Determination of Some Selected Thermal Properties of Pumpkin Seeds (Cucurbita pepo)

In this study, some selected thermal properties (specific heat, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity) in the moisture content range of 5.0-5.6% or green and 4.80 – 5.20% for white varieties of pumpkin seeds were determined. The specific heat was measured using mixture method while the thermal conductivity was measured by transient technique using the heat line source. The green pumpkin seed has average moisture content of 5.2% higher than moisture content of white pumpkin seed of average 4.8%. The average specific heat values of green pumpkin seed are 6.171kJ/kgK and white pumpkin seed 4.327kJ/kgK. The thermal conductivity values for white pumpkin seed ranged from 0.074 to 0.288 W/m°C while that for green pumpkin seed ranged from 0.079 to 0.433 W/m°C. The thermal diffusivity values for green pumpkin ranged from 0.0011 to 0.06 m2/s while that for white pumpkin seed ranged from 0.01 to 0.06 m2/s. It was concluded that the higher the moisture content (5.2%) the higher the value of specific heat of seed (6.171kJ/kgK). It can also be concluded that the thermal conductivity (0.079 to 0.433 W/m°C) value is higher with high moisture content (5.2%)

Efektivitas Bahan Ajar Buku Panduan Pembelajaran Kebencanaan Kabupaten Klaten Terhadap Peningkatan Hasil Belajar Siswa Pada Bencana Gempa Bumi Melalui Strategi Role Playing Di Sma Negeri 1 Klaten

This research aims (1) to know the effectiveness teaching material of learning guilding book about disaster in Klaten regency in Senior High School 1 Klaten. (2) to know the result of learner’s study of using teaching material of learning guilding book about disaster in Senior High School 1 Klaten. This research is experiment reasearch with quantitative approach. Using one group pre test post test design. Quantitative data based on giving the questions pre test and post test in the first experiment class and second experiment class. the learning strategy on first experiment class is role playing and the convensional strategy on second experiment class. The technique of analyzing the data is Paired Sample t-Test. The researcher get some result that there are different of increasing study from average grade of pre test and post test in first experiment class and second experiment class.The pre test average grade of first experiment class are 78 % and the post test average grade are 90,4 %. Then, the pre test average grade of second experiment class are 70 % and the post test average grade are 77,2 %. It’s means that the teaching material of learning guiding book about disaster in Klaten regency is affective thai pointed with increasing learner’s study by role playing strategy in disaster of earthquake topic. Keyword: Effectiveness of teaching material, study result, role playing

Development and Evaluation of the Operational Parameters of a Rotary Oven

Developing an efficient rotary oven that is capable of addressing the issue of long baking duration and uneven heating distribution during baking could aid in encouraging indigenous use of the oven by small and medium scale bakeries in developing countries. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of a rotary oven. Taguchi experimental design was used to investigate the influence of oven temperature (160, 180, 200°C) and oven rack speed (0, 10, 20 rpm) on the physical properties (baking time, mass, surface area, specific volume and density) of bread produced from the rotary oven. The baking capacity and efficiency of the rotary oven were 16 kg h-1 and 94%, respectively. Investigation showed that baking time ranges from 20 to 82 min, bread mass (884 to 925.7 g), surface area (1050 to 1370 cm2 ), specific volume (2.36 to 3.70 cm3 g -1 ) and density (0.25 to 0.39 g cm-3 ), respectively. The optimum baking time (20 min) was achieved at 200°C oven temperature and 10 rpm oven rack speed. The oven could be adopted for both domestic and industrial production of bread and other bakery products. Keywords: Bread, oven temperature, oven rack speed, taguchi, rotary oven

White tea (Camellia sinensis) inhibits proliferation of the colon cancer cell line, HT-29, activates caspases and protects DNA of normal cells against oxidative damage

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. White tea is made from the buds and young leaves of the tea plant which are steamed and dried, whilst undergoing minimal oxidation. The MTT assay was used to test the extract on the effect of the proliferation of the colorectal cancer cell line, HT-29. The extract inhibited the proliferation of HT-29 cells with an IC50 of 87 mu g/ml. The extract increased the levels of caspase-3, -8, and -9 activity in the cells. DNA damage in 3T3-L1 normal cells was detected by using the comet assay. The extract protected 3T3-L1 cells against H2O2-induced DNA damage. The results from this study show that white tea has antioxidant and antiproliferative effects against cancer cells, but protect normal cells against DNA damage. Regular intake of white tea can help to maintain good health and protect the body against disease. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

Optimisation of Microwave Drying of Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Slices Using Taguchi Method

The effect of the processing parameters on the microwave drying of tomatoes was investigated and the process was optimized by using Taguchi technique. Pretreatments (water blanching (WAB), ascorbic acid (ASA) and sodium metabisulphite (SMB)), slice thickness (4 mm, 6 mm and 8 mm) and microwave power level (90W, 180W and 360W) were the parameters used in the study. The increase in microwave power accelerated the drying process, thus shortening the drying time. The drying rate curves indicated the absence of a constant-rate drying rate period in the entire drying process combinations under study. It was found that the pretreatment with SMB along with 4 mm thick tomato slice and 360 W for microwave oven drying were the best processing combination within the experimental domain considered in the present study. Thus, this is the best level that can guarantee minimum drying time and time of exposure of the samples to drying microwave power thereby retaining the qualities of the dried tomatoes. The results found in this study can be applied to industrial designs and operational guides for the microwave drying of tomato slices. Keywords: Optimisation, microwave drying, drying kinetics, tomatoes, Taguchi technique

Cloning and characterization of the 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. (Pengklonan dan pencirian gen 5S rRNA daripada Eimeria spp.)

Abstract Poultry coccidiosis is an economically important disease worldwide. It is caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (phylum Apicomplexa). Traditional methods of relying on disease pathology or oocyst morphology have limitations particularly in detecting minor contaminating populations of Eimeria in chicken. Therefore, a DNA-based test using ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was chosen to identify a molecular marker to enable faster and more sensitive identification of a particular species. The 5S rRNA gene was chosen because of its high degree of conservation, ubiquity and the relative ease with which it can be cloned. The 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using purified DNAs of the sporozoites. TA Cloning method was used to clone the PCR products (600-900 bp) into plasmid vector pCR 2.1 (3.9 kb) and transformed into Escherichia coli strain TOP10F'. Recombinant plasmids with size of 4.6 -4.8 kb were found. Clones containing the inserts of the appropriate size were sequenced by automated sequencing whereby M13 forward and reverse primers were used. The 5S rRNA genes from the seven Eimeria species were successfully sequenced. The sequences obtained were then sent to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program and results showed that all sequences were identical to the 5S rRNA gene from other organism. Sequences of 726, 738, 697, 673, 732 and 931 bp were each shown by E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. praecox, E. maxima, E. brunetti and E. necatrix whilst E. mitis has two sequences of 710 and 592 bp. For each species, at least 2 clones of PCR-generated fragments were sequenced. The results indicated that the presence of unique amplified DNA segments could be exploited as molecular markers to identify Eimeria species of the chicken