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A major consequence of diabetes (type 2) is diabetic nephropathy and its leading cause of chronic kidney disease. This study was amid to determination of insulin like growth factor −1 in diabetic nephropathy patients and its relation with other biochemistry. This study was carried out at the National Diabetes Center/ Mustansiriyah University during the period from 1/11/2020 to 30/3/2021. A highly significant increase of serum fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein, and insulin like growth factor −1 in Nephropathy with Diabetes Mellitus when compared with Nephropathy without Diabetes Mellitus and highly significant decrease of glomerular filtration rate in Nephropathy with Diabetes Mellitus when compared with Nephropathy without Diabetes Mellitus. as Higher serum levels of fasting blood sugar, hypertension, and disturbances in lipid profile and kidney function are found in nephropathy with diabetes mellitus patients. Lower serum insulin like growth factor −1 levels were found to be positively linked with diabetic nephropathy. We propose that serum insulin like growth factor −1 levels be included in routine nephropathy studies in diabetic individuals.

Recently, thin-film solar cells have received much attention due to low production cost. However, such cells suffer from low efficiency due to which they cannot be used for practical applications. To cater this problem, we have numerically investigated thin-film tandem solar cells comprising of double active layers made of amorphous silicon (a-Si) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) of different energy bandgaps. The tandem cell is found to absorb large amount of solar photons compared to a single a-Si and c-Si solar cells. To further improve the absorption efficiency, we efficiently utilized the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of plasmonic nanoparticles, which are deposited in the form of a square lattice in the top a-Si active layer. The absorption characteristics of the cell are enhanced and tuned by optimizing the material and size of the nanoparticles. Moreover, periodic disorders are incorporated, which allow mixing of plasmonic modes having different angular momenta, resulting in a super broadband light absorption from 300 to 1100 nm and yielding a short circuit current density of 33.917 mA/cm2 in the active layers. The proposed plasmonic tandem cell can be advantageous for most of the photovoltaic applications.

CONTEXT The airway epithelial barrier can be disrupted by house dust mite (HDM) allergens leading to allergic airway inflammation. Zerumbone, a natural monocyclic sesquiterpene, was previously found to possess anti-asthmatic effect by modulating Th1/Th2 cytokines. However, the protective role of zerumbone on epithelial barrier function remains to be fully explored. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of zerumbone on HDM extract-induced airway epithelial barrier dysfunction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human bronchial epithelial cells 16HBE14o- were incubated with 100 μg/mL HDM extract and treated with non-cytotoxic concentrations of zerumbone (6.25 μM, 12.5 μM, and 25 μM) for 24 h. The epithelial junctional integrity and permeability were evaluated through transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC)-Dextran permeability assays, respectively. The localization of junctional proteins, occludin and zona occludens (ZO)-1, was studied using immunofluorescence (IF) while the protein expression was measured by western blot. RESULTS Zerumbone inhibited changes in junctional integrity (6.25 μM, p ≤ .05; 12.5 μM, p ≤ .001; 25 μM, p ≤ .001) and permeability (6.25 μM, p ≤ .05; 12.5 μM, p ≤ .01; 25 μM, p ≤ .001) triggered by HDM extract in a concentration-dependent manner. This protective effect could be explained by the preservation of occludin (12.5 μM, p ≤ .01 and 25 μM, p ≤ .001) and ZO-1 (12.5 μM, p ≤ .05 and 25 μM, p ≤ .001) localization, rather than the prevention of their cleavage. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Zerumbone attenuates HDM extract-induced epithelial barrier dysfunction which supports its potential application for the treatment of inflammation-driven airway diseases such as asthma.

Five libraries of natural and synthetic phenolic acids containing five AB, ten constitutional isomeric AB, one AB, and one AB were previously synthesized and reported by our laboratory in 5 to 11 steps. They were employed to construct seven libraries of self-assembling dendrons, by divergent generational, deconstruction, and combined approaches, enabling the discovery of a diversity of supramolecular assemblies including Frank-Kasper phases, soft quasicrystals, and complex helical organizations, some undergoing deracemization in the crystal state. However, higher substitution patterns within a single dendron were not accessible. Here we report three libraries consisting of 30 symmetric and nonsymmetric constitutional isomeric phenolic acids with unprecedented sequenced patterns, including two AB, three AB, eight AB, five AB, six AB, three AB, two AB, and one AB synthesized by accelerated modular-orthogonal Ni-catalyzed borylation and cross-coupling. A single etherification step with 4-(-dodecyloxy)benzyl chloride transformed all these phenolic acids, of interest also for other applications, into self-assembling dendrons. Despite this synthetic simplicity, they led to a diversity of unprecedented self-organizing principles: lamellar structures of interest for biological membrane mimics, helical columnar assemblies from rigid-solid angle dendrons forming Tobacco Mosaic Virus-like assemblies, columnar organizations from adaptable-solid angle dendrons forming disordered micellar-like nonhelical columns, columns from supramolecular spheres, five body-centered cubic phases displaying supramolecular orientational memory, rarely encountered in previous libraries forming predominantly Frank-Kasper phases, and two Frank-Kasper phases. Lessons from these self-organizing principles, discovered within a single generation of self-assembling dendrons, may help elaborate design principles for complex helical and nonhelical organizations of synthetic and biological matter.

In this study, the catalytic effect of the internal surface of reactors constructed from stainless steel (SS310) for hydrogen production via methane decomposition has experimentally been proved and compared with a quartz-lined reactor. The effects of the methane decomposition temperature and volume-hourly-space velocity (VHSV) on hydrogen production, conversion of methane, and initial decomposition rates were investigated in an SS310 lab-scale reactor. Within the duration of the experiments, no change was recorded for hydrogen and methane concentration in all the experiments. The catalytic activity of the SS310 reactor's internal surface increased with increasing methane decomposition temperature (850−950 °C) and decreasing VHSV (37−52 h−1). The as-produced carbon was characterized using surface texture analysis, X-ray, and SEM-EDX.

A conventional reactor in microbial electrochemical technology (MET) consists of anode and cathode compartments divided by a separator, which is usually a proton exchange membrane (PEM), such as Nafion 117. In this study, a novel porous clay earthenware (NCE) was fabricated as the separator to replace the highly cost PEM. The fabrication of NCEs is with raw clay powder and starch powder that acts as a pore-forming agent at different starch powder contents (10 vol%, 20 vol%, and 30 vol%), ball-milled before hydraulically pressed to form green ceramic pellets and sintered up to 1200 °C. The highest power density of 2250 ± 21 mW/m2 (6.0 A/m2), the internal resistance of 75 ± 24 Ω and coulombic efficiency (CE) of 44 ± 21% were produced for MFC–NCE from 30 vol% starch powder content under batch mode operation. The MFC–PEM combination produced the lowest power density, CE and the highest internal resistance up to 1350 ± 17 mW/m2 (3.0 A/m2), 23 ± 15% and 326 ± 13 Ω, respectively.

Cosmetic rice powder or “bedak sejuk'' has long being used as part of traditional skincare routine. The powdered rice extract is applied on the face, usually at night and will be rinsed off the next morning to obtain smooth and clear skin complexion. Usually, the regular rice available in one’s kitchen is used to make the cosmetic rice powder but different grades of rice (based on the price) will give different effects to the skin. This study aims to investigate and compare the bioactivities and phytochemical composition of different grades of rice available in the market. The rice sample used in this study was Ecobrown rice, Jasmine White rice, Jati Super Special Tempatan rice and Manggo Thai rice. All rice samples were extracted using distilled water by maceration process. The bioactivities; antioxidant capacity was measured using DPPH assay. Phytochemical content was determined as total phenolic and flavonoid contents (TPC and TFC). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was also used to determine phenolic content expressed as gallic acid equivalent (GAE). The result showed that brown rice had significantly higher antioxidants with IC50 values of 6.4 mg/mL in DPPH assay. The observed activities were corresponding with total phenolic content, where EcoBrown rice has a significantly higher amount of phenolic content (p?0.05) compared to other samples. Meanwhile, almost similar TFC was observed in all rice samples with Jati Super Special. The analysis of phenolic content was correlated with HPLC analysis, where brown rice was shown to have the highest amount of gallic acid content. In conclusion, brown rice can be considered as a better choice to produce “bedak sejuk”.

A series of experiments was conducted to study the effect of temperature and feed rate on physicochemical properties and yield of bio-oil. The experiments were performed in a helical screw fluidized bed reactor and about 150-gram palm shell (PS) was pyrolyzed in each run at 275 °C/min heating rate. The first set of experiments was conducted at temperature ranging from 400 to 650 °C without using any inert gas for fluidization. While the second set of experiments were performed at feed rates ranging from 3 to 25 g/min in order to investigate the effects of feed rate on pyrolytic products. Results showed that the bio-oil yield was increased with the increase in temperature and feed rate due to the enhanced biomass volatilization. In a similar vein to this, a greater extent in oxygenates cracking was also noted in the bio-oil. A maximum liquid yield of about 72.84 wt% was obtained at 500 °C, while 72.92 wt% liquid yield was obtained with 25 g/min feed rate. The HHV of bio-oil was also increased from 38.52 to 43.13 MJ/kg when pyrolysis temperature was increased from 400 to 650 °C.

This research was aimed to examine the diesel engine’s performance and emission of secondary fuels (SFs), comprising waste plastic oil (WPO) and palm oil biodiesel (POB), and to analyze their tribological properties. Their compositions were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Five SFs (10–50% POB in WPO) were prepared by mechanical stirring. The results were compared to blank WPO (WPO100) and Malaysian commercial diesel (B10). WPO90 showed the maximum brake power (BP) and brake torque (BT) among the SFs, and their values were 0.52 and 0.59% higher compared to B10, respectively. The increase in POB ratio (20–50%) showed a negligible difference in BP and BT. WPO70 showed the lowest brake-specific fuel consumption among the SFs. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) increased with POB composition. The maximum reductions in emission of hydrocarbon (HC, 37.21%) and carbon monoxide (CO, 27.10%) were achieved by WPO50 among the SFs. WPO90 showed the maximum reduction in CO2 emission (6.78%). Increasing the POB composition reduced the CO emissions and increased the CO2 emissions. All SFs showed a higher coefficient of friction (COF) than WPO100. WPO50 showed the minimal increase in COF of 2.45%. WPO90 showed the maximum reduction in wear scar diameter (WSD), by 10.34%, compared to B10. Among the secondary contaminated samples, SAE40-WPO90 showed the lowest COF, with 5.98% reduction compared to SAE40-WPO100. However, with increasing POB content in the secondary contaminated samples, the COF increased. The same trend was also observed in their WSD. Overall, WPO90 is the optimal SF with excellent potential for diesel engines.

Summary Background This study aimed to determine the relationship between Deficiency of vitamin D and hyperglycemia in children with obesity. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out between February and April of 2020. This study's subject population consisted of high school students aged 11 to 17 who were obese. The 25 (OH) level of Vitamin D was determined using the Chemiluminescence Immune Assay method. Subjects were divided into 4 groups; vitamin D deficiency with hyperglycemia, vitamin D deficiency without hyperglycemia, normal vitamin D with hyperglycemia, and normal vitamin D without hyperglycemia. Results The prevalence of hyperglycemia was 28 (54.9%) in the vitamin D deficiency group and 17 (378%) in the normal vitamin D group, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.093). With p = 0.031, there was a significant difference in the mean value of fasting blood sugar levels between the two groups. The frequency of hyperglycemia was 54.9 percent in the vitamin D deficiency group and 37.8 percent in the normal vitamin D group. Fasting blood sugar levels were lower in obese children with vitamin D deficiency than in children with normal vitamin D. Conclusion Fasting blood sugar levels were correlated with vitamin D levels in obese children, but clinically insignificant. However, the research is ongoing, so, it is critical to conduct early screening for Vitamin D and fasting blood sugar levels in order to reduce the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

Bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was catalytically reformed inside a stainless steel multichannel tubular reactor using steam and air as reforming agents. The catalyst used, denoted as Fe/AC, was an iron catalyst loaded on the coconut shell-derived activated carbon (AC) prepared by a new approach of impregnating iron from an aqueous solution onto the AC in a stepwise manner. Results indicate that a stepwise impregnation was able to minimise the agglomeration of iron particles on AC surface, allowing high loading of iron onto the AC without severely affecting Fe dispersion and catalyst pore properties. The highly reducible, highly efficient catalyst produced in this study was able to lower the concentration of tar in producer gas to lower than 100 mg/Nm3. The best composition of the burnable product gas was obtained with iron loading of 15 wt%, reaction temperature of 800 °C, steam-to-carbon molar ratio (S/C) of 1.0 and air equivalence ratio (ER) of 0.1, with gas composition of 33.5% H2, 21.0% CO, 14.0% CH4, 18.8% CO2 and 1% C2 hydrocarbons and a cold gas efficiency of 78.5%.

Aim: Application of response surface methodology (RSM) to determine optimum parameters in the coagulation-flocculation process aided by curcumin for boron removal from aqueous solution was investigated. Methodology: Different parameters such as pH, coagulant dosage, and curcumin dosage that effect boron removal were tested. Application of central composite design in RSM was used to design the coagulation-flocculation experiment. Results: The results showed 75% of boron removal, while the optimum parameters for boron removal were observed at pH 2.8, 132.05 ppm poly aluminum chloride dose and 1161.4 ppm curcumin dose, respectively. Interpretation: Quadratic regression showed that the model was significant and lack of fit P value was 0.107 (p > 0.05), implying a significant model correlation between the variables and responses. The experimental data and predicted model proved that RSM is an appropriate approach for optimising the coagulation–flocculation process in removing boron from aqueous solution.

Objective: The intent to prepare and evaluate Linezolid in-situ gel in the treatment of periodontitis. Methods: pH-sensitive in-situ gel was formed by the cold method using a varying concentration of the drug, carbopol 934P and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and carbopol 934P and sodium carboxy methylcellulose (CMC) (1:1,1:1.5,1:2,1:2.5). An optimized batch was selected based on gelling time and gelling capacity. The prepared in-situ gels were evaluated for appearance, pH, gelling capacity, viscosity, in vitro release studies, rheological studies, and finally, was subjected to drug content estimation and antibacterial activity test. Results: FTIR study shows drug and physical mixture were compatible with each other. The rheology of formulated in-situ gel exhibited a pseudoplastic flow pattern. this may be because when polymer concentration was increased the prepared formulations become more viscous and in turn delayed the drug release and from the prepared formulation, LF4 and SF4 have polymer concentrations i. e, 0.9% carbopol and sodium CMC showed drug release up to 12 h. Conclusion: When carbopol is appropriately mixed with other suitable polymers it forms an in-situ gel-forming system that was substantiated by the property to transform into stiff gels when the pH is increased. The in-situ gel was prepared using a combination of carbopol-HPMC and carbopol-Na CMC The formulations LF1 to SF4 showed high linearity (R2 = 0.490-0.682), indicating that the drug was released from the prepared in-situ gel by the diffusion-controlled mechanism. Thus, the formulation of batches LF4 and SF4 containing carbopol: HPMC and carbopol: NaCMC in 1:2 ratios were considered as optimum formulation based on optimum viscosity, gelling capacity and to extend the in vitro drug release.

The structural and dynamical attributes of C60 chains inserted inside Single Walled carbon Nanotubes (SWNT) have been investigated by x-ray and neutron refraction, and inelastic neutron scattering (INS). The mensuration have been performed on a large mass of a very high quality carbon peapods sample. We showed that powder refraction could hardly give definitive response on the way the C60s are bonded inside SWNT. However, the comparison of the neutron-derived generalized compression of states (GDOS) of the inserted C60 peas with the GDOS of the same objects derived from lattice dynamics computations led to unambiguous results. The witnessing of excitations in the 8-15 meV span is a clear evidence for the presence strong bonds among C60s in the sample. In the same time, the witnessing of a very weak quasi-elastic signal may be relevant to rotational motions of C60 monomers inside the SWNT. These results suggest that peapods are built of a mixed phase of C60 monomers and C60 n-mers.

The reinforcement effect of nanofiller in polymer enhanced the thermal stability, physical and mechanical properties of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites with good reinforcing capabilities for bio-based polymers. In this paper, the effect of reinforcement of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofiller on the mechanical properties and thermal behavior of PLA matrix are reported. PLA/TiO2 nanocomposites with different percentages of 2.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 7.0 %∙w/w were prepared by using solvent casting method and hot press machine. TiO2 were dispersed in PLA matrix using mechanical mixer and ultrasonication technique. The mechanical properties and thermal behavior of PLA nanocomposites were characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The increased in storage modulus by the addition of nanofiller with the highest increment provided by 2.0 %·w/w TiO2 indicated a strong influence and better interfacial bonding between nanofiller and PLA matrix. An increased in storage modulus started at 100 °C that linked to the cold crystallization (Tcc) of PLA composites is in agreement with DSC result. The Tcc shifted to higher temperature as the content of nanofiller increased and this result were observed at 2.0 %·w/w of the nanofiller content. Reinforcement of nanofiller increased the melting temperature from lower filler loading until 5.0 %·w/w. The incorporation of TiO2 nanofiller as the reinforcement agent for PLA has a potential in biopolymer medical engineering and packaging industry, a highly competitive application with a great demand of cost and performance.

The development of biopolymer electrolytes based on methylcellulose (MC) has been accomplished by incorporating ammonium bromide (NB) to the polymer-salt system. The biopolymer electrolytes were prepared via solution-casting method. The conductivity and permittivity characteristics of the material were studied. The biopolymer-salt complex formation have been analysed through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The conductivity of the sample was measured by EIS HIOKI. Upon addition of 20 wt.% of NB, highest conductivity of 3.25×10-4 μScm-1 was achieved at ambient temperature. The temperature dependence of the biopolymer electrolytes exhibit Arrhenius behaviour. This result had been further proven in FTIR study.

The incorporation of filler and plasticizer provides effective nucleation and mechanical reinforcement in polymer composites to impart flexibility, toughness, thermal stability and tensile strength of PLA composites that can be used in the development of packaging applications. In this paper, the inclusion of plasticizer and reinforcement of nanofiller in PLA matrix prepared using solvent casting method aims to improve the thermomechanical properties that consequently alter the crystallization and melting behavior of PLA composites. Plasticized PLA with different percentages of TiO2 at 2.0, 3.5, 5.0 and 7.0 % w/w were dispersed in PLA solution using mechanical mixer and ultrasonication technique to introduce a matrix reinforcing nanophase within the composite. The thermomechanical properties and thermal behavior of PLA nanocomposites were characterized using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). DSC cooling curves at low scanning rate of 2.0 K·min-1 proved that the presence of TBC in PLA matrix increased the crystallinity of plasticized PLA nanocomposites that initiated the formation of perfect spherulites. TBC increased the crystallization activity during cooling, which in turn reduced the recrystallization effect on heating, in parallel with DMA results that revealed small peak of cold-crystallization activity on PLA nanocomposites with the addition of plasticizer observed at temperature range of 80 °C to 100 °C. Nanofiller induced nucleation for crystallization of PLA matrix and plasticizer accelerated the overall crystallization process. Considerable adjustments of plasticizer and nanofiller in PLA matrix in having a good balance of stiffness and flexibility are a practical strategy that has a potential in biopolymer medical engineering and in the development of packaging applications.

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a useful alternative to petrochemical commodity material used in such as in food packaging industries. Due to its inherent brittleness, low thermal stability, and poor crystallization, it needs to improve its properties, namely in terms of thermal and mechanical performance. The plasticized PLA composites reinforced with nanofiller were prepared by solvent casting and hot press methods. Thermal and mechanical properties, as well as the crystallinity study of these nanocomposites, were investigated to study the effect of tributyl citrate (TBC) and TiO2 on the PLA composites. The addition of TBC improved the flexibility and crystallinity of the composites. Reinforcement of TiO2 was found as a practical approach to improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability, and enhanced crystalline ability for plasticized PLA nanocomposites. Based on the results achieved in this study, the composite with 3.5% nanofiller (pPLATi3.5) presented the optimum set of mechanical properties and improved thermal stability.

Data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia in 2009 shows that national sugar consumption per capita reaches 12kg / year. Snacks consumed mostly were based on sucrose sugar and it turns out that sucrose is increasing the insidens of caries because sugar-based foods and drinks cause acid-resistant bacteria to obtain a suitable environment for growth. To overcome this problem sucrose was replaced with alcohol sugar such as xylitol, especially in chewing gum. However, it is still unknown the effect of xylitol on saliva. The purpose of this study was to see whether there were differences in salivary characteristics after consuming paraffin, xylitol chewing gum and sucrose chewing gum by looking at salivary pH values, reducing sugar levels in saliva and salivary flow rates. Saliva collection is done by spitting method then the total volume is divided by the time of collection to get the flow rate of saliva. Salivary pH is measured using a pH meter while reducing sugar levels are measured using the Benedict's test. The sample for this study consisted of 50 Ukrida FK students. The results of this study indicate that the highest salivary flow rate is after chewing xylitol chewing gum. While the reducing sugar levels in saliva are only found after chewing sucrose chewing gum. For salivary pH values, after chewing sucrose chewing gum the most acidic pH was obtained when compared to after chewing paraffin and xylitol chewing gum. From the research that has been done, after consuming paraffin, xylitol chewing gum and sucrose chewing gum, the highest salivary flow rate was obtained after consuming xylitol chewing gum, while the lowest was after consuming paraffin. Meanwhile, the highest pH value of saliva was after consuming paraffin and the lowest was after consuming sucrose chewing gum. Meanwhile, reducing sugar levels in saliva was only found after consuming sucrose chewing gum and was not found after consuming paraffin and xylitol chewing gum. From this study it can be concluded that there are differences in the characteristics of saliva among FK Ukrida students after consuming paraffin, xylitol chewing gum and sucrose chewing gum.

Calcium-looping technology is defined as one of the most desirable methods of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). However, because of sintering, rapid deactivation of CaO-sorbents is currently a major barrier to this technology. The stability of calcium based sorbent may be enhance by incorporating them with inert support materials such as MgO, Al2O2, ZrO2 and SiO2. For this study, calcium based sorbent has been incorporate with silica obtained from rice husk ash. CaO-SiO2 sorbents are prepared using physical dry mixing method which is much simpler compared to other available methods. The prepared CaO-SiO2 sorbents were then characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). New crystalline phase, larnite (Ca2SiO4) was detected in XRD patterns and this phase possess good chemical durability and may help to prevent sintering effect of calcium based sorbents and enhance their cyclic capability. CaO-SiO2 sorbent calcined at 700 oC with different grinding times have highest intensity of XRD peak at (104) with element of calcite. Sorbents with different weight composition of CaCO3-RHA were observed to have different surface morphology. SEM images of the sorbent (90wt% CaCO3-RHA) before calcination showed bigger particle size with irregular shape and more porosity. Then, SEM analysis was conducted for samples with different grinding times after calcination. CaO-SiO2 sorbents with 20minutes grinding time exhibited small size of particles with some porosity. Besides that, the particles are well distributed without agglomeration occured. The CaO-SiO2 sorbent calcined at 700 oC sorbents were tested for 20 consecutive carbonation and calcination cycles using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). CaO-SiO2 sorbent treated with 700 oC calcination temperature and 20 minutes of grinding shows better cyclic CO2 sorption capacity.

The Naphthenic Acid (NA) found in the acidic crude oil is one of the main challenges that can lead to corrosion problem in oil refinery equipment and reduces the quality of the oil. In this study, catalytic neutralization reaction was investigated in order to lowering Total Acid Number (TAN) in crude oil to less than one mg KOH/g utilizing 2-Methylimidazole in Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) with aid of Ca/Al2O3 catalyst. The catalyst were supported on the alumina beads through Incipient Wetness Impregnation (IWI) methods and heated in an oven for 24 hours at 80-90°C then calcined at calcination temperatures of 800, 900 and 1000°C. The result showed that Ca/Al2O3 catalyst successfully reduced to 0.52 mg KOH/g from original TAN value 4.22 mg KOH/g by using a catalyst at calcination temperature 1000°C, 0.39 wt % (7 beads) of catalyst loading and 1000 ppm of 2-Methylimidazole in PEG. It can be concluded that catalytic deacidification method was effective method in reducing NAs from the crude oil and can lowered the TAN value to less than 1 mg KOH/g.

Chromium-VI (Cr (VI)) is a toxic metal pollutant to both plants and animals. In this study, we cultured two transgenic cotton cultivars (J208 (herbicide-resistant), Z905 (insect-resistant)) and their hybrid line (ZD14) in hydroponic media using 0, 10, 50, 100 µM Cr/L for 7 days. Leaf-related growth parameters such as leaf length and width considerably declined. Decrease in leaves’ fresh biomass was less in Z905 followed by ZD14 and J208, while the leaves dry biomass was less in Z905 followed by J208 and ZD14, respectively. Tolerance potential of plant height, root dry weight and leaf dry weight of both transgenic cotton cultivars significantly decreased at Cr concentration (100 µM) as compared with their hybrid line. Cr accumulation in roots tissues was higher (> 90%) than leaf tissues. Stress biomarkers (i.e., (Malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), total soluble protein (TSP)) as a whole upregulated in leaf tissues of all experimental cultivars. Differential changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were observed, while peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione-reductase (GR) activities almost showed increasing trend in all cultivars under exceeding levels of Cr. Correlation studies, in terms of principal component analysis (PCA), revealed that 75.36% of the total variation was present among all the traits. The leaf-based ultrastructural modifications at 100 µM Cr stress level occurred more in Z905 followed by J208 and ZD14. All these changes revealed differential role of experimental cotton cultivars against Cr stress. Hybrid line (ZD14) performed well in comparison with its parental cultivars (J208, Z905) as a whole. Deeper molecular studies like transcriptomic and metabolomic need to be carried out to explore the genetic facts regarding such differential responses among these cotton cultivars under Cr stress.

CO2 capturing has become very significant option to reduce the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere and hence, minimizing environmental issues.Among solid CO2 sorbent, calcium oxide (CaO) is an attractive regenerable sorbent for CO2 capturing because of their reactivity and high CO2 absorption capacity. CaO alone suffers from rapid decay of CO2 adsorption during multiple carbonation/calcination reaction cycles. The stability of CaO sorbents during cyclic runs can be achieved via the incorporation of additive support materials. The silica (SiO2) from natural sources such as rice husk is the best candidate to be used as an additive in the sorbents. However, the CaO-based sorbent in finely generated powders are prone to severe attrition problems. Therefore, this research focuses on preparation of CaO-based pellets by using rice husk ash (RHA) via granulation method. The result of the raw materials confirmed that Ca(OH)2 have crystalline structure with finely distributed grains and RHA exhibit amorphous structure with randomly oriented size grains. Based on the XRD, it is confirmed that the insertion of RHA does not alter the phase structure of the pellets. Each ratio yield different intensity value and has formation of new peaks after sintering. Meanwhile, the microstructures of the pellets show that the pores reduced as the calcination temperature increased while the incorporation of RHA caused the pores size increased with randomly oriented shape. These findings indicate that the optimum value for the pellets is with the Ca(OH)2:RHA ratio of 80:20 and calcination temperature of 750 °C. ABSTRAK: Penangkapan CO2 telah menjadi pilihan yang sangat penting untuk mengurangkan pelepasan CO2 di atmosfer serta kesan alam sekitar. Antara penjerap CO2 pepejal, kalsium oksida (CaO) adalah penyerapan yang menarik untuk CO2 yang ditangkap kerana kereaktifan dan kapasiti penyerapan CO2 yang tinggi. CaO sahaja menderita daripada pelepasan cepat penjerapan CO2 semasa kitaran tindakbalas karbonasi / kalsinasi. Kestabilan CaO penjerap semasa berlaku kitaran boleh dicapai melalui penggabungan bahan sokongan tambahan. Silika (SiO2) dari sumber semula jadi seperti sekam padi (RHA) adalah calon terbaik untuk digunakan sebagai aditif dalam penjerap. Walau bagaimanapun, penjerap berasaskan CaO dalam bentuk serbuk halus yang dihasilkan adalah terdedah kepada masalah pergeseran yang teruk. Oleh itu, kajian ini memberi tumpuan kepada penyediaan pelet berasaskan CaO dengan menggunakan abu sekam beras melalui kaedah granulasi. Hasil bahan mentah mengesahkan bahawa Ca(OH)2 mempunyai struktur kristalografi dengan bijirin halus dan RHA yang mempamerkan struktur bukan kristal dengan butiran saiz berorientasikan secara rawak. Berdasarkan XRD, ia disahkan bahawa penyisipan RHA tidak mengubah struktur kristalografi pelet. Setiap nisbah menghasilkan nilai intensiti yang berbeza dan mempunyai pembentukan puncak baru selepas pensinteran. Sementara itu, mikrostruktur pelet menunjukkan bahawa pori-pori berkurangan apabila suhu kalsinasi meningkat sementara pembentukan RHA menyebabkan saiz pori meningkat dengan bentuk berorientasikan rawak. Penemuan ini menunjukkan bahawa nilai optimum bagi pelet adalah dengan nisbah Ca(OH)2:RHA 80:20 dan suhu kalsinasi 750 °C.

Background Recently, an examination with the TyG index has developed as an alternative to the gold standard, by which this measurement has a relatively high sensitivity in assessing IR. The measurement with TyG index only requires triglyceride levels and fasting blood glucose and is expected to be an examination instrument used to assess IR available in all health facilities in developing countries, especially in Indonesia. In this study, we analyzed the concordance between the TyG index and HOMA-IR in assessing IR in nondiabetic subjects of adult Indonesian males. Method A cross sectional study was conducted at the outpatient installation of Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital and Hasanuddin University Hospital during March until June 2019. An examination of FBG, TyG and fasting insulin was performed. The statistical test results were considered significant if the p value was Result Of the 88 healthy male subjects, the mean age was 51.15 ± 6.8 years. The ROC curve showed that the cut-off value of the TyG index in predicting HOMA-IR was 4.66, with the sensitivity of 86.2% and specificity of 44.1%. The OR value revealed that subjects with a TyG index of ≥4.66 indicated a 5-time greater risk for IR than subjects with a TyG index Conclusion There was a significant concordance between the TyG index and the HOMA-IR in the subjects of adult Indonesian males.

Starch is found almost in all organs of plants as a carbohydrate reserve. It is considered one of the most commonly used pharmaceutical additives, mainly in tablet dosage forms; it used as a tablet binder when incorporated through the wet granulation process or as a disintegrant. Cajanus cajan has a high level of carbohydrate, which makes it another potential choice as a source for starch. This study aims to investigate and optimize the effect of Cajanus cajan starch concentrations as well as wet massing granulation time on physicochemical properties of metronidazole tablets. The hardness, friability percentage, and disintegration time of prepared tablets were determined, and the central composite design was employed in the optimization process. Then the tablets of optimized batch were compared against those tablets in which maize starch and sodium starch glycolate were used instead of Cajanus cajan starch. The results indicated that metronidazole tablets containing the upper level of starch paste (Cajanus cajan and/or maize starch paste) exhibited better percentage friability, hardness, and disintegration time than those formulated with lower levels and those without starch paste. The study showed that experimental design is a useful technique for optimizing Cajanus cajan starch-based tablets, which enabled a better understanding of how different variables could affect the responses. In addition, the study demonstrated that incorporation of Cajanus cajan starch in tablets formulation led to improvement of its physical properties compared to the formulations of maize starch and sodium starch glycolate respectively.

Aims: This study aims to develop an efficient, and inexpensive transfection procedure using low cost polyethylenimine (PEI) as transfection reagent for overexpression of CYP2C9 in WRL 68 host cells. Introduction: Overexpression of CYP450 isozymes such as CYP2C9 has been a reliable approach in developing a high specificity in vitro tool for inhibition study of this liver enzyme. Transient or stable transfection are used to insert plasmid DNA into a mammalian host cell in order to produce proteins. There are many efficient transfection reagents available in the market for this purpose, however, it can be expensive, and a low-cost alternative is favorable. Methodology: Cytotoxicity of PEI was screened on four cell lines namely WRL 68, HepG2, MCF-7 and A549 using MTS assay. WRL 68 was transiently transfected with CYP2C9 plasmid using PEI and DNA concentration as well as transfection time was optimized for the best efficiency and expression. Expression of CYP2C9 protein was measured using qPCR and further evaluated with western blot analysis. Results: IC50 values of PEI are 0.327 ± 0.013 mg/mL (WRL-68), 0.395 ± 0.037 mg/mL (HepG2), 1.159 ± 0.032 mg/mL (A549) and 1.281 ± 0.000 mg/mL (MCF-7). Combination of 3ug plasmid DNA with 2.8 μM of PEI and 10.5 mM NaCl resulted in the highest transfection efficiency and expression after 48 hours. Conclusion: A low-cost and efficient PEI transient transfection procedure was optimized for CYP2C9 overexpression and useful for the purpose of further development of cell-based enzyme inhibition model.

Magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) is a highly promising therapeutic modality for the treatment of different kinds of cancers and malignant tumors. The therapy is based on the concept that; iron oxide nanoparticles deposited at cancer sites can generate heat when exposed to an alternating current magnetic field or near infrared radiation and consequently destroying only the cancer cells by exploiting their vulnerability to heat. The fact that the treatment is at molecular level and that iron oxide nanoparticles provide more guided focus heating justifies its efficacy over treatment such as surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the spread of MHT as the next-generation therapeutics has been shadowed by insufficient heating especially at the in vivo stage. This can be averted by modifying the iron oxide nanoparticle structure. To this end, various attempts have been made by developing a magnetic hybrid nanostructure capable of generating efficient heat. However, the synthesis method for each component (of the magnetic hybrid nanostructure) and the grafting process is now an issue. This has a direct effect on the performance of the magnetic hybrid nanostructure in MHT and other applications. The main objective of this review is to detail out the different materials, methods and characterization techniques that have been used so far in developing magnetic hybrid nanostructure. In view of this, we conducted a comprehensive review and present a road map for developing a magnetic hybrid nanostructure that is capable of generating optimum heat during MHT. We further summarize the various characterization techniques and necessary parameters to study in validating the efficiency of the magnetic hybrid nanostructure. Hopefully, this contribution will serve as a guide to researchers that are willing to evaluate the properties of their magnetic hybrid nanostructure.

Drinking alcohol is a potential addictive behavior causing significant morbidity and mortality that can be prevented in adolescents. Psychological and other significant factors related to adolescent drinking need to be identified to design a more population-specific screening and intervention to prevent alcohol use among adolescents. This study aims to find the prevalence of alcohol consumption and the psychological factors associated with it among school-going adolescents in Terengganu, Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 732 school adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years from 12 secondary schools in Terengganu, Malaysia. Cluster sampling was applied to choose the schools and classes were selected by computerized simple random sampling. A validated questionnaire adapted from Global Health School Survey (GSHS) was used and psychological aspects were assessed using the validated Malay version of Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ). Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 25, using multiple logistic regressions for dependent variable of alcohol drinking. Alcohol consumption was defined as any alcohol beverage intake of more than a few sips. Prevalence of alcohol consumption was 5.2% (95% CI: 3.7, 7.1). Peer problems score was significantly associated with ever drinking of alcohol (p = 0.046, OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.93); together with other significantly associated factors; namely younger age (p

DyCrxFe(1-x)O3 (0 ≤ x ≥ 0.4) nanoparticles were prepared using facile chemical route. Structural and morphological evaluation was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy. Formation of orthorhombic DyFeO3 nanoparticles was confirmed by XRD with crystallite size of 9–10 nm. FESEM images revealed nearly spherical morphology of the fabricated nanoparticles. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) technique was employed to confirm the presence of Dy, Cr, Fe and O elements in DyCrxFe(1-x)O3 nanoparticles. FTIR studies illustrated the presence of characteristics stretching and bending vibrations. UV–visible spectroscopy was used to analyze the photocatalytic performance of the DyFeO3 and Cr-substituted DyFeO3 nanoparticles and optical band gap measurements. Photocatalytic activities of the prepared substituted and un-substituted DyFeO3 nanoparticles were conducted using three different dyes. These dyes were (i) methyl orange, (ii) rhodamine B and (iii) methylene blue. Lower band gap and higher photocatalytic performance was observed for Cr-substituted DyFeO3 nanoparticles with methylene blue dye.

Improving the photon absorption in ultrathin-film solar cells with active layer thickness of a few micrometers is important for enhancing efficiency and reducing cost. We present a computational study of novel design consisting of ultrathin absorber layer made of gallium arsenide (GaAs) integrated with plasmonic square nanoring particles. The energy absorbed by GaAs layer is significantly enhanced with the help of plasmonic nanorings, resulting in substantial absorption enhancement of approximately 34% compared with bare active layer. For qualitative analysis, the short-circuit current density of thin-film cell is evaluated for AM 1.5 G solar illumination and is found to be 1.4 times higher compared with unpatterned solar cell structure. Furthermore, the structure is optimized by varying different parameters and materials of functional layers, yielding a photocurrent density of 30.185 mA/cm2, which is close to the Yablonovitch limit.

The long-term performance of non-ion selective separators, zirconia ceramic filter (ZCF) with a various pore size such as 0.14 μm ZCF1, 150 kDa ZCF2 and 5 kDa ZCF3 were compared to commercial cation exchange membrane (CEM), Nafion 117 in microbial fuel cells. The ZCF3 generated the highest performance of 2800 ± 14.5 mWm−2 (5.9 Am−2) compared to CEM: 1800 ± 17.8 mWm−2, 4.0 Am−2. Meanwhile, the CEM exhibited maximum power decline during the reverse sweep (61.7%) when analyzed using the bi-directional polarization method. The non-ion selective membranes displayed reduced in maximum power decline during the reverse sweep (ZCF1 50%, ZCF2 40% and ZCF3 42.8%). In addition, the ZCF3 showed the highest proton conductivity and water uptake, 0.863 × 10−1 Scm−1 and 93.7% respectively, followed by ZCF2 (0.729 × 10−1 Scm−1, 80.98%), ZCF1 (0.624 × 10−1 Scm−1, 73.99%) and Nafion 117 (0.367 × 10−2 Scm−1, 57.07%). The ZCF3 appeared as an efficient material for electrochemical active bacteria, maintaining the high power of 1600 mWm−2, compared to CEM: 600 mWm−2 after eight months’ operation under batch mode. The long-term operation of MFCs was affected by the reduction of power output, caused by the increase in the thickness of the biofilm.

This study aims to determine the oleic acid levels of mature breast milk and to analyze differences in oleic acid levels in mature breastfeeding mothers with chronic energy deficiency (KEK) nutritional status and normal nutritional status. This type of research is analytic observation with a cross sectional approach. The population in this study was mature breastfeeding mothers who were in the work area of ​​Sudiang and Sudiang Raya Public Health Centers. The sample in the study was breastfeeding mother's milk aged 2 weeks-6 months. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling method, a sample size of 38 consisting of 19 breastfeeding mothers and 19 breastfeeding mothers with normal nutritional status. Data were analyzed using the Manwithney test. The results of the study found that oleic acid levels in SEZ breastfeeding mothers were in the range of 0.7 - 1.7, with an average of 0.95 ± 0.198 and normal breastfeeding mothers, the oleic acid levels ranged from 0.6 to 1.4 with an average of 0 , 94 ± 0.195. The results of statistical tests found no significant difference p = 0.317 levels of oleic acid in breastfeeding mothers, the nutritional status of KEK compared to normal nutritional status. Oleic acid levels in breast milk for breastfeeding mothers with KEK were 94.7%, category less than the reference and in breastfeeding mothers the normal nutritional status was 100% lower than the reference level (1.5 gr / L).

Wayang Windu geothermal field, which is situated in quaternary volcanic rock, has been delivering 227 MW of electricity and is planned to be developed in near future. Isotope and geochemistry study has been done to support understanding of the system. Samples were taken from thermal manifestations and production wells (two-phase and dry steam wells) to analyse its isotope and chemical compositions. Most of the hot springs are bicarbonate type and have neutral pH values, except for steam heated waters found near fumarolic fields, which are acid sulfate type waters. Deep brine fluids are of mature chloride type, while other deep dilute fluids are bicarbonate type indicates the existance of condensate layer. Solute and gas geothermometer calculation showed good agreement with measured temperature, i.e., 280–300 °C. However, gas-gas equilibria calculation showed increasing T and decreasing y (steam fraction) compare to previous study which indicates contribution form hotter source with high liquid saturation. Aside from different recharge area of thermal manifestation and production wells, the isotopes composition also shows physical processes in reservoir, i.e., adiabatic boiling, steam separation at different temperature (140–260 °C) and steam fraction (0.30–0.65), and also mixing process with meteoric water.

A series of piperonal-based imines (3a–c) and bis-imines (5a-o) have been synthesized in search of new urease inhibitors. Synthesized compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and EI-MS. These derivatives were subjected to evaluation of urease inhibitory potential, which exhibited a varied degree of potential, ranging from 41.7 ± 5.8 to 353.6 ± 5.8 µM, when compared with the standard inhibitor (i.e., thiourea having IC50 value 21.8 ± 1.51 µM). Amongst the synthesized bis-imines, three compounds 5d, 5h, and 5g exhibited good inhibitory potential having IC50 values 41.7 ± 5.8, 43.7 ± 5.8, and 52.6 ± 5.8 respectively so can be further investigated. The remaining compounds exhibited moderate to weak activities. Molecular modeling studies were performed to understand the binding interactions with the enzyme.

Sepsis refers to organ failure due to uncontrolled body immune responses towards infection. The systemic inflammatory response triggered by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria, is accompanied by the release of various proinflammatory mediators that can lead to organ damage. The progression to septic shock is even more life-threatening due to hypotension. Thus, sepsis is a leading cause of death and morbidity globally. However, current therapies are mainly symptomatic treatment and rely on the use of antibiotics. The lack of a specific treatment demands exploration of new drugs. Malaysian herbal plants have a long history of usage for medicinal purposes. A total of 64 Malaysian plants commonly used in the herbal industry have been published in Malaysian Herbal Monograph 2015 and Globinmed website (http://www.globinmed.com/). An extensive bibliographic search in databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus revealed that seven of these plants have antisepsis properties, as evidenced by the therapeutic effect of their extracts or isolated compounds against sepsis-associated inflammatory responses or conditions in in vitro or/and in vivo studies. These include Andrographis paniculata, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma longa, Piper nigrum, Syzygium aromaticum, Momordica charantia, and Centella asiatica. Among these, Z. officinale is the most widely studied plant and seems to have the highest potential for future therapeutic applications in sepsis. Although both extracts as well as active constituents from these herbal plants have demonstrated potential antisepsis activity, the activity might be primarily contributed by the active constituent(s) from each of these plants, which are andrographolide (A. paniculata), 6-gingerol and zingerone (Z. officinale), curcumin (C. longa), piperine and pellitorine (P. nigrum), biflorin (S. aromaticum), and asiaticoside, asiatic acid, and madecassoside (C. asiatica). These active constituents have shown great antisepsis effects, and further investigations into their clinical therapeutic potential may be worthwhile.

A nonuniform current spreading in the current spreader layer greatly reduced the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the light-emitting diodes (LED). The effects of the current spreading layer on the electrode contact area toward the IQE in a vertical design of gallium nitride (GaN)-based LED chip is analytically analyzed. The contact area was varied by changing the value of the electrode’s width from 2 to 12 μm. Efficiency droop and current density at peak IQE are analyzed based on contact area. The width of 2 μm requires 1.6 μAm−2 current density to achieve peak efficiency and produces a droop of 0.2150. The width of 12 μm requires 9.6 μAm−2 current density to achieve peak efficiency and produces 0.0557 droop. The increase in contact area increases the current A nonuniform current spreading in the current spreader layer greatly reduced the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the light-emitting diodes (LED). The effects of the current spreading layer on the electrode contact area toward the IQE in a vertical design of gallium nitride (GaN)-based LED chip is analytically analyzed. The contact area was varied by changing the value of the electrode’s width from 2 to 12 μm. Efficiency droop and current density at peak IQE are analyzed based on contact area. The width of 2 μm requires 1.6 μAm−2 current density to achieve peak efficiency and produces a droop of 0.2150. The width of 12 μm requires 9.6 μAm−2 current density to achieve peak efficiency and produces 0.0557 droop. The increase in contact area increases the current

A commercial perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane, Nafion, shows outstanding conductivity under conditions of a fully humidified surrounding. Nevertheless, the use of Nafion membranes that operate only at low temperature (

The 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) is a purine sulphur derivative used in the treatment of children with leukaemia as an antitumor medication. Nonetheless, the anti-proliferation and anti-rheumatoid arthritic activities of the drug have not been previously described. Therefore, the current study objective was to determine the cytotoxicity effects of 6-MP, 6-mercaptopurine riboside (6-MPR), 6-thioguanine (6-TG) and 6-thioxanthine (6-TX) on murine macrophages (RAW 264.7) and rabbit synoviocytes (HIG-82) cell lines. An inflammatory stage of RAW 264.7 and HIG-82 cell lines stimulated with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and phorbol-12-myristate acetate (PMA), respectively were treated with the drugs at a serials concentration 3.125 – 100 µM. Subsequently, the MTT assay was used to determine the viability of cells. The inhibitory effects were measured based on nitric accumulation in the conditioned media. The results showed that all drugs tested did not show any cytotoxic effect on both cell lines at low and medium concentrations, which the HIG-82 cell viability was more than 80%. However, the drugs display anti-proliferation property on RAW 264.7 cells compared to control. Reduction on cell proliferation was found on all tested drugs. Among its, the diclofenac significantly reduced the proliferation on HIG-82 cell compared to other drug compounds. Inhibitory effects of compound on nitric oxide production PMA-stimulated HIG-82 had only a small inductive effect, but excellent inhibition was observed on RAW 264.7 cell. Meanwhile, 100 μM 6-thioguanine and diclofenac had cytotoxic effect to RAW 264.7 and HIG-82 cell respectively. All thiopurines enhanced the proliferation of HIG-82 and RAW 264.7 cells with no cytotoxic effects. This finding opens new avenues for treating RA and the anti-rheumatic activities during synovial inflammation stage of RA. The inhibitory effects of 6-MP and 6-MPR to inflammatory cells marker such as synovial fibroblast and macrophages by proliferating healthy synoviocytes more potenly than 6-TG and 6-TX. The current study has demonstrated the potential use of 6-MP and its associated thio compounds in the in-vitro approach of HIG-82 cell culture in curing rheumatoid arthritis disease.

The study of red spinach antioxidants (Blitum rubrum) in two types of solvents i.e ethanol and water has been performed. The purpose of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity of red spinach extract from Tinombo Selatan district, Central Sulawesi. Red spinach was macerated in ethanol and water to obtain variations of extract concentrations of 20, 40, 60, and 80 mg/L. Free radicals used were DPPH reagents while vitamin C was used as a positive control. The measurement of absorbance of red spinach’s extract was conducted by spectrophotometric. The results showed that IC50 extract of red spinach in ethanol and water were 51.404 mg/L and 52.227 mg/L, while the value of IC50 vitamin C in ethanol and water solvent was 43.241 mg/L and 140.507 mg/L. Based on the IC50 red spinach’s extract in ethanol and water have strong antioxidant activity.

Previous studies on Calophyllum species have shown the existence of a wide variety of bioactive xanthones and coumarins. Phytochemical investigations carried out on the plant, Calophyllum hosei led...

BACKGROUND: Croton caudatus Geiseler (CCG), a local herb that empirically has been used as traditional medicine for malaria, fever, convulsions, and rheumatic arthritis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of CCG on reproductive and biochemical parameters in male Wistar rats. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar male rats were divided randomly into four groups, which were treated with CCG aqueous root extract at the concentration of 0-16 mg/kg, via oral gavage. After 21 days of treatment, blood, sperm, and testes were harvested for analyses. Sperm parameters were evaluated using computer-assisted sperm analyser (Hamilton Thorne Sperm Analyzer), and morphometric analyses of histological changes were performed. RESULTS: CCG extract at 8 and 16 mg/kg significantly (p

Mambong clay is a traditional pottery that originally from Kampong Mambong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia. The new fabrication technique of this pottery is the slip casting technique. However, the innovation of Mambong pottery does not only limited to the fabrication technique, but also the materials used in the fabrication in order to improve its physical properties. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is one of the materials that can be used in this fabrication as an additive due to the ability to stabilize the clay soil and improves the clay physical properties. In this study, the various CaCO3 contents (0, 5, 10, and 15%) were investigated to get the optimum amount of CaCO3 to improve the physical properties of Mambong clay by using slip casting method. Mambong clay with different amount of CaCO3 addition was compared in term of microstructure, density, porosity, shrinkage, and flexural strength.

Polyurethane (PU) foam were produced from polyol (PolyGreen R3110) and 4,4- diphenylmethane diisocyanate (Maskiminate 80) with distilled water as a blowing agent. Natural fibers have received more attention from researchers due to their ability to increase the properties of the polymer composites. In this work, PU/Henna foam composites were prepared by used Henna fibers at different loading of 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. %. The effect of different Henna loading on PU foam were investigated by density, compression test, morphology and water absorption. Core density of PU/Henna foam composites increased with addition Henna compared to control PU and showed highest core density of 85.10 kgm-3. Compressive strength decreased to 0.53 MPa after Henna addition at 5 % PU/Henna foam composites. Henna addition to 20 % PU/Henna foam composites were reduced the compressive strength to 0.97 MPa due to stiffness effect of Henna that contributed to embrittlement of the cell wall. The distorted cell wall and less uniform of cell structure were proved by SEM due to Henna addition as compared to control PU. Water absorption percentage of PU/Henna foam composites were increased with Henna addition as compared to control PU. It is because hydrophilic properties of Henna tendency to absorb moisture.

Highly sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) offers high proton conductivity but lacks in mechanical stability due to poor swelling degree. Therefore, a promising approach has been introduced in this study by incorporating the hydrophobic polyether sulfone (PES) into sPEEK matrix. The effect of incorporating PES at various composition contents (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) is investigated toward the membrane properties. The membranes are characterized in terms of structural, morphology, thermal, mechanical, physicochemical and electrochemical properties. It has been found that the incorporation of PES in the highly sulfonated PEEK has significantly improved the mechanical and thermal stability without sacrificing the swelling degree and hydrogen permeability. The sPEEK/PES-5 membrane shows the most promising performance among others exhibiting a comparable proton conductivity of 7.18 mS/cm to that of pristine highly sulfonated PEEK with 8.14 mS/cm. Meanwhile, the power density result of the sPEEK/PES-5 membrane shows 99.29 mW/cm2 at par with the commercial Nafion 117 membrane of 135.75 mW/cm2. In conclusion, the sPEEK/PES blend membrane has shown favorable physicochemical properties and considerably high performance obtained from the blended sPEEK membrane at 5 wt% of PES loading that can be considered as a promising alternative membrane for proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

Introduction: Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is the most common kidney disease in children. Histopathological features classify the disease into minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) and non-minimal change nephrotic syndrome (NMCNS). Clinical and laboratory characteristics are considered to be useful in estimating the underlying pathological changes. This study aimed to assess the spectrum of clinical and laboratory profiles in children suffering from MCNS and NMCNS. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using medical records of patients hospitalized at Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Central General Hospital and Hasanuddin University Teaching Hospital from January 2016 to August 2018. Subjects were classified into MCNS and NMCNS groups and evaluated for age, sex, hypertension, degree of edema, degree of hematuria, proteinuria level, cholesterol level, albumin level, urea level, and creatinine level. Data were analyzed by using chi-square, fisher's exact test Mann Whitney analysis, multivariate by logistic multiple regression analysis, and diagnostic test. Results: Of the 36 subjects enrolled, 10 (27.8%) had MCNS, and 26 (72.2%) had NMCNS. Bivariate analysis showed significant differences in hypertension (p=0.020; OR=12.3; 95% CI 1.35-111.61) and hematuria (p=0.018; OR=7.7 ; 95% CI 1.52-39.75). Multivariate analysis indicated that only hematuria is a significant predictor (p=0.014; OR=7.778; 95% CI 1.522 – 39.754). The diagnostic test of NMCNS showed hematuria sensitivity at 77% and specificity at 70% with a positive predictive value of 87% and a negative predictive value of 46%. Conclusion: Our study showed that hematuria is a sensitive predictor of NMCNS.