Wild food plants of popular use in Sicily

In the present work the authors report the result of their food ethnobotanical researches, which have been carried out in Sicily during the last thirty years. Data concerning 188 wild species used in the traditional Sicilian cuisine are reported. The authors underline those species that are partially or completely unknown for their culinary use and they illustrate other species that local inhabitants suggested in the prevention or treatment of symptomatologies caused by a refined diet, poor in vegetables. These data want to contribute to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on uses and recipes concerning wild food botanicals, and to encourage further studies for those species that have not yet been sufficiently researched in their food chemical and nutritional profile. These studies may also suggest new applications for a few botanicals in medico-nutritional fields. The work includes also a short review of the seaweeds and mushrooms traditionally gathered and consumed in Sicily

The Effect of Milling Time and Sintering Temperature on Crystallization of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ Phase and Magnetic Properties of Ba-Hexaferrite Magnet

Barium hexaferrite samples were prepared by mechanical alloying using the stoichiometric amounts of BaCO₃ and Fe₂O₃ precursors followed by heat treatment applied in the temperature range 700-1150°C. It was found that the high energy ball mill with a milling rate enabled to obtain powders with the finer particles at the reduced milling time mechanical alloying of the initial powders linked to the formation of barium hexaferrite phase. The exothermic reaction peaks corresponding to the formation of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ phase shift from 928°C to 793°C for the increased milling time up to 6 h. This was resulted in improved magnetic properties that the Mₛ value of the as-blended sample sintered at 800°C rised from 31.16 emu/g to 53.46 emu/g after milling for 6 h. The saturation magnetization and remanence values of the samples mechanically alloyed for 3 h and sintered at 1150°C also increased to 63.57 emu/g and 31.26 emu/g, respectively, more than for 800°C and 900°C. The increase in the annealing temperature favours the formation of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ phase in the samples

Devonian shallow-water sequences from the North Gondwana coastal margin (Central and Eastern Taurides, Turkey): Sedimentology, facies and global events

Turkey is an integral part of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt with a number of tectonostratigraphic units striking in an E-W direction These belts consist of terranes of different tectonic settings. ranging from oceanic basins to active and passive continental margins The age of incorporated units of continental margin ongin ranges from the Cambrian to the Cenozoic, and includes unmetamorphosed to low-grade Devonian rocks in the Pontides, Taurides and oil the Arabian Plate. This paper describes the detailed sedimentology, facies and biostratigraphy of three 900 to 1200 m thick Devonian successions in the Central and Eastern Taurides (Eceli, Halevikdere and Kocadere) During the Devonian, the Central and Eastern Taundes were situated at the northern margin of Gondwana The sediments described were deposited on this margin in coastal to shelf environments Despite similar large-scale trends, regional differences in the sedimentary sequences can be distinguished, especially for the lower part of the Devonian For the first time, sufficient biostratigraphical data have been recovered to allow the successions to be subdivided at a stage scale, permitting their approximate correlation and comparison with the regional lithostratigraphy. The temporal development of sedimentary processes, facies changes, and hinterland signatures recorded in the individual sections have been reconstructed, allowing their correspondence to global events to be recognized and discussed for the first time. The palaeobiogeographic distribution of various organisms within these succession Suggests a comparatively narrow sea ('Rheic Ocean') between Laurasia and Gondwana/Peri-Gondwana during the Devonian. (C) 2009 International Association for Gondwana Research Published by Elsevier B V All rights reserved