Comparative effects of Cosmos caudatus, Piper sarmentosum and Premna cordifolia ethanolic extracts on mice (Mus musculus) sperm parameters

This study was carried out to compare the effects of ethanolic extract of Cosmos caudatus (CCEE), Piper sarmentosum (PSEE) and Premna cordifolia (PCEE) on sperm parameters of male mice, Mus musculus. Twenty four sexually matured male mice were used in this study. The mice were grouped into 4 groups of 6 mice each. The first group was given 0.9% saline solution and served as a control whereas groups 2-4 were daily administered with 500 mg/kg body weight of CCEE, PSEE and PCEE respectively, orally for 30 days daily. The body weight was recorded prior to, and after the treatments. At the end of the experimental period, the mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The testis and epidydimis were collected and weighed. Then, the sperm suspension was prepared and subjected to sperm analysis (sperm motility, count and morphology). Bodyweight and reproductive organ weight (testis and epididymis) were not significantly different between control and mice treated with CCEE, PSEE and PCEE. Sperm count was increased in all groups compared to control but not significantly different. Sperm motility of mice treated with PSEE significantly (p<0.05) increased compared to control. Meanwhile sperm motility was not affected by CCEE and PCEE. PCEE significantly (p<0.05) decreased the percentage of normal sperm morphology compared to control. CCEE and PSEE also reduced the percentage of normal sperm morphology but the values were not significantly different. This study proves that all of the three plants affect the sperm quality, thus further study is suggested

Knowledge and practice among nurses on management of tuberculosis in a teaching hospital

Tuberculosis (TB) has become a worldwide public concern with 10.4 million new cases reported in 2015 and 1.4 million deaths. More importantly, an increase in trend in TB incidence among healthcare workers has become a major concern. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the knowledge and practice towards TB and the factors associated with it among nurses in a teaching hospital. The present study used cross-sectional design and stratified sampling method. A total of 275 nurses in a teaching hospital participated in this study. The knowledge and practice on management of TB was measured using a structured questionnaire. Majority of the respondents had good knowledge and practice on management of TB represented by 70.2% and 63.3%, respectively. However, knowledge gap (1.8%) and practice gap (0.4%) were identified in method of sputum collection. Work place setting was the only demographic factor found significantly associated with level of knowledge and practice (p=0.028). Level of knowledge and practice on management of TB identified among nurses was not associated with many socio-demographic factors. Nurses as frontline healthcare workers are at high risk of being exposed due to frequent contact with various patients especially those who are undiagnosed and TB suspect patients. Hence, implementation of TB Infection Control (TBIC) measures is important to minimize the risk of infection and cross-infection within hospital

Application of response surface methodology (RSM) in analyzing the hydrolytic degradation of plasticized MWCNTs nanocomposites

The present research goals are to investigate how several parameters became the factor to maximize the degradation ability of biopolymer. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was blended in poly(lactic acid (PLA) assisted by poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a plasticizer. PLA/PEG/mCNTs from the melt blending technique was used for analysis in hydrolysis degradation purposely to discover how the time, temperature and pH of media solution could affect the weight loss and validate by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The hydrolysis study was examined at three parameters of immersion; time from 7 to 28 days; the temperature at 25 °C, 45 °C and 65 °C; and pH of the solution at pH 3 (HCl), pH 6.5 (deionized water) and pH 10 (NaOH). The maximum weight loss, 22.53 % was observed after 28 days of immersion at 65 °C of immersion temperature and pH 3 of solution. The quadratic model developed was reasonably accurate based on the R2 value of 0.966, insignificant lack of fit, and low percentage error during validation experiment from the predicted values (< 5 %)

Synthesis of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) derived solid acid catalyst for esterification of waste cooking oils

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) contributes to a large quantity of lignocellulosic waste. It is an abundantly available waste biomass in Malaysia. This project was aimed to utilize the waste materials for a better benefit. EFB were used as raw material to prepare a new solid catalyst for biodiesel production. Solid acid catalyst derived from EFB was used to catalyze the esterification process in biodiesel production from waste cooking oil. Solid acid catalyst was prepared by direct impregnation with transition metal sulfides, Fe2(SO4)3. This new catalyst was used to catalyze the esterification of high free fatty acid (FFA) value oil, e.g. waste cooking oils (WCOs) as pre-treatment step prior to biodiesel production. The highest catalytic activity with 90.95% esterification rate was achieved. The catalyst can be easily separated for reuse compared to homogenous catalyst which are used in biodiesel production. EFB has the potential to be converted into useful feedstock and the derived catalyst can replace the traditional liquid acid catalyst in biodiesel production especially for high acid value content feedstock

Effect of Sintering Temperature on Physical Properties & hardness of CoCrMo alloys fabricated by metal injection moulding process

Metal Injection Moulding (MIM) process is one of the Powder Metallurgy manufacturing techniques utilised to produce Cobalt Chromium Molybdenum (CoCrMo) compacts. The objective of this study is to determine physical properties and hardness of CoCrMo alloy compact sintered at three different sintering temperature at the similar soaking time. At the beginning, sample were fabricated by using Injection Moulding machine. Cobalt Chrome Molybdenum (CoCrMo) metal powder was selected for this study. A morphological study was conducted using optical microscope (OM) and micro-Vickers hardness testing. From the result obtained, it shows upward trend either on the hardness or physical properties of the samples. CoCrMo sintered compact become harder and volume of pores on surface become less due to the increase on sintering temperature. However, effect of increasing sintering temperature shows significant shrinkage of the sample, beginning losses in dimensional accuracy. It is discovered that a little change in sintering temperature gives significant impact on the microstructure, physical, mechanical of the alloy

A multivariate parametric empirical Bayes screening approach for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma using multiple longitudinal biomarkers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/172296/1/sim9358.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/172296/2/sim9358_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/172296/3/sim9358-sup-0001-supinfo.pd

Physical Properties and Microstructure Study of 316L SS Fabricated by Metal Injection Moulding Process

Metal injection moulding (MIM) has been practised to process alloy powders to become components with significant physical and mechanical properties. Dissimilar than other methods, MIM focuses on the production of high volume, a small, and complex shape of products. The performance of the compacts depends on the suitable sintering parameters that governs their strengths in the final phase which determines the excellent properties of the sintered compacts. Three different sintering temperatures were utilised; 1100, 1200, and 1300 ˚C with two different soaking times; 1 and 3 hours at 10 ˚C/min heating rate to study their effect on the physical properties and microstructure analysis of 316L SS alloy compacts. The shrinkage measurement, surface roughness, and density measurement had been conducted for physical properties study. Different sintering temperatures give an effect to the physical properties of the sintered compacts. The shrinkage measurement at 1300 ˚C and 3-hour sintering condition demonstrated the highest percentage reading which was 10.1 % compared to the lowest percentage reading of 6.4 % at 1100 ˚C and 1-hour sintering conditions. Whereas, the minimum percentage of density measurement can be found at sintering conditions of 1100 ˚C and 1-hour which is 83.9 % and the highest percentage is at 1300 ˚C and 3-hour sintering condition which is about 89.51 %. Therefore, it has been determined that there could be a significant relationship between sintering temperature and physical properties in which it can be found from the porosity of the compact based on the microstructure studies

CO2 Reforming of Methane over Ni/Ce-SBA-15: Effects of Ce Addition

Background/Objectives: The effects of Ce loading (1-7 wt%) on the properties of Ni/SBA-15 andCO2 dry reforming with methane was studied. Methods/StatisticalAnalysis: The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were analyzed by XRD, BET, TEM and FTIR. Catalytic performance of catalyst was performed using a fixed bed reactor at 700°C. Findings: NCS7 catalyst had the highest activity and good stability with CH4 conversion, CO2 conversion and H2/CO ratio of 94.9%, 95.1%, and 0.99, respectively. This can be attributed to the Ce ensuring a good Ni dispersion and inhibited the carbon deposition on the catalyst surfaces. Moreover, high Ce loading of NCS7 promoting the formation of a significant synergy effect between Ni active sites with SBA-15 for target reaction. Application/Improvements: The result presented is very promising to improve the GHGs conversion strategies for the production of useful chemical products

Selective cytotoxicity of organotin(IV) compounds with 2,3-dihydroxybenzyldithiocarbazate Schiff bases

A series of tridentate ONS Schiff bases were synthesised via condensation by reacting 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde with S-2-methylbenzyldithiocarbazate (S2MBDTC) (1), S-4-methylbenzyldithiocarbazate (S4MBDTC) (2) and S-benzyldithiocarbazate (SBDTC) (3) in an equimolar ratio (10 mmol). The Schiff bases were then reacted with diphenyltin(IV) and dimethyltin(IV) dichloride in an equimolar ratio (1 mmol) yielding six new organotin(IV) compounds (4–9). All the compounds were successfully characterised by elemental analysis, FT-IR, multinuclear NMR, UV–Vis, mass spectroscopy and molar conductivity. The molecular geometries for five compounds, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9, have been established by X-ray crystallography. The five-coordinate geometry for each of the diorganotin molecules was defined by two carbon atoms from the tin-bound substituents as well as three donor atoms derived from the dinegative, tridentate dithiocarbazate ligands, namely thiolate-S, phenoxide-O and imine-N atoms. The resultant five-coordinate C2NOS geometries were intermediate between ideal square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal geometries. The diphenyltin(IV) compounds (4–6) exhibited particularly promising and selective cytotoxicity against the A2780 (ovarian), BE2-C (neuroblastoma), SJ-G2 (glioblastoma) and MIA (pancreas) cancer cell lines. The interactions of the compounds (4–9) with calf thymus (CT-DNA) were evaluated using an electronic absorption method, and 7, 8, 9 were found to have good DNA binding affinity. The molecular docking studies of compounds (4–9) with DNA revealed that the compounds interacted with duplex DNA via hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions