The influence of the water supply on the bioactive compounds of different tomato varieties

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of irrigation on the composition and content of phenolic compounds and carotenoids in different tomato cultivars using HPLC/DAD-UV technique and reverse-phase (RP) chromatographic columns for analysis. Among phenols, the quercetin derivatives and hydroxycinnamic acids and their derivatives were the major compounds, while lycopene was the dominant carotenoid in the extract of tomato. It was found that the response of tomatos to shortage of water is affected by genetic factors and seasonal environmental variations. In general, 100% irrigation yielded tomatoes with the lowest level of carotenoids and polyphenols. In 2012, when the temperature and number of sunny hours were at record levels, the non-irrigated plants of cultivar Strombolino yielded tomatoes with significantly higher levels of carotenoids and phenols than that of the other cultivars

Ethical issues invoked by Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is universally referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. It is a current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. The computerisation of manufacturing includes, amongst other, cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and cognitive computing. There are many challenges in the realisation of Industry 4.0. In order to adopt a "smart factory" and improved (software) processes many ethical considerations need to be identified and considered if a company is to obtain an ethical development and deployment of Industry 4.0. The purpose of normative ethics is to scrutinise standards about the rightness and wrongness of actions, the ultimate goal being the identification of the true human good. A rational appeal can be made to normative defensible ethical rules in order to arrive at a judicious, ethically justifiable judgement. In this position and constructive design research paper our steps are: First we report on the findings of a broad literature review of related research, which refers to the current challenges in the realisation of Industry 4.0. Second, we identify and list some basic generic Deontological and Teleological ethical principles and theories that can serve as normative guidelines for addressing the challenges identified in the initial step. Third, we prescribe a set of ethical rights and duties that must be exercised and fulfilled by protagonists/stakeholders in Industry 4.0 implementation in order for them to exhibit ethical behaviour. Each of these suggested actions are substantiated via an appeal to one, or a number of the normative guidelines, identified in the second step. By identifying and recommending a set of defensible ethical obligations that must be fulfilled in the development and deployment of smart factories, protagonists such as: employers, project managers, technology suppliers, trade unions, (on a microscopic level) and chambers of commerce, local and national government (on a macroscopic level) and other can fulfil their ethical duties. Thus, a deployed Industry 4.0 solution can result in technological change, social change and changes in the business paradigm, which are all ethically justifiable. Ultimately all the improvement processes of Industry 4.0 implementation must be underpinned with ethical consideration

The sociocultural dimension of the Software Process Improvement manifesto: pilot validation by experts

The SPI Manifesto is based on three basic values: people, business focus, and organizational change underpinning the philosophy of Software Process Improvement (SPI). In turn, these values bring up to date certain SPI principles serving as a foundation for action in software development. The authors of this paper carried out a pilot expert validation of the Sociocultural dimension of the STEEPLED (Sociocultural, Technical, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical and Demographic) analysis of the SPI Manifesto. Further, the authors report on the rationale and results of the pilot validation of both the survey instrument and the qualitative responses generated by the field experts, targeting to enlighten and reinforce the importance of the Sociocultural dimension of the SPI Manifesto in research and development. The related literature review findings and the pilot research study strengthen this target. The pilot study with experts in particular provided stronger indications that the Sociocultural dimension is considered of high importance by between 62% and 88% of the respondents, who were IT and Computing professionals and software practitioners from academia and industry

Investigation of antinutritive components in Hungarian potato cultivars depending on production technology

We have investigated the Total Glycoalcaloid (TGA), nitrite, and nitrate contents of some Hungarian and foreign potato cultivars in relation to the effect of different combination of fertilisers and green manure, late blight management strategies (none, programmed, or prediction based spraying), and irrigation regime for three years. The Hungarian cultivars have exotic potato species like S. acaule, S. demissum, S. stoloniferum, S. vernei, or S. tub. ssp. andigenum in their genetic background as sources of resistance genes. No effect of fertilisers or irrigation was found on the level of glycoalkaloids and nitrate contents, which were influenced mostly by the genotype and season. In conclusion, the absolute amount and the presence of different antinutritive components of potato tubers were influenced by the technology, genotype, and season in a complex manner. These results in general prove that ware potato production utilising intensive commercial agrotechnical practices and common cultivars is safe regarding the nitrate and TGA content of tubers

Social Differences in Health Behaviours among Jordanian Adolescents

Social differences are evident in both developed and developing countries. During adolescence, there are limited differences in morbidity and mortality, but differences do appear in terms of health behaviours. This study aims to examine the relationship(s) between social differences and students’ health behaviours. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 with a sample of high school students (N = 2741, aged 13–18 years) in Jordan. Besides descriptive statistics, bivariate logistic regression analysis was used to detect the odds risk for each social difference indicator. Females were engaged in more healthy dietary and hygienic behaviours and less engaged in smoking. Males were more physically active. Adolescents with a higher parental education level were more engaged in healthy behaviours; however, they drank carbonated soft drinks and ate fast food more often. Higher SES (socioeconomic status) self-evaluation was positively associated with eating breakfast and fruit and vegetables, being physically active, drinking carbonated soft drinks, eating fast food, and smoking. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic differences are important to understanding Jordanian adolescents’ health behaviours. While females tend to engage in more healthy behaviours, the role of parental education and perceived family affluence is not always beneficial in terms of adolescents’ dietary habits, hygienic behaviour, or smoking

Influence of culture conditions on the antibiotic production of antagonistic Bacillus strains isolated from tomato rhizosphere

Many phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi attack tomato plants both in seedling (e.g. Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium debaryanum) and in developed foliar state (e.g. Phytophthora infestans, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria solani, Xanthomonas vesicatoria, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, Clavibacter michiganensis). It would be desirable to find an efficient biocontrol approach for preventing the destructive effect of these pathogens. In the frame of this study, more than 250 bacteria with antagonistic properties were isolated and characterized. Results of the preliminary antagonism tests revealed that the strains belonging into the genus Bacillus were the most efficient agents against the tomato pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The Bacillus strains with the best antagonistic traits were investigated in detail. The antibiotics present in the cell-free ferment broths were detected and analysed by thin layer chromatography. Specific PCR-based approach was developed and used for the detection of the distinct antibiotic-synthesis gene clusters (iturin, surfactin, fengycin, bacillomycin and mycosubtilin) in the genomes of the strains. Our investigation revealed that the best antagonistic strains produced high amount of surfactin and/or fengycin antibiotics. On the basis of these experiments two strains were selected for further investigations. The influence of the Cu2+ and Fe2+ ions and the quality of carbon and nitrogen sources were tested in liquid culture for the antibiotic production levels by the strains. Both copper and iron highly elevated the production rate at least of the tyrosine containing antibiotics. The applied carbon and nitrogen sources highly influenced both the quantity and quality of the antibiotic mixture secreted by the strain B23 of Bacillus subtilis

Towards a multidimensional self-assessment for software process improvement: a pilot tool

The SPI Manifesto provides a framework for guiding software development organisations in their improvement efforts. Based on the Values of People, Business and Change, which are supported and informed by one or more of the ten principles, the designer and developer can avoid pitfalls, minimise risks and make their business successful. It has been established, in theory and practice, that improving the process results in improvement of the products and services emanating from that process. Following a number of earlier multidimensional analyses of the SPI Manifesto, carried out by the authors, a series of tabular representations identifying the nature, importance and strength of relationships between the Manifesto’s Values and Principles in terms of eight dimensions encapsulated in the acronym STEEPLED (Sociocultural, Technical, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, Ethical and Demographic) were developed. In this paper, we present a conceptualisation of a pilot automated tool (based on the STEEPLED Analysis), which could, potentially, be implemented/realised and used for self-assessment by software developing organisations. Starting with a self-assessment, current issues and requirements could be identified and revealed. The self-assessment using the pilot automated tool would, additionally, reveal areas requiring improvement, and would serve as a guide for the participating organisation to put focus on prioritising candidate process areas that require improvement. Also, the field testing of the pilot tool could enable the design and improvement of the tool itself, which, in turn, will be used in future for expert external/independent process assessment

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education: experiences and feelings reported by primary school pupils from Greece and Turkey

Covid 19 pandemic had a huge impact upon life and the educational experience of students. One of the groups mostly affected from this pandemic is the school children. The sudden transition to distance education from traditional face-to-face education undoubtedly changed the implementation methods of the teaching programme in schools. The research study reported in this paper was carried out in Greece and Turkey. Responses were collected from primary school pupils who voluntarily and anonymously completed an online questionnaire with multiple choice questions. The latter were carefully worded in an appropriate and understandable way, using language suitable for primary school aged children. Comparisons between the responses from the two countries revealed similarities and differences. Through a comparative approach the research results are particularly scruitinised through the lenses of equal opportunities and social exclusion policies along with a cross cultural perspective, which is expected to have a useful impact during the post pandemic era. By sharing the collective knowledge and experience gained, we aspire to propose educational strategies for well-being and recovery, and overall educational process improvement

Effect of short-term storage on walnut fruit quality

Two Hungarian and two introduced walnut cultivars were examined as fresh samples and under storage. Some important compositional data were determined in order to evaluate the differences between the cultivars and the changes after storage. The cultivars’ oil contents were the same, but there was some difference in fatty acid composition; ‘Alsószentiváni 117’ had a higher mono-unsaturated fatty acid content than the others. Considering the oxidative stability, ‘Alsószentiváni 117’ contained good properties in all stages (induction time equals or higher than 10 h). Lower antioxidant capacity was measured in ‘Chandler’ samples compared to the others. ‘Alsószentiváni 117’ has higher α- and γ-tocopherol contents than the other cultivars studied. Two different drying methods were also compared in case of the Hungarian cultivars. The changes in compositional data showed no tendencies. We found that Hungarian cultivars were at least as valuable as the introduced ones

Preferences of Hungarian consumers for quality, access and price attributes of health care services — result of a discrete choice experiment

In 2010, a household survey was carried out in Hungary among 1037 respondents to study consumer preferences and willingness to pay for health care services. In this paper, we use the data from the discrete choice experiments included in the survey, to elicit the preferences of health care consumers about the choice of health care providers. Regression analysis is used to estimate the effect of the improvement of service attributes (quality, access, and price) on patients’ choice, as well as the differences among the socio-demographic groups. We also estimate the marginal willingness to pay for the improvement in attribute levels by calculating marginal rates of substitution. The results show that respondents from a village or the capital, with low education and bad health status are more driven by the changes in the price attribute when choosing between health care providers. Respondents value the good skills and reputation of the physician and the attitude of the personnel most, followed by modern equipment and maintenance of the office/hospital. Access attributes (travelling and waiting time) are less important. The method of discrete choice experiment is useful to reveal patients’ preferences, and might support the development of an evidence-based and sustainable health policy on patient payments