Archives-June 2011

Hotel industry is a people oriented service industry which rely on the abilities, behavior and the attitudes of the employees to stay and lead the game. However customers suggestion and feedback is one of the most key factor which would ensure the sustainability of the guest flow to the hotel itself remains. This study aims to examine the differences in consumer behavior among guest of hotels in Malaysians in terms of culture dimension, demographic factors and consumer feedback towards using suggestion box after and during their stay as a guest in the hotel. The findings of the study will provide evidence for hotel management to look into the importance of suggestion box and how it could upgrade the services rendered by the hotel to its guest. Survey method will be employed in this study. Questionnaires will be distributed to two hundred quest who stayed at three different hotels which is categotrized as a “four star hotel” located in Pulau Pinang, Kedah, and Perlis during the period of November 2010 till January 2011. Respondents will be randomly selected based on the interval of every five customers that check-in to the selected hotels. Samples will be controlled to eliminate inappropriate elements contained in the sampling frame.

In order to success in removing stains from historical dyed samples, it is necessary to understand the nature and type of these stains. This research work aimed to study in detail the different changes occurring on mimic cotton carpet samples dyed with natural yellow dye turmeric and subjecting to different stains (blood, mud and wax). All the stained samples were subjected to light ageing followed by cleaning with different detergents according to the nature of the stain. The examined samples were characterized and evaluated using FTIR-ATR analysis to examine the change in the chemical structure after each treatment process and studying the effect of such processes on the crystallinity/amorphousity of the samples. Also, the color measurement in the CIELAB system was used to quantify the change in samples' colors through the different treatments. The obtained results indicated that: there was an obvious change in the transmission peak intensities of the different functional groups after each treatment, a variation in both the crystalline index (C.I) and % crystallinity of the examined samples and the cleaning process greatly depends on both the type of stain and the cleaning material.

The present study was undertaken to formulate and evaluate a topical emulsion-gel of a non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, choosing Nimesulide as a model drug. Eight formulations were prepared with different concentrations of carbopol 934p as polymer, varying the concentration of tween 80 and adjusting the pH to 6.5 and 8.0.The concentrations of nimesulide and isopropyl myristate were 1% w/w and 10% w/w, respectively in all the formulations. The prepared formulations were evaluated for various physicochemical parameters. The release studies were carried out by dialysis membrane grade 150 and hairless rabbit skin later compared with marketed product. The formulations were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity in carrageen an-induced rat paw oedema model. Subjective analysis of formulations in healthy human volunteers for acceptability was carried out. FT-IR spectra confirm that there is no incompatibility between drug and excipients. The formulation with 1% w/w carbopol 934 P, 10% w/w tween 80 and pH 8.0 was found to possess maximum percentage drug diffusion comparable to marketed preparation. Maximum anti-inflammatory activity was market preparation. The formulations were stable for 60 days as no significant change in physicochemical characteristics and drug release properties were observed. The formulation was found to be acceptable among healthy human volunteers and is comparable to marketed formulation. From the present work, it can be concluded that Nimesulide can be formulated into topical emulsion-gel with better drug release properties and improved pharmacological effect.

35 female weanling rabbit of an average weight of 510g were used in a feeding trial that lasted 12 weeks to evaluate the effect of inclusion of different levels of REE (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400ppm) on the performance, blood and serum parameters of the animals. The animals were randomly allotted to five treatments of 7 replicates (1 animal per replicate) per treatment. The initial weight, final weight and fed intake were monitored, recorded and analysed. Blood samples was collected and used for the haematological analysis. There was significant (p>0.05) difference in the final weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio. However, the daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio increases as the inclusion level of dietary REE increase likewise the. Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV), Red blood cell (RBC), White blood cell (WBC), neutrophils, eosinophils and lympocytes were not significantly (p>0.05) influenced among the dietary treatment. The total protein, albumin, globulin, cholesterol and urea were also not significantly (p>0.05) different, though all higher numerically in supplemented diets compared to the control.

In recent times, there is an increased importance in sourcing for an alternative product that fully or partially replaces mineral oil, hence reducing the dependency on the environmentally harmful oil. Much effort has been focused on research and development of new types of lubricant oil additives. The use of additives to improve the lubricating capacity and durability of lubricant oils play an important role in wear and friction process of materials. This study looks into the possibility of partially replacing the mineral base additives with more environmentally friendly organic base oil. The aims of this research were to produce palm oil based biodiesel (methyl ester) and silver nanoparticles using “green methods” and combining them at different ratios to be added as additive into base oil lubricant. A total of eight oil samples tests were run to determine anti-wear and frictional properties using pin-on-disc tribology tester. The results showed that the 80:20 blend of lubricant oil to biodiesel and silver nanoparticles have better anti-wear properties than the base lubricant oil (commercially available, SAE 20W-50) on itself. The specific wear rate of the blend was 39.9% lower than that of the base oil and wear levels recorded by the pin-on-disc machine showed that the blend is comparable with the base oil in terms of stability. More importantly, the coefficient of friction for the 80:20 blend far outperforms the base oil with a considerably reduced friction value obtained throughout.

The economic and social benefits derived by women who join credit unions was measured in terms of the state of their businesses, income levels, monthly savings and the financial contribution of beneficiaries towards dependants’ education. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 50 women who had obtained business loans from the Credit Union within the time period of June 2009 to July 2010 financial year. The study showed a significant influence of loans on the socioeconomic status of the women beneficiaries of loans.

Objective: To investigate the role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein expression, as indicated by the presence of HCV core protein in serum, in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of HCV infection. Methods: A total number of 432 patients with various liver diseases including acute and chronic/end stage liver diseases were analysed for HCV-related markers comprising anti-HCV, HCV-RNA and HCV-core. Results: HCV-core protein was found to be a better serum marker compared to anti-HCV and HCV-RNA for the diagnosis of HCV-infection in chronic liver diseases. HCV-core protein in serum shows a low prevalence in patients with acute infection. To explore the possibility of core-expression in liver pathology via its impact on oxidative stress and steatotic changes, we studied the sera level of lipids, lipoproteins, apoproteins and anti-oxidant levels in relation to HCV-core protein in serum. The analysis of data could not demonstrate any significant change in the level of these metabolites with presence or absence of HCV-core protein. This was explained as HCV-core expression having insignificant role in inducement of oxidative stress and development of steatosis to cause liver damage. This study also describes the varied prevalence of different HCV-genotypes in relation to HCV-core protein in these patients, thus, explaining that HCV-genotypes have little role in expression of HCV-core. Conclusion: Serum HCV-core protein has important role in the diagnosis of HCV infection. However, we could not observe any significant relation between HCV-core expression and liver steatosis, oxidative stress or HCV-genotypes in liver diseases.

Now a days as very few drugs are coming out of research and development and already existing drugs are suffering the problem of resistance due to their irrational use specifically in case of drugs like antibiotics. Hence, change in the operation is a suitable and optimized way to make the some drug more effective by slight alteration in the drug delivery. Sustained Release is also providing promising way to decrease the side effect of drug by preventing the fluctuation of the therapeutic concentration of the drug in the body. This article contains the basic information regarding sustained-release formulation and also the different types of the same.

A new simple, rapid, reproducible and stability indicating high performance thin layer chromatographic method for the analysis of duloxetine hydrochloride in bulk drugs and from pharmaceutical formulation was developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was achieved on aluminium precoated silica gel 60 GF 254 HPTLC plates with chloroform : methanol (80:20%v/v) as mobile phase gives a compact spot at Rf value of 0.42 ± 0.1 and enables excellent separation from its degradation products. Densitometric analysis of duloxetine hydrochloride was carried out in the absorbance mode at 216.0 nm. The correlation coefficient (r2) was found to be 0.9990 ± 0.0007 with respect to peak area in the concentration range of 400-2000 ng band-1. The method was validated for accuracy, precision and recovery. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were found to be 100 and 350 ng band-1 respectively. Duloxetine hydrochloride was subjected to acid, alkali hydrolysis and oxidative degradation. The drug degradations were took under acidic, basic and oxidation conditions. Statistical analysis proves that the method is repeatable, selective and accurate for the estimation of duloxetine hydrochloride. The proposed HPTLC method can be applied for identification and estimation of duloxetine hydrochloride in bulk drug and marketed oral solid dosage form.

Migration is caused by a push from behind and/or a pull from an appealing prospect in front. The combination of push and pull factors and research into which specific determinants play a significant role in migration patterns has received a lot of attention in the empirical literature. Immigration is the main demographic factor and the government is supposed to have the ability to control its size and skill composition. In high income countries natural population growth nowadays is low (or negative) and overall population growth is mostly driven by immigration. A statistically significant role of migration in affecting the tax rate is found after controlling for income inequality and for several social and demographic variables that would be expected to reflect the government’s revenue needs and thus determine the tax rate. The aim of the present study is to examine if and how much the amount of public expenditures on social services has been affected by the migration among some Middle East countries over 1990-2007. JEL classification: H24, H75, J4.