Effect of cultivar type and ripening on the polyphenol content of date palm fruit

Date palm (Pheonix dactylifera) fruit contains an array of polyphenols, although how these levels alter with cultivar type and fruit ripening is unclear. Utilizing HPLC and LC-ESI-MS/MS, this study define and quantify an array of hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, and flavonoids in three common cultivars of dates (Ajwa, Barni, and Khalas) at the main ripening stages (kimri, khalal, rutab, and tamr). Polyphenols were at highest concentration at earlier stages of ripening, with concentrations reducing with ripening. The khalal stage of the Ajwa cultivar contained significantly higher (P < 0.001) levels of polyphenols than measured in the Barni and Khalas dates at the same degree of ripening. Furthermore, the Ajwa cultivar was the only one to contain significant quantities of anthocyanidins, in particular at the khalal stage. These data suggest dates are a significant source of polyphenols, especially if the earlier edible ripening stages are consumed or utilized as food ingredients.

The middle-atmosphere Hadley circulation and equatorial inertial adjustment

In the tropical middle atmosphere the climatological radiative equilibrium temperature is inconsistent with gradient-wind balance and the available angular momentum, especially during solstice seasons. Adjustment toward a balanced state results in a type of Hadley circulation that lies outside the “downward control” view of zonally averaged dynamics. This middle-atmosphere Hadley circulation is reexamined here using a zonally symmetric balance model driven through an annual cycle. It is found that the inclusion of a realistic radiation scheme leads to a concentration of the circulation near the stratopause and to its closing off in the mesosphere, with no need for relaxational damping or a rigid lid. The evolving zonal flow is inertially unstable, leading to a rapid process of inertial adjustment, which becomes significant in the mesosphere. This short-circuits the slower process of angular momentum homogenization by the Hadley circulation itself, thereby weakening the latter. The effect of the meridional circulation associated with extratropical wave drag on the Hadley circulation is considered. It is shown that the two circulations are independent for linear (quasigeostrophic) zonal-mean dynamics, and interact primarily through the advection of temperature and angular momentum. There appears to be no significant coupling in the deep Tropics via temperature advection since the wave-driven circulation is unable to alter meridional temperature gradients in this region. However, the wave-driven circulation can affect the Hadley circulation by advecting angular momentum out of the Tropics. The validity of the zonally symmetric balance model with parameterized inertial adjustment is tested by comparison with a three-dimensional primitive equations model. Fields from a middle-atmosphere GCM are also examined for evidence of these processes. While many aspects of the GCM circulation are indicative of the middle-atmosphere Hadley circulation, particularly in the upper stratosphere, it appears that the circulation is obscured in the mesosphere and lower stratosphere by other processes.

Linguistic evidence supports date for Homeric epics

The Homeric epics are among the greatest masterpieces of literature, but when they were produced is not known with certainty. Here we apply evolutionary-linguistic phylogenetic statistical methods to differences in Homeric, Modern Greek and ancient Hittite vocabulary items to estimate a date of approximately 710–760 BCE for these great works. Our analysis compared a common set of vocabulary items among the three pairs of languages, recording for each item whether the words in the two languages were cognate – derived from a shared ancestral word – or not. We then used a likelihood-based Markov chain Monte Carlo procedure to estimate the most probable times in years separating these languages given the percentage of words they shared, combined with knowledge of the rates at which different words change. Our date for the epics is in close agreement with historians' and classicists' beliefs derived from historical and archaeological sources.

The significance of occupancy steadiness in residential consumer response to Time of Use pricing: Evidence from a stochastic adjustment model

The recent roll-out of smart metering technologies in several developed countries has intensified research on the impacts of Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing on consumption. This paper analyses a TOU dataset from the Province of Trento in Northern Italy using a stochastic adjustment model. Findings highlight the non-steadiness of the relationship between consumption and TOU price. Weather and active occupancy can partly explain future consumption in relation to price.

The dimensions of expatriate adjustment

A narrow and partial theoretical base has limited current concepts of expatriate adjustment and the research based upon them. This conceptual article explores one of the less theorized aspects of expatriate adjustment: the fact that it has multiple dimensions. We conceive of adjustment as a person-environment relationship that takes place in the three dimensions of cognitions, feelings, and behaviors. Combining these elements takes us one step closer to a comprehensive and more realistic understanding of the nature of expatriate adjustment. We include suggestions for future research that follow from our reconceptualization

A systematic approach to identify the sources of tropical SST errors in coupled models using the adjustment of initialised experiments

Understanding the sources of systematic errors in climate models is challenging because of coupled feedbacks and errors compensation. The developing seamless approach proposes that the identification and the correction of short term climate model errors have the potential to improve the modeled climate on longer time scales. In previous studies, initialised atmospheric simulations of a few days have been used to compare fast physics processes (convection, cloud processes) among models. The present study explores how initialised seasonal to decadal hindcasts (re-forecasts) relate transient week-to-month errors of the ocean and atmospheric components to the coupled model long-term pervasive SST errors. A protocol is designed to attribute the SST biases to the source processes. It includes five steps: (1) identify and describe biases in a coupled stabilized simulation, (2) determine the time scale of the advent of the bias and its propagation, (3) find the geographical origin of the bias, (4) evaluate the degree of coupling in the development of the bias, (5) find the field responsible for the bias. This strategy has been implemented with a set of experiments based on the initial adjustment of initialised simulations and exploring various degrees of coupling. In particular, hindcasts give the time scale of biases advent, regionally restored experiments show the geographical origin and ocean-only simulations isolate the field responsible for the bias and evaluate the degree of coupling in the bias development. This strategy is applied to four prominent SST biases of the IPSLCM5A-LR coupled model in the tropical Pacific, that are largely shared by other coupled models, including the Southeast Pacific warm bias and the equatorial cold tongue bias. Using the proposed protocol, we demonstrate that the East Pacific warm bias appears in a few months and is caused by a lack of upwelling due to too weak meridional coastal winds off Peru. The cold equatorial bias, which surprisingly takes 30 years to develop, is the result of an equatorward advection of midlatitude cold SST errors. Despite large development efforts, the current generation of coupled models shows only little improvement. The strategy proposed in this study is a further step to move from the current random ad hoc approach, to a bias-targeted, priority setting, systematic model development approach.

Socially anxious mothers’ narratives to their children, and their relation to child representations and adjustment

Anxious mothers’ parenting, particularly transfer of threat information, has been considered important in their children’s risk for social anxiety disorder (SAnxD), and maternal narratives concerning potential social threat could elucidate this contribution. Maternal narratives to their pre-school 4-5 year-old children, via a picture book about starting school, were assessed in socially anxious (N=73), and non-anxious (N=63) mothers. Child representations of school were assessed via Doll Play (DP). After one school term, mothers (CBCL) and teachers (TRF) reported on child internalizing problems, and child SAnxD was assessed via maternal interview. Relations between these variables, infant behavioral inhibition, and attachment, were examined. Socially anxious mothers showed more negative (higher threat attribution), and less supportive (lower encouragement) narratives, than controls, and their children’s DP representations, SAnxD and CBCL scores were more adverse. High narrative threat predicted child SAnxD; lower encouragement predicted negative child CBCL scores and, particularly for behaviorally inhibited children, TRF scores and DP representations. In securely attached children, CBCL scores and risk for SAnxD were affected by maternal anxiety and threat attributions, respectively. Low encouragement mediated the effects of maternal anxiety on child DP representations, and CBCL scores. Maternal narratives are affected by social anxiety, and contribute to adverse child outcome.

The impact of date palm fruits and their component polyphenols, on gut microbial ecology, bacterial metabolites and colon cancer cell proliferation

The fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a rich source of dietary fibre and polyphenols. We have investigated gut bacterial changes induced by the whole date fruit extract (digested date extract; DDE) and its polyphenol-rich extract (date polyphenol extract; DPE) using faecal, pH-controlled, mixed batch cultures mimicking the distal part of the human large intestine, and utilising an array of microbial group-specific 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes. Fluorescence microscopic enumeration indicated that there was a significant increase in the growth of bifidobacteria in response to both treatments, whilst whole dates also increased bacteroides at 24 h and the total bacterial counts at later fermentation time points when compared with DPE alone. Bacterial metabolism of whole date fruit led to the production of SCFA, with acetate significantly increasing following bacterial incubation with DDE. In addition, the production of flavonoid aglycones (myricetin, luteolin, quercetin and apigenin) and the anthocyanidin petunidin in less than 1 h was also observed. Lastly, the potential of DDE, DPE and metabolites to inhibit Caco-2 cell growth was investigated, indicating that both were capable of potentially acting as antiproliferative agents in vitro, following a 48 h exposure. This potential to inhibit growth was reduced following fermentation. Together these data suggest that consumption of date fruits may enhance colon health by increasing beneficial bacterial growth and inhibiting the proliferation of colon cancer cells. This is an early suggestion that date intake by humans may aid in the maintenance of bowel health and even the reduction of colorectal cancer development.

Impact of palm date consumption on microbiota growth and large intestinal health: a randomised, controlled, cross-over, human intervention study

The reported inverse association between the intake of plant-based foods and a reduction in the prevalence of colorectal cancer may be partly mediated by interactions between insoluble fibre and (poly)phenols and the intestinal microbiota. In the present study, we assessed the impact of palm date consumption, rich in both polyphenols and fibre, on the growth of colonic microbiota and markers of colon cancer risk in a randomised, controlled, cross-over human intervention study. A total of twenty-two healthy human volunteers were randomly assigned to either a control group (maltodextrin-dextrose, 37·1 g) or an intervention group (seven dates, approximately 50 g). Each arm was of 21 d duration and was separated by a 14-d washout period in a cross-over manner. Changes in the growth of microbiota were assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation analysis, whereas SCFA levels were assessed using HPLC. Further, ammonia concentrations, faecal water genotoxicity and anti-proliferation ability were also assessed using different assays, which included cell work and the Comet assay. Accordingly, dietary intakes, anthropometric measurements and bowel movement assessment were also carried out. Although the consumption of dates did not induce significant changes in the growth of select bacterial groups or SCFA, there were significant increases in bowel movements and stool frequency (P<0·01; n 21) and significant reductions in stool ammonia concentration (P<0·05; n 21) after consumption of dates, relative to baseline. Furthermore, date fruit intake significantly reduced genotoxicity in human faecal water relative to control (P<0·01; n 21). Our data indicate that consumption of date fruit may reduce colon cancer risk without inducing changes in the microbiota.

IHRM and expatriation in Japanese MNCs: HRM practices and their impact on adjustment and job performance

Studies of international human resource management (IHRM) have pointed out that Japanese multinational companies (MNCs) tend to use more parent-country nationals (PCNs) than do western MNCs. The ethnocentric staffing policies imply that the management of expatriation has a greater influence on the success of Japanese MNCs. We use survey data from 149 Japanese repatriates to examine the relationship between IHRM practices – selection, preparation and corporate support – and expatriate adjustment and job performance, as well as identify differences by the location of assignment. We find that selection criteria, language ability and familiarity with local cultures are positively related to work adjustment, and that leadership and relational abilities are slightly associated with job performance though there were no significant relationships between considerations for family situations and adjustment or job performance. The results also reveal that HRM practices while abroad, in particular the interactive exchange of information between expatriates and the headquarters, have a significant influence. Pre-departure preparation programs are not related to the dependent variables. The data also suggests that living and working in China is a particular problem for Japanese expatriates.