Abstract: The nutritional composition and hypoglycaemic effect
of crackers produced from blend of sprouted pigeon pea, unripe
plantain and brewers’ spent grain and fed to Alloxan induced diabetic
rat was investigated. Crackers were produced from different blends of
sprouted pigeon pea, unripe plantain and brewers’ spent grain. The
crackers were evaluated for proximate composition, amino acid
profile and antinutritional factors. Blood glucose levels of normal and
diabetic rats fed with the control sample and different formulations of
cracker were measured. The protein content of the samples were
significantly different (p
Abstract: This first-attempt study revealed that decolorized
intermediates of azo dyes could act as redox mediators to assist
wastewater (WW) decolorization due to enhancement of
electron-transport phenomena. Electrochemical impedance spectra
indicated that hydroxyl and amino-substituent(s) were functional
group(s) as redox-mediator(s). As azo dyes are usually multiple
benzene-rings structured, their derived decolorized intermediates are
likely to play roles of electron shuttles due to lower barrier of energy
gap for electron shuttling. According to cyclic voltammetric profiles,
redox mediating characteristics of decolorized intermediates of azo
dyes (e.g., RBu171, RR198, RR141, RBk5) were clearly disclosed.
With supplementation of biodecolorized metabolites of RR141 and
198, decolorization performance of could be evidently augmented.
This study also suggested the optimal modes of microbial fuel cell
(MFC)-assisted WW decolorization would be plug-flow or batch
mode of operation with no mix. Single chamber-MFCs would be more
favourable than double chamber MFCs due to non-mixing contacting
reactor scheme for operation.
Abstract: River Hindon is an important river catering the
demand of highly populated rural and industrial cluster of western
Uttar Pradesh, India. Water quality of river Hindon is deteriorating at
an alarming rate due to various industrial, municipal and agricultural
activities. The present study aimed at identifying the pollution
sources and quantifying the degree to which these sources are
responsible for the deteriorating water quality of the river. Various
water quality parameters, like pH, temperature, electrical
conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium, chloride,
nitrate, sulphate, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen
demand, and total alkalinity were assessed. Water quality data
obtained from eight study sites for one year has been subjected to the
two multivariate techniques, namely, principal component analysis
and cluster analysis. Principal component analysis was applied with
the aim to find out spatial variability and to identify the sources
responsible for the water quality of the river. Three Varifactors were
obtained after varimax rotation of initial principal components using
principal component analysis. Cluster analysis was carried out to
classify sampling stations of certain similarity, which grouped eight
different sites into two clusters. The study reveals that the
anthropogenic influence (municipal, industrial, waste water and
agricultural runoff) was the major source of river water pollution.
Thus, this study illustrates the utility of multivariate statistical
techniques for analysis and elucidation of multifaceted data sets,
recognition of pollution sources/factors and understanding
temporal/spatial variations in water quality for effective river water
quality management.
Abstract: Sewage sludge is a biomass resource that can create a
solid fuel and electricity. Utilizing sewage sludge as a renewable
energy can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. In Japan,
the "National Plan for the Promotion of Biomass Utilization" and the
“Priority Plan for Social Infrastructure Development" were approved
at cabinet meetings in December 2010 and August 2012, respectively,
to promote the energy utilization of sewage sludge. This study
investigated costs and greenhouse gas emission in different sewage
sludge treatments with technologies for energy from sewage sludge.
Expenses were estimated based on capital costs and O&M costs
including energy consumption of solid fuel plants and biogas power
generation plants for sewage sludge. Results showed that the cost of
sludge digestion treatment with solid fuel technologies was 8% lower
than landfill disposal. The greenhouse gas emission of sludge
digestion treatment with solid fuel technologies was also 6,390t as
CO2 smaller than landfill disposal. Biogas power generation reduced
the electricity of a wastewater treatment plant by 30% and the cost by
5%.
Abstract: In the present research, whole meal barley flour
(WBF) was supplemented with gelatinized corn flour (GCF) in 0 and
30%. Whole meal wheat flour (WWF) was mixed with defatted rice
bran (DRB) to produce 0, 20, 25, and 30% replacement levels.
Rheological properties of dough were studied. Thermal properties
and starch crystallinity of flours were evaluated. Flat bread, balady
bread and pie were prepared from the different flour blends. The
different bakeries were sensory evaluated. Color of raw materials and
crust of bakery products were determined. Nutrients contents of raw
flours and food products were assessed. Results showed that addition
of GCF to WBF increased the viscosity and falling number of the
produced dough. Water absorption, dough development time and
dough stability increased with increasing the level of DRB in dough
while, weakening and mixing tolerance index decreased.
Extensibility and energy decreased, while, resistance to extension
increased as DRB level increased. Gelatinized temperature of WWF,
WBF, GCF, and DRB were 13.26, 35.09, 28.33, and 39.63,
respectively. Starch crystallinity was affected when DRB was added
to WWF. The highest protein content was present in balady bread
made from 70% WWF and 30% DRB. The highest calcium,
phosphorus, and potassium levels were present in products made
from 100% WBF. Sensory attributes of the products were slightly
affected by adding DRB and GCF. Conclusion: Addition of DRB or
GCF to WWF or WBF, respectively affect the physical, chemical,
rheological and sensory properties of balady bread, flat bread, and pie
while improved their nutritive values.
Abstract: Online measurement of the product quality is a
challenging task in cement production, especially in the production of
Celitement, a novel environmentally friendly hydraulic binder. The
mineralogy and chemical composition of clinker in ordinary Portland
cement production is measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and
X-ray fluorescence (XRF), where only crystalline constituents can be
detected. But only a small part of the Celitement components can be
measured via XRD, because most constituents have an amorphous
structure. This paper describes the development of algorithms
suitable for an on-line monitoring of the final processing step of
Celitement based on NIR-data. For calibration intermediate products
were dried at different temperatures and ground for variable
durations. The products were analyzed using XRD and
thermogravimetric analyses together with NIR-spectroscopy to
investigate the dependency between the drying and the milling
processes on one and the NIR-signal on the other side. As a result,
different characteristic parameters have been defined. A short
overview of the Celitement process and the challenging tasks of the
online measurement and evaluation of the product quality will be
presented. Subsequently, methods for systematic development of
near-infrared calibration models and the determination of the final
calibration model will be introduced. The application of the model on
experimental data illustrates that NIR-spectroscopy allows for a quick
and sufficiently exact determination of crucial process parameters.
Abstract: Fresh concrete has one of dynamic properties known
as slump. Slump of concrete is design to compatible with placing
method. Due to hydration reaction of cement, the slump of concrete
is loss through time. Therefore, delayed concrete probably get reject
because slump is unacceptable. In order to recover the slump of
delayed concrete the second dose of superplasticizer (naphthalene
based type F) is added into the system, the slump recovery can be
done as long as the concrete is not setting. By adding superplasticizer
as solution for recover unusable slump loss concrete may affects
other concrete properties. Therefore, this paper was observed setting
times and compressive strength of concrete after being re-dose with
chemical admixture type F (superplasticizer, naphthalene based) for
slump recovery. The concrete used in this study was fly ash concrete
with fly ash replacement of 0%, 30% and 50% respectively. Concrete
mix designed for test specimen was prepared with paste content (ratio
of volume of cement to volume of void in the aggregate) of 1.2 and
1.3, water-to-binder ratio (w/b) range of 0.3 to 0.58, initial dose of
superplasticizer (SP) range from 0.5 to 1.6%. The setting times of
concrete were tested both before and after re-dosed with different
amount of second dose and time of dosing. The research was
concluded that addition of second dose of superplasticizer would
increase both initial and final setting times accordingly to dosage of
addition. As for fly ash concrete, the prolongation effect was higher
as the replacement of fly ash increase. The prolongation effect can
reach up to maximum about 4 hours. In case of compressive strength,
the re-dosed concrete has strength fluctuation within acceptable range
of ±10%.
Abstract: Cadmium oxide (CdO) nanoparticles have been
prepared by chemical coprecipitation method. The synthesized
nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis
(XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron
microscopy (TEM), UV analysis, and dielectric studies. The
crystalline nature and particle size of the CdO nanoparticles were
characterized by Powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The
morphology of prepared CdO nanoparticles was studied by scanning
electron microscopy. The particle size was studied using the
transmission electron microscopy (TEM).The optical properties were
obtained from UV-Vis absorption spectrum. The dielectric properties
of CdO nanoparticles were studied in the frequency range of 50 Hz–5
MHz at different temperatures. The frequency dependence of the
dielectric constant and dielectric loss is found to decrease with an
increase in the frequency at different temperatures. The ac
conductivity of CdO nanoparticle has been studied.
Abstract: Value addition to agricultural produce is of possible
potential in reducing poverty, improving food security and
malnutrition, therefore the need to develop small and microenterprises
of sweet potato production. A study was carried out in Nigeria to determine the acceptability
of blends sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) and commodities yellow
maize (Zea mays), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), soybean (Glycine
max), bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean), guinea corn
(Sorghum vulgare), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and roselle (Hibiscus
sabdariffa) through sensory evaluation. Sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) roots were processed using two
methods: oven and sun drying. The blends were also assessed in
terms of functional, chemical and color properties. Most acceptable blends include BAW (80:20 of sweet
potato/wheat), BBC (80:20 of sweet potato/guinea corn), AAB (60:40
of sweet potato/guinea corn), YTE (100% soybean), TYG (100%
sweet potato), KTN (100% wheat flour), XGP (80:20 of sweet
potato/soybean), XAX (60:40 of sweet potato/wheat), LSS (100%
Roselle), CHK (100% Guinea corn), and ABC (60:40% of sweet
potato/ yellow maize). In addition, carried out chemical analysis
revealed that sweet potato has high percentage of vitamins A and C,
potassium (K), manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and
iron (Fe) and fibre content. There is also an increase of vitamin A and
Iron in the blended products.
Abstract: Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
attracts over 500 million users across the world, for those users, their
social life, even their practical life, has become interrelated. Their
interaction with social networking has affected their life forever.
Accordingly, social networking sites have become among the main
channels that are responsible for vast dissemination of different kinds
of information during real time events. This popularity in Social
networking has led to different problems including the possibility of
exposing incorrect information to their users through fake accounts
which results to the spread of malicious content during life events.
This situation can result to a huge damage in the real world to the
society in general including citizens, business entities, and others. In this paper, we present a classification method for detecting the
fake accounts on Twitter. The study determines the minimized set of
the main factors that influence the detection of the fake accounts on
Twitter, and then the determined factors are applied using different
classification techniques. A comparison of the results of these
techniques has been performed and the most accurate algorithm is
selected according to the accuracy of the results. The study has been
compared with different recent researches in the same area; this
comparison has proved the accuracy of the proposed study. We claim
that this study can be continuously applied on Twitter social network
to automatically detect the fake accounts; moreover, the study can be
applied on different social network sites such as Facebook with minor
changes according to the nature of the social network which are
discussed in this paper.
Abstract: Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gas
(GHG) contributors. It is an obligation of the industry to reduce the
amount of carbon dioxide emission to the acceptable limits.
Tremendous research and studies are reported in the past and still the
quest to find the suitable and economical solution of this problem
needed to be explored in order to develop the most plausible absorber
for carbon dioxide removal. Amino acids can be potential alternate
solvents for carbon dioxide capture from gaseous streams. This is due
to its ability to resist oxidative degradation, low volatility and its
ionic structure. In addition, the introduction of promoter-like
piperazine to amino acid helps to further enhance the solubility. In
this work, the effect of piperazine on thermo physical properties and
solubility of β-Alanine aqueous solutions were studied for various
concentrations. The measured physicochemical properties data was
correlated as a function of temperature using least-squares method
and the correlation parameters are reported together with it respective
standard deviations. The effect of activator piperazine on the CO2
loading performance of selected amino acid under high-pressure
conditions (1bar to 10bar) at temperature range of (30 to 60)oC was
also studied. Solubility of CO2 decreases with increasing temperature
and increases with increasing pressure. Quadratic representation of
solubility using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) shows that
the most important parameter to optimize solubility is system
pressure. The addition of promoter increases the solubility effect of
the solvent.
Abstract: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease endemic in
many countries in the tropics and sub-tropics. The state of Punjab in
India shows cyclical and seasonal variation in dengue cases. The
Case Fatality Rate of Dengue has ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 in the past
years. The department has initiated review of the cases that have died
due to dengue in order to know the exact cause of the death in a case
of dengue. The study has been undertaken to know the other
associated co-morbidities and factors causing death in a case of
dengue. The study used the predesigned proforma on which the
records (medical and Lab) were recorded and reviewed by the expert
committee of the doctors. This study has revealed that cases of
dengue having co-morbidities have longer stay in hospital. Fluid
overload and co-morbidities have been found as major factors leading
to death, however, in a confirmed case of dengue hepatorenal
shutdown was found to be major cause of mortality. The data
obtained will help in sensitizing the treating physicians in order to
decrease the mortality due to dengue in future.
Abstract: This study investigated the effects of thermal
treatment on Tualang honey sample in terms of honey colour and
heat-induced small metabolites. The heating process was carried out
in a temperature controlled water batch at 90oC for 4 hours. The
honey samples were put in cylinder tubes with the dimension of 1 cm
diameter and 10 cm length for homogenous heat transfer. The results
found that the thermal treatment produced not only
hydroxylmethylfurfural, but also other harmful substances such as
phthalic anhydride and radiolytic byproducts. The degradation of
honey protein was due to the detection of free amino acids such as
cysteine and phenylalanine in heat-treated honey samples. Sugar
dehydration was also occurred because fragmented di-galactose was
identified based on the presence of characteristic ions in the mass
fragmentation pattern. The honey colour was found getting darker as
the heating duration was increased up to 4 hours. Approximately, 60
mm PFund of increment was noticed for the honey colour with the
colour change rate of 14.8 mm PFund per hour. Based on the
principal component analysis, the score plot clearly shows that the
chemical profile of Tualang honey was significantly altered after 2
hours of heating at 90oC.
Abstract: During the last decades, a number of food crises such
as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Mad-Cow disease,
Dioxin in chicken food, Food-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), have
certainly inflected the reliability of the food industry. Consequently,
the trend in applying different scientific methods of risk assessment
in food safety has obtained more attentions in the academic and
practice. However, lack of practical approach considering entire food
supply chain is tangible in the academic literature. In this regard, this
paper aims to apply risk assessment tool (FMEA) with integration of
Human Factor along the entire supply chain of food production and
test the method in a case study of Diary production, and analyze its
results.
Abstract: Strong anthropogenic impact has uncontrolled
consequences on the nature of the soil. Hence, up-to-date sustainable
methods of soil state improvement are essential. Investigators provide
the evidence that biochar can positively effects physical, chemical,
and biological soil properties and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi
which are in the focus of this study. The main aim of the present
investigation is to demonstrate the effect of two types of plant growth
promoting bacteria (PGPB) inoculums along with the beech wood
biochar and mineral N additives on mycorrhizal colonization.
Experiment has been set up in laboratory conditions with containers
filled with arable soil from the protection zone of the main water
source “Brezova nad Svitavou”. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) has been
selected as a model plant. Based on the obtained data, it can be
concluded that mycorrhizal colonization increased as the result of
combined influence of biochar and PGPB inoculums amendment. In
addition, correlation analyses showed that the numbers of main
groups of cultivated bacteria were dependent on the degree of
mycorrhizal colonization.
Abstract: This paper aimed to introduce the solution of concrete
slump recovery using chemical admixture type-F (superplasticizer,
naphthalene base) to the practice in order to solve unusable concrete
problem due to concrete loss its slump, especially for those tropical
countries that have faster slump loss rate. In the other hand, randomly
adding superplasticizer into concrete can cause concrete to segregate.
Therefore, this paper also develops the estimation model used to
calculate amount of second dose of superplasticizer need for concrete
slump recovery. Fresh properties of ordinary Portland cement
concrete with volumetric ratio of paste to void between aggregate
(paste content) of 1.1-1.3 with water-cement ratio zone of 0.30 to
0.67 and initial superplasticizer (naphthalene base) of 0.25%-1.6%
were tested for initial slump and slump loss for every 30 minutes for
one and half hour by slump cone test. Those concretes with slump
loss range from 10% to 90% were re-dosed and successfully
recovered back to its initial slump. Slump after re-dosed was tested
by slump cone test. From the result, it has been concluded that, slump
loss was slower for those mix with high initial dose of
superplasticizer due to addition of superplasticizer will disturb
cement hydration. The required second dose of superplasticizer was
affected by two major parameters, which were water-cement ratio
and paste content, where lower water-cement ratio and paste content
cause an increase in require second dose of superplasticizer. The
amount of second dose of superplasticizer is higher as the solid
content within the system is increase, solid can be either from cement
particles or aggregate. The data was analyzed to form an equation use
to estimate the amount of second dosage requirement of
superplasticizer to recovery slump to its original.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to assess the
sediment quality and potential ecological risk in marine sediments in
Gymea Bay located in south Sydney, Australia. A total of 32 surface
sediment samples were collected from the bay. Current track
trajectories and velocities have also been measured in the bay. The
resultant trace elements were compared with the adverse biological
effect values Effect Range Low (ERL) and Effect Range Median
(ERM) classifications. The results indicate that the average values of
chromium, arsenic, copper, zinc, and lead in surface sediments all
reveal low pollution levels and are below ERL and ERM values. The
highest concentrations of trace elements were found close to
discharge points and in the inner bay, and were linked with high
percentages of clay minerals, pyrite and organic matter, which can
play a significant role in trapping and accumulating these elements.
The lowest concentrations of trace elements were found to be on the
shoreline of the bay, which contained high percentages of sand
fractions. It is postulated that the fine particles and trace elements are
disturbed by currents and tides, then transported and deposited in
deeper areas. The current track velocities recorded in Gymea Bay had
the capability to transport fine particles and trace element pollution
within the bay. As a result, hydrodynamic measurements were able to
provide useful information and to help explain the distribution of
sedimentary particles and geochemical properties. This may lead to
knowledge transfer to other bay systems, including those in remote
areas. These activities can be conducted at a low cost, and are
therefore also transferrable to developing countries. The advent of
portable instruments to measure trace elements in the field has also
contributed to the development of these lower cost and easily applied
methodologies available for use in remote locations and low-cost
economies.
Abstract: Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most isolated bacteria
from blood circulation of septicemic calves. Given the prevalence of
septicemia in animals and its economic importance in veterinary
practice, better understanding of changes in clinical signs following
disease, may contribute to early detection of disorder. The present
study has been carried out to detect changes of clinical signs in
induced sepsis in calves with E. coli. Colisepticemia has been
induced in 10 twenty-day old healthy Holstein- Frisian calves with
intravenous injection of 1.5 X 109 colony forming units (cfu) of
O111:H8 strain of E. coli. Clinical signs including rectal temperature,
heart rate, respiratory rate, shock, appetite, sucking reflex, feces
consistency, general behavior, dehydration and standing ability were
recorded in experimental calves during 24 hours after induction of
colisepticemia. Blood culture was also carried out from calves four
times during experiment. ANOVA with repeated measure is used to
see changes of calves’ clinical signs to experimental colisepticemia,
and values of P≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Mean
values of rectal temperature and heart rate as well as median values
of respiratory rate, appetite, suckling reflex, standing ability and feces
consistency of experimental calves increased significantly during
study (P 0.05). The
results of present study showed that total score of clinical signs in
calves with experimental colisepticemia increased significantly,
although score of some clinical signs such as shock did not change
significantly.
Abstract: This study evaluated the acute toxicity and tissue
distribution of intravenously administered gold nanoparticles
(AuNPs) in male rabbits. Rabbits were exposed to single dose of
AuNPs (300 μg/ kg). Toxic effects were assessed via general
behavior, hematological parameters, serum biochemical parameters,
and histopathological examination of various rabbits’ organs.
Inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used
to determine gold concentrations in tissue samples collected at
predetermined time intervals. After one week, AuNPs exerted no
obvious acute toxicity in rabbits. However, inflammatory reactions
were observed in liver, lungs and kidneys accompanied with mild
absolute neutrophilia and significant monocytosis. The highest gold
levels were found in the spleen and liver followed by lungs, and
kidneys. These results indicated that AuNPs could be distributed
extensively to various tissues in the body, but primarily in the spleen
and liver.
Abstract: In 2009, the new HRM policy was implemented in
Qatar for public sector organisations. The purpose of this research is
to examine how Qatar’s 2009 HRM policy was significant in
influencing employee retention in public organisations. The
conducted study utilised quantitative methodology to analyse the data
on employees’ perceptions of such HRM practices as Performance
Management, Rewards and Promotion, Training and Development
associated with the HRM policy in public organisations in
comparison to semi-private organisations. Employees of seven public
and semi-private organisations filled in the questionnaire based on
the 5-point Likert scale to present quantitative results. The data was
analysed with the correlation and multiple regression statistical
analyses. It was found that Performance Management had the
relationship with Employee Retention, and Rewards and Promotion
influenced Job Satisfaction in public organisations. Relationship
between Job Satisfaction and Employee Retention was also observed.
However, no significant differences were observed in the role of
HRM practices in public and semi-private organisations.