General Knowledge Questions

Primary productivity refers to plants that make their own food using sunlight, water and availability of nutrients. Hence, they are not limited by time.

When exports are greater than imports, net exports are positive and similarly, when imports are greater than exports, net exports are negative.

When a country imports goods, it buys them from foreign producers. The money spent on imports leaves the economy, and that decreases the importing nation's GDP.

Fermentation is the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving effervescence and the giving off of heat.

The two most common types of fermentation are

(1) alcoholic fermentation (and) 

(2) lactic acid fermentation.

(1) Alcoholic fermentation : the type of fermentation in which ethyl alcohol is the main end product .This is very common in yeast (unicellular fungus) and also seen in some bacteria. Yeast cells release enzymes called zymase complex which bring about the fermentation. The reactions are similar to anaerobic respiration.

(2) Lactic acid fermentation : The type of fermentation in which lactic acid is the end product.

It is carried out by some bacteria (e.g. lactic acid bacteria), and also by animals (muscle glycolysis in animals, under oxygen deficiency, results in the formation of lactic acid this is whay we experience in muscle cramps, or "Charley horse").

IBM - International Business Machines Corporation has a nickname as Big Blue.

To reduce the risk of bacterial contamination, many foods must be stored in the refrigerator and thus kept below 5 degrees Celsius. These foods are often classified as ‘high-risk foods’ and include – meat, poultry, dairy, seafood, eggs, smallgoods and cooked rice and pasta. This also refers to ready-to-eat foods that have high-risk foods as ingredients and include – casseroles, quiche, pasta salad, pizza, sandwiches and many cakes.

By keeping these high-risk foods under 5 degrees Celsius it stops them from entering the ‘danger-zone’ – temperatures between 5 degrees Celsius and 60 degrees Celsius. The danger-zone is the temperature zone which provides bacteria with the perfect environment to rapidly grow and multiply to numbers that cause food poisoning.

P J Nayak