Zn treatment effects on biological potential of fennel bulbs as affected by in vitro digestion process

Zn treatment effects on the stability of polyphenols, MDA (malondialdehyde) content, antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibition activities of two varieties of fennel bulbs were studied by using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Likewise, the effect of Zn on viability cells of E. coli was also performed. The results revealed that high amounts of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds were released during the digestion process, especially after the intestinal phase. Additionally, the antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity were affected by the gastrointestinal digestion process and seems to be correlated with total phenol contents. On the other hand, the viability of E. coli was not affected by the activity of our tested bulbs during passage through the artificial digestion model, but the treated bulbs activity contribute relatively to the inhibition growth of bacteria. The survival of E. coli in fennel bulbs was challenged with simulated gastrointestinal fluids and the results showed that the E. coli strains, despite having experienced a viability reduction at the intestinal phase, were able to overcome the exposure to the gastrointestinal synthetic fluids. This E. coli ability reinforces the need for good hygienic measures to assure safe fresh produce, even for those that are rich in antibacterial compounds.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technology generation to dissemination:lessons learned from the tef improvement project

Indigenous crops also known as orphan crops are key contributors to food security, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable with the current trend of population growth and climate change. They have the major advantage that they fit well into the general socio-economic and ecological context of developing world agriculture. However, most indigenous crops did not benefit from the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased the yield of major crops such as wheat and rice. Here, we describe the Tef Improvement Project, which employs both conventional- and molecular-breeding techniques to improve tef\u2014an orphan crop important to the food security in the Horn of Africa, a region of the world with recurring devastating famines. We have established an efficient pipeline to bring improved tef lines from the laboratory to the farmers of Ethiopia. Of critical importance to the long-term success of this project is the cooperation among participants in Ethiopia and Switzerland, including donors, policy makers, research institutions, and farmers. Together, European and African scientists have developed a pipeline using breeding and genomic tools to improve the orphan crop tef and bring new cultivars to the farmers in Ethiopia. We highlight a new variety, Tesfa, developed in this pipeline and possessing a novel and desirable combination of traits. Tesfa\u2019s recent approval for release illustrates the success of the project and marks a milestone as it is the first variety (of many in the pipeline) to be released

Climate Change Impacts on Rice Farming Systems in Northwestern Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has achieved tremendous progress since 1950 in crop production and food availability. Yields grew at an impressive rate until leveling off in the mid-eighties. Sri Lanka's population is anticipated to grow in the coming decades, creating an ever-greater demand for food security on the household, sub-district, regional, and national scales.The agricultural sector in Sri Lanka is vulnerable to climate shocks. An unusual succession of droughts and floods from 2008 to 2014 has led to both booms and busts in agricultural production, which were reflected in food prices. In both instances, the majority of farmers and consumers were adversely affected.At present the rice-farming systems are under stress due to inadequate returns for the farmers and difficulty in coping with shocks due to climate, pests, and diseases, and prices for produce. There are government price-support mechanisms, fertilizer-subsidy schemes, and crop insurance schemes, but the levels of the supports are modest and often do not effectively reach the farmers

The Landscape and the tourist attraction : a study with reference to Nuwara-Eliya, Sri Lanka

This research investigates the link between landscape and tourist attraction in Sri Lankan context. Tourism is the third largest foreign exchange earner of the country and the landscape is the main tourist attraction. But there is no proper identification on the significant factors which attract tourists to those landscapes. A well adopted tourism landscapeof Nuwara-Eliya city was selected as the case study.Three most attractive locations t Nuwara-Eliya;Lake Gregory premises, Moon Plains and Mackwood- The literature review identified six“landscape aspects” and nine “landscape components”which attract tourists to landscapes. Those aspects were “experiential”, “ideological”, “imaginary”, “out of ordinary”, “unspoilt”, and “scenic” and the components were “flora & fauna”, “settlements”, “enclosure”, “memories”, “land use”, “sound”, “sight”, “land form” and “air/climate”. Thus, the study investigates which landscape aspect attracts the tourists in to a landscape and which landscape component becomes most significant and why it becomes that much significant for visitors.Mixed method of qualitative and quantitative surveys with in-situ observations, questionnaire based interviews and photographic analysis were used for data collection with thirty randomly selected tourists as the sample. This study reveals that landscape aspect which attract tourists differ with most significant landscape component of the space. One landscape component could play different roles in different landscapes. Tourist attraction to a landscape is proportional to the endurance of most significant landscape component. Further, it was found that the visual perception is the ultimate satisfaction of tourists. The outcome of the study could be used as a design tool in the landscape architectural design developments to sustain the tourism landscapes

Synthesis and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectral analysis of some spirolactones of 2,4-diaryl-3-azabicyclo [3.3.1]nonan-9-ones

96-100Introduction of an α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone unit at C-9 does not change the conformation of the bicyclononane ring system. However, NMR signals for H-1 and H-5 and axial H-7 protons are shifted upfield and the signals for H-2 and H-4 protons are shifted down field. The signals for all ring carbons are shifted upfield. Spectral data show that the C(9)C(10) bond of spirolactone is oriented towards the piperidine ring

An ensemble technique for multi class imbalanced problem using probabilistic neural networks

The class imbalanced problem is one of the major difficulties encountered by many researchers when using classification tools. Multi class problems are especially severe in this regard. The main objective of this study is to propose a suitable technique to handle multi class imbalanced problem. Probabilistic neural network (PNN) is used as the classification tool and the directional prediction of Australian, United States and Srilankan stock market indices is considered as the application. We propose an ensemble technique to handle multi class imbalanced problem that is called multi class undersampling based bagging (MCUB) technique. This is a new initiative that has not been considered in the literature to handle multi class imbalanced problem by employing PNN. The results obtained demonstrate that the proposed MCUB technique is capable of handling multi class imbalanced problem. Therefore, the PNN with the proposed ensemble technique can be used effectively in data classification. As a further study, other classification tools can be used to investigate the performance of the proposed MCUB technique in solving class imbalanced problems

Influence of Socio-Cultural and Economical aspects on Architectural Taste with relevance to Real Estate Development

Taste is perceivable in various ways by different people due to their sociocultural and economic backgrounds. Particularly, taste in the built environment is predominantly associated with the living, working, or visual experiencing a building. This paper investigates the influence of socio-cultural and economic factors on the development of architectural taste. The main objective of the study is to identify and examine the influence of socio-cultural and economic factors on the formation of taste in the built environment. The methodology adopted for the study is a comprehensive review and content analysis of existing literature on the subject. The combination of statistical data and qualitative insights from studies already conducted relevant to Aesthetic taste and Architectural taste were considered as the main sources of information. Conclusions were developed through scrutinizing and critically analyzing the gathered data and information. The study clearly shows that the socio-cultural factors such as social class, religion, education, occupation and place of residence, demographic factors such as sex, age, and economic factors such as financial status and demand are related to the issue making different levels of influences on architectural taste. Based on the main findings of the study, it is recommended that architects and policymakers should pay attention to the socio-cultural, economic as well as demographic factors of the occupants to achieve residential satisfaction in real estate development. Keywords: Socio-Cultural factors, Economic factors, Architectural taste, Real Estate Development