BACKGROUND: Despite significant improvements in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD), it is still a major cause of mortality and morbidity among the Iranian population. Epidemiological studies have documented that risk factors including smoking and the biochemical profile are responsible for the development of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Psychological factors have been discussed as potential risk factors for coronary heart disease. Among emotional factors, depression correlates with coronary heart disease, particularly myocardial infarction.
METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 120 cases (69 males and 51 females) of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and 120 controls, with a mean age of 62.48 ± 15.39 years. Cases and controls were matched by age, residence and sex.
RESULTS: The results revealed that severe depression was independently associated with the risk of AMI (P = 0.025, OR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.1-5.8). The analysis of variables indicated that risk factors for developing depression were unmarried, low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), total dietary fiber (TDF) and carbohydrates. The levels of these dietary factors were lowest in severely depressed patients compared to those categorised as moderate or mild cases. Furthermore, severely depressed subjects were associated with higher levels of total cholesterol, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) and WHR. Age, income, a family history of coronary heart disease, education level, sex, employment and smoking were not associated with severe depression.
CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that severe depression symptoms are independent risk factors for AMI. Furthermore, severe depression was associated with an unhealthy diet and AMI risk factors.
Study site: Mostafa Hospital, Ilam Province, Iran
Brown rice is unpolished rice with immeasurable benefits for human health. Brown rice (BR) and pre-germinated brown rice (PGBR) are known to contain various functional compounds such as gamma-oryzanol, dietary fibre and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In the present study, the experimental diets containing BR and PGBR (24, 48 h pre-germination) were used to investigate the influence of pre-germination time of brown rice on blood cholesterol in Sprague-Dawley male rats.
An efficient erbium/ytterbium co-doped fibre amplifier was demonstrated by using a dual-stage partial doublepass structure with a band-pass filter (BPF). The amplifier achieved the maximum small signal gain of 56 dB and the corresponding noise figure of 4.66 dB at 1536 nm with an input signal power and total pump power of –50 dBm and 140 mW, respectively. Compared with a conventional single-stage amplifier, the maximum gain enhancement of 16.99 dB was obtained at 1544 nm with the corresponding noise figure was improved by 2 dB. The proposed amplifier structure only used a single pump source with a partial double pass scheme to provide a high gain and dual-stage structure to provide the low noise figure.
The world does not have too much time to ensure that the fast-growing population has enough land, food, water and energy. The rising food demand has brought a positive surge in fertilizers' demand and agriculture-based economy. The world is using 170 million tons of fertilizer every year for food, fuel, fiber, and feed. The nitrogenous fertilizers are being used to meet 48% of the total food demand of the world. High fertilizer inputs augment the reactive nitrogen levels in soil, air, and water. The unassimilated reactive nitrogen changes into a pollutant and harms the natural resources. The use of controlled-release fertilizers for slowing down the nutrients' leaching has recently been practiced by farmers. However, to date, monitoring of the complete discharge time and discharge rate of controlled released fertilizers is not completely understood by the researchers. In this work, corn starch was thermally processed into a week gel-like coating material by reacting with urea and borate. The granular urea was coated with native and processed starch in a fluidized bed reactor having bottom-up fluid delivery system. The processed starch exhibited better thermal and mechanical stability as compared to the native starch. Unlike the pure starch, the storage modulus of the processed starch dominated the loss modulus. The release time of urea, coated with processed starch, remained remarkably larger than the uncoated urea.
This experimental study was carried out to investigate the effect of eight types of commercial rice in Malaysia on blood glucose response and to determine their glycaemic index (GI) values. Ten healthy Malay volunteers (7 males, 3 females, BMI=23.6kgm-2, age=25.1years) participated in this study. The eight types of rice tested were three high fibre rice (HFR A, HFR B & HFR C), three white rice (WR D, WR E and WR F) and two fragrant rice (FR G and FR H). The subjects were required to go through the study protocol on eleven separate occasions (eight tests for the test rice samples and three repeated tests for the reference food) after an overnight fasting. Capillary blood samples were taken immediately before (0min) and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120min after consumption of the test foods. The blood glucose response was obtained by calculating the incremental area under the curve (iAUC). The GI was determined according to the standardised methodology. This study showed that out of eight types of rice tested, three (HFR B, WR E and WR F) could be categorised as having intermediate GI while the remaining five were considered high GI foods (HFR A, HFR C, WR D, FR G and FR H). The GI of HFR B (60 ± 5.8) and WR E (61 ± 5.8) were significantly lower than the reference food (glucose; GI=100) (p0.05). The GI value of the rice tested in descending order were HFR C, 87 ± 9.0 followed by HFR A (81 ± 6.7), FR G (80 ± 5.5), FR H (79 ± 7.6), WR D (72 ± 8.5), WR F (69 ± 8.3), WR E (61 ± 5.8) and HFR B (60 ± 5.8). There was no relationship between the dietary fibre content of the rice with the iAUC (r= -0.05, p=0.63) and GI values (r= -0.08, p=0.46). This shows that the GI values of the test rice were independent of the dietary fibre content of the rice. Other factors that may influence the GI value of rice include amylose content, gelatinisation process and botanical sources. The results of this study will provide useful information for dietitians and nutritionists in selecting the appropriate type of rice for the daily diet of diabetics.
Natural fiber composites have been widely used for various applications such as automotive components, aircraft components and sports equipment. Among the natural fibers Typha spp have gained considerable attention to replace synthetic fibers due to their unique nature. The untreated and alkali-treated fibers treated in different durations were dried under the sun for 4 h prior to the fabrication of Typha fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The chemical structure and crystallinity index of composites were examined via FT-IR and XRD respectively. The tensile, flexural and impact tests were conducted to investigate the effect of the alkali treated Typha fibers on the epoxy composite. From the microscopy analysis, it was observed that the fracture mechanism of the composite was due to the fiber and matrix debonding, fiber pull out from the matrix, and fiber damage. The tensile, flexural and impact strength of the Typha fiber reinforced epoxy composite were increased after 5% alkaline immersion compared to untreated Typha fiber composite. From these results, it can be concluded that the alkali treatment on Typha fiber could improve the interfacial compatibility between epoxy resin and Typha fiber, which resulted in the better mechanical properties and made the composite more hydrophobic. So far there is no comprehensive report about Typha fiber reinforcing epoxy composite, investigating the effect of the alkali treatment duration on the interfacial compatibility, and their effect on chemical and mechanical of Typha fiber reinforced composite, which plays a vital role to provide the overall mechanical performance to the composite.
The need for nutritional and functional foods has increased. Consumers, these days, do not
eat snacks only to provide satisfaction for their hunger, but also to supply essential nutrients
to body. The objective of this study was to develop six formulations of granolas/cereal bars
using different combination of Sunnah fruits such as dates (Phoenix dactylifera), raisins (Vitis
vinifera L.) and figs (Ficus carica). The cereal bars were formulated using dry raw materials
(glutinous rice, black Cummins, etc.) and binding agents (honey and glucose syrup). The cereal
bars were assessed for water activity and proximate composition. It was observed that the
sample B, made with 70 g of glucose syrup, 100 g honey and 450 g of total fruits had the
highest value of moisture (18.73%) as compared to other formulations (P˂ 0.05). There were no
differences in protein contents of the cereal bars formulated. Ash contents of the formulations
were significantly different (P˂ 0.05) in samples B and F; the values ranged between 0.97%
and 1.88%. The fat contents were significantly different with formulation B having the highest
fat content (10.72%) and carbohydrate contents were affected by fibre contents; samples with
lower crude fibres had higher carbohydrate contents which also reflect in the energy contents
of the granola/cereal bar samples. Lowest aw (water activity) was observed in the samples with
lower fruit contents which could be as a result of their lower moisture contents. According to
the results, incorporation of glutinous rice flakes with different composition Sunnah foods and
binding agents; honey and glucose syrup can be used to formulate cereal bars with appreciable
proximate and energy contents.
Cellulose acetate (CA) is an interesting material due to its wide spectrum of utilities across different domains ranging from absorbent to membrane filters. In this study, polystyrene (PS) nanofibres, and cellulose acetate/polystyrene (CA/PS) blend nanofibres with various ratios of CA: PS from 20: 80 to 80: 20 were fabricated by using electrospinning technique. The SEM images show that the nanofibres exhibited non-uniform and random orientation with the average fibre diameter in the range of 100 to 800 nm. It was found that the incorporation of PS had a great effect on the morphology of nanofibre. At high proportion of PS, no or less beaded CA/PS nanofibres were formed. Thermal properties of the composite nanofibres were investigated by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The TGA results showed thermal stability of CA/PS nanofibres were higher than pristine CA.
This study evaluated the effect of seasonal variation on the physicochemical, biochemical, and nutritional composition of Gracilaria manilaensis. Sampling was designed during the main monsoon seasons in Malaysia-the Southwest monsoon (SWM) and Northeast monsoon (NEM)-to understand the intraspecific variation (p < 0.05). Carbohydrates, protein, and dietary fiber were found to be higher in NEM-G. manilaensis, whereas a higher ash content was quantified in SWM-G. manilaensis. No significant differences were found in crude lipid and moisture content (p > 0.05). Vitamin B2 was calculated as (0.29 ± 0.06 mg 100 g-1) and (0.38 ± 0.06 mg 100 g-1) for the NEM and SWM samples, respectively (p < 0.05). The fatty acid profile showed the dominance of saturated fatty acids (SFAs)-palmitic acids, stearic acid, and myristic acid-while the mineral contents were found to be good sources of calcium (1750.97-4047.74 mg 100 g-1) and iron (1512.55-1346.05 mg 100 g-1). Tryptophan and lysine were recorded as the limiting essential amino acids (EAAs) in NEM G. manilaensis, while leucine and phenylalanine were found to be the limiting EAAs in the SWM samples. None of the extracts exhibited antibacterial properties against the screened strains. The study concluded that seasonal changes have a great effect on the biochemical composition of G. manilaensis.
This paper proposes a signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) improvement by using an external phase modulator that allowed flexible control of the spectrum amplitude by varying the modulation index for linewidth measurements. Compared with the conventional self-heterodyne detection technique, the results obtained in this study showed an SNR improvement as high as 10 dB. This 10 dB improvement in SNR could help to reduce the usage of a particular length of a single mode fibre (normally about 50 Km) when measuring a linewidth in the region of 10 kHz.
Smokeless powders are low explosives and are potentially found in cases involving firearms and improvised explosive devices. Apart from inorganic compound analysis, forensic determination of organic components of these materials appears as a promising alternative, especially the chromatographic techniques. This work describes the optimization of a solid-phase microextraction technique using an 85 μm polyacrylate fiber followed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection for smokeless powder. A multivariate experimental design was performed to optimize extraction-influencing parameters. A 2(4) factorial first-order design revealed that sample temperature and extraction time were the major influencing parameters. Doehlert matrix design has subsequently selected 66°C and 21 min as the compromised conditions for the two predetermined parameters. This extraction technique has successfully detected the headspace compounds of smokeless powders from different ammunition types and allowed for their differentiation. The novel technique allows more rapid sample preparation for chromatographic detection of smokeless powders.
In this study, modified agave cellulose fibre combined by graft copolymerisation with methylmethacrylate was tested as a potential reinforcement for polylactic acid (PLA)-natural rubber/liquid natural rubber blends. Mechanical, morphological, thermal, wetting, and biodegradation characterisations were performed to assess the influence of cellulose-graft-polymethylmethacrylate (cell-g-PMMA) content on the properties of biocomposites. The addition of cell-g-PMMA improved the mechanical properties of the composites because of the chemical interaction between PLA and PMMA. Thermal stability decreased slightly upon cell-g-PMMA addition because of the low thermal stability of PMMA. A soil burial test revealed that the degradation of composites decreased with an increase in the cell-g-PMMA content. However, the weight loss after burial, which directly affected the water absorption capacity, was still higher for the cell-g-PMMA composites than for the polymer alone.
In this review, the potential of natural fiber and kenaf fiber (KF) reinforced PLA composite filament for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D-printing technology is highlighted. Additive manufacturing is a material-processing method in which the addition of materials layer by layer creates a three-dimensional object. Unfortunately, it still cannot compete with conventional manufacturing processes, and instead serves as an economically effective tool for small-batch or high-variety product production. Being preformed of composite filaments makes it easiest to print using an FDM 3D printer without or with minimum alteration to the hardware parts. On the other hand, natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite filaments have gained great attention in the market. However, uneven printing, clogging, and the inhomogeneous distribution of the fiber-matrix remain the main challenges. At the same time, kenaf fibers are one of the most popular reinforcements in polymer composites. Although they have a good record on strength reinforcement, with low cost and light weight, kenaf fiber reinforcement PLA filament is still seldom seen in previous studies. Therefore, this review serves to promote kenaf fiber in PLA composite filaments for FDM 3D printing. To promote the use of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite in AM, eight challenges must be solved and carried out. Moreover, some concerns arise to achieve long-term sustainability and market acceptability of KF/PLA composite filaments.
A digestibility study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing mulberry foliage and urea rice-bran as a source of fermentable energy and protein to 12 sheep fed diets based on urea-treated rice straw (TRS). The three dietary treatments were: T1, TRS with mulberry; T2, TRS with 50% mulberry replaced with rice bran and urea; and T3, TRS with rice bran and urea. The study was arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications for each treatment. The sheep were fed one of the three diets and the supplements were offered at 1.2% of the body weight (BW) and the TRS was provided ad libitum. There were no differences (p>0.05) among the three treatment groups with respect to dry matter (DM) intake (76.8±4.2 g/kg BW(0.75)) and DM, organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) digestibility (55.3±1.22; 69.9±0.85; 46.3±1.65% respectively for DM, OM, and CP). The digestibility of fiber (neutral detergent fiber [NDF] and acid detergent fiber) was significantly lower (p<0.05) for T3 (46.2 and 46.6 respectively) compared to T1 (55.8 and 53.7 respectively) and T2 (54.1 and 52.8 respectively). Nitrogen (N) intake by sheep on diet T3 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than sheep fed diet T1. However, N balance did not differ among the three diets (3.0±0.32 g/d). In contrast, the rumen ammonia (NH3-N) concentrations in sheep fed T2 and T3 were significantly (p<0.05) higher than in sheep fed T1. The NH3-N concentrations for all three diets were above the critical value required for optimum rumen microbial growth and synthesis. Total volatile fatty acid concentrations were highest (p<0.05) in T1 (120.3 mM), whilst the molar proportion of propionic acid was highest in T3 (36.9%). However, the microbial N supply in sheep fed T1 and T3 was similar but was significantly (p<0.05) higher than for sheep fed T2. It was concluded that mulberry foliage is a potential supplement of fermentable energy and protein for sheep fed TRS based diet. The suggested level of supplementation is 1.2% of BW or 32% of the total diet since it resulted in similar effects on the intake of DM, OM, and NDF, digestibility of DM, OM, and CP, N utilization and microbial supply when compared to rice bran and urea supplementation.
Twelve Jermasia kids were individually housed in pens to study the effects of soywaste on growth performance and carcass characteristics and to compare such effects with commercial pellet. Kids were divided into a pellet group and a soywaste group, including six kids (3 males and 3 females) in each group. Pellet or soywaste was offered to kids at a rate of 2.0 % dry matter (DM) of body weight/day in addition to Napier grass ad libitum. In last 10 days of experiment, kids were housed in metabolism crates for faeces collection. At the end of the experiment, three males from each group were slaughtered. Kids fed soywaste diet consumed more grass and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) than those fed pellet. The same trend was found for the digestibilities of DM, organic matter (OM) and NDF. Conversely, kids fed soywaste diet consumed less soywaste supplement than kids fed pellet. No treatment effects were observed on total intakes of DM, OM and crude protein (CP) including CP digestibility. Similarly, no effects were found on carcass and non-carcass components, except for lean, lean to fat ratio and kidney weight which were higher for kids fed soywaste diet. Results indicate that soywaste is effective as a feed for growing kids.
This study was aimed at fabricating composites of polylactic acid (PLA) matrix-reinforced oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber filled with chemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO). A total of 2-8 wt.% rGO/OPEFB/PLA composites were characterized for their complex permittivity using an open-ended coaxial probe (OEC) technique. The shielding efficiency properties were calculated using the measured transmission (S21) and the reflection (S11) coefficient results. All the measurements and calculations were performed in the 8-12 GHz frequency range. The morphological and microstructural study included X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results indicated that the incorporation of rGO as filler into the composites enhanced their complex permittivity properties. The composites showed a total shielding efficiency (SET) of about 31.2 dB at a frequency range of 8-12 GHz, which suggests their usefulness for microwave absorption.
This study was carried out to determine the proximate, functional and pasting properties of breadfruit starch. Breadfruit starch was isolated from matured breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and was analyzed for its fuctional, proximate and pasting properties. The starch contains 10.83%, 0.53%, 0.39%, 22.52%, 77.48% and 1.77% moisture, crude protein, fat, amylose, amylopectin and ash contents respectively. The average particle size, pH, bulk density and dispersibility of the breadfruit starch were 18 μm, 6.5, 0.673 g/mls, and 40.67% respectively. The swelling power of the breadfruit starch increases with increase in temperature, but there was a rapid increase in the swelling power from 70 to 80 0C. The pasting temperature of the starch paste was 84.05 0C, setback and breakdown values were 40.08 and 7.92 RVU respectively. The peak viscosity value was 121.25 RVU while final viscosity value was 153.42 RVU. This study concluded that breadfruit starch has an array of functional, pasting and proximate properties that can facilitate its use in so many areas where the properties of other starches are acceptable.
In this paper, we present the development and testing of an optical-based sensor for monitoring the corrosion of reinforcement rebar. The testing was carried out using an 80% etched-cladding Fibre Bragg grating sensor to monitor the production of corrosion waste in a localized region of the rebar. Progression of corrosion can be sensed by observing the reflected wavelength shift of the FBG sensor. With the presence of corrosion, the etched-FBG reflected spectrum was shifted by 1.0 nm. In addition, with an increase in fringe pattern and continuously, step-like drop in power of the Bragg reflected spectrum was also displayed.
A four-stage erbium-doped fibre amplifier with the gain bandwidth of 35 nm is demonstrated. The amplifier was designed to include a dispersion compensating module to compensate the accumulated dispersion by signals. The amplifier design permited some dynamic features such as the amplifier’s gain could be adjusted from 15 dB to 30 dB by varying the input signal power from –26 dBm to 8 dBm. The maximum output power of 23 dBm was obtained with a maximum allowable gain flatness of 1.5 dB.
To improve textural attributes of puffed corn-fish snack, the effects of 1%, 1.5%, and 2% of calcium carbonate, magnesium silicate (talc), sodium bicarbonate as well as 5% and 10% of wheat bran (as the nucleating materials) on textural attributes were studied. Sensory evaluation, bulk density, expansion ratio, maximum force, and count peaks were measured using the Kramer test. The results showed that all of the additives except bran significantly enhanced the texture. Among them, talc at 0.5% was the best to enhance the density and expansion ratio. Effects of using 0.5% talc on puffed corn-fish snack microstructure were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The average cell diameter of 109 ± 48 μm and cell numbers per square centimeter of 67.4 for talc-treated products were obtained, while for nontalc-treated extrudates, average cell diameter of 798 ± 361 μm and cell numbers per square centimeter of 13.9 were found. Incorporation of 0.5% w/w of magnesium silicate reduced (7-fold) the average cell diameter while increased (4-fold) the cell number.