Search results for: leaf N content

Authors: Z. Abdollahnejad, M. Kheradmand, F. Pacheco-Torgal

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The use of bio-based admixtures on construction materials is a recent trend that is gaining momentum. However, to our knowledge, no studies have been reported concerning the use of biopolymers on hybrid cement based mortars. This paper reports experimental results regarding the study of the influence of mix design of 43 hybrid cement mortars containing two different biopolymers on its mechanical performance. The results show that the use of the biopolymer carrageenan is much more effective than the biopolymer xanthan concerning the increase in compressive strength. An optimum biopolymer content was found.

Keywords: waste reuse, fly ash, waste glass, hybrid cement, biopolymers, mechanical strength

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Authors: Noura El-Ahmady El-Naggar

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L-asparaginase is an important enzyme as therapeutic agents used in combination therapy with other drugs in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. L-asparaginase producing actinomycete strain, NEAE-K, was isolated from soil sample and identified on the basis of morphological, cultural, physiological and biochemical properties, together with 16S rDNA sequence as new subsp. Streptomyces rochei subsp. chromatogenes NEAE-K and sequencing product (1532 bp) was deposited in the GenBank database under accession number KJ200343. The study was conducted to screen parameters affecting the production of L-asparaginase by Streptomyces rochei subsp. chromatogenes NEAE-K on solid state fermentation using Plackett–Burman experimental design. Sixteen different independent variables including incubation time, moisture content, inoculum size, temperature, pH, soybean meal+ wheat bran, dextrose, fructose, L-asparagine, yeast extract, KNO3, K2HPO4, MgSO4.7H2O, NaCl, FeSO4. 7H2O, CaCl2, and three dummy variables were screened in Plackett–Burman experimental design of 20 trials. The most significant independent variables affecting enzyme production (dextrose, L-asparagine and K2HPO4) were further optimized by the central composite design. As a result, a medium of the following formula is the optimum for producing an extracellular L-asparaginase by Streptomyces rochei subsp. chromatogenes NEAE-K from solid state fermentation: g/L (soybean meal+ wheat bran 15, dextrose 3, fructose 4, L-asparagine 8, yeast extract 2, KNO3 1, K2HPO4 2, MgSO4.7H2O 0.5, NaCl 0.1, FeSO4. 7H2O 0.02, CaCl2 0.01), incubation time 7 days, moisture content 50%, inoculum size 3 mL, temperature 30°C, pH 8.5.

Keywords: streptomyces rochei subsp. chromatogenes neae-k, 16s rrna, identification, solid state fermentation, l-asparaginase production, plackett-burman design, central composite design

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Authors: Jane O`Halloran

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Japanese university students have traditionally shown antipathy towards English due to a generally unsatisfactory language-learning experience at the secondary level with a focus on grammar and translation rather than communication. The situation has become urgent, however, due to the rapid decline in the Japanese population, which will present both difficulties and opportunities as employees will increasingly be forced to use English in the workplace. For university lecturers, the challenge is to overcome the students` apathy and convince them of the need for English in the increasingly diverse workplaces they will be entering. This article will illustrate how English teachers and content teachers at a private science university came together to address this quandary.

Keywords: student motivation, CLIL, globalization, demographics

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Authors: Medani Prasad Rijal

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Forest itself is a factory as well as product. It supplies tangible and intangible goods and services. It supplies timber, fuel wood, fodder, grass leaf litter as well as non timber edible goods and medicinal and aromatic products additionally provides environmental services. These environmental services are of local, national or even global importance. In Nepal, more than 19 thousands community forests are providing environmental service in less economic benefit than actual efficiency. There is a risk of cost of management of those forest exceeds benefits and forests get converted to open access resources in future. Most of the environmental goods and services do not have markets which mean no prices at which they are available to the consumers, therefore the valuation of these services goods and services establishment of paying mechanism for such services and insure the benefit to community is more relevant in local as well as global scale. There are few examples of carbon trading in domestic level to meet the country wide emission goal. In this contest, the study aims to explore the public attitude towards carbon offsetting and their responsibility over service providers. This study helps in promotion of environment service awareness among general people, service provider and community forest. The research helps to unveil the carbon pool scenario in community forest and willingness to pay for carbon offsetting of people who are consuming more energy than general people and emitting relatively more carbon in atmosphere. The study has assessed the carbon pool status in two community forest and valuated carbon service from community forest through willingness to pay in Dharan municipality situated in eastern. In the study, in two community forests carbon pools were assessed following the guideline “Forest Carbon Inventory Guideline 2010” prescribed by Ministry of Forest and soil Conservation, Nepal. Final outcomes of analysis in intensively managed area of Hokse CF recorded as 103.58 tons C /ha with 6173.30 tons carbon stock. Similarly in Hariyali CF carbon density was recorded 251.72 mg C /ha. The total carbon stock of intensively managed blocks in Hariyali CF is 35839.62 tons carbon.

Keywords: carbon, offsetting, sequestration, valuation, willingness to pay

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Authors: Gülbuğ Erol, Caner Çakı

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In Europe, it is seen that the immigrant population has increased in recent years. The rapid increase in the immigrant population has led to that some extreme right-wing parties increased their harsh discourse against the immigrants in Europe. In particular, it is seen that some right-wing parties in some European countries have demanded that the immigrant population could be controlled in the countries they are in, and even those immigrants should be removed from their countries. In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In this study, it was tried to investigate how and why the extreme right-wing parties in Europe have used social media in their propaganda activities towards immigrant populations in Europe. For this purpose, the political parties of the three German-speaking countries in Europe were elected; Die Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) from Germany, Die Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) from Austria, Die Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) from Switzerland. As social media platform, only their Facebook accounts were analyzed in this study. Accounts The political parties selected were examined with content analysis, and that social media was effectively used by extreme right-wing parties for propaganda purposes towards immigrants in Europe revealed.In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In Europe, it is seen that the immigrant population has increased in recent years. The rapid increase in the immigrant population has led to that some extreme right-wing parties increased their harsh discourse against the immigrants in Europe. In particular, it is seen that some right-wing parties in some European countries have demanded that the immigrant population should be controlled in the countries they are in, and even those immigrants should be removed from their countries. In this process, it is seen that these parties have effectively used social media platforms in the propaganda activities carried out for immigrants in recent years. In particular, the social media has great advantages in that these parties can address to the entire population in the country, apart from the limited masses that political parties address. How these political parties benefit from these advantages has great importance for the political parties to demonstrate their influence in political arena. In this study, it was tried to investigate how and why the extreme right-wing parties in Europe have used social media in their propaganda activities towards immigrant populations in Europe. For this purpose, the political parties of the three German-speaking countries in Europe were elected; Die Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) from Germany, Die Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) from Austria, Die Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP) from Switzerland. As social media platform, only their Facebook accounts were analyzed in this study. Accounts The political parties selected were examined with content analysis and that social media was effectively used by extreme right-wing parties for propaganda purposes towards immigrants in Europe revealed.

Keywords: content analysis, political parties, propaganda, social media

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Authors: Ozcan Baris Citil, Mehmet Akoz

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Effects of fatty acid composition and punicic acid contents of abdominal fat of Hy-line hens were investigated by the gas chromatographic method. Total 30 different fatty acids were determined in fatty acid compositions of eggs. These fatty acids were varied between C 8 to C 22. The punicic acid content of abdominal fats analysed was found to be higher percentages in the 90th day than those of 30th and 60th day. At the end of the experiment, total punicic acid contents of abdominal fats were significantly increased.

Keywords: fatty acids, gas chromatography, punicic acid, abdominal fats

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Authors: Othman Y. Alothman

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The study aims to investigate the effects of blend ratio, VA content and temperature on the rheological properties of PPEVA blends. The results show that all pure polymers and their blends show typical shear thinning behaviour. All neat polymers exhibit power-low type flow behaviour, with the viscosity order as EVA328 > EVA206 > PP in almost all frequency ranges. As temperature increases, the viscosity of all polymers decreases as expected, and the viscosity becomes more sensitive to the addition of EVA. Two different regions can be observed on the flow curve of some of the polymers and their blends, which is thought to be due to slip-stick transition or melt fracture.

Keywords: polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate, blends, rheological properties

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Authors: W. V. W. H. Wickramaarachchi, S. Walpalage, S. M. Egodage

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Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a multifunctional polymeric material which possesses a combination of excellent properties of parent materials. Basically, TPE has a rubber phase and a thermoplastic phase which gives processability as thermoplastics. When the rubber phase is partially or fully crosslinked in the thermoplastic matrix, TPE is called as thermoplastic elastomer vulcanizate (TPV). If the rubber phase is non-crosslinked, it is called as thermoplastic elastomer olefin (TPO). Nowadays TPEs are introduced into the commercial market with different products. However, the application of TPE as a roofing material is limited. Out of the commercially available roofing products from different materials, only single ply roofing membranes and plastic roofing sheets are produced from rubbers and plastics. Natural rubber (NR) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are used in various industrial applications individually with some drawbacks. Therefore, this study was focused to develop both TPO and TPV blends from NR and HDPE at different compositions and then to identify the best blend composition to use as a roofing material. A series of blends by varying NR loading from 10 wt% to 50 wt%, at 10 wt% intervals, were prepared using a twin screw extruder. Dicumyl peroxide was used as a crosslinker for TPV. The standard properties for a roofing material like tensile properties tear strength, hardness, impact strength, water absorption, swell/gel analysis and thermal characteristics of the blends were investigated. Change of tensile strength after exposing to UV radiation was also studied. Tensile strength, hardness, tear strength, melting temperature and gel content of TPVs show higher values compared to TPOs at every loading studied, while water absorption and swelling index show lower values, suggesting TPVs are more suitable than TPOs for roofing applications. Most of the optimum properties were shown at 10/90 (NR/HDPE) composition. However, high impact strength and gel content were shown at 20/80 (NR/HDPE) composition. Impact strength, as being an energy absorbing property, is the most important for a roofing material in order to resist impact loads. Therefore, 20/80 (NR/HDPE) is identified as the best blend composition. UV resistance and other properties required for a roofing material could be achieved by incorporating suitable additives to TPVs.

Keywords: thermoplastic elastomer, natural rubber, high density polyethylene, roofing material

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Authors: Lara Dutil-Fafard, Caroline Rhéaume, Patrick Archambault, Daniel Lafond, Neal W. Pollock

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Improving resources for medical autonomy of astronauts in prolonged space missions, such as a Mars mission, requires not only technology development, but also decision-making support systems. The Advanced Crew Medical System - Medical Condition Requirements study, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, aimed to create knowledge content and a scenario-based query capability to support medical autonomy of astronauts. The key objective of this study was to create a prototype tool for identifying medical infrastructure requirements in terms of medical knowledge, skills and materials. A multicriteria decision-making method was used to prioritize the highest risk medical events anticipated in a long-term space mission. Starting with those medical conditions, event sequence diagrams (ESDs) were created in the form of decision trees where the entry point is the diagnosis and the end points are the predicted outcomes (full recovery, partial recovery, or death/severe incapacitation). The ESD formalism was adapted to characterize and compare possible outcomes of medical conditions as a function of available medical knowledge, skills, and supplies in a given mission scenario. An extensive literature review was performed and summarized in a medical condition database. A PostgreSQL relational database was created to allow query-based evaluation of health outcome metrics with different medical infrastructure scenarios. Critical decision points, skill and medical supply requirements, and probable health outcomes were compared across chosen scenarios. The three medical conditions with the highest risk rank were acute coronary syndrome, sepsis, and stroke. Our efforts demonstrate the utility of this approach and provide insight into the effort required to develop appropriate content for the range of medical conditions that may arise.

Keywords: decision support system, event-sequence diagram, exploration mission, medical autonomy, scenario-based queries, space medicine

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Authors: Nefzi Ahlem, Aydi Ben Abdallah Rania, Jabnoun-Khiareddine Hayfa, Ammar Nawaim, Mejda Daami-Remadi

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Fusarium Crown and Root Rot (FCRR) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici (FORL) is a serious tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) disease in Tunisia. Its management is very difficult due to the long survival of its resting structures and to the luck of genetic resistance. In this work, we explored the wild Solanaceae species Withania somnifera, growing in the Tunisian Centre-East, as a potential source of biocontrol agents effective in FCRR suppression and tomato growth promotion. Seven fungal isolates were shown able to colonize tomato roots, crowns, and stems. Used as conidial suspensions or cell-free culture filtrates, all tested fungal treatments significantly enhanced tomato growth parameters by 21.5-90.3% over FORL-free control and by 27.6-93.5% over pathogen-inoculated control. All treatments significantly decreased the leaf and root damage index by 28.5-92.8 and the vascular browning extent 9.7-86.4% over FORL-inoculated and untreated control. The highest disease suppression ability (decrease by 86.4-92.8% in FCRR severity) over pathogen-inoculated control and by 81.3-88.8 over hymexazol-treated control) was expressed by I6 based treatments. This endophytic fungus was morphologically characterized and identified using rDNA sequencing gene as Fusarium sp. I6 (MG835371). This fungus was shown able to reduce FORL radial growth by 58.5–83.2% using its conidial suspension or cell-free culture filtrate. Fusarium sp. I6 showed chitinolytic, proteolytic and amylase activities. The current study clearly demonstrated that Fusarium sp. (I6) is a promising biocontrol candidate for suppressing FCRR severity and promoting tomato growth. Further investigations are required for elucidating its mechanism of action involved in disease suppression and plant growth promotion.

Keywords: antifungal activity, associated fungi, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici, Withania somnifera, tomato growth

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Authors: Gordana Ćetković, Vesna Tumbas Šaponjac, Jasna Čanadanović-Brunet, Sonja Đilas, Slađana Stajčić, Jelena Vulić, Mirjana Jakišić

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Despite the recommended amount of daily intake of fruits, the consumption in modern age remains very low. Therefore there is a need for delivering valuable phytochemicals into the human body through different foods by developing functional food products fortified with natural bioactive compounds from plant sources. Recently, a growing interest rises in exploiting the fruit and vegetable by-products as sources of phytochemicals such as polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins etc. Cherry contain high amounts of polyphenols, which are known to display a wide range of biological activities like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial or anti-carcinogenic activities, improvement of vision, induction of apoptosis and neuroprotective effects. Also, cherry pomace, a by-product in juice processing, can also be promising source of phenolic compounds. However, the application of polyphenols as food additives is limited because after extraction these compounds are susceptible to degradation. Microencapsulation is one of the alternative approaches to protect bioactive compounds from degradation during processing and storage. Freeze-drying is one of the most used microencapsulation methods for the protection of thermosensitive and unstable molecules. In this study sour cherry pomace was extracted with food-grade solvent (50% ethanol) to be suitable for application in products for human use. Extracted polyphenols have been concentrated and stabilized on whey (WP) and soy (SP) proteins. Encapsulation efficiency in SP was higher (94.90%), however not significantly (p<0.05) from the one in WP (90.10%). Storage properties of WP and SP encapsulate in terms of total polyphenols, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity was tested for 6 weeks. It was found that the retention of polyphenols after 6 weeks in WP and SP (67.33 and 69.30%, respectively) was similar. The content of anthocyanins has increased in WP (for 47.97%), while their content in SP has very slightly decreased (for 1.45%) after 6-week storage period. In accordance with anthocyanins the decrease in antioxidant activity in WP (87.78%) was higher than in SP (43.02%). According to the results obtained in this study, the technique reported herewith can be used for obtaining quality encapsulates for their further use as functional food additives, and, on the other hand, for fruit waste valorization.

Keywords: cherry pomace, microencapsulation, polyphenols, storage

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Authors: Patricia Calvo, Francisco M. Sánchez, María J. Rodríguez

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Nowadays, food intake is becoming more irregular due to changes in family organization and lifestyle. Snacking is part of the day-to-day lives of people, however, most of the snacks have a high saturated fat, salt and refined sugar content; these dietary factors are believed to have negative health consequences. For this reason, there has been an increase in consumer demand for healthy, natural and convenient foods, so the development of a significant portion of new products focuses on improving the nutritional value of food snacks through modification its nutritional composition. In this paper, a new product made from vegetables has been designed. This new product would be an ideal food format to include ingredients with positive health benefits.

Keywords: healthy, pepper, dried, carotenes, polyphenols

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Authors: Nalinee B. Suryawanshi, Vinay M. Bhandari, Laxmi Gayatri Sorokhaibam, Vivek V. Ranade

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Deep desulphurization of transportation fuels is a major environmental concern all over the world and recently prescribed norms for the sulphur content require below 10 ppm sulphur concentrations in fuels such as diesel and gasoline. The existing technologies largely based on catalytic processes such as hydrodesulphurization, oxidation require newer catalysts and demand high cost of deep desulphurization whereas adsorption based processes have limitations due to lower capacity of sulphur removal. The present work is an attempt to provide alternatives for the existing methodologies using a newer non-catalytic process based on hydrodynamic cavitation. The developed process requires appropriate combining of organic and aqueous phases under ambient conditions and passing through a cavitating device such as orifice, venturi or vortex diode. The implosion of vapour cavities formed in the cavitating device generates (in-situ) oxidizing species which react with the sulphur moiety resulting in the removal of sulphur from the organic phase. In this work, orifice was used as a cavitating device and deep desulphurization was demonstrated for removal of thiophene as a model sulphur compound from synthetic fuel of n-octane, toluene and n-octanol. The effect of concentration of sulphur (up to 300 ppm), nature of organic phase and effect of pressure drop (0.5 to 10 bar) was discussed. A very high removal of sulphur content of more than 90% was demonstrated. The process is easy to operate, essentially works at ambient conditions and the ratio of aqueous to organic phase can be easily adjusted to maximise sulphur removal. Experimental studies were also carried out using commercial diesel as a solvent and the results substantiate similar high sulphur removal. A comparison of the two cavitating devices- one with a linear flow and one using vortex flow for effecting pressure drop and cavitation indicates similar trends in terms of sulphur removal behaviour. The developed process is expected to provide an attractive environmental engineering alternative for deep desulphurization of transportation fuels.

Keywords: cavitation, petroleum, separation, sulphur removal

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Authors: Süleyman Hakan Yilmaz, Yasemin Gülsen Yilmaz

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The Gezi Park protests of 2013 have significantly changed the Turkish agenda and its effects have been felt historically. The protests, which rapidly spread throughout the country, were triggered by the proposal to recreate the Ottoman Army Barracks to function as a shopping mall on Gezi Park located in Istanbul’s Taksim neighbourhood despite the oppositions of several NGOs and when trees were cut in the park for this purpose. Once the news that construction vehicles entered the park on May 27 spread on social media, activists moved into the park to stop the demolition, against whom the police used disproportioned force. With this police intervention and the then prime-minister Tayyip Erdoğan's insistent statements about the construction plans, the protests turned into anti-government demonstrations, which then spread to the rest of the country, mainly in big cities like Ankara and Izmir. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ June 23rd reports, 2.5 million people joined the demonstrations in 79 provinces, that is all of them, except for the provinces of Bayburt and Bingöl, while even more people shared their opinions via social networks. As a result of these events, 8 civilians and 2 security personnel lost their lives, namely police chief Mustafa Sarı, police officer Ahmet Küçükdağ, citizens Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert, Ethem Sarısülük, Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Ahmet Atakan, Berkin Elvan, Burak Can Karamanoğlu, Mehmet İstif, and Elif Çermik, and 8163 more were injured. Besides being a turning point in Turkish history, the Gezi Park protests also had broad repercussions in both in Turkish and in global media, which focused on Turkey throughout the events. Our study conducts content analysis of three Turkish reporting newspapers with varying ideological standpoints, Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet ve Yeni Şafak, in order to reveal their basic approach to columns casting in context of the Gezi Park protests. Columns content relating to the Gezi protests were treated and analysed for this purpose. The aim of this study is to understand the social effects of the Gezi Park protests through media samples with varying political attitudes towards news casting.

Keywords: Gezi Park, media, news casting, columns

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Authors: Selvamuthukumaran Thirunavukkarasu, Arivudainambi Sundararajan

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The plant active molecules with their known mode of action are important leads to the development of newer insecticides. Lactone glycoside was identified earlier as the active principle in Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth. (Fam: Euphorbiaceae). It possessed feeding deterrent, insecticidal and insect growth regulatory actions at varying concentrations. Deducing its mode of action opens a possibility of its further development. A no-choice leaf disc bioassay was carried out with lactone glycoside at different doses for different instars and Deterrence Indices were worked out. Using regression analysis concentrations imparting 10, 30 and 50 per cent deterrence (DI10, DI30 & DI50) were worked out. At these doses, effect on nutritional indices like Relative Consumption and Growth Rates (RCR & RGR), Efficiencies of Conversion of Ingested and Digested food (ECI & ECD) and Approximate Digestibility (AD) were worked out. The Relative Consumption and Growth Rate of control and lactone glycoside larva were compared by regression analysis. Regression analysis of deterrence indices revealed that the concentrations needed for imparting 50 per cent deterrence was 60.66, 68.47 and 71.10 ppm for third, fourth and fifth instars respectively. Relative consumption rate (RCR) and relative growth rate (RGR) were reduced. This confirmed the antifeedant action of the fraction. Approximate digestibility (AD) was found greater in treatments indicating reduced faeces because of poor digestibility and retention of food in the gut. Efficiency of conversion of both ingested and digested (ECI and ECD) food was also found to be greatly reduced. This indicated presence of toxic action. This was proved by comparing growth efficiencies of control and lactone glycoside treated larvae. Lactone glycoside was found to possess both feeding deterrent and toxic modes of action. Studies on molecular targets based on this preliminary site of action lead to new insecticide development.

Keywords: Spodoptera litura Fabricius, Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) Benth, feeding deterrence, mode of action

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Authors: Marisa P. De Brito

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The internet is affecting the way the industry operates and communicates. It is also becoming a customary means for leisure, tourism, and hospitality consumers to seek and exchange information and views on hotels, destinations events and attractions, or to develop social ties with other users. On the one hand, the internet is a rich field to conduct leisure, tourism, and hospitality research; on the other hand, however, there are few researchers formally embracing online methods of research, such as netnography. Within social sciences, netnography falls under the interpretative/ethnographic research methods umbrella. It is an adaptation of anthropological techniques such as participant and non-participant observation, used to study online interactions happening on social media platforms, such as Facebook. It is, therefore, a research method applied to the study of online communities, being the term itself a contraction of the words network (as on internet), and ethnography. It was developed in the context of marketing research in the nineties, and in the last twenty years, it has spread to other contexts such as education, psychology, or urban studies. Since netnography is not universally known, it may discourage researchers and educators from using it. This work offers guidelines for researchers wanting to apply this method in the field of leisure, tourism, and hospitality or for educators wanting to teach about it. This is done by means of a double approach: a content analysis of the literature side-by-side with educational data, on the use of netnography. The content analysis is of the incidental research using netnography in leisure, tourism, and hospitality in the last twenty years. The educational data is the author and her colleagues’ experience in coaching students throughout the process of writing a paper using primary netnographic data - from identifying the phenomenon to be studied, selecting an online community, collecting and analyzing data to writing their findings. In the end, this work puts forward, on the one hand, a research agenda, and on the other hand, an educational roadmap for those wanting to apply netnography in the field or the classroom. The educator’s roadmap will summarise what can be expected from mini-netnographies conducted by students and how to set it up. The research agenda will highlight for which issues and research questions the method is most suitable; what are the most common bottlenecks and drawbacks of the method and of its application, but also where most knowledge opportunities lay.

Keywords: netnography, online research, research agenda, educator's roadmap

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Authors: E. Samain, T. Aussenac, D. van Tuinen, S. Selim

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Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria are known as potential biofertilizers and plant resistance inducers. The present work aims to study the durability of the resistance induced as a response to wheat seeds inoculation with PB2 and its influence by Z. tritici strains. The internal and external roots colonization have been determined in vitro, seven days post inoculation, by measuring the colony forming unit (CFU). In planta experimentations were done under controlled conditions included four wheat cultivars with different levels of resistance against Septoria Leaf Blotch (SLB) and four Z. tritici strains with high aggressiveness and resistance levels to fungicides. Plantlets were inoculated with PB2 at sowing and infected with Z. tritici at 3 leaves or tillering growth stages. The infection level with SLB was evaluated at 17 days post inoculation using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results showed that PB2 has a high potential of wheat root external colonization (> 10⁶ CFU/g of root). However, the internal colonization seems to be cultivar dependent. Indeed, PB2 has not been observed as endophytic for one cultivar but has a high level of internal colonization with more than 104 CFU/g of root concerning the three others. Two wheat cultivars (susceptible and moderated resistant) were used to investigate PB2-induced resistance (PB2-IR). After the first infection with Z. tritici, results showed that PB2-IR has conferred a high protection efficiency (40-90%) against SLB in the two tested cultivars. Whereas the PB2-IR was effective against all tested strains with the moderate resistant cultivar, it was higher with the susceptible cultivar (> 64%) but against three of the four tested strains. Concerning the durability of the PB2-IR, after the second infection timing, it has been observed a significant decrease (10-59%) depending strains in the moderate resistant cultivar. Contrarily, the susceptible cultivar showed a stable and high protection level (76-84%) but against three of the four tested strains and interestingly, the strain that overcame PB2-IR was not the same as that of the first infection timing. To conclude, PB2 induces a high and durable resistance against Z. tritici. The PB2-IR is pathogen strain, plant growth stage and genotype dependent. These results may explain the loss of the induced resistance effectiveness under field conditions.

Keywords: induced resistance, Paenibacillus sp. strain B2, wheat genotypes, Zymoseptoria tritici

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Authors: Mandeep Singh Azad.Dibyendu Chakraborty, Vikas Vohra

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Introduction: Poonch is one of the remotest districts of the Jammu and Kashmir (UT) and situated on international borders. This native poultry population in these areas is quite hardy and thrives well in adverse climatic conditions. Till date, no local breed from this area (Jammu Province) has been characterized thus present study was undertaken with the main objectives of molecular characterization of ChB6 gene in local native chicken of Poonch region located at international borders between India and Pakistan. The chicken B-cell marker (ChB6) gene has been proposed as a candidate gene in regulating B-cell development. Material and Method: RNA was isolated by Blood RNA Purification Kit (HiPura) and Trizol method from whole blood samples. Positive PCR products with size 1110 bp were selected for further purification, sequencing and analysis. The amplified PCR product was sequenced by Sangers dideoxy chain termination method. The obtained sequence of ChB6 gene of Poonchi chicken were compared by MEGAX software. BioEdit software was used to construct phylogenic tree, and Neighbor Joining method was used to infer evolutionary history. In order to compute evolutionary distance Maximum Composite Likelihood method was used. Results: The positively amplified samples of ChB6 genes were then subjected to Sanger sequencing with “Primer Walking. The sequences were then analyzed using MEGA X and BioEdit software. The sequence results were compared with other reported sequence from different breed of chicken and with other species obtained from the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). ClustalW method using MEGA X software was used for multiple sequence alignment. The sequence results of ChB6 gene of Poonchi chicken was compared with Centrocercus urophasianus, G. gallus mRNA for B6.1 protein, G. gallus mRNA for B6.2, G. gallus mRNA for B6.3, Gallus gallus B6.1, Halichoeres bivittatus, Miniopterus fuliginosus Ferringtonia patagonica, Tympanuchus phasianellus. The genetic distances were 0.2720, 0.0000, 0.0245, 0.0212, 0.0147, 1.6461, 2.2394, 2.0070 and 0.2363 for ChB6 gene of Poonchi chicken sequence with other sequences in the present study respectively. Sequencing results showed variations between different species. It was observed that AT content were higher then GC content for ChB6 gene. The lower AT content suggests less thermostable. It was observed that there was no sequence difference within the Poonchi population for ChB6 gene. The high homology within chicken population indicates the conservation of ChB6 gene. The maximum difference was observed with Miniopterus fuliginosus (Eastern bent-wing bat) followed by Ferringtonia patagonica and Halichoeres bivittatus. Conclusion: Genetic variation is the essential component for genetic improvement. The results of immune related gene Chb6 shows between population genetic variability. Therefore, further association studies of this gene with some prevalent diseases in large population would be helpful to identify disease resistant/ susceptible genotypes in the indigenous chicken population.

Keywords: ChB6, sequencing, ClustalW, genetic distance, poonchi chicken, SNP

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Authors: Eugenia Vomvoridi-Ivanovic

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It is broadly assumed that participation in field experiences will help pre-service teachers (PSTs) bridge theory to practice. However, this is often not the case since PSTs who are placed in classrooms with large numbers of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds (culturally diverse students (CDS)) usually observe ineffective mathematics teaching practices that are in contrast to those discussed in their teacher preparation program. Over the past decades, the educational research community has paid increasing attention to investigating out-of-school learning contexts and how participation in such contexts can contribute to the achievement of underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and their expanded participation in STEM fields. In addition, several research studies have shown that students display different kinds of mathematical behaviors and discourse practices in out-of-school contexts than they do in the typical mathematics classroom since they draw from a variety of linguistic and cultural resources to negotiate meanings and participate in joint problem solving. However, almost no attention has been given to exploring these contexts as field experiences for pre-service mathematics teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore how participation in a community based after-school field experience promotes understanding of the content pedagogy concepts introduced in elementary mathematics methods courses, particularly as they apply to teaching mathematics to CDS. This study draws upon a situated, socio-cultural theory of teacher learning that centers on the concept of learning as situated social practice, which includes discourse, social interaction, and participation structures. Consistent with exploratory case study methodology, qualitative methods were employed to investigate how a cohort of twelve participating pre-service teacher's approach to pedagogy and their conversations around teaching and learning mathematics to CDS evolved through their participation in the after-school field experience, and how they connected the content discussed in their mathematics methods course with their interactions with the CDS in the after-school. Data were collected over a period of one academic year from the following sources: (a) audio recordings of the PSTs' interactions with the students during the after-school sessions, (b) PSTs' after-school field-notes, (c) audio-recordings of weekly methods course meetings, and (d) other document data (e.g., PST and student generated artifacts, PSTs' written course assignments). The findings of this study reveal that the PSTs benefitted greatly through their participation in the after-school field experience. Specifically, after-school participation promoted a deeper understanding of the content pedagogy concepts introduced in the mathematics methods course and gained a greater appreciation for how students learn mathematics with understanding. Further, even though many of PSTs' assumptions about the mathematical abilities of CDS were challenged and PSTs began to view CDSs' cultural and linguistic backgrounds as resources (rather than obstacles) for learning, some PSTs still held negative stereotypes about CDS and teaching and learning mathematics to CDS in particular. Insights gained through this study contribute to a better understanding of how informal mathematics learning contexts may provide a valuable context for pre-service teacher's learning to teach mathematics to CDS.

Keywords: after-school mathematics program, pre-service mathematical education of teachers, qualitative methods, situated socio-cultural theory, teaching culturally diverse students

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Authors: Selam M. Tefera

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Soil constitutes a crucial component of rural and urban environments. This fact is making role of heavy and trace elements in the soil system an issue of global concern. Heavy metals constitute an ill-defined group of inorganic chemical hazards, whose main source is anthropogenic activities mainly related to fabrications. This accumulation of heavy metals soils can prove toxic to the environment. The application of biochar to soil is one way of immobilizing these contaminants through sorption by exploiting the high surface area of this material among its other essential properties. This research examined the ability of sugar cane straw, an organic waste material from sugar farm, derived biochar and ash to remediate soil contaminated with heavy metals mainly Chromium and Zinc from the effluent of electroplating industry. Biochar was produced by varying the temperature from 300 °C to 500 °C and ash at 700 °C. The highest yield (50%) was obtained at the lowest temperature (300 °C). The proximate analysis showed ash content of 42.8%, ultimate analysis with carbon content of 67.18%, the Hydrogen to Carbon ratio of 0.54 and the results from FTIR analysis disclosed the organic nature of biochar. Methylene blue absorption indicated its fine surface area and pore structure, which increases with severity of temperature. Biochar was mixed with soil with at a ration varying from 4% w/w to 10% w/w of soil, and the response variables were determined at a time interval of 150 days, 180 days, and 210 days. As for ash (10% w/w), the characterization was performed at incubation time of 210 days. The results of pH indicated that biochar (9.24) had a notable liming capacity of acidic soil (4.8) by increasing it to 6.89 whereas ash increased it to 7.5. The immobilization capacity of biochar was found to effected mostly by the highest production temperature (500 °C), which was 75.5% for chromium and 80.5% for nickel. In addition, ash was shown to possess an outstanding immobilization capacity of 95.5% and 90.5% for Chromium and Nickel, respectively. All in all, the results from these methods showed that biochar produced from this specific biomass possesses the typical functional groups that enable it to store carbon, the appropriate pH that could remediate acidic soil, a fine amount of macro and micro nutrients that would aid plant growth.

Keywords: biochar, biomass, heavy metal immobalization, soil remediation

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Authors: M. A. Yazdi, J. Yang, L. Yihui, H. Su

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The application of recycle waste tires into civil engineering practices, namely asphalt paving mixtures and cementbased materials has been gaining ground across the world. This review summarizes and compares the recent achievements in the area of plain rubberized concrete (PRC), in details. Different treatment methods have been discussed to improve the performance of rubberized Portland cement concrete. The review also includes the effects of size and amount of tire rubbers on mechanical and durability properties of PRC. The microstructure behaviour of the rubberized concrete was detailed.

Keywords: waste rubber aggregates, microstructure, treatment methods, size and content effects

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Authors: Juliane Toce, Steven Holochwost

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A substantial and growing literature has demonstrated that arts education benefits young children’s socioemotional and cognitive development. Less is known about the capacity of arts-integrated instruction to yield benefits to similar domains, particularly among demographically and socioeconomically diverse groups of young children. However, the small literature on this topic suggests that arts-integrated instruction may foster young children’s socioemotional and cognitive development by presenting opportunities to 1) engage in instructional content in diverse ways, 2) experience and regulate strong emotions, 3) experience growth-oriented feedback, and 4) engage in collaborative work with peers. Start with the Art is a new program of arts-integrated instruction currently being implemented in four schools in a school district that serves students from a diverse range of backgrounds. The program employs a co-teaching model in which teaching artists and classroom teachers engage in collaborative lesson planning and instruction over the course of the academic year and is currently the focus of an impact study featuring a randomized-control design, as well as an implementation study, both of which are funded through an Educational Innovation and Research grant from the United States Department of Education. The paper will present the early results from the Start with the Art implementation study. These results will provide an overview of the extent to which the program was implemented in accordance with design, with a particular emphasis on the degree to which the four opportunities enumerated above (e.g., opportunities to engage in instructional content in diverse ways) were presented to students. There will be a review key factors that may influence the fidelity of implementation, including classroom teachers’ reception of the program and the extent to which extant conditions in the classroom (e.g., the overall level of classroom organization) may have impacted implementation fidelity. With the explicit purpose of creating a program that values and meets the needs of the teachers and students, Start with the Art incorporates the feedback from individuals participating in the intervention. Tracing its trajectory from inception to ongoing development and examining the adaptive changes made in response to teachers' transformative experiences in the post-pandemic classroom, Start with the Art continues to solicit input from experts in integrating artistic content into core curricula within educational settings catering to students from under-represented backgrounds in the arts. Leveraging the input from this rich consortium of experts has allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the program’s implementation. The early findings derived from the implementation study emphasize the potential of arts-integrated instruction to incorporate restorative practices. Such practices serve as a crucial support system for both students and educators, providing avenues for children to express themselves, heal emotionally, and foster social development, while empowering teachers to create more empathetic, inclusive, and supportive learning environments. This all-encompassing analysis spotlights Start with the Art’s adaptability to any learning environment through the program’s effectiveness, resilience, and its capacity to transform - through art - the classroom experience within the ever-evolving landscape of education.

Keywords: arts-integration, social emotional learning, diverse learners, co-teaching, teaching artists, post-pandemic teaching

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Authors: Juan Pablo Bertuzzi, Mauro Chiarella

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Employing a communication studies perspective and a socio-technological approach, this paper introduces a theoretical framework for understanding the concept of hybrid world; the avatarization phenomena; and the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. This analysis intends to make a contribution to future design of virtual reality experimental applications. Ultimately, this paper presents an ongoing research project that proposes the study of human-avatar interactions in digital educational environments, as well as an innovative reflection on inner digital communication. The aforementioned project presents the analysis of human-avatar interactions, through the development of an interactive experience in virtual reality. The goal is to generate an innovative communicational dimension that could reinforce the hypotheses presented throughout this paper. Being thought for its initial application in educational environments, the analysis and results of this research are dependent and have been prepared in regard of a meticulous planning of: the conception of a 3D digital platform; the interactive game objects; the AI or computer avatars; the human representation as hybrid avatars; and lastly, the potential of immersion, ergonomics and control diversity that can provide the virtual reality system and the game engine that were chosen. The project is divided in two main axes: The first part is the structural one, as it is mandatory for the construction of an original prototype. The 3D model is inspired by the physical space that belongs to an academic institution. The incorporation of smart objects, avatars, game mechanics, game objects, and a dialogue system will be part of the prototype. These elements have all the objective of gamifying the educational environment. To generate a continuous participation and a large amount of interactions, the digital world will be navigable both, in a conventional device and in a virtual reality system. This decision is made, practically, to facilitate the communication between students and teachers; and strategically, because it will help to a faster population of the digital environment. The second part is concentrated to content production and further data analysis. The challenge is to offer a scenario’s diversity that compels users to interact and to question their digital embodiment. The multipath narrative content that is being applied is focused on the subjects covered in this paper. Furthermore, the experience with virtual reality devices proposes users to experiment in a mixture of a seemingly infinite digital world and a small physical area of movement. This combination will lead the narrative content and it will be crucial in order to restrict user’s interactions. The main point is to stimulate and to grow in the user the need of his hybrid avatar’s help. By building an inner communication between user’s physicality and user’s digital extension, the interactions will serve as a self-guide through the gameworld. This is the first attempt to make explicit the avatarization phenomena and to further analyze the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. The challenge of the upcoming years will be to take advantage from these forms of generalized avatarization, in order to create awareness and establish innovative forms of hybridization.

Keywords: avatar, hybrid worlds, socio-technology, virtual reality

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Authors: Bitan Kumar Sarkar, Akashdeep Agarwal, Rajib Dey, Gopes Chandra Das

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The rapid depletion of high-grade iron ore (Fe₂O₃) has gained attention on the use of other sources of iron ore. Titaniferous magnetite ore (TMO) is a special type of magnetite ore having high titania content (23.23% TiO₂ present in this case). Due to high TiO₂ content and high density, TMO cannot be treated by the conventional smelting reduction. In this present work, the TMO has been collected from high-grade metamorphic terrain of the Precambrian Chotanagpur gneissic complex situated in the eastern part of India (Shaltora area, Bankura district, West Bengal) and the hematite ore has been collected from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), Visakhapatnam. At VSP, iron ore is received from Bailadila mines, Chattisgarh of M/s. National Mineral Development Corporation. The preliminary characterization of TMO and hematite ore (HMO) has been investigated by WDXRF, XRD and FESEM analyses. Similarly, good quality of coal (mainly coking coal) is also getting depleted fast. The basic purpose of this work is to find how lean grade coal can be utilised along with TMO for smelting to produce pig iron. Lean grade coal has been characterised by using TG/DTA, proximate and ultimate analyses. The boiler grade coal has been found to contain 28.08% of fixed carbon and 28.31% of volatile matter. TMO fines (below 75 μm) and HMO fines (below 75 μm) have been separately agglomerated with lean grade coal fines (below 75 μm) in the form of briquettes using binders like bentonite and molasses. These green briquettes are dried first in oven at 423 K for 30 min and then reduced isothermally in tube furnace over the temperature range of 1323 K, 1373 K and 1423 K for 30 min & 60 min. After reduction, the reduced briquettes are characterized by XRD and FESEM analyses. The best reduced TMO and HMO samples are taken and blended in three different weight percentage ratios of 1:4, 1:8 and 1:12 of TMO:HMO. The chemical analysis of three blended samples is carried out and degree of metallisation of iron is found to contain 89.38%, 92.12% and 93.12%, respectively. These three blended samples are briquetted using binder like bentonite and lime. Thereafter these blended briquettes are separately smelted in raising hearth furnace at 1773 K for 30 min. The pig iron formed is characterized using XRD, microscopic analysis. It can be concluded that 90% yield of pig iron can be achieved when the blend ratio of TMO:HMO is 1:4.5. This means for 90% yield, the maximum TMO that could be used in the blend is about 18%.

Keywords: briquetting reduction, lean grade coal, smelting reduction, TMO

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Authors: Meaghan Bowman

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Soldiers are taught about the importance of effective communication with repetition of the phrase, “Communication is key.” They receive training in preparing for, and carrying out, interactions between foreign and domestic leaders to gain crucial information about a mission. These interactions are known as Key Leader Engagements (KLEs). For the training of KLEs, doctrine mandates the skills needed to conduct these “engagements” such as how to: behave appropriately, identify key leaders, and employ effective strategies. Army officers in training learn how to confront leaders, what information to gain, and how to ask questions respectfully. Unfortunately, soldiers rarely learn how to formulate questions optimally. Since less complex questions are easier to understand, we hypothesize that semantic complexity affects content understanding, and that age and education levels may have an effect on one’s ability to form paraphrases and judge their quality. In this study, we looked at paraphrases of queries as well as judgments of both the paraphrases’ naturalness and their semantic similarity to the query. Queries were divided into three complexity categories based on the number of relations (the first number) and the number of knowledge graph edges (the second number). Two crowd-sourced tasks were completed by Amazon volunteer participants, also known as turkers, to answer the research questions: (i) Are more complex queries harder to paraphrase and judge and (ii) Do age and education level affect the ability to understand complex queries. We ran statistical tests as follows: MANOVA for query understanding and two-way ANOVA to understand the relationship between query complexity and education and age. A probe of the number of given-level queries selected for paraphrasing by crowd-sourced workers in seven age ranges yielded promising results. We found significant evidence that age plays a role and marginally significant evidence that education level plays a role. These preliminary tests, with output p-values of 0.0002 and 0.068, respectively, suggest the importance of content understanding in a communication skill set. This basic ability to communicate, which may differ by age and education, permits reproduction and quality assessment and is crucial in training soldiers for effective participation in KLEs.

Keywords: engagement, key leader, paraphrasing, query complexity, understanding

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Authors: Aruma Baduge Kithma De Silva

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Haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.), also known as blue honeysuckle, is a newly commercialized berry crop in Canada. Haskap berries are rich in polyphenols, including, anthocyanins, which are known for potential health-promoting properties. Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) is the most abundant anthocyanin of haskap berries. The compound C3G has the ability to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), which has become an increasingly common health issue around the world. The T2D is characterized as a metabolic disorder of hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. It has been demonstrated that C3G has anti-diabetic effects through several ways, including inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4), reduction of gluconeogenesis, improvement in insulin sensitivity, and inhibition of activities of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes, including α-amylase and α-glucosidase. The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of variety and harvests maturity of haskap on C3G, other fruit quality characteristics and anti-diabetic activities of haskap berries using in vitro studies. The polyphenols present in four commercially grown haskap cultivars, Aurora, Rebecca, Larissa, and Evie harvested at five harvesting dates (H1-H5) apart from 2-3 days, were extracted separately. High-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) analyzes of polyphenols revealed that haskap berries contain predominantly anthocyanins, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, and phenolic acids. The compound C3G was the most prominent anthocyanin, which is available in approximately 79% of total anthocyanin in four cultivars. The Larissa at H5 contained the highest C3G content. The antioxidant capacity of Evie at H5 was greater than other cultivars. Furthermore, Larissa H5 showed the greatest inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes including alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. In conclusion, the haskap variety and harvesting date influenced the polyphenol composition and biological properties. The variety Larissa, at H5 harvesting date, contained the highest polyphenol content and the ability of inhibition of the carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzyme as well as DPP4 enzyme in order to reduce type 2 diabetes.

Keywords: anthocyanin, Haskap, type 2 diabetes, polyphenol

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Authors: Min Kyeong Cha, Ju Yeon Mun, Seong Baeg Kim

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Recently, ‘play of learning’ became important and is emphasized as a useful learning tool. Therefore, interest in edutainment contents is growing. Storytelling is considered first as a method that improves the transmission of information and learner's interest when planning edutainment contents. In this study, we designed edutainment contents in the form of an adventure game that applies the storytelling method. This content provides questions and items constituted dynamically and reorganized learning contents through analysis of test results. It allows learners to solve various questions through effective iterative learning. As a result, the learners can reach mastery learning.

Keywords: storytelling, edutainment, mastery learning, computer operating principle

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Authors: Dawei Cai

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In this paper, we present an autonomous guidance service by combining the position information from NFC and the orientation information from a 6 axis acceleration and terrestrial magnetism sensor. We developed an algorithm to calculate the device orientation based on the data from acceleration and terrestrial magnetism sensor. If visitors want to know some explanation about an exhibit in front of him, what he has to do is just lift up his mobile device. The identification program will automatically identify the status based on the information from NFC and MEMS, and start playing explanation content for him. This service may be convenient for old people or disables or children.

Keywords: NFC, ubiquitous computing, guide sysem, MEMS

Procedia PDF Downloads 392

Authors: Samia Hassan, Fouzia Latif

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In many countries, education is still far from being a knowledge industry in the sense of own practices that are not yet being transformed by knowledge about the efficacy of those practices. The core question of this paper is why students get bored in class? Have we balanced between the creation and advancement of an engaging learning community and effective learning environment? And between, giving kids confidence to achieve their maximum and potential goals, we sand managing student’s behavior. We conclude that creating a positive learning environment enhances opportunities for young children to feel safe, secure, and to supported in order to do their best learning. Many factors can use in classrooms aid to the positive environment like course content, class preparation, and behavior.

Keywords: effective, environment, learning, positive

Procedia PDF Downloads 547

Authors: Fana Woldetsadik

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Ethiopia has a huge livestock population, including sheep, that has been contributing a considerable portion to the economy of the country and still promising to rally around the economic advancement of the country. However, feed shortage is a limiting factor in the production and productivity of sheep among Ethiopian smallholder farmers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to prove the role of the locally available brewery by-products called dried Atella as a supplement in feed intake, digestibility, live weight gain, carcass yield, and economic benefit in comparison with commercially purchased supplements known as niger seed cake (NSC). This on-station feeding experiment was conducted on the Zenzelma Campus of Bahir Dar University animal farm. The experimental design used for this research was a completely randomized design (CRD) with five replications. The crude protein (CP) content of dried Atella, wheat bran (WB), natural pasture hay (NPH) and NSC were about 25.07%, 16.57%, 4.48% and 38.04%, respectively, while the neutral detergent fibre (NDF),acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) content of dried Atella, WB, NPH and NSC were around 31.75%, 8.31%, 8.14%; 42.05%, 22.64%, 4.04%; 74.21%, 50.81%, 8.66%; 42.31%, 26.95% and 6.9%, respectively. The result depicted that a higher(P < 0.001) feed intake, nutrient intake, and digestibility for lambs supplemented with Atella than those supplemented with NSC. Furthermore, daily body weight gain and carcass characteristics were better (P < 0.05) for the sheep supplemented with dried Atella than NSC. On the other hand, in terms of profitability, although there was no substantial difference (P > 0.05) between T2 (animals fed NPH,NSC and WB) and T3 (animals fed NPH, Atella and WB), slightly better benefit was recorded in T3 groups. However, loss of money was recorded in T1 (animals fed NPH and WB). Hence, from the biological performance of lambs, it was concluded that Atella could be a potential supplementary feed for sheep fattening among smallholder farmers than NSC despite no profitability difference. Nevertheless, further investigation is recommended to examine the consequence of supplementation of NPH with NSC and NPH with Atella on fatty acid profile analysis, the physicochemical composition of meat, and meat composition.

Keywords: Attela, Bahir Dar university, Carcass yield, digestibility, natural pasture hay, Niger seed cake, smallholder farmers, weight gain, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 128