DOI: 10.5581/1516-8484.20130019 Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is defined as a monogenic disease that characterizes the homozygous state of hemoglobin S (Hb S). Hemoglobin S polymerizes under adverse conditions such as deoxygenation, acidosis or dehydration. Its polymers deform erythrocytes and lead to a diverse and complex pathophysiology(1,2). Beta-S globin haplotypes (βS haplotypes) are important ...

The expansion of Bantu-speaking agropastoralist populations had a great impact on the genetic, linguistic, and cultural variation of sub-Saharan Africa. It is generally accepted that Bantu languages originated in an area around the present border between Cameroon and Nigeria approximately 5,000 years ago, from where they spread South and East becoming the largest African linguistic branch. The ...

Since the early seventies, several classifications of Bantu languages have been proposed. Two branches have been identified in some of these classifications: Eastern and Western Bantu. The homogeneity of the languages of the Eastern branch has been confirmed, while the situation appears more complex with Western languages. Indeed, Bastin, Coupez and Mann (1999) have highlighted the complexity o...

In South Africa, it is customary for Bantu mothers to feed their babies almost exclusively at the breast for from 6 to 9 months, and subsequently to feed them partly at the breast for a variable period, sometimes as long as 3 years. In urban centres, in contrast with'rural areas, the position differs somewhat, for Bantu women are often employed in domestic service or factories. When such women ...

Linguistic divergence occurs after speech communities divide, in a process similar to speciation among isolated biological populations. The resulting languages are hierarchically related, like genes or species. Phylogenetic methods developed in evolutionary biology can thus be used to infer language trees, with the caveat that 'borrowing' of linguistic elements between languages also occurs, to...

Introduction. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by hemoglobin S homozygosity, leading to hemolysis and vasoocclusion. The hemolysis releases arginase I, an enzyme that decreases the bioavailability of nitric oxide, worsening the symptoms. The different SCD haplotypes are related to clinical symptoms and varied hemoglobin F (HbF) concentration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ...

the existing literature on bantu verbal semantics demonstrated that inherent semantic content of verbs pairs directly with the selection of tense, aspect and modality formatives in bantu languages like chasu, lucazi, lusamia, and shiyeyi. thus, the gist of this paper is the articulation of semantic classification of verbs in kiswahili based on the selection of tam types. this is because the sem...

This paper describes the general cultural background of male circumcision for the Bantu speaking peoples of sub-equatorial Africa. Where the contemporary cultural context of male circumcision is now variable and often transformed amongst groups who continue the practice, traditional practices were commonly of a particular and rather narrow profile linked to the toughening, training and initiati...

Hypertension is common in the Bantu of Southern Africa (Becker, 1946; Ordman, 1948; Schrire, 1958). Schrire (1958) found that diastolic pressures were higher and electrocardiographic changes of left ventricular hypertrophy greater in the Bantu than in whites, and that hypertension occurs at an earlier age in the non-white races. There has been some difference of opinion about the renal patholog...

Interest in the field of patient safety incident reporting and analysis with respect to Health Information Technology (HIT) has been growing over recent years as the development, implementation and reliance on HIT systems becomes ever more prevalent. One of the rationales for capturing patient safety incidents is to learn from failures in the delivery of care and must form part of a feedback lo...