Effect of ethylene released from Ethrel in alkaline medium on banana (Musa spp.) fruit ripening

The effect of ethylene gas, released from Ethrel in alkaline medium, on banana fruit ripening was evaluated. ‘Dwarf Cavendish‘ banana fruits were obtained from a private orchard in Sinja, 400 kilometers south of Khartoum. The fruits were harvested at the ’full three quarters‘ maturity stage and transported to the laboratory at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum. They were washed with water to remove latex and dust, treated with 10% sodium hypochlorite as a disinfectant and air-dried. The fruits were treated with ethylene gas released from Ethrel at 0 (control), 250, 500 and 1000 ppm for 24 hrs. in hermetically sealed 20 l plastic chambers. Calculated amount of Ethrel that release the desired ethylene gas concentration was added to a beaker containing 15 ml of 40% Na OH in each chamber and immediately closed. After 24 hrs., the chambers were opened and fruits were placed in carton boxes lined with perforated polyethylene films and kept at 18±1˚C and 80%-85% relative humidity. Treatments with ethylene gas released from Ethrel at 250, 500, and 1000 ppm significantly accelerated fruit ripening, the higher the concentration the more was the effect. Depending on concentration, ripening was 2-5 days earlier in the treated fruits, compared with the control. The untreated fruits reached the climacteric peak of respiration after 10 days. Ethylene treatment at 250, 500, and 1000 ppm significantly accelerated the onset of the climacteric peak by 2, 4 and 5 days, respectively, compared with the untreated fruits. The effect of ethylene released from Ethrel on banana fruit ripening was also indicated by increased peel color development, total soluble solids (TSS), total and reducing sugars accumulation and enhanced fruit softening and weight loss.   قُــوم تأثيـر غــاز الٳثليـن المنبعث من الٳثريــل فى وســط قلــوى على ٳنضاج  ثمــار المــوز. وفــرت ثمــار المــوز من صنف ‘دوارف كافندش’ من مزرعـة خاصة  فى منطقة سنجة، 400 كيلومتراً جنوب الخرطوم. حصدت الثمار فى مرحلة ‘ثلاثة أرباع ممتلئة’ من ٳكتمال النمو وتم ترحيلها ٳلى المعمل فى قسم البساتين، بكلية الزراعة، جامعة الخرطوم. غسلت الثمار بالماء لٳزالة العصارة والأتربة وعوملت بهيبوكلوريت الصوديوم (10%) كمطهر ثم  جففت الثمار بازالة الماء العالق بها بواسطة تيار من الهواء. عوملت الثمار بغاز الٳثيلين المنبعث من الٳثريل بتركيز صفر (شاهد) و 250 و500 و1000 جزء فى المليون لمدة 24 ساعة فى حاويات بلاستيكية محكمة الٳغلاق سعة 20 لتراً. أضيفت الكميات المحسوبة من الٳثريل التى تفرز التركيزات المطلوبة الى 15 ملى ليتر من هيدروكسيد الصوديوم (40%) وضعت فى كؤوس زجاجية داخل الحاويات واغلقت الحاويات مباشرة بعد ذلك. بعد 24 ساعة من المعاملة  فتحت الحاويات ووضعت الثمار فى صناديق من الكرتون مبطنة بشرائح البولى ٳثيلين المثقب وحفظت على درجة حرارة 18±1 ˚م ورطوبة نسبية 80% - 85%. أدت المعاملة بالٳثيلين المنبعث من الٳثريل معنوياً ٳلى الٳسراع  بنضج ثمار الموز، وكان التركيز الأعلى أكثر فعالية. كان الٳنضاج أسرع فى الثمار المعاملة بمقدار 5-2 أيام حسب التركيز، مقارنة بالثمار غير المعاملة. أدت المعاملة بغاز الٳثيلين المنبعث من الإثريل معنوياً لتسريع وصول الثمار إلى ذروة التنفس. فقد وصلت الثمار غير المعاملة ٳلى ذروة التنفس، بعد 10 أيــام، وقد تسارع معنوياً وصول الثمار المعاملة بغاز الٳثيلين المنبعث من الٳثريل بتركيز 250 و500 و1000 جزء فى المليون ٳلى ذروة التنفس 2 و4 و5 أيــام، على التوالى، مقارنة بالثمار غير المعاملة. كما انعكس تأثير المعاملة بغاز الٳثيلين، المنبعث من الٳثريل، فى ٳنضاج ثمار الموز فى الزيادة فى تلوين القشرة الخارجية للثمار وتراكم المواد الصلبة الكلية الذائبة والسكريات الكلية  والمختزلة والٳسراع  بليونة لب الثمار وفقدان الوزن فيها.   &nbsp

The Role of the Electronic Journalism in the Political Reform Processes

The present study aimed to explore the role of the electronic journalism in the political reform processes. The researcher adopted a descriptive analytical approach. He used a questionnaire that consists from 14 items. The population consists from all the students enrolled at public universities in Jordan. A random sample was selected. It consists from 200 female and male students.  It was found that the extent of following the electronic news by the university students in Jordan is high from their perspective. It was found that the electronic journalism play a very significant role in the political reform processes from the perspective of the students enrolled at public universities in Jordan. The researcher recommends increasing the engagement of students in the discussions held on news websites and blogs in order to promote political awareness. Keywords: Electronic journalism, political reform DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-15-18 Publication date:May 31st 2020

Physical-Chemical Treatment Of Stabilized Leachate Using Limestone, Activated Carbon And Zeolite [TD795.7. A286 2007 f rb].

Pencirian larutlesapan dari tapak kambus tanah Larut Matang Taiping telah dijalankan. Warna, COD, ferum dan nitrogen ammonia hadir pada kepekatan yang tinggi di tapak ini. Leachate generated from Larut Matang landfill in Taiping was characterized. Colour, COD, iron and ammoniacal nitrogen were found to be high. The potential use of activated carbon, limestone and zeolite and their possible mixtures as an adsorbent was investigated in this research

Physical Solubility of Hydrogen Sulfide and Carbon Dioxide in Alkanolamine Solutions

Chemical Engineerin

Physical Chemical Treatment Of Stabilized Leachate Using Limestone, Activated Carbon And Zeolite

Leachate generated from Larut Matang landfill in Taiping was characterized. Colour, COD, iron and ammoniacal nitrogen were found to be high. The potential use of activated carbon, limestone and zeolite and their possible mixtures as an adsorbent was investigated in this research. Influence of shaking speed and contact time was studied. The adsorption isotherms and the kinetics constants were determined. The batch experiments demonstrated that both combine mixtures of activated carbon with zeolite at 15:25 (by volume) and activated carbon with limestone and zeolite at 15:10:15 (by volume) gave the best results with removal efficiencies more than 90% for colour and ironi 85% for COD, 80% for ammoniacal nitrogen at shaking speed of 350 rpm and contact time of 4 hours. Both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms fitted well to the experimental data with correlation coefficient more than 93%. The mixtures yielded adsorption capacity of 522.19, 232.56, 52.63, 21.01 (mg/g) and SOO, 200, 50, 20.20 (mg/g) for colour, COD, iron and ammoniacal nitrogen, respectively. The kinetic results showed that the data fitted well with the pseudo second order equation with correlation approaching unity for all parameters in all experiments implying that the rate limiting step may be chemisorption. The regeneration experiments showed that 0.2 M HN03 can be used to regenerate activate carbon and 0.2 M HCI and NaCI mixture and regenerate zeolite, with regeneration more than 80% in most cases

Systematic review of the safety of medication use in inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Background Errors in medication use are a patient safety concern globally, with different regions reporting differing error rates, causes of errors and proposed solutions. The objectives of this review were to identify, summarise, review and evaluate published studies on medication errors, drug related problems and adverse drug events in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Methods A systematic review was carried out using six databases, searching for literature published between January 1990 and August 2016. Research articles focussing on medication errors, drug related problems or adverse drug events within different healthcare settings in the GCC were included. Results Of 2094 records screened, 54 studies met our inclusion criteria. Kuwait was the only GCC country with no studies included. Prescribing errors were reported to be as high as 91% of a sample of primary care prescriptions analysed in one study. Of drug-related admissions evaluated in the emergency department the most common reason was patient non-compliance. In the inpatient care setting, a study of review of patient charts and medication orders identified prescribing errors in 7% of medication orders, another reported prescribing errors present in 56% of medication orders. The majority of drug related problems identified in inpatient paediatric wards were judged to be preventable. Adverse drug events were reported to occur in 8.5–16.9 per 100 admissions with up to 30% judged preventable, with occurrence being highest in the intensive care unit. Dosing errors were common in inpatient, outpatient and primary care settings. Omission of the administered dose as well as omission of prescribed medication at medication reconciliation were common. Studies of pharmacists’ interventions in clinical practice reported a varying level of acceptance, ranging from 53% to 98% of pharmacists’ recommendations. Conclusions Studies of medication errors, drug related problems and adverse drug events are increasing in the GCC. However, variation in methods, definitions and denominators preclude calculation of an overall error rate. Research with more robust methodologies and longer follow up periods is now required.Peer reviewe

Hospital mortality is associated with ICU admission time

Previous studies have shown that patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after "office hours" are more likely to die. However these results have been challenged by numerous other studies. We therefore analysed this possible relationship between ICU admission time and in-hospital mortality in The Netherlands. This article relates time of ICU admission to hospital mortality for all patients who were included in the Dutch national ICU registry (National Intensive Care Evaluation, NICE) from 2002 to 2008. We defined office hours as 08:00-22:00 hours during weekdays and 09:00-18:00 hours during weekend days. The weekend was defined as from Saturday 00:00 hours until Sunday 24:00 hours. We corrected hospital mortality for illness severity at admission using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, reason for admission, admission type, age and gender. A total of 149,894 patients were included in this analysis. The relative risk (RR) for mortality outside office hours was 1.059 (1.031-1.088). Mortality varied with time but was consistently higher than expected during "off hours" and lower during office hours. There was no significant difference in mortality between different weekdays of Monday to Thursday, but mortality increased slightly on Friday (RR 1.046; 1.001-1.092). During the weekend the RR was 1.103 (1.071-1.136) in comparison with the rest of the week. Hospital mortality in The Netherlands appears to be increased outside office hours and during the weekends, even when corrected for illness severity at admission. However, incomplete adjustment for certain confounders might still play an important role. Further research is needed to fully explain this differenc

Pyrenophora teres: Profile of an increasingly damaging barley pathogen

Pyrenophora teres, causal agent of net blotch of barley, exists in two forms, designated P. teres f. teres and P. teres f. maculata, which induce net form net blotch (NFNB) and spot form net blotch (SFNB), respectively. Significantly more work has been performed on the net form than on the spot form although recent activity in spot form research has increased because of epidemics of SFNB in barley‐producing regions. Genetic studies have demonstrated that NFNB resistance in barley is present in both dominant and recessive forms, and that resistance/susceptibility to both forms can be conferred by major genes, although minor quantitative trait loci have also been identified. Early work on the virulence of the pathogen showed toxin effector production to be important in disease induction by both forms of pathogen. Since then, several laboratories have investigated effectors of virulence and avirulence, and both forms are complex in their interaction with the host. Here, we assemble recent information from the literature that describes both forms of this important pathogen and includes reports describing the host–pathogen interaction with barley. We also include preliminary findings from a genome sequence survey

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]