Effect of curing conditions and harvesting stage of maturity on Ethiopian onion bulb drying properties

The study was conducted to investigate the impact of curing conditions and harvesting stageson the drying quality of onion bulbs. The onion bulbs (Bombay Red cultivar) were harvested at three harvesting stages (early, optimum, and late maturity) and cured at three different temperatures (30, 40 and 50 oC) and relative humidity (30, 50 and 70%). The results revealed that curing temperature, RH, and maturity stage had significant effects on all measuredattributesexcept total soluble solids

Special oils for halal and safe cosmetics

Three types of non conventional oils were extracted, analyzed and tested for toxicity. Date palm kernel oil (DPKO), mango kernel oil (MKO) and Ramputan seed oil (RSO). Oil content for tow cultivars of dates Deglect Noor and Moshkan was 9.67% and 7.30%, respectively. The three varieties of mango were found to contain about 10% oil in average. The red yellow types of Ramputan were found to have 11 and 14% oil, respectively. The phenolic compounds in DPKO, MKO and RSO were 0.98, 0.88 and 0.78 mg/ml Gallic acid equivalent, respectively. Oils were analyzed for their fatty acid composition and they are rich in oleic acid C18:1 and showed the presence of (dodecanoic acid) lauric acid C12:0, which reported to appear some antimicrobial activities. All extracted oils, DPKO, MKO and RSO showed no toxic effect using prime shrimp bioassay. Since these oils are stable, melt at skin temperature, have good lubricity and are great source of essential fatty acids; they could be used as highly moisturizing, cleansing and nourishing oils because of high oleic acid content. They are ideal for use in such halal cosmetics such as Science, Engineering and Technology 75 skin care and massage, hair-care, soap and shampoo products

SYNTHESIS AND STABILITY STUDIES OF PRODRUGS AND CODRUGS OF NALTREXONE AND 6-β-NALTREXOL

The present study was divided between two different drug delivery goals, each involving naltrexone (NTX) or its active metabolite, 6-β-naltrexol (NTXOL). First, amino acid esters of NTX and NTXOL were prepared in order to test their candidacy for microneedle-enhanced transdermal delivery. Second, a 3-O-(-)-cytisine-naltrexone (CYT-NTX) codrug was prepared for screening as a potential oral delivery form of NTX and (-)-cytisine (CYT). The amino acid prodrugs were intended for the treatment of alcohol abuse, while the codrug was designed as a single agent for the treatment of alcoholism and tobacco-dependency co-morbidities. One hypothesis of this work was that prodrugs of NTX or NTXOL can be designed that possess superior skin transport properties through microneedle-treated skin compared to parent NTX or NTXOL. Nine amino acid ester prodrugs were prepared, and only three 6-O amino acid ester prodrugs of NTXOL were stable enough at skin pH (pH 5.0) to move forward to studies in 50% human plasma. 6-O-β-Ala-NTXOL, the lead compound, exhibited the most rapid bioconversion to NTXOL in human plasma (t1/2 = 2.2 ± 0.1 h); however, this in vitro stability value indicates that the prodrug may require hepatic enzyme-mediated hydrolysis for sufficiently rapid bioconversion to NTXOL in vivo. A second hypothesis of this work was that a CYT-NTX codrug could be designed with appropriate stability characteristics for oral delivery. CYT-NTX was found to be stable over the time course of 24 h in buffer systems of pH 1.5, 5.0, 7.4 and 9.0, and in 80% rat plasma, 80% human plasma, simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid. Six (3 rats/group) Sprague-Dawley male rats were dosed i.v. with 1 mg/kg CYT-NTX codrug, or 10 mg/kg, p.o. Oral administration of a 10 mg/kg dose of CYT-NTX codrug resulted in rapid absorption and distribution (5 min) of CYT-NTX codrug, and NTX was released from codrug with a peak plasma concentration of 6.8 ± 0.9 nmol/L reached within 65 minutes. Plasma CYT was not detected; however, NTX delivery was achieved with a fraction absorbed value of 13%. Thus, CYT-NTX may hold promise as a potential oral codrug for further optimization and development

Biomarkers of Lung Cancer Risk and Progression

Lung cancer causes high mortality because most people present late with advanced disease that is not amenable to curative treatment. Screening high-risk groups with low dose CT imaging of the thorax has been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality by 20%, but at the cost of a high false positive rate. Population stratification with molecular biomarkers could improve the cost-benefit of lung cancer screening programmes and reduce false positives. Tumour cells shed DNA into the blood, enabling tumour-derived genetic alterations to be detected non-invasively by analysing circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA). The aim of this study was to determine the screening and prognostic potential of total cfDNA levels and two genomic instability scores based on the detection of copy number aberrations in cfDNA samples of lung cancer cases and controls collected in the ReSoLuCENT study (A Resource for the Study of Lung Cancer Epidemiology in North Trent). Controls were identified as low or high risk for the development of lung cancer over five years using the Liverpool Lung Project risk model. CfDNA was extracted from the plasma of 52 untreated lung cancer cases, 32 high risk controls and 10 low risk controls and quantified total cfDNA levels by SYBR green real-time qPCR. Low coverage whole genome sequencing with Illumina HiSeq 2500 was completed for a subset of cases (N=62) and controls (N=40). Two published genomic instability scores were adapted and tested; the plasma genomic abnormality (PGA2) and the copy number aberration (CNA) score. Screening potential was evaluated by performing Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to assess the ability of the test to discriminate between lung cancer cases and controls by calculating area under the curve (AUC). Logistic regression was used to further assess the ability of total cfDNA levels and genomic instability scores to predict case or control status. Prognostic value was determined by Kaplan Meir and Cox regression survival analyses. In this preliminary study, there was no difference in total cfDNA levels between early stage lung cancer cases and high risk controls. The PGA2 score was higher in high risk controls compared to lung cancer cases and was not further evaluated. In comparison, the CNA score had good discriminatory ability for high risk controls compared to all lung cancer cases (stage I-IV) with an AUC of 0.74 but poorer discriminatory ability for early stage cases (I-IIIA) with an AUC of 0.60. Although total cfDNA levels and CNA scores above the median value were associated with poor survival, both were statistically significant in univariable but not multivariable cox survival regression analyses. Therefore, total cfDNA levels and the CNA score had limited prognostic value when other factors were taken into account. Total cfDNA levels are not recommended as a screening tool because total levels lack specificity for cancer. The screening performance of the CNA score may be improved by targeting recurrent copy number aberrations and by combining the score with alternative tumour-derived genetic alterations in cfDNA such as point mutations or methylation changes

A Comprehensive Survey on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm and Its Applications

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a heuristic global optimization method, proposed originally by Kennedy and Eberhart in 1995. It is now one of the most commonly used optimization techniques. This survey presented a comprehensive investigation of PSO. On one hand, we provided advances with PSO, including its modifications (including quantum-behaved PSO, bare-bones PSO, chaotic PSO, and fuzzy PSO), population topology (as fully connected, von Neumann, ring, star, random, etc.), hybridization (with genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, Tabu search, artificial immune system, ant colony algorithm, artificial bee colony, differential evolution, harmonic search, and biogeography-based optimization), extensions (to multiobjective, constrained, discrete, and binary optimization), theoretical analysis (parameter selection and tuning, and convergence analysis), and parallel implementation (in multicore, multiprocessor, GPU, and cloud computing forms). On the other hand, we offered a survey on applications of PSO to the following eight fields: electrical and electronic engineering, automation control systems, communication theory, operations research, mechanical engineering, fuel and energy, medicine, chemistry, and biology. It is hoped that this survey would be beneficial for the researchers studying PSO algorithms

Environmental Effects on Health: Ignorance and Undone Science

Considerable research has been completed showing that environmental exposures can have significant effects on people’s health, especially in terms of autoimmune conditions, cancers, and neurological and psychological conditions. Health effects are possible at exposure levels far below those generally considered safe by orthodox health authorities. A prime example is multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), where sufferers themselves have made clear, short-term associations between health effects and low-level environmental exposures. The condition of MCS is not clearly definable and significantly overlaps with other, largely unrecognised health conditions including fibromyalgia (FMS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), electro hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) and chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS). The orthodox medical diagnostic process is implicated in the production of ignorance on such health conditions. Despite the large amount of research showing health effects from low level environmental exposures, there remains much “undone science” in the field - research that could be done but isn’t. The reasons for undone science and the consequent societal ignorance are generally due to society’s ingrained desire for technological improvements. Industry, responsible for technological developments the use of chemical products or radiation devices, is not interested in possible health effects, so expensive scientific research into them is left undone. When subsequent research or firsthand experiences of health effects start to be realised there is ample evidence that the industries responsible for environmental exposures then become active in generating ignorance. Due to close ties with industry, medical and health systems become complicit in industry’s strategy, and knowledge is manipulated by the industry funding of scientific studies, which then influences the conclusions of the research. The support of industry products by institutions, including regulatory agencies, due to conflicts of interest also contributes to knowledge manipulation. Common industry strategies of generating ignorance also include using doubt, blame, power, industry shills, astroturfing, smear campaigns, media manipulation and fact checking services. Future generations of children who inherit contaminants from their conception will be most affected by the gross neglect of their effect on health. The carry-through of health effects and their magnification in subsequent generations is a tragedy in the making

Design and analysis of wideband passive microwave devices using planar structures

A selected volume of work consisting of 84 published journal papers is presented to demonstrate the contributions made by the author in the last seven years of his work at the University of Queensland in the area of Microwave Engineering. The over-arching theme in the author’s works included in this volume is the engineering of novel passive microwave devices that are key components in the building of any microwave system. The author’s contribution covers innovative designs, design methods and analyses for the following key devices and associated systems: Wideband antennas and associated systems Band-notched and multiband antennas Directional couplers and associated systems Power dividers and associated systems Microwave filters Phase shifters Much of the motivation for the work arose from the desire to contribute to the engineering o