Hepatoprotective Effect Of Cymbopogon Citratus Aqueous Extract Against Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Liver Injury In Male Rats

Background: Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) a tropical perennial herb plant that is widely cultivated to be eaten either fresh with food or dried in tea or soft drink has been reported to possess a number of medicinal and aromatic properties. This study aimed at evaluating the protective effects of C. citratus aqueous extract against liver injury induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), in male rats.Materials and Methods: Twenty-five rats were randomly divided into five different groups of five animals in each group; (1) Control. (2) Received H2O2 (0.5%) with drinking water. (3), and (4) received H2O2 and C. citratus (100 mg·kg-1 b wt), vitamin C (250 mg·kg-1 b wt) respectively. (5), was given C. citratus alone. The treatments were administered for 30 days. Blood samples were collected and serum was used for biochemical assay including liver enzymes activities, total protein, total bilirubin and malonaldehyde, glutathione in serum and liver homogenates. Liver was excised and routinely processed for histological examinations.Results: C. citratus attenuated liver damage due to H2O2 administration as indicated by the significant reduction (p<0.05), in the elevated levels of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, TB, and MDA in serum and liver homogenates; increase in TP and GSH levels in serum and liver homogenates; and improvement of liver histo-pathological changes. These effects of the extract were similar to that of vitamin C which used as antioxidant reference.Conclusion: C. citratus could effectively ameliorate H2O2-induced oxidative stress and prevent liver injury in male rats.Key Words: Cymbopogon citratus, Vitamin C, Hydrogen peroxide, Rat, Liver enzymes, Serum proteins, Histopathology

Chemical Composition of Small Diameter Wild Acacia Mangium Species

Acacia mangium is an exotic species grows wildly and widely planted in Malaysia, as an effort for reforestation and also known to be used in pulp and paper industries. The objectives of this study is to determine 5 chemical composition (extractives, holocellulose, α-cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) in 2 different parts (wood and bark) from 3 different portions (bottom, middle and top) of small diameter wild Acacia mangium. Samples were collected from Jeli, approximately 10 kilometers from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Jeli Campus, Kelantan with diameter around 5-8 cm. Samples were then grounded using laboratory grade mill into powder form for chemical composition analysis. All analyses were done according to Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) standard method, except for hemicellulose which is the data collected through equation. All the data and results were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc test. Results acquired reveals that extractives content was highest in bark part from bottom portion (15.03%). Highest holocellulose percentage can be found in wood part of top portion (85.99%) and the highest of α-cellulose content is in wood partfrom top portion (49.84%), meanwhile the highest of hemicellulose content can be found in wood part from top portion (36.15%). Lignin percentage is the highest in bark part of bottom portion (31.18%). This study has determined small diameter wild Acacia mangium as a useful alternative resource in pulp and paper industries

Energy consumption for desalination - a comparison of forward osmosis with reverse osmosis, and the potential for perfect membranes

Reverse osmosis (RO) is now the most ubiquitous technology for desalination, with numerous seawater RO plants being built in water-stressed countries to complement existing water resources. Despite the development of highly permeable RO membranes, energy consumption remains a major contributor to total cost. Forward osmosis (FO) is receiving much attention as a potentially lower energy alternative to RO. However, the draw solution (DS) recovery step in FO requires significant energy consumption. The present study is a modelling approach, simulating FO and RO desalination under various process conditions and process flow schemes using the Aspen Plus environment. Results suggest that there is practically no difference in specific energy consumption (SEC) between standalone RO, and FO with nanofiltration (NF) DS recovery; this can be generalised for any pressure-driven membrane process used for the DS recovery stage in a hybrid FO process. Furthermore, even if any or all of the membranes considered, FO, RO or NF, were perfect (i.e. had infinite permeance and 100% rejection), it would not change the SEC significantly. Hence, any advantage possessed by the FO with NF recovery process derives from the lower fouling propensity of FO, which may reduce or eliminate the need for pretreatment and chemical cleanin

ENT300 (Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship) XL Enterprise / Ag Nurhanim Bin Ag Omar... [et.al]

The name of our company is “XL Enterprise". XL stands for the size of the company which means larger. Our goal is to become a larger and well known printing company in Sarawak. We start with a small company and will improve the company to achieve our goal in the future. Nature of business We will provide photocopy and all kind of printing such as banner, sticker, poster and others. We also will provide our customer with stationeries

Organic fouling behaviour of structurally and chemically different forward osmosis membranes – A study of cellulose triacetate and thin film composite membranes

The HTI cellulose triacetate (CTA) and novel thin film composite (TFC) membranes are used to study the multifaceted interactions involved in the fouling and cleaning of forward osmosis (FO) membranes, using calcium alginate as a model foulant. Results show that fouling on the TFC membrane was more significant compared to CTA, arising from a variety of factors associated with surface chemistry, membrane morphology and structural properties. Interestingly, it was observed that in FO mode, membrane surface properties dominated over fouling layer properties in determining fouling behaviour, with some surface properties (e.g. surface roughness) having a greater effect on fouling than others (e.g. surface hydrophilicity). In pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) mode, structural properties of the support played a more dominant role whereby fouling mechanism was specific to the foulant size and aggregation as well as the support pore size relative to the foulant. Whilst pore clogging was observed in the TFC membrane due to its highly asymmetric and porous support structure, fouling occurred as a surface phenomenon on the CTA membrane support layer. Besides pore clogging, the severe fouling observed on the TFC membrane in PRO mode was due to a high specific mass of foulant adsorbed in its porous support. It was observed that a trade-off between enhanced membrane performance and fouling mitigation is apparent in these membranes, with both membranes providing improvement in one aspect at the expense of the other. Hence, significant developments in their surface and structural properties are needed to achieve high anti-fouling properties without compromising flux performance. Measured fouling densities on the studied surfaces suggest that there is not a strong correlation between foulant-membrane interaction and fouling density. Cleaning results suggest that physical cleaning was more efficient on the CTA membrane compared to the TFC membrane. Further, they implied that despite different mechanisms of fouling and quantities of foulant adsorbed in FO membranes, FO is a resilient process with high cleaning efficiencies and fouling reversibility

Aspects of the reproductive biology of two archer fishes Toxotes chatareus, (Hamilton 1822) and Toxotes jaculatrix (Pallas 1767)

Various aspects of the reproductive biology of two archer fishes Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes jaculatrix were studied to describe gonad development, spawning season, sex ratio, and fecundity. Spawning season was assessed using monthly changes in gonadosomatic index (GSI) and histological inspection of the gonads. Both species exhibit two modes of oocytes; a mode of small primary growth oocytes and a single mode that increases with size as oocytes sequester vitellogenin and undergo maturation, showing the synchronous oocyte development typical of total spawners. Based on GSI values and advanced stages of oocyte maturity, T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix, females appear to spawn from November to December. The average fecundity of female T. chatareus was 55 000 ± 5538 eggs, and T. jaculatrix was 50 000 ± 3440 eggs; fecundity ranged from 20 000 to 150 000 eggs for both species, with relative fecundities of 600 to 1100 eggs/g body weight, and a mean value of 800 ± 32 for T. chatareus; relative fecundity ranged from 500 to 1100 with a mean value of 700 ± 23 for T. jaculatrix. Sex ratio, defined as the proportion of males to females, was 2. 2 and 2. 5 in T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix, respectively. The apparent abundance of males in samples could be due to females being positioned lower in the water column and therefore being sampled less frequently. Our results indicate that in both species, spawning occurs between the months of November and December during the monsoon season, which provides the mangrove coastal waters inhabited by these species with an abundance of food resources and additional floodplain nursery habitat for larvae and juveniles