The effects of food processing on biogenic amines formation

Biological amines are nitrogenous compounds that occur naturally in wide variety of food. Histamine, putrescine, cadavarine, tyramine, spermine, spermidine, tryptamine and β-phenylethylamine are the biogenic amines that are normally present in foods. Although the biogenic amines play some important physiological functions but high level of amines can cause toxicological effects. High amount of amines can be produced by bacteria during amino acids decarboxylation and have been identified as one of the important agent causing seafood intoxication. Temperature is the major factor for controlling the biogenic amines formation in food. The effects of other alternatives are also discussed including salting, packaging, irradiation, high pressure processing and the use of starter culture. A variety of techniques can be combined together to control the microbial growth and enzyme activity during processing and storage for better shelf life extension and food safety

Fingerprint center point location using directional field

This paper presents a reliable fingerprint center point (CP) location algorithm for the alignment of fingerprints to construct a shift invariant fingerprint recognition system. The proposed algorithm is based on Alteration Tracking (AT) and CP estimation (CPE). AT is proposed to extract a track that records the transition from one quantized direction to another. CPE is aimed to find the bending point with highest transition of direction from the transition track. This algorithm is tested against fingerprints captured from SAGEM MSO100 optical scanner and the second database from University of Bologna. Experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm is capable of reliably locating fingerprint CP

Accrual accounting in government: Is fund accounting still relevant?

The main purpose of public sector accounting is to act as the trustee to protect and manage public moneys and discharge accountability.Fund Accounting is used as the rational response to serve as a reliable control technique for such purposes.With the emphasis of accrual accounting which is more reliable than cash accounting in measuring financial performance of government activities, this study therefore attempts to evaluate the relevance of the Fund Accounting in the planned adoption of accrual accounting by the Federal Government in Malaysia.Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide literature evidence to support on the relevance of Fund Accounting for the adoption of accrual basis of financial reporting in the Federal Government of Malaysia

Keputusan Investasi, Pendanaan, Dan Dividen Terhadap Nilai Perusahaan Dengan Risiko Bisnis Sebagai Variabel Mediasi

This study aimed to analyze: the effect of investment decisions on firm value, the role of business risk as amediating effect investment decisions on firm value, the effect of financing decisions on firm value, the role ofbusiness risk as a mediating effect decisions financing on firm value, effect of dividend decisions on firm value,the role of business risk as a mediating effect dividend on firm value the effect of business risk on firm value.The research was conducted in the companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The observationperiod was 2009-2011. Based on the criteria population defined, the sampling method was census. The numberof analyzed samples were 18 companies. Data analysis was path analysis. The research findings were: theinvestment decisions could increase firm value, business risk did not have mediating effect on relationshipbetween investment decisions and firm value, the funding did not increase firm value, business risk as a fullmediation had an effect on relationship of funding and firm value, dividend decision did not have effect onfirm value, business risk did not have mediating effect on relationship between dividend decisions and firmvalue, business risk could increase firm value

Enfoque de lipidómica no dirigida utilizando LC-Orbitrap HRMS para discriminar manteca de cerdo, sebo de res y grasa de pollo para la autenticación halal

This research aimed to perform a lipidomics study using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to identify lard, beef tallow and chicken fat. A total of 292, 345, and 403 lipid compounds were observed in lard, beef tallow, and chicken fat, respectively. The lipid groups of AcHexStE (acyl hexosyl stigmasterol ester), biotinylPE (biotinylphosphoetanolamine), LPC (lysophosphatidylcholine), MePC (monoetherphosphatidylcholine), PC (phosphatidylcholine) and PI (phosphoinocitol) were found to be specific for lard. The principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) successfully differentiated lard from beef tallow and chicken fat. This research suggested that the untargeted lipidomics technique using LC-HRMS combined with chemometrics could be used to discriminate lard from beef tallow and chicken fat. This method is a promising technique for the detection of lard adulteration in beef tallow and chicken fat for halal authentication purposes.Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo realizar un estudio de lipidómica utilizando cromatografía líquida-espectrometría de masas de alta resolución (LC-HRMS) para discriminar manteca de cerdo, sebo de res y grasa de pollo. Se pudo observar un total de 292, 345 y 403 compuestos lipídicos en manteca de cerdo, sebo de res y grasa de pollo, respectivamente. Se encontró que los grupos lipídicos de AcHexStE (éster de acil hexosil estigmasterol), biotinilPE (biotinilfosfoetanolamina), LPC (lisofosfatidilcolina), MePC (monoéterfosfatidilcolina), PC (fosfatidilcolina) y PI (fosfoinocitol) son específicos para la manteca de cerdo. El análisis de componentes principales (PCA) y el análisis discriminante de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-DA) diferenciaron con éxito la manteca de cerdo del sebo de res y la grasa de pollo. Esta investigación sugirió que la técnica de lipidómica no dirigida que usa LC-HRMS combinada con quimiometría podría usarse para discriminar la manteca de cerdo del sebo de res y la grasa de pollo. Este método es una técnica prometedora para la detección de la adulteración de manteca de cerdo en sebo de res y grasa de pollo con fines de autenticación halal

Properties enhancement of oil palm plywood through veneer pretreatment with low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin

One of the problems dealing with oil palm stem (OPS) plywood is the high veneer surface roughness that results in high resin consumption during the plywood manufacturing. In this study, evaluation was done on the effects of pretreatment of OPS veneers with phenol-formaldehyde resin on the bond integrity and bending strength of OPS plywood. OPS veneers were soaked in low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin (LMW PF) for 20 seconds to obtain certain percentage of resin weight gain. OPS plywoods were produced using two types of lay-ups (100% outer veneer type and 100% inner veneer type) and two urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive spread amounts (200 g/m2 and 250 g/m2). The results show that pretreating the veneer with LMW PF could reduce the penetration of the adhesive into the fibres during gluing step. UF adhesive spread amount of 200 g/m2 is sufficient to produce good quality OPS plywood. The technique used in this study was able to enhance the mechanical properties of OPS plywood as well as reduce the amount of resin consumption

High signal-to-noise ratio Q-switching erbium doped fiber laser pulse emission utilizing single layer trivial transfer graphene film saturable absorber

This paper presents the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser pulse emission using a commercial single layer graphene (SLG) film as a saturable absorber (SA). A sandwiched-type structure with transferred single layer SLG film between two fiber ferrules is formed to function as the SA. Q-switched pulse emission with repetition rate from 47.25 kHz to 67.39 kHz and round-trip time per oscillation from 7.42 µs to 10.36 µs are obtained from the laser cavity set-up. The SNR of 62.64 dB shows a good quality of pulse generation using the SLG film as SA. The effortless production of SLG is enabling factor to produce fast fabrication and low cost SA for application in Q-switched pulsed fiber lasers

Habitat preference and usage of Strombus canarium Linnaeus, 1758 (Gastropoda: Strombidae) in Malaysian seagrass beds.

Despite their economic importance, the ecology of Strombus canarium is poorly understood and factors influencing their habitat preferences remain largely unexplained. The species was reported as highly associated with seagrass bed ecosystems, but their distribution and specific preferences within the habitat remain unknown. Determining the mechanisms that regulate conch distribution and abundance is of fundamental importance for management of the species. In this study habitat preference and usage of conch in their natural habitat were investigated. The population was patchily distributed and present in local colonies that comprised of mixed age groups. There was high spatial variation in conch abundance, where multivariate analysis (PCA) showed high preferences for microhabitat with mixed seagrasses dominated by Halophila spp. Other important habitat characteristics preferred were high sediment organic content (% LOI), high sediment sorting (φ), and low mean sediment particulate size. Areas with dense Enhalus acoroides meadows, though in many reports have been linked with the species, were surprisingly the least preferred microhabitat. It is concluded that the preference towards specific microhabitat within the seagrass bed is associated with their feeding, and intra-specific interactions among individuals

Review of fracture cases in cats and dogs presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital UPM

A review of the distribution of fracture cases in cats and dogs presented in the UVH-UPM within period of 10 years (1991 to 2001) are discussed