Increased dietary sodium intake is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The monitoring of population sodium intake is a key part of any salt reduction intervention. However, the extent and methods used for as-sessment of sodium intake in Southeast Asia is currently unclear. This paper provides a narrative synthesis of the best available evidence regarding levels of sodium intake in six Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and describes salt reduction measures being undertaken in these countries. Electronic databases were screened to identify relevant articles for inclusion up to 29 February 2012. Reference lists of included studies and conference proceedings were also examined. Local experts and researchers in nutrition and public health were consulted. Quality of studies was assessed using a modified version of the Downs and Black Checklist. Twenty-five studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Full texts of 19 studies including government reports were retrieved, with most studies being of good quality. In-sufficient evidence exists regarding salt intakes in Southeast Asia. Dietary data suggest that sodium intake in most SEA countries exceeded the WHO recommendation of 2 g/day. Studies are needed that estimate sodium intake using the gold standard 24-hour urinary sodium excretion. The greatest proportion of dietary sodium came from added salt and sauces. Data on children were limited. The six countries had salt reduction initiatives that differed in specificity and extent, with greater emphasis on consumer education.
Salt content in processed foods is high, and it is usually used as preservatives, stabilizers, and color enhancers in the products. Increased consumption of processed foods in the modern world has contributed to a high salt intake and thus increased the prevalence of hypertension among Malaysian populations. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and compare salt content in processed food products available in supermarkets and determine the percentage of processed food products exceeding the reference value stated in International Product Criteria (2016). The percentage of processed food products without salt and sodium labeling was determined in this study, in which 76.5% of unlabeled processed food products were made in Malaysia, while 23.5% were imported products. The food group with the highest average salt content was gravy and sauce (3.97 g/100 g), followed by soup (2.95 g/100 g), cheese (2.14 g/100 g), meat (1.37 g/100 g), fish (1.25 g/100 g), chicken (1.20 g/100 g), vegetables (1.18 g/100 g), butter and margarine (1.13 g/100 g), breakfast cereal (0.94 g/100 g), savory snacks (0.90 g/100 g), flatbread (0.86 g/100 g), sweet snacks (0.30 g/100 g), and potato (0.29 g/100 g). In addition, 79.5% of butter and margarine products had an average salt content above the reference value stated in the International Product Criteria, followed by gravy and sauce (79.3%), vegetables (72%), soup (50%), fish (49.2%), breakfast cereal (41%), cheese (36.6%), potato (36%), savory and sweet snacks (29.1), meat (12.5%) and chicken products (2.3%). Most processed food products available in local supermarkets were high in salt content.
Investigation on copepod communities in Perai river estuary was conducted from November 2005 to May 2006. Five stations were established for monthly sampling and were located from the river mouth to the upper reaches of the river. Copepod samples were collected from vertical tows using a standard zooplankton net. The Perai river estuary was slightly stratified and salinity decreases significantly from the mouth of the river towards the upper reaches of the river. A total of 28 species of copepods were recorded and comprised of 14 families, Paracalanidae, Oithonidae, Corycaeidae, Acartiidae, Calanidae, Centropagidae, Eucalanidae, Pontellidae, Pseudodiaptomidae, Tortanidae, Ectinosomatidae, Euterpinidae, Clausidiidae and Cyclopidae. A total of 10 species showed high positive affiliation towards salinity (R > 0.60), Acartia spinicauda, Euterpina acutifrons, Microsetella norvegica, Oithona nana, Oithona simplex, Paracalanus crassirostris, Paracalanus elegans, Paracalanus parvus, Pseudodiaptomus sp. and Hemicyclops sp. The copepod species Pseudodiaptomus dauglishi were negatively affiliated towards salinity (R = -0.71). The copepod assemblages classified into two distinct groups according to salinity regimes, euryhaline-polyhaline group (25 marine affiliated species) and oligohaline-mesohaline group (3 freshwater affiliated species).
The research presented here investigates the reaction mechanism of wollastonite in situ mineral carbonation for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. Because wollastonite contains high calcium (Ca) content, it was considered as a suitable feedstock in the mineral carbonation process. To evaluate the reaction mechanism of wollastonite for geological CO2 sequestration (GCS), a series of carbonation experiments were performed at a range of temperatures from 35 to 90 °C, pressures from 1500 to 4000 psi, and salinities from 0 to 90,000 mg/L NaCl. The kinetics batch modeling results were validated with carbonation experiments at the specific pressure and temperature of 1500 psi and 65 °C, respectively. The results showed that the dissolution of calcium increases with increment in pressure and salinity from 1500 to 4000 psi and 0 to 90000 mg/L NaCl, respectively. However, the calcium concentration decreases by 49%, as the reaction temperature increases from 35 to 90 °C. Besides, it is clear from the findings that the carbonation efficiency only shows a small difference (i.e., ±2%) for changing the pressure and salinity, whereas the carbonation efficiency was shown to be enhanced by 62% with increment in the reaction temperature. These findings can provide information about CO2 mineralization of calcium silicate at the GCS condition, which may enable us to predict the fate of the injected CO2, and its subsurface geochemical evolution during the CO2-fluid-rock interaction.
A simple, efficient and economical method for the recovery of P(3HB-co-3HHx) was developed using various chemicals and parameters. The initial content of P(3HB-co-3HHx) in bacterial cells was 50-60 wt%, whereas the monomer composition of 3HHx used in this experiments was 3-5 mol%. It was found that sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was the most effective chemical for the recovery of biodegradable polymer. High polyhydroxyalkanoate purity and recovery yield both in the range of 80-90 wt% were obtained when 10-30 mg/ml of cells were incubated in NaOH at the concentration of 0.1 M for 60-180 min at 30 °C and polished using 20 % (v/v) of ethanol.
Concentrations of Natural Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and terrestrial gamma radiation have been shown to be associated with certain lithology and soil types. An attempt was made to statistically predict and validate environmental gamma radiation dose rates based on limited number of actual field measurements using sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) detector. Statistical analysis including the correlations between the actual and predicted dose were made based on 32 different lithology and soil type combinations. Results of field measurements, have shown that more than 50% of the predicted data were not significantly different from the actual measured data. The interpolation method in GIS was used to produce an isodose map based on the prediction equation. A correlation of multiple regression on the predicted versus lithology and soils dose rates gave relationships of DP = 0.35 DL + 0.82 DS – 0.02, r2 = 0.736. A predicted isodose map was subsequently plotted base on 4 dose rates classes, ranging from 0.1 – 0.3 μSvhr-1.
Dissolved oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose in NaOH/urea solvent was mixed with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) to form a green regenerated superabsorbent hydrogel. The effect of concentration of epichlorohydrin (ECH) as the crosslinker on the formation, physical, and chemical properties of hydrogel was studied. Rapid formation and higher gel content of hydrogel were observed at 10% concentration of ECH. The superabsorbent hydrogel was successfully fabricated in this study with the swelling ability >100,000%. Hydrogel with higher concentration of ECH showed opposite trend by having higher superabsorbent property than that of lower concentration. The covalent bond of COC was observed with Attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy to confirm the occurrence of crosslinking. The physical and chemical properties of hydrogel were affected by swelling phenomenon. Hydrogel with higher degree of swelling exhibited lower moisture retention and higher transparency. Moreover, the weight of the superabsorbent hydrogel increased with the decrement of pH value of external media (distilled water). This study provided substantial information on the effect of different percentage of ECH as crosslinker on hydrogel basic properties. Furthermore, this study affords correlation of many essential driving forces that affected hydrogel superabsorbent property.
In this study, palm oil mill effluent (POME) was solubilized by batch thermo-alkaline pre-treatments. A three-factor central composite design (CCD) was applied to identify the optimum COD solubilization condition. The individual and interactive effects of three factors, temperature, NaOH concentration and reaction time, on solubilization of POME were evaluated by employing response surface methodology (RSM). The experimental results showed that temperature, NaOH concentration and reaction time all had an individual significant effect on the solubilization of POME. But these three factors were independent, or there was insignificant interaction on the response. The maximum COD solubilization of 82.63% was estimated under the optimum condition at 32.5 degrees C, 8.83g/L of NaOH and 41.23h reaction time. The confirmation experiment of the predicted optimum conditions verified that the RSM with the central composite design was useful for optimizing the solubilization of POME.
Excessive sodium (Na+) intake in modern society has been associated with several chronic disorders such as hypertension. Several studies suggest that early life events can program physiological systems and lead to functional changes in adulthood. Therefore, we investigated behavioral and neuroendocrine responses under basal conditions and after 48 h of water deprivation in adult (60-day-old Wistar rats) male, Wistar rats originating from dams were offered only water or 0.15 mol/L NaCl during pregnancy and lactation. Early life salt exposure induced kidney damage, as shown by a higher number of ED-1 positive cells (macrophages/monocytes), increased daily urinary volume and Na+ excretion, blunted basal water intake and plasma oxytocin levels, and increased plasma corticosterone secretion. When challenged with water deprivation, animals exposed to 0.15 mol/L NaCl during early life showed impaired water intake, reduced salt preference ratio, and vasopressin (AVP) secretion. In summary, our data demonstrate that the perinatal exposure to excessive Na+ intake can induce kidney injury in adult offspring and significantly affect the key mechanisms regulating water balance, fluid intake, and AVP release in response to water deprivation. Collectively, these novel results highlight the impact of perinatal programming on the homeostatic mechanisms regulating fluid and electrolyte balance during exposure to an environmental stress (i.e. dehydration) in later life.
A combination of persulfate and hydrogen peroxide (S2O8(2-)/H2O2) was used to oxidizelandfill leachate. The reaction was performed under varying S2O8(2-)/H2O2 ratio (g/g), S2O8(2-)/H2O2 dosages (g/g), pH, and reaction time (minutes), so as to determine the optimum operational conditions. Results indicated that under optimum operational conditions (i.e. 120 min of oxidation using a S2O8(2-)/H2O2 ratio of 1 g/1.47 g at a persulfate and hydrogen peroxide dosage of 5.88 g/50 ml and8.63 g/50 ml respectively, at pH 11) removal of 81% COD and 83% NH3-N was achieved. In addition, the biodegradability (BOD5/COD ratio) of the leachate was improved from 0.09 to 0.17. The results obtained from the combined use of (S2O8(2-)/H2O2) were compared with those obtained with sodium persulfate only, hydrogen peroxide only and sodium persulfate followed by hydrogen peroxide. The combined method (S2O8(2-)/H2O2) achieved higher removal efficiencies for COD and NH3-N compared with the other methods using a single oxidizing agent. Additionally, the study has proved that the combination of S2O8(2-)/H2O2 is more efficient than the sequential use of sodium persulfate followed by hydrogen peroxide in advanced oxidation processes aiming at treatingstabilizedlandfill leachate.
This study aimed to investigate the transport mechanisms of ions during forward-osmosis-driven (FO-driven) dewatering of microalgae using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The dynamical and structural properties of ions in FO systems of varying NaCl or MgCl2 draw solution (DS) concentrations were calculated and correlated. Results indicate that FO systems with higher DS concentration caused ions to have lower hydration numbers and higher coordination numbers leading to lower diffusion coefficients. The higher hydration number of Mg2+ ions resulted in significantly lower ionic permeability as compared to Na+ ions at all concentrations (p = 0.002). The simulations also revealed that higher DS concentrations led to higher accumulation of ions in the membrane. This study provides insights on the proper selection of DS for FO systems.
Thirst and sodium appetite are the sensations responsible for the motivated behaviors of water and salt intake, respectively, and both are essential responses for the maintenance of hydromineral homeostasis in animals. These sensations and their related behaviors develop very early in the postnatal period in animals. Many studies have demonstrated several pre- and postnatal stimuli that are responsible for the developmental programing of thirst and sodium appetite and, consequently, the pattern of water and salt intake in adulthood in need-free or need-induced conditions. The literature systematically reports the involvement of dietary changes, hydromineral and cardiovascular challenges, renin-angiotensin system and steroid hormone disturbances, and lifestyle in these developmental factors. Therefore, this review will address how pre- and postnatal challenges can program lifelong thirst and sodium appetite in animals and humans, as well as which neuroendocrine substrates are involved. In addition, the possible epigenetic molecular mechanisms responsible for the developmental programing of drinking behavior, the clinical implications of hydromineral disturbances during pre- and postnatal periods, and the developmental origins of adult hydromineral behavior will be discussed.
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.
Palm kernel cake (PKC) has been largely produced in Malaysia as one of the cheap and abundant agro-waste by-products from the palm oil industry and it contains high fiber (mannan) content. The present study aimed to produce β-mannanase by Bacillus subtilis ATCC11774 via optimization of the medium composition using palm kernel cake as substrate in semi-solid fermentation. The fermentation nutrients such as PKC, peptone, yeast extract, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate (MgSO2), initial culture pH and temperature were screened using a Plackett-Burman design. The three most significant factors identified, PKC, peptone and NaCl, were further optimized using central composite design (CCD), a response surface methodology (RSM) approach, where yeast extract and MgSO2 were fixed as a constant factor. The maximum β-mannanase activity predicted by CCD under the optimum medium composition of 16.50 g/L PKC, 19.59 g/L peptone, 3.00 g/L yeast extract, 2.72 g/L NaCl and 0.2 g/L MgSO2 was 799 U/mL. The validated β-mannanase activity was 805.12 U/mL, which was close to the predicted β-mannanas activity. As a comparison, commercial media such as nutrient broth, M9 and Luria bertani were used for the production of β-mannanase with activities achieved at 204.16 ± 9.21 U/mL, 50.32 U/mL and 88.90 U/mL, respectively. The optimized PKC fermentation medium was four times higher than nutrient broth. Hence, it could be a potential fermentation substrate for the production of β-mannanase activity by Bacillus subtilis ATCC11774.
Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to optimize the effect of four independent variables, viz. glucose, sodium chloride (NaCl), temperature and induction time, on lipase production by a recombinant Escherichia coli BL21. The optimization and prediction capabilities of RSM and ANN were then compared. RSM predicted the dependent variable with a good coefficient of correlation determination (R² and adjusted R² values for the model. Although the R (2) value showed a good fit, absolute average deviation (AAD) and root mean square error (RMSE) values did not support the accuracy of the model and this was due to the inferiority in predicting the values towards the edges of the design points. On the other hand, ANN-predicted values were closer to the observed values with better R², adjusted R², AAD and RMSE values and this was due to the capability of predicting the values throughout the selected range of the design points. Similar to RSM, ANN could also be used to rank the effect of variables. However, ANN could not predict the interactive effect between the variables as performed by RSM. The optimum levels for glucose, NaCl, temperature and induction time predicted by RSM are 32 g/L, 5 g/L, 32°C and 2.12 h, and those by ANN are 25 g/L, 3 g/L, 30°C and 2 h, respectively. The ANN-predicted optimal levels gave higher lipase activity (55.8 IU/mL) as compared to RSM-predicted levels (50.2 IU/mL) and the predicted lipase activity was also closer to the observed data at these levels, suggesting that ANN is a better optimization method than RSM for lipase production by the recombinant strain.
Bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances (BLIS) produced by Lactococcus lactis Gh1 had shown antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313. Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth is used for the cultivation and enumeration of lactic acid bacteria, but there is a need to improve the current medium composition for enhancement of BLIS production, and one of the approaches is to model the optimization process and identify the most appropriate medium formulation. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) models were employed in this study. In medium optimization, ANN (R2 = 0.98) methodology provided better estimation point and data fitting as compared to RSM (R2 = 0.79). In ANN, the optimal medium consisted of 35.38 g/L soytone, 16 g/L fructose, 3.25 g/L sodium chloride (NaCl) and 5.40 g/L disodium phosphate (Na2HPO4). BLIS production in optimal medium (717.13 ± 0.76 AU/mL) was about 1.40-fold higher than that obtained in nonoptimised (520.56 ± 3.37 AU/mL) medium. BLIS production was further improved by about 1.18 times higher in 2 L stirred tank bioreactor (787.40 ± 1.30 AU/mL) as compared to that obtained in 250 mL shake flask (665.28 ± 14.22 AU/mL) using the optimised medium.
Lactobacillus bulgaricus is a LAB strain which is capable of producing bacteriocin substances to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus. The aim of this study was to purify a bacteriocin-like inhibitory substance (BLIS) produced by L. bulgaricus FTDC 1211 using an aqueous impregnated resins system consisting of polyethylene-glycol (PEG) impregnated on Amberlite XAD4. Important parameters influencing on purification of BLIS, such as the molecular weight and concentration of PEG, the concentration and pH of sodium citrate and the concentration of sodium chloride, were optimized using a response surface methodology. Under optimum conditions of 11% (w/w) of PEG 4000 impregnated Amberlite XAD4 resins and 2% (w/w) of sodium citrate at pH 6, the maximum purification factor (3.26) and recovery yield (82.69% ± 0.06) were obtained. These results demonstrate that AIRS could be used as an alternate purification system in the primary recovery step.
Determination of a microbial strain for the joining into sustenance items requires both in vitro and in vivo assessment. A newly isolated bacteriocin-like inhibitory substance (BLIS) producing lactic acid bacterium, Lactococcus lactis Gh1, was isolated from a traditional flavour enhancer and evaluated in vitro for its potential applications in the food industry. Results from this study showed that L. lactis was tolerant to NaCl (≤ 4.0%, w/v), phenol (≤ 0.4%, w/v), 0.3% (w/v) bile salt, and pH 3. BLIS from L. lactis showed antimicrobial activity against Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313 and was susceptible to 10 types of antibiotics. The absence of haemolytic activity and the presence of acid phosphatase and naphthol-AS-BI-phosphohydrolase were observed in L. lactis. L. lactis could coagulate milk and showed a negative response to amylolytic and proteolytic activities and did not secrete β-galactosidase. The antimicrobial activity of BLIS was completely abolished at 121 °C. The BLIS was conserved at 4 °C in BHI and MRS medium up to 6-4 months, respectively. BLIS activity was more stable in BHI as compared to MRS after four freeze-thaw cycles and was not affected by a wide range of pH (pH 4-8). BLIS was sensitive to proteinase k and resistant to catalase and trypsin. The antimicrobial activity was slightly reduced by acetone, ethanol, methanol, and acetonitrile at 10% (v/v) and also towards Tween-80, urea, and NaCl 1% (v/v). Results from this study have demonstrated that L. lactis has a vast potential to be applied in the food industry, such as for the preparation of starter culture, functional foods, and probiotic products.
Avoidance of dairy products due to lactose intolerance can lead to insufficiency of calcium (Ca) in the body. In an approach to address this problem, tuna bone powder (TBP) was formulated as a calcium supplement to fortify bakery products. In a study, TBP recovered by alkaline treatment contained 38.16 g/100 g of calcium and 23.31 g/100 g of phosphorus. The ratio of Ca:P that was close to 2:1 was hence comparable to that in human bones. The availability of calcium in TBP was 53.93%, which was significantly higher than most calcium salts, tricalcium phosphate (TCP) being the exception. In vitro availability of calcium in TBP-fortified cookies or TCP-fortified cookies were comparable at 38.9% and 39.5%, respectively. These values were higher than the readings from TBP-fortified bread (36.7%) or TCP-fortified bread (37.4%). Sensory evaluation of bakery products containing TBP or TCP elicited comparable scores for the two additives from test panels. Hence, TBP could be used in the production of high calcium bakery products that would enjoy consumer acceptance.
Texture-modified food has become an important strategy in managing dysphagia. Pureed food is proven to be the safest texture due to its high viscosity which can slow down the rate of the food bolus during swallowing. In this study, texture-modified chicken rendang was developed according to Texture C (smooth puree) as described by the Australian standard for texture-modified food. Samples were added with five different thickeners (sago starch, tapioca starch, modified corn starch, xanthan gum and carboxymethyl cellulose gum) at three different concentrations (10, 20 and 30% w/w). Their rheological effects were analyzed through dynamic and steady shear test. Results obtained reveals that samples contained xanthan gum have higher structure rigidity and shear thinning behaviour, while carboxymethyl cellulose gum provides the highest viscosity as well as yield stress than other samples. In terms of concentration, a strong dependence of structural rigidity and viscosity of all prepared samples with amount of thickeners added was observed. Overall, based on its rheological properties, the addition of carboxymethyl cellulose gum at 30% concentration was found to be the most suitable thickener, to be incorporated in the texture-modified chicken rendang. Selecting a suitable food thickener in developing food for individual with dysphagia plays an important role to ensure the right texture and consistency for their safe consumption.