Development of a Pre-Diagnostic Test for Preeclampsia

ABSTRACT

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific multisystem disorder which is among the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries. Its key diagnostics are hypertension and proteinuria. This study seeks to help develop a test for preeclampsia by documenting the color changes produced by a bromophenol blue assay across urine samples containing varying concentrations of albumin and check for the consistency of the colors and determine if the color change for the set threshold values are apparent. Two different sample-to-indicator ratios were used in the methodology, one for mild proteinuria, 0.4g/L, and the other for severe proteinuria, 3.0g/L. It was found out that the latter gave promising results, with the BPB assay consistently forming a vivid blue complex with a solution containing 3.0g/L albumin. The test, however, also yielded false positives. Th results of the experiment may be used in the design of a home-based, inexpensive pre-diagnostic test for preeclampsia.  

Citric Acid Production from Pineapple Waste through Solid-State Fermentation

7. Main References

7.1. Books and Articles
Euromonitor International. (2012). FRUIT/VEGETABLE JUICE IN THE PHILIPPINES. Passport , 4-9.

Euromonitor International. (2011). Pineapple Market Holds Steady in Face of Recession. Euromonitor , 2-

Heuzé, V., Tran, G., & Giger-Reverdin, S. (2013). Pineapple by-products. A programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO.

International Society for Horticultural Sciences. (2010). Pineapple News. Johor Baru, Malaysia.

IPCS. (2001). Citric Acid. Orlando, Florida: International Programme on Chemical Safety.

Kumar, A., & Jain, V. K. (2008). Solid state fermentation studies of citric acid production. African Journal of Biotechnology , 644-650.

Li, N., & K, L. (1994). Patent No. US5288763;. Porous polymer beads and their preparation by template polymerization.

Majumder, L., Khalil, I., Munshi, M. K., Alam, K., Rashid, H.-O., Begum, R., et al. (2010). Citric Acid Production by Aspergillus niger Using Molasses and Pumpkin as Substrates. European Journal of Biological Sciences , 1-8.

Peng, Q. (2005). Patent No. CN1733680. Method for purifying organic acid by separating residual sugars from organic acid fermentation broth and corresponding mother liquor of organic acid products.

Peng, Q., He, R., Liu, X., Yang, L., & Zhang, J. (1998). Function and modification of poly(vinylpyridine) resins. Jingxi Huagong , 5-9.

Soccol, C. R., Vandenberghe, L. P., Pandey, A., & Rodrigues, C. (2006). New Perspectives for Citric Acid Production and Application. Food Technol. Biotechnol. , 141-149.

Verhoff, F. H. (2005). Citric Acid. In F. Ullmann, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VC.

Wu, J., Peng, Q., Arlt, W., & Minceva, M. (2009). Recovery of Citric Acid from Fermentation Broth Using Simulated Moving Bed Technology. Separation Science and Technology .

7.2. Internet Sources

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (1977). Lectures Presented at the Fifth FAO/SIDA Workshop on Aquatic Pollution in relation to Protection of Living Resources. Manila,Philippines.

United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. (2012). Philippines Yearly Imports in US Dollars - Citric acid. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from Index Mundi: http://www.indexmundi.com/trade/imports/?country=ph&commodity=291814

Transition from campus to corporate: It's not just about engineering knowledge

It’s been two weeks since I started to have a “real” work for an international company that manufactures engineering and technology products. But it’s actually been more than two months since I got accepted in the company because I had to undergo through this so called “new-hire” employee training for 2 months before I get to handle my job functions. In that duration, I had to make huge adjustments to cope up with the huge changes that I faced. The following things are the ones I learned and am still trying to change.

 

1.    1.   School Mindset – College is full of theoretical stuff especially in engineering that is why I was often told by my mentors at work to think in terms of applications and not in ideal conditions.  In the real world (yes you are said to be in the real world once you work), there is no ideal system and everything affects everything. The company I work for manufactures engineering materials and provides solutions to customers who are mostly industrial. My job is to make sure I give the customers the right product for their applications. And in my case, I can’t just give what is the ideal solution for the customer. There are many things to consider aside from the applications of the customer. The economics also plays a huge role because as expected, the customer always wants to cut cost and the same time to have the best product and because it is still the customer who decides. I cannot also give products to any customer. For example, I cannot give products to places which we are “red flagged” especially those countries who are at war because the products might be used for weapons of destruction. 

    

     But anyway, being logical and analytical is surely an advantage at work. In my case, I am not easily convinced of something unless I see the science and math behind what was being taught to me so even though being theoretical is not really an advantage, the attitude of being detail-oriented and practicing deductive reasoning is a plus.

At work, the theoretical things learned at school is just a small part of what is actually needed.

  

2.     2.  Dealing with colleagues. – In college, you can definitely choose who to go with during lunch or during a lakwatsa. But at work, you cannot actually choose who your workmates would be. It’s hard for me at first because I don’t really like to mingle with people whom I am not really close to. But I understood that good relationship with my workmates is really important since we would be working as a team. And even people who are not directly on my team are also good to befriend because of the great leverage that their connections can give in the future.

Instead of being resistant to make new friends, I had to change to a more approachable and friendlier person.

 

3.     3.  Communicating with others – In the office, I noticed that all people who are on the top are good communicators. But being good in communicating is not just important for presentation purposes but also for establishing camaraderie  and networking with people which are great leverage in climbing the corporate ladder. Well, that is what most people want but I don’t really like to climb the corporate ladder if I don’t like the job function of my boss. I believe stress can kill any motivation I have in going to work so stress is something I am really careful to deal with. Many people are sick just because of stress. 

One great way as I learned to reduce stress is to work with people you like working with but since you can't choose your workmates, you have to like working with the people around you and it starts with communicating with them.

t   The takeaway in this article is that succeeding in work is not just about how intelligent you are.  As I heard from our HR, "IQ gets you hired, EQ gets you promoted."



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