This study was aimed to evaluate the possibility of application to the KS A ISO 2859-1 Easy test, an international standards sampling inspection, to replace a sampling method of the current grading standard of chicken meats for the first time. As a result of screening capability to check for defective products, the current sampling was 0.61 and the KS A ISO 2859-1 Normal test was 0.70, suggesting that the latter inspection method was more accurate. If the KS A ISO 2859-1 conversion principle is applied, 40,530 won per day is saved for a 50-lot inspection. The current sampling and the KS A ISO 2859-1 Easy test did not exceed the reject limit for the number of defective products to satisfy the grade 1+ on chicken carcass size numbers 12, 9 and 8. Freshness was not significantly different between the current sampling and the KS A ISO 2859-1 Easy test. It is expected that using the KS A ISO 2859-1 Easy test with a smaller sample volume will have the same level of quality evaluation as the current sampling method while reducing costs.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of age of laying hens on egg internal and external qualities. A total of 8,300 eggs were randomly collected from 15 grading & packaging (GP) centers, and 50 eggs per farm during April to May in 2015. Age of laying hens ranged from 18 to 65 weeks of age and they were classified into 5 age groups (18~25, 26~35, 36~45, 46~55, and 56~65 weeks). Egg weight increased, but the Haugh unit decreased as the age of laying hens increased. Yolk color was higher in eggs laid from 25∼35 weeks of laying hens compared with that of 18∼25-weeks-old chickens. The incidence of dirty eggs was highest (P less than 0.05) in 18∼25 week group and remained constant after 26 weeks. Among eggshell defects, speckled and pimpled eggs increased as the age of laying hens increased. The incidence of calcium deposits and misshapen eggs was highest during 18∼25 weeks of age and remained constant after 26 weeks. The percentage of total eggshell cracks increased as the age of laying hens increased. Among eggshell cracks, star- and hair-like cracks were frequently noted. The percentage of meat spot was higher than that of blood spot and their incidence was highest among the 56~65 week group. Age of laying hens significantly increased egg weight, incidence of pimpled or speckled eggs, star- or hair-like cracks, and meat spot. On the other hand, a significant negative interaction between age of laying hens and the Haugh unit was noted. In conclusion, our study revealed that the age of laying hens affected internal and external egg qualities.

Improving the quality of life is a strategic priority for the European Union (EU), and is, therefore also a stated goal of development policy for rural areas. The EAFRD Regulation provides the legal framework for this policy. As Germany has a federal structure, the federal states of Germany are responsible for implementing the aims of the rural development programmes (RDPs). As each federal state has taken a different approach to improving the quality of life in rural areas, the effects of these programmes differ. Until now, there was no plan for measuring the success of the RDPs. In this article, we will show how the multidimensional concept of quality of life - which was developed in the 1960s and 1970s and has been applied since then - primarily in the social sciences - was turned into a theory-based research concept for evaluating selected RDPs. The focus of the article is on the theoretical derivation and the development of the research concept; concrete results are presented as examples. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Verbesserung der Lebensqualität durch die EPLR nur in einzelnen Teilbereichen erreicht wurde. The results show that the improvement in quality of life realized by the EPLR was only achieved in individual areas. Across all of the federal states we observed, the greatest positive effects were found in the dimensions “conditions in residential locations” and “personal activities (leisure etc.).”

A prototype of electronic nose (e-nose) with the gas sensor system for evaluation of fresh chicken meat freshness was developed. In this paper a rapid, simple and not expensive system for fresh chicken meat spoilage detection was investigated that provides objective and reliable results. Quality changes in fresh chicken meat during storage were monitored by the metal oxide sensor (MOS) system and compared with the results of traditional chemical measurements. Gas sensor selection was tested for evaluation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) mainly representing meat spoilage.The study demonstrated that a correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.89) between e-nose signals and traditional chemical method was high. These results prove that the developed e-nose prototype has a potential for assessing fresh chicken meat freshness and allows discriminating meat into fresh, unsafe and spoiled.

The article presents a short review of emmer wheat distribution throughout the whole world and the regions of Russia. The grain of emmer wheat is found rich in microelements, vitamins, nondispensible amino-acids and other useful substances. The article considers the two-year study results (2016, 2017) of the trials with emmer wheat on the central experimental plot of the Kurgansk RIA. Some separate elements of cultivation technologies of the emmer wheat variety ‘Gremme’ and the spring wheat variety ‘Zauralochka’ have been developed in three-year crop and fallow rotation on the extensive and intensive backgrounds. The variety ‘Gremme’ produced 3.4 t/ha being the largest yield during the trials, the spring wheat variety ‘Zauralochka’ gave only 2.98 t/ha. In the competitive variety-testing we studied comparative productivity of emmer wheat varieties ‘Gremme’ and ‘Runo’ with the spring wheat varieties ‘Tertsiya’ and ‘Iren’. The variety ‘Runo’ was found highly tolerant to powdery mildew, brown and stem rust, and grown without fertilizers and fungicides it was the most productive variety with 2.87 t/ha compared with the varieties ‘Tertsiya’, ‘Iren’ and ‘Gremme’ with 1.17, 1.26 and 1.72 t/ha respectively. According to the baking qualities, emmer wheat yielded to the spring wheat varieties. At the same time there is high protein content (17.5%) in the variety ‘Runo’. The preliminary results of the study show that the unhulled variety ‘Runo’ in the organic farming system claims to play a leading role in obtaining an environmentally clean grain rich in the necessary elements of nutrition.

Thickened water and thickened milk are frequently used in dysphagia management. However, there is still lack of information regarding the correlation between their measured viscosity and sensory viscosity. In this work, the relationship was investigated by rheological measurements and a series of tactile sensory tests. Both magnitude estimation (ME) and triangle protocols were used for the evaluation. The rheological data indicated that both thickened water and thickened milk were shear thinning, but the shear viscosity of thickened milk was obviously higher than that of thickened water for the same amount of thickeners. For the participants considered, the perception of thickened water and thickened milk both obeyed the Stevens' power law according to the results of ME. It was found in the triangle assessments that within the proposed nectar‐ and honey‐thick viscosity ranges, participants were able to correctly discriminate a 0.83‐fold and a 1.05‐fold increase in shear viscosity for thickened water and thickened milk, respectively. Results of both ME and triangle tests suggested that human abilities in detecting the viscosity changes of thickened water and thickened milk by finger tactile sensory were similar within nectar‐ and honey‐thick viscosity range in spite of their different compositions and rheological properties. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Thickened water and thickened milk are commonly used in the management of individuals with dysphagia to improve their quality of life. However, it is difficult to determine the optimal thickening degree in clinical practice because there is a lack of information of the perception of their rheological properties. To investigate the human sensory ability in detecting viscosity differences of thickened water and thickened milk is essential to improve our understanding of the perception of thickened liquids. Moreover, it provides significant information for manufacturing high quality thickened liquids products and for setting guidelines for effectively preparing and serving thickened liquids to individuals with dysphagia.

The implementation of a postoperative analgesic protocol is set into the global process of quality of care improvement. It takes place into five stages current situation, elaboration, spreading, evaluation, adjustment. Each stage is critical and participates to the success of the whole procedure that needs to be considered as evolutive. © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS

This study was carried out to improve the forest management method considering the use of high value added timber in the natural broadleaf forests. For this purpose, the criteria for evaluating the quality grade of standing trees were established and applied to the oak stand in the central region of Korea. The evaluation factors of the grade were bending of stem, branch, stem damage, and other defects. If the logs are divided into 2.1 m units and three logs up to 6.3 m are available, they are classified as Grade I (G-I). If two logs are available, they are classified as Grade II (G-II), If only one log is available, it is classified as Grade III (G-III). When any log is not available as timber, it is classified as Grade IV (G-IV). As a result of applying the grade to the oak stand, G-I was 6.7 %, G-II was 28.0 %, G-III was 38.3 %, and G-IV was 27.0 %. The ratio of standing trees by oak species of higher than G-III was 88.2 % for Quercus acutissima, 88.1 % for Q. variabilis, 83.5 % for Q. serrata, 56.3 % for Q. aliena, and 50.3 % for Q. mongolica, respectively. The G-IV ratio for Q. variabilis and Q. mongolica tended to decrease with increasing diameter at breast height. The order of major defect affecting the grading level was bending of stem greater than branch greater than stem damage greater than other defects. Considering the grade level and oak species distribution, it was concluded possible to produce high quality hardwood timber when we concentrate forest tending techniques on Q. acutissima and Q. variabilis stand. In order to improve the accuracy of grading, it is necessary to continuous complement through the monitoring research for evaluation factors.

The quality and quality evaluation system of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are crucial in the safety and effectiveness assessment of TCM. However, they are also the major bottlenecks that restrict the quality control of TCM. Given the nature of Chinese medicine and the limitations of science and technology, the quality evaluation of TCM involves a few difficulties. Therefore, scholars have conducted considerable amount of research on this topic and obtained promising results. Biological potency and biomarkers have been used to evaluate the quality of TCM. Previous studies provided new strategies and methods to establish a system on quality evaluation.This review aims to provide a new strategy for the quality control of Chinese herbal medicine by combining biological potency and biomarkers based on biological effects.We reviewed the quality evaluation system of Chinese herbal medicine, focusing on quality markers (Q-markers) based on biological effects and the application of these markers in the quality evaluation of Chinese herbal medicine. We also reviewed the factors affecting quality, the difficulties related to the quality evaluation system and the attempt of researchers to improve the quality control of TCM.We propose Q-biomarkers by integration of biological potency and biomarkers to evaluate the quality of TCM. The quality markers provided us significant insights in the process of definition. We further optimised the concept of Q-markers and summarised their definition and properties (including quantification, specificity and related to biological response) in accordance with the requirement of the quality evaluation of TCM.We propose the use of Q-biomarkers in vivo related to specific diseases as a new strategy for the quality evaluation of Chinese herbal medicine. The quality evaluation system of Q-biomarkers would provide a new perspective to standardise and globalise TCM.

This study was intended to evaluate the quality parameters of 58 Apis mellifera honey samples, from different regions in the Sultanate of Oman. Physicochemical analyses were carried out and examined according to the Gulf Standardization Organization (GSO).The results revealed that 64.4% of the samples were failing to meet the GSO standards due to acidity, hydroxyl methyl furfural (HMF), diastase, sucrose, and glucose & fructose. Acidity and HMF were above the limits in 30% and 29% of the failed samples respectively, where diastase and total glucose & fructose were below the limits in 25% and 5% respectively. Sucrose was above the limits in 11% of the failed samples.The unconformity of the analyzed honey samples to GSO standards could be due to stage of harvesting, process and storage conditions. Therefore, it’s important to reconsider the whole process of honey production in Oman in order to improve the technology and honey quality.