Cold plasma processing: A review

The increase in the outbreaks reported due to consumption of infected produce has increased to a larger extent. Conventional technologies hamper the quality of food. To fulfill the need of an efficient cold processing method, researchers came up with a novel technology known as plasma technology. Two type's thermal and non-Thermal plasma exists. The non-Thermal or cold plasma technology is now the prime consideration in food processing industries viz. post-harvest, meat, packaging etc. Cold plasma plays an important role in decontamination of food and packaging materials from microorganisms, manufacturing of packaging materials, active packaging and retards browning reactions. Cold plasma withholds the ability to manufacture high quality fresh and processed food products

Alterations in Thyroid Hormone Levels in Children with Protein-Energy Malnutrition

Background: Nutritional deficiencies are among the most significant public health challenges in India and other developing nations. Among those nutritional diseases, the Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is the most prevalent one, affecting a large population especially children under five and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Aims and Objectives: To estimate serum total thyroxine (TT4), total tri-iodothyronine (TT3), thyroid stimulating hormones (TSH) in normal controls and children with PEM. To find out relationship between thyroid hormones and different grades of PEM. Methodology: Fifty children below 12 years of age suffering from different grades of protein energy malnutrition admitted in Pediatric ward, RIMS, Imphal, were selected as cases. Fifty healthy children, closely matched for age and gender, formed the control group. The study was carried out over a 24-month period, beginning in September 2016 and concluding in August 2018. Total thyroxine (TT4) and total trio-iodothyronine (TT3) were estimated by ELISA. Results: Serum thyroid hormones (TT3, TT4 and TSH) were significantly decreased in PEM when compared with controls. Among the different grades of PEM, total tri-iodothyronine (TT3) level was significantly low in Marasmic kwashiorkor children (0.61±0.14) whereas undernutrition group has the lowest value of Total Thyroxine (5.31±0.65) and TSH (1.60±0.81). Conclusion: A decrease in circulating thyroid hormone levels was linked to the severity of PEM. All the PEM cases should undergo a screening for thyroid hormone status which is essential for proper growth and health of the children

Cold plasma processing: A review

The increase in the outbreaks reported due to consumption of infected produce has increased to a larger extent. Conventional technologies hamper the quality of food. To fulfill the need of an efficient cold processing method, researchers came up with a novel technology known as plasma technology. Two type's thermal and non-Thermal plasma exists. The non-Thermal or cold plasma technology is now the prime consideration in food processing industries viz. post-harvest, meat, packaging etc. Cold plasma plays an important role in decontamination of food and packaging materials from microorganisms, manufacturing of packaging materials, active packaging and retards browning reactions. Cold plasma withholds the ability to manufacture high quality fresh and processed food products

Variation in the Ability of Various Tree Species to Capture Particulate Matter in Industrial and Urban Areas

There are several short- and long-term negative effects on human health caused by the well-known pollutant known as particulate matter (PM), which also significantly contributes to urban air pollution. Trees can act as a sustainable air purifying filter by adsorbing and absorbing tiny airborne dust. Their effectiveness is influenced by a number of variables, including particulate matter concentration and leaf features of tree species. In this study, the particulate matter capturing capacity of commonly grown 20 tree species were compared and the best tree species were chosen for the urban plantation to reduce particulate matter pollution. In this study, Ficus bengalensis (0.67 mg/cm2), Mangifera indica (0.61 mg/cm2), Polyalthia longifolia (0.57 mg/cm2), Tectona grandis (0.66 mg/cm2) and Terminalia catappa (0.63 mg/cm2) were found to be the best tree species among the 20 tree species and also it was confirmed that morphological characteristics of tree leaves plays an important role in capturing the particulate matter from the atmosphere. In conclusion, our findings may help in the selection of greening tree species with strong particulate matter purifying capacities for both industrial and urban areas

Altered rainfall greatly affects enzyme activity but has limited effect on microbial biomass in Australian dryland soils

Drylands support a substantial proportion of the worlds biodiversity and are important to food production but are sensitive to changes in rainfall regimes. Altered rainfall has been shown to impact plant growth and soil microbial activity in drylands but the longer-term effect on belowground communities and biogeochemical cycles remains uncertain. We explored how four years of reduced and increased rainfall influenced soil total and available carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content, microbial biomass and potential extracellular enzyme activity under field conditions at six dryland sites in eastern Australia. The study coincided with a severe 3-year drought that resulted in low standing plant biomass and soil C content at all sites. Microbial biomass attributes varied considerably across sites, with rainfall treatment effects limited to decreased fungal biomass and lower fungal:bacterial ratios in semi-arid Nyngan and reduced fungal:bacterial ratios and microbial biomass C in semi-arid Quilpie in reduced treatments compared with increased rainfall plots. Similarly, available soil C, N and P varied considerably among sites, with more available N and P at four and all sites, respectively, in reduced rainfall treatments particularly when compared with increased rainfall treatments. Rainfall treatments consistently influenced enzyme activity across all sites, with higher rates in increased rainfall plots indicative of greater microbial activity and enhanced nutrient cycling. Enzymatic activity associated with N cycling showed a negative relationship with available N while enzymes associated with P cycling related positively to available C and negatively to available P. This indicates that microbes invested more in production of enzymes associated with less available nutrients. Enzyme activity was not related to microbial biomass suggesting a disconnect between biomass and enzyme production and that rainfall treatments altered the ecosystem's specific enzyme activity (activity per unit of microbial biomass). Our results suggest that altered rainfall consistently impacted dryland ecosystem function, but that microbial biomass is a poor proxy for rainfall-induced changes in soil processes