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Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the understudied yet deadliest cancers in South East Asia. In Malaysia, the prevalence is identified mainly in Sarawak, among the ethnic of Bidayuh. NPC is often late-diagnosed because it is asymptomatic at the early stage. There are several tissue representations from the nasopharynx biopsy, such as nasopharyngeal inflammation (NPI), lymphoid hyperplasia (LHP), nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and normal tissue. This paper is our first initiative to identify the difference between NPC, NPI and normal cases. Seven whole slide images (WSIs) with gigapixel resolutions from seven different patients and two hospitals were experimented with using two test setups, consisting of a different set of images. The tissue regions are patched into smaller blocks and classified using DenseNet architecture with 21 dense layers. Two tests are carried out, each for proof of concept (Test 1) and real-test scenario (Test 2). The accuracy achieved for NPC class is 94.8% for Test 1 and 67.0% for Test 2., Comment: This article has been accepted in the Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (JESTEC) and awaiting publication

Momordica charantia or bitter melon (Cucurbitaceae) is a widely consumed edible fruit with strong antioxidant properties. Due to these properties, it has been commercialised by the natural product industries as a coadjutant in the treatment of various ailments attributable to the deleterious effects of oxidants. The present work aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of M. charantia fruit extracts made with different compositions of ethanol:water, and to identify the metabolites that are responsible for this activity. To this end, the fruit samples were extracted using six different concentrations of ethanol in water (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and multivariate data analysis (MVDA) were used to identify significant antioxidants. The 80% ethanol:water extract showed the most significant (p < 0.05) antioxidant activity when tested with the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) antioxidant assays. The multivariate data analysis revealed that the metabolites related to this antioxidant activity were gentiobiose, glucose, galactonic acid, palmitic acid, galactose, mannose, and fructose.

The present work demonstrated a method to determine the growing activities of typical soy sauce fermentation yeasts under sonication stimulation in stress and/or enriched conditions. The yeast activities were determined using a programmed spectrophotometer which automatically records the optical density (OD) of the growth media. The increasing OD values were directly proportionally to the amount of yeast cells within the growth media. Spectrometry method provides a typical sigmoidal curve with the lag time, maximum growth rate, and average growth rate of microorganisms. Activities of two industrial yeast strains (Zygosaccharomyces spp. and Candida spp.) under sonication stimulations (0.5 cycles, 60 amplitude) at different salt contents (1, 3, and 5%), glucose contents (5, 10, and 15%), sonication durations (10, 20, and 30 min), and incubation temperatures (30 and 37°C) were investigated in a 24-h growth cycle model system by one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) design. Overall, sonication treatment in the presence of salt was not lethal to yeast cells. The maximum growth rate of both yeast strains was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) when the sample was treated with 5% salt content coupled with sonication. However, when the sample was further enriched with glucose at 10%, it yielded significantly highest growth rate (0.1310 ± 0.0107 OD/h). Finally, 10 min sonication and 30°C incubation temperature were found to be better as compared to the other treatment combinations. Sonication did not exert any detrimental effect on investigated yeasts, and stimulated the growth when enrichment was appropriately provided.

The present work demonstrated a method to determine the growing activities of typical soy sauce fermentation yeasts under sonication stimulation in stress and/or enriched conditions. The yeast activities were determined using a programmed spectrophotometer which automatically records the optical density (OD) of the growth media. The increasing OD values were directly proportionally to the amount of yeast cells within the growth media. Spectrometry method provides a typical sigmoidal curve with the lag time, maximum growth rate, and average growth rate of microorganisms. Activities of two industrial yeast strains (Zygosaccharomyces spp. and Candida spp.) under sonication stimulations (0.5 cycles, 60 amplitude) at different salt contents (1, 3, and 5%), glucose contents (5, 10, and 15%), sonication durations (10, 20, and 30 min), and incubation temperatures (30 and 37°C) were investigated in a 24-h growth cycle model system by one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) design. Overall, sonication treatment in the presence of salt was not lethal to yeast cells. The maximum growth rate of both yeast strains was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) when the sample was treated with 5% salt content coupled with sonication. However, when the sample was further enriched with glucose at 10%, it yielded significantly highest growth rate (0.1310 ± 0.0107 OD/h). Finally, 10 min sonication and 30°C incubation temperature were found to be better as compared to the other treatment combinations. Sonication did not exert any detrimental effect on investigated yeasts, and stimulated the growth when enrichment was appropriately provided.

Malaysia is a surplus poultry producing country with well-established commercial slaughtering and processing plants. Immense quantity of heads, feet, viscera, blood and feathers are usually discarded and not optimally utilized. Chicken heads are rich in protein, and could be a potential source of gelatin. The aim of the present work was therefore to find a simpler, faster, cheaper and greener gelatin extraction technology as compared to current available methods of gelatin extraction from poultry heads. A comparison of three different gelatin extraction methods with alkaline-acid pretreatment (E1), single acid pretreatment (E2) and single alkaline pretreatment (E3) were studied to extract gelatin from chicken heads. E1 and E2 produced gelatins of Type A, while E3 produced gelatin of Type B. High bloom gelatin (>300 g) with <1% of ash content, high gelling (25.8-26.0°C) and melting (30.8-32.3°C) temperatures, good functionality and physical appearance were obtained from E1 and E2 extraction methods. Gelatins of E1 and E2 had higher viscous (G’’) and elastic modulus (G’) values on cooling and heating as compared to the commercial bovine skin gelatin. FTIR spectra of the gelatins indicated different degrees of structural denaturation. Overall, extraction methods of E1 and E2 produced better gelatin quality than E3. Nonetheless, E1 was the best extraction method for the production of high quality gelatin from chicken heads.

Malaysia is a surplus poultry producing country with well-established commercial slaughtering and processing plants. Immense quantity of heads, feet, viscera, blood and feathers are usually discarded and not optimally utilized. Chicken heads are rich in protein, and could be a potential source of gelatin. The aim of the present work was therefore to find a simpler, faster, cheaper and greener gelatin extraction technology as compared to current available methods of gelatin extraction from poultry heads. A comparison of three different gelatin extraction methods with alkaline-acid pretreatment (E1), single acid pretreatment (E2) and single alkaline pretreatment (E3) were studied to extract gelatin from chicken heads. E1 and E2 produced gelatins of Type A, while E3 produced gelatin of Type B. High bloom gelatin (>300 g) with <1% of ash content, high gelling (25.8-26.0°C) and melting (30.8-32.3°C) temperatures, good functionality and physical appearance were obtained from E1 and E2 extraction methods. Gelatins of E1 and E2 had higher viscous (G’’) and elastic modulus (G’) values on cooling and heating as compared to the commercial bovine skin gelatin. FTIR spectra of the gelatins indicated different degrees of structural denaturation. Overall, extraction methods of E1 and E2 produced better gelatin quality than E3. Nonetheless, E1 was the best extraction method for the production of high quality gelatin from chicken heads.