Pulp and Paper Potentials of Alkaline Peroxide Pre-Treated of Oil Palm Waste and Industrial Application

This chapter explores the potentials of the alkaline peroxide pre-treated oil palm vascular bundle (oil palm waste) in the industrial production of pulp, paper and other cellulosic products like microcrystalline cellulose. Management of this escalating waste is a herculean task and creates environmental hazards hence urgent action is needed to create value out of these waste biomass. The pulp and paper industry being a large consumer of lignocellulose materials preferred the use of coniferous and deciduous trees for pulp production and papermaking because their cellulose fibres in the pulp make durable paper. In addition to this, the global population explosion and the economic development has resulted in the significant increase in demand for paper. With improvements in pulp processing technology through the use of environmental benign technology like alkaline peroxide pre-treatment it has been considered as suitable for paper pulp and other cellulose based products such as microcrystalline cellulose. Characterization of the alkaline peroxide pre-treated oil palm vascular bundles using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transmission infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses confirm the micro-sized cellulose fibres. Use of these lignocellulosic materials can reduce the burden on the forest while supporting the natural biodiversity

Enzyme-linked immunoassay for dengue virus IgM and IgG antibodies in serum and filter paper blood

BACKGROUND: The reproducibilty of dengue IgM and IgG ELISA was studied in serum and filter paper blood spots from Vietnamese febrile patients. METHODS: 781 pairs of acute (t0) and convalescent sera, obtained after three weeks (t3) and 161 corresponding pairs of filter paper blood spots were tested with ELISA for dengue IgG and IgM. 74 serum pairs were tested again in another laboratory with similar methods, after a mean of 252 days. RESULTS: Cases were classified as no dengue (10 %), past dengue (55%) acute primary (7%) or secondary (28%) dengue. Significant differences between the two laboratories' results were found leading to different diagnostic classification (kappa 0.46, p < 0.001). Filter paper results correlated poorly to serum values, being more variable and lower with a mean (95% CI) difference of 0.82 (0.36 to 1.28) for IgMt3, 0.94 (0.51 to 1.37) for IgGt0 and 0.26 (-0.20 to 0.71) for IgGt3. This also led to differences in diagnostic classification (kappa value 0.44, p < 0.001) The duration of storage of frozen serum and dried filter papers, sealed in nylon bags in an air-conditioned room, had no significant effect on the ELISA results. CONCLUSION: Dengue virus IgG antibodies in serum and filter papers was not affected by duration of storage, but was subject to inter-laboratory variability. Dengue virus IgM antibodies measured in serum reconstituted from blood spots on filter papers were lower than in serum, in particular in the acute phase of disease. Therefore this method limits its value for diagnostic confirmation of individual patients with dengue virus infections. However the detection of dengue virus IgG antibodies eluted from filter paper can be used for sero-prevalence cross sectional studies

Obeticholic acid for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: interim analysis from a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

BACKGROUND Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common type of chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis. Obeticholic acid, a farnesoid X receptor agonist, has been shown to improve the histological features of NASH. Here we report results from a planned interim analysis of an ongoing, phase 3 study of obeticholic acid for NASH. METHODS In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, adult patients with definite NASH, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score of at least 4, and fibrosis stages F2-F3, or F1 with at least one accompanying comorbidity, were randomly assigned using an interactive web response system in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive oral placebo, obeticholic acid 10 mg, or obeticholic acid 25 mg daily. Patients were excluded if cirrhosis, other chronic liver disease, elevated alcohol consumption, or confounding conditions were present. The primary endpoints for the month-18 interim analysis were fibrosis improvement (≥1 stage) with no worsening of NASH, or NASH resolution with no worsening of fibrosis, with the study considered successful if either primary endpoint was met. Primary analyses were done by intention to treat, in patients with fibrosis stage F2-F3 who received at least one dose of treatment and reached, or would have reached, the month 18 visit by the prespecified interim analysis cutoff date. The study also evaluated other histological and biochemical markers of NASH and fibrosis, and safety. This study is ongoing, and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02548351, and EudraCT, 20150-025601-6. FINDINGS Between Dec 9, 2015, and Oct 26, 2018, 1968 patients with stage F1-F3 fibrosis were enrolled and received at least one dose of study treatment; 931 patients with stage F2-F3 fibrosis were included in the primary analysis (311 in the placebo group, 312 in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 308 in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group). The fibrosis improvement endpoint was achieved by 37 (12%) patients in the placebo group, 55 (18%) in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group (p=0·045), and 71 (23%) in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group (p=0·0002). The NASH resolution endpoint was not met (25 [8%] patients in the placebo group, 35 [11%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group [p=0·18], and 36 [12%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group [p=0·13]). In the safety population (1968 patients with fibrosis stages F1-F3), the most common adverse event was pruritus (123 [19%] in the placebo group, 183 [28%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 336 [51%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group); incidence was generally mild to moderate in severity. The overall safety profile was similar to that in previous studies, and incidence of serious adverse events was similar across treatment groups (75 [11%] patients in the placebo group, 72 [11%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 93 [14%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group). INTERPRETATION Obeticholic acid 25 mg significantly improved fibrosis and key components of NASH disease activity among patients with NASH. The results from this planned interim analysis show clinically significant histological improvement that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. This study is ongoing to assess clinical outcomes. FUNDING Intercept Pharmaceuticals

Role of magnetic resonance planimetry and magnetic resonance parkinsonism index in discriminating Parkinson&rsquo;s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy: a retrospective study based on 1.5 and 3 T MRI

Waseem Mehmood Nizamani,1 Fatima Mubarak,1 Muhammad Danish Barakzai,1 Muhammad Saad Ahmed2 1Department of Radiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, 2Department of Radiology, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan Objective: The objective of the study was to assess magnetic resonance (MR) planimetric measurements and MR parkinsonism index (MRPI) in differentiating progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) from Parkinson&rsquo;s disease (PD) using 1.5 and 3 T MRI scanner. Subjects and methods: After ethical approval was obtained, analysis of 34 consecutive patients with PSP, 34 patients with PD and 34 healthy controls (HCs) was performed. HCs were age-matched adults without any history of neurodegenerative disease or movement disorders. Retrospective data from the past 10 years (from January 2006 to December 2015) were obtained from the Hospital Information Management System, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. The measurements of pons area&ndash;midbrain area ratio (P/M) and MCP width&ndash;superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) width ratio (MCP/SCP) were used, and MRPI was calculated by the formula ([P/M]&times;[MCP/SCP]). Results: Midbrain area and SCP width in patients with PSP (19 males, 15 females; mean age =66.7 years) were significantly (P&lt;0.001) smaller than in patients with PD (20 males, 14 females; mean age =66.7 years) and control participants (17 males, 17 females; mean age =66.1 years). P/M and MCP/SCP were significantly higher in patients with PSP than in patients with PD and control participants. All measurements showed some overlap of values between patients with PSP and patients from PD group and control participants. MRPI value was significantly higher in patients with PSP (mean 21.00) than in patients with PD (mean 9.50; P&lt;0.001) and control participants (mean 9.6; P&lt;0.001), without any overlap of values among groups. No correlation was found between the duration of disease, PSP rating scale, PSP staging system and MRPI in this study. No patient with PSP received a misdiagnosis when the index was used (sensitivity and specificity, 100%). Conclusion: MRPI should be made an essential part of all MRI brain reporting whenever differentiation between PD and PSP is sought for. Keywords: cognitive dysfunction, movement disorders, progressive supranuclear palsy, Parkinsonism Index&nbsp

Impact of education on sex workers and their children: case studies from Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, sex workers and their children are in a situation of exclusion where they are denied of even the most basic human rights. This article is based on a recent research carried out to explore the impact of education on sex workers and their children’s lives by gathering evidence on social exclusion and child abuse or protection in the context of their lives. The study focused on how education could be a vehicle for them to break the vicious cycle of exploitation. This was a mixed method interpretative study which employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative data was generated through a questionnaire and qualitative data was generated through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Data was collected from different research participants such as sex workers, sex workers' children, teachers of sex workers’ children and NGO workers working in the research site. Thematic and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis to understand the challenges and barriers faced by sex workers and their children in their educational aspirations. The life of sex workers and their children is marginalised by the mainstream society. Though it is very difficult to break the vicious cycle of exploitation, education may be a stepping stone for them to create a better future. However, sex workers and their children need income generating vocational and technical education to earn and support their family. In the implication section of the article, policy recommendations have been made in order to achieve Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and to provide a second chance for these vulnerable people to have a better life

Chitosan Coating Improves Postharvest Shelf-Life of Mango (<i>Mangifera indica</i> L.)

Mango is an extremely perishable fruit with a short postharvest time, and a considerable proportion of harvested mangoes become spoiled due to the postharvest decay in mango-producing areas of the world. The current study was designed to evaluate the effects of chitosan on the storage life of mango. Mango samples were coated with 750, 1000, and 1500 ppm chitosan solution, before storing them in the open or zip-bags under ambient and refrigeration conditions for different storage periods. Changes in different physical and chemical parameters were recorded to evaluate the treatments’ effectiveness in extending fruit shelf-life and sustaining postharvest quality of mangoes. The results showed that chitosan coating was able to reduce weight loss up to 65% in comparison to the uncoated control. Total mold and bacterial counts were also significantly lower in postharvest mangos when they were coated with chitosan compared to the uncoated samples. In addition, different fruit quality attributes, such as vitamin C content, titratable acidity, sugar content, ash, and protein content were also retained to a considerable extent by the chitosan coatings. Chitosan at refrigeration temperature (4 °C) with zip-bag packaging had a greater positive effect on fruit shelf-life, weight maintenance, and quality attributes than ambient temperature. Among the different coating concentrations, 1000 ppm chitosan solutions could provide better performance to extend the shelf-life of mango fruit while maintaining quality attributes. Altogether, our findings suggest that chitosan coating effectively prolongs the storage life of mango fruit and maintains fruit quality during storage, and offers promising potential for successful commercialization of this edible coating for mango growers and the industry

Industrial datasets with ICS testbed and attack detection using machine learning techniques

Industrial control systems (ICS) are the backbone for the implementation of cybersecurity solutions. They are susceptible to various attacks, due to openness in connectivity, unauthorized attempts, malicious attacks, use of more commercial off the shelf (COTS) software and hardware, and implementation of Internet protocols (IP) that exposes them to the outside world. Cybersecurity solutions for Information technology (IT) secured with firewalls, intrusion detection/protection systems do nothing much for Operational technology (OT) ICS. An innovative concept of using real operational technology network traffic-based testbed, for cyber-physical system simulation and analysis, is presented. The testbed is equipped with real-time attacks using in-house penetration test tool with reconnaissance, interception, and firmware analysis scenarios. The test cases with different real-time hacking scenarios are implemented with the ICS cyber test kit, and its industrial datasets are captured which can be utilized for Deep packet inspection (DPI). The DPI provides more visibility into the contents of OT network traffic based on OT protocols. The Machine learning (ML) techniques are deployed for cyber-attack detection of datasets from the cyber kit. The performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score are evaluated and cross validated for different ML algorithms for anomaly detection. The decision tree (DT) ML technique is optimized with pruning method which provides an attack detection accuracy of 96.5%. The deep learning (DL) techniques has been used recently for enhanced OT intrusion detection performances

SIOP PODC-adapted treatment guidelines for craniopharyngioma in low- and middle-income settings

Pediatric craniopharyngioma is a rare tumor with excellent survival but significant long-term morbidities due to the loco-regional tumor growth or secondary to its treatment. Visual impairment, panhypopituitarism, hypothalamic damage, and behavioral changes are among the main challenges. This tumor should be managed under the care of a multidisciplinary team to determine the optimum treatment within the available resources. This is particularly important for low middle-income countries where resources are variable. This report provides risk-stratified management guidelines for children diagnosed with craniopharyngioma in a resource-limited setting