Seasoned Sprat Products’ Acceptance in Estonia and in Thailand

The aim of the study was to describe and evaluate competitiveness of Estonian spice-cured sprat products in Estonia and Thailand. Sample A was saltiest, Sample B had lowest overall spiciness, and Sample C had highest pepper flavor and sour taste intensity. The main drivers of consumer acceptance for the spice-cured sprat products were different: flavor and appearance in Estonia and appearance and odor in Thailand. In Estonia, one cluster of consumers liked the traditional (Sample A) and lightly spiced (Sample B) sprat products, while the other cluster liked the traditional (Sample A) and the marinated (Sample C) sprat products. In Thailand, all samples scored low, but manual clustering indicated that marinated (Sample C) sprat products are most acceptable. The current study showed that spice-cured sprat products in general can be accepted by Thai consumers, especially as part of meals, if further flavor development is carried out with the products.     

Evaluation of foliar resistance in potato to Phytophthora infestans based on an international field trial network

During the period 2000–03, local potato cultivars in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark were tested for foliar resistance to Phytophthora infestans (late blight) in an international field trial network. Four standard cultivars were included in the trials: Sava, Oleva, Danva and Kuras. Primary disease-assessment data were entered into a common database, and parameters from the disease progress curves were calculated and made available on interactive web pages. A regression model, using relative area under disease progress curve (RAUDPC) values for cv. Oleva as a reference, was developed for the estimation of 1–9 scale values, where 1 = most susceptible. Standard deviations for the estimated 1–9 scale values and a nonparametric rank stability analysis of RAUDPC were used to evaluate the stability of resistance of the cultivars. Overall, the results showed stability of resistance for cvs Sava, Oleva and Danva, but not for Kuras. Use of the Internet-based Web-Blight service in this study facilitated comparison of results among countries for the level and stability of resistance. The estimated 1–9 scale values were similar to, or slightly lower than, those from official cultivar lists or from the European Cultivated Potato Database, especially for the more resistant cultivars. Possible reasons for discrepancies from different sources and locations are discussed. It is concluded that RAUPDC and the derived 1–9 scale values are useful for ranking cultivars for resistance to P. infestans , but this information is not detailed enough for use in a decision support system for late blight control.     

Growth and fatty acid composition of sesame (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sesamum indicum</Emphasis> L.) genotypes as influence by planting dates and nitrogen fertilization in semiarid region of Northwest,Pakistan

A field experiment was conducted on silty clay loam soil in the years 2011–2012. Two sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) cultivars (Local Black and Local White) were evaluated using various 3 different sowing dates (20th June, 10th and 30th July) and four agrotechnical level (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha^–1) at New Developmental Farm The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sowing dates on growth, yield and oil fatty acid composition of two sesame cultivars grown under different nitrogen fertilization. Results showed that cv. Local Black was characterized by significantly higher content of oil (47%), seed yield (696 kg ha^–1) and oil yield (335 kg ha^–1) while cv. Local White had higher palmitic acid (8%) and linoleic acid (38.7%). Yield and its main components were positively affected by the earlier sowing date. With regard to fatty acid composition, a decrease in oleic and stearic acid and an increase in linoleic and palmitic acid were observed. At early sowing, oleic and palmitic acid decreased whereas linoleic and stearic acid increased. The decrease in the oleic/linoleic acid ratio observed at early sowing, suggests a possible role of temperature on the activity of oleate desaturase in the developing seeds. Intensive technology of cultivation (120 kg N ha^–1), compared to the economical technology (40 kg N ha^–1), significantly increased the seed yield of both sesame cultivars. This was due to higher number of branches, Capsules m^–2, capsules plant^–1, seeds capsule^–1 and 1000 seed weight (g). The intensive technology of cultivation had a beneficial effect on the content of palmitic acid, linolenic acid and oleic acid in sesame seed.     

Regulation of milk intake in young ruminants

We studied the influence of the three main nutritive components of milk - saccharides, fat and amino acids - on milk intake in suckling lambs and on the role of insulin as a key metabolic hormone for the regulation of milk intake. The intake was slowed down after p.o. administration of milk fat (p less than 0.05), after i. v. administration of methionine (p less than 0.001) and after p. o. administration of glucose, lactose (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.001) and sorbitol (p less than 0.001). After i. v. administration of glycerol, lysine, threonine, arginine, glucose, and i. v. and p. o. administration of galactose the intake of milk did not change significantly (p greater than 0.05). The findings indicate that the short-time regulation of milk intake in suckling ruminant animals is not subjected to the specific effect of some of the milk components. Regarding the metabolic effects, the problem concerns the speed of resorption of easily metabolizable sources of energy from the digestive system to the liver and to the whole body. Neutral Zn-insulin administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 4 U X kg-1 increased the milk intake (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.001), in 8 to 22 hours after the administration only when the animals were on the low-fat milk diet (5.9%-11% fat in dry matter). We assume that the long-range hyperphagy can be related mainly with the fast metabolizing of energy-rich substances (glucose) into the body stores (glycogen, fat) accompanied by subsequent hormonal changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Food intake in suckling rats after glycerol administration

The influence of administered glycerol on the food intake was followed in suckling rats in five age periods (on the 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th and 23rd day of life). Glycerol significantly reduced the food intake (P less than 0.01) in the last three age categories. This finding indicates that from the 13th day of life glycerol becomes one of the limiting factors of food intake for suckling rats in connection with a gradual functional maturing of their control mechanism, regulating the food intake.     

Surface crystallization in a liquid AuSi alloy

X-ray measurements reveal a crystalline monolayer at the surface of the eutectic liquid Au82Si18, at temperatures above the alloy's melting point. Surface-induced atomic layering, the hallmark of liquid metals, is also found below the crystalline monolayer. The layering depth, however, is threefold greater than that of all liquid metals studied to date. The crystallinity of the surface monolayer is notable, considering that AuSi does not form stable bulk crystalline phases at any concentration and temperature and that no crystalline surface phase has been detected thus far in any pure liquid metal or nondilute alloy. These results are discussed in relation to recently suggested models of amorphous alloys.     

The structure of mating type,virulence, metalaxyl resistance of Phytophthora infestans in a long-term phenotypic study in distinct location in Eastern Estonia

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans was collected from a region of Eastern Estonia during a period of seven years (2001–07). In...     

Changing rainfall patterns and farmers’ adaptation through soil water management practices in semi-arid eastern Kenya

There is limited documentation of soil and water management technologies that enhance adaptation to climate change in drylands of Kenya. Rainfall patterns were analyzed in the semi-arid Machakos and Makueni counties of eastern Kenya using historical data. A total of forty-three smallholder farmers implementing soil water management practices were sampled, and an estimate of the seasonal water budget for current crop and livestock production systems computed. Analysis of rainfall amounts and distribution shows increasing variability, with the average annual total amounts decreasing over the past 50 years. Furthermore, the number of rainy days within the March-April-May season that can support crop growth is gradually decreasing. These decreases are however not significant at P < 0.05. There were more seasons with low rainfall amounts compared to those with high rainfall amounts. All these subject the smallholder crop and livestock production system to limited soil moisture. Farmers address the risk by harnessing and utilizing green (rainfall stored in soil) and blue (rainfall collected into storage tanks) water technologies. The study found that farmers in these semi-arid counties practice fifteen diverse soil and water management interventions on their farms. The most popular practices are cut-off drains, retention ditches, terracing, run-off harvesting, and agroforestry. The estimated seasonal water budget indicates the need for integrated soil and water management interventions to address the crop and livestock production constraints.