Factors Influencing the Lao PDR Import Value of Processed Agricultural Products from Thailand during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study investigates the impact of the Lao macroeconomic factors of real gross domestic product, the Openness Index, and the exchange rate between the Thai and Lao currencies on the Lao import value of agricultural processed products from Thailand. Using product classifications and data from the International Trade Centre, this research examined the total import value (IM) and value of the imported product categories of sugar (HS17), flour (HS19), miscellaneous edible preparations (HS21), beverages (HS22), and animal fodder (HS23) (as dependent variables). The analysis employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach, and the Vector Error Correction Model was applied to analyze the level relationship and test causal relationships among variables by using quarterly time series data from Q1 2012 to Q3 2021. Results show long-run and short-run relationships between GDP and both IM and HS17, but only a long-run relationship with HS22 and a short-run effect on HS19. Following the effects of COVID-19, HS22 will be the fastest market to recover. GDP has the greatest effect on IM in the long run. Granger causality of real GDP was seen running to imports on IM, HS17, and HS19; Openness running to IM and HS19; and exchange rate running to HS17, HS19, HS21, and HS22, with only HS23 unaffected by any factor

The effects of service-learning on English major students

To investigate the effects of service-learning on student learning autonomy, academic skills and social skills

Relationships Between Demographic Characteristics, Functional Status And Quality of Life of Stroke Survivors in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Stroke is one of non-communicable disease that causes long term disability, which can affect the quality of life among stroke survivors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between demographic characteristics, functional status and quality of life among stroke survivors.The design for this study was a descriptive design which involving 138 participants selected by simple random sampling at National Stroke Center Hospital Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Each participant was interviewed according to structured questionnaires consisting of the demographic information, stroke specific quality of life (SS-QOL), and functional status. Data were analyzed by using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient, and Point Biserial Correlation Coefficient. A significance level was established at p < 0.05. Main results found that the stroke survivors had a good quality of life (M=3.55, SD=0.64). 43.5 % of participants were independent in activities daily living (Mdn=18.00), they were independent in mobility and transfer (Mdn=3.00). Functional status was statistically has a positive correlation with the quality of life (r=-0.670, p<0.001). However, age, gender, occupation, education, and duration of stroke were not statistically associated with the quality of life. In conclusion, independent in functional status could influence the quality of life of stroke survivors. Therefore, this study can be as a reference for nurses to promote and maintain the functional status focused on mobility and transferring to enhance the independence in activity daily living and the quality of life of stroke survivors in Bukittinggi.

Nutrient value and stability of chloroplast-rich fraction (CRF) material from pea vine haulm, and the role of galactolipolytic enzymes during digestion

Underutilised green plant material is a rich source of chloroplasts, organelles in plants and other photosynthetic organisms, which are responsible for the conversion of light energy into chemical energy. The removal of intact chloroplasts from their cell wall confinement offers a novel way to obtain lipophilic nutrients and galactolipids from green biomass, especially carotenoids, vitamin E, and galactolipids (the main membrane lipids in plants and they represent a major source of the essential alpha-linolenic acid (18:3, ALA)). We have developed a physical method of recovering a chloroplast-rich fraction (CRF) from postharvest, pea vine field residue (haulm) by using slow-screw twin-gear juicer without added water. The CRF from pea vine haulm (PVH), like CRF from spinach leaves, is a good source of lipophilic nutrients, including beta-carotene (provitamin A), lutein, alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E), phylloquinone (vitamin K), and essential fatty acids. Steam sterilisation of pea vine haulm prior to generating CRF was used to inactivate enzymes after harvesting and extend the shelf life of nutrients. The stability of selected nutrients (beta-carotene, lutein, and alpha-tocopherol) in the freeze-dried CRF material was measured over 84 days; the impact of storage temperature (-20°C, 4°C, 25°C and 40°C), light and air on nutrient stability was established. All three nutrients were stable at -20°C and 4°C in the presence or absence of air; this stability was lost at higher temperatures in the presence of air. The extent and rate of nutrient breakdown significantly increased when the CRF samples were exposed to light. beta-Carotene appeared to be more susceptible to degradation than lutein and tocopherol at 40°C in the presence of air, but when CRF was exposed to light all three nutrients measured were significantly broken-down during storage at 25°C or 40°C, whether exposed to air or not. The bioaccessibility (% nutrient available for uptake) of some essential lipophilic nutrients, contained in a chloroplast-rich fraction (CRF) recovered from post-harvest pea vine field residue (haulm) (PVH), was measured using an in vitro gastrointestinal human digestion model with and without additional rapeseed oil. The impact on nutrient stability during digestion (in-digesta) and bioaccessibility of postharvest heat treatment of the biomass (HPVH), or the juice (HJ) derived from the biomass, was determined. The results show that both heat treatments stabilised beta-carotene, lutein, alpha-tocopherol and alpha-linolenic acid in the CRF material in-digesta. The presence of oil during digestion appears to improve retention of beta-carotene, and the bioaccessibility of beta-carotene in CRF from HPVH and HJ, except in the case of lutein and alpha-tocopherol. Conversely, the combination of heat treatment both HPVH and HJ and the presence of oil in PVH CRF enhanced the retention and bioaccessibility of beta-carotene, lutein, and alpha-tocopherol. The release of nutrients that are embedded into the chloroplast structure is likely to be affected by the extent to which thylakoid membranes are hydrolysed during digestion. The PVH CRF and spinach CRF were therefore measured in vitro under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. Using a two-step static model, CRF from both spinach leaves and postharvest pea vine field residue (haulm) was first exposed to enzymes from rabbit gastric extracts and then either to pancreatic enzymes from human pancreatic juice (HPJ) or to porcine pancreatic extracts (PPE). The lipolysis of monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) was monitored by thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters. For both CRF preparations, MGDG and DGDG were converted to mono galactosylmonoacylglycerol (MGMG) and digalactosylmonoacylglycerol (DGMG), respectively, during the intestinal phase and ALA was the main fatty acid released. Galactolipids were more effectively hydrolysed by HPJ than by PPE, and PPE showed a higher activity on MGDG than on DGDG. These findings may be explained by the higher levels of galactolipase activity in HPJ compared to PPE, is probably due to presence of pancreatic lipase-related protein 2 (PLRP2) in HPJ. Thus, we showed that CRF galactolipids are well digested by pancreatic enzymes and represent an interesting vehicle for ALA supplementation in human diet

Factors Influencing Well-being of Patients with Myocardial Infarction

Objective: To examine factors influencing well-being of patients with myocardial infarction. Method: A sample of this descriptive correlational study consisted of 201 myocardial infarction patients who were followed up at the outpatient department of Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital. The study made use of a structured questionnaire that included personal information, well-being, health perception, quality of life, mental and emotional state, depression, health behaviors, and illness adjustment. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results: The predicting factors of well-being were the mental and emotional state (b = 0.43, P-value &lt; 0.001) and depression (b = -0.29, P-value &lt; 0.001). These two factors explained 41.6% of the well-being variance. Conclusion: As the mental and emotional state and depression were associated with the well-being of patients with post-myocardial infarction, health care providers and relevant settings should develop an intervention to promote their well-being by focusing on improving the mental health and emotion, and preventing the depression. Keywords: influencing factors, well-being, post-myocardial infarction patient

Bioaccessibility of carotenoids (β-carotene and lutein) from intact and disrupted microalgae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii)

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) has a potential as a novel source for food/feed because it contains several constituents including bioactive compounds. However, its multilayer cell wall (hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein [HRPGs]) may restrict the bioaccessibility of its nutrients. Therefore, using disruption techniques such as hydrodynamic cavitation (HDC) can be useful for assessing single cell compounds. This work aims to evaluate the impact of HDC on the bioaccessibility of carotenoids (β-carotene and lutein) from C. reinhardtii. Our results illustrated that digestive enzymes cannot fully break down the cell walls beside HDC process generates their significant change. The intact C. reinhardtii (ICR) and disrupted C. reinhardtii (DCR) have a comparable lutein bioaccessibility, in contrast, DCR decreased the biocessibility of β-carotene. HDC decreased the biocessibility of β-carotene in the small intestine although 37% of total carotenoids from DRC were absorbed

Chloroplast/thylakoid-rich material: A possible alternative to the chemically synthesised flow enhancer polyglycerol polyricinoleate in oil-based systems

Chloroplasts are abundant organelles in a diverse range of plant materials; they are predominantly composed of multicomponent thylakoid membranes which are lipid and protein rich. Intact or unravelled thylakoid membranes should, in principle, have interfacial activity, but little has been published on their activity in oil-in-water systems, and nothing on their performance on an oil continuous system. In this work different physical methods were used to produce a range of chloroplast/thylakoid suspensions with varying degrees of membrane integrity. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that pressure homogenisation led to the greatest extent of membrane and organelle disruption compared to less energy intensive preparation methods The ability of the derived materials to modulate the flow behaviour of a chocolate model system (65% (w/w) sugar/ sunflower oil (natural amphiphiles removed) suspension) was investigated by acquiring rheological parameters. All chloroplast/thylakoid preparations reduced yield stress, apparent viscosity, tangent flow point and cross over point in a concentration-dependent fashion, although not as significantly as polyglycerol polyricinoleate applied at a commercially relevant concentration in the same chocolate model system. Confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed presence of the alternative flow enhancer material at the sugar surfaces. This research reveals that low-energy processing methods that do not extensively disrupt thylakoid membranes are applicable to generating materials with marked capacity to affect the flow behaviour of a chocolate model system. In conclusion, chloroplast/thylakoid materials hold strong potential as natural alternatives to synthetic rheology modifiers for lipid-based systems such as PGPR

In situ monitoring of galactolipid digestion by infrared spectroscopy in both model micelles and spinach chloroplasts

Galactolipids are the main lipids from plant photosynthetic membranes and they can be digested by pancreatic lipase related protein 2 (PLRP2), an enzyme found in the pancreatic secretion in many animal species. Here, we used transmission Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to monitor continuously the hydrolysis of galactolipids by PLRP2, in situ and in real time. The method was first developed with a model substrate, a synthetic monogalactosyl diacylglycerol with 8-carbon acyl chains (C8-MGDG), in the form of mixed micelles with a bile salt, sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC). The concentrations of the residual substrate and reaction products (monogalactosylmonoglyceride, MGMG; monogalactosylglycerol, MGG; octanoic acid) were estimated from the carbonyl and carboxylate vibration bands after calibration with reference standards. The results were confirmed by thin layer chromatography analysis (TLC) and specific staining of galactosylated compounds with thymol and sulfuric acid. The method was then applied to the lipolysis of more complex substrates, a natural extract of MGDG with long acyl chains, micellized with NaTDC, and intact chloroplasts isolated from spinach leaves. After a calibration performed with α-linolenic acid, the main fatty acid (FA) found in plant galactolipids, FTIR allowed quantitative measurement of chloroplast lipolysis by PLRP2. A full release of FA from membrane galactolipids was observed, that was not dependent on the presence of bile salts. Nevertheless, the evolution of amide vibration band in FTIR spectra suggested the interaction of membrane proteins with NaTDC and lipolysis products