Postharvest technology for developing countries: challenges and opportunities in research, outreach and advocacy

This article discusses the needs and challenges of developing good, science-based, simple methods for postharvest handling that can be made available in developing countries. Some of the traditional challenges have been successfully met (i.e. identifying causes and sources of losses for key crops, identifying many potential postharvest technologies of practical use for reducing losses), but many challenges remain. These include the characterization of indigenous crops in terms of their unique postharvest physiology (e.g. respiration rate, susceptibility to water loss, chilling sensitivity, ethylene sensitivity), ascertaining the differences between handling recommendations made for well-known varieties and the needs of local varieties of crops, and determining cost effectiveness of scale-appropriate postharvest technologies in each locale and for each crop. Key issues include building capacity at the local level in postharvest science, university teaching and extension, and continued adaptive research efforts to match emerging postharvest technologies to local needs as these continue to change over time. Development of appropriate postharvest technology relies upon many disciplines that are relevant to the overall success of horticulture, i.e. plant biology, engineering, agricultural economics, food processing, nutrition, food safety, and environmental conservation. The expanding pool of new information derived from postharvest research and outreach efforts in these areas can lead in many directions which are likely to have an impact on relieving poverty in developing countries.     

Intracapsular hip fractures. Results of management adopting a treatment protocol

The results of the treatment of 166 patients with intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck during a 30-month period are reviewed. A protocol was adopted whereby patients younger than 65 years of age, together with those with undisplaced fractures, were treated with internal fixation, whereas patients older than 85 years of age were treated with primary hemiarthroplasty. The remaining 120 patients, aged 65-85 years, with displaced fractures were carefully evaluated preoperatively using a scoring system of their physiologic status. The more ambulant and independent patients who were medically fit and mentally alert, with good proximal femoral bone stock, who achieved a physiologic status score (PSS) of 20 or more from a maximum of 26, were managed by reduction and internal fixation of their fractures. Those patients with a PSS below 20 were treated with replacement arthroplasty. At a mean of 21 months postfracture, the mortality was 14%, although, among survivors, there was a low incidence of fracture-related complications, with only 5% of the total group requiring reoperation for infection, internal fixation failure, or prosthetic dislocation. The functional outcome was satisfactory in both treatment groups, although the mean scores for regained mobility and final placement more closely approximated the prefracture scores in the patients undergoing internal fixation. The authors conclude that preoperative assessment of the PSS is a useful guide in determining the appropriate treatment for these fractures, and that internal fixation in the 42% of patients aged 65-85 years with a high PSS appears to be well justified.     

On load carrying capacity of sway frames taking into account finite displacements

An approximate method that takes into account the influence of finite displacements upon the load carrying capacity of planar unbraced frames is described. It is the iterative procedure where Quadratic Programming is applied for evaluation of the subsequent updated configurations of the frame, whereas Linear Programming serves to find ultimate load factors for each configuration. Numerical tests show that the procedure gives practically acceptable results being at the same time much cheaper than the exact geometrically and physically non-linear incremental analysis.     

CFD analysis of mixed convection porous square cavity

The analysis of conventional flow and transfer of heat in a square cavity which is porous in nature is being done by the numerical study and research. There is insulation at the vertical walls of the cavity and bottom surface wavy in nature upholds uniform temperature which is little more than that at the upper lid. The non-dimensional governing equations are solved using the finite volume method. Several inclination angles are examined from 0° to 180°. The isotherm and streamline distribution, including varieties of local and average Nusselt numbers with the angle of inclination, are exposed. The outputs of the observations indicate that average Nusselt number has direct relationship with a number of undulations and also inclination angle.     

Effect of supplementation of two sources and two levels of copper on lipid metabolism in Nellore beef cattle

This study was conducted with 35 Nellore beef cattle to determine the effect of supplementation of two levels and two copper sources (organic and inorganic) on metabolism of lipids and cholesterol of meat. The five treatments used were: Control: without copper supplementation, I10 or I40: 10 or 40 mg/kg DM (as Cu sulfate), O10 or O40: 10 or 40 mg/kg DM (as Cu proteinate). In general, the copper supplementation changed the fatty acid profile of meat (p<0.05), with a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids and reduction of saturated fatty acids. There was no effect of supplementation on blood cholesterol and triglycerides, however; in general, there was a reduction in cholesterol concentration in the L. dorsi (p<0.05) compared to the control treatment through the reduction (p<0.05) in the concentrations of GSH and GSH/GSSG ratio. The Cu supplementation did have an influence on metabolism of lipids. The production of healthier meat is beneficial to public health by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.     

Reactions of Alkoxy Radicals in Aqueous Solutions

The kinetic and mechanistic properties of alkoxy radicals in organic solvents are briefly reviewed. Owing to the scarcity of such data in aqueous solutions and since reactions at the membrane/water interface may be also biologically important, we have studied the reactivity of these radicals in water and the results of our investigations are reported. Alkoxy radicals were generated by photolytic or radiolytic cleavage of peroxide precursors (tert-butyl hydroperoxide and di-tert-butyl peroxide as well as hydroperoxides of polyunsaturated fatty acids). A quantitative correlation between the structure of various substances, in particular phenolic antioxidants, and their activity in inhibiting the alkoxy radical-induced bleaching of the water-soluble carotenoid crocin will be discussed. Rate constants for intermolecular reactions of t-BuO radicals were determined by pulse radiolysis. The diffusion-controlled reaction with the catechol antioxidant nordihydroguaiaretic acid demonstrates an effective competition with the very rapid intra molecular β-fragmentation in water. The results support the view that a considerable amount of alkoxy radicals interact with substrates before they can rearrange intramolecularly.     

Emerging Role of the Band‐Structure Approach in Biohybrid Photovoltaics: A Path Beyond Bioelectrochemistry

Emulation of natural photosynthesis is central to modern photovoltaic research targeting sustainable and economic ways of solar energy harvesting. Natural photosynthetic systems have succeeded in efficiently harvesting solar energy which is key to the sustenance of life on earth. With numerous advances in understanding the structure and function of the natural photosystems, the last decade has witnessed new perspectives in developing bioinspired photovoltaics. Interestingly, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) adopting photosynthetic design principles and biophotovoltaics (BPVs) adopting solid‐state device architectures have now converged at a juncture. Several reports in recent years point to a new scope of improvement in OPVs and BPVs stemming from mutual inspiration. At this juncture, there are new perspectives by which a BPV can be designed that were previously limited only to conventional optoelectronics. Treating natural pigment–proteins as optically and electronically functional materials in any photovoltaic design, from the band‐theory viewpoint, is a promising direction for advancing BPVs beyond the boundaries of bioelectrochemistry. This article presents an overview of selected reports on BPVs in the last few years utilizing new design concepts based on band‐theory and its associated principles. In light of this, the scope of the band‐structure approach in BPVs is discussed, eliciting prospective research directions.     

From n-qubit multi-particle quantum teleportation modelling to n-qudit contextuality based quantum teleportation and beyond

This paper further generalizes the modelling framework for contextuality based quantum teleportation to n-dimensional quantum states, or n-qudits (quantum odd-prime based units) which holds considerable promise for even higher mathematical abstraction. The proposed generalization extends the two states in the qubit model, to n states and this n could tend towards infinity. We are heading towards point-sized loops or fine-grained particles of nature, which have been rejected out of hand by string theorists. It is not physical reality when measured from the sense of Planck’s length of 10^?35 metres, but finer-grained particles than Planck’s length 10^?35 metres may exist, although, they are not matter anymore. We argue that why stop at degree of freedom of three, but instead pursue quantum odd-prime based units with higher degree n such as 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 and so on till n^th degree of freedom even tending to infinity. String theorists admit its multiple landscapes with higher degrees of freedom which points its uniqueness both for particles finer than 10^?35 metres as well as distances greater than 10¹⁰ light years. Modern research by physicists and mathematicians including Roger Penrose, Max Tegmark, Nick Bostrom and Herbert Bernstein provides scientific basis to this work.     

Factors responsible for the activity of precipitated iron fischer-tropsch catalysts

Three precipitated iron Fischer-Tropsch catalysts of identical chemical composition but prepared from different source materials were studied by gas adsorption. Of the Hofer ‘inducted’ catalysts, the most active one was found to combine greater surface area with a preponderance of narrower pores, compared with the other two. The greater activity was found to be reflected in the ‘a’ factor (Elovich Equation) which was very large. The limitation of the energy of activation as a parameter for the activity of solid heterogeneous catalyst was illustrated in terms of ‘compensation effect’. The complex nature of adsorption kinetics was shown by the anomalous temperature dependence of ‘a’ as well as changes in the slope of q versus log t curves.