Status Epilepticus and Delirium Associated with Ertapenem in a Very Elderly Patient with Chronic Kidney Disease and Silent Ischaemic Cerebrovascular Disease

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Comparative analysis of electroencephalogram-based classification of user responses to statically vs. dynamically presented visual stimuli

Emotion is an important part of human and it plays important role in human communication. Nowadays, as the use of machine getting more common, the human computer interaction (HCI) has become important. The understanding of user could bring across a better aiding machine. The exploration of using EEG in understanding human is widely studied for benefit in several fields such as neuromarketing and HCI. In this study, we compare the use of 2 different stimuli (3D shapes with motion vs. 2D emotional images that are static) in attempting to classify positive versus negative feelings. A medical-grade 9-electrode Advance Brain Monitoring (ABM) B-alert X10 is used as the brain-computer interface (BCI) acquisition device to obtain the EEG signals. 4 subjects are involved in recording brain signals during viewing 2 types of stimuli. Feature extraction is then applied to the acquired EEG signals to obtain the alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta rhythms as features using time frequency analysis. Support vector machine (SVM) and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifiers are used to train and classify positive and negative feelings for both stimuli using different channels and rhythms. The average accuracy of 3D motion shapes are better than the average accuracy of the 2D static emotional images for both SVM and KNN with 69.88% and 56.35% using SVM for 3D motion shapes and emotional images respectively, and also 65.31% and 55.45% using KNN for 3D motion shapes and emotional images respectively. This study shows that the parietal lobe are more informative in the classification of 3D motion shapes while the Fz channel of the frontal lobe is more informative in classification of 2D static emotional images

Photopion reactions on deltas preexisting in nuclei

Reactions A(\gamma, pi^+p) are considered to proceed through the formation of pion-proton pairs on delta constituents in nuclei. We develop the nonrelativistic operator for \Delta^{++}(\gamma, pi^+)p process in an arbitrary frame. The calculated cross section for C12(\gamma, \pi^+p) reaction is compared to the existing experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Effect of gum arabic, β‐cyclodextrin, and sodium caseinate as encapsulating agent on the oxidative stability and bioactive compounds of spray‐dried kenaf seed oil

Kenaf seed oil is prone to undergo oxidation due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, thus microencapsulation stands as an alternative to protect kenaf seed oil from the adverse environment. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the oxidative stability of microencapsulated refined kenaf seed oil (MRKSO) by the use of gum arabic, β‐cyclodextrin, and sodium caseinate as the wall materials by spray drying. Bulk refined kenaf seed oil (BRKSO) and MRKSO were kept at 65 °C for 24 days to evaluate its oxidative stability, changes of tocopherol and tocotrienol contents, phytosterol content, and fatty acid profile. The results showed that the peroxide value, p ‐Anisidine value, and total oxidation value of BRKSO were significantly higher than the MRKSO at day 24. The total tocopherol and tocotrienol contents were reduced 66.1% and 56.8% in BRKSO and MRKSO, respectively, upon the storage. There was a reduction of 71.7% and 23.5% of phytosterol content in BRKSO and MRKSO, respectively, upon the storage. The degradation rate of polyunsaturated fatty acids in BRKSO was higher than that of MRKSO. This study showed that the current microencapsulation technique is a feasible way to retard the oxidation of kenaf seed oil

Determination of folate content in commonly consumed Malaysian foods

Currently, data concerning the content of naturally occurring dietary folate in Malaysian foods is scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the folate content of vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals that were commonly consumed among Malaysians. The total folate content of 156 samples (51 vegetables, 33 fruits, 22 legumes and legume products, and 50 cereals and cereal products) available in Malaysia was determined by microbiological assay using Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) after trienzyme treatment with protease, α-amylase and folate conjugase (from rat serum). An internal quality control system was used throughout the study by analyzing CRM 121 (wholemeal flour) and CRM 485 (lyophilized mixed vegetables); percent recovery (as mean ± SD) of 97 ± 2.0 and 101 ± 4.0 was obtained. The range of folate content in vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals were 1-11 μg/100 g and 1-31on the basis of fresh weight and 1-31 μg/100 g and 2-156 μg/100 g on the basis of dry weight, respectively. This study has shown that some of these underutilized vegetables and fruits are good sources of folate and could fulfill the recommended dietary intake of total folate

Association between dietary folate intake and blood status of folate and homocysteine in Malaysian adults.

Folate is of prime interest among investigators in nutrition due to its multiple roles in maintaining health, especially in preventing neural tube defects and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the effect of dietary folate intake on blood folate, vitamin B(12), vitamin B(6), and homocysteine status. One hundred subjects consisting of Chinese and Malay subjects volunteered to participate in this cross-sectional study. Dietary folate intake was assessed by 24-h dietary recall and a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Serum and red blood cell folate were analyzed using a microbiological assay, while serum vitamin B(12) was determined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the determination of serum vitamin B(6) and homocysteine. The mean folate intake, serum folate, RBC folate, serum vitamin B(12), and B(6), were higher in female subjects, with the exception of serum homocysteine. The Chinese tended to have higher folate intake, serum folate, RBC folate, and vitamin B(12). A positive association was found between folate intake and serum folate while a negative association was found between folate intake and serum homocysteine. Stepwise linear regression of serum folate showed a significant positive coefficient for folate intake whilst a significant negative coefficient was found for serum homocysteine when controlling for age, gender, and ethnicity. In conclusion, high dietary folate intake helps to increase serum folate and to lower the homocysteine levels

Identification of Oct4 and Sox2 targets in mouse embryonic stem cells

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Redesigning the Omnibus SPRT Control Chart for Simultaneous Monitoring of the Mean and Dispersion of Weibull Processes

Quality control charts play an important role in distinguishing between abnormal variations and normal variations of a manufacturing process. Generally, unusual variations in a process may arise due to a change in its mean or dispersion, or a simultaneous change in both parameters. In recent literature, the omnibus sequential probability ratio test (OSPRT) control chart has been proven effective for detecting joint shifts in both the process mean and variability. However, one limitation of the proposed scheme lies in its absolute dependence on the validity of the normality assumption, which may not apply to many quality data, such as machine failure times, the strength of plant fibres, etc. In this research, we critically analyze the performances of the OSPRT chart designed for the Normal distribution, in the case where quality data follow the well-known Weibull distribution. Our findings reveal that the in-control average run length and standard deviation of the run length of the OSPRT chart are significantly compromised due to the positive skewness of the Weibull distribution. As a means of tackling the problem, the skewness correction design has been proposed to correct the control limits of the OSPRT chart. The corrected OSPRT chart is found to produce a more satisfactory in-control performance, with an acceptable decline in its sensitivity towards small process shift sizes

Effect of chemical refining on the quality of kenaf (hibiscus cannabinus) seed oil

Crude kenaf seed oil was obtained by solvent extraction and chemically refined using industrial refining process, which includes degumming, neutralization, bleaching, and deodorization. The changes in physical characteristics, oxidation indexes, antioxidant activity, bioactive compounds, and fatty acid composition were determined after each stage of refining. The results obtained showed that there was no significant difference in the specific gravity of kenaf seed oil, but there was a significant increase in the refractive index and a significant decrease in the a* and b* values in the color determination after the refining. Peroxide value decreased from 2.64 to 0.55 meq/kg, p-Anisidine value increased from 2.41 to 3.41, TOTOX value decreased from 7.70 to 4.51, and free fatty acids decreased from 1.72 to 0.61 after the whole refining process. There was a removal of 64.5% of total phenolic content, 65.3% of total carotenoid content, 22.5% of phytosterol content and high retention of tocopherol content in kenaf seed oil after refining. Kenaf seed oil showed an increasing of 84.5% and 58.6% in DPPH value and ABTS+ value, respectively. Oleic acid was found in the largest amount in the refined kenaf seed oil (35.1%), followed by linoleic acid (32.3%) and palmitic acid (21.9%). There was a slight increase in unsaturated fatty acids and a slight decrease in saturated fatty acids after refining. This work showed that the chemical refining process offers an improvement in the quality of kenaf seed oil

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet: A study via metaphoric perceptions on how online feedback benefited Chinese learners

Theoretical claims about the benefits of online feedback suggest it can facilitate language learning. However, despite the calls for new digital literacies on language education, attitudes of educators have not been encouraging. To delve further into this issue, the present study addresses the following research concerns: (1) learners’ metaphoric perceptions of online feedback, (2) how metaphoric perceptions show the impact of online feedback on language learning, and (3) the messages educators can glean through these metaphoric perceptions. A subsequent question would be what new insights we can gain by asking students to reflect on online feedback via metaphors not unearthed by previous research using more traditional means. We argue that different methods should be used based on student differences and the contextual realities of the learning setting. Participants are introverted Chinese novice learners who are not accustomed to technology-enhanced teaching/learning and are restrained in the open expression of their feelings and thoughts. Given participants’ backgrounds, the use of metaphors enables them to express their reflective thinking in a more profound manner. Therefore, the findings of the present study, i.e., learners’ metaphoric thoughts, are considered timely and can be used in academic training to address the necessity of applying different approaches to different types of students. They can also showcase the impact of online feedback on introverted learners. Together, these findings can encourage educators to consider changing their attitudes regarding educational technology