Storage behavior of tomato inside a zero energy cool chamber

Tomato fruits were harvested at the middle-ripe stage and stored inside the “Zero energy cool chamber (ZECC)” which has a shelf-life of only about 7 days at ambient temperature (25°C). Storing tomato inside the ZECC could be a practical technique at farmer’s field to extend storage life by reducing the quality degradation. Physiological loss in weight (PLW) was faster for fruits held at ambient temperature. Weight loss during the storage at ambient temperature was 5.4%, but untreated fruits at ZECC over the same period showed at 2.6% loss. Although soluble solids increased over the storage period, there were no significant differences between ZECC and ambient temperature. However effect of hot water treatment on quality of tomatoes was clearly visible by increasing storage life up to 29 days. It reduced weight loss and decay, inhibited color development and maintained firmness of tomatoes but had no effect on total soluble solids content and pH level. Hot water treatment slightly reduced the mold growth of tomatoes stored inside ZECC

Effect of passive evaporative cooler on physio -chemical properties of hot water treated Solanum melongena L.

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of passive evaporative cooler on storage behavior - that is visual appearance, physiological loss in weight (PLW), color development, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS) and pH level of hot water treated eggplant fruit (Solanum melongena L.).  Fresh harvested fruits were treated with hot water at 45°C for 1 h.  The highest percentage of PLW (2.39%) was the fruit stored at ambient temperature of 25°C for nine days whereas the lowest percentage of weight loss (2.27%) was the fruit stored inside the passive evaporative cooler.  In all cases, the decreasing rate of lightness (L* value) and increasing rate of greenness (a* value) and yellowness (b* value) of the hot water treated fruits were almost negligible.  Firmness value of the fruits stored inside the passive evaporative cooler was found almost constant, while it reduced in fruits which stored at ambient temperature.  Furthermore, higher TSS and lower pH value were observed in those fruits which were stored inside the passive evaporative cooler.  In conclusion, the shelf life and quality of eggplant fruits can be extended using passive evaporative cooler.   Keywords: fruit storage, fruit postharvest, freshness quality, shelf lif

Performance of Long Short-Term Memory Networks for Modeling the Response of Plant Growth to Nutrient Solution Temperature in Hydroponic

This study examines the development of an approach for modeling the response of plant growth to nutrient solution temperature in hydroponic cultivation in a dynamic system. Nutrient solution temperature is one of the essential manipulating factors for plant growth in hydroponic cultivation. Determining the optimal control strategy of nutrient solution temperature during cultivation could lead to maximize the growth of the plant. By identifying the process using a dynamic system, the optimal control strategy can be determined. However, developing a dynamic model of plant growth to nutrient solution temperature is not easy due to physiological behavior between them are quite complex and uncertain. We propose the long short-term memory (LSTM) networks to identify and develop a model of dynamic characteristics of plant growth as affected by the nutrient solution temperature. Chili pepper plants were used to obtain time-series data of plant growth, with five different types of dynamic nutrient solution temperature patterns for system identification. The results showed that the proposed LSTM model provides promising performance in predicting the response of plant growth to nutrient solution temperature in hydroponic cultivation

Biochemical analyses of lipids deposited on silicone hydrogel lenses

AbstractPurposeThis study was performed to determine the levels of lipids deposited on in vivo worn silicone hydrogel lenses.MethodsThree silicone hydrogel materials, galyfilcon A, senofilcon A, and asmofilcon A, were worn for 2 weeks by 35 normal subjects. Total lipid deposition was determined by the sulfo-phospho-vanillin reaction. Cholesterol was estimated by a colorimetric probe through enzymatic oxidation. Phospholipid level was estimated by determining phosphorus with ammonium molybdate through enzymatic digestion.ResultsThe total lipid content recovered from galyfilcon A, senofilcon A, and asmofilcon A was 32.9 ± 33.8, 42.1 ± 14.0, and 36.6 ± 31.9 μg/lens, respectively. The cholesterol content recovered from galyfilcon A, senofilcon A, and asmofilcon A was 26.2 ± 26.9, 28.6 ± 19.4, and 31.1 ± 21.1 μg/lens, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in total lipids and cholesterol among the contact lens types. However, the quantity of phospholipid recovered from the asmofilcon A (7.0 ± 5.5 μg/lens) lenses was significantly higher than from galyfilcon A (1.1 ± 0.8 μg/lens) and senofilcon A (2.4 ± 0.8 mg/lens) lenses (p < 0.05, Mann-Whitney test).ConclusionsThe quantity of total lipid and cholesterol deposited on the 3 silicone hydrogel lenses tested did not differ. However, there were significant differences in the amounts of phospholipid deposited among the 3 silicone hydrogel lenses, of which clinical significance should be explored in the future study

Case study about field trial responses of the zero energy storage system

A low cost ‘Zero Energy Cool Chamber (ZECC)’ has been developed for storing fruits and vegetables by usingpassive evaporative mechanism. This paper presents the results of a survey on the farmer’s opinion regarding the exploitationof zero energy storage system. This survey was conducted at Mymensingh district of Bangladesh from 2011 to 2012 and italso revealed that most of the farmers sell their produce to the middlemen just after the harvest. Lack of transportation facility, shortage of energy supply and lack of investment on storage, lower price of vegetables during the harvesting season, farmers in the rural areas often sell their products to the middleman or in the local market at low prices. They are not even able to get the return of invested money of cultivating vegetables or fruits. As a result, higher percentage of poverty level remains in farmer’s community. They demanded low cost storage system such as zero energy storage system which doesn’t require electricity for operating to store their agricultural produces.Keywords: agricultural produces, storage, farmer’s perception, quality, benefit, Banglades

A rare presentation of acute flaccid myelitis in covid-19 patient: a case report

SARS-CoV-2 virus enters human cells via ACE-2 receptors and causes multiple organs dysfunction. These ACE-2 receptors are in cells surface of human lung, liver, heart, kidney and blood vessels. The expression of ACE2 receptors in cortical neurons, glial cells and spinal cord cells create nervous system susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 attack and may be a source of different neurological deficits including myelitis in COVID-19 patients

Establishment of Functioning Human Corneal Endothelial Cell Line with High Growth Potential

Hexagonal-shaped human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC) form a monolayer by adhering tightly through their intercellular adhesion molecules. Located at the posterior corneal surface, they maintain corneal translucency by dehydrating the corneal stroma, mainly through the Na+- and K+-dependent ATPase (Na+/K+-ATPase). Because HCEC proliferative activity is low in vivo, once HCEC are damaged and their numbers decrease, the cornea begins to show opacity due to overhydration, resulting in loss of vision. HCEC cell cycle arrest occurs at the G1 phase and is partly regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) in the Rb pathway (p16-CDK4/CyclinD1-pRb). In this study, we tried to activate proliferation of HCEC by inhibiting CKIs. Retroviral transduction was used to generate two new HCEC lines: transduced human corneal endothelial cell by human papillomavirus type E6/E7 (THCEC (E6/E7)) and transduced human corneal endothelial cell by Cdk4R24C/CyclinD1 (THCEH (Cyclin)). Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis of gene expression revealed little difference between THCEC (E6/E7), THCEH (Cyclin) and non-transduced HCEC, but cell cycle-related genes were up-regulated in THCEC (E6/E7) and THCEH (Cyclin). THCEH (Cyclin) expressed intercellular molecules including ZO-1 and N-cadherin and showed similar Na+/K+-ATPase pump function to HCEC, which was not demonstrated in THCEC (E6/E7). This study shows that HCEC cell cycle activation can be achieved by inhibiting CKIs even while maintaining critical pump function and morphology