The sustainability performance of the desalination processes has received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the current progress and future perspective of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of desalination technology in 62 previous studies have been reviewed for the period 2004-2019. It was found that the number of LCA studies related to seawater reverse osmosis has gained popularity compared to other types of desalination technologies. The review emphasized the application of LCA to desalination by means of research objective, scope of study, life stages, and impact assessment. Although previous LCA studies were conducted to assess the environmental performance of the desalination technology, little attention was given to evaluating the impact of other sustainability aspects (i.e., economic and social). The latter part of this study discusses the challenges, feasibility, and recommendations for future LCA studies on desalination technology. The integration of the LCA approach with other approaches allows a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability performance of desalination technology. Thus, the combined approaches should be explored in future studies to gain insight into the sensitivity and uncertainty of the data to make an assessment that can be useful in policy-making.
Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) is a toxic compound commonly found in some crops with an adverse health effect on human and animals. Some beneficial microorganisms (or probiotics) such as lactic acid bacteria have shown the ability to reduce the bioavailability of aflatoxins and its intestinal absorption. However, the dose and duration of aflatoxins exposure and probiotic treatment can influence the ability of probiotics to remove aflatoxins. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the efficacy of oral probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain (LcS) induction in an acute exposure to AFB1 in rats. Experimentally, Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups: AFB1 only (n = 9); AFB1 treated with LcS (n = 9); and control (no AFB1 exposure) (n = 6) groups. The blood AFB1 level of rats treated with LcS was slightly lower than the untreated AFB1 induced rats (11.12 ± 0.71 vs 10.93 ± 0.69 ng g-1). Also, LcS treatment slightly moderated the liver and kidney biomarkers in AFB1 induced rats. However, a trend for a significant difference was only observed in ALT of AFB1 induced rats treated with LcS compared to their counterparts (126.11 ± 36.90 vs 157.36 ± 15.46, p = 0.06). Rats' body weight decreased in all animals force-fed with AFB1 with no significant difference between LcS treatment compared to the counterpart. In conclusion, this experiment indicated that probiotic LsC was able to slightly ameliorate the adverse effect of an acute exposure to AFB1 in rats. However, future studies with longer probiotics treatment or higher probiotics dose is required to confirm these findings.
Three new species were described from Borneo: Itara (Bornitara) spinosa sp. nov. and Aphonoides duri sp. nov. from Brunei and Varitrella (Cantotrella) suikei sp. nov. from Sandakan in Sabah. We describe the call of Varitrella (Cantotrella) suikei sp. nov. In addition to the new species descriptions, we also report new locality records of other recently discovered species: Borneloria spinosa Gorochov, 2018 in Belait (Brunei Darussalam), species of Anemozara Gorochov, 2014 in Brunei Darussalam and Terrozacla borneo Gorochov, 2014 in Belait.
Pollution with pesticides is a widespread global problem and biomonitoring of the environment and human populations is necessary to assess potential harmful biological effects. One of the pesticides that are showing up in vegetables and fruit is chlorpyrifos (CPS). CPS is a nerve-poisoning organophosphorus insecticide, which is in up to 1/3 of all conventionally produced citrus fruits. Our review shows that CPS is a hazardous material that poses risks to human health and also pollutes the environment. There is numerous risk assessment of CPS reported, however, the assessment is easily affected by factors such as climate change, exposure period and CPS concentration. Therefore, rigorous update of the hazardous level of CPS is needed to determine the threshold level safe for humans and animals. There is a need for remediation using for example photoreactive nanoparticle methods and microbial degeneration possessing high degradation efficiency (73-97%). In addition, stringent biomonitoring of food, environment and human exposure should occur to avoid exposure to chemicals via citrus fruits and vegetables. This is necessary to assess health risks and socioeconomic impacts which also require collaboration between private and public sectors to facilitate the growth, sale and manufacturing of biopesticides.
The genus Surenus Distant, 1901 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae: Halyini) is revisited and found to be a junior subjective synonym of the genus Agathocles Stål, 1876 (currently Pentatominae: Rolstoniellini). The genus Agathocles and its type species, Agathocles limbatus Stål, 1876, are redescribed. Lectotype of Surenus normalis Distant, 1901 (= Agathocles normalis (Distant, 1901) comb. nov.) is designated and the unknown male of the species is described. Agathocles yunnanensis Zhang Lin, 1984, syn. nov., is considered junior subjective synonym of A. limbatus. Two new species are described: Agathocles flavipes sp. nov. from India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu) and A. joceliae sp. nov. from Malaysia (Kelantan, Perak). The new species differ from their congeners mainly by the morphology of mandibular plates, length of antennomeres I, IIa and IIb, body length, and structure of male genitalia. Agathocles dubius Distant, 1921 is transferred to the genus Caystrus Stål, 1861 (Pentatominae: Caystrini) based on examination of its holotype with the resulting new combination: Caystrus dubius (Distant, 1921), comb. nov. One new combination is proposed, Paramecocoris ruficornis (Fieber, 1851), comb. nov. (from preoccupied Paramecus Fieber, 1851), and its type locality is clarified as Tenasserim (south Myanmar). Gender agreement and authorship of the name Riazocoris niger Ahmad Afzal, 1977 in Ahmad et al. (1977: 161) are corrected and status of its name bearing type is clarified as lectotype. The following new distribution records are given: A. limbatus from Cambodia, China (Guangxi, Tibet), Laos and Thailand, A. normalis, Caystrus obscurus (Distant, 1901a) and Critheus lineatifrons Stål, 1869 from Laos, Amasenus corticalis Stål, 1863 from Cambodia, Indonesia (E Kalimantan), Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, and Rolstoniellus boutanicus (Dallas, 1849) from Vietnam. Based on characters of external morphology and genitalia, the genus Agathocles is compared with representatives of the genera Halys Fabricius, 1803 (Halyini), Caystrus (Caystrini), Laprius Stål, 1861 (Myrocheini), and Exithemus Distant, 1902 (currently in Rolstoniellini). As a result, the genus Agathocles is here transferred to the tribe Caystrini. The genus Kyrtalus Van Duzee, 1929 is tentatively placed in Myrocheini based on the presence of sulcate mesosternum and femora provided with teeth.
The snake genus Cylindrophis Wagler, 1828 belongs to the monogeneric family Cylindrophiidae comprising 15 species distributed predominately throughout SE Asia, with one extralimital species occurring in Sri Lanka (Bernstein et al. 2020: 535). Cylindrophis lineatus is a rare species known from only eight museum specimens (discussed herein), and a photograph of one live individual from Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia (Stuebing et al. 2014: 63). Despite being originally described with Singapore as the type-locality (Blanford 1881: 217, 218), it is currently understood that C. lineatus is endemic to western Sarawak, East Malaysia (Stuebing et al. 2014: 63). Wallach et al. (2014: 204) stated that C. lineatus is also found in Kalimantan, but did not provide any references. This appears to have been followed by Bernstein et al. (2020: 537), who provide a map indicating C. lineatus occurrences in Kalimantan. The original description of Cylindrophis lineatus is conventionally cited as Blanford (1881: 217, 218, pl. 20). Herein, we demonstrate that the authorship and date of publication of this taxon should correctly be Cylindrophis lineatus Dennys, 1880b, and discuss that the type locality should be changed to "Borneo".
Two new species of the genus Stenoloba Staudinger, 1892 (S. mediana, sp. n. and S. fuscobrunnea, sp. n.) are described from Cambodia and Laos respectively, and a new species of the genus Victrix Staudinger, 1879 (V. noloides, sp. n.) from China is described. Stenoloba chlorographa Kononenko Ronkay, 2001 is reported for the first time from China (Xizang), and new distributional data for recently described Stenoloba species from Malaysia are presented.
This study presents a list of land snails and slugs found on limestone hills in the District of Bau, the state of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo. Systematic and random sampling for land snails was conducted at eight limestone outcrops, namely, Gunung Stulang, Padang Pan, Gunung Kapor, Gunung Lobang Angin, Gunung Doya, Gunung Batu, Bukit Sekunyit and Gunung Sebayat. A total of 122 land snail species was documented with photographs of each species. Of the 122 species collected, 13 are new to science, namely, Acmella bauensissp. nov., Japonia bauensissp. nov., Plectostoma margaretchanaesp. nov., Microcystina arabiisp. nov., Microcystina atonisp. nov., Microcystina pariparisp. nov., Microcystina liratasp. nov., Microcystina oswaldbrakenisp. nov., Microcystina kilatsp. nov., Philalanka jambusanensissp. nov., Everettia microrhytidasp. nov., Everettia minutasp. nov., and Paralaoma sarawakensissp. nov.
BACKGROUND: It is estimated that 2% of the population in developing countries suffer from a chronic wound, making it a hidden phenomenon that is increasing as populations age. The ease of access to maggot therapy has made it increasingly attractive for implementation. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of maggot therapy as compared to hydrogel dressings in the healing of chronic wounds.
METHODS: An electronic literature search until October 2019 was performed using Medline, Embase, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature. The eligibility criteria were chronic wound patients with an intervention that involved a comparison of any maggot species with hydrogel dressings.
RESULTS: The full text of five studies, involving 580 patients with chronic wounds, was retrieved. Four studies used the Lucilia sericata species. The maggot therapy facilitated faster and more effective debridement of non-viable tissue. It enabled faster development of granulation tissue and increased reduction in the wound surface area compared to hydrogel dressings. Maggot therapy had no effect on disinfection or complete healing rate for the wound.
CONCLUSION: Maggot therapy should be considered for faster wound debridement, granulation tissue development, and wound surface area reduction as well as in surgical contraindications. This review can be used as a guide to assist clinicians in identifying patients who may benefit from maggot therapy.
This study aimed to assess regenerative treatment protocols for maturogenesis of immature teeth with apical periodontitis in dogs. Apical periodontitis was induced in immature premolars of 8 mongrel dogs teeth that were divided into 5 groups; regeneration via blood clotting (REG group); chitosan loaded with demineralised bone matrix (REG-CD group); chitosan loaded with dexamethazone corticosteroid (REG-CC group); and positive and negative control groups. All groups showed comparable apical hard tissue formation and significantly different from the control group. Results also showed decrease in inflammatory tissue reaction, bone resorption and periodontal ligament thickness. Tissue reaction and inflammatory infiltrates were significantly less in REG-CC group compared to others. Other parameters showed no significant difference. In conclusion, regenerative endodontic techniques using chitosan-based formulations have the potential to be used as an alternative for root maturation in teeth with apical periodontitis.
The moisture content of a powder is a parameter crucial to be controlled in order to produce stable products with a long shelf life. Inferential control is the best solution to control the moisture content due to difficulty in measuring this variable online. In this study, fundamental and empirical approaches were used in designing the nonlinear model-based inferential control of moisture content of coconut milk powder that was produced from co-current spray dryer. A one-dimensional model with integration of reaction engineering approach (REA) model was used to represent the dynamic of the spray drying process. The empirical approach, i.e., nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous input (NARX) and neural network, was used to allow fast and accurate prediction of output response in inferential control. Minimal offset (<0.0003 kg/kg) of the responses at various set points indicate high accuracy of the neural network estimator. The nonlinear model-based inferential control was able to provide stable control response at wider process operating conditions and acceptable disturbance rejection. Nevertheless, the performance of the controller depends on the tuning rules used.
Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan kekuatan pengaruh kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar, kompetensi profesionalisme guru dan kompetensi peribadi guru terhadap efikasi pengajaran guru bagi guru-guru sekolah rendah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Kajian ini melibatkan 361 responden yang terdiri daripada guru-guru sekolah rendah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Pemboleh ubah kajian telah diuji dengan menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensi yang melibatkan skor min, sisihan piawai dan regresi berganda. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam kajian adalah soal selidik yang diadaptasi daripada Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS), Standard Guru Malaysia (SGM) dan Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) bagi mengumpul data daripada 361 responden yang telah melengkapkan borang soal selidik, daripada 54 buah sekolah rendah yang melibatkan tujuh daerah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Persampelan secara rawak digunakan dalam pemilihan responden dalam kalangan guru manakala persampelan bertujuan digunakan bagi menentukan bilangan sekolah yang mewakili setiap daerah seperti yang telah ditetapkan. Statistik deskriptif dan inferensi telah digunakan bagi menghuraikan dapatan kajian. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tahap kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar (Min = 4.52; SP = 0.313) pada tahap sangat tinggi, kompetensi profesionalisme guru (Min = 4.41; SP = 0.295) juga pada tahap sangat tinggi dan kompetensi peribadi guru (Min = 4.47; SP = 0.366) juga berada pada tahap sangat tinggi manakala efikasi pengajaran guru (Min = 3.96; SP = 0.358) berada pada tahap tinggi. Data inferensi dianalisis menggunakan regresi berganda. Analisis regrasi menunjukkan pengaruh kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar menyumbang 65 peratus, kompetensi profesionalisme guru menyumbang 65.9 peratus dan kompetensi peribadi guru menyumbang 66.5 peratus terhadap efikasi pengajaran guru dan merupakan peramal yang signifikan kepada tahap efikasi pengajaran guru.
Kepimpinan pengetua diterokai berdasarkan atribut semula jadi yang memfokuskan ketegasan kepimpinan pengetua dalam lapan bidang amalan pengurusan di sekolah. Kerangka teoritikal adalah bersandarkan Teori The Great Man dan model pengetua berkesan diaplikasikan dalam menjalankan kajian secara kualitatif iaitu melalui kajian kes tunggal. Data kualitatif ini diperolehi dengan menemubual pengetua, barisan pentadbir, guru kanan mata pelajaran, dan guru-guru. Data kualitatif dianalisa secara manual. Dapatan menunjukkan atribut semula jadi pengetua berdasarkan aspek ketegasan adalah mencerminkan kewibawaan sikap pengetua dalam amalan pengurusannya di sekolah. Aspek ini diteliti berdasarkan tema demografi pengetua dan pandangan guru-guru. Temu bual mendalam ini menjelaskan amalan pengurusan kepimpinan pengetua dalam lapan bidang utama di sekolah didapati menyokong dapatan sebagaimana dalam teori dibangunkan serta model pengetua berkesan. Bagaimanapun, dalam menghadapi cabaran impak globalisasi, pengetua juga memerlukan sokongan daripada pelbagai pihak sama ada warga sekolah mahupun pihak luar dalam mengurus sekolah dengan lebih berkesan.
Species invasion is an important cause of global biodiversity decline and is often mediated by shifts in environmental conditions such as climate change. To investigate this relationship, a mechanistic Dynamic Energy Budget model (DEB) approach was used to predict how climate change may affect spread of the invasive mussel Mytilopsis sallei, by predicting variation in the total reproductive output of the mussel under different scenarios. To achieve this, the DEB model was forced with present-day satellite data of sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), and SST under two warming RCP scenarios and decreasing current Chl-a levels, to predict future responses. Under both warming scenarios, the DEB model predicted the reproductive output of M. sallei would enhance range extension of the mussel, especially in regions south of the Yangtze River when future declines in Chl-a were reduced by less than 10%, whereas egg production was inhibited when Chl-a decreased by 20-30%. The decrease in SST in the Yangtze River may, however, be a natural barrier to the northward expansion of M. sallei, with colder temperatures resulting in a strong decrease in egg production. Although the invasion path of M. sallei may be inhibited northwards by the Yangtze River, larger geographic regions south of the Yangtze River run the risk of invasion, with subsequent negative impacts on aquaculture through competition for food with farmed bivalves and damaging aquaculture facilities. Using a DEB model approach to characterise the life history traits of M. sallei, therefore, revealed the importance of food availability and temperature on the reproductive output of this mussel and allowed evaluation of the invasion risk for specific regions. DEB is, therefore, a powerful predictive tool for risk management of already established invasive populations and to identify regions with a high potential invasion risk.
The complete mitochondrial genomes of four fish species of the commercially important family Latidae were sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq, thereby significantly increasing the mitogenomic resources for the family. Whole mitogenome-based phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of the genus Lates and more generally the family Latidae. The mitogenome sequences from this study will be useful for future assessments of the diversity within and between Lates species and studies of phylogenetic relationships within the diverse and taxonomically challenging perciform fishes.
Kajian tinjauan secara korelasi ini bertujuan untuk menentukan hubungan antara gaya pembelajaran dan motivasi intrinsik dalam mata pelajaran sejarah. Seramai 521 orang murid Tingkatan Empat dari sekolah menengah harian di sebuah negeri di utara Semenanjung Malaysia yang dipilih melalui teknik persampelan rawak mudah terlibat sebagai sampel kajian dalam kajian ini. Instrumen kajian ini merupakan soal selidik Perceptual Learning Style Preferences Questionnaire dan Instrinsic Motivation Inventory yang diadaptasi dan disahkan oleh pakar penilai serta mempunyai nilai kebolehpercayaan yang baik. Data kajian ini dianalisis secara statistik inferensi iaitu ujian korelasi Pearson. Dapatan kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa terdapat hubungan yang linear positif yang amat tinggi secara signifikan antara gaya pembelajaran dan motivasi intrinsik, di samping keenam-enam jenis gaya pembelajaran tersebut juga menunjukkan terdapat hubungan linear positif yang tinggi secara signifikan dengan motivasi intrinsik. Kajian ini memberi implikasi bahawa gaya pembelajaran dan motivasi intrinsik merupakan elemen penting yang perlu ditekankan dalam proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran sejarah.