Finite Element Simulation of Microfluidic Biochip for High Throughput Hydrodynamic Single Cell Trapping

In this paper, a microfluidic device capable of trapping a single cell in a high throughput manner and at high trapping efficiency is designed simply through a concept of hydrodynamic manipulation. The microfluidic device is designed with a series of trap and bypass microchannel structures for trapping individual cells without the need for microwell, robotic equipment, external electric force or surface modification. In order to investigate the single cell trapping efficiency, a finite element model of the proposed design has been developed using ABAQUS-FEA software. Based on the simulation, the geometrical parameters and fluid velocity which affect the single cell trapping are extensively optimized. After optimization of the trap and bypass microchannel structures via simulations, a single cell can be trapped at a desired location efficiently

A Wireless ECG Device with Mobile Applications for Android

Electrocardiograph (ECG) is a measuring device that used in hospital to monitor electrical activity of heart. Commonly used ECG device is a Holter monitor, a portable and wired device, which is bulky and not suitable for measuring and recording athlete's heart activity during training. The objective of this study was to design the ECG monitoring system as an Internet of Things (IoT) device, equipped with a temperature detector to detect user's body temperature. The ECG signals and the temperature were transmitted wirelessly using Bluetooth transmission to the mobile applications (apps). Both signals were set to display on mobile apps which was developed using Blynk application. At the end of this project, the signals were shown on the mobile apps and the user could monitor their own ECG signals as well as to share with their caretaker or physician later

Improving nutritional values of palm kernel cake (PKC) as poultry feeds: a review

Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) is a by-product of palm kernel oil extract ion and provides moderate nutrition with approximately 16-18% of crude protein (CP) and 13-20% crude fiber (CF). Usage of PKC is common in ruminant diets, but limited in the non-ruminant diets especially in poultry diets due to the high fiber content of PKC. Numerous works have been conducted to increase the nutritional contents of PKC as one of the measures to reduce and/or eliminate the constraints of utilizing PKC in poultry diets. The method used to achieve this target is either through physical, chemical, biological or combination of these treatments. However, only chemical and biological treatments of PKC seem to improve the nutrient values of PKC. Recent works cite solid-state fermentation (SSF) using fungi to increase the nutrient values of PKC. This method is considered as the most suitable treatment for PKC. Through solid-state cultures of PKC, the concentration of CP has increased while the CF has decreased. Furthermore, this method is considered practical because the whole end product will be utilized for animal feeds. Hence, emphasis should be given to improve nutritional values of PKC in order to reduce feeding cost of poultry

Droplet-like bent multimode fiber sensor for temperature and refractive index measurement

This work proposes and demonstrates a bent multimode interference (MMI) sensor for refractive index and temperature measurement. The MMI structure was fabricated by successive splicing between single-mode-multimodesingle- mode (SMS) fibers. A droplet-like bent was introduced in the multimode fiber section for excitation of modes into the acrylate coating. The excitation of higher modes into the acrylate coating is particularly interesting due high thermooptic coefficient of acrylate which could improve temperature sensitivity, while evanescent field interaction of modes at the acrylate surface with surrounding material could be used for refractive index sensing. These modes experienced phase changes due to temperature and/or refractive index changes, consequently shift the spectra of the sensor. The sensor structure was simulated using BeamProp software to determine the required bending to excite light into acrylate coating for sensing. In experiment, a 3.5 mm bent sensor demonstrated refractive index sensitivity of 42.41 nm/RIU tested with refractive index between 1.30-1.395. Meanwhile, temperature sensitivity of 1.317nm/°C was attained using 5 mm bent sensor between 25 °C to 35 °C. The low cost and simple sensor structure is desirable in many applications including for detection, diagnosis, and determine of health, safety, environmental, liquid food, and water quality control

Incident and reflected two waves correlation with cancellous bone structure

The correlation in bone microstructure for ultrasound pulse echo technique is still less accurate compared to through transmission technique. Previous works demonstrated, reflected two modes wave has significant association with bone porosity. The paper aims is to conduct simulation using pulse echo technique to examine the relationship between fast and slow waves with porosity of 2-dimensional cancellous bone models by comparing the result to through transmission technique. The “incident” and “reflected” waves were separated using bandlimited deconvolution method by estimating time threshold of fast and slow waves' transfer function. The parameters of the waves were computed, plotted versus porosity for six different thicknesses and the correlation coefficients between them were compared. The incident and reflected fast wave attenuations show marginally significant correlation with porosity for both bone models orientations. Wave propagation for parallel orientation dominated by incident and reflected fast wave, meanwhile, perpendicular orientation dominated by incident slow wave. The thickness factor affected wave amplitude but less affected the attenuation. Because of propagation loss, reflected wave shows lower correlation to porosity compared to incident wave. Hence, analyzing fast and slow waves might improve the measurement accuracy of pulse echo technique compared to using single mode wave to estimate bone quality

Microfluidic Channel Geometry and Fluid Velocity Investigation for Single Cell Hydrodynamic Trapping

Microfluidic technology has been applied widely for separating and trapping various type of cells. This technology has open ways to study and understand the biological systems, the mechanism of diseases, developing the therapeutic drugs, strategy to cure diseases and also in developing the biomarker for early disease diagnosis. Hydrodynamic cell trapping offers a great opportunity to direct, position, and trap particles or cells in small volume liquids, a crucial requirement for efficient single cell analysis. The challenges in hydrodynamic trapping are the need for control precisely the microfluidic multiple streams and a precise geometry design required to allow successful trapping. To address this limitation, the single cell hydrodynamic trapping finite element simulation was developed to determine the efficiency of single cell traps of variable geometries. A series of simulation studies were performed to analyze the effect of the trap hole size, channel’s height and fluid’s flow profiles to the appropriate for efficient single cell trapping. From the simulation, increasing the trap hole size has resulted in a gradually decreased of the fluid velocity in the trap channel. Furthermore, the fluid velocity in trap channel was found increasing with the increment of the HChannel. Single cell trapping channel with the HHole of 4 μm and HChannel of 15 μm produced the highest velocity in the trap channel compared to other geometry tests. This finite element model could be utilised as a guideline for designing and developing a chip to reduce the costly and time-consuming trialand-error fabrication process

Outcome of early cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest managed in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients require immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Early initiation of CPR and defibrillation before arrival at Emergency Department (ED) increases the chance of survival from sudden cardiac arrest. The main objective of this study was to identify the factors that influenced the outcome of early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients managed at the ED of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). The second objective was to determine the incidence of CPR initiated by the public prior to ambulance arrival. The present study was a one-year cross-sectional study. The OHCA patients were identified from the ED resuscitation logbook. Patients’ medical records were used to obtain details of the resuscitation. Factors recorded included: aetiology of arrest, initiation of on-scene CPR, use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), mode of transportation and the incidence of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in the ED. Categorical data was analysed using chi-square and Fisher exact tests. Nine patients out of 98 had early CPR. Three patients achieved ROSC. Gender was significantly associated with ROSC (p-value=0.015). More patients who received early CPR achieved ROSC compared to those who received late CPR. The provision of early CPR and usage of AEDs by the public is still low. Female gender had a positive influence on ROSC. Efforts are required to increase the awareness and involvement of the public in initiating early CPR prior to the arrival of ambulance service

Effects of plant growth regulators on root culture and yeast extract elicitation on metabolite profiles of Polygonum minus

There are various secondary metabolites that have been identified in Polygonum minus Huds. or kesum plant, but the production is often very low and depending on growth stage. Therefore, elicitation and in vitro techniques have been suggested as an effective way for inducing secondary metabolites production in plant. This study was conducted to determine the optimal conditions for P. minus root formation in vitro and to profile the metabolite content from P. minus root culture with and without elicitor treatment. From the root induction study, it was found that the fresh weight of induced root for nodal explant in MS liquid media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L NAA and shaken had the highest production (0.38±0.08 g) compared to other treatments including the control. The results from metabolite profile showed that the volatile compound of P. minus root produced without any elicitation contained 50.11% aliphatic (27.59% aldehide, 9.17% alkane and 13.35% others) and 19.39% sesquiterpene (β-caryophyllene, α-bergamotene, β-farnesene, α-caryophyllene dan β-curcumene) where the dodecanal compound (22.27%) and β-caryophyllene (8.09%) have the highest percentage value for aliphatic and sesquiterpene group, respectively. Moreover, elicitation of P. minus root culture using yeast extract at 100 mg/L concentration for 1 day demonstrated the ability to increase the production of secondary metabolites in many volatile compounds of kesum in vitro root including the sesquiterpene compounds compared to control treatment and other yeast extract elicitation treatments

Effects of plant growth regulators on root culture and yeast extract elicitation on metabolite profiles of Polygonum minus

There are various secondary metabolites that have been identified in Polygonum minus Huds. or kesum plant, but the production is often very low and depending on growth stage. Therefore, elicitation and in vitro techniques have been suggested as an effective way for inducing secondary metabolites production in plant. This study was conducted to determine the optimal conditions for P. minus root formation in vitro and to profile the metabolite content from P. minus root culture with and without elicitor treatment. From the root induction study, it was found that the fresh weight of induced root for nodal explant in MS liquid media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L NAA and shaken had the highest production (0.38±0.08 g) compared to other treatments including the control. The results from metabolite profile showed that the volatile compound of P. minus root produced without any elicitation contained 50.11% aliphatic (27.59% aldehide, 9.17% alkane and 13.35% others) and 19.39% sesquiterpene (β-caryophyllene, α-bergamotene, β-farnesene, α-caryophyllene dan β-curcumene) where the dodecanal compound (22.27%) and β-caryophyllene (8.09%) have the highest percentage value for aliphatic and sesquiterpene group, respectively. Moreover, elicitation of P. minus root culture using yeast extract at 100 mg/L concentration for 1 day demonstrated the ability to increase the production of secondary metabolites in many volatile compounds of kesum in vitro root including the sesquiterpene compounds compared to control treatment and other yeast extract elicitation treatments

Adolescent to Adolescent Transformation Program- Nurturing, Enhancing and Promoting Adolescents’ Healthy Habit (ATAP-NEPAH): Curbing Social Problems Among Adolescents in Kelantan Through Peer-To-Peer Health Education

The objectives of ATAP-NEPAH are to enhance and nurture healthy habits among adolescents as well as to empower adolescents in inculcating these healthy habits among them. Health education through peer-to-peer approach is used to instill the knowledge on important areas such as sexual and reproductive health, smoking, substance abuse, illegal street racing (rempit) and mental health. Specific modules were developed by experts (lecturers) in multidisciplinary fields in collaboration with Malaysian Association for Adolescent Health (MAAH), National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB), Reproductive Health Association of Kelantan (REHAK) and Rhaudatus Sakinah Kelantan. The trained Medical Students Facilitator Team (MSFT) of USM became trainers to secondary one school students. The selected school students were trained by the medical students to become peer educators to their juniors and peers. There was improvement in the readiness level of peer educators, knowledge and attitude towards healthy habits and risky behaviors of other school students after the intervention