Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 is a psychrophilic yeast isolated from Antarctica. It has an optimal growth in yeast peptone dextrose (YPD) and yeast mould (YM) broth media but not in potato dextrose (PD) broth medium. Early phase G. antarctica PI12 cells had elongated-shape and became oval-shaped as they aged. G. antarctica PI12 exhibited bipolar budding and formed a chain of cells during the lag and early exponential phases. The number of chains decreased as the yeast aged. It appeared mainly as a single cell at the stationary phase, and a small number of them still produced buds. Some cells at the stationary phase entered the quiescence state (G0) as a longterm survival strategy. The G. antarctica PI12 cell size decreased when they entered the stationary phase. G. antarctica PI12 was found to produce hydrolytic enzymes, chitinase, cellulase, mannanase, and xylanase. A higher glucose concentration of 2% in the PD agar medium inhibited the activities of chitinase but not the cellulase, mananase and xylanase.
Stevia rebaudiana has recently gained the attention of the food industry as one of the natural sweeteners. The sweet flavour is contributed by the glycoside compounds, especially the rebaudioside A and stevioside, which are the stevia main chemical markers. The aim of the work reported here was to compare the different extraction techniques of stevia leaves using different technologies such as the high pressure and ultrasonic on the extraction of steviol glycosides. In this paper, the extraction techniques yielding the highest glycosides from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana were determined using hot water extraction (HWE), pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). The steviol glycoside yields were quantified by two chemical markers, rebaudioside A and stevioside of Stevia rebaudiana using highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The result showed that the HWE managed to obtain 1,110 mg of steviol glycosides. The PLE obtained 294 mg steviol glycosides and the UAE obtained 427.5 mg steviol glycosides. As a conclusion, the results suggested the most efficient technique for stevia extraction in this study was the HWE.
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are contributors to infection cases among the Asian population. S. aureus is found in the mucous lining of noses and is mainly non-pathogenic while E. coli, mostly harmless bacteria, are found in the intestine. Pathogenic strains of both bacteria have adverse effects on the elderly and younger age group of the population. Samples were collected from recreational parks around Kota Kinabalu as they are hotspots frequently visited by families with both age groups. The bacterial samples were isolated and cultured on selective media such as Baird-Parker agar (BPA), Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) agar, MacConkey agar and Eosin-Methylene Blue (EMB) agar. Morphological characteristics of bacterial growth were observed, where S. aureus had black-shiny growth in BPA and E. coli had a metallic-green sheen in EMB agar. The suspected bacteria samples were then stained and viewed under a light microscope. S. aureus was identified as gram-positive, stained violet with a circular shape and clustered appearance. E. coli was identified as gram-negative, stained red, rod-shaped with 2 – 3 bacterial alignment. Antibiotic resistance test resulted in S. aureus and E. coli samples did not display 100% resistance among 4 antibiotics tested (ampicillin, penicillin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol). Most of the bacteria samples were a minimum inhibitory of 0.1 mg/mL of antibiotic concentration. These results provide a foundation for further research on identifying bacterial strains using molecular methods. The findings can then be used to disseminate information to the public to create awareness of potential disease outbreaks in the city.
There are many methods to separate or purify the rebaudioside A compound from Stevia rebaudiana extract. However, the ion-exchange chromatography using macroporous resin is still the most popular among those methods. The separation of rebaudioside A from stevia crude extract by macroporous resin AB-8 was optimised in this adsorption separation study. This approach was applied to evaluate the influence of four factors such as the adsorption temperature, desorption time, elution solution ratio, and adsorption volume on rebaudioside A yield of the purified stevia extract. The results showed that the low polarity resin AB-8 is able to separate rebaudioside A from stevia extract with 0.601 in yield compared to the high polarity resin HPD 600 with 0.204 in yield used in Anvari and Khayati study. The best conditions for rebaudioside A separation by macroporous resin AB-8 were at 35°C of adsorption temperature, 30 min of desorption time, elution solution ratio 2:1, and 50 mL of adsorption volume.
MeSH terms: Adsorption; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Ion Exchange; Resins, Plant; Temperature; Stevia; Diterpenes, Kaurane
Rice is the most important staple crop in Malaysia and is cultivated all over the country, including the state of Sabah. The uniqueness of rice cultivation in Sabah lies in the type of rice itself, deriving mainly from local or non-commercial cultivars but with distinctive characteristics including long grains, aromatic properties, and drought tolerance. However, despite having these important agricultural traits, information on the genetic diversity of Sabah rice remains limited. Hence, the purpose of this study was to determine the genetic polymorphisms of Sabah rice using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. A total of 101 alleles were profiled, from which 94% were identified as polymorphic. Phylogenetic analysis grouped the rice samples into three clusters, with two clusters classifying the ability of rice to grow under different planting conditions, suitable for growth irrigate and upland condition. The first cluster was dominated by cultivars that could survive in wet (irrigated) areas, while the other featured those that were found in dry (upland) areas. Furthermore, two alleles, OPA-05-B2 and OPA-01-B11, were found to be unique to cultivars within the upland cluster and were thus proposed to be involved in dry environmental adaptation. The results of the present study provide an insight into the genetic relationships and diversity of Sabah rice.
MeSH terms: Alleles; DNA; Genetic Markers; Malaysia; Phenotype; Phylogeny; Polymorphism, Genetic; Oryza; Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; Droughts
Conservation of plant species plays a vital role in preventing the loss of valuable plant resources. The success of conservation depends on the correct identification and characterization of plant species. Bamboo is one of the most important plants with multiple uses that have contributed to the economy and socio-economy of many people in rural areas. It is under the subfamily of Bambusoideae that includes both woody and herbaceous bamboo. Conventionally, like other plants, bamboo has been classified dependently based on morphological characteristics. However, morphological identification leads to difficulties and misclassification of bamboo species due to their infrequent flowering behaviour and peculiar reproductive biology. Since then, molecular markers have been introduced to overcome the problems associated with bamboo taxonomy and phylogeny. This paper provides an overview of the diverse, predominantly molecular techniques used to assess and determine the genetic diversity of bamboo species.
Cellulases have been vital for the saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass into reduced sugars to produce biofuels and other essential biochemicals. However, the sugar yields achievable for canonical cellulases (i.e. endoglucanases, exoglucanases and β-glucosidases) have not been convincing in support of the highly acclaimed prospects and end-uses heralded. The persistent pursuit of the biochemical industry to obtain high quantities of useful chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass has resulted in the supplementation of cellulose-degrading enzymes with other biological complementation. Also, chemical additives (e.g. salts, surfactants and chelating agents) have been employed to enhance the stability and improve the binding and overall functionality of cellulases to increase product titre. Herein, we report the roadmap of cellulase-additive supplementations and the associated yield performances.
In the current study, a total of 86 soccer’s players with mean age of 14 years drawn from Terengganu soccer academy were tested in performing 10 parameters aiming at determining the performance of those players based on assessing the contribution of each activity and its corresponding significant level. The 10 performance related parameters involved anthropometry (BMI), fitness test (agility, coordination, muscular endurance (push and sit up), power, YoYo level), and football skill test (dribbling with ball, dribbling without ball and juggling). All the parameters testing is carried out based on international standard and performed by well-trained staff. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to achieve the objective in this study. Result shows a positive correlation between the two types of muscular parameters; the power is influenced by BMI and coordination; the specific football tests are highly impacted by the power and agility. The coefficient of determination R^2 and the significance level p-values show that the parameters that can be significantly considered are the anthropometric BMI (0.020), agility (0.025), muscular endurance (0.039 and 0.043), power (0.039), special football test without the ball (0.041), and juggling (0.046). The coordination, YoYo, football special test with the ball were not found to be significantly accounted for preparing the young players to achieve the required performance. Based on the results of the coefficient of determination and the significance p-values of the parameters, a model was proposed to determine the highest and lowest parameters that play important roles in the selection of young players.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Anthropometry; Football; Humans; Reference Standards; Soccer; Exercise; Body Mass Index; Athletic Performance
This study was aimed at determining the optimum temperature for culturing the copepod, Euterpina acutifrons. The trial was conducted for 10 days in chambers at temperatures of 25⁰C, 27⁰C, 29⁰C and 31⁰C. Ten adult individuals of the copepod were randomly collected and placed into three replicate experimental flasks for each treatment. Throughout the trial, the salinity, light intensity, and photoperiod were maintained at 30 ±2psu, 100molm-2s-1 and 12:12 light-dark cycle, respectively. The copepods were fed with 80,000cell/ml Isochrysis sp. daily. At the end of the trial, the total numbers of E. acutifrons nauplii, copepodites and adults were determined and counted using Sedgwick-Rafter. The highest population was found at 27⁰C with mean total population of 800±100 individuals from an initial of 10 individuals. This was followed by those reared at 25⁰C and 29⁰C where the population counts were 700±100 individuals and 367±115 individuals, respectively. At the 31⁰C, all the copepod specimens were found dead on day 5th. Statistical analysis showed that the temperature had a significant effect (P
A 25-week feeding trial was conducted to assess the growth performance, organoleptic quality, and to estimate the viability of nourishing hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus x Epinephelus lanceolatus) with low-cost fish (LCF) and commercially compound feed (CCF). A group of 3600 juvenile fish (182g) were released in four sea cages and fed with either LCF or CCF in duplicate. At the end of the trial, the hybrid grouper provided LCF attained a significantly higher (P0.05). Although technicalities of fish fed with LCF suggest that LCF is more efficient than CCF, feeding LCF to high-value fish is an unsustainable practice as LCF is usually obtained through trawling – a destructive fishing method for the marine ecosystem. Therefore, feeding with CCF without the use of LCF as the source of protein for its fishmeal will contribute to sustainable aquaculture. In order to convince the local farmers in Sabah to adopt the practice of feeding CCF, future research should focus on completing the species-specific diet formulation to promote optimum growth, and find ways to reduce the CCF local selling price.
Tieshangang Bay in the Beibu Gulf, Guangxi of China, is a strategic location for pearl farming. Although water pollution has been reported in this bay but the general health of the pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata martensii, farmed there has never been assessed. The present study examined the condition of P. fucata martensii farmed in the Tieshangang Bay by analyzing its length-weight relationship (LWR) and relative condition factor (RCF). A total of 111 specimens were sampled for measuring their shell height and total weight for determining the LWR and RCF. The coefficient of correlation of the LWR was high (R2 = 0.93), significant at 0.01 level. Negative allometric growth (b = 2.7048) was observed. However, P. fucata martensii achieved the expected growth in terms of weight, as determined through the RCF (mean 1.13). Negative allometric growth is commonly reported on the wild Pinctada spp. collected from different regions. Apparently, the water pollution in the Tieshangang Bay did not compromise the general health of the pearl oyster cultured there. Nevertheless, further study on the farm’s surrounding water quality and plankton availability is necessary to investigate the interaction between the growth of the oyster and its culture environment. In conclusion, the P. fucata martensii farmed in the Tieshangang Bay was considered healthy and the bay is still suitable for pearl oyster farming.
MeSH terms: Animals; Biological Phenomena; China; Ostreidae; Plankton; Water Pollution; Pinctada; Water Quality; Bays; Farms
This paper proposes A Hybrid Wavelet-Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (W-ARIMA) model to explore the ability of the hybrid model over an ARIMA model. It combines two methods, a Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and ARIMA model using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) drought data for forecasting drought modeling development. SPI data from January 1954 to December 2008 used was divided into two - (80%/20% for training/testing respectively). The results were compared with the conventional ARIMA model with Mean Square Error (MSE) and Mean Average Error (MAE) as an error measure. The results of the proposed method achieved the best forecasting performance.
Preventive maintenance (PM) planning becomes a crucial issue in the real world of the manufacturing process. It is important in the manufacturing industry to maintain the optimum level of production and minimize its investments. Thus, this paper focuses on multiple jobs with a single production line by considering stochastic machine breakdown time. The aim of this paper is to propose a good integration of production and PM schedule that will minimize total completion time. In this study, a hybrid method, which is a genetic algorithm (GA), is used with the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) technique to deal with the uncertain behavior of machine breakdown time. A deterministic model is adopted and tested under different levels of complexity. Its performance is evaluated based on the value of average completion time. The result clearly shows that the proposed integrated production with PM schedule can reduce the average completion time by 11.68% compared to the production scheduling with machine breakdown time.
MeSH terms: Algorithms; Commerce; Investments; Maintenance; Monte Carlo Method; Manufacturing Industry
1Malaysia
2 (UKM)43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
∗Corresponding author:
Numerous studies have linked biodiversity with zoonotic disease control. However, researchers have warned against simply believing that the increase in biodiversity can reduce the infection disease in the community. They proposed that amplification effect (increase in biodiversity accompanied by an increase in disease prevalence) might sometimes occur. Thus, we formulated a deterministic model to consider the impact of an amplification or dilution agent on the SNV transmission in the deer mouse population. Bifurcation analysis was carried out to examine the combined influences of the environmental carrying capacity, the interspecific competition strength and the impact of amplification or dilution agent on the deer mouse population. Our results showed that the system with amplification agent required a higher carrying capacity or stronger interspecific strength to compensate for its amplification effect in suppressing the SNV prevalence; this situation explains the lack of reduction in SNV prevalence despite the presence of high biodiversity in some empirical studies. In this study, we highlight the importance of investigating the roles of the additional species in an assemblage to better understand their relationship with the SNV prevalence in deer mouse population.
MeSH terms: Animals; Communicable Diseases; Conservation of Natural Resources; Ecology; Malaysia; Peromyscus; Zoonoses; Prevalence; Sin Nombre virus; Biodiversity
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is categorized as expensive oil due to high-quality nutritional value. Unfortunately, EVOO is easily adulterated with other low-quality edible oils. Therefore, this study was done to differentiate and analyze the adulteration of EVOO with other edible oils using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study was used several edible oils included canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, and soybean oil as an adulterant for EVOO. The adulterant EVOO samples were prepared by mixing with dissimilar concentrations of the solely edible oils (20 %, 40 %, 60 % and 80 % (v/v)). The main functional groups of EVOO and other edible oils are O-H, C-H, C=C and C=O groups were assigned around 3500 cm-1, 2925 cm-1, 3006 cm-1 and 1745 cm-1 wavenumbers, respectively. From the comparison of EVOO and other adulterant edibles oil spectra, it showed that the EVOO has the lowest absorbance intensity at around 3006 cm-1 represented double bond which is closely related to the composition of oil sample. The adulteration of EVOO was evaluated by analysing the changes in the absorbance based on the linear regression analysis graph of the bands at 3006 and 2925 cm-1 and the limit of detection (LOD) was measured. The graph of A3008/A2925 with good relative coefficients (R2) and lower LOD is more favourable than the linear regression graph of A3006 versus percentage of edible oils added in EVOO. This study showed that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is a convenient tool for analysing the adulteration of EVOO.
Mini purse seine has a major contribution in increasing production of small pelagic catches in Pelabuhan Perikanan Pantai (PPP) Muncar. This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of mini one-boat and two-boat purse seine in Bali Strait, Indonesia. This research was conducted in Mei 2018 in Muncar, East Java, Indonesia. In this study, survey was used to get the data by distributed the questioners to the fisherman. The primary data are total catch composition, fork length, individual weight of total catch and operation time of both fishing gears. Data were analysed by main catch and bycatch proportion, legal size proportion and catch rate. The results showed that the mini two-boat purse seine had a greater catch volume compared to the mini one-boat purse seine. The bycatch composition dominates in both fishing gear. The proportion of legal-size catching is 67% of the total. The fork length is not significantly different and for the total catches is significantly different. The catching rate of the mini purse seine one boat catch rate is lower at 4,048.67 kg/hour, compared to the mini two-boat purse seine which is 9,189.18 kg/hour.
MeSH terms: Animals; Body Weights and Measures; Fisheries; Indonesia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Ships; Tuna
Oliparisca menglaensis sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae: Pentastirini) is described and illustrated from Yunnan Province of China. This represents the first record of the genus Oliparisca from China. The new taxon extends the distribution range of the genus Oliparisca, previously known only from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Sri Lanka. A key of identification to all known species of this genus and a map of their geographic distributions are provided.
Tanyxiphium longissimum Huber, syn. n. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) is synonymized under T. harriet (Zeya) based on examination of specimens from Hainan Island and Yunnan Province in the Oriental part of China, Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Thailand. These are new country distribution records except for Thailand. The previously unknown male of T. harriet is described from Sulawesi Island, and the female is redescribed and illustrated based on non-type material examined.
MeSH terms: Animals; China; Female; Hymenoptera*; Male
Prediction analysis has drawn significant interest in numerous field. Taguchi’s T-Method is a prediction tool that developed practically but not limited to small sample analysis. It was developed explicitly for multidimensional system prediction by relying on historical data as the baseline model and adapting the signal to noise ratio (SNR) as well as zero proportional concepts in strengthening its robustness. Orthogonal array (OA) in T-Method is a variable selection optimization technique in improving the prediction accuracy as well as help in eliminating variables that may deteriorate the overall performance. However, the limitation of OA in dealing with higher multidimensionality restraint the optimization accuracy. Binary particle swarm optimization used in this study helps to cater to the limitation of OA as well as optimizing the variable selection process to better prediction accuracy. The results show that if the historical data consist of samples with higher correlation of determination (R2) value for the model creation, the optimization process in reducing the number of variables would be much reliable and accurate. Comparing between T-Method+OA and T-Method+BPSO in four different case study, it shows that T-Method+BPSO performing better with greater R2 and means relative error (MRE) value compared to T-Method+OA.
MeSH terms: Data Collection; Health Services; Research Design; Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Introduction: Adolescent aggression is an important public health concern with escalating prevalence of juvenile cases and violence among these age groups including robbery, homicide, and gang fights. The objectives of this study protocol are to determine the biopsychosocial predictors and explore the contextual factors of adolescent ag- gression among secondary school students in Hulu Langat. Methods: Explanatory mixed method study design will be used, consist of quantitative cross-sectional study followed by basic qualitative study. Proportionate population sampling among Form 4 secondary school students from selected public secondary schools in Hulu Langat will be executed. Questionnaires will be distributed to 481 students on aggression as the dependent variable, and several independent variables: demographic (ethnicity, family income), biological (sex, head injury, nutritional deficiency, breakfast skipping), psychological (attitude and normative beliefs, personality trait, emotional intelligence), and so- cial factors (family environment, single parent status, domestic violence, peer deviant affiliation, alcohol, smoking, substance abuse). Subsequently, participants with moderate to high aggression scores will be further explored on the contextual factors of adolescent aggression by in-depth interview. Multiple linear regression will be executed using SPSS to determine significant predictors whereas thematic analysis will be applied for qualitative data analysis on the context of adolescent aggression. Both findings will be further integrated and discussed to give comprehensive description on the phenomena. Conclusion: Better knowledge and understanding on adolescent aggression may generate new framework to drive more effective preventive strategies and unravel adolescent aggressive related Pub- lic Health problems.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Aggression; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ethnic Groups; Craniocerebral Trauma; Homicide; Humans; Peer Group; Personality; Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Schools; Silver; Smoking; Students; Single Parent; Prevalence; Linear Models; Domestic Violence; Substance-Related Disorders; Malnutrition; Emotional Intelligence; Breakfast