NOVEL EDIBLE COATINGS TO IMPROVE QUALITY AND SHELF-LIFE OF FOODS PRODUCED BY PALESTINIAN INDUSTRIES

The current alarming scenario of plastic pollution shows that more than 700 thousand plastic shopping bags and 400 thousand plastic bottles are consumed worldwide every minute. Consequently, about 35 millions tons of plastic wastes are annually produced in the entire world but only 7% of them are recycled. Moreover, when in contact with foods, many petrol-derived plastics can be harmful for human health, causing severe damages to the endocrin system. Possible solutions to these huge environmental and health problems may be (i) the biodegradation of the plastic materials, (ii) the synthesis of oil-derived biodegradable materials, (iii) the synthesis of substituting biodegradable materials derived from natural sources called “bioplastics”. Several edible bioplastics are currently used to coat or wrap highly perishable foodstuff to protect their nutritional and organoleptic properties by extending food shelf-life and reducing the negative effects caused by food processing, such as enzymatic browning, texture breakdown and off-flavors development. Protein and polysaccharides represent two of the main biopolymers used to prepare biodegradable/edible films, even though they still present several disadvantages due to the limited mechanical and/or barrier properties of the derived bioplastics. The present work was carried out to prepare and characterize new hydrocolloid materials made with either a concentrate of proteins extracted from bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) seeds (BVPC) or from chitosan (CH), a polymer derived from chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide occurring in nature. To achieve innovative films with improved features we investigated the effectiveness of the addition of new compounds possessing plasticizing activities to BVPC and CH film forming solutions, such as the aliphatic polyamines, as well as the procedures of both blending of BVPC with the polysaccharide pectin (PEC) and protein crosslinking by the enzyme transglutaminase of microbial origin (mTGase). Our findings suggested that the use of spermidine (SPD) or of a combination of the polyamine with a primary plasticizer such as glycerol (GLY), as additives of BVPC-based films, may open new possibilities to generate hydrocolloid edible biomaterials endowed with improved mechanical and/or barrier properties specifically suitable for the coating/wrapping of different food products. The obtained results indicates that SPD is not only able to act as a plasticizer itself, by interacting with proteins by both hydrogen and ionic bonds as demonstrated by FT-IR analysis, but that it also facilitates GLY-dependent reduction of the intermolecular forces along the protein chains, consequently improving film flexibility and extensibility. Thus, SPD was demonstrated to be not only a primary, but also as a secondary plasticizer because of its ability to enhance GLY plasticizing performance. Moreover, the blending of BVPC with PEC in the presence or absence of mTGase is the other way to achieve further innovative edible bioplastics. In fact, PEC addition markedly decreased the gas permeability of BVPC films and mTGase-catalyzed protein crosslinks determined a further enhancement of their barrier properties. These findings, supported by SEM morphological analyses, suggest that the improved functional features depend on film more compact structure due to crosslinked proteins grafted with PEC. Since chitin waste, mainly produced from seafood processing (crustacean shells), still represents a major environmental issue, the attention was also addressed to improve the mechanical and barrier properties of CH-based bioplastics by assaying SPD, with and without GLY, as new plasticizer. Our findings demonstrated that SPD containing CH films were always more extensible, exhibiting an elongation at break higher than that observed with glycerol-plasticized films, as a consequence of the occurrence of both hydrophobic and H-bonding interactions of SPD with CH chains observed in FT-IR spectra. Furthermore, the concurrent presence of appropriate concentrations of SPD and GLY enhanced the plasticity of the new biomaterial, conferring to it the ability to be also heat-sealed. Finally, all the prepared CH films exhibited a clear antimicrobial activity, thus representing credible candidates as food preservative coatings and/or wrappings. A preliminary application of the new obtained biomaterials was realized by wrapping salted and unsalted Nabulsi cheese samples. In fact, many undesirable changes such as discoloration, off-flavor production, slime and gas formation, bitterness and textural problems may occur with Nabulsi cheese, a typical Palestinian fresh dairy product produced by traditional methods, during its storage in large cans, also in spite of high brine concentration. The obtained results demonstrate that the wrapping of the unsalted Nabulsi cheese by hydrocolloid films (mostly BVPC-based ones) has the same effects of LDPE wrapping, as well as of the salting treatment, in preventing the lowering of pH and the increase of titratable acidity occurring during the storage of the unwrapped dairy product. A possible industrial production of unsalted Nabulsi cheese wrapped with the reported edible film would present the advantages to increase its shelf-life, avoid any postprocess contamination, and enhance the following possible demand for an unsalted, healthy and ready-to-eat cheese, potentially to be used also in sweet pastry

The Effect of Social Factors in Responding To the Comfort of Those Living in Affordable Housing in the Iraqi Reality

عالج البحث احدى المشكلات الاسكانية المهمة في العراق، وهي مشكلة السكن الميسر، وذلك بالتعرف على الحاجة الحقيقية السكنية في سنة الهدف في العام 2030 ، حيث اعتمد العام 2019 كسنة اساس. جاءت اهمية ذلك نتيجة لتفاوت الاحصائيات عن العدد الحقيقي المطلوب من الوحدات السكنية،  ركز البحث على اهمية مرتكز العامل الاجتماعي في راحة واطمئنان الساكنين، وليس المرتكز الاقتصادي حصرا  كما هو شائع في مشاريع الاسكان الميسر , حيث افرز هذا التوجه مشكلة البحث : وجود فجوة معرفية في عدم استجابة المجمعات السكنية للشرائح المجتمعية المتوسطة و الواطئة لمرتكز العامل الاجتماعي للسكن الميسر متعدد الاسر في العراق , فقد شخصت مجموعة مفردات و مؤشرات  الاسكان الميسر في مجال تاثير العامل الاجتماعي و ذلك بوساطة  الادبيات و الدراسات التي استشهد بها البحث طبقت المفردات الاساسية والمؤشرات الثانوية للعامل الاجتماعي على تجربة محلية واخرى اقليمية، وأفرزت التجربة المحلية في مدينة بسماية الجديدة نتائج جيدة يمكن الاخذ بها مستقبلا في مجال الاسكان الميسر ولخاصية تأثير العامل الاجتماعي على راحة واطمئنان الساكنين، كذلك اثبتت تجربة العوائل الفتية الشابة في مدينة السادس من اكتوبر في مصر نجاحها المميز وامكان مساهمتها في حل مشكلة الاسكان الميسر للعوائل الفتية.The research tackled one of the important housing problems in Iraq, which is the problem of affordable housing, by identifying the real housing need in the target year in the year 2030, as the year 2019 was adopted as the base year. The importance of this came as a result of the disparity of statistics about the real number required of housing units. Also the research focused on the importance of the anchor of the social factor in the comfort and reassurance of the residents, and not the economic anchor exclusively, as is common in affordable housing projects, as this approach resulted in the research problem: The existence of a knowledge gap in the non-response of housing complexes to middle and low societal segments of the basis of the social factor for affordable housing in multi-housing units in Iraq, where a group of vocabulary and indicators of affordable housing was identified in the field of the influence of the social factor and that through the literature and studies cited by the research .The basic vocabulary and secondary indicators of social factor were applied to local and regional experiences Where the local experience in the new city of  Bismayah has produced good results that can be taken in the future in the field of affordable housing, especially the impact of the social factor on the comfort and reassurance of the residents. Affordable housing for young families

Comparative study between third and sixth year of medical students regarding basic science in Al-Nahrain College of medicine

Background: The basic sciences have a fundamental role in the development of physicians, there is now an urgent need to facilitate and enhance student retention of basic science knowledge, concepts and principles delivered to the students in the preclinical years .The aim of this research is to :(1) Assess the level of integration of basic medical sciences in the clinical training of medical students.(2) Determine the opinion of medical students about basic medical science. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive Cross sectional study which carried out on one hundred students using consecutive non random sampling technique, there is no inclusion or exclusion criteria. The study was done in Baghdad and conducted during the period from May through July 2012 in Al-Nahrain College of medicine . to determine the integration of the basic medical sciences to the clinical training. Fifty students were participant from third year and the same numbers were from sixth year. The basic medical sciences information was collected by using questions in six main basic medical sciences branches, there were five core multiple choice questions in each branch, the questions were selected from United State Medical License Examination. The study also includes a questionnaire survey which contains ten questions. Statistical analysis :using soft ware MINITAB ,p value bellow 5 representation for significances. Result: this study shows that the percentage of success in passing the test in third year was (54%) in comparison with (34%) in sixth year, the success  rate in pathology was higher in six year in comparison with third year while in other branches was higher in third year. The students’ test score categories in the sixth year reach to (60-69) while in third year was up to (80-89). The opinion of students’ about integration of the basic medical sciences was (46%) for good in the third year while the sixth year choose (56%) for average, the third year choose (40%) for enough for the bulk of information in comparison with (46%) for overcrowded in sixth year. The two groups was agreed in chosen the same opinion in method of teaching was accepted, and for the interest it was limited, this results supported with a lot of international studies. Conclusions: this study concluded on the important of integration and change teaching method are one of the tool which can help to reach the target  . Key word; basic medical science  ,third year ,sixth year ,integratio

Motor Capabilities of Lower Limb Amputated Patients and Its Relation to Body Image and Depression

Background: Lower limb amputation is a great event in the life of individual’s which having an counteractive effect on overall physical, psychological and social functioning of an individual so the study aim is to measure relation of motor capabilities of lower limb amputated patients on body image and depression level. Methods: Design: The descriptive correctional research design was utilized to achieve the aim of the study. Sample: A convenient sample of sixty four participant consisted of male and female adult amputee patients. Setting: This study was conducted in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department at Minia University Hospital. Tools of data collection: Three scales and one tool were utilized; Bio socio-demographic characteristic and structured interview, Locomotor Capabilities Index, Amputee Body Image Scale and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale. Results: 73.5% of the amputated patients have low locomotor capabilities while 93.7% of the study sample has a low body image and 31.2% of the study sample suffers from moderate depression after 6 month from amputation and high positive significant correlation between locomotor capabilities and body image, while that there was a high negative significant correlation between locomotor capabilities and depression level among the imputed patients. Conclusions: The recent amputee patients that are have lower limb prosthesis suffer from low locomotor capabilities and theses have negative impact on their body image and depression level. Recommendation: A well planned structured rehabilitation program should be done to the specific needs of people with limb amputation in order to be able to find out its impact on their functional abilities, body image and depression level. Keywords: Amputation,  locomotors capabilities, Body image, Depression. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/64-03 Publication date:July 31st 201

The Use of Presuppositions in the Short Story of Zilkê Şixatê (Matchstick)

This study explores the use of presuppositions in the Kurdish short story, Zilkê Şixatê (The Matchstick), which is written in Northern Kurmanji dialect (hence, NK) by Isma’il Hajani. It attempts to determine which type of presupposition is the most recurring one in the short story and why it is so. The data in this study are analyzed descriptively and qualitatively. Yule’s (2006) classification which divides presupposition into six types has been employed: existential, factive, non-factive, lexical, structural, and counterfactual. The data of the research are sentences which contain presupposition triggers (i.e. linguistic forms to mark presuppositions). Applying the formula presented by Oktoma and Mardiyono (2013: 79), the results obtained throughout this paper show that different types of presuppositions have different percentages from the total number of presuppositions. They are (94) in number. It is noted that the most dominant type of presupposition used in the short story is the existential presupposition, manifesting definite descriptions of facts about real life, while the structural presuppositions have the lowest percentage. This shows that much of the story text is written to definitely describe the main theme, the characters and the events as they are. Finally, this study is particularly important because no other such studies have been conducted on the use of presuppositions in any literary work in NK. Therefore, this study occupies a crucial place in the research literature into pragmatic aspects of NK

Effect of abiotic elicitor methyl jasmonate on production of rutin in callus cultures of Abutilon hirtum L.

A significant therapeutic plant from the Malvaceae family is Abutilon hirtum (L.). It is frequently used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of illnesses. Rutin is a flavonoid molecule with commercial value that has anticancer, nutritional, and anti-ageing properties. This research project was carried out to evaluate the effect of abiotic elicitor Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) at concentrations 0.0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 mmol.L-1 on accumulation of rutin by callus cultures  of  Abutilon hirtum L. after 30 days of growth on  Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium to which 2000 µg.L-1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) + 500 µg.L-1 Kinetin (Kin) were added. The results showed that the best callus stems cultivated on MS growth medium fortified with 2000 µg.L-1 2,4-D + 500 µg.L-1 Kin, recorded the highest fresh weight of 2.887 g after four weeks. This induced callus was characterized by its friable texture. The data of rutin detection in cultures of callus obtained from stems explant of A. hirtum L., using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) indicated the presence of rutin in these cultures by comparison with the rutin standard samples containing a precisely known concentration of a substance for use in quantitative analysis.. Treatment with 0.03 mmol.L-1 of Methyl Jasmonate gave the best rutin amount of 5.606 mg.g-1 was much higher than the control treatment of 1.569 mg.g-1. These data clearly indicated that callus cultures are a potential continuous and constant source of rutin, as a secondary metabolite, and as an alternative to field plants

The impact of virtual tools on EFL learners’ performance in Grammar at the times of COVID 19 Pandemic

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of virtual tools on EFL learners’ performance in grammar courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This experimental study compared a group of students who took a grammar course remotely via the Blackboard platform during the COVID-19 pandemic to a control group who took the same course in person prior to the pandemic. Each group of participants (n = 30) was given the same test. The grades of the two groups were then analysed using the SPSS programme. The results demonstrate that the experimental group test grades were higher than those of the control group grades. suggesting that teaching grammar remotely has a positive influence on EFL learners\u27 performance, as compared to face-to-face instruction, which has been proven to have a lesser impact. As a result, the researchers would promote a hybrid of virtual and face-to-face teaching. As a result, the researchers would promote a hybrid of virtual and face-to-face teaching. More studies on the causes of lower grades in face-to-face classes, as well as suggestions for strategies to improve learners\u27 performance in all aspects of the English language, not just grammar, are requested. Furthermore, each country has its own educational policy, so different results may arise in different contexts. Educators and policymakers may use this study as a reference for the effectiveness of virtual vs. face-to-face instruction, opening the doors for future research on similar topics within the same them

Spatial Optimization of Urban Cellular Automata Model

Although cellular automata (CA) offer a modelling framework and set of techniques for modelling the dynamic processes of urban growth, determining the optimal value of weights or parameters for elements or factors of urban CA models is challenging. This chapter demonstrates the implementation of a calibration module in a fuzzy cellular urban growth model (FCUGM) for optimizing the weights and parameters of an urban CA model using three types of algorithms: (i) genetic algorithm (GA), (ii) parallel simulated annealing (PSA) and (iii) expert knowledge (EK). It was found that the GA followed by EK produced better and more accurate and consistent results compared with PSA. This suggests that the GA was able to some extent to understand the urban growth process and the underlying relationship between input factors in a way similar to human experts. It also suggests that the two algorithms (GA and EK) have similar agreement about the efficiency of scenarios in terms of modelling urban growth. In contrast, the results of the PSA do not show results corresponding to those of the GA or EK. This suggests that the complexity of the urban process is beyond the algorithm’s capability or could be due to being trapped in local optima. With this satisfactory calibration of the FCUGM for the urban growth of Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia by using CALIB-FCUGM, these calibrated parameters can be passed into the SIM-FCUGM to simulate the spatial patterns of urban growth of Riyadh