Impact of Cooking Conditions on Proximate Composition and Textural Properties of Chicken Breast Meat

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of cooking conditions on proximate composition and textural properties (cohesiveness and chewiness) of chicken breast meat. Eight packs of industrial skinless chicken breast meat were cooked by air frying (AF), baking (BK), deep fat frying (DF) and grilling (GR) at 170, 180 and 190oC for 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 min. The chicken breast packs were frozen and sliced into dimensions, thawed, cooked and analysed by a two way analysis of variance. The results revealed that cooking methods significantly (p < 0.05) decreased moisture and protein contents from 75.14 to 58.25 % and 89.17 to 82.98 %, but increased fat content from 4.26 to 7.78 %, ash content from 1.95 to 2.39 %, carbohydrate content from 4.63 to 6.95 %, cohesiveness content from 0.40 to 0.52 and chewiness value from 3.63 to 6.05 kg. An increases in cooking temperatures and times decreased moisture content from 60.58 to 56.34 % and 75.14 to 47.40 % and protein content from 83.77 to 82.11 % and 89.17 to 79.45 %. Similarly, increases in cooking temperatures and times significantly (p < 0.05) increased fat content from 7.00 to 8.44 % and 4.26 to 10.12 %, ash content from 2.15 % to 2.59 % and 1.95 to 2.67 %. This study showed that increases in cooking temperatures decreased non-significantly (p > 0.05) carbohydrate content from 7.02 to 6.92 %, but increases in cooking times increased carbohydrate content from 4.63 to 7.76 %. An increases in cooking temperatures and times increased cohesiveness content from 0.50 to 0.54 and 0.40 to 0.63, chewiness value from 5.50 to 6.77 kg and 3.63 to 8.54 kg, respectively. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in chewiness values of samples cooked by AF and GR methods. The best cooking method/ temperature / time for low nutrient losses was BK, 170oC and 4 min

The Role of Conformity in Relation to Cohesiveness and Intimacy in Day-Hospital Groups of Patients with Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: Conformity is defined as the act of adjusting one's behavior to match the social responses of others. Patients with schizophrenia often adjust their maladaptive behaviors by conforming in group treatment settings. This study aimed to examine whether the opinions of group members influence conformity of patients with schizophrenia who attend day-hospital programs. METHODS: Nineteen patients with schizophrenia from four different day-hospital programs and 23 healthy controls from four different social clubs completed the homographic meaning choice task under conditions of prior exposure to the pseudo-opinions of their group members, strangers, and unknown information sources. Group influences on conformity were observed when the level of group cohesiveness was high and the level of intimacy was low across participant groups. RESULTS: Controls did not exhibit a significant effect of group influence on conformity, whereas patients were significantly influenced by their group members when making conformity-based decisions despite significantly lower intimacy and cohesiveness levels. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that unlike controls, patients with schizophrenia tend to respond with conformity when influenced by the opinions of their affiliated group. In patients with schizophrenia group conformity may be used to select a more accurate decision and to enhance feelings of affiliation among them.

Effect of extrusion process on formability of pellets based on texture properties of extrudates / 中草药

Objective: To analyze the effect of extrusion factors such as extrusion speed, screen hole diameter, and extrusion times on the texture properties of extrudate and the quality of pellets. Methods: In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as pelletization aid, lactose, Methocel E5 HPMC, Methocel E15 HPMC, Methocel K100 HPMC, and eight kinds of herbal extracts (extracts of Areca catechu, Patrinia scabiosae folia, Acorus tatarinowii, Sargentodoxa cuneata, Psoralea corylifolia, Dachuanxiong Decoction, Ligusticum chuanxiong, and Gastrodia elata) were used as model drugs. Extrudates were prepared under different levels of process parameters, and one part was used to measure the texture parameters, the other part used for quality evaluation after spheronization. Results: With a large screen hole diameter, it showed that hardness of extrudate became lower and the adhesiveness as well as the springiness was significantly higher, leading to a large particle size and poor roundness of pellets. Repeated extrusion could increase hardness, cohesiveness, chewiness, and resilience of extrudate. Not any strong correlation was found between the extrusion speed and texture properties in the study. Conclusion: The extrusion process could be purposefully selected to prepare ideal pellets accroding to texture properties of extrudate.

Effects of Social Support and Class Cohesiveness on Health-related Quality of Life in Middle School Students / 農村醫學 地域保健

OBJECTIVES: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome for middle school students. This study was designed to illustrate the effect of social support and class cohesiveness associated on HRQoL. METHODS: The subjects comprised 516 students from three middle schools in Daegu, South Korea that responded to a self-administered questionnaire in February 2014. The purposes of the questionnaire were explained to the subjects. RESULTS: The total mean of HRQoL was 81.1+/-15.3. Social functioning showed the highest score of 87.1+/-15.3 and emotional functioning showed the lowest score of 73.8+/-21.5. Teacher support (B=3.185, p=0.001) had a significant effect on the physical health summary scores. Class cohesiveness (B=2.237, p=0.022), friendships (B=5.102, p<0.001) and teacher support (B=2.498, p=0.006) had a significant effect on the psychosocial health summary scores. Finally, class cohesiveness (B=2.137, p=0.016), friendships (B=4.133, p<0.001) and teacher support (B=2.670, p=0.001) had a significant effect on the overall scores. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide a basis for the development of strategies to improve health-related quality of life for middle school students, namely that relevant programs should be based on the improvement of social support and class cohesiveness.