Estabilidad oxidativa y composición del aceite de semillas de comino negro, irradiadas con microondas, en condiciones de oxidación acelerada

The present work evaluated the impact of microwave pre-treatment on the storage stability, fatty acids and triacylglycerol contents in black cumin seed oil (BCO) during storage at 62 ºC. During storage, the oxidative indicator values (free acidity, peroxide value, p-anisidine value, TOTOX, specific extinctions and thiobarbituric acid) for the oils increased faster in untreated oil samples than in the microwaved samples. The degradation rate of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and triacylglycerol species (LLL and OLL) during storage were higher in untreated samples compared to treated ones, indicating that oxidation proceeded more slowly in the treated samples. During storage, the generation of hydroperoxides, their degradation and the formation of secondary oxidation products as investigated by FTIR, were lower in the treated oils. In conclusion, microwave pre-treatment prior to oil extraction reduced the oxidative degradation of oil samples, thereby increasing the storage stability of BCO.En el presente trabajo se evaluó el impacto del pretratamiento de las semillas de comino negro con microondas sobre la estabilidad durante el almacenamiento, los ácidos grasos y las especies de triacilgliceroles del aceite de las semillas de comino negro (BCO) durante el almacenamiento a 62 ºC. Durante el almacenamiento de los aceites, los indicadores oxidativos (acidez libre, peróxidos, p-anisidina, TOTOX, extinciones específicas y ácido tiobarbitúrico) aumentaron más rápidamente en los aceites de semillas sin tratar que en los de las muestras tratadas con microondas. La degradación durante el almacenamiento de los ácidos grasos poliinsaturados (PUFA) y las especies de triacilgliceroles (LLL y OLL) fue mayor en las muestras no tratadas en comparación con las tratadas, lo que indica que la oxidación avanzó más lentamente en las muestras tratadas. Durante el almacenamiento, la generación de hidroperóxidos, su degradación y la formación de productos de oxidación secundarios investigados por FTIR, fueron menores en los aceites tratados. En conclusión, el pretratamiento con microondas de las semillas antes de la extracción del aceite redujo la degradación oxidativa de los aceites, lo que aumentó la estabilidad de almacenamiento de BCO

Spawning and mortality of eggs and larvae produced by different brood sizes of Walking Catfish (Clarias batrachus L.)

An experiment was carried out on the spawning and mortality of eggs and larvae of Magur, Clarias batrachus collected from brood-stock pond during the study period.The lowest spawn production (3774 eggs) was recorded in the fish having 23 cm total length and 115 g total body weight and the highest spawn production (10102 eggs) was recorded in the fish having 26.4 cm total length and 230 g total body weight. The spawn production was found to increase with the increase of total length,standard length and total body weight following the equations, Y= –13921+833.7X, r= 0.685, Y= 13965+909.8X, r= 0.667 and Y= 1326+33.02X, r= 0.810, respectively. The relationships between spawn production with total length, standard length and total body weight of the fish were found to be linear and significant (p<0.01). The lowest mortality rate (30.41%) was recorded in the fish having 26.4 cm total length and 224 g total body weight and the highest mortality rate (42.76%) was recorded in the fish having 23 cm total length and 125 g total body weight. The mortality rate of eggs and larvae was found to decrease with the increase of total length, standard length and total body weight of female brood following the equations, Y= 108.6–2.878X, r= –0.865, Y= 110.4–3.214X, r= –0.862 and Y= 54.99–0.108X, r= –0.970, respectively.The relationships between mortality rate of eggs and larvae with total length, standard length and total body weight of the fish were found to be linear and significant (p<0.01)

PV-Transformer-Less Inverter Topology for Battery-Equivalent DC Supply from Leakage Current

Solar panels used for electricity generation have got inverters as their core components. Such inverters are made from switching devices coupled with additional circuit component configured in a transformer-less topology in recent reported works. A transformer-less topology suffers from the drawbacks of lack of isolation leading to leakage current flow from various points of it down to ground. The leakage in inverters might be troublesome as it may lead to loss in power, and may cause malfunctioning of analog devices normally used in power inverters. In this work, we identify possible leakage currents in a given transformer-less topology using the circuit analysis principles. The conversion of so obtained leakage currents into a useful DC voltage is carried out in this work. This work focuses on converting leakage current into small DC voltage in the range of ~1.1004V using recently reported rectifier circuits, supplying a load of 200Ω in the mW range. Although small in magnitude, such voltage sources could be used for battery charging purposes or driving small loads

GREEN SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING CORIANDRUM SATIVUM LEAF EXTRACT

Development of biologically inspired experimental processes for the synthesis of nanoparticles is evolving into an important branch of nanotechnology. To meet the increasing demands for commercial nanoparticles new eco-friendly “green” methods of synthesis are being discovered. In this study, synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was done using Coriandrum sativum leaf extract. UV-Vis spectrometer uses to monitor the reduction of Ag ions and formation of AgNPs in medium. XRD and SEM have been used to investigate the morphology of prepared AgNPs. The peaks in XRD pattern are associated with that of face-centered-cubic (FCC) form of metallic silver. The average grain size of silver nanoparticles is found to be 6.45 nm. TGA/DTA result associated with weight loss and exothermic reaction due to desorption of chemisorbed water. FTIR was performed to identify the functional groups of carbonyl, hydroxyl, amine and protein molecule which form a layer covering AgNPs and stabilize the AgNPs in medium

Conservation agriculture for rice-based intensive cropping by smallholders in the Eastern Gangetic Plain

We review the recent development of Conservation Agriculture (CA) for rice-based smallholder farms in the Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) and the underpinning research on agronomy, weed control, soil properties and greenhouse gas emissions being tested to accelerate its adoption in Bangladesh. The studies are based mostly on minimum soil disturbance planting in strip planting (SP) mode, using the Versatile Multi-crop Planter (VMP), powered by a two-wheel tractor (2WT). One-pass SP with the VMP decreased fuel costs for crop establishment by up to 85% and labour requirements by up to 50%. We developed strip-based non-puddled rice (Oryza sativa) transplanting (NPT) in minimally-disturbed soil and found that rice grain yield increased (by up to 12%) in longer-term practice of CA. On farms, 75% of NPT crops increased gross margin. For non-rice crops, relative yield increases ranged from 28% for lentil (Lens culinaris) to 6% for wheat (Triticum aestivum) on farms that adopted CA planting. Equivalent profit increases were from 47% for lentil to 560% for mustard (Brassica juncea). Moreover, VMP and CA adopting farms saved 34% of labour costs and lowered total cost by up to 10% for production of lentil, mustard, maize (Zea mays) and wheat. Effective weed control was obtained from the use of a range of pre-emergent and post-emergence herbicides and retention of increased crop residue. In summary, a substantial body of research has demonstrated the benefits of CA and mechanized planting for cost savings, yield increases in many cases, increased profit in most cases and substantial labour saving. Improvement in soil quality has been demonstrated in long-term experiments together with reduced greenhouse gas emissions

Reaching the poor with health interventions: programme-incidence analysis of seven randomised trials of women's groups to reduce newborn mortality in Asia and Africa

Efforts to end preventable newborn deaths will fail if the poor are not reached with effective interventions. To understand what works to reach vulnerable groups, we describe and explain the uptake of a highly effective community-based newborn health intervention across social strata in Asia and Africa

Is essential newborn care provided by institutions and after home births? Analysis of prospective data from community trials in rural South Asia

BACKGROUND: Provision of essential newborn care (ENC) can save many newborn lives in poor resource settings but coverage is far from universal and varies by country and place of delivery. Understanding gaps in current coverage and where coverage is good, in different contexts and places of delivery, could make a valuable contribution to the future design of interventions to reduce neonatal mortality. We sought to describe the coverage of essential newborn care practices for births in institutions, at home with a skilled birth attendant, and at home without a skilled birth attendant (SBA) in rural areas of Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. METHODS: We used data from the control arms of four cluster randomised controlled trials in Bangladesh, Eastern India and from Makwanpur and Dhanusha districts in Nepal, covering periods from 2001 to 2011. We used these data to identify essential newborn care practices as defined by the World Health Organization. Each birth was allocated to one of three delivery types: home birth without an SBA, home birth with an SBA, or institutional delivery. For each study, we calculated the observed proportion of births that received each care practice by delivery type with 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for clustering and, where appropriate, stratification. RESULTS: After exclusions, we analysed data for 8939 births from Eastern India, 27 553 births from Bangladesh, 6765 births from Makwanpur and 15 344 births from Dhanusha. Across all study areas, coverage of essential newborn care practices was highest in institutional deliveries, and lowest in home non-SBA deliveries. However, institutional deliveries did not provide universal coverage of the recommended practices, with relatively low coverage (20%-70%) across all study areas for immediate breastfeeding and thermal care. Institutions in Bangladesh had the highest coverage for almost all care practices except thermal care. Across all areas, fewer than 20% of home non-SBA deliveries used a clean delivery kit, the use of plastic gloves was very low and coverage of recommended thermal care was relatively poor. There were large differences between study areas in handwashing, immediate breastfeeding and delayed bathing. CONCLUSIONS: There remains substantial scope for health facilities to improve thermal care for the newborn and to encourage immediate and exclusive breastfeeding. For unattended home deliveries, increased handwashing, use of clean delivery kits and basic thermal care offer great scope for improvement

The Vital Role of Social Workers in Community Partnerships: The Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Youth

The account of The Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) Youth formation offers a model for developing com- munity-based partnerships. Based in a major urban area, this university-community collaboration was spearheaded by social workers who were responsible for its original conceptualization, for generating community support, and for eventual staffing, administration, direct service provision, and program evaluation design. This article presents the strategic development and evolution of this community- based service partnership, highlighting the roles of schools of social work, academics, and social work students in concert with community funders, practitioners and youth, in responding to the needs of a vulnerable population

Diagnosis of chronic conditions with modifiable lifestyle risk factors in selected urban and rural areas of Bangladesh and sociodemographic variability therein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bangladesh suffers from a lack of healthcare providers. The growing chronic disease epidemic's demand for healthcare resources will further strain Bangladesh's limited healthcare workforce. Little is known about how Bangladeshis with chronic disease seek care. This study describes chronic disease patients' care seeking behavior by analyzing which providers diagnose these diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During 2 month periods in 2009, a cross-sectional survey collected descriptive data on chronic disease diagnoses among 3 surveillance populations within the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) network. The maximum number of respondents (over age 25) who reported having ever been diagnosed with a chronic disease determined the sample size. Using SAS software (version 8.0) multivariate regression analyses were preformed on related sociodemographic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 32,665 survey respondents, 8,591 self reported having a chronic disease. Chronically ill respondents were 63.4% rural residents. Hypertension was the most prevalent disease in rural (12.4%) and urban (16.1%) areas. In rural areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (59.7%) and Informal Allopathic Providers (IAPs) (34.9%). In urban areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (88.0%) and IAP (7.9%). Our analysis identified several groups that depended heavily on IAP for coverage, particularly rural, poor and women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IAPs play important roles in chronic disease care, particularly in rural areas. Input and cooperation from IAPs are needed to minimize rural health disparities. More research on IAP knowledge and practices regarding chronic disease is needed to properly utilize this potential healthcare resource.</p