RDO congratulates the following PSU researchers for receiving international awards and recognition.
1. Gold Medal award from “13th Taipei International Invention Show & Technomart” (INST 2017) for “High-soluble Curcuminoid-extract Foam Pellet” by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pharkphoom Panichayupakaranant and team, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Born out of 3 innovations – environmentally-friendly Curcuminoid extraction method, polymerize Curcuminoid extract with Hydroxyprobyl-beta-cyclodextrin and Polyvinylpyrolysed K30 to increase water solubility, and to transform Curcumoid extract into foam pellet, all of which enhance bioavailability of Curcuminoid when incorporated in food and medicinal products.
2. Silver Medal award from “13th Taipei International Invention Show & Technomart” (INST 2017) for “Aeromonas Hydrophila Test Kit” by Prof. Dr. Amornrat Phongdara and team, The Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics Research, Faculty of Science.
The Aeromonas Hydrophila test kit in fish can detect Aerolyst gene of A. hydrophila bacterium which causes diseases that make fish experience loss of appetite, sluggish, corroded fin, deep wound, and swollen belly. These diseases also cause economic loss among farms that raise catfish, tilapia, and other freshwater fish.
Current method of diagnosis involves observation, segregated cultivation and testing, and molecular biology techniques such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). All of these methods require advanced skills, a lab, and specific tools. Thus born A. hydrophila test kit, which uses Loop-mediated isothermal amplification-lateral-flow dipstick (LAMP-LFD) technique. The technique increases amount of genetic materials of the bacteria at a single temperature then uses lateral flow dipstick kit to analyze the result. The kit consists of conjugate coated with gold nanoparticles which yield coloration when interacting with the bacteria and “reaction zone” which is coated with antibody specific to LAMP (Test line (T)) and positive control (Control line (C)). When detecting A. hydrophila, the reaction zone shows two red stripes, one on Test line (T) and the other on Control line (C). If no bacteria detected, only one stripe of red will be visible in Control line (C). The kit takes only about 1 hour to produce result and is therefore useful to screen breeders, fish eggs, and fry that could be disease carriers or to monitor and prevent the diseases in the future.
3. Bronze medal from “11th International Warsaw Invention Show” (IWIS 2017) and Special Prize from Malaysian Research & Innovation Society (MyRIS), Malaysia for “Personal Roadmap Model based on Social Construct” by Dr. Chatchawan Wongwattanakit with team and Chulalongkorn University.
Personal Roadmap Model based on social construct is designed for tourists in Phuket who travel from China, Australia, New Zealand, Europe (excluding Russia), and other countries in Asia (except Thailand and China). The purpose is to provide personalized travel plan based on a database built from 1,221-tourist sample with hope to maximize individual’s satisfaction. The travel plan may include natural or cultural attractions and beaches.
