• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.445-452
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• 2004

Genetic diversity of sub-Saharan African goats was assessed using 19 microsatellite markers. Breeds were sampled from eastern Africa (Maasai, Kigezi, Mubende, North West Highland, Arsi-Bale), southern Africa (Ndebele, Pafuri) and West Africa (West African Dwarf, Maure, Djallonke). European breeds (Grisons Striped, Toggenburg), Asian breeds (Mongolian Cashmere, Bandipur) and a Middle East breed (Arab) were also included. The mean number of alleles per locus and average gene diversity ranged from 5.26$\pm$0.464 (Djallonke) to 7.05$\pm$0.516 (Mubende) and from 0.542$\pm$0.036 (Pafuri) to 0.672$\pm$0.031 (Ndebele), respectively. The between breeds variation evaluated using $$G_{ST}$$ and $\theta$ were found to account for 14.6% ($\theta$) and 15.7% ($$G_{ST}$$) of the total genetic variation. The $D_{A}$ measure of genetic distance between pairs of breeds indicated that the largest genetic distance was between Pafuri and Djallonke while the lowest genetic distance was between Arsi-Bale and North West Highland. A neighbour-joining tree of breed relationships revealed that the breeds were grouped according to their geographic origins. Principal component analysis supported the grouping of the breeds according to their geographic origins. It was concluded that the relationships of sub-Saharan African goat breeds were according to their geographical locations implying that the goats of eastern Africa, West Africa and southern Africa are genetically distinct. Within each sub-region, goat populations could be differentiated according to morphological characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.18
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• pp.97-110
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• 1992

West African's traditional looms, weaving and raw materials, structural patterning, dyeing and basic forms of dress were examines in the present study in order to deepen the appreciation of the cultural heritage of West Africa, and to make a contribution to the policy planning for export market developing The research method employed was the analysis f written materials. The study was limited to the traditional clothing habit which is preserved and practicing by them at the present day and the origin and the process of the historical development of those are not included in the scope of the present study. Followings are the results of the study: (1) They have vertical single-heddle loom horizontal or ground single-heddle loom, and double-heddle loom. The width of the cloth produced on the single-heddle loom varies about 38.5cm to 123cm and double-heddle looms all produced on the single-heddle looms all produced narrow strips of cloth varying in width from about 1.3cm to 75cm, although the average is about 10-20cm. (2) Despite the relative simplicity of the llom technology a remarkable variety of textiles are produced. (3) The most popular decorative technique in West African compound weaves is extra-weft patterning which is produced on both single-heddle and double-heddle loom by men and women weavers. Other forms of secondary patterning on textiles in West Africa are dyeing, applique, patchwork and embroidery. (4) Two basic forms of dress have spread throughout West Africa, the poncho (bpibpi) and the wrapper. Some versions of these basic forms are supplemented by western inspired trousers, shirts and blouses coupled with accessories usually complete their traditional outfits. They have a great variety of basic poncho, like as Khasa, Gandura, Tuareg-poncho, Babariga, Rigas (agba-da), Grand-boubou, Afteck, Tagua, buba, Danshike etc. Although West Africa has long been in contact with the peoples of the Nile region as well as the Maghreb and Sahara, both the boubou styles and the wrapper styles appear to have developed with a minimum of outside influence. African Islam was the principal agent for the diffusion of the boubou styles.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.75-86
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• 2017

The aerosol content dynamics in a virtual system were investigated. The outcome was extended to monitor the mean concentration diffusion of aerosols in a predefined macro and micro scale. The data set used were wind data set from the automatic weather station; satellite data set from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aerosol index and multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer; ground data set from Aerosol robotic network. The maximum speed of the macro scale (West Africa) was less than 4.4 m/s. This low speed enables the pollutants to acquire maximum range of about 15 km. The heterogeneous nature of aerosols layer in the West African atmosphere creates strange transport pattern caused by multiple refractivity. It is believed that the multiple refractive concepts inhibit aerosol optical depth data retrieval. It was also discovered that the build-up of the purported strange transport pattern with time has enormous potential to influence higher degrees of climatic change in the long term. Even when the African Easterly Jet drives the aerosols layer at about 10 m/s, the interacting layers of aerosols are compelled to mitigate its speed to about 4.2 m/s (macro scale level) and boost its speed to 30 m/s on the micro scale level. Mean concentration diffusion of aerosols was higher in the micro scale than the macro scale level. The minimum aerosol content dynamics for non-decaying, logarithmic decay and exponential decay particulates dispersion is given as 4, 1.4 and 0 respectively.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.557-562
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• 2013

In contrast to the gradual reduction in the number of locally transmitted malaria cases in China, the number of imported malaria cases has been increasing since 2008. Here, we report a case of a 39-year-old Chinese man who acquired Plasmodium ovale wallikeri infection while staying in Ghana, West Africa for 6 months in 2012. Microscopic examinations of Giemsa-stained thin and thick blood smears indicated Plasmodium vivax infection. However, the results of rapid diagnostic tests, which were conducted 3 times, were not in agreement with P. vivax. To further check the diagnosis, standard PCR analysis of the small-subunit rRNA gene was conducted, based on which a phylogeny tree was constructed. The results of gene sequencing indicated that this malaria is a variant of P. ovale (P. ovale wallikeri). The infection in this patient was not a new infection, but a relapse of the infection from the one that he had contracted in West Africa.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.37-55
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• 2010

In this paper South Africa is divided into strong wind climate zones, which indicate the main sources of annual maximum wind gusts. By the analysis of wind gust data of 94 weather stations, which had continuous climate time series of 10 years or longer, six sources, or strong-wind producing mechanisms, could be identified and zoned accordingly. The two primary causes of strong wind gusts are thunderstorm activity and extratropical low pressure systems, which are associated with the passage of cold fronts over the southern African subcontinent. Over the eastern and central interior of South Africa annual maximum wind gusts are usually caused by thunderstorm gust fronts during summer, while in the western and southern interior extratropical cyclones play the most dominant role. Along the coast and adjacent interior annual extreme gusts are usually caused by extratropical cyclones. Four secondary sources of strong winds are the ridging of the quasi-stationary Atlantic and Indian Ocean high pressure systems over the subcontinent, surface troughs to the west in the interior with strong ridging from the east, convergence from the interior towards isolated low pressure systems or deep coastal low pressure systems, and deep surface troughs on the West Coast.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.345-369
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• 2017

The ocean environment offshore West Africa is considered to be mild. However, the generated swell from distant North and South Atlantic during austral winter and summer can reach high wave amplitudes with relatively low wave periods or low wave amplitudes with long wave periods, the later can be a crucial scenario to consider when the assessment of vessel resonance is of importance. Most offshore operations, which include offshore drilling, and installation in West Africa, are carried out from floating systems. The response of these systems and performance are governed by characteristics, such as amplitude and frequency of the wave and swell seas. It is therefore important to fully understand the sea conditions offshore Nigeria. This study covers the description of the swell sea offshore Nigeria using Bonga offshore wave measurements collected from the directional wave-rider (DWR), positioned at the Bonga site off the coast of Nigeria.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2017

It is generally acknowledged that the Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) is the most cost-effective riser type for deep-water offshore fields among various risers, including the SCR, flexible riser, and hybrid riser. However, in West Africa, the SCR type may not be suitable for FPSO systems because the large vertical motion of the floater brings about a considerable riser dynamic response. In this paper, an SCR system is designed for the FPSO in the West African field, where the use of a hybrid riser has been preferred. The proposed SCR configuration fulfills the design criteria of the API, such as the strength check and fatigue life. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is also carried out to improve the certainty in the SCR design of a deep-water FPSO. The parameters affecting the strength and fatigue performance of the SCR are considered.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

Mycotoxin contamination is a global phenomenon and causes a wide array of negative effects and other complications. This study focused on commonly found mycotoxins in Africa and the possible means of prevention or reduction of their contaminating effects. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of mold and fungi; they are generally toxic to living organisms. Hundreds of mycotoxins have been identified thus far, with some, such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins, and patulin, considered agro-economically important. Several factors contribute to the presence of mycotoxins in food, such as climatic conditions, pest infestation, and poor harvest and storage practices. Exposure to mycotoxins, which occurs mostly by ingestion, leads to various diseases, such as mycotoxicoses and mycoses that may eventually result in death. In light of this, this review of relevant literature focuses on mycotoxin contamination, as well as various methods for the prevention and control of their prevalence, to avert its debilitating consequences on human health. Clear evidence of mycotoxin contamination is present in Africa, and it was therefore recommended that adequate prevention and control of these toxic substances in our food system should be encouraged and that appropriate measures must be taken to ensure food safety as well as the enhanced or long-lifespan of the African populace. Governments, research institutions, and non-governmental organizations should tailor the limited resources available to tackle mycotoxin prevalence, as these will offer the best prospects for successful development of a sustainable food system in Africa.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.87-109
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• 2012

A substantial part of South Africa is subject to more than one strong wind source. The effect of that on extreme winds is that higher quantiles are usually estimated with a mixed strong wind climate estimation method, compared to the traditional Gumbel approach based on a single population. The differences in the estimated quantiles between the two methods depend on the values of the Gumbel distribution parameters for the different strong wind mechanisms involved. Cluster analysis of the distribution parameters provides a characterization of the effect of the relative differences in their values, and therefore the dominance of the different strong wind mechanisms. For gusts, cold fronts tend to dominate over the coastal and high-lying areas, while other mechanisms, especially thunderstorms, are dominant over the lower-lying areas in the interior. For the hourly mean wind speeds cold fronts are dominant in the south-west, south and east of the country. On the West Coast the ridging of the Atlantic Ocean high-pressure system dominate in the south, while the presence of a deep trough or coastal low pressure system is the main strong wind mechanism in the north. In the central interior cold fronts tend to share their influence almost equally with other synoptic-scale mechanisms.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.213-218
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• 2013

Malaria is a parasitic infection caused by Plasmodium species. Most of the imported malaria in Korea are due to Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum, and Plasmodium ovale infections are very rare. Here, we report a case of a 24-year-old American woman who acquired P. ovale while staying in Ghana, West Africa for 5 months in 2010. The patient was diagnosed with P. ovale malaria based on a Wright-Giemsa stained peripheral blood smear, Plasmodium genus-specific real-time PCR, Plasmodium species-specific nested PCR, and sequencing targeting 18S rRNA gene. The strain identified had a very long incubation period of 19-24 months. Blood donors who have malaria with a very long incubation period could be a potential danger for propagating malaria. Therefore, we should identify imported P. ovale infections not only by morphological findings but also by molecular methods for preventing propagation and appropriate treatment.