Browse publications by year: 2014

  1. Isa MH, Ezechi EH, Ahmed Z, Magram SF, Kutty SR
    Water Res, 2014 Mar 15;51:113-23.
    PMID: 24412846 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.12.024
    This work investigated the removal of boron from wastewater and its recovery by electrocoagulation and hydrothermal mineralization methods respectively. The experimental design was developed using Box-Behnken Model. An initial study was performed based on four preselected variables (pH, current density, concentration and time) using synthetic wastewater. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the effect of process variables and their interaction on boron removal. The optimum conditions were obtained as pH 6.3, current density 17.4 mA/cm(2), and time 89 min. At these applied optimum conditions, 99.7% boron removal from an initial concentration of 10.4 mg/L was achieved. The process was effectively optimized by RSM with a desirability value of 1.0. The results showed that boron removal efficiency enhanced with increase in current density and treatment time. Removal efficiency also increased when pH was increased from 4 to 7 and subsequently decreased at pH 10. Adsorption kinetics study revealed that the reaction followed pseudo second order kinetic model; evidenced by high correlation and goodness of fit. Thermodynamics study showed that mechanism of boron adsorption was chemisorption and the reaction was endothermic in nature. Furthermore, the adsorption process was spontaneous as indicated by negative values of the adsorption free energy. Treatment of real produced water using electrocoagulation resulted in 98% boron removal. The hydrothermal mineralization study showed that borate minerals (Inyoite, Takadaite and Nifontovite) can be recovered as recyclable precipitate from electrocoagulation flocs of produced water.
    MeSH terms: Adsorption; Boron/isolation & purification*; Electrocoagulation/methods*; Kinetics; Models, Chemical; Water Pollutants, Chemical/isolation & purification*; Water Purification/methods*; Recycling/methods; Waste Water/analysis*
  2. Phanuphak P, Sirivichayakul S, Jiamsakul A, Sungkanuparph S, Kumarasamy N, Lee MP, et al.
    J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 2014 May 01;66(1):74-9.
    PMID: 24413039 DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000000108
    BACKGROUND: We compared treatment outcomes of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in patients on fully or partially sensitive drug regimens.

    METHODS: Factors associated with survival and failure were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards and discrete time conditional logistic models.

    RESULTS: TDR, found in 60 (4.1%) of 1471 Asian treatment-naive patients, was one of the significant predictors of failure. Patients with TDR to >1 drug in their regimen were >3 times as likely to fail compared to no TDR.

    CONCLUSIONS: TDR was associated with failure in the context of non-fully sensitive regimens. Efforts are needed to incorporate resistance testing into national treatment programs.

    MeSH terms: Adult; Asia, Southeastern/epidemiology; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; HIV-1/drug effects*; HIV-1/genetics; HIV-1/isolation & purification; HIV Infections/drug therapy*; HIV Infections/epidemiology; HIV Infections/transmission; HIV Infections/virology*; Treatment Outcome; Drug Resistance, Viral*; Anti-Retroviral Agents/pharmacology; Anti-Retroviral Agents/therapeutic use*
  3. Jalilavi M, Zoveidavianpoor M, Attarhamed F, Junin R, Mohsin R
    Sci Rep, 2014;4:3645.
    PMID: 24413195 DOI: 10.1038/srep03645
    Formation of carbonate minerals by CO2 sequestration is a potential means to reduce atmospheric CO2 emissions. Vast amount of alkaline and alkali earth metals exist in silicate minerals that may be carbonated. Laboratory experiments carried out to study the dissolution rate in Pahang Sandstone, Malaysia, by CO2 injection at different flow rate in surficial condition. X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and weight losses measurement were performed to analyze the solid and liquid phase before and after the reaction process. The weight changes and mineral dissolution caused by CO2 injection for two hours CO2 bubbling and one week' aging were 0.28% and 18.74%, respectively. The average variation of concentrations of alkaline earth metals in solution varied from 22.62% for Ca(2+) to 17.42% for Mg(2+), with in between 16.18% observed for the alkali earth metal, potassium. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test is performed to determine significant differences of the element concentration, including Ca, Mg, and K, before and after the reaction experiment. Such changes show that the deposition of alkali and alkaline earth metals and the dissolution of required elements in sandstone samples are enhanced by CO2 injection.
    MeSH terms: Alkalies; Analysis of Variance; Carbon Dioxide; Carbonates; Malaysia; Metals, Alkaline Earth; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Minerals; Potassium; Solubility; Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; X-Rays; Weight Loss; Silicates; Powder Diffraction
  4. Zuhdi AS, Mariapun J, Mohd Hairi NN, Wan Ahmad WA, Abidin IZ, Undok AW, et al.
    Ann Saudi Med, 2014 1 15;33(6):572-8.
    PMID: 24413861 DOI: 10.5144/0256-4947.2013.572
    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Understanding the nature and pattern of young coronary artery disease (CAD) is important due to the tremendous impact on these patients' socio-economic and physical aspect. Data on young CAD in the southeast Asian region is rather patchy and limited. Hence we utilized our National Cardiovascular Disease Database (NCVD)-Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Registry to analyze young patients who underwent PCI in the year 2007 to 2009.

    DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This is a retrospective study of all patients who had undergone coronary angioplasty from 2007 to 2009 in 11 hospitals across Malaysia.

    METHODS: Data were obtained from the NCVD-PCI Registry, 2007 to 2009. Patients were categorized into 2 groups-young and old, where young was defined as less than 45 years for men and less than 55 years for women and old was defined as more than or equals to 45 years for men and more than or equals to 55 years for women. Patients' baseline characteristics, risk factor profile, extent of coronary disease and outcome on dis.charge, and 30-day and 1-year follow-up were compared between the 2 groups.

    RESULTS: We analyzed 10268 patients, and the prevalence of young CAD was 16% (1595 patients). There was a significantly low prevalence of Chinese patients compared to other major ethnic groups. Active smoking (30.2% vs 17.7%) and obesity (20.9% vs 17.3%) were the 2 risk factors more associated with young CAD. There is a preponderance toward single vessel disease in the young CAD group, and they had a favorable clinical outcome in terms of all-cause mortality at discharge (RR 0.49 [CI 0.26-0.94]) and 1-year follow-up (RR 0.47 [CI 0.19-1.15]).

    CONCLUSION: We observed distinctive features of young CAD that would serve as a framework in the primary and secondary prevention of the early onset CAD.

    MeSH terms: Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Coronary Artery Disease/etiology; Coronary Artery Disease/physiopathology; Coronary Artery Disease/therapy*; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity/complications; Obesity/epidemiology; Registries; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Smoking/adverse effects; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary/methods*; Databases, Factual; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/methods*
  5. Azmi WN, Latif MT, Wahid NB, Razak IS, Suratman S
    Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 2014 Mar;92(3):306-10.
    PMID: 24414132 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-013-1194-1
    A study has been conducted to determine the composition of surfactants in runoff water in the semi-urban area of Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Runoff samples were collected from five different locations with contrasting functional activities and the colorimetric method was used to analyze the concentrations of surfactants as methylene blue active substances (MBAS) for anionic surfactants and as disulphine blue active substances (DBAS) for cationic surfactants. The results showed that the highest surfactant concentrations of MBAS and DBAS in runoff water were recorded in the samples collected at the residential area, with the concentrations of 3.192 ± 0.727 and 0.170 ± 0.028 μmol/L, respectively. Anionic surfactants as MBAS were found to dominate the concentration of surfactants in both runoff and rainwater. The concentrations of both anionic and cationic surfactants in runoff water were recorded as being higher than in rainwater.
    MeSH terms: Environmental Monitoring*; Malaysia; Surface-Active Agents/analysis*; Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*; Water Pollution, Chemical/statistics & numerical data
  6. Karimi E, Mehrabanjoubani P, Keshavarzian M, Oskoueian E, Jaafar HZ, Abdolzadeh A
    J Sci Food Agric, 2014 Aug;94(11):2324-30.
    PMID: 24415452 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6567
    Plant foods are rich sources of bioactive compounds that can act as antioxidants to prevent heart disease, reduce inflammation, reduce the incidence of cancers and diabetes. This study aimed to determine the phenolics and flavonoids profiling in three varieties of rice straw and five varieties of the seed husk of Iranian rice using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Furthermore, the antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated by using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and nitric oxide assays.
    MeSH terms: Antioxidants/analysis; Antioxidants/pharmacology*; Biphenyl Compounds; Diet; Flavonoids/analysis; Flavonoids/pharmacology*; Humans; Iran; Nitric Oxide/metabolism; Phenols/analysis; Phenols/pharmacology*; Picrates; Plant Extracts/pharmacology*; Plant Extracts/chemistry; Oryza/classification; Oryza/chemistry*; Seeds/chemistry*; Species Specificity; Plant Stems/chemistry*
  7. Khoo HE, Azlan A, Ismail A, Abas F, Hamid M
    PLoS One, 2014;9(1):e81447.
    PMID: 24416130 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081447
    Canarium odontophyllum, also known as CO, is a highly nutritious fruit. Defatted parts of CO fruit are potent sources of nutraceutical. This study aimed to determine oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation effects of defatted CO pericarp and peel extracts using in vitro bioassays. Cell cytotoxic effect of the CO pericarp and peel extracts were also evaluated using HUVEC and Chang liver cell lines. The crude extracts of defatted CO peel and pericarp showed cytoprotective effects in t-BHP and 40% methanol-induced cell death. The crude extracts also showed no toxic effect to Chang liver cell line. Using CD36 ELISA, NAD(+) and LDL inhibition assays, inhibition of oxidative stress were found higher in the crude extract of defatted CO peel compared to the pericarp extract. Hemoglobin and LDL oxidation assays revealed both crude extracts had significantly reduced lipid peroxidation as compared to control. TBARS values among defatted CO pericarp, peel, and cyanidin-3-glucoside showed no significant differences for hemoglobin and LDL oxidation assays. The protective effects of defatted CO parts, especially its peel is related to the presence of high anthocyanin that potentially offers as a pharmaceutical ingredient for cardioprotection.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Anthocyanins/pharmacology*; Biological Assay/methods*; Cell Survival/drug effects; Fruit/chemistry*; Hemoglobins/metabolism; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide/toxicity; Lipoproteins, LDL/metabolism; Male; Oxidation-Reduction/drug effects; Plant Extracts/pharmacology*; Lipid Peroxidation/drug effects*; Cell Death/drug effects; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances/metabolism; Oxidative Stress/drug effects*; Antigens, CD36/metabolism; Cytoprotection/drug effects; Protective Agents/pharmacology; tert-Butylhydroperoxide/pharmacology; Burseraceae/chemistry*; Rats; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/cytology; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/drug effects; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells/metabolism
  8. Abdul Rahim FS, Mohamed AM, Nor MM, Saub R
    Angle Orthod, 2014 Jul;84(4):600-6.
    PMID: 24417495 DOI: 10.2319/062813-480.1
    OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of malocclusion and need for orthodontic treatment among persons with Down Syndrome (DS).

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study participants were 113 persons with DS from the selected community-based rehabilitation center who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ten occlusal characteristics of the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) were measured on study models to determine the degree of malocclusion. A single score represented the dentofacial anomalies, determined the level of severity, and determined the need for orthodontic treatment.

    RESULTS: Crowding in the anterior maxillary and mandibular arch was the main malocclusion problems among the subjects with DS. Comparison between age group and genders revealed no significant differences in four categories of orthodontic treatment need (P > .05).

    CONCLUSION: Most of the subjects with DS (94; 83.2%) had severe and very severe malocclusion, which indicated a desirable and mandatory need for orthodontic treatment.

    MeSH terms: Dental Arch/pathology; Diastema/epidemiology; Down Syndrome/epidemiology*; Esthetics, Dental; Female; Humans; Malaysia/epidemiology; Male; Malocclusion/epidemiology*; Malocclusion, Angle Class I/epidemiology; Mandible/pathology; Maxilla/pathology; Prevalence; Needs Assessment/statistics & numerical data*; Open Bite/epidemiology; Young Adult; Overbite/epidemiology; Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need
  9. How V, Hashim Z, Ismail P, Md Said S, Omar D, Bahri Mohd Tamrin S
    J Agromedicine, 2014;19(1):35-43.
    PMID: 24417530 DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2013.866917
    Children are the vulnerable group in the agricultural community due to their early exposure to pesticides through the dynamic interplay between genetic predisposition, environment, and host-related factors. This study aims to identify the possible association between the depression in blood cholinesterase level and genotoxic effect among farm children. The results of micronuclei assay and comet assay showed that the reduced blood cholinesterase level from organophosphate pesticide exposure is significantly associated with an increase in chromosome breakage and DNA strand breaks. These genotoxicity end points suggest that farm children's cells experience early DNA damage that may lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation during their adulthood. Thus, farm children who grow up near pesticide-treated farmland have a higher probability of developing cancer than children with minimal or zero exposure to pesticides.
    MeSH terms: Agriculture; Child; Cholinesterase Inhibitors/toxicity; Cholinesterases/blood*; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects*; Female; Humans; Male; Mutagenicity Tests; Neoplasms/chemically induced*; Neoplasms/genetics; Pesticides/toxicity*; Organophosphates/toxicity*; Rural Health; Rural Population
  10. Bangash JI, Abdullah AH, Anisi MH, Khan AW
    Sensors (Basel), 2014;14(1):1322-57.
    PMID: 24419163 DOI: 10.3390/s140101322
    Wireless Body Sensor Networks (WBSNs) constitute a subset of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) responsible for monitoring vital sign-related data of patients and accordingly route this data towards a sink. In routing sensed data towards sinks, WBSNs face some of the same routing challenges as general WSNs, but the unique requirements of WBSNs impose some more constraints that need to be addressed by the routing mechanisms. This paper identifies various issues and challenges in pursuit of effective routing in WBSNs. Furthermore, it provides a detailed literature review of the various existing routing protocols used in the WBSN domain by discussing their strengths and weaknesses.
    MeSH terms: Algorithms; Computer Communication Networks*; Data Collection; Humans; Patients; Telemetry/methods; Biosensing Techniques*; Wireless Technology*
  11. Khoo KF, Kunte H
    Neurology, 2014 Jan 14;82(2):189.
    PMID: 24419980 DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000442872.80558.6c
    MeSH terms: Olfaction Disorders/etiology*; Female; Humans; Male; Pseudotumor Cerebri/complications*; Smell/physiology*
  12. Mohammed IA, Abd Khadir NK, Jaffar Al-Mulla EA
    J Oleo Sci, 2014;63(2):193-200.
    PMID: 24420063
    New polyurethane (PU) nanocomposites were prepared from a dispersion of 0 - 5% montmorillonite (MMT) clay with isocyanate and soya oil polyol that was synthesized via transesterification of triglycerides to reduce petroleum dependence. FT-IR spectra indicate the presence of hydrogen bonding between nanoclay and the polymer matrix, whereas the exfoliated structure of clay layers was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Optical microscopy, mechanical and thermal analyses were done to investigate significant improvement of the nanocomposites. The results showed PU-3% nanoclay (NC) showed optimum results in mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural strength but the lowest in impact strength.
    MeSH terms: Bentonite/chemistry; Esterification; Hydrogen Bonding; Polymers; Soybean Oil*; Tensile Strength; Triglycerides/chemistry; X-Ray Diffraction; Isocyanates; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Mechanical Phenomena
  13. Lau YL, Chang PY, Tan CT, Fong MY, Mahmud R, Wong KT
    Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2014 Feb;90(2):361-4.
    PMID: 24420776 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0678
    Sarcocystis nesbitti is an intracellular protozoan parasite found as sarcocysts within muscle fibers of intermediate hosts (monkey and baboon). The definitive host is suspected to be the snake. We report two cases from a larger cohort of 89 patients who had fever, headache, and generalized myalgia after a trip to Pangkor Island, Malaysia. Sarcocysts were detected in skeletal muscle biopsy specimens by light and electron microscopy from these two patients. DNA sequencing based on the 18S ribosomal DNA region identified the Sarcocystis species as S. nesbitti. We also identified S. nesbitti sequences in the stools of a snake (Naja naja). Phylogenetic analysis showed that these sequences form a cluster with most of the other known Sarcocystis species for which the snake is a definitive host. We believe these two patients were likely to have symptomatic acute muscular sarcocystosis after S. nesbitti infection that may have originated from snakes.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Humans; Microscopy, Electron; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics; Sarcocystis/parasitology*; Sarcocystosis/parasitology; Sarcocystosis/transmission*; Snakes/parasitology*; DNA, Protozoan/genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Muscle, Skeletal/parasitology*
  14. Palanisamy NK, Ferina N, Amirulhusni AN, Mohd-Zain Z, Hussaini J, Ping LJ, et al.
    J Nanobiotechnology, 2014 Jan 14;12:2.
    PMID: 24422704 DOI: 10.1186/1477-3155-12-2
    Nanomedicine is now being introduced as a recent trend in the field of medicine. It has been documented that metal nanoparticles have antimicrobial effects for bacteria, fungi and viruses. Recent advances in technology has revived the use of silver nanoparticles in the medical field; treatment, diagnosis, monitoring and control of disease. It has been used since ancient times for treating wide range of illnesses. Bacterial cells adheres to surfaces and develop structures known as biofilms. These structures are natural survival strategy of the bacteria to invade the host. They are more tolerant to commonly used antimicrobial agents, thus being more difficult to be controlled. This leads to increase in severity of infection. In this study, we have investigated the effect of silver nanoparticles in the formation of biofilm in multidrug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Observation showed that biofilm formation occurred at bacterial concentration of 10(6) cfu/ml for the sensitive strain of P. aeruginosa while in the resistant strain, the biofilm was evident at bacterial concentration of about 10(3) cfu/ml. The biofilm were then tested against various concentrations of silver nanoparticles to determine the inhibitory effect of the silver nanoparticles. In the sensitive strain, 20 μg/ml of silver nanoparticles inhibited the growth optimally at bacterial concentration of 10(4) cfu/ml with an inhibition rate of 67%. Similarly, silver nanoparticles inhibited the formation of biofilm in the resistant strain at an optimal bacterial concentration of 10(5) cfu/ml with an inhibition rate of 56%. Thus, silver nanoparticles could be used as a potential alternative therapy to reduce severity of disease due to P. aeruginosa infections.
    MeSH terms: Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology*; Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry; Humans; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/drug effects*; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/physiology*; Pseudomonas Infections/drug therapy*; Silver/pharmacology*; Silver/chemistry; Biofilms/drug effects*; Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry*
  15. Karsani SA, Saihen NA, Zain RB, Cheong SC, Abdul Rahman M
    Proteome Sci, 2014;12(1):3.
    PMID: 24422745 DOI: 10.1186/1477-5956-12-3
    A limiting factor in performing proteomics analysis on cancerous cells is the difficulty in obtaining sufficient amounts of starting material. Cell lines can be used as a simplified model system for studying changes that accompany tumorigenesis. This study used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) to compare the whole cell proteome of oral cancer cell lines vs normal cells in an attempt to identify cancer associated proteins.
  16. Ooi HL, Ng SC, Lim E, Salamonsen RF, Avolio AP, Lovell NH
    Artif Organs, 2014 Mar;38(3):E57-67.
    PMID: 24422872 DOI: 10.1111/aor.12220
    In recent years, extensive studies have been conducted in the area of pumping state detection for implantable rotary blood pumps. However, limited studies have focused on automatically identifying the aortic valve non-opening (ANO) state despite its importance in the development of control algorithms aiming for myocardial recovery. In the present study, we investigated the performance of 14 ANO indices derived from the pump speed waveform using four different types of classifiers, including linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, back propagation neural network, and k-nearest neighbors (KNN). Experimental measurements from four greyhounds, which take into consideration the variations in cardiac contractility, systemic vascular resistance, and total blood volume were used. By having only two indices, (i) the root mean square value, and (ii) the standard deviation, we were able to achieve an accuracy of 92.8% with the KNN classifier. Further increase of the number of indices to five for the KNN classifier increases the overall accuracy to 94.6%.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Aortic Valve*; Dogs; Heart-Assist Devices*; Models, Cardiovascular*; Pulsatile Flow*
  17. Abu Kasim NH, Abu Kassim NL, Razak AA, Abdullah H, Bindal P, Che' Abdul Aziz ZA, et al.
    Eur J Dent Educ, 2014 Feb;18(1):51-7.
    PMID: 24423176 DOI: 10.1111/eje.12058
    Training dentists today is challenging as they are expected to provide a wide range of dental care. In the provision of good dental care, soft skills are equally important as clinical skills. Therefore in dental education the development of soft skills are of prime concern. This study sought to identify the development of soft skills when dental students are paired in their clinical training. In this perception study, four open-ended items were used to elicit students' feedback on the appropriateness of using clinical pairing as an instructional strategy to promote soft skills. The most frequently cited soft skills were teamwork (70%) and communication (25%) skills. However, both negative and positive behaviours were reported. As for critical thinking and problem solving skills, more positive behaviours were reported for abilities such as to explain, analyze, find ideas and alternative solutions, and make decisions. Leadership among peers was not evident as leading without legitimate authority could be a hindrance to its development. If clinical pairing is to be used as an effective instructional strategy to promote soft skills amongst students, clear guidelines need to be developed to prepare students to work in a dental team and the use of appropriate assessment tools can facilitate the development of these soft skills.
    MeSH terms: Clinical Competence*; Communication; Decision Making; Education, Dental/methods*; Ethics, Dental; Female; Humans; Leadership; Male; Morals; Patient Care Team; Problem Solving; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thinking
  18. Humayun Q, Kashif M, Hashim U, Qurashi A
    Nanoscale Res Lett, 2014;9(1):29.
    PMID: 24423232 DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-9-29
    Selective area growth of ZnO nanorods is accomplished on microgap electrodes (spacing of 6 μm) by using a facile wet chemical etching process. The growth of ZnO nanorods on a selected area of microgap electrode is carried out by hydrothermal synthesis forming nanorod bridge between two electrodes. This is an attractive, genuine, direct, and highly reproducible technique to grow nanowire/nanorod onto the electrodes on selected area. The ZnO nanorods were grown at 90°C on the pre-patterned electrode system without destroying the electrode surface structure interface and geometry. The ZnO nanorods were tested for their application in ultraviolet (UV) sensors. The photocurrent-to-dark (Iph/Id) ratio was 3.11. At an applied voltage of 5 V, the response and recovery time was 72 and 110 s, respectively, and the response reached 2 A/W. The deposited ZnO nanorods exhibited a UV photoresponse that is promising for future cost-effective and low-power electronic UV-sensing applications.
  19. Abbasiliasi S, Tan JS, Ibrahim TA, Kadkhodaei S, Ng HS, Vakhshiteh F, et al.
    Food Chem, 2014 May 15;151:93-100.
    PMID: 24423507 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.11.019
    A polymer-salt aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of polyethylene-glycol (PEG) with sodium citrate was developed for direct recovery of a bacteriocin-like inhibitory substance (BLIS) from a culture of Pediococcus acidilactici Kp10. The influences of phase composition, tie-line length (TLL), volume ratio (VR), crude sample loading, pH and sodium chloride (NaCl) on the partition behaviour of BLIS was investigated. Under optimum conditions of ATPS, the purification of BLIS was achieved at 26.5% PEG (8000)/11% sodium citrate with a TLL of 46.38% (w/w), VR of 1.8, and 1.8% crude load at pH 7 without the presence of NaCl. BLIS from P. acidilactici Kp10 was successfully purified by the ATPS up to 8.43-fold with a yield of 81.18%. Given that the operation of ATPS is simple, environmentally friendly and cost-effective, as it requires only salts and PEG, it may have potential for industrial applications in the recovery of BLIS from fermentation broth.
    MeSH terms: Bacteriocins/analysis*; Pediococcus/chemistry*; Polyethylene Glycols/chemistry; Sodium Chloride/chemistry; Water
  20. Nur Azira T, Che Man YB, Raja Mohd Hafidz RN, Aina MA, Amin I
    Food Chem, 2014 May 15;151:286-92.
    PMID: 24423534 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.11.066
    The study was aimed to differentiate between porcine and bovine gelatines in adulterated samples by utilising sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) combined with principal component analysis (PCA). The distinct polypeptide patterns of 6 porcine type A and 6 bovine type B gelatines at molecular weight ranged from 50 to 220 kDa were studied. Experimental samples of raw gelatine were prepared by adding porcine gelatine in a proportion ranging from 5% to 50% (v/v) to bovine gelatine and vice versa. The method used was able to detect 5% porcine gelatine added to the bovine gelatine. There were no differences in the electrophoretic profiles of the jelly samples when the proteins were extracted with an acetone precipitation method. The simple approach employing SDS-PAGE and PCA reported in this paper may provide a useful tool for food authenticity issues concerning gelatine.
    MeSH terms: Animals; Cattle; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel/methods*; Food Contamination; Gelatin/chemistry*; Molecular Weight; Peptides/chemistry*; Swine; Principal Component Analysis
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