FEASIBILITY OF BREWING MAKGEOLLI (TURBID RICE WINE) USING PARTIALLY GELATINIZED WHEAT FLOUR AND TAPIOCA FLOUR

Makgeolli is made from cooked rice or wheat, then brewed with nuruk (Korean fermentation starter) for several days. But, nowadays, attempts have been made to use various raw materials and process innovations to make makgeolli for particular purposes.  This study aimed to evaluate the quality of makgeolly made from partially gelatinized wheat flour and tapioca flour. Five different combination of wheat flour and tapioca flour were used to manufacture makgeolli. The results showed that different combination of partially gelatinized wheat flour and tapioca flour significantly affected the chemical and sensorial characteristics of makgeolli. Increasing proportion of wheat flour produced higher level of total acid, amino acidity, reducing sugar and total solid of makgeolli. Inversely, alcohol content was higher when higher level of tapioca flour was used. In general, sensorial characteristics of makgeolli made from partially gelatinized wheat flour and tapioca flour didn’t acceptable by panelists. Thus, brewing makgeolli by using partially gelatinized wheat flour and tapioca flour isn’t acceptable in term of sensorial characteristics

Extraction and separation of hexavalent molybdenum from acidic sulfate solutions using Alamine 336 as an extractant

Extraction and separation of hexavalent molybdenum from acidic sulfate solutions using Alamine 336 as an extractant and kerosene as diluent is described. Variation of acid concentration influences the percentage of extraction of hexavalent molybdenum indicating the ion exchange type mechanism. Effect of concentration of Alamine 336 on the extraction of hexavalent molybdenum in the presence of divalent copper and trivalent iron is also presented. The upper limit of concentration of extractant for extraction of hexavalent molybdenum free from divalent copper and trivalent iron is observed with 0.1 mol/L of Alamine 336. However, when the concentration of Alamine 336 is increased to 1.0 mol/L, about 48% of copper is extracted along with molybdenum but without any iron. The method is suitable for the separation of molybdenum from copper and iron contained leach liquor. The optimized experimental parameters such as phase contact time, effect of extractant, metal, loading capacity of extractant and followed by strip ping studies with ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, sodium thiosulfate and thiourea is presented. From the above experimental data we proposed the aqueous mechanism for hexavalent molybdenum extraction processes

Prognostic Implication of Longitudinal Changes of Left Ventricular Global Strain After Chemotherapy in Cardiac Light Chain Amyloidosis

AimCardiac involvement is the main prognostic determinant in AL amyloidosis. We sought to determine the prognostic significance of longitudinal change of left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) in cardiac light chain (AL) amyloidosis patients undergoing chemotherapy.Methods and ResultWe retrospectively investigated 117 cardiac AL amyloidosis patients who underwent chemotherapy from 2005 to 2019. All patients underwent comprehensive 2D conventional transthoracic echocardiography at baseline and after completion of first-line chemotherapy. Speckle tracking analysis of images was performed offline. Absolute value of LV GLS was expressed as [LV GLS] and change of [LV GLS] after chemotherapy was expressed as Δ [LV GLS]. Clinical outcomes including cardiac response and all-cause mortality were analyzed.Baseline clinical and echocardiographic parameters were similar in patients with and without CR. Δ [LV GLS] significantly differed between the CR and non-CR groups (0.4 ± 2.8% in the CR group vs. −0.6 ± 2.5% in the non-CR group, P-value = 0.046). Δ [LV GLS] showed satisfactory predictive performance for all-cause mortality (cut-off value = 0.8%, AUC 0.643, 95% CI [0.537–0.748]). Adding Δ [LV GLS] to the Mayo stage + pre-chemotherapy [LV GLS] model showed incremental prognostic value (C-index: 0.637 vs. 0.708; Relative Integrated Discrimination Index 0.07, P-value = 0.003; Net Reclassification Improvement 0.54, P-value < 0.001). Δ [LV GLS] showed good correlation with cardiac response (AUC 0.820, 95% CI [0.737–0.904]).ConclusionIn cardiac amyloidosis patients who underwent chemotherapy, longitudinal change of [LV GLS] after chemotherapy showed significant association with overall survival as well as cardiac response

Ruthenium anchored on carbon nanotube electrocatalyst for hydrogen production with enhanced Faradaic efficiency

Developing efficient and stable electrocatalysts is crucial for the electrochemical production of pure and clean hydrogen. For practical applications, an economical and facile method of producing catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is essential. Here, we report ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles uniformly deposited on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as an efficient HER catalyst. The catalyst exhibits the small overpotentials of 13 and 17 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) in 0.5M aq. H2SO4 and 1.0M aq. KOH, respectively, surpassing the commercial Pt/C (16 mV and 33 mV). Moreover, the catalyst has excellent stability in both media, showing almost "zeroloss" during cycling. In a real device, the catalyst produces 15.4% more hydrogen per power consumed, and shows a higher Faradaic efficiency (92.28%) than the benchmark Pt/C (85.97%). Density functional theory calculations suggest that Ru-C bonding is the most plausible active site for the HER

Quilty Lesions in the Endomyocardial Biopsies after Heart Transplantation

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of Quilty lesions in endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) of cardiac transplantation patients. Methods A total of 1190 EMBs from 117 cardiac transplantation patients were evaluated histologically for Quilty lesions, acute cellular rejection, and antibody-mediated rejection. Cardiac allograft vasculopathy was diagnosed by computed tomography coronary angiography. Clinical information, including the patients’ survival was retrieved by a review of medical records. Results Eighty-eight patients (75.2%) were diagnosed with Quilty lesions, which were significantly associated with acute cellular rejection, but not with acute cellular rejection ≥ 2R or antibody-mediated rejection. In patient sdiagnosed with both Quilty lesions and acute cellular rejection, the time-to-onset of Quilty lesions from transplantation was longer than that of acute cellular rejections. We found a significant association between Quilty lesions and cardiac allograft vasculopathy. No significant relationship was found between Quilty lesions and the patients’ survival. Conclusions Quilty lesion may be an indicator of previous acute cellular rejection rather than a predictor for future acute cellular rejection

Commentary on: Incidental Breast Cancers Identified in a One-Stop Symptomatic Breast Clinic

In a recent study published in the Journal of Breast Cancer, Mehrotra et al. [1] reported incidental breast cancers identified in a one-stop symptomatic breast clinic where patients receive the results of their radiological examinations and tissue sampling on the same day. Medical environments differ from country to country and from culture to culture. Nevertheless, breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women in developed and developing countries [2]. They reported 87.2 % symptomatic cancers and 12.8 % incidental cancers using a definition of symptomatic cancers as “breast cancers correlated to the patient’s symptoms ” and that of incidental cancers as “breast cancers detected only by imaging in a completely separate location to the site of presenting symptoms and not palpable by the clinician. ” In this study, the mean age of patients with symptomatic cancers and incidenta

Dissociating stable nitrogen molecules under mild conditions by cyclic strain engineering

All quiet on the nitrogen front. The dissociation of stable diatomic nitrogen molecules (N-2) is one of the most challenging tasks in the scientific community and currently requires both high pressure and high temperature. Here, we demonstrate that N-2 can be dissociated under mild conditions by cyclic strain engineering. The method can be performed at a critical reaction pressure of less than 1 bar, and the temperature of the reaction container is only 40 degrees C. When graphite was used as a dissociated N* receptor, the normalized loading of N to C reached as high as 16.3 at/at %. Such efficient nitrogen dissociation is induced by the cyclic loading and unloading mechanical strain, which has the effect of altering the binding energy of N, facilitating adsorption in the strain-free stage and desorption in the compressive strain stage. Our finding may lead to opportunities for the direct synthesis of N-containing compounds from N-2

Spinal Myoclonus Developed during Cervical Epidural Drug Infusion in Postherpetic Neuralgia Patient

Postherpetic neuralgia is the most frequent complication of herpes zoster. Treatment of this neuropathic pain syndrome is difficult and often disappointing. Although postherpetic neuralgia is generally a self-limited condition, it can last indefinitely. Continuous epidural blockade for patients with acute zoster can shorten the duration of treatment. However, continuous epidural block has some complications such as infection, dural puncture, and total spinal and nerve damages. We report a case of myoclonus during continuous epidural block with ropivacaine, morphine, and ketamine in an acute zoster patient