Measuring a Level of Water Pollution in Sungai Pinang Using a Mathematical Model

Mathematical models are now a popular tool in many applications such as physics, economics and engineering; and provide useful information for decision making and planning. Water pollution in Malaysia has reached a level that needs attention and intervention from environmental department and government. In order to make a strong case, this paper has done a study on measuring the pollution level of Sungai Pinang which is located in Penang Island, Malaysia. Advection-Dispersion equation is one of the mathematical models that often use in evaluating the level of water pollution in the river. This paper applies this model and compares the result of this study with the studies done in the previous research worldwide to evaluate the severity of the pollution. The authors hope that this paper will create awareness to relevant department and also to community in genera

Degradation and physical properties of sugar palm starch/ sugar palm nanofibrillated cellulose bionanocomposite

This paper aims to study the degradation rate of sugar palm nanofibrillated cellulose (SPNFCs) and sugar palm starch (SPS). SPNFCs were isolated from sugar palm fiber, while SPS is extracted from sugar palm trunk. The SPNFCs were reinforced with SPS biopolymer as biodegradable reinforcement materials of different diameter/length based on the number of passes of high pressurize homogenization process (5, 10 and 15 passes represented by SPS/SPNFCs-5, SPS/SPNFCs-10, and SPS/SPNFCs-15). These SPNFCs were incorporated into SPS plasticized with glycerol and sorbitol via solution casting method. Soil burial experiment performed on SPS and SPS/SPNFCs bionanocomposites showed that SPS was degraded more rapidly by losing 85.76% of its mass in 9 days compared to 69.89% by SPS/SPNFCs-15 bionanocomposite. The high compatibility between SPNFCs nanofiber and SPS biopolymer matrices can be observed through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM)

Cerebrospinal fluid markers of neuronal and glial cell damage in patients with autoimmune neurologic syndromes with and without underlying malignancies

Autoimmune neurologic syndromes can be paraneoplastic (associated with malignancies and/or onconeural antibodies), or non-paraneoplastic. Their clinical presentation is often similar. As prognosis is related to malignancy treatment, better biomarkers are needed to identify patients with malignancy. We investigated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of neuronal (neurofilament light chain, NFL and total tau protein, T-tau) and glial (glial fibrillary acidic protein) damage. CSF-NFL and T-tau were increased in both paraneoplastic and non-paraneoplastic autoimmune syndromes. Patients with manifest malignancies were older, had less epilepsy, more focal central and peripheral neurological signs and symptoms, and worse long-term outcome, than those without malignancy. CSF-NFL-levels predicted long-term outcome but were not diagnostic for malignancy, after age adjustment

Physico-chemical characterization of some selected soil series of Mymensingh and Jamalpur districts of Bangladesh

The soil physico-chemical properties have been disturbed due to long continued intensive agricultural practices. Under this situation we are approaching rapidly to a very strong future challenge in sustaining the quality of our soil. This study was conducted to evaluate the physico-chemical properties of the selected soil series. The area covered Mymensingh and Jamalpur districts of Bangladesh. Soil samples were collected randomly from different profiles of Lokdeo, Tarakanda, Silmondi and Melandah soil series during March-May, 2014 and analysed. All soils were acidic and textural classes were sandy loam, silt loam, loam, and clay loam. Organic matter and total N contents low to very low. Available S content in the upper layers of most soils were medium to optimum and in the deeper layer low to medium. The exchangeable K, Ca and Na contents were also low. The upper layers of all the locations contained higher amounts of available Zn. The available Cu and Fe contents of most soils were very high. The soils of all locations contained very high amount of available Mn except the deeper layers (45-75 cm) of Melandah which contained optimum amount of available Mn. Soil pH showed negative correlation with total N and available S. Total N showed positive correlation with soil OM, available Cu and available S. There was positive correlation between available S and available Mn

Performance of some potato accessions of USA and Bangladesh in relation to dry matter yield and biochemical constituent

Present research was designed to evaluate the dry matter yield and biochemical constituents of twenty two potato accession of USA in comparison with two Bangladeshi varieties. Studied biochemical constituents were starch, protein and vitamin C contents. Analyses were performed from November 2014 to April 2015 in different laboratories of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. Potato accessions differed significantly with respect to dry matter content and biochemical parameters. Dry mater content was found highest in accession AC 10110. Considering biochemical constituent, the accession AC 10062 showed highest protein and vitamin C contents. On the other hand, accession AC 10081 had the highest starch content. Significant positive correlation was observed between dry matter and starch content while significant negative correlation was observed between starch and protein contents. Considering both dry matter yield and biochemical parameters AC 10081 was found as the best USA potato accession for cultivation in Bangladesh

Characterization of rice bran wax policosanol and its nanoemulsion formulation

Aminu Ishaka,1,2 Mustapha Umar Imam,1 Rozi Mahamud,3 Abu Bakar Zakaria Zuki,4 Ismail Maznah1 1Laboratory of Molecular Biomedicine, Institute of Bioscience, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 2Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Health Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria; 3Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 4Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract: Policosanol, a mixture of long-chain alcohols found in animal and plant waxes, has several biological effects; however, it has a bioavailability of less than 10%. Therefore, there is a need to improve its bioavailability, and one of the ways of doing this is by nanoemulsion formulation. Different droplet size distributions are usually achieved when emulsions are formed, which solely depends on the preparation method used. Mostly, emulsions are intended for better delivery with maintenance of the characteristics and properties of the leading components. In this study, policosanol was extracted from rice bran wax, its composition was determined by gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry, nanoemulsion was made, and the physical stability characteristics were determined. The results showed that policosanol nanoemulsion has a nanosize particle distribution below 100 nm (92.56–94.52 nm), with optimum charge distribution (-55.8 to -45.12 mV), pH (6.79–6.92) and refractive index (1.50); these were monitored and found to be stable for 8 weeks. The stability of policosanol nanoemulsion confers the potential to withstand long storage times. Keywords: rice bran wax, policosanol, nanoemulsion, characterizatio