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Byproducts from the processing of fish are a good source of gelatin. Biodegradable films including Caspian whitefish scale gelatin (CWFSG) enriched with nettle essential oil (NEO) at different leve...

The ever-present need for human communities to extract herbal active ingredients has necessitated many studies to be carried out in order to introduce more efficient and cost-effective extraction processes. The traditional extraction methods are very time consuming and use large volumes of solvents. The large volumes of solvents consumed in such methods not only increase costs but also pose many environmental problems. New extraction methods have been recently introduced to replace the traditional ones. These new methods reduce the volumes of required solvents, shorten the process and increase its efficiency and improve the quality of the products. In this study, the three methods of immersion, boiling, and ultrasound using water/ethanol solvents were employed for garlic extraction and compared with each other in terms of the extraction speed and time, the antioxidant property of the extract, and the quantity of the heat-sensitive active ingredient. The results showed that the highest allicin content (0.086%) was observed in the ultrasonic aqueous extract. The largest amounts of phenolic compounds (0.311 mg gallic acid equivalent) were observed in the ultrasonic aqueous extract followed by the aqueous extract prepared after 72 h in a shaking incubator. The highest inhibition rate (50% at 5000 ppm) was that of the ultrasonic aqueous extract and the shaken aqueous extract. Other extracts achieved an inhibition rate of 50% at 8000 ppm. Therefore, ultrasonic extraction can be a good alternative to traditional extraction methods.

In this study, active nanofilms were developed using basil seed mucilage (BSM) containing zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), according to casting method. Different amount of ZnO-NPs at the range of 0% (control), 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5% were incorporated into BSM film, then the physical, permeability, mechanical, thermal, and antimicrobial properties, as well as color index of fabricated films were examined. The results showed that moisture content, water absorption, water solubility, water vapor permeability (WVP), melting temperature (Tm), glass transition temperature (Tg) decreased with increasing the amount of ZnO, while the melting enthalpy of films increased (P

The effects of different extraction methods (I, II, III, and IV), including two levels of acetic acid (0.2–2.0 N) and sodium hydroxide (0.2–2.0 N), on the skin gelatin extracted from Caspia...

Background: Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders (EGID) are a heterogeneous group of gastrointestinal disorders, associated with an increase of the eosinophils in the gastrointestinal mucosal tissue. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), as a subset of T cells, have a proven prominent role in immunopathology and protection against allergic diseases. Also, they appear to play a role in EGID pathogenesis. In the present study, serum levels of Tumor Growth Factor (TGF)-β and interleukin (IL)-10 were measured in patients with EGID compared to patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and healthy subjects.Materials and Methods: A total of 34 patients with EGID, 23 with GERD, and 25 healthy controls were included in the study. The diagnoses of EGID and GERD were made based on the patients’ clinical symptoms, endoscopic findings, and biopsy confirmation. A questionnaire of demographic information, allergy history, as well as endoscopic-pathological and skin prick test results were completed and performed. The serum levels of TGF-β and IL-10 were measured using the ELISA method. Results: Family history of allergic disorders in patients with EGID or GERD was significantly high compared to healthy controls (P=0.010, P=0.005, respectively). There was a statistically significant increase in serum levels of TGF-β1 (P=0.025), but no significant difference was observed in serum level of IL-10 among three groups. However, the serum level of IL-10 was significantly high in a subgroup of patients with upper gastrointestinal eosinophilic involvement compared to the healthy controls (P=0.018).Conclusion: Significant increase in the serum level of IL-10 and TGF- β might be due to the Tregs dysfunction in EGID patients. Further studies should determine the role of Tregs in the pathogenesis of EGID.

A high performance and fast response sensor was fabricated as a monitoring system for the determination of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) in food and wastewater samples. In this regard, a carbon paste electrode (CPE) that was amplified with platinum-decorated single wall carbon nanotubes (Pt/SWCNTs) and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C4mim][Cl]) was investigated as a new electroanalytical sensor for the monitoring of BHA in aqueous solution. The [C4mim][Cl]/Pt/SWCNTs/CPE offered an excellent catalytic activity on oxidation signal of BHA and enhanced its oxidation current about 5.51 times. In the final step, the standard addition results confirmed the powerful ability of [C4mim][Cl]/Pt/SWCNTs/CPE to the monitoring of BHA in different water and food samples with acceptable recovery data.

The effect of various pasteurisation conditions (30–60 min; 57–63 °C) and drying method (spray- and freeze-drying) on bioactive-proteins (immunoglobulin-G and lactoferrin), antioxidant activity, and microbial quality of cow and buffalo colostrum was investigated. Although increased pasteurisation time and temperature had a significant effect on IgG, the most pronounced reduction was observed in lactoferrin (P

Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments may burden Methadone Maintenance Clinic patients. Since treatment is fully subsidized by the government, financial constraint might lead to patients being made to pay or be given incentive for inconvenience of therapy. This study thus evaluates the characteristic and commitment of methadone therapy patient's in terms of OOP cost, Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) and Willingness-To-Accept (WTA) concept. This survey utilizes the questionnaire by Boris ovaGoodman (2003) on the OOP, WTP and WTA. The forty adult patient's selected medical records from year 2009-2011 were from an urban government methadone clinic. Subject's selection was by convenient sampling based on the predetermined criteria. Most were male (95%) and Malay (60%) was the predominant group. Patients were group into three income groups; ≤ RM1000, ≥ RM1000 -≤ RM2000 and ≥ RM3000. The average OOP cost per month was RM391.30 (s.d RM337.50), which is about 35% of employed patient's monthly income. The wide variation could be attributed by high inter-individual and significant differences between patients in terms of transport, times taken to clinic, cost per trip and weekly household income (p=0.05). Patients with income of less than RM1000 showed the highest tendency to pay for treatment, asked for the least money for inconvenience and many are unwilling to accept any payments. These findings showed that WTP and WTA is less of a concern for patients in the low-income group. To conclude, OOP payment is not a treatment barrier for most of the urban MMT patients.

This study is an observational cross-sectional study aimed to examine the possible demographic and social characteristics of patients enrolled at the Methadone Maintenance Therapy Adherence Clinic (MMTAC) in Malaysia. Medical records from year 2009 - 2011 were Reviewed. Demographic, social characteristics and laboratory examinations such as age, gender, race, clinic attendances and urine analysis were recorded. Subjects were selected by means of convenient sampling but based on the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were analyzed by either Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test Mann-Whitney U-test, with the limit of significance was set at p0.05. Demographically, this study found that the ratio of Malays, Chinese and Indian enrolled to the MMTAC program is similar to the distribution of races in Malaysia. Their starting age for drug use was between 14-35 years and the age to enrolment between 30-58 years. Socially, many are unemployed, lowly educated and married. Most are drug users with a high percentage of HCV accompanied with impaired liver function. Retention rate was 87% but illicit drug use was at 57.50%. However, percentage of employment increased significantly after therapy. The study managed to identify several demographical and social distributions of patients attending the MMTAC. Although attendance rate was high, many were on illicit drug use. Nevertheless, employment rate improved significantly.