Study of Qualification and Sensation Properties by Using Date Extraction and Date Syrup in Yoghurt Processing

Yoghurt is the most popular milk product owing to its particular physical, nutritional, probiotic and organoleptic properties. This study was conducted to prepare date palm yoghurt supplemented with different level of date extraction and its syrup (10, 20, 30,and 40%). Physicochemical, sensory evaluation and microbiological properties were analyzes to assay the quality of yoghurts. The total solid, pH and the acidity of date yoghurts supplemented products were increased significantly than plain yoghurt by increasing the concentration of date extraction and date syrup. Statistical analysis showed that yoghurts supplemented with 20, 30 % of date extraction were more acceptable, then 40%. Statistical analysis showed that yoghurts supplemented with 10, 20% of date syrup were more acceptable in their texture , appearance , and the total than 30 and 40% of supplementation. Sensory evaluation of the yoghurts was improved due to supplementation of 20 and 30% of both date extraction and date syrup. The flavor, texture and consistency, acidity, appearance and the total of the yoghurts were very good acceptable. The microbiological quality of the date yoghurts was also acceptable and within the Iraqi standard quality, due to the increased the acidity content, or may be due to the antimicrobial effect of dates fruit. The findings of this study may give an overall idea about manufacturing of date palm yoghurt supplementing with different level of date extraction or with low level of concentration of its syrup and appropriate technology of date extraction and its syrup preparation. Keywords: yoghurt supplementation, date palm fruit- date syrup, physicochemical analysis, sensory and microbial  evaluation

Fabrication of a test rig for gearbox fault simulation and diagnosis

Gearboxes are one of the most important and widely exposed to different types of faults in machines. Therefore, manufacturers and researchers have made significant efforts to develop different fault detection and diagnostic approaches for gearboxes. However, many research foundations, such as universities, are currently working on developing different gearbox test rigs to understand the failure mechanisms in gearboxes. As a result, in this article, a gearbox testing rig was proposed and fabricated to evaluate gear performance under low-speed working conditions. It describes the primary mechanical apparatus and the measurement tools used during the experimental analysis of a multistage gearbox transmission system. The data-gathering equipment used to acquire the observed vibration data is also discussed. LabVIEW software was used to build a data acquisition platform using an accelerometer and a NI DAQ device. Then different vibration tests were conducted under different operating conditions, when the gearbox was healthy and then faulty, on this test rig, and the gathered vibration data were analyzed based on time domain signal analysis. The preliminary results are promising and open the horizon for simulating different gearbox test scenarios

Methodology Used for the Detection and Identification of Microplastics—A Critical Appraisal

Microplastics in aquatic ecosystems and especially in the marine environment represent a pollution of increasing scientific and societal concern, thus, meanwhile a substantial number of studies on microplastics exist. Although first steps towards a standardisation of methodologies used for the detection and identification of microplastics in environmental samples are made, the comparability of data on microplastics is currently hampered by a huge variety of different methodologies which result in the generation of data of extremely different quality and resolution. This chapter reviews the methodology presently used for assessing the concentration of microplastics in the marine environment with focus on the most convenient techniques and approaches. After an overview of non-selective sampling approaches, sample processing and treatment in the laboratory, the reader is introduced to the currently applied techniques for the identification and quantification of microplastics. The subsequent case study on microplastics in sediment samples from the North Sea measured with focal plane array (FPA)-based micro-Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) spectroscopy shows that only 1.4 % of the particles visually resembling microplastics were of synthetic polymer origin. This finding emphasizes the importance of verifying the synthetic polymer origin of potential microplastics. Thus, a burning issue concerning current microplastic research is the generation of standards that allow for the assessment of reliable data on concentrations of microscopic plastic particles and the involved polymers with analytical laboratory techniques such as micro-FTIR or micro-Raman spectroscopy