Evaluation of the Effects of Cucumis sativus Seed Extract on Serum Lipids in Adult Hyperlipidemic Patients: A Randomized Double‐Blind Placebo‐Controlled Clinical Trial

Hyperlipidemia is associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis; therefore, control of this risk factor is very important in preventing atherosclerosis. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seed is used traditionally as a lipid‐lowering nutritional supplement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cucumber seed extract on serum lipid profile in adult patients with mild hyperlipidemia. In a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled clinical trial, hyperlipidemic patients with inclusion criteria were randomly and equally assigned to either Cucumis or placebo groups and used one medicinal or placebo capsule, respectively, once daily with food for 6 wk. Body mass index (BMI) as well as fasting serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL‐C), and high‐density lipoprotein (HDL‐C) were measured for all patients pre‐ and post‐intervention and finally the changes were compared between the groups. Twenty‐four patients in Cucumis group and 23 patients in placebo group completed the study. Cucumis seed extract resulted in significant reduction of total cholesterol (P = 0.016), LDL‐C (P < 0.001), TG (P < 0.001), and BMI (P < 0.001) as well as significant increase of HDL‐C (P = 0.012) compared to placebo. In conclusion, the consumption of C. sativus seed extract with daily dose of 500 mg results in desirable effects on serum lipid profile in adult hyperlipidemic patients. Therefore, cucumber seed could be considered as a food supplement for treatment of dyslipidemia.     

Determination of silver release from antibacterial finished cotton and polyester fabrics into water

Silver compounds have extensive use among the antimicrobial agents in textiles. Silver particles are released into the water during washing processes in particular and they are released from the textile in time due to use. In this work, silver ion release from cotton and polyester antimicrobial fabrics which are the most widely used textiles have been studied. Two well-known silver-based commercial agents and silver-doped calcium phosphate powder-based antibacterial finishing agent which was developed in our previous work were applied to the fabric samples. The release of silver from the fabric samples during washing and incubation was determined by ICP-OES. The effects of fabric composition, time and laundering process on the silver release were studied. It was found that significant amount of silver was released from textile fabrics during washing due to the mechanical forces exerted on the fabrics. The total released silver varied from 73.43 to 92.27% for cotton fabrics and 76.49 to 89.70% for PES fabrics after 20 washing cycles. Results also showed that calcium phosphate can reduce the amount of silver release significantly. It was also found that even a smaller quantity of nanosilver particles was sufficient for strong antibacterial activity.     

Effect of Magnesium and Osteoblast Cell Presence on Hydroxyapatite Formation on (Ti,Mg)N Thin Film Coatings

TiN and (Ti,Mg)N thin film coatings were deposited on Ti substrates by an arc-physical vapor deposition technique. The effect of cell presence on hydroxyapatite (HA) formation was investigated using surfaces with four different Mg contents (0, 8.1, 11.31, and 28.49 at.%). Accelerated corrosion above 10 at.% Mg had a negative effect on the performance in terms of both cell proliferation and mineralization. In the absence of cells, Mg-free TiN coatings and low-Mg (8.1 at.%)-doped (Ti,Mg)N surfaces led to an early HA deposition (after 7 days and 14 days, respectively) in cell culture medium (DMEM), but the crystallinity was low. More crystalline HA structures were obtained in the presence of the cells. HA deposits with an ideal Ca/P ratio were obtained at least a week earlier, at day 14, in TiN and low-Mg (8.1 at.%)-doped (Ti,Mg)N compared with that of high-Mg-containing surfaces (>10 at.%). A thicker mineralized matrix was formed on low-Mg (8.1 at.%)-doped (Ti,Mg)N relative to that of the TiN sample. Low-Mg doping (<10 at.%) into TiN coatings resulted in better cell proliferation and thicker mineralized matrix formation, so it could be a promising alternative for hard tissue applications.     

TaqMan probe real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the quantification of canine DNA in chicken nugget

This paper describes a short-amplicon-based TaqMan probe quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay for the quantitative detection of canine meat in chicken nuggets, which are very popular across the world, including Malaysia. The assay targeted a 100-bp fragment of canine cytb gene using a canine-specific primer and TaqMan probe. Specificity against 10 different animals and plants species demonstrated threshold cycles (Ct) of 16.13 ± 0.12 to 16.25 ± 0.23 for canine DNA and negative results for the others in a 40-cycle reaction. The assay was tested for the quantification of up to 0.01% canine meat in deliberately spiked chicken nuggets with 99.7% PCR efficiency and 0.995 correlation coefficient. The analysis of the actual and qPCR predicted values showed a high recovery rate (from 87% ± 28% to 112% ± 19%) with a linear regression close to unity (R² = 0.999). Finally, samples of three halal-branded commercial chicken nuggets collected from different Malaysian outlets were screened for canine meat, but no contamination was demonstrated.     

Effects of random particle dispersion and size on the indentation behavior of SiC particle reinforced metal matrix composites

This study investigates the effects of particle size, volume fraction, random dispersion and local concentration underneath a spherical indenter on the indentation response of particle reinforced metal matrix Al 1080/SiC composites. The ceramic particles in certain sizes and volume fractions were randomly distributed through the composite structure in order to achieve a similar structure to an actual microstructure as possible. The particle size and volume fraction affected considerably indentation depths and deformed indentation surface profiles. The indentation depth increases with increasing particle size, but decreases with increasing particle volume fraction. The experimental indentation depths were in agreement with numerical indentation depths in case the local particle concentration effect is considered. The local particle concentration plays an important role on the peak indentation depth. For small particle sizes and large volume fractions the random particle distribution affects the deformed surface profiles as well as the indentation depths. However, its effect is minor on residual stress and strain distributions rather than levels in the indentation region.     

Elastic response of functionally graded circular plates under a drop-weight

The three-dimensional impact behaviours of functionally graded (FG) circular plates were studied under a drop-weight. The functionally graded circular plate was composed of ceramic (SiC) and metal (Al) phases and the through-thickness mechanical properties through the region between the metal and ceramic layers vary continuously according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the ceramic. The through-thickness material properties of the FG circular plate were determined using the Mori–Tanaka scheme. The effects of layer number and compositional gradient exponent as well as impactor velocity and plate radius on the elastic impact response of the FG circular plates were investigated. The compositional gradient exponent, impactor velocity and plate radius played an important role on the impact response of the FG circular plates, whereas the layer number through the plate thickness had a minor effect. In addition, the failure strains in all layers were determined using Tamura–Tomota–Ozowa (TTO) model in order to predict the damage regions in each layer through the thickness of FG circular plates.