Search results for: flood activity

Authors: Aleksander Veraksa, Alla Tvardovskaya, Margarita Gavrilova, Vera Yakupova, Martin Musálek

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Considering the current agreement on the significance of executive functions, there is growing interest in determining factors that contribute to the development of these skills, especially during the preschool period. Although multiple studies have been focusing on links between physical activity, physical fitness and executive functions, this topic was more investigated in schoolchildren and adults than in preschoolers. The aim of the current study was to identify different levels of physical fitness among pre-schoolers, followed by an analysis of differences in their executive functions. Participants were 261 5-6-years old children. Inhibitory control and working memory were positively linked with physical fitness. Cognitive flexibility was not associated with physical fitness. The research findings are considered from neuropsychological grounds, Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, and the cultural-historical approach.

Keywords: cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, physical activity, physical fitness, working memory.

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Authors: Gianella Franco, Karen Suarez, María Quijano, Patricia Manzano

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Agro-industries generate large amounts of waste, which are mostly untapped. This research was carried out to use cocoa, coffee and orange industrial by-products to develop a dairy drink. The product was prepared by making a 10% aqueous extract of the mixture of cocoa and coffee beans shells and orange peel. Extreme Vertices Mixture Design was applied to vary the proportions of the ingredients of the aqueous extract, getting 13 formulations. Each formulation was mixed with skim milk and pasteurized. The attributes of taste, smell, color and appearance were evaluated by a semi-trained panel by multiple comparisons test, comparing the formulations against a standard marked as "R", which consisted of a coffee commercial drink. The formulations with the highest scores were selected to maximize the Total Polyphenol Content (TPC) through a process of linear optimization resulting in the formulation 80.5%: 18.37%: 1.13% of cocoa bean shell, coffee bean shell and orange peel, respectively. The Total Polyphenol Content was 4.99 ± 0.34 mg GAE/g of drink, DPPH radical scavenging activity (%) was 80.14 ± 0.05 and caffeine concentration of 114.78 mg / L, while the coffee commercial drink presented 3.93 ± 0.84 mg GAE / g drink, 55.54 ± 0.03 % and 47.44 mg / L of TPC, DPPH radical scavenging activity and caffeine content, respectively. The results show that it is possible to prepare an antioxidant - rich drink with good sensorial attributes made of industrial by-products.

Keywords: DPPH, polyphenols, waste, food science

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Authors: Belgheis Ebrahimi, Jun Lu

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In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the potential of marine-based functional foods and combination therapies in promoting a healthy lifestyle and exploring their effectiveness in preventing or treating diseases. The combination of marine bioactive compounds or extracts offers synergistic or enhancement effects through various mechanisms, including multi-target actions, improved bioavailability, enhanced bioactivity, and mitigation of potential adverse effects. Both the green-lipped mussel (GLM) and fucoidan derived from brown seaweed are rich in bioactivities. These two, mussel and fucoidan, have not been previously formulated together. This study aims to combine GLM oil from Perna canaliculus with low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) extracted from Undaria pinnatifida to investigate the unique mixture’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The cytotoxicity of individual compounds and combinations was assessed using the MTT assay in (THP-1 and RAW264.7) cell lines. The anti-inflammatory activity of mussel-fucoidan was evaluated by treating LPS-stimulated human monocyte and macrophage (THP1-1) cells. Subsequently, the inflammatory cytokines released into the supernatant of these cell lines were quantified via ELISA. Antioxidant activity was determined by using the free radical scavenging assay (DPPH). DPPH assay demonstrated that the radical scavenging activity of the combinations, particularly at concentrations exceeding 1 mg/ml, showed a significantly higher percentage of inhibition when compared to the individual component. This suggests an enhancement effect when the two compounds are combined, leading to increased antioxidant activity. In terms of immunomodulatory activity, the individual compounds exhibited distinct behaviors. GLM oil displayed a higher ability to suppress the cytokine TNF- compared to LMWF. Interestingly, the LMWF fraction, when used individually, did not demonstrate TNF- suppression. However, when combined with GLM, the TNF- suppression (anti-inflammatory) activity of the combination was better than GLM or LWMF alone. This observation underscores the potential for enhancement interactions between the two components in terms of anti-inflammatory properties. This study revealed that each individual compound, LMWF, and GLM, possesses unique and notable bioactivity. The combination of these two individual compounds results in an enhancement effect, where the bioactivity of each is enhanced, creating a superior combination. This suggests that the combination of LMWF and GLM has the potential to offer a more potent and multifaceted therapeutic effect, particularly in the context of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. These findings hold promise for the development of novel therapeutic interventions or supplements that harness the enhancement effects.

Keywords: combination, enhancement effect, perna canaliculus, undaria pinnatifida

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Authors: Halima Kilungu, Munishi P. K. T., Happiness Jackson Nko

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Wetlands contribute significantly to the national economy. Nevertheless, urban wetlands in Tanzania have been taken for granted; many have been converted into waste disposal areas and settlements despite their substantial role in climate-change flood attenuation and livelihood. This is due to the lacking informing assessments from a socio-economic perspective. This study assesses the contribution of urban wetlands to the livelihood of marginalised communities in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. Specifically, the study assesses the an extent and nature of change in wetlands in Dar es Salaam City for the past 30 years using the land-use land-cover change approach and the contribution of wetlands to livelihood using questionnaires. The results show that the loss of wetlands in Dar es Salaam is high to extent that will likely jeopardise their future contributions to livelihood. The results inform decision-makers on the importance of wise use of Urban Wetlands and conservation to improving livelihood for urban dwellers.

Keywords: wetlands, tanzania, dar es salaam, climate-change, and wetlands, livelihood

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Authors: Farnaz Alaeimoghadam, Farzad Alaeimoghadam

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In low-lactose milk, due to lactose hydrolysis and its conversion to monosaccharides like glucose and galactose, the Maillard reaction (non-enzymatic browning) occurs more readily compared to non-hydrolyzed milk. This reaction incurs off-flavor and dark color, as well as a decrease in the nutritional value of milk. The target of this research was to evaluate the effect of natural antioxidants in diminishing the browning in low-lactose milk. In this research, three antioxidants, namely ascorbic acid, gallic acid, and pantothenic acid in the concentration range of 0-1 mM/L, either in combination with each other or separately, were added to low-lactose milk. After heat treatment (120 0C for 3 min.), milk samples incubated at 55 0C for one day and then stored at 4 0C for 9 days. Quality indices, including total phenol content, antioxidant activity, color indices, and sensory characters, were measured during intervals of 0, 2, 5, 7, and 9 days. Results of this research showed that the effect of storage time and adding antioxidants were significant on pH, antioxidant activity, total phenolic compounds either before or after heating, index L*, color change, and sensational characteristics (p < 0.05); however, acidity, a* and b* indices, chroma, and hue angle showed no significant changes (p > 0.05). The findings showed that the simultaneous application of gallic acid and ascorbic in the diminishing of non-enzymatic browning and color change, increasing pH, longevity, and antioxidant activity after heat treatment, and augmenting phenolic compounds before heat treatment was better than that of pantothenic acid.

Keywords: Maillard, low-lactose milk, non-enzymatic browning, natural antioxidant

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Authors: Marina Stramarkou, Sofia Papadaki, Konstantina Kyriakopoulou, Magdalini Krokida

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Nowadays, microalgae represent the diverse branch of microorganism that is used not only in fish farming, but also in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and biofuel production as they can produce a wide range of unique functional ingredients. In the present work, a remarkable microalga Chlorella vulgaris (CV) was selected as a raw material for the recovery of multifunctional extracts. First of all, the drying of raw biomass was examined with freeze-drying showing the best behavior. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) using different solvents was applied under the specific optimized conditions. In case of raw biomass, ethanol was the suitable solvent, whereas on dried samples water performed better. The total carotenoid, β-carotene, chlorophyll and protein content in the raw materials, extracts and extraction residues was determined using UV-Vis spectrometry. The microalgae biomass and the extracts were evaluated regarding their antiradical activity using the DPPH method.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, pigments, proteins, ultrasound assisted extraction

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Authors: O. R. Raimi, A. Lateef

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Inoculum developments of A. niger were used for inoculation of medium for submerged fermentation and solid state fermentation. The filtrate obtained were used as sources of the extra-cellular enzymes. The FTase activities and the course of pH in submerged fermentation ranged from 7.53-24.42µ/ml and 4.4-4.8 respectively. The maximum FTase activity was obtained at 48 hours fermentation. In solid state fermentation, FTase activities ranged from 2.41-27.77µ/ml. Using ripe plantain peel and kola nut pod respectively. Both substrates supported the growth of the fungus, producing profuse growth during fermentation. In the control experiment (using kolanut pod) that lack supplementation, appreciable FTase activity of 16.92µ/ml was obtained. The optimum temperature range was 600C. it was also active at broad pH range of 1-9 with optimum obtain at pH of 5.0. FTase was stable within the range of investigated pH showing more than 60% activities. FTase can be used in the production of fructooligosaccharide, a functional food.

Keywords: Aspergillus niger, solid state fermentation, kola nut pods, Fructosyltransferase (FTase)

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Authors: Trevor R. Higgins

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The aim of this study was to compare muscle activation of the latissimus dorsi between pin-loaded machine (Lat Pull Down), resistance band (Lat Pull Down) and body-weight (Chin Up) exercises. A convenient sample of male college students with >2 years resistance training experience volunteered for the study. A paired t-test with repeated measures designs was carried out on results from EMG analysis. EMG analysis was conducted with Trigno wireless sensors (Delsys) placed laterally on the latissimus dorsi (left and right) of each participant. By conventional criteria the two-tailed P value suggested that differences between pin-loaded and body-weight was not significantly different (p = 0.93) and differences between pin-loaded and resistance band was not significantly different (p = 0.17) in muscle activity. In relation to conventional criteria the two-tailed P value suggested differences between body-weight and resistance band was not quite significantly different (p = 0.06) in muscle activity. However, effect size trends indicated that both body-weight and pin-loaded exercises where more effective in stimulating muscle electrical activity than a resistance band with male college athletes with >2 years resistance training experience. Although, resistance bands have increased in popularity in health and fitness centres, that for well-trained participants, they may not be effective in stimulating muscles of the latissimus dorsi. Therefore, when considering equipment and exercise selection for experienced resistance training participants pin-loaded machines and body-weight should be prescribed.

Keywords: pin-loaded, resistance bands, body weight, EMG analysis

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Authors: Ali Zefeiti

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There has always been a debate on critical versus pragmatic approach to learning English. Different elements of teaching take different shapes in the two approaches. This study concerns itself with the students who are the main pillar of the teaching/learning operation. Students have always been placed into classrooms to learn what the curricula of different courses offer. There is little room for students to state their own learning needs as they often have to conform with the group requirement. This study focuses on an extra-curricular activity students did alongside their mainstream learning. The students come from different colleges and different EAP courses. They are united by their passion for the task and learning many things along the way. The data are collected through interviews and students' journals. The study was concerned with the effect of this extra-curricular activity on students' main learning trajectory. The students were engaged in the task of film production over the period of their English Language course. The findings show that students are able to set their own agenda for learning and have actually had a lot of skills and vocabulary to take to class.

Keywords: critical EAP, pragmatic EAP, self-directed learning, teaching methods

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Authors: Howaida I. Abd-Alla, Omnia Kutkat, Yassmin Moatasim, Magda T. Ibrahim, Marwa A. Mostafa, Mohamed GabAllah, Mounir M. El-Safty

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Artemisia judaica (known shih-balady), Azadirachta indica and Sophora tomentosa (known yellow necklace pod) are members of available medicinal plants well-known for their traditional medical use in Egypt which suggests that they probably harbor broad-spectrum antiviral, immunostimulatory and anti-inflammatory functions. Their ethyl acetate-dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) extracts were evaluated for the potential anti-Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (anti-MERS-CoV) activity. Their cytotoxic activity was tested in Vero-E6 cells using 3-(4,-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method with minor modification. The plot of percentage cytotoxicity for each extract concentration has calculated the concentration which exhibited 50% cytotoxic concentration (TC50). A plaque reduction assay was employed using safe dose of extract to evaluate its effect on virus propagation. The highest inhibition percentage was recorded for the yellow necklace pod, followed by Shih-balady. The possible mode of action of virus inhibition was studied at three different levels viral replication, viral adsorption and virucidal activity. The necklace pod leaves have induced virucidal effects and direct effects on the replication of virus. Phytochemical investigation of the promising necklace pod led to the isolation and structure determination of nine compounds. The structure of each compound was determined by a variety of spectroscopic methods. Compounds 4-O-methyl sorbitol 1, 8-methoxy daidzin 6 and 6-methoxy apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 8 were isolated for the first time from the Sophora genus and the other six compounds were the first time that they were isolated from this species according to available works of literature. Generally, the highest anti-CoV 2 activity of S. tomentosa was associated with the crude ethanolic extract, indicating the possibility of synergy among the antiviral phytochemical constituents (1-9).

Keywords: coronavirus, MERS-CoV, mode of action, necklace pod, shih-balady

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Authors: Anupalli Roja Rani, Saraswathi Jaggali

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Rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér.) is an erect, much-branched shrub. It is indigenous to various parts of southern Africa, and it is often called Geranium. Pelargonium species are widely used by traditional healers in the areas of Southern Africa by Sotho, Xhosa, Khoi-San and Zulus for its curative and palliative effects in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, fever, respiratory tract infections, liver complaints, wounds, gastroenteritis, haemorrhage, kidney and bladder disorders. We have used Plant materials for extracting active compounds from analytical grades of solvents methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and water by a soxhlet apparatus. The phytochemical screening reveals that extracts of Pelargonium graveolens contains alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, tannins, saponins and phenols in ethyl acetate solvent. The antioxidant activity was determined using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) bleaching method and the total phenolic content in the extracts was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu method. Due to the presence of different phytochemical compounds in Pelargonium the anti-microbial activity against different micro-organisms like E.coli, Streptococcus, Klebsiella and Bacillus. Fractionation of plant extract was performed by column chromatography and was confirmed with HPLC analysis, NMR and FTIR spectroscopy for the compound identification in different organic solvent extracts.

Keywords: Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér, DPPH, micro-organisms, HPLC analysis, NMR, FTIR spectroscopy

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Authors: Bourfaa Fouzia, Meryem Lamri Zeggar, Adjimi Amel, Mohammed Salah Aida, Nadir Attaf

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Semiconductor photocatalysts such as ZnO has attracted much attention in recent years due to their various applications for the degradation of organic pollutants in water, air and in dye sensitized photovoltaic solar cell. In the present work, ZnO thin films were prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis by using different precursors namely: Acetate, chloride and zinc nitrate in order to investigate their influence on ZnO photocatalytic activity. The films crystalline structure was studied by mean of X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD) and the films surface morphology by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The films optical properties were studied by mean of UV–visible spectroscopy. The prepared films were tested for the degradation of the red reactive dye largely used in textile industry. As a result, we found that the zinc nitrate is the best precursor to prepare ZnO thin films suitable for a good photocatalytic activity.

Keywords: precursor, thins films, spray pyrolysis, zinc oxide

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Authors: Dora Martins, Susana Silva, Cândida Silva

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Human Resources Management (HRM) has been recognized by academics and practitioners as an important element in organizations. Therefore, this paper explores the best practices of HRM and seeks to understand the level of participation in the development of these practices by human resources managers in the hospitality industry and compare it with other industries. Thus, the study compared the HRM practices of companies in the hospitality sector with HRM practices of companies in other sectors, and identifies the main differences between their HRM practices. The results show that the most frequent HRM practices in all companies, independently of its sector of activity, are hiring and training. When comparing hospitality sector with other sectors of activity, some differences were noticed, namely in the adoption of the practices of communication and information sharing, and of recruitment and selection. According to these results, the paper discusses the major theoretical and practical implications. Suggestions for future research are also presented.

Keywords: exploratory study, human resources management practices, human resources manager, hospitality companies, Portuguese companies

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Authors: D. S. Denchuk, O. M. Zamyatina, M. G. Minin, M. A. Soloviev, K. V. Bogrova

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The article considers invention activity in Russia and worldwide, its modern state, and the impact of innovative engineering activity on the national economy of the considered countries. It also analyses the historical premises of modern engineer-ing invention. The authors explore the development of engineering invention at an engineer-ing university, the creation of particular environment for scientific and technical creativity of students on the example of Elite engineering education program at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia. It is revealed that for the successful de-velopment of engineering invention in a higher education institution it is neces-sary to apply a learning model that develops the creative potential of a student, which is, in its turn, inseparably connected with the ability to generate new ideas in engineering. Such academic environment can become a basis for revealing stu-dents' creativity.

Keywords: engineering invention, scientific and technical creativity, students, project-based approach

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Authors: Yousef M. Abouzeed A. Elfahem, F. Zgheel, M. A. Saad, Mohamed O. Ahmed

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The bioactive properties of phytochemicals indicate their potential as natural drug products to prevent and treat human disease; in particular, compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities may represent a novel class of safe and effective drugs. Following desiccation, grapes (Vitis vinifera) become more resistant to microbial-based degradation, suggesting that raisins may be a source of antimicrobial compounds. To investigate this hypothesis, total phenolic extracts were obtained from common raisins, local market-sourced. The acetone extract was tested for antibacterial activity against four prevalent bacterial pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli). Antibiotic sensitivity and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) were determined for each bacterium. High performance liquid chromatography was used to identify compounds in the total phenolic extract. The raisin phenolic extract inhibited growth of all the tested bacteria; the greatest inhibitive effect (normalized to cefotaxime sodium control antibiotic) occurred against P. aeruginosa, followed by S. aureus > Salmonella spp.= E. coli. The phenolic extracts contained the bioactive compounds catechin, quercetin, and rutin. Thus, phytochemicals in raisin extract have antibacterial properties; this plant-based extract, or its bioactive constituents, may represent a promising natural preservative or antimicrobial agent for the food industry or anti-infective drug.

Keywords: Vitis vinifera raisin, extraction, phenolic compounds, antibacterial activity

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Authors: Faisal A. Aburub

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Organizations today need to invest in software in order to run their businesses, and to the organizations’ objectives, the software should be in line with the business process. This research presents an approach for linking process models and system models. Particularly, the new approach aims to synthesize sequence diagram based on role activity diagram (RAD) model. The approach includes four steps namely: Create business process model using RAD, identify computerized activities, identify entities in sequence diagram and identify messages in sequence diagram. The new approach has been validated using the process of student registration in University of Petra as a case study. Further research is required to validate the new approach using different domains.

Keywords: business process modelling, system models, role activity diagrams, sequence diagrams

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Authors: Suzana Ramli, Wardah Tahir

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Estimation of surface runoff depth is a vital part in any rainfall-runoff modeling. It leads to stream flow calculation and later predicts flood occurrences. GIS (Geographic Information System) is an advanced and opposite tool used in simulating hydrological model due to its realistic application on topography. The paper discusses on calculation of surface runoff depth for two selected events by using GIS with Curve Number method for Upper Klang River basin. GIS enables maps intersection between soil type and land use that later produces curve number map. The results show good correlation between simulated and observed values with more than 0.7 of R2. Acceptable performance of statistical measurements namely mean error, absolute mean error, RMSE, and bias are also deduced in the paper.

Keywords: surface runoff, geographic information system, curve number method, environment

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Authors: R. Sarada Jayalakshmi Devi B. Bhaskar, S. Khayum Ahammed, T. N. V. K. V. Prasad

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Use of bioagents and biofungicides is safe to manage the plant diseases and to avoid human health hazards which improves food security. Myconanotechnology is the study of nanoparticles synthesis using fungi and their applications. The present work reports on preparation, characterization and antifungal activity of biogenic silver nanoparticles produced by the fungus Trichoderma sp. which was collected from groundnut rhizosphere. The culture filtrate of Trichoderma sp. was used for the reduction of silver ions (Ag+) in AgNO3 solution to the silver (Ag0) nanoparticles. The different ages (4 days, 6 days, 8 days, 12 days, and 15 days) of culture filtrates were screened for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized using UV-Vis spectrophotometer, particle size and zeta potential analyzer, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Among all the treatments the silver nitrate solution treated with six days aged culture filtrate of Trichoderma sp. showed the UV absorption peak at 440 nm with maximum intensity (0.59) after 24 hrs incubation. The TEM micrographs showed the spherical shaped silver nanoparticles with an average size of 30 nm. The antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles against Aspergillus niger causing collar rot disease in groundnut and aspergillosis in humans showed the highest per cent inhibition at 100 ppm concentration (74.8%). The results points to the usage of these mycogenic AgNPs in agriculture to control plant diseases.

Keywords: groundnut rhizosphere, Trichoderma sp., silver nanoparticles synthesis, antifungal activity

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Authors: Carolina Nunes, Sónia Ribeiro, Hélio Faustinho, Hélia Sales, Rita Pontes, João Nunes

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Pine resin activity in Portugal was one of the most important and major non-wood forestry, representing a strategic natural resource for Portuguese Bioeconomy and an important social activity for rural regions. Pine forests representing a stock of atmospheric carbon, contributing to greenhouse effect mitigation and social and environmental important services returns. They are important sources of numerous useful products, including not only wood and cellulose but also nonwood products used by the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries, as well as for biorefineries. Portuguese pine forest area decreases from 1 million hectares to 400 mil hectares in the last 20 years. Portugal, in 80´s decade, was one of the world´s TOP 3 producers, with a middle annual production of 140 mil tones.year-1. With the pressure of the social desertification, forest fires, phytosanitary problems (e.g. nematode of the pine wood) and the decrease of economic value and competitivity of the Portuguese forest, the actual middle annual production is less than 10 mil tones.year-1 (lesser 92%). This significant decrease representing an annual economic loss of approximately 130-140 million Euros. year⁻¹ for forest primary sector in Portugal. The Biopinus project design new forestry approach and strategic biotechnologies knowledge to increase the economic value of Pine resin in Portugal, with an impact on the growth of the economic value of Pine resin from 1,1 to 1,5 Euros/kg.

Keywords: pine resin, bioeconomy, economic value, biotecnology

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Authors: Udeh Nneka Evelyn

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The shortcoming of traditional costing system in terms of validity, accuracy, consistency, and Relevance increased the need for modern management accounting system. Activity –Based Costing (ABC) can be used as a modern tool for planning, Control and decision making for management. Past studies on ABC system have focused on manufacturing firms thereby making the studies on service firms scanty to some extent. This paper reviewed the application and relevance of activity-based costing technique in service oriented business organizations by employing a qualitative research method which relied heavily on literature review of past and current relevant articles focusing on ABC. Findings suggest that ABC is not only appropriate for use in a manufacturing environment; it is also most appropriate for service organizations such as financial institutions, the healthcare industry and government organization. In fact, some banking and financial institutions have been applying the concept for years under other names. One of them is unit costing, which is used to calculate the cost of banking services by determining the cost and consumption of each unit of output of functions required to deliver the service. ABC in very basic terms may provide very good payback for businesses. Some of the benefits that relate directly to the financial services industry are: identification the most profitable customers: more accurate product and service pricing: increase product profitability: Well organized process costs.

Keywords: business, costing, organizations, planning, techniques

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Authors: Menuka Maharjan

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In the name of food security, agriculture intensification through conventional farming is being implemented in Nepal. Government focus on increasing agriculture production completely ignores soil as well human health. This leads to create serious soil degradation, i.e., reduction of soil fertility and microbial activity and health hazard in the country. On this note, organic farming is sustainable agriculture approach which can address challenge of sustaining food security while protecting the environment. This creates a win-win situation both for people and the environment. However, people have limited knowledge on significance of organic farming for environment conservation and food security especially developing countries like Nepal. Thus, the objective of the study was to assess the impacts of organic farming on soil fertility and microbial activity compared to conventional farming and forest in Chitwan, Nepal. Total soil organic carbon (C) was highest in organic farming (24 mg C g⁻¹ soil) followed by conventional farming (15 mg C g⁻¹ soil) and forest (9 mg C g⁻¹ soil) in the topsoil layer (0-10 cm depth). A similar trend was found for total nitrogen (N) content in all three land uses with organic farming soil possessing the highest total N content in both 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm depth. Microbial biomass C and N were also highest under organic farming, especially in the topsoil layer (350 and 46 mg g⁻¹ soil, respectively). Similarly, microbial biomass phosphorus (P) was higher (3.6 and 1.0 mg P kg⁻¹ at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depth, respectively) in organic farming compared to conventional farming and forest at both depths. However, conventional farming and forest soils had similar microbial biomass (C, N, and P) content. After conversion of forest, the P stock significantly increased by 373% and 170% in soil under organic farming at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depth, respectively. In conventional farming, the P stock increased by 64% and 36% at 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm depth, respectively, compared to forest. Overall, organic farming practices, i.e., crop rotation, residue input and farmyard manure application, significantly alters soil fertility and microbial activity. Organic farming system is emerging as a sustainable land use system which can address the issues of food security and environment conservation by increasing sustainable agriculture production and carbon sequestration, respectively, supporting to achieve goals of sustainable development.

Keywords: organic farming, soil fertility, micobial biomas, food security

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Authors: Lintle Mohase, Ninikoe Lebusa, Mpho Stephen Mafa

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Wheat is an economically important cereal crop. However, the changing climatic conditions that intensify drought in production areas, and additional pest infestation, such as the Russian wheat aphid (RWA, Diuraphis noxia), severely hamper its production. Drought and pest management require an additional water supply through irrigation and applying inorganic nutrients (including silicon) as alternative strategies to mitigate the stress effects. Therefore, other approaches are needed to enhance wheat productivity during drought stress and aphid abundance. Two wheat cultivars were raised under greenhouse conditions, exposed to drought stress, and treated with silicon before infestation with the South African RWA biotype 2 (RWASA2). The morphological evaluations showed that severe drought or a combination of drought and infestation significantly reduced the plant height of wheat cultivars. Silicon treatment did not alleviate the growth reduction. The biochemical responses were measured using spectrophotometric assays with specific substrates. An evaluation of the enzyme activities associated with oxidative stress and defence responses indicated that drought stress increased NADPH oxidase activity, while silicon treatment significantly reduced it in drought-stressed and infested plants. At 48 and 72 hours sampling periods, a combination of silicon, drought and infestation treatment significantly increased peroxidase activity compared to drought and infestation treatment. The treatment also increased β-1,3-glucanase activity 72 hours after infestation. In addition, silicon and drought treatment increased glucose but reduced sucrose accumulation. Furthermore, silicon, drought, and infestation treatment combinations reduced the sucrose content. Finally, silicon significantly increased the trehalose content under severe drought and infestation, evident at 48 and 72-hour sampling periods. Our findings shed light on silicon’s ability to induce protective biochemical responses during drought and aphid infestation.

Keywords: drought, enzyme activity, silicon, soluble sugars, Russian wheat aphid, wheat

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Authors: Karen K. Perez-Ramirez, Genevieve Dupont, Virginia Gonzalez-Velez

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Pancreatic alpha-cells participate on glucose regulation together with beta cells. They release glucagon hormone when glucose level is low to stimulate gluconeogenesis from the liver. As other excitable cells, alpha cells generate Ca2+ and metabolic oscillations when they are stimulated. It is known that the glucose level can trigger or silence this activity although it is not clear how this occurs in normal and diabetic people. In this work, we propose an electric-metabolic mathematical model implemented in Matlab to study the effect of different glucose levels on the electrical response and Ca2+ oscillations of an alpha cell. Our results show that Ca2+ oscillations appear in opposite phase with metabolic oscillations in a window of glucose values. The model also predicts a direct relationship between the level of glucose and the intracellular adenine nucleotides showing a self-regulating pathway for the alpha cell.

Keywords: Ca2+ oscillations, mathematical model, metabolic oscillations, pancreatic alpha cell

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Authors: Olakunle Felix Adekunle

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Innovation has become the key to firm success, and entrepreneurial leadership displayed by the top management team fundamentally drives innovation in firms. This paper discusses findings from an empirical study of factors influencing the success of firms operating in developing economies in an industry where science drives the pace of change. We find that success of firms in such industries depends on thriving innovation activity that in turn is primarily driven by effective entrepreneurial leadership of the top management team. The paper presents the dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership and its linkage to innovation and firm success in the form of testable propositions. Finally, a preliminary theory of firm success in industries where science drives the pace of change is also inducted from this empirical study and presented.

Keywords: leadership, innovation, firms, economic, efficiency, industry, resources

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Authors: Soroush Mokallaei

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Since ancient times, urbanization engineers have always thought of creating green spaces along with urbanization. Athens and Rome have attempted to construct public gardens around streets and palaces. Since then developing green space has become a part of urban civilization. In medieval ages, all Western cities had palaces and houses with internal gardens. In different sources green belt is defined as a green band of trees and bushes around the cities which has multiple functions. It is said that green belts are not only around the mountains, cities, and rivers but also around houses, subways, and highways. Constructing green belt around cities has different advantages such as: protecting cities against pollution, purifying air, screening dust, being a place for recreation, buffer zone of city internal lands, confronting the phenomenon of heat island, increasing agricultural products, helping to prevent illegal city development, confronting deforestation, preventing flood and increasing subterranean water resources.

Keywords: environment, garden cities, green belt, metropolises

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Authors: Nurjannatul Naim Kamaruddin, Tengku Sifziuzl Tengku Muhammad, Aina Farahiyah Abdul Manan, Habsah Mohamad

Abstract:

Atherosclerosis which leads to cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, unstable angina (ischemic heart pain), sudden cardiac death and stroke is the principal cause of death worldwide. It has been a very critical issue as current common drug treatment, statin therapy has left bad side effects like rhabdomyolysis, atrial fibrillation, liver disease, abdominal and chest pain. Interestingly, the discoveries of proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 have paved a new way in the treatment of atherosclerosis. This serine protease is believed to involve in the regulation of LDL- uptake by LDL-receptor. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential of Acanthaster plancii fractions to reduce the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. In this study, the marine organism which is Acanthaster plancii has been used as the source for marine compounds in inhibiting PCSK9. The cytotoxicity activity of ten fractions from the methanol extracts of Acanthaster plancii was investigated on HepG2 cell lines using MTS assay and dual glo luciferase assay was carried out later to analyses the effects of the samples in reducing the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. Both assays used fractions with five different concentrations, 3.13µg/mL, 6.25µg/mL, 12.5µg/mL, 25µg/mL, and 50µg/mL. MTS assay indicated that the fractions are non-cytotoxic towards HepG2 cell lines as their IC50 value is greater than 30µg/mL. Whilst, for the dual glo luciferase assay, among all the fractions, Enhance Fraction 2 (EF2) showed the best potential in reducing the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. The results indicated that this EF2 gave the lowest PCSK9 promoter expression at low concentration which is 0.2 fold change at 6.25µg/mL. This finding suggested that further analysis should be done to validate the potential of Acanthaster plancii as the source of anti-atherosclerotic agent.

Keywords: Acanthaster plancii, atherosclerosis, luciferase assay, PCSK9

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Authors: Dian Zhang, Brendan Heery, Maria O’Neill, Ciprian Briciu-Burghina, Noel E. O’Connor, Fiona Regan

Abstract:

Recent developments in sensors, wireless data communication and the cloud computing have brought the sensor web to a whole new generation. The introduction of the concept of ‘Internet of Thing (IoT)’ has brought the sensor research into a new level, which involves the developing of long lasting, low cost, environment friendly and smart sensors; new wireless data communication technologies; big data analytics algorithms and cloud based solutions that are tailored to large scale smart sensor network. The next generation of smart sensor network consists of several layers: physical layer, where all the smart sensors resident and data pre-processes occur, either on the sensor itself or field gateway; data transmission layer, where data and instructions exchanges happen; the data process layer, where meaningful information is extracted and organized from the pre-process data stream. There are many definitions of smart sensor, however, to summarize all these definitions, a smart sensor must be Intelligent and Adaptable. In future large scale sensor network, collected data are far too large for traditional applications to send, store or process. The sensor unit must be intelligent that pre-processes collected data locally on board (this process may occur on field gateway depends on the sensor network structure). In this case study, three smart sensing methods, corresponding to simple thresholding, statistical model and machine learning based MoPBAS method, are introduced and their strength and weakness are discussed as an introduction to the smart sensing concept. Data fusion, the integration of data and knowledge from multiple sources, are key components of the next generation smart sensor network. For example, in the water level monitoring system, weather forecast can be extracted from external sources and if a heavy rainfall is expected, the server can send instructions to the sensor notes to, for instance, increase the sampling rate or switch on the sleeping mode vice versa. In this paper, we describe the deployment of 11 affordable water level sensors in the Dublin catchment. The objective of this paper is to use the deployed river level sensor network at the Dodder catchment in Dublin, Ireland as a case study to give a vision of the next generation of a smart sensor network for flood monitoring to assist agencies in making decisions about deploying resources in the case of a severe flood event. Some of the deployed sensors are located alongside traditional water level sensors for validation purposes. Using the 11 deployed river level sensors in a network as a case study, a vision of the next generation of smart sensor network is proposed. Each key component of the smart sensor network is discussed, which hopefully inspires the researchers who are working in the sensor research domain.

Keywords: smart sensing, internet of things, water level sensor, flooding

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Authors: Thilivhali Emmanuel Tshikalange, Darky Cheron Modishane, Frederick Tawi Tabit

Abstract:

The fruit pulp extracts of twelve selected ethnobotanical wild edible fruits from Mutale local municipality in Venda (Limpopo Province, South Africa) were investigated for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities. Methanol extracts were prepared and tested against six micro-organisms (Salmonella typhi, Streptococcus pyogenes, Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Prevotella intermedia and Candida albicans). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined using the micro-dilution method, while for antioxidant activity the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl method was used. Of the 12 extracts tested, Adonsonia digitata, Berchemia discolor, Manilkara mochisia, Xanthocercis zambesiaca, Landolphia kirkii and Garcinia livingstonei showed antimicrobial activity, with MIC values ranging from 12.5 to 0.4 mg/ml. Gram negative bacteria were more resistant to the extracts in comparison to Gram positive bacteria. Antioxidant activity was only detected in Adonsonia digitata extract and the IC50 (substrate concentration to produce 50% reduction) was found to be 16.18µg/ml. The cytotoxicity of the extracts that showed antimicrobial and antioxidant activities was also determined. All plant extracts tested were non-toxic against human kidney cells (HEK293), with IC50 values of >400 µg/ml. The results presented in this study provide support to some traditional uses of wild edible fruits.

Keywords: antimicrobial, antioxidant, cytotoxicity, ethnobotanical, fruits

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Elham Sharifineyestani, Mohammad Farshchin

Abstract:

Tropical cyclones are one of the most expensive and deadliest natural disasters. They cause heavy rainfall and serious flash flooding that result in billions of dollars of damage and considerable mortality each year in the United States. Prediction of the frequency of tropical cyclone-induced rainfall events can be helpful in emergency planning and flood risk management. In this study, we have developed a machine-learning model to predict the exceedance frequencies of tropical cyclone-induced rainfall events in the United States. Model results show a satisfactory agreement with available observations. To examine the effectiveness of our approach, we also have compared the result of our predictions with the exceedance frequencies predicted using a physics-based rainfall model by Feldmann.

Keywords: flash flooding, tropical cyclones, frequencies, machine learning, risk management

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Authors: R. A. Akande, M. L. Mnisi

Abstract:

Introduction: Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis miller) flowers are carried in a large candelabra-like flower-head. Aloe barbadensis miller has been known as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of many diseases and sicknesses mainly for skin conditions such as sunburns, cold sores and frostbite. It is also used as a fresh food preservative. The main objective of this study is to determine the antioxidant activity of Aloe barbadensis miller. Methodology: The plant material (3g) was separately extracted with 30 mL of solvent with varying polarities (methanol and ethyl acetate)(technical grade, Merck) in 50ml polyester centrifuge tubes. The tubes was be shaken for 30 minutes on a linear shaker and left over night. The supernatant was filtered using a Whitman No. 1 filter paper before being transferred into pre-weighed glass containers. The solvent was allowed to evaporate under a fan in a room to quantify extraction efficacy. The, tin layer chromatography(TLC) plates were prepared and Pasteur pipette was used for spotting each extractant (methanol and ethyl acetate) on the TLC plates and the plate was developed in saturated TLC tank .and dipped in vanillin sulphuric acid mixture and heated at 110 to detect separate compound .and dipped in DDPH in methanol to detect antioxidant. Expected contribution to knowledge: It was observed that different compounds which interact differently with different solvent such as methanol, ethyl acetate having difference polarities were observed. The yellow spots also observed from the plate dipped in DDPH indicate that Aloe barbadensis miller has antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, Aloe barbadensis miller, tin layer chromatography, DDPH

Procedia PDF Downloads 434