The study is conducted to investigate the effect of volatile oil extracted from the yellow peel of C. grandis fruits (Sindi) on growth of three bacterial species isolated from food samples , as well as A. flavus , and to check the possibility of using the volatile oils of this plant as a food preservative . Results showed a variation in the sensitivity of the bacterial isolates against the volatile oil which showed inhibitory effect on the growth of S. enteritidis and S. aureus with the increasing concentration of the volatile oils used in this studys , MIC for both bacteria was (0.12 , 1)% (v:v) respectively. Whereas , P. aeruginosa showed complete resistance to all treating concentrations used . Results of treating spore suspension of A. flavus with different concentrations of volatile oil showed also complete inhibition of germination at concentrations (0.12 , 0.25 , 0.5 , 1)%. Whereas lower concentrations (0.03 , 0.06)% delayed spore germination for (11) and (17) hrs after incubation respectively compared to the control treatment in which spores germination was within (6) hrs after incubation . Different concentrations of the volatile oil also affected the radial growth rate of A. flavus was colonies with the increasing concentrations . A complete inhibition of growth occurred at concentrations (0.12 , 0.25 , 0.5 , 1)% , Whereas lower concentrations showed a reduction of colony diameters with the increasing concentration
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative joint disorder that ultimately results in the progressive destruction of articular cartilage. The occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) increases with obesity and is more common in women compared with men. Thirty patients (20 females, 10 males) clinically diagnosed with knee OA admitted to Baghdad teaching hospital between January 2015-June 2015. Patients between 35-70 year of age and 30 healthy subject (20 females, 10 males) ages matched. The results showed that increased body mass index (BMI) is a well-recognized risk factor for knee osteoarthritis, and the effect of obesity is a stronger predictor of developing knee OA symptoms in women than men. There was also a significant diffe
... Show MoreGelatin is a valuable substance that is known to have a complex 3D structure, but it has limited adsorption efficiency, which limit its application at physiological temperature. In this paper, gelatin was improved by the addition of glutaraldehyde (GTA) to enhance its ability to adsorb dye in aqueous solution. The adsorption experiments were conducted under different conditions, such as the amount of adsorbent, the concentration of the dye, and the temperature. The study found that the qe by GTA-GE (4.978 to 23.056 mg/g) and GE (4.8 to 21.333 mg/g) increased with the increase of initial dye concentrations but decreased with the amount of adsorbent. The parameters at equilibrium were at a pH of 4 and a dose of adsorbent of 100 mg in
... Show MoreManual fruit picking is labor-intensive and can damage fruit. Fully mechanized picking is efficient, but it also risks fruit damage. Therefore, semi-automated tools are needed to improve bitter orange picking. This paper presents a smart manual picker designed to facilitate picking while predicting fruit maturity based on picking force as well as various chemical and physical parameters using machine learning (ML). The study methodology consists of five stages: (1) manufacturing the smart picker, (2) picking 50 bitter orange samples, (3) measuring the characteristics of the bitter oranges in the laboratory, (4) training different ML models, and (5) identifying the most accurate model for predicting fruit maturity. The results indicate that
... Show MoreThe dielectric properties of epoxy/palm oil fiber composites at different concentrations 1,3,5, and 10% by weight, and frequency ranging from 100 Hz to 1000kHz.Epoxy, zinc oxide and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB)fiber composites were prepared by hand –lay up into sheets. The effects of incorporated fibers on the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity of the composites were investigated. The electrical conductivity of the composites decreased with increasing OPEFB fiber content. Despite the slight decrease in conductivity, the composites still sufficiently conductive relatively to applications such as sensors after the fiber addition, the thermal conductivity increased to 0.41