Search results for: dietary fibers

Authors: Hui-Fang Lee, Meng-Chu Liu, Wen-Chi Lu, Hsuan-Jung Hsieh

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The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of health program on the fitness ability of abnormal BMI students of Ching-Yun University of Science and Technology. In order to achieve this purpose, self-regulation theory and dietary education were applied, and the effect of 10-week sports activities and three-day diet records on pre-test and post-test of fitness activities was analyzed. There were 40 original participants. Then, nine people who were with normal BMI, low attendance or unfinished fitness test were eliminated from this research. The valid samples were 31 (77.5%) participants. The fitness activities included sit-bending, one minute sit-up, standing long jump, and three-minute stage boarding. The averages of three-day diet records were compared, and differences of pre-test and post-test of the four fitness activities were analyzed with paired-samples t test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post of male students’ BMI and one minute sit-up. Females’ sit-bending and one minute sit-up had the same effect. Females had high fat intake in three-day diet records. The research showed that the use of self-regulation theory and dietary education, the implementation of sports activities and three-day diet records could significantly enhance the physical fitness indicators or effects. While in the course of sports, we should guide students to think about the gap between self-behavior and ideal behavior, then realize the main reasons and improving methods, and finally go towards the goal and improve the effect of physical fitness.

Keywords: self-regulation theory, dietary education, three-day diet records, physical fitness

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Authors: Azam Bayat, Aref Khalkhali, Ali Reza Mahjoub

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Healthy and viable herbal supplement were prepared from wheat by a green route. This organic biomaterial was named Nutrition Bio-shield Superfood (NBS). The NBS supplement had various vitamins, macro and micro molecules, and ingredients. In this study, 20 small Balb/C labile specimens were used in a weighing 30 ± 5 range. The samples were randomly divided into different groups, then the groups were divided into 5 groups. According to the results of this study, the mean number of white blood cells and neutrophil percentage in the experimental group receiving healthy and live dietary supplement showed a significant increase at the 5% probability level in all three groups received 50, 100 and 150 mg/ kg body weight of the mouse compared to the control group. In general, the dietary supplement increases the level of immunity.

Keywords: healthy and live herbal supplement, biomaterial, immune system, enhancement

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Authors: Nasser Ghassembaglou, Abdullah Bolek, Oktay Yilmaz, Ertan Oznergiz, Hikmet Kocabas, Safak Yilmaz

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Nanofibers are effective material which have frequently been investigated to produce high quality air filters. As an environmental approach our aim is to achieve nanofibers by melting. In spun-bond systems extruder, spin-pump, nozzle package and attenuator are used. Molten polymer which flows from extruder is made steady by spin-pump. Regular melt passes through nozzle holes and forms fibers under high pressure. The fibers pulled from nozzle are shrunk to micron size by an attenuator, after solidification they are collected on a conveyor. In this research different designs of attenuator system have been studied and also CFD analysis have been done on them. Afterwards, one of these designs tested and finally some optimizations have been done to reduce pressure loss and increase air velocity.

Keywords: attenuator, nanofiber, spun-bond, extruder

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Authors: Mohammed Mashrei

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Ferrocement is a type of thin reinforced concrete made of cement-sand matrix with closely spaced relatively small diameter wire meshes, with or without steel bars of small diameter called skeletal steel. This work concerns on the behavior of square ferrocement slabs of dimensions (500) mm x (500) mm and 30 mm subjected to a central load. This study includes testing thirteen ferrocement slabs. The main variables considered in the experimental work are the number of wire mesh layers, percentage of silica fume and the presence of steel fiber. The effects of these variables on the behavior and load carrying capacity of tested slabs under central load were investigated. From the experimental results, it is found that by increasing the percentage of silica fume from (0 to 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6) of weight of cement the ultimate loads are affected. Also From this study, it is observed that the load carrying capacity increases with the presence of steel fiber reinforcement, the ductility is high in the case of steel fibers. The increasing wire mesh layer from six to ten layers increased the load capacity by 76%. Also, a reduction in width of crack with increasing in number of cracks in the samples that content on steel fibers comparing with samples without steel fibers was observed from the results.

Keywords: ferrocement, fibre, silica fume, slab, strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 206

Authors: A. C. Vidal, D. R. Mulinari, C. F. Bandeira, S. R. Montoro

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Due to the great effort suffered by foot during movement, is of great importance to count on a shoe that has a proper structure and excellent support tread to prevent the immediate and long-term consequences in all parts of the body. In this sense, new reinforcements of insoles with high impact absorption were developed in this work, from a polyurethane (PU) biocomposite derived from castor oil reinforced or not with palm fibers. These insoles have been obtained from the mixture with polyol prepolymer (diisocyanate) and subsequently were evaluated morphologically, mechanically and by thermal analysis. The results revealed that the biocomposites showed lower flexural strength, higher impact strength and open interconnected pores in their microstructure, but with smaller cells and degradation temperature slightly higher compared to the marketed material, showing interesting properties for a possible application as reinforcement of insoles.

Keywords: composite, polyurethane insole, palm fibers, plantar insoles reinforcement

Procedia PDF Downloads 396

Authors: O. A. Anjola, M. A. Adejobi, A. Ogunbameru, F. P. Agbaye, R. O. Odunukan

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This experiment was conducted for 8 weeks to evaluate the growth performance and economics of pullets fed on different dietary energy sources. A total of 300 Harco black was used for this experiment. The birds were completely randomized and divided into four diet treatment groups. Each treatment group had three replicates of twenty-five birds per replicate. Four diets containing maize, spaghetti, noodles, and biscuit was formulated to represent diet 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Diet 1 containing maize is the control, while diet 2, 3, and 4 contains spaghetti, noodles, and biscuit waste meal at 100% replacement for maize on weight for weight basis. Performance indices on Feed intake, body weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and economy of production were measured. Blood samples were also collected for heamatology and serum biochemistry assessment. The result of the experiment indicated that different dietary energy source fed to birds significantly (P < 0.05) affect feed intake, body weight, weight gain, and feed conversion ratio (FCR). The best cost of feed per kilogram of body weight gain was obtained in Spaghetti based diet (₦559.30). However, the best performance were obtained from diet 1(maize), it can be concluded that spaghetti as a replacement for maize in diet of pullet is most economical and profitable for production without any deleterious effects attached. Blood parameters of birds were not significantly (p > 0.05) influenced by the use of the dietary energy sources used in this experiment.

Keywords: growth performance, spaghetti, noodles, biscuit, profit, hematology, serum biochemistry

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: F. Karim

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In this paper, triangular lattice index-guiding photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are synthesized to compensate the chromatic dispersion of a single mode fiber (SMF-28) for an 80 km optical link operating at 1.55 µm, by using the directed tabu search algorithm. Hole-to-hole distance, circular air-hole diameter, solid-core diameter, ring number and PCF length parameters are optimized for this purpose. Three Synthesized PCFs with different physical parameters are compared in terms of their objective functions values, residual dispersions and compensation ratios.

Keywords: triangular lattice index-guiding photonic crystal fiber, dispersion compensation, directed tabu search, synthesis

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Authors: Ihsane Modhaffar

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Fiber orientation is essential for the physical properties of composite materials. The theoretical parameters of a given reinforcement are usually known and widely used to predict the behavior of the material. In this work, we propose an image processing approach to estimate true principal directions and fiber orientation during injection molding processes of short fiber reinforced thermoplastics. Generally, a group of fibers are described in terms of probability distribution function or orientation tensor. Numerical techniques for the prediction of fiber orientation are also considered for concentrated situations. The flow was considered to be incompressible, and behave as Newtonian fluid containing suspensions of short-fibers. The governing equations, of this problem are: the continuity, the momentum and the energy. The obtained results were compared to available experimental findings. A good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data was achieved.

Keywords: injection, composites, short-fiber reinforced thermoplastics, fiber orientation, incompressible fluid, numerical simulation

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Authors: Billy Angel B. Bayot, Hubert Clyde Z. Guillermo, Daniela Eve Margaret S. Olano, Lian Angeli Kaye E. Suarez

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A utilization of Nipa palm fibers (Nypa fruticans) and Asian green mussel shells (Perna viridis) as additive materials in making fiber-reinforced concrete was carried out. The researchers collected Asian green mussel shells and Nipa palm fibers as additive materials in the production of fiber-reinforced concrete and were used to make 3 Setups containing 20g, 15g, and 10g of Nipa palm fiber varying to 10g, 20g, 30g of Asian green mussel shell powder and a traditional concrete with respect to curing period 7, 14, and 28 days. The concrete blocks were delivered to the UP Institute of Building Materials and Structures Laboratory (CoMSLab) following each curing test in order to evaluate their compressive strength. Researchers employed a Two-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and determined that curing days, concrete mixture, and the combined curing days with concrete have an effect on the compressive strength of concrete. ANOVA results indicating significant differences had been subjected to post hoc analysis using Tukey's HSD. These results then yielded the comparison of each curing time and different concrete mixtures with traditional concrete, which comes to the conclusion that a longer curing period leads to a higher compressive strength and Setup 3 (30g Asian green mussel shell with 10g Nipa palm fiber) has the larger mean compressive strength, making it the best proportion among the fiber-reinforced concrete mixtures and the only proportion that has significant effect to traditional one. As a result, the study concludes that certain curing times and concrete mix proportions of Asian green mussel shell and Nipa palm fiber are critical determinants in determining concrete compressive strength.

Keywords: Asian green mussel shells (Perna viridis), Nipa palm fibers (Nypa fruticans), additives, fiber-reinforced concrete

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Authors: Mohamed Rehan, Gamil E. Ibrahim, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz, Shaimaa R. Ibrahim, Tawfik A. Khattab

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The utilization of natural products in finishing textiles toward multifunctional applications without side effects is an extremely motivating goal. Hibiscus sabdariffa usually has been used for many traditional medicine applications. To develop an additional use for Hibiscus sabdariffa, an extraction of bioactive compounds from Hibiscus sabdariffa followed by finishing on cellulosic fibers was designed to cleaner production of the value-added textiles fibers with multifunctional applications. The objective of this study is to explore, identify, and evaluate the bioactive compound extracted from Hibiscus sabdariffa by different solvent via ultrasonic technique as a potential eco-friendly agent for multifunctional cellulosic fabrics via two approaches. In the first approach, Hibiscus sabdariffa extract was used as a source of sustainable eco-friendly for simultaneous coloration and multi-finishing of cotton fabrics via in situ incorporations of nanoparticles (silver and metal oxide). In the second approach, the micro-capsulation of Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts was followed by coating onto cotton gauze to introduce multifunctional healthcare applications. The effect of the solvent type was accelerated by ultrasonic on the phytochemical, antioxidant, and volatile compounds of Hibiscus sabdariffa. The surface morphology and elemental content of the treated fabrics were explored using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The multifunctional properties of treated fabrics, including coloration, sensor properties and protective properties against pathogenic microorganisms and UV radiation as well as wound healing property were evaluated. The results showed that the water, as well as ethanol/water, was selected as a solvent for the extraction of natural compounds from Hibiscus Sabdariffa with high in extract yield, total phenolic contents, flavonoid contents, and antioxidant activity. These natural compounds were utilized to enhance cellulosic fibers functionalization by imparting faint/dark red color, antimicrobial against different organisms, and antioxidants as well as UV protection properties. The encapsulation of Hibiscus Sabdariffa extracts, as well as wound healing, is under consideration and evaluation. As a result, the current study presents a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to design cellulosic fabrics for multifunctional medical and healthcare applications.

Keywords: cellulosic fibers, Hibiscus sabdariffa extract, multifunctional application, nanoparticles

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Authors: Chandanee Wasana Kalansooriya

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Dietary behaviour is a crucial factor affecting diabetes control. With increasing rates of diabetes prevalence in Asian countries, examining their dietary patterns, which are largely based on rice, is timely required. It has been identified that higher consumption of some rice varieties is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Although diabetes patients are advised to consume healthier rice varieties, which contains low glycemic, several conditions, one of which food insecurity, make them difficult to preserve those healthy dietary guidelines. Hence this study tries to investigate how food security affects on making right decisions of rice consumption within diabetes affected households using a sample from Sri Lanka, a country which rice considered as the staple food and records the highest diabetes prevalence rate in South Asia. The study uses data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016, a nationally representative sample conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka. The survey used a two-stage stratified sampling method to cover different sectors and districts of the country and collected micro-data on demographics, health, income and expenditures of different categories. The study uses data from 2547 households which consist of one or more diabetes patients, based on the self-recorded health status. The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), which constructed based on twelve food groups, is used to measure the level of food security. Rice is categorized into three groups according to their Glycemic Index (GI), high GI, medium GI and low GI, and the likelihood and impact made by food security on each rice consumption categories are estimated using a Two-part Model. The shares of each rice categories out of total rice consumption is considered as the dependent variable to exclude the endogeneity issue between rice consumption and the HDDS. The results indicate that the consumption of medium GI rice is likely to increase with the increasing household food security, but low GI varieties are not. Households in rural and estate sectors are less likely and Tamil ethnic group is more likely to consume low GI rice varieties. Further, an increase in food security significantly decreases the consumption share of low GI rice, while it increases the share of medium GI varieties. The consumption share of low GI rice is largely affected by the ethnic variability. The effects of food security on the likelihood of consuming high GI rice varieties and changing its shares are statistically insignificant. Accordingly, the study concludes that a higher level of food security does not ensure diabetes patients are consuming healthy rice varieties or reducing consumption of unhealthy varieties. Hence policy attention must be directed towards educating people for making healthy dietary choices. Further, the study provides a room for further studies as it reveals considerable ethnic and sectorial differences in making healthy dietary decisions.

Keywords: diabetes, food security, glycemic index, rice consumption

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Authors: Min Wu, Shuming Shen, Xuhong Yang, Rencheng Tang

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Every year, numerous organic wastes from fiber byproducts of the wool textile industry, poor quality raw wools not fit for spinning, horns, nails and feathers from butchery are disposed. These wastes are abundant in keratin which is a renewable material. Wool fiber/keratin/PVA composites with different proportions were prepared in this study, and the influence of the proportions on their structure and properties were studied, aiming to understand the potential application of keratin in the field of biomedicine, degradable wrapper, and cosmetics film, and provide a new way to reuse keratin wastes. The urea / sodium sulfide / sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) method was used to dissolve the wool. After filtration and dialysis, the wool keratin solution was achieved. Then the keratin solution and polyvinal (PVA) solution were blended in different proportions, and the wool fibers cut into a certain length were cast into the blended solution. Thereby, various wool fiber/keratin/PVA composite films with different proportions were formed through pouring the solution into a flat box and drying at room temperature. The surface morphology, molecular structure, and mechanical property of the composite films were studied. The results showed that, there are α-helix structure, β-sheet and random coil conformations in the pure keratin film, as well as in the wool fiber. Compared with wool fiber, the crystallinity of keratin decreased. PVA can obviously improve the mechanical property of the blended film. When the blended ratio of keratin and PVA is 20:80, the mechanical property of the blended film is greatly improved. The composite films with 8%-16% of wool fibers have better flexibility than those without wool fibers.

Keywords: composite film, keratin, mechanical property, morphological structure, PVA, wool fiber

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Abdul G. Miah, Hirotada Tsujii, Ummay Salma, Iwao Takeda

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The study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary Selenium-enriched radish sprouts (Se-RS), Vitamin E (Vit E) and Rhodobacter capsulatus (RC) on broiler's immunity, cholesterol concentration and fatty acid composition in broiler meat. A total of 100 two-week-old male broiler chicks were randomly assigned into 5 dietary groups, such as i) Control; ii) Se-RS (5 μg/kg Se-RS); iii) Se-RS+RC (5 μg/kg Se-RS + 0.2 g/kg RC); iv) Se-RS+Vit E (5 μg/kg Se-RS + 50 mg/kg Vit E) and v) Se-RS+RC+Vit E (5 μg/kg Se-RS + 0.2 g/kg RC + 50 mg/kg Vit E). The broilers were offered ad libitum specific diets and clean drinking water. After the end of 3-wk of feeding period, serum cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations were decreased (p<0.05) specially, in the broilers fed Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplemented diet compared to the broilers fed control diet. At the end of the 6-wk feeding period, Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplemented diet significantly (p<0.05) reduced cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations, and improved the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) to saturated fatty acids (SFA) in broiler meat. The highest (p<0.05) number of leukocytes was observed in the broilers fed Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplemented diet than that of the broilers fed control diet. Spleen, bursa and thymus weight were significantly (p<0.05) increased by Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplemented diet than the control diet. Compared to the control diet, Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplemented diet significantly (p<0.05) increased foot web index. Moreover, there was no mortality in all groups of broilers during the experimental period. Therefore, the study may conclude that there are dual benefits of Se-RS+RC+Vit E supplementation in broiler diet improved immunity and meat quality for health conscious consumers.

Keywords: hypocholesterolemia, immunity of broiler, rhodobacter capsulatus, selenium-enriched radish sprouts, vitamin E

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Authors: Abha Gupta, Deepak K. Mishra

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Food security issue in India has surrounded over availability and accessibility of cereal which is regarded as the only food group to check hunger and improve nutrition. Significance of fruits, vegetables, meat and other food products have totally been neglected given the fact that they provide essential nutrients to the body. There is a need to shift the emphasis from cereal-based approach to a more diverse diet so that aim of achieving food security may change from just reducing hunger to an overall health. This paper attempts to analyse how far dietary diversity level has been achieved across different socio-economic groups in India. For this purpose, present paper sets objectives to determine (a) percentage share of different food groups to total food expenditure and consumption by background characteristics (b) source of and preference for all food items and, (c) diversity of diet across socio-economic groups. A cross sectional survey covering 304 households selected through proportional stratified random sampling was conducted in six villages of Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Information on amount of food consumed, source of consumption and expenditure on food (74 food items grouped into 10 major food groups) was collected with a recall period of seven days. Per capita per day food consumption/expenditure was calculated through dividing consumption/expenditure by household size and number seven. Food variety score was estimated by giving 0 values to those food groups/items which had not been eaten and 1 to those which had been taken by households in last seven days. Addition of all food group/item score gave result of food variety score. Diversity of diet was computed using Herfindahl-Hirschman index. Findings of the paper show that cereal, milk, roots and tuber food groups contribute a major share in total consumption/expenditure. Consumption of these food groups vary across socio-economic groups whereas fruit, vegetables, meat and other food consumption remain low and same. Estimation of dietary diversity show higher concentration of diet due to higher consumption of cereals, milk, root and tuber products and dietary diversity slightly varies across background groups. Muslims, Scheduled caste, small farmers, lower income class, food insecure, below poverty line and labour families show higher concentration of diet as compared to their counterpart groups. These groups also evince lower mean intake of number of food item in a week due to poor economic constraints and resultant lower accessibility to number of expensive food items. Results advocate to make a shift from cereal based diet to dietary diversity which not only includes cereal and milk products but also nutrition rich food items such as fruits, vegetables, meat and other products. Integrating a dietary diversity approach in food security programmes of the country would help to achieve nutrition security as hidden hunger is widespread among the Indian population.

Keywords: dietary diversity, food Security, India, socio-economic groups

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Authors: K. Almi, S. Lakel, A. Benchabane, A. Kriker

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The fiber–matrix compatibility can be improved if suitable enforcements are chosen. Whenever the reinforcements have more thermal stability, they can resist to the main processes for wood–thermoplastic composites. Several researches are focused on natural resources for the production of biomaterials intended for technical applications. Date palm wood present one of the world’s most important natural resource. Its use as insulating materials will help to solve the severe environmental and recycling problems which other artificial insulating materials caused. This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation on the thermal proprieties of date palm wood from Algeria. A study of physical, chemical and mechanical properties is also carried out. The goal is to use this natural material in the manufacture of thermal insulation materials for buildings. The local natural resources used in this study are the date palm fibers from Biskra oasis in Algeria. The results have shown that there is no significant difference in the morphological proprieties of the four types of residues. Their chemical composition differed slightly; with the lowest amounts of cellulose and lignin content belong to Petiole. Water absorption study proved that Rachis has a low value of sorption whereas Petiole and Fibrillium have a high value of sorption what influenced their mechanical properties. It is seen that the Rachis and leaflets exhibit a high tensile strength values compared to the other residue. On the other hand the low value of bulk density of Petiole and Fibrillium leads to high value of specific tensile strength and young modulus. It was found that the specific young modulus of Petiole and Fibrillium was higher than that of Rachis and Leaflets and that of other natural fibers or even artificial fibers. Compared to the other materials date palm wood provide a good thermal proprieties thus, date palm wood will be a good candidate for the manufacturing efficient and safe insulating materials.

Keywords: composite materials, date palm fiber, natural fibers, tensile tests, thermal proprieties

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Authors: Iris W. A. Boot, Anke Wesselius, Maurice P. Zeegers

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Diet may play an essential role in the aetiology of bladder cancer (BC). Vitamin D is involved in various biological functions which have the potential to prevent BC development. Besides, vitamin D also influences the uptake of calcium and phosphorus , thereby possibly indirectly influencing the risk of BC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between vitamin D intake and BC risk. Individual dietary data were pooled from three cohort studies. Food item intake was converted to daily intakes of vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus. Pooled multivariate hazard ratios (HRs), with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained using Cox-regression models. Analyses were adjusted for gender, age and smoking status (Model 1), and additionally for the food groups fruit, vegetables and meat (Model 2). Dose–response relationships (Model 1) were examined using a nonparametric test for trend. In total, 2,871 cases and 522,364 non-cases were included in the analyses. The present study showed an overall increased BC risk for high dietary vitamin D intake (HR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.03-1.26). A similar increase BC risk with high vitamin D intake was observed among women and for the non-muscle invasive BC subtype, (HR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.15-1.72, HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01-1.27, respectively). High calcium intake decreased the BC risk among women (HR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67-0.97). A combined inverse effect on BC risk was observed for low vitamin D intake and high calcium intake (HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.48-0.93), while a positive effect was observed for high vitamin D intake in combination with low, moderate and high phosphorus (HR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.09-1.59, HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.01-1.36, HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.31, respectively). Combining all nutrients showed a decreased BC risk for low vitamin D intake, high calcium and moderate phosphor intake (HR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.18-0.75), and an increased BC risk for moderate intake of all the nutrients (HR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02-1.38), for high vitamin D and low calcium and phosphor intake (HR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.01-1.62), and for moderate vitamin D and calcium and high phosphorus intake (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.01-1.59). No significant dose-response analyses were observed. The findings of this study show an increased BC risk for high dietary vitamin D intake and a decreased risk for high calcium intake. Besides, the study highlights the importance of examining the effect of a nutrient in combination with complementary nutrients for risk assessment. Future research should focus on nutrients in a wider context and in nutritional patterns.

Keywords: bladder cancer, nutritional oncology, pooled cohort analysis, vitamin D

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Authors: Maryam Meftahi, Yashar Hamidzadeh

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In recent decades, the amount of solid waste production has been rising. In the meantime, plastic waste is one of the major parts of urban solid waste, so, recycling plastic waste from water bottles has become a serious challenge in the whole world. The experimental program includes the study of the effect of waste plastic fibers on maximum dry density (MDD), optimum moisture content (OMC) with different sizes and contents. Also, one dimensional consolidation tests were carried out to evaluate the benefit of utilizing randomly distributed waste plastics fiber to improve the engineering behavior of a tested soils. Silty soil specimens were prepared and tested at five different percentages of plastic waste content (i.e. 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, 1% and 1.25% by weight of the parent soil). The size of plastic chips used, are 4 mm, 8 mm and 12 mm long and 4 mm in width. The results show that with the addition of waste plastic fibers, the MDD and OMC and also the compressibility of soil decrease significantly.

Keywords: silty soil, waste plastic, compaction, consolidation, reinforcement

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: R. O. Babatunde, O. M. Igbalajobi, F. Matambalya

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Moderate economic growth in developing and emerging countries has led to improvement in the food consumption and nutrition situation in the last two decades. Nevertheless, about 870 million people, with a quarter of them from Sub-Saharan Africa, are still suffering from hunger worldwide. As part of measures to reduce the widespread poverty and hunger, cash transfer programmes are now being implemented in many countries of the world. While nationwide cash transfer schemes are few in Sub-Saharan Africa generally, the available ones are more concentrated in East and Southern Africa. Much of the available literature on social protection had focused on the poverty impact of cash transfer schemes at the household level, with the larger proportion originating from Latin America. On the contrary, much less empirical studies have been conducted on the poverty impact of cash transfer in Sub-Saharan Africa, let alone on the food security and nutrition impact. To fill this gap in knowledge, this paper examines the impact of cash transfer on food security in Nigeria. As a case study, the paper analysed the Ekiti State Cash Transfer Scheme (ECTS). ECTS is an unconditional transfer scheme which was established in 2011 to directly provide cash transfer to elderly persons aged 65 years and above in Ekiti State of Nigeria. Using survey data collected in 2013, we analysed the impact of the scheme on food availability and dietary diversity of the beneficiary households. Descriptive and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) techniques were used to estimate the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) and Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) among the beneficiary and control groups. Thereafter, a model to test for the impact of participation in the cash transfer scheme on calorie availability and dietary diversity was estimated. The results indicate that while households in the sample are clearly vulnerable, there were statistically significant differences between the beneficiary and control groups. For instance, monthly expenditure, calorie availability and dietary diversity were significantly larger among the beneficiary and consequently, the prevalence and depth of hunger were lower in the group. Econometric results indicate that the cash transfer has a positive and significant effect on food availability and dietary diversity in the households. Expanding the coverage of the present scheme to cover all eligible households in the country and incorporating cash transfer into a comprehensive hunger reduction policy will make it to have a greater impact at improving food security among the most vulnerable households in the country.

Keywords: calorie availability, cash transfers, dietary diversity, propensity score matching

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Authors: Azadeh Mottaghi, Reyhaneh Yousefi, Saeed Safari

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Background: Bariatric surgery is widely proposed as the most effective approach to mitigate the growing pace of morbid obesity. As bariatric surgery candidates suffer from pre-existing nutritional deficiencies, it is of great importance to assess nutritional status of candidates before surgery in order to establish appropriate nutritional interventions. Objectives: The present study assessed and represented baseline data according to the nutritional status among candidates for bariatric surgery. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of pre-surgery data was collected on 170 morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery between October 2017 and February 2018. Dietary intake data (evaluated through 147-item food frequency questionnaire), anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters were assessed. Results: Participants included 145 females (25 males) with average age of 37.3 ± 10.2 years, BMI of 45.7 ± 6.4 kg/m² and reported to have a total of 72.3 ± 22.2 kg excess body weight. The most common nutritional deficiencies referred to iron, ferritin, transferrin, albumin, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, the prevalence of which in the study population were as followed; 6.5, 6.5, 3, 2, 17.6 and 66%, respectively. Mean energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake were 3887.3 ± 1748.32 kcal/day, 121.6 ± 57.1, 144.1 ± 83.05, and 552.4 ± 240.5 gr/day, respectively. The study population consumed lower levels of iron, calcium, folic acid, and vitamin B12 compared to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations (2, 26, 2.5, and 13%, respectively). Conclusion: According to the poor dietary quality of bariatric surgery candidates, leading to nutritional deficiencies pre-operatively, close monitoring and tailored supplementation pre- and post-bariatric surgery are required.

Keywords: bariatric surgery, food frequency questionnaire, obesity, nutritional status

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Authors: Ahmed Bakry, Moustafa Ahmed

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We model and simulate the combined effect of fiber dispersion and frequency chirp of a directly modulated high-speed laser diode on the figures of merit of a non-amplified 40-Gbps optical fiber link. We consider both the return to zero (RZ) and non-return to zero (NRZ) patterns of the pseudorandom modulation bits. The performance of the fiber communication system is assessed by the fiber-length limitation due to the fiber dispersion. We study the influence of replacing standard single-mode fibers by non-zero dispersion-shifted fibers on the maximum fiber length and evaluate the associated power penalty. We introduce new dispersion tolerances for 1-dB power penalty of the RZ and NRZ 40-Gbps optical fiber links.

Keywords: bit error rate, dispersion, frequency chirp, fiber communications, semiconductor laser

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Authors: S. Z. A. Zaidi, A. Crosky

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Biocomposites is a field that has gained much scientific attention due to the current substantial consumption of non-renewable resources and the environmentally harmful disposal methods required for traditional polymer composites. Research on natural fiber reinforced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) has gained considerable momentum over the past decade. There is little work on PHAs reinforced with unidirectional (UD) natural fibers and little work on using epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) as a toughening agent for PHA-based biocomposites. In this work, we prepared polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) biocomposites reinforced with UD 30 wt.% flax fibers and evaluated the use of ENR with 50% epoxidation (ENR50) as a toughening agent for PHBV biocomposites. Quasi-unidirectional flax/PHBV composites were prepared by hand layup, powder impregnation followed by compression molding.  Toughening agents – polybutylene adiphate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) and ENR50 – were cryogenically ground into powder and mechanically mixed with main matrix PHBV to maintain the powder impregnation process. The tensile, flexural and impact properties of the biocomposites were measured and morphology of the composites examined using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The UD biocomposites showed exceptionally high mechanical properties as compared to the results obtained previously where only short fibers have been used. The improved tensile and flexural properties were attributed to the continuous nature of the fiber reinforcement and the increased proportion of fibers in the loading direction. The improved impact properties were attributed to a larger surface area for fiber-matrix debonding and for subsequent sliding and fiber pull-out mechanisms to act on, allowing more energy to be absorbed. Coating cryogenically ground ENR50 particles with PHBV powder successfully inhibits the self-healing nature of ENR-50, preventing particles from coalescing and overcoming problems in mechanical mixing, compounding and molding. Cryogenic grinding, followed by powder impregnation and subsequent compression molding is an effective route to the production of high-mechanical-property biocomposites based on renewable resources for high-obsolescence applications such as plastic casings for consumer electronics.

Keywords: natural fibers, natural rubber, polyhydroxyalkanoates, unidirectional

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Authors: Khosro Ghazvinian, Touba Khodaeian

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To improve the oxidative stability of meat products, the use of dietary form of antioxidants can extend the shelf life and acceptability of muscle food during exposition or storage condition. As shown, this method is more effective than adding direct preservatives due to uniform incorporation of dietary additives into sub cellular membrane and therefore, they can properly inhibit the oxidative reaction at their localized sites. Furthermore, postmortem addition of antioxidants to meat cannot directly inhibit the oxidation in membrane phospholipids. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of feed supplementation with Melissa officinalis leaves on lipid peroxidation of chicken breast fillets during refrigerated storage. In this study, 72 one-day old Ross 308 broilers distributed in four groups with six replicates (3 chickens each) were fed a basal diet (CONT) or basal diet supplemented with 5, 10, and 15 gr/Kg M.officinalis, for 6 weeks. Following slaughter, fillets from breast were stored at 4 °C in the dark for 12 days, and lipid oxidation was assessed on the basis of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) formed. Results showed that incorporation of M.officinalis in broiler diets delayed lipid oxidation in raw breast meat during refrigerated storage comparative with CONT(p<0.05). In this regard, TBARS levels of breast samples containing higher concentrations (10 and 15 gr/Kg) of M. officinalis (625.43 and 504.32 µg/kg MDA equivalents, respectively )were significantly lower than those of control and 5g/kg samples (872.75 and 841.32 µg/kg MDA equivalents, respectively) (p<0.05). Therefore, M. officinalis might be utilized in novel applications as a nutritional supplement or a functional food component.

Keywords: breast fillet, lipid oxidation, Melissa officinalis, TBARS assay

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Authors: Petra Gergelova, Sofia Ioannidou, Davide Arcella, Alexandra Tard, Polly E. Boon, Oliver Lindtner, Christina Tlustos, Jean-Charles Leblanc

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Objectives: To assess chronic dietary exposure to food additives in different European countries and population groups. Method and Design: The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) estimates chronic dietary exposure to food additives with the purpose of re-evaluating food additives that were previously authorized in Europe. For this, EFSA uses concentration values (usage and/or analytical occurrence data) reported through regular public calls for data by food industry and European countries. These are combined, at individual level, with national food consumption data from the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database including data from 33 dietary surveys from 19 European countries and considering six different population groups (infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly). EFSA ANS Panel estimates dietary exposure for each individual in the EFSA Comprehensive Database by combining the occurrence levels per food group with their corresponding consumption amount per kg body weight. An individual average exposure per day is calculated, resulting in distributions of individual exposures per survey and population group. Based on these distributions, the average and 95th percentile of exposure is calculated per survey and per population group. Dietary exposure is assessed based on two different sets of data: (a) Maximum permitted levels (MPLs) of use set down in the EU legislation (defined as regulatory maximum level exposure assessment scenario) and (b) usage levels and/or analytical occurrence data (defined as refined exposure assessment scenario). The refined exposure assessment scenario is sub-divided into the brand-loyal consumer scenario and the non-brand-loyal consumer scenario. For the brand-loyal consumer scenario, the consumer is considered to be exposed on long-term basis to the highest reported usage/analytical level for one food group, and at the mean level for the remaining food groups. For the non-brand-loyal consumer scenario, the consumer is considered to be exposed on long-term basis to the mean reported usage/analytical level for all food groups. An additional exposure from sources other than direct addition of food additives (i.e. natural presence, contaminants, and carriers of food additives) is also estimated, as appropriate. Results: Since 2014, this methodology has been applied in about 30 food additive exposure assessments conducted as part of scientific opinions of the EFSA ANS Panel. For example, under the non-brand-loyal scenario, the highest 95th percentile of exposure to α-tocopherol (E 307) and ammonium phosphatides (E 442) was estimated in toddlers up to 5.9 and 8.7 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. The same estimates under the brand-loyal scenario in toddlers resulted in exposures of 8.1 and 20.7 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. For the regulatory maximum level exposure assessment scenario, the highest 95th percentile of exposure to α-tocopherol (E 307) and ammonium phosphatides (E 442) was estimated in toddlers up to 11.9 and 30.3 mg/kg body weight/day, respectively. Conclusions: Detailed and up-to-date information on food additive concentration values (usage and/or analytical occurrence data) and food consumption data enable the assessment of chronic dietary exposure to food additives to more realistic levels.

Keywords: α-tocopherol, ammonium phosphatides, dietary exposure assessment, European Food Safety Authority, food additives, food consumption data

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Authors: Muhammad Jahangeer Munir, Liaqat Ali Qureshi, Junaid Ahmed

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This paper presents the investigation regarding use of glass fibers in structural concrete members and determining the behavior of normal PCC, GFRC and retrofitted GFRC under different tests performed in the laboratory. Effect of retrofitting on the GFRC & PCC was investigated by using three patterns of CFRP wrapping. Properties like compressive, split tensile and flexural strength of normal GFRC and retrofitted GFRC were investigated and compared with their PCC counterparts. It was found that GFRC has more compressive strength as compared to PCC. At lower confinement pressures PCC behaves better than GFRC. Confinement efficiency was lower in GFRC as compared to PCC in terms of Split tensile strength. In case of GFRC all the patterns of wrapped CFRP strips showed more strength than their PCC counterparts.

Keywords: carbon fiber reinforced polymers, confinement, glass fibers, retrofitting

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Authors: Michael Sigruener, Dirk Muscat, Nicole Struebbe

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Fiber reinforcement is a state of the art to enhance mechanical properties in plastics. For concrete and civil engineering, steel reinforcements are commonly used. Steel reinforcements show disadvantages in their chemical resistance and weight, whereas polymer fibers' major problems are in fiber-matrix adhesion and mechanical properties. In spite of these facts, longevity and easy handling, as well as chemical resistance motivate researches to develop a polymeric material for fiber reinforced concrete. Adhesion and interfacial mechanism in fiber-polymer-composites are already studied thoroughly. For polymer fibers used as concrete reinforcement, the bonding behavior still requires a deeper investigation. Therefore, several differing polymers (e.g., polypropylene (PP), polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK)) were spun into fibers via single screw extrusion and monoaxial stretching. Fibers then were embedded in a concrete matrix, and Single-Fiber-Pull-Out-Tests (SFPT) were conducted to investigate bonding characteristics and microstructural interface of the composite. Differences in maximum pull-out-force, displacement and slope of the linear part of force vs displacement-function, which depicts the adhesion strength and the ductility of the interfacial bond were studied. In SFPT fiber, debonding is an inhomogeneous process, where the combination of interfacial bonding and friction mechanisms add up to a resulting value. Therefore, correlations between polymeric properties and pull-out-mechanisms have to be emphasized. To investigate these correlations, all fibers were introduced to a series of analysis such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), contact angle measurement, surface roughness and hardness analysis, tensile testing and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Of each polymer, smooth and abraded fibers were tested, first to simulate the abrasion and damage caused by a concrete mixing process and secondly to estimate the influence of mechanical anchoring of rough surfaces. In general, abraded fibers showed a significant increase in maximum pull-out-force due to better mechanical anchoring. Friction processes therefore play a major role to increase the maximum pull-out-force. The polymer hardness affects the tribological behavior and polymers with high hardness lead to lower surface roughness verified by SEM and surface roughness measurements. This concludes into a decreased maximum pull-out-force for hard polymers. High surface energy polymers show better interfacial bonding strength in general, which coincides with the conducted SFPT investigation. Polymers such as PEEK or PA6 show higher bonding strength in smooth and roughened fibers, revealed through high pull-out-force and concrete particles bonded on the fiber surface pictured via SEM analysis. The surface energy divides into dispersive and polar part, at which the slope is correlating with the polar part. Only polar polymers increase their SFPT-function slope due to better wetting abilities when showing a higher bonding area through rough surfaces. Hence, the maximum force and the bonding strength of an embedded fiber is a function of polarity, hardness, and consequently surface roughness. Other properties such as crystallinity or tensile strength do not affect bonding behavior. Through the conducted analysis, it is now feasible to understand and resolve different effects in pull-out-behavior step-by-step based on the polymer properties itself. This investigation developed a roadmap on how to engineer high adhering polymeric materials for fiber reinforcement of concrete.

Keywords: fiber-matrix interface, polymeric fibers, fiber reinforced concrete, single fiber pull-out test

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Authors: Ravi Teja Mandapaka, Prasanna Kumar Kukkamalla

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Poor absorption of calcium, elevated levels in serum and loss of bone are major problems of astronauts during space travel. Supplementation of calcium could not reveal this problem. In normal condition only 33% of calcium is absorbed from dietary sources. In this paper effect of space environment on calcium metabolism was discussed. Many surprising study findings were found during literature survey. Clinical trials on ovariectomized mice showed that reduction of calcium particles to nano level make them more absorbable and bioavailable. Control of bone loss in astronauts in critical important In Fortification of milk with nana calcium particles showed reduces urinary pyridinoline, deoxypyridinoline levels. Dietary calcium and supplementation do not show much retention of calcium in zero gravity environment where absorption is limited. So, the fortification of foods with nano calcium particles seemed beneficial for astronauts during and after space travel in their speedy recovery.

Keywords: nano calcium, astronauts, fortification, supplementation

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Authors: J. Hroudova, J. Zach, L. Vodova

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When insulation and rehabilitation of structures is important to use quality building materials with high utility value. One potentially interesting and promising groups of construction materials in this area are advanced, thermally insulating plaster silicate based. With the present trend reduction of energy consumption of building structures and reducing CO2 emissions to be developed capillary-active materials that are characterized by their low density, low thermal conductivity while maintaining good mechanical properties. The paper describes the results of research activities aimed at the development of thermal insulating and rehabilitation material ongoing at the Technical University in Brno, Faculty of Civil Engineering. The achieved results of this development will be the basis for subsequent experimental analysis of the influence of thermal and moisture loads developed on these materials.

Keywords: insulation materials, rehabilitation materials, lightweight aggregate, fly ash, slag, hemp fibers, glass fibers, metakaolin

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Authors: Saqib Saleem Abdullah, Saima Masood, Hafsa Zaneb, Shela Gul Bokhari, Muti Ur Rehman, Jamil Akbar

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A 5- weeks feeding trial was carried out to determine the effectiveness of Bacterial Phytase (Phyzyme®) in broilers, at different dietary levels of Phosphorous. 140 d-old broilers (Hubbard) were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=4). Birds were fed corn-based basal diet or the same diet supplemented with 3 different levels of non Phytate Phosphorous (NPP) (0.45 %, 0.30 % and 0.15 %). Furthermore, the diets were supplemented with bacterial Phytase. Birds were fed ad libitum and kept under thermo neutral conditions. The parameters studied were; body weight gain (BWG), tibial bone characteristics (TBC), serum Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P) and Alkaline Phosphatase (AP) levels and tibia ash percentage (TAP). BWG of the broilers was calculated at weekly interval and remaining parameters were calculated after slaughtering the birds at 35thday. Results suggested that Phytase supplementation at 0.30% NPP (Non Phytate Phosphorus + Bacterial Phytase) increased (P < 0.05) the BWG, bone length, bone weight, tibiotarsal index, medullary canal diameter and diaphysis diameter however, rubosticity index was reduced to minimum (P < 0.05) at this dietary level of phosphorous when compared with other groups. Maximum (P < 0.05) rubosticity index was observed in control group with 0% Phytase. Furthermore, Phytase addition at 0.30 % NPP also improved (P < 0.05) Ca, P and AP levels in the blood. Phytase supplementation at lower phosphorus level (0.30%NPP) improved BWG and TBC including bone density and bone quality in broilers hence it can be concluded that addition of Phytase at 0.30% NPP may prove beneficial for bone and overall performance in broilers.

Keywords: diaphysis diameter, phytase, rubosticity index, tibia

Procedia PDF Downloads 370

Authors: M. P. S. Tomar, Himanshu R. Joshi, P. Jagapathi Ramayya, Rakhi Vaish, A. B. Shrivastav

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The morphology of an organ system varies according to the feeding habit, habitat and nature of their life-style. This phenomenon is called adaptation. During evolution these morphological changes make the system species specific so the study on the differential characteristics of them makes the understanding regarding the morpho-physiological adaptation easier. Hence the present study was conducted on esophagus of pariah kite, median egret, goshawk, dove and duck. Esophagus in all birds was comprised of four layers viz. Tunica mucosa, Tunica submucosa, Tunica muscularis and Tunica adventitia. The mucosa of esophagus showed longitudinal folds thus the lumen was irregular. The epithelium was stratified squamous in all birds but in Median egret the cells were large and vacuolated. Among these species very thick epithelium was observed in goshawk and duck but keratinization was highest in dove. The stratum spongiosum was 7-8 layers thick in both Pariah kite and Goshawk. In all birds, the glands were alveolar mucous secreting type. In Median egret and Pariah kite, these were round or oval in shape and with or without lumen depending upon the functional status whereas in Goshawk the shape of the glands varied from spherical / oval to triangular with openings towards the lumen according to the functional activity and in dove these glands were oval in shape. The glands were numerous in number in egret while one or two in each fold in goshawk and less numerous in other three species. The core of the mucosal folds was occupied by the lamina propria and showed large number of collagen fibers and cellular infiltration in pariah kite, egret and dove where as in goshawk and duck, collagen and reticular fibers were fewer and cellular infiltration was lesser. Lamina muscularis was very thick in all species and it was comprised of longitudinally arranged smooth muscle fibers. In Median egret, it was in wavy pattern. Tunica submucosa was very thin in all species. Tunica muscularis was mostly comprised of circular smooth muscle bundles in all species but the longitudinal bundles were very few in number and not continuous. The tunica adventitia was comprised of loose connective tissue fibers containing collagen and elastic fibers with numerous small blood vessels in all species. Further, it was observed that the structure of esophagus in birds varies according to their feeding habits.

Keywords: dove, duck, egret, esophagus, goshawk, kite

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Authors: Anjana Aggarwal, Sheilja Walia

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Prevalence of obesity and overweight is increasing due to sedentary lifestyles and busy schedules of people that spend less time on physical exercise. To reduce weight, people are finding easier and more convenient ways. The easiest solution is the use of dietary supplements and fat burners. These are products that decrease body weight by increasing the basal metabolic rate. Various reports have been published on the consumption of fat burners leading to heart palpitations, seizures, anxiety, depression, psychosis, bradycardia, insomnia, muscle contractions, hepatotoxicity, and even liver failure. Case reports and series are reporting that the ingredients present in the fat burners caused acute liver failure (ALF) and hepatic toxicity in many cases. Another contributing factor is the absence of regulations from the Food and Drug Administration on these products, leading to increased consumption and a higher risk of liver diseases among the population. This systematic review aims to attain a better understanding of the dietary supplements used globally to reduce weight and document the case reports/series of acute liver failure caused by the consumption of fat burners. Electronic databases like PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, etc., will be systematically searched for relevant articles. Various websites of dietary products and brands that sell such supplements, Journals of Hepatology, National and international projects launched for ALF, and their reports, along with the review of grey literature, will also be done to get a better understanding of the topic. After discussing with the co-author, the selection and screening of the articles will be performed by the author. The studies will be selected based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The case reports and case series that will be included in the final list of the studies will be assessed for methodological quality using the CARE guidelines. The results from this study will provide insights and a better understanding of fat burners. Since the supplements are easily available in the market without any restrictions on their sale, people are unaware of their adverse effects. The consumption of these supplements causes acute liver failure. Thus, this review will provide a platform for future larger studies to be conducted.

Keywords: acute liver failure, dietary supplements, fat burners, weight loss supplements

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