the plant doctors who have been stationed here, and visit the area every Saturday. Humphrey Wekesa, one of the doctors is a senior agronomist from the Ministry of Agriculture. Jude Thoiya listens and watches attentively as Humphrey dissects a tomato plant he has brought after noticing worms which have made the leaves wilt and destroyed a section of his yields. The retired civil servant has been growing fresh produce since he retired five years ago. “Your tomatoes have been affected by Whiteflies. You are lucky they haven’t gotten into the severe stage of the attack. He was advised not to spray any pesticides yet, but to use wood ash and sprinkle it over the plants for a week and then come back here and give update.Jude sighs heavily. He has spent a fortune on conventional pesticide and nothing seemed to have worked. “I can’t believe the solution could be in something as simple as wood ash,” he says as he leaves and another farmers prepares to be attended to. They have been instrumental in taming the spread of the Maize Lethal Necrosis, christened the cancer of maize, which struck Kenya’s major food producing zones in 2012 and wiped over 300,000 tonnes of yields in that year alone. The clinics have also nipped in the bud the spread of Tomato leaf miner, commonly referred to as Tuta Absoluta that has crippled tomato production in Kenya according to CABI. The clinics have also played surveillance role especially against foreign threats. At the Kenyan -Uganda border where four clinics have been stationed, they have averted the spread of the notorious black stem rust called Ug 1999 originating from Uganda. Because Kenya and Uganda farmers trade freely, the disease is easier to transport. Samples submitted at the clinics spotted high levels of the fungus.more

BAT'S IMMUNITY; A NEW MODEL FOR PREVENTING DISEASES IN MAN.

Bats are a natural host for more than 100 viruses, some of which are lethal to people, including Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Ebola and Hendra virus, however, interestingly bats do not get sick or show signs of disease from these viruses. A new study has revealed the distinct ability in bats,that enables them carry disease-agents and still remain unaffected by such organisms.For the first time researchers have uncovered a unique ability in bats which allows them to carry but remain unaffected by lethal diseases. Unlike humans, bats keep their immune systems switched on 24/7 and scientists believe this could hold the key to protecting people from deadly diseases like Ebola. The research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), this new research examines the genes and immune system of the Australian black flying fox. Whenever our body encounters a foreign organism, like bacteria or a virus, a complicated set of immune responses are set in motion, one of which is the defense mechanism known as innate immunity,leading bat immunologist at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory Dr Michelle Baker said. The team focused on the innate immunity of bats with particular reference to the role of interferons -which are essential for innate immune responses in mammals and to understand what's special about how bats respond to invading viruses. It was discovered that bats only have three interferons which is only a fraction -- about a quarter -- of the number of interferons found in people.This is surprising given bats have this unique ability to control viral infections that are lethal in people and yet they can do this with a lower number of interferons. The team also compared two type 1 interferons -- alpha and beta.The research showed that bats express a heightened innate immune response even when they were not infected with any detectable virus. Man and mice activate their immune systems only in response to infection, the bats interferon-alpha is constantly 'switched on' acting as a 24/7 front line defense against diseases In other mammalian species, having the immune response constantly switched on is dangerous because it's toxic to tissue and cells- whereas the bat immune system operates in harmony. The important role bats play in the eco-system as pollinators and insect controllers is recognized, bats are also increasingly demonstrating their worth in potentially helping to protect people from infectious diseases.

Dogs are more expressive when someone is looking.

Dogs are more expressive when someone is looking.Dogs produce more facial expressions when humans are looking at them, according to new research.Dogs produce more facial expressions when humans are looking at them, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth. Scientists at the University's Dog Cognition Centre are the first to find clear evidence dogs move their faces in direct response to human attention. Dogs don't respond with more facial expressions upon seeing tasty food, suggesting that dogs produce facial expressions to communicate and not just because they are excited. Brow raising, which makes the eyes look bigger -- so-called puppy dog eyes -- was the dogs' most commonly used expression in this research.