BACKGROUND The Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) provides instructions for constructing uncertainty intervals for a measurement. This method is usually reserved for reference materials, but GUM has been recently proposed as a way to express uncertainty for commercial diagnostic assays. METHODS Using the official GUM standard and published applications of GUM to comme...

The development of sugarfree gum provided the possibility of a noncariogenic alternative to sugared gum. Chewing sugarfree gum results in a rise in plaque pH, in contrast to the pH fall observed with sugared gum. This is due to the stimulation of the flow of saliva, with the resulting increase in level of bicarbonate and thus alkalinity. At the same time the plaque microflora do not produce sig...

This study concerns the evaluation of natural gum copal and gum damar as novel sustained release matrix forming materials in tablet formulation. Along with the physicochemical properties, gum copal and gum damar were characterized for molecular weight, polydispersity index and glass transition temperature. Matrix tablets were prepared by wet granulation technique using isopropyl alcohol as a gr...

The crude extract of Sterculia tragacantha was subcutaneously infiltrated at the scrotum and left flank of West African dwarf goat prior to orchidectomy and non invasive flank procedures respectively. To assess the local anaesthetic efficacy of the extract post orchidectomy, the pain threshold, changes in vital parameters and blood glucose were monitored. Post flank infiltration, the durations ...

Africa is rich in a wide range of flora that are exploited as herbal medicines and remedies. Several diseases such as diabetes, diarrhea, dysentery and jaundice have been successfully managed using herbal medicines. Herbal decoctions or concoctions have been used as pain killers, antibiotics, and hematinics. This study evaluated the hematopoietic and biochemical properties of the stem bark of S...

The Sterculia striata ethanolic extract (Ss-EtOH) inhibited gastric lesions induced by ethanol, HCl/ethanol, and ischemia/reperfusion, but not those induced by indomethacin, and did not alter the gastric secretion. Ss-EtOH restored the catalase activity and content of nonprotein sulfhydryl groups in the stomach of mice treated with ethanol. The gastroprotection induced by Ss-EtOH in the ethanol...

AIMS To determine the possibility of using guar gum, a colloidal polysaccharide, as a cheap alternative to agar for gelling microbial culture media. METHODS AND RESULTS As illustrative examples, 12 fungi and 11 bacteria were cultured on media solidified with either guar gum or agar. All fungi and bacteria exhibited normal growth and differentiation on the media gelled with guar gum. Microscop...

The aim of this clinical study was to investigate the acid resistance of enamel lesions remineralized in situ by a sugar-free chewing gum containing casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate nanocomplexes (CPP-ACP: Recaldent). The study utilized a double-blind, randomized, crossover design with two treatments: (i) sugar-free gum containing 18.8 mg of CPP-ACP, and (ii) sugar-free gum not...

A strategy for the unambiguous identification and selective quantification of xanthan gum and locust bean gum (LBG) in gelled food concentrates is presented. DNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed to be a fast, sensitive, and selective method that can be used as a first screening tool in intact gelled food concentrates. An efficient isolation procedure is described removing com...

This research work is aimed at decolourizing gum Arabic using activated charcoal so as to improve the quality of gum Arabic before the use of additives on the gum Arabic. The experiment was conducted on laboratory scale, the filter fixed bed method was used and the adsorbent (activated charcoal) is a granular of 500μm mesh size. The pH, viscosity and transmittance of each solution were measured...