Vitex trifolia or locally known as lemuni, is well documented for its medicinal properties including
anticancer, antibacterial and wound healing. For years, the leaves and flowers were consumed for antiaging
and general well-being. It is also commonly served as nutraceuticals to post-partum women during
their confinement period. Previous study showed that V. trifolia possesses high antioxidant properties that
could prevent oxidative stress related diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes and many more.
From the literature, V. trifolia leaves are used as poultice for rheumatic pains, sprains, antithelmintics and
inflammations. Meanwhile, the fruits are utilised in amenorrhea. The roots, on the other hand, are used for
the treatment of cough and fever. The plant is known to possess pharmacologically-active constituents such
as the essential oil, halimane-type diterpenes, flavonoids, triterpenes, lignans, iridoids and ecdysteroids.
Review papers were consistently published to justify the non-exhaustive biological exploration of this genus.
Nevertheless, only 11 per cent of the total Vitex species were phytochemically examined. Apart from being
eaten raw or blanched, Vitex is also taken as a food colourant in preparing lemuni rice. The process of
making lemuni rice is quite tedious. First, the leaves and flowers are picked and washed. Both parts are then
ground with water and sieved to give a bluish extract which is then mixed with rice and boiled to cook.
Hence, the Vitex pouch is introduced to provide an easy way to prepare lemuni rice. This packaging is
designed to enclose Vitex samples in a pouch that simply can be placed together with rice and boiled to
cook. Such instant preparation will hopefully promote the consumption of lemuni rice among busy locals.
Future plans include international marketing and production of other Vitex nutritional products.
This paper provides a review on the effect of solar radiation to the different building materials properties.
Solar radiation; watt per meter square [W/m2
] is one of the cause for thermal gain in building envelopes.
Buildings envelopes comprises of various materials. Different materials have different rate of heat
absorption depends on their emissivity and other parameters. The three materials studied in this paper
are concrete, timber and composites materials. According to the radiation heat equation, heat rate are
affected by the surface area of exposed envelope (A) measure in meter (m), emissivity of the building
exposed surface (ε) and the temperature difference between envelope exposed surface (Ts) and
temperature of equivalent atmosphere (Tsky) measure in 0C. Based on the parameters, research
methodology were adopted either by software simulation or test field experimental. Solar radiation
affects the materials in various ways, depends on parameters considered, location of testing and type of
materials.
Pure TiO2 and Cr doped TiO2 (0.1-1.0wt% Cr) nanoparticles were synthesized via sol gel method. This
study focusing on narrowing the TiO2 band gap energies in order to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency
under visible light. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-Ray diffraction method (XRD), field
emmision (FESEM) and also UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS).The photocatalytic activity
under sunlight irradiation was demonstrated by photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue in water
using UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The XRD analysis of pure TiO2 and doped TiO2 calcined at 500oC
showed a mixture of anatase and rutile phases with decreasing crystallites size from 13.3 nm to 11.6 nm
as the concentration of Cr was increased. The anatase-rutile phase transformation increased from 28.8%
to 57.4%. An indication shows that at 0.75wt% Cr the anatase and rutile phases have equal composition
percentage. This study demonstrated that band gap energy of TiO2 was reduced with Cr doping which
could enhance the photocatalytic efficiency. Sample containing 1.0wt% exhibit the lowest optical band
gap energy at 2.86 eV. The optimum chromium doping concentration was found to be at 0.1 wt% Cr
corresponding to band gap energy of 2.87 eV and degradation rate of 84%.
Clustering in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the methods to minimize the energy usage of
sensor network. The design of sensor network itself can prolong the lifetime of network. Cluster head in
each cluster is an important part in clustering to ensure the lifetime of each sensor node can be preserved
as it acts as an intermediary node between the other sensors. Sensor nodes have the limitation of its
battery where the battery is impossible to be replaced once it has been deployed. Thus, this paper
presents an improvement of clustering algorithm for two-tier network as we named it as Multi-Tier
Algorithm (MAP). For the cluster head selection, fuzzy logic approach has been used which it can
minimize the energy usage of sensor nodes hence maximize the network lifetime. MAP clustering
approach used in this paper covers the average of 100Mx100M network and involves three parameters
that worked together in order to select the cluster head which are residual energy, communication cost
and centrality. It is concluded that, MAP dominant the lifetime of WSN compared to LEACH and SEP
protocols. For the future work, the stability of this algorithm can be verified in detailed via different data
and energy.
In this study, extracted plumeria and celosia cristata flowers have been used as the sensitizer for dyesensitized
solar cells (DSSC). The cells were fabricated using TiO2 as a semiconductor layer
deposited on transparent Indium doped tin oxide (ITO) conductive glass using a spin coating
technique. The films with dyes were characterized by UV-VIS absorption spectra. The photovoltaic
properties of DSSC were studied under an incident irradiation of 100 mW/cm2
. The I-V characteristic
curves of all fabricated cells were measured and analysed. The energy conversion efficiency (η) of the
cells consisting of plumeria extract and celosia cristata extract was 3.73 × 10-6
and 1.18 × 10-7 respectively.
A good quality of rainfall data is highly necessary in hydrological and meteorological analyses. Lack
of quality in rainfall data will influence the process of analyses and subsequently, produce misleading
results. Thus, this study is aimed to propose modified missing rainfall data treatment methods that
produced more accurate estimation results. In this study, the old normal ratio method and the
modified normal ratio based on trimmed mean are combined with geographical coordinate method.
The performances of these modified methods were tested on various levels of the missing data of 36
years complete daily rainfall records from eighteen meteorology stations in Peninsular Malaysia. The
results indicated that both modified methods improved the estimation of missing rainfall values at the
target station based on the least error measurements. Modified normal ratio based on trimmed mean
with geographical coordinate method is found to be the most appropriate method for station Batu
Kurau and Sg. Bernam while modified old normal ratio with geographical coordinate is the most
accurate in estimating the missing data at station Genting Klang.
This study investigates the effect of oxalic acid at different concentrations as doping agent on
the electrical properties of polyaniline (PANI). The polymerization of aniline to produce
PANI was carried out in media containing oxalic acid at 0.08 M, 0.09 M, 0.1 M, 0.2 M and
0.3 M in the presence of ammonium persulphate as oxidizing agent. The successful formation
of PANI doped with oxalic acid was confirmed by FTIR and the morphology studied using
XRD. An impedance investigation on the series of PANI formed revealed that doping in 0.1M
oxalic acid produced PANI of the highest conductivity of 2.52 x 10-6
Scm-1.
The interrelationship between freshwater availability with the growing population and climate change
estimates is complex. This article investigates climate change role in freshwater resources availability. This
is critical issue as freshwater is vital resource for life, and it is in stake as it is depleted worldwide.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) was
discussed. This paper elucidates the climate model downscaling methods used by scholars for future
projections. The applications of modelling could provide a holistic approach based on historical data to
predict the effect of climate change on the availability of freshwater. However, the people variability
uncertainties dominate assessments of freshwater stress, whilst climate change projections uncertainties are
more hypothesized to play a smaller role than people.
The Pandanus species (Pandanaceae family) was investigated, in order to set up a library of their chromatographic profiles. From a literature review, the most common Pandanus plant that was greatly examined was P. amaryllifolius (the fragrant screw pine), followed by P. sanderi. Here, the chromatographic data from an extract of a relatively unfamiliar Pandanus is also presented. The leaves of P. monotheca were extracted by using methanol. Later, the extract was filtered, prior to a Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) experiments. The automated system was set to run by gradient elution (acetonitrile:water). The flow rate was maintained at 1 ml/min, otherwise stated in a number of attempts. The ultra-violet absorbance of the Pandanus’ constituents was measured via Multiple Wavelength Detector. From the chromatogram, the major peaks for Pandanus’ compounds were eluted (λ = 220, 260 and 360 nm) and the retention times were recorded. The lower absorbance readings of other minor peaks could be due to various minor secondary metabolites, such as the furolignan. The different elution time depends on the polarity of the composition. In short, Pandanus’ phytochemicals could be obtained via alcoholic extraction. The utilisation of modern chromatographic applications enables the scientists to discover and subsequently, purify single component of the complex natural mixtures. This finding can be beneficial to the research areas in botanical study, pharmacognostical assessment and biotechnology industry. It is aimed that more
Pandanus species could be learnt for the future.
In this study the role of Polymer flooding as one of the most efficient processes to enhance oil
recovery (EOR) is discussed. As we know, Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a bio-based polymer that
has potential application for use in polymer flooding. This polymer is reviewed with particular
emphasis on the effect of concentration, shear rate, salinity, hardness and temperature on polymer
viscosity. Initial findings showed that PHB owned higher resistant as compared to mechanical
degradation and thermal stability of HPAM as well as XG.
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions has led to global climate change and widely contributed to global
warming since its concentration has been increasing over time. It has attracted vast attention
worldwide. Currently, the different CO2 capture technologies available include absorption, solid
adsorption and membrane separation. Chemical absorption technology is regarded as the most
mature technology and is commercially used in the industry. However, the key challenge is to
find the most efficient solvent in capturing CO2. This paper reviews several types of CO2 capture
technologies and the various factors influencing the CO2 absorption process, resulting in the
development of a novel solvent for CO2 capture.
Materials that can enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of a biosensor are greatly in demand. The nanocomposition of thionine (Th) and graphene can increase the electroconductivity of the working electrode used. Graphene is a very good electrical conductor but is also hydrophobic in nature. Composition with thionine gives it the capability to disperse well in water. Plus, thionine provides the opportunity for DNA probes to be immobilized due to the presence of the amino group in its structure. In this research, the thionine-graphene (Th-G) nanocomposite was synthesized through filtration and characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to distinguish different elements coexist in the nanocomposite and to investigate the microstructure changes of the nanocomposite to confirm the composition. Different elements were analyzed to test the presence of both thionine and graphene in the composition. Physical characterisation through SEM proved the nanocomposition was a success.
Increasing demands in palm oil industry hence resulting the production of palm oil to increase. It is then creating a major problem in disposing the waste to be treat in appropriate ways. The governments are forced to look for alternative technology for the palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment because the demand of oil increases with the awareness on increasing environmental issue. Therefore, a new technology must be found in order to reduce energy consumption, to meet legal requirements on emission and for cost reduction and also increased quality of water treatment. Membrane Anaerobic System (MAS) is a promising alternative way to overcome these issues. In this study, the efficiency of the MAS performance increases to 99.03% in ten days operation. The application of Monod, Contois and Chen & Hashimoto models were used to analyze the performance of MAS for treating POME. The results from the experiment show the substrate removal model is well fits for estimation of kinetics membrane anaerobic system. Amongst them, the Contois and Monod models predicted the bio-kinetic reactions of the MAS very well with coefficient of determination (R2>97%) values. The MAS bioreactor was creating to be an improvement method as well as successful biological treatment since the graph shows linearized which is good agreement with reported in literature.
This paper presents the application of Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) coupled with Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Gas Chromatography - Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) in characterizing the agarwood incense. The work involved three types of SPME fibres at 30 minute sampling time. The fibres are 50/30 μm divinylbenzene-carboxen-polydimethysiloxane (DVB-CAR-PDMS), 65 μm polydi methylsiloxane-divinylbenzene (PDMS-DVB) and 85 μm carboxen-polydimethyl siloxane (CAR-PDMS). The results showed that among the many compounds extracted by GC-MS coupled with SPME, six compounds were substantially found in high quality agarwood incense due to their high percentage area (%). They are β-maaliene, α-elemol, β-selinene, 10-epi-γ-eudesmol, agarospirol and caryophellene oxide. The finding offers a new approach for establishing the volatile profile of agarwood incense components as well as for agarwood grading and discrimination.
Magnesium-based polymer gel electrolytes consist of magnesium triflate (MgTf) salt, a mixture of ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) solvents as well as cellulose acetate as a polymeric agent were prepared via direct dissolution method. The highest ionic conductivity obtained for MgTf-EC:DEC(1:1) liquid electrolytes was 2.66 x 10-3 S cm-1 and enhanced to 2.73 x 10-3 S cm-1 with the addition of cellulose acetate. These results were in agreement with the activation energy obtained with the lowest value of 0.11. The best explanation on the enhancement in ionic conductivity of PGE is due to the “breathing polymeric chain model”. The plots of conductivity-temperature shown to obey an Arrhenius rule. The electrical properties of the sample with the highest conductivity were analyzed using electrical permittivity-based frequency and temperature dependence in the range of 100 Hz - 1 MHz and 303-373K, respectively. The variation in dielectric permittivity (εr and εi) as a function of frequency at different temperatures exhibited decays at higher frequencies and a dispersive behavior at low frequencies. Based on the observed electrical properties, it can be inferred that this polymer gel electrolyte could be a promising candidate as an electrolyte in electrochemical devices.
In this study, Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) was prepared by acetic acid-assisted sol-gel method. The structural properties of NASICON phosphates material with chemical formula LiTi2(PO4)3 were observed using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. NASICON is a family of crystalline phosphate with a general network system consisting of PO4 tetrahedra, thus bands were assigned by vibrations contributed by basic phosphates, in the wavenumber region between 1300 cm-1 and 600 cm-1. Experimental spectra indicated that all Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5), heat treated at 600°C and 700°C for 3 hours in air, samples showed the presence of phosphate peaks with shift in frequency as Al3+ is substituted into the structure, and with increasing temperatures. Some bands broadened and overlapped causing it hard to analyze the arising bands. It however determined the existence of NASICON structure in all of the samples under study.
This paper presents on ionic conductivity of MG30-PEMA blend solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) prepared by solution cast technique. The analysis has shown that conductivity increases with the increasing salt composition. It is observed via x-ray diffraction analysis that the crystallinity of the sample decreased with the amount of salt composition as expected. It is also observed that the dielectric value increases with increasing amount of LiCF3SO3 in the sample. Surface morphology revealed that ion aggregation occurred after optimum conductivity which has lowered the conductivity.
The invention of microarray technology has enabled expression levels of thousands of genes to be monitored at once. This modernized approach has created large amount of data to be examined. Recently, gene regulatory network has been an interesting topic and generated impressive research goals in computational biology. Better understanding of the genetic regulatory processes would bring significant implications in the biomedical fields and many other pharmaceutical industries. As a result, various mathematical and computational methods have been used to model gene regulatory network from microarray data. Amongst those methods, the Bayesian network model attracts the most attention and has become the prominent technique since it can capture nonlinear and stochastic relationships between variables. However, structure learning of this model is NP-hard and computationally complex as the number of potential edges increase drastically with the number of genes. In addition, most of the studies only focused on the predicted results while neglecting the fact that microarray data is a fragmented information on the whole biological process. Hence this study proposed a network-based inference model that combined biological knowledge in order to verify the constructed gene regulatory relationships. The gene regulatory network is constructed using Bayesian network based on low-order conditional independence approach. This technique aims to identify from the data the dependencies to construct the network structure, while addressing the structure learning problem. In addition, three main toolkits such as Ensembl, TFSearch and TRANSFAC have been used to determine the false positive edges and verify reliability of regulatory relationships. The experimental results show that by integrating biological knowledge it could enhance the precision results and reduce the number of false positive edges in the trained gene regulatory network.
Proteases were extracted from starfruit at maturity Index 2 (unripe, light green) and Index 7 (very ripe, orange) and partially purified using acetone and 40% ammonium sulfate precipitations. Higher yield and proteolytic activity were observed for proteases purified using acetone than 40% ammonium sulfate. As for maturity index, yield and protein concentration of proteases from Index 2 were higher than those from Index 7. SDS-PAGE result showed intense bands for acetone proteases while a distinct band at 50 kDa was observed in all the proteases. Enzyme activity decreased during the seven days storage at 4°C with minimum relative activity of 70% achieved for acetone proteases at day seven. This study suggested that acetone precipitation is more effective method for purifying starfruit protease based on the yield and proteolytic activity compared to using 40% ammonium sulphate precipitation. In order to obtain higher protein concentration and proteolytic activity, starfruit at the unripe stage, Index 2 is a better raw material than Index 7 to be used for protease production.
Crab meat is widely consumed in several countries around the world. However, when consumed, crab meat are frequent cause of allergic reactions throughout the world. Scylla serrata is among the most common mud crab in Malaysia. In a previous study two major allergens of mud crab at 36 and 41 kDa was identified. Thus, the aim of this study is to further identify these major allergens by a proteomic approach. Protein extract was prepared and resolved by 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Immunoblotting was then performed using reactive sera from patients with crab allergy. Major allergenic spots were then excised from the 2-DE gel and analysed by mass spectrometry. The 2-DE profile of the extract revealed approximately >100 protein spots between pH of 4.00 to 8.00. Mass spectrometry analysis has identified the 36 and 41 kDa proteins as tropomyosin and arginine kinase, respectively. Our findings indicated that tropomyosin and arginine kinase play a major role in allergic reaction to mud crab meat among local patients with crab meat allergy, and should be included in diagnostics and therapeutic strategies of this allergy.