Suchergebnisse

Fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F.) seed germination proceeds once adequate temperature and moisture content have been reached and dormancy is broken. Seed priming is a technique in which seeds are hydrated (control hydration) and dried to their original moisture content while preventing radicle emergence. The study aims to investigate the consequence of osmo-priming on the germination parameters of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis). Laboratory studies were carried out using 36 seeds of fluted pumpkin which was osmoprimed with NaCl (0.05, 0.1 and 1 millimolar), MgCl2 (0.05, 0.1 and 1 millimolar) and KCl (0.05, 0.1 and 1 millimolar). Data on germination percentage, growth parameters, and chlorophyll content showed a significant difference in germination percentages between osmoprimed seeds and control seeds. The time of germination in osmoprimed seeds was significantly reduced when compared with control. The germination rate index (64%) was different between controls and osmoprimed seeds with 0.05 millimolar KCl and 0.10 millimolar MgCl2 (). The growth parameters of seedlings 15 days after sowing showed significant increas in the number of leaves, number of root branches and chlorophyll content. Seed osmopriming may be a sustainable method to increase crop production in T.ccidentalis.

The beverage industry is a significant market that is seeing a growth albeit certain types of beverages such as wine and soda-type drinks are seemingly declining. There is certainly seen a growing interest for novel beverages, especially when creating healthy options aiming to support health via enhanced functional food/beverage properties. Furthermore, understanding how the public perceives and makes purchasing decisions towards novel and unconventional options is of key importance. The Soft Seltzer category is an emerging category defined as a sparkling water-based low calorie, no added sugar, no artificial sweetener, non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage. In our pilot study herein, we aimed to assess interest and willingness to pay for such a product produced in Sonoma, California, specifically H2O/H2♡, a dealcoholized wine-type beverage enriched with vitamins, potassium, and calcium, using a perception and acceptability study to health-conscious college students in California. Respectivelly, healthy college students were provided an on-line acceptability questionnaire with 38 questions to evaluate the concept of the H2O beverage. Our participants indicated that they would be significantly interested in purchasing such a beverage, while as for willingness to pay, a price for $9.99/4x16oz cans was deemed less than or about what is expected from a majority of participants. Our results taken together demonstrate that there is substantial interest and traction for such a beverage, especially given its natural origin and potential health benefits. Further research including tasting and health-related functional properties for the beverage in discussion is suggested. Additionally, lifestyle aspects and nuances beyond alcohol that are important to wine drinkers and other consumers could be delivered by novel beverages, hence aid in their success in the beverage market

Part of the ideals of promoting sustainability is the green building (GB) concept. Nevertheless, the uptake and use of GBs amongst most stakeholders in Africa are still on the low. Despite the plethora of studies on the economic benefits of green building, there is a dearth in studying the benefits in Africa. Within these economies, the presence of market restrictions, socio-cultural and political factors may mitigate against these benefits. This study seeks to unearth the economic benefits of GBs within the context of a sub-Saharan African country, Ghana. By adopting a quantitative research approach, a comprehensive literature review was first conducted. This was followed by the use of a questionnaire survey. A structured questionnaire was issued to building consultants in Ghana to elicit their perspectives on the economic gains of GBs. Mean scores, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were respectively used to rank and assess the level of agreements amongst the various consultants on the economic benefits. Five economic benefits were identified from the study. This includes savings in energy, lower lifetime cost, lower operational cost, increased work productivity and "transforms the construction industry". The findings show that most of the economic benefits identified from literature cannot be realised in the study region, including "high return on investment" and "increase in building value". Consequently, building energy cost seems to play a crucial role in pushing the demand for the GB within the study milieu. The study provides a contextual understanding of economic benefits, useful to construction clients, property owners, real estate investors, consultants and the research environment. The findings are useful in providing market enablers to enhance a large-scale uptake of green construction. It is recommended that the provision of GBs should not be limited to only its impact on the environment and sustainability but also affordability concerns. This study provides a unique contextual perspective on the economic benefit of GB in a sub-Saharan African country.

The traditional safety management approach is a control-oriented approach that seeks to direct and control workers to complete the expected company safety standards and regulations. This approach to safety management is partially compatible with the growing complexity of contemporary organisations. Therefore, a more comprehensive and modern approach to safety management is necessary, hence, the resilience management system. This study is part of a PhD programme. The study's objective was to establish the level of resilience capabilities of construction safety management systems (SMSs) in Ghana's construction industry. The targeted respondents were health and safety (HS) managers, managing directors, project managers, site engineers and construction managers of D1K1, D2K2, D3K3 and D4K4 construction companies. The list of 144 construction companies surveyed in this study was obtained from the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Ghana and deemed to be in good standing. The study used purposive sampling techniques to reach out to the respondents. Descriptive statistics, a one-sample t-test, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and its post hoc test and the resilience analysis grid (RAG) were employed. The results revealed that out of the seven SMSs assessed, only "policy" measured up to the acceptable level of resilience, thus establishing that the entire safety management system (SMS) is not resilient. These findings have empirically established that SMSs in the Ghanaian construction industry are not resilient. The results further highlight the necessity for contractors and stakeholders to switch from a conventional safety management strategy to a more proactive safety management approach and to establish a customised method to a more robust safety management system.

"Induction curves (induction surfaces, induction sets in general) were recently introduced to provide a visual aid to examine the fractions de ning the norm of a matrix, along with the discovery and description of p-eigenvectors. In our current investigation we delve into an inverse problem, the identi cation of induction curves. Namely: could the elements of the matrix and the used power parameter p be reconstructed given the induction curve, i.e. the case of 2x2 matrices is examined. The analytic solution is not possible in most cases already in this planar setting, therefore numerical approximation methods shall be applied."