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29 articles

Optimization of drying temperature and time in gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf powder processing as hop substitute in commercial beer brewing industries

Jun 2017 DOI 10.14302/issn.2835-2165.jfsh-17-1556
Demissew AyalewCorresponding author Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute

Beer is typically brewed from four basic ingredients (water, a starch source, brewer’s yeast and flavoring agent such as hops). In Ethiopian case hops are coasty ingredient of beer which is imported with hard currency of the country. But this flavoring agent (hops) in beer production can also be substituted by locally available flavouring agent called gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf. In this study the effect of drying temperature and time on brewing components of gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf was examined using oven dryer. Brewing components of gesho “Rhamuns Prinoide” leaf were compared by taking the commercial hop brewing component as a standard. Drying temperature and time have a significant effect (P< 0.05) on major beer brewing components (Resin, Hop oil, Polyphenol, Mineral and Protein) of gesho leaf. Not only drying temperature and time but also the interaction effect has significant effect on these major brewing components of the leaf. The optimal drying temperature and time of gesho leaf was also determined to commercialize the gesho leaf powder or pellet as hop substitute in commercial beer brewers as flavouring

Rescuing Canavan Disease by Redirecting Metabolic Processing: Support for the Astrocyte Hypothesis of Canavan Disease Generation and A Possible Human Cure

Apr 2017 DOI 10.14302/issn.2572-5424.jgm-17-1482
H Baslow MorrisCorresponding author Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research

Canavan disease (CD) is a globally occurring but rare human spongiform leukodystrophy that is associated with inborn errors affecting the activity of aspartoacylase (ASPA), an enzyme highly expressed in oligodendrocytes that hydrolyzes N-acetylaspartate (NAA). Lack of ASPA activity is associated with the inability of oligodendrocytes to build or maintain axon-enveloping myelin sheaths. The primary source of NAA in brain is neurons, cells that synthesize but cannot catabolize it. Neurons also synthesize N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) from NAA and glutamate but cannot catabolize this substance as well. For their metabolism, these substances are released to extracellular fluid and are metabolized by oligodendrocyte ASPA and astrocyte NAAG peptidase respectively. A hypothesis developed suggested that the cause of the leukodystrophy component in CD was due to release of NAAG by neurons at white matter nodes of Ranvier, its catabolism by astrocytes forming NAA and increased osmotic-hydrostatic pressure as a result of its buildup at these nodes due to the lack of ASPA activity. In this communication, we provide evidence supporting this hypothesis and comment on the cause and possible cure for human CD.

Antioxidant Activity Open Access

Induction of Antioxidant Capacity and Hydroxymethylfurfural Content Variations by Modifications of Cooked Fruit Processing.

Dec 2015 DOI 10.14302/issn.2471-2140.jaa-15-797
Kevers ClaireCorresponding author Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and CEDEVIT B22, University of Liège Chemin de la Vallée, 4, Sart Tilman, 4000 Liège Belgium

Liège syrup is a Belgian traditional cooked fruit foodstuff, produced mainly from apples and pears. The process includes several hours of heating at high temperature during which complex chemical reactions occur, such as Maillard condensation between reducing sugars and amino acids. Aiming at understanding the modifications of the fruit juices during heating, different parameters were monitored throughout the process. It was shown that hydoxymethylfurfural was formed during the first step of concentration by heating. At the end of the process, hydroxymethylfurfural had totally disappeared and the deep brown color of the product suggested that this compound was transformed into melanoidins. A parallel increase in antioxidant capacity was also observed. To determine optimal conditions to reach high melanoidin content and high antioxidant capacity, different in vitro model systems were compared. It was shown that different combinations of an amino acid with glucose or fructose led to different levels of hydroxymethyfurfural, of melanoidins and antioxidant capacity. After heating of apple or pear puree, an increase of the antioxidant capacity and the hydroxymethylfurfural and melanoidin contents was observed when the heating time was doubled. An increase of the pH from 5 to 9 in apple marmalade’s also induced an increase in antioxidant capacity and in hydroxymethylfurfural and melanoidins. However it was not the case in pear marmalade where only the increase in antioxidant capacity was observed. These results suggest that some parameters of the processing could be modified to improve the health-promoting effect of this traditional food (antioxidant properties and composition in hydroxymethylfurfural and melanoidins). The main factors affecting the quality of the final product were the cooking times, the temperature, the pH, the addition of reducing sugars or amino acids.

How Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Merges with Hypnotism and Solution- Focused Methods

Dec 2025
Darvishzadeh Nooshabadi GolnazCorresponding author

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has proven effective in over 120 outcome studies, particularly for anxiety, depression, and personality disorders. This conceptual paper proposes a theoretical integration of ISTDP with Solution- Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and clinical hypnosis. Each modality offers unique strengths—ISTDP enables rapid emotional processing, SFBT builds client resilience and solutions, and hypnosis enhances neuroplasticity and emotional receptivity. Drawing on existing empirical and neuroscientific literature, this paper synthesizes these modalities into a unified clinical framework. The integrated model emphasizes accelerated change through emotional access, strategic future orientation, and unconscious facilitation. Case examples illustrate the framework's practical applications across complex clinical presentations. The integration addresses gaps in single-modality treatments and provides a cost-effective, neurobiologically supported method of intervention. This article offers clinicians structured decision- making strategies and practical tools for real-time integration, while outlining future directions for empirical research.

Correlation of Fast Food Consumption and Overweight/Obesity among Undergraduate Students at the University of Hargeisa in Hargeisa, Somaliland

Dec 2025
Gebretsadik Bereka SolomonCorresponding author

Background Fast food consumption is the major cause of obesity and overweight in worldwide affecting more than 2 billion people, especially developing countries and low income countries. It can lead to hyperinsulinemia and development of insulin resistance, high energy density, high glycemic index, and fatty acid composition of fast foods may increase the prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors Objectives The main aim of this study was, to assess fast food consumption and its association with overweight /obesity among undergraduate students of University Hargeisa, Somaliland, 2023. Methods The study was carried out from May 01 to July 20, 2023 at University of Hargeisa using an institutional based cross-sectional study design to among 260 students. The study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was prepared based on review literatures and dig out from related studies. The anthropometric data was taken by data collectors to measure weight and height using a stadiometer. Data was entered and checked for errors using EPI-info version 7.1.5.0 and then, data were exported to statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 21 and STATA software version 14 for data processing and analysis. Descriptive statistics such as; frequencies, means and proportion was used for present the findings. A variable with P-values of less than 0.25 in the binary logistic regression analysis was entered into a multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify the independent predictors of stunting. Finally, variable at P-value less than 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression analysis was considered as a statistically significant variable. Results In this study, the majority 235 (90.4%, CI: 86.5- 93.8) of the study participants were fast food consumers. The study revealed that, from the total study participants 46(17.7%),127(48.8%),84(32.3%), 3(1.2%) were underweight, normal, overweight and obese respectively. A chi-square test revealed that there was a significant (p-value=0.058) associations between BMI and fast food consumption among students of University of Hargeisa. On multi-variable logistic regression model educational level of the students (AOR = 12.45 (95% CI: 1.7, 14.6)) and frequency of fruit (AOR = 0.76, 95% CI (0.7, 0.8)) and vegetable consumptions (AOR = 0.51, 95% CI (0.47, 0.575)) were found to be significantly associated with fast food consumptions (p < 0.05). Conclusion In this study, of the total 90.4% number of fast food consumers. A chi-square test revealed that there was a significant (p-value=0.058) associations between BMI and fast food consumption among students of University of Hargeisa. Educational level of the students and frequency of fruit and vegetable consumptions were found to be significantly associated with fast food consumptions. Effort should be made to increase access to fast food-related information and counseling.

Comparative Study of Deep Learning Techniques for Detecting Corn Plant Leaf Diseases Using Transfer Learning

Mar 2025 DOI 10.14302/issn.2638-4469.japb-25-5395
Divakar ChennamsettiCorresponding author

Plant leaf diseases pose significant threats to crop yield and agricultural sustainability, making early and accurate detection crucial for effective disease management. In current years, deep neural network (DNN) techniques have shown remarkable potential in the field of image classification, including plant disease detection. The study aims to investigate the performance of two popular deep learning architectures, namely, VGG16 and InceptionResNetV2, for the detection of tomato plant leaf disease. The proposed methodology involves acquiring a diverse dataset comprising high-resolution images of healthy and diseased leaves from the target crops. Preprocessing techniques such as image augmentation and normalization are applied to enhance the generalization ability of the models and mitigate overfitting. Transfer learning is employed to initialize the deep learning architectures with weights pre-trained on large-scale image datasets to accelerate convergence and improve the models' performance in limited data scenarios. To evaluate performance of proposed networks various metrics such as validation and test accuracies, precision and recall, F1 score, and the area under the curve (AUC) are considered. From the investigations, the classification accuracy of the finest architectures is as follows: 99.8 percent for VGG16 and 99.4 percent for InceptionResNetV2 on Corn Leaves. The results suggest that the models developed during the investigation phase to identify the leaf disease were superior to any existing Deep Neural Networks (DNNs).

Agronomy Research Open Access

Evaluation Of Physicochemical Separation Characteristics of Pig Manure According to the Type of Solid-Liquid Separator Processes

Aug 2023 DOI 10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-23-4682
Lee MyunggyuCorresponding author

Objectives The solid-liquid separation (SLS) process generally separates solid and liquid fractions in wastewater and livestock manure. The solid-liquid separation process is an essential pretreatment step for the recycling and purification of pig manure. This study has assessed the separation and/or reduction efficiency by various SLS processes used in pig farms. Methods Seven types of SLS processes (centrifuge, centrifuge (+coagulation agent), belt press (+ coagulation agent), drum screen, inclined screen, vibration screen, and screw press) were used on 11 pig farms and conducted a comparative analysis. As for the sample in this study, the pig raw manure before treatment, the separated liquid and solid manure after treatment of the SLS process collected, respectively. These samples were provided for pH, EC(electrical conductivity) moisture content, CODMn, BOD5, TN, TP, K, TS, SS, NaCl, and heavy metals analysis. Results and Discussion The belt press (+coagulation agent) process had the highest TS and SS reduction rate of 78.8% and 96.9%, respectively. The highest removal efficiency of TN and TP was41.0% and 94.2% by belt press (+coagulation agent) and centrifuge (+coagulation agent),respectively. The belt press (+coagulation agent) removed 59.4% and 66.0% of BOD5 and CODMn,respectively. The Zn and Cu were removed 100% and 98.6% by centrifuge (+coagulation agent).However, the drum screen, inclined screen, vibration screen, screw press, and centrifuge showed lower removal efficiency of nutrient contents, solids, Zn, and Cu than centrifugal and belt press processes with chemical coagulation. Conclusions The centrifugal and belt press separation processes that used chemical coagulation showed much more removal efficiency of nutrient contents, solids, and metals like Zn and Cu. Although SLS with chemical coagulants is an effective pre-treatment process for liquid manure treatment and helps removal effect for suspended solids, nutrients, and heavy metals, further studies are needed on how it affects biological or chemical processing processes that are linked.

Review of Human, Social and intellectual capital in the Covid-19 era

Apr 2023 DOI 10.14302/issn.2692-1537.ijcv-21-4040
Garcìa Lirios CruzCorresponding author

The health and economic crisis caused by the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus and the Covid-19 disease has accelerated the emergence of an informational economy focused on the use of electronic networks. The impact of this scenario on education led to the transition from the traditional classroom to the electronic whiteboard. The objective of the present work was to analyze the relationships between human, social and intellectual capital. A model was established in which the prevalence of human capital formation indicated by data processing in the virtual classroom and self-management of knowledge is appreciated.

Antioxidant Activity Open Access

Production of dried tomato powder with a high concentration of functional components and nutrients

Mar 2023 DOI 10.14302/issn.2471-2140.jaa-23-4426
Sasaki MitsuruCorresponding author

The use of conventional drying methods for dehydrating vegetables and fruits with high sugar, amino acid, and moisture content is not feasible. Under extreme conditions, drying reduces the amount of functional ingredients present in these vegetables and fruits. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for powdered tomatoes because of their nutritional and functional components. This study aimed to evaluate tomato drying under normal pressure and low-temperature conditions, to efficiently reduce water content without compromising on product quality. A convection dryer, most widely used in food factories, was used in this study. This equipment uses a low temperature zone not normally used for drying, and processes the raw material to increase the drying area for rapid drying. The proposed method was validated by comparing the moisture and functional component contents, and the antioxidant activity of the dried product with those of the dried product obtained via freeze-drying. The results suggest that the proposed low-temperature drying method can produce functional dried food at food processing sites faster than using freeze-drying, with a residual rate of functional ingredients exceeding 90 %. Thus, low-temperature drying can be used as a simple and cost-effective method for the production of uniform dry tomato powder.

Design of Stopwatch based on STC89C52 Single Chip Microcomputer

Mar 2022 DOI 10.14302/issn.2766-8681.jcsr-22-4126
Sun YongjianCorresponding author University of Jinan

This design is according to the requirements of the wide rider, and the Multi-function bike computer has the function of velocity measurement, display, timing, lighting, buzzer warning, which could satisfy the requirements of cycling enthusiasts. This design is based on STC89C52 SCM (Single Chip Microcomputer) smallest system and uses hall sensor receives the bicycle wheel rotation numbers date, and then transmit the received data into the SCM. After the SCM’s calculation and processing, it gets the bicycle’s instantaneous speed, mileage, riding time through the LED display the date. The part of software programming use C language, which compiles and downloads by the Keil and STC-ISP. This design uses Proteus to make the circuit diagram drawing and system simulation. The overall program adopted modular approach, and each module has a special function. The idea which makes the program more clear, is advantageous to the optimization of code logic and modification.

Antioxidant Activity Open Access

Comparison of Quality and Microstructure of Strawberry Powders Prepared by Two Different Drying Methods: Low Temperature Drying with Convection Dryer and Vacuum Freeze Drying

Feb 2022 DOI 10.14302/issn.2471-2140.jaa-22-4083
Sasaki MitsuruCorresponding author Institute of Industrial Nanomaterials (IINa), Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.

Convection dryers are the most affordable and most commonly used dryers for processing of agricultural products. However, since the temperature is high or the drying time is long, materials such as fruits and vegetables may turn brown and the nutrients deteriorate, therefore this method is not suitable for the production of dry powders for fruits and vegetables, which are expected to have bright colors and nutritional functions. Low temperature drying (LTD) has made it possible to produce strawberry dry powder with the equivalent functional components as powder by vacuum freeze drying (FD). In addition, the processing time is shorter and the cost is lower than vacuum FD. In this study, we demonstrate the superiority of LTD by comparing the quality and microstructure of strawberry powders produced by LTD and vacuum FD.

Characterization of the Vaccine Abdala

Dec 2021 DOI 10.14302/issn.2691-8862.jvat-21-3999
Pino Marrero KatiaCorresponding author Holguin's university of medical sciences, Cuba.

Vaccines symbolize the main pandemic control tool in the world, which is why they are the object of study in many investigations. In this work, the Abdala vaccine was characterized in terms of adverse reactions by conducting a survey and statistical processing of the data taken through distribution graphs of the same, developed in the Minitab software 16. Of the people involved, 47.67% presented Symptoms that were mild to moderate with the presence of pain in the area of the injection, drowsiness and decay, mainly. Based on the distribution of the data in histograms, the duration of these symptoms was approximately 1 day. Likewise, it was observed that the symptoms occur mainly in females, for 33.72% of the cases in the first dose and 23.26% after the second dose was applied.

The Use of Metabolomic Tool in Assessing Environmental Exposure

Oct 2021 DOI 10.14302/issn.2690-0904.ijoe-21-3966
Polyana Rocha Mendes MicheleCorresponding author Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The impact of the environment on the development of non-communicable chronic diseases has gained prominence in recent years. In this context, a new chemical exposure assessment strategy is needed that is capable of revealing multiple exposures, as well as reflecting the cumulative interaction between such environmental contaminants in the biological system. From this perspective, metabolomics emerges as a promising tool in this field of knowledge, since it is able to identify changes in metabolism and/or gene expression resulting from exposure to environmental factors. The aim of this study was to describe important concepts, as well as the steps that permeate the metabolomics analysis, and also to present some relevant works with the application of metabolomics in the assessment of chemical exposure. A literature review showed a significant increase in the use of metabolomics in environmental toxicology in recent years. This increase is mainly due to advances in analytical techniques and the improvement of data processing tools. However, this field of investigation remains little explored, especially with regard to the study of toxicity associated with chronic exposure to low levels of chemical agents. Thus, it is urgent that omic biomarkers can be used as a tool for decision-making, especially with a view to protecting, diagnosing and recovering human health.

Agronomy Research Open Access

Colored Anti-Hail Nets Modify the Ripening Parameters of Nebbiolo and a Smart NIRS can Predict the Polyphenol Features

Sep 2021 DOI 10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-21-3955
Masoero GiorgioCorresponding author Accademia di Agricoltura di Torino, Via A. Doria 10, 10123 Torino (Italy).

In the cultivation of vines the risk of hail appears to be increasing with the ongoing climate change. The use of protective plastic nets is spreading, but there is little knowledge on the additional processing costs and on the phenological and qualitative consequences, moreover, as depending on different colors of the nets. Thus, a randomized trial was carried out in Nebbiolo, a wine of great aging, testing three plastic anti-hail nets colored in green, gray and black. Results showed that 24% more-time was necessary for the canopy management practices under the nets. The black nets advanced the ripening process, with a berry weight decrease of about 13%. A significant decrease in the seed number per berry was observed under the black nets (-45%), while a rise (+102%) was observed under the green and gray nets with a parallel increase in the pH of the juice (+13%) and in malic acid (+28%) under the green nets. The berry skin did not show any significant differences in polyphenol and anthocyanin profiles, while the plants that matured in the upper part of the vineyard showed higher level in the berry skin extractable flavan-reactive to vanillin, and total polyphenol. On the other hand, in the seeds grown under green nets an increase in the extractable polyphenol compounds was observed, sign of a delay in seed ripening, with a higher tannin polymerization ratio, preserving the malic acid, and decreasing the acidity of the berry. In conclusion, the use of colored green may be a useful tool against excessive microclimatic warming and / or irradiation. The field internal variability affects much more the ripening dynamics than the nets used. A second aim was to develop a smart NIR SCiOTM model for polyphenols and the results were in line with the favorable expectations, providing R2 predictions of about 0.74 from the skin and 0.81 from the seeds.

Social Network Analysis of Integrated Medical Services for Hypertension – Using District Hospitals of Shanghai as a Model

Oct 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2329-9487.jhc-20-3584
Lu YuananCorresponding author School of Economics and management, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330006, PR China

Objective To examine the current linkage between different medical services for hypertension patients for enhanced integration among medical service systems. Methods A total of 18 hospitals and community medical centers from a district of Shanghai were enrolled for social network analysis which covered emergency visits and hospitalization records of 171,177 outpatients with hypertension. Stata software was used for data preprocessing and UCINET software was used for network analysis of medical service providers to quantify and visualize the network tightness and the "main role" of information delivery of the medical institution network in the area. Results The service network of hypertension consultation institutions in the region is closely connected as a whole, but the level of diagnosis and treatment of medical services in various communities varies widely, and the degree of association with higher-level medical institutions is not uniform. Conclusion Based on the limited tightness of various medical service providers, it is necessary to implement the responsibilities of individual medical institutions at different levels and pay more attention to improving the service capabilities of primary medical institutions for enhanced integrating medical services in future.

Evaluation of Physicochemical Properties and Mineral Content of some Indigenous Spices Retailed in Ibadan, Nigeria

Jul 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2379-7835.ijn-20-3471
Yewande BAMIGBOYE AdeolaCorresponding author Department of Science Laboratory Technology, The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Oyo State, Nigeria.

Spices have been frequently added to foods since ancient times, not only to enhance the taste but also as preservatives and medicinal agents. Their usage may be of concern due to possible contamination during processing and handling. The aim of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties and heavy metals concentrations in some indigenous spices sold at two main markets namely Bodija and Apata markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of eight commonly consumed spices were purposely analyzed for their proximate and mineral composition, physicochemical properties and anti-nutrients contents. Proximate analyses showed that the spices to contained (fresh matter ‘As consumed’) moisture content ranging from 11.74g in thyme to 59.36g/100g in scent leaves. Crude protein, fat, fibre, ash and carbohydrate contents ranged between 3.72 – 15.07g, 1.31 – 8.28g, 1.96 – 11.38g, 1.11 – 7.81g, and 17.80 – 50.77g/100g sample, respectively. All the spices contained high levels of potassium (176.3 – 739.6 mg), sodium (60.6 – 317 mg), calcium (78.5 – 423.9 mg), magnesium (82 – 322.1 mg) and iron (5.78 – 20.10 mg), but low levels of heavy metals – copper (0.17 – 0.68 mg), and manganese (0.32 – 1.05 mg)/100g respectively. Flavonoid was the most abundant phytochemical, while terpene was the least phytochemical in all the samples. The samples had very low concentrations of anti-nutrients, and could pose no threat to human health, as their values were within the regulatory standard. The antioxidants and phytochemicals in the spices can help in building up immunity and prevention of non-communicable diseases, hence, their consumption should be encouraged.

Agronomy Research Open Access

Geomatic Tools for Water Management in a Community Irrigation System, Cruz del Eje, Córdoba.

Apr 2019 DOI 10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-19-2735
Marcelo Scavuzzo C.Corresponding author

An integral and efficient management of water for irrigation requires the adoption of new technologies to respond to the challenges imposed by the agricultural sector, in particular to stabilize production through the adequate use of water resources. In this sense, it is vital to characterize and know the amount of area which is under irrigation in such agricultural systems. In this paper we show the use of satellite information data in a GIS environment with the objective of characterizing the productive areas under irrigation in Cruz del Eje, Córdoba, Argentina in 3 types: A) irrigation region B) irrigable area and C) actually irrigated area. Multitemporal image indices and segmentation were used for this characterization and then maps of these 3 types of agricultural land cover were generated. Additionally, we present simple satellite images processing and classification procedures to increase the knowledge about the land cover over this irrigated area. Finally, we discuss how this geographically explicit information generated could be useful for the decision-making process on current irrigated areas and on the potential of productive systems through community irrigation systems.

Cognitive Mechanism of Emotional Validity Influencing Conflict Control

Mar 2019 DOI 10.14302/issn.2574-612X.ijpr-18-2460
Xue SongCorresponding author School of psychology, Nanjing normal University, Nanjing, 210097, China

Conflict control is the ability to choose relevant information and ignore disturbing information in task processing. Previous studies have found that emotions have a certain influence on conflict control, and the research results of positive emotions and negative emotions affect conflict control are inconsistent. This study attempted to explore the effects of different emotional valorization on conflict control, using images of happy, fearful and sad emotional faces to investigate the effects of different emotional valorization and different emotional types on conflict control. The experiment selected 40 participants and used the variable-face Stroop paradigm. The study found that no matter what emotional task, there is a significant conflict effect. The effects of different valency on conflict control are different. All three emotions have a significant effect on conflict control, and positive emotions play a role in promoting conflict control.

Agronomy Research Open Access

Assessment of Water Quality of Blue Nile River in Sudan

Dec 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2639-3166.jar-18-2457
Haroun Mohamed Adam AbubakerCorresponding author Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, University of Bahri, Sudan.

The objectives of this study were to quantify the fresh water quality of Blue Nile River before processing, identify the pollutants, and to determine the most polluted areas, and their impacts on living organisms as well as the surrounding environment. Thus, random water samples were collected and analyzed at the laboratory of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, Ground water and Wadis Directorates - Khartoum. The outcomes were compared with the World Health Organization standardization. The results revealed variations in the concentration of the studied elements taken from the different locations. But, the results indicated that the water quality is good, and it is within the permissible water use. However, further study is recommended to include seasonal variation as well as the biological analysis.

Growth Pattern of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Cassava Mill Effluents

Oct 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2637-6075.jpae-18-2349
Chibueze Izah SylvesterCorresponding author Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island,Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Nigeria is the world leading producer of cassava. During processing of gari from cassava tuber large volume of effluents are discharged in the environment which is toxic to the environment and some of its associated biota. This study evaluated the growth pattern of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cassava mill effluents. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated from palm wine following standard microbiological procedure. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae was inoculated into the sterile effluents and incubated for 15 days. At every 3days interval, 1ml of the effluents was obtained from the medium and the population density determined. Results of the growth showed that the population of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were 0.00 x 106 cfu/ml at day 0 (without inoculum), which rose to 2.88 x 106 cfu/ml at day 3, 272.67 x 106 cfu/ml at day 12 and decline slightly at day 15 (13.57 x 106 cfu/ml). There was significant variations (P<0.05) among the various period of study. The study showed that the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the effluent was optimum at day 12, then after the density began to decline.

Microbiological and Nutritional Properties of Frankfurter-Type Fish Sausage

Aug 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2379-7835.ijn-18-2212
T NkrumahCorresponding author Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Fish meat is a common and broadly used food due to its high nutritional values yet the bones and flavour of fresh fish can be unpleasant. The unpleasant fishy flavour makes it difficult to handle and process. The fishy flavour is as a result of microbial presence and growth. Studies associated with microbial contaminations have concentrated more on the carcass. Such contaminations which affect the microbiological status of processed products can emanate from spices and other non-meat ingredients, environment, equipment and handlers. The successful application of processing/preservation technology results in the conservation of desirable qualities in stabilized and varietal fish products. This study sought to use fish in the manufacture of frankfurter-type sausages, which could have improved preservation characteristics without any adverse effects on sensory properties. The nutritional composition and microbiological safety of fresh fish and sausages were determined using the methods described by AOAC and ICMSF respectively. The study showed that, catfish sausages were higher in protein (15.69 %) and were lower in fat (10.66%) compared to the other sausages. Total Viable Counts (TVC) were within the accepted limits (106 and 107cfu/g) for fish and pork respectively. E. coli  was not detected in any of the treatments during frozen storage for 6 weeks. It was concluded that catfish frankfurter has high nutritive value because it contained less fat but with higher crude protein. Like pork frankfurters, both catfish and mackerel sausages could be stored for six weeks without any negative effects on microbial quality.

Literature Review Paper on Mechanical Properties of Types of Carbon Nanotubes

Aug 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2377-2549.jndc-18-2187
Randjbaran EliasCorresponding author Aerospace Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Level 7, Tower Block, Faculty of Engineering 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Among the numerous potential uses of carbon nanotubes (CNT), its utilization to fortify polymers was given careful consideration. This reason can be because of the remarkable firmness, magnificent quality, and the low thickness of CNT. This has given various chances to the innovation of new material frameworks for applications requiring high quality and high modulus. Exact control over preparing factors, including safeguarding flawless CNT structure, uniform scattering of CNT inside the polymer grid, compelling filler– lattice interfacial communications, and arrangement/introduction of polymer chains/CNT, add to the composite strands' unrivalled properties. Consequently, manufacture techniques assume an imperative part in deciding the composite filaments' microstructure and extreme mechanical conduct. The present best in the class of polymer/CNT elite composite filaments, particularly concerning processing– structure– execution, were looked into in this commitment. Future requirements for material by configuration approaches for handling these nano-composite frameworks were likewise examined.

Additive Manufacturing as A New Technique of Fabrication

Jul 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2831-8846.j3dpa-18-2207
Dehghanghadikolaei AmirCorresponding author Oregon State University, USA

Additive manufacturing (AM) is reshaping fabrication in engineering and clinical settings. This editorial highlights metal AM routes—SLS, SLM, DMLS, and EBM—and their application to patient-specific NiTi implants, where biocompatibility and shape-memory behavior are compelling. We note the current gaps that matter in practice: process parameter tuning, post-processing (heat treatment, coating, machining/finishing), and their effects on mechanical performance and corrosion. We invite contributions that quantify these trade-offs and expand AM beyond metals into polymers and ceramics, with clear comparisons across processes and materials. Our goal is to surface actionable findings that improve part quality, reliability, and clinical/industrial readiness.

Big Data Research Open Access

Big Data Research: Database and Computing

Apr 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2768-0207.jbr-17-1925
Bai QifengCorresponding author Key Lab of Preclinical Study for New Drugs of Gansu Province, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, P. R. China

Big data research has become popular and exciting studies in almost all scientific fields such as biology, chemistry, epidemiology, medicine and drug discovery. The various systems and platforms produce large amounts of data every day. It will be very helpful for the researchers and workers to deal with big data if the practical database and useful software are introduced in time. The Journal of Big Data Research (JBR) supplies an efficient and open access publishing platform for big data research. The first issue of JBR aims to foster the dissemination of high-quality big data studies in the biological, medical and chemical database as well as the new algorithm and software for big data processing. The database and computing framework are selected to introduce the development of big data in the biological, medicine and drug discovery. The mature and functional database can be serviced in big data research of scientific fields. It promotes the scientists to extract the useful and essential dataset from the massive data. The grid computing and cloud computing supplies a new paradigm that offers an effective framework of computing and services. The research papers are welcomed from the scopes of the practical database, new algorithm and software for big data studies. All these kinds of papers not only provide the effective application methods and platforms, but also give a good promising future for big data research.

Systems Biology Open Access

Ovarian Cancer Identification Based on Feature Weighting for High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry Data

Mar 2018
Liu XiaopingCorresponding author  School of Mathematics and Statistics, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai 264209, China

An important use of proteomics data from Mass Spectrometry (MS) is the classification of tumor types with respect to peptides in specific cancer types. It is highly critical to find an optimal set of markers among specific cancer peptides whose expression can be clinically utilized to build assays for the diagnosis or to track the progression of specific cancer types. A number of feature selection algorithms have been proposed to obtain the classification of MS data. In this article, we proposed an improved feature selection algorithm based on feature weighting. Relief algorithm can calculate the weight of different features according to the correlation between their characteristics and categories. F-score is a simple filter-based feature selection method by evaluating how two sets of real numbers discriminate from each other. The main goal of this paper is to introduce a new feature weighting selection algorithm combining score from f-value and weight from relief, which is more accurate when classifying high-resolution MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight) MS data. We have developed a four-step strategy for data processing based on: (1) Align the study sets by binning of raw MS data, (2) local maximum search(LMS) peak detection, (3) a new combination feature weighting selection algorithm and (4) support vector machines achieve a satisfactory performance of identifying cancer and the healthy. The best parameter set for LMS were achieved with control variable method, which achieve an average accuracy of 97.4167% (sd = 0.0146) and the best accuracy of 98.6111% in 1000 independent 10 -fold cross validations. 

Impacts of Cassava Mill Effluents in Nigeria

Feb 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2637-6075.jpae-17-1890
Chibueze Izah SylvesterCorresponding author Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island,Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Cassava is the fourth largest staple food after rice, wheat and maize. Cassava is produced in the tropical and sub-tropical countries. Currently, the global production of cassava is about 215,436,496 tons. Out of these, Nigeria accounts for 20.3%, being the largest producing nation. During processing of cassava flour (Gari), three main wastes are generated including cassava mill effluents (CME), solid and gaseous emission. This paper reviews the impacts of CME in Nigeria. The study found that CME’s physicochemical quality often exceeds the limit for effluents discharge onto land and surface water as recommended by Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), Nigeria. CME alters the quality of soil and water with regard to physicochemical, heavy metal and microbial characteristics. CME can induce toxicological effects on the environments and its biota including humans, fisheries, flora and fauna. The impacts are mostly associated with physicochemical (viz: odour, cyanide, acidic, dissolved oxygen, biological and chemical oxygen demand, conductivity) and heavy metals characteristics. Therefore, there is the need for treatment and sustainable management strategies of CME through biotechnological advancement.

Implementing a Cold-Chain System for Nutritional Assessment in Rural Uganda; Field Experiences from FtF Nutrition Innovation Lab Cohort Study

Feb 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2379-7835.ijn-17-1872
Agaba EdgarCorresponding author FTF Nutrition Innovation Lab, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

Objective: To elaborate on the procedures undertaken to establish blood draws and cold chain for nutrition assessments. Setting: A total of 5,044 birth cohort households were enrolled and assessed using household questionnaires, anthropometry, and blood sampling to assess nutritional issues and exposures to environmental contaminants. The challenge was to obtain, transport, process, store, and analyze tens of thousands of serum samples obtained in sites that were often difficult to reach. Approach:  Before enrollment began, 24 healthcare facilities in the North and Southwest of Uganda were assessed for suitability as local nodes for processing and storage. Equipment needs included functional centrifuges, refrigeration, ice machines, and -20oC freezers. Other important physical infrastructure included the presence of backup power (generator or solar generated) in the event of electricity failure. Once samples were obtained, they were transported within 5 hours to the facility laboratories, where serum was separated and aliquoted into properly labelled storage tubes and then frozen. Relevant Changes: At community level, our team visited households or small group of household members close to their homes to reduce on travel time hence contributed to high retention rates. Our immediate testing for anemia and malaria results benefited enrollees and enhanced community acceptance. By using Village Health Teams (VHTs), we could accommodate household preferences for the timing of sample collection. Our engagement with phlebotomists transformed their role from a simple service into active team members. Lessons Learned: Our first lesson was that in our setting, the success of this nutrition biological sampling system required community engagement and acceptance. By combining an immediately actionable set of tests (for anemia and malaria), and visiting cohort households, we greatly enhanced the success of the system.

A Randomized Controlled Biofeedback Intervention Study On Heart Rate Variability In Unemployed Subjects

Mar 2017 DOI 10.14302/issn.2476-1710.jdt-16-1332
Petrowski KatjaCorresponding author Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Dresden, Germany University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Fetscherstr.

Background: Unemployment is a chronic stressor which is associated with higher levels of impaired physical and mental wellbeing, e.g. reduced heart rate variability (HRV) and decline in self-esteem and self-efficacy. The present study investigated the effectivity of a HRV-biofeedback-training in increasing HRV and general self-efficacy. Method: A total of n = 22 unemployed individuals with adjustment disorder participated in this study (14 females, mean ages 42.53 ± 8.88 years). All participants performed randomized the “stress tests” for heart rate (HR) and HRV assessment: timed breathing, d2-attention-stress-test and math-test drawn from the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Four sessions HRV-biofeedback à 20 min within 2 weeks were administered. HR and HRV were assessed before and after biofeedback training. ECG preprocessing and analysis were performed with the Stressball software program (BioSign GmbH, Ottenhofen, Germany). The RMSSD time domain measure was calculated as HRV index. Clinical outcome measures were the ADNM total score and the general self-efficacy scale (GSE). Results: Participants were well matched in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. ANOVA didn’t demonstrate significant time x group interaction effects neither for HRV parameters (HR, RMSSD) nor for psychological parameters (ADNM, GSE). Conclusion: Our findings do not indicate that HRV-biofeedback can increase HRV nor general self-efficacy in unemployed subjects with adjustment disorder. Implications for future studies are discussed.

Energy Conservation Open Access

Waste Clay for Biodiesel Through Base Catalyzed Transesterification of Residual Cotton Seed Oil.

May 2015 DOI 10.14302/issn.2642-3146.jec-13-292
Ali ZeeshanCorresponding author Applied Chemistry Research Centre, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratories

After processing of cotton seed oil (CSO) the activated bleaching clay (ABC) is converted to low valued waste bleaching clay (WBC). The chemical composition of ABC from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan is found out as; SiO2 71.34, Al2O3 15.54, CaO 2.72, MgO 1.48, Na2O 0.51, K2O 0.23, Fe2O3 0.02. The clay has bleachability (74 %) and oil retention (32.70 %) by standard method (ASTM). The cotton seed oil recovered (CSOR) with polar/nonpolar solvents (31.1-36.3 %) have different FFA values (0.2-0.85). However, lower percentage of tri-esters (88 %) was found out in dark coloured CSOR as compare to freshly n-hexane extracted CSO (92.5 %) from edible oil refinery. The lower FFA (0.2) valued CSOR with n-hexane is transesterified at optimized conditions to mono alkyl esters (CSOR-FAME). The reaction was optimised by performing series of experiments to observe molar conc., of methanol-oil (3-18:1), catalysts; NaOH, NaOCH3, KOH, KOCH3- oil (0.25-1.5), temperature (20-80°C), reflux time (120 min) and mixing intensity (200-650 rpm). The maximum yield of biodiesel (98.5 %) has been found out by NaOCH3 (1.00 %) as catalyst, methanol-oil (6:1) at temperature (65°C) and stirring intensity (650 rpm). The properties of CSOR-FAME (biodiesel) are also under limits as per standards; ASTM 6751, EN 14214 and WBC/ CSOR-FAME appear to be an acceptable feedstock for fatty acids/biodiesel production as renewable fuel.

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