Optimization of Bacterial Cellulose Production from Watermelon Rind by Komagataeibacter sp. PAP1

บทคัดย่อ   เซลลูโลสจากแบคทีเรียสามารถผลิตได้จากจุลินทรีย์หลายชนิด โดยใช้วัตถุดิบที่เป็นผลพลอยได้ทางการเกษตร งานวิจัยมีจุดประสงค์ที่จะใช้เปลือกแตงโมซึ่งเป็นของเหลือทิ้งมาเป็นวัตถุดิบราคาถูกในการผลิตเซลลูโลสจากแบคทีเรียโดยใช้ Komagataeibacter sp. PAP1 และศึกษาคุณสมบัติของกระดาษที่ได้จากเซลลูโลสที่ได้จากการเลี้ยงเชื้อในอาหารน้ำเปลือกแตงโมและอาหารมาตรฐาน Hestrin-Schramm (HS medium) ผลการทดลองพบว่าน้ำเปลือกแตงโมสามารถนำมาใช้ผลิตเซลลูโลสจากแบคทีเรียได้อย่างดี สภาวะที่เหมาะสมในการผลิตเซลลูโลสจากแบคทีเรียโดยใช้น้ำเปลือกแตงโมเป็นอาหารเลี้ยงเชื้อ มีการเติมน้ำตาลแมนนิทอลความเข้มข้นร้อยละ 5 (น้ำหนักต่อปริมาตร) เติมไดแอมโมเนียมฟอสเฟตความเข้มข้นร้อยละ 0.1 (น้ำหนักต่อปริมาตร) และปรับพีเอชเริ่มต้น 6.0 บ่มที่อุณหภูมิ 30 องศาเซลเซียส นาน 7 วัน โดยให้ผลผลิตเซลลูโลส 6.20 ± 0.25 กรัมต่อลิตร ซึ่งสูงกว่าการเพาะเลี้ยงในอาหารมาตรฐาน HS 1.94 เท่า กระดาษที่ได้จากการเพาะเลี้ยงในน้ำเปลือกแตงโมจะมีค่าความแข็งแรงสูงกว่ากระดาษที่ได้จากการเพาะเลี้ยงในอาหารมาตรฐาน HS การศึกษานี้แสดงให้เห็นว่าเปลือกแตงโมสามารถนำมาใช้ผลิตเซลลูโลสจากแบคทีเรียได้และมีต้นทุนที่ถูกลง ABSTRACT Bacterial cellulose (BC) is produced by several microorganisms on agriculture by-products. This research aims to utilize watermelon rind, which the waste, was used as low cost substrates to produce BC using Komagataei sp. PAP1 and to study the structural properties of BC papers in both watermelon rind and Hestrin-Schramm (HS) media. This result indicated that watermelon rind water performed well for BC production. The optimized watermelon water-based medium was composed of 5% (w/v) mannitol, 0.1% (w/v) diammonium phosphate and pH 5.0 and incubated at 30°C for 7 days. Under these conditions, BC yield was 6.20±0.25 g/L (1.94 fold) higher than in standard Hestrin-Schramm (HS) medium. The BC paper sheets produced using the obtained BC pellicle from optimized watermelon rind water-base medium gave higher mechanical strength than those from standard HS medium. This study showed that possibility of using watermelon rind to produce BC and made BC production more cost-effective

イセエビの抗菌タンパク質遺伝子に関する研究

東京海洋大学博士学位論文 平成21年度(2009) 応用生命科学 課程博士 甲第140号指導教員: 廣野育生全文公表年月日: 2009-12-11東京海洋大学200

Kinetic-spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of bromide in seawater

A novel simple, sensitive and rapid kinetic-spectrophotornetric method is proposed for the determination of trace amounts of bromide. The method is based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of methylene blue (MB) by hydrogen peroxide in strongly acidic solution. The oxidation reaction is activated by large amounts of chloride and can be monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance of MB at 746 run. The determination of bromide is performed by a fixed-time method at the first 100 s from the initiation of the reaction. Unlike other kinetic-spectrophotornetric methods for the determination of bromide, the proposed method does not require heating the solution. Bromide can be determined in the range from 80 to 960 mu g l(-1) with the detection limit of 35 mu g l(-1). The relative standard deviation of ten replicate determination of 480 mu g l(-1) bromide was 1.4%. The influence of potential interfering ions was studied. The proposed method was satisfactorily applied to the determination of bromide in seawater without interfering effect from chloride ion.</p

Effectiveness of Moodle E-learning for Students Enrolment of GENL 1101 ‘Learning Resources and Skills’ at Asia-Pacific International University

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the level of student satisfaction and learning in the classroom using Moodle e-learning, 2) to compare the differences between personal factors and the effectiveness of teaching and learning through Moodle e-learning, and 3) to apply the results of the study as a guideline for the development of decision-making to choose&nbsp;whether to use&nbsp;the blended learning model using Moodle e-learning. The population and the sample groups were 103 first year undergraduate students at Asia-Pacific International University. Questionnaires were used to elicit student responses. The statistics used in the research were mean, standard deviation (SD), t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The results of this study show that students’ level of satisfaction with teaching and learning in the classroom using Moodle e-learning is at a moderate level. When comparing the differences, it was found that the satisfaction level of the students with different genders and ages with teaching in the classroom using Moodle e-learning is not different. However, it was found that students from different fields of study had different levels of satisfaction with statistically significant level of 0.05.&nbsp;The study showed motivation of learning both in and out of classroom in used of Moodle program in order to benefit the study

ผลของโปรแกรมการเสริมสร้างความแข็งแกร่งในชีวิตต่อความผาสุกของมารดาเด็กออทิสติก Effects of Resilience-Enhancing Program on Well-being among Mothers of Children with Autistic Disorder

บทคัดย่อ วัตถุประสงค์: เพื่อศึกษาผลของโปรแกรมการเสริมสร้างความแข็งแกร่งในชีวิตต่อความผาสุกของมารดาเด็กออทิสติก วิธีการศึกษา: การวิจัยแบบกึ่งทดลองมีสองกลุ่ม ประเมินความแข็งแกร่งที่ก่อน หลัง และติดตามผล 1 เดือนหลังโปรแกรม  ตัวอย่างเป็นมารดาเด็กออทิสติกที่พาบุตรมากระตุ้นพัฒนาการที่สถาบันสุขภาพจิตเด็กและวัยรุ่นราชนครินทร์จำนวน 30 คน โดยเข้ากลุ่มทดลองและควบคุมกลุ่มละ 15 คน กลุ่มทดลองได้รับโปรแกรมการเสริมสร้างความแข็งแกร่งฯ สัปดาห์ละครั้งนาน 8 สัปดาห์ ส่วนกลุ่มควบคุมรับบริการตามปกติ แบบประเมินความผาสุกมีค่าสัมประสิทธิ์อัลฟาของครอนบาคเท่ากับ 0.84 ทดสอบความแตกต่างของคะแนนความผาสุกระหว่างสองกลุ่ม 3 ครั้ง โดยการวิเคราะห์ความแปรปรวนสองทางแบบวัดซ้ำ ผลการศึกษา: มารดาในกลุ่มทดลองมีคะแนนความผาสุกที่ก่อนการทดลอง (59.93 คะแนน) ที่เพิ่มที่หลังการทดลองและที่หลังการติดตาม (72.13 และ 76.67 คะแนน ตามลำดับ) อย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติ (P-value &lt; 0.001 ทั้งคู่) และสูงกว่าที่พบในกลุ่มควบคุมอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติ (P-value &lt; 0.001) สรุป: โปรแกรมเสริมสร้างความแข็งแกร่งในชีวิต 8 สัปดาห์ สามารถเพิ่มความผาสุกในมารดาเด็กออทิสติก คำสำคัญ: โปรแกรมเสริมสร้างความแข็งแกร่งในชีวิต, ความผาสุก, มารดาเด็กออทิสติก Abstract Objective: To examine the effect of resilience-enhancing program on well-being among mothers with autistic child. Method: In this quasi-experimental research with two groups and well-being assessed before, right after and 4-week follow-up after the 8-week weekly resilience-enhancing program among 30 mothers with autistic child receiving care at the Rajanagarindra Institute of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Thailand. Participants were assigned to the program (test group, n = 15) and usual care (control group, n = 15). Well-being questionnaire had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare well-being scores of the two groups before, right after and follow-up after the program. Results: Score of well-being in the test group before the program (59.93 points) significantly increased right after and at the follow-up (72.13 and 76.67 points, respectively)          (P-value &lt; 0.001 for both) and significantly higher those in the control group (P-value &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: The 8-week resilience-enhancing program improved well-being scores among mothers with autistic child. Keywords: resilience enhancing program, well-being, mothers with autistic chil

THE USE OF INFORMATION LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING

This research paper is designed to provide information about literacy behaviors of students at Asia-Pacific International University, Muek Lek, Saraburi Province, Thailand. &nbsp; It focuses on the process and methods used by students in course-related research assignments and in doing personal research. It reveals that 1) most students (respondents) worked mainly on class presentation reports and used search engines as resources, 2) most&nbsp; evaluated&nbsp; information&nbsp; available online&nbsp; by considering the&nbsp; currency of the contents,&nbsp; and asking classmates for help in evaluating sources, and 3) for course-related research, it was found that students who responded used Google Notebook and began with key word searches as productivity tools. Course-related research was important to students for the completion of assignments. The difficulty with different stages in the research process was evaluated after they found the information for which they were looking. The findings about information seeking behavior by students for personal,&nbsp; everyday life research shows that most students who responded 1) explored news/current events; 2) used search engines as a resource, and 3) evaluated sources by considering the currency of contents. The difficulty for students during stages of the research process was knowing that the information they were looking for must be available somewhere online but not being able to find it. When&nbsp; information&nbsp; seeking behavior&nbsp; for course-related&nbsp; research assignments&nbsp; and that associated with everyday life research were compared, it was found that in both cases, students approached classmates to evaluate web sites according to the currency of content. Even in difficult stages of the research process using key word searches,&nbsp; students did not seek assistance from the librarian, either to evaluate sources or to recommend web sites. The practice of asking classmates to evaluate sources was the same for both course- related research and doing personal research for matters relating to everyday life

Factors Predicting Psychological Well-being of Community-residing Older Adults

Objectives: To investigate the psychological well-being and its predictors of older adults, i.e., perceived health status, Instrumental Activities of Daily Livings (IADLs), practice of religious activities, perceived stress, perceived self-efficacy, and social support. Methods: A total of 400 community-dwelling older adults residing in Sansuk Municipality, Chonburi Province participated in this study. The multi–stage sampling was used to recruit the sample. Participants were males and females aged 60 years or older who met the inclusion criteria. They were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to gather data for 1) participants’ general information, 2) perceived health status, 3) IADLs, 4) practice of religious activities, 5) perceived self-efficacy, 6) perceived stress, 7) social support, and 8) psychological well-being. Descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression were employed to analyze the data. Results: The overall psychological well-being among these older adults was at a moderate level (M = 4.28 ± 0.29). The mean scores for sub-scales of psychological well- being in the order of highest to lowest were: positive relations with others (M = 4.63 ± 0.36), self-acceptance (M = 4.39 ± 0.37), purpose in life (M = 4.30  ± 0.52), environmental mastery (M = 4.21 ± 0.46), personal growth (M = 4.16  ± 0.42), and autonomy (M = 3.84 ± 0.47). The stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that factors that significantly predicted psychological well-being in the order of strongest to lowest were the practice of religious activities (β = 0.338, P &lt; 0.001), perceived self-efficacy (β = 0.250, P &lt; 0.001), social support (β = 0.165, P &lt; 0.001) and perceived stress (β = 0.126, P &lt; 0.05), respectively. These factors could explain 28.50% of variance for psychological well-being (R2 = 0.285, F = 39.02, P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: This study provided the better understanding of psychological well-being and its predictors among community-dwelling older adults. Healthcare personnel should be aware of the importance for developing proper activities or programs aimed at reducing stress and enhancing the practice of religion activities, perceived self-efficacy, and social support. This would help promote psychological well-being among the older adults. Keywords: Psychological well-being, older adults, predictive factor

Loss of maternal annexin A5 increases the likelihood of placental platelet thrombosis and foetal loss

Antiphospholipid syndrome is associated with an increased risk of thrombosis and pregnancy loss. Annexin A5 (Anxa5) is a candidate autoantigen. It is not known, however, whether endogenous Anxa5 prevents foetal loss during normal pregnancy. We found significant reductions in litter size and foetal weight in Anxa5-null mice (Anxa5-KO). These changes occurred even when only the mother was Anxa5-KO. A small amount of placental fibrin deposition was observed in the decidual tissues, but did not noticeably differ between wild-type and Anxa5-KO mice. However, immunoreactivity for integrin beta 3/CD61, a platelet marker, was demonstrated within thrombi in the arterial canals only in Anxa5-KO mothers. Subcutaneous administration of the anticoagulant heparin to pregnant Anxa5-KO mice significantly reduced pregnancy loss, suggesting that maternal Anxa5 is crucial for maintaining intact placental circulation. Hence, the presence of maternal Anxa5 minimises the risk of thrombosis in the placental circulation and reduces the risk of foetal loss

Analyses of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) indicate rapid radiation of Diospyros species (Ebenaceae) endemic to New Caledonia

Background : Radiation in some plant groups has occurred on islands and due to the characteristic rapid pace of phenotypic evolution, standard molecular markers often provide insufficient variation for phylogenetic reconstruction. To resolve relationships within a clade of 21 closely related New Caledonian Diospyros species and evaluate species boundaries we analysed genome-wide DNA variation via amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP). Results : A neighbour-joining (NJ) dendrogram based on Dice distances shows all species except D. minimifolia,D. parviflora and D. vieillardii to form unique clusters of genetically similar accessions. However, there was little variation between these species clusters, resulting in unresolved species relationships and a star-like general NJ topology. Correspondingly, analyses of molecular variance showed more variation within species than between them. A Bayesian analysis with BEAST produced a similar result. Another Bayesian method, this time a clustering method, STRUCTURE, demonstrated the presence of two groups, highly congruent with those observed in a principal coordinate analysis (PCO). Molecular divergence between the two groups is low and does not correspond to any hypothesised taxonomic, ecological or geographical patterns. Conclusions : We hypothesise that such a pattern could have been produced by rapid and complex evolution involving a widespread progenitor for which an initial split into two groups was followed by subsequent fragmentation into many diverging populations, which was followed by range expansion of then divergent entities. Overall, this process resulted in an opportunistic pattern of phenotypic diversification. The time since divergence was probably insufficient for some species to become genetically well-differentiated, resulting in progenitor/derivative relationships being exhibited in a few cases. In other cases, our analyses may have revealed evidence for the existence of cryptic species, for which more study of morphology and ecology are now required