Tropical greenhouses require active evaporative cooling system such as pad-and-fan to ensure a suitable microclimate for crop production. Excess heat causes indoor temperature to become hotter than desired resulting in detrimental effects to crop growth and production. Solar radiation intensity and outside temperature affect temperature and relative humidity level inside a greenhouse, while wide gradients in temperature and relative humidity can cause problems related to crop growth and production uniformity. A 300 m2 greenhouse, equipped with evaporative pad and four exhaust fans at each end walls, was used in the study. Horizontal and vertical profiles of the temperature and relative humidity inside the greenhouse were investigated. Results showed that temperature increased from evaporative pad area to exhaust fans area in a horizontal plane, while relative humidity showed an inverse pattern from temperature. In the vertical plane, temperature increased, while relative humidity decreased from lower level to the upper level. ANOVA results showed that in overall, temperature and relative humidity inside the greenhouse were uniform as there was no significant difference at 95% confidence interval. Thus, it was concluded that greenhouse cooling system by evaporative pad and exhaust fans are suitable for application in a tropical country such as Malaysia.
Many attempts have been focused in the past on preparing of synthetic E-tricalcium (E-TCP), which being employed as bone substitute due to its biocompatibility and resorbability. Low temperature synthesize such as sol-gel method become popular due to the high product purity and homogenous composition. Sol-gel method is less economical towards commercialization because the cost of raw materials and the yield of the product that can be achieved. This paper describes the synthesis of ETCP via mixing of CaCO3 and H3PO4 followed by calcinations process at 750qC – 1050qC. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), fourier transformation infra-red (FTIR) were used for characterization and evaluation of the phase composition, morphology, particle size and thermal behavior of the product. E-TCP phase start to occur after calcinations at 750qC.
In this research wok, three different techniques of change detection were used to detect changes in forest areas. One of the techniques used a local similarity measure approach to detect changes. This new approach of change detection technique, which used mutual information to measure the similarity between two multi-temporal images, was developed based on correspondence of the pixel values, rather than the difference in their intensity. Pixels suffering any changes will be maximally dissimilar. The study was conducted using multi-temporal SPOT 5 satellite images, with the resolution of 10 m x10 m on 5th August 2005 and 13th June 2007. The experimental results show that local mutual information provides more reliable results in detecting changes of the multitemporal images containing different lighting condition compared to the image differencing and NDVI technique, specifically in areas with less plant growth. In addition, it can also overcome the problem on selecting the threshold value. Besides, the findings of this study have also shown that band 3, which is sensitive to vegetation biomass, gave the best result in detecting area of changes compared to the others.
Silicon nanowires were synthesized on Si substrates (111) via thermal evaporation using AuPd thin layer catalyst. Pre cleaned of Si wafer was used as a substrate to assemble the nanostructure products. In this work, the effect of growth temperature that ranging from 800 to 1000°C on the formation of silicon nanowires studied extensively. X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscope were employed to characterize the structures and morphology of nanowires. Vertical aligned silicon nanowires have been successfully grown on Si substrates at 900 and 1000°C. At 1100°C, the high aspect ratio of silicon nanowires can be produced but the formation density is low. The presence of AuPd catalyst on the tip of nanowires, it is expected that VLS is the most suitable to explain the growth mechanism of obtained SiNWs. The crystalline structure of SiNWs was proved by XRD data.
This paper outlines the past five decades of scientific interests and advances in medicinal plant research in Malaysia. Initially the prime interest of research programmes has been on phytochemical studies leading to the discovery of biologically active compounds as chemical templates to produce new drug candidates. As the Malaysian herbal medicine market experiences an extraordinary growth, the research approaches taken have recently included activities to develop herbal medicines into quality, efficacious and safe products for human consumption. Advances in chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques have had a tremendous impact on the isolation and structure elucidation of the constituents of medicinal plants. The development of a series of bioassay methodologies and utilization of bioassay-guided isolation techniques have contributed significantly to the progress of medicinal plant research in Malaysia. Research work on some medicinal plants carried out by the local scientists will be illustrated as examples.
An antimicrobial (AM) Active Packaging can be made by incorporating and immobilizing suitable AM agents into food package matrices and applying a bio switch concept. A starchbased film was prepared and incorporated with an antimicrobial agent, i.e. lysozyme with EDTA as a chelating agent. This film was then inoculated with the bacteria Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis to carry out the microbial contamination study. The inhibition of both E. coli and B. subtilis by the AM film was clearly observed as a clear zone formation in the culture agar test. The film appearance showed that lysozymes could give a better inhibition to the growth of E. coli and to B. subtilis, at a satisfying inhibition rate. From the broth test, the decreased in the optical densities were found to be 65.83% and 91.30%, suggesting an effective growth inhibition of E. coli and B. subtilis, respectively. Physically, the film which was incorporated with lysozymes was found to be slightly different from the control film. The moisture content of the film, with lysozymes, was found to be below 10.5%, as compared to the control, after 24 hours of formation in the storage at ambient temperature.
Neck abscess is still common in developing countries. Often the presentation is late especially when the pain becomes intolerable or the airway is compromised. Intramuscular abscess in the neck is very rarely encountered. We report a case of an abscess of the right sternocleidomastoid. The culture grew Proteus mirabilis. The outline of management is discussed.
This case series reports four patients who used religion and spirituality to relieve symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following motor vehicle accidents. Their symptoms subsided after a few weeks and the recovery is sustained after one month. This demonstrates that in a country where psychological help is still scarce and religion is central to its culture, intervention based on spirituality and religion can be used as an alternative early intervention to relieve symptoms of PTSD and hence protects them from developing the condition.
Sulfonamides (SAs), synthetic antibiotics, are commonly used by veterinarians in chicken for therapeutic, prophylactic or as growth promoter and halt the growth of bacteria in animal production. Four common SAs, Sulfadiazine (SDZ), Sulfamethazine (SMZ), Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and Sulfaquinoxaline (SQX), were determined in chicken breast and liver samples using reverse phase HPLC using UV detector at 266nm. The concentration of SAs detected in samples from 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia ranged from 0.006-0.062 µg/g in breast meat samples and 0.08-0.193 µg/g in liver samples. Except for sample from Johor, concentration of SAs in all the samples were lower than MRLs established by Malaysia (0.1 µg/g). Exposure of sulfonamides in Malaysian consumers ranged from 0.002-0.088 µg/kg body wt. /day. The highest value of sulfonamides exposure was found in Johor with an estimated daily intake (EDA) of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in Johor.
Although lipoma is common in the upper limbs, it rarely occurs in the palm, and usually does not compress the surrounding structures. Here, we report a patient presenting with compressive neuropathy of the ulna and median nerves secondary to a palmar lipoma. Surgical excision led to full neurological recovery.
Population growth and rise in per capital income have influenced the demand for convenience foods and a meat protein-rich diet. The per capital consumption of beef which had increased from 3.89 kg in 1980 to 5.49 kg in 2006 (DVS, 2006/2007) had resulted in an increased in demand for beef at the rate of 6.2% annually. The local beef production although recorded a 2.5% increased over the last 10 years, is still unable to meat the increasing national demand for beef. In 2008, local production of beef is about 38,250 mt. could only meet about 26.7% of the national demand (DVS, 2008). The gap between supply and demand for beef is expected to widen in the next decades unless efforts is been made to accelerate local production. The lack of number of quality breeding stocks and unorganized breeding system had been the major factors that contribute to the slow growth of the local beef industry.
Unripe and ripe kundang fruits (Bouea macrophylla Griffith) is either consumed fresh or is cooked in Malaysia. In this study composition of unripe and ripe fruits (proximate, amino acids profile, minerals and heavy metal contents) were evaluated. Results obtained showed unripe kundang fruit to possess higher moisture, ash, crude lipid, crude fiber and crude protein contents than the ripe fruits. With regard to amino acid contents, unripe fruits had higher content of essential amino acids. The unripe and ripe fruits were found to be rich in essential minerals with potassium (K) to be in abundance. Heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel, mercury, lead and arsenic, were detected in trace amounts (< 5.0 mg/kg) in both unripe and ripe fruits. Through this investigation, it is concluded that both unripe and ripe fruits to posses’ adequate amount of nutritionally important compounds beneficial to human health and can be explored for commercial purposes.
We put attention on Intrinsic Josephson Junction (IJJ) to study the fundamental physic for device applications. Convenient self-flux method was used to grow BSCCO single crystals. We investigated the lid effect to examine the single crystal growth of high TC (Critical Temperature). We found that for the crystal growth with no lid, two stage transitions of TC ≅ 61 K and 77 K were observed. While for the crystal growth with lid, the BSCCO has TC ≅ 80K, ΔTC = 10K and approximately average size5x2mm 2 . When we increased weight of lid, the single crystal have increased to TC =80K, ΔTC = 4K and the typical size was ≅7x3mm 2 . TC and the crystal growth show a tendency to increase by the effect of the lid. From observed quasi-particle characteristics, c-axis direction changed from semiconductor to intrinsic Josephson characteristic with decreasing temperature.
Restrictive dietetic practices, rather than helping the patient, reduce his food intake and thereby impair recovery. This is a cruelty born-of erroneous notion passed on to us as a legacy from hakims and vaids (quakes), rather than having any scientific justification. Even if some doctors do not entertain such restrictions, the so called well-wishers of patients will definitely offer free advice and impose food restrictions upon their patients. Everybody has his own share of bitter experiences, horrific memories, and heart-rending stories of the past. The chain of death and destruction remains unbroken. The gloomy, dark sky is waiting for break of a new dawn gone into eclipse years before. The ongoing Indo- Pak peace process has already resulted in a number of confidence- building measures, but in spite of all that an average of five persons each day are being killed in terror-related incidents across the State. A tricky situation prevails in which militants and security forces are pitted against each other, converting the streets, the lanes and by-lanes, and human settlements in to a well-entrenched battle ground. Innocent Kashmir’s are dying, getting maimed, and suffering mental agony and the world is watching with a nonchalant indifference.
Discovery of drugs from medicinal plants continues to provide major leads against various
pharmacological targets, particularly in cancer diseases. Hence, there are increasing demands to discover
more therapeutic agents from various species of medicinal plants. Chemical compounds in plants are
important for human beings due to their therapeutic properties. Goniothalamus umbrosus, Typhonium
flagelliforme, Myrmecodia pendens, Strobilanthes crispus and Clinacanthus nutans, are among the herbal
species, which are consumed by cancer patients in order to combat against the growth of cancer cells. The
present review aims to highlight on the anti-cancer properties of the listed Malaysian herbs.
Nur Humaira’ Lau Abdullah, Zal U’yun Wan Mahmood, Norfaizal Mohamed @ Muhamad, Nazaratul Ashifa Abdullah Salim, Ahmad Nazrul Abd Wahid, Nor Dalila Desa, et al.
A glasshouse experiment was performed to evaluate the uptake of grasses viz. Napier and Vetiver
in radiophytoremediation of caesium-contaminated soil. The radiophytoremediation experiment
was designed according to the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The grasses were
grown in troughs filled with soil mixed with a known specific activity of 134Cs. Initial Cs activity and
activity after different cultivation time intervals of 1, 3, 6 and 9 months were analyzed using gamma
spectrometer direct measurement. The results showed the uptake of caesium by Napier and Vetiver
after 9 months with the transfer factors (TF) were 4.70 and 6.25, respectively. The remediation of
caesium from the contaminated soil during the study period was 98.08% for Napier and 98.21% for
Vetiver. Both grasses have been found to accumulate caesium, with Vetiver accumulating higher
than Napier. Thus, the present study suggests that Vetiver could be used as a potential plant for
radiophytoremediation of caesium.
Effects of cultural practice under different habitats, of well-managed monoculture plantation and growing wild under rubber trees, were studied in Aquilaria malaccensis (Karas) leaves. This study was carried out on Karas growing in these two habitats each from Lipis, Pahang and Sepang, Selangor areas in Malaysia; under the control and induced treatments. The parameters studied include wet and dry weight of 50 matured leaves, iron and zinc elemental contents in leaf, iron and zinc uptakes from soil, and leaf and soil moisture contents. Iron and zinc were analysed in Karas leaves and soil by using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) technique.
A 2.4 GHz variable-gain low noise amplifier (VGLNA) intended for use in a Wide-band Code Division
Multiple Access receiver was designed in 0.18 um CMOS process for low voltage and low power applications. Rivaling classical designs using voltage mode approach, this design used the current mode approach, utilizing the current mirror principle to obtain a controllable gain range from 8.26 dB to 16.95 dB with good input and output return losses. By varying the current through the widths of transistors and a bias resistor, the VGLNA was capable of exhibiting 8 dB gain tuning range without degrading the noise figure. Therefore, higher gain was possible at lower current and thus at lower power consumption. Total power consumption simulated was 4.63 mW from a 1 V supply and this gave a gain/power quotient of 3.66 dB/mW. Comparing this with available published data, it was observed that this work demonstrated a good gain tuning range and the lowest noise figure with such power consumption.
Currently, data concerning the content of naturally occurring dietary folate in Malaysian foods is scarce. The aim of this study was to determine the folate content of vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals that were commonly consumed among Malaysians. The total folate content of 156 samples (51 vegetables, 33 fruits, 22 legumes and legume products, and 50 cereals and cereal products) available in Malaysia was determined by microbiological assay using Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) after trienzyme treatment with protease, α-amylase and folate conjugase (from rat serum). An internal quality control system was used throughout the study by analyzing CRM 121 (wholemeal flour) and CRM 485 (lyophilized mixed vegetables); percent recovery (as mean ± SD) of 97 ± 2.0 and 101 ± 4.0 was obtained. The range of folate content in vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals were 1-11 μg/100 g and 1-31on the basis of fresh weight and 1-31 µg/100 g and 2-156 µg/100 g on the basis of dry weight, respectively. This study has shown that some of these underutilized vegetables and fruits are good sources of folate and could fulfill the recommended dietary intake of total folate.
A recently published meta-analysis showed that each additional serving of rice increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) by an alarming 11%. We investigated whether this phenomenon is seen in the Malaysian population by studying the effect of rice intake and added sugar consumption on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting triacylglycerol (TAG).