Canarium odontophyllum Miq. fruit, popularly recognized as dabai fruit in Sarawak, is a
seasonal fruit found in the tropical rainforest of East Malaysia. A dabai fruit can be divided into
several anatomical parts, and different parts of the fruit have different valuable phytochemicals. Due
to the lack of promotion, dabai fruit is viewed as nutritionally inferior fruit by the public. On the
contrary, the fruit is rich in nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, sodium, calcium and iron.
Many phytochemicals have been detected from different parts of dabai fruit, and these molecules have
been linked to beneficial properties such as hypolipidemic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-cholinesterase,
antimicrobial and potentially anti-diabetic. The aim of this article is to review research studies on this
fruit in order to provide adequate baseline information for commercial exploitation as well as for
future studies.
Swiftlet
s
are small insectivorous birds which breed throughout Southeast Asia and
the South Pacific.
Among many swiftle
t species, only a few are notable to produce edible bird’s
nest
s
(EBN) from the secreted saliva during breeding seasons.
The taxonomy of swiftlet
s
remains one of the most controversial in the avian species due to the high similarity in
morphological charac
teristics among the species. Over the last few decades, researchers have
studied the taxonomy of swiftlet
s
based on the morphological
trade
, behavior, and genetic
traits
.
However, despite all the efforts,
the
swiftlet taxonomy remains unsolved.
The
EBN is one of
the
most expensive animal products
and frequently being referred
to
as the “
Caviar of the East
”.
The
EBN market value varies from
US
$1000.00 to
US
$10,000.00 per kilogram depend
ing
on
its grade, shape, type and origin.
Hence, bird’s nest harve
sting is considered a lucrative industry
in many countries in Southeast Asia.
However,
the
industry faced several challenges over the
decades such as the authenticity of the EBN, the quality assurance and the depletion of swiftlet
population. Furthermore,
there is limited scientific evidence regarding EBN’s medical benefits
as
claimed by manufacturers. This paper reviews the taxonomy of swiftlet
s
, its morphological
characteristics, the challenges currently encountered by the industry, and finally the
compos
ition and medical benefits of EBN.
The aim of this paper is to review the potentialities and major methodological challenges
of integrating remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) with socioeconomic data
from published articles or book chapters. RS and GIS combined with social science (SS)(termed as
geoinformation technology) serve many applications for sustainable management and monitoring of
the environment. This combined approach gives more accurate results than the single one. It makes
information available about the trend and pattern of land use and land cover change (LUCC) with
socioeconomic variables like population, demographic or income. This combined study which links
RS and GIS with socioeconomic data can also be used successfully for monitoring transmission rate
of disease and mapping or preparing vulnerability index. For impact assessment and modelling, this
combined technology provides better results than the single one. There are some methodological
problems for the researchers to link completely two different disciplines as the object of study and
observational unit is completely different. However, this interdisciplinary study is gaining popularity
day by day to researchers from different disciplines as well as decision makers.
The utilization of bamboo as a manufacturing material is becoming globally attractive in
the wood and wood product industries today. This is due to the numerous industrial applications and
uses of the bamboo plant from its fast growth, availability, unique appearance and strength. Bamboo
has been popularly known for its traditional uses such as poultry cages, vegetable baskets, incense
sticks, skewers and chopsticks, woven blinds and handicrafts. Very little has been done on the
industrial processing of bamboo into boards. Several authors have studied and reported on the
utilization, processing and the properties of this emerging material as an alternative to the increasing
decline of wood in the forest. This review aims to compare and contrast some of the works done on
the advancement in producing laminated bamboo timber. The properties of bamboo and its laminated
products attest to its potency in substituting wood. Bamboo utilisation has increased significantly in
the wood and wood product industries, with adequate retooling in most processing firms in the sector.
In line with the development and use of bamboo-laminated timber for the purpose of wood in
furniture production, the creation of bamboo plantations on degraded lands will meaningfully support
production and mitigate the degradation of forest.
Titania nanotube is gaining tremendous interest for its unique features including high
surface area, ion-exchange ability, photocatalytic potential and prominent electrical properties. Many
attempts were made to manipulate the unique properties of titania nanotubes for supercapacitor
application. In this review a comprehensive list of literatures on fabrication of titania nanotubes via
anodisation method in fluoride-based electrolytes and its application as supercapacitor are discussed.
This review shows that the nanotube morphology can be optimized by varying the anodisation
parameter such as electrolyte concentration, pH, voltage, and bath temperature. The review also
includes studies on the application of titania nanotubes as supercapacitor on improving the specific
capacitance value by doping with metal oxides and conducting polymers.
This paper presents an evaluation of the alternative use of natural cellulose coir fibres for
soil reinforcement. Soil reinforcement is defined as a technique to improve the engineering properties
of soil. Inserting natural fibres into the soil has been proposed as a reinforcement method. Randomly
distributed coir fibre reinforced soils have recently attracted increasing attention in geotechnical
engineering due to their strength. Furthermore, there is a need to develop an innovative and
sustainable pre-treatment method to improve the effectiveness and performance of coir fibre as soil
reinforcement. The primary purpose of this paper is, therefore, to review the characteristics, benefits,
applications and weaknesses of coir fibre as soil reinforcement.
The aim of this paper is to review the principles of ground-borne vibration induced by road
traffic. Several researchers have studied the impact of ground-borne vibration on people, structure, and
equipment, and developed guidelines or standards in order to indicate the threshold limit of damage and
annoyance. Measurement of ground-borne vibration is a crucial aspect in ground-borne vibration
studies that needs to be understood well. The reliability of the measurement is dependent on the
accuracy of the data collected. Thus, discussion in this review paper proceeds on the types of groundborne vibration modelling that can predict and explain the phenomenon.
Brucella melitensis is one of the major zoonotic pathogens worldwide with enormous
economic losses as well as considerable human morbidity in endemic areas. The global burden of its
incidence in both human and animal populations remains significantly at an alarming rate. The impact
of the disease is even multidimensional in nature and not always well understood and significantly
complicating effective policy response. The pathogenesis is complex and governed by several factors
working together in synergistic manner. The evolutionarily developed diverse evasion strategy to avoid
the host’s innate and adaptive immunity is further worsening the situation. Until recently,
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) remains the major virulent factor of B. melitensis and responsible for the
mechanism by which the pathogen causes its deleterious effects. Mechanisms presiding to the
colonization of the pregnant uterus in different animal species are still largely unknown. Information
related to the epidemiology and immunopathophysiology is still scarce in the database and control
programs are rarely implemented. Therapy is based on wide spectrum antibiotics with mysterious
outcome. The pre-existing vaccines appear not promising. Thus, understating the biological behaviour
of the disease becomes a fundamental issue. In this review, we highlight various key aspects of the
disease with special reference to the epidemiology and the immunopathophysiology of the disease in
sheep goat populations.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the leading nosocomial
pathogen that is also emerging as a zoonotic pathogen. In this review, it was observed that rapid
emergence of new MRSA clones at a higher frequency has ushered in a new knowledge on the clonality
and epidemic potentials of MRSA. Secondly, the success of treatment and management of MRSA
infection is threatened by the diversity in the clonal types. This is because different clones harbours
different antibiotics resistance characteristics and as such respond differently to treatment. Furthermore,
clonal replacement of hospital-acquired MRSA with community -acquired MRSA has also been
observed. Thirdly, the transmission of MRSA even though previously thought to be exclusively within
the hospital setting through hand contact and nasal colonization has now spread to the community and in
addition human to animal and animal to human transmission has also been observed. Similarly, pet
owners, veterinarians and farmers have been described as high-risked group with potentials of becoming
reservoirs of MRSA. Furthermore, the adoption of hand hygiene in healthcare setting have to a great
extent reduced the incidence of MRSA in the hospital. And lastly, the advent of molecular typing such as
Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST), Staphylococcal protein
A typing (Spa typing) and Double Locus Sequence Typing (DLST) have proven to be a useful tool in
providing valuable information on the evolution and clonal diversity of MRSA. These in turn help
researchers to answer some pertinent questions on the epidemiology of MRSA.
Robotic navigation has remained an open issue through the last two decades. Mobile robot
is required to navigate safely to goal location in presence of obstacles. Recently the use of mobile
robot in unknown dynamic environment has significantly increased. The aim of this paper is to offer a
comprehensive review over different approaches to mobile robots in dynamic environments,
particularly on how they solve many issues that face the researchers recently. This paper also explains
the advantages and drawbacks of each reviewed paper. The authors decide to categorize these articles
based on the entire content of each paper into ten common challenges which have been discussed in
this paper, including: traveling distance, traveling time, safety, motion control, smooth path, future
prediction, stabilization, competence, precision, and low computation cost. Finally, some open areas
and challenging topics are offered according to the articles mentioned.
– Feedback is one of the most influential tools in the learning of writing. However, there are
divided views on its impact on ESL writing. This article reviews past studies to explore the various
types of written feedback and its effectiveness. Firstly, it discusses the feedback role in ESL students’
writing, followed by the types of feedback. Furthermore, it highlights the type of feedback which is
useful and effective in the writing process. Next, it presents the different views on the effectiveness of
feedback in ESL writing due to the type of feedback and the way it is given. Lastly, it concludes that
feedback acts as a scaffold by providing a meaningful and impactful learning to students.
The overall reproductive process consists of both the human sex organs which include the male and female reproductive system. The ability to produce offsprings that have similar characteristic as their parents is the goal of reproduction. The sexual type of reproduction takes place in human and both male and female reproductive system is required. Male reproductive system is mainly concerned with production of semen (whitish viscous fluid emitted from the male reproductive tract that contains sperm and fluids) and transferring it into the female reproductive tract. In this review, we will discuss the latest findings in the research pertaining the male reproductive system and its contribution towards the research in advancement of reproductive physiology.
This paper explores the construct of motivation from the perspective of the instructional designer or teacher. It describes the motivation to learn in the context of intrinsic motivation, Expectancy-value Theory, Self-efficacy Theory, and Attribution Theory. The ARCS motivational model is examined in detail before discussing how motivation can be integrated in instructional design to enhance learning. This paper also explicates Cheng and Yeh’s (2009) framework in the context of classroom learning.
The hydrological effects of climate variation and land use conversion can occur at various spatial scales, but the most important sources of these changes are at the regional or watershed scale. In addition, the managerial and technical measures are primarily implemented at local and watershed scales in order to mitigate adverse impacts of human activities on the renewable resources of the watershed. Therefore, quantitative estimation of the possible hydrological consequences of potential land use and climate changes on hydrological regime at watershed scale is of tremendous importance. This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change as well as land use change on the hydrological processes of river basin based on pertinent published literature which were precisely scrutinized. The various causes, forms, and consequences of such impacts were discussed to synthesize the key findings of literature in reputable sources and to identify gaps in the knowledge where further research is required. Results indicate that the watershed-scale studies were found as a gap in tropical regions. Also, these studies are important to facilitate the application of results to real environment. Watershed scale studies are essential to measure the extent of influences made to the hydrological conditions and understanding of causes and effects of climate variation and land use conversion on hydrological cycle and water resources.
This intended paper was done to give an early overview of the expected quality attributes of pineapple-mango juice blend treated with ultraviolet irradiation (UV-C) and thermal pasteurisation. Josapine pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) and Chokanan mango (Mangifera indica L.) is the popular tropical fruits in Malaysia with unique taste and constant availability. The blend of pineapple-mango juice predicted to have good overall quality attributes as proved by prior studies on orange-pineapple, lemon-melon, pineapple-carrot-orange and carrot-apple-banana juice blends. Conventional thermal pasteurisation widely implemented in juice industry but resulted in massive quality degradation. Thus, research on the non-thermal technology of UV-C widely studied to overcome such drawbacks of thermal pasteurisation. Effect of UV-C and thermal pasteurisation on pineapple-mango juice blend will be evaluated in terms of physicochemical (pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, turbidity and colour), antioxidant (ascorbic acid, total phenolics content and total antioxidant DPPH assay) and microbiological properties. UV-C treated pineapple-mango juice blend believed to have better retention of heat sensitive ascorbic acid and other quality compared heat pasteurised juice with minimal distinctive characteristic compared to fresh juice.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of disability and premature death throughout the world. This disease is commonly experienced by people with unhealthy lifestyle, stress and physical inactivity. Cholesterol has received the most attention as single risk factor of CVD. Reducing the intake of cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans faty acids may be beneficial, yet controversy is still lingering to what constituents more beneficial dietary fats. The purpose of this article is to give an overview on the impact of major dietary fatty acids on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and to give an insightful information regarding fatty acids composition in selected fruits oils in search for novel oils as potential therapy against CVD.
As reported by the World Health Organisation (2014), Malaysia is the fattest country among the Southeast Asia. Among others, obesity is a leading contributor of non-communicable diseases (e.g., type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer). This article aims to review the exiting weight management programmes targeting overweight and obesity in Malaysia from 2005 to 2015. The findings from this review could be useful for future intervention efforts in an attempt to address such issues in Malaysia.
Language is essential for communication. People who are involved in cross cultural communication have to be bilingual in order to interact with people from a different language background (Blackwell. Woolard, K. (2005). Bilingualism opens up various new pathways of thoughts, expressions, and it helps to reduce misunderstanding in interactions (Hidayat, T. 2012). The purpose of this review is to find out how code-switching plays a vital role in language communication especially in the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, SMS and Chat. This study reviewed fifteen journal articles to examine the ways code-switching was used. The review was to discover social phenomena and authentic identities of social actors. The study discovered that code-switching has been used widely to unmask bilinguals’ cultural background and group identity during online communication via Facebook. Finally, code-switching can be used to obtain positive feelings to the interlocutor, which here was combined with introducing humour as an in-group marker, quoting, and to some extent topic specificity as well as possible vocabulary limitation in one language or the other, in the online conversation by bilinguals such as to express group solidarity.
Improving rice production is of current global concern so that food security is maintained especially in developing nations where rice remains as the staple food. With the aid of molecular biology, various isolated genes conferring to abiotic, biotic and herbicide stress tolerance has been successfully transferred into rice. Attempts have also been made to enhance grain yield, nutritional characteristics, fragrance and photosynthetic capacity of rice. The success of a commercialized transgenic rice largely depends on the biosafety and environmental risks assessments as these information translates into consumers’ acceptance towards genetically modified (GM) rice. As the renowned Golden Rice has received the green light for field trial in the Philippines and Bangladesh, this would serve as a catalyst for better acceptance of GM food crops. A brief case study on the commercialization of transgenic BT rice in China will also be discussed. The review aims to bring useful insights for future endeavors in improving traits for rice through genetic engineering.
Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd) from genus Apscaviroid, is one of the widely distributed viroids among the seven citrus viroids. It is comprised of three variants: Citrus viroid-Ia (CVd-Ia) (327 - 329 nucleotides), Citrus viroid-Ib (CVd-Ib) (315 - 319 nucleotides) and Citrus viroid-I-low sequence similarity (CVd-I-LSS) (325 - 330 nucleotides). Virulence of CBLVd totally expressed on citrus plants. Etrog citron (Citrus medica (L.)) coinfected with CBLVd, Citrus exocortis viroid (CEVd), Citrus viroid-III (CVd-III) and Citrus viroid-V (CVd-V) showed epinasty, leaf rolling, and stunting. CBLVd has been reported to reduce the canopy proportion and fruit production of citrus trees inserted on trifoliate orange rootstock. Moreover, citrus tree infected with singly CBLVd or in combinations with CEVd, Hop stunt viroid (CVd-II) and CVd-III induced dwarfing have been associated with poor development of the root system. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification and multiplex reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (MRT-PCR) amplification have been widely used to detect citrus viroids including CBLVd. As citrus viroids are emerging threats in citrus groves, therefore, this review covers the evolution, geographical distribution and epidemiology, economic impact and symptomatology, host range and transmission, detection, and management will be helpful in formulating the integrated management strategies for CBLVd.