Metabolomic analysis by UAE-GC MS and antioxidant activity of <i>Salvia hispanica </i>(L.) seeds grown under different irrigation regimes

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is an emerging crop with a high content of α-linolenic acid and metabolites of industrial and pharmaceutical interest but information on metabolome variations in response to agricultural management is scarce. We investigated the yield and metabolic profile of the seeds of two chia populations, one commercial black (B) and one long-day flowering genotype (G8), in response to two irrigation levels: replacement of 100% ET⁠0 (I) or rainfed (NI). Seed yield was higher in irrigated plots in G8 only (0.255kgm⁠−2 for I vs 0.184kgm⁠−2 for NI) while it was very low regardless of irrigation in B due to late flowering. Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) of seeds followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed differences in fatty acids and the major classes of organic compounds due to both genotype and irrigation, especially in the non-polar phase where irrigated samples showed a higher content of α-linolenic and other fatty acids and a lower oleic/linoleic ratio (47.4 in NI vs. 39.6 in I). The antioxidant activity, expressed as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ranged from 1.317±0.027 to 2.174±0.010mmol TEAC/g of defatted chia seed after 2 and 40min respectively, and was negatively affected by irrigation. The total polyphenolic content (TPC) measured with the Folin-Ciocalteu method, also decreased with irrigation. According to our results irrigation can affect chia yield, metabolome and antioxidant behavior but some of the effects are genotype-dependent

Metabolomic analysis and antioxidant activity of wild type and mutant Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) stem and flower grown under different irrigation regimes

BACKGROUND: Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) is a functional food from Central America. Interest in it is growing rapidly due to the many health benefits from the seed. However, when chia is grown at high latitudes, seed yield may be low whereas a high stem biomass and immature inflorescences are produced. Little is known about the chemical composition and the properties of stems and flowers. In this work, the metabolite profile, the antioxidant activity, and the total polyphenol content of stems and inflorescences were evaluated in a factorial experiment with different chia populations (commercial black chia and long-day flowering mutants G3, G8, and G17) and irrigation (100% and 50% of evapotranspiration).RESULTS: The results show the influence of irrigation and seed source on the antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content of chia flower and stem. Inflorescences exhibit higher antioxidant activity, suggesting their potential use as natural antioxidant. The mutants G3 and G8, at 50% irrigation, contained the highest amounts of compounds with nutraceutical value, especially within the flower. The mutant G17 showed lower antioxidant activity and polyphenol content compared to other seed sources but exhibited high omega 3 content in flowers but low in stems. This indicates that chia varieties should be chosen according to the objective of cultivation.CONCLUSION: These findings, indicating a close relation of metabolite content with irrigation and seed source, may provide the basis for the use of chia flower and stem for their nutraceutical value in the food, feed, and supplement industries.</p

The psychological benefits and efficacy of computer-assisted training on competency enhancement in adults with intellectual disability. A systematic review

The use of modern technologies as instructional tools is becoming increasingly prevalent in both general and special education. This systematic review examines the effects of computer-assisted and digital training on competency enhancement for adults with intellectual disabilities. As opposed to mere knowledge, “competency” was defined as the ability to apply and employ acquired knowledge to carry out tasks and solve problems in professional, social, and personal life domains. The PRISMA procedure was used to search for records dealing with competency enhancement using computerized training for intellectually disabled adults. Twenty-two articles met the inclusion criteria, showing that contemporary technology, computer-based tools, and digital instruments can positively affect the quality of life of adults with intellectual disabilities, and enhance their personal, professional, and social competencies. Ultimately, fostering computer-based technology to enhance competencies in adults with intellectual disabilities appears to be very promising, in that it allows these individuals to better integrate into society and live more independently, autonomously, and effectively

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) as a novel forage and feed source: A review

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.), is a traditional pre-Colombian food crop from Central America. Being considered the richest botanical source of omega-3 fatty acids, it has recently been rediscovered as a functional food and feed. A growing body of literature indicates that dietary chia seeds greatly improve animal products quality without compromising growth, productivity and organoleptic quality. Chia is mainly cultivated as a seed crop but recently interest has been raised on biomass production as a potential forage source opening alleys toward the integration of chia in crop-livestock systems. Literature on chia is flourishing, up to now reviews addressed botany, agronomy phytochemical and medicinal uses, this article reviews the main findings on chia use in animal nutrition and includes an overview on both seed and biomass yield and quality as affected by environment, agronomy, and genetic background. Chia is a short-day flowering crop, seed yields of commercial varieties can be as high as 2999 kg ha–1 in areas of origin while at European latitudes seed production is severely hampered by photoperiod sensitivity (max 518 kg ha–1). The viable growing of chia for seeds worldwide relies on the availability of genotypes flowering at longer days than in the areas of origin, while for whole plant a relatively high forage yield can be expected. In southern Italy commercial short-day flowering varieties up to 2.07 t ha–1 of leaf dry biomass and in Greece chia yielded up to 15 T ha−1 dry biomass. Chia seeds supplement in livestock diet are administered with the main objective to increase the content of omega-3 and improve animal health. The majority of work has been done on poultry and rabbits where rewarding results have been obtained in terms of improvement of products lipids profile. Only one work was published on pig but the first results are encouraging. Published data on ruminants are few but in agreement with findings on other species these works demonstrate chia has no adverse effects health performances, and sizeable improvement of milk fatty acid profile. A qualitative improvement of freshwater cultivated fish fillets was also obtained with a partial replacement of soybean oil with chia. Finally an innovative study tested the effect of total or partial replacement of wheat bran in the diets of two edible insects that can be considered the new frontier of food and feed production chains

Effects of Soil Water Shortage on Seedling Shoot and Root Growth of Saragolle Lucana Tetraploid Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Landrace

Ancient wheats may be a source of traits that are useful for the tolerance of climate change foreseen conditions of raising temperatures and low water availability. Previous research has shown a fine root system and a high mass of rhizosheath per unit root mass in the italian durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf) landrace Saragolle Lucana, and this may be relevant for successfully facing adverse conditions during seedling establishment. We investigated the effect of soil water shortage in Saragolle seedlings on root architecture, rhizosheath formation and biomass allocation. Pot experiments were conducted by comparing two levels of soil available water content (AWC): WW (100% of AWC) and DS (50% of AWC). Phenology was delayed by eight days in DS and above and belowground traits were measured at Zadoks 1.3 for each treatment. Biometric data collected at the same phenological stage show that DS plants did not reach the levels of biomass, surface area and space occupation of WW even after attaining the same developmental stage. Namely, plant dimensions were lower at low soil water availability, with the exception of rhizosheath production: DS yielded a 50% increase in rhizosheath mass and 32% increase in rhizosheath mass per unit root mass. The proportion of plant mass reduction in DS was 29.7% for aboveground parts and 34.7% for roots, while reductions in leaf and root surface areas exceeded 43%. The root/shoot mass and area ratios were not significantly different between treatments, and a higher impact on aboveground than on belowground traits at reduced available water was shown only by a lower ratio of shoot height to root depth in DS than in WW. Increases in rhizosheath in absolute and relative terms, which were observed in our experiment in spite of smaller root systems in the ancient durum wheat variety Saragolle lucana at DS, may provide an interesting trait for plant performance in conditions of low soil water availability both for water-related issue and for other effects on plant nutrition and relations with the rhizosphere

Better than a Letter from Home, 1950s

Photocopy of a Scranton Tribune newspaper photograph of head coach Pete Carlesimo talking with University of Scranton football players, ca. mid-1950s. Front row (l-r): Ned Panfile, Robert Roberto, Frank Dwornikoski, Joe Scaccia, Charles Cino. Back row: Joseph Bellucci, Vince Cesare, John Potkul, Ernie Mengoni, Walter Perih

Ready for Touchdown Run, undated

Photocopy of a Scrantonian newspaper article titled "Ready for Touchdown Run," depicting University of Scranton football players preparing for a game against Albright College. Pictured are University of Scranton players (l to r) Walter Perih, Joe Martini, Tom Shopple, Vince Cesare, Joe Bellucci, John Potkul (captain), Ted Campbell, Mike Melnick, Joe Charney, Tom Toton, Ed Zelinksi, and Jack McMullen

Comparison between Heat Transfer and Knock Intensity on a Statistical Basis

Heat transfer in the combustion chamber of s.i. engines operating under knocking conditions has been detected and analyzed. Measurements have been carried out, cycle by cycle, on a CFR laboratory engine by means of a dedicated instrument and an original method. The relationship between heat transfer and knock intensity has been analyzed on a statistical basis, emphasizing knock intensity influence on heat transfer distribution. Moreover, the share of heat transfer more closely related to knock intensity has been highlighted: heat transfer is shown not to be significantly affected by knock intensity under light-to-medium knock conditions; on the contrary, the influence becomes evident under medium-to-heavy knock condition

A novel low-cost open-hardware platform for monitoring soil water content and multiple soil-air-vegetation parameters

Monitoring soil water content at high spatio-temporal resolution and coupled to other sensor data is crucial for applications oriented towards water sustainability in agriculture, such as precision irrigation or phenotyping root traits for drought tolerance. The cost of instrumentation, however, limits measurement frequency and number of sensors. The objective of this work was to design a low cost "open hardware" platform for multi-sensor measurements including water content at different depths, air and soil temperatures. The system is based on an open-source ARDUINO microcontroller-board, programmed in a simple integrated development environment (IDE). Low cost high-frequency dielectric probes were used in the platform and lab tested on three non-saline soils (ECe1: 2.5 < 0.1 mS/cm). Empirical calibration curves were subjected to cross-validation (leave-one-out method), and normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) were respectively 0.09 for the overall model, 0.09 for the sandy soil, 0.07 for the clay loam and 0.08 for the sandy loam. The overall model (pooled soil data) fitted the data very well (R2 = 0.89) showing a high stability, being able to generate very similar RMSEs during training and validation (RMSE(training) = 2.63; RMSE(validation) = 2.61). Data recorded on the card were automatically sent to a remote server allowing repeated field-data quality checks. This work provides a framework for the replication and upgrading of a customized low cost platform, consistent with the open source approach whereby sharing information on equipment design and software facilitates the adoption and continuous improvement of existing technologies