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Fulltext Characterisation of oil palm frond for bio-oil production

Omar, N.N., Abdullah, N., Mustafa, I.S., Sulaiman, F.

ASM Science Journal, 2018;11(1):9-22.
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Oil palm frond is known to be the largest contributor to the oil palm residues, providing
up to 50.3% of the total residues. Since it has a very limited utility, an initiative was taken
by this study to investigate its suitability for bio-oil production. Hence, slow pyrolysis was
conducted in an experimental setup equipped with a fixed bed reactor and a liquid collection
system. From the experiments, the effect of reaction temperature on the bio-oil yield was
examined. The characteristics of the obtained bio-oil were also investigated to study its
potential as a substitute of phenol. It was found that at reaction temperature of 375oC,
highest yield of bio-oil was obtained at 38.4 wt%. Meanwhile, the characteristics of oil palm
frond and its bio-oil were found to be approximately similar to the characteristics of typical
softwoods and their bio-oil. Most softwood biomass has been successfully used as a phenol
substitute. Therefore, the potential of this bio-oil to be used as a phenol substitute was
enhanced.
Preparation, Stability and Thermal Characteristic of Al₂O₃/Bio-Oil Based Nanofluids for Heat Transfer Applications

Umar S, Sulaiman F, Abdullah N, Mohamad SN

J Nanosci Nanotechnol, 2020 12 01;20(12):7569-7576.
PMID: 32711628 DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2020.18616

Conventional thermal fluids with suspended nanoparticles, known as nanofluids, have been developed for heat transfer applications. Heat transfer loss could be reduced significantly if the thermophysical properties of the heat transfer fluid are improved, which to some extent, could reduce the present global environmental challenges associated with energy utilization, such as climate change and global warming. In this work, the role of the concentration of sodium dodecyl-benzene sulfonate (SDBS) in the stability of Al₂O₃/bio-oil nanofluid is investigated the zeta potential value, and its implications to the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the nanofluid are explored. The bio-oil based nanofluid is fixed using a two-step method in which the prepared base fluid is added with 13-nm alumina nanoparticles powder. Various weight fractions of SDBS (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 1.0 wt%) are used for both 0.1 and 0.2 wt% Al₂O₃ to investigate the significance of the stability of a nanofluid on its thermal conductivity and viscosity. Results indicate that a stable nanofluid has reduced viscosity and increased thermal conductivity.
Fulltext Integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics project-based learning for physics learning from neuroscience perspectives

Uden L, Sulaiman F, Ching GS, Rosales JJ

Front Psychol, 2023;14:1136246.
PMID: 37404578 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136246

For many students, learning physics is difficult because of its abstractness. To help students to learn physics, we have developed the Integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Projects Based Learning (STEM-PjBL) method based on principles from neuroscience. We believe that incorporating principles from educational neuroscience would help students learn better. This paper describes our experiments of implementing the integrated STEM-PjBL Module in physics, i.e., classical mechanics, to secondary school students in Malaysia and South Korea. The study consists of two groups of students: the experiment group, 77 in total, comprising those who have undergone the integrated STEM-PjBL, and the control group, again 77 in total, who experienced the traditional approach. The Colorado Learning Attitudes Science Survey (CLASS) was conducted for the two groups on students' beliefs about physics and learning physics before and after the implementation. The paired sample t-test from the pre-survey and post-survey shows that the integrated STEM-PjBL group has a more positive shift in belief about physics and learning physics than the traditional group. The results of the independent samples t-test for students' beliefs about physics and learning physics, compared with the post-survey between the experimental group and the traditional group for both Malaysian and Korean perspectives, show that the experimental group has a higher mean compared to the traditional group. This paper explains why the integrated STEM-PjBL has improved students' beliefs about physics and learning physics, from the neuroscience education perspective. Finally, the paper concludes with guidelines for teachers who wish to implement the integrated STEM-PjBL in the classroom.
Clinical, Radiological, and Microbiologic Characteristics of Patients with Noncystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis in a Tertiary Center at Jordan

Albtoosh AS, Altarawneh T, Toubasi AA, Malek M, Albulbol DM, Alnugaimshi SF, et al.

Curr Med Imaging, 2024;20:1-8.
PMID: 38389348 DOI: 10.2174/0115734056255925231108052743

BACKGROUND: Only a small number of the investigations that were carried out in the Middle East attempted to characterize patients with NCFB. In order to characterize patients with NCFB, as well as their etiologies, microbiological profiles, and outcomes, we therefore carried out this investigation.
METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was carried out at the Jordan University Hospital (JUH), a tertiary facility located in Amman, Jordan. Non-cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB) was defined as an HRCT scan typical for bronchiectasis along with a negative sweat chloride test to rule out cystic fibrosis. Patients' data were collected by the use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) at our institution. Frequent exacerbation was defined as more than 2 exacerbations in 1 year of the onset of the diagnosis.
RESULTS: A total of 79 patients were included, and 54.4% of them were female. The mean and standard deviation of the patient's age was 48.61 ± 19.62. The etiologies of bronchiectasis were evident in 79.7% of the sample. Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD), and Kartagener syndrome were the most prevalent etiologies, accounting for related illnesses in 21.8%, 21.5%, and 13.9% of the patients, respectively. The most frequent bacteria cultured in our cohort were Pseudomonas and Candida Species. Moreover, 43 patients of the study cohort were frequent exacerbators, and 5 patients died.
CONCLUSION: Our study supports the need to identify several bronchiectasis phenotypes linked to various causes. These findings provide information to clinicians for the early detection and treatment of bronchiectasis in Jordan.
Fulltext Oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and antibacterial properties of Melicope glabra bark extracts and isolated compounds

Quek A, Mohd Zaini H, Kassim NK, Sulaiman F, Rukayadi Y, Ismail A, et al.

PLoS One, 2021;16(5):e0251534.
PMID: 33970960 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251534

Melicope glabra (Blume) T. G. Hartley from the Rutaceae family is one of the richest sources of plant secondary metabolites, including coumarins and flavanoids. This study investigates the free radical scavenging and antibacterial activities of M. glabra and its isolated compounds. M. glabra ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were prepared using the cold maceration technique. The isolation of compounds was performed with column chromatography. The free radical scavenging activity of the extracts and isolated compounds were evaluated based on their oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) activities. The extracts and compounds were also subjected to antibacterial evaluation using bio-autographic and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) techniques against two oral pathogens, Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus mutans. Isolation of phytoconstituents from ethyl acetate extract successfully yielded quercetin 3, 5, 3'-trimethyl ether (1) and kumatakenin (2), while the isolation of the methanol extract resulted in scoparone (3), 6, 7, 8-trimethoxycoumarin (4), marmesin (5), glabranin (6), umbelliferone (7), scopoletin (8), and sesamin (9). The study is the first to isolate compound (1) from Rutaceae plants, and also the first to report the isolation of compounds (2-5) from M. glabra. The ORAC evaluation showed that the methanol extract is stronger than the ethyl acetate extract, while umbelliferone (7) exhibited the highest ORAC value of 24 965 μmolTE/g followed by glabranin (6), sesamin (9) and scopoletin (8). Ethyl acetate extract showed stronger antibacterial activity towards E. faecalis and S. mutans than the methanol extract with MIC values of 4166.7 ± 1443.4 μg/ml and 8303.3 ± 360.8 μg/ml respectively. Ethyl acetate extract inhibited E. faecalis growth, as shown by the lowest optical density value of 0.046 at a concentration of 5.0 mg/mL with a percentage inhibition of 95%. Among the isolated compounds tested, umbelliferone (7) and sesamin (9) exhibited promising antibacterial activity against S. mutans with both exhibiting MIC values of 208.3 ± 90.6 μg/ml. Findings from this study suggests M. glabra as a natural source of potent antioxidant and antibacterial agents.
Fulltext Metabolite Profiles of Red and Yellow Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Cultivars Using a 1H-NMR Metabolomics Approach

Sulaiman F, Ahmad Azam A, Ahamad Bustamam MS, Fakurazi S, Abas F, Lee YX, et al.

Molecules, 2020 Jul 15;25(14).
PMID: 32679913 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25143235

Watermelon, a widely commercialized fruit, is famous for its thirst-quenching property. The broad range of cultivars, which give rise to distinct color and taste, can be attributed to the differences in their chemical profile, especially that of the carotenoids and volatile compounds. In order to understand this distribution properly, water extracts of red and yellow watermelon pulps with predominantly polar metabolites were subjected to proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) analysis. Deuterium oxide (D2O) and deuterated chloroform (CDCl3) solvents were used to capture both polar and non-polar metabolites from the same sample. Thirty-six metabolites, of which six are carotenoids, were identified from the extracts. The clustering of the compounds was determined using unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) and further grouping was achieved using supervised orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The presence of lycopene, β-carotene, lutein, and prolycopene in the red watermelon plays an important role in its differentiation from the yellow cultivar. A marked difference in metabolite distribution was observed between the NMR solvents used as evidenced from the PCA model. OPLS-DA and relative quantification of the metabolites, on the other hand, helped in uncovering the discriminating metabolites of the red and yellow watermelon cultivars from the same solvent system.
Fulltext Complementary Analytical Platforms of NMR Spectroscopy and LCMS Analysis in the Metabolite Profiling of Isochrysis galbana

Bustamam MSA, Pantami HA, Azizan A, Shaari K, Min CC, Abas F, et al.

Mar Drugs, 2021 Mar 02;19(3).
PMID: 33801258 DOI: 10.3390/md19030139

This study was designed to profile the metabolites of Isochrysis galbana, an indigenous and less explored microalgae species. 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) were used to establish the metabolite profiles of five different extracts of this microalga, which are hexane (Hex), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), absolute ethanol (EtOH), EtOH:water 1:1 (AqE), and 100% water (Aq). Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of the generated profiles revealed that EtOAc and Aq extracts contain a diverse range of metabolites as compared to the other extracts with a total of twenty-one metabolites, comprising carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and amino acids, that were putatively identified from the NMR spectra. Meanwhile, thirty-two metabolites were successfully annotated from the LCMS/MS data, ten of which (palmitic acid, oleic acid, α-linolenic acid, arachidic acid, cholesterol, DHA, DPA, fucoxanthin, astaxanthin, and pheophytin) were similar to those present in the NMR profile. Another eleven glycerophospholipids were discovered using MS/MS-based molecular network (MN) platform. The results of this study, besides providing a better understanding of I.galbana's chemical make-up, will be of importance in exploring this species potential as a feed ingredient in the aquaculture industry.