Search results for: pharmaceutical products

Authors: G. Torabian, A. Fathi, P. Valtchev, F. Dehghani

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The superior polyphenol content of Sambucus nigra berries has high health potentials for the production of nutraceutical products. Numerous factors influence the polyphenol content of the final products including the berries’ source and the subsequent processing production steps. The aim of this study is to compare the polyphenol content of berries from two different sources and also to optimise the polyphenol extraction process from elderberries. Berries from source B obtained more acceptable physical properties than source A; a single berry from source B was double in size and weight (both wet and dry weight) compared with a source A berry. Despite the appropriate physical characteristics of source B berries, their polyphenolic profile was inferior; as source A berries had 2.3 fold higher total anthocyanin content, and nearly two times greater total phenolic content and total flavonoid content compared to source B. Moreover, the result of this study showed that almost 50 percent of the phenolic content of berries are entrapped within their skin and pulp that potentially cannot be extracted by press juicing. To address this challenge and to increase the total polyphenol yield of the extract, we used cold-shock blade grinding method to break the cell walls. The result of this study showed that using cultivars with higher phenolic content as well as using the whole fruit including juice, skin and pulp can increase polyphenol yield significantly; and thus, may boost the potential of using elderberries as therapeutic products.

Keywords: different sources, elderberry, grinding, juicing, polyphenols

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Authors: Gabriela Borilova, Monika Petrakova, Petr Kralik

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Nowadays, European producers are increasingly interested in the production of halal meat products. Halal meat has been increasingly appearing in the EU's market network and meat products from European producers are being exported to Islamic countries. Halal criteria are mainly related to the origin of muscle used in production, and also to the way products are obtained and processed. Although the EU has legislatively addressed the question of food authenticity, the circumstances of previous years when products with undeclared horse or poultry meat content appeared on EU markets raised the question of the effectiveness of control mechanisms. Replacement of expensive or not-available types of meat for low-priced meat has been on a global scale for a long time. Likewise, halal products may be contaminated (falsified) by pork or food components obtained from pigs. These components include collagen, offal, pork fat, mechanically separated pork, emulsifier, blood, dried blood, dried blood plasma, gelatin, and others. These substances can influence sensory properties of the meat products - color, aroma, flavor, consistency and texture or they are added for preservation and stabilization. Food manufacturers sometimes access these substances mainly due to their dense availability and low prices. However, the use of these substances is not always declared on the product packaging. Verification of the presence of declared ingredients, including the detection of undeclared ingredients, are among the basic control procedures for determining the authenticity of food. Molecular biology methods, based on DNA analysis, offer rapid and sensitive testing. The PCR method and its modification can be successfully used to identify animal species in single- and multi-ingredient raw and processed foods and qPCR is the first choice for food analysis. Like all PCR-based methods, it is simple to implement and its greatest advantage is the absence of post-PCR visualization by electrophoresis. qPCR allows detection of trace amounts of nucleic acids, and by comparing an unknown sample with a calibration curve, it can also provide information on the absolute quantity of individual components in the sample. Our study addresses a problem that is related to the fact that the molecular biological approach of most of the work associated with the identification and quantification of animal species is based on the construction of specific primers amplifying the selected section of the mitochondrial genome. In addition, the sections amplified in conventional PCR are relatively long (hundreds of bp) and unsuitable for use in qPCR, because in DNA fragmentation, amplification of long target sequences is quite limited. Our study focuses on finding a suitable genomic DNA target and optimizing qPCR to reduce variability and distortion of results, which is necessary for the correct interpretation of quantification results. In halal products, the impact of falsification of meat products by the addition of components derived from pigs is all the greater that it is not just about the economic aspect but above all about the religious and social aspect. This work was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (QJ1530107).

Keywords: food fraud, halal food, pork, qPCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Razieh Karimi Aghcheh, Christian Kubicek, Joseph Strauss, Gerhard Braus

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Filamentous fungi are of considerable economic and social significance for human health, nutrition and in white biotechnology. These organisms are dominant producers of a range of primary metabolites such as citric acid, microbial lipids (biodiesel) and higher unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs). In particular, they produce also important but structurally complex secondary metabolites with enormous therapeutic applications in pharmaceutical industry, for example: cephalosporin, penicillin, taxol, zeranol and ergot alkaloids. Several fungal secondary metabolites, which are significantly relevant to human health do not only include antibiotics, but also e.g. lovastatin, a well-known antihypercholesterolemic agent produced by Aspergillus. terreus, or aflatoxin, a carcinogen produced by A. flavus. In addition to their roles for human health and agriculture, some fungi are industrially and commercially important: Species of the ascomycete genus Hypocrea spp. (teleomorph of Trichoderma) have been demonstrated as efficient producer of highly active cellulolytic enzymes. This trait makes them effective in disrupting and depolymerization of lignocellulosic materials and thus applicable tools in number of biotechnological areas as diverse as clothes-washing detergent, animal feed, and pulp and fuel productions. Fungal LaeA/LAE1 (Loss of aflR Expression A) homologs their gene products act at the interphase between secondary metabolisms, cellulase production and development. Lack of the corresponding genes results in significant physiological changes including loss of secondary metabolite and lignocellulose degrading enzymes production. At the molecular level, the encoded proteins are presumably methyltransferases or demethylases which act directly or indirectly at heterochromatin and interact with velvet domain proteins. Velvet proteins bind to DNA and affect expression of secondary metabolites (SMs) genes and cellulases. The dynamic interplay between LaeA/LAE1, velvet proteins and additional interaction partners is the key for an understanding of the coordination of metabolic and morphological functions of fungi and is required for a biotechnological control of the formation of desired bioactive products. Aspergilli and Trichoderma represent different biotechnologically significant species with significant differences in the LaeA/LAE1-Velvet protein machinery and their target proteins. We, therefore, performed a comparative study of the interaction partners of this machinery and the dynamics of the various protein-protein interactions using our robust proteomic and mass spectrometry techniques. This enhances our knowledge about the fungal coordination of secondary metabolism, cellulase production and development and thereby will certainly improve recombinant fungal strain construction for the production of industrial secondary metabolite or lignocellulose hydrolytic enzymes.

Keywords: cellulases, LaeA/1, proteomics, secondary metabolites

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Authors: Fernando Miguel Campos, Fernando Jesus Aguiar Campos, Pedro Filipe Campos

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A large amount of software products offer a wide range and number of features. This is called featurities or creeping featurism and tends to rise with each release of the product. Feautiris often adds unnecessary complexity to software, leading to longer learning curves and overall confusing the users and degrading their experience. We take a look to a new design approach tendency that has been coming up, the so-called “What You Get Is What You Need” concept that argues that products should be very focused, simple and with minimalistic interfaces in order to help users conduct their tasks in distraction-free ambiances. This is not as simple to implement as it might sound and the developers need to cut down features. Our contribution illustrates and evaluates this design method through a novel distraction-free diagramming tool named Delineato Pro for Mac OS X in which the user is confronted with an empty canvas when launching the software and where tools only show up when really needed.

Keywords: diagramming, HCI, usability, user interface

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Authors: Z. Soleymani, M. Amirzadeh

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Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was developed in 1960 in Japan and introduced in 1983 in America and Europe. The paper presents a real application of this technique in a way that the method of applying QFD in design and production aero fuel pumps has been considered. While designing a product and in order to apply system engineering process, the first step is identification customer needs then its transition to engineering parameters. Since each change in deign after production process leads to extra human costs and also increase in products quality risk, QFD can make benefits in sale by meeting customer expectations. Since the needs identified as well, the use of QFD tool can lead to increase in communications and less deviation in design and production phases, finally it leads to produce the products with defined technical attributes.

Keywords: customer voice, engineering parameters, gear pump, QFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Marike Venter de Villiers, Alicia Kruger

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The rapid development of the Internet has facilitated the proliferation of online stores. It has, therefore, become a pertinent issue for online retailers to provide the ultimate experience to customers in an attempt to maintain market share in this competitive landscape. Experiential marketing refers to the sensory dimensions that consumers experience when being faced with a purchase decision, such as getting them to sense, feel, think, act, and relate. The goal of experiential marketing is to provide a holistic experience for customers that allow them to engage in an activity where they may be motivated to purchase the concept behind the product. Creating a unique online experience holds several benefits to brands such as increased customer satisfaction, increased revisit intention, and higher levels of customer loyalty. Although several studies have explored the topic of experiential marketing in an online context, a lack of research exists on South African consumers, an emerging economy that is often overlooked globally. More specifically, the present study focused on professional females and their perceptions of experiential marketing when shopping for fashion products online. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the experiential factors that influence the online purchase intention of fashion products among female professionals. Furthermore, this study aimed to achieve the following objectives: firstly, to gain insight into key website characteristics that consumers value when shopping online for fashion products; secondly, to apply Pine and Gilmore’s (1989) Four Realms of an Experience (entertainment, education, esthetics, and escapism) to ground the study; and thirdly, to gain in-depth insight into the importance of these dimensions and identifying sub-categories that fashion marketers can use to enhance consumers’ online experience. By means of a qualitative study, a focus group was conducted comprising six professional females by using semi-structured questions. Respondents were selected using convenience sampling, and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. The present research suggests that three of the four realms of experience influence purchase intention of fashion products online, namely, escapism, esthetics, and education. The fourth dimension, pleasure, was present but to a lesser degree. In other words, ‘escapism’ provides online shoppers with a sense of emotional and intellectual pleasure, while ‘esthetics’ refers to the website design, functionality, and product range, and ‘education’ comprises the product information such as the quality, fabric, price and available sizes. The findings of this study provide fashion marketers with insight into how they can maximize on experiential marketing when selling fashion products online. It further provides strategies and techniques for creating an enhanced online experience that ultimately may lead to increased purchase intention.

Keywords: experiential marketing, fashion, online, retail

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Authors: Yazdan Moradi

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Spirulina platensis is a blue-green microalga with unique nutrient content and has many nutritional and therapeutic effects that are used to enrich various foods. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of Spirulina platensis microalgae on the nutritional value and sensory and physical properties of four different cereal-based products. For this purpose, spirulina microalgae dry powder with amounts of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 is added to the formula of pasta, bulk bread, layered sweets, and cupcakes. A sample without microalgae powder of each product is also considered as a control. The results showed that adding Spirulina powder to the formulation of selected foods significantly changed the nutrition value and sensory and physical characteristics. Comparison to control protein increased in the samples containing spirulina powder. The increase in protein was about 1, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.1 percent in bread, cake, layered sweets and Pasta, respectively. The iron content of samples, including Spirulina, also increased. The increase was 0.6, 2, 5 and 18 percent in bread, cake, layered sweets and Pasta respectively. Sensory evaluation analysis showed that all products had an acceptable acceptance score. The instrumental analysis of L*, a*, and b* color indices showed that the increase of spirulina caused green color in the treatments, and this color change is more significant in the bread and pasta samples. The results of texture analysis showed that adding spirulina to selected food products reduces the hardness of the samples. No significant differences were observed in fat content in samples, including spirulina samples and control. However, fatty acid content and a trace amount of EPA found in samples included 1% spirulina. Added spirulina powder to food ingredients also changed the amino acid profile, especially essential amino acids. An increase of histidine, isoleucine, leucine, tryptophan, and valine in samples, including Spirulina was observed.

Keywords: spirulina, nutrition, Alge, iron, food

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Authors: Guity Karim, Valiollah Ayareh

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Probiotic dairy products are those that contain biologically active components that may affect beneficially one or more target functions in the body, beyond their adequate nutritional effects. As far as chocolate milk is a popular dairy product in the country especially among children and youth, production of a symbiotic (probiotic + peribiotic) new product using chocolate milk, Bifidobacterium lactis (DSM, Netherland) and inulin (Bene, Belgium) would help to promote the nutritional and functional properties of this product. Bifidobacterium Lactis is used as a probiotic in a variety of foods, particularly dairy products like yogurt and as a probiotic bacterium has benefit effects on the human health. Inulin as a peribiotic agent is considered as functional food ingredient. Experimental studies have shown its use as bifidogenic agent. Chocolate milk with different percent of fat (1 and 2 percent), 6 % of sugar and 0.9 % cacao was made, sterilized (UHT) and supplemented with Bifidobacterium lactis and inulin (0.5 %) after cooling . A sample was made without inulin as a control. Bifidobacterium lactis population was enumerated at days 0, 4, 8 and 12 together with measurement of pH, acidity and viscosity of the samples. Also sensory property of the product was evaluated by a 15 panel testers. The number of live bacterial cells was maintained at the functional level of 106-108 cfu/ml after keeping for 12 days in refrigerated temperature (4°C). Coliforms were found to be absent in the products during the storage. Chocolate milk containing 1% fat and inulin has the best effect on the survival and number of B. lactis at day 8 and after that. Moreover, the addition of inulin did not affect the sensorial quality of the product. In this work, chocolate has been evaluated as a potential protective carrier for oral delivery of B. lactis and inulin.

Keywords: chocolate milk, synbiotic, bifidobacterium lactis, inulin

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Authors: Lina Lauciene, Vaida Andruleviciute, Ingrida Sinkeviciene, Mindaugas Malakauskas, Loreta Serniene

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Dairy product manufacturers constantly are looking for new markets for their production. And in most cases, the problem of product compliance with the composition requirements of foreign products is highlighted. This is especially true of the composition of milk fat in dairy products. It is well known that there are many factors such as feeding ratio, season, cow breed, stage of lactation that affect the fatty acid composition in milk. However, there is less evidence on the impact of the technological process on the composition of fatty acids in raw milk and products made from it. In this study the influence of the technological process on fat composition in 82% fat butter, 15% fat curd, 3.6% fat yogurt and 2.5% fat UHT milk was determined. The samples were collected at each stage of production, starting with raw milk and ending with the final product in the Lithuanian milk-processing company. Fatty acids methyl esters were quantified using a GC (Clarus 680, Perkin Elmer) equipped with flame ionization detector (FID) and a capillary column SP-2560, 100 m x 0.25 mm id x 0.20 µm. Fatty acids peaks were identified using Supelco® 37 Component FAME Mix. The concentration of each fatty acid was expressed in percent of the total fatty acid amount. In the case of UHT milk production, it was compared raw milk, cream, milk mixture, and UHT milk but significant differences were not estimated between these stages. Analyzing stages of the yogurt production (raw milk, pasteurized milk, and milk with a starter culture and yogurt), no significant changes were detected between stages as well. A slight difference was observed with C4:0 - a percentage of this fatty acid was less (p=0.053) in the final stage than in milk with the starter culture. During butter production, the composition of fatty acids in raw cream, buttermilk, and butter did not change significantly. Only C14:0 decreased in the butter then compared to buttermilk. The curd fatty acid analysis showed the increase of C6:0, C8:0, C10:0, C11:0, C12:0 C14:0 and C17:0 at the final stage when compared to raw milk, cream, milk mixture, and whey. Meantime the increase of C18:1n9c (in comparison with milk mixture and curd) and C18:2n6c (in comparison with raw milk, milk mixture, and curd) was estimated in cream. The results of this study suggest that the technological process did not affect the composition of fatty acids in UHT milk, yogurt, butter, and curd but had the impact on the concentration of individual fatty acids. In general, all of the fatty acids from the raw milk were converted into the final product, only some of them slightly changed the concentration. Therefore, in order to ensure an appropriate composition of certain fatty acids in the final product, producers must carefully choose the raw milk. Acknowledgment: This research was funded by Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture (No. MT-17-13).

Keywords: dairy products, fat composition, fatty acids, technological process

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Authors: Zeynep Şahin, Züleyha Yılmaz, Fikret Çankaya

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In today's business world, in which it is difficult to survive, the economic life of products, services or knowledge is considerably reduced. Competitors produce similar products or extra-featured ones instantly. In this environment, the contribution of companies to the social and economic environment is a preferred criterion by consumers alongside products or services. Therefore, consumers need to obtain more detailed information about companies. Besides, this drastic change in the market encourages companies to become sustainable. Sustainable business means the company puts consumed products back. Corporate sustainability, corresponds to sustainability at the level of the company, and gives equal importance to company growth and profitability together with environmental and social issues. The BIST Sustainability Index started to be calculated by the Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) in 2014 to evaluate the sustainability performance of companies in Turkey. The main objective of this study is to present the importance of sustainability reports in Turkey. To this aim, the performances of 15 companies in the BIST Sustainability Index were compared the periods before and after entering the index. On the other hand, sustainability reporting practices should be encouraged to increase studies on this issue. In this context, to remain on the agenda of the issue is a further objective of this study. To achieve these objectives, the financial data of the companies in the period before and after entering to the BIST Sustainability Index were analyzed using t-test in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) package. The results of the study showed that no significant difference between the performances of the companies in terms of the net profit margin, the return on assets and equity capital in these periods could be found. Therefore, it can be said that insufficient importance is given to sustainability issues in Turkey. The reasons for this situation might be considered as a lack of awareness due to the recent introduction and calculation of the index. It is expected that the awareness of firms and investors about sustainability will increase, and that they will demonstrate the necessary importance to this issue over time.

Keywords: sustainability reporting, sustainability index, firm performance, BIST sustainability index

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Authors: Gianella Franco, Karen Suarez, María Quijano, Patricia Manzano

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Agro-industries generate large amounts of waste, which are mostly untapped. This research was carried out to use cocoa, coffee and orange industrial by-products to develop a dairy drink. The product was prepared by making a 10% aqueous extract of the mixture of cocoa and coffee beans shells and orange peel. Extreme Vertices Mixture Design was applied to vary the proportions of the ingredients of the aqueous extract, getting 13 formulations. Each formulation was mixed with skim milk and pasteurized. The attributes of taste, smell, color and appearance were evaluated by a semi-trained panel by multiple comparisons test, comparing the formulations against a standard marked as "R", which consisted of a coffee commercial drink. The formulations with the highest scores were selected to maximize the Total Polyphenol Content (TPC) through a process of linear optimization resulting in the formulation 80.5%: 18.37%: 1.13% of cocoa bean shell, coffee bean shell and orange peel, respectively. The Total Polyphenol Content was 4.99 ± 0.34 mg GAE/g of drink, DPPH radical scavenging activity (%) was 80.14 ± 0.05 and caffeine concentration of 114.78 mg / L, while the coffee commercial drink presented 3.93 ± 0.84 mg GAE / g drink, 55.54 ± 0.03 % and 47.44 mg / L of TPC, DPPH radical scavenging activity and caffeine content, respectively. The results show that it is possible to prepare an antioxidant - rich drink with good sensorial attributes made of industrial by-products.

Keywords: DPPH, polyphenols, waste, food science

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Authors: Reyhane Abdollahi

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The beauty of appearance has been important in people's lives since the beginning of history. In every era, beauty has had a specific meaning, and individuals have represented the standards of beauty during each period. According to statistics, the beauty industry has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, with projections indicating it will reach $583 billion by 2027. The emergence of social media, backed by technological advancements, has created a suitable platform for various beauty brands to engage in economic activities. It can be said that today, beauty bloggers represent the beauty standards of society, actively engaging on social media platforms such as Instagram. Beauty bloggers promote cosmetic and skin care products in front of the camera in their ideal state, utilizing their skills. Instagram, with its limited two-way communication between users and influencers, has also created a suitable environment for advertising. The aim of this research is to study the relationship between beauty bloggers and the consumption patterns of female followers. This research was conducted through interviews with Ten women over the age of 20 who have followed these pages for three years or more, and the findings were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. According to the findings, beauty bloggers encourage women to purchase cosmetic products by creating a sense of identification through sharing their experiences. Beauty bloggers generate a false sense of need for consumption among their audience by promoting beauty products. The feeling of inadequacy, stemming from women's comparisons with bloggers who are always beautiful, leads women to try to imitate the consumption habits and appearance of these bloggers.

Keywords: beauty blogger, instagram, beauty, consumption

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Authors: P. S. Jain, K. D. Bobade, S. J. Surana

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A simple, selective, precise and Stability-indicating High-performance thin-layer chromatographic method for analysis of Naftopidil both in a bulk and in pharmaceutical formulation has been developed and validated. The method employed, HPTLC aluminium plates precoated with silica gel as the stationary phase. The solvent system consisted of hexane: ethyl acetate: glacial acetic acid (4:4:2 v/v). The system was found to give compact spot for Naftopidil (Rf value of 0.43±0.02). Densitometric analysis of Naftopidil was carried out in the absorbance mode at 253 nm. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with r2=0.999±0.0001 with respect to peak area in the concentration range 200-1200 ng per spot. The method was validated for precision, recovery and robustness. The limits of detection and quantification were 20.35 and 61.68 ng per spot, respectively. Naftopidil was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation and thermal degradation. The drug undergoes degradation under acidic, basic, oxidation and thermal conditions. This indicates that the drug is susceptible to acid, base, oxidation and thermal conditions. The degraded product was well resolved from the pure drug with significantly different Rf value. Statistical analysis proves that the method is repeatable, selective and accurate for the estimation of investigated drug. The proposed developed HPTLC method can be applied for identification and quantitative determination of Naftopidil in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulation.

Keywords: naftopidil, HPTLC, validation, stability, degradation

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Authors: Murtala Mohammed Alamai, Abdullahi Marshal Idris, Adama Idris

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Today, marketing does not only involve selecting target markets, but it also involves communicating with the customers through various means to put across your selling point. Modern marketing involves driving new product development based on customer needs by getting feedback from them. Utilizing the latest technology for better communication with the customers is the latest advancement in Marketing in the 21st century. The survey approach was used where a sample of tourist destinations across the six geographical zones of the country at random was done to ascertain the use of information communication systems in promoting their products and or services, the findings revealed that only a few utilize these modern advanced means in marketing and promoting their products and a need to develop effective and up to date online services for marketing was proffered as solutions to the findings observed.

Keywords: information, communication, travel, trade, promotion

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Authors: Filipe Cardoso de Oliveira, Lino Marcos da Silva, Ademar Nogueira do Nascimento, Cristiano Hora de Oliveira Fontes

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This article presents a mathematical formulation for the production Break-Even Point problem in a non-homogeneous system. The optimization problem aims to obtain the composition of the best product mix in a non-homogeneous industrial plant, with the lowest cost until the breakeven point is reached. The problem constraints represent real limitations of a generic non-homogeneous industrial plant for n different products. The proposed model is able to solve the equilibrium point problem simultaneously for all products, unlike the existing approaches that propose a resolution in a sequential way, considering each product in isolation and providing a sub-optimal solution to the problem. The results indicate that the product mix found through the proposed model has economical advantages over the traditional approach used.

Keywords: branch and bound, break-even point, non-homogeneous production system, integer linear programming, management accounting

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Authors: Afsal Mohammed Kadavilpparampu, Haider A. J. Al Lawati, Fakhr Eldin O. Suliman, Salma M. Z. Al Kindy

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In this work, we evaluated the appropriateness of various oxidants that can be used potentially with Ru(bipy)32+ CL system while performing CL detection in a microfluidic device using eight common active pharmaceutical ingredients- ciprofloxacin, hydrochlorothiazide, norfloxacin, buspirone, fexofenadine, cetirizine, codeine, and dextromethorphan. This is because, microfludics have very small channel volume and the residence time is also very short. Hence, a highly efficient oxidant is required for on-chip CL detection to obtain analytically acceptable CL emission. Three common oxidants were evaluated, lead dioxide, cerium ammonium sulphate and ammonium peroxydisulphate. Results obtained showed that ammonium peroxydisulphate is the most appropriate oxidant which can be used in microfluidic setup and all the tested analyte give strong CL emission while using this oxidant. We also found that Ru(bipy)33+ generated off-line by oxidizing [Ru(bipy)3]Cl2.6H2O in acetonitrile under acidic condition with lead dioxide was stable for more than 72 hrs. A highly sensitive microbore HPLC- CL method using ammonium peroxydisulphate as an oxidant in a microfluidic on-chip CL detection has been developed for the analyses of fixed-dose combinations of pseudoephedrine (PSE), fexofenadine (FEX) and cetirizine (CIT) in biological fluids and pharmaceutical formulations with minimum sample pre-treatment.

Keywords: oxidants, microbore High Performance Liquid Chromatography, chemiluminescence, microfluidics

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Authors: Samson F. Agberotimi, Rachel B. Asagba, Choja Oduaran

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Disturbing rate of use of different substances such as cannabis, alcohol, as well as pharmaceutical drugs among Nigerian youth in recent times has been affirmed in the literature. There is, however, a paucity of literature addressing the pattern of usage of such drugs, especially for clinical relevance and intervention planning. The present study investigated the prevalence and pattern of drug usage among youth in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey involving 92 purposively selected participants comprising of 82 males and 10 females aged between 15 and 24 years was conducted. A measure of drug involvement and demographic characteristics was administered to the participants. Descriptive analysis was done using the SPSS v.21. Cannabis (79.4%), alcohol (77.2%), codeine (70.7%), tobacco (65.2%) and tramadol (47.8%) are the five most frequently used substances. However, the majority of the users of tobacco (68.3%) and alcohol (62.0%) are casual users indicating a mild level of use of the substances among the participants. On the other hand, 49.2% of the codeine users, 27.3% of the tramadol users, and 21.9% of the cannabis users reported harmful/intensive levels of use. Furthermore, the results revealed individuals at the pathological level of use as 28.8% for cannabis, 25.0% for tramadol, and 21.6% for codeine, and thus require clinical/therapeutic intervention. In conclusion, cannabis remains the most frequently used substance among youths. However, there appears to be a shift from the use of conventional psychoactive substances to pharmaceutical/prescription drugs such as codeine and tramadol. The findings of this study raised the need for both preventive and therapeutic interventions addressing the problem of substance use disorder among youth in contemporary society.

Keywords: Ogbomoso, pattern of drug use, prevalence of drug use, youth

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Authors: Akintayo Emmanuel Temitope, Akintayo Cecilia Olufunke, Ziegler Thomas

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Bio-polyols are important components in polyurethane industries. The preliminary studies into the synthesis of bio-polyol products (epoxy-polyol and epoxyl-polyurethanes) from Jatropha curcas were investigated. The reactions were followed by both infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance. Physico-chemical characterisation of the samples for iodine value (IV), acid value (AV), saponification value (SV) and hydroxyl value (HV) were carried out. Thermal transitions of the products were studied by heating 5 mg of the sample from 20ºC to 800ºC and then cooling down to -500ºC on a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The preparation of epoxylpolyol and polyurethane from Jatropha curcas oil was smooth and efficient. Results of film and solubility properties revealed that coatings of Jatropha curcas epoxy-polyurethanes performed better with increased loading of toluylene 2, 4-diisocyanate (TDI) up to 2 wt% while their solvent resistance decreased beyond a TDI loading of 1.2 wt%. DSC analysis shows the epoxy-polyurethane to be less stable compared to the epoxy-polyol.

Keywords: synthesis, epoxy-polyol, epoxy-polyurethane, jatropha curcas oil

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Authors: H. K. G. K. D. K. Hapuhinna, R. D. Gunaratne, H. M. J. C. Pitawala

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Hydroxyapatite is a bioceramic which can be used for applications in orthopedics and dentistry due to its structural similarity with the mineral phase of mammalian bones and teeth. In this study, it was synthesized, chemically changing natural Eppawala chloroapatite mineral as a value-added product. Sol-gel approach and solid state sintering were used to synthesize products using diluted nitric acid, ethanol and calcium hydroxide under different conditions. Synthesized Eppawala hydroxyapatite powder was characterized using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in order to find out its composition, crystallinity, presence of functional groups, bonding type, surface morphology, microstructural features, and thermal dependence and stability, respectively. The XRD results reflected the formation of a hexagonal crystal structure of hydroxyapatite. Elementary composition and microstructural features of products were discussed based on the XRF and SEM results of the synthesized hydroxyapatite powder. TGA and DSC results of synthesized products showed high thermal stability and good material stability in nature. Also, FTIR spectroscopy results confirmed the formation of hydroxyapatite from apatite via the presence of hydroxyl groups. Those results coincided with the FTIR results of mammalian bones including human bones. The study concludes that there is a possibility of producing hydroxyapatite using commercially available Eppawala chloroapatite in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: dentistry, Eppawala chlorapatite, hydroxyapatite, orthopedics

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Authors: Sagir Abubakar

Abstract:

The electronic means of transaction has provided an opportunity especially for commercial banks to entice more customers that will subsequently boost their return on investment. It moves them from traditional marketing into digital marketing and gives them a competitive advantage over others in the same industry.The paper, therefore, examined the competitive advantage of the electronic marketing strategy among commercial banks branches in Bauchi state. The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of e-marketing strategy as a competitive advantage among commercial banks branches in Bauchi state and to evaluate the level of enlightenment campaign offered by the commercial banks branches to their customers on e-marketing. The study obtained data from the staff of the five (s) selected banks branches as the respondents to answer the questionnaire. The research is a quantitative research, where the data where obtained using questionnaire. 100 questionnaires were distributed and analyzed using SPSS’s regression analysis. The research among other findings discovered that, the e-marketing has led to a significant improvement in the banking industry and is expected to continue because of the improvement in the ICT sector. It was also found out that most customers are not aware of the electronic products offered by commercial banks branches in Bauchi state. Some of factors affecting the adoption of e-marketing by banks as indicated from the findings include: top management commitment, government policy on ICT and availability of ICT personnel. The study recommended that commercial banks branches should engage in enlightenment campaign about the existing of their e- products/services, management should place an incentives in order to raise the interest of customers to patronize the products/services online.

Keywords: e-marketing strategy, competitive advantage, banks, Bauchi State

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Sagir Abubakar

Abstract:

The electronic means of transaction has provided an opportunity especially for commercial banks to entice more customers that will subsequently boost their return on investment. It moves them from traditional marketing into digital marketing and gives them a competitive advantage over others in the same industry. The paper, therefore, examined the competitive advantage of the electronic marketing strategy among commercial banks branches in Bauchi state. The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of e-marketing strategy as a competitive advantage among commercial banks branches in Bauchi state and to evaluate the level of enlightenment campaign offered by the commercial banks branches to their customers on e-marketing. The study obtained data from the staff of the five (s) selected banks branches as the respondents to answer the questionnaire. The research is a quantitative research, where the data where obtained using questionnaire. 100 questionnaires were distributed and analyzed using SPSS’s regression analysis. The research among other findings discovered that the e-marketing has led to a significant improvement in the banking industry and is expected to continue because of the improvement in the ICT sector. It was also found out that most customers are not aware of the electronic products offered by commercial banks branches in Bauchi state. Some of factors affecting the adoption of e-marketing by banks as indicated from the findings include: top management commitment, government policy on ICT and availability of ICT personnel. The study recommended that commercial banks branches should engage in enlightenment campaign about the existing of their e- products/services, management should place an incentive in order to raise the interest of customers to patronize the products/services online.

Keywords: e-marketing strategy, competitive advantage, banks, Bauchi State

Procedia PDF Downloads 485

Authors: Sajad Haghanifar, Seyed-Farshid Kashani Bozorg

Abstract:

Nano-crystalline Mg2Ni-based powder was produced by mechanical alloying technique using binary and ternary powder mixtures with stoichiometric compositions of Mg2Ni, Mg1.9C0.1Ni and Mg2C0.1Ni0.9. The structures and morphologies of the milled products were studied by XRD, SEM and HRTEM. Their electrochemical hydrogen storage characteristics were investigated in 6 M KOH solution. X-Ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the milled products showed the formation of Mg2Ni-based nano-crystallites after 5, 15 and 30 h of milling using the initial powder mixtures of Mg1.9C0.1Ni, Mg2Ni and Mg2C0.1Ni0.9, respectively. It was found that partial substitution of C for Mg has beneficial effect on the formation kinetic of nano-crystalline Mg2Ni. Contrary to this, partial substitution of C for Ni was resulted in retardation of formation kinetic of nano-crystalline Mg2Ni. In addition, the negative electrode made from Mg1.9C0.1Ni ternary milled product after 30 hour of milling exhibited the highest initial discharge capacity and longest discharge life. Thus, partial substitution of C for Mg is beneficial to electrode properties of the Mg2Ni-based crystallites. The relation between the discharge capacity and cycling number of mechanically alloyed products was proposed on the basis of the fact that the degradation of discharge capacity was mainly caused by the oxidation of magnesium and nickel. The experimental data fitted the deduced equation well.

Keywords: Mg2Ni, hydrogen absorbing materials, electrochemical properties, nano-crystalline, amorphous, mechanical alloying, carbon

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Authors: K. Sakthivel

Abstract:

With the continuous increase in population worldwide, stress increased among agricultural peoples, so it is necessary to increase the yield of agro-products. But it is not possible to meet fully with the traditionally adopted ways of using pesticides and herbicides. Today, agriculture and horticulture has realized the need of tomorrow and opting for various technologies to get higher overall yield, quality agro-products. Most of today’s synthetic polymers are produced from petrochemical bi-products and are not biodegradable. Persistent polymers generate significant sources of environmental pollution, harming wildlife when they are disposed in nature. The disposal of non degradable plastic bags adversely affects human and wild life. Moreover incineration of plastic waste presents environmental issues as well, since it yields toxic emissions. Material incineration is also limited due to the difficulties to find accurate and economically viable outlets. In addition plastic recycling shows a negative eco balance due to the necessity in nearly all cases to wash the plastic waste as well as the energy consumption during the recycling process phases. As plastics represent a large part of the waste collection at the local regional and national levels institutions are aware of the significant savings that compostable or biodegradable materials would generate. Polylactic acid (PLA), which is one of the most important biocompatible polyesters that are derived from annually renewable biomass such as corn and wheat, has attracted much attention for automotive parts and also can be applied in agro textiles. The manufacturing method of PLA is the ring-opening polymerization of the dimeric cyclic ester of lactic acid, lactide. For the stereo complex PLA, we developed by the four unit processes, fermentation, separation, lactide conversion, and polymerization. Then the polymer is converted into mulching film and applied in agriculture field. PLA agro textiles have better tensile strength, tearing strength and with stand from UV rays than polyester agro textile and polypropylene-based products.

Keywords: biodegradation, environment, mulching film, PLA, technical textiles

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Authors: Maha M.Saber, Eitedal Daoud, Moetazza M. Alshafei, Lobna M. Abd El-Latif

Abstract:

Children in the third world consumes many food products colored red like sweets and soft drink without knowing its effect on health or the type of color used in these products Erythrosine (ER,FD & C Red No.3) is one of the most common coloring agent used in these products and in coloring cherry in compotes. The possible adverse effect of erythrosine ER on the thyroid gland function is investigated in albino rats. Forty-five adult male albino rats were divided to three groups two groups will receive ER orally in doses 68 and I36mg/kg respectively. Third group will receive distilled water for three months Sections of thyroid glands were examined for histopathological, morphometric analysis and MIB-I Ki67 (proliferative marker). Serum concentration of triiodothyronine (T3), Thyroxin (T4) and thyrotrophin (TSH) were determined, results showed histological changes in the two treatment groups versus control group in the group with 68mg/kg dose show vaculation of the cytoplasm of follicular cells and pleomorphism of their nuclei. While the other treated group {136mg /kg} showed congestion of blood vessels, hyperplasia of the interstitial cells and increased multilayer of the follicular cells. Highly significant increase in the mean area of the thyroid follicles in both treated groups compared to control group.Erythrosine treated groups showed a very highly significant decrease (P < 0.001) in serum concentration of T3 and T 4 while TSH showed a very highly significant increase versus control.

Keywords: erythrosine, thyroid, morphometrics, proliferative marker

Procedia PDF Downloads 407

Authors: Tao Liu, Qingliang Yu, H. J. H. Brouwers

Abstract:

Among the reaction products in the alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (AAS), the layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have a remarkable capacity of chloride and heavy metal ions absorption. The promotion of LDH phases in the AAS matrix can increase chloride resistance. The objective of this study is that use the different dosages of sodium aluminate to activate slag, consequently promoting the formation of in-situ LDH. The hydration kinetics of the sodium aluminate activated slag (SAAS) was tested by the isothermal calorimetry. Meanwhile, the reaction products were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The sodium hydroxide-activated slag is selected as the reference. The results of XRD, TGA, and FTIR showed that the formation of LDH in SAAS was increased by the aluminate dosages.

Keywords: ground granulated blast furnace slag, sodium aluminate activated slag, in-situ LDH formation, chloride absorption

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Authors: K. Y. You, Y. L. Then

Abstract:

In the recent years, the hair building fiber has become popular, in other words, it is an effective method which helps people who suffer hair loss or sparse hair since the hair building fiber is capable to create a natural look of simulated hair rapidly. In the markets, there are a lot of hair fiber brands that have been designed to formulate an intense bond with hair strands and make the hair appear more voluminous instantly. However, those products have their own set of properties. Thus, in this report, some measurement techniques are proposed to identify those products. Up to five different brands of hair fiber are tested. The electrostatic and dielectric properties of the hair fibers are macroscopically tested using design DC and high-frequency microwave techniques. Besides, the hair fibers are microscopically analysis by magnifying the structures of the fiber using scanning electron microscope (SEM). From the SEM photos, the comparison of the uniformly shaped and broken rate of the hair fibers in the different bulk samples can be observed respectively.

Keywords: hair fiber, electrostatic, dielectric properties, broken rate, microwave techniques

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Authors: Saidatul A'isyah Ahmad Shukri, Haslina Arshad

Abstract:

This study was conducted to develop an application that provides Augmented Reality experience in identifying halal food products and beverages based on Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) database for Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The applications is operating on the mobile device using the Android platform. This application aims to provide a new experience to the user how to use the Android application implements Augmentation Reality technology The methodology used is object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD). The programming language used is JAVA programming using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) and XML. Android operating system is selected, and it is an open source operating system. Results from the study are implemented to further enhance diversity in presentation of information contained in this application and so can bring users using these applications from different angles.

Keywords: android, augmented reality, food, halal, Malaysia, products, XML

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Authors: Samira Mohabbatdar, Abbas Ahmadi, Mohsen S. Sajadieh

Abstract:

This paper deals with a two-level supply chain consisted of one manufacturer and one retailer for single-type product. The demand function of the customers depends on price. We consider an integrated production inventory system where the manufacturer processes raw materials in order to deliver finished product with imperfect quality to the retailer. Then retailer inspects the products and after that delivers perfect products to customers. The proposed model is based on the joint total profit of both the manufacturer and the retailer, and it determines the optimal ordering lot-size, number of shipment and selling price of the retailer. A numerical example is provided to analyse and illustrate the behaviour and application of the model. Finally, sensitivity analysis of the key parameters are presented to test feasibility of the model.

Keywords: supply chain, pricing policy, defective quality, joint economic lot sizing

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Authors: Ching-I Chen

Abstract:

The continued rise of e-commerce is the main driver of the rapid growth of global online purchase. Consumers can nearly buy everything they want at one occasion through online shopping. The purchase behavior models which focus on single product category are insufficient to describe online shopping behavior. Therefore, analysis of multi-category purchase gets more and more popular. For example, market basket analysis explores customers’ buying tendency of the association between product categories. The information derived from market basket analysis facilitates to make cross-selling strategies and product recommendation system. To detect the association between different product categories, we use the market basket analysis with the multidimensional scaling technique to build an associated map which describes how likely multiple product categories are bought at the same time. Besides, we also build an inter-purchase time model for associated products to describe how likely a product will be bought after its associated product is bought. We classify inter-purchase time behaviors of multi-category products into nine types, and use a mixture regression model to integrate those behaviors under our assumptions of purchase sequences. Our sample data is from comScore which provides a panelist-label database that captures detailed browsing and buying behavior of internet users across the United States. Finding the inter-purchase time from books to movie is shorter than the inter-purchase time from movies to books. According to the model analysis and empirical results, this research finally proposes the applications and recommendations in the management.

Keywords: multiple-category purchase behavior, inter-purchase time, market basket analysis, e-commerce

Procedia PDF Downloads 369

Authors: Karen Hong

Abstract:

Smart tactile textiles are a series of textile-based products that incorporates smart embedded technology to be utilized as tactile therapeutic applications for 2 main groups of target users. The first group of users will be children with sensory processing disorder who are suffering from tactile sensory dysfunction. Children with tactile sensory issues may have difficulty tolerating the sensations generated from the touch of certain textures on the fabrics. A series of smart tactile textiles, collectively known as ‘Tactile Toys’ are developed as tactile therapy play objects, exposing children to different types of touch sensations within textiles, enabling them to enjoy tactile experiences together with interactive play which will help them to overcome fear of certain touch sensations. The second group of users will be the elderly or geriatric patients who are suffering from deteriorating sense of touch. One of the common consequences of aging is suffering from deteriorating sense of touch and a decline in motoric function. With the focus in stimulating the sense of touch for this particular group of end users, another series of smart tactile textiles, collectively known as ‘Tactile Aids’ are developed also as tactile therapy. This range of products can help to maintain touch sensitivity and at the same time allowing the elderly to enjoy interactive play to practice their hand-eye coordination and enhancing their motor skills. These smart tactile textile products are being designed and tested out by the end users and have proofed their efficacy as tactile therapy enabling the users to lead a better quality of life.

Keywords: smart textiles, embedded technology, tactile therapy, tactile aids, tactile toys

Procedia PDF Downloads 177