Fresh banana is highly perishable fruit; about 30% of the banana production is lost after harvest. There is a need for alternative uses for banana fruit to help reduce the post-harvest losses such as utilizing food product. Currently, banana fruit and flour are of interest due to their nutritional and antioxidant value. The objective of this study was to evaluate the banana fruit and flour physical, chemical and functional properties and incorporate it into food products. Mature green banana fruit from two varieties; 'Williams' and 'Baradika' were subjected to some ripening properties determination, the dried pulp then milled and sieved to obtain flour. The flour was subjected to physiochemical properties determinations. The flour was then incorporated with other ingredients to make baked and fried tortilla chips. The results revealed that the net weight of the dried sample (flour) was 30.5-38.1 and ash content was 3.20-2.1 for 'Williams' and 'Baradika,' respectively. The pasting properties of both flours were appropriate to be used in baked or fried products. The sensory properties of all prepared products were acceptable. While fried products were superior compared to baked ones, the differences within the cultivars were not significant. Total marketing costs of 'Williams' banana chips were EGP 2900/ ton, while it was about 8595 pounds/ton for tortilla chips. For 'Baradika' it recorded 2900 pounds/ton for banana chips and 6195 EGP/ton for tortilla chips. Hence, postharvest loss of banana fruit can be reduced by utilizing them in food products.
Subway stations play a significant role in big cities today. This research aims to develop an integrated system that makes the best use of the budgets allocated for the rehabilitation of Cairo metro stations, based on stations condition assessment. The main problem is the lack of accurate assessment and decision-making optimization tools for Cairo metro stations condition. This, in turn, adversely affects the stations selected for rehabilitation and, thus, the misdirection (non-optimal) of the budgets allocated to the development of these stations. The appropriate methods and techniques of collecting and analyzing data are applied. They were collected from the reviewed literature concerning subway station facility management systems, as well as experts in the field. Data collection was followed by the analytic hierarchical process (AHP) and linear programming/integer programming and ended with the selection of stations prior to restoration or maintenance depending on the available budget or capital program. This system would be helpful in subway stations facilities decision-making by the concerned authorities like NAT (National Authority of Tunnels) or Cairo Metro Co. This system was applied to a sample of Cairo metro stations and concluded with some results. The first of them is reducing and optimizing the great allocated budgets by using the developed model. Another result is that the most important factors influencing the evaluation of the metro station are the structure, architecture, and hydromechanics, respectively.
One of the common types of cheese manufactured in Iraq is Al-arab cheese. The reason for this is due to high proportion of protein ,texture and price. However, the conventional way that used to produce and sell it affords many opportunities for microbial contamination. To determine the hygiene quality of Al-arab cheese production in Diyala, 75 samples were collected randomly from (Baqubah, Dali Abbas, Khalis, Jalawlaa, Khan bani saad) towns. All samples were cultured on nutrient agar and positive culture was subjected to antibiotics susceptibility test using (Trimethoprim, Tetracycline Vancomycin, Cloxacilin, and Amoxicillin). Staphylococcus aureus recovered from Baqubah, Khalis, Khan bani saad, and Jalawlaa respectively (80% ,60%, 40% and 20%). Escherichia coli was the predominant in samples gathered from Dali abbas, Baqubah, Khalis, and Jalawlaa respectively (80%, 60%,60% and 20%). pseudomonas spp. Recovered from Baqubah, Khalis, and Dali abbas respectively (40%, 10% and 40%). Salmonella spp. was recorded the lowest percentage of contamination (10%) in the samples were collected from Al-Khalis Trimethoprim was effective against S. aureus and Klebsiella with mean inhibitory zone diameter 34mm and 36,7mm respectively while the inhibitory zone diameter for E. coli was (30.3) toward tetracycline.
Previous studies of autoshaping of drinking report a positive relationship between experience with autoshaping procedures and drinking, but this effect was confounded with age, as the rats were older when they drank more. The present experiment evaluated the effects of the age of male Long-Evans hooded rats [90-days old (Younger group) vs. 135 days old (Older group)], at the beginning of the study, on drinking induced by Pavlovian autoshaping procedures. Autoshaping procedures consisted of pairings of sipper conditioned stimulus (CS) with food unconditioned stimulus (US). Rats were deprived of neither food or fluid, and sweeteners were not employed at any time during the study. For all rats (n = 32), during sessions 1-10, the sipper CS contained water. Thereafter, for rats in the Ethanol groups (n = 20), the sipper CS contained ethanol, with the concentration (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6%, v/v) increasing across autoshaping sessions. For rats in the Water groups (n = 12), throughout the experiment the sipper CS contained tap water (0% ethanol). Rats in the Younger group drank more ethanol and more water from the sipper CS than rats in the Older group, and across age groups there was more ethanol drinking than water drinking, an effect unlikely due to foraging for calories. Data support the hypothesis that ethanol's pharmacological effect was to enhance autoshaping, resulting in a positive feedback loop inducing still more ethanol drinking. The younger rats were more vulnerable to autoshaping effects. Implications for models of addiction are discussed.
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