Search results for: production control

Authors: Aylin W Sahin, Alice Jaeger, Laura Nyhan, Gregory Belt, Steffen Münch, Elke K. Arendt

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Our current food systems cause an increase in malnutrition resulting in more people being overweight or obese in the Western World. Additionally, our natural resources are under enormous pressure and the greenhouse gas emission increases yearly with a significant contribution to climate change. Hence, transforming our food systems is of highest priority. Plant-based food products have a lower environmental impact compared to their animal-based counterpart, representing a more sustainable protein source. However, most plant-based protein ingredients, such as soy and pea, are lacking indispensable amino acids and extremely limited in their functionality and, thus, in their food application potential. They are known to have a low solubility in water and change their properties during processing. The low solubility displays the biggest challenge in the development of milk alternatives leading to inferior protein content and protein quality in dairy alternatives on the market. Moreover, plant-based protein ingredients often possess an off-flavour, which makes them less attractive to consumers. EverPro, a plant-protein isolate originated from Brewer’s Spent Grain, the most abundant by-product in the brewing industry, represents the missing piece in the plant protein portfolio. With a protein content of >85%, it is of high nutritional value, including all indispensable amino acids which allows closing the protein quality gap of plant proteins. Moreover, it possesses high techno-functional properties. It is fully soluble in water (101.7 ± 2.9%), has a high fat absorption capacity (182.4 ± 1.9%), and a foaming capacity which is superior to soy protein or pea protein. This makes EverPro suitable for a vast range of food applications. Furthermore, it does not cause changes in viscosity during heating and cooling of dispersions, such as beverages. Besides its outstanding nutritional and functional characteristics, the production of EverPro has a much lower environmental impact compared to dairy or other plant protein ingredients. Life cycle assessment analysis showed that EverPro has the lowest impact on global warming compared to soy protein isolate, pea protein isolate, whey protein isolate, and egg white powder. It also contributes significantly less to freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication and land use compared the protein sources mentioned above. EverPro is the prime example of sustainable ingredients, and the type of plant protein the food industry was waiting for: nutritious, multi-functional, and environmentally friendly.

Keywords: plant-based protein, upcycled, brewers' spent grain, low environmental impact, highly functional ingredient

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Mohammad Afzal Khan, Fatimah Alanazi, Hala Abdalrahman Ahmed, Talal Shamma, Kilian Kelly, Mohammed A. Hammad, Abdullah O. Alawad, Abdullah Mohammed Assiri, Dieter Clemens Broering

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Lung transplantation is a life-saving surgical replacement of diseased lungs in patients with end-stage respiratory malfunctions. Despite the remarkable short-term recovery, long-term lung survival continues to face several significant challenges, including chronic rejection and severe toxic side-effects due to global immunosuppression. Stem cell-based immunotherapy has been recognized as a crucial immunoregulatory regimen in various preclinical and clinical studies. Despite initial therapeutic outcomes, conventional stem cells face key limitations. The Cymerus™ manufacturing facilitates the production of a virtually limitless supply of consistent human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived mesenchymal stem cells, which could play a key role in selective immunosuppression and graft repair during rejection. Here, we demonstrated the impact of iPSC-derived human MSCs on the development of immune-tolerance and long-term graft survival in mouse orthotopic airway allografts. BALB/c→C57BL/6 allografts were reconstituted with iPSC-derived MSCs (2 million/transplant/ at d0), and allografts were examined for regulatory T cells (Tregs), oxygenation, microvascular blood flow, airway epithelium and collagen deposition during rejection. We demonstrated that iPSC-derived MSC treatment leads to significant increase in tissue expression of hTSG-6 protein, followed by an upregulation of mouse Tregs and IL-5, IL-10, IL-15 cytokines, which augments graft microvascular blood flow and oxygenation, and thereby maintained a healthy airway epithelium and prevented the subepithelial deposition of collagen at d90 post-transplantation. Collectively, these data confirmed that iPSC-derived MSC-mediated immunosuppression has potential to establish immune-tolerance and rescue allograft from sustained hypoxic/ischemic phase and subsequently limits long-term airway epithelial injury and collagen progression, which therapeutically warrant a study of Cymerus iPSC-derived MSCs as a potential management option for immunosuppression in transplant recipients.

Keywords: stem cell therapy, immunotolerance, regulatory T cells, hypoxia and ischemia, microvasculature

Procedia PDF Downloads 153

Authors: Boshra Mozaffar, Arash Ardavani, Iskandar Idris

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Food taste and flavor affect food choice and acceptance, which are essential to maintain good health and quality of life. Reduced circulating zinc levels have been shown to adversely affect taste which can result in reduced appetite, weight loss and psychological problems, but the efficacy of Zinc supplementation to treat disorders of taste remains unclear. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to examine the efficacy of zinc supplementation in the treatment of taste disorders. We searched four electronic bibliographical databases; Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid AMAD and PubMed. Article bibliographies were also searched, which yielded additional relevant studies. To facilitate the collection and identification of all available and relevant articles published before 7 December 2020, there were no restrictions on the publication date. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis according to the PRISMA Statement. This review was registered at PROSPERO and given the identification number CRD42021228461. In total, we included 12 randomized controlled trials with 938 subjects. Intervention includes zinc (sulfate, gluconate, picolinate, polaprezinc and acetate); the pooled results of the meta-analysis indicate that improvements in taste disorder occurred more frequently in the intervention group compared to the control group (RR = 1.8; 95% CI:1.27 -2.57, p=0.009). The doses are equivalent to 17 mg- 86.7 mg of elemental zin for three to six months. Zinc supplementation is an effective treatment for taste disorders in patients with zinc deficiency or idiopathic taste disorders when given in high doses ranging from 68–86.7 mg/d for up to three months. However, we did not find sufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of zinc supplementation in patients with taste disorders induced by chronic renal failure.

Keywords: taste change, taste disorder, zinc, zinc sulfate or Zn, deficiency, supplementation.

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Rohin Rameswarapu, Sameer Valsangkar

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Background: Globally, musculoskeletal disorders are the largest single cause of work-related illnesses accounting for over 33% of all newly reported occupational illnesses. Risk factors for MSD need to be delineated to suggest means for amelioration. Material and methods: In this current cross-sectional study, the prevalence of MSDs among workers in an electrical company assembly line, the socio-demographic and job characteristics associated with MSD were obtained through a semi-structured questionnaire. A quantitative assessment of the physical risk factors through the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) tool, and measurement of psychosocial risk factors through a Likert scale was obtained. Statistical analysis was conducted using Epi-info software and descriptive and inferential statistics including chi-square and unpaired t test were obtained. Results: A total of 263 workers consented and participated in the study. Among these workers, 200 (76%) suffered from MSD. Most of the workers were aged between 18–27 years and majority of the workers were women with 198 (75.2%) of the 263 workers being women. A chi square test was significant for association between male gender and MSD with a P value of 0.007. Among the MSD positive group, 4 (2%) had a grand score of 5, 10 (5%) had a grand score of 6 and 186 (93%) had a grand score of 7 on RULA. There were significant differences between the non-MSD and MSD group on five out of the seven psychosocial domains, namely job demand, job monotony, co-worker support, decision control and family and environment domains. Discussion: The current cross-sectional study demonstrates a high prevalence of MSD among assembly line works with inherent physical and psychosocial risk factors and recommends that not only physical risk factors, addressing psychosocial risk factors through proper ergonomic means is also essential to the well-being of the employee.

Keywords: musculoskeletal disorders, India, occupational health, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA)

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Authors: Sara D. Garduno-Diaz, Ramona Milcheva, Chanyu Xu

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Women’s reproductive stages (pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and lactation) represent a time of higher micronutrient needs. With a healthy food selection as the first path of choice to cover these increased needs, tandem micronutrient supplementation is often required. Because pregnancy and lactation should be treated with care, all supplements consumed should be of quality ingredients and manufactured through controlled processes. This work describes the process followed for the development of plant-based multiple micronutrient supplements aimed at addressing the growing demand for natural ingredients of non-animal origin. A list of key nutrients for inclusion was prioritized, followed by the identification and selection of qualified raw ingredient providers. Nutrient absorption into the food matrix was carried out through natural processes. The outcome is a new line of products meeting the set criteria of being gluten and lactose-free, suitable for vegans/vegetarians, and without artificial conservatives. In addition, each product provides the consumer with 10 vitamins, 6 inorganic nutrients, 1 source of essential fatty acids, and 1 source of phytonutrients each (maca, moringa, and chlorella). Each raw material, as well as the final product, was submitted to microbiological control three-fold (in-house and external). The final micronutrient mix was then tested for human factor contamination, pesticides, total aerobic microbial count, total yeast count, and total mold count. The product was created with the aim of meeting product standards for the European Union, as well as specific requirements for the German market in the food and pharma fields. The results presented here reach the point of introduction of the newly developed product to the market, with acceptability and effectiveness results to be published at a later date.

Keywords: fertility, lactation, organic, pregnancy, vegetarian

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Christian T. Lystbaek

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Background: The importance of innovation management has traditionally been ascribed to private production companies, however, there is an increasing interest in public services innovation management. One of the major theoretical challenges arising from this situation is to understand public values justifying public services innovation management. However, there is not single and stable definition of public value in the literature. The research question guiding this paper is: What is the supposed added value operating in the public sphere? Methodology: The study takes an action research strategy. This is highly contextualized methodology, which is enacted within a particular set of social relations into which on expects to integrate the results. As such, this research strategy is particularly well suited for its potential to generate results that can be applied by managers. The aim of action research is to produce proposals with a creative dimension capable of compelling actors to act in a new and pertinent way in relation to the situations they encounter. The context of the study is a workshop on public services innovation within elderly care. The workshop brought together different actors, such as managers, personnel and two groups of users-citizens (elderly clients and their relatives). The process was designed as an extension of the co-construction methods inherent in action research. Scenario methods and focus groups were applied to generate dialogue. The main strength of these techniques is to gather and exploit as much data as possible by exposing the discourse of justification used by the actors to explain or justify their points of view when interacting with others on a given subject. The approach does not directly interrogate the actors on their values, but allows their values to emerge through debate and dialogue. Findings: The public values related to public services innovation management in elderly care were identified in two steps. In the first step, identification of values, values were identified in the discussions. Through continuous analysis of the data, a network of interrelated values was developed. In the second step, tracking group consensus, we then ascertained the degree to which the meaning attributed to the value was common to the participants, classifying the degree of consensus as high, intermediate or low. High consensus corresponds to strong convergence in meaning, intermediate to generally shared meanings between participants, and low to divergences regarding the meaning between participants. Only values with high or intermediate degree of consensus were retained in the analysis. Conclusion: The study shows that the fundamental criterion for justifying public services innovation management is the capacity for actors to enact public values in their work. In the workshop, we identified two categories of public values, intrinsic value and behavioural values, and a list of more specific values.

Keywords: public services innovation management, public value, co-creation, action research

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Authors: Noor Abdelhamid

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Almost half of Cairo’s growing population is housed in self-built, self-governed informal settlements serving as an alternative in the absence of government-provided public housing. These settlements emerged as the spatial expression of informal practices or activities operating outside regulated, formal frameworks. A comprehensive narrative of political events, administrative decisions, and urban policies set the stage for the growth of informal expression in Egypt. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry is to portray informal self-governance practiced by residents in the Cairo region. This research argues that informal spatial practices offer an alternative urban framework for bottom-up development in the absence of government provisions. In the context of this study, informal self-governance is defined as the residents’ autonomous control and use of public urban space in informal settlements. The case study for this research is Ard al-Liwa, a semi-formal settlement representing the majority of informal settlement typologies in Egypt, which consist of the formal occupation of land through an uncontrolled land subdivision, zoning, and construction. An inductive methodological approach is adopted to first study informal practices as singular activities and then as components of a larger environment. The collected set of empirical data consists of audiovisual material and observations obtained during regular site visits and interviews with residents native to the settlement. Methods of analysis are synthesized to identify themes in the data: the static and dynamic use of sidewalks, the urban traces of informal building allocation and construction, the de facto right to urban space, and the resultant spatial patterns. The paper concludes by positioning the research in the context of the current architectural practice, questioning the role, and responsibility, of designers in these self-governed urban regions.

Keywords: Egypt, informal settlements, self-governance, urban framework

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Authors: Sara Franco Ortega, Alina Goldberg Cavalleri, Nawaporn Onkokesung, Richard Dale, Melissa Brazier-Hicks, Robert Edwards

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Safeners are agrochemicals that enhance the selective chemical control of wild grasses by increasing the ability of the crop to metabolise the herbicide. Although these compounds are widely used, their mode of action is not well understood. It is known that safeners enhance the metabolism of herbicides, by up-regulating the associated detoxification system we have termed the xenome. The xenome proteins involved in herbicide metabolism have been previously divided into four different phases, with cytochrome P450s (CYPs) playing a key role in phase I metabolism by catalysing hydroxylation and dealkylation reactions. Subsequently, glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and UDP-glucosyltransferases lead to the formation of Phase II conjugates prior to their transport into the vacuole by ABCs transporters (Phase III). Maize (Zea mays), was been treated with different safeners to explore the selective induction of xenome proteins, with a special interest in the regulation of the CYP superfamily. Transcriptome analysis enabled the identification of key safener-inducible CYPs that were then functionally assessed to determine their role in herbicide detoxification. In order to do that, CYP’s were codon optimised, synthesised and inserted into the yeast expression vector pYES3 using in-fusion cloning. CYP’s expressed as recombinant proteins in a strain of yeast engineered to contain the P450 co-enzyme (cytochrome P450 reductase) from Arabidopsis. Microsomes were extracted and treated with herbicides of different chemical classes in the presence of the cofactor NADPH. The reaction products were then analysed by LCMS to identify any herbicide metabolites. The results of these studies will be presented with the key CYPs identified in maize used as the starting point to find orthologs in other crops and weeds to better understand their roles in herbicide selectivity and safening.

Keywords: CYPs, herbicide detoxification, LCMS, RNA-Seq, safeners

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Authors: Ganbat Danaa, Chuluundorj Puntsag

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The steel structures of the Oyu-Tolgoi mining Concentrator plant are corroded during operation, which raises doubts about the continued use of some important structures of the plant, which is one of the problems facing the plant's regular operation. As a part of the main operation of the plant, the bottom part of the pressure vessel, which plays an important role in the reliable operation of the concentrate filter-drying unit, was heavily corroded, so it was necessary to study by engineering calculations, modeling, and simulation using modern advanced engineering programs and methods. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the corroded part of the pressure vessel can be used normally in the future using advanced engineering software and to predetermine the remaining life of the time of the pressure vessel based on engineering calculations. When the thickness of the bottom part of the pressure vessel was thinned by 0.5mm due to corrosion detected by non-destructive testing, finite element analysis using ANSYS WorkBench software was used to determine the mechanical stress, strain and safety factor in the wall and bottom of the pressure vessel operating under 2.2 MPa working pressure, made conclusions on whether it can be used in the future. According to the recommendations, by using sand-blast cleaning and anti-corrosion paint, the normal, continuous and reliable operation of the Concentrator plant can be ensured, such as ordering new pressure vessels and reducing the installation period. By completing this research work, it will be used as a benchmark for assessing the corrosion condition of steel parts of pressure vessels and other metallic and non-metallic structures operating under severe conditions of corrosion, static and dynamic loads, and other deformed steels to make analysis of the structures and make it possible to evaluate and control the integrity and reliable operation of the structures.

Keywords: corrosion, non-destructive testing, finite element analysis, safety factor, structural reliability

Procedia PDF Downloads 55

Authors: Ying Li, Rui Hu, Shizhen Chen, Xin Zhou, Yunhuang Yang

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Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among men. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a specific product of prostatic epithelial cells, is an important indicator of prostate cancer. Though PSA is not a specific serum biomarker for the screening of prostate cancer, it is recognized as an indicator for prostate cancer recurrence and response to therapy for patient’s post-prostatectomy. Since radical prostatectomy eliminates the source of PSA production, serum PSA levels fall below 50 pg/mL, and may be below the detection limit of clinical immunoassays (current clinical immunoassay lower limit of detection is around 10 pg/mL). Many clinical studies have shown that intervention at low PSA levels was able to improve patient outcomes significantly. Therefore, ultra-sensitive and precise assays that can accurately quantify extremely low levels of PSA (below 1-10 pg/mL) will facilitate the assessment of patients for the possibility of early adjuvant or salvage treatment. Currently, the commercially available ultra-sensitive ELISA kit (not used clinically) can only reach a detection limit of 3-10 pg/mL. Other platforms developed by different research groups could achieve a detection limit as low as 0.33 pg/mL, but they relied on sophisticated instruments to get the final readout. Herein we report a microfluidic platform for point-of-care (POC) detection of PSA with a detection limit of 0.5 pg/mL and without the assistance of any equipment. This platform is based on a previously reported volumetric-bar-chart chip (V-Chip), which applies platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) as the ELISA probe to convert the biomarker concentration to the volume of oxygen gas that further pushes the red ink to form a visualized bar-chart. The length of each bar is used to quantify the biomarker concentration of each sample. We devised a long reading channel V-Chip (LV-Chip) in this work to achieve a wide detection window. In addition, LV-Chip employed a unique enzyme-free ELISA probe that enriched PtNPs significantly and owned 500-fold enhanced catalytic ability over that of previous V-Chip, resulting in a significantly improved detection limit. LV-Chip is able to complete a PSA assay for five samples in 20 min. The device was applied to detect PSA in 50 patient serum samples, and the on-chip results demonstrated good correlation with conventional immunoassay. In addition, the PSA levels in finger-prick whole blood samples from healthy volunteers were successfully measured on the device. This completely stand-alone LV-Chip platform enables convenient POC testing for patient follow-up in the physician’s office and is also useful in resource-constrained settings.

Keywords: point-of-care detection, microfluidics, PSA, ultra-sensitive

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Hichem Sebai, Mohamed Amine Jabri, Kais Rtibi, Haifa Tounsi, Lamjed Marzouki

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Artemisia campestris has been widely used in Tunisian traditional medicine for its health beneficial effects. However, the present study aims at evaluating the antiulcer effects of Artemisia campestris aqueous extract (ACAE) as well as the mechanism of action involved in such gastroprotection. In this respect, male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups: control, aspirin (ASPR), ASPR + various doses of ACAE (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, b.w.), ASPR+ famotidine and ASPR+ caffeic acid. Animals were pre-treated with ACAE extract during 10 days. We firstly showed that aspirin administration was accompanied by an oxidative stress status assessed by an increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) level, a decrease of sulfhydryl -(SH) groups content and depletion of antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Pre-treatment with ACAE protected against aspirin-induced gastric oxidative stress. More importantly, aspirin administration increased plasma and tissue hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), free iron and calcium levels while the ACAE pre-treatment reversed all aspirin-induced intracellular mediators disturbance. The results of the present study clearly indicated that AEAC gastroprotection might be related, at least in part, to its antioxidant properties as well as to various gastric mucosal defense mechanisms, including the protection of gastric sulfhydryls and an opposite effect on some intracellular mediators such as free iron, hydrogen peroxide, and calcium. However, our data confirm the use of Artemisia campestris extracts in the Tunisian traditional folk medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

Keywords: gastric ulcer, Artemisia campestris, oxidative stress, sulfhydryl groups, Fenton reaction, rat

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Khair Al-Deen Bsisu, Osama Mahmoud Abuzeid

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Significant technological advances have been achieved in the design and building construction of steel and glass in the last two decades. The metal glass support frame has been replaced by further sophisticated technological solutions, for example, the point fixed glazing systems. The minimization of the visual mass has reached extensive possibilities through the evolution of technology in glass production and the better understanding of the structural potential of glass itself, the technological development of bolted fixings, the introduction of the glazing support attachments of the glass suspension systems and the use for structural stabilization of cables that reduce to a minimum the amount of metal used. The variability of solutions of tension structures, allied to the difficulties related to geometric and material non-linear behavior, usually overrules the use of analytical solutions, letting numerical analysis as the only general approach to the design and analysis of tension structures. With the characteristics of low stiffness, lightweight, and small damping, tension structures are obviously geometrically nonlinear. In fact, analysis of cable truss is not only one of the most difficult nonlinear analyses because the analysis path may have rigid-body modes, but also a time consuming procedure. Non-linear theory allowing for large deflections is used. The flexibility of supporting members was observed to influence the stresses in the pane considerably in some cases. No other class of architectural structural systems is as dependent upon the use of digital computers as are tensile structures. Besides complexity, the process of design and analysis of tension structures presents a series of specificities, which usually lead to the use of special purpose programs, instead of general purpose programs (GPPs), such as ANSYS. In a special purpose program, part of the design know how is embedded in program routines. It is very probable that this type of program will be the option of the final user, in design offices. GPPs offer a range of types of analyses and modeling options. Besides, traditional GPPs are constantly being tested by a large number of users, and are updated according to their actual demands. This work discusses the use of ANSYS for the analysis and design of tension structures, such as cable truss structures under wind and gravity loadings. A model to describe the glass panels working in coordination with the cable truss was proposed. Under the proposed model, a FEM model of the glass panels working in coordination with the cable truss was established.

Keywords: Glass Construction material, Facades, Finite Element, Pre-Tensioned Cable Truss

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Authors: Anupriya Sharma, Sapna Narula

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Over the past decade, sustainability has gone mainstream as more people are worried about environment-related issues than ever before. These issues are of even more concern for industries which leave a significant impact on the environment. Following these ecological issues, corporates are beginning to comprehend the impact on their business. Many such initiatives have been made to address these emerging issues in the consumer-driven textile industry. Demand from customers, local communities, government regulations, etc. are considered some of the major factors affecting environmental decision-making. Research also shows that motivations to go green are inevitably determined by the way top managers perceive environmental issues as managers personal values and ethical commitment act as a motivating factor towards corporate social responsibility. Little empirical research has been conducted to examine the relationship between top managers’ personal environmental attitudes and corporate environmental behaviors for the textile industry in the Indian context. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the current state of environmental management in textile industry and whether the attitude of textile firms’ top managers is significantly related to firm’s response to environmental issues and their perceived benefits of environmental management. To achieve the aforesaid objectives of the study, authors used structured questionnaire based on literature review. The questionnaire consisted of six sections with a total length of eight pages. The first section was based on background information on the position of the respondents in the organization, annual turnover, year of firm’s establishment and so on. The other five sections of the questionnaire were based upon (drivers, attitude, and awareness, sustainable business practices, barriers to implementation and benefits achieved). To test the questionnaire, a pretest was conducted with the professionals working in corporate sustainability and had knowledge about the textile industry and was then mailed to various stakeholders involved in textile production thereby covering firms top manufacturing officers, EHS managers, textile engineers, HR personnel and R&D managers. The results of the study showed that most of the textile firms were implementing some type of environmental management practice, even though the magnitude of firm’s involvement in environmental management practices varied. The results also show that textile firms with a higher level of involvement in environmental management were more involved in the process driven technical environmental practices. It also identified that firm’s top managers environmental attitudes were correlated with perceived advantages of environmental management as textile firm’s top managers are the ones who possess managerial discretion on formulating and deciding business policies such as environmental initiatives.

Keywords: attitude and awareness, Environmental management, sustainability, textile industry

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Authors: Patricia Kermeci

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Policies related to the reduction of both carbon dioxide and energy consumption within the residential sector have contributed towards a growing number of energy-efficient houses being built in several countries. Many of these energy-efficient houses rely on the construction of very well insulated and highly airtight structures, ventilated mechanically. Although energy-efficient houses are indeed more energy efficient than conventional houses, concerns have been raised over the quality of their indoor air and, consequently, the possible adverse health and wellbeing effects for their occupants. Using a longitudinal study design over three different weather seasons (winter, spring and summer), this study has investigated the indoor climate and indoor air quality of different rooms (bedroom, living room and kitchen) in five energy-efficient houses and four conventional houses in the UK. Occupants have kept diaries of their activities during the studied periods and interviews have been conducted to investigate possible behavioural explanations for the findings. Data has been compared with reviews of epidemiological, toxicological and other health related published literature to reveals three main findings. First, it shows that the indoor environment quality of energy-efficient houses cannot be treated as a holistic entity as different rooms presented dissimilar indoor climate and indoor air quality. Thus, such differences might contribute to the health and wellbeing of occupants in different ways. Second, the results show that the indoor environment quality of energy-efficient houses can vary following changes in weather season, leaving occupants at a lower or higher risk of adverse health and wellbeing effects during different weather seasons. Third, one cannot assume that even identical energy-efficient houses provide a similar indoor environment quality. Fourth, the findings reveal that the practices and behaviours of the occupants of energy-efficient houses likely determine whether they enjoy a healthier indoor environment when compared with their control houses. In conclusion, it has been considered vital to understand occupants’ practices and behaviours in order to explain the ways they might contribute to the indoor climate and indoor air quality in energy-efficient houses.

Keywords: energy-efficient house, health and wellbeing, indoor environment, indoor air quality

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Authors: Tae Young Jin, Jin Soo Kim

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Carbon emissions have emerged as global concerns. Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) have published reports about Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions regularly. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have held a conference yearly since 1995. Especially, COP21 held at December 2015 made the Paris agreement which have strong binding force differently from former COP. The Paris agreement was ratified as of 4 November 2016, they finally have legal binding. Participating countries set up their own Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), and will try to achieve this. Thus, carbon emissions must be reduced. The energy sector is one of most responsible for carbon emissions and fossil fuels particularly are. Thus, this paper attempted to examine the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth. To achieve this, we adopted the Cobb-Douglas production function that consists of natural gas consumption, economic growth, capital, and labor using dependent panel analysis. Data were preprocessed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to remove cross-sectional dependency which can disturb the panel results. After confirming the existence of time-trended component of each variable, we moved to cointegration test considering cross-sectional dependency and structural breaks to describe more realistic behavior of volatile international indicators. The cointegration test result indicates that there is long-run equilibrium relationship between selected variables. Long-run cointegrating vector and Granger causality test results show that while natural gas consumption can contribute economic growth in the short-run, adversely affect in the long-run. From these results, we made following policy implications. Since natural gas has positive economic effect in only short-run, the policy makers in developing countries must consider the gradual switching of major energy source, from natural gas to sustainable energy source. Second, the technology transfer and financing business suggested by COP must be accelerated. Acknowledgement—This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20152510101880) and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-205S1A3A2046684).

Keywords: developing countries, economic growth, natural gas consumption, panel data analysis

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Authors: Abiodun Olayinka, Daniel Dzidzienyo, Pangirayi Tongoona, Samuel Offei, Edwige Gaby Nkouaya Mbanjo, Chiedozie Egesi, Ismail Yusuf Rabbi

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Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major source of starch for various industrial applications. However, the traditional cultivation and harvesting methods of cassava are labour-intensive and inefficient, limiting the supply of fresh cassava roots for industrial starch production. To achieve improved productivity and quality of fresh cassava roots through mechanized cultivation, cassava cultivars with compact plant architecture and moderate plant height are needed. Plant architecture-related traits, such as plant height, harvest index, stem diameter, branching angle, and lodging tolerance, are critical for crop productivity and suitability for mechanized cultivation. However, the genetics of cassava plant architecture remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the genetic bases of the relationships between plant architecture traits and productivity-related traits, particularly starch content. A panel of 453 clones developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria, was genotyped and phenotyped for 18 plant architecture and productivity-related traits at four locations in Nigeria. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using the phenotypic data from a panel of 453 clones and 61,238 high-quality Diversity Arrays Technology sequencing (DArTseq) derived Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers that are evenly distributed across the cassava genome. Five significant associations between ten SNPs and three plant architecture component traits were identified through GWAS. We found five SNPs on chromosomes 6 and 16 that were significantly associated with shoot weight, harvest index, and total yield through genome-wide association mapping. We also discovered an essential candidate gene that is co-located with peak SNPs linked to these traits in M. esculenta. A review of the cassava reference genome v7.1 revealed that the SNP on chromosome 6 is in proximity to Manes.06G101600.1, a gene that regulates endodermal differentiation and root development in plants. The findings of this study provide insights into the genetic basis of plant architecture and yield in cassava. Cassava breeders could leverage this knowledge to optimize plant architecture and yield in cassava through marker-assisted selection and targeted manipulation of the candidate gene.

Keywords: manihot esculenta crantz, plant architecture, dartseq, snp markers, genome-wide association study

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Authors: Omvati Verma, Shyamashrre Roy

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A field experiment was conducted with three basal nitrogen levels (90, 120 and 150 kg N/ha) and five foliar application of urea (absolute control, water spray, 3% urea spray at anthesis, 7 and 14 days after anthesis) at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar (Uttarakhand) during rabi season in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Results revealed that nitrogen application of 150 kg/ha produced the highest seed yield, straw and biological yield and it was significantly superior to 90 kg N/ha and was at par with 120 kg N/ha. The number of tillers increased significantly with increase in nitrogen doses up to 150 kg N/ha. Spike length, number of grains per spike, grain weight per spike and thousand seed weight showed significantly higher values with 120 kg N/ha than 90 kg N/ha and were at par with that of 150 kg N/ha. Also, plant height showed similar trend. Leaf area index and chlorophyll content showed significant increase with an increase in nitrogen levels at different stages. In the case of foliar spray treatments, urea spray at anthesis showed highest value for yield and yield attributes. In case of spike length and thousand seed weight, it was similar with the urea spray at 7 and 14 days after anthesis, but for rest of the yield attributes, it was significantly higher than rest of the treatments. Among seed quality parameters protein and sedimentation value showed significant increase due to increase in nitrogen rates whereas, starch and hectolitre weight had a decreasing trend. Wet gluten content was not influenced by nitrogen levels. Foliar urea spray at anthesis resulted in highest value of protein and hectolitre weight whereas, urea spray at 7 days after anthesis showed highest value of sedimentation value and wet gluten content.

Keywords: foliar application, nitrogenous fertilizer, seed quality, yield

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Authors: Shubham Sharma, Sandra Barkauskaite, Brendan Duffy, Swarna Jaiswal, Amit K. Jaiswal

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Food packaging protects food from temperature, light, and humidity; preserves food and guarantees the safety and the integrity of the food. Advancement in packaging research leads to development of active packaging system with numerous properties such as oxygen scavengers, carbon-dioxide generating systems, antimicrobial active packaging, moisture control packaging, ethylene scavengers etc. In the active packaging, several additives such as essential oils, polyphenols etc. are incorporated into packaging film or within the packaging material to achieve the desired properties. This study investigates the effect on the structural, thermal and functional properties of different poly(lactide) – poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PLA-PBAT) blend films incorporated with clove essential oil. The PLA-PBAT films were prepared by a solution casting method and then characterized based on their optical, mechanical properties, surface hydrophobicity, chemical composition, antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and E. coli, and inhibition of biofilm formation of E. coli. Results showed that, the developed packaging film containing clove oil has significant UV-blocking property (80%). However, incorporation of clove oil resulted in reduced transparency and tensile strength of the film as the concentration of clove oil increased. The surface hydrophobicity of packaging film was improved with the increasing concentration of essential oil. Similarly, thickness of the clove oil containing films increased from 36.71 µm to 106.67 µm as the concentration increases. The antimicrobial activity and biofilm inhibition study showed that the clove-incorporated PLA-PBAT composite film was effective against tested bacteria E. coli and S. aureus. This study showed that the PLA-PBAT – Clove oil composite film has significant antimicrobial and UV-blocking properties and can be used as an active food packaging film.

Keywords: active packaging, clove oil, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), poly(lactide)

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Authors: Eni Rahmi, Rasmi Rikmasari, Taufik Soemarsongko

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Background: One of the bad habits that requires a treatment and viewed as a risk factor of the temporomandibular disorder is bruxism. Bruxism defined as an awake and/or asleep parafunctional activities include grinding, gnashing, bracing or clenching of the teeth. In particular circumstances such as an increased frequency of episode, duration and the intensity of masseter contractions, caused phenomenon with pathological consequences, i.e., mandibular remodeling. The remodeling in mandibular angle was associated with the masseter and pterygoid medial muscles attachment which in its insertion area. The aim of this study was to compare the mandibular remodeling between bruxers and non-bruxers with ramus height, gonial angle and bigonial width as parameters, and to identify correlation among those parameters in bruxers, using panoramic radiographic. Methods: This study was conducted on 35 bruxers (10 phasic bruxism patients, 6 tonic bruxism patients, and 19 mixed bruxism patients) and 20 non-bruxers as control group. The data were obtained by using questionary, clinical examination, and radiographic measurement. Panoramic radiograph measurement was done using soft CBCT EPX Impla (E-Woo Korea). The data was analyzed by using Paired T-Test to see differences between parameters in both group and Pearson Correlation Test to evaluate correlation among parameters. Result: There was significant differences between bruxers and non-bruxers in ramus heights (p=0,04), bigonial widths (p=0,001), and gonial angles(p=0,015). The bruxers showed increased ramus heights and bigonial widths, in other hand, the gonial angles decreased. This study also found that there was highly correlation among ramus height, gonial angles, and bigonial widths. Conclusion: the bone remodeling occurred on inferior and posterior border of mandibular angle in bruxism patient, indicated by the form and size differences between bruxers (phasic bruxism, tonic bruxism, and mixed bruxism) with non-bruxers, which shown by panoramic radiograph.

Keywords: bruxism, ramus height, gonial angle, bigonial width

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Getachew Belay, Getachew Kahsu, Brhane Berhe, Kebede Tesfay, Fitsum Mardu, Nigus Shishay, Hadush Negash, Aster Tsegaye

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Background: Malaria kills million people around the world, and it is still a serious public health problem in Ethiopia. Over the past years, the disease has been consistently reported as leading cause of outpatient visits, hospitalization and death in health facilities across the country. This study assessed malaria trend in Humera Town Kahsay Abera Hospital Tigrai region, Northern Ethiopia. Method: A Health facility retrospective cross sectional study was conducted in Kahsay Abera General Hospital from January 2011 to December 2019. Data of Malaria cases were reviewed from Health Management Information System with the help of experts in the office. The nine year data were extracted and analyzed using Excel by excluding those which lack demographic data. Result: A total of 36,604 smear positive malaria cases were confirmed in last nine years in the study area. Plasmodim falcifarum was the most prevalent reported species. Higher number of malaria cases were reported during October season.Males were more infected by the disese (63.1%) than females and males aged 15 years and above were the most iffected ones. The percentage proportion of P.falcifarum and P.vivax were 61.6% to 38.4%, respectively. There was a decreasing trend over the nine years following the peak in 2013. Conclusion: Malaria smear positivity, with highest cases being recorded in October, was declined over the nine years after peaking in 2013. Males aged 15 years and above were more affected, and P falciparum was the predominat species. Strengtheing the prevention and control activities is warranted in the study area.

Keywords: trend, malaria, kahsay abera general hospital, tigray, ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Sarmiza Stanca, Wolfgang Fritzsche, Christoph Krafft, Jürgen Popp

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Independent of the cell type a thin layer of a few nanometers thickness surrounds the cell interior as the cellular membrane. The transport of ions and molecules through the membrane is achieved in a very precise way by pores. Understanding the process of opening and closing the pores due to an electrochemical gradient across the membrane requires knowledge of the pore constitutive proteins. Recent reports prove the access to the molecular level of the cellular membrane by atomic force microscopy (AFM). This technique also permits an electrochemical study in the immediate vicinity of the tip. Specific molecules can be electrochemically localized in the natural cellular membrane. Our work aims to recognize the protein domains of the pores using an AFM probe as a miniaturized amperometric sensor, and to follow the protein behavior while changing the applied potential. The intensity of the current produced between the surface and the AFM probe is amplified and detected simultaneously with the surface imaging. The AFM probe plays the role of the working electrode and the substrate, a conductive glass on which the cells are grown, represent the counter electrode. For a better control of the electric potential on the probe, a third electrode Ag/AgCl wire is mounted in the circuit as a reference electrode. The working potential is applied between the electrodes with a programmable source and the current intensity in the circuit is recorded with a multimeter. The applied potential considers the overpotential at the electrode surface and the potential drop due to the current flow through the system. The reported method permits a high resolved electrochemical study of the protein domains on the living cell membrane. The amperometric map identifies areas of different current intensities on the pore depending on the applied potential. The reproducibility of this method is limited by the tip shape, the uncontrollable capacitance, which occurs at the apex and a potential local charge separation.

Keywords: AFM, sensor, membrane, pores, proteins

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Taru Hakanen, Mervi Murtonen

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This study aims to increase understanding of the transition of business models in servitization. The significance of service in all business has increased dramatically during the past decades. Service-dominant logic (SDL) describes this change in the economy and questions the goods-dominant logic on which business has primarily been based in the past. A business model canvas is one of the most cited and used tools in defining end developing business models. The starting point of this paper lies in the notion that the traditional business model canvas is inherently goods-oriented and best suits for product-based business. However, the basic differences between goods and services necessitate changes in business model representations when proceeding in servitization. Therefore, new knowledge is needed on how the conception of business model and the business model canvas as its representation should be altered in servitized firms in order to better serve business developers and inter-firm co-creation. That is to say, compared to products, services are intangible and they are co-produced between the supplier and the customer. Value is always co-created in interaction between a supplier and a customer, and customer experience primarily depends on how well the interaction succeeds between the actors. The role of service experience is even stronger in service business compared to product business, as services are co-produced with the customer. This paper provides business model developers with a service business model canvas, which takes into account the intangible, interactive, and relational nature of service. The study employs a design science approach that contributes to theory development via design artifacts. This study utilizes qualitative data gathered in workshops with ten companies from various industries. In particular, key differences between Goods-dominant logic (GDL) and SDL-based business models are identified when an industrial firm proceeds in servitization. As the result of the study, an updated version of the business model canvas is provided based on service-dominant logic. The service business model canvas ensures a stronger customer focus and includes aspects salient for services, such as interaction between companies, service co-production, and customer experience. It can be used for the analysis and development of a current service business model of a company or for designing a new business model. It facilitates customer-focused new service design and service development. It aids in the identification of development needs, and facilitates the creation of a common view of the business model. Therefore, the service business model canvas can be regarded as a boundary object, which facilitates the creation of a common understanding of the business model between several actors involved. The study contributes to the business model and service business development disciplines by providing a managerial tool for practitioners in service development. It also provides research insight into how servitization challenges companies’ business models.

Keywords: boundary object, business model canvas, managerial tool, service-dominant logic

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Authors: Pamela Del Rosario, Elisabetta Palumbo, Marzia Traverso

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The building sector plays an important role in addressing pressing environmental issues such as climate change and resource scarcity. The energy performance of buildings is considerably affected by the external envelope. In fact, a considerable proportion of the building energy demand is due to energy losses through the windows. Nevertheless, according to literature, to pay attention only to the contribution of windows to the building energy performance, i.e., their influence on energy use during building operation, could result in a partial evaluation. Hence, it is important to consider not only the building energy performance but also the environmental performance of windows, and this not only during the operational stage but along its complete life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006+A1:2018 is one of the most adopted and robust methods to evaluate the environmental performance of products throughout their complete life cycle. This life-cycle based approach avoids the shift of environmental impacts of a life cycle stage to another, allowing to allocate them to the stage in which they originated and to adopt measures that optimize the environmental performance of the product. Moreover, the LCA method is widely implemented in the construction sector to assess whole buildings as well as construction products and materials. LCA is regulated by the European Standards EN 15978:2011, at the building level, and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, at the level of construction products and materials. In this work, the environmental performance of wooden windows was assessed by implementing the LCA method and adopting primary data. More specifically, the emphasis is given to embedded and operational impacts. Furthermore, correlations are made between these environmental impacts and aspects such as type of wood and window transmittance. In the particular case of the operational impacts, special attention is set on the definition of suitable maintenance scenarios that consider the potential climate influence on the environmental impacts. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted, and expert consultation was carried out. The study underlined the variability of the embedded environmental impacts of wooden windows by considering different wood types and transmittance values. The results also highlighted the need to define appropriate maintenance scenarios for precise assessment results. It was found that both the service life and the window maintenance requirements in terms of treatment and its frequency are highly dependent not only on the wood type and its treatment during the manufacturing process but also on the weather conditions of the place where the window is installed. In particular, it became evident that maintenance-related environmental impacts were the highest for climate regions with the lowest temperatures and the greatest amount of precipitation.

Keywords: embedded impacts, environmental performance, life cycle assessment, LCA, maintenance stage, operational impacts, wooden windows

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Authors: Targba Aondowase

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Undocumented migration along Nigeria’s boarder with Cameroon, Chad and Niger is a key issue in tackling the human security challenges in the region as the security situation cannot be contained without proper boarder control. The paper adopts migration systems theory which asserts that migration alters the social, cultural, economic, and institutional conditions at both the sending and receiving ends to explain the influence of unregistered migrants on institutional changes as it affects the security situation in Northern Nigeria. It was found that undocumented migration is majorly influenced by poverty, illegal trade, wars and asylum. The study also discovers that Nigerian boarders are porous with over 250 footpaths that link directly to Cameroon, Chad and Niger, making the proliferation of small arms and light weapons a transnational organized crime in the region. These porous borders are unmanned by security operatives with limited government presence in the boarder communities. The study also found that undocumented immigrants are easily integrated into the northern communities due to common religious beliefs and race where they carry out normal and civic functions without obstruction. The paper concluded that the level of undocumented migration in Northern Nigeria is high due to unmanned and porous borders. The paper therefore recommended that the security agencies should be strengthened through adequate funding, innovative technology, sound policies and proficient processes that will help protect the country’s borders. The National Populations Commission and the National Identity Management Commission should be strengthened to have a good data base of the country’s citizens and there should be international cooperation between the neighbouring countries to tackle illegal migration and illegal trade along the borders. The findings and recommendations of this paper will serve as a guide towards curtailing the impact of undocumented migration on human security in Northern Nigeria.

Keywords: human security, impact, migration, undocumented

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Ayalkibet Mekonnen, Adane Abebe

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In hydrological cycle there are many water-related human interventions that modify the natural systems. Rainwater harvesting is one such intervention that involves harnessing of water in the upstream. Water harvesting used in upstream prevents water runoff on downstream mainly disturbance on biodiversity and ecosystems. The main objectives of the study are to assess the effects of water harvesting technologies on downstream water availability in the Woreda. To address the above problem, SWAT model, cost-benefit ratio and optimal control approach was used to analyse the hydrological and socioeconomic impact and tradeoffs on water availability of the community, respectively. The downstream impacts of increasing water consumption in the upstream rain-fed areas of the Bilate and Shala Catchment are simulated using the semi-distributed SWAT model. The two land use scenarios tested at sub basin levels (1) conventional land use represents the current land use practice (Agri-CON) and (2) in-field rainwater harvesting (IRWH), improving soil water availability through rainwater harvesting land use scenario. The simulated water balance results showed that the highest peak mean monthly direct flow obtained from Agri-CON land use (127.1 m3/ha), followed by Agri-IRWH land use (11.5 mm) and LULC 2005 (90.1 m3/ha). The Agri-IRWH scenario reduced direct flow by 10% compared to Agri-CON and more groundwater flow contributed by Agri-IRWH (190 m3/ha) than Agri-CON (125 m3/ha). The overall result suggests that the water yield of the Woreda may not be negatively affected by the Agri-IRWH land use scenario. The technology in the Woreda benefited positively having an average benefit cost ratio of 4.2. Water harvesting for domestic use was not optimal that the value of the water per demand harvested was less than the amount of water needed. Storage tanks, series of check dams, gravel filled dams are an alternative solutions for water harvesting.

Keywords: water harvesting, SWAT model, land use scenario, Agri-CON, Agri-IRWH, trade off, benefit cost ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 327

Authors: Maria Botero-Uribe, Melissa Fitzgerald, Robert Gilbert, Kim Bryceson, Jocelyn Midgley

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French fry manufacturing involves a series of processes in which structural properties of potatoes are modified to produce crispy french fries which consumers enjoy. In addition to the traditional french fry manufacturing process, the industry is applying a relatively new process called pulsed electrical field (PEF) to the whole potatoes. There is a wealth of information on the technical treatment conditions of PEF, however, there is a lack of information about its effect on the structural properties that affect texture and its synergistic interactions with the other manufacturing steps of french fry production. The effect of PEF on starch gelatinisation properties of Russet Burbank potato was measured using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter. Cation content (K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometry. Firmness, and toughness of raw and blanched potatoes were determined in an uniaxial compression test. Moisture content was determined in a vacuum oven and oil content was measured using the soxhlet system with hexane. The final texture of the french fries – crispness - was determined using a three bend point test. Triangle tests were conducted to determine if consumers were able to perceive sensory differences between French fries that were PEF treated and those without treatment. The concentration of K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ decreased significantly in the raw potatoes after the PEF treatment. The PEF treatment significantly increased modulus of elasticity, compression strain, compression force and toughness in the raw potato. The PEF-treated raw potato were firmer and stiffer, and its structure integrity held together longer, resisted higher force before fracture and stretched further than the untreated ones. The strain stress relationship exhibited by the PEF-treated raw potato could be due to an increase in the permeability of the plasmalema and tonoplasm allowing Ca2+ and Mg2+ cations to reach the cell wall and middle lamella, and be available for cross linking with the pectin molecule. The PEF-treated raw potato exhibited a slightly higher onset gelatinisation temperatures, similar peak temperatures and lower gelatinisation ranges than the untreated raw potatoes. The final moisture content of the french fries was not significantly affected by the PEF treatment. Oil content in the PEF- treated potatoes was lower than the untreated french fries, however, not statistically significant at 5 %. The PEF treatment did not have an overall significant effect on french fry crispness (modulus of elasticity), flexure stress or strain. The triangle tests show that most consumers could not detect a difference between French fries that received a PEF treatment from those that did not.

Keywords: french fries, mechanical properties, PEF, potatoes

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Anjana Rajput, Sandeep Chouksey, Bhaskar Bhandari, Shimpi Chourasia

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Ecologically, grassland is any plant community dominated by grasses, whether they exist naturally or because of management practices. Most forest grasslands are anthropogenic and established plant communities planted for forage production, though some are established for soil and water conservation and wildlife habitat. In Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India, most of the grasslands have been established on evacuated village sites. Total of 42 villages evacuated, and study was carried out in 23 sites to evaluate habitat improvement. Grasslands were classified into three categories, i.e., evacuated sites, established sites, and controlled sites. During the present study impact of various management interventions on grassland health was assessed. Grasslands assessment was done for its composition, status of palatable and non-palatable grasses, the status of herbs and legumes, status of weeds species, and carrying capacity of particular grassland. Presence of wild herbivore species in the grasslands with their abundance, availability of water resources was also assessed. Grassland productivity is dependent mainly on the biotic and abiotic components of the area, but management interventions may also play an important role in grassland composition and productivity. Variation in the status of palatable and non-palatable grasses, legumes, and weeds was recorded and found effected by management intervention practices. Overall in all the studied grasslands, the most dominant grasses recorded are Themeda quadrivalvis, Dichanthium annulatum, Ischaemum indicum, Oplismenus burmanii, Setaria pumilla, Cynodon dactylon, Heteropogon contortus, and Eragrostis tenella. Presence of wild herbivores, i.e., Chital, Sambar, Bison, Bluebull, Chinkara, Barking deer in the grassland area has been recorded through the installation of camera traps and estimated their abundance. Assessment of developed grasslands was done in terms of habitat suitability for Chital (Axis axis) and Sambar (Rusa unicolor). The parameters considered for suitability modeling are biotic and abiotic life requisite components existing in the area, i.e., density of grasses, density of legumes, availability of water, site elevation, site distance from human habitation. Findings of the present study would be useful for further grassland management and animal translocation programmes.

Keywords: carrying capacity, dominant grasses, grassland, habitat suitability, management intervention, wild herbivore

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Vilma Sasyte, Vilma Viliene, Agila Dauksiene, Asta Raceviciute-Stupeliene, Romas Gruzauskas, Saulius Alijosius

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The eight-week feeding trial was conducted involving 27-wk-old Isa brown laying hens to study the effect of dry extrusion processing on partial reduction in total glucosinolates content of locally produced rapeseed and on productivity and eggs quality parameters of laying hens. Thirty-six hens were randomly assigned one of three treatments (CONTR, AERS and HERS), each comprising 12, individual caged layers. The main composition of the diets was the same, but extruded soya bean seed were replaced with 2.5% of the extruded rapeseed in the AERS group and 4.5 % in the HERS group. Rapeseed was extruded together with faba beans. Due to extrusion process the glucosinolates content was reduced by 7.83 µmol/g of rapeseed. The results of conducted trial shows, that during all experimental period egg production parameters, such as the average feed intake (6529.17 vs. 6257 g/hen/14 day; P < 0.05) and laying intensity (94.35% vs. 89.29; P < 0.05) were statistically different for HERS and CONTR laying hens respectively. Only the feed conversion ratio to produce 1 kg of eggs, kg in AERS group was by 11 % lower compared to CONTR group (P < 0.05). By analysing the effect of extruded rapeseed on egg mass, the statistical differences between treatments were no determined. The dietary treatments did not affect egg weight, albumen height, haugh units, albumen and yolk pH. However, in the HERS group were get eggs with the more intensive yolk color, higher redness (a) and yellowness (b) values. The inclusion of full-fat extruded rapeseed had no effect on egg shell quality parameters, i.e. shell breaking strength, shell weight with and without coat and shell index, but in the experimental groups were get eggs with the thinner shell (P < 0.05). The internal egg quality analysis showed that with higher content of extruded rapeseed (4.5 %) level in the diet, the total cholesterol in the eggs yolk decreased by 1.92 mg/g in comparison with CONTR group (P < 0.05). Eggs laid by hens fed the diet containing 2.5% and 4.5% had increasing ∑PNRR/∑SRR ratio and decreasing ∑(n-6)/∑(n-3) ratio values of eggs yolk fatty acids than in CONTR group. Eggs of hens fed different amount of extruded rapeseed presented an n-6 : n-3 ratio changed from 5.17 to 4.71. The analysis of the relationship between hypocholesteremia/ hypercholesterolemia fatty acids (H/H), which is based on the functional properties of fatty acids, found that the value of it ratio is significant higher in laying hens fed diets supplemented with 4.5% extruded rapeseed than the CONTR group, demonstrating the positive effects of extruded rapeseed on egg quality. The results of trial confirmed that extruded full fat rapeseed to the 4.5% are suitable to replace soyabean in the compound feed of laying hens.

Keywords: egg quality, extruded full-fat rapeseed, laying hens, productivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 207

Authors: Göksel Doğan, Murat Öztürk, Didar Tuğçe Karakulak, Mehmet Nurullah Orman, Nicolas Sylvius, Matthew Blades, Mustafa Sandıkçı, Cengiz Ünsal, Mehtap Kılıç Eren, Funda Kıral, Levent Karagenç

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Assisted reproduction is associated with impaired glucose metabolism in adulthood. miRNAs are key regulators of glucose metabolism. Whether embryo culture and/or transfer alters the expression of miRNAs and to what extent this process affects glucose metabolism remain largely unknown. The purpose of the present study was to examine the expression of miRNAs in the liver in mice obtained by the transfer of blastocysts. The study was comprised of an experimental (EG) and a control group (CG). EG was generated by embryo transfer to pseudo-pregnant females. Mice born from naturally ovulating females were used as the CG. Differential expression of miRNAs, blood glucose, plasma insulin, liver glycogen, and activities of some of the rate-limiting enzymes involved in glucose metabolism were determined at ten weeks of age. Blood glucose, plasma insulin, and glycogen concentrations were similar between the groups in both sexes. Activities of enzymes were similar among females. EG males had significantly less glucokinase and phosphofructokinase activity compared to CG males. None of the miRNAs were differentially expressed in males. On the other hand, miR-143-3p expression was upregulated in EG females. Expression of none of the genes targeted by miR143-3p differed between the groups. These results demonstrate that miR143-3p, a novel regulator of type 2 diabetes, is upregulated in mice generated by assisted reproduction in a sexually-dimorphic manner with no apparent effect on glucose and insulin levels at ten weeks of age. It remains to be determined if this process is associated with impaired glucose homeostasis in the long term.

Keywords: assisted reproduction, blastocyst, embryo culture, glucose metabolism, miR143-3p, oxygen

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Authors: Anne R. Fernandez, Mohammad Akmal Adnan, Tanes Prasat, Indu Bala Jaganath, Brian Kirby, Kamalan Jeevaratnam

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Introduction: Plants from the Phyllantus genus have been used indigenously for the treatment of a variety of ailments for generations. A cocktail of phytonutrients prepared from a plant of the genus Phyllanthus has demonstrated the potential to alleviate ailments which include cardiovascular disorders. In this study, we investigated the cholesterol modulating properties of a highly purified proprietary extract of a Phyllanthus species in hypercholesteraemic mice. Methods: Hypercholesteraemia was induced in ICR mice by ad-libitum feeding of high fat diet daily for six weeks. The mice were then divided into 3 groups and force fed with 10mg/kg of atorvastatin, 200mg/kg of the proprietary Phyllanthus extract and water respectively. Blood samples were taken at the end of fourth week of treatment by a tail prick. At the end of the eighth week of treatment, mice were sacrificed and serum levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides were measured. Results: The mean cholesterol levels in the mice fed with high fat diet were 44% (p < 0.05) higher than the mice on normal diet thus validating the model developed. The plasma HDL was significantly elevated in mice treated with the formulation (p ˂ 0.05) in comparison to the statin-treated and control mice. The total cholesterol levels in the mice treated with the proprietary extract were reduced significantly (p < 0.05) at the end of 4 weeks of treatment in comparison to the mice treated with atorvastatin. By the end of 8 weeks of treatment, there was no significant difference in the cholesterol levels of the mice in all groups. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that this proprietary extract from Phyllanthus species has the beneficial effect of reducing total cholesterol level more rapidly than atorvastatin and increasing HDL levels. Since an increase in the HDL cholesterol can reduce the risk of heart disease, this proprietary extract is a useful and safe therapeutic option compared to atorvastatin.

Keywords: high-density lipoprotein, hypercholesteraemic mice model, ICR mice, Phyllanthus spp.

Procedia PDF Downloads 440