Nutritional composition of unripe and ripe freeze-dried Terung Asam from Sarawak

This study aimed to assess and compare the nutritional composition between unripe and ripe freeze-dried Terung Asam from Sarawak. Terung Asam was checked for its maturity upon collection. Whole fruits were freeze-dried and used for proximate analyses. The redness/greeness (a*) of unripe and ripe fresh Terung Asam used in this study were -14.20 ± 3.11 and 12.57 ± 1.60 respectively. The moisture content of unripe fresh Terung Asam was significantly higher than ripe fresh Terung Asam (p < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in crude protein (p < 0.05), crude fat (p < 0.05), ash (p < 0.05) and crude fibre (p < 0.001) between unripe and ripe freeze-dried Terung Asam (UFTA and RFTA respectively). RFTA had higher crude fibre (19.87 ± 0.68g/100g) and ash (6.20 ± 0.18g/100g) than UFTA (13.86 ± 0.58g/100g crude fibre, 5.43 ± 0.12g/100g ash). In contrast, UFTA was higher in protein (10.77 ± 0.30g/100g) and fat (0.74 ± 0.05g/100g) than RFTA (9.43 ± 0.40g/100g crude protein, 0.48 ± 0.08g/100g fat). The results of this study suggested that whole fruits of UFTA and RFTA were good source of crude protein, crude fibre and mineral. The data gathered from this research can contribute to the body of knowledge of this underutilized indigenous fruit as well as becoming useful for future product development using Terung Asam

Thermal fluctuations in viscous cosmology

In this paper we investigate the power spectrum of thermal fluctuations in very early stage of viscous cosmology. When the state parameter as well as the viscous coefficient of a barotropic fluid is properly chosen, a scale invariant spectrum with large non-Gaussianity can be obtained. In contrast to the results previously obtained in string gas cosmology and holographic cosmology, we find the non-Gaussianity in this context can be k-independent such that it is not suppressed at large scale, which is expected to be testified in future observation.Comment: 13 pages, no figure, typos corrected, references adde

Thermal non-Gaussianity in holographic cosmology

Recently it has been shown that the thermal holographic fluctuations can give rise to an almost scale invariant spectrum of metric perturbations since in this scenario the energy is proportional to the area of the boundary rather than the volume. Here we calculate the non-Gaussianity of the spectrum of cosmological fluctuations in holographic phase, which can imprint on the radiation dominated universe by an abrupt transition. We find that if the matter is phantom-like, the non-Gaussianity $f_{NL}^{equil}$ can reach ${\cal O}(1)$ or even be larger than ${\cal O}(1)$. Especially in the limit $\omega\to -5/3$, the non-Gaussianity is very large and negative. Furthermore, since the energy is proportional to the area, the thermal holographic non-Gaussianity depends linearly on $k$ if we neglect the variation in $T$ during the transition (fixed temperature).Comment: 13 pages, Minor corrections and one reference added;v3,minor correction

Optimizing the acceptability of jam from Baccaurea Angulata fruit peel

The purpose of this study was to utilize the fruit peel of Baccaurea angulata to produce a fruit jam. The B. angulata fruit was an underutilized fruit known as “Belimbing Hutan” or wild starfruit in Sabah and Sarawak. The peel of B. angulata fruit makes up more than 60% of the fruit and is a significant source of food waste having potential to be explored. Using conventional jam making technology, the peel of B. angulata was used as the principal ingredient to produce a jam besides sugar and pectin. To find the optimal formulation, the D-Optimal of Mixture Design of Design Expert Version 10 software was employed. The software generated sixteen formulations and from those sixteen formulations, sensory evaluation was conducted to determine the optimal formulation. The optimal acceptability of the B. angulata fruit peel jam was determined by using seven sensory responses namely sweetness, sourness, spreadability, colour, texture, aroma and overall acceptance. Of the sixteen formulations, formulation number 9 (49.5% puree, 49.5% sugar and 1.0% pectin) was selected by the sensory panellists with the highest mean score of overall acceptability (7.2). The contour plots generated using the software explained the various combinations of ingredients that affected the seven sensory responses of the fruit jam

A newly developed kelulut honey drink enriched with seaweed by using design of experiment approach

A novel functional drink, Kelulut honey enriched with seaweed (designated as KhS), was successfully developed by using design of experiment (DOE) approach in this study. A two-level-factor Full Factorial Design (FFD), 22, was employed to screen the interactions among the two major composition (Kelulut honey and seaweed) as well as to analyse the effect of these ingredients towards the sensory and proximate properties of the newly developed product. The design of experiment (DOE) and data analysis were executed by using Design- Expert Software. Two main approaches of hedonic tests, i.e., the measurement of preference and the measurement of acceptance were applied during sensory evaluation. Results indicated that amount of seaweed and honey used during the preparation of KhS did affect the moisture content and pH of the end product significantly. Sensory evaluation revealed that the overall acceptability score of the newly developed Kelulut honey enriched with seaweed drink was prefered moderately by most of the panelists and thus it could be a favourable product to be commercialised in the market

Percutaneous coronary intervention in asians- are there differences in clinical outcome?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethnic differences in clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been reported. Data within different Asian subpopulations is scarce. We aim to explore the differences in clinical profile and outcome between Chinese, Malay and Indian Asian patients who undergo PCI for coronary artery disease (CAD).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective registry of consecutive patients undergoing PCI from January 2002 to December 2007 at a tertiary care center was analyzed. Primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) of myocardial infarction (MI), repeat revascularization and all-cause death at six months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>7889 patients underwent PCI; 7544 (96%) patients completed follow-up and were included in the analysis (79% males with mean age of 59 years ± 11). There were 5130 (68%) Chinese, 1056 (14%) Malays and 1001 (13.3%) Indian patients. The remaining 357 (4.7%) patients from other minority ethnic groups were excluded from the analysis. The primary end-point occurred in 684 (9.1%) patients at six months. Indians had the highest rates of six month MACE compared to Chinese and Malays (Indians 12% vs. Chinese 8.2% vs. Malays 10.7%; OR 1.55 95%CI 1.24-1.93, p < 0.001). This was contributed by increased rates of MI (Indians 1.9% vs. Chinese 0.9% vs. Malays 1.3%; OR 4.49 95%CI 1.91-10.56 p = 0.001), repeat revascularization (Indians 6.5% vs. Chinese 4.1% vs. Malays 5.1%; OR 1.64 95%CI 1.22-2.21 p = 0.0012) and death (Indians 11.4% vs. Chinese 7.6% vs. Malays 9.9%; OR 1.65 95%CI 1.23-2.20 p = 0.001) amongst Indian patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data indicate that ethnic variations in clinical outcome exist following PCI. In particular, Indian patients have higher six month event rates compared to Chinese and Malays. Future studies are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms behind these variations.</p

COVID-19 Antibody Surveillance Among Healthcare Workers in A Non-COVID designated Cardiology Centre

BACKGROUND: Reports on healthcare worker antibody response to COVID-19 infection are scarce. We aim to determine theCOVID-19 antibody prevalence among healthcare workers in a cardiology centre and the relationship between case definitioncriteria with the COVID-19 antibody result. METHODS: Convenience sampling was applied. Healthcare workers in SarawakHeart Centre (SHC) cardiology, radiology, and emergency unit were recruited. A survey form on clinical symptoms and closecontact history was distributed. HEALGEN COVID-19 IgG/IgM rapid test was performed using serum/ whole blood specimen.Staff with positive COVID-19 antibody results were referred to the infectious disease specialist for assessment. RESULTS: Atotal of 310 staff were screened. 220(71%) were female, and the mean age was 36±7.7 years old. 46(14.8%) staff reported havingclinical symptoms at some stage from the end of January 2020 to the time of this surveillance. Number of staff who had a historyof overseas travel, close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, or had visited places with identified COVID-19 clusterswere 4(1.3%), 24(7.7%) and 24(7.7%) respectively. There were 14 staff (4.5%) with positive tests positive, 2 for IgM, and 12for IgG. All those with positive antibody were subsequently tested negative with RT-PCR test. The history of having clinicalsymptoms and exposure to COVID-19 cluster area were independently associated with a positive IgG result. CONCLUSION:The application of COVID-19 antibody serology rapid tests could determine true exposure of staff to the infection and allowus to reassess existing measures of infection control within the hospital

Characterizing and Prognosticating Heart Failure with Improved Ejection Fraction Using NT-proBNP, Growth Differentiation Factor 15 and Global Longitudinal Strain

Background: Heart failure with improved ejection fraction (HFiEF) is a novel heart failure (HF) subgroup. There are sparse data on using NT-proBNP, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) to characterize and prognosticate HFiEF patients. Objectives: (1) To determine the level and correlation between NT-proBNP, GDF-15 and GLS in HFiEF patients. (2) To examine the correlation of each marker with NYHA, MAGGIC prognostic score, HF etiologies, comorbidities status, degree of LVEF/ LV end-diastolic diameter change from baseline and diastolic dysfunction. (3) To look for association of each marker with follow-up LVEF change and 1-year composite mortality or HF events outcome. Materials & Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study in Sarawak Heart Centre HF clinic. 53 HfiEF patients who had NT-proBNP and GDF15 tests performed were selected. This cohort had no HF events in the past 6 months during the blood tests. Clinical characteristics, echocardiography parameters, and 1-year composite clinical outcome were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The mean age of the cohort was 52 years old and 81% were male. The cohort was highly comorbid (hypertension 71%; diabetes 45.3%; AF 17.3%). Most of the patients (87%) were asymptomatic by NYHA (I) and low rate of composite outcome was observed, 5.7%. The mean NT-proBNP, GDF-15, GLS were 357 pg/ml, 1572 pg/ml, and -12.1% respectively. There were significant moderate correlation between GDF15 with NT-proBNP (r=0.414) and NT-proBNP with GLS (r=-0.351). Higher NT-proBNP and GDF15 levels were associated with poorer MAGGIC prognostic scores (r=0.549, 0.41 respectively). NT-proBNP was the only marker associated with a higher degree of LVEF improvement compare to baseline echocardiography. NT-proBNP was also related to severe diastolic echo parameters. Hypertension and diabetes were strongly associated with higher elevated GDF15 levels. The lower mean GLS level was significantly associated with the presence of composite outcome (-6.45% vs -12.47%, p=0.0). Patients with NT-proBNP levels below the median cutoff had favourable follow-up LVEF improvement (+9.73%, p=0.035). Conclusion: In our HFiEF study cohort, NT-proBNP best correlate and prognosticate future LV remodelling. GDF15 was closely related to systemic illnesses such as diabetes. The role of GLS in our HFiEF cohort remains uncertain