Physicochemical, Nutritional and Sensory Properties of Bread from Wheat, Acha and Mung Bean Composite Flours

Wheat flour, acha flour and mung bean flours were blended into different ratios and used to produce bread.  The flours were blended into six different ratios of wheat : acha : mung beans as follows: 100:0:0 (sample A) for the control, 80:10:10 (B), 70:15:15 (C), 60:20:20 (D), 50:30:20 (E) and 50:20:30 (F). Proximate composition of the flour blends and bread were determined. Selected minerals and vitamins were also determined. The physical evaluation of the bread samples was carried out and the bread samples were then subjected to sensory evaluation. The protein, ash, fibre and fat contents of all the samples increased significantly with increasing substitution of wheat flour with acha and mung bean flours. Moisture and carbohydrate contents decreased with increased substitution of the wheat flour with acha and mung beans. Protein and ash increased from 12.40% to 17.48% and from 0.88% to 2.36% respectively, showing significant difference between the different flour blends. The minerals and vitamins (calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins A and C) all increased with corresponding increase in the level of substitution of wheat flour with acha and mung beans. There was significant difference between the control and the blended samples. Bread loaf weight decreased with increased substitution of wheat with acha and mung beans from 271g to 234g. The specific volume of the control bread and those made from the flour blends were significantly different as bread made from the blends had lower specific volumes (1.55 to 1.45cm3/g). Sample B bread was not significantly different from the control. There was significant difference in the oven spring of the control bread and the other composite bread. Sensory evaluation scores showed that all the bread samples were generally accepted on a nine point hedonic scale and there was no significance difference between 100% wheat bread and bread produced from 10% acha, 10% mung beans and 80% wheat flour blends. Keywords: Bread, Composite flour, Acha, Mung beans, whea

OpTIIX: An ISS-Based Testbed Paving the Roadmap Toward a Next Generation Large Aperture UV/Optical Space Telescope

The next generation large aperture UV/Optical space telescope will need a diameter substantially larger than even that of JWST in order to address some of the most compelling unanswered scientific quests. These quests include understanding the earliest phases of the Universe and detecting life on exo-planets by studying spectra of their atmospheres. Such 8-16 meter telescopes face severe challenges in terms of cost and complexity and are unlikely to be affordable unless a new paradigm is adopted for their design and construction. The conventional approach is to use monolithic or preassembled segmented mirrors requiring complicated and risky deployments and relying on future heavy-lift vehicles, large fairings and complex geometry. The new paradigm is to launch component modules on relatively small vehicles and then perform in-orbit robotic assembly of those modules. The Optical Testbed and Integration on ISS eXperiment (OpTIIX) is designed to demonstrate, at low cost by leveraging the infrastructure provided by ISS, telescope assembly technologies and end-to-end optical system technologies. The use of ISS as a testbed permits the concentration of resources on reducing the technical risks associated with robotically integrating the components. These include laser metrology and wavefront sensing and control (WFS&C) systems, an imaging instrument, lightweight, low-cost deformable primary mirror segments and the secondary mirror. These elements are then aligned to a diffraction-limited optical system in space. The capability to assemble the optical system and remove and replace components via the existing ISS robotic systems like the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), or by the ISS flight crew, allows for future experimentation, as well as repair

Mapping the Impacts of Anthropogenic Activities on Vegetation in the Area Councils of FCT using Remote Sensing

Globally, amongst all the factors threatening the existence of landcover in the biosphere, agriculture and urbanization plays the most potent role aside from the natural factor of climate. The study examines the effect of human factors on vegetal cover and identifies the drivers of the changes within the area councils of the FCT over a period of three decades. The need to conserve limited natural resources is threaten by the effect of increased population and their continuous anthropogenic activities on this limited resource, thus the vegetation cover which represents an important natural resource for both humans and other species is lost due to reckless and unsustainable usage. Using geospatial techniques, the magnitude of human activities of development is assessed as it affects vegetation cover. The results of the analysis show a tremendous impact of anthropogenic activities as the landcover continue to deplete from 1987 – 2016. Human impacts were identified as the major driver of vegetal cover change in all area councils as it increases from 11510.89km2 to 85563.01km2 in AMAC, 765.55km2 to 82820.74km2 in Gwagwalada, 1621.73km2 to 54267km2 in Kwali, 1259.49km2 to 4985.56km2 in Abaji, 6621.80km2 to 34295.20km2 in Kuje and 15678.82km2 to 24925.94km2 in Bwari.The study recommends that continuous inventory of human impacts should be carried out to check mate the unsustainable management practices of human induced activities in the study area. It concludes that anthropogenic activities are on the rise thus measures should be taken to mitigate its effects to ensure better environmental sustainability