Search results for: functional food

Authors: Christoph Lohr, Hanna Wund, Peter Elsner, Kay André Weidenmann

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Injection molding is one of the most commonly used techniques in the industrial polymer processing. In the conventional process of injection molding, the liquid polymer is injected into the cavity of the mold, where the polymer directly starts hardening at the cooled walls. To compensate the shrinkage, which is caused predominantly by the immediate cooling, holding pressure is applied. Through that whole process, residual stresses are produced by the temperature difference of the polymer melt and the injection mold and the relocation of the polymer chains, which were oriented by the high process pressures and injection speeds. These residual stresses often weaken or change the structural behavior of the parts or lead to deformation of components. One solution to reduce the residual stresses is the use of variothermal processing. Hereby the mold is heated – i.e. near/over the glass transition temperature of the polymer – the polymer is injected and before opening the mold and ejecting the part the mold is cooled. For the next cycle, the mold gets heated again and the procedure repeats. The rapid heating and cooling of the mold are realized indirectly by convection of heated and cooled liquid (here: water) which is pumped through fluid channels underneath the mold surface. In this paper, the influences of variothermal processing on the residual stresses are analyzed with samples in a larger scale (500 mm x 250 mm x 4 mm). In addition, the influence on functional elements, such as abrupt changes in wall thickness, bosses, and ribs, on the residual stress is examined. Therefore the polycarbonate samples are produced by variothermal and isothermal processing. The melt is injected into a heated mold, which has in our case a temperature varying between 70 °C and 160 °C. After the filling of the cavity, the closed mold is cooled down varying from 70 °C to 100 °C. The pressure and temperature inside the mold are monitored and evaluated with cavity sensors. The residual stresses of the produced samples are illustrated by birefringence where the effect on the refractive index on the polymer under stress is used. The colorful spectrum can be uncovered by placing the sample between a polarized light source and a second polarization filter. To show the achievement and processing effects on the reduction of residual stress the birefringence images of the isothermal and variothermal produced samples are compared and evaluated. In this comparison to the variothermal produced samples have a lower amount of maxima of each color spectrum than the isothermal produced samples, which concludes that the residual stress of the variothermal produced samples is lower.

Keywords: birefringence, injection molding, polycarbonate, residual stress, variothermal processing

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Authors: Bashair Al Riyami

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Background: Acylation stimulating protein (ASP) is a small basic protein that was isolated based on its function as a potent lipogenic factor. The role of ASP in lipid metabolism has been described in numerous studies. Several association studies suggest that ASP may play a prominent role in female fat metabolism and distribution. Progesterone is established as a female lipogenic hormone, however the mechanisms by which progesterone exert its effects are not fully understood. AIM: Since ASP is an established potent lipogenic factor with a known mechanism of action, in this study we aim to investigate acute effects of different hormone treatments on ASP levels in vivo after a fat load. Methods: This is a longitudinal study including 24 female wister rats that were randomly divided into 4 groups including controls (n=6). The rats were ovariectomized, and fourteen days later the fasting rats were injected subcutaneously with a single dose of different hormone treatments (progesterone, estrogen and testosterone). An hour later, olive was administered by oral gavage, and plasma blood samples were collected at several time points after oil administration for ASP and triglyceride measurements. Area under the curve (TG-AUC) was calculated to represent TG clearance Results: RM-ANCOVA and post-analysis showed that only the progesterone treated group had a significant postprandial ASP increase at two hours compared to basal levels and to the controls (439.8± 62.4 vs 253.45± 59.03 ug/ml), P= 0.04. Interestingly, increased postprandial ASP levels coordinated negatively with corresponding TG levels and TG-AUC across the postprandial period most apparent in the progesterone and testosterone treated groups that behaved in an opposite manner. ASP levels were 3-fold higher in the progesterone compared to the testosterone treated group, whereas TG-AUC was significantly lower in the progesterone treated group compared to the testosterone treated group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that progesterone treatment enhances ASP production and TG clearance in a simultaneous manner. The strong association of postprandial ASP levels and TG clearance in the progesterone treated group support the notion of a stimulatory role for progesterone on ASP mediated TG clearance. This is the first functional study to demonstrate a cause-effect relationship between hormone treatment and ASP levels in vivo. These findings are promising and may contribute to further understanding the mechanism of progesterone function as a female lipogenic hormone through enhancing ASP production and plasma levels.

Keywords: ASP, lipids, sex hormones, wister rats

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Authors: Mehdi Damaliamiri

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Undoubtedly, the power of language is hardly a new topic; indeed, the persuasive power of language accompanied by ideology has long been recognized in different aspects of life. The two and a half thousand-year-old Bisitun inscriptions in Iran, proclaiming the victories of the Persian King, Darius, are considered by some historians to have been an early example of the use of propaganda. Added to this, the modern age is the true cradle of fully-fledged ideologies and the ongoing process of centrifugal ideologization. The most visible work on ideology today within the field of linguistics is “Critical Discourse Analysis” (CDA). The focus of CDA is on “uncovering injustice, inequality, taking sides with the powerless and suppressed” and making “mechanisms of manipulation, discrimination, demagogy, and propaganda explicit and transparent.” possible way of relating language to ideology is to propose that ideology and language are inextricably intertwined. From this perspective, language is always ideological, and ideology depends on the language. All language use involves ideology, and so ideology is ubiquitous – in our everyday encounters, as much as in the business of the struggle for power within and between the nation-states and social statuses. At the same time, ideology requires language. Its key characteristics – its power and pervasiveness, its mechanisms for continuity and for change – all come out of the inner organization of language. The two phenomena are homologous: they share the same evolutionary trajectory. To get a more robust portrait of the power and ideology, we need to examine its potential place in the structure, and consider how such structures pattern in terms of the functional elements which organize meanings in the clause. This is based on the belief that all grammatical, including syntactic, knowledge is stored mentally as constructions have become immensely popular. When the structure of the clause is taken into account, the power and ideology have a preference for Complement over Subject and Adjunct. The subject is a central interpersonal element in discourse: it is one of two elements that form the central interactive nub of a proposition. Conceptually, there are countless ways of construing a given event and linguistically, a variety of grammatical devices that are usually available as alternate means of coding a given conception, such as political crime and corruption. In the theory of construal, then, which, like transitivity in Halliday, makes options available, Cognitive Linguistics can offer a cognitive account of ideology in language, where ideology is made possible by the choices a language allows for representing the same material situation in different ways. The possibility of promoting alternative construals of the same reality means that any particular choice in representation is always ideologically constrained or motivated and indicates the perspective and interests of the text-producer.

Keywords: power, ideology, court, discourse

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Authors: Yassets Egaña, Patricio Núñez, Juan C. Rios, Ivan Balic, Alex Manquez, Yarela Flores, Maria C. Gatica, Sergio Diez De Medina, Rocio Tijaro-Rojas

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Globally, humans produce millions of tons of waste per year. An important percentage of this waste is plastic, which frequently ends up in landfills and oceans. During the last decades, the greatest plastics production in history have been made, a few amount of this plastic is recycled, the rest ending up as plastic pollution in soils and seas. Plastic pollution is disastrous for the environment, affecting essential species, quality of consumption water, and some economic activities such as tourism, in different parts of the world. Due to its durability and decomposition on micro-plastics, animals and humans are accumulating a variety of plastic components without having clear their effects on human health, economy, and wildlife. In dry regions as the Atacama Desert, up to 95% of the water consumption comes from underground reservoirs, therefore preventing the soil pollution is an urgent need. This contribution focused on isolating, genotyping and optimizing microorganisms that use plastic waste as the only source of food to construct a batch-type bioreactor able to degrade in a faster way the plastic waste before it gets the desert soils and groundwater consumed by people living in this areas. Preliminary results, under laboratory conditions, has shown an improved degradation of polyethylene when three species of bacteria and three of fungi act on a selected plastic material. These microorganisms have been inoculated in dry soils, initially lacking organic matter, under environmental conditions in the laboratory. Our team designed and constructed a prototype using the natural conditions of the region and the best experimental results.

Keywords: biological breakdown, plastic bags, prototype, desert regions

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Authors: Lethukuthula Ngobese, Abin Gupthar, Patrick Govender

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The ability of yeast cell wall-derived mannoproteins (glycoproteins) to positively contribute to oenological properties has been a key factor that stimulates research initiatives into these industrially important glycoproteins. In addition, and from a fundamental research perspective, yeast cell wall glycoproteins are involved in a wide range of biological interactions. To date, and to the best of our knowledge, our understanding of the fine molecular structure of these mannoproteins is fairly limited. Generally, the amino acid sequences of their protein moieties have been established from structural and functional analysis of the genomic sequence of these yeasts whilst far less information is available on the glycosyl moieties of these mannoproteins. A novel strategy was devised in this study that entails the genetic engineering of yeast strains that over-express and release cell wall-associated glycoproteins into the liquid growth medium. To this end, the Flo1p mannoprotein was overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae laboratory strains bearing a specific deletion in KNR4 and GPI7 genes involved in cell wall biosynthesis that have been previously shown to extracellularly hyper-secrete cell wall-associated glycoproteins. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) -based cloning strategy was employed to generate transgenic yeast strains in which the native cell wall FLO1 glycoprotein-encoding gene is brought under transcriptional control of the constitutive PGK1 promoter. The modified Helm’s flocculation assay was employed to assess flocculation intensities of a Flo1p over-expressing wild type and deletion mutant as an indirect measure of their abilities to release the desired mannoprotein. The flocculation intensities of the transformed strains were assessed and all the strains showed similar intensities (>98% flocculation). To assess if mannoproteins were released into the growth medium, the supernatant of each strain was subjected to the BCA protein assay and the transformed Δknr4 strain showed a considerable increase in protein levels. This study has the potential to produce mannoproteins in sufficient quantities that may be employed in future investigations to understand their molecular structures and mechanisms of interaction to the benefit of both fundamental and industrial applications.

Keywords: glycoproteins, genetic engineering, flocculation, over-expression

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Authors: Mokgadi Miranda Hlongwane, Ntebogeng Sharon Mokgalaka, Felix Dapare Dakora

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Lessertia (L.) frutescens (syn. Sutherlandia frutescens) is a leguminous medicinal plant indigenous to South Africa. Traditionally, L. frutescens has been used to treat cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, fever, HIV, stomach problems, wounds and other ailments. This legume is endemic to the Cape fynbos, with large populations occurring wild and cultivated in the Cape Florist Region. Its widespread distribution in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal is linked to its increased use as a phytomedicine in the treatment of various diseases by traditional healers. The frequent harvesting of field plants for use as a medicine has made it necessary to undertake studies towards the conservation of Lessertia frutescens. As a legume, this species can form root nodules and fix atmospheric N₂ when in symbiosis with soil bacteria called rhizobia. So far, however, few studies (if any) have been done on the efficacy and diversity of native bacterial symbionts nodulating L. frutescens in South Africa. The aim of this project was to isolate and characterize L. frutescens-nodulating bacteria from five different locations in the Western Cape Province. This was done by trapping soil rhizobia using rhizosphere soil suspension to inoculate L. frutescens seedlings growing in sterilized sand and receiving sterile N-free Hoagland nutrient solution under glasshouse conditions. At 60 days after planting, root nodules were harvested from L. frutescens plants, surface-sterilized, macerated, and streaked on yeast mannitol agar (YMA) plates and incubated at 28 ˚C for observation of bacterial growth. The majority of isolates were slow-growers that took 6-14 days to appear on YMA plates. However, seven isolates were fast-growers, taking 2-4 days to appear on YMA plates. Single-colony cultures of the isolates were assessed for their ability to nodulate L. frutescens as a homologous host under glasshouse conditions. Of the 92 bacterial isolates tested, 63 elicited nodule formation on L. frutescens. Symbiotic effectiveness varied markedly between and among test isolates. There were also significant (p≤0.005) differences in nodulation, shoot biomass, photosynthetic rates, leaf transpiration and stomatal conductance of L. frutescens plants inoculated with the test isolates, which is an indication of their functional diversity.

Keywords: lessertia frutescens, nodulating, rhizobia, symbiotic effectiveness

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Authors: Daniel Assefa, Engeda Dessalegn, Chetan Chauhan

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Moringa stenopetala is a socioeconomic valued tree that is widely available and cultivated in the Southern part of Ethiopia. The leaves have been traditionally used as a food source with high nutritional and medicinal values. The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of thermal treatment on the total phenolic content, antioxidant and alpha-amylase inhibition activities of aqueous leaf extracts during maceration and different decoction time interval (5, 10 and 15 min). The total phenolic content was determined by the Folin-ciocalteu methods whereas antioxidant activities were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl(DPPH) radical scavenging, reducing power and ferrous ion chelating assays and alpha-amylase inhibition activity was determined using 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid method. Total phenolic content ranged from 34.35 to 39.47 mgGAE/g. Decoction for 10 min extract showed ferrous ion chelating (92.52), DPPH radical scavenging (91.52%), alpha-amylase inhibition (69.06%) and ferric reducing power (0.765), respectively. DPPH, reducing power and alpha-amylase inhibition activities showed positive linear correlation (R2=0.853, R2= 0.857 and R2=0.930), respectively with total phenolic content but ferrous ion chelating activity was found to be weakly correlated (R2=0.481). Based on the present investigation, it could be concluded that major loss of total phenolic content, antioxidant and alpha-amylase inhibition activities of the crude leaf extracts of Moringa stenopetala leaves were observed at decoction time for 15 min. Therefore, to maintain the total phenolic content, antioxidant, and alpha-amylase inhibition activities of leaves, cooking practice should be at the optimum decoction time (5-10 min).

Keywords: alpha-amylase inhibition, antioxidant, Moringa stenopetala, total phenolic content

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Authors: Eric Gismondi, Aurelie Bigot-Clivot

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Endocrine disruptors (EDCs) are well known to disrupt the development and the reproduction of exposed organisms. Although this point has been studied in vertebrate models, the limited knowledge of the endocrine system of invertebrates makes the evaluation of EDCs effects difficult. However, invertebrates represent the major part of aquatic ecosystems, such as amphipods Gammaridea, which are crucial for their functioning (e.g., litter degradation, food resource). Moreover, gammarids are hosts of parasites such as vertically-transmitted microsporidia (microsporidia VT), which could be confounding factors in assessment of EDC effects. Indeed, some microsporidia VT could have endocrine effects by their own present in the host since it was observed for example, a feminization of juvenile males, which become phenotypic females. This work evaluated the impact of ethinylestradiol (EE₂, estrogenic), cyproterone acetate (CPA, anti-androgenic), 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4HT, anti-estrogenic) and 17α-methyltestosterone (17MT - androgenic), on the 20-hydroxyecdysone concentration (i.e. 20HE - molt process) and the vitellogenin gene expression (i.e. reproduction) in the freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex, after a 96h laboratory exposure. In addition, the presence of microsporidia VT was verified in order to analyze the effect of this confounding factor. Results of this study shown that, although endocrine systems of invertebrates and vertebrates are different, EDCs proved in vertebrates could also affect biological functions hormonally controlled in invertebrates. Indeed, the molt process of crustaceans was disrupted in the first stage (i.e. 20-HE concentration) and therefore, could affect, at the long term, the population dynamic. In addition, it was observed that G. pulex was differently impacted according to the gender and parasitism, which underline the importance to take into account these confounding factors to better evaluate the EDCs impact on invertebrate populations.

Keywords: endocrine disruption, gammarus sp., molt, parasitism

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Authors: Samantha A. Cintron, Janet Pierce, Mihaela E. Sardiu, Diane Mahoney, Jill Peltzer, Bhanu Gupta, Qiuhua Shen

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High output heart failure (HOHF) is characterized a high output state resulting from an underlying disease process and is commonly caused by obesity. As obesity levels increase, more individuals will be at risk for obesity-related HOHF. However, the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms of obesity-related HOHF are not well understood and need further research. The aim of the study was to describe the differences in leukocyte transcriptomes of morbidly obese patients with HOHF and those with non-HOHF. In this cross-sectional study, the study team collected blood samples, demographics, and clinical data of six patients with morbid obesity and HOHF and six patients with morbid obesity and non-HOHF. The study team isolated the peripheral blood leukocyte RNA and applied stranded total RNA sequencing. Differential gene expression was calculated, and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software was used to interpret the canonical pathways, functional changes, upstream regulators, and mechanistic and causal networks that were associated with the significantly different leukocyte transcriptomes. The study team identified 116 differentially expressed genes; 114 were upregulated, and 2 were downregulated in the HOHF group (Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05 and log2(fold-change) of ±1). The differentially expressed genes were involved with cell proliferation, mitochondrial function, erythropoiesis, erythrocyte stability, and apoptosis. The top upregulated canonical pathways associated with differentially expressed genes were autophagy, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling, and senescence pathways. Upstream regulator GATA Binding Protein 1 (GATA1) and a network associated with nuclear factor kappa-light chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB) were also identified based on the different leukocyte transcriptomes of morbidly obese patients with HOHF and non-HOHF. To the author’s best knowledge, this is the first study that reported the differential gene expression in patients with obesity-related HOHF and demonstrated the unique pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the disease. Further research is needed to determine the role of cellular function and maintenance, inflammation, and iron homeostasis in obesity-related HOHF.

Keywords: cardiac output, heart failure, obesity, transcriptomics

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Authors: Jiang Niu, Yue Jiang

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With the ultimate goal to automatically generate translated texts with high quality, machine translation has made tremendous improvements. However, its translations of literary works are still plagued with problems in coherence, esp. the translation between distant language pairs. One of the causes of the problems is probably the lack of linguistic knowledge to be incorporated into the training of machine translation systems. In order to enable readers to better understand the problems of machine translation in coherence, to seek out the potential knowledge to be incorporated, and thus to improve the quality of machine translation products, this study applies Theme-Rheme structure to examine how a machine-translated literary text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Theme-Rheme structure in Systemic Functional Linguistics is a useful tool for analysis of textual coherence. Theme is the departure point of a clause and Rheme is the rest of the clause. In a text, as Themes and Rhemes may be connected with each other in meaning, they form thematic and rhematic progressions throughout the text. Based on this structure, we can look into how a text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Methodologically, we chose Chinese and English as the language pair to be studied. Specifically, we built a comparable corpus with two modes of English translations, viz. machine translation (MT) and human translation (HT) of one Chinese literary source text. The translated texts were annotated with Themes, Rhemes and their progressions throughout the texts. The annotated texts were analyzed from two respects, the different types of Themes functioning differently in achieving coherence, and the different types of thematic and rhematic progressions functioning differently in constructing texts. By analyzing and contrasting the two modes of translations, it is found that compared with the HT, 1) the MT features “pseudo-coherence”, with lots of ill-connected fragments of information using “and”; 2) the MT system produces a static and less interconnected text that reads like a list; these two points, in turn, lead to the less coherent organization and development of the MT than that of the HT; 3) novel to traditional and previous studies, Rhemes do contribute to textual connection and coherence though less than Themes do and thus are worthy of notice in further studies. Hence, the findings suggest that Theme-Rheme structure be applied to measuring and assessing the coherence of machine translation, to being incorporated into the training of the machine translation system, and Rheme be taken into account when studying the textual coherence of both MT and HT.

Keywords: coherence, corpus-based, literary translation, machine translation, Theme-Rheme structure

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Authors: Shreya Borthakur, Adhar Sharma

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The North-east states of India are well known for their age-old practice of preparing alcoholic beer from rice and millet. They do so in a traditional way by sprinkling starter cake (inoculum) on cooked rice or millet after which the fermentation starts and eventually, forms the beer. This starter cake has a rich composition of different microbes and medicinal herbs along with the powdered rice dough or maize dough with rice bran. The starter cake microbial composition has an important role in determining the microbial succession and metabolic secretions as the fermentation proceeds from the early to its late stage, thus, giving the beer a unique aroma, taste, and other sensory properties of traditionally prepared beer. Here, We have worked on identifying and characterizing the microbial community in the starter cakes prepared by the Monpa and Galo tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 18 microbial strains have been isolated from the starter cake of Monpa tribe, while 10 microbial isolates in that of Galo tribe. A metagenomic approach was applied to enumerate the cultural and non-cultural microbes present in the starter cakes prepared by the Monpa and Galo tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. The findings of the mini-project lays foundation to understand the role of microbes present in the starter cake in the beer’s fermentation process and will aide in future research on re-formulating the starter cakes to prevent the early spoilage of the ready to consume beer as the traditional rice beer has a short shelf-life. The paper concludes with the way forward being controlled CRISPR-Cas9.

Keywords: fermentation, traditional beer, microbial succession, preservation, CRISPR-Cas, food microbiology

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Authors: Deepali Rastogi

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Natural dyes are considered to be eco-friendly as they cause no pollution and are safe to use. With the growing interest in natural dyes, new sources of natural dyes are being explored. Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is native to tropical eastern region. It is abundantly available in Asia, Africa and South America. While coconut has tremendous commercial value in food, oil, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, the most important use of coconut husk has been as coir which is used for making mats, ropes, etc. In the present study an attempt has been made to extract dye from the coconut husk and study its application on wool and silk. Dye was extracted from coconut husk in an aqueous medium at three different pH. The coconut husk fibres were boiled in water at different pH of 4, 7 and 9 for one hour. On visual inspection of the extracted dye solution, maximum colour was found to be extracted at pH 9. The solution was obtained in neutral medium whereas, no dye was extracted in acidic medium. Therefore, alkaline medium at pH 9 was selected for the extraction of dye from coconut husk. The extracted dye was applied on wool and silk at three different pH, viz., 4, 7 and 9. The effect of pre- and post- mordanting with alum and ferrous sulphate on the colour value of coconut husk dye was also studied. The L*a*b*/L*c*h* values were measured to see the effect of the mordants on the colour values of all the dyed and mordanted samples. Bright golden brown to dark brown colours were obtained at pH 4 on both wool and silk. The colour yield was not very good at pH 7 and 9. Mordanting with alum resulted in darker and brighter shades of brown, whereas mordanting with ferrous sulphate resulted in darker and duller shades. All the samples were tested for colourfastness to light, rubbing, washing and perspiration. Both wool and silk dyed with dye extracted from coconut husk exhibited good to excellent wash, rub and perspiration fastness. Fastness to light was moderate to good.

Keywords: coconut husk, wool, silk, natural dye, mordants

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Authors: Sawsan Domi

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Identifying urban patterns of traditional settlements perfumed in various ways. One of them through the three-dimensional ‘reading’ of the urban web: the density of structures, the construction materials and the colors used. Objectives of this study are to paraphrase and understand the relation between the formation of the traditional settlements and the shape and structure of their structural method. In the beginning, the study considered the components of the historical neighborhood, which reflected the social and economical effects in the urban planning pattern. Then, by analyzing the main components of the old neighborhood which included: analysis of urban patterns & streets systems, analysis of traditional architectural elements and the construction materials and their usage. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood in ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites in the Sultanate of Oman. The vivid features of this archaeological site are the living witness to the genius of the Omani person and his unique architecture. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood is also considered as the oldest human settlement at ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate. It used to be the gathering area for Arab and Omani tribes who are coming from other governorates of Oman. In this old settlement, local characters were created to meet the climate problems and the social, religious requirements of the life. Traditional buildings were built of materials that were available in the surround environment and within hand reach. The Historical component was containing four main separate neighborhoods. The morphological structure of ‘’Hamasa’’ was characterized by a continuous and densely built-up pattern, featuring close interdependence between the spatial and functional pattern. The streets linked the plots, the marketplace and the open areas. Consequently, the traditional fabric had narrow streets with one- and two- storey houses. The material used in building facilities at ‘’Hamasa’' historical are from the traditionally used materials. These materials were cleverly used in building of local facilities. Most of these materials are locally made and formed, and used by the locals. ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood is an example of analyzing the urban patterns and geometrical features. The old ‘’ Hamasa’’ retains the patterns of its old settlements. Urban patterns were defined by both forms and structure. The traditional architecture of ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood has evolved as a direct result of its climatic conditions. The study figures out that the neighborhood characterized by the used construction materials, the scope of the residential structures and by the streets system. All formed the urban pattern of the settlement.

Keywords: urban pattern, construction materials, neighborhood, architectural elements, historical

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Authors: S. Murr, S. Phillips

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One of the biggest challenges entering a market with a carsharing or any other shared mobility (SM) service is sound investment decision-making. To support this process, the authors think that a city index evaluating different criteria is necessary. The goal of such an index is to benchmark cities along a set of external measures to answer the main two challenges: financially viability and the understanding of its specific requirements. The authors have consulted several shared mobility projects and industry experts to create such a Shared Mobility City Index (SMCI). The current proposal of the SMCI consists of 11 individual index measures: general data (demographics, geography, climate and city culture), shared mobility landscape (current SM providers, public transit options, commuting patterns and driving culture) and political vision and goals (vision of the Mayor, sustainability plan, bylaws/tenders supporting SM). To evaluate the suitability of the index, 16 cities on the East Coast of North America were selected and secondary research was conducted. The main sources of this study were census data, organisational records, independent press releases and informational websites. Only non-academic sources where used because the relevant data for the chosen cities is not published in academia. Applying the index measures to the selected cities resulted in three major findings. Firstly, density (city area divided by number of inhabitants) is not an indicator for the number of SM services offered: the city with the lowest density has five bike and carsharing options. Secondly, there is a direct correlation between commuting patterns and how many shared mobility services are offered. New York, Toronto and Washington DC have the highest public transit ridership and the most shared mobility providers. Lastly, except one, all surveyed cities support shared mobility with their sustainability plan. The current version of the shared mobility index is proving a practical tool to evaluate cities, and to understand functional, political, social and environmental considerations. More cities will have to be evaluated to refine the criteria further. However, the current version of the index can be used to assess cities on their suitability for shared mobility services and will assist investors deciding which city is a financially viable market.

Keywords: carsharing, transportation, urban planning, shared mobility city index

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Authors: Florent Cerdan, Anne-Gaëlle Denay, Annette Roy, Jean-Claude Grandidier, Éric Laine

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The insulation of MarkIII membrane of the Liquid Natural Gas Carriers (LNGC) consists of a load- bearing system made of panels in reinforced polyurethane foam (R-PUF). During the shipping, the cargo containment shall be potentially subject to risk events which can be water leakage through the wall ballast tank. The aim of these present works is to further develop understanding of water transfer mechanisms and water effect on properties of R-PUF. This multi-scale approach contributes to improve the durability. Macroscale / Mesoscale Firstly, the use of the gravimetric technique has allowed to define, at room temperature, the water transfer mechanisms and kinetic diffusion, in the R-PUF. The solubility follows a first kinetic fast growing connected to the water absorption by the micro-porosity, and then evolves linearly slowly, this second stage is connected to molecular diffusion and dissolution of water in the dense membranes polyurethane. Secondly, in the purpose of improving the understanding of the transfer mechanism, the study of the evolution of the buoyant force has been established. It allowed to identify the effect of the balance of total and partial pressure of mixture gas contained in pores surface. Mesoscale / Microscale The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA), have been used to investigate the hydration of the hard and soft segments of the polyurethane matrix. The purpose was to identify the sensitivity of these two phases. It been shown that the glass transition temperatures shifts towards the low temperatures when the solubility of the water increases. These observations permit to conclude to a plasticization of the polymer matrix. Microscale The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) study has been used to investigate the characterization of functional groups on the edge, the center and mid-way of the sample according the duration of submersion. More water there is in the material, more the water fix themselves on the urethanes groups and more specifically on amide groups. The pic of C=O urethane shifts at lower frequencies quickly before 24 hours of submersion then grows slowly. The intensity of the pic decreases more flatly after that.

Keywords: porous materials, water sorption, glass transition temperature, DSC, DMA, FTIR, transfer mechanisms

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Authors: Cynthia Briggs, Kimberly Gerardi

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Over the past six years, the authors have been working together on World Language Collaborations in the Middle School French Program at St. Luke's School in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA. Author 2 brings design expertise to the projects, and both teachers have utilized the fabrication lab, emerging technologies, and collaboration with students. Each year, author 1 proposes a project scope, and her students are challenged to design and engineer a signature project. Both partners have improved the iterative process to ensure deeper learning and sustained student inquiry. The projects range from a 1:32 scale model of the Eiffel Tower that was CNC routed to a fully functional jukebox that plays francophone music, lights up, and can hold up to one thousand songs powered by Raspberry Pi. The most recent project is a Fragrance Marketplace, culminating with a pop-up store for the entire community to discover. Each student will learn the history of fragrance and the chemistry behind making essential oils. Students then create a unique brand, marketing strategy, and concept for their signature fragrance. They are further tasked to use the industrial design process (bottling, packaging, and creating a brand name) to finalize their product for the public Marketplace. Sometimes, these dynamic projects require maintenance and updates. For example, our wall-mounted, three-foot francophone clock is constantly changing. The most recent iteration uses Chat GPT to program the Arduino to reconcile the real-time clock shield and keep perfect time as each hour passes. The lights, motors, and sounds from the clock are authentic to each region, represented with laser-cut embellishments. Inspired by Michel Parmigiani, the history of Swiss watch-making, and the precision of time instruments, we aim for perfection with each passing minute. The authors aim to share exemplary work that is possible with students of all ages. We implemented the reverse engineering process to focus on student outcomes to refine our collaborative process. The products that our students create are prime examples of how the design engineering process is applicable across disciplines. The authors firmly believe that the past and present of World cultures inspire innovation.

Keywords: collaboration, design thinking, emerging technologies, world language

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Authors: Mi-Ju Kim, Hae-Yeong Kim

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Product mislabeling and adulteration have been increasing the concerns in processed meat products. Relatively inexpensive pork meat compared to meat such as beef was adulterated for economic benefit. These food fraud incidents related to pork were concerned due to economic, religious and health reasons. In this study, a rapid on-site detection method using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was developed for the simultaneous identification of beef and pork. Each specific LAMP primer for beef and pork was designed targeting on mitochondrial D-loop region. The LAMP assay reaction was performed at 65 ℃ for 40 min. The specificity of each primer for beef and pork was evaluated using DNAs extracted from 13 animal species including beef and pork. The sensitivity of duplex LAMP assay was examined by serial dilution of beef and pork DNAs, and reference binary mixtures. This assay was applied to processed meat products including beef and pork meat for monitoring. Each set of primers amplified only the targeted species with no cross-reactivity with animal species. The limit of detection of duplex real-time LAMP was 1 pg for each DNA of beef and pork and 1% pork in a beef-meat mixture. Commercial meat products that declared the presence of beef and/or pork meat on the label showed positive results for those species. This method was successfully applied to detect simultaneous beef and pork meats in processed meat products. The optimized duplex LAMP assay can identify simultaneously beef and pork meat within less than 40 min. A portable real-time fluorescence device used in this study is applicable for on-site detection of beef and pork in processed meat products. Thus, this developed assay was considered to be an efficient tool for monitoring meat products.

Keywords: beef, duplex real-time LAMP, meat identification, pork

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Authors: Nurlaili Syafar Wulan, Almurdi, Suprianto Kosno

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Introduction: Periodontitis defined as an inflammatory disease of teeth supporting tissue with irritation of specific pathogens as the main aetiology. Periodontitis can be cured by giving medical action accompanied by administration of an antibiotic, but the use of antibiotic has a side effect that can cause bacterial resistance. This side effect can be corrected by probiotic, which has antibiotic-like substance but do not have bacterial resistance effect; it makes probiotic became a promising future periodontitis medication. West Sumatran people has their own typical traditional food product made from fermented buffalo’s milk called dadih, and it contained probiotics. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the ability of probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus isolated from dadih in inhibiting the growth of bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. Material and Method: This was a true experimental study with post-test and control group design. This study was conducted on 36 samples of 2 treatment groups, the test group with probiotic Pediococcus pentosacesus isolated from dadih and the negative control group with sterile aquadest. The antibacterial effect was tested using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method and calculated by measuring the zone of inhibition on MHA around paper disk using a sliding caliper with 0.5 mm accuracy. Result: The result of bivariate analysis using Independent t-test was p=0.00 where p < 0.05 means that there is a significant difference between the tested group and negative control group. Conclusion: Probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus isolated from dadih are able to inhibit the growth of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.

Keywords: aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, antibacterial activities, periodontitis, probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus

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Authors: Noof Eid Al Shammari

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Background: Living with haemodialysis (HD) can impose several physical and social restrictions on the lives of individuals. Usually, the patient has three dialysis sessions per week that each run for three to four hours. This limits the social life of patients and causes a lower quality of life, in conjunction with the fact that people with chronic kidney disease must follow strict fluid and food regimens and use multiple medications. Given these factors, patients undergoing HD generally need psychological support. Objective: This scoping review study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of physical and breathing exercises on quality of life (QOL) and psychophysical status in patients undergoing HD. Methodology: Searches for relevant studies were performed in four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and PubMed) for articles published between 2011 and 2021. Out of all the searched literature, ten studies met the inclusion criteria (8 randomised controlled trials, one quasi-experimental study, and one pilot study), with a total of 588 patients. Different types of physical and breathing exercises were used (breathing, cardiopulmonary, and physical exercises). Results: All included studies in this scoping review revealed that most of the aerobic or anaerobic exercises, as well as breathing exercises, had a positive effect and significantly improved patients’ QOL, physical functioning, and psychological status. Conclusions: In this review, most of the articles demonstrated a positive effect of physical and breathing exercises on the QOL and psychophysical status of HD patients. Based on the findings of these studies, physical and breathing exercises were shown to improve muscle strength and other health-related aspects of QOL, including sexual, social, cognitive, and physical functions. However, more studies will need to be conducted with a larger sample to determine the best intervention that could be implemented and standardised in nursing care for patients undergoing HD.

Keywords: physical exercise, breathing exercises, quality of life, depression, hemodialysis

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Authors: Abolghasem Yousefi-Babadi, Ali Bozorgi-Amiri, Aida Kazempour, Reza Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, Maryam Irani

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All over the world, natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods, volcanoes and hurricanes) causes a lot of deaths. Earthquakes are introduced as catastrophic events, which is accident by unusual phenomena leading to much loss around the world. Such could be replaced by disasters or any other synonyms strongly demand great long-term help and relief, which can be hard to be managed. Supplies and facilities are very important challenges after any earthquake which should be prepared for the disaster regions to satisfy the people's demands who are suffering from earthquake. This paper proposed disaster response facility allocation problem for disaster relief operations as a mathematical programming model. Not only damaged people in the earthquake victims, need the consumable commodities (e.g., food and water), but also they need non-consumable commodities (e.g., clothes) to protect themselves. Therefore, it is concluded that paying attention to disaster points and people's demands are very necessary. To deal with this objective, both commodities including consumable and need non-consumable commodities are considered in the presented model. This paper presented the multi-objective multi-period mathematical programming model regarding the minimizing the average of the weighted response times and minimizing the total operational cost and penalty costs of unmet demand and unused commodities simultaneously. Furthermore, a Chebycheff multi-objective solution procedure as a powerful solution algorithm is applied to solve the proposed model. Finally, to illustrate the model applicability, a case study of the Tehran earthquake is studied, also to show model validation a sensitivity analysis is carried out.

Keywords: facility location, multi-objective model, disaster response, commodity

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Authors: Ash Ahmed, Fraser Hyndman, Heni Fitriani, John Kamau

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The highway pavement is the biggest structural asset a government can construct and maintain. Concrete rigid pavements are used to carry traffic in large volumes across countries safely and efficiently. Pavement quality concrete mixes have high levels of cement which contribute to up to 10% of global CO₂ emissions. Currently the UK specifies (ground granulated blastfurnace slag) GGBS and (pulverised fuel ash) PFA to reduce the quantity of cement used in pavement construction. GGBS and PFA come from heavy industry that should not be relied upon to improve the sustainability of construction materials. This report shows that cement in pavement quality concrete can be replaced with rice husk ash (RHA) without causing adverse effects to the mechanical properties required for highways. RHA comes from the food production industry and is vital for the growing global population. It is thus a socially responsible objective to use a pozzolan in highway pavement construction that is sourced from an environmentally friendly industry. The report investigates the properties of RHA mixes and compares them to existing pavement quality mixes already used and specified. The report found that sieving RHA and not grinding it gives the best performance. Due to the low density of RHA the investigation found that replacing cement by volume rather than weight provided the best results. Findings showed that CEM II mixed with 20% RHA meets the required specification for pavement quality concrete and mitigates using the comparative CEM I. The investigation also notes that RHA is observed to be more reactive with CEM II rather than CEM I and suits early strength gains required for pavement construction. The report concludes that RHA is a sustainable material that reduces the embodied CO₂ of pavement quality concrete, which is well suited for UK highway specifications and has the potential to improve the lives of people living in the developing countries.

Keywords: pavement, pozzolan, rice husk ash, sustainable concrete

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Authors: Rachel Wachtendonk, John Calambokidis, Kiirsten Flynn

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Large marine mammals can serve as an indicator of the overall state of the environment due to their long lifespan and apex position in marine food webs. Reductions in prey, driven by changes in environmental conditions can have resounding impacts on the trophic system as a whole; this can manifest in reduced fat stores that are visible on large whales. Poor health can lead to reduced survivorship and fitness, both of which can be detrimental to a recovering population. A non-invasive technique was used for monitoring blue whale health and for seeing if it changes with ocean conditions. Digital photographs of blue whales taken in the NE Pacific by Cascadia Research and collaborators from 2005-2018 (n=3,545) were scored for overall body condition based on visible vertebrae and body shape on a scale of 0-3 where a score of 0 indicated best body condition and a score of 3 indicated poorest. The data was analyzed to determine if there were patterns in the health of whales across years and whether overall poor health was related to oceanographic conditions and predictors of prey abundance on the California coast. The year was a highly significant factor in body condition (Chi-Square, p<0.001). The proportion of whales showing poor body condition (scores 2 & 3) overall was 33% but by year varied widely from a low of 18% (2008) to a high of 55% (2015). The only two years where >50% of animals had poor body condition were 2015 and 2017 (no other year was above 45%). The 2015 maximum proportion of whales in poor body condition coincide with the marine heat wave that affected the NE Pacific 2014-16 and impacted other whale populations. This indicates that the scoring method was an effective way to evaluate blue whale health and how they respond to a changing ocean.

Keywords: blue whale, body condition, environmental variability, photo-identification

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Authors: Luana Centorame, Alessio Ilari, Marco Giustozzi, Ester Foppa Pedretti

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Maize is one of the most important agricultural cash crops in the world, involving three different chains: food, feed, and bioenergy production. Nowadays, the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis, to the best of the author's knowledge, is the most important pest to control for maize growers. The ECB is harmful to maize; young larvae are responsible for minor damage to the leaves, while the most serious damage is tunneling by older larvae that burrow into the stock. Soon after, larvae can affect cobs, and it was found that ECB can foster mycotoxin contamination; this is why it is crucial to control it. There are multiple control methods available: agronomic, biological, and microbiological means, agrochemicals, and genetically modified plants. Meanwhile, the European Union’s policy focuses on the transition to sustainable supply chains and translates into the goal of reducing the use of agrochemicals by 50%. The current work aims to compare the agrochemical treatment of ECB and biological control through beneficial insects released by drones. The methodology used includes field trials of both chemical and biological control, considering a farm in central Italy as a case study. To assess the mechanical and technical efficacy of drones with respect to standard machinery, the available literature was consulted. The findings are positive because drones allow them to get in the field promptly, in difficult conditions and with lower costs if compared to traditional techniques. At the same time, it is important to consider the limits of drones regarding pilot certification, no-fly zones, etc. In the future, it will be necessary to deepen the topic with the real application in the field of both systems, expanding the scenarios in which drones can be used and the type of material distributed.

Keywords: beneficial insects, corn borer management, drones, precision agriculture

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Authors: Samuel K. Degife, Kamal K. Pant, Sapna Jain

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The world´s population and industrialization of countries continued to grow in an alarming rate irrespective of the security for food, energy supply, and pure water availability. As a result, the global energy consumption is observed to increase significantly. Fossil energy resources that mainly comprised of crude oil, coal, and natural gas have been used by mankind as the main energy source for almost two centuries. However, sufficient evidences are revealing that the consumption of fossil resource as transportation fuel emits environmental pollutants such as CO2, NOx, and SOx. These resources are dwindling rapidly besides enormous amount of problems associated such as fluctuation of oil price and instability of oil-rich regions. Biomass is a promising renewable energy candidate to replace fossil-based transportation fuel and chemical production. The present study aims at valorization of hexose sugars (glucose and fructose) using zeolite based catalysts in imidazolium based ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, [BMIM] Cl) reaction media. The catalytic effect chromium impregnated H-ZSM-5 (Cr/H-ZSM-5) was studied for dehydration of hexose sugars. The wet impregnation method was used to prepare Cr/H-ZSM-5 catalyst. The characterization of the prepared catalyst was performed using techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and BET-surface area analysis. The dehydration product, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cr/H-ZSM-5 was effective in dehydrating fructose with 87% conversion and 55% yield 5-HMF at 180 oC for 30 min of reaction time compared with H-ZSM-5 catalyst which yielded only 31% of 5-HMF at identical reaction condition.

Keywords: chromium, hexose, ionic liquid, , zeolite

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Authors: Martha Karunakar

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There exists a wide divide between the urban and the rural students in a vast country like India. This dichotomy is seen in the resources available to them, like the learning facilities, the infra-structure, the learning ambience and meeting of their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. This paper discusses the effect of English language teaching as a Bridge course on a select batch of rural students at an Engineering college in Chennai, one of the four Metros of India. The study aims to understand how the teacher input and the teacher- peer-student interaction facilitates the acquisition of the basic structures of the English language to a group that is minimally exposed to the language. The objective in conducting the Bridge Course is to integrate these rural students into the mainstream and empower them in terms of English speaking ability; to enable them to comprehend their respective engineering classes where the medium of instruction is English and also to be able to interact with their urban peers. This program is conducted prior to the start of a regular academic session to equip them face the rigors of engineering education. The study is placed within the framework of Interaction theory in second language acquisition. The study evaluates the impact of linking theory and practice by implementing meaningful interaction not only within classrooms but also in the common areas. By providing intensive comprehensible input, it is anticipated that participant’s level of English language improves. The teaching methods and classroom activities included individual and group participation, encompassing all the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW). The diagnostic tests that were administered before the commencement of the course and the exit test after the completion were used to record the impact of the training.

Keywords: comprehensible input, interaction, rural students, teaching English

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Authors: Natalia Sypion-Dutkowska

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Abstract — The main research objective of the paper is to discover the relationship between the age groups of residents and crime in particular districts of a large city. The basic analytical tool is specific crime rates, calculated not in relation to the total population, but for age groups in a different social situation - property, housing, work, and representing different generations with different behavior patterns. They are the communities from which criminals and victims of crimes come. The analysis of literature and national police reports gives rise to hypotheses about the ability of a given age group to generate crime as a source of offenders and as a group of victims. These specific indicators are spatially differentiated, which makes it possible to detect socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns of urban crime. A multi-feature classification of districts was also carried out, in which specific crime rates are the diagnostic features. In this way, areas with a similar structure of socio-demographic determinants of spatial patterns on urban crime were designated. The case study is the city of Szczecin in Poland. It has about 400,000 inhabitants and its area is about 300 sq km. Szczecin is located in the immediate vicinity of Germany and is the economic, academic and cultural capital of the region. It also has a seaport and an airport. Moreover, according to ESPON 2007, Szczecin is the Transnational and National Functional Urban Area. Szczecin is divided into 37 districts - auxiliary administrative units of the municipal government. The population of each of them in 2015-17 was divided into 8 age groups: babes (0-2 yrs.), children (3-11 yrs.), teens (12-17 yrs.), younger adults (18-30 yrs.), middle-age adults (31-45 yrs.), older adults (46-65 yrs.), early older (66-80) and late older (from 81 yrs.). The crimes reported in 2015-17 in each of the districts were divided into 10 groups: fights and beatings, other theft, car theft, robbery offenses, burglary into an apartment, break-in into a commercial facility, car break-in, break-in into other facilities, drug offenses, property damage. In total, 80 specific crime rates have been calculated for each of the districts. The analysis was carried out on an intra-city scale, this is a novel approach as this type of analysis is usually carried out at the national or regional level. Another innovative research approach is the use of specific crime rates in relation to age groups instead of standard crime rates. Acknowledgments: This research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, registration number 2019/35/D/HS4/02942.

Keywords: age groups, determinants of crime, spatial crime pattern, urban crime

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Authors: Paula Salazar, Rodrigo Henríquez, Pablo Zerega

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The textile, food and pharmaceutical industries are expanding daily worldwide, and they are located within the most polluting industries due to the fact that wastewater is discharged into watercourses with high concentrations of dyes and traces of drugs. Many of these compounds are stable to light and biodegradation, being considered as emerging organic contaminants. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) emerge as an effective alternative for the removal and elimination of this type of contaminants. Heterogeneous photocatalysis has been extensively studied as it is an efficient, low-cost and durable method. As the main photocatalyst, TiO₂ has been used for the degradation of a large number of dyes and drugs. The disadvantage of TiO₂ is its absorption in the UV region of the solar spectrum. On the other hand, quaternary chalcogenides based on Cu₂SnZnX₄ (X = S, Se) are a possible alternative due to their narrow bandgap (ca. between 0.8 to 1.5 eV depending on the phase considered), low cost, an abundance of its constituent elements in the earth's crust and its low toxicity. The objective of this research was to synthesize Cu₂SnZnS₄ (CZTS) through of a low-cost hydrothermal method and evaluate it as a potential photo-catalyst in the photo-degradation process of Congo Red. The synthesis of the nanoparticle in suspension and film onto fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass (FTO) was carried out using a mixture of: 2 mmol CuCl₂, 1 mmol ZnCl₂, 1 mmol SnCl₂ and 4 mmol CH4N₂S in a Teflon reactor at 180⁰C for 72 h. Characterization was performed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV VIS spectroscopy. Photo-degradation monitoring was carried out employing a UV VIS spectrophotometer. The results show that photodegradation of 55% of the dye can be obtained after 4h of exposure to polychromatic light, it should be noted that the Congo Red dye is being studied for the first time.

Keywords: CZTS, hydrothermal, photocatalysis, dye

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Authors: Muhammad Atif Randhawa, Adnan Amjad, Muhammad Nadeem

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Potato (Solanum tuberosum) popularly known as ‘the king of vegetables’, has emerged as fourth most important food crop after rice, wheat and maize. Potato contains carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. The antioxidants of potatoes especially vitamin C helps in reducing cancer, cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure by binding free radicals. Physical characteristics and some major chemical properties of potato tubers at fresh and stored stages were investigated. Two varieties of potatoes, Sante (V1) having white colour and Lal moti (V2) with red colour were stored for 3 months and analysis were performed after each month interval. Physical and chemical attributes including weight loss, sprouting, specific gravity, pH, total sugars (reducing and non-reducing sugars) and vitamin C were analyzed before and after storage. Value of weight loss at zero day was null but it increased to 6.45% after 90 days on average in both cultivars and sprouting increased gradually at the end of 90 days. Moreover total sugars were 3.10% at zero day but increased to 9.30% after 90 days. Ascorbic acid was decreased during storage from 17.49(mg/100g) to 3.79. Both varieties of potato were stored at 60C and 120C temperatures with 85% relative humidity in order to prolong their acceptability in the market. The storage conditions influence the potatoes quality and consequently their acceptability to consumer. The data was analyzed statistically and clarifies that total sugars, weight loss, sprouting and specific gravity increase during the storage period while ascorbic acid (Vit-C) and pH decreased. Among both varieties that were stored at 60C and 120C, Sante (V1) was better than Lal moti (V2) due to less physicochemical and quality changes at 60C as compared to store at 120C.

Keywords: physicochemical, potato, quality attributes, storage

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Authors: R. Vidhya

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Diasporic writings present a comprehensive view of social, cultural and psychological dualities of immigrants. Isolation and the strong feelings of insecurity and inferiority due to constant marginalization coupled with a nostalgia for their motherland, its customs, culture, language, food and people which keep haunting the minds of immigrants are the major themes that are handled by diasporic writers. In the African diaspora, more than the men, it is the women who face the brunt and burden of the triple jeopardy – the racial, class and gender discrimination. Women writers from Africa have successfully sketched the plight of African women in the diaspora. Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian woman writer deftly portrays the African Diaspora in her novels. She skillfully weaves her stories with her own experiences as an immigrant in the United Kingdom. She portrays the immigrant life and psychology through numerous themes like exile, geographical shift of locations, transactions of culture, political instability and the dilemma of moral and religious ideologies in her diasporic novels Second-class Citizen, Gwendolyn and Kehinde. The contemporary Nigerian woman writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has also dexterously depicted the diasporic dilemma of her protagonist Ifemelu in Americannah, who initially has the experience of a despondent and a downcast in the United States of America. This paper aims to analyse the diasporic sentiments and sensibilities of the Nigerian Igbo women writers Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie whose women characters finally find emancipation and empowerment in the African Diaspora. This study is based on the Africana Womanist Literary theory propounded by Clenora Hudson-Weems.

Keywords: African Diaspora, Nigerian women writers, Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, emancipation, empowerment

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Authors: Lee Cahaner, Nissim Leon

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The segregation of populations is one of the main axes in the research of urban geography, which refers to the spatial and functional relationships between settlements. In Israel, this phenomenon has its unique expression in the spatial processes concerning the ultra-orthodox population. This population holds a set of interactions within itself as well as with the non-orthodox surrounding population because of historical and contemporary motivations on its which strength depends on its homogeneousness and separation. Its demographic growth rate and the internal social processes that the ultra-orthodox society undergoes create a new image of the ultra-orthodox concentration and its location in the Israeli space. The goals of the present study have also been defined with the express intention of filling the scholarly vacuum noted above: firstly, to discuss the development of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox sector’s hierarchical and spatial structure as of 2015, in light of the principles and mechanisms that guide it and vis-à-vis the general population’s hierarchical locality system; secondly, to map Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population, with attention to its physical boundaries, its subdivisions (Hassidic, Lithuanian, Sephardic) and the geographical and demographic processes that have characterized it in recent years; and thirdly, to shed light on the interactions between ultra-Orthodox localities via several different parameters, e.g. migration, education, transportation, employment, consumerism and community services. In order to understand the changes in ultra-Orthodox geographic distribution and the social processes that these changes have generated, a number of research activities were conducted during the course of this study− notably, gathering and assembling material from earlier academic studies, newspaper advertisements, state and private archives; in-depth interviews with major figures in the ultra-Orthodox community and others who come into contact with it; tours of the core areas of ultra-Orthodox settlement; and gathering quantitative and qualitative data from the statistical reports of governmental and other bodies. In addition, a multi-participant (2400-respondent) quantitative survey was conducted among residents of the new ultra-Orthodox cities, designed to elucidate the attributes and spatial attitudes of the residents− as a means of tracing and understanding this new settlement pattern within ultra-Orthodox space. A major portion of the quantitative and qualitative material was processed to form a system of maps that visually describe the distribution of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population.

Keywords: migration, new cities, segregation, ultra-orthodox

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