Vitamin C Intakeand Risk Factors for Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of the knee joints characterized by progressive softening and disintegration of articular cartilage. In OA, which is influenced by several risk factors, free radicals are increased by local ischemia in the cartilage. As an exogenous antioxidant, vitamin C also plays an important role in collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis. This study was carried out to identify vitamin C intake as well as risk factors in knee OA. Methods: The study population was determined by non-probability sampling with convenient approach to knee OA patients at the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic of Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital in October–November 2013. Data were obtained through questionnaire interview about risk factors, severity index of OA and vitamin C intake profile. Data presentation was conducted by descriptive method.Results: There were 47 patients diagnosed with knee OA in the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic. The result showed that 7 patients (14.9%) had low vitamin C intake for the last 3 months. There were 30 patients with family history of OA (63.8%). Thirty two patients (68.1%) were passive smokers, 44 patients (93.6%) had history of repeated use of knee joints and majority of respondents had obesity.  Conclusions: Most of the subjects have sufficient vitamin C intake and more than half have risk factors that may contribute to the incidence of knee OA. DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n2.1067

Oil Sludge Bioremediation Using Biopile With Addition Of Sawdust

This research was focused on treating oil sludge from petroleum industry’s waste which can cause serious environmental problems. Bioremediation is one of the effective and promising ways to manage oil sludge with biological activity. The ability of the bacterial consortium was used to reduce the value of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) with a biopile system. The pilot scale biopile research design used a mixture of soil, bacterial consortium nutrients, with sawdust variations of 0%, 15%, 30% and 45%. This biopile system was conditioned by the addition of oxygen to maintain aerobic conditions, incubated in atmospheric temperatures and two weekly sampling within 56 days. The combination of treatment at the best for total bacterial count was 7.21 x 107 CFU/g and the percentage of TPH degradation reached 81% at the end of the study period. Based on the results it can be concluded that biopile is able to be an effective, economical and environmentally friendly choice for the management of oil sludge

Manifesting Grammatical Meanings and Functions of Particle “Lah” in Pégon Script (Javanese Translation) of Syiʻir Qiyāmah

Linguistics researchers and academics frequently overlook the presence of particles in sentence constructions. Nonetheless, language is never presented in a vacuum. Any-faceted phenomenon can be ‘means’ in many different ways and can be explored from many different points of view. This study discussed the grammatical meanings and functions of the particle lah in Syiʻīr or Singir. Qualitative data collected in this study were obtained from Syiʻīr Qiyāmah’s Pégon script, consisting of recto (introduction) and chapters from 16 pages with the amount of 16 verses. Meanwhile, all the data were analyzed by combining philology and linguistics studies to comprehend and interpret language in written historical sources. The findings of this study indicate that the grammatical meanings of this particle lah were highly contested and varied due to the particle lah's different position in Javanese clause/ sentence construction. Given that the particle lah has no lexical meaning of its own, its meaning is inextricably linked to the context of the sentence in which it appears. Through meticulous investigation, this study discovered four grammatical meanings of particle lah in Syiʻīr Qiyāmah’s Pégon script: (1) as the interjectors, (2) as taukid, (3) as conjunctures, and (4) as separators; as well as three functions of particle lah in Syiʻīr Qiyāmah’s Pégon script: (1) to highlight the information that was considered important; (2) to connect one information with another; and (3) to emphasize the importance of elements in the information unit

Graphene quantum dots: A comprehensive overview

Because of their prospective applications and exceptional features, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have gotten a lot of recognition as a new class of fluorescent carbon materials. One of the carbon family’s newest superstars is the GQD. Due to its exceptional optoelectrical qualities, it has sparked a lot of curiosity since its debut in 2008. Two of the most important traits are a band gap that is not zero, biocompatibility, and highly changeable characteristics. GQDs have several important characteristics. GQDs have shown potential in a variety of fields, for instance, catalysis, sensing, energy devices, drug delivery, bioimaging, photothermal, and photodynamic therapy. Because this area constantly evolves, it is vital to recognize emerging GQD concerns in the current breakthroughs, primarily since some specific uses and developments in the case of GQDs synthesis have not been thoroughly investigated through previous studies. The current results in the properties, synthesis, as well as benefits of GQDs are discussed in this review study. As per the findings of this research, the GQD’s future investigation is boundless, mainly if the approaching investigation focuses on purifying simplicity and environmentally friendly synthesis, as well as boosting photoluminescence quantum output and manufacturing output of GQDs

Synteza i zastosowanie warstwowych podwójnych wodorotlenków wapniowo-glinowych – przegląd literatury

The synthesis and application of layered calcium-aluminum double hydroxides (Ca-Al LDHs) for the encapsulation of organic anions is discussed. The mechanism of the encapsulation process was explained. These types of compounds have great potential and can be used in targeted therapies, including in drug dosing systems.Omówiono syntezę i zastosowanie warstwowych podwójnych wodorotlenków wapniowoglinowych (Ca-Al LDHs) do kapsułkowania anionów organicznych. Wyjaśniono mechanizm procesu kapsułkowania. Tego typu związki mają bardzo duży potencjał i mogą znaleźć zastosowanie w terapiach celowych m.in. w systemach kontrolowanego dozowania leków

Stability behavior of non-surfactant water-in-diesel emulsion fuel using microscopic observation

Water-in-diesel emulsion fuel (W/D) is considered to be a potential alternative fuel that can reduces nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). W/D is normally produced with addition of surfactant to prolong its stability. However, the dependency on surfactant leads to higher production cost. A concept that can eliminate dependency on the surfactant was introduced by strong mixing concept and direct supply the non-surfactant W/D to a diesel engine. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the stability behavior of non-surfactant W/D using microscopic observation. Water and diesel fuel were mixed using a combination of high-shear mixer and an ultrasonic transducer. The amount of water injected into the system are 5% and 10% by volume, which were labelled as E5 and E10 respectively. The produced non-surfactant W/D was then placed into a petri dish for microscopic observation. The results showed that the average diameter of water droplets observed in E5 and E10 at sedimentation stage were 15.38 and 22.41 μm respectively. The stability period of E5 and E10 before it sediment were 25 and 67 seconds correspondingly. Overall, it is observed that microscopic observation is a reliable approach to determine the stability behavior of non-surfactant W/D

Presentation of Breast Cancer and Impact of Patient Navigation on Timeliness of Diagnosis and Treatment and on Adherence to Treatment Recommendations in a Multicenter Network in Malaysia

PURPOSEBreast cancer deaths disproportionately affect women living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Patient navigation has emerged as a cost-effective and impactful approach to enable women with symptoms or suspicious mammogram findings to access timely diagnosis and patients with breast cancer to access timely and appropriate multimodality treatment. However, few studies have systematically evaluated the impact of patient navigation on timeliness of diagnosis and treatment in LMICs.METHODSWe established a nurse- and community-navigator-led navigation program in breast clinics of four public hospitals located in Peninsular and East Malaysia and evaluated the impact of navigation on timeliness of diagnosis and treatment.RESULTSPatients with breast cancer treated at public hospitals reported facing barriers to accessing care, including having a poor recognition of breast cancer symptoms and low awareness of screening methods, and facing financial and logistics challenges. Compared with patients diagnosed in the previous year, patients receiving navigation experienced timely ultrasound (84.0% v 65.0%; P < .001), biopsy (84.0% v 78.0%; P = .012), communication of news (63.0% v 40.0%; P < .001), surgery (46% v 36%; P = .008), and neoadjuvant therapy (59% v 42%, P = .030). Treatment adherence improved significantly (98.0% v 87.0%, P < .001), and this was consistent across the network of four breast clinics.CONCLUSIONPatient navigation improves access to timely diagnosis and treatment for women presenting at secondary and tertiary hospitals in Malaysia

Abstracts of the International Halal Science Conference 2023

This book presents the extended abstracts of the selected contributions to the International Halal Science Conference, held on 22-23 August 2023 by the International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART), IIUM, Malaysia in collaboration with Halalan Thayyiban Research Centre, University Islam Sultan Sharif (UNISSA), Brunei Darussalam. With the increasing global interest in halal products and services, this conference is timely. Conference Title:  International Halal Science ConferenceConference Acronym: IHASC23Conference Theme: Halal Industry Sustainability Through ScienceConference Date: 22-23 August 2023Conference Venue: International Islamic University (IIUM), MalaysiaConference Organizer: International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART), International Islamic University (IIUM), Malaysi