Chemopreventive efficacy of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in ethionine induced rat hepatocarcinogenesis

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosco) is widely used in foods as a spice all around the world. It has been reported to have antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties. We investigated the effect of ginger in ethionine induced rat hepatocarcinogenesis. Male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: group 1 and 2 served as controls and they received normal rat chow and olive oil respectively. Group 3 was fed with ginger oleoresin dissolved in olive oil at 100 mg/kg body wt. Group 4 was fed with choline deficient diet and 0.1% ethionine in drinking water (CDE diet), and group 5 received ginger with CDE diet. Blood samples were taken from the orbital sinus at 0 and 8 weeks of experiment for the determination of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase and lipid peroxidation end product, malondialdehyde (MDA). Rats were also killed at 8 weeks for the observation of liver tumor formation. CDE diet induced the formation of liver nodules in rats and increased SODactivity. However, it had no effect on catalase, GPx and MDA levels when compared to both controls at 8 weeks of experiment. When CDE rats were treated with ginger, the formation of liver tumour, SOD activity and MDA level reduced, catalase activity was increased but no change was observed for GPx activity when compared to CDE group. In conclusion, ginger supplementation suppressed liver carcinogenesis by scavenging the free radical formation, and by reducing lipid peroxidation.Keywords: Choline deficient diet, Ethionine, Liver cancer, Ginger, Antioxidants, Lipid peroxidatio

Fractal Characteristic of Electrical Trees Grown in Silicone Rubber under Environmental Stress

One of the degradations of insulation is in the form of electrical treeing in which classified as a pre-breakdown phenomenon of electrical insulation. The electrical tree is commonly forming in the shape of tree-like or root-like which may have fractal structures. Due to this fractal structure, electrical treeing formation and patterns are analysed via fractal dimension and lacunarity to study the self-similarity patterns of electrical treeing. Many types of research have been conducted to study the fractal dimension and lacunarity of electrical treeing to fully understand the electrical tree mechanism and characteristics. However, fractal and lacunarity structures o

Large Solar Neutrino Mixing in an Extended Zee Model

The Zee model, which employs the standard Higgs scalar ($\phi$) with its duplicate ($\phi^\prime$) and a singly charged scalar ($h^+$), can utilize two global symmetries associated with the conservation of the numbers of $\phi$ and $\phi^\prime$, $N_{\phi,\phi^\prime}$, where $N_\phi+N_{\phi^\prime}$ coincides with the hypercharge while $N_\phi-N_{\phi^\prime}$ ($\equiv X$) is a new conserved charge, which is identical to $L_e-L_\mu-L_\tau$ for the left-handed leptons. Charged leptons turn out to have $e$-$\mu$ and $e$-$\tau$ mixing masses, which are found to be crucial for the large solar neutrino mixing. In an extended version of the Zee model with an extra triplet Higgs scalar (s), neutrino oscillations are described by three steps: 1) the maximal atmospheric mixing is induced by democratic mass terms supplied by $s$ with $X$=2 that can initiate the type II seesaw mechanism for the smallness of these masses; 2) the maximal solar neutrino mixing is triggered by the creation of radiative masses by $h^+$ with $X$ = 0; 3) the large solar neutrino mixing is finally induced by a $\nu_\mu$-$\nu_\tau$ mixing arising from the rotation of the radiative mass terms as a result of the diagonalization that converts $e$-$\mu$ and $e$-$\tau$ mixing masses into the electron mass.Comment: RevTex, 10 pages including one figure page, to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A (2002

Pengolahan Minyak Jelantah Menjadi Biodiesel

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui karakteristik biodiesel yang dihasilkan dari minyak jelantah. Minyak jelantah dimurnikan melalui tiga tahap yaitu despicing, netralisasi dan bleaching. Selanjutya diolah menjadi biodiesel melalui dua proses yaitu proses esterifikasi menggunakan katalis asam dan proses transesterifikasi menggunakan katalis basa. Hasil uji karakteristik biodiesel menunjukan bahwa densitas biodiesel dari minyak pabrik telah memenuhi SNI 04-7182-2006. Tetapi biodiesel dari minyak kampung belum memenuhi SNI 04-7182-2006. Hasil uji viskositas menunjukan bahwa biodiesel dari minyak kampung dan minyak pabrik telah memenuhi SNI 04-7182-2006. Hasil uji bilangan asam menunjukan bahwa biodiesel dari minyak pabrik dan biodiesel dari minyak kampung belum memenuhi SNI 04-7182-2006. Hasil uji kadar air menunjukan bahwa biodiesel dari minyak pabrik dan biodiesel dari minyak kampung belum memenuhi SNI 04-7182-2006. Hasil uji GC menunjukan bahwa persen area metil ester (biodiesel) dari minyak pabrik sebesar 99,59 % dengan kadar asam 0,41 %. Dan persen area metil ester (biodiesel) dari minyak kampung sebesar 96,70 % dengan kadar asam 3,30 %

Four-wave mixing cascades seeded by a multiwavelength Brillouin–erbium fiber laser

Four-wave mixing (FWM) cascades which are seeded by a multiwavelength Brillouin–erbium fiber laser (MBEFL) are experimentally demonstrated in this work. The MBEFL, which is based on virtual mirror feedback, is successful in providing the seed for the FWM cascades. The stimulated Brillouin scattering and parametric gain for the development of the MBEFL and FWM cascades, respectively, are provided by a 12 km dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF). By launching the MBEFL into the DSF, as many as 80 comb lines can be generated when the Brillouin pump (BP) wavelength is tuned at 1560 nm. Analysis of FWM cascades as a function of BP wavelength shows that the number of comb lines is greater at the anomalous-dispersion region of the DSF, suggesting that the phase mismatch is minimized in that regime

Light-Addressable Potentiometric Sensors Using ZnO Nanorods as the Sensor Substrate for Bioanalytical Applications

Light-addressable potentiometric sensors (LAPS) are of great interest in bioimaging applications such as the monitoring of concentrations in microfluidic channels or the investigation of metabolic and signaling events in living cells. By measuring the photocurrents at electrolyte–insulator–semiconductor (EIS) and electrolyte–semiconductor structures, LAPS can produce spatiotemporal images of chemical or biological analytes, electrical potentials and impedance. However, its commercial applications are often restricted by their limited AC photocurrents and resolution of LAPS images. Herein, for the first time, the use of 1D semiconducting oxides in the form of ZnO nanorods for LAPS imaging is explored to solve this issue. A significantly increased AC photocurrent with enhanced image resolution has been achieved based on ZnO nanorods, with a photocurrent of 45.7 ± 0.1 nA at a light intensity of 0.05 mW, a lateral resolution as low as 3.0 μm as demonstrated by images of a PMMA dot on ZnO nanorods and a pH sensitivity of 53 mV/pH. The suitability of the device for bioanalysis and bioimaging was demonstrated by monitoring the degradation of a thin poly­(ester amide) film with the enzyme α-chymotrypsin using LAPS. This simple and robust route to fabricate LAPS substrates with excellent performance would provide tremendous opportunities for bioimaging

Neutrino masses from universal Fermion mixing

If three right-handed neutrinos are added to the Standard Model, then, for the three known generations, there are six quarks and six leptons. It is then natural to assume that the symmetry considerations that have been applied to the quark matrices are also valid for the lepton mass matrices. Under this assumption, the solar and atmospheric neutrino data can be used to determine the individual neutrino masses. Using the \chi^2 fit, it is found that the mass of the lightest neutrino is (2-5)\times10^{-3} eV, that of the next heavier neutrino is (10-13)\times10^{-3} eV, while the mass of the heaviest neutrino is (52-54)\times10^{-3} eV.Comment: 27 pages, LaTeX, including several figure

Effect of Gas Flowrate on Nucleation Mechanism of MWCNTs for a Compound Catalyst

Activation of the catalyst particles during a CVD process can be anticipated from the carbon feeding rate. In this study, Fe2O3/Al2O3 catalyst was synthesized with uniformly dispersed iron over alumina support for onward production of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a fluidized bed chemical CVD reactor. The effect of the ethylene flowrate on catalytic activity of the compound catalyst and morphology of the as-grown MWCNTs was also investigated in this study. The dispersed active phases of the catalyst and optimized gas flowrate helped in improving the tube morphology and prevented the aggregation of the as-grown MWCNTs. The flowrates, below 100 sccm, did not provide sufficient reactants to interact with the catalyst for production of defect-free CNT structures. Above 100 sccm, concentration of the carbon precursor did not show notable influence on decomposition rate of the gas molecules. The most promising results on growth and structural properties of MWCNTs were gained at ethylene flowrate of 100 sccm. At this flowrate, the ratio of G and D intensity peaks (IG/ID) was deliberated about 1.40, which indicates the growth of graphitic structures of MWCNTs

Pengaruh Variasi Agregat Terhadap Kekuatan Dan Berat Kuda-kuda Beton Komposit Tulangan Bambu Dengan Serat Bambu

Yang sering digunakan pada konstruksi rumah adalah kuda-kuda beton bertulang. Alasan menggunakan kuda-kuda beton bertulang karena mudah diaplikasikan di dalam konstruksi. Oleh karena itu perlu adanya alternatif agar kuda – kuda beton menjadi konstruksi yang ringan dengan mengunakan tulangan bambu. Penggunaan tulangan bambu adalah suatu opsi yang baik karena memiliki kekuatan yang cukup tinggi dan memiliki berat sendiri yang lebih ringan daripada tulangan baja. Untuk lebih menerapkan konsep ringan pada kuda – kuda, maka dalam penelitian ini menggunakan variasi agregat kasar yang lebih ringan daripada agregat kasar konvensional (batu kerikil), serta serat bambu dapat mengatasi kelemahan beton terhadap kekuatan tarik. Penelitian ini membahas tentang pengaruh agregat kasar terhadap kekuatan dan berat kuda-kuda beton komposit tulangan bambu dengan serat bambu. Variasi agregat kasar yang digunakan adalah batu pumice dan limbah batu bata. Kuda-kuda yang memiliki sudut sebesar 35° dibuat sebanyak 3 buah untuk setiap variasinya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kuda-kuda beragregat kasar limbah batu bata dengan serat bambu memiliki berat sendiri rata-rata yang lebih ringan sebesar 84,15 kg dan mampu menahan beban lebih baik sebesar 3766,67 kg daripada yang beragregat kasar batu kerikil. Namun kuda – kuda agregat batu kerikil memiliki kekakuan yang lebih besar dibandingkan dengan kuda-kuda beragregat kasar batu pumice dan limbah batu bata

Clear Experimental Signature of Charge-Orbital density wave in Nd1−x_{1-x}Ca1+x_{1+x}MnO4_{4}

Single Crystals of Nd$_{1-x}$Ca$_{1+x}$MnO$_{4}$ have been prepared by the travelling floating-zone method, and possible evidence of a charge -orbital density wave in this material presented earlier [PRB68,092405 (2003)] using High Resolution Electron Microscopy [HRTEM] and Electron Diffraction [ED]. In the current note we present direct evidence of charge-orbital ordering in this material using heat capacity measurements. Our heat capacity measurements indicate a clear transition consistent with prior observation. We find two main transitions, one at temperature $T_{_H}=310-314$ K, and other at $T_{_A}=143$ K. In addition, we may also conclude that there is a strong electron-phonon coupling in this material.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure