Utilization of watermelon rinds and sharlyn melon peels as a natural source of dietary fiber and antioxidants in cake

AbstractThe aim of this work was to evaluate some physical and chemical properties of watermelon rind and sharlyn melon peel powders and its utilization as partially, substituted of wheat flour at levels of 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5% or fat at levels of 5.0%, 10% and 15% in cake making. Watermelon rinds had higher moisture, ash, fat, protein and carbohydrates 10.61%, 13.09%, 2.44%, 11.17% and 56.00%, respectively as compared to sharlyn melon peels. On the other hand, sharlyn melon peels had higher content crud fiber (29.59%) than in watermelon rinds (17.28%). The water absorption capacity (WAC) and oil absorption capacity (OAC) of sharlyn melon peels was higher than that of watermelon rinds being 7.7, 7.13 (g water/g) and 2.24, 1.65 (g oil/g), respectively. Watermelon rinds showed significantly greater free radical scavenging activity and β-carotene (39.7% and 96.44%), respectively compared to sharlyn melon peels. It contained different types of phenolic compounds, the most abundant one was 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (958.3μg/g dw) followed by vanillin (851.8μg/g dw), while the lowest phenolic compound was coumaric acid (8.8μg/g dw). On the other hand four phenolic compounds were identified in sharlyn melon peels namely, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillin, chlorgenic acid, and coumaric acid. The incorporation of WMR and SMP powders in cakes batter at all the studied levels enhanced the volume and specific volume of the baked cakes to overcome, those of the control. These materials also retard staling of cakes and inhibition the lipids oxidation and free fatty acids formation during storage. It is revealed that, substitution of 5% flour and 10% fat with watermelon rinds and sharlyn melon peels produced acceptable cakes which were not significantly different with the control

Apstraktno slikarstvo u Hrvatskoj od 1990. do 2010. godine

O početcima apstrakcije u Hrvatskoj, kao i o apstraktnome slikarstvu modernizma u nas pisalo se mnogo. Ipak, ulaskom u drugo desetljeće dvadesetiprvoga stoljeća, slika o umjetnosti u Hrvatskoj na kraju prošloga i početkom ovoga stoljeća čini se i dalje nejasnom, nepotpunom, ili barem ograničenom na uski krug kritičara i publike. Nepostojanje jedinstvenoga kolektivnoga projekta, pokreta ili stila kritičarima i povjesničarima umjetnosti možda je otežalo zadatak, no čini se da je apstraktno slikarstvo posljednjih par desetljeća na margini likovnih zbivanja. Ovim se radom pokušava stvoriti slika o apstraktnome slikarstvu u Hrvatskoj od 1990. do 2010. godine u vremenu kada se o slikarstvu govori kao o slikarskome izražavanju na izdahu. Danas asocijaciju na apstraktno slikarstvo dvadesetoga stoljeća većinu vraća pedesetim i šezdesetim godinama, a o umjetnicima srednje i mlađe generacije u ovome kontekstu zna tek šačica informiranih. U radu su nadalje predstavljene tri generacijske skupine odabranih, ključnih umjetnika. Konačno, ponuđena je teza o stilskome individualizmu i brisanju granica između pojedinih medija, čime se pokušava ponuditi alternativa mišljenju i potrebi za traženjem jedinstvenoga stila ili zajedničkoga nazivnika oko kojega bi se današnji slikari apstrakcije u Hrvatskoj pod svaku cijenu trebali okupiti

Nursing Students’ Perceptions of the Educational Learning Environment in Pediatric and Maternity Courses using DREEM Questionnaire

Background: Educational surroundings is one of the most vital factors in figuring out the fulfillment of an powerful curriculum and gaining of knowledge . Aim: To compare students’ perceptions of the academic learning environment in Pediatric and Maternity courses using DREEM Questionnaire. Design: This is a comparative study. Subjects: Five hundred and eleven of the third year nursing students studying maternity and pediatric courses by traditional policy participated in the study during the academic year 2014-2015. Setting: Pediatric and maternity nursing departments at Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Egypt. Tool: An interviewing Questionnaire of two parts: First includes general characteristics such as:  age, sex and courses involved. Part two: Includes the DREEM questionnaire. Results: The total mean score for pediatric and maternity nursing students’ perception of their learning environment were 115.0±.23.02 and 110.3±17.4; respectively. Students’  belief in their gaining knowledge of environment in both specialties were “more positive than negative” with a significant difference between both groups (t=2.6, p=0.01).All students agreed to a more positive approach regarding their learning “moving in the right direction” for their teachers, feeling “ more on the positive side” for their academic self perception, feeling “ more on the positive side” for their learning atmosphere “ a more positive attitude” they also reported that their social self perceptions were “ not too bad. The results showed that 10% of both pediatrics and maternity students have mean score ≤2 consider (problem areas).More than one third of pediatrics and maternity students have mean score 2.1 - 3 (which needing improvement). About half of pediatrics and maternity students have mean score 3.1 - 3.5 (positive aspect) while none of our students scored >3.5(excellent items). Conclusion: The perceptions of nursing students of their mastering learning environment were “more positive than negative” with a significant difference between pediatric and maternity students. Although the overall questionnaire score was showed to be “more positive than negative” there were five objects out of the 50 that determined mean scores of less than 2.00 that have to be tested greater carefully . Keywords: Perceptions, Learning Environment, DREEM Questionnair

Viscosities and Densities of Some Multi-Component Regular Liquid Solutions at Different Temperature Levels

The densities and kinematic viscosities of the quinary regular system: benzene (1) + toluene (2) + ethylbenzene (3) + heptane (4) + cyclooctane (5) and all its corresponding quaternary, ternary, and binary sub-systems have been measured at 293.15 K, 298.15 K, 308.15 K, and 313.15 K over the entire composition range. The experimental data reported herein are considered valuable additions to the literature. The experimental data gathered in the present study were utilized in testing the predictive capabilities of some well know viscosity models available in the literature. In addition, a new multi-layer artificial neural network (ANN) has been developed for the prediction of the kinematic viscosities of multi-component regular liquid mixtures. The concept of modular neural networks has been successfully applied to the design of the current network. Only a part of the experimental binary data was required for the training of the developed network. The remaining data on the binary systems were used for testing the ANN-based model. The developed neural network resulted in excellent viscosity predictions for the cyclooctane-containing systems. The predictive capability of the ANN in the case of the cyclooctane-containing systems was superior to the predictive capabilities of the other tested models for all systems. The predictive version of the McAllister three-body interaction model was the best to predict the kinematic viscosities of non-cyclooctane-containing systems. The predictive version of the McAllister three-body model worked very well when the molecular diameter ratio between system components was less than 1.5. The reliable and accurate data resulting from the present study helped in both critically testing existing viscosity models and in developing a new model that is based on the ANN. Results of the present study are promising for continued work in the same area

Recurrent Neural Networks RNNs and Decision Tree DT Machine Learning-Based Approaches For Transmission System Faults Diagnosis

Accurate and prompt detection of system faults are crucial to maintain sufficient protection of system equipment, avoid false tripping, and cascaded failures.This paper presents a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of machine learning techniques for electrical fault detection and classification. Specifically, a comparative analysis is conducted between two prominent algorithms: Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Decision Tree (DT). The study employs a dataset comprising real-world electrical fault scenarios to evaluate the performance of RNNs and DT in identifying and categorizing faults. While DT algorithm showed slightly better accuracy in some cases, the RNN exhibited better generalization capabilities and a lower risk of overfitting. The analysis involves various performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and confusion matrices to comprehensively assess the algorithms\u27 capabilities. The findings provide valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of each approach in the context of electrical fault management. This paper contributes to the selection of suitable techniques based on specific application requirements, advancing the field of predictive maintenance and fault mitigation in electrical systems. Keywords- Decision Tree, Electrical Faults, Fault Classification, Fault Detection, Machine Learning, Recurrent Neural Networks

Recurrent Neural Networks RNNs and Decision Tree DT Machine Learning-Based Approaches For Transmission System Faults Diagnosis

Accurate and prompt detection of system faults are crucial to maintain sufficient protection of system equipment, avoid false tripping, and cascaded failures.This paper presents a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of machine learning techniques for electrical fault detection and classification. Specifically, a comparative analysis is conducted between two prominent algorithms: Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Decision Tree (DT). The study employs a dataset comprising real-world electrical fault scenarios to evaluate the performance of RNNs and DT in identifying and categorizing faults. While DT algorithm showed slightly better accuracy in some cases, the RNN exhibited better generalization capabilities and a lower risk of overfitting. The analysis involves various performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and confusion matrices to comprehensively assess the algorithms\u27 capabilities. The findings provide valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of each approach in the context of electrical fault management. This paper contributes to the selection of suitable techniques based on specific application requirements, advancing the field of predictive maintenance and fault mitigation in electrical systems. Keywords- Decision Tree, Electrical Faults, Fault Classification, Fault Detection, Machine Learning, Recurrent Neural Networks

EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF SOME SPICES AND THEIR APPLICATION IN CROISSANT AND FILLING CREAM

Natural antioxidants have gained considerable interest in recent years for their role in preventing the auto oxidation of fats, oils and fat containing food products. In this study, six spices containing natural antioxidants were evaluated for their re-tarding fat oxidation compared to butylated hy-droxyl toluene (BHT). The yield obtained from water extract of the tested spices ranged between 20% and 50 %. Carob gave the highest yield fol-lowed by anise and cinnamon, then caraway and fennel, while ginger gave the lowest yield .The free radical scavenging activities measured by 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) were 88.08%, 81.69%, 79.62% , 78.93% , 73.06% , and 71.50 % for cinnamon, anise, carob, caraway ginger, and fennel, respectively at concentration of 2250 μg/ml. Cinnamon showed higher antioxidant ac-tivity on linoleic acid oxidation than BHT fol-lowed by anise, carob and ginger. While, fennel and caraway recorded closely antioxidant activity to that of BHT at low concentration of 100 μg/ml. Total phenolic content of the tested spices varied ranging from 11.19 to 22.95 mg as gallic acid / gm dry extract in carob and caraway, respectively. Depending upon the sensory evaluation of crois-sant containing different levels of tested spices, a concentration of 1.5% of anise, caraway fennel and cinnamon was chosen, while the chosen con-centration of ginger was 2.5% and carob was 1% for testing their effectiveness against oxidation of lipid in croissant. However, a concentration of 2% of anise, fennel, ginger and carob was chosen while, the chosen concentration of caraway and cinnamon was 1% for testing their effectiveness against oxidation of lipid in filling cream. Addi-tion of tested spices gave an excellent antioxidant effect on croissant and filling cream compared with the effect of BHT. The increase in both per-oxide and acid values after 14 and 28 days respec-tively were lower than of control and BHT. Carob, ginger, caraway and cinnamon were more effec-tive in controlling lipid oxidation during storage. In conclusion addition of tested spices as sources of effective natural antioxidants retarded lipid oxi-dation and maintain the quality of croissant and filling cream during storage

Adrenomedullin in patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease

Secreting vasoactive factors such asadrenomedullin (AM) has been intensivelyinvestigated due to its vascular protective propertiesand promising potential as a therapeutic target. Therelationship between adrenomedullin and type (2)diabetes needs to be elucidated as it is associatedwith significant elevation in plasma adrenomedullinlevels.The aim of this study was to evaluate therole of adrenomedullin in the development ofvasculopathy and its significance as a markerdenoting renal affection in type 2 diabetic patients.Materials and Methods: This study was conductedon 60 diabetic patients, 20 without nephropathy, 20with nephropathy & 20 with diabetic nephropathy(DN) on haemodialysis as well as 20 age- and sex matchedhealthy controls. All were subjected to fullhistory, Echocardiography, lipid profile analysisand plasma adrenomedullin using ELISA method.Results: plasma AM concentration was elevated inall groups of diabetic patients and increment wasdependent on the severity of DN (P<0.0001,P<0.0001, P<0.0001 respectively). There werepositive correlation between adrenomedullin andleft ventricular internal dimensions both in diastole& systole (P<0.001, P<0.005) and negativecorrelation between AM and ejection fraction (EF)P<0.0001. There was positive correlation betweenadrenomedullin and cholesterol, triglycerides andLDL (p<0.002, p<0.001and p<0.003 respectively)and a negative correlation with HDL (P<0.004).Conclusion: Adrenomedullin is supposed to play arole in the pathogenesis of diabeticmicrovasculopathy in renal patients. So it can beused to identify high-risk subjects and modulatingits action would have therapeutic potential in theprevention of diabetic nephropathy