Tomas Bata University in Zlín
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Influence of storage conditions on stability of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity values in nutraceutical mixtures with edible flowers as new dietary supplements
Get PDFThis paper investigates the effects of storage conditions on the stability of phenolics and their antioxidant activities in unique nutraceutical supplements containing non-traditional cereal flakes, edible flowers, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Significant total phenolic content (TPC) of 1170–2430 mg GAE/kg and total anthocyanin content (TAC) with the values of 322–663 mg C3G/kg were determined with the highest TPC content established in free phenolic fractions. The most notable declines in TPC (by 53%), TAC (by 62%), phenolics (e.g., glycosylated anthocyanins by 35–67%), and antioxidant activity (by 25% using DPPH) were established in the presence of sunlight at 23 °C followed by the storage at 40 °C. Quercetin, rutin, peonidin, pelargonidin, p-coumaric, ellagic, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids were identified as the least stable phenolics when exposed to sunlight. Furthermore, glycosylated forms of anthocyanins demonstrated a greater stability when compared with anthocyanidins. The mixtures considerably eliminated ABTS and DPPH radicals. In all samples, water-soluble substances showed a higher antioxidant activity than lipid-soluble substances with the main contributors in the following order: delphinidin-3-glucoside (r = +0.9839) > p-coumaric > gallic > sinapic > p-hydroxybenzoic acids > delphinidin > peonidin and malvidin (r = +0.6538). Gluten-free nutraceutical mixtures M3 (containing red rice and black quinoa flakes, red and blue cornflowers, blueberries, and barberries) and M4 (containing red and black rice flakes, rose, blue cornflower, blueberries, raspberries, and barberries) were evaluated as the least stable under all storage conditions although they showed considerable phenolic concentrations. Phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of the nutraceutical mixtures were the highest at 23 °C without the presence of sunlight with the most stable M1 nutraceutical mixture (containing oat and red wheat flakes, hibiscus, lavender, blueberries, raspberries, and barberries)
Bilevel programming methods in waste-to-energy plants' price-setting game
Get PDFThis paper deals with the problem of waste treatment pricing in the waste-to-energy (WtE) plants' network. The correct and stable estimate of gate fees should ensure efficient and financially sustainable waste energy recovery. The main contribution is a new price-setting approach, combining bilevel optimization techniques and game theory. The proposed approach dwells on two challenging steps. The first step is to solve the bilevel program, where the WtE plant on the upper level maximizes its income by setting the optimal gate fee, whereas waste producers on the lower level minimize the sum of their waste treatment costs. This optimization problem considers cities' waste production amounts, WtE plants' capacities, and locations. The novel heuristic algorithm, which can handle this bilevel program time-efficiently, is presented. It is based on the reformulations of bilevel problems of highway networks and pricing. The functionality of the heuristic has been validated using artificial waste management network scenarios. The second step is to establish the stable gate fee outcome in the waste management network, where numerous WtE plants are presented. This task is reformulated as a search for the Nash equilibrium in a normal-form game. The best-response dynamics algorithm enables establishing the game's equilibrium with numerous WtE plants and continuous strategy sets. The potential application of the proposed approach is demonstrated in the exemplary problem motivated by the Czech Republic. The found stable gate fee outcome is then used to estimate the optimal capacity of the prepared WtE facility project and ensure its financial viability in the existing waste management network.FSI-S-20-6187, GA 20-00091Y; Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, TACR: SS02030008; Grantová Agentura České Republiky, GA ČR; Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně: FSR FORD 5-6/2022-23/FLKŘ/001Technology Agency of the Czech Republic [FSR FORD 5-6/2022-23/FLKR/001]; FME BUT; Czech Science Foundation; Tomas Bata University; [SS02030008]; [FSI-S-20-6187]; [GA 20-00091Y
Dietary inclusion of crickets (acheta domesticus) and yellow mealworm meal (tenebrio molitor) in comparison with soybean meal: Effect on the growth, total tract apparent digestibility, and nitrogen balance of fattening rabbits
Get PDFThree diets were formulated, i.e., soybean meal (SM diet), adult Acheta domesticus (AD diet), and Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM diet), as the main crude protein (CP) sources. A total of 45 rabbits (Hyplus, weaned at 32 days of age) were divided into three groups (15 per treatment) and fed one of the three diets for 42 days. A higher daily weight gain (p = 0.042), as well as daily feed intake (p = 0.022), was observed in rabbits fed the AD and TM diets than in rabbits fed the SM diet within 21 days after weaning. The coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of gross energy were higher (p = 0.001) in rabbits fed the SM diet than in rabbits fed the other diets. The CTTAD of CP (p = 0.040) and starch (p = 0.041) was higher in rabbits fed the SM diet compared to those fed the AD diet. There were non-significantly higher losses of nitrogen in the urine (an average by 0.227 g/day; p = 0.094) in rabbits fed the TM diet than in rabbits fed the other diets. It can be concluded that the growth of rabbits and nitrogen output were not detrimentally affected by the insect meal (AD or TM) used in this study.Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, MŠMT; Vysoké Učení Technické v Brně, BUT: FEKT-S-20-6215; Ministerstvo Zemědělství: MZE-RO0723; Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně: IGA/FT/2023/003Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (Prague, Czech Republic) [MZE-RO0723]; Ministry of Education Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic; Internal Grant Agency of Tomas Bata University in Zlin [IGA/FT/2023/003]; project Brno University of Technology in Brno [FEKT-S-20-6215
Cross-national validation of the non-participation in non-formal education questionnaire: Findings from adults from Sweden, Germany, United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic
Get PDFNon-formal adult education (NFE) provides adults of all ages with the opportunity to acquire skills, knowledge, and expertise. However, there is currently a lack of validated instruments that measure the factors of NFE non-participation in European countries, particularly their barriers. One exception is the Non-participation in Non-formal Education Questionnaire (NP-NFE-Q). This study evaluates and compares the psychometric properties of this instrument among adults across four purposefully selected European countries: Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. The results indicate a good model fit for a three-factor model across randomly split pooled samples and for all countries (min. CFI, TLI, and GFI =.932, .908, and .941, max. RMSEA =.079). The findings reveal that adults currently face barriers in three key forms: (1) worries and (2) needs regarding NFE at the micro level and (3) the need for more suitable provision at the macro level.Ministry of Education and Science; Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan: AP1486913
Influence of drought stress and mycorrhizal (funneliformis mosseae) symbiosis on growth parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence, antioxidant activity, and essential oil composition of summer savory (satureja hortensis l.) plants
No full textIntroduction: Drought stress unfavorably influences the growth and physiological traits of plants in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This study aimed to determine the effects of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF; Funneliformis mosseae) inoculation on the physiological and biochemical responses of summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) under different irrigation regimes.
Methods: The first factor was different irrigation regimes, including no drought stress (100% field capacity; FC), moderate drought stress (60% FC), and severe drought stress (30% FC); the second factor included the plants without AMF (AMF0) and with AMF inoculation (AMF1).
Results: The results showed that better values, higher plant height, shoot mass (fresh and dry weight), relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), photosynthesis pigments, Fv, Fm, Fv/Fm, and total soluble proteins were obtained in the plants inoculated with AMF. The highest values were obtained for plants with no drought stress, then the plants subjected to AMF1 under 60% FC, and the lowest ones for plants under 30% FC without AMF inoculation. Thus, these properties are reduced under moderate and severe drought stress. At the same time, the utmost activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and the highest malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, proline, and antioxidant activity (TAA) were achieved for 30% FC + AMF0. It was also found that AMF inoculation improved essential oil (EO) composition, also as EO obtained from plants under drought stress. Carvacrol (50.84-60.03%) was the dominant component in EO; γ-terpinene (19.03-27.33%), p-cymene, α-terpinene, and myrcene, were recognized as other important components in EO. The higher carvacrol and γ-terpinene contents were obtained from summer savory plants with AMF inoculation and the lowest for plants without AMF and under 30% FC.
Conclusion: According to the present findings, using AMF inoculation could be a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to improve physiological and biochemical characteristics and the essential oil quality of summer savory plants under water shortage conditions.Tomas Bata University in Zlin, TBU: IGA/FT/2023/003Tomas Bata University in Zlin [IGA/FT/2023/003
The effectiveness of high-commitment human resource practices for employee knowledge sharing
No full textPromoting knowledge sharing among employees is vital for companies whose competitive advantage is based on innovation. However, there is inadequate empirical evidence to show that human resource practices intensify knowledge sharing. Thus, this study examines whether high-commitment human resource management can boost knowledge sharing among staff members. A cross-sectional survey of permanent employees was conducted (N = 480) to examine the suitability of the secondary constructs 'knowledge sharing in the organisation' and 'high-commitment human resource management' using confirmatory factor analysis; their mutual relationship via structural equation modelling was also explored. The findings indicate that high-commitment human resource management increases knowledge dissemination in organisations. Additionally, they suggest that firms should concentrate on hiring selectively, providing autonomy and motivating work tasks to employees, setting practices for performance management and career management, and investing in employee training and development to support firm innovativeness.RO/2020/03internal project of Tomas Bata University in Zlin [RO/2020/03
Analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on employee productivity: the mediating effect of knowledge sharing and well-being
No full textFollowing social cognitive theory, the current study investigated the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employees' productivity in the healthcare sector. AI significantly facilitates the management of hospitals to vigilantly assess employees' productivity and accurately analyze employees' characteristics, such as attitude, emotion and behavior. With the underlying mechanism of employee mental health and well-being, and knowledge sharing, the study has considered beneficial and harmful perspectives of AI in the workplace. The study also hypothesizes the important moderating role of technological leadership. The data was collected from 184 doctors in Pakistan's major hospitals. Partial least squares (PLS) results support a direct relationship between AI and employee productivity. The findings also supported the underlying mechanism of knowledge sharing and mental health and well-being in the relationship between AI and employee productivity. However, the technological leadership moderating effect was found to be insignificant. It opens an important avenue for this further research and future directions
An overview of FOPID controller design in v-domain: design methodologies and robust controller performance
No full textThe complex v-plane is an emerging design domain for fractional order control system design. Recently, several works demonstrated the advantages of tuning FOPID controllers in v-plane. These approaches essentially perform the minimum angle pole placement to a target angle within the stability region of the v-plane and facilitate fractional order control system design tasks because of inherently guaranteed stabilisation of fractional order transfer functions. Accordingly, the optimal FOPID controller tuning problem can be simplified to placement of minimum angle system pole to a target point within the stability region of the v-plane. After reviewing previous v-domain design works, authors investigate prominent target points that can result in improved FOPID control performance for the v-domain design task. The consideration of target points in polar coordinates can provide two design parameters (angle and magnitude), which can convey essential system knowledge associated with the stability and control performance of FOPID control systems. In this perspective, effects of minimum angle pole positions on control performance indices are investigated in detail, and some prominent target points to manage FOPID design in v-domain have been reported. The v-domain design examples are illustrated to reveal the effects of the sampled pole positions on the robust control performance
Evaluation of processed cheese viscoelastic properties during sterilization observed in situ
Get PDFSterilized processed cheese is a specific dairy product with a prolonged shelf life intended for regular retail offer but also as food provisions for armies during peacetime, as well as during crisis and emergency situations, and for storage in state material reserves. Storage requirements are usually defined as ≤25°C for at least 24 mo. One of the ways to achieve such a shelf life is sterilization. Therefore, the aim of the work was to describe, for the first time in the available scientific literature, in situ changes in the viscoelastic properties of spreadable melt (34% wt/wt DM content, 45% wt/wt fat in DM content, and 14% wt/wt protein content) during an increase in temperature (target temperature 122°C), holding at sterilization temperature (20 min) and subsequent cooling (to ∼30°C). While increasing to the target sterilization temperature, a significant decrease occurred in the storage and loss moduli values. Both moduli started to increase again during the target sterilization temperature period and during the whole cooling phase. The values of the storage and loss moduli were significantly higher at the end of the cooling of the sterilized product, and conversely, the phase angle value was lower compared with the melt before sterilization. As a result of sterilization, an increase occurred in the levels of markers of the Maillard reaction complex and lipid oxidation processes. The value of hardness, corrected stress, and elongational viscosity also increased compared with nonsterilized products. As a result of sterilization, the flavor worsened and sterilized processed cheeses showed darker (brownish) color. However, even after sterilization, the products were evaluated as acceptable for consumers and maintained their spreadability.Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy, MŠMT; Ministerstvo Obrany České Republiky, MOČR, (RP/CPS/2022/007)Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic; Army of the Czech Republic [RP/CPS/2022/007]; Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic [RP/CPS/2022/007
Do management practices matter in sustainable SMEs? A conceptual study from a developing country perspective
No full textThe purpose of this study is to elucidate the practices that have accounted for the survival of hotels in a developing nation. The study is a qualitative inquiry; the researchers saw the need to adopts document analysis as a methodology to achieve the study objective. The usage of document analysis was to have access to a voluminous scientific paper published in the study area and to make a concrete revision out of that. The study centered on hotel industries in mid-sized to large enterprises. The database of Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus was used to access the information needed through the keywords search to draw a meaningful conclusion. The researchers discussed the impacts of decision-making, technology adoption, and human resources by management on hotels. In all, thirty-Nine scientific papers were used out of the numerous papers downloaded which were all published in English. The study, therefore, has both theoretical contributions to literature and likewise to industry players or practitioners in the current era of the business environment in the field of hotel industries. A study limitation is also discussed in the study. © The Authors, (2021). All Rights Reserved.Tomas Bata University in Zlin, TBU: IGA/FaME/2021/00