Temperature regulation for hydrodistillation of essential oil extraction process from garcinia mangostana linn (GML) pericarp

Garcinia Mangostana Linn (GML), commonly known as mangosteen is an emerging category of novel functional foods sometimes called “the queen of fruit”. It is presumed to have a combination of appealing subjective characteristics such as taste, visual qualities and fragrance, nutrient richness, antioxidant streangth and potential impact for lowering risk of human diseases. GML contains natural antioxidant constituents such as phenolic compounds, which have attracted a great deal of public and scientific interest due to their health-promoting effects as antioxidants. Eight hundreds (800) grams of GML pericarps were used as the raw material to produce essential oil through hydrodistillation. Temperature of distilled water was measured to study the relation between the temperature and the composition in the essential oil. HPLC analysis report shows that the significant amount component contained in GML pericarp is Ferulic Acid. The relation between the temperature and concentration of Ferulic Acid cannot be determined since the mercury thermometer cannot measure a slightly elevation of temperature precisely. Boiling-point elevation occurs due to solute dissolved in the wate

Assessment on Some Life Traits of the Bornean Strain, Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in Response to Food Waste and the Public Attitudes toward Food Waste Recycling

Over the past decades, our eating habits have changed dramatically and contributed to huge amounts of food waste being generated. In Malaysia, attempts to minimize food wastage have mostly involved improving recycling rate, but success has been seriously hindered by a rooted culture of landfilling, and lack of awareness, recycling policies and habits. Despite evidence that food waste is largely due to consumer’ behaviours, there is still a paucity of comprehensive surveys addressing the different segments within consumption, particularly outdoors and in East Malaysia. Although many people love food but find its rotten form repugnant or poisoning, some animals use it as staple diet. These include Hermetia illucens, also known as the black soldier fly (BSF). Upon eclosion, its larvae need to immediately feed a variety of organic wastes for their entire life. Such attributes are being successfully used as waste management and resource recovery tools worldwide. All benefits from BSF depend on the successful larval development, which, in turn depends on waste source type and oviposition. Females oviposit once in their lifetime in various organic materials, which can support or impede larval development. In this regard, a better understanding of its oviposition preference is relevant. This research work aimed at (1) examining the capability of different feeding regimes (animal and plant based wastes) in supporting BSF larval development; (2) investigating the oviposition responses of BSF in response to different maturity of banana, abundance of pupal exuviae and colours of oviposition site; (3) quantifying food waste output from food servicing in Kuching; and (4) assessing the perception of Kuching citizens on food waste recycling. Under laboratory, BSF survived well when maintained on test wastes, with banana producing better pre-pupation successes. Banana produced bigger prepupae as development proceeded and when mixed with chicken. BSF prepupal size exhibited temporal relative to regime type. Wasted banana were highly attractive to gravid BSF females particularly in advance ripened stage. Conspecific pupal remains acted as attractant and deterrent when present at low and high amounts, respectively. Colour was influential to BSF oviposition; colourful sites (pink or purple) were attractive in contrast to yellow- coloured ones. In field, the survey revealed that food waste generation from food servicing is high across the city. For many interviewees in Kuching, knowledge on food waste reuse and benefits was poor, many of whom do not practice recycling and ignored insects as important consumers of food scraps. In sum, the observations that locally generated food waste are suitable for BSF development and oviposition, suggest the possibility for developing effective, sustainable and cheap waste management strategies in Kuching and similar cities. Also, these are supported with the field evidences that high amounts of food waste are generated in Kuching whereas awareness among the citizens on food waste recycling need to be increased

Development of titanium dioxide nanoparticles/nanosolution for photocatalytic activity

Biological and chemical contaminants by man-made activities have been serious global issue. Exposure of these contaminants beyond the limits may result in serious environmental and health problem. Therefore, it is important to develop an effective solution that can be easily utilized by mankind. One of the effective ways to overcome this problem is by using titanium dioxide (TiO2). TiO2 is a well-known photocatalyst that widely used for environmental clean-up due to its ability to decompose organic pollutant and kill bacteria. Although it is proven TiO2 has an advantage to solve this concern, its usefulness unfortunately is limited only under UV light irradiation. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the potential of TiO2 that can be activated under visible light by the incorporation of metal ions (Fe, Ag, Zr and Ag-Zr). In this study, sol-gel method was employed for the synthesis of metal ions incorporated TiO2. XRD analysis revealed that all samples content biphasic anatase-brookite TiO2 of size 3 nm to 5 nm. It was found that the incorporation of these metal ions did not change the morphology of TiO2 but the crystallinity and optical properties were affected. The crystallinity of anatase in the biphasic TiO2 was found to be decreased and favored brookite formation. PL analysis showed metal ions incorporation suppressed the recombination of electron-hole pairs while the band gap energy of TiO2 (3.2 eV) was decreased by the incorporation of Fe (2.46 eV) and Ag (2.86 eV). Among this incorporation, Ag-Zr incorporated TiO2 showed highest performance for methyl orange degradation (93%) under fluorescent xxv light irradiation for 10 h. This follows by Zr-TiO2 (82%), Fe-TiO2 (75%) and Ag�TiO2 (43%). Meanwhile, the highest antibacterial performance was exhibited by Ag�TiO2. TEM images showed that E.coli bacterium was killed within 12 h after treated with Ag-TiO2. The results obtained from the fieldwork study established that Ag-Zr incorporation have excellent performances for VOC removal and antibacterial test. The VOC content after treated with Ag-Zr-TiO2 fulfilled the Industry Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality 2010 which is lower than 3 ppm. In addition, the percentage of microbes also found to be decrease around 45 % within 5 days of monitoring

Effects of different wall materials on the physicochemical properties and oxidative stability of spray-dried microencapsulated red-fleshed Pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) seed oil.

The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of the composition of the wall material on the encapsulation and stability of microencapsulated red-fleshed pitaya seed oil. Hylocereus polyrhizus seed oil was homogenized with various wall material solutions at a core/wall material ratio of 0.33 and was microencapsulated by spray-drying. The microstructure and morphology of pitaya seed oil powder (PSOP) were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). PSOP encapsulated with gum Arabic exhibited a lower degree of microencapsulation efficiency (MEE; 77.61–85.3%) compared to PSOP encapsulated with proteinaceous bases (90.12–98.06%). The study on oil retention revealed that sodium caseinate > whey protein > gum Arabic as effective wall materials for pitaya seed oil encapsulation. The effects of different wall systems on the oxidation stability of PSOP were studied under accelerated storage conditions; the peroxide value (POV) was determined throughout the test interval at several storage times. This study indicates that the use of lactose as wall material is able to increase the oxidation stability of PSOP; however, further research is needed to evaluate its antioxidative retention toward the oxidative stability of PSOP

Urethral masson’s tumour: a rare and puzzling entity

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH) or Masson’s tumour is a benign vascular proliferation that mimics other malignant vascular tumour. To date, this is the fourth case of Masson’s tumour at urethra being reported in the literature. A 65-year-old female Para 2, presented with post-menopausal bleeding. Examination revealed a 4x3x3 cm growth surrounding the urethral meatus. She underwent examination under anaesthesia and excision of the periurethral mass. Histopathological examination confirmed Masson’s tumour. Diagnosis and management of this uncommon tumour at a rare location was discussed

Study of the oviposition response of black soldier fly (BSF)in the presence of banana and pupal remains

Black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, is an important beneficial insect.Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the oviposition behavior and preferences of BSF. This paper reports the effects of decomposition level of food and presence of pupal remnants on the oviposition responses of BSF. Cages comprising of four oviposition sites, housed with five male and female BSF were prepared. Gravid females were provided with equal opportunities to oviposit in two sites with ripened banana (mildly ripened (MR)or over-ripenedbanana(AR)) and two other sites with fresh banana (OV). Three replicates in clockwise replication design were set up. The presence of pupal cases inhigh, mediumand low abundance were studied. The number of eggs deposited at different sites were counted and expressed in percentageand oviposition attraction index (OAI). Gravid BSF females showed greater attraction to sites with over-ripened banana likely associating with the odor. BSF females also exhibited a preference for egg laying at sites with less pupae cases.Sites with the most abundance pupae cases were far less enticing as the pupae cases may deter the ovipositing BSF. The findings of this study is important for development of effective egg trapping and collection strategies in BSF farming

Computer-mediated communication use among adolescents and its implication for psychological need satisfaction

Online self-disclosure and online communication are two communication behaviours that, on the basis of prior research and theory, would appear to be related both to one another and to psychological need satisfaction. This study explored these relationships among a sample of 190 secondary school students drawn from a district in Malaysia. Respondents completed a questionnaire battery, which included measures of online self-disclosure, online communication and psychological need satisfaction. Quantitative data were then entered and analysed via Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results demonstrated that adolescents disclosed more during same-sex interaction than opposite-sex interaction. The findings also showed a positive relationship between online communication and same-sex disclosure for adolescent girls, but not necessarily for boys. Hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that for male and female adolescents, same-sex disclosure, opposite-sex disclosure and online communication were found to be predictive of adolescents' experiences of psychological need satisfaction in online friendships. No interaction effect was found between online self-disclosure and online communication on psychological need satisfaction. The contribution of this study is two-fold. First, currently, little research exists examining the association between online self-disclosure, online communication and psychological need satisfaction in a single published study. Second, we extend previous research with a more nuanced understanding of psychological need satisfaction embedded in the context of CMC

What Influences Employees to Use Enterprise Social Networks? A Socio-Technical Perspective

The adoption of enterprise social network (ESN) for greater employee engagement and knowledge sharing practices within organisations is proliferating. However, ESN investments have thus far not resulted in expected gains in organisational benefits due to underutilisation by employees. Limited understanding of the implications of ESN use leads to a paucity of recommendations for effective use within an organisation. This research-in-progress paper seeks to determine the factors influencing the use of ESN among employees in a large Australian utility organisation, with the aim of contributing to a practical understanding of the key success factors of the use of this new workplace social platform. Our preliminary findings indicated that the employees’ ESN behaviour tends to be influenced by socio-technical factors, including technological (i.e. platform and content quality), organisational (i.e. top management support and ESN facilitating conditions), social (i.e. critical mass and communication climate), individual (i.e. perceived benefits, knowledge self-efficacy and time commitment) and task (i.e. task characteristics) factors. This paper concludes that a successful implementation of ESN in an organisation involves the nexus between these five factors and provides several recommendations about how ESN use can be enhanced

A preliminary study: Does relationship closeness with grandchildren correlate with the quality of life and physical health of Malaysian Chinese elderly?

The 13th Next-Generation Global Workshop第13回次世代グローバルワークショップテーマ: New Risks and Resilience in Asian Societies and the World 日程: 21-23 November, 2020 開催場所: ベトナム社会科学院(ハノイ)/Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences(No. 1 Lieu Giai street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam) ※Due to the COVID-19, the workshop will be held at ONLINE for overseas participants(not from Vietnam)/ONSITE for Vietnamese participants.This preliminary mixed-method study aimed to investigate whether grandparental childcare can contribute to elderly' quality of life and physical health. In the quantitative study, a total of 97 Chinese grandparents who are primary caregivers were recruited to examine the relations of relationship closeness, quality of life and physical health. Correlational analysis revealed that grandparent-grandchildren relationship closeness positively correlated with self-rated quality of life and physical health of the grandparents. In the qualitative interview, grandmothers (n = four Chinese grandmothers) who are primary caregivers were recruited to share their experience in taking care of grandchildren. Findings from the thematic analysis revealed that all grandmothers have a close relationship with their grandchildren. In specific, they are happy with the companionship of grandchildren even though they may feel physically tired in taking care of grandchildren. This preliminary study on skipped generation family provides insights into understanding the contribution of relationship closeness with grandchildren on the perceived quality of life and physical health of Malaysian grandparents who are the primary caregiver to their grandchildren

Small interfering RNA silencing of interleukin-6 in mesenchymal stromal cells inhibits multiple myeloma cell growth

Studies demonstrated that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) from bone marrow stroma produced high concentration of interleukin-6 (IL-6) that promoted multiple myeloma cell growth. In view of the failure of IL-6 monoclonal antibody therapy to demonstrate substantial clinical responses in early clinical trials, more effective methods are needed in order to disrupt the favourable microenvironment provided by the bone marrow stroma. In this study, we evaluated the short interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated silencing of IL-6 in MSC and the efficacy of these genetically modified MSC, with IL-6 suppression, on inhibition of U266 multiple myeloma cell growth. IL-6 mRNA and protein were significantly suppressed by 72 h post IL-6 siRNA transfection without affecting the biological properties of MSC. Here we show significant inhibition of cell growth and IL-6 production in U266 cells co-cultured with MSC transfected with IL-6 siRNA when compared to U266 cells co-cultured with control MSC. We also show that the tumour volume and mitotic index of tumours in nude mice co-injected with U266 and MSC transfected with IL-6 siRNA were significantly reduced compared to tumours of mice co-injected with control MSC. Our results suggest potential use of RNA interference mediated therapy for multiple myeloma