Influence of spray nozzle aperture during high shear wet granulation on granule properties and its compression attributes.

The distribution of granulating liquid is known to affect the high shear wet granulation process but the impact of the spray nozzle attributes is still unclear. While homogenous liquid distribution can be achieved by using a spray nozzle, the effect of different nozzle aperture sizes on granule properties is not well understood. In this study, nozzles of different aperture sizes were used to introduce the granulating liquid in high shear wet granulation using different process parameters.

Clinical significance and predictors of oncologic outcome after radical prostatectomy for invisible prostate cancer on multiparametric MRI.

Background: The objective of our study was to evaluate the clinical significance of invisible prostate cancer (iPCa) on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) by analyzing clinical parameters and oncologic outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) from 2010 to 2015 at our institution. Before RP, all patients were confirmed to have prostate cancer based on prostate biopsy.

Integrative Multi-Omics Through Bioinformatics.

This chapter introduces different aspects of bioinformatics with a brief discussion in the systems biology context. Example applications in network pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine, systems metabolic engineering, and plant genome-scale modelling are described. Lastly, this chapter concludes on how bioinformatics helps to integrate omics data derived from various studies described in previous chapters for a holistic understanding of secondary metabolite production in P.

Functional Genomics.

Functional genomics encompasses diverse disciplines in molecular biology and bioinformatics to comprehend the blueprint, regulation, and expression of genetic elements that define the physiology of an organism. The deluge of sequencing data in the postgenomics era has demanded the involvement of computer scientists and mathematicians to create algorithms, analytical software, and databases for the storage, curation, and analysis of biological big data. In this chapter, we discuss on the concept of functional genomics in the context of systems biology and provide examples of its application in human genetic disease studies, molecular crop improvement, and metagenomics for antibiotic discovery.

Value of Nursing Objective Structured Clinical Examinations: A Scoping Review.

Background: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) have been used globally in medical education and touted as the "gold standard" for competence-based assessments. However, the value of OSCEs in nursing education has not been extensively evaluated.

Purposes: This review aims to report the global trends in nursing OSCEs; evaluate their validity, reliability, acceptability, and costs; and present the characteristics of validated nursing OSCEs.

Transcriptome-wide effects of expansin gene manipulation in etiolated Arabidopsis seedling.

Expansin is a non-enzymatic protein which plays a pivotal role in cell wall loosening by inducing stress relaxation and extension in the plant cell wall. Previous studies on Arabidopsis, Petunia × hybrida, and tomato demonstrated that the suppression of expansin gene expression reduced plant growth but expansin overexpression does not necessarily promotes growth. In this study, both expansin gene suppression and overexpression in dark-grown transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings resulted in reduced hypocotyl length at late growth stages with a more pronounced effect for the overexpression.

Prognosis of patients with gastric variceal bleeding after endoscopic variceal obturation according to the type of varices.

Background And Aims: This study was performed to evaluate the treatment efficacy of endoscopic variceal obturation (EVO) in patients with gastric variceal bleeding (GVB) according to the type of varices.

Patients And Methods: All patients who were treated with EVO for bleeding from gastric varices (GVs) were included. Patients with a previous history of endoscopic treatment for GVB and those with accompanying portal vein invasion by hepatocellular carcinoma or other malignancy were excluded.

The Effects of Feed Frame Parameters and Turret Speed on Mini-Tablet Compression.

Die filling is a critical process step during tablet production as it defines the tablet weight. Achieving die fill consistency during production of mini-tablets, tablets with diameters ≤6 mm, is considerably more challenging. Although die filling in rotary presses had been studied in relation to the feed paddle design, paddle speed, and turret speed, it is unclear how these process variables could impact mini-tablet production and product properties.

Automation of ionic liquid enhanced membrane bag-assisted-liquid-phase microextraction with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for determination of glucocorticoids in water.

A novel fully automated liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) procedure making use of a conical polypropylene membrane bag to hold the solvent, coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) with positive electrospray ionisation was developed to determine glucocorticoids (including cortisol, cortisone, dexamethasone, prednisone and prednisolone) in water. The solvent was a synergistic mixture of 10% v/v of ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate in n-octanol. The use of ionic liquid as an additive enhanced the extraction performance due to the favourable ionic and hydrogen bonding interactions with the analytes.

Investigation on the impact of powder arching in small die filling.

The flow of particulate materials is critical during processes such as mixing, compression and packing. Non-cohesive arching, a feature characteristic of coarse and free-flowing particles, has been studied extensively for silos and hoppers. However, the arching of powders during die fill has received much less attention.

Proteomics (SWATH-MS) informed by transcriptomics approach of tropical herb leaves upon methyl jasmonate elicitation.

Background: Jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivative, methyl JA (MeJA) are hormonal cues released by plants that signal defense response to curb damages from biotic and abiotic stresses. To study such response, a tropical herbal plant, , which possesses pungent smell and various bioactivities including antimicrobial and anticancer, was treated with MeJA. Such elicitation has been performed in hairy root cultures and plants such as Arabidopsis and rice, yet how MeJA influenced the proteome of an herbal species like is unknown.

A Rasch Model Analysis of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire.

The 10-item Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) was developed to measure individual differences in the tendency to use two common emotion regulation strategies: cognitive reappraisal and suppression. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the ERQ in a heterogeneous mixed sample of 713 (64.9% female) community residents using the polytomous Rasch model.

The locus contributes to normal gametogenesis and encodes a lncRNA responsive to oxidative stress.

Serine/threonine kinase 35 (STK35) is a recently identified human kinase with an autophosphorylation function, linked functionally to actin stress fibers, cell cycle progression and survival. has previously been shown to be highly expressed in human testis, and we demonstrated its regulation by nuclear-localized importin α2 in HeLa cells. The present study identifies progressive expression from the locus of two coding mRNA isoforms and one long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in mouse testis during spermatogenesis, indicating their tightly controlled synthesis.

Understanding effects of process parameters and forced feeding on die filling.

Die filling is a critical step during pharmaceutical tablet production and is still not well understood due to the rather complex interplay between particle attributes, die orifice diameter and fill energetics. While shoe-die filling models have been used to simulate die filling conditions, they typically lack the sophistication of the actual production-scale, feeder-based die filling conditions. The relationship between tableting process parameters and filling into die orifices of different diameters by powders of different flowabilities requires critical examination and understanding.

Metabolomics data of leaf using LC-ESI-TOF-MS.

is a psychoactive plant known as "ketum" in Malaysia and "kratom" in Thailand. This plant is distinctly known to produce two important alkaloids, namely mitragynine (MG) and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH-MG) that can bind to opioid receptors [1]. MG was reported to exhibit antidepressant properties in animal studies [2].

The Impact of Differential Item Functioning on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale.

Establishing the internal validity of psychometric instruments is an important research priority, and is especially vital for instruments that are used to collect data to guide public policy decisions. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) is a well-established and widely-used instrument for assessing individual differences in well-being. The current analyses were motivated by concerns that metal wellbeing items that refer to interpersonal relationships (Items 9 and 12) may operate differently for those in a relationship compared to those not in a relationship.

Discovery of digestive enzymes in carnivorous plants with focus on proteases.

Background: Carnivorous plants have been fascinating researchers with their unique characters and bioinspired applications. These include medicinal trait of some carnivorous plants with potentials for pharmaceutical industry.

Methods: This review will cover recent progress based on current studies on digestive enzymes secreted by different genera of carnivorous plants: (sundews), (Venus flytrap) (tropical pitcher plants), (North American pitcher plants) (Australian pitcher plants) (corkscrew plants) and (bladderworts).

Functional Characterisation of New Sesquiterpene Synthase from the Malaysian Herbal Plant, .

(syn. ) is a herbal plant that is well known for producing sesquiterpenes, which contribute to its flavour and fragrance. This study describes the cloning and functional characterisation of STPS1 and STPS2, two sesquiterpene synthase genes that were identified from transcriptome data mining.

Proteomic analysis of pitcher fluid from × .

The carnivorous plants of genus produce unique pitchers containing secretory glands, which secrete proteins into the digestive fluid. We investigated protein profile in the pitcher fluid during the first three days of opening to understand carnivory trait of × . The proteome analysis of pitcher fluid from × was performed by label-free quantitative liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (nLC-MS/MS).

Extensive mass spectrometry proteomics data of herb upon methyl jasmonate treatment.

Proteomics is often hindered by the lack of protein sequence database particularly for non-model species such as herbs. An integrative approach called proteomics informed by transcriptomics is possible [1], in which translated transcriptome sequence database is used as the protein sequence database. In this current study, the proteome profile were profiled using SWATH-MS technology complemented with documented transcriptome profiling [2], the first such report in this tropical herb.

Social Participation Determines Quality of Life Among Urban-Dwelling Older Adults With Stroke in a Developing Country.

Background And Purpose: Poor quality of life (QoL) is a well-recognized consequence after stroke. Quality of life is influenced by a complex interaction between personal and environmental factors. Most previous investigations of the QoL after stroke have focused on personal factors, for example, physical deficits directly resulting from stroke.

Public rental housing and its association with mortality - a retrospective, cohort study.

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well-established determinant of health status and home ownership is a commonly used composite indicator of SES. Patients in low-income households often stay in public rental housing. The association between public rental housing and mortality has not been examined in Singapore.

Comparative evaluation of powder flow parameters with reference to particle size and shape.

Powder flow is critical to the success of various pharmaceutical processes such as tableting and capsule filling. Despite a plethora of flow characterisation techniques and parameters available, powder flow still remains to be a not well understood subject. Inter-relationships between the various powder flow parameters in particular have not been well established.

Heat shock response and metabolic stress in the tropical estuarine copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei converge at its upper thermal optimum.

Heat shock response (HSR), in terms of transcription regulation of two heat shock proteins genes hsp70 and hsp90), was analysed in a widespread tropical copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei. The mRNA transcripts of both genes were quantified after copepods at a salinity of 20 underwent an acclimation process involving an initial acclimation temperature of 29 °C, followed by gradual thermal ramping to the target exposure temperature range of 24-36 °C. The respective cellular HSR and organismal metabolism, measured by respiratory activity at exposure temperatures, were compared.