Medical data analysis based on Nao robot: An automated approach towards robotic real-time interaction with human body

There is a significant increase of strokes, heart diseases and premature death, people need more than ever to be aware of their vital signs such as blood pressure, heart beats, cholesterol level etc. Monitoring and analysing this medical data can help increase the awareness of the risk factor of heart disease. However, there is a huge pressure on medical staff and general practitioners (GPs), therefore this research proposes a medical data analysis based on Nao robots to meet these needs and it will serve as an automated approach towards a robotics real-time interaction with the human body. The proposed research offers a new way to allow users to understand the meaning of their vital signs using a human robot interaction. The developed system has been tested on publicly available data and simulated data. It can predict the future risk of heart disease based on some data attributes. Based on the risk prediction, it can feedback the result and the required lifestyle changes to avoid any related risk

Utilizing ultrasonic energy for reduction of free fatty acids in crude palm oil

Recently, biodiesel production from abundant bio-sources has drawn the attention of the academic and the industrial community. In this study, crude palm oil (CPO) containing 8.7% free fatty acid content (FFA) was used as raw material. Different common types of acid catalysts (sulfuric acid, methanesulfonic acid and hydrochloric acid) were optimized to investigate the catalytic activity of each acid in the pre-treatment of CPO by the esterification process. Ultrasonic energy was used for the reduction of FFA in CPO. FFA content was measured at different sonication intervals, and the optimum time was determined. Hydrochloric acid showed the highest catalytic activity in the reduction of FFA content in CPO, as well as in converting FFA to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). From this work, it is reasonable to conclude that there is significant enhancement in the pre-treatment of oils by applying ultrasonic energy using long sonication time.Keywords: Biodiesel, crude palm oil, free fatty acids, ultrasonic energ

Biochemical Characterization for Lipid Synthesis in Aspergillus niger

A niger, a fungus which doesn't have high ability to production lipid, this fungus has been select to investigate the non oleaginicity. In this search, there are explorations about: i) growth profile ii) enzymes profile iii) isoforms. Growth profile shows that this fungus doesn't have ability to accumulate lipid more than 6% while bio mass are around 10g/l in spite of the presence of glucose in the media till the end of cultivation time and excision of nitrogen within 24 hrs. In enzyme study, we investigate all lipogenic enzymes Malic enzyme (ME), Fatty acid synthase (FAS), ATP: Citrate lays (ACL), NAD+ isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD+ICDH), Glucose-6-phosphate (G6PD), and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD), all these enzymes show, activities till the end of cultivation time including ACL which is regarded the key enzyme to differentiate between the two species oleaginous and non oleaginous. So, there is no main reason to non oleaginicity for this fungus. A further experiment has been done using Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to identify ME isoforms. The result of Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows multi isoforms (A, B, C, D & E), with low intensity of isoform E, the isoforms that may involve in lipid synthesis. We have now studied the biochemistry of A.niger grown under conditions designed to promote lipid accumulation and can now advance a coherent hypothesis to explain why A niger could not accumulate lipid more than 6%. So the absence of isoforme E is the main reason for non oleaginicity in A niger

An Innovative EPW Design Using Add-on Features to Meet Malaysian Requirements

Electric Powered Wheelchair (EPW) is a special Electric Vehicle (EV). It is used by senior citizens, handicapped, disabled, people with mobility impairment or people who have health complaints. Therefore, it is not always safe to use an EPW independently as users are more subject to fatigue, weakness and emergency situations. Due to the special needs of EPW drivers/users, the design of the EPW and its controlling system should fulfill their requirements. This paper proposes a new design for EPW which is suitable for Malaysian community needs. The design takes in consideration the easiness of the independent use, the price reduction and the flexibility in changing the controlling method. A smartphone is used as an add-on controlling option besides to the normal joystick. A health monitoring system which implements Internet of Things (IoT) features is also presented as an add-on device. The EPW system is designed to be extendable and accepts other add-on devices. The system is tested in real modes and it is validated as a real-time system

Application of low cost ionic liquids for the separation of glycerine from palm oil-based biodiesel

One of the most serious obstacles in using biodiesel as an alternative fuel is the intricate and costly purification processes involved in its production. The difficulties in the separation of glycerine and other reaction mixtures necessitate the development of new competent low cost separation processes. In the present work, a low cost quaternary ammonium salt-glycerinebased ionic liquid is used as a solvent for extracting glycerine from the transesterification biodiesel product. The separation technique was tested on palm oil-based biodiesel. The laboratory-scale purification experiments established the viability of the technique as the purified biodiesel fulfilled the EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 standard specifications for biodiesel fuel in terms of glycerine content

3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD): a review on properties, occurrence, mechanism of formation, toxicity, analytical approach and mitigation strategy

3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) is one of the most common food contaminants in processed oils which forms mostly during the deodorization step of edible oil refining process. It has been detected in many types of food products such as infant formula, margarine, bread and soy sauce, which could result in kidney and testicular damage. The presence of 3-MCPD contaminant have been occurring for more a decade, which warrants a maximum permissible amount of 2 µg/kg body weight in food products in national and international levels. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview in the past 12 years on its physicochemical properties, occurrence, potential precursors and formation mechanism of 3-MCPD in foodstuffs. The toxicity, its quantification methods and mitigation strategy are also reviewed with an emphasis on the applicability, efficiency and issues encountered during the analysis. This review provides an elucidation regarding 3-MCPDEs and their food safety implications

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and their applications [forthcoming]

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) and Their Application