Justicia gendarussa methanolic leaves extract from four different locations in Southern region of Malaysia and distribution
of two flavonoids, naringenin and kaempferol in plant organs (young and mature leaves) were determined using gas
chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) analysis. Naringenin and kaempferol contents were detected
and quantified in leaves extract. The results indicated that mature leaves contained more naringenin and kaempferol
compared to young leaves. The highest concentration of naringenin and kaempferol were recorded in mature leaves from
Skudai and Muar regions which were 507.692 and 1226.964 mgkg-1, respectively. Data analysis showed that naringenin
content was directly proportional to the amount of kaempferol in the leaf extracts. In conclusion, this study suggested
geographical variation among plant samples and physiological stage of organ parts could contribute to variation in
flavonoids concentration in a plant species.
Curcuma longa or turmeric has long been used in traditional medicine by the local population in Malaysia as an antiinflammatory agent. It has been proven to contain natural antiarthritic compound called curcumin. Joints abnormality and destruction have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) due to inflammatory reactions. In this study, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model was utilized to study the effects of curcumin on joint inflammation in Sprague-Dawley rats. Body weight measurement, arthritis score assessment and radiology score assessment were carried out at specific intervals throughout this study. The results showed that the mean arthritis and radiology scores for animal groups designated as CIA CurcuminC and CIA CurcuminT were significantly lower compared with the negative control (CIA OV) group respectively. The mean arthritis scores for CIA CurcuminC group is significantly lower compared with CIA CurcuminT group but there is no significant difference in the mean radiology scores between the CIA CurcuminC and CIA CurcuminT groups. In conclusion, the oral supplementation of curcumin at the dose of 110 mg/mL/kg/day has a potential to delay and improve joint abnormality and injury in Sprague-Dawley rats with CIA.
The aim of this article was to validate an instrument of quality management practices (QMPs) and performance
measurement for the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. QMPs and performance were measured using the following
six value indicators: Management commitment, training, process management, quality tools, continuous improvement
and organisational performance. A total of 480 questionnaires were distributed and 210 questionnaires were valid for
analysis. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach was employed using analysis of moment structures (AMOS)
software. The results for the hypothesised CFA model showed the following fit statistics: Comparative fit index (CFI) =
0.924, Tucker Lewis index (TLI) = 0.913 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.061. The values of
CFI and TLI ≥ 0.9 and at the same time the value of RMSEA ≤ 0.08 showed that CFA model fits the data very well. Hence,
the results of the study can be used by managers in manufacturing companies to consider and adapt their QMPs and
performance assessments toward increasing competitiveness
Thrips (Thysanoptera) are common pests on legume plants, yet little is known about their ecology or diversity in Peninsular
Malaysia. In legumes, thrips are typically found in flowers, where their feeding activity causes malformations that
eventually lead to crop damage. In this study, we examined the diversity of thrips species, particularly Megalurothrips
usitatus, in three selected legume farms around Peninsular Malaysia (Janda Baik, Pahang; Bestari Jaya, Selangor; and
Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan). Each month from April 2013 to May 2014, depending on growing season, legume flowers were
inspected for thrips in five random plots from each farm. Sampling was performed six times in Bestari Jaya and Jelebu
and twelve times in Janda Baik. The most abundant thrips species on legumes was M. usitatus (89.97%) followed by
Thrips parvispinus (9.77%), T. hawaiiensis (0.13%) and Ceratothripoides brunneus (0.12%). The abundance of M. usitatus
was not different between long bean, French bean and winged bean which equally distributed among different arbitrary
strata on legume plants. Temperature and light intensity were found to be positively correlated with the abundance of
M. usitatus, but relative humidity showed a negative relationship. M. usitatus was found in large numbers during hot
and dry months, but in lower numbers during raining season. This study suggested that wet season may help to regulate
the populations of M. usitatus on legume plants.
Malaysia mempunyai tanggungjawab mendepositkan koordinat-koordinat titik-titik pangkal yang digunakan untuk mengukur lebar batas laut wilayah dan sempadan zon-zon maritim yang lain kepada Setiausaha Agung, Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB). Titik-titik pangkal adalah asas kepada penetapan bagi zon-zon maritim, perundangan batas maritim dan perlaksanaan penguatkuasaan. Kertas ini menghuraikan bagaimana dua parameter penting iaitu kecerunan pesisir depan dan datum carta boleh menyebabkan ketidakpastian terhadap posisi titik-titik pangkal. Hubungkait trigonometri antara parameter membuktikan sisihan datum sebanyak 0.2 m dan kecerunan pesisir depan sebanyak 0.1º menyebabkan ketidakpastian posisi mendatar sebanyak 114.6 m. Ketidakpastian kedudukan titik pangkal menjadi signifikan apabila sisihan antara datum carta meningkat dan kecerunan pesisir depan semakin landai. Hasil prosesan kedudukan titik-titik pangkal melalui perisian “CARIS” mendapati perbezaan kedudukan titik-titik pangkal sebanyak 108 m, 169 m dan 107 m. Kesimpulannya, ketidakpastian ini boleh menyebabkan negara kerugian kawasan maritim.
Natural clay is commonly used as a liner material to contain landfill leachate from contaminating the environment. A key characteristic of liner material is its hydraulic conductivity. It is recommended that the hydraulic conductivity of the potential liner material should be of 1×10-9 m/s or less. This paper presents the geotechnical characteristics of marine clay that may be used as landfill liner material. The tests were consistency index, compaction behaviour, compressibility and hydraulic conductivity. The marine clay was dominated by finer fraction of silt and clay (78%-88%) followed by sand (12%-22%). The clay minerals commonly present were montmorillonite, kaolinite and illite as well as quartz as the non-clay mineral. The consistency index for the liquid limit, wL and plastic limit, wP were 56.6%-80.5% and 36%-45%, respectively. The plastic index, Ip of the marine clay samples ranged from 19% to 37%. The permeability test indicated that the hydraulic conductivity of the samples ranged between 1.10 × 10-9 and 2.44 × 10-9 m/s. The very low permeability showed by the marine clay can be related to the presence of high content of finer fraction. Compaction of marine clay samples resulted in maximum dry density, ρdmax that ranged between 1.5 and 1.6 g/cm3 and optimum moisture content, wopt that ranged between 18.2% and 25%. During the consolidation of the marine clay, the hydraulic conductivity decreased within the recommended permeability for landfill liners. This study showed that some geotechnical characteristics of the studied marine clay were in favour of being used as landfill liner material.
Sampel larutan kompleks La1-xSrxMnO3 (LSMO) dengan 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25 telah disediakan menggunakan kaedah Pechini. Larutan LSMO seterusnya dimendapkan ke atas substrat kuarza menggunakan kaedah salutan berputar dan seterusnya disepuh lindap pada suhu 750°C selama satu jam. Corak pembelauan sinar-X bagi filem yang mengandungi Sr bersesuaian dengan LSMO berstruktur rombohedron . Morfologi permukaan filem menunjukkan struktur yang berlainan bagi nilai x yang berlainan dengan lebih banyak pembentukan rekahan permukaan filem dengan peningkatan Sr. Sifat magnet pada suhu bilik menunjukkan kewujudan lengkungan histeresis untuk kesemua sampel. Sampel filem nipis La1-xSrxMnO3 dengan x = 0.00, 0.05 dan 0.10 menunjukkan sifat feromagnet yang lemah manakala filem dengan x = 0.15, 0.20 dan 0.25 adalah bersifat paramagnet. Sampel dengan x = 0.10 mempunyai nilai pemagnetan yang paling tinggi pada medan 12 kOe iaitu 0.48 emu/g.
This study examined the genetic characteristics of twenty-six microsatellite primers developed from three cyprinid fishes (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, Barbus barbus Linnaeus and Barbonymus gonionotus Bleeker) in two indigenous mahseer. The Tor douronensis Valenciennes were randomly collected from two locations in Sarawak (N=52), while Tor tambroides Bleeker were obtained from Peninsular Malaysia (N=56). A total of ten and twelve primers were successfully amplified producing four and five polymorphic loci in T. douronensis and T. tambroides, respectively. The number of alleles per locus ranging from 2 to 5 in T. douronensis and 2 to 7 in T. tambroides. A significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was observed at three loci (Barb37, Barb59 and Barb62) in one or more populations in T. tambroides while two loci (Barb37 and Barb62) were deviated in T. douronensis population of Batang Ai. Population structure analysis showed low level of inter-population genetic differentiation in both mahseer. Overall, the identified microsatellite loci should be useful in analysing T. douronensis and T. tambroides natural populations.
Ethanol fermentations by Candida shehatae TISTR 5843 at low (20 g/L) and high (80 g/L) sugar concentrations with various glucose to xylose ratios were investigated. Glucose was a preferred substrate as it was consumed first at a faster consumption rate. The type of sugar and ratio between glucose and xylose did not have an effect on ethanol produced. The average ethanol concentrations were 7.99 g/L when using 20 g/L sugar and 27.82 g/L when using 80 g/L sugar. Small amounts of xylitol and glycerol as by-products were presented when using 20 g/L sugar. Xylitol appeared to be the main by-product at high xylose concentration with elevated concentrations as xylose is increased. When using rice straw hydrolysate containing 34.75 g/L glucose and 21.29 g/L xylose, 19.37 g/L ethanol was produced with the ethanol yield and ethanol productivity at 0.49 g/g and 0.20 g/L.h, respectively. However, xylose was not completely consumed after fermentation was complete.
In this paper, an improved trigonometrically fitted zero-dissipative explicit two-step hybrid method with fifth algebraic
order is derived. The method is applied to several problems where by the solutions are oscillatory in nature. Numerical
results obtained are compared with existing methods in the scientific literature. The comparison shows that the new
method is more effective and efficient than the existing methods of the same order.
The empty fruit bunches of oil palm have been used as the raw material to produce biofuel. However, the lignin present
in oil palm tissues hampers the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass and lower the yield of biofuel
produced. Hence, various efforts were taken to identify the lignin biosynthetic genes in oil palm and to investigate
their regulation at the molecular level. In this study, a lignin biosynthetic gene, Eg4CL1 and its promoter were isolated
from the oil palm. Eg4CL1 contains the acyl-activating enzyme consensus motif and boxes I & II which are present in
other 4CL homologs. Eg4CL1 was clustered together with known type I 4CL proteins involved in lignin biosynthesis in
other plants. Gene expression analysis showed that Eg4CL1 was expressed abundantly in different organs of oil palm
throughout the course of development, reflecting its involvement in lignin biosynthesis in different organs at all stages
of growth. The presence of the lignification toolbox - AC elements in the 1.5 kb promoter of Eg4CL1 further suggests the
potential role of the gene in lignin biosynthesis in oil palm. Together, these results suggested that Eg4CL1 is a potential
candidate gene involved in lignin biosynthesis in oil palm.
Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with diameter of about a few nanometers and length of 3 μm on silicon wafers were synthesized by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations showed that the silicon nanowires were grown randomly and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis indicates that the nanowires have the composition of Si, Au and O elements. The SiNWs were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy. SEM micrographs displayed SiNWs that are needle-like with a diameter ranged from 30 nm at the top to 100 nm at the bottom of the wire and have length a few of micrometers. In addition, HRTEM showed that SiNWs consist of crystalline silicon core and amorphous silica layer.
Penggunaan tanah boleh mengakibatkan perubahan fungsi dari masa ke masa, sesuai dengan tujuan pembangunan. Kawasan Bandar Pekanbaru terdiri daripada 12 sub-kawasan persekutuan dengan jumlah keluasan kira-kira 632.26 km2. Tujuan kajian adalah untuk menganalisis perubahan guna tanah daripada aspek ruang dan masa. Data guna tanah yang diambil kira dalam analisis ini adalah peta guna tanah 1992 dan 2004. Hasil analisis dengan menggunakan perisian ArcView GIS versi 3.2 mendapati bahawa telah berlaku penurunan guna tanah signifikan, iaitu jenis perkebunan dan hutan tahun 2004. Peningkatan jenis lain-lain, penggunaan tanah seperti permukiman dan tumbuhan/semak tahun 2004 telah berlaku. Perubahan ini merupakan pengaruh daripada pembangunan bandar. Sebaliknya, pembangunan bandar boleh memberi impak negatif terhadap sekitaran jika pola perubahan guna tanah dirancang tanpa pengurusan yang baik.
This paper reports the effects of glyceryl ether specifically mono-tert-butoxypropanediol on oil in water emulsion system.
Based on 12 HLB value, screening for stable emulsions was carried out without the presence of glyceryl ether. A stable
emulsion was used as a control. Then the effects of glyceryl ether on the emulsion system were investigated. The emulsions
prepared were analyzed for stability, viscosity, pH value, particle size, in vitro dermal irritation potential, in vitro ocular
irritation potential and also moisturizing property. The incorporation of glycerol in the emulsion system was also done
for comparison. Emulsions with glyceryl ether showed lower viscosity values than emulsions with glycerol. Furthermore,
the emulsions also exhibited moisturizing property compared to the control emulsion. Glyceryl ether is suitable to be
used in cosmetic products which require reduced viscosity but retain its skin hydration property.
Glycerol is a valuable co-product from oleochemical industry such as from fatty acid and biodiesel production. By having three hydroxyl groups in its molecule, glycerol can undergo chemical modifications that lead to many possible applications. This paper reports the tosylation process of glycerol with para-toluenesulfonyl chloride (p-TsCl). Reaction of glycerol with p-TsCl in the presence of a base produced mono-, di- and tri-tosylate of glycerol even though the reaction was carried out at the mole ratio of 1.2:1.0 of glycerol to p-TsCl. The compounds were successfully isolated and characterized. Mono-, di- and tri-tosylate of glycerol exhibited inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive bacteria) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (gram negative bacteria).
Kajian pengimejan resonans magnet kefungsian (fMRI) subjek tunggal ini mengkaji hubung kait asas antara parameter hemodinamik dengan ketinggian pengaktifan (nilai t) bagi beberapa korteks berkaitan motor. Dalam kajian ini, subjek melakukan empat gaya tepikan jari rentak sendiri iaitu sentuh-perlahan (SP), sentuh-laju (SL), tekan-perlahan (TP) dan tekan-laju (TL) dalam satu imbasan fMRI. Data fMRI dianalisis menggunakan pemetaan statistik berparameter (SPM). Keputusan analisis mendapati otak mengkoordinasi keempat-empat gaya tepikan dengan penglibatan girus presentral (PCG) bilateral, kawasan motor tambahan (SMA), lobus parietal superior (SPL) dan serebelum. SPL didapati menunjukkan anjakan kelateralan akibat peningkatan laju tepikan. Magnitud pengaktifan pada SPL kiri yang lebih rendah berlaku semasa tepikan perlahan manakala tepikan laju memperlihatkan magnitud pengaktifan yang lebih tinggi pada SPL kanan. Plot nilai t melawan peratus perubahan isyarat bagi kesemua kawasan tersebut untuk kesemua gaya tepikan menunjukkan korelasi positif (p< 0.05, ρ= 0.67). Nilai t menunjukkan korelasi positif tak bererti terhadap efikasi neuron (p= 0.08, ρ= 0.40), korelasi positif bererti terhadap pereputan isyarat (p< 0.05, ρ= 0.85) dan masa transit (p< 0.05, ρ= 0.88) serta korelasi negatif bererti terhadap suap balik (p< 0.05, ρ= 0.89). Pemalar kekerasan (α) dan peratus ekstraksi oksigen (Eo) didapati kekal malar untuk kesemua korteks dalam semua cara tepikan. Kajian ini telah mendedahkan maklumat asas berguna mengenai ciri hemodinamik beberapa korteks berkaitan motor yang mengalami pengaktifan.
Hantaviruses are infectious agents that can cause diseases resulting in deaths in humans and are hosted by rodents without affecting the hosts themselves. A simple mathematical model describing the spread of the Hantavirus infection in rodents has been proposed and developed by Abramson and Kenkre where the model takes into account the temporal and spatial characteristics of this infection. In this paper, we extended this model to include the process of harvesting and study the impact of different harvesting strategies in the spread of the Hantavirus infection in rodents. Several numerical simulations were carried out and the results are discussed.
Hantavirus is a serious disease caused by rodents which can lead to mortality. Many efforts have been carried out by researchers to develop and analyze mathematical models of Hantavirus infection. In this paper, the Peixoto and Abramson (2006) biodiversity model is modified to include the effect of predators and study the prediction of the modified model. When rodent and predator populations are in competition, the predator populations have the effect of reducing the prevalence of infection. Predators may be used for control and reduces the number of competing species to stabilize the populations at a persistent equilibrium.
In this paper, a new reliable method called the step variational iteration method (SVIM) based on an adaptation of the variational iteration method (VIM) is presented to solve non–chaotic and chaotic systems. The SVIM uses the general Lagrange multipliers for constructing the correction functional for the problems. The SVIM yields a step analytical solution of the form of a rapidly convergent infinite power series with easily computable terms and obtain a good approximate solution for larger intervals. The accuracy of the presented solution obtained is in an excellent agreement with the previously published solutions.
In this study, we investigated the feeding behavior of the brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus with light intensities ranging over eight orders of magnitude from 0–1000 lx to estimate the optimum light intensity for larval rearing. Artemia ingestion rates of E. fuscoguttatus of 36 days and 42 days old larvae were measured in feeding behavior experiments and they were significantly higher with light intensities ≥10 lx compared with feeding rates at ≤1 lx. E. fuscoguttatus larvae also exhibited Artemia ingestion rates in the dark or in dim lighting (0–1 lx) that were about 20% of the ingestion rates with ≥10 lx.