Search results for: shrub and tree leaves

Authors: Yasuyo Makido, Vivek Shandas, David J. Sailor, M. Salim Ferwati

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Mitigating extreme urban heat is challenging in a desert climate such as Doha, Qatar, since outdoor daytime temperature area often too high for the human body to tolerate. Recent studies demonstrate that cities in arid and semiarid areas can exhibit ‘urban cool islands’ - urban areas that are cooler than the surrounding desert. However, the variation of temperatures as a result of the time of day and factors leading to temperature change remain at the question. To address these questions, we examined the spatial and temporal variation of air temperature in Doha, Qatar by conducting multiple vehicle-base local temperature observations. We also employed three statistical approaches to model surface temperatures using relevant predictors: (1) Ordinary Least Squares, (2) Regression Tree Analysis and (3) Random Forest for three time periods. Although the most important determinant factors varied by day and time, distance to the coast was the significant determinant at midday. A 70%/30% holdout method was used to create a testing dataset to validate the results through Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The Pearson’s analysis suggests that the Random Forest model more accurately predicts the surface temperatures than the other methods. We conclude with recommendations about the types of development patterns that show the greatest potential for reducing extreme heat in air climates.

Keywords: desert cities, tree-structure regression model, urban cool Island, vehicle temperature traverse

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Authors: Abraha Hatsey, Nesibu Yahya, Abeje Eshete

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Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has a long tradition of conserving the Church vegetation and is an area treated as a refugee camp for many endangered indigenous tree species in Northern Ethiopia. Though around 36,000 churches exist in Ethiopia, only a few churches have been studied so far. Thus, this study assessed the land use land cover change of 3km buffer (1986-2018) and the woody species diversity and regeneration status of Tsimur St. Gebriel monastery in Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. For vegetation study, systematic sampling was used with 100m spacing between plots and between transects. Plot size was 20m*20m for the main plot and 2 subplots (5m*5m each) for the regeneration study. Tree height, diameter at breast height(DBH) and crown area were measured in the main plot for all trees with DBH ≥ 5cm. In the subplots, all seedlings and saplings were counted with DBH < 5cm. The data was analyzed on excel and Pass biodiversity software for diversity and evenness analysis. The major land cover classes identified include bare land, farmland, forest, shrubland and wetland. The extents of forest and shrubland were declined considerably due to bare land and agricultural land expansions within the 3km buffer, indicating an increasing pressure on the church forest. Regarding the vegetation status, A total of 19 species belonging to 13 families were recorded in the monastery. The diversity (H’) and evenness recorded were 2.4 and 0.5, respectively. The tree density (DBH ≥ 5cm) was 336/ha and a crown cover of 65%. Olea europaea was the dominant (6.4m2/ha out of 10.5m2 total basal area) and a frequent species (100%) with good regeneration in the monastery. The rest of the species are less frequent and are mostly confined to water sources with good site conditions. Juniperus procera (overharvested) and the other indigenous species were with few trees left and with no/very poor regeneration status. The species having poor density, frequency and regeneration (Junperus procera, Nuxia congesta Fersen and Jasminium abyssinica) need prior conservation and enrichment planting. The indigenous species could also serve as a potential seed source for the reproduction and restoration of nearby degraded landscapes. The buffer study also demonstrated expansion of agriculture and bare land, which could be a threat to the forest of the isolated monastery. Hence, restoring the buffer zone is the only guarantee for the healthy existence of the church forest.

Keywords: church forests, regeneration, land use change, vegetation status

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Authors: Jing Jiang, Wenhuan XU, Lei Zhang, Shiyi Zhang, Tongli Wang

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Climate data quality significantly affects the reliability of ecological modeling. In the Asia Pacific (AP) region, low-quality climate data hinders ecological modeling. ClimateAP, a software developed in 2017, generates high-quality climate data for the AP region, benefiting researchers in forestry and agriculture. However, its adoption remains limited. This study aims to confirm the validity of biologically relevant variable data generated by ClimateAP during the normal climate period through comparison with the currently available gridded data. Climate data from 2,366 weather stations were used to evaluate the prediction accuracy of ClimateAP in comparison with the commonly used gridded data from WorldClim1.4. Univariate regressions were applied to 48 monthly biologically relevant variables, and the relationship between the observational data and the predictions made by ClimateAP and WorldClim was evaluated using Adjusted R-Squared and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). Locations were categorized into mountainous and flat landforms, considering elevation, slope, ruggedness, and Topographic Position Index. Univariate regressions were then applied to all biologically relevant variables for each landform category. Random Forest (RF) models were implemented for the climatic niche modeling of Cunninghamia lanceolata. A comparative analysis of the prediction accuracies of RF models constructed with distinct climate data sources was conducted to evaluate their relative effectiveness. Biologically relevant variables were obtained from three unpublished Chinese meteorological datasets. ClimateAPv3.0 and WorldClim predictions were obtained from weather station coordinates and WorldClim1.4 rasters, respectively, for the normal climate period of 1961-1990. Occurrence data for Cunninghamia lanceolata came from integrated biodiversity databases with 3,745 unique points. ClimateAP explains a minimum of 94.74%, 97.77%, 96.89%, and 94.40% of monthly maximum, minimum, average temperature, and precipitation variances, respectively. It outperforms WorldClim in 37 biologically relevant variables with lower RMSE values. ClimateAP achieves higher R-squared values for the 12 monthly minimum temperature variables and consistently higher Adjusted R-squared values across all landforms for precipitation. ClimateAP's temperature data yields lower Adjusted R-squared values than gridded data in high-elevation, rugged, and mountainous areas but achieves higher values in mid-slope drainages, plains, open slopes, and upper slopes. Using ClimateAP improves the prediction accuracy of tree occurrence from 77.90% to 82.77%. The biologically relevant climate data produced by ClimateAP is validated based on evaluations using observations from weather stations. The use of ClimateAP leads to an improvement in data quality, especially in non-mountainous regions. The results also suggest that using biologically relevant variables generated by ClimateAP can slightly enhance climatic niche modeling for tree species, offering a better understanding of tree species adaptation and resilience compared to using gridded data.

Keywords: climate data validation, data quality, Asia pacific climate, climatic niche modeling, random forest models, tree species

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Authors: Hanadi Mohamed Shawgi Gamal, Ashraf Mohamed Ahmed Abdalla

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Sudan is endowed by a great diversity of tree species; nevertheless, the utilization of wood resources has traditionally concentrated on a few number of species. With the great variation in the climatic zones of Sudan, great variations are expected in the anatomical properties between and within species. This variation needs to be fully explored in order to suggest the best uses for the species. Modern research on wood has substantiated that the climatic condition where the species grow has significant effect on wood properties. Understanding the extent of variability of wood is important because the uses for each kind of wood are related to its characteristics; furthermore, the suitability or quality of wood for a particular purpose is determined by the variability of one or more of these characteristics. The present study demonstrates the effect of rainfall zones in some anatomical properties of Acacia seyal var. seyal growing in Sudan. For this purpose, twenty healthy trees were collected randomly from two zones (ten trees per zone). One zone with relatively low rainfall (273mm annually) which represented by North Kordofan state and White Nile state and the second with relatively high rainfall (701 mm annually) represented by Blue Nile state and South Kordofan state. From each sampled tree, a stem disc (3 cm thick) was cut at 10% from stem height. One radius was obtained in central stem dices. Two representative samples were taken from each disc, one at 10% distance from pith to bark, the second at 90% in order to represent the juvenile and mature wood. The investigated anatomical properties were fibers length, fibers and vessels diameter, lumen diameter, and wall thickness as well as cell proportions. The result of the current study reveals significant differences between zones in mature wood vessels diameter and wall thickness, as well as juvenile wood vessels, wall thickness. The higher values were detected in the drier zone. Significant differences were also observed in juvenile wood fiber length, diameter as well as wall thickness. Contrary to vessels diameter and wall thickness, the fiber length, diameter as well as wall thickness were decreased in the drier zone. No significant differences have been detected in cell proportions of juvenile and mature wood. The significant differences in some fiber and vessels dimension lead to expect significant differences in wood density. From these results, Acacia seyal var. seyal seems to be well adapted with the change in rainfall and may survive in any rainfall zone.

Keywords: Acacia seyal var. seyal, anatomical properties, rainfall zones, variation

Procedia PDF Downloads 137

Authors: Zainul A. Khan, Malik Z. Abdin, Jawaid A. Khan

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Begomoviruses belonging to the family Geminiviridae, have single-stranded circular DNA genomes that are monopartite or bipartite. The large intergenic region (LIR) of the monopartite and common region (CR) of bipartite begomoviruses possess promoter activity in their genomes. In this study, we have characterized novel bidirectional promoters from Cotton leaf curl Burewala virus (CLCuBuV) genome using high-throughput software and analyzed with PlantCARE, PLACE, Cister and PlantPAN databases. The promoters (Rep and CP promoters) were assayed both in stable and transient expression systems in tobacco as well as cotton plants. Rep and CP-based promoters from the LIR sequence of CLCuBuV and 35S promoter of Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) were tagged with β-glucuronidase (GUS) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter genes to check the efficacy of the promoters. Histochemical staining of GUS in transformed tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) leaves showed higher GUS expression driven by CLCuBuV Rep (complimentary sense) promoter as compared to conventional CaMV 35S promoter and CLCuBuV CP (virion sense) promoter, respectively. GUS activity in individual plant cells driven by CLCuBuV Rep, CLCuBuV CP, and CaMV 35S promoter were quantified through fluorometric GUS assay and reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). The expression level of GUS tagged with CLCuBuV Rep promoter in the transformed tobacco plants was obtained 2 to 4 fold higher than CaMV 35S promoter. When CLCuBuV CP promoter was used, lower expression level was monitored than that by CaMV 35S promoter. The expression of GFP-tagged with CLCuBuV promoters was also investigated through agroinfiltration. The CLCuBuV Rep promoters showed stronger consistent transient expression in the leaves of N. benthamiana, N. tabacum and Gossypium hirsutum plants when compared with CaMV 35S and CLCuBuV CP promoter.

Keywords: Begmovirus, bidirectional promoter, CaMV 35S promoter, GFP, GUS, qPCR

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Authors: Alanoud Moraya Aldalan, Abdulaziz Almaleh

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A crucial component of maintaining a customer-oriented business as in the telecom industry is understanding the reasons and factors that lead to customer churn. Competition between telecom companies has greatly increased in recent years. It has become more important to understand customers’ needs in this strong market of telecom industries, especially for those who are looking to turn over their service providers. So, predictive churn is now a mandatory requirement for retaining those customers. Machine learning can be utilized to accomplish this. Churn Prediction has become a very important topic in terms of machine learning classification in the telecommunications industry. Understanding the factors of customer churn and how they behave is very important to building an effective churn prediction model. This paper aims to predict churn and identify factors of customers’ churn based on their past service usage history. Aiming at this objective, the study makes use of feature selection, normalization, and feature engineering. Then, this study compared the performance of four different machine learning algorithms on the Orange dataset: Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Decision Tree, and Gradient Boosting. Evaluation of the performance was conducted by using the F1 score and ROC-AUC. Comparing the results of this study with existing models has proven to produce better results. The results showed the Gradients Boosting with feature selection technique outperformed in this study by achieving a 99% F1-score and 99% AUC, and all other experiments achieved good results as well.

Keywords: machine learning, gradient boosting, logistic regression, churn, random forest, decision tree, ROC, AUC, F1-score

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Authors: Nneka Augustina Akwu, Yougasphree Naidoo

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Molecular advancement in technology has created a means whereby the atoms and molecules (solid forms) of certain materials such as plants, can now be reduced to a range of 1-100 nanometres. Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was carried out at room temperature (RT) 25 ± 2°C and 80°C, using the metabolites in the aqueous extracts of the leaves and stem bark of Grewia lasiocarpa as reductants and stabilizing agents. The biosynthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometry, attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transforms infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), Energy Dispersive X-ray fluorescence scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDXRF) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The AgNPs were biologically evaluated for antioxidant, antibacterial and cytotoxicity activities. The phytochemical and FTIR analyses revealed the presence of metabolites that act as reducing and capping agents, while the UV-Vis spectroscopy of the biosynthesized NPs showed absorption between 380-460 nm, confirming AgNP synthesis. The Zeta potential values were between -9.1 and -20.6 mV with a hydrodynamics diameter ranging from 38.3 to 46.7 nm. SEM and HRTEM analyses revealed that AgNPs were predominately spherical with an average particle size of 2- 31 nm for the leaves and 5-27 nm for the stem bark. The cytotoxicity IC50 values of the AgNPs against HeLa, Caco-2 and MCF-7 were >1 mg/mL. The AgNPs were sensitive to all strains of bacteria used, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) being more sensitive to the AgNPs. Our findings propose that antibacterial and anticancer agents could be derived from these AgNPs of G. lasiocarpa, and warrant their further investigation.

Keywords: antioxidant, cytotoxicity, Grewia lasiocarpa, silver nanoparticles, Zeta potentials

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Authors: Bliss Singhal

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Machine learning (ML) is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where computers analyze data and find patterns in the data. The study focuses on the detection of metastatic cancer using ML. Metastatic cancer is the stage where cancer has spread to other parts of the body and is the cause of approximately 90% of cancer-related deaths. Normally, pathologists spend hours each day to manually classifying whether tumors are benign or malignant. This tedious task contributes to mislabeling metastasis being over 60% of the time and emphasizes the importance of being aware of human error and other inefficiencies. ML is a good candidate to improve the correct identification of metastatic cancer, saving thousands of lives and can also improve the speed and efficiency of the process, thereby taking fewer resources and time. So far, the deep learning methodology of AI has been used in research to detect cancer. This study is a novel approach to determining the potential of using preprocessing algorithms combined with classification algorithms in detecting metastatic cancer. The study used two preprocessing algorithms: principal component analysis (PCA) and the genetic algorithm, to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset and then used three classification algorithms: logistic regression, decision tree classifier, and k-nearest neighbors to detect metastatic cancer in the pathology scans. The highest accuracy of 71.14% was produced by the ML pipeline comprising of PCA, the genetic algorithm, and the k-nearest neighbor algorithm, suggesting that preprocessing and classification algorithms have great potential for detecting metastatic cancer.

Keywords: breast cancer, principal component analysis, genetic algorithm, k-nearest neighbors, decision tree classifier, logistic regression

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Authors: Yahia Massinissa, Afaf Benhouda, Mouloud Yahia

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the toxicity; analgesic and anti-pyretic properties of standardized HA methanolic extract (HAMeOH) in vivo. Methods: The acute toxicity study was performed on rats while adopting the OECD-420 Guidelines (fixed dose procedure). Assessment of analgesic activity was performed in rats with two analgesic models. One was acetic acid induced writhing response and the other formalin-induced paw licking. The anti-pyretic effect was tested by Brewer’s yeast induced fever in rats. Results: For the acute toxicity test, the higher dose administration of 2000 mg/kg bw. of H.albus did not produce any toxic signs or deaths in rats. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the body and organ weights between control and treated groups. The (LD50) of 'H. albus' was higher than 2000 g/kg bw. In subacute toxicity study, no mortality and toxic signs were observed with the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg bw. of extracts of for 28 consecutive days. These analgesic experimental results indicated that HAMeOH (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) decreased the acetic acid-induced writhing responses and HAMeOH (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) decreased the licking time in the second phase of the formalin test. Moreover, in the model of yeast-induced elevation of the body temperature HAMeOH showed dose-dependent lowering of the body temperature up to 3h at both the doses these results obtained, were comparable to that of paracetamol. Conclusion: The present findings indicate that the leaves of Hyoscyamus albus L. possess potent analgesic and antipyretic activity.

Keywords: Hyoscyamus albus, Umbilicus rupestris, secondary metabolites, NMR with protons, pharmacobiologic activities, methanolic extract

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Authors: Lee Ping Ang, Salvatore Tomasello, Jun Wen, Marc S. Appelhans

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With about 225 species, Zanthoxylum L. is the second most species rich genus in Rutaceae. It is the only genus with a pantropical distribution. Economically, it is used in several Asian countries as traditional medicine and spice. In the past Zanthoxylum was divided into two genera, the temperate Zanthoxylum sensu strictu (s.s.) and the (sub)tropical Fagara, due to the large differences in flower morphology: heterochlamydeous in Fagara and homochlamydeous in Zanthoxylum s.s.. This genus is much under studied and previous phylogenetic studies using Sanger sequencing did not resolve the relationships sufficiently. In this study, we use Hybrid Capture with a specially designed bait set for Zanthoxylum to sequence 347 putatively single-copy genes. The taxon sampling has been largely improved as compared to previous studies and the preliminary results will be based on 371 specimens representing 133 species from all continents and major island groups. Our preliminary results reveal similar tree topology as the previous studies while providing more details to the backbone of the phylogeny. The phylogenetic tree consists of four main clades: A) African/Malagasy clade, B) Z. asiaticum clade - a clade consisting widespread species occurring in (sub)tropical Asia and Africa as well as Madagascar, C) Asian/Pacific clade and D) American clade, which also includes the temperate Asian species. The merging of Fagara and Zanthoxylum is supported by our results and the homochlamydeous flowers of Zanthoxylum s.s. are likely derived from heterochlamydeous flowers. Several of the morphologically defined sections within Zanthoxylum are not monophyletic. The study dissemination will (1) introduce the framework of this project; (2) present preliminary results and (3) the ongoing progress of the study.

Keywords: Zanthoxylum, phylogenomic, hybrid capture, pantropical

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Authors: Muhammad Iqbal, Hafiz Muhammad Tauqeer, Hamza Rafaqat, Muhammad Naveed, Muhammad Awais Irshad

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Soil pollution with chromium (Cr) has become one of the most important concerns due to its toxicity for humans. To date, various remediation approaches have been employed for the remediation and management of Cr contaminated soils. Phytoextraction is an eco-friendly and emerging remediation approach which has gained attention due to several advantages over conventional remediation approach. The use of energy crops for phytoremediation is an emerging trend worldwide. These energy crops have high tolerance against various environmental stresses, the potential to grow in diverse ecosystems and high biomass production make them a suitable candidate for phytoremediation of contaminated soils. The removal efficiency of plants in phytoextraction depends upon several soil and plant factors including solubility, bioavailability and metal speciation in soils. A pot scale experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytoextraction potential of Arundo donax L. with the application of acetic acid (A.A) in Cr contaminated soils. Plants were grown in pots filled with 5 kg soils for 90 days. After 30 days plants acclimatization in pot conditions, plants were treated with various levels of Cr (2.5 mM, 5 mM, 7.5 mM, 10 mM) and A.A (Cr 2.5 mM + A.A 2.5 mM, Cr 5 mM + A.A 2.5 mM, Cr 7.5 mM + A.A 2.5 mM, Cr 10 mM + A.A 2.5 mM). The application of A.A significantly increased metal uptake and in roots and shoots of A. donax. This increase was observed at Cr 7.5 mM + A.A 2.5 mM but at high concentrations, visual symptoms of Cr toxicity were observed on leaves. Similarly, A.A applications also affect the activities of key enzymes including catalase (CAT), superoxidase dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in leaves of A. donax. Based on results it is concluded that the applications of A.A acid for phytoextraction is an alternative approach for the management of Cr affected soils and synthetic chelators should be replaced with organic acids.

Keywords: acetic acid, A. donax, chromium, energy crop, phytoextraction

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Authors: O. Smara, H. Dendougui, B. Legseir

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Atriplex halimus L. is particularly well adapted to arid and salt-affected areas. In this species, salinity resistance is often attributed to the presence of vesiculated hairs covering leaf surface and containing a large amount of salt. Atriplex halimus L. (Chenopodiaceae) is a perennial shrub native to the Mediterranean basin with excellent tolerance to drought and salinity. The species is present in semiarid to subhumid areas of the north Mediterranean and in arid zones from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. The main aim of this study was to identify a medicinal plant used in the Ouargla (Est-southern Algeria) for the treatment of several human pathologies. This plant is an important source for livestock in nitrogenous matter, it is an effective and relatively inexpensive tool in the fight against erosion and desertification and rehabilitation of degraded lands. Phytochemical investigation is applied to the majority of extracts of the powder of the aerial parts of Atriplex halimus L. Different chromatographic methods after liquid-liquid extraction are used; it is the thin layer chromatography (TLC) and paper using multiple systems and chemical revelations. This study followed by an evaluation by the phenol assay the Folin-Ciocalteu method, using gallic acid as a reference for phenols and quercetin for flavonols. Some polar extracts showed an interesting result better than the less polar extracts.

Keywords: Atriples halimus L., chenopodiaceae, flavonoids, phenols

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Fanny Soulard

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Today work environment is more multicultural than ever: spatial limits have been blown out, encouraging people and ideas mobility all around the globe. Indeed, opportunities to design with culturally diverse team workers, clients, or end-users, have become within everyone's reach. We enjoy traveling to discover other civilizations, but when it comes to business, we often take for granted that our own work methodology will be generic enough to federate each party and cover the project needs. This paper aims to explore why, by skipping cultural awareness, we often create misunderstandings, frustration, and even counterproductive design. Tree lighting projects successively developed by a French lighting studio, a Vietnamese lighting studio, and an Australian Engineering company will be assessed from their concept stage to completion. All these study cases are based in Vietnam, where the construction market is equally led by local and international consultants. Core criteria such as lighting standard reference, service scope, communication tools, internal team organization, delivery package content, key priorities, and client relationship will help to spot and list when and how cultural diversity has impacted the design output and effectiveness. On the second hand, we will demonstrate through the same selected projects how intercultural intelligence tools and mindset can not only respond positively to previous situations and avoid major clashes but also turn cultural differences into a key added value to generate significant benefits for individuals, teams, and companies. By understanding the major importance of including a cultural factor within any design, intercultural intelligence will quickly turn out as a “must have” skill to be developed and acquired by any designer.

Keywords: intercultural intelligence, lighting design, work methodology, multicultural diversity

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Authors: Yu-Jia Jian, Emily Chia-Yu Su, Hui-Ling Hsu, Jian-Jhih Chen

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Coronary artery is the major supplier of myocardial blood flow. When fat and cholesterol are deposit in the coronary arterial wall, narrowing and stenosis of the artery occurs, which may lead to myocardial ischemia and eventually infarction. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), estimated 740 million people have died of coronary heart disease in 2015. According to Statistics from Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan, heart disease (except for hypertensive diseases) ranked the second among the top 10 causes of death from 2013 to 2016, and it still shows a growing trend. According to American Heart Association (AHA), the risk factors for coronary heart disease including: age (> 65 years), sex (men to women with 2:1 ratio), obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, family history, lack of exercise and more. We have collected a dataset of 421 patients from a hospital located in northern Taiwan who received coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography. There were 300 males (71.26%) and 121 females (28.74%), with age ranging from 24 to 92 years, and a mean age of 56.3 years. Prior to coronary CT angiography, basic data of the patients, including age, gender, obesity index (BMI), diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, family history of coronary heart disease and exercise habits, were collected and used as input variables. The output variable of the prediction module is the degree of coronary artery stenosis. The output variable of the prediction module is the narrow constriction of the coronary artery. In this study, the dataset was randomly divided into 80% as training set and 20% as test set. Four machine learning algorithms, including logistic regression, stepwise regression, neural network and decision tree, were incorporated to generate prediction results. We used area under curve (AUC) / accuracy (Acc.) to compare the four models, the best model is neural network, followed by stepwise logistic regression, decision tree, and logistic regression, with 0.68 / 79 %, 0.68 / 74%, 0.65 / 78%, and 0.65 / 74%, respectively. Sensitivity of neural network was 27.3%, specificity was 90.8%, stepwise Logistic regression sensitivity was 18.2%, specificity was 92.3%, decision tree sensitivity was 13.6%, specificity was 100%, logistic regression sensitivity was 27.3%, specificity 89.2%. From the result of this study, we hope to improve the accuracy by improving the module parameters or other methods in the future and we hope to solve the problem of low sensitivity by adjusting the imbalanced proportion of positive and negative data.

Keywords: decision support, computed tomography, coronary artery, machine learning

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Authors: Krzysztof Buczak, Sonia Lachowska, Pawel Kucharski, Agnieszka Antonczyk

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Tiletamine - zolazepam combination is increasingly used in veterinary anaesthesiology in wild animals, including snakes. The available literature shows a lack of information about anesthesia in this mixture in ovoviviparous snakes. The studies show the possibility of using the combination at a dose of 20 mg/kg or more for snake immobilization. This paper presents an anesthetic protocol with the use of a combination of tiletamine - zolazepam at the dose of 10 mg/kg intramuscularly and maintenance with inhalant anesthesia with isoflurane in pure oxygen. The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the anesthetic protocol to proceed with coeliotomy in Amazon Tree Boa. The patient was a five years old bicolor female Amazon Tree Boa (Corallus hortulanus) with dystocia. The clinical examination reveals significant emaciation (bodyweight 520g), high degree of dehydration, heart rate (HR = 60 / min), pale mucous membranes and poor reactivity. Meloxicam (1 mg/kg) and tramadol (10 mg/kg) were administered subcutaneously and the patient was placed in an incubator with access to fresh oxygen. Four hours later, the combination of tiletamine - zolazepam (10 mg/kg) was administered intramuscularly for induction of anesthesia. The snake was intubated and connected to inhalant anesthesia equipment. For maintenance, the anesthesia isoflurane in pure oxygen was used due to apnea, which occurs 30 minutes after the induction semi-closed system was attached and the ventilator was turned on (PCV system, four breaths per minute, 8 cm of H2O). Cardiopulmonary parameters (HR, RR, SPO2, ETCO2, ETISO) were assessed throughout the procedure. During the entire procedure, the operating room was heated to a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the hose was placed on a heating mat, which maintained a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. For 15 minutes after induction, the loss of muscle tone was observed from the head to the tail. Induction of general anesthesia was scored as good because of the possibility of intubation. During the whole procedure, the heart rate was at the rate of 58 beats per minute (bpm). Ventilation parameters were stable throughout the procedure. The recovery period lasts for about 4 hours after the end of general anesthesia. The muscle tension returned from tail to head. The snake started to breathe spontaneously within 1,5 hours after the end of general anesthesia. The protocol of general anesthesia with the combination of tiletamine- zolazepam with a dose of 10 mg/kg is useful for proceeding with the emergency coeliotomy in maintenance with isoflurane in oxygen. Further study about the impact of the combination of tiletamine- zolazepam for the recovery period is needed.

Keywords: anesthesia, corallus hortulanus, ovoviparous, snake, tiletamine, zolazepam

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Authors: Molin A., De Ramos J. M., Cadion L. G., Pico R. L.

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Malnutrition and food insecurity represent significant global challenges affecting millions of individuals, particularly in low-income and developing regions. The researchers created a solar-powered enzymatic composting bioreactor with an Arduino-based monitoring system for pH, humidity, and temperature. It manages mixed municipal solid wastes incorporating industrial enzymes and whey additives for accelerated composting and minimized carbon footprint. Within 15 days, the bioreactor yielded 54.54% compost compared to 44.85% from traditional methods, increasing yield by nearly 10%. Tests showed that the bioreactor compost had 4.84% NPK, passing metal analysis standards, while the traditional pit compost had 3.86% NPK; both are suitable for agriculture. Statistical analyses, including ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test, revealed significant differences in agricultural yield across different compost types based on leaf length, width, and number of leaves. The study compared the effects of different composts on Brassica rapa subsp. Chinesis (Petchay) and Brassica juncea (Mustasa) plant growth. For Pechay, significant effects of compost type on plant leaf length (F(5,84) = 62.33, η² = 0.79) and leaf width (F(5,84) = 12.35, η² = 0.42) were found. For Mustasa, significant effects of compost type on leaf length (F(4,70) = 20.61, η² = 0.54), leaf width (F(4,70) = 19.24, η² = 0.52), and number of leaves (F(4,70) = 13.17, η² = 0.43) were observed. This study explores the effectiveness of the enzymatic composting bioreactor and its viability in promoting carbon farming as a solution to food insecurity and malnutrition.

Keywords: malnutrition, food insecurity, enzymatic composting bioreactor, arduino-based monitoring system, enzymes, carbon farming, whey additive, NPK level

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Authors: Maira C. M. Fonseca, Maria Aparecida N. Sediyama, Rosana Goncalves R. das Dores, Sanzio Mollica Vidigal, Alberto C. P. Dias

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Among Brazilian plant diversity, many species are used as food and considered minor crops (non-conventional plant foods) (NCPF). Arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea) is a NCPF from which starch is extracted from rhizome do not have gluten. Thus, arrowroot flower starch can be consumed by celiac people. Additional, some medicinal and functional proprieties are assigned to arrowroot leaves which currently are underutilized. In Brazil, it’s cultivated mainly by small scale farmers and there is no specific recommendation for fertilization. This work aimed to determinate the best fertilization for rhizome production and to verify its influence in phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of leaf extracts. Two arrowroot varieties, “Common” and “Seta”, were cultivated in organic system at state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using cattle manure with three levels of nitrogen (N) (0, 300 and 900 kg N ha-1). The experiment design was in randomized block with four replicates. The highest production of rhizomes in both varieties, “Common” (38198.24 kg ha-1) and “Seta” (43567.71 kg ha-1), were obtained with the use of 300 kg N ha-1. With this fertilization, the total aerial part, petiole and leaf production in the varieties were respectively: “Common” (190.312 kg ha-1; 159.312 kg ha-1; 31.100 kg ha-1) and “Seta” (207.656 kg ha-1; 180.539 kg ha-1; 27.062 kg ha-1). Methanolic leaf extracts were analysed by HPLC-DAD. The major phenolic compounds found were caffeioylquinic acids, p-coumaric derivatives and flavonoids. In general, the production of these compounds significantly decreases with the increase levels of nitrogen (900 kg N ha-1). With 300 kg N ha-1 the phenolic production was similar to control. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH method and was detected around 60% of radical scavenging when 0.1 mg/mL of plant extracts were used. We concluded that fertilization with 300 kg N ha-1 increased arrowroot rhizome production, maintaining phenolic compounds yield at leaves.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, non-conventional plants, organic fertilization, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Dharmendra Pratap

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Large Cardamom (Amomum subulatum), family Zingiberaceae is an aromatic spice crop and has rich medicinal value. Large Cardamom is as synonymous to Sikkim as Tea is to Darjeeling. Since Sikkim alone contributes up to 88% of India's large cardamom production which is the world leader by producing over 50% of the global yield. However, the production of large cardamom has declined almost to half since last two decade. The economic losses have been attributed to two viral diseases namely, chirke and Foorkey. Chirke disease is characterized by light and dark green streaks on leaves. The affected leaves exhibit streak mosaic, which gradually coalesce, turn brown and eventually dry up. Excessive sprouting and formation of bushy dwarf clumps at the base of mother plants that gradually die characterize the foorkey disease. In our surveys in Sikkim–Darjeeling hill area during 2012-14, 40-45% of plants were found to be affected with foorkey disease and 10-15% with chirke. Mechanical and aphid transmission study showed banana as an alternate host for both the disease. For molecular identification, total genomic DNA and RNA was isolated from the infected leaf tissues and subjected to Rolling circle amplification (RCA) and RT-PCR respectively. The DNA concatamers produced in the RCA reaction were monomerized by different restriction enzymes and the bands corresponding to ~1 kb genomes were purified and cloned in the respective sites. The nucleotide sequencing results revealed the association of Nanovirus with the foorkey disease of large cardamom. DNA1 showed 74% identity with Replicase gene of FBNYV, DNA2 showed 77% identity with the NSP gene of BBTV and DNA3 showed 74% identity with CP gene of BBTV. The finding suggests the presence of a new species of nanovirus associated with foorkey disease of large cardamom in Sikkim and Darjeeling hills. The details of their epidemiology and other factors would be discussed.

Keywords: RCA, nanovirus, large cardamom, molecular virology and microbiology

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Authors: Andi Setiawan, Annisa Ulfah Pristya

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Indonesian rubber plant area reached 2.9 million hectares with productivity reached 1.38 million. High rubber productivity is directly proportional to the amount of waste produced rubber processing industry. Rubber industry would produce a negative impact on the rubber industry in the form of environmental pollution caused by waste that has not been treated optimally. Rubber industrial wastewater containing high-nitrogen compounds (nitrate and ammonia) and phosphate compounds which cause water pollution and odor problems due to the high ammonia content. On the other hand, demand for NPK fertilizers in Indonesia continues to increase from year to year and in need of ammonia and phosphate as raw material. Based on domestic demand, it takes a year to 400,000 tons of ammonia and Indonesia imports 200,000 tons of ammonia per year valued at IDR 4.2 trillion. As well, the lack of phosphoric acid to be imported from Jordan, Morocco, South Africa, the Philippines, and India as many as 225 thousand tons per year. During this time, the process of wastewater treatment is generally done with a rubber on the tank to contain the waste and then precipitated, filtered and the rest released into the environment. However, this method is inefficient and thus require high energy costs because through many stages before producing clean water that can be discharged into the river. On the other hand, Indonesia has the potential of pineapple fruit can be harvested throughout the year in all of Indonesia. In 2010, production reached 1,406,445 tons of pineapple in Indonesia or about 9.36 percent of the total fruit production in Indonesia. Increased productivity is directly proportional to the amount of pineapple waste pineapple leaves are kept continuous and usually just dumped in the ground or disposed of with other waste at the final disposal. Through Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane-Based Fiber Pineapple leaves Waste so that environmental problems can be solved efficiently. Nanofiltration is a process that uses pressure as a driving force that can be either convection or diffusion of each molecule. Nanofiltration membranes that can split water to nano size so as to separate the waste processed residual economic value that N and P were higher as a raw material for the manufacture of NPK fertilizer to overcome the crisis in Indonesia. The raw materials were used to manufacture Eco-Nanofiltration Membrane is cellulose from pineapple fiber which processed into cellulose acetate which is biodegradable and only requires a change of the membrane every 6 months. Expected output target is Green eco-technology so with nanofiltration membranes not only treat waste rubber industry in an effective, efficient and environmentally friendly but also lowers the cost of waste treatment compared to conventional methods.

Keywords: biodegradable, cellulose diacetate, fertilizers, pineapple, rubber

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Authors: A. Abdulkadir, Y. M. Bello, A. A. Okhimamhe, H. Ibrahim, M. B. Matazu, L. S. Barau

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The increasing volume of solid waste generated, collected and disposed daily complicate adequate management of solid waste by the relevant agency like Niger State Environmental Protection Agency (NISEPA). In addition, the impacts of solid waste on the natural environment and human livelihood require identification of cost-effective ways for sustainable municipal waste management in Nigeria. These signal the need for identifying environment-friendly initiative and local solution to address municipal solid waste. A research field was secured at Pago, Minna, Niger State which is located in the guinea savanna belt of Nigeria, within longitude 60 3614311- 4511 and latitude 90 291 37.6111- .6211 N. Poultry droppings, decomposed household waste manure and NPK treatment were used. The experimental field was divided into three replications and four (4) treatments on each replication making a total of twelve (12) plots. The treatments were allotted using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and Data collected was analyzed using SPSS software and RCBD. The result depicts variation in plant height and number of leaves at 50% flowering; Poultry dropping records the highest height as a number of leaves for waste manure competes fairly well with NPK treatment. Similarly, the varying treatments significantly increase vegetable yield, as the control (Nontreatment) records the least yield for the three vegetable samples. Adoption of this organic manure for cultivation does not only enhance environment quality and attainment of food security but will contribute to local economic development, poverty alleviation, and social inclusion.

Keywords: environmental issues, food security, NISEPA, solid waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Rachel Y. Zhang, Christopher K. Anderson

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A critical aspect of revenue management is a firm’s ability to predict demand as a function of price. Historically hotels have used simple time series models (regression and/or pick-up based models) owing to the complexities of trying to build casual models of demands. Machine learning approaches are slowly attracting attention owing to their flexibility in modeling relationships. This study provides an overview of approaches to forecasting hospitality demand – focusing on the opportunities created by machine learning approaches, including K-Nearest-Neighbors, Support vector machine, Regression Tree, and Artificial Neural Network algorithms. The out-of-sample performances of above approaches to forecasting hotel demand are illustrated by using a proprietary sample of the market level (24 properties) transactional data for Las Vegas NV. Causal predictive models can be built and evaluated owing to the availability of market level (versus firm level) data. This research also compares and contrast model accuracy of firm-level models (i.e. predictive models for hotel A only using hotel A’s data) to models using market level data (prices, review scores, location, chain scale, etc… for all hotels within the market). The prospected models will be valuable for hotel revenue prediction given the basic characters of a hotel property or can be applied in performance evaluation for an existed hotel. The findings will unveil the features that play key roles in a hotel’s revenue performance, which would have considerable potential usefulness in both revenue prediction and evaluation.

Keywords: hotel revenue, k-nearest-neighbors, machine learning, neural network, prediction model, regression tree, support vector machine

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: P. S. Dhananjaya Swamy, B. Chinnappa, G. B. Ramesh, Naveen P. Kumar

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Kodagu district is one of the most densely forested districts in the India as around sixty five per cent of geographical areas under tree cover. Nearly 53 per cent of the flora of Kodagu is endemic. The district is also a hotspot of endemic orchids found mainly in the Thadiandamol. Shade grown, eco-friendly coffee farms are perhaps a selected few places on this planet where nature runs wild. The Kodagu accounts for more than 8.8 per cent of floral diversity of Karnataka state. Estimation of unit cost of cultivation plays a vital role in determining the governmental program their market intervention policies. On an average, planters incurred around Rs. 17041 per acre. The extent of production risk was highest among small category of planters (66 %) compared to other two exhibiting production instability. The result shows that, the coffee productivity in medium plantations was 1051.2 kg per acre as against 758.5 and 789.2 kg in the case of small and large plantations. An annual net return per acre was highest in the case of medium planters (Rs. 26109.3) as against Rs. 20566.7 and Rs. 18572.7 in the case of small and large planters. Cost of production was lowest in the case of small planters (Rs. 18.9 per kg of output) followed by medium planters (Rs. 21.2 per kg of output) and large planters (Rs. 22.5 per kg of output). The productivity of coffee is less whenever it is grown under high shade and native tree cover; it is around 6 quintals per acre when compared with low shade conditions, which is around 8.9 quintals per acre, without a significant difference in the amount invested for growing coffee. Net gain was lower by Rs. 15.5 per kg for the planters growing under high shade and native trees cover when compared with low shade and exotic trees cover.

Keywords: coffee, cultivation, economics, Kodagu

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Authors: Dalia G. Aseel

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The potato (Solanum tubersum, L.) has become one of the major vegetable crops in Egypt and all over the world. Potato leafroll virus(PLRV) was observed on potato plants collected from different governorates in Egypt. Three cultivars, Spunta, Diamont, and Cara, infected with PLRV were collected; RNA was extracted and subjected to Real-Time PCR using the coat protein gene primers. The results showed that the expression of the coat protein was 39.6-fold, 12.45-fold, and 47.43-fold, respectively, for Spunta, Diamont, and Cara cultivars. Differential Display Polymerase Chain Reaction (DD-PCR) using pathogenesis-related protein 1 (PR-1), β-1,3-glucanases (PR-2), chitinase (PR-3), peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) forward primers for pathogenesis-related proteins (PR). The obtained data revealed different banding patterns depending on the viral type and the region of infection. Regarding PLRV, 58 up-regulated and 19 down-regulated genes were detected. Sequence analysis of the up-and down-regulated genes revealed that infected plants were observed in comparison with the healthy control. Sequence analysis of the up-regulated gene was performed, and the encoding sequence analysis showed that the obtained genes include: induced stolen tip protein. On the other hand, two down-regulated genes were identified: disease resistance RPP-like protein and non-specific lipid-transfer protein. In this study, the expressions of PR-1, PR-2, PR-3, POD, and PPO genes in the infected leaves of three potato cultivars were estimated by quantitative real-time PCR. We can conclude that the PLRV-infection of potato plants inhibited the expression of the five PR genes. On the contrary, infected leaves by PLRV elevated the expression of some defense genes. This interaction may also induce and/or suppress the expression of some genes responsible for the plant's defense mechanisms.

Keywords: PLRV, pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs), DD-PCR, sequence, real-time PCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Ashwinder K. Dhaliwal, G. P. S. Dhillon

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Eucalyptus is one of the most important forest tree species that can tolerate and grow well on degraded and unfertile soils which are not suitable for other tree species. Besides this, these trees have a short rotation and good economic value. However, the gall inducing wasp Leptocybe invasa Fisher and La Salle has been reported from many countries throughout the world. The spread of L. invasa is of huge economic concern as more than 20,000 ha of young Eucalyptus trees have already been affected in southern states of India. The host plant resistance being the first line of defense against insect pests demands the screening of different germplasm source against L. invasa. Keeping this in view, fourteen different clones of Eucalyptus spp. were evaluated for their susceptibility to L. invasa from a replicated clonal trial planted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The degree of gall infestation was recorded from three plants of each clone in each replication. Three branches selected from the lower, middle and upper canopy of the trees were selected for recording the total number of galls induced by L. invasa. The statistical analysis was done as per the procedure laid down for completely randomised block design (CRBD), analysis of variance (ANOVA), critical difference (CD) and variance components using Proc GLM (SAS software 9.3, SAS Institute Ltd. U.S.A). All possible treatment means were compared with Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) at 1 % probability level. The results showed that the clones C-9, C-45 and C-42 were completely free from the infestation of L. invasa. However, there was minor infestation of L. invasa on C-2135, C-413, C-407, C-35, C-72 and C-37 clones. The clone C-6 was severely infested by L. invasa followed by C-11, C-12, F-316 and C-25 clones. The information generated by this study will be helpful for future breeding and use in afforestation programmes.

Keywords: eucalyptus clones, gall wasp, Leptocybe invasa, screening, susceptibility

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Authors: Loveline Ambo Angwah

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The processing of cassava from tubers or roots into food using crude and rudimentary method (hand peeling, grating, frying and to sun drying) is a very cumbersome and difficult process. The crude methods are time consuming and labour intensive. While on the other hand, modern processing method, that is using machines to perform the various processes as washing, peeling, grinding, oven drying, fermentation and frying is easier, less time consuming, and less labour intensive. Rudimentarily, cassava roots are processed into numerous products and utilized in various ways according to local customs and preferences. For the people of Ngwo village, cassava is transformed locally into flour or powder form called ‘cumcum’. It is also sucked into water to give a kind of food call ‘water fufu’ and fried to give ‘garri’. The leaves are consumed as vegetables. Added to these, its relative high yields; ability to stay underground after maturity for long periods give cassava considerable advantage as a commodity that is being used by poor rural folks in the community, to fight poverty. It plays a major role in efforts to alleviate the food crisis because of its efficient production of food energy, year-round availability, tolerance to extreme stress conditions, and suitability to present farming and food systems in Africa. Improvement of cassava processing and utilization techniques would greatly increase labor efficiency, incomes, and living standards of cassava farmers and the rural poor, as well as enhance the-shelf life of products, facilitate their transportation, increase marketing opportunities, and help improve human and livestock nutrition. This paper presents a general overview of crude ways in cassava processing and utilization methods now used by subsistence and small-scale farmers in Ngwo village of the North West region in Cameroon, and examine the opportunities of improving processing technologies. Cassava needs processing because the roots cannot be stored for long because they rot within 3-4 days of harvest. They are bulky with about 70% moisture content, and therefore transportation of the tubers to markets is difficult and expensive. The roots and leaves contain varying amounts of cyanide which is toxic to humans and animals, while the raw cassava roots and uncooked leaves are not palatable. Therefore, cassava must be processed into various forms in order to increase the shelf life of the products, facilitate transportation and marketing, reduce cyanide content and improve palatability.

Keywords: cassava roots, crude ways, food system, poverty

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Shabnum Shaheen, Nida Haroon, Farah Khan, Sumera Javad, Mehreen Jalal, Samina Sarwar

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Coffee Senna is pharmaceutically very important and used for multiple health disorders such as gastric pains, indigestion, snakebites, asthma and fever, tuberculosis and menstrual problems. However, its immense medicinal value and great demand lead to adulteration issue which could be injurious for users. Some times its adulterant Seena weed (Senna occidentalis L.) is used as its substitute which definitely not as effective as Coffee Senna. Hence, the present study was undertaken to provide some tools for systematic and pharmaceutical authentication of a shrubby plant Coffee Senna (Cassia occidentalis Linn.). These parameters included macro and micro morphological characters, anatomical and palynomorph characterization, solubility, fluorescence and phytochemical analysis. By the application of these parameters acquired results revealed that, these two plants are distinct from each other. The Coffee Seena was found to be an annual shrub with trilobed pollen, diacytic, paracytic and anisocytic stomata whereas the Seena weed stands out as an annual or perennial herb with spheroidal and circular pollen and paracytic type of stomata. The powdered drug of Coffee seena is dark grayish green whereas the powdered drug of Seena weed is light green in color. These findings are constructive in authentic identification of these plants.

Keywords: coffee senna, Senna weed, taxonomic evaluation, pharmaceutical markers

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Authors: Armand Okende, Joëlle De Weerdt, Esther Fichtler, Maaike De Ridder, Hans Beeckman

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The rainforest plays a crucial role in regulating the climate balance. The biodiversity of tropical rainforests is undeniable, but many aspects remain poorly known, which directly influences its management. Despite the efforts of sustainable forest management, human pressure in terms of exploitation and smuggling of timber forms a problem compared to exploited species whose status is considered "vulnerable" on the IUCN red list compiled by. Commercial species in Class III of the Democratic Republic of Congo are the least known in the market operating, and their biology is unknown or non-existent. Identification of wood in terms of descriptions and anatomical measurements of the wood is in great demand for various stakeholders such as scientists, customs, IUCN, etc. The objective of this study is the qualitative and quantitative description of the anatomical characteristics of commercial species in Class III of DR Congo. The site of the Luki Biosphere Reserve was chosen because of its high tree species richness. This study focuses on the wood anatomy of 14 commercial species of Class III of DR Congo. Thirty-four wooden discs were collected for these species. The following parameters were measured in the field: Diameter at breast height (DBH), total height and geographic coordinates. Microtomy, identification of vessel parameters (diameter, density and grouping) and photograph of the microscopic sections and determining age were performed in this study. The results obtained are detailed anatomical descriptions of species in Class III of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Keywords: sustainable management of forest, rainforest, commercial species of class iii, vessel diameter, vessel density, grouping vessel

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Authors: Abir Soltani, Moez Amri, Jouda Mediouni Ben Jemâa

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In North Africa, the chickpea leafminer Liriomyza cicerina (Rondani) (Diptera: Agromizidae) is one of the major damaging pests affecting both spring and winter-planted chickpea. Damage is caused by the larvae which feed in the leaf mesophyll tissue, resulting in desiccation and premature leaf fall that can cause severe yield losses. In the present work, the distribution and the seasonal phenology of L. cicerina were studied on two chickpea varieties; a winter variety Beja 1 which is the most cultivated variety in Tunisia and a spring-sown variety Amdoun 1. The experiment was conducted during the cropping season 2015-2016. In the experimental research station Oued Beja, in the Beja region (36°44’N; 9°13’E). To determine the distribution and seasonal phenology of L. cicerina in both studied varieties Beja 1 and Amdoun 1, respectively 100 leave samples (50 from the top and 50 from the base) were collected from 10 chickpea plants randomly chosen from each field. The sampling was done during three development stages (i) 20-25 days before flowering (BFL), (ii) at flowering (FL) and (ii) at pod setting stage (PS). For each plant, leaves were checked from the base till the upper ones for the insect infestation progress into the plant in correlation with chickpea growth Stages. Fly adult populations were monitored using 8 yellow sticky traps together with weekly leaves sampling in each field. The traps were placed 70 cm above ground. Trap catches were collected once a week over the cropping season period. Results showed that L. cicerina distribution varied among both studied chickpea varieties and crop development stage all with seasonal phenology. For the winter chickpea variety Beja 1, infestation levels of 2%, 10.3% and 20.3% were recorded on the bases plant part for BFL, FL and PS stages respectively against 0%, 8.1% and 45.8% recorded for the upper plant part leaves for the same stages respectively. For the spring-sown variety Amdoun 1 the infestation level reached 71.5% during flowering stage. Population dynamic study revealed that for Beja 1 variety, L. cicerina accomplished three annual generations over the cropping season period with the third one being the most important with a capture level of 85 adult/trap by mid-May against a capture level of 139 adult/trap at the end May recorded for cv. Amdoun 1. Also, results showed that L. cicerina field infestation dispersal depends on the field part and on the crop growth stage. The border areas plants were more infested than the plants placed inside the plots. For cv. Beja 1, border areas infestations were 11%, 28% and 91.2% for BFL, FL and PS stages respectively, against 2%, 10.73% and 69.2% recorded on the on the inside plot plants during the for the same growth stages respectively. For the cv. Amdoun1 infestation level of 90% was observed on the border plants at FL and PS stages against an infestation level less than 65% recorded inside the plot.

Keywords: leaf miner, liriomyza cicerina, chickpea, distribution, seasonal phenology, Tunisia

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: F. V. Matta, C. M. Donnelly, M. B. Jaafar, N. I. Ward

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‘Yerba Mate’ (Ilex paraguariensis) is a native plant from South America with the main producers being Argentina and Brazil. ‘Mate’ is widely consumed in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The most popular format is as an infusion made from dried leaves of a traditional cup, roasted material in tea bags or iced tea infusions. There are many alleged health benefits resulted from mate consumption, even though there is a lack of conclusive research published in the international literature. The main objective of this study was to develop and evaluate the sample preparation and instrumental analysis stages involved in the determination of trace elements in yerba mate using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Specific details on the methods of sample digestion, validation of the ICP-MS analysis especially for polyatomic ion correction and matrix effects associated with the complex medium of mate will be presented. More importantly, mate produced in Brazil and Argentina, is subject to different soil conditions, methods of cultivation and production, especially for loose leaves and tea bags. The highest concentrations for loose mate leaf were for (mg/kg, dry weight): aluminium (253.6 – 506.9 for Brazil (Bra), 230.0 – 541.8 for Argentina (Arg), respectively), manganese (378.3 – 762.6 Bra; 440.8 – 879.9 Arg), iron (32.5 – 85.7 Bra; 28.2 – 132.9 Arg), zinc (28.2 – 91.1 Bra; 39.1 – 92.3 Arg), nickel (2.2 – 4.3 Bra; 2.9 – 10.8 Arg) and copper (4.8 – 9.1 Bra; 4.3 – 9.2 Arg), with lower levels of chromium, cobalt, selenium, molybdenum, cadmium, lead and arsenic. Elemental levels of mate leaf consumed in tea bags were found to be higher, mainly due to only using leaf material (as opposed to leaf and twig for loose packed product). Further implications of the way of consuming yerba mate will be presented, including different infusion methods in Brazil and Argentina. This research provides for the first time an extensive evaluation of mate products from both countries and the possible implications of specific trace elements, especially Mn, Fe, Se, Cu and Zn and the various health claims of consuming yerba mate.

Keywords: beverage analysis, ICP-MS, trace elements, yerba mate

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Authors: Odunayo Christy Atewolara-Odule, Olapeju O. Aiyelaagbe

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The search for new natural anti-oxidants has grown tremendously over the years because reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative stress have been linked to a large number of human degenerative diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and diabetes. Tapinanthus bangwensis, a parasitic plant commonly known as mistletoe belonging to the Loranthaceae family, is mostly employed traditionally to treat inflammation, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension to mention a few. In this study, air-dried pulverized leaves and stem of Tapinanthus bangwensis were successively extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol to give the corresponding crude extracts. The extracts were purified by column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography to give the isolated compounds. Structural elucidation was done using mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infra-red, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity of the compounds was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ascorbic acid as standard. Three compounds; Friedelin, Eudesmic acid (3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic) and Methyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate were isolated from the extracts of Tapinanthus bangwensis. Friedelin was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the stem while the two other compounds were isolated from the methanol extract of the leaves. The percentages of free radical scavenging activities of the compounds are as follows: Friedelin, 73.69%, methyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate, 79.33% and eudesmic, 87.68% anti-oxidant activity which were quite comparable to 93.96% given by ascorbic acid. We are reporting, to our best knowledge, for the first time the occurrence of friedelin and eudesmic acid in Tapinanthus bangwensis. The high anti-oxidant activity of these compounds supports the use of this plant in the management of diabetes and hypertension as they will be useful in combating complications arising from the disease.

Keywords: column chromatography, eudesmic acid, friedelin, Tapinanthus bangwensis

Procedia PDF Downloads 232