Search results for " africa"
showing 10 items of 604 documents
Cytotoxic activity of medicinal plants of the Kakamega County (Kenya) against drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells
2018
Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance The geographical location of Kakamega County proximal to the Kakamega Rain Forest in Kenya and its rich flora represents an interesting resource of traditional medicinal plants. The medicinal plants in the present study are traditionally used to treat cancer in Kakamega County as recorded in published literature. Aim of the study Due to multidrug resistance (MDR) and severe side effects of currently used drugs in clinical oncology, new candidate compounds are urgently required to improve treatment outcome. The present study explored the in vitro cytotoxic potential of 34 organic and 19 aqueous extracts of Kakamega medicinal plants towards sensitive an…
Bistacrines as potential antitrypanosomal agents
2017
Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by two subspecies of the genus Trypanosoma, namely Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. The disease is fatal if left untreated and therapy is limited due to only five non-adequate drugs currently available. In preliminary studies, dimeric tacrine derivatives were found to inhibit parasite growth with IC50-values in the nanomolar concentration range. This prompted the synthesis of a small, but smart library of monomeric and dimeric tacrine-type compounds and their evaluation of antiprotozoal activity. Rhodesain, a lysosomal cathepsin-L like cysteine protease of T. brucei rhodesiense is essential for parasite survival a…
North African Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used in Cancer Therapy.
2017
Background: Cancer is a major cause of mortality worldwide with increasing numbers by the years. In North Africa, the number of cancer patients is alarming. Also shocking is that a huge number of cancer patients only have access to traditional medicines due to several factors, e.g., economic difficulties. In fact, medicinal plants are widely used for the treatment of several pathologies, including cancer. Truthfully, herbalists and botanists in North African countries prescribe several plants for cancer treatment. Despite the popularity and the potential of medicinal plants for the treatment of cancer, scientific evidence on their anticancer effects are still scarce for most of the describe…
Human Breast Milk NMR Metabolomic Profile across Specific Geographical Locations and Its Association with the Milk Microbiota
2018
The composition of human breast milk is highly variable, and it can be influenced by genetics, diet, lifestyle, and other environmental factors. This study aimed to investigate the impact of geographical location and mode of delivery on the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) metabolic profile of breast milk and its relationship with the milk microbiome. Human milk metabolic and microbiota profiles were determined using NMR and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, respectively, in 79 healthy women from Finland, Spain, South Africa, and China. Up to 68 metabolites, including amino acids, oligosaccharides, and fatty acid-associated metabolites, were identified in the milk NMR spectra. The meta…
Subnational mapping of HIV incidence and mortality among individuals aged 15-49 years in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-18: a modelling study
2021
Background. High-resolution estimates of HIV burden across space and time provide an important tool for tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts and assist with improving the precision and efficiency of targeting efforts. We aimed to assess HIV incidence and HIV mortality for all second-level administrative units across sub-Saharan Africa. Methods. In this modelling study, we developed a framework that used the geographically specific HIV prevalence data collected in seroprevalence surveys and antenatal care clinics to train a model that estimates HIV incidence and mortality among individuals aged 15–49 years. We used a model-based geostatistical framework to e…
Eight-Membered Rings With Two Heteroatoms 1,2
2022
The chapter titled “Eight-membered Rings with two Heteroatoms 1,2” deals with heterocine rings with two heteroatoms in a 1,2 relationship, namely 1,2-diazocine, 2H-1,2-oxazocine, 2H-1,2-thiazocine, 1,2-dioxocin, 1,2-oxathiocin and 1,2-dithiocin. This article covers the literature from 2007 to 2019 and reports the chemistry of uncondensed derivatives, heterocines fused to carbocycles and heterocycles, as well as bridged heterocines. As usual, in the case that a particular section is not mentioned, it means that no chemistry has been reported. In this article, the “Biosynthesis” paragraph was additionally introduced, since in the latest years the contribution of Nature to the synthesis of dih…
The aspect of nationality and performance in a mountain ultra-marathon-the ‘Swiss Alpine Marathon’
2012
Eichenberger E, Knechtle B, Rust CA, Lepers R, Rosemann T, Onywera VO. The aspect of nationality and performance in a mountain ultra-marathon - the ‘Swiss Alpine Marathon’ J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 748-762, 2012. Runners from East Africa and especially from Kenya dominate middle- and longdistance running races worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the participation and performance trends regarding the nationality of runners in a mountain ultra-marathon held in partially high alpine terrain. We hypothesized that Kenyan runners, living and training in the Great Rift Valley, a predominantly hilly, mountainous and altitudinous region like the Alps, would domin…
Performance of Kenyan athletes in mountain versus flat marathon running - An example in Switzerland
2013
Harm, C., Knechtle, B., Rust, A.C., Rosemann, T., Lepers, R. & Onywera, V. (2013). Performance of Kenyan athletes in mountain versus flat marathon running - An example in Switzerland. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 8(4), pp.881-893. The purpose of this study was to compare running performance of Kenyans in a flat city marathon and a mountain marathon in Switzerland. Running times of top three overall Kenyan runners were compared with running times of top three overall runners of other nations in a mountain and a flat marathon held in Switzerland between 2003 and 2011. In the mountain marathon top three male Kenyans achieved with 199±23min the 11th fastest running time behind athletes from Italy (177…
Participation and performance trends of East-African runners in Swiss half-marathons and marathons held between 2000 and 2010.
2013
Abstract Background This study examined the changes in participation, performance and age of East African runners competing in half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland between 2000 and 2010. Methods Race times, sex, age and origin of East African versus Non-African finishers of half-marathon and marathon finishers were analyzed. Results Across time, the number of Kenyan and Ethiopian finishers remained stable (P > 0.05) while the number of Non-African finishers increased for both women and men in both half-marathons and marathons (P < 0.05). In half-marathons, the top ten African women (71 ± 1.4 min) and top three (62.3 ± 0.6 min) and top ten (62.8 ± 0.4 min) African men were …
Errors and uncertainties introduced by a regional climate model in climate impact assessments: example of crop yield simulations in West Africa
2015
16 pages; International audience; The challenge of estimating the potential impacts of climate change has led to an increasing use of dynamical downscaling to produce fine spatial-scale climate projections for impact assessments. In this work, we analyze if and to what extent the bias in the simulated crop yield can be reduced by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model to downscale ERA-Interim (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis) rainfall and radiation data. Then, we evaluate the uncertainties resulting from both the choice of the physical parameterizations of the WRF model and its internal variability. Impact assessments w…