Characterization of microcrystalline cellulose isolated through mechanochemical method

Mechanochemical process, which involves simultaneous ultrasound and alkali treatment, has been used to isolatemicrocrystalline cellulose (MCC) from raw oil palm empty fruit bunch (REFB) fibre. Three steps have been used to preparethe MCC, namely removal of lignin, removal of hemicellulose and finally production of MCC. The crystallinity index inMCC is found to be 81% which is 54% higher than that of REFB and 45% higher than that of cellulose. Besidescrystallinity, the crystal size (28.03Å) of MCC is also enhanced noticeably by 53% as compared to the REFB and 28% ascompared to cellulose. The degradation temperature, and the residue content reveal the excellent thermal stability of MCCextracted through this mechanochemical technique

Identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in bambangan (Mangifera pajang Kort.) peels and their free radical scavenging activity.

Phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of acidified methanolic extract prepared from fully ripe bambangan (Mangifera pajang K.) peel cultivated in Sarawak, Malaysia, were analyzed. The total phenolic content (98.3 mg GAE/g) of bambangan peel powder (BPP) was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. BPP showed a strong potency of antioxidant activity and was consistent with that of BHT and vitamin C as confirmed by the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and FRAP (ferric-reducing antioxidant power) assays. Gallic acid, p-coumaric acid, ellagic acid, protocatechuic acid, and mangiferin were the major compounds among the 16 phenolics that have been identified and quantified in M. pajang peels with 20.9, 12.7, 7.3, 5.4, and 4.8 mg/g BPP, respectively. Peak identities were confirmed by comparing their retention times, UV-vis absorption spectra, and mass spectra with authentic standards. The 16 phenolic compounds identified in M. pajang K. using HPLC-DAD and TSQ-ESI-MS are reported here for the first time

Improving the lipid profile in hypercholesterolemia-induced rabbit by supplementation of germinated brown rice.

It is imperative that there be a diet designed specifically to improve lipid profile in order to impede the progress of atherosclerosis. Because rice is a staple food in Asia, it will be chosen as the diet of interest. This study sets out to discover whether consumption of different processed rice diets may result in a change of the lipid profile. The experiment was done on male New Zealand white rabbits after 10 weeks of treatment with diet containing 0.5% cholesterol. The experimental diets include white rice (WR), brown rice (BR), and germinated brown rice (GBR). Among them, rabbits fed a GBR diet demonstrated significantly lower levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), LDL/HDL, and atherogenic index (AI) and a higher level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Results from atherosclerotic plaque assessment further support the findings. The level of malondialdehyde (MDA), which acts as an indicator for oxidative stress, was also reduced by GBR diet. The positive change in lipid profile in the rabbits fed GBR appeared to correspond with the higher amounts of γ-oryzanol, tocopherol, and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content

Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits

Anthocyanins are colored water-soluble pigments belonging to the phenolic group. The pigments are in glycosylated forms. Anthocyanins responsible for the colors, red, purple, and blue, are in fruits and vegetables. Berries, currants, grapes, and some tropical fruits have high anthocyanins content. Red to purplish blue-colored leafy vegetables, grains, roots, and tubers are the edible vegetables that contain a high level of anthocyanins. Among the anthocyanin pigments, cyanidin-3-glucoside is the major anthocyanin found in most of the plants. The colored anthocyanin pigments have been traditionally used as a natural food colorant. The color and stability of these pigments are influenced by pH, light, temperature, and structure. In acidic condition, anthocyanins appear as red but turn blue when the pH increases. Chromatography has been largely applied in extraction, separation, and quantification of anthocyanins. Besides the use of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural dyes, these colored pigments are potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various beneficial health effects. Scientific studies, such as cell culture studies, animal models, and human clinical trials, show that anthocyanidins and anthocyanins possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases. These studies confer the health effects of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, which are due to their potent antioxidant properties. Different mechanisms and pathways are involved in the protective effects, including free-radical scavenging pathway, cyclooxygenase pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and inflammatory cytokines signaling. Therefore, this review focuses on the role of anthocyanidins and anthocyanins as natural food colorants and their nutraceutical properties for health. Abbreviations: CVD: Cardiovascular disease VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Whey protein fraction based on Q-sepharose anion exchange chromatography

Whey proteinsarewell known for their nutritional value and had versatile functional properties.The mains proteins present in whey are α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, immunoglobulin andbovin eserum albumin. In this study, whey protein component is separate into several fractions using Q-Sepharose anion exchange chromatography column. The chromatographic process was run at different pH range from pH5 to pH8. The best separation was achieved at pH6 in which the major protein component can be separated into their individual protein fraction especially contains α- lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin. The yield of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin recovered from 2 ml whey at pH 6 was 46% and 98.4% respectively. Fractionation of single and pure protein component from whey can add the value of the wheybased product and these proteins can be used for specific application

Nano Crystal Cellulose Incorporated Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) Hydrogel for Industrial Waste Water Treatment

In this work, nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) was extracted from raw oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fiber. The NCC microstructure was evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Scanning electron microscope reveals the comparative surface morphology of raw EFB and NCC. The freeze-thawing cyclic process was applied to fabricate NCC incorporated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (NCC-PVA) hydrogel . The aim of this work is to improve removal capacity of methylene blue (MB) dye from industrial waste water using NCC incorporated PVA hydrogel. The gel fraction NCC-PVA hydrogel is lower as compared to neat PVA hydrogel. The NCC-PVA hydrogel was applied to remove the methylene blue (MB) dye from industrial waste water. The NCC enhanced the dye absorption capacity of NCC-PVA hydrogel as compared to neat PVA hydrogel

Characterization of microcrystalline cellulose isolated through mechanochemical method

Mechanochemical process, which involves simultaneous ultrasound and alkali treatment, has been used to isolatemicrocrystalline cellulose (MCC) from raw oil palm empty fruit bunch (REFB) fibre. Three steps have been used to preparethe MCC, namely removal of lignin, removal of hemicellulose and finally production of MCC. The crystallinity index inMCC is found to be 81% which is 54% higher than that of REFB and 45% higher than that of cellulose. Besidescrystallinity, the crystal size (28.03Å) of MCC is also enhanced noticeably by 53% as compared to the REFB and 28% ascompared to cellulose. The degradation temperature, and the residue content reveal the excellent thermal stability of MCCextracted through this mechanochemical technique

The Relationship Between Federal Government Revenue and Spending: Empirical Evidence From Asean-5 Countries

The main objectives of this paper is to examine the long run relationship between total expenditure, revenue (tax and nontax) and economic growth in ASEAN-5 countries namely by Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines. According to the prior studies, there are several hypotheses to explain the relationship between revenue and spend-ing such as (1) spend-revenue hypotheses, (2) revenue-spend hypotheses and (3)bi-directional causality hypotheses. To test the validity of these hypotheses, this study will util-ize a cointegration and variance decomposition analysis. Based on empirical evidence, we can concluded that the existence of long run relationship between government spending, revenue (tax and non tax) and economic growth for all ASEAN-5 countries. The result of variance decomposition also shows that the strong influence on expenditure to revenue in countries namely Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines, which support the spend-revenue hypotheses. Meanwhile, for Thailand and Singapore the budget decision driven by revenue side which support the revenue-spend hypotheses. In addition, public expenditure plays no role to stimulate economic growth in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines, except for Indonesia. Key words: Fiscal economics; Wagner law; cointegration test; variance decompositio

Modification of NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC) by Hyperbranched Polymer

Objectives: The surface modification of NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC) recently has been paid attention due to the increasing opportunities in the application. The objective of this paper is to modify the surface of NCC by the HyperBranched Polymer (HBP) with hydroxyl terminal groups ends. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The NCC surfaces were modified with HBP using solvent evaporation methods. First, the NCC was synthesized via ultrasound assisted acid hydrolysis process and the obtained NCC was surface coated by using HBP with different concentration through solvent evaporation technique. Finally, the obtained NCC and Modified NCC were characterized by using FTIR, XRD and TGA. Findings: Results revealed that there are significant differences of FTIR pattern analysis indicated that the NCC has been modified, however the modification NCC with HBP under various conditions did not change the X-ray patterns of NCC which indicates that the HBP only coated on the surface of NCC. Application/Improvements: This modification of NCC showed promising results which can be used for various applications