Proximate Composition and Consumer Acceptability of Wheat-Soy Composite Rock Cake

Cookies are traditionally made from soft wheat, a cereal, which is cultivated mostly in temperate regions but imported by countries in the tropics with unfavorable climatic conditions to cultivate the cereal. The aim of the study was to determine the proximate composition and consumer acceptability of rock cakes developed from soy flour. Four different products were thus formulated viz., 0%, 20%, 25% and 75% being replaced with soy flour equivalence in each sample. Samples were examined for their proximate composition using AACC, 2000 methods. Sensory evaluation was also conducted under a 7-point hedonic scale, where 1 represented dislike extremely and 7 represented like extremely. Data was analyzed using SPSS v 20 at 95% confidence interval. Proximate composition analysis showed no significant difference between the means of the constituent nutrients measured. However, the proportionate increased percentage fat, fiber and protein; 26+2.45, 2.00+0.28 and 16.80+2.94 respectively, showed the potential effect of soybean flour in the production of rock cakes. The sensory analysis also showed no significant difference at P < 0.05 between the means and according to the hedonic scale evaluation, WSR11, WSR12 and WSR13 composite rock cakes compared to WSR10, the 100% wheat flour rock cake were “moderately liked” and “like very much” that is, between 5.3 to 6.6 by the fifteen semi-trained panelist. In effect, soybean flour could serve as a nutrient fortification raw product component and as well, to be accepted by consumers of pastries. Keywords: Rock cakes, proximate analysis, sensory analysis, consumer acceptability, hedoni

Reversing conditional orderings

We analyze some specific aspects concerning conditional orderings and relations among them. To this purpose we define a suitable concept of reversed conditional ordering and prove some related results. In particular we aim to compare the univariate stochastic orderings ≤ st, ≤ hr, and ≤ lr in terms of differences among different notions of conditional orderings. Some applications of our result to the analysis of positive dependence will be detailed. We concentrate attention to the case of a pair of scalar random variables X, Y ​. Suitable extensions to multivariate cases are possible

Excitation of the 3.071mm Hyperfine Line in Li-Like 57-Fe in Astrophysical Plasmas

As noted first by Sunyaev & Churazov (1984), the 3.071 mm hyperfine line from $^{57}Fe^{+23}$ might be observable in astrophysical plasmas. We assess the atomic processes which might contribute to the excitation of this line. We determine the intensity of the hyperfine line from an isothermal, coronal plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium and for a coronal plasma cooling isobarically due to its own radiation. Comparisons of the hyperfine line to other lines emitted by the same ion, Fe$^{+23}$, are shown to be useful for deriving the isotopic fraction of $^{57}$Fe. We calculate the ratios of the hyperfine line to the 2s--2p EUV lines at 192 \AA and 255 \AA, and the 2s--3p X-ray doublet at 10.6 \AA.Comment: 28 pages text+figures, Accepted to ApJ in Jan 98, also at http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~nld2n/research.htm

Treatment algorithm for infants diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy through newborn screening

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by the degeneration of alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord, leading to muscular atrophy. SMA is caused by deletions or mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 gene (SMN1). In humans, a nearly identical copy gene, SMN2, is present. Because SMN2 has been shown to decrease disease severity in a dose-dependent manner, SMN2 copy number is predictive of disease severity. To develop a treatment algorithm for SMA-positive infants identified through newborn screening based upon SMN2 copy number. A working group comprised of 15 SMA experts participated in a modified Delphi process, moderated by a neutral third-party expert, to develop treatment guidelines. The overarching recommendation is that all infants with two or three copies of SMN2 should receive immediate treatment (n = 13). For those infants in which immediate treatment is not recommended, guidelines were developed that outline the timing and appropriate screens and tests to be used to determine the timing of treatment initiation. The identification SMA affected infants via newborn screening presents an unprecedented opportunity for achievement of maximal therapeutic benefit through the administration of treatment pre-symptomatically. The recommendations provided here are intended to help formulate treatment guidelines for infants who test positive during the newborn screening process