Preliminary Study of Mineral Constituents in Selected Cultivars of Root and Tuber Crops in Sri Lanka

A study was done to determine the levels of minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Iron,Potassium and Zinc) in three different cultivars of yams (D. alata and D. esculenta),Xanthosoma sp and four different cultivars of sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas Lam) fromdifferent regions in Sri Lanka. Yams (Rajala, Hingurala and Kukulala), Xanthosoma sp(Kiriala) and sweet potatoes (Swp3, Swp4, Swp5 and Swp7) were prepared for analysis 2– 3 days after harvesting. Flour samples were subjected to ashing using AOAC (1980)method and mineral constituents were analysed using Atomic AbsorptionSpectrophotometer (AAS). Variation in mineral constituents on dry weight basis wereanalysed using ANOVA, Tukey‟s HSD test (p< 0.05) Minitab. All three cultivars ofyams had significant levels (p< 0.05) of Calcium and Iron and high level of Magnesiumwas observed in Kiriala (45.27± 0.31 mg 100g-1). A significantly high level of Iron andPotassium (p<0.05) was observed in Rajala and Sweet potatoes respectively. Swp5cultivar contained a comparatively high amount of Calcium and Magnesium while Swp3and Swp7 contained a high level of iron (p<0.05). Comparatively high level of Zinc waspresent in Hingurala, Swp3 and Swp7 cultivars.Key words: Dioscorea , Ipomea batatas, minerals, Xanthosoma s

Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation of preterm infants and parent-reported symptoms of allergic disease at 7 years corrected age: follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND:Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) supplementation in the prenatal period is associated with a reduction in the incidence of some symptoms of allergic disease. Infants born preterm are at increased risk of allergic disease, but it is unknown if DHA supplementation reduces the risk of childhood allergies. OBJECTIVES:The aim of this study was to determine if supplementation of infants born at <33 wk gestation with high-DHA compared with standard-DHA enteral feeds decreases the incidence and severity of parent-reported allergic disease symptoms at a corrected age (CA) of 7 y. METHODS:This study was a follow-up of an Australian multicenter randomized controlled trial. Infants were given high-DHA (∼1% total fatty acids) or standard-DHA (∼0.3% total fatty acids) enteral feeds from 2-4 d of postnatal age until 40 wk postmenstrual age. Parent-reported incidence of respiratory allergic disease symptoms including wheeze and rhinitis at 7 y CA were the main outcomes. Other outcomes included the incidence of eczema symptoms; severity of any symptoms; and the incidence of wheeze, rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema from birth to 7 y CA. RESULTS:Data were available for 569 of 657 (87%) children originally randomized. Symptoms of wheeze or rhinitis at 7 y CA did not differ between high- and standard-DHA groups [wheeze: RR: 1.10; 95% CI: 0.73, 1.65; P = 0.66; rhinitis: RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.81, 1.46; P = 0.59]. There was no difference in other allergic disease symptoms at 7 y CA or in the severity of symptoms. Parent-reported symptoms of wheeze, rhinitis, rhinoconjunctivitis, or eczema from birth to 7 y CA did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS:High-dose DHA supplementation of infants born at <33 wk gestation did not alter allergic disease symptoms or severity at 7 y CA, or from birth to 7 y CA compared with standard-dose DHA. This trial was registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry as ANZCTR 12606000327583 (http://www.anzctr.org.au).Anoja W Gunaratne, Maria Makrides, Carmel T Collins, Robert A Gibson, Andrew J McPhee, Thomas R Sullivan, Jacqueline F Gould, Tim J Green, Lex W Doyle, Peter G Davis, Noel P French, Paul B Colditz, Karen Simmer, Scott A Morris and Karen P Bes

The Asian communication debate: culture-specificity, culture-generality, and beyond

Critical discussion of Asian communication theory began in the 1980s, fermented in the 1990s, and in recent years was enriched by the criticism of Eurocentrism. Significant progress has been made in the pursuit of theory construction, especially in areas that closely deal with culture and communication issues, e.g., intercultural communication, postcolonial or cultural studies. While greater attention was paid to the cultural contexts of communication research in Asia, a number of crucial issues seem to have remained unsettled, among them the need and possibility of de-Westernization, and the pros and cons of culture-specific and culture-general approaches. In this article we make an attempt to tease through layers of arguments and sift proposals and possibilities, with the hope that a more viable future direction could emerge to reconcile the tension between culture-specificity and culture-generality. Our discussion focuses on the concept of cultural commensurability, which stresses similarity and equivalence, and not commonality and uniformity. Taking note of the inherent openness of culture, language and meaning, it is argued that the concept of cultural commensurability will open the indigenization issue to a broader horizon for future discourse