Effect of postharvest storage of whole fruit on physico-chemical and microbial changes of fresh-cut cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L. reticulatus cv. Glamour)

Cantaloupes continue to ripen after harvesting which is caused by ethylene production due to climacteric behaviour during postharvest storage. In this study, the cantaloupe fruits harvested at commercial maturity were evaluated for quality attributes during three weeks of storage at 10°C and a relative humidity (RH) of 90±5%. In addition, fresh-cut samples were stored for a further 19 days at 2°C and 87% RH. The fresh-cut samples were prepared on a weekly basis by dipping into deionised water (control) at 2°C for 1 minute. The effect of postharvest storage of cantaloupe on the physico-chemical properties and microbial activity was observed prior to fresh-cut processing. It was found that firmness, luminosity (L*), and titratable acidity (TA) decreased, while total soluble solids (TSS), pH, TSS:TA ratio, microbial activity (total plate count (TPC) and yeast and mould (YM)) of the fresh-cut increased over the postharvest storage period of the fruit. Meanwhile, the orange colour and the intensity (hue angle, hab, and chromaticity) of the flesh did not differ significantly during storage. The cantaloupe stored for three weeks at a low temperature indicated a successful potential for fresh-cut processing due to good maintenance of the product quality

Organizational adaption for AMT implementation in the SMIs

Several factors have been identified as important to the implementation of AMT. A key ingredient to the long term benefits of AMT is the implementation of a parallel process of organizational change to match the technological changes taking place. Increased competitiveness and flexibility of the firms can be achieved if there are high levels of integration of the technologies and mutual adaptation of the organization and technology. To analyse the level of AMT integration and the level of adaptation between organization and technology, a study was conducted in the SMIs of Malaysia using survey questionnaires. The use of computers to integrate the various activities and functions in the SMIs were evaluated to determine the levels of automation practiced in the companies. The adaptation between technology and organization for the small and medium scale industries (SMIs) of Malaysia was determined by identifying the organizational factors important for AMT implementation. Using aggregated index of organizational and technological parameters developed from the questionnaire, a Technology (T)-Organization (O) map was drawn. The T-O map describes the patterns of technology and organizations for the companies and used to classify the position of the companies on the T-O map. Results of the study showed that the level of computer usage in integrating the functions were rather low. The regression analysis carried out to establish the ‘best-fit’ model for the aggregated index showed that the best-fit model for T-O is a polynomial regression model of the 4th order with R2 =0.38766. The result indicates that the variability in the organization has been explained by only 39% in the model developed. A greater fit between organization and technology will be achieved only with higher R2 values. Using the T-O map, only seven companies can be classified as high technology, high organization (HT-HO) whereas almost 83% or 113 companies are in the low technology, low organization (LT-LO) classification. The results clearly indicate that there is lack of integration between the technologies and that the companies are practicing the old methods of management not suitable for AMT implementation

Effect of mixing period, water and sugar on the sesame cracker dough stickiness

Sesame Cracker or Kuih Bijan is a popular traditional Malays snack in Malaysia. The simplest formulation of Sesame Cracker dough includes glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water. In order to reduce the negative effect caused by dough stickiness, the effect of mixing period (3 to 7 minutes), water (41.6 to 45.6%) and sugar (1 to 9%) on dough stickiness of sesame cracker dough were studied using Texture Analyzer and Chen-Hoseney methodologies (i.e. Chen-Hoseney Dough Stickiness Cell). The result obtained showing that the increment of mixing time, water and sugar addition, increased the dough stickiness, work of adhesion/adhesiveness and dough strength/cohesiveness. However, overmixing of dough had led to the decrease of these parameters

Product structure initialization, the bottleneck of ERP implementation in customer driven environments: a case study

This study of the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in a customer driven environment analyzes the critical success factors throughout the initialization phase. The dynamic and stochastic nature of customer driven environments results in a massive workload of product structure configuration tasks related to new arrivals on one hand and a constant updating process on the other. Meanwhile, the development and implementation of an ERP system was studied from the very first step (i.e. the feasibly study for implementing an ERP) to the last step (i.e. testing the outputs of the implemented system) in an office furniture company for three years. The study involved analyzing of the data collected that were from a series of interviews, as well as direct observations and reviewing of the company's documents. Based on the output of the analysis phase, a top-down hierarchical analysis of goals and CSFs were carried out according to the CSF analysis method. Three top level objectives included reducing project failure risk, project cost, and project time. Analysing the primary results of the study (i.e. activity model, data flow diagram DFD of different levels, system problems and potential solutions descriptions, etc.) revealed that the critical phase of the implementation project would be product structure initialization and this should be taken into consideration as the bottleneck of production planning in customer driven environment, which dramatically reduced the ERP efficiency in this kind of environment. Moreover, initializing issues of the same process is the main obstacle to the success of the ERP implementation, as it considerably raises the project failure risk and cost. Therefore, the simplification, facilitation, and automation of the PSCM process, which lead to acceleration of this process, are the most significant success factors for the ERP implementation projects in customer driven environment

Detrimental effects of bisphenol A on development and functions of the male reproductive system in experimental rats

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in manufacturing industries. It is commonly detected in the environment and was reported to exert oestrogenic effects which may be harmful to the reproductive system. The present study was carried out to observe the effects of oral administration of BPA on the development of the reproductive organs and plasma sex hormone levels in prepubertal male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Prepubertal male SD rats (n=8 in each group) were administered BPA in the doses of 1, 5, 10 and 100 mg/kg BW (body weight) via oral gavage for a period of 6 weeks. The control animals received the vehicle for BPA (Tween 80 in distilled water). Following 6 weeks of BPA exposure, the rats exhibited less evidence of spermatogenesis. There was seminiferous epithelial damage which included disruption of intercellular junctions and sloughing of germ cells into the seminiferous tubular lumen. Furthermore, the lumina of the seminiferous tubules and the epididymis of these animals were filled with immature germ cells and cellular debris. This damage may lead to the significant reduction in the seminiferous tubular diameter in BPA-treated animals. These findings were associated with the significant lower plasma testosterone and 17β-oestradiol levels. There was no significant difference between the body weight gain, the absolute as well as relative testis weight or epididymal weight of BPA-treated animals when compared to the control animals. The findings provided further evidence of the detrimental effects of BPA on the male reproductive system

Effect of compositions in nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) on skin hydration and occlusion.

Purpose: To study the effects of varying lipid concentrations, lipid and oil ratio, and the addition of propylene glycol and lecithin on the long-term physical stability of nanostructured lipid nanocarriers (NLC), skin hydration, and transepidermal water loss. Methods: The various NLC formulations (A1-A5) were prepared and their particle size, zeta potential, viscosity, and stability were analyzed. The formulations were applied on the forearms of the 20 female volunteers (one forearm of each volunteer was left untreated as a control). The subjects stayed for 30minutes in a conditioned room with their forearms uncovered to let the skin adapt to the temperature (22°C±2°C) and humidity (50%±2%) of the room. Skin hydration and skin occlusion were recorded at day one (before treatment) and day seven (after treatment). Three measurements for skin hydration and skin occlusion were performed in each testing area. Results: NLC formulations with the highest lipid concentration, highest solid lipid concentration, and additional propylene glycol (formulations A1, A2, and A5) showed higher physical stability than other formulations. The addition of propylene glycol into an NLC system helped to reduce the particle size of the NLC and enhanced its long-term physical stability. All the NLC formulations were found to significantly increase skin hydration compared to the untreated controls within 7 days. All NLC formulations exhibited occlusive properties as they reduced the transepidermal water loss within 7 days. This effect was more pronounced with the addition of propylene glycol or lecithin into an NLC formulation, whereby at least 60% reduction in transepidermal water loss was observed. Conclusion: NLCs with high lipid content, solid lipid content, phospholipid, and lecithin are a highly effective cosmetic delivery system for cosmetic topical applications that are designed to boost skin hydration