Nutritional parameters of raw materials and mixtures as base for producing breakfast cereals

From the most eldest times cereals were an important source of food. Their high content in carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, mineral substances (K, Ca, Mg, Si, Na, Cu, Mo, Mn) and vitamins like (B1, B2, B5, B6, PP) offer our organism a high percentage of the energy and mineral substances that it needs for survival. Alongside the cereals, bens vegetables tend to complete the lack of cereals, bringing a high amount of nutrients. The main purpose of this paper was to investigate the relevant nutritional parameters to elaborate breakfast cereals from a mix of whole wheat flour, soybean flour, millet flour, lentil, rice, oatmeal, chickpeas in order to see which flours and combination of flours gives the ideal dough for extrusion. There were analysed the protein content (%), moisture (%), ash (%), fat (%) , gluten content (%), in the laboratory of milling and baking from the Faculty of Food Processing Technology of USAMVB Timisoara. The analyses were performed by spectrophotometer with Fourier transformer, Infra LUM FT – 10. To the studied mixtures, it can be seen that in each case, except mixture 7 (lentil 25%+ 75 % rice) was recorded high values of gluten, followed by proteins, minerals and fats. From the above data it can be noticed that each mixture is a quite a good candidate to manufacture cereal flakes. It was observed that mixtures in combination with water gives an gelatinous composition similar to classic bread dough, which makes them ideal for processing in an extruder for cereal flakes

Evaluation of the antioxidant effect of thymus vulgaris extract sunflower oil used in food thermal applications

This study was performed to investigate the retarding lipid oxidation of sunflower oil using thyme extract (TE) compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The sunflower oil was subjected to convection heating for 1, 4, 8, 12, and 16 hours. The analyses which were made in order to watch the progress of lipid oxidation are the peroxid value (PV), p-anisidine value (p-AV) and TOTOX value. The antioxidant characteristics of thyme was measured determining the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value and total phenolics value. The results of this study highlight that thyme extract (TE) showed a significant inhibitory effect on lipid oxidation during heat treatment. Thyme extract in doses of 200 and 600 ppm inhibited the lipid oxidation in a similar manner to buylated hydroxytoluen, and in a dose of 1000 ppm resulted a significant decrease of investigated indices such as peroxid value, p-anisidine value and TOTOX value. Thyme natural extract can be used for improving oxidative stability of sunflower oil replacing successfully butylated hydroxytoluen according to the results

Evaluation of the antioxidant effect of thymus vulgaris extract sunflower oil used in food thermal applications

This study was performed to investigate the retarding lipid oxidation of sunflower oil using thyme extract (TE) compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The sunflower oil was subjected to convection heating for 1, 4, 8, 12, and 16 hours. The analyses which were made in order to watch the progress of lipid oxidation are the peroxid value (PV), p-anisidine value (p-AV) and TOTOX value. The antioxidant characteristics of thyme was measured determining the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value and total phenolics value. The results of this study highlight that thyme extract (TE) showed a significant inhibitory effect on lipid oxidation during heat treatment. Thyme extract in doses of 200 and 600 ppm inhibited the lipid oxidation in a similar manner to buylated hydroxytoluen, and in a dose of 1000 ppm resulted a significant decrease of investigated indices such as peroxid value, p-anisidine value and TOTOX value. Thyme natural extract can be used for improving oxidative stability of sunflower oil replacing successfully butylated hydroxytoluen according to the results

Critical Analysis of Payments for Ecosystem Services: Case Studies in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania

The concept of payments for ecosystem services (PES) has been identified as a promising mechanism for use in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, with several potential advantages and benefits, including the ability to raise new funding for landscape management, increase the efficiency of conservation approaches, secure ecosystem services (ES), and benefit poor rural communities. Starting from understanding the complex relationship between human dependence on natural resources and the environment, this paper aims to determine the degree to which the various criteria affect the success of PES that involve forests. Primary data were collected using a mixed questionnaire that was sent to institutions that had implemented PES schemes in the region and 25 case studies of PES implemented in the region from various publications were used for the secondary data. The data were mainly analyzed using comparative analysis. The results indicated that PES success is higher when bundled ES are considered, financing is medium- to long-term, implementation is at the regional level, combined transaction types (cash and in-kind) are used, and both private buyers and public sellers are involved. This paper provides a good benchmark for decision makers on PES performance and the model presented may serve as one of the tools for improving livelihoods and ensuring the achievement of sustainable development goals

The Way Forward for Community Forestry in Nepal: Analysis of Performance against National Forestry Goals

Covering 45% of Nepal’s national territory, forests play a key role in maintaining the daily life of most rural communities. Community forestry is a participatory forest management approach for managing state-owned forests by local communities. By assessing the link between national level forestry goals and the community forestry outcomes, this study aims to measure the performance of community forestry towards achieving sustainable forest management goals. The 3L causative benchmark model was used, with some adaptations to fit the national context of Nepal. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire survey, as well as using secondary sources such as policy documents, governmental and non-governmental reports, and scientific papers. Results reveal that community forestry is oriented towards achieving sustainable forest management goals, but there are aspects where further improvement is needed: forest product diversification, marketing and business, and planning and management of the non-marketable forest ecosystem services. Community forestry’s role in managing the conflicting interests between stakeholders and promotion of the forestry sector in society is judged to be beneficial. There is an envisaged positive pathway to enhance the performance of community forestry through strong forest tenure rights, community friendly policies and regulations, and proper technical and business support from forest authorities

Some Spinel Oxide Compounds as Reducing Gas Sensors

Four spinel ferrites, MFe2O4 (M = Cu, Cd, Zn and Ni), having various grain sizes (100 – 700 nm) were prepared by sol-gel-selfcombustion and their sensing properties to reducing gases were investigated. The gas sensing characteristics were obtained by measuring the sensitivity as a function of various controlling factors, like operating temperature, composition and concentration of the gas, and finally the response time. The sensitivity of four ferrites to reducing gases like acetone, ethanol and LPG was been compared. It was revealed that CuFe2O4 is the most sensitive to LPG and ZnFe2O4 can be used as a sensor to selectively detect ethanol vapors in air. The strong interaction between ethanol and porous ZnFe2O4 can explain the selective sensitivity to ethanol and negligible sensitivity to the other reducing gases

Forest Dependence of Rural Communities in the Republic of Moldova

The high dependency on forest resources and the fact that forests play an important role in the lives of people in poorer rural areas are well known forest characteristics. This depicts a deep connection between people and nature. For the rural communities, forest ecosystems display another important role, namely in alleviating poverty through stable provisions of vital functions and livelihoods. The present study aims to identify what influences the current level of the local communities of the Republic of Moldova’s dependence on forests, who still face poverty-related challenges, and how ecosystem services provided by forests are perceived by the rural population. After six years since the last forest dependency research, this time the level of dependence is investigated using the same methodology, but through improved socio-economic conditions. Although the consumption of non-timber forest products decreased, the pressure on forest resources remained at the same level due to the high dependence of communities on firewood. The highest dependency was found in low-income households, manifested by their necessity to spend an average share of 18.8% from their total income on firewood due to their restricted access to forest resources. Since most Moldovans rely more heavily on subsistence-oriented forest products such as fuelwood, forest management sustainability efforts might not be achieved as long as the need for wood products exceeds the supply, and neither will the living conditions of the poor be improved. Solutions should be sought based on cross-sectoral and long-term approaches by involving all stakeholders, and not neglecting local communities

Préparation par voie sol-gel et caractérisation de matériaux catalytiques (étude de l'influence du séchage en conditions subcritiques et supercritiques)

Ce mémoire concerne la préparation par voie sol-gel et la caractérisation de supports alumine et de catalyseurs platine supporté ayant une bonne stabilité thermique. Les gels obtenus à partir de tri-sec butanolate d'aluminium hydrolysé en excès d'eau sont constitués de cristallites de boehmite de tailles. Ces faibles dimensions entraînent la présence d'un important excès d'eau à la fin du séchage et expliquent les valeurs élevées des surfaces spécifiques. L'introduction d'un dopant durant la préparation permet d'améliorer de façon importante la stabilité thermique des alumines; les meilleurs résultats sont obtenus pour des échantillons dopés au silicium à 0,12 en fraction molaire. Les caractéristiques des catalyseurs platine supporté dépendent de la texture et de la nature du support, du mode d'introduction du précurseur métallique et des traitements thermiques subis. Les catalyseurs supportés sur alumine dopée au silicium s'avèrent très prometteurs pour des applications à haute température.This work is dedicated to the sol-gel preparation and characterisation of alumina supports and platinum supported catalysts showing a good thermal stability. The gels obtained from aluminium tri-sec butoxide hydrolyzed in excess water are constituted by boehmite crystallites of nanometric size; these small dimensions entail the presence of an important excess of water for the dried samples and explain the high specific surface areas. The introduction of a doping element during the preparation allows an important improvement of the thermal stability of alumina; the best results are obtained for silicon doped samples, at 0.12 molar ratio. The characteristics of platinum based catalysts depend on the texture and the nature of the support, on the introduction mode of the metal precursor and on the performed thermal treatments. Catalysts supported on silicon-doped alumina turn out very promising for high temperature applications.POITIERS-BU Sciences (861942102) / SudocSudocFranceRomaniaFRR

Technical observations on the first Palaeolithic surface collection from Izvorul Alb (Bicaz, Romania)

Among the many Palaeolithic discoveries in the Bistriţei Valley, an impressive collection of lithic materials (almost 3,000 pieces) have been collected, over the years, from Izvorul Alb-Bicaz (north-eastern Romania). Most of the items come from surface recoveries and at this moment no site has been accurately located. We present an analysis of the first collection of lithic materials found at Izvorul Alb in 1977 and 1978, recovered from two distinct places, Baicu and Piciorul Gol. Our observations point to several differences between the items collected in the two places. Generally, some of the items come from a late Palaeolithic level, Epigravettian or even Epipalaeolithic, and the rest of lithic materials may belong to Gravettian traditions sensu lato.Niţu Elena-Cristina, Matei Mihai, Popa Daniel-Dumitru, Cârciumaru Marin, Leu Marian, Cîrstina Ovidiu, Ionuț Lupu Florin, Nicolae Adrian. Technical observations on the first Palaeolithic surface collection from Izvorul Alb (Bicaz, Romania). In: Annales d'Université "Valahia" Târgovişte. Section d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, Tome 20, 2018. pp. 17-27

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Modulate Angiogenesis in Gastric Cancer

Individualized gastric cancer (GC) treatment aims at providing targeted therapies that translate the latest research into improved management strategies. Extracellular vesicle microRNAs have been proposed as biomarkers for GC prognosis. Helicobacter pylori infection influences the therapeutic response to and the drivers of malignant changes in chronic gastritis. The successful use of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for gastric ulcer healing has raised interest in studying their effects on tumor neovascularization and in potential antiangiogenic therapies that could use mesenchymal stem cell secretion into extracellular vesicles—such as exosomes—in GC cells. The use of MSCs isolated from bone marrow in order to achieve angiogenic modulation in the tumor microenvironment could exploit the inherent migration of MSCs into GC tissues. Bone marrow-derived MSCs naturally present in the stomach have been reported to carry a malignancy risk, but their effect in GC is still being researched. The pro- and antiangiogenic effects of MSCs derived from various sources complement their role in immune regulation and tissue regeneration and provide further understanding into the heterogeneous biology of GC, the aberrant morphology of tumor vasculature and the mechanisms of resistance to antiangiogenic drugs