Evaluation of postharvest quality of edible coated mandarin at ambient storage

An experiment was conducted to assess the influence of edible coatings on postharvest quality of mandarin during 20 days of ambient storage. Sorted fruits were washed; fruit surface water was removed and then coated with 100% liquid paraffin wax, 0.5% chitosan, 1.0% chitosan, 1.5% chitosan, and 100% coconut oil. After coating, fruit surface was air dried and kept at ambient condition (25±3 °C, 60–70% RH) and analyzed periodically for weight loss, respiration rate, firmness, decay incidence, TSS, pH, ascorbic acid content, and sensory properties. The results revealed that coconut oil had immense effect on the reduction of the weight loss and respiration rate and preserved firmness, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, total sugar and reducing sugar and no incidence of moulds & their growth was found up to 16 days of storage.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (1): 18-25, June, 201

Antibacterial and antifungal activities of the extract and fractions of aerial parts of Heliotropium bacciferum

Background: H. bacciferum belonging to the family Boraginaceae is an important medicinal plant. The current research was carried out to investigate the medicinal properties of this plant.Methodology: The crude (methanol fraction) and n-hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous fractions were subjected to antibacterial and antifungal activities by using standard methodology available in literature. Bacterial strains of Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas Aeroginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Erwinia carotovora, Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus atrophaeus were used for antibacterial activity.Results: All the fractions were active against different bacterial strains but n-hexane and ethyl acetate showed (Zone of inhibition ranged from 18-30 mm) highest activity. The fungal strains, Trichoderma longibrachiantum, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani and Candida albican were used for antifungal activity. Excellent inhibitory effect was observed against all fungal strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against various fungal strains was determined. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the investigated plant fractions ranged from 0.5- 2.00 mg/ml.Conclusion: The plant showed significant antibacterial and antifungal activities. All tested plant extracts exhibit activities against different fungal strains. The result against various microorganisms shows the therapeutic potential of the plant H. bacciferumKeywords: H. bacciferum, Medicinal Plant, crude fractions, Antimicrobial activities

Production of bioethanol through enzymatic hydrolysis of potato

Due to gradual decrease in petroleum resources and impacts of these wastes on the environment, there is a need to utilize the wastes of potatoes to get wealth out of wastes and clean the environment. In this study, potato wastes were investigated as source of bioethanol. 100 g potato powder was mixed with 1 L distilled water in two separate beakers to form potato slurry. Bioethanol production was investigated using effect of pH, temperature and mixture of digesting enzymes after scarification and fermentation. The results show that significant (p<0.05) bioethanol was produced at 35°C and at pH 5.5. This investigation also reveals that mixture of enzymes significantly enhanced (p<0.05) bioethanol production compared to non treated mixture. Maximum bioethanol productions were due to the presence of sugar in potatoes.Key words: Bioethanol, potato, ph, temperature, liquefaction

A class of efficient high-order iterative methods with memory for nonlinear equations and their dynamics

[EN] In this paper we obtain some theoretical results about iterative methods with memory for nonlinear equations. The class of algorithms we consider focus on incorporating memory without increasing the computational cost of the algorithm. This class uses for the predictor step of each iteration a quantity that has already been calculated in the previous iteration, typically the quantity governing the slope from the previous corrector step. In this way we do not introduce any extra computation, and more importantly, we avoid new function evaluations, allowing us to obtain high-order iterative methods in a simple way. A specific class of methods of this type is introduced, and we prove the convergence order is 2(n) + 2(n-2) with n + 1 function evaluations. An exhaustive efficiency study is performed to show the competitiveness of these methods. Finally, we test some specific examples and explore the effect that this predictor may have on the convergence set by setting a dynamical study.Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad de Espana, Grant/Award Number: MTM2014-52016-C2-2-P; Generalitat Valenciana Prometeo, Grant/Award Number: /2016/089Howk, CL.; Hueso, J.; Martínez Molada, E.; Teruel-Ferragud, C. (2018). A class of efficient high-order iterative methods with memory for nonlinear equations and their dynamics. Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences. 41(17):7263-7282. https://doi.org/10.1002/mma.4821S72637282411

Astrocytic Ion Dynamics: Implications for Potassium Buffering and Liquid Flow

We review modeling of astrocyte ion dynamics with a specific focus on the implications of so-called spatial potassium buffering, where excess potassium in the extracellular space (ECS) is transported away to prevent pathological neural spiking. The recently introduced Kirchoff-Nernst-Planck (KNP) scheme for modeling ion dynamics in astrocytes (and brain tissue in general) is outlined and used to study such spatial buffering. We next describe how the ion dynamics of astrocytes may regulate microscopic liquid flow by osmotic effects and how such microscopic flow can be linked to whole-brain macroscopic flow. We thus include the key elements in a putative multiscale theory with astrocytes linking neural activity on a microscopic scale to macroscopic fluid flow.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Comparison of Sonographic Quantitative Assessment of Splenomegaly in Thalassemia Patients Receiving Whole Blood and Packed Red Cell Transfusions

Objective: An observational cross-sectional study to assess sonographic splenomegaly quantitatively in thalassemia patients grouped with respect to transfusion given whole blood vs packed red cells. Methods: A study was conducted among 330 patients equally divided into two groups, undergoing an abdominal ultrasound examination with a transducer frequency ranging from 3-5 MHz during the period December 2021 to August 2022. An independent t-test was applied to compare the splenic volume in thalassemia patients given whole blood transfusions versus packed red cells transfusions, and Cohen's d was used to indicate the standardized difference between two ultrasound splenic volume means. Results: The mean splenic volume of the patients who received whole blood cells was 320.62 ± 219.05 cm3, which is greater than the patients who received packed red cells, whose mean was 60.72 ± 58.72 cm3, The splenomegaly was quantitatively assessed in six age groups ranging from 1 to 3 years, 4 to 6 years, 7 to 9 years, 10 to 12 years, 13 to 15 years, and 16-18 years and mean splenic volume in each age group was compared to those receiving whole blood or packed red cells transfusion. there is a statistically significant difference between both transfusion receiving groups, having a larger Cohen’s d size effect of 1.62. Conclusion: Ultrasound is a reliable imaging modality for assessing splenic volume and linear parameters of the spleen with greater splenomegaly in thalassemia patients with whole blood transfusions than those with packed red cells when quantitatively assessed according to relevant age groups. Thalassemia patients should be transfused packed red cells to delay splenomegaly, that should be assessed sonographically

Assimilating Seizure Dynamics

Observability of a dynamical system requires an understanding of its state—the collective values of its variables. However, existing techniques are too limited to measure all but a small fraction of the physical variables and parameters of neuronal networks. We constructed models of the biophysical properties of neuronal membrane, synaptic, and microenvironment dynamics, and incorporated them into a model-based predictor-controller framework from modern control theory. We demonstrate that it is now possible to meaningfully estimate the dynamics of small neuronal networks using as few as a single measured variable. Specifically, we assimilate noisy membrane potential measurements from individual hippocampal neurons to reconstruct the dynamics of networks of these cells, their extracellular microenvironment, and the activities of different neuronal types during seizures. We use reconstruction to account for unmeasured parts of the neuronal system, relating micro-domain metabolic processes to cellular excitability, and validate the reconstruction of cellular dynamical interactions against actual measurements. Data assimilation, the fusing of measurement with computational models, has significant potential to improve the way we observe and understand brain dynamics