Study on the contents of bottled mineral water of various brands in Malaysia

Mineral water has becomes very popular and is a necessity in the present world that we live in. Today, in every part of the world people are using the bottled mineral water widely. The mineral water is produced by various companies using numerous names and brand with approval of the relevant authorities. In this paper, the contents of the  five main brands of bottled mineral water namely “ Spritzer”, “Ice Mountain”, “Bleu”, “Select” and “Cactus” as used in Malaysia is analyzed and presented. Comparison is made between these five brands to determine which of these brands is most suitable for daily consumption in term of its advantages in its mineral content to our health. Based on the investigation, it was found that the “Spritzer” brand had greater advantage with an extra mineral called silica which is good for muscle and bones rebuilding. Conversely the other four brands did not have this mineral. A detailed comparison of mineral content of the “Ice Mountain” brand with the other four brands had been made and a conclusion was drawn. This study will benefit the Malaysian society in helping them make an informed decision on choosing the most suitable bottled mineral water for consumption in line with one’s health concerns these days. Keywords: Mineral water, Brand, Minerals, Comparison, Volum

Spectrum of adverse drug reactions and implicated drugs in a tertiary care centre: a prospective study

Background: Adverse Drug Reaction(ADR) is the major limitation in providing health care to patients at a global level. It affects patient’s recovery and is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in both hospitalized and ambulatory patients. ADR can occur with any class of drugs. Early detection and evaluation of ADR is essential to reduce harm to the patients. Thus, the present study was aimed to estimate the number of ADR’s reported, analyze its spectrum and the drugs attributed to it.Methods: This was a prospective study conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital for a period of 3 months from March 2016 to May 2016 in SRM Medical College and Hospital, Potheri. Adverse drug reactions were collected by spontaneous reporting by active and passive methods. The causality assessment of the reported ADR’s was done using Naranjo causality assessment scale.Results: A total of 38 ADR’s were reported during the study period with male predominance (58%). Most of the ADR’s (42%) were common in patients in the age group 19-39 years. More number of ADR’s were from Medicine (29%) followed by Surgery (16%) and OG (16%) departments. Most commonly affected organ systems were skin (45%) followed by GIT (24%). The drugs mostly accounted were antibiotics (55%) especially Cephalosporins (33%). Most of the reactions were type A (68%) rather than type B (32%) and thus predictable. According to Naranjo’s causality assessment, 63% of reactions were probable, 26% were possible and 11% were definite. No reactions were unlikely. Severity assessment by Modified Hartwig and Seigel scale revealed 45% ADRs to be moderate, 42% were mild and 13% were severe and life threatening.Conclusions: The study concluded that Adverse Drug Reactions are common and some of them resulted in increased healthcare cost due to need of some interventions and increased length of hospital stay. As majority of ADR is predictable (Type A), so preventable. The health system should promote the spontaneous reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (May be done mandatory). The proper documentation and periodic reporting to regional pharmacovigilance centres to ensure drug safety

Effect of seed treatments on seed germination and seedling parameters in the F2 generation of mundu chilli (Capsicum annum L.)

Germination in chilli seeds is poor and the duration taken for the germination is long. In order to overcome their problems in germination, the seeds were to be subjected to seed treatments, So that the germination would be effective. The experiment was conducted at the Department of Vegetable Science HC & RI, Tami Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Periyakulam to study the effect of seed treatment views on the seedling character of mundu chilli. The experiment was laid in FCRD design with three replications. In this study, four F2 crosses viz., PKM CA 20 X PKM CA 08 (C1), PKM CA 32 X PKM CA 33 (C2), PKM CA 32 X PKM CA 20 (C3), PKM CA 38 X PKM CA 33 (C4) and seven treatments namely, Control (T0), Seed treatment with KNO3 0.5% (T1), Seed treatment GA3 50 ppm (T2), Seed treatment with NAA 100 ppm (T3), Hot water seed treatment at 60° C for 15 minutes (T4), Seed treatment with cow urine (T5), Seed treatment with Trichoderma viride (T6). Among all F2 crosses, PKM CA 38 X PKM CA 33 (C4) was most responsive to seed treatments in terms of the percent of seed germination and vigor index, followed by progeny PKM CA 32 X PKM CA 33 (C2) for root length and PKM CA 32 X PKM CA 20 (C3) for shoot length. The statistical analysis of the data showed the superiority of all the seed treatments over the control. The GA₃ treatment resulted in the maximum percentage of seed germination, root length, shoot length and vigor index followed by KNO3.    GA3 breaks the dormancy in the seeds and induces seed germination rapidly. Thus GA3 finds its way as the seed treatment agent in chilli.

Using E-Portfolio to Enhance Students’Motivation Towards Learning English at University College of Applied Sciences, Palestine

In the era of globalization and technological revolution, the widely spread usage of e-portfolio inside and outside classrooms has encouraged educators and policymakers to look for new methods of assessment that suit the new digital generation.The purpose of this study is to examine the outcome of using e-portfolio on University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) students' motivation towards English language learning. The total number of students in English Language social work classes under the humanitarian department at UCAS is 60 (30 males and 30 females). Those are officially enrolling in English Language course (DIPL 1303) at first semester of 2014/2015 academic year. A Sequential Exploratory Design was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data for one semester. The results of this study showed that instrumental and integrative motivation levels of UCAS students improved towards learning English after utilizing e-portfolio. But the integrative motivation was found to be a bit higher than instrumental motivation. This has generated several theoretical, pedagogical and policy implications for instructors, universities and researchers. Therefore, it can be concluded that integrating e-portfolio at the tertiary level would improve the potentialities of researchers and policy makers to create a real change in the learning process

Using E-Portfolio to Enhance Student’s Attitudes Towards Learning English at University College of Applied Sciences.

Attitude is considered to be an essential element of the English language learning process at tertiary level. The present study investigates the outcome of using e-portfolio to enhance students’ attitude towards English language learning at UCAS (University College of Applied Sciences) in Palestine. 60 students (30 males and 30 females) who are enrolled in English Language course (DIPL 1303) at first semester of 2014/2015 academic year were selected as a sample of this study. A Sequential Exploratory Design was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data for one semester. The findings of this study revealed that students’ attitude towards learning English changed positively after utilizing e-portfolio. This has generated several theoretical, pedagogical and policy implications for instructors, universities and researchers. Therefore, it can be concluded that integrating e-portfolio at the tertiary level would enhance students’ attitude towards English language learning and release their potentialities towards the learning process

r-2,c-6-Bis(4-fluoro­phen­yl)-t-3,t-5-dimethyl­piperidin-4-one

In the title compound, C19H19F2NO, the piperidinone ring adopts a chair conformation. The crystal packing is stabilized by C—H⋯O and C—H⋯F inter­molecular inter­actions, generating centrosymmetric dimers of R 2 2(14) and R 2 2(24) rings

1-Chloro­acetyl-2,6-bis­(2-chloro­phen­yl)-3,5-dimethyl­piperidin-4-one oxime

In the title compound, C21H21Cl3N2O2, the piperidine ring adopts a distorted boat conformation. One of the chloro­phenyl rings is almost perpendicular to the best plane through piperidine ring, making a dihedral angle of 88.7 (1)°, whereas the other ring is twisted by 71.8 (1)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by inter­molecular C—H⋯O, C—H⋯Cl and O—H⋯O inter­actions

N-(1-Acetyl-r-7,c-9-diphenyl-4,8-dithia-1,2-diaza­spiro­[5.4]dec-2-en-3-yl)acet­amide

In the title compound, C22H23N3O2S2, the five-membered ring is planar and the C5S ring adopts a chair conformation. The crystal packing is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O inter­actions, generating a chain and a centrosymmetric dimer, respectively