Search results for: olive-by products

Authors: Anna Dziubinska

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The applications of magnesium alloys in transport include all kinds of vehicle wheels for cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trolleys, etc. Modern technologies of manufacturing products from these materials have been noticeably improved recently, creating new possibilities for their application. Continuously developed technologies for forming Mg alloys must not be overlooked, which make it possible to manufacture products with better properties compared to those obtained by casting only. The article reviews the specialized literature on magnesium wheel forming and presents a concept of technology for forging magnesium wheels for light vehicles from cast preforms. The research leading to these results has received funding from the Norway Grants 2014-2021 via the National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: forming, forging, magnesium alloy, wheels, vehicles

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Authors: Medani Prasad Rijal

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The study outlines the impacts of decentralized forest policy on natural Sal (shorea robusta) forests in the Terai region of Nepal. The government has implemented community forestry program to manage the forest resources and improve the livelihood of local people collectively. The forest management authorities such as conserve, manage, develop and use of forest resources were shifted to the local communities, however, the ownership right of the forestland retained by the government. Local communities took the decision on harvesting, distribution, and sell of forest products by fixing the prices independently. The local communities were putting the low value of forest products and distributed among the user households on the name of collective decision. The decision of low valuation is devaluating the worth of forest products. Therefore, the study hypothesized that decision-making capacities are equally prominent next to the decentralized policy and program formulation. To accomplish the study, individual to group level discussions and questionnaire survey methods were applied with executive committee members and user households. The study revealed that the local intuition called Community Forest User Group (CFUG) committee normally took the decisions on consensus basis. Considering to the access and affording capacity of user households having poor economic backgrounds, low pricing mechanism of forest products has been practiced, even though the Sal timber is far expensive in the local market. The local communities thought that low pricing mechanism is accessible to all user households from poor to better off households. However, the analysis of forest products distribution opposed the assumption as most of the Sal timber, which is the most valuable forest product of community forest only purchased by the limited households of better economic conditions. Since the Terai region is heterogeneous by socio-economic conditions, better off households always have higher affording capacity and possibility of taking higher timber benefits because of low price mechanism. On the other hand, the minimum price rate of forest products has poor contribution in community fund collection. Consequently, it has poor support to carry out poverty alleviation activities to poor people. The local communities have been fixed Sal timber price rate around three times cheaper than normal market price, which is a strong evidence of forest product devaluation itself. Finally, the study concluded that the capacity building of local executives as the decision-makers of natural Sal forests is equally indispensable next to the policy and program formulation for effective decentralized forest management. Unilateral decentralized forest policy may devaluate the forest products rather than devolve of power to the local communities and empower to them.

Keywords: community forestry program, decentralized forest policy, Nepal, Sal forests, Terai

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Authors: Andrea Vasquez, Pedro Maldonado-Alvarado

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In general, 'gluten-free' foods like breadmaking products provide functional or nutraceutical benefits for the consumer's health and increased their demand on the market. In Ecuador, there is an overproduction of superfoods, and the food by-products are undervalued. For the first time, to the author's best knowledge, gluten-free bread mixtures from quinoa and banana flour, cassava starch, lupine flour (LF), or whey protein (WP) with hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and transglutaminase (TG) were evaluated on their functional and sensory properties. Free amino groups and thiols, rheology, and electrophoresis SDS PAGE were performed to analyze the crosslinking of TG at different concentrations with HC or PL proteins. Dough characterization, pasting properties were evaluated, respectively, by a MIXOLAB and a rheometer with a pasting cell. The texture, porosity, and loaf volume were characterized using a texturometer, ImageJ software, and breadmaking ability, respectively. Finally, a breadmaking aptitude and sensorial bread acceptability were performed. A significant decrease in the content of free amino groups (0.16 to 0.11 and 0.46 to 0.36 mM/mg of protein) and free thiol groups (0.37 to 0.21 and 1.79 to 1.32 mM/mg protein) was observed when 1.0% and 0.5% TG were added to LF and WP, respectively. In apparent viscosity analysis, the action of TG on HC proteins changes their viscosity, while the viscosity of LF is not modified by TG. Results of electrophoresis in PL showed bands of higher molecular weight of different fragments of proteins with 1% TG. Formulation with 59.8, 39.9, 160.8, 6.0, 1.0, and 1.5% of, respectively, QF, BF, CS, LF or WP, TG, and HPMC had the best properties in dough parameters, pasting parameters (lower pasting temperature and higher peak viscosity), best crumb structure, lower crumb hardness and higher loaf volume (2.24 and 2.28 mL/g). All the loaves of bread were acceptable in baking aptitude and general acceptability.

Keywords: breadmaking, gluten-free, superfoods, by-products, Ecuador

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Authors: Ghada Elshafei, Abdelazim Negm

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Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service, by compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases; evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases; and interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision. In this paper, the life cycle assessment of aluminum and beech wood as two commonly used materials in Egypt for window frames are heading, highlighting their benefits and weaknesses. Window frames of the two materials have been assessed on the basis of their production, energy consumption and environmental impacts. It has been found that the climate change of the windows made of aluminum and beech wood window, for a reference window (1.2m × 1.2m), are 81.7 mPt and - 52.5 mPt impacts respectively. Among the most important results are: fossil fuel consumption, potential contributions to the green building effect and quantities of solid waste tend to be minor for wood products compared to aluminum products; incineration of wood products can cause higher impacts of acidification and eutrophication than aluminum, whereas thermal energy can be recovered.

Keywords: aluminum window, beech wood window, green building, life cycle assessment, life cycle analysis, SimaPro software, window frame

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Authors: Tew Leh Ghee

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The study's goal is to determine how celebrity endorsement affects Malaysian consumers' attitudes and intentions to buy skincare products. Since customers now largely rely on celebrity endorsement to influence purchasing decisions in almost every business, celebrity endorsement is not, in reality, a new phenomenon. Even though the market for skincare products has a vast potential to be exploited, corporations have yet to seize this niche via celebrity endorsement. Basically, there hasn't been much study done to recognize the significance of celebrity endorsement in this industry. This research combined descriptive and quantitative methods with a self-administered survey as the primary data-gathering tool. All of the characteristics under study were measured using a 5-point Likert scale, and the questionnaire was written in English. A convenience sample method was used to choose respondents, and 360 sets of valid questionnaires were gathered for the study's statistical analysis. Preliminary statistical analyses were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The backdrop of the respondents' demographics was examined using descriptive analysis. All concept assessments' validity and reliability were examined using exploratory factor analysis, item-total statistics, and reliability statistics. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used, respectively, to assess relationships and impacts between the variables under study. The research showed that, apart from competence, celebrity endorsements of skincare products in Malaysia had a favorable impact on attitudes and purchase intentions as evaluated by attractiveness and dependability. The research indicated that the most significant element influencing attitude and buy intention was the credibility of a celebrity endorsement. The study offered implications in order to provide potential improvements of celebrity endorsement in skincare goods in Malaysia. The study's last portion includes its limits and ideas for the future.

Keywords: trustworthiness, influential, phenomenon, celebrity emdorsement

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Authors: Ejazulhaq Rahimi

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The development of techniques evaluating deterioration on concrete structures is vital for structural health monitoring (SHM). One of the main reasons for reinforced concrete structure's deterioration is the corroding of embedded rebars. It is a natural process that begins when the rebar starts to rust. It occurs when the protective layer on the rebar is destroyed. The rebar in concrete is usually protected against corrosion by the high pH of the surrounding cement paste. However, there are chemicals that can destroy the protective layer, making it susceptible to corrosion. It is very destructive for the lifespan and durability of the concrete structure. Corrosion products which are 3 to 6 times voluminous than the rebar stress its surrounding concrete and lead to fracture as cracks even peeling off the cover concrete over the rebar. As is clear that concrete shows limit elastic behavior in its stress strain property, so corrosion product stresses can be detected as strains from the concrete surface. It means that surface strains have a relation with the situation and amount of corrosion products and related concrete fractures inside reinforced concrete. In this paper, a comparative study of surface strains due to corrosion products detected by strain gauges and acoustic emission (AE) testing under periodic accelerated corrosion in the salty environment with 3% NaCl is reported. From the results, three different stages of strains were clearly observed based on the type and rate of strains in each corrosion situation and related fracture types. AE parameters which mostly are related to fracture and their shapes, describe the same phases. It is confirmed that there is a great agreement to the result of each other and describes three phases as generation and expansion of corrosion products and initiation and propagation of corrosion-induced cracks, and surface cracks. In addition, the strain on the concrete surface was rapidly increased before the cracks arrived at the surface of the concrete.

Keywords: acoustic emission, monitoring, rebar corrosion, reinforced concrete, strain

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Authors: Mahfoud Djebbar

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The past two decades or so have witnessed phenomenal growth of the Islamic financial services industry. The whole industry has been thriving at about 15 percent per annum. This development entails the Islamic financial engineering, IFE, to some kind of crossroads, lagging behind its conventional counterpart. Therefore, IFE, and particularly traded products development, and in order to achieve its goals, two approaches are available, i.e., replicating engineering and innovative engineering. We also try to emphasis the innovative strategy since it guards the Islamic identity of different financial products and processes, and thereby, improves the creativity in the Islamic financial industry. The attempt also centers on sukukization (Islamic securitization), innovation, liquidity management, and risk management and hedging in the Islamic financial system. Finally, the challenges facing IFE are also addressed.

Keywords: islamic financial engineering, hedging and risk management, innovation, securitization, money market instruments, islamic capital markets

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Authors: Miao Yang

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PPCPs (pharmaceutical and personal care products) in water, as an environmental pollutant, becomes an issue of increasing concern. Therefore, the techniques for degradation of PPCPs has been a hotspot in water pollution control field. Since there are several disadvantages for common degradation techniques of PPCPs, such as low degradation efficiency for certain PPCPs (ibuprofen and Carbamazepine) this proposal will adopt a combined technique by using CDs (carbon nanodots)/C₃N₄ composite and ultrasonic irradiation to mitigate or overcome these shortages. There is a significant scientific problem that the mechanism including PPCPs, major reactants, and interfacial active sites is not clear yet in the study of PPCPs degradation. This work aims to solve this problem by using both theoretical and experimental methodologies. Firstly, optimized parameters will be obtained by evaluating the kinetics and oxidation efficiency under different conditions. The competition between H₂O₂ and PPCPs with HO• will be elucidated, after which the degradation mechanism of PPCPs by the synergy of CDs/C₃N₄ composite and ultrasonic irradiation will be proposed. Finally, a sonolysis-adsorption-catalysis coupling mechanism will be established which is the theoretical basis and technical support for developing new efficient degradation techniques for PPCPs in the future.

Keywords: carbon nanodots/C₃N₄, pharmaceutical and personal care products, ultrasonic irradiation, hydroxyl radical, heterogeneous catalysis

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Authors: Rosa Sobreira, Paula Arriscado

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Marketers are aware that media relations is an important touch point, which is also cheaper, to bring their products and their brands to the consumer. They recognize the role of journalists as moderators and transformers of public opinion, and they realize their influence on brand image. And also, they know that readers, listeners, viewers and internet users "believe" more what they read, hear and see in the news than in an advertisement. The study is focused on the automotive industry and analyses the news published about three brands that share industrial facilities and components. We wanted to understand the role of the information created by the brand`s media team in the journalists’ work, and the impact on management, activation and differentiation of brands and their products` attributes and benefits. Based on a qualitative methodology, the analysis focused on press news, making comparison between media coverage and their “narratives” about the three cars from different brands. The results point to the fact that journalists easily integrate speech from the marks on their products. In the case of this study, we found that apart from the description of the many similarities between the three cars, the average speech also "struggled" for revealing the attributes that differentiate them. This interpretation of the results helps us to understand the "marriage" between branding and media. We believe also this paper let us to understand how journalists, through news, join the speech of the brands.

Keywords: brand management, media relations, differentiation, positioning

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Authors: Bilal Ahmad Malik

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With the fall of Soviet Union in 1991 the whole Central Asian region saw a dramatic rise in Muslim identity, a call back to Islamic legacy. Today, many Central Asian Muslims demand, what Islam has termed legal (Halal) and, avoid what Islam has termed illegal (Haram). The process of Islamic resurgence kicked off very quickly soon after the integration of Central Asian republics with other Muslim geographies through the membership of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other similar organizations. This interaction proved to be a vital push factor to the already existing indigenous reviving trends and sentiments. As a result, along with many other requirements, Muslim customer demand emerged as navel trend in the market in general and in banking and financial sector in particular. To get this demand fulfilled, the governments of CIS states like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan introduced Halal banking and financial products in the market. Firstly, the present paper would briefly discuss the core composition of Halal banking and financial products. Then, coming to its major theme, it would try to identify and analyze the causes that lead to the emergence of Islamic banking and finance industry in the Muslim majority Post-Soviet CIS States.

Keywords: causes, Central Asia, interest-free banking, Islamic Revival

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Authors: Katarzyna Neffe-Skocinska, Marzena Tomaszewska, Beata Bilska, Dorota Zielinska, Monika Trzaskowska, Anna Lepecka, Danuta Kolozyn-Krajewska

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The aim of the study was to assess Polish consumer behavior towards food waste, including knowledge of information on food labels. The survey was carried out using the CAPI (computer assisted personal interview) method, which involves interviewing the respondent using mobile devices. The research group was a representative sample for Poland due to demographic variables: gender, age, place of residence. A total of 1.115 respondents participated in the study (51.1% were women and 48.9% were men). The questionnaire included questions on five thematic aspects: 1. General knowledge and sources of information on the phenomenon of food waste; 2. Consumption of food after the date of minimum durability; 3. The meanings of the phrase 'best before ...'; 4. Indication of the difference between the meaning of the words 'best before ...' and 'use by'; 5. Indications products marked with the phrase 'best before ...'. It was found that every second surveyed Pole met with the topic of food waste (54.8%). Among the respondents, the most popular source of information related to the research topic was television (89.4%), radio (26%) and the Internet (24%). Over a third of respondents declared that they consume food after the date of minimum durability. Only every tenth (9.8%) respondent does not pay attention to the expiry date and type of consumed products (durable and perishable products). Correctly 39.8% of respondents answered the question: How do you understand the phrase 'best before ...'? In the opinion of 42.8% of respondents, the statements 'best before ...' and 'use by' mean the same thing, while 36% of them think differently. In addition, more than one-fifth of respondents could not respond to the questions. In the case of products of the indication information 'best before ...', more than 40% of the respondents chosen perishable products, e.g., yoghurts and durable, e.g., groats. A slightly lower percentage of indications was recorded for flour (35.1%), sausage (32.8%), canned corn (31.8%), and eggs (25.0%). Based on the assessment of the behavior of Polish consumers towards the phenomenon of food waste, it can be concluded that respondents have elementary knowledge of the study subject. Noteworthy is the good conduct of most respondents in terms of compliance with shelf life and dates of minimum durability of food products. The publication was financed on the basis of an agreement with the National Center for Research and Development No. Gospostrateg 1/385753/1/NCBR/2018 for the implementation and financing of the project under the strategic research and development program social and economic development of Poland in the conditions of globalizing markets – GOSPOSTRATEG - acronym PROM.

Keywords: food waste, shelf life, dates of durability, consumer knowledge and behavior

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Authors: J. Berčík, A. Mravcová, A. Rusková, P. Jurčišin, R. Virágh

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The online world is changing every day. With this comes the emergence and development of new business models. One of them is the sale of several types of products in one place. This type of sales in the form of online marketplaces has undergone a positive development in recent years and represents a kind of alternative to brick-and-mortar shopping centres. The main philosophy is to buy several products under one roof. Examples of popular e-commerce marketplaces are Amazon, eBay, and Allegro. Their share of total e-commerce turnover is expected to even double in the coming years. The paper highlights possibilities for testing web applications and online marketplace using emerging methods like stationary eye cameras (eye tracking) and facial analysis (FaceReading).

Keywords: emerging methods, consumer neuroscience, e-commerce, marketplace, user experience, user interface

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Ghazanfari Masoumeh, Hajimohammadi Bahador, Eskandari Soheyl, Karimian Khosroshahi Nader

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Consumption of ready to cook meat products such as hamburgers, sausages and etc is being increased in the worldwide specially in the big cities , so safety and quality required for food products is very important and vital for consumers with consideration of meat price and increasing demands for meat products, possibility of substitution of cheep and unauthorized textures such as undesirable enclosures animals (massacre, lung tissue, breast of spleen, the organs abdominal cavity, gizzard chicken, skin, etc. ) have increased in the recent years, in this study 30 industrial and 30 handmade hamburgers in fast food restaurants detected out of Iranian national standard for hamburger No. 2304 in using the unauthorized textures. The purpose of this study was to determine using of chicken skin in produced hamburgers from chicken meat in Tehran base on histology methods. The rates of skin used were, 2 % in industrial and 9 % in handmade formula samples. Statistically using the unauthorized textures had significant higher rate in handmade (P < 0.05) in compare with the industrial samples. The results showed the handmade hamburgers with higher adulteration rate and non-compliance with the hamburger national standard could be a potentially health hazard.

Keywords: histology, adulteration, unauthorized textures, undesirable enclosures animals

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Authors: Judith Klostermann, Miguel Segura, Wilma Jans, Dragana Bojovic, Isadora Christel Jimenez, Francisco Doblas-Reyees, Judit Snethlage

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The Climate Data Store (CDS), developed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Union, is intended to become a key instrument for exploring climate data. The CDS contains both raw and processed data to provide information to the users about the past, present and future climate of the earth. It allows for easy and free access to climate data and indicators, presenting an important asset for scientists and stakeholders on the path for achieving a more sustainable future. The C3S Evaluation and Quality Control (EQC) is assessing the quality of the CDS by undertaking a comprehensive user requirement assessment to measure the users’ satisfaction. Recommendations will be developed for the improvement and expansion of the CDS datasets and products. User requirements will be identified on the fitness of the datasets, the toolbox, and the overall CDS service. The EQC function of the CDS will help C3S to make the service more robust: integrated by validated data that follows high-quality standards while being user-friendly. This function will be closely developed with the users of the service. Through their feedback, suggestions, and contributions, the CDS can become more accessible and meet the requirements for a diverse range of users. Stakeholders and their active engagement are thus an important aspect of CDS development. This will be achieved with direct interactions with users such as meetings, interviews or workshops as well as different feedback mechanisms like surveys or helpdesk services at the CDS. The results provided by the users will be categorized as a function of CDS products so that their specific interests will be monitored and linked to the right product. Through this procedure, we will identify the requirements and criteria for data and products in order to build the correspondent recommendations for the improvement and expansion of the CDS datasets and products.

Keywords: climate data store, Copernicus, quality, user engagement

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Authors: Jeisson Alejandro Triana, Maria Fernanda Quiceno Vallejo, Patricia del Portillo, Juan Manuel Anzola

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Most of the known antimicrobials so far discovered are secondary metabolites. The potential for new natural products of this category increases as new microbial genomes and metagenomes are being sequenced. Despite the advances, there is no systematic way to interrogate metagenomic clones for their potential to contain clusters of genes related to these pathways. Here we analyzed 52 biosynthetic pathways from the AntiSMASH database at the protein domain level in order to identify domains of high specificity and sensitivity with respect to specific biosynthetic pathways. These domains turned out to have various degrees of divergence at the DNA level. We propose PCR assays targetting such domains in-silico and corroborated one by Sanger sequencing.

Keywords: bioinformatic, anti smash, antibiotics, secondary metabolites, natural products, protein domains

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Authors: Suelen C. Lima, André C. de Oliveira, Rosemary A. Roque

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Dengue is fatal arboviruses transmitted by the A. aegypti mosquito to more than 100 countries, for which the WHO estimates that 2.5 million people will be infected by these disease. The widespread of these diseases is due, among other factors, to the resistance that A. aegypti has to several commercial insecticides. On the other hand, natural products based on plants of the genus Piper (Piperaceae) are characterized by their insecticidal activities against mosquitoes. Piper longepetiolatum and Piper brachypetiolatum are species with wide distribution in the State of Amazonas. However, there is no investigation of phytochemical or biological of these plants against mosquitoes such as A. aegypti. The main of this study was to identify the chemical composition of the essential oil (EOs) from P. longepetiolatum and P. brachypetiolatum and to evaluate the biological activity against A. aegypti. The EOs were extracted by hydrodistillation from leaves (200 g) of P. longepetiolatum and P. brachypetiolatum and analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID. The main compounds β-caryophyllene (99.9% of purity) and E-nerolidol (99.4% of purity) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich® Brazil. The larvicidal activity of EOs (20 to 100 ppm), β-caryophyllene and E-nerolidol (10 to 50 ppm) was performed according to WHO protocol against A. aegypti larvae. The GC-MS and GC-FID analysis of EOs from P. longepetiolatum and P. brachypetiolatum indicated the majority presence of β-caryophyllene (35.42%) and E-nerolidol (49.79%), respectively. The results showed that all natural products presented larvicidal activity against A. aegypti. In this aspect, the OE from P. brachypetiolatum (LC50 of 15.51 ppm and LC90 of 22.79 ppm) was more active than the OE from P. longepetiolatum (LC50 of 47.17 ppm and LC90 of 69.60 ppm) (p < 0.05). Regarding of main compounds, E-nerolidol (LC50 of 9.50 ppm and LC90 of 23.89 ppm) showed higher larvicidal activity than the β-caryophyllene compound (LC50 of 79.00 ppm and LC90 of 230.91 ppm) (p < 0.05). The larvae treated with these natural products showed tremors and lethargic movements, suggesting that these natural products have neurotoxic action. These observations support studies to investigate the mechanism of action. This is the first record of the chemical composition and larvicidal activity of the EO from P. longepetiolatum and P. brachypetiolatum rich in β-caryophyllene and E-nerolidol against A. aegypti larvae.

Keywords: piperaceae, aedes, sesquiterpenes, biological control

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Authors: Dhruba Khatri

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Despite the short history of community based forest management, the community forestry program of Nepal has produced substantial positive effects to organize the local people at a local level institution called Community Forest User Group and manage the local forest resources in the line of poverty reduction since its inception in 1970s. Moreover, each CFUG has collected a community fund from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well and the fund has played a vital role to improve the livelihood of user households living in and around the forests. The specific study sites were selected based on the criteria of i) community forests having dominancy of Sal forests, and ii) forests having 3-5 years experience of community forest management. The price rates of forest products fixed by the CFUGs and the distribution records were collected from the respective community forests. Nonetheless, the relation between pricing strategy and community fund collection revealed that the small change in price of forest products could greatly affect in community fund collection and carry out of forest management, community development, and income generation activities in the line of poverty reduction at local level.

Keywords: benefit sharing, community forest, equitable, Nepal

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Authors: M. I. Ribah, M. Jibir, Y. A. Bashar, S. S. Manga

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Food safety is a significant and growing public health problem in the world and Nigeria as a developing country, since food-borne diseases are important contributors to the huge burden of sickness and death of humans. In Nigeria, traditional ready-to-eat meat products (RTE-MPs) like balangu, tsire, guru and dried meat products like kilishi, dambun nama, banda, were reported to be highly appreciated because of their eating qualities. The consumption of these products was considered as safe due to the treatments that are usually involved during their production process. However, during processing and handling, the products could be contaminated by pathogens that could cause food poisoning. Therefore, a hazard identification for pathogenic bacteria on some traditional RTE-MPs was conducted in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria. A total of 116 RTE-MPs (balangu-38, kilishi-39 and tsire-39) samples were obtained from retail outlets and analyzed using standard cultural microbiological procedures in general and selective enrichment media to isolate the target pathogens. A six-fold serial dilution was prepared and using the pour plating method, colonies were counted. Serial dilutions were selected based on the prepared pre-labeled Petri dishes for each sample. A volume of 10-12 ml of molten Nutrient agar cooled to 42-45°C was poured into each Petri dish and 1 ml each from dilutions of 102, 104 and 106 for every sample was respectively poured on a pre-labeled Petri plate after which colonies were counted. The isolated pathogens were identified and confirmed after series of biochemical tests. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the presence of pathogens. The General Linear Model was used to analyze data on pathogen presence according to RTE-MPs and means were separated using the Tukey test at 0.05 confidence level. Of the 116 RTE-MPs samples collected, 35 (30.17%) samples were found to be contaminated with some tested pathogens. Prevalence results showed that Escherichia coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the samples. Mean total bacterial count was 23.82×106 cfu/g. The frequency of individual pathogens isolated was; Staphylococcus aureus 18 (15.51%), Escherichia coli 12 (10.34%) and Salmonella 5 (4.31%). Also, among the RTE-MPs tested, the total bacterial counts were found to differ significantly (P < 0.05), with 1.81, 2.41 and 2.9×104 cfu/g for tsire, kilishi, and balangu, respectively. The study concluded that the presence of pathogenic bacteria in balangu could pose grave health risks to consumers, and hence, recommended good manufacturing practices in the production of balangu to improve the products’ safety.

Keywords: ready-to-eat meat products, retail outlets, public health, safety assessment

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Authors: Luisito L. Lacatan, Gian Carlo J. Bergonia, Felipe C. Buado III, Gerald L. Gono, Ron Mark V. Ortil, Calvin A. Yap

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This paper features the development of a Mobile Self-sustaining Electricity Generator for water distillation process with MCU- based wireless controller & indicator designed to solve the problem of scarcity of clean water. It is a fact that pure water is precious nowadays and its value is more precious to those who do not have or enjoy it. There are many water filtration products in existence today. However, none of these products fully satisfies the needs of families needing clean drinking water. All of the following products require either large sums of money or extensive maintenance, and some products do not even come with a guarantee of potable water. The proposed project was designed to alleviate the problem of scarcity of potable water in the country and part of the purpose was also to identify the problem or loopholes of the project such as the distance and speed required to produce electricity using a wheel and alternator, the required time for the heating element to heat up, the capacity of the battery to maintain the heat of the heating element and the time required for the boiler to produce a clean and potable water. The project has three parts. The first part included the researchers’ effort to plan every part of the project from the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy, from purifying water to potable drinking water to the controller and indicator of the project using microcontroller unit (MCU). This included identifying the problem encountered and any possible solution to prevent and avoid errors. Gathering and reviewing related studies about the project helped the researcher reduce and prevent any problems before they could be encountered. It also included the price and quantity of materials used to control the budget.

Keywords: mobile, self – sustaining, electricity generator, water distillation, wireless battery indicator, wireless water level indicator

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Authors: Kashan Bashir, Salah Naji Ahmed Sufyan, Mirza Umar Baig

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In this study, n-dodecane, tetralin, decalin, and tetramethybenzene (TMBE) were used as model compounds of alkanes, naphthenic-aromatic, cycloalkanes and alkyl-benzenes presented in hydro-diesel. The catalytic cracking properties of four model compounds over Y zeolite catalyst (Y-Cat.) and ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts (ZSM-5-Cat.) were probed. The experiment results revealed that high conversion of macromolecular paraffin and naphthenic aromatics were achieved over Y-Cat, whereas its low cracking activity of intermediate products micromolecules paraffin and olefin and high activity of hydride transfer reaction goes against the production of value-added products (light olefin and gasoline). In contrast, despite the fact that the hydride transfer reaction was greatly inhabited over ZSM-5-Cat, the low conversion of macromolecules was observed attributed to diffusion limitations. Interestingly, the mixed catalyst compensates for the shortcomings of the two catalysts, and a “relay reaction” between Y-Cat and ZSM-5-Cat was proposed. Specifically, the added Y-Cat acts as a “pre-cracking booster site” and promotes macromolecules conversion. The addition of ZSM-5-Cat not only significantly suppresses the hydride transfer reaction but also contributes to the cracking of immediate products paraffin and olefin into ethylene and propylene, resulting in a high yield of alkyl-benzene (gasoline), ethylene, and propylene with a low yield of naphthalene (LCO) and coke. The catalytic cracking evaluation experiments of mixed hydro-LCO were also performed to further clarify the “relay reaction” above, showing the highest yield of LPG and gasoline over mixed catalyst. The results indicate that the Y-cat and ZSM-5-cat have a synergistic effect on the conversion of hydro-diesel and corresponding value-added product yield and selective coke yield.

Keywords: synergistic effect, hydro-diesel cracking, FCC, zeolite catalyst, ethylene and propylene

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Authors: Shola Haruna Adeosun, Ajoke F. Adebiyi

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Business organizations in Nigeria have failed to realize the role of a good corporate image policy in business dealings. This is probably because they do not understand the concept of corporate image and the necessary tools for promoting it. Corporate image goes beyond attractive products or rendering quality services, advertising and paying good salary. It pervades every aspect of business concern, from the least worker’s personality to the dealings within the organization and with the large society. In the face of the societal dynamics, especially in the business world, brought by technology, companies are faced with stiff competition that maintaining a competitive edge requires aggressive strategies. One of such strategies in effective corporate image management is promotion. This study investigates the strategies that could be deployed in order to build and promote the effective corporate image, as well as enhance profit margins of an organization, using Phinomar Nigeria Limited, Ngwo as case study. The study reveals that Phinomar Nigeria Limited has a laid down corporate image policy but not effectively managed; and that, strategies deployed to promote corporate image are limited; while responses to Phinomar products are fairly high. It, therefore, suggests profitable products but requires periodical improvement in the employee's welfare and work environment; as well as, the need to increase the scope of Phinomar’s social responsibility.

Keywords: corporate image, effective, enhancing, management, profitability, strategy

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Authors: Klementina Puto, Ermelinda Nexhipi, Evi Llaka

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Dairy by-products are a fairly good environment for microorganisms due to their composition for their growth. Microbial populations have a significant impact in the production of cheese, butter, yogurt, etc. in terms of their organoleptic quality and at the same time some also cause their breakdown. In this paper, the microbiological contamination of soft cheese, butter and yogurt produced in the country (domestic) and imported is assessed, as an indicator of hygiene with impact on public health. The study was extended during September 2018-June 2019 and was divided into three periods, September-December, January-March, and April-June. During this study, a total of 120 samples were analyzed, of which 60 samples of cheese and butter locally produced, and 60 samples of imported soft cheese and butter productions. The microbial indicators analyzed are Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. Analyzes have been conducted at the Food Safety Laboratory (FSIV) in Tirana in accordance with EU Regulation 2073/2005. Sampling was performed according to the specific international standards for these products (ISO 6887 and ISO 8261). Sampling and transport of samples were done under sterile conditions. Also, coding of samples was done to preserve the anonymity of subjects. After the analysis, the country's soft cheese products compared to imports were more contaminated with S. aureus and E. coli. Meanwhile, the imported butter samples that were analyzed, resulted within norms compared to domestic ones. Based on the results, it was concluded that the microbial quality of samples of cheese, butter and yogurt analyzed remains a real problem for hygiene in Albania. The study will also serve business operators in Albania to improve their work to ensure good hygiene on the basis of the HACCP plan and to provide a guarantee of consumer health.

Keywords: consumer, health, dairy, by-products, microbial

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Authors: Y. N. Fung, R. Liu, T. M. Choi

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Over the past decades, previous studies have explored different consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable fashion and how these attitudes affect consumer behaviors. Researchers have attempted to provide solutions for product suppliers (e.g., retailers, designers, developers, and manufacturers) through studying consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable fashion. However, based on the studies of consumer attitudes, investigations on the sales and market share of sustainable sportswear products remain under-explored. Gaps may exist between the consumers’ expectations and the developed sustainable sportswear products. In this study, a novel study has been carried out to examine the attitude gaps existing between the sustainable sportswear suppliers’ (SSSs) and the sustainable sportswear consumers (SSCs). This study firstly identifies the key attitudes towards sustainable sportswear product development. It analyses how sustainable attitudes affect the products being developed, as well as the effects of the attitude’s difference between the SSSs and the SSCs on the consumers’ satisfaction towards sportswear product consumption. A gap analysis research framework is adopted with the use of collected questionnaire survey data. The results indicate that a significant difference exists between SSSs and SSCs’ attitudes towards sustainable design, manufacture, product features, and branding. Based on in-depth interviews, the major causes of the difference in attitudes are studied to provide managerial insights for sustainable sportswear product management and business development.

Keywords: sustainability, sportswear, attitude, gap analysis, suppliers, consumers

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Authors: Manal Bouasria, Mohammed-Hichem Benzaama, Valérie Pralong, Yassine El Mendili

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Reducing the quantity of cement in cementitious composites can help to reduce the environmental effect of construction materials. By-products such as ferronickel slags (FNS), fly ash (FA), and Crepidula fornicata (CR) are promising options for cement replacement. In this work, we investigated the relevance of substituting cement with FNS-CR and FA-CR on the mechanical properties of mortar and on the thermal properties of concrete. Foraging intervals ranging from 2 to 28 days, the mechanical properties are obtained by 3-point bending and compression tests. The chosen mix is used to construct a prototype in order to study the material’s hygrothermal performance. The data collected by the sensors placed on the prototype was utilized to build an artificial neural network.

Keywords: artificial neural network, cement, circular economy, concrete, by products

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Authors: Wenmin Qu

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A capacitance level sensor with a segmented film electrode and a thin-film volume flow sensor with an innovative by-pass sleeve is presented as industrial products for the application in a harsh environment. The working principle of such sensors is well known; however, the traditional sensors show some limitations for certain industrial measurements. The two sensors presented in this paper overcome this limitation and enlarge the application spectrum. The problem is analyzed, and the solution is given. The emphasis of the paper is on developing the problem-solving concepts and the realization of the corresponding measuring circuits. These should give advice and encouragement, how we can still develop electronic measuring products in an almost saturated market.

Keywords: by-pass sleeve, charge transfer circuit, fixed ΔT circuit, harsh environment, industrial application, segmented electrode

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Authors: Ana Rita Conde, Pilar Mota, Tânia Botelho, Suzana Caldeira, Isabel Rego, Jessica Pacheco, Osvaldo Silva, Áurea Sousa

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Tourism promotes well-being and health to children with ASD and their families. Literature indicates the need to provide tourist activities that integrate the therapeutic component, to promote the development and well-being of children with ASD. The study aims to implement tourist offers in Azores that integrate the therapeutic feature, assess their suitability and impact on the well-being and health of the child and caregivers. Using a mixed methodology, the study integrates families that experience and evaluate the impact of tourism products developed specifically for them.

Keywords: austism spectrum disorder, children, therapeutic tourism activities, well-being, health, inclusive tourism

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Authors: Sajad A. Rather, F. A. Masoodi, Rehana Akhter, S. M. Wani, Adil Gani

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Modern trend towards convenience foods has resulted in increased production and consumption of restructured meat products and are of great importance to the meat industry. In meat products fat plays an important role in cooking properties, texture & sensory scores, however, high fat contents in particular animal fats provide high amounts of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol and are associated with several types of non communicable diseases such as obesity, hypertension and coronary heart diseases. Thus, fat reduction has generally been seen as an important strategy to produce healthier meat products. This study examined the effects of reducing fat level from 20% to 10% and substituting mutton back fat with guar gum (0.5%, 1% & 1.5%) on cooking properties, proximate composition, lipid and protein oxidation, texture, microstructure and sensory characteristics of goshtaba- a traditional meat product of J & K, India were investigated and compared with high fat counterparts. Reduced- fat goshtaba samples containing guar gum had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher yield, less shrinkage, more moisture retention and more protein content than the control sample. TBARs and protein oxidation (carbonyl content) values of the control was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than reduced fat goshtaba samples and showed a positive correlation between lipid and protein oxidation. Hardness, gumminess & chewiness of the control (20%) were significantly higher than reduced fat goshtaba samples. Microstructural differences were significant (p ≤ 0.05) between control and treated samples due to an increased moisture content in the reduced fat samples. Sensory evaluation showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) reduction in texture, flavour and overall acceptability scores of treatment products; however the scores for 0.5% and 1% treated samples were in the range of acceptability. Guar gum may also be used as a source of soluble dietary fibre in food products and a number of clinical studies have shown a reduction in postprandial glycemia and insulinemia on consumption of guar gum, with the mechanism being attributed to an increased transit time in the stomach and small intestine, which may have been due to the viscosity of the meal hindering the access of glucose to the epithelium.

Keywords: goshtaba, guar gum, traditional, fat reduction, acceptability

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Authors: Ariadna Gassiot, Raquel Camprubi, Lluis Coromina

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Creative tourism involves the participation of tourists in the co-creation of their own experiences in a tourism destination. Consequently, creative tourists move from a passive behavior to an active behavior, and tourism destinations address this type of tourism by changing the scenario and making tourists learn and participate while they travel instead of merely offering tourism products and services to them. In creative tourism experiences, tourists are in close contact with locals and their culture. In destinations where culture (i.e. food, heritage, etc.) is the basis of their offer, such as Girona, Spain, tourism stakeholders must especially consider, analyze, and further foster the co-creation of authentic tourism experiences. They should focus on discovering more about these experiences, their main attributes, visitors’ opinions, etc. Creative tourists do not only participate while they travel around the world, but they also have and active post-travel behavior. They feel free to write about tourism experiences in different channels. User-generated content becomes crucial for any tourism destination when analyzing the market, making decisions, planning strategies, and when addressing issues, such as their reputation and performance. Sentiment analysis is a methodology used to automatically analyze semantic relationships and meanings in texts, so it is a way to extract tourists’ emotions and feelings. Tourists normally express their views and opinions regarding tourism products and services. They may express positive, neutral or negative feelings towards these products or services. For example, they may express anger, love, hate, sadness or joy towards tourism services and products. They may also express feelings through verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives, among others. Sentiment analysis may help tourism professionals in a range of areas, from marketing to customer service. For example, sentiment analysis allows tourism stakeholders to forecast tourism expenditure and tourist arrivals, or to analyze tourists’ profile. While there is an increasing presence of creativity in tourists’ experiences, there is also an increasing need to explore tourists’ expressions about these experiences. There is a need to know how they feel about participating in specific tourism activities. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyze the meanings, emotions and feelings that tourists express about their creative experiences in Girona, Spain. To do so, sentiment analysis methodology is used. Results show the diversity of tourists who actively participate in tourism in Girona. Their opinions refer both to tangible aspects (e.g. food, museums, etc.) and to intangible aspects (e.g. friendliness, nightlife, etc.) of tourism experiences. Tourists express love, likeliness and other sentiments towards tourism products and services in Girona. This study can help tourism stakeholders in understanding tourists’ experiences and feelings. Consequently, they can offer more customized products and services and they can efficiently make them participate in the co-creation of their own tourism experiences.

Keywords: creative tourism, sentiment analysis, text mining, user-generated content

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Authors: Amer Alzaidi

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Islamic banking is an alternative solution to those people who are worried about Riba (interest) in all forms of transaction while using banking services and products. Today, banks around the world have Islamic banking services and products the in one form or another. The use of Islamic banking is not only restricted to Muslims world but have reached to non-Muslim countries like UK, USA, Australia and Canada as well. Compared to conventional banking, the adoption rate of Islamic banking is low because of unawareness of customers, financial cost, and performance issues. The interest in Islamic banking by financial institutions as well as low adoption rate motivated us to look this matter into detail in order to identify Critical Success Factors, which are positively motivating customers to use Islamic banking services/ products and Critical Risk Factors, which have significantly negative effect on the adoption of Islamic banking. The CSFs and CRFs will be initially identified from the literature using methodology called Systematic Literature Review, followed by the empirical analysis of these factors using survey research method. Later, we will develop Islamic Banking Adoption Model (IBAM) to help banks to assess their Islamic banking strategic positioning and to improve their operational efficiency. The first potential contribution of this research study will be the development of IBAM protocol that will provide us guidelines for conducting our actual SLR. The second major contribution of this research will be the development of Islamic Banking Adoption Model (IBAM), and the third contribution of this research study will be the evaluation of the developed IBMA.

Keywords: Islamic banking, adoption model, protocol, technology

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Authors: Alexander Sharashenidze

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This article discusses the role of tourism in the economics of Georgia, justifies the necessity of several governmental supporting tools for diversification of tourism product and increasing competitiveness. Tourism directions are characterized through discovering Georgian tourism potential, considering cultural and geographical features; tools of formating supplemental products and development opportunities of Tbilisi and, also regions are asserted in the case of conducting appropriate government policy. There are presented tools of suggesting innovative tourism products, improvement of service, decreasing taxes, also providing availability to them. The role of tourism cluster in improvement of national competitiveness is substantiated. Based on the analysis of competitive factors influencing the development of tourism cluster, conclusions are made, and recommendations are suggested.

Keywords: economic competitivness, enhancing competitiveness, Georgian economic, tourism cluster, tourism product

Procedia PDF Downloads 499