Effect of marinating time and low pH on marinade performance and sensory acceptability of poultry meat

The effects of marinating time (30, 60, 120 and 180 min) and acidic marinade pH (3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.8, 4.0 and 4.2) on the instrumental and sensory properties of cooked Chinese-style marinated chicken were investigated. With increasing marinating time up to 180 min, a significant (P < 0.05) increase in surface redness (a∗ value) and the dark pink sensory attribute was observed, along with a corresponding decrease in lightness (L∗ value) and colour penetration. Increased marinating times of 120–180 min were found to produce more acceptable end products with increased scores for colour, aroma and flavour attributes. Marinade uptake was greater at higher marinade pH levels of 3.8, 4.0 and 4.2, with the highest marinade uptake (3.34%) recorded at pH 4.0. As changes to core meat pH were not observed, the effect of marinating time (up to 180 min) and marinade pH on the instrumental and sensory properties of Chinese-style marinated chicken were located principally at the surface of samples. Consumers considered surface colour as contributing to acceptability of marinated chicken to a greater degree compared to colour penetration.     

Anemia prevalence and risk factors in pregnant women in an urban area of Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Anemia affects almost two-thirds of pregnant women in developing countries and contributes to maternal morbidity and mortality and to low birthweight. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of anemia and the dietary and socioeconomic factors associated with anemia in pregnant women living in an urban community setting in Hyderabad, Pakistan. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study of 1,369 pregnant women enrolled at 20 to 26 weeks of gestation and followed to 6 weeks postpartum. A blood sample was obtained at enrollment to determine hemoglobin levels. Information on nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and practice and dietary history regarding usual food intake before and during pregnancy were obtained by trained interviewers within 1 week of enrollment. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia (defined by the World Health Organization as hemoglobin < 11.0 g/dL) in these subjects was 90.5%; of these, 75.0% had mild anemia (hemoglobin from 9.0 to 10.9 g/dL) and 14.8% had moderate anemia (hemoglobin from 7.0 to 8.9 g/dL). Only 0.7% were severely anemic (hemoglobin < 7.0 g/ dL). Nonanemic women were significantly taller, weighed more, and had a higher body mass index. Multivariate analysis after adjustment for education, pregnancy history, iron supplementation, and height showed that drinking more than three cups of tea per day before pregnancy (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [aPOR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3 to 8.0), consumption of clay or dirt during pregnancy (aPOR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 12.3), and never consuming eggs or consuming eggs less than twice a week during pregnancy (aPOR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.5) were significantly associated with anemia. Consumption of red meat less than twice a week prior to pregnancy was marginally associated with anemia (aPOR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.8 to 1.8) but was significantly associated with lower mean hemoglobin concentrations (9.9 vs. 10.0 g/dL, p = .05) during the study period. A subanalysis excluding women with mild anemia found similar associations to those of the main model, albeit even stronger. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of women at 20 to 26 weeks of pregnancy had mild to moderate anemia. Pica, tea consumption, and low intake of eggs and red meat were associated with anemia. Women of childbearing age should be provided nutritional education regarding food sources of iron, especially prior to becoming pregnant, and taught how food choices can either enhance or interfere with iron absorption.     

Photocatalytic activity and radiation-attenuation ability of copper ions surface-doped dysprosium oxide

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Herein, Cu ions surface-doped Dy2O3 photocatalyst (Cu–Dy2O3) is synthesized utilizing hydrothermal technique to degrade methyl violet...     

Deep learning neural network for texture feature extraction in oral cancer: enhanced loss function

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The use of a binary classifier like the sigmoid function and loss functions reduces the accuracy of deep learning algorithms. This research aims to increase the...     

Prediction of rotary drilling penetration rate in iron ore oxides using rock engineering system

Prediction of the drilling penetration rate is one of the important parameters in mining operations. This parameter has a direct impact on the mine planning and cost of mining operations. Generally, effective parameters on the penetration rate is divided into two classes: rock mass properties and specifications of the machine. The chemical components of intact rock have a direct effect in determining rock mechanical properties. Theses parameters usually have not been investigated in any research on the rock drillability. In this study, physical and mechanical properties of iron ore were studied based on the amount of magnetite percent. According to the results of the tests, the effective parameters on the penetration rate of the rotary drilling machines were divided into three classes: specifications of the machines, rock mass properties and chemical component of intact rock. Then, the rock drillability was studied using rock engineering systems. The results showed that feed, rotation, rock mass index and iron oxide percent have important effect on penetration rate. Then a quadratic equation with 0.896 determination coefficient has been obtained. Also, the results showed that chemical components can be described as new parameters in rotary drill penetration rate.     

ENERGY DISTRIBUTION OF BACKSCATTERED ELECTRONS FROM HEAVY METALS

The full energy distribution of backscattered electrons from the elastic peak down to the true-secondaty electron peak for heavy metals, Ta, W, Pt and Au, in Auger electron spectroscopy in the EN(E) mode has been studied with a Monte Carlo simulation method, which includes cascade-secondary-electron production. The simulation model is based on the use of a dielectric function for describing inelastic scattering and secondary excitation, and on the use of Mott cross sections for elastic scattering. A systematic comparison between the calculated and experimental spectra measured with a cylindrical mirror analyzer has been made for primary energies ranging from 1 to 5keV. Excellent agreement was obtained for these heavy metals on the backscattering background at primary energies in the keV region. A significant contribution of cascade secondary electrons to the measured spectra on the low-energy side was found.     

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF SPIN-POLARIZED SECONDARY ELECTRONS FROM IRON

A Monte Carlo model considering the electron spin direction and spin asymmetry has been developed. The energy distribution of the secondary electron polarization and the primary energy dependence of the polarization from Fe are studied. The simulation results show that: (1) the intensity of the spin-up secondary electrons is larger thanvthat of thevspin-down secondary electrons, suggesting the secondary electrons are spin polarized; (2) the spin polarization of secondary electrons with nearly zero kinetic energy is higher than the average valance spin polarization, Pb=27% for Fe. With increasing kinetic energy, the spin polarization of the secondary electrons decreases to the value of Pu remaining constant at higher kinetic energies; (3) the spin polarization increases with an increase in the primary energy and reaches a saturation value at higher primary energy in both the Monte Carlo simulation and experimental results.     

Spread Footing Foundation for Highway Bridge Applications

Shallow spread footings on soil are becoming an attractive choice for supporting highway bridge structures. However, to encourage their utilization, well-documented, comprehensive case histories must be established and made accessible to practicing bridge and geotechnical engineers. In addition, performance prediction methods for spread footing foundations must be verified further using carefully compiled field data. This paper is the writers' attempt toward achieving these goals, presenting details of a recently completed research project on 30 bridge spread footings in Ohio. The project data show that spread footings can be used successfully to support highway bridge structures on both cohesionless and cohesive soils, provided that the subsoil conditions are suitable and that the existing performance prediction methods are accurate.     

Impacts of broadband and selected infrared wavelength treatments on inactivation of microbes on rough rice

This study investigated the effects of broadband and selected infrared (IR) wavelength treatments of rough rice on microbial inactivation. Rough rice was treated at different IR wavelengths and product-to-emitter distances (110, 275, and 440 mm) followed by tempering at 60°C for 4 hr. The total mold and aerobic plate counts (APC) on non-treated and treated samples were determined. Significant total mold reductions of 1.14 and 3.11 log CFU/g were obtained after IR heating using broadband and selected wavelengths, respectively (p < .05). The most significant reduction of APC using selected IR wavelength was 1.09 log CFU/g; the broadband IR wavelength had no effect on the mean APC. The IR treatments followed by tempering step resulted in greater reductions of total mold counts and APC (4.03 and 3.50 log CFU/g) in comparison to IR treatments without tempering (3.11 and 1.09 log CFU/g). Overall, bacteria showed more resistance to IR treatments than molds.     

Gut Microbiota Extracellular Vesicles as Signaling Molecules Mediating Host-Microbiota Communications

Over the past decade, gut microbiota dysbiosis has been linked to many health disorders; however, the detailed mechanism of this correlation remains unclear. Gut microbiota can communicate with the host through immunological or metabolic signalling. Recently, microbiota-released extracellular vesicles (MEVs) have emerged as significant mediators in the intercellular signalling mechanism that could be an integral part of microbiota-host communications. MEVs are small membrane-bound vesicles that encase a broad spectrum of biologically active compounds (i.e., proteins, mRNA, miRNA, DNA, carbohydrates, and lipids), thus mediating the horizontal transfer of their cargo across intra- and intercellular space. In this study, we provide a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the biogenesis of microbial-derived EVs, their classification and routes of production, as well as their role in inter-bacterial and inter-kingdom signaling.