Utilization of watermelon rinds and sharlyn melon peels as a natural source of dietary fiber and antioxidants in cake

AbstractThe aim of this work was to evaluate some physical and chemical properties of watermelon rind and sharlyn melon peel powders and its utilization as partially, substituted of wheat flour at levels of 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5% or fat at levels of 5.0%, 10% and 15% in cake making. Watermelon rinds had higher moisture, ash, fat, protein and carbohydrates 10.61%, 13.09%, 2.44%, 11.17% and 56.00%, respectively as compared to sharlyn melon peels. On the other hand, sharlyn melon peels had higher content crud fiber (29.59%) than in watermelon rinds (17.28%). The water absorption capacity (WAC) and oil absorption capacity (OAC) of sharlyn melon peels was higher than that of watermelon rinds being 7.7, 7.13 (g water/g) and 2.24, 1.65 (g oil/g), respectively. Watermelon rinds showed significantly greater free radical scavenging activity and β-carotene (39.7% and 96.44%), respectively compared to sharlyn melon peels. It contained different types of phenolic compounds, the most abundant one was 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (958.3μg/g dw) followed by vanillin (851.8μg/g dw), while the lowest phenolic compound was coumaric acid (8.8μg/g dw). On the other hand four phenolic compounds were identified in sharlyn melon peels namely, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillin, chlorgenic acid, and coumaric acid. The incorporation of WMR and SMP powders in cakes batter at all the studied levels enhanced the volume and specific volume of the baked cakes to overcome, those of the control. These materials also retard staling of cakes and inhibition the lipids oxidation and free fatty acids formation during storage. It is revealed that, substitution of 5% flour and 10% fat with watermelon rinds and sharlyn melon peels produced acceptable cakes which were not significantly different with the control

Validated stability indicating methods for determination of nitazoxanide in presence of its degradation products

AbstractThree sensitive, selective and reproducible stability-indicating methods are presented for determination of nitazoxanide (NTZ), a new anti-protozoal drug, in presence of its degradation products. Method A utilizes the first derivative of ratio spectra spectrophotometry by measurement of the amplitude at 364.4nm using one of the degradation products as a divisor. Method B is a chemometric-assisted spectrophotometry, where principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) were applied. These two approaches were successfully applied to quantify NTZ in presence of degradation products using the information included in the absorption spectra in the range 260–360nm. Method C is based on the separation of NTZ from its degradation products followed by densitometric measurement of the bands at 254nm. The separation was carried out on silica gel 60F254, using chloroform–methanol–ammonia solution–glacial acetic acid (95:5:1:1 by volume, pH=5.80) as a developing system. These methods are suitable as stability-indicating methods for the determination of NTZ in presence of its degradation products either in bulk powder or in pharmaceutical formulations. Statistical analysis of the results has been carried out revealing high accuracy and good precision

Histological and Histochemical Studies on the Seminal Vesicles of Donkey (Equus asinus): with Special Reference to their Seasonal Variations

The objective of this study was to describe the histological and histochemical structure of the seminal vesicles during different seasons of the year. The specimens were collected from the seminal vesicles of 24 sexually mature apparently healthy male donkeys (5 to 7 years of age) during different seasons of the year. The seminal vesicles (Vesiculae seminales) of the donkey were paired pear-shaped sacs. The wall of the seminal vesicles of the donkey was consisted of tunica mucosa, tunica muscularis and tunica serosa or adventitia. The tunica mucosa of the seminal vesicle was highly folded, surrounding a large irregular oval central lumen. These folds carried many lateral secondary branches with numerous tubular invaginations into the underlying connective tissue. The lamina epithelialis of the seminal vesicles consisted of principal and basal cells. The activity of seminal vesicles of donkey varied during different seasons of the year. It reached maximal activity during spring which was manifested by increasing in the epithelial height of the glandular epithelium, decreasing the nuclear/ cell ratio and the interstitial/ glandular tissue ratio and increasing the secretory activity. This activity of the seminal vesicles decreased gradually during summer and autumn to reach its minimal during winter. In conclusion, the seminal vesicles of donkey have more pronounced activity in spring than in other season of the year

Pelvic Urethra and its Associated Glands in Donkey (Equus asinus): Histological and Histochemical Findings with Special Reference to their Seasonal Variations

The reproductive ability of male animal is dependent to a great extent on the effective functions of the genital glands. The present study was carried on the pelvic urethra of 32 sexually mature male donkeys. 5µm sections were prepared from the samples and stained with different stains to show the different structures of the pelvic urethra. Scanning electron microscopic studies were performed on the lumen of the pelvic urethra to show the different shape of the urethral gland opening on the surface layer of the lamina epithelialis of the pelvic urethra. The pelvic urethra of donkey is formed of prostatic and membranous parts. The lamina epithelialis of the pelvic urethra varied at its different regions. The urethral glands were observed along the entire length of the pelvic urethra within the lamina propria-submucosa. They were mostly of the branched tubulo-alveolar glands lined by high cuboidal or pyramidal-shaped epithelial cells. The activity of the urethral glands in donkey varied throughout the year. It was more pronounced during spring, which was manifested by increased epithelial height, decreased nuclear/cell ratio, decreasing interstitial connective tissue/glandular tissue ratio and increased cellular secretory activity. This activity decreased gradually during the summer and autumn to reach its minimal level during winter

THREE-PHASE TOURNAMENT-BASED METHOD FOR BETTER EMAIL CLASSIFICATION

ABSTRACT Email classification performance has attracted much attention in the last decades. This paper proposes a tournament-based method to evolve email classification performance utilizing World Final Cup rules as a solution heuristics. Our proposed classification method passes through three phases: 1) clustering (grouping) email folders (topics or classes) based on their token and field similarities, 2) training binary classifiers on each class pair and 3) applying 2-layer tournament method for the classifiers of the related classes in the resultant clusters. The first phase evolves K-mean algorithm to result in cluster sizes of 3, 4, or 5 email classes with the pairwise similarity function. The second phase uses two classifiers namely Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and Winnow. The third phase uses a 2-layer tournament method which applies round robin and elimination tournament methods sequentially to realize the winner class per cluster and the winner of all clusters respectively. The proposed method is tested for various K settings against tournament and N-way methods using 10-fold cross-validation evaluation method on Enron benchmark dataset. The experiments prove that the proposed method is generally more accurate than the others

Determination of dimenhydrinate and cinnarizine in combined dosage form in presence of cinnarizine impurity

Three accurate, sensitive and time saving spectrophotometric methods have been developed and validated for determination of mixture of dimenhydrinate (DMH) and cinnarizine (CIN) in presence of cinnarizine impurity (1-(diphenylmethyl)piperazine) (IMP). In method A; dimenhydrinate was determined by measuring 1D amplitudes at 292.0 nm while cinnarizine and its impurity were determined by 1DD method at 256.2 and 219.6 nm, respectively, using standard spectrum of 20 µg/mL of dimenhydrinate as a divisor. Method B depends on dividing spectrum of ternary mixture by standard spectrum of 20 µg/mL of dimenhydrinate and then cinnarizine and its impurity were determined in the obtained ratio spectrum by ratio difference method using the difference between 219.0 and 237.2 nm and between 230.0 and 264.0 nm, respectively. On the other hand dimenhydrinate could be determined by dividing spectrum of ternary mixture by standard spectrum of 20 µg/mL of cinnarizine and then it were determined at the obtained ratio spectrum by ratio difference method using the difference between 216.8 and 232.8 nm. Method C is the mean cantering of ratio spectra method (MCR) where the amplitudes at 234.8, 240.0 and 233.6 nm in the second mean centering ratio spectra were used for determination of dimenhydrinate, cinnarizine and its impurity, respectively. The developed methods were validated according to ICH guidelines regarding good accuracy and precision, and they were successfully applied to pharmaceutical formulation and laboratory prepared mixtures. The results were statistically compared with those obtained by reported method and no significant difference was found

The Efficiency Of Passive Ultrasonic Activated Irrigation On The Retrievability Of Guttaflow Bioseal : In Vitro Study

The efficiency of passive ultrasonic activated irrigation on the retrievability of Guttaflow Bioseal ( In Vitro Study ) Abstract: Background: This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of passive ultrasonic activated irrigation in the removal of GuttaFlow Bioseal root canal filling material during retreatment. Materials and subjects: Root canals of thirty single-rooted human mandibular premolar teeth were prepared with ProTaper Universal rotary system and obturated with lateral condensation obturation technique using Gutta Percha and Roeko GuttaFlow Bioseal root canal sealer. All specimens were retreated with ProTaper Universal Retreatment System files then divided to two different groups according to the technique of activation of irrigation. Samples were sectioned, and the residual filling remnants were captured using digital camera attached to microscope. Data was collected by three different interpreters, to eliminate the subjectivity of the process, using the ImageJ Software. The mean value of the data was obtained and evaluated statistically. Results: The remaining filling materials in the canals irrigated with ultrasonic activation were less than these irrigated with passive side-vented syringe. Conclusion: The activation of irrigation techniques used were incapable of complete removal of filling material at root canal walls. Trial registration: Not Applicable Keywords: GuttaFlow Bioseal, Ultrasonic, Retreatment, Irrigation activation

Development and validation of different spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods for determination of clotrimazole and hydrocortisone in a topical cream

In this study, we developed and validated different spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods for determination of clotrimazole (CLO) and hydrocortisone (HDC) in their combined dosage form. The developed spectrophotometric methods were first derivative spectrophotometry (1D) by measuring the peak amplitude at 247.4 and 236.2 nm for CLO and HDC, respectively, second derivative of ratio spectra (2DD) at 225.4 nm for CLO and 269 nm for HDC, dual wavelength spectrophotometry (DW) by measuring absorbance difference between 225.4 and 264 nm for CLO and between 228 and 247 nm for HDC determination, advanced absorbance subtraction method (AAS) between 225.4 and 264 nm and mean centering of ratio spectra (MCR) spectrophotometric method in the range of 232-265 nm. On the other hand, the proposed chromatographic method was Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography method (UPLC) using acetonitrile:water (50:50, v:v) as a mobile phase and the peaks were detected at 228 nm. All these methods were successfully applied to determine the two studied drugs in pure forms; laboratory prepared mixtures and combined dosage form. Methods validations were carried out regarding linearity, accuracy, precision and selectivity. The spectrophotometric methods exhibited a linear dynamic range over 5-40 and 5-45 µg/mL for CLO and HDC, respectively, and over 3-35 and 5-50 µg/mL for UPLC method. Sensitive and selective spectrophotometric and UPLC methods for the determination of clotrimazole and hydrocortisone in their topical formulation were successfully developed and validated. The developed methods were statistically confirmed to be accurate, precise and reproducible

Development of Liposomal Gemcitabine with High Drug Loading Capacity

Liposomes are widely used for systemic delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to reduce their nonspecific side effects. Gemcitabine (Gem) makes a great candidate for liposomal encapsulation due to the short half-life and nonspecific side effects; however, it has been difficult to achieve liposomal Gem with high drug loading capacity. Remote loading, which uses a transmembrane pH gradient to induce an influx of drug and locks the drug in the core as a sulfate complex, does not serve Gem as efficiently as doxorubicin (Dox) due to the low pKa value of Gem. Existing studies have attempted to improve Gem loading capacity in liposomes by employing lipophilic Gem derivatives or creating a high-concentration gradient for active loading into the hydrophilic cores (small volume loading). In this study, we combine the remote loading approach and small volume loading or hypertonic loading, a new approach to induce the influx of Gem into the preformed liposomes by high osmotic pressure, to achieve a Gem loading capacity of 9.4–10.3 wt % in contrast to 0.14–3.8 wt % of the conventional methods. Liposomal Gem showed a good stability during storage, sustained-release over 120 h in vitro, enhanced cellular uptake, and improved cytotoxicity as compared to free Gem. Liposomal Gem showed a synergistic effect with liposomal Dox on Huh7 hepatocellular carcinoma cells. A mixture of liposomal Gem and liposomal Dox delivered both drugs to the tumor more efficiently than a free drug mixture and showed a relatively good anti-tumor effect in a xenograft model of hepatocellular carcinoma. This study shows that bioactive liposomal Gem with high drug loading capacity can be produced by remote loading combined with additional approaches to increase drug influx into the liposomes