Gelatin Properties of Goat Skin Produced by Calcium Hydroxide as Curing Material

Application of strong bases as curing materials has been widely applied in commercial gelatin industries, but the application of weak bases has not been much done. Application of strong bases as a treatment was not economical and assumed to affect human health. Studies were conducted on the properties of goat skin gelatin manufactured using weak base types of Ca(OH)2 and then compared with properties of commercial gelatin. Skins from Bligon goats of 1.5 to 2.5 years old was used as the raw materials and Ca(OH)2 100 g/l as curing materials. The 2x3 factorial completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications was used as a design study. Two curing times (2 and 4 days) and three concentrations (3, 6, 9% v/v) were used as treatments, and commercial gelatin (pure (P) by Merck, food grade (Fg) and pharmacy standards (Ps)) were used as control. Gelatin produced from goat skins using Ca(OH)2 had properties similar to that of commercial gelatin. The heavy metals (Pb, Cu and Zn) contained in goat skin gelatin still meet the INS standards. The optimum production of gelatin has been generated through the application of 4-day curing time at a concentration of 9% (v/v)

Inhibition of Intestinal Thiamin Transport in Rat Model of Sepsis.

ObjectivesThiamin deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with sepsis, but the mechanism by which sepsis induces thiamin deficiency is unknown. This study aimed to determine the influence of various severity of sepsis on carrier-mediated intestinal thiamin uptake, level of expressions of thiamin transporters (thiamin transporter-1 and thiamin transporter-2), and mitochondrial thiamin pyrophosphate transporter.DesignRandomized controlled study.SettingResearch laboratory at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.SubjectsTwenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into controls, mild, moderate, and severe sepsis with equal number of animals in each group.InterventionsSepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture with the cecum ligated below the cecal valve at 25%, 50%, and 75% of cecal length, defined as severe, moderate, and mild sepsis, respectively. Control animals underwent laparotomy only.Measurements and main resultsAfter 2 days of induced sepsis, carrier-mediated intestinal thiamin uptake was measured using [H]thiamin. Expressions of thiamin transporter-1, thiamin transporter-2, and mitochondrial thiamin pyrophosphate transporter proteins and messenger RNA were measured. Proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β and interleukin-6) and adenosine triphosphate were also measured. Sepsis inhibited [H]thiamin uptake, and the inhibition was a function of sepsis severity. Both cell membrane thiamin transporters and mitochondrial thiamin pyrophosphate transporter expression levels were suppressed; also levels of adenosine triphosphate in the intestine of animals with moderate and severe sepsis were significantly lower than that of sham-operated controls.ConclusionsFor the first time, we demonstrated that sepsis inhibited carrier-mediated intestinal thiamin uptake as a function of sepsis severity, suppressed thiamin transporters and mitochondrial thiamin pyrophosphate transporter, leading to adenosine triphosphate depletion

Public-Private Partnership\u27s Contract in Malaysia: Some Areas of Concern in a Land Swap Arrangement

This paper seeks to explore the public-private partnership initiative and salient provisions of government contracts in Malaysia. This paper further examines some areas of concern emphasising on a land swap type of contract. There are still many other provisions that need to be addressed for example on obligations, design and constructions, choosing the right type of contracts, operations and maintenance, sub-contracts, relief events, liability and damages, performance security, default and termination and dispute resolutions which is not dealt in this paper

A systematic approach to atomicity decomposition in Event-B

Event-B is a state-based formal method that supports a refinement process in which an abstract model is elaborated towards an implementation in a step-wise manner. One weakness of Event-B is that control flow between events is typically modelled implicitly via variables and event guards. While this fits well with Event-B refinement, it can make models involving sequencing of events more difficult to specify and understand than if control flow was explicitly specified. New events may be introduced in Event-B refinement and these are often used to decompose the atomicity of an abstract event into a series of steps. A second weakness of Event-B is that there is no explicit link between such new events that represent a step in the decomposition of atomicity and the abstract event to which they contribute. To address these weaknesses, atomicity decomposition diagrams support the explicit modelling of control flow and refinement relationships for new events. In previous work,the atomicity decomposition approach has been evaluated manually in the development of two large case studies, a multi media protocol and a spacecraft sub-system. The evaluation results helped us to develop a systematic definition of the atomicity decomposition approach, and to develop a tool supporting the approach. In this paper we outline this systematic definition of the approach, the tool that supports it and evaluate the contribution that the tool makes

Organocatalytic alpha-trifluoromethylthiolation of silylenol ethers : Batch vs continuous flow reactions

This work describes the organocatalytic \uce\ub1-trifluoromethylthiolation of silylenol ethers using N-(trifluoromethylthio)saccharin as trifluoromethylthiolating reagent that is activated by the presence of catalytic amounts of a Lewis base. Tetrahydrothiophene was identified as the best organocatalyst and it was successfully employed to promote the synthesis of different \uce\ub1-trifluoromethylketones; the reaction has been performed under a traditional batch methodology and under continuous flow conditions. In general, yields obtained using the traditional batch process were higher than those observed when the reaction was performed under flow conditions. However, short reaction times, higher productivity and higher space time yields were observed when a flow system process was employed. Preliminary DFT calculations were also performed in order to elucidate the mechanism of the reaction

Avaliação do melhoramento de terra estabilizada com cimento e activadores

A terra é uma matéria-prima abundante, com bom comportamento térmico, reciclável e reutilizável, incombustível, não tóxica e sem necessidade de processos de transformação dispendiosos, o que permite eleger este material como uma das alternativas para a construção sustentável. As limitações da terra, enquanto material de construção, em particular o seu comportamento mecânico e a sua susceptibilidade na presença da água, podem ser minimizadas através de processos de estabilização de solos. Este trabalho descreve os resultados de estudos laboratoriais destinados a avaliar os efeitos da utilização do cimento nas propriedades mecânicas e de durabilidade de solos residuais graníticos. As propriedades mecânicas foram avaliadas através de ensaios à compressão simples e à tracção por compressão diametral, enquanto que o desempenho relativamente à durabilidade, foi estudado através de ensaios de absorção de água por capilaridade, ensaios de molhagem-secagem e de gelo-degelo. Foi também avaliado o efeito da saturação na resistência à compressão simples. Foram utilizadas percentagens de 6 e 10% de cimento relativamente à massa de solo seco. O efeito de activadores de baixo custo no solo estabilizado também foi considerado, de modo a tornar o material mais atractivo do ponto de vista económico e de desempenho. Os activadores usados foram: cloreto de sódio, cloreto de cálcio e hidróxido de sódio. O efeito da utilização de activadores foi avaliado no solo estabilizado com 6 % de cimento. Os resultados dos trabalhos experimentais indicam que o cimento aumenta substancialmente o desempenho do solo, enquanto que alguns dos activadores melhoram significativamente algumas das propriedades estudadas no solo estabilizado com cimento. Pode-se portanto concluir, que o uso de alguns activadores de baixo custo pode resultar numa redução significativa no consumo de cimento. Estes resultados podem conduzir a um melhoramento do desempenho e a efeitos ambientais positivos ao mesmo tempo que os custos sofrem uma redução