Traditional drying methods involve high temperatures that degrade heat-sensitive compounds.
Dehumidified-air drying, an alternative to traditional drying methods, is suitable for heatsensitive
compounds; however, it consumes a large amount of energy and is comparatively
expensive. In this study, a multi-chamber dehumidified-air dryer was designed to dry Hydrocotyle
bonariensis, and the retention of the polyphenol content of Hydrocotyle bonariensis under
various drying conditions was examined. Multi-chamber dehumidified-air drying involves two
chambers; each chamber was operated at temperatures of 30, 40, and 50o
C with air volumetric
flow rates of 30 and 50 L/min. The results indicated that the highest retention of total phenolic
content and total flavonoid content, 24.67 mg of GAE/g dry weight (DW) and 2.204 mg of
catechin/g DW, respectively, was obtained at 50o
C with a 50 L/min air flow rate in the first
drying chamber. Multi-stage dehumidified-air dryers have the potential to dry heat-sensitive
products with reduced energy consumption.
Venous thromboembolism in tuberculosis is not a well recognised entity. It is a less frequently reported complication of severe pulmonary tuberculosis. It is exceedingly rare when it complicates extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Here, we present a case of 22-year-old young female with abdominal tuberculosis complicated with reverse ileocecal intussusception, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. An emergency vena cava filter was inserted prior to a limited right hemicolectomy. In this article, we discuss the rare association of venous thromboembolism with ileocecal tuberculosis.
With the concern of adverse effects of lipid oxidation on food deterioration and human health, the antioxidant activities of kenaf seed extracts (KSE), roselle seed extracts (RSE) and roselle extracts (RE) were evaluated by comparing its oxidative stability in refined, bleached & deodorised (RBD) sunflower oils with that of in synthetic antioxidant, BHA. Established methods such as peroxide values (PV), p-anisidine values (AV), TOTOX values, free fatty acids (FFA), iodine values (IV), total phenolic contents (TPC), conjugated dienes (CD) and conjugated triene (CT) were employed to assess the extent of oil deterioration. During 24 days storage, consensus was accomplished based on the results assessed by PV, TOTOX, CD, CT, IV and TPC at which the antioxidant activities of KSE, RSE and RE were better than BHA. Surprisingly, the results obtained by AV and FFA assays showed the reversed. Among the extracts, RSE exhibited the best antioxidant activities. These suggest that KSE, RSE and RE may be used as potential source of natural antioxidants in the application of food industry to prevent lipid oxidation.
The occasional influenza pandemics and the seasonal influenza epidemics have destroyed millions of lives since
the last century. It is therefore necessary to understand the virus replication patterns as this provides essential
information on the virus infectivity, pathogenicity and spread patterns. This study aimed to investigate the replication
of avian influenza A virus H5N1 (A/Chicken/Malaysia/5858/2004) in MDCK cells. In this study, the TCID50 (50% tissue
culture infectious dose) of AIV H5N1 was first determined. The MDCK cells were then infected with AIV H5N1 at TCID50
for 0-48 h. The CPE (cytopathic effect) was observed and cell death was determined hourly. The virus-infected cells
and media were subsequently collected for gene analysis. The results showed that the TCID50 of AIV H5N1 was 10-9
dilution. The CPE percentage showed a strong and positive correlation with the infection period (r = 1.0, n = 9, p <
0.01). The amount of a highly conserved influenza viral gene, M2 gene amplified from infected media (r = 0.471, n =
9, p= > 0.05) and infected cell (r = 0.73, n = 9, p < 0.05) were also positively correlated with the infection period. In
conclusion, although CPE started to be observed in the early time points of infection, however, the M2 gene was only
amplified from the infected media and cells after 48 h and 24 h, respectively. This signifies that AIV H5N1 used in this
study is pathogenic and it is able to cause severe cytopathology to host cells even at low virus load.
Congenital leukemia is an extremely rare disease but frequently fatal. We report a case of intrauterine death (IUD) secondary to congenital erythroid leukaemia associated with maternal Parvovirus B19 infection. Further research is needed to ascertain the association between maternal Parvovirus B19 infection and congenital leukemia.
The “fate” of salt in yellow alkaline noodles was followed by measuring the salt release from
yellow alkaline noodles during cooking and mastication. Three types of yellow alkaline noodles
were produced; yellow alkaline noodles with salt at 0 (YAN0), 5 (YAN5), and 10% (YAN10)
of the flour weight. Salt release during cooking was influenced by the cooking time and salt
content of yellow alkaline noodles. Extended cooking resulted in higher loss and low salt
yellow alkaline noodles showed a higher percentage loss than those with high salt. Textural,
mechanical and structural breakdown properties were in the order: YAN10 > YAN5 > YAN0,
with YAN10 being the hardest, chewiest, firmest, and has the highest strength and structural
integrity. These findings support that low salt content in yellow alkaline noodles and a more
extensive chewing resulted in higher percentage of salt release than high salt yellow alkaline
noodles that are chewed less extensively.
The aim of this work was to investigate the microencapsulation efficiency (MEE) of different
grades of broken rice (RB) and breadfruit (BB)-based maltodextrin as a coating material,
using virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a model system. The VCO was generally found to be well
microencapsulated using BB, RB or commercial (COM) maltodextrin at a core/wall material
ratio of 1:3. In comparison to a different dextrose equivalent (DE) group, both RB and BB
maltodextrins with DE values of 10-14 showed higher MEE values (84.81-94.39%) than
maltodextrins with DE value of 15-19 (78.23-79.65%). Low DE value maltodextrins were
shown higher glass transition temperatures than high DE value maltodextrins under the same
moisture content. Both RB and BB maltodextrins were found to be compatible with COM
maltodextrin as shown in the microstructure appearance when viewed with a scanning electron
microscope (SEM).
BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein E (apoE) is encoded by a polymorphic gene located on chromosome 19. The three common apoE alleles are epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4. We studied the frequencies of the apoE alleles and genotypes in the three ethnic groups-Malay, Chinese and Indian-in Malaysia using DNA amplification followed by agarose gel electrophoresis.
METHODS: EDTA blood was collected and DNA was extracted using proteinase K-SDS digestion and purified by phenol-chloroform extraction. The apoE gene sequence was amplified using the PCR and apoE genotyping was performed by restriction enzyme digestion with HhaI.
RESULTS: Genotyping of the apoE gene produces six genotypes-E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3, E2/E4, E3/E4 and E4/E4. The most common apoE genotype in the Malays, Chinese and Indians studied was E3/E3, thus the most common apoE allele was epsilon3. The three common apoE genotypes were E3/E3 followed by E3/E4 and E2/E3, except in the Indians where E2/E3 was not detected. The three apoE alleles were confirmed in the Malays, Chinese and Indians except for the epsilon2 allele which was absent in the Indians.
CONCLUSION: The combined frequency of the apoE alleles in the Malays, Chinese and Indians was 0.058, 0.829 and 0.114 for epsilon2, epsilon3 and epsilon4, respectively.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Seafood, especially fish and shellfish, is a healthy food that reduces the risk of CHD. In many regions, seafood is consumed cooked to eliminate potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Although there have been many reports of culinary preparations causing changes in the fatty acid profile of fish and shellfish, this information has not been well organized, and most of it is not associated to CHD. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the effect of culinary treatments of seafood on lipid nutritional quality in relation to promotion/prevention of CHD. In this study, fatty acid profiles of fish and shellfish prepared with different culinary preparations were obtained from published literature. Lipid nutritional quality indices related to promoting/preventing CHD were calculated and analyzed to reveal the effects of culinary treatment on the lipid nutritional quality of fish and shellfish in promoting/preventing of CHD. The information in this article is very useful and can fill the knowledge gap of the effects of culinary preparation on the lipid nutritional quality of fish and shellfish. Such information is very useful for guiding consumers to choose better ways to cook fish and shellfish to reduce the risk of CHD.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important parameter that affects the biology, physiology, and immunology of aquatic animals. In recent decades, DO levels in the global oceans have sharply decreased, partly due to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, temperature, and anthropogenic nutrient loads. Although there have been many reports on the effects of hypoxia on the survival, growth, behavior, and immunity of bivalves, this information has not been well organized. Therefore, this article provides a comprehensive review of the effects of hypoxia on bivalves. In general, hypoxia negatively impacts the food consumption rate and assimilation efficiency, as well as increasing respiration rates in many bivalves. As a result, it reduces the energy allocation for bivalve growth, shell formation, and reproduction. In severe cases, prolonged exposure to hypoxia can result in mass mortality in bivalves. Moreover, hypoxia also has adverse effects on the immunity and response of bivalves to predators, including decreased burial depths, sensitivity to predators, impairment of byssus production, and negatively impacts on the integrity, strength, and composition of bivalve shells. The tolerance of bivalves to hypoxia largely depends on size and species, with larger bivalves being more susceptible to hypoxia and intertidal species being relatively more tolerant to hypoxia. The information in this article is very useful for elucidating the current research status of hypoxia on bivalves and determining future research directions.
Benzimidazole derivatives have been shown to possess sirtuin-inhibitory activity. In the continuous search for potent sirtuin inhibitors, systematic changes on the terminal benzene ring were performed on previously identified benzimidazole-based sirtuin inhibitors, to further investigate their structure-activity relationships. It was demonstrated that the sirtuin activities of these novel compounds followed the trend where meta-substituted compounds possessed markedly weaker potency than ortho- and para-substituted compounds, with the exception of halogenated substituents. Molecular docking studies were carried out to rationalize these observations. Apart from this, the methods used to synthesize the interesting compounds are also discussed.
The treatment of carbuncles is early administration of antibiotics and surgery. The commonest surgical approaches are saucerization, and incision and drainage (I&D). Although these two techniques are vastly different, there is a lack of evidence to determine which one produces a better outcome. Three cases of carbuncles are presented to illustrate the contrasting surgical techniques and their results. Three consecutive patients who presented to this hospital with carbuncles were treated with either saucerization or I&D. They were followed up for 8 weeks to assess their outcome. One patient had saucerization while two other patients underwent I&D of their carbuncles. Saucerization produced the shortest length of hospital stay. I&D resulted in earlier wound healing. A randomized controlled is needed to determine the best surgical approach for the treatment of carbuncles.
We present a case of gross lower limb edema in a 21-year-old man with an intra-abdominal malignant fibrous histiocytoma. He had a 1-month history of lower limb edema secondary to inferior vena caval obstruction. His edema failed to respond to a combination of diuretics, oral frusemide 40 mg daily and oral spironolactone 100 mg daily. Subcutaneous drainage of both lower limbs with butterfly needles was performed with minimal improvement. However, he gained significant symptomatic relief with multiple subcutaneous punctures and stoma bag drainage. A total of 12.8 L of serous fluid was drained with this simple and effective method. This is the first report of the use of this method.
We report on two patients with intra-operative rupture of cerebral aneurysms that were managed by microsuturing. This is one of only a few reports of successful direct repair using suturing. We found that stitching remains an option to repair a tear of a saccular part of an aneurysm and a torn neck of a blister-like aneurysm, and thus this technique can be considered before sacrificing the artery.