Pre-Modern Commerce and Society in Southern Asia

"Inaugural lecture delivered on the December 21, 1971"

Islamic Merchant Communities of the Indian Subcontinent in Southeast Asia

Sixth Sri Lanka Endowment Fund lecture delivered at the University of Malaya on Wednesday, October 11, 1989

Mixture of residual fish hydrolysate and fish extract hydrolysate to activate Bacillus licheniformis 6346

Microbes are first activated in appropriate media before cultivation/fermentation. Bacillus licheniformis 6346 activated in nutrient broth-starch was inoculated to a locally formulated solid medium (paddy husk, rice flour, (NH4)2SO4, cuttle fish powder, murate potash, table salt, triple super phosphate, sesame oil, coconut oil and tap water) and the highest -amylase activity was obtained on day 5 (1075 U g DBM-1) at42°C. Replacement of nutrient broth-starch with residual fish hydrolysate-starch led to the enzyme production to 1100.3 and 1180.4 U g DBM-1 on days 5 and 6, respectively. Supplementation of residual fish hydrolysate-starch with 3 gL-1 (NH4)2HPO4 increased the -amylase production to 1426 U g DBM-1on the 4th day. Supplementation of residual fish hydrolysate-starch-(NH4)2HPO4 with yeast extract reduced the -amylase production to 877 U g DBM-1. Mixing residual fish hydrolysate with fish extract hydrolysate in the volume ratio of 1: 32.6 and supplementing starch and (NH4)2HPO4 increased the enzyme production to 2328 U g DBM-1. Maintenance of amino acid content in terms of glycine or tyrosine in activation medium did not show significant correlation with -amylase production by B. licheniformis. This study shows that, to activate B. Licheniformis, residual fish hydrolysate - starch - (NH4)2HPO4 - fish extract hydrolysate could be used instead of nutrient broth-starch

Noninvasive Imaging for the Assessment of Coronary Artery Disease

Noninvasive cardiac imaging is a cornerstone of the diagnostic work-up in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and congenital heart disease. It is essential for the assessment of CAD from functional and anatomical perspectives, and is considered the gate-keeper to invasive coronary angiography. Cardiac tests include exercise electrocardiography, single photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging, positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging, stress echocardiography, coronary computed tomography angiography, and stress cardiac magnetic resonance. The wide range of imaging techniques is advantageous for the detection and management of cardiac diseases, and the implementation of preventive measures that can affect the long-term prognosis of these diseases. However, clinicians face a challenge when deciding which test is most appropriate for a given patient. Basic knowledge of each modality will facilitate the decision-making process in CAD assessment

Stochastic conjugate gradient based multi-user constant modulus algorithm for use in multiuser DS-CDMA environment

Published versio

Adaptive step-size blind multi-user detectors for DS-CDMA systems under deterministically and Markovian time-varying multipath environments

Published versio

The effect of multicultural attitudes and perceived intergroup threat on attitudes towards immigrants in Portugal: a polynomial regression with response surface analysis

Supported by the Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT), this study analyzes the effect of multicultural ideology on attitudes towards immigrants mediated by realistic, symbolic, and zero-sum threats. With a sample of Portuguese participants (N = 404)), polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology was used to test the effects of multicultural attitude (MA) and perceived intergroup threat (PIT) on attitudes towards immigrants (ATI). This study also tested a model in which positive MA leads to a lower PIT, and consequently to more favorable ATI. Four hypotheses were proposed; all of which were confirmed. The results further showed that the direction of discrepancy between MA and PIT can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the complex role of multicultural ideology in predicting ATI. Findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Short- versus Long-term Dual Anti-platelet Therapy (DAPT) in Secondary Prevention for Ischaemic Stroke – A Network Metanalysis

Aim: This review aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of short-term (==1 year) dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in secondary prevention for ischaemic stroke. Methods and results: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE (Ovid), PubMed, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov and Google Advanced Search for randomised controlled trials. The population consisted of patients with recent ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack. The intervention was DAPT with a combination of aspirin, clopidogrel and dipyridamole compared to either aspirin or clopidogrel in monotherapy. The primary outcome was the rate of all recurrent stroke (ischaemic and haemorrhagic). Secondary outcomes were ischaemic stroke, all bleeding, severe bleeding, all-cause death, cardiovascular death and myocardial infarction. Data were pooled by network metanalysis and pairwise metanalyses. Sixteen studies with 55,261 participants were included. Compared to aspirin, DAPT with aspirin clopidogrel decreased the risk of recurrent stroke (short-term OR 0.67, 95%CI 0.58-0.77; long-term OR 0.84, 95%CI 0.70- 1.01) at the expense of increased risk of bleeding (short-term OR 1.76, 95%CI 1.26-2.46; long-term OR 2.25, 95%CI 1.97-2.57). DAPT with aspirin clopidogrel and clopidogrel in monotherapy had similar long-term risk of recurrent stroke (OR 0.98, 95%CI 0.83-1.14), but DAPT was associated with increased risk of bleeding (OR 2.77, 95%CI 2.21-3.46). Network metanalysis showed that short-term aspirin clopidogrel DAPT had the best risk-benefit profile, followed by long-term aspirin clopidogrel DAPT and clopidogrel alone. Aspirin dipyridamole DAPT was less effective. Conclusion: Short-term DAPT had better risk-benefit profile than long-term DAPT.European Society of Cardiology (ESC)NIH

SUBMERGED FERMENTATION BIOCONVERSION OF AIR-CLASSIFIED STARCH-RICH PULSE FLOURS TO PROTEIN-RICH PRODUCTS

Pulse starch is a low-value, often underutilized co-product of the pulse industry. This research focuses on the submerged fermentation of starch-rich pulse fractions by generally recognized as safe (GRAS) microbes that result in production of microbial biomass enriched in crude protein, converting low-value starch to higher-value microbial protein. Accordingly, starch-rich pulse fractions of yellow field pea, yellow lentil and faba bean flours were fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum or Aspergillus oryzae applied as single- and multi-strain cultures. The fermentation process converted starch into microbial protein, increasing protein levels in fermented flour. The protein content of starch-rich yellow pea, yellow lentil and faba bean flours increased from 7.8% to 10.2%, 16.5% to 18.5% and 14.5% to 16.4% respectively. However, the increase in protein content was not sufficient to make the fermented substrates reach the targeted level of >45% protein. This was likely due to the shortage of nitrogen as starch-rich flours have 80% or above carbohydrate. The addition of inexpensive, commonly available nitrogen compounds was tested to increase protein. The starch-rich flours were supplemented with ammonium sulphate, ammonium phosphate or urea at varying concentrations (15 g/L – 35 g/L) over the fermentation time course to aid in de novo microbial protein synthesis. It was found that nitrogen supplementation aided microbial growth during fermentation and resulted in higher protein yield than when no additional nitrogen was added. Supplementation of urea at 35 g/L resulted in highest protein yield in all three pulse flours, resulting in final protein levels above 45%. The protein-rich fermented substrates were then further analyzed for proximate composition including starch, ash, lipid and moisture contents and in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD). It was found that as the protein content increased, the starch and lipid levels in the fermented substrates decreased. The overall protein digestibility of substrates fermented by L. plantarum was also improved and significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to A. oryzae and L. plantarum-A. oryzae co-culture fermented samples. Overall, this research highlights that fermentation by GRAS microbes for single cell protein (SCP) production is a highly efficient method to increase value of under-utilized starch-rich by-products in the pulse industry, as SCP can be used as an alternative for conventional food and feed