Evaluation of Prebiotic Fibers and Pectin on Probiotic Strains and Effect of Bacteriocin-like Substance on the Survival of Listeria Monocytogenes

Probiotics and prebiotics have been shown to provide beneficial effects on the host health and there are numerous research efforts being conducted on a variety of specific applications. However, most prebiotic carbohydrates are lower molecular weight oligosaccharides; and the health benefits of higher molecular weight pectins have not been fully evaluated. According to reviews, pectins are fermented in the large intestine due to the cooperative activities of colonic bacteria with complementary enzymatic activities. There are very few studies that demonstrate the fermentability of high methoxy pectin and low methoxy pectin by pure cultures of human isolates or probiotic bacteria. Thus, it is conceivable that lack of evidence/studies may be problematic for defining human health properties of pectin. In studying the fermentation of prebiotics by bacteria, optical density (OD) measurements can be used, but OD can be interfered with by other substances present in the media. Some studies have suggested the use of fluorescent dyes to observe the growth of bacteria which has the advantage of differentiating between live and dead cells. Finally, certain lactic acid bacteria or probiotics have the ability to inhibit or kill pathogens due to production of lactic acid or other antibacterial substance (eg: bacteriocin). Therefore, the objective of this research is to study the fermentability of fructooligosaccharides (FOS), galactooligosaccharides(GOS), inulin agave (IA), high methoxy pectin (HMP), and low methoxy pectin (LMP) with three strains of probiotic bacteria in order to find the suitable carbohydrates that could be used as synbiotics. In addition, we also aimed to explore the use of acridine orange as a method to monitor the growth response of bacteria. The antilisterial effects of Lactobacillus acidilactici are also studied using survival assays and spot-on-lawn assays. We determined that FOS, GOS, and IA are good substrates to support the growth of probiotic bacteria and although HMP fermentability is still not clear, this carbohydrate could be of benefit to use as a synbiotic as well due to its ability to enhance the survival of probiotic bacteria both in normal media and simulated gastric conditions. In addition, we found that most bacteria grown in the presence of GLU exhibit better survival during exposure to bile solutions. However, the study on the use of acridine orange did not confirm that this dye can be used instead of OD. Finally, the last study has shown an effect of Lactobacillus acidilactici on the reduction of Listeria which could be partly due to pH

QUR'ANICVERSES TRANSLATION SEEN FROM PERSPECTIVE OF THEIR SENSITIVITY

This paper discusses the translation quality of quranic verses from the point of view of their sensitivity. As containing many values and ways of life the problem that the people are facing is how to understand the values that exist in, between and beyond the lines of the Quran verses. The question is whether translation and interpretation can answer it. As a matter of fact, Qur’an verses have sensitivity to be responded in the form of the translated texts. The translated texts of Qur’an can be sensitive and controversial. Several translation version of quranic verses were taken as data to see the level of their sensitivity which can be seen from some aspect: that it may be contrary (1) to the state, (2) to religion (in a broad sense to the culture), (3) to decency, and (4) to private citizens. This category leads to a concomitant quartet of grounds for censorship: sedition, blasphemy, obscenity, and libel. The word “Yaddullah” in the section of “Al fath -verse-10”, for example, from the perspective of the contextual content of the text, would have become dichotomical meaning or even multicotomical ones. The first one tends to use the foriegnization, while the second tends to use domestication. Those who defend the word “Yaddun” as “the hand” or “tangan” as its word equivalence want to make their translation original not going out of the context of Islamic teaching. They believe that those who have gone out of Islamic teaching include unbelievers (that reject faith) and idolaters. The translation of “yaddu” into “hand” or “tangan” , according to some Muslims, contains the implication that the translator has its implied lack of respect for the original text, and because of the defeatist view of the ability of the target audience which entails.On the other hand, those who have translated that word “yaddun” into “power” or “kekuasaan” think that the translation into “hand” or “tangan” will disrupt and distort the image of God (Allah) existence. They are afraid that people think God is like human being having hands, head, legs and other part of the human body. Qur’an as a God’s text which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad via the archangel Gabriel, and intended for all times and all places needs to be perceived carefully because many of its verses are still stated in the forms of general statement. They need to be translated and interpreted in a way that makes people live peacefully, not on the other way around. The deference point of view in understanding Qur’an verses must be supposed to be something that makes perspective of Muslims wide and tolerant. 

The Atom and the Void – from Democritus to Lacan

The paper considers the problem of the void through the theories of the early atomists. Philosophy began with the Parmenidian assertion of being, which can be read as a thesis premised on an exorcism of the void. With the atomists, the first to oppose the Parmenidian foundation of philosophy, the void made its entry as part and parcel of the atom. If the atom was to be counted as one, the void separating atoms was the very condition of such a count. Hegel saw this as the profound insight that negativity was the condition of positivity, hence the one and the void as the matrix of being. – The second twist in this atomist story is that of clinamen, a contingent swerve which befalls atoms, and hence something that inherently departs and undermines ‘the one and the void’. The clinamen theory was much criticized and ridiculed by the great philosophical tradition, including by Hegel. A very young Karl Marx, in his dissertation, defended the crucial value of clinamen, and in recent times Louis Althusser and Gilles Deleuze followed in his footsteps. – The third significant aspect is that of den, a curious neologism introduced by Democritus, which perhaps undermines both stories at the outset. For if atom is den, then it is not a body, not an entity, not one, not being, but also not non-being. It is a paradoxical departure from the bulk of ontology, an ontological scandal, obfuscated by the subsequent Aristotelian paradigm. Jacques Lacan took it up as a clue to his notion of the object a, the object of psychoanalysis

WHAT’S IN A VOICE?

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Natural spawning of four Epinephelus species in the laboratory

Natural spawnings of four Epinephelus species reared in the laboratory were observed from 1987 to 1992. These species are: E. summana, E. caeruleopunctatus, E. macrospilus and E. fuscoguttatus. Spawning was serial, usually occurring at night, on or 1-6 days after the new moon. Egg characteristics of these four species were compared. Fertilized egg and early larval development of E. summana and E. fuscoguttatus are discussed

Engines of Liberation Redux When Home Appliances Prices are Endogenous

We propose a model of the household where the transmission mechanism between home appliances and women’s labor supply is identical to the one in Greenwood et al. (2005b) with one important exception.We explicitly model firms’ pricing and output choices in the appliances sector and thus, the price of home appliances is determined endogenously by the laws of supply and demand rather than being taken exogenously from outside the model.We use this new framework to characterize the general equilibrium effects of rising household wages on the price of home appliances, and thus ultimately women’s labor supply. The ratio between the price of home appliances and household wages declines following a rise in the wage level, which leads to widespread adoption of home appliances and increased labor force participation of married women.A numerical example shows that rising wages account for half of the increase in participation of married women between 1960 and 1970

Design and Use of Rubrics in Undergraduate Economics Courses

The purpose of this paper is threefold; first we explain how rubrics can be used in undergraduate economics courses not only as an assessment tool, but also as an effective teaching and learning tool. Next, we show how to design a rubric, using a simple production possibilities frontier (PPF) example with a four-step method that can be applied to any short- answer assignment or exam question. Finally, we provide three additional examples of short- answer questions with accompanying answers and rubrics that instructors can study and use, in order to develop and improve their own rubric-writing skills