Prevention of perioperative nausea and vomiting during epidural anesthesia

Epidural anesthesia in 15-30 % of cases complicated by postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) of varying severity

Metabolite profiling characterises chemotypes of Musa diploids and triploids at juvenile and preflowering growth stages

Open Access Journal; Published online: 15 March 2019Bananas (Musa spp.) are consumed worldwide as dessert and cooking types. Edible banana varieties are for the most part seedless and sterile and therefore vegetatively propagated. This confers difficulties for breeding approaches against pressing biotic and abiotic threats and for the nutritional enhancement of banana pulp. A panel of banana accessions, representative of the diversity of wild and cultivated bananas, was analysed to assess the range of chemotypes available globally. The focus of this assessment was banana leaves at two growth stages (juvenile and pre-flowering), to see when during the plant growth metabolic differences can be established. The metabolic data corresponded to genomic trends reported in previous studies and demonstrated a link between metabolites/pathways and the genomes of M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. Furthermore, the vigour and resistance traits of M. balbisiana was connected to the phenolic composition and showed differences with the number of B genes in the hybrid accessions. Differences in the juvenile and pre-flowering data led to low correlation between the growth stages for prediction purposes

Intensification and diversification of banana production systems: key drivers for increased income and food and nutritional security in the Great Lakes region

Peer Revie

FARMERS’ PREFERENCE FOR PLANTAIN ATTRIBUTES IN NIGERIA: A BEST-WORST SCALING APPROACH

Plantain is an important staple crop which plays key role in enhancing food security and livelihoods. However, the productivity of existing varieties is being threatened by biotic and abiotic factors hence, the need for breeding improved and resilient varieties. Understanding trait preferences of producers is a major step in developing a demand-driven breeding programme that will deliver acceptable products. Therefore, the study investigated farmers’ preferences for plantain attributes in southern Nigeria using a Best-worst scaling approach. A multistage sampling technique was used to sample 445 plantain farmers in the southern Nigeria where plantain production is predominant and data were obtained with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire. Results showed that the sampled plantain farmers were mostly male (74.2%), married (83.6%), educated (95.2%) and with mean age (45.18±11.30 years), household size (7±4 members) and years of experience in plantain production (13.35±8.97). The Best-worst scaling results revealed that the four most important attributes to the farmers were “early maturity”, “heavy bunch”, “big fingers” and “many (full) fingers on bunch” in that order, while “dwarf plant height”, “firm pulp” and “thick peel” were the least important in that order of sequence. Considering the relative importance and ranking of the attributes, the first four top ranked attributes were “big fingers”, “early maturity”, “heavy bunch” and “pest and disease resistance”, while the first four lowest ranked attributes were “thick peel”, “firm pulp”, “dark green peel at maturity” and “dwarf plant height”. These results have important implications for improving plantain hybrids for better adoption and impact in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that farmers’ preference be taken into consideration while breeding for new varieties. Improved plantain varieties which have all the best preferred or most important attributes may boost farmers’ productivity and food production in Nigeria

Assessment of metabolic variability and diversity present in leaf, peel and pulp tissue of diploid and triploid Musa spp.

Banana (Musa spp.) plants produce many health promoting compounds in leaf, peel and pulp. For a robust metabolic analysis of these tissues, leaf at five developmental stages were compared to assess suitable sampling practices. Results confirmed that the common sampling practise of leaf 3 is applicable for metabolic comparisons. The developed work flow was applied to analyse the metabolite diversity present in 18 different Musa varieties, providing baseline levels of metabolites in leaf, peel and pulp tissue. Correlation analysis was then used to ascertain whether similar trends can be detected in the three plant tissues of the diversity panel. The genome group displayed a dominant role in the composition of the metabolome in all three tissues. This led to the conclusion that a correlation between tissues was only possible within a genome group as the different parental backgrounds caused too great a variation in the metabolomes. It also suggests the metabolome could be used to monitor the interaction/hybridisation of genomes during breeding programmes

End-user preferences for plantain food products in Nigeria and implications for genetic improvement

Open Access Article; Published online: 16 Sept 2020Plantain is an important food security crop for farming households in Nigeria. This study investigates the relative importance of plantain food products and their quality descriptors from the perspective of farmers in Southern‐Nigeria, to inform end‐user oriented and socially inclusive breeding strategies that drive hybrid adoption. Surveys were conducted in twelve rural communities in three states in the plantain belt of Nigeria, consisting of key informant interviews, sex‐disaggregated focused group discussions and individual interviews. Dodo (fried plantains), boli (roasted plantains), boiled plantain, plantain with beans and porridge were the most common food products identified in the study areas. Fruit size, pulp texture (firmness/softness), colour, maturity stage and taste were identified as the most critical characteristics, with impact on quality of processed food products. There were significant differences between states regarding the importance of plantain food products, but little interstate and gender differences for fresh fruit and food product quality characteristics

Numerical simulation of a nonlinear diffusion type equation in a two phase media with linear porosity and permeability model

Predicting and understanding the behavior of pressure is important in reservoir maintenance and evaluation. This work studies the behavior of fluid pressure in a reservoir by numerical simulation of the pressure diffusion type equation in a two phase media with a linear porosity and permeability model. Because the porosity and permeability are pressure dependent, the resulting diffusion type equation is nonlinear and is solved using a backward-forward finite difference method. The simulation code was ran using a constant porosity and permeability model and a linear porosity and permeability model. The results from the linear porosity and permeability model was compared to that of the constant porosity and permeability model. In both cases the pressure gradient was greatest at the wellbore and decreases as the radial distances away from the wellbore increases. The pressure in both cases also decreased with time. However, at each location and time the pressure drop was lower in the linear porosity and permeability model than with the constant porosity and permeability. The backward-forward finite difference method proved to be useful in solving numerically the nonlinear diffusion type equation. This work can be applied in the oil and gas industry to predict pressure behavior in reservoirs and make investment decisions, production and maintenance decision