Determination of Sugars in Soft Drinks by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

The fructose, glucose and sucrose contents of selected soft' drinks available in Malaysian markets were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The soft drinks tested had a soluble sugar content of between 8.5 to 15.3 g 100 ml- 1 • The average fructose, glucose and sucrose contents werefound to be in the ranges of 0 - 6. 7, 0 - 6.9 and 0 - 10.5 g 100 ml I respectively. The content of individual sugars were found to be more variable than the content of total sugar in different samples of a specific soft drink

The scenario of two-dimensional instabilities of the cylinder wake under EHD forcing: A linear stability analysis

We propose to study the stability properties of an air flow wake forced by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuator, which is a type of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) actuator. These actuators add momentum to the flow around a cylinder in regions close to the wall and, in our case, are symmetrically disposed near the boundary layer separation point. Since the forcing frequencies, typical of DBD, are much higher than the natural shedding frequency of the flow, we will be considering the forcing actuation as stationary. In the first part, the flow around a circular cylinder modified by EHD actuators will be experimentally studied by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV). In the second part, the EHD actuators have been numerically implemented as a boundary condition on the cylinder surface. Using this boundary condition, the computationally obtained base flow is then compared with the experimental one in order to relate the control parameters from both methodologies. After validating the obtained agreement, we study the Hopf bifurcation that appears once the flow starts the vortex shedding through experimental and computational approaches. For the base flow derived from experimentally obtained snapshots, we monitor the evolution of the velocity amplitude oscillations. As to the computationally obtained base flow, its stability is analyzed by solving a global eigenvalue problem obtained from the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. Finally, the critical parameters obtained from both approaches are compared

Effects of Solder Temperature on Pin Through-Hole during Wave Soldering: Thermal-Fluid Structure Interaction Analysis

An efficient simulation technique was proposed to examine the thermal-fluid structure interaction in the effects of solder temperature on pin through-hole during wave soldering. This study investigated the capillary flow behavior as well as the displacement, temperature distribution, and von Mises stress of a pin passed through a solder material. A single pin throughhole connector mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) was simulated using a 3D model solved by FLUENT. The ABAQUS solver was employed to analyze the pin structure at solder temperatures of 456.15 K (183∘C)

Cystic benign prostatic hyperplasia in a dog

Old intact male dogs are often predisposed to benign prostatic hyperplasia. Both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of prostate gland occur due to hormonal influences. Clinical signs such as haematuria, stranguria and tenesmus are often associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia. A seven year-old local breed intact male dog was presented with a primary complaint of haematuria and stranguria. Diagnostic work-up conducted inclusive of complete blood count, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, abdominal radiograph, cystourethrography and abdominal ultrasonography. The dog was diagnosed with cystic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostatic omentalisation and castration were performed in this case

Megaoesophagus secondary to oesophagitis and oesophageal stricture associated with doxycycline therapy in a domestic shorthair kitten

Oesophageal strictures associated with doxycycline therapy in cats are a rare occurrence but several cases have been reported. A 3-month-old kitten was presented to University Veterinary Hospital, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UVH-UPM) with the primary complaint of persistent vomiting. The kitten was prescribed with doxycycline two weeks prior to presentation. Regurgitation was observed during hospitalisation. Radiographs and endoscopy performed revealed findings consistent with a megaesophagus cranial to an oesophageal stricture located at the region of the second thoracic vertebrae

Peroxidase extraction from jicama skin peels for phenol removal

Phenol and its derivatives exist in various types of industrial effluents, and are known to be harmful to aquatic lives even at low concentrations. Conventional treatment technologies for phenol removal are challenged with long retention time, high energy consumption and process cost. Enzymatic treatment has emerged as an alternative technology for phenol removal from wastewater. These enzymes interact with aromatic compounds including phenols in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, forming free radicals which polymerize spontaneously to produce insoluble phenolic polymers. This work aims to extract peroxidase from agricultural wastes materials and establish its application for phenol removal. Peroxidase was extracted from jicama skin peels under varying extraction conditions of pH, sample-to-buffer ratio (w/v %) and temperature. Experimental results showed that extraction process conducted at pH 10, 40% w/v and 25oC demonstrated a peroxidase activity of 0.79 U/mL. Elevated temperatures slightly enhanced the peroxidase activities. Jicama peroxidase extracted at optimum extraction conditions demonstrated a phenol removal efficiency of 87.5% at pH 7. Phenol removal efficiency was ∼ 97% in the range of 30 - 40oC, and H2O2 dosage has to be kept below 100 mM for maximum removal under phenol concentration tested

Packaging Improvement for Unit Cell Vanadium Redox Flow Battery (V-RFB)

Packaging for vanadium redox flow battery is one of the key elements for successful implementation of flow battery in the electrical energy storage system. Usually the bulky battery size and low energy densities make this technology not available for mobility application. Therefore RFB with improved packaging size and energy capacity are highly desirable. This paper focuses on the study of packaging improvement for unit cell V-RFB to the application on Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Two different designs of 25 cm2 and 100 cm2 unit cell V-RFB at same current density are used for the sample in this investigation. Further suggestions on packaging improvement are highlighted

Development and preliminary validation of socio-cultural influences on body image scale for Malaysian female adolescents

The present study aimed to develop and validate comprehensive multi-dimensional sociocultural (parental, peers, media) influence on body image scale for Malaysian female adolescents. A total of 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, Pahang, Malaysiacompleted a self-administered questionnaire, which encompassed a multiple measure of sociocultural influence, Body Dissatisfaction and Body Importance subscales of Body Image Questionnaire (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2001), and Body Change Inventory (Ricciardelli & McCabe, 2002). Through factor analysis, the three major components (parental, peers, media) of the sociocultural influence scale were found to consist of multi-dimensional constructs. Particularly, five dimensions were identified for the parental influence subscale: 1) parental teasing on weight, 2) parental encouragement on increasing muscle and weight, 3) parental social support, 4) parental preoccupation with thinness and dieting behaviour, and 5) parental feedback on body change behaviour; the peer influence subscale comprised four dimensions including 1) peer social support, 2) peer preoccupation with thinness and dieting behaviour, 3) peer teasing on weight, and 4) peer encouragement on increasing muscle and weight; and three dimensions were identified in the media influence subscale, which included 1) media encouragement on reducing weight, 2) media modeling on weight reducing behaviour, and 3) media encouragement on increasing muscle and weight. As for construct validity, there were positive correlations between the composite score of the subscales and body dissatisfaction, body importance, strategies to decrease body size and strategies to increase body size and muscle size. In short, the present study has developed a sociocultural (parental, peer, media) influences on body image scale with construct validity and good internal consistency for Malaysian female adolescents. The scale can be used to assess the various dimensions of socio-cultural influences and will be useful to determine the etiology, prevention and treatment of negative body image and its related problems for Malaysian female adolescents

Pre-hospital notification is associated with improved stroke thrombolysis timing

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Real world costs and cost-effectiveness of Rituximab for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients: a population-based analysis.

BackgroundCurrent treatment of diffuse-large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) includes rituximab, an expensive drug, combined with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) chemotherapy. Economic models have predicted rituximab plus CHOP (RCHOP) to be a cost-effective alternative to CHOP alone as first-line treatment of DLBCL, but it remains unclear what its real-world costs and cost-effectiveness are in routine clinical practice.MethodsWe performed a population-based retrospective cohort study from 1997 to 2007, using linked administrative databases in Ontario, Canada, to evaluate the costs and cost-effectiveness of RCHOP compared to CHOP alone. A historical control cohort (n = 1,099) with DLBCL who received CHOP before rituximab approval was hard-matched on age and treatment intensity and then propensity-score matched on sex, comorbidity, and histology to 1,099 RCHOP patients. All costs and outcomes were adjusted for censoring using the inverse probability weighting method. The main outcome measure was incremental cost per life-year gained (LYG).ResultsRituximab was associated with a life expectancy increase of 3.2 months over 5 years at an additional cost of $16,298, corresponding to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of$61,984 (95% CI $34,087-$135,890) per LYG. The probability of being cost-effective was 90% if the willingness-to-pay threshold was $100,000/LYG. The cost-effectiveness ratio was most favourable for patients less than 60 years old ($31,800/LYG) but increased to $80,600/LYG for patients 60-79 years old and$110,100/LYG for patients ≥ 80 years old. We found that post-market survival benefits of rituximab are similar to or lower than those reported in clinical trials, while the costs, incremental costs and cost-effectiveness ratios are higher than in published economic models and differ by age.ConclusionsOur results showed that the addition of rituximab to standard CHOP chemotherapy was associated with improvement in survival but at a higher cost, and was potentially cost-effective by standard thresholds for patients <60 years old. However, cost-effectiveness decreased significantly with age, suggesting that rituximab may be not as economically attractive in the very elderly on average. This has important clinical implications regarding age-related use and funding decisions on this drug