A Review on Honey Adulteration and the Available Detection Approaches

Over the last few decades, the utilization of stingless bees honey product grew significantly due to its natural therapeutic value in honey. These make the demand for honey rises and tends to have a lot of honey product available in the commercial market. However, the purity of honey can be sceptical whenever it turns up to be added or removed with different substances. Recently, adulteration of honey becomes a complex issue because the highly sophisticated adulteration procedures are continually being evolved and the legislative determination of honey quality indicator is incapable to identify most honey adulteration procedures. Therefore, a comprehensive overview of the method of adulterated honey, including direct and indirect adulteration are discussed in this paper. In addition to this, the detection methods approached by most researchers are briefly explained. All these methods contribute to the knowledge about each aspect of honey authenticity and give beneficial information in oncoming works

High speed numerical integration algorithm using FPGA

Conventionally, numerical integration  algorithm is executed in software and time consuming to accomplish. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) can be used as a much faster, very efficient and reliable alternative to implement the numerical integration algorithm. This paper proposed a hardware implementation of four numerical integration algorithms using FPGA. The computation is based on Left Riemann Sum (LRS), Right Riemann Sum (RRS), Middle Riemann Sum (MRS) and Trapezoidal Sum (TS) algorithms. The system performance is evaluated based on target chip Altera Cyclone IV FPGA in the metrics of resources utilization, clock latency, execution time, power consumption and computational error compared to the other algorithms. The result also shows execution time of the FPGA are much faster compared to the software implementation.Keywords: numerical integration algorithm; FPGA; Riemann sum; trapezoidal su

Systematic significance of stipe anatomy of Selaginella (Selaginellaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia

An anatomical study was carried out on 14 taxa belonging to Selaginellaceae in an attempt to study their stipe anatomical characteristics and to provide anatomical data for the selected taxa in Selaginellaceae. Out of 29 taxa of Selaginellaceae recorded in Peninsular Malaysia, 14 taxa have been selected namely Selaginella alutacia, S. argentea, S. frondosa, S. intermedia var. intermedia, S. intermedia var. dolichocentrus, S. mayeri, S. morganii, S. ornata, S. plana, S. polita, S. roxburghii var. roxburghii, S. stipulata, S. wallichii and S. willdenowii. Method used in this study was sectioning using sliding microtome. Findings in this study have shown that Selaginellaceae species studied can be clustered into two groups based on the stipe stellar systems, which are monostelic and tristelic groups. There are some variations exist in the cross sections of the stipes of the same species due to the presence and absence of the leaf trace. Each species is proved to have distinct stipe anatomical characteristics that can be used to differentiate species in Selaginellaceae

In vivo antibacterial activity of whey protein derived from fermented milk of Iraqi buffalo

The present study aims to prepare fermented buffalo's milk rich with low molecular weight peptides by using lactic acid starters as a mixture. Skim milk sample was inoculated with 5% of the starter. The growing number of starter and anti-bacterial activity were studied after 24 hours of incubation. Protein and peptide concentration were determined before and after fermentation, then biological active peptides were isolated or separated and purified by gel filtration column of Sephadex G25. Finally, the antibacterial activity of the isolated peptides was studied in vivo. The results of chemical analysis of fresh and fermented milk showed that the concentrations of protein were 0.817mg/ml and 0.501mg/ml before and after fermentation, respectively either peptide concentration was 0.4mg/ml before fermentation and 0.805mg/ml after fermentation. The number of starters was determined during the fermentation process after 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours of incubation and found an increase in the number of lactic acid bacteria. The initiation number was 6.2 × 105 but after the 24 hours, the number increased of up to 1.3×106. The number of lactic bacteria decreased after 24 hours with the increase in the concentration of lactic acid combined with low pH value. Colonies of lactobacilli were isolated from fermented buffalo milk and were characterized by the typical characteristics for the purpose of a rating based on morphological and cultural characters. Gel filtration gave seventy-eight fractions. And depending on the absorbency on wavelength 280 were obtained four peaks, each peak represents a fraction. Peptide concentration was determined in each fraction, these concentrations were (0 and 0243 and 0902 and 0632) mg/ml of fraction 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Fraction three contained a high concentration of peptide. The antibacterial activity of the third fraction was estimated. The results showed that the bioactive peptides of fermented milk have good efficacy in the treatment of diarrhea in laboratory animals

Half-life measurement of 44Sc and 44mSc.

The half-lives of 44Sc and 44mSc were measured by following their decay rate using several measurement systems: two ionization chambers and three γ-spectrometry detectors with digital and/or analogue electronics. For 44Sc, the result was the combination of seven half-life values giving a result of 4.042(7) h, which agrees with the last reported value of 4.042(3) h and confirms the near to 2% deviation from the recommended half-life of 3.97(4) h. Scandium-44 is present as an impurity in the production of 44Sc by cyclotron proton irradiation. Its half-life was determined by measurements performed a few days after End of Bomardment (EoB), so that the 44Sc decayed down to a negligible level. Seven measurements were combined to obtain an average of 58.7(3) h, which is in agreement with the recommended value of 58.6(1) h

To Prepare Special Formula to be Used as Diesel Fuel

The basic idea for this research is summarized in preparing special formula consisting of cut hydrocarbon petroleum with pure water and a combination of surface tension materials and the formula prepared in the form of emulsion (diesel-water) which is being stabilized in storage temperature and at temperatures and colliding pressure during use .The prepared emulsion is used in the interior combustion engines to increase the efficiency of fuel and reducing of toxic gases emissions and contaminated particles. Iraqi diesel fuel product in" Daura Refinery” was selected and the emulsion was prepared by mixing with gradual addition of water to the diesel containing small amounts of (surface- tension) material. In this research variables and optimum conditions of preparation and their impact on stability were studied such as water/diesel ratio, concentration of surfactants, mixing periods and mixing speeds. The physical properties of formula prepared were measured such as density, viscosity and surface tension. The results show that the optimum conditions of preparation were: 5% water/diesel ratio; 0.2% concentration of surfactants; 3 min. mixing period and 4000 rpm mixing speed

Preparation of Emulsified Fuel from used lubricating oil

The use of diesel fuel in diesel engines when they run produces large amounts of environmental emitiondue to the high flame tem temperature when combustion also high quantities of used lubricating oilsproduce annually, and the disposal process has caused serious enviro mental problems, so it must purifyto use it againThe aim of this preparation of emulsifier fuel from waste lubricating oil which have several advantagessuch as reduce the gases pollutants emulsion and invests the waste lubricating oil The emulsifierfuel was prep rated from waste lubricating oil after simple physical treatments and surface active agentmaterials with water that necessary for preparation the emulsion ,the prepared fuel used in internalcombustion engine It wase found that ,the optimum condition for preparation are :water percentage10%,the concentrated of surface active agent 0.2% ,the time of mixing 2min, and the mixing rate 4000rpm to produce the emulsion that more stable along time .It was found that ,the specific gravity for emulsifier fuel which has water 10% , 20% ( 0.8730, 0.8754),the rotational viscosity for the same emulsifier fuel was (23.5, 29.4) c

The effectiveness of video clips to enhance students’ achievement and motivation on history learning and facilitation

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of video clips to enhance students' achievement and motivation towards learning and facilitating of history. We use narrative literature studies to illustrate the current state of the two art and science in focused areas of inquiry. We used experimental method. The experimental method is a systematic scientific research method in which the researchers manipulate one or more variables to control and measure any changes in other variables. For this purpose, two experimental groups have been designed: one experimental and one groups consisting of 30 lower secondary students. The session is given to the first batch using a computer presentation program that uses video clips to be considered as experimental group, while the second group is assigned as the same class using traditional methods using dialogue and discussion techniques that are considered a control group. Both groups are subject to pre and post-trial in matters that are handled by the class. The findings show that the results of the pre-test analysis did not show statistically significant differences, which in turn proved the equality of the two groups. Meanwhile, post-test analysis results show that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental group and the control group at an importance level of 0.05 for the benefit of the experimental grou

A rapid and sensitive system for recovery of nucleic acids from Mycobacteria sp. on archived glass slides

The field of diagnostics continues to advance rapidly with a variety of novel approaches, mainly dependent upon high technology platforms. Nonetheless much diagnosis, particularly in developing countries, still relies upon traditional methods such as microscopy. Biological material, particularly nucleic acids, on archived glass slides is a potential source of useful information both for diagnostic and epidemiological purposes. There are significant challenges faced when examining archived samples in order that an adequate amount of amplifiable DNA can be obtained. Herein, we describe a model system to detect low numbers of bacterial cells isolated from glass slides using (laser capture microscopy) LCM coupled with PCR amplification of a suitable target. Mycobacterium smegmatis was used as a model organism to provide a proof of principle for a method to recover bacteria from a stained sample on a glass slide using a laser capture system. Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stained cells were excised and catapulted into tubes. Recovered cells were subjected to DNA extraction and pre-amplified with multiple displacement amplification (MDA). This system allowed a minimum of 30 catapulted cells to be detected following a nested real-time PCR assay, using rpoB specific primers. The combination of MDA and nested real-time PCR resulted in a 30-fold increase in sensitivity for the detection of low numbers of cells isolated using LCM. This study highlights the potential of LCM coupled with MDA as a tool to improve the recovery of amplifiable nucleic acids from archived glass slides. The inclusion of the MDA step was essential to enable downstream amplification. This platform should be broadly applicable to a variety of diagnostic applications and we have used it as a proof of principle with a Mycobacterium sp. model system

Migraine headaches among university students using id migraine test as a screening tool

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migraine is a significant health problem, especially for the young people, due to its frequency and accompanying morbidity, causing disability and loss of performance. In this study, our aim was to determine the prevalence of migraine headaches among university students in Edirne, a Turkish city.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, study population was composed of students registered to Trakya University in the academic year of 2008-2009. Out of these, 3694 of them accepted to participate. Participants who had two or more headaches in the last 3 months formed the headache group. Afterwards, two preliminary questions were applied to the headache group and participants with at least one affirmative response were asked to perform the validated ID-Migraine™ test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of 3694 students participated in the study was 19.23 ± 1.84 (17-39 years), with adolescents:adult ratio being 2.5:1. 1613 students (43.7%) did have at least two headaches in the last three months. Migraine-type headache was detected in 266 subjects (7.2%) based on the ID-Migraine™ test. Of the migraine group, 72 were male (27.1%) and 194 were female (72.9%). There was no significant difference in migraine prevalence between adolescent and adult age groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With a prevalence similar to adults, primary care physicians should be aware of the probability of migraine headaches in university students in order to maintain a successful school performance.</p