Gelam Honey Has a Protective Effect against Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Organ Failure

Gelam honey exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities and is thought to have potent effects in reducing infections and healing wounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of intravenously-injected Gelam honey in protecting organs from lethal doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Six groups of rabbits (N = 6) were used in this study. Two groups acted as controls and received only saline and no LPS injections. For the test groups, 1 mL honey (500 mg/kg in saline) was intravenously injected into two groups (treated), while saline (1 mL) was injected into the other two groups (untreated); after 1 h, all four test groups were intravenously-injected with LPS (0.5 mg/kg). Eight hours after the LPS injection, blood and organs were collected from three groups (one from each treatment stream) and blood parameters were measured and biochemical tests, histopathology, and myeloperoxidase assessment were performed. For survival rate tests, rabbits from the remaining three groups were monitored over a 2-week period. Treatment with honey showed protective effects on organs through the improvement of organ blood parameters, reduced infiltration of neutrophils, and decreased myeloperoxidase activity. Honey-treated rabbits also showed reduced mortality after LPS injection compared with untreated rabbits. Honey may have a therapeutic effect in protecting organs during inflammatory diseases.     

Influence of slab milling process parameters on surface integrity of HSLA: a multi-performance characteristics optimization

An attempt has been made in this paper to determine the optimal setting of slab milling process parameters. Four process parameters, i.e. cutting fluid, cutting speed, feed and depth-of-cut each at three levels except the cutting fluid at two levels, were considered. The multi-performance characteristics of the process were measured in terms of surface integrity defined by surface roughness, surface strain and micro-hardness of the work-piece. Eighteen experiments, as per Taguchi’s?L₁₈ orthogonal array, were performed on high-strength low-alloy steel. Grey relational analysis, being a widely used technique for multi-performance optimization, was used to determine Grey relational grade. Subsequently, Taguchi response table method and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Confirmation experiment was conducted to determine the improvement in the surface integrity using this approach. Results revealed that machining done in the presence of cutting fluid, at a cutting speed of 1,800 r.p.m. with a feed of 150?mm/min and depth-of-cut of 0.23?mm, yielded the optimum multi-performance characteristics of the slab milling process. Further, the results of ANOVA indicated that all four machining parameters significantly affected the multi-performance with maximum contribution from depth-of-cut (33.76%) followed by feed (24.02%), cutting speed (16.29%) and cutting fluid (13.21%).     

Preparation of carboxymethyl sago pulp hydrogel from sago waste by electron beam irradiation and swelling behavior in water and various pH media

Solutions of carboxymethyl sago pulp (CMSP) of various degree of substitution were irradiated with electron beam of various radiation doses. The gelation dose (D_g) and p_o/q_o ratio (p_o is degradation density, q_o is crosslinking density) is dependent on CMSP concentration and degree of substitution. In the range of concentrations of 10% to 80% (w/v) CMSP with degree of substitutions of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8, the p_o/q_o ratio decreases with increasing %CMSP showing that crosslinking processes are dominating and increasing the gel network of the CMSP hydrogel. The fourier transform infrared spectra of CMSP hydrogels of degree of substitutions of 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 with percentage of gel fractions 25, 35, and ≥ 40 show differences in the intensity of the absorption bands at 1020–1100, 1326, and 1422 cm^?1 with different degree of substitutions and percentage of gel fraction (%GF) that correspond to different extents of chain scission and crosslinking. The swelling behavior in water shows that CMSP hydrogels could absorb 3500–5300% of water by 1 g of CMSP hydrogel. The ability to absorb water increases with the decrease of degree of substitution and %GF of the CMSP hydrogels. It is also observed that the optimum pH for swelling CMSP hydrogel is at pH 7. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2013     

Evaluation of various additives on the preparation of rice husk ash (RHA)/CaO-based sorbent for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) at low temperature

This paper examines the effectiveness of 10 additives toward improving SO2 sorption capacities (SSC) of rice husk ash (RHA)/lime (CaO) sorbent. The additives examined are NaOH, CaCl2, LiCl, NaHCO3, NaBr, BaCl2, KOH, K2HPO4, FeCl3 and MgCl2. Most of the additives tested increased the SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent, whereby NaOH gave highest SSC (30mg SO2/g sorbent) at optimum concentration (0.25mol/l) compared to other additives examined. The SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent prepared with NaOH addition was also increases from 17.2 to 39.5mg SO2/g sorbent as the water vapor increases from 0% RH to 80% RH. This is probably due to the fact that most of additives tested act as deliquescent material, and its existence increases the amount of water collected on the surface of the sorbent, which played an important role in the reaction between the dry-type sorbent and SO2. Although most of the additives were shown to have positive effect on the SSC of the RHA/CaO sorbent, some were found to have negative or insignificant effect. Thus, this study demonstrates that proper selection of additives can improve the SSC of RHA/CaO sorbent significantly.     

ZnO microstructures and nanostructures prepared by sol-gel hydrothermal technique

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an emerging material in large area electronic applications such as thin-film solar cells and transistors. We report on the fabrication and characterization of ZnO microstructures and nanostructures. The ZnO microstructures and nanostructures have been synthesized using sol-gel immerse technique on oxidized silicon substrates. Different precursor's concentrations ranging from 0.0001 M to 0.01 M (M=molarity) using zinc nitrate hexahydrate [Zn(NO3)2. 6H2O] and hexamethylenetetramine [C6H12N4] were employed in the synthesis of the ZnO structures. The surface morphologies were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). In order to investigate the structural properties, the ZnO microstructures and nanostructures were measured using X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The optical properties of the ZnO structures were measured using photoluminescence (PL) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopies.     

Design and development of engineering component using natural rubber biocomposites

The potential usage of natural rubber biocomposites in engineering products was investigated. The engineering product fabricated is a rubber bush which is widely used in the automobile industry. Three different types of rubber: 25 % mol epoxidised natural rubber, 50 % mol epoxidised natural rubber and deproteinised natural rubber reinforced with eggshell powder and oil palm fibres hybrid biofillers were studied. The mould flow simulation was carried out to study the flow of the rubber in an existing mould cavity. A thermogravimetric analysis was carried out on both the eggshell powder and oil palm fibres and it was observed that the eggshell powder is more stable thermally compared to the oil palm fibres. Static test was conducted to study the static stiffness properties. Dynamic test was also conducted to study the dynamic stiffness and the loss angle. The results of the tests showed promising mechanical properties of the 25 % mol epoxidised natural rubber biocomposites. Further research should be conducted on other biofillers that is capable of improving the properties of the rubber to replace the use of carbon black in the 25 % mol epoxidised natural rubber biocomposite.     

A continuous esterification of malonic acid with citronellol using packed bed reactor: Investigation of parameter and kinetics study

A continuous packed bed immobilized lipase reactor was used in the synthesis of citronellyl malonate. Biocatalyst Candida rugosa lipases which were immobilized on Amberlite MB-1 support were employed to synthesize citronellyl malonate. Investigations on the effect of different citronellol and malonic acid concentration and feed flow rate on the conversion were being conducted. Full conversion of acid to product was achieved at high concentration of citronellol (50 mmol/L) and reached a steady state after 180 min of reaction time. Maximum conversion of acid was found at a ratio of 1:3 acids to alcohol concentration. An inhibition effect was observed when a high concentration of malonic acid was used in the system. A higher feed flow rate into the packed bed reactor system had increased the conversion to 90%. An investigation on the kinetics was conducted and an ordered bi bi mechanism with dead end complex of malonic acid was found to fit the initial rate data.     

Elucidation of interactive effects of synthesis conditions on the characteristics of mesoporous silicas templated using polyoxide surfactant

A series of mesoporous silicas (MS-1–MS-9) were synthesized at different gel compositions using a triblock copolymer (TCP), poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide), as the surfactant. The interactive effects of acidity, the contents of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and the surfactant, and the gelling temperature on the characteristics of the final material were simultaneously characterized. Increasing acidity favored mesopore formation. A material with a surface area of 760 m²/g, mostly in the mesoporous range, was obtained at 1.0(TEOS):0.017(TCP):7.3HCl:115.7H₂O. Mesopore formation was predominantly determined by the TEOS:TCP ratio and was promoted with its increase from 1.56:1 to 2.09:1. A further increase to 2.61:1 was detrimental. Whereas increasing the TCP content to 3.5% w/w improved micellization, a further increase to 4.6% should be avoided. Mesoporous silicas showed low crystallinity but a high degree of hexagonal mesoscopic organization. The weak surface acidity was attributed to surface silanols, the number of which was proportional to mesoporosity.     

Regeneration and reuse of spent NaOH-treated oil palm frond for copper and zinc removal from wastewater

The use of NaOH-treated oil palm frond (OPF) sorbent for Cu and Zn removal and its subsequent regeneration process are reported. The regeneration of the spent sorbent was achieved by desorbing the metals in 0.1 M of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO₃) solutions. The reusability study of the sorbent was conducted using 100 mg/l of Cu and Zn at a pH of 4.5 and 5.5, respectively for 1 h. The results were to be correlated with the mechanism of the metal uptake. Freundlich isotherm fitted the data to indicate the presence of heterogeneous metal sorption sites. Zn showed better regeneration efficiency of up to 88% and HCl was the best regeneration agent. The results confirmed that ion exchange was the main mechanism for the metal uptake. The desorption efficiency dropped by merely about 20% while the sorption capacity experienced a drastic drop after reuse for the fourth cycle. The damage occurred on the heavy metal binding sites by the strong acid was responsible for this drop.     

Regulation and tissue distribution of the human sodium iodide symporter gene

The inclusion of an appropriate internal control DNA in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a rapid and simple method for the detection of PCR failure. Two PCR coamplification internal control DNAs (ICD I and ICD II) with the same primer-binding sequences as the target DNA for the detection of Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis were produced using an overlap extension technique and a PCR MIMIC construction kit, respectively. The ICD II was further evaluated in a prospective clinical study in 360 patients with a clinical diagnosis of pertussis. From 360 nasopharyngeal swabs the internal control was positive in 318 (88%) samples, but was negative in 42 (12%). After phenol-chloroform extraction an additional 10 internal controls became positive. For the detection of PCR failure, the use of internal control DNA is highly recommended for PCR-based identification of B. pertussis and B. parapertussis organisms from nasopharyngeal swabs and aspirates.