Determination of Vitamin C in Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Using the Dye-titration and Microfluorometric Methods

The vitamin C content of19 types of fresh fruits and 24 vegetables was determined by the official AOAC methods of dye-titration and microfluorometry. As expected, values obtained by the latter method, which estimated ascorbic acid plus dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA), were clearly higher than those given by the titration method, which determined only ascorbic acid. There were considerable differences in the values obtained by the two methods, depending on the concentration ofDHAA in the foods. Larger differences were obtained for the vegetables. The mean recovery value obtained by the dye-titration method was significantly higher than that given by the fluorometric method (p <0.01). Reproducibility studies showed that the two methods did not give significantly different variances (p < 0.05). If only ascorbic acid values were required, the titrimetric procedure would give good results, and it may be ca"ied out rapidly using simple laboratory equipment. If a fluorometer was available, total vitamin C values, which would be more useful from the nutritional point of view, could be determined

Formulasi Sampo Antiketombe dari Ekstrak Kubis (Brassica Oleracea Var. Capitata L.) Kombinasi Ekstrak Daun Pandan Wangi (Pandanus Amaryllifolius Roxb)

Sampo ekstrak kubis kombinasi daun pandan wangi adalah sediaan kosmetik yang dibuat dari bahan dasar ekstrak kubis dan daun pandan wangi serta penambahan bahan lain yang dapat digunakan pada kulit kepala tanpa menimbulkan iritas. Ekstrak kubis dan daun pandan wangi memiliki senyawa yang berkhasiat menghambat pertumbuhan ketombe pada kulit kepala , penelitian ini bertujuan untuk membuat sediaan sampo antiketombe dari ekstrak kubis kombinasi daun pandan wangi yang dapat memenuhi uji evaluasi fisik sediaan. Penelitian ini dilakukan secara eksperimental dengan beberapa evaluasi fisik sediaan diantaranya yaitu uji organoleptik, berdasarkan warna, bentuk dan aroma sediaan, uji pH, uji tinggi busa, uji homogenitas, dan uji viskositas. Hasil penelitian menunjukan formula sampo antiketombe ekstrak kubis dan daun pandan wangi hasilnya menunjukka bahwa uji evaluasi fisik sediaan sampo antiketombe ekstrak kubis kombinasi daun panan wangi memenuhi syarat secara fisik, pada uji organoleptik warna yang dihasilkan dari ketiga formula yaitu formula A, formula B dan formula C berwarna hijau gelap disebabkan oleh zat aktif yang digunakan yaitu daun pandan wangi, aroma yang dihasilkan adalah aroma dari penambahan pewangi yang digunakan dalam sediaan, pewangi yang digunakan yaitu minyak mawar serta bentuk dari sediaan yaitu kental. Pada uji pH ketiga formulasi telah memenuhi syarat mutu pH kulit kepala yaitu 4,5 – 6,5. Formula yang dihasilkan menghasilkan tinggi busa yang baik. Sediaan sampo yang dibuat dari ketiga formula homogen dan kental

Nutrient Composition of Selected Cooked and Processed Snack Foods

Nutrient composition of 27 cooked snack foods and 19 processed snacks was determined. The cooked foods were mostly cereal based, made from wheat flour, rice or rice flour, and almost all of them were traditional Malaysian kuih or dishes. The processed snacks studied were chocolate, cereal, tuber, fish and prawn products. The levels of 19 nutrients were tabulated, expressed as per 100 g edible portion. Selected nutrients in each serving or packet of the foods were also presented. The paper is intended as a contribution to the knowledge on nutrient composition of local snack foods, for which information is still greatly lacking. The number of foods studied is only a fraction of the total number available. More work in this area will have to be carried out, to meet the increasing demand for such data

A combination of GFRP sheets and steel cage for seismic strengthening of shear-deficient corner RC beam-column joints

International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IEES), project number 7342

A combination of GFRP sheets and steel cage for seismic strengthening of shear-deficient corner RC beam-column joints

International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IEES), project number 7342

Self-cleaning and colour-preserving efficiency of photocatalytic concrete: case study of the Jubilee Church in Rome

The Jubilee Church in the south-eastern outskirts of Rome is one of the first buildings constructed with super white reinforced concrete with self-cleaning photocatalytic cement. However, 16 years after the opening of the building, the self-cleaning and colour-preserving properties arising from the titania particles (TiO2) within the concrete mix are not meeting the design requirements and the concrete is showing premature evidence of decay. While the form of the decay is affecting the appearance of the building and not its structural soundness, the ageing pattern of the building's components is resulting in a high maintenance cost, one not easily affordable within the ordinary budget supported by a small parish. This study comprises the first comprehensive step in understanding the causes of the accelerated ageing pattern of the concrete, highlighting methods to improve the long-term durability of the concrete and therefore reduce the cost of its maintenance. Moreover, this research offered the opportunity to test the durability and the effectiveness of the TiO2 in the real conditions on an actual building featuring non-standard geometries. The findings highlight how the ageing pattern directly connects with the geometry of the building and inadequate consideration of the local weathering at the design stage

Dual-modality gene reporter for in vivo imaging

The ability to track cells and their patterns of gene expression in living organisms can increase our understanding of tissue development and disease. Gene reporters for bioluminescence, fluorescence, radionuclide, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been described but these suffer variously from limited depth penetration, spatial resolution, and sensitivity. We describe here a gene reporter, based on the organic anion transporting protein Oatp1a1, which mediates uptake of a clinically approved, Gd(3+)-based, hepatotrophic contrast agent (gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid). Cells expressing the reporter showed readily reversible, intense, and positive contrast (up to 7.8-fold signal enhancement) in T1-weighted magnetic resonance images acquired in vivo. The maximum signal enhancement obtained so far is more than double that produced by MRI gene reporters described previously. Exchanging the Gd(3+) ion for the radionuclide, (111)In, also allowed detection by single-photon emission computed tomography, thus combining the spatial resolution of MRI with the sensitivity of radionuclide imaging

The E3 ubiquitin ligase WWP2 regulates pro-fibrogenic monocyte infiltration and activity in heart fibrosis

Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) can cause left ventricular dysfunction through interstitial fibrosis, which corresponds to the failure of cardiac tissue remodeling. Recent evidence implicates monocytes/macrophages in the etiopathology of cardiac fibrosis, but giving their heterogeneity and the antagonizing roles of macrophage subtypes in fibrosis, targeting these cells has been challenging. Here we focus on WWP2, an E3 ubiquitin ligase that acts as a positive genetic regulator of human and murine cardiac fibrosis, and show that myeloid specific deletion of WWP2 reduces cardiac fibrosis in hypertension-induced NICM. By using single cell RNA sequencing analysis of immune cells in the same model, we establish the functional heterogeneity of macrophages and define an early pro-fibrogenic phase of NICM that is driven by Ccl5-expressing Ly6chigh monocytes. Among cardiac macrophage subtypes, WWP2 dysfunction primarily affects Ly6chigh monocytes via modulating Ccl5, and consequentially macrophage infiltration and activation, which contributes to reduced myofibroblast trans-differentiation. WWP2 interacts with transcription factor IRF7, promoting its non-degradative mono-ubiquitination, nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity, leading to upregulation of Ccl5 at transcriptional level. We identify a pro-fibrogenic macrophage subtype in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, and demonstrate that WWP2 is a key regulator of IRF7-mediated Ccl5/Ly6chigh monocyte axis in heart fibrosis

Mendelian Randomisation Study of Childhood BMI and Early Menarche

To infer the causal association between childhood BMI and age at menarche, we performed a mendelian randomisation analysis using twelve established “BMI-increasing” genetic variants as an instrumental variable (IV) for higher BMI. In 8,156 women of European descent from the EPIC-Norfolk cohort, height was measured at age 39–77 years; age at menarche was self-recalled, as was body weight at age 20 years, and BMI at 20 was calculated as a proxy for childhood BMI. DNA was genotyped for twelve BMI-associated common variants (in/near FTO, MC4R, TMEM18, GNPDA2, KCTD15, NEGR1, BDNF, ETV5, MTCH2, SEC16B, FAIM2 and SH2B1), and for each individual a “BMI-increasing-allele-score” was calculated by summing the number of BMI-increasing alleles across all 12 loci. Using this BMI-increasing-allele-score as an instrumental variable for BMI, each 1 kg/m2 increase in childhood BMI was predicted to result in a 6.5% (95% CI: 4.6–8.5%) higher absolute risk of early menarche (before age 12 years). While mendelian randomisation analysis is dependent on a number of assumptions, our findings support a causal effect of BMI on early menarche and suggests that increasing prevalence of childhood obesity will lead to similar trends in the prevalence of early menarche