General This is a careful, well written analysis of changes in sexual behaviour in young, urban adults in Zambia, with a comparable rural population. The function of the manuscript is to look at behavioural risk factors related to an observed decline in HIV prevalence. The identification of 'confounding' variables that seem to explain the relationship between HIV risk and education is an intere...

Investigation into proximate and mineral content of three commercially important fish species (Lates niloticus, Clarias anguillaris and Hemisynodontis membranaceus using the traditional smoked method was conducted. Proximate analysis showed significant differences (P< 0.05) among the fish samples. However, there was no significant difference in their mineral content. Crude protein in fish sampl...

Ocimum gratissimum is a common plant in the tropics and has been used in food and medicine. Its usage in food and medicine could be attributed to its phtyochemical and antimicrobial properties. In this study we investigated the proximate, phytochemical, and antimicrobial attributes of air dried leaves of O. gratissimum. The aqueous extract was found to contain phtyochemicals with alkaloid and s...

Samples of albacore Thunnus alalunga from 6 locations worldwide were used for blood group analysis according to the binding patterns of 8 different lectins. Conventional tag recapture data was reviewed and a spatially structured tag attrition model was fitted to data from the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Blood group analyses suggest that: (1) the Pacific population is the most distant ...

Proximate composition and phytochemical constituents of stems of A. africana and T. diversifolia (Asteraceae) were investigated. The stems of these species contain anti-oxidant, anticancer, anti-tumor, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties which cures malaria, skin diseases, athlete’s foot, asthma, gonorrhoea and to stop bleeding. The stems of these two species revealed the...

Proximate and ultimate causes in evolutionary biology have come to conflate two distinctions. The first is a distinction between immediate and historical causes. The second is between explanations of mechanism and adaptive function. Mayr emphasized the first distinction but many evolutionary biologists use proximate and ultimate causes to refer to the second. I recommend that ‘ultimate cause’ b...

In this paper we use calendar data from the 2000 Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to assess the determinants of birth interval length among women who are in union. We make use of the well-known model of the proximate determinants of fertility, and take advantage of the fact that the DHS calendar data provide month-bymonth data on contraceptive use, breastfeeding and post-partum amen...

The use of plant-derived foods in the prevention, treatment, and management of metabolic diseases especially diabetes has gained prominence; this has been associated with their physicochemical properties. This study was conducted to compare the proximate, functional, mineral, and antinutrient composition of the fermented seeds, the defatted seeds, and the protein isolate from Parkia biglobosa s...

Forests in lowland Bolivia suffer from severe deforestation caused by different types of agents and land use activities. We identify three major proximate causes of deforestation. The largest share of deforestation is attributable to the expansion of mechanized agriculture, followed by cattle ranching and small-scale agriculture. We utilize a spatially explicit multinomial logit model to analyz...

There is worldwide interest in deriving increasing amounts of energy from bio-based agricultural materials including not only lignocellulosic residues but also a significant quantity of available livestock manure. This manure can be used as a feedstock for various thermochemical conversion processes such as pyrolysis and gasification. In order to apply these processes, the manure must be proper...