The Transient Electro-Magnetic (TEM) geophysical technique was deployed to map and characterized the subsurface of Pahang River Basin along the East Coast Peninsula Malaysia. The data aimed at differentiating between the massive zones and the weak zones within the region, to also assess and differentiate the subsurface structures and comes up with recommendations for policy decision, formulation and plans on the flooding impact, surface water and groundwater managements, in addition to other environmental related issues ravaging the area. The data presented in this paper, showed the properties of the subsurface rocks underlain the region as beneficial to the Agriculturists; Climatologists; Engineers; Environmentalists; Geoscientists, Hydrologists and Policy formulation officers. The TEM data collection utilized a 100 m x 100 m single loop coil for both the Transmitter (Tx) loop and the Receiver (Rx) loop to produce a total surface area coverage of 10,000 m2 per survey line along a single profile. The total area covered in the data extended across an average area of 30 km x 40 km in parts of Maran, Temerloh and Jerantut districts, within the State of Pahang, East Coast, Peninsula Malaysia. The conductivity data recorded varied from -20 mS/m to about 440 mS/m at a maximum depth of about 375 m. On the other hand, the resistivity data recorded varied from 0 Oh-m to about 1000 Oh-m. The information derived from the data are intended for potential abstraction by the Malaysian Groundwater Management Board; the Department of Mineral and Geoscience; Department of Irrigation and Drainage; the Pahang State Water Board, and the Department of Agriculture.
This article describes the data of raw material compositions for formulating the diet for Indonesian short-fin eel, Anguilla bicolor Anguilla bicolor McClelland, 1844 elver. The data on growth performance, survival and feed utilization of eel elver from the formulated diet test results are also presented here. Four formulated diets and one commercial feed were tested for the eel elver. The formulated diet was formulated from animal and plant based protein sources such as; fish meal, cornmeal, soybean meal, fine bran, ebi-shrimp meal, golden snail meal, bloodmeal, and tapioca flour. Vitamins and minerals were added into the diet. In addition, probiotics and papain enzyme and its combination were also included into the experimental diets to boost the growth performance, survival and feed utilization of the fish. The tested treatments were; (A) commercial diet without probiotic and papain enzyme, (B) experimental diet without probiotic and papain enzyme, (C) experimental diet with probiotic 10 ml kg-1 feed, (D) experimental diet with papain enzyme 10 g kg-1 feed, (E) experimental diet with probiotic 10 ml kg-1 + papain 10 g kg-1 feed, (F) experimental diet with probiotic 5 ml kg-1 + papain 5 g kg-1 feed. Each experimental fish group was fed on an experimental diet twice a day at 08.00 AM and 06.00 PM at feeding level of 10% body weight for 60 days. The results showed that the weight gain ranged between 4.60 g to 5.92 g, daily growth rate between 0.063 g day-1 and 0.098 g per day-1, the specific growth rate varies from 0.72% day-1 to 1.35% day-1, survival rate 50.00% to 73.33%, feed conversion ratio from 2.35 to 4.17, and feed efficiency between 41.82% to 58.98%. The best treatment was found in fish fed on the experimental diet with papain enzyme 10 g kg-1 of feed.
The biophysical data presented in this article were collected in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia from May to November 2009. These monthly surface data were obtained from 32 stations along the coastal-offshore transect and were analyzed to understand the spatial and temporal distributions of biophysical parameters during different monsoon seasons. The data presented here include sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), Secchi disk depth (SDD), Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), suspended particulate matter (SPM), mineral suspended solid (MSS) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM).
The efficiency of phenol degradation via Fenton reaction using mixture of heterogeneous goethite catalyst with homogeneous ferrous ion was analyzed as a function of three independent variables, initial concentration of phenol (60 to 100 mg /L), weight ratio of initial concentration of phenol to that of H2O2 (1: 6 to 1: 14) and, weight ratio of initial concentration of goethite catalyst to that of H2O2 (1: 0.3 to 1: 0.7). More than 90 % of phenol removal and more than 40% of TOC removal were achieved within 60 minutes of reaction. Two separate models were developed using artificial neural networks to predict degradation percentage by a combination of Fe3+ and Fe2+ catalyst. Five operational parameters were employed as inputs while phenol degradation and TOC removal were considered as outputs of the developed models. Satisfactory agreement was observed between testing data and the predicted values (R2Phenol = 0.9214 and R2TOC= 0.9082).
Well water is a renewable natural resources and one of the drinking water sources. The well water may constituted of dissolved essential chemicals such as K+, Ca''+ and Na+ ; and natural radionuclides such as radioisotopes from uranium-thorium decay series. The geology and mineral composition of the soil will determined the kinds and levels of chemical contents in the groundwater resources. The water flows through the geological formation and dissolved the chemicals before reaching the aquifers. To evaluate how much chemicals and natural radioactive in the water resources, a study has been carried out. Well water samples in this study were taken from 3 districts in Kelantan, which is Bachok, Machang and Kuala Krai. Similarly, in situ water quality parameters were measured using YSI portable water quality parameter include pH, salinity, dissolve oxygen(DO), conductivity, turbidity and total dissolved solids(TDS). The concentrations of K', Ca" and Na' were determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). Five ml of filtered sample was pipette into the sample cup and, irradiated and measured for 100 seconds counting times. The type of filter used for measuring If+ and Cat{ was Al-thin and default for Nat The ranged of concentration of Kt Ce and Na+ is 23.04-251.89, 3.12-.45.41, and 3.71-125.75 ppm, respectively.
Ficus deltoidea leaves were widely used as a tea beverages in Malaysia with no information of its mineral content. Hence the mineral content of two species of Ficus deltoidea leaves were investigated. The dried leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia and F. deltoidea var. deltoidea were acid digested and mineral elements of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Cr, Fe and Zn were determined using ICP–MS. Magnesium, potassium, sodium, manganese, iron and zinc were found to be present in the leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia and F. deltoidea var. deltoidea. Concentration of magnesium (1934 mg/L), manganese (58.37 mg/L), iron (6.89 mg/L) and zinc (1.77 mg/L) in F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in F. deltoidea var. angustifolia species with concentration of 317 mg/L, 29.62 mg/L, 4.55 mg/L and 1.26 mg/L for magnesium, manganese, iron and zinc respectively. Meanwhile, concentration of sodium in F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species (3.13 mg/L) was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the concentration in F. deltoidea var. angustifolia species (9.11 mg/L). The finding showed that the leaves of F. deltoidea var. deltoidea has higher nutritional value than the leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia. Leaves of Ficus deltoidea especially the F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species contain high amount of magnesium, manganese and potassium. Therefore, tea made of this leaves can be served as a good source of minerals for human consumption.
The present study was undertaken to determine the content of six minerals, five trace elements, and ten pesticide residues in honeys originating from different regions of Malaysia. Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) were analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), while sodium (Na) and potassium (K) were analyzed by flame emission spectrometry (FAES). Trace elements such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and cobalt (Co) were analyzed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) following the microwave digestion of honey. High mineral contents were observed in the investigated honeys with K, Na, Ca, and Fe being the most abundant elements (mean concentrations of 1349.34, 236.80, 183.67, and 162.31 mg/kg, resp.). The concentrations of the trace elements were within the recommended limits, indicating that the honeys were of good quality. Principal component analysis reveals good discrimination between the different honey samples. The pesticide analysis for the presence of organophosphorus and carbamates was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). No pesticide residues were detected in any of the investigated honey samples, indicating that the honeys were pure. Our study reveals that Malaysian honeys are rich sources of minerals with trace elements present within permissible limits and that they are free from pesticide contamination.
Microbial granular sludge that is capable to treat textile wastewater in a single reactor under intermittent anaerobic and aerobic conditions was developed in this study. The granules were cultivated using mixed sewage and textile mill sludge in combination with anaerobic granules collected from an anaerobic sludge blanket reactor as seed. The granules were developed in a single sequential batch reactor (SBR) system under alternating anaerobic and aerobic condition fed with synthetic textile wastewater. The characteristics of the microbial granular sludge were monitored throughout the study period. During this period, the average size of the granules increased from 0.02 +/- 0.01 mm to 2.3 +/- 1.0 mm and the average settling velocity increased from 9.9 +/- 0.7 m h(-1) to 80 +/- 8 m h(-1). This resulted in an increased biomass concentration (from 2.9 +/- 0.8 g L(-1) to 7.3 +/- 0.9 g L(-1)) and mean cell residence time (from 1.4 days to 8.3 days). The strength of the granules, expressed as the integrity coefficient also improved. The sequential batch reactor system demonstrated good removal of COD and ammonia of 94% and 95%, respectively, at the end of the study. However, only 62% of color removal was observed. The findings of this study show that granular sludge could be developed in a single reactor with an intermittent anaerobic-aerobic reaction phase and is capable in treating the textile wastewater.
The aim of the study is to describe the usage of dietary supplemenu among doctors working in the hospitals in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The method used was a postal questionaire survey of the doctors, both specialists and medical officers working in these hospitals. The results showed that
only 28.7% of the doctors are taking dietary supplements. Significantly more female doctors and doctors on long term medication, were taking these supplements. The dietary supplements commonly used were multivitamins and minerals (92.3%), garlic (26.9%), vitamin C (26.9%) and
lecithin (15.4%). The majority of the doctors who took dietary supplements (60%) felt their health status have improved. These supplements were mostly obtained from hospital pharmacies. Doctors who puchase their own supplements spend between RMIO to RMIZO per month. The main reasons given for taking these supplements were that the doctors jfelt healthier' and to ‘prevent or as a supplementary treatment’ for conditions like hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, ischaemic heart disease and cancers. There were four doctors who regularly use traditional dietary supplements. Most doctors will generally advice their patients and children to take dietary supplements regularly, as they felt that it is important for health.
Data on the mineral composition and content of one heavy metal measured in three different fruit flours prepared from ripe and unripe fruits (pulp and peel) are presented. The mineral composition (sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn)) and content of one heavy metal (lead (Pb)) of the flours were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The analysis showed that the data can be used for differentiation between different fruits and stages of ripeness, as revealed by discriminant analysis and cluster analysis. The data provided can be used by researchers and scientists in the differentiation of fruits based on major and minor mineral elements.
Cavendish (Musa paradisiaca L, cv cavendshii) and Dream (Musa acuminata colla. AAA, cv ‘Berangan’) banana flours were prepared from ripe fruits collected from eleven markets located in Penang, Malaysia. The mineral composition (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) of the flour were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer and the data obtained were analyzed using logistic regression model. Ripe banana flours were rich source of K and a fair source of other minerals, however logistic regression model identified Mg as an indicator to discriminate between the two types of banana flour affording 100 % correct assignation. Based on this result, mineral analysis may be suggested as a method to authenticate ripe banana flour. This study also presents the usefulness of logistic regression technique for analysis and interpretation of complex data.
This study aimed to determine the effect of cooking on phytate content and the inhibitory effects of phytate on the bioavailability of minerals in eight Malaysian soy based dishes. Phytate was analyzed by using anion-exchange chromatography while minerals were analyzed by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Molar ratios were obtained by dividing the mole of phytate to minerals. Phytate content was reduced in cooked dishes compared to the raw ones but it was not significantly different (P > 0.05). Raw, cooked and whole dish soy products contained 257.14-900.00, 182.14-803.57 and 289.29-910.71 mg/100 g phytate, respectively. Boiling and steaming have reduced most phytate content in the food samples. Molar ratios for phytate/minerals in these samples (phytate/Ca >0.17; phytate/Fe >1) indicated that phytate content inhibited the absorption of calcium and iron. However, the ratio for Ca × phytate/Zn in all samples was less than 200 which showed that phytate did not affect the bioavailability of zinc.
Fertilizers are the most important and complex nutrients for crop plants in particular for grain yield and quality. The composition of the fertilizer as well as the essential elements that influence the growth of the crop need to be clearly identified. Due to that, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of different fertilizer formulation on the leaf mustard (Brassica juncea) growth. High nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers were used to investigate their effects on the morphometric size of the leaves, plant height and the leaf area index of the leaf mustard. Results showed that the application of different formulation of fertilizer improves the growth of leaf mustard compared to control. Leaf mustard with the high phosphorus treatment recorded an increase in plant height and the leaf area index (LAI). Lamina length (LL) range is shown between phosphorus and control (1.11 cm), while the range of lamina width (LW), left width (WL) and right width (WR) are between potassium and control about
0.57 cm, 0.28 cm and 0.28 cm, respectively. Overall, there is a significant difference between the leaf mustard leaves in different high element fertilizers compared with all of the variable, F(15,1024) = 29.26, p0.05, no significant difference). The highest mean in LAI was obtained when treated with a high phosphorus fertilizer (0.47 m2). The mean difference of LAI of high phosphorus compared to high potassium, high nitrogen and control is 0.02 m2, 0.08 m2 and 0.12 m2. There is no significant differences between the LAI in different high element fertilizers with F(3,176) = 0.15; p>0.05. Further study should be conducted to determine the effects of different fertilizers on the growth of other vegetables and fruit quality.
Legume is a plant in the family of Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) that is cultivated and consumed
throughout the world. Legume’s role in human health appears to be limited because of several
limiting factors such as low protein and starch digestibility, poor mineral bioavailability and
high antinutritional factors. Germination is defined as a process that occurs during seed growth
that starts with uptake of water until the emergence of radicle through the surrounding structure.
It has been suggested that germination is a cheaper and more effective technology that can
improve the quality of legumes by increasing their nutritional value. This study was conducted
to compare changes in dietary fibre and total sugar compositions after germination process in
kidney, mung, soy beans and peanuts. Total dietary fibre was found to be significantly increased
(p
Legume is a plant in the family of Fabacae or Leguminosae that rich in protein, carbohydrate, dietary fibre, and minerals. Germination of legume causes some important changes in the biochemical and a nutritional characteristic of the legumes that may be beneficial to human’s health and nutritional status. This study was carried out to determine the effect of germination on total phenolic, tannin and phytic acid contents of soy beans and peanut. The process of germination was carried out by soaking legumes in water for 6 hours, followed by germinating them in wet muslin cloth for 48 hours. After germination, samples were dried and stored in refrigerator before analysis. Total phenolic, tannin and phytic acid were determined spectrophotometrically. Total phenolic contents were decreased significantly (p
It is well-known that the characteristics of hardness and drillability are influenced by microstructure of rock. In this study, rock properties were analyzed on grain size and grain content. Coarse-grain and fine-grain sandstones were tested under successive indentation condition. Eighteen groups of sandstone and shale were employed for the drillability test. Indentation tests results showed that grain size influenced the low point of residual hardness, the crushing depth and volume and grain content influenced the peak point of hardness. The drillability values of shale increased with increasing contents of clay and quartz. Meanwhile, drillability values of sandstone increased with increasing content of quartz, but decreased with increasing content of clay. Therefore, these preliminary studies show great potential applications for selecting suitable bit type and formulating drilling program as a function of rock microstructure and crushing rock method for bit in the oil drilling.
In this work, the Sandvik uncoated carbide insert, CNGG 120408-SGF-H13A was used as a cutting tool in high-speed turning of titanium alloy Ti-6A1-4V EH (extra-low interstitial) with hardness of 32 HRC. Wear is one of the problems that cannot be avoided in machining process. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to investigate tool-wear behavior of various cutting-speed values (high-speed range) on the tool life of the cutting tools, especially in finishing titanium alloy. The experiments were performed under flooded coolant condition using water-based mineral-oil. The cutting speeds employed were 120, 170 and 220 mlmin. The feed rate was constant at 02 mm/rev and the depth of cut was 0.4 mm. Based on the results, the highest cutting speed of 220 m/min caused the highest wear rate. By linking the machine operations and the tool life curves obtained using flank wear data, the wear behavior of uncoated carbide was described.
Mangosteen is a native fruit from Southeast Asia. It is rich in phenolic compounds like xanthones, anthocyanins and phenolic acids and also a good source of fibre and minerals. The present study aim to investigate the effects of mangosteen aril supplementation on the histopathological changes of liver and kidney in rats fed with high fat diet. Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups (n=8), which consisted of normal control group (NC), obese control group (OC), obese supplemented with 200 mg/kg mangosteen group (M200), obese supplemented with 400 mg/kg mangosteen group (M400) and obese supplemented with 600 mg/kg mangosteen group (M600). At the end of seven weeks, obese groups supplemented with mangosteen aril were force feed to correspond mangosteen dosage while the control groups were force feed with distilled water as placebo. At the end of seven weeks of supplementation period, all rats were sacrificed and liver and kidney were collected. All data were analyzed using one way ANOVA and the differences between groups were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results showed that supplementation of mangosteen aril in obese rats able to ameliorate the abnormalities in their liver and kidney tissue caused by high fat diet.
Generally, pineapple sucker is used as the main planting material for commercial cultivation
of pineapple. Pineapple sucker is usually obtained either from the stalk or the stem of a
pineapple plant. Research to study the effect of planting media using mineral soil as the main
component for the mixture on the growth of sucker by stem cutting technique was conducted. The objective of this research is to study the effects of mineral soil-based mixed planting
media on the growth of pineapple suckers produced cultivated via stem cutting of Madu
pineapple. The research was conducted at the Pineapple Nursery of the Faculty of Sustainable
Agriculture, UMS Sandakan, from March 2019 until September 2019. The treatments used in
this research were, soil as T1 (100%); Soil:coco peat as T2 (1:1,v/v); Soil:peat soil as T3
(1:1,v/v); Soil:sand as T4 (1:1,v/v). The data obtained showed there is a significant difference
in the number of a successfully germinated sucker. However, no significant difference was
detected for the sucker growth parameters. Planting media T3, soil: coco peat recorded the
highest number of successfully germinated suckers (12.25). Meanwhile, for growing media, suggested T2 soil: peat soil were recorded the highest for root length (15.53 cm), leaf number
(18.00), and stem diameter (2.18 cm) at 60 days after transplant (DAT).
Introduction: A prebiotic such as inulin is a well-known functional plant food ingredient. It is capable of stimulating growth of beneficial bifidobacteria in the intestine thus protecting against intestinal infections, preventing constipation, increasing mineral absorption, reducing the incidence of colon cancer, and producing B vitamins. Inulin added to food therefore has to be stable during food processing especially against heat treatment, low pH and Maillard reaction. Methods: Newly developed dark chocolate, DC-1, containing inulin (replacing sugar component) as an added value, was stored at 18oC, 60% relative humidity and 25oC, 80% relative humidity (RH) to determine shelf life stability compared to control dark chocolate, DC-0 (with high content of sugar). Sensory evaluation (quantitative descriptive analysis), water activity (aw), microbiological content and presence of inulin after storage of the prebiotic chocolate under both conditions were evaluated to determine shelf life. Results: The DC-1 chocolate had at least 12 months of shelf life at 18oC, 60% RH with better acceptance than DC-0; moreover, it did not experience microbiological and inulin content changes. At 25oC, 80% RH, the growth of Aspergillus sp. was observed on the surface of both DC-0 and DC-1 with aw >0.50 after a 2-month storage. Conclusion: Shelf life stability of DC-1 is almost similar to DC-0.