Radiation pasteurised oil palm empty fruit bunch fermented with Pleurotus sajor-caju as feed supplement to ruminants

In solid state fermentation, Pleurotus sajor-caju has been found to be able to degrade at least 30% oil palm empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fibre leaving 70 % useful materials. Conditions under which fermentation carried out were investigated. It was found that, in the temperature range between 25– 28 °C, relative ph between 6–8, moisture between 60–70 % and medium composition of CaCO₃: rice bran 2 %: 5 % were the optimum conditions. The results showed in fermented products that, there were substantial reduction in cellulosic component such as Crude Fiber (CF, 18 %); Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF, 45 %), Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF, 61 %) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL, 14 %). However, Crude Protein (CP, 10%) increased resulted from single cell protein enrichment of mycelial microbial mass. The mass reductions of substrate in fermentation process corresponds to the CO₂ released during fermentation. Hence, attributable to the decreased in content of CF, ADF, NDF, and ADL. The digestibility study has also been carried out to determine the useful level of this product to ruminant. Aflatoxin content was detected low in both the initial substrates and products. Based on nutritional value and low content of aflatoxin, the product is useful as a source of roughage to ruminant.     

Modified silver staining in 2DE improves protein detection even at extremely low sample concentration

The typical concentration of protein loaded varies from 0.13 to 1.40 μg/μL for a classical silver staining method in 2DE gel. Here, we present a simple modified classical silver staining method by modifying the silver impregnation and development reaction steps. This modified method detects the protein spots at extremely low loaded concentrations, ranging from 0.0048 to 0.0480 μg/μL. We recommend this modified silver staining as an excellent method for the limited biological samples used for silver‐stained 2DE analysis. Altogether, the protocol takes close to two days from first dimension separation to second dimension separation, followed by silver staining, scanning, and analysis.     

Malayanines A and B, two novel limonoids from Chisocheton erythrocarpus Hiern

Two structurally interesting novel limonoids, malayanine A and malayanine B, were isolated from the bark of Chisocheton erythrocarpus Hiern. The structures were fully characterized through spectroscopic methods.     

Phoebegrandine C, a novel proaporphine-tryptamine dimer, from Phoebe grandis (Nees) Merr

A novel proaporphine-tryptamine dimer alkaloid, named phoebegrandine C 1, was isolated from the leaves of Phoebe grandis (Nees) Merr. Its structural elucidation was carried out using spectroscopic techniques, notably 2D NMR.     

Challenges associated with the synthesis of unusual o-carboxamido stilbenes by the Heck protocol: Intriguing substituent effects, their toxicological and chemopreventive implications

The syntheses of fourteen unusual o-carboxamido stilbenes by the Heck protocol revealed surprising complexity related to intriguing substituent effects with mechanistic implications. The unexpected cytotoxic and chemopreventive properties also seem to be substituent dependent. For example, although stilbene 15d (with a 4-methoxy substituent) showed cytotoxicity on HT29 colon cancer cells with an IC(50) of 4.9 μM, the 3,4-dimethoxy derivative (15c) is inactive. It is interesting to observe that the 3,5-dimethoxy derivative (15e) showed remarkable chemopreventive activity in WRL-68 fetal hepatocytes, surpassing the gold standard, resveratrol. The resveratrol concentration needed to be 5 times higher than that of 15e to produce comparable elevation of NQO1.     

Tunable high power fiber laser using an AWG as the tuning element

In this paper, a design of a High Power Tunable Fiber Laser (HP-TFL) in C-band region from 1536.7 to 1548.6 nm is set forth with Erbium Doped Fibers (EDFs) being used as a seeding signal and a booster amplifier. With a 1 × 16 channels Arrayed Waveguide Grating (AWG), this setup is capable of generating 16 different wavelengths with an average output power of 20.7 dBm.     

Highly efficient and high output power of erbium doped fiber laser in a linear cavity configuration

A simple Erbium Doped Fiber Laser (EDFL) in linear cavity configuration is reported. The cavity design is based on an FBG as a back reflector, and a loop back optical circulator with an output coupler as the front reflector. Different coupling ratios of the coupler are tested and 50: 50 provides the highest coupling output power of 22.06 dBm (160.7 mW). The pump power conversion efficiency is about 95% when pumping with two pump lasers at 1460 and 1490 nm with combined pumping power of 545 mW. The laser output has a measured linewidth of 0.0179 nm.     

New alkaloids from Phoebe grandis (Nees) Merr

The alkaloidal extract of the leaves of Phoebe grandis (nees) merr. have provided two new minor alkaloids; phoebegrandine D (1), a proaporphine-tryptamine dimer, and phoebegrandine E (2), an indoloquinolizidine. This is the first report on the occurrence of an indoloquinolizidine in the Phoebe species. The crude extract also exhibited antiplasmodial activity (IC50<8 microg mL-1). The structures of the novel compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, notably 2D NMR and HRMS.     

Preparation and characterization of polypropylene/waste tyre dust blends with addition of DCP and HVA-2 (PP/WTDP-HVA2)

Preparation of polypropylene (PP)/waste tyre dust (WTD) blends with addition of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and N,N′-m-phenylenebismaleimide (HVA-2) (PP/WTD_P-HVA2) was described. The blends were characterized based on their tensile properties, swelling resistance and morphology, as well as thermal properties. The results reveal that the presence of both chemicals in PP/WTD_P-HVA2 blends brought about noticeable improvements in tensile properties, swelling resistance and interfacial adhesion. The thermal stability was also improved, indicating existence of some chemical interaction between WTD and the PP matrix in the presence of both DCP and HVA-2 during processing. The results imply that both chemicals had great influences on WTD destabilization, leading to the enlargement and intensification of the copolymer formation and, hence, improved the interfacial adhesion between WTD and the PP matrix. A competing reaction mechanism that may contribute to the property enhancement of PP/WTD_P-HVA2 blends was proposed.     

High power dual-wavelength tunable fiber laser in linear and ring cavity configurations

We describe and compare the performances of two crucial configurations for a tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser, namely, the linear and ring configurations. The performances of these two cavities and the tunability in the dual-wavelength output varied from 0.8 to 11.9 nm are characterized. The ring cavity provides a better performance, achieving an average output power of 0.5 dBm, with a power fluctuation of only 1.1 dB and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 66 dB. Moreover, the ring cavity has minimal or no background amplified spontaneous emission (ASE).