Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate preservatives in food stuffs in Iran

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was applied for the determination of the levels of benzoate and sorbate in 400 food samples, including pickled cucumbers, canned tomato pastes, sour cherry jams, soft drinks, fruit juices and dairy products (UF-Feta cheeses, Lighvan cheeses, lactic cheeses, yogurts and doogh). The results showed that 270 (67.5%) of all samples contained benzoate ranging from 11.9 to 288.5 mg kg⁻¹ in lactic cheese and fruit juice, respectively. The levels of sorbate in 98 (24.5%) of the samples were 20.1 to 284.3 mg kg⁻¹ in doogh and fruit juice, respectively. Moreover, benzoate was detected in all dairy products ranging from 11.9 mg kg⁻¹ in lactic cheese to 91.2 mg kg⁻¹ in UF-Feta cheese. A low concentration of benzoate could originate naturally, due to specific biochemical mechanisms during cheese, yogurt and doogh maturation. In conclusion, a minimum level for benzoate in dairy products should be defined in the legislation. © 2015 Taylor & Francis

Efektivitas Sholat Tahajud Dalam Mengurangi Tingkat Stres Santri Pondok Islam Nurul Amal Bekasi Jawa Barat

Stres dapat menyebabkan kerusakan fungsi biologis dan psikologis. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas sholat tahajud dalam menurunkan stres Santri Pondok Islam Nurul Amal Bekasi Jawa Barat. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian eksperimen non randomized pretest posttest control group design. Hipotesis penelitian ada 2, yang pertama ada perbedaan tingkat stres individu kelompok pengamal sholat tahajud dan kelompok bukan pengamal sholat tahajud, dan hipotesis kedua adalah ada perbedaan tingkat stres individu pengamal sholat tahajud antara sebelum dan sesudah mengamalkan sholat tahajud, tingkat stres setelah sholat tahajud lebih rendah dibandingkan sebelum sholat tahajud. Sampel penelitian ini sebanyak 30 santri, yang terdiri dari 15 santri pada kelompok eksperimen dan 15 santri pada kelompok kontrol. Metode penggalian data dengan menggunakan satu skala psikologi yang terdiri dari 2 aspek yaitu biologis dan psikologis. Hasil uji validitas pada skala stres terdapat 44 aitem valid (α = 0,953), dan analisis data menggunakan paired t test dan independent sample test. Hasil posttest antara kelompok eskperimen dan kelompok kontrol menunjukkan bahwa tingkat stres santri kelompok pengamal sholat tahajud lebih rendah dibandingkan dengan kelompok bukan pengamal sholat tahajud (t = -5,042; p < 0,001). Hasil pretest dan posttest kelompok eksperimen menunjukkan adanya penurunan tingkat stres individu setelah melakukan sholat tahajud dibandingkan dengan sebelum melakukan sholat tahajud (t = 10,821; p < 0,001). Jadi sholat tahajud terbukti efektif mengurangi tingkat stres santri di Pondok Islam Nurul Amal Bekasi Jawa Barat

Management of Meloidogyne incognita and Macrophomina phaseolina by Graphene Oxide on Lens culinaris

Effect of Graphene oxide (GO) was observed on Meloidogyne incognita and Macrophomina phaseolina and on the growth of lentil in pot experiment. Treatment of plants with 10 ml solution of GO with 125, 250 and 500 ppm concentration caused a significant increase in plant dry weight over control. Inoculation of plants with M. incognita or M. phaseolina caused a significant reduction in plant dry weight over uninoculated control. Treatment of plants with 125, 250 and 500 ppm GO and subsequent inoculation with M. incognita or M. phaseolina caused a significant increase in plant dry weight over plants inoculated without GO pretreatment. Treatment of 500 ppm GO caused a greater increase in plant dry weight of M. incognita or M. phaseolina inoculated plants followed by 250 ppm and 125 ppm. Numbers of nodules per root system were high in plants without pathogen. Inoculation of M. incognita or M. phaseolina caused reduction in nodulation. However, treatment of GO in all the three concentrations had no significant effect on nodulation in plants both with and without pathogens. Treatment of GO resulted in reduced galling, nematode multiplication and root-rot index. Greater reduction in galling, nematode multiplication and root-rot index were observed in plants treated with 500 ppm GO followed by 250 ppm and 125 ppm. Indices were reduced to 4, 3 and 2, respectively, when plants with M. phaseolina were treated with 125, 250 and 500 ppm GO. This study shows that the use of GO is useful for the management of M. incognita and M. phaseolina on lentil

Acil “Apoteker Cilik”: Upaya Membangkitkan Eksistensi Profesi Apoteker Dan Sistem Interpersonal Education Profesi Kesehatan Sejak Dini

Apoteker Cilik (ACIL) merupakan sebuah gagasan sebagai upaya dalam membangkitkan eksistensi profesi Apoteker secara lebih nyata. Eksistensi tersebut sangat berpengaruh pada masyarakat yang sampai saat ini masih dipandang sebelah mata. Apoteker adalah salah satu profesi kesehatan yang diakui keberadaaannya oleh UU Tenaga Kesehatan dan pemerintah. Brainding profesi apoteker melalui program Usaha Kesehatan Sekolah (UKS) mulai diperkenalkan pada siswa Sekolah Dasar (SD) agar diketahui eksistensinya. Investasi yang dilakukan sejak dini lambat laun akan berkembang dan menjadi besar. Seperti halnya dokter di Sekolah Dasar yang diidentikkan dengan dengan Dokter Kecil, Apoteker Cilik pun kedepannya akan lebih maju dan dapat membesarkan nama profesi apoteker. Praktik pelaksanaan interpersonal education dapat digunakan sebagai media untuk melakukan kerja sama antar profesi dalam skala kecil. Kemampuan inrepersonal tersebut meliputi kemampuan seseorang untuk mendukung orang lain, memberi dan menerima kritik yang membangun, serta kemampuan bernegosiasi. Oleh karena itu, adanya ACIL sebagai upaya membangkitkan eksistensi profesi apoteker dan International education antar profesi kesehatan sejak dini khususnya di kalangan siswa Sekolah Dasar sangat mendukung guna peningkatan derajat kesehatan masyarakat

LAPORAN INDIVIDU PRAKTIK PENGALAMAN LAPORAN KEGIATAN PRAKTIK PENGALAMAN LAPANGAN (PPL) DI OMAH PASINAON, GUNUNGKIDUL

Praktek Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL) bertujuan untuk memberi pengalaman belajar secara nyata kepada mahasiswa untuk dapat belajar menjadi pendidik sesungguhnya serta mahasiswa diharapkan mampu menemukan, mengidentifikasi, merumuskan dan memecahkan permasalahan secara komprehensif yang diharapkan dapat menunjang pengembangan kompetensi yang dimiliki mahasiswa. Berbagai program kegiatan yang dilaksanakan meliputi program kelompok, program individu utama dan program individu penunjang .Program Individu Utama antara lain pengajaran di TK ABA 17 dan pelatihan bahasa arab dasar. Program Individu penunjang pelatihan pembuatan Pop Up Book, pelatihan pembuatan dompet dari kain flanel, Mayoritas kegiatan dilaksanakan di Omah Pasinaon dan lingkungan sekitar Dusun Karangmojo, serta beberapa dusun di Desa Bejiharjo. Program kegiatan dilatarbelakangi oleh adanya permasalahan dan kebutuhan yang didapatkan dalam masyarakat Dusun Karangmojodan Desa Bejiharjo. Kegiatan yang direncanakan kemudian dikonsultasikan kepada DPL maupun tokoh masyarakat Dusun Karangmojo. Pada umumnya kegiatan PPL di Omah Pasinaon dan Desa Bejiharjo telah berjalan dengan baik dan lancar berkat adanya partisipasi dan kerja sama dari mahasiswa dan warga masyarakat

Plankton ecology: The past two decades of progress

This is a selected account of recent developments in plankton ecology. The examples have been chosen for their degree of innovation during the past two decades and for their general ecological importance. They range from plankton autecology over interactions between populations to community ecology. The autecology of plankton is represented by the hydromechanics of plankton (the problem of life in a viscous environment) and by the nutritional ecology of phyto- and zooplankton. Population level studies are represented by competition, herbivory (grazing), and zooplankton responses to predation. Community ecology is represented by the debate about bottom- up vs. top-down control of community organization, by the PEG model of seasonal plankton succession, and by the recent discovery of the microbial food web

Parental [correction of Perinatal] consanguinity: a risk factor for developmental delay in Pakistani children

Objective: To investigate the association of parental consanguinity and delayed development in terms of gross motor, fine motor, speech and social aspects in their children.Methods: One hundred and seventy seven children (age 15 days--72 months) were evaluated for their developmental status utilizing the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST). An unmatched case-control study design was used. Case group consisted of 94 children and control group 83 children. Odds ratios were calculated for parental consanguinity and delay in gross and fine motor, speech and social development in their children, for cases and controls, utilizing Binary Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis. Acquired delay was excluded through detailed birth history in both cases and control group respectively.Results: Univariate analysis showed high significant Odds ratios for all areas of developmental delay (viz. gross and fine motor, speech and social development), between cases and controls (p \u3c .001). At the multivariate analysis level however, our results showed no increased risk of parental consanguinity on delayed gross and fine motor, speech and social development in their children.Conclusion: Our results show no increased risk of parental consanguinity on delayed gross and fine motor, speech or social development (as measured by the DDST), in their children

Identification of gene modules associated with low temperatures response in Bambara groundnut by network-based analysis

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is an African legume and is a promising underutilized crop with good seed nutritional values. Low temperature stress in a number of African countries at night, such as Botswana, can effect the growth and development of bambara groundnut, leading to losses in potential crop yield. Therefore, in this study we developed a computational pipeline to identify and analyze the genes and gene modules associated with low temperature stress responses in bambara groundnut using the cross-species microarray technique (as bambara groundnut has no microarray chip) coupled with network-based analysis. Analyses of the bambara groundnut transcriptome using cross-species gene expression data resulted in the identification of 375 and 659 differentially expressed genes (p<0.01) under the sub-optimal (23°C) and very sub-optimal (18°C) temperatures, respectively, of which 110 genes are commonly shared between the two stress conditions. The construction of a Highest Reciprocal Rank-based gene co-expression network, followed by its partition using a Heuristic Cluster Chiseling Algorithm resulted in 6 and 7 gene modules in sub-optimal and very sub-optimal temperature stresses being identified, respectively. Modules of sub-optimal temperature stress are principally enriched with carbohydrate and lipid metabolic processes, while most of the modules of very sub-optimal temperature stress are significantly enriched with responses to stimuli and various metabolic processes. Several transcription factors (from MYB, NAC, WRKY, WHIRLY & GATA classes) that may regulate the downstream genes involved in response to stimulus in order for the plant to withstand very sub-optimal temperature stress were highlighted. The identified gene modules could be useful in breeding for low-temperature stress tolerant bambara groundnut varieties