Phytochemical screening and evaluation of anti-microbial and anti-oxidant activity of Elettaria cardamom (Cardamom)

The present study deals with the phytochemical screening and evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities from the crude methanol extract of the seeds of cardamom, Elettaria cardamom. Crude methanol extract was investigated for their antibacterial activity against Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Listeria monocytogenes,Bacillus pumilus and Escherichia coli. The extract showed maximum zone of inhibition (20.3 mm) against EPEC, however, the antibacterial potential of the extract was slightly lesser against normal E. coli (19 mm). It showed moderate anti-bacterial activity against L. monocytogenes and B. pumilus. Dose-dependent increase in antioxidant activity was also noticed in crude extract as measured by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Thus, our study reports various phytochemicals in the seeds of cardamom with antioxidant and antibacterial potential

Development and Validation of an Educational Booklet for Sunnah Practices in Improving Quality of Life

Sunnah eating practices refers to the practices promoted by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that has healthy lifestyle elements. This paper describes the validation process of an educational booklet for sunnah eating practices to improve the Quality of Life among adults population. This study involves three steps; development of the booklet, validation of the booklet by 22 judges, and by 20 adults. The result of the Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) for the booklet exceeds 0.80. Thus, the booklet was validated and should be used by healthcare professionals to assist on eating practices to improve the quality of life.Keywords: Sunnah; Eating practice; Physical activity; Educational booklet.ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Butein Activates Autophagy Through AMPK/TSC2/ULK1/mTOR Pathway to Inhibit IL-6 Expression in IL-1β Stimulated Human Chondrocytes

Background/Aims: Butein (2’,3,4,4’-Tetrahydroxychalcone), a polyphenol produced by several plants including Butea monoserpma, has been reported to exert potent anti-inflammatory activity but the mechanism remains unknown. In the present work we investigated the mechanism of Butein-mediated suppression of IL-6 expression in normal and human osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes under pathological conditions. Methods: Expression level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) protein in OA cartilage was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using a validated antibody. Chondrocytes derived from normal or OA cartilage by enzymatic digestion were pretreated with Butein followed by stimulation with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and the levels of IL-6 mRNA were quantified by TaqMan assay and the protein levels were measured by Western immunoblotting. Autophagy activation was determined by Western blotting and confocal microscopy. Autophagy was inhibited by siRNA mediated knockdown of ATG5. Results: Expression of IL-6 protein was high in the OA cartilage compared to smooth cartilage from the same patient. OA chondrocytes and cartilage explants stimulated with IL-1β showed high level expression of IL-6 mRNA and protein. Butein increased the phosphorylation of AMPKαThr-172, TSC2Ser-1387 and ULK1Ser-317 and inhibited the phosphorylation of mTORSer-2448 and its downstream target p70S6K and increased autophagy flux that correlated with the suppression of the IL-1β mediated expression of IL-6 in normal and OA chondrocytes. In OA chondrocytes with siRNA-mediated knockdown of ATG5 expression, treatment with Butein failed to activate autophagy and abrogated the suppression of IL-1β induced IL-6 expression. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that Butein activate autophagy in OA chondrocytes via AMPK/TSC2/ULK1/mTOR pathway. Additionally, activation of autophagy was essential to block the IL-1β-induced expression of IL-6 in OA chondrocytes. These data support further studies to evaluate the use of Butein or compounds derived from it for the management of OA

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) findings in males and females with comparable head sizes at supra-threshold and threshold levels

Background and purpose: Gender disparities in auditory brainstem response (ABR) results have been reported but the exact reasons remain controversial. Difference in head size between genders has been suggested but the literature is lacking, particularly at threshold levels. In this short communication, we compared ABR results between males and females with comparable head sizes at supra-threshold and threshold levels. Materials and methods: In this comparative study, of 58 healthy young adults, 30 of them (17 females and 13 males) with comparable head sizes underwent the standard ABR testing. Wave V latencies and ABR thresholds were determined and analyzed accordingly. Results: At the supra-threshold level, significantly shorter wave V latencies were found in females than in males (p=0.029). This difference was substantive (d=0.86) and persisted even when the head size was included in the analysis (p=0.032). In contrast, no significant differences in ABR thresholds were found between genders (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Significant gender differences in ABR results among young adults were only found at the suprathreshold level, which were not related to the head size. Based on the study outcomes, gender-specific normative data for ABR are still beneficial for clinical applications, particularly when recording ABR at high stimulation levels

The effect of graphene addition on the microstructure and properties of graphene/copper composites for sustainable energy materials

Graphene is a single thin layer (mono layer) of a hexagon-bound carbon atom and is an allotropic carbon in the form of a hybrid atomic plane, with a molecular bond length of 0.142 nm. Graphene is the thinnest and lightest material with 0.77 mg square meters, which exhibited excellent electricity and heat conductor. However, the perfect uniform microstructure, strength and optimum thermal properties of copper-graphene composites cannot be achieved because the amount of graphene does not reach the optimum level. In order to solve this problem, copper-graphene composites were produced by metal injection molding method (MIM) with various percentage of graphene, specifically 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% in the composite, to compare the physical and mechanical properties of these samples. MIM process involves the preparation of feed materials, pre-mixing process, mixing process, mold injection process, binding process and sintering processes. Feeding materials were used are copper and graphene, which have the powder loading of 62% with a mix of binder comprising 73% polyethylene glycol (PEG), 25% polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and 2% stearic acid (SA). Densification and tensile test were conducted to determine the mechanical properties. Scanning electron microstructure (SEM) was performed to obtain the microstructure of the composites. From the research, the result revealed that the 0.5% graphene content had the optimum parameter, which the hardness and tensile stress values were at 94.2 HRL and 205.22 MPa

Chocolate cakes preference using ranking fuzzy numbers (Keutamaan kek coklat menggunakan pemangkatan nombor kabur)

Ranking is one of the widely used evaluation methods in deciding the best food that is available in today’s competitive market. However, ranking is not always a straight forward process especially when dealing with fuzzy linguistic of multi-attributes evaluation. This paper presents a method of ranking fuzzy numbers to ranking of four selected chocolate cakes according to five attributes. Data in the form of linguistic terms from a sensory experiment were collected from thirty judges in Terengganu. Judges evaluate the chocolate cakes according to five major sensory attributes, i.e. colour, sweetness, texture, humidity and flavour on a 5-point linguistic terms. Sensory data were transformed into fuzzy numbers using linguistic values. Decisions are made based on the centroid point ( x(A), y(A) ), where x(A)and y(A) indicate the distance values from the centroid point to original point on horizontal axis and vertical axis for a fuzzy number. These points permit to characterise the evaluation behaviour of the attributes of chocolate cakes. It is found that no single cake was dominating the first ranking in all the five attributes. The analyses of sensory evaluation using a method of ranking fuzzy numbers successfully ranked the chocolate cakes with multi-attributes

Effects of attention deficits on the auditory processing performance among normal and APD children

Introduction: In a recent decade, the experts and audiology professional bodies across the world started to consider the involvement of top-down processing of higher-order cognitive functions, particularly attention, as a part of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the extension of the effect of attention on auditory processing performance among normal and APD children, particularly in the event that attention deficits also identified together with APD. Methods: This study was conducted among 94 normal hearing children, aged from 8 to 12 years old, with normal intelligence quotient (IQ) and working memory. These children were divided into normal and APD group based on their performance on five APD assessments. The children in each group were further categorized into three sub-groups based on their attention status that was assessed through SNAP-IV questionnaire, which are; i) normal attention; ii) suspected with attention deficit disorder (ADD); and iii) suspected with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results: This study observed a reduction in performance on four APD assessments among normal and APD children with attention deficits, which are; i) dichotic digit test; ii) gap-in-noise test; iii) pitch pattern sequence test and iv) digit triplet test. No significant reduction was observed on masking level difference test performance. The reduction in APD test performance due to attention deficit was more pronounce among APD children compared to normal children. Discussion: Consistent with literatures, the effect of attention deficits on the APD test performance in both groups of children indicates the important role of attention in modulating the auditory processing system. The reduction in the performance that was more pronounce among APD children indicates the presence of attention deficit exacerbate the difficulty in auditory processing. As attention has an effect on auditory processing, attention assessment should be considered as a part of APD assessment in the future

Interference control and selective attention ability among children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

Introduction: In everyday life listening environment, the bottom-up auditory processing system and the top-down processing of executive functions work closely to suppress the irrelevant sound and help to focus on the relevant sound. The executive functions that help to achieve this goal are interference control and selective attention. Considering the importance of these executive functions, this study aimed to investigate the ability in inhibitory control and selective attention among normal and APD children, particularly in the event that attention deficit was also identified together with APD. Methods: This study was conducted among 79 normal hearing children, aged from 8 to 12 years old, with normal intelligence quotient (IQ) and working memory. These children were divided into normal and APD group. The children in each group were further categorized based on their attention status that was assessed through the SNAP-IV questionnaire, which are; i) normal attention; ii) attention deficit disorder (ADD) and iii) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To assess the ability in interference control and selective attention, the Stroop Task was conducted and the Stroop interference of percentage score and reaction time were calculated. Results: A significant reduction in the Stroop interference of percentage score was observed between APD children compared to normal children. The reduction was more prominent in an event which the APD children also have attention deficit. No significant difference in the Stroop interference of reaction time was observed between normal and APD children with and without attention deficit. Discussion: Children with APD have low Stroop interference indicates poor ability in interference control and selection ability. These abilities were further deteriorated in the event that the attention deficit was also identified. The poor ability in interference control and selective attention should be considered as a potential cause of difficulty to hear in background noise, which is commonly reported by APD patient