Biochemical changes occurring during fermentation of camel milk by selected bacterial starter cultures

The biochemical changes in amino acids, water soluble vitamins, soluble sugars and organic acids occurring during fermentation (at 43°C for 6 h) of camel milk inoculated with Streptococcus thermophilus 37, Lactobacillus delbrueckii sub sp. bulgaricus CH2, Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus and mixed yogurt culture (S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus 1:1) were studied. Amino acids analysis revealed slight insignificant increase in alanine, leucine, histidine, lysine and argninie, while valine, methionine and tyrosine were slightly decreased. The fermentation process significantly decreased vitamin C contents, while it had no significant effect on riboflavin and thiamine content. Single as well as mixed culture fermentation resulted in decrease in lactose concentration with parallel increase in glucose and galactose. Organic acids analysis revealed the presence of lactic acid, formic acid and acetic acid, with yogurt culture showing the highest concentration of lactic acid, formic acid and acetic acid, while L. lactis showed lowest concentration.Key words: Camel milk, fermentation, amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, sugars

Pilot Experimental Tests on Punching Shear Strength of Flat Plates Reinforced with Stirrups Punching Shear Reinforcement

Flat plates are favor structure systems usually used in parking garages and high-rise buildings due to its simplicity for construction. However, flat plates have some inherent structural problems, due to high shear stress surrounding the supporting columns which cause a catastrophic brittle type of failure called "Punching Shear Failure". Several solutions are used to avoid punching shear failure, including the use of drop panels or punching shear reinforcement. The latter is being a more sophisticated solution from the structural ductility, the architectural and the economical point of view. This study aims at investigating the effect of stirrups as shear reinforcement in enhancing the punching strength of interior slab-column connections. A total of four full-scale interior slab-column connections were tested up to failure. All slabs had a side length of 1700 mm and 160 mm thickness with 200 mm x 200 mm square column. The test parameters were the presence of shear reinforcement and stirrups concentration around the supporting column. The test results showed that the distribution of stirrups over the critical punching shear zone was an efficient solution to enhance not only the punching shear capacity but also the ductility of the connection. Furthermore, the concentrating of stirrups shear reinforcement in the vicinity of the column for the tested slabs increases the punching shear capacity by 13 % compared to the uniform distribution at same amount of shear reinforcement

Pilot Experimental Tests on Punching Shear Strength of Flat Plates Reinforced with Stirrups Punching Shear Reinforcement

Flat plates are favor structure systems usually used in parking garages and high-rise buildings due to its simplicity for construction. However, flat plates have some inherent structural problems, due to high shear stress surrounding the supporting columns which cause a catastrophic brittle type of failure called "Punching Shear Failure". Several solutions are used to avoid punching shear failure, including the use of drop panels or punching shear reinforcement. The latter is being a more sophisticated solution from the structural ductility, the architectural and the economical point of view. This study aims at investigating the effect of stirrups as shear reinforcement in enhancing the punching strength of interior slab-column connections. A total of four full-scale interior slab-column connections were tested up to failure. All slabs had a side length of 1700 mm and 160 mm thickness with 200 mm x 200 mm square column. The test parameters were the presence of shear reinforcement and stirrups concentration around the supporting column. The test results showed that the distribution of stirrups over the critical punching shear zone was an efficient solution to enhance not only the punching shear capacity but also the ductility of the connection. Furthermore, the concentrating of stirrups shear reinforcement in the vicinity of the column for the tested slabs increases the punching shear capacity by 13 % compared to the uniform distribution at same amount of shear reinforcement

Factors Driving the Omani Family to Travel Abroad: A Field Study

In recent years, the family in the Arab and Gulf countries has experienced many structural changes because of various transformations that have contributed to changing some of its functions. The modern Omani family has witnessed some radical changes in its structure consistent with the recent developments in the Sultanate. These changes occurred in various economic, social, political and cultural fields, which led to the spread of some modern phenomena, including the phenomenon of travelling abroad. According to the latest statistics issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information in the Sultanate of Oman, there is an increase in the number of Omanis departing from the Sultanate, which accounted for 77.7% of the total departures from the Sultanate during August 2017. There are many social, economic, cultural, health, and other factors that drive families to travel abroad. While imitation and simulation of relatives or peers are behind travelling abroad, others see it as means to gain a high social status or as an opportunity to strengthen social relations between family members. Of course, for many others the main driving factor is seeking medical checkup and treatment. Thus, the research problem focuses on identifying the factors that drive the Omani family to travel outside the Sultanate. The researchers relied on the analytical descriptive method using a comprehensive social survey. The research instrument was administered among parents (fathers or mothers) of third year students majoring in sociology or social work, as well as students registered in the college required philosophy course for the fall semester of 2017.The study found that there are many social, economic, cultural and health factors that drive Omani families to travel abroad. It also provided suggestions, along with some mechanisms that are useful in rationalizing the travel of Omani families abroad

AUTECOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF HANDAL (Citrullus coloynthsis L.) DESERT PLANT

The present study was carried out in the desert valley (wadi) Abu Salam (63 Km.) east of Berber city, RiverNileState, and in the nursery of the Faculty of Agriculture, NileValleyUniversity. The autecology and biology of major desert specie, Handal (Citrullus coloynthsis), were studied. The study area (Wadi Abu Salam) was divided into three sections; upper, middle and lower. The soil was classified as sodic soil and contained a high percentage of clay in the upper section, equal percentage of clay and sand in the middle section and high percentage of sand in the lower section. The distribution of Handal plant in the wadi area was investigated. In the first season, it was only detected in the middle section (0.60-0.72 plants/m2). In the second season, the plant was distributed in the three sections of the wadi (1.46-1.66 plants/m2 for the upper section, 0.27-0.49 plants/m2 for the middle section and 0.3-0.4 plants/m2 for the lower sections).The rate of photosynthesis increased during the first stage of growth to reach its maximum (2.2-2.34 gm/day) during the 8th week from the start of germination, then started to decline till it reached its minimum rate (0.10-0.12 gm/day) at the maturity stage in both seasons. Plant roots growth started at a low rate, then, increased with plant development and became equal after 7 weeks from germination. After that, it decreased until it reached its lowest rate at the stage of maturity

Obstacles Faced by Social Workers in Trying to Benefit from Other Sciences Related to Social Service during their Professional Practice in Schools

Although social workers may have studied some important interdisciplinary sciences, they do not know how to use or apply them. This led the research team to conduct the study on some social workers in schools in El-Seeb, Muscat, to identify the difficulties they face while trying to benefit from interdisciplinary knowledge. The study is considered a descriptive; data was collected through an electronic questionnaire. The results showed that social workers encounter a number of difficulties related to the professional preparation of social workers, school administrations, available school facilities, and finally social workers themselves. The study also found that there is need to train social work students to conduct interdisciplinary research on social work and related sciences

THE EFFECT OF POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL (PEG) ON CALLUSES OF SWEET BASIL (OCIMUM BASILICUM L.)

Ocimum basilicum L. sweet basil is native to India and Iran, an aromatic herb and perennial belong to the Lamiaceae family. This study was done at the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Egypt from 2019 to 2020. Developing stress tolerant plants using in vitro selection is an effective method; therefore, the purpose of this study was to detect the best concentration of phytohormones to produce embryogenic callus of Ocimum basilicum L. and study the effect of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) on embryogenic callus of basil.Leaf specimens of basil were cultured on MS medium (Murashige and Skoog) with concentration of auxin and cytokinin.  A1 (2, 4-D at 0.5 mg/l), A2 (2, 4-D at 1.0 mg/l) and A3 (2, 4-D and BAP at 1.0 mg/l and 0.2 mg/l). Embryogenic callus of basil was sub cultured under normal and drought stress media containing different concentration of polyethylene glycol (PEG; M.W 4000) at 2, 5 and 10%. Results showed that medium A3 was the best medium of embryogenic callus induction. Also, the concentration of PEG at 5% was shown maximized callus survivability compared with the other PEG concentrations with no significant effect. This study adds new information on the effect of 5% PEG which showed the highest (positive) survivability of callus. The morphogenic of calluses on 5% PEG were yellowish, friable while the morphogenic of calluses on 10% PEG turned into brown

Delineation of Copper Mineralization Zones at Wadi Ham, Northern Oman Mountains, United Arab Emirates Using Multispectral Landsat 8 (OLI) Data

© Copyright © 2020 Howari, Ghrefat, Nazzal, Galmed, Abdelghany, Fowler, Sharma, AlAydaroos and Xavier. Copper deposits in the ultramafic rocks of the Semail ophiolite massifs is found to be enormous in the region of northern Oman Mountains, United Arab Emirates. For this study, samples of copper were gathered from 14 different sites in the investigation area and were analyzed in the laboratory using the X-ray diffraction, GER 3700 spectroradiometer, and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer. Detection and mapping of copper-bearing mineralized zones were carried out using different image processing approaches of minimum noise fraction, principal component analysis, decorrelation stretch, and band ratio which were applied on Landsat 8 (OLI) data. The spectra of malachite and azurite samples were characterized by broad absorption features in the visible and near infrared region (0.6–1.0 µm). The results obtained from the principal component analysis, minimum noise fraction, band ratio, decorrelation stretch, spectral reflectance analyses, and mineralogical and chemical analyses were found to be similar. Thus, it can be concluded that multispectral Landsat 8 data are useful in the detection iron ore deposits in arid and semi-arid regions