The functionalization of surface charges on oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers was modified by grafted carboxylic
acid and polymer amine groups. Single and binary adsorption of Cu(II), Ni(II), Mo(VI) and As(V) were investigated
by competitiveness in the adsorbents. The mechanism of each metal ion was deliberately studied on kinetics-diffusion
(intraparticle diffusion) and isotherm adsorption models (Langmuir and Freundlich). Competitiveness of metal ions was
found in the selectivity of Cu(II) > Ni(II) and Mo(VI) > As(V) in the binary solution. The regeneration of adsorbents
was performed up to five cycles of an adsorption/desorption process and the reduction of adsorption performance was
less than 14.5%. Therefore, this promises low-cost adsorbents for metal ion uptake, showing potential for removal and
recovery in industrial wastewater treatment.
The effects of adulterated honey consumption towards human health is not widely known; mainly due to lack of systematic
and scientific studies and low public awareness. In this study, short-term and long-term effects of consumption on two
brands of commercially honey are available in Malaysian market was investigated and compared to normal control (NC)
rats and rats fed with natural pineapple honey (PH) using male Sprague dawley rats. Adulteration of honey used in the
study was measured using physicochemical and antioxidant analyses and identified as adulterated honey A (FHA) and
B (FHB). No toxicity effect was found for short-term consumption (14 days with one honey consumption). However, visible
effects were observed after 16 weeks of study. Both FHA and FHB showed a significant increase (p>0.05) in cholesterol
(48.6 ± 4.8 mmol/L, 46.5 ± 3.6 mmol/L), triglycerides (26 ± 1.2 mmol/L, 24.4 ± 1.8 mmol/L) and glucose (28.4 ± 2.5
mmol/L, 25 ± 2.6 mmol/L) level respectively. In contrast, rats from NC and PH groups have lower cholesterol (26.5 ± 4.4
mmol/L, 18.94 ± 3.6 mmol/L), triglycerides (17.5 ± 1.2 mmol/L, 13.5 ± 1.5 mmol/L) and glucose (6.4 ± 1.4 mmol/L, 8.0 ±
1.5 mmol/L) level, respectively. The most critical finding was in total five rats from both fake honey groups showed early
mortality. This intensive study indicates long-term adulterated honey may harm to human health and required prompt
actions from various authorities locally and internationally to avoid other consequences in the future.
Various factors may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes; either maternal or foetal outcomes. This study aimed was
to determine the association between advanced maternal age and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This is a cross sectional
study. Data were collected from the birth records from January 1st 2012 until December 31st 2012 in Muar District.
Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were done and the results were presented as adjusted odds ratio
(aOR) with p-value <0.05. The proportion of birth in Muar district, Johor was 14.8% among mothers aged 35 years
and older and 85.2% among mothers aged 20 to 34 years. Advanced maternal age was associated with pregnancyinduced
hypertension (aOR: 5.00; 95%CI: 1.95-12.65), gestational diabetes mellitus (aOR: 2.32; 95%CI: 1.35-4.00)
and Caesarean section (aOR: 2.21; 95%CI: 1.53-3.19). Anaemia was negatively associated with advanced maternal
age (aOR: 0.50; 95%CI: 0.32-0.78). No significant association was found between advanced maternal age and adverse
foetal outcomes. In view of the findings, special attention should be paid to the antenatal mothers aged 35 years and
older, even to those without any pre-existing medical problems.
In this paper, a minibioreactor platform made of low cost polymers is presented. The minibioreactor prototype was designed
as an alternative solution for carrying out microbial fermentation experiments in laboratory. The minibioreactor prototype
has a working volume of 1.5 mL and was fabricated from poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane)
(PDMS) polymers. Cell density was measured online whilst agitation rates and the temperature of the reactor content
can be tightly controlled to desired set-point values. As proof-of-concept, various S. cerevisae fermentation experiments
were conducted. In every experiment, the minibioreactor operated stably for the entire length of operation which was
nearly 40 h with very minimal volume loss i.e. about 2.8 µL·h-1 at 37ºC. The minibioreactor has the maximum oxygen
transfer rate (OTR) of 16.6 mmol·L-1·h-1 under the agitation rate of 300 rpm. Under these conditions, cell specific growth
rate as high as 0.291 h-1 was obtained. The experimental data in the minibioreactor operation was also reproducible
using shake flask where similar growth profiles were attained under a similar growth conditions.
A planar spiral called Generalized Log Aesthetic Curve segment (GLAC) has been proposed using the curve synthesis process with two types of formulation; ρ-shift and κ-shift. Both methods were carried out by extending the formulation of Generalized Cornu Spiral (GCS) in a similar manner to the Log Aesthetic Curve (LAC). The family of GLAC comprises of planar curves of high quality such as GCS, LAC, clothoid, logarithmic spiral and circle involute. The GLAC segment has an additional parameter to determine its shape as compared to GCS and LAC segment, hence an extra constraint can be satisfied when shaping the GLAC segment. The last section of the paper shows a numerical example.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of aging on economic growth. The study used dynamic growth model and employed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach for the period of 1980 to 2011. Three proxies for aging are used namely fertility rate, life expectancy and old dependency ratio. However, only fertility rate is detected to have a long run cointegration. The major finding of this study showed that a reduction of fertility rate lead to higher economic growth. This implied that even though Malaysia will face aging society by 2020, the economic growth is still stable and can increase by investing more on human capital.
Gen Proteolisis 6 (PRT6) merupakan gen yang memainkan peranan penting dalam tapak jalan N-end rule dan berfungsi
sebagai enzim E3 ligase. PRT6 berperanan dalam pengenalan protein sasaran bagi proses degradasi. Objektif utama kajian
ini adalah untuk mentransformasi konstruk RNAi PRT6 ke dalam tomato berperantarakan Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Ini bertujuan untuk memahami peranan tapak jalan N-end rule semasa proses pemasakan buah. Beberapa faktor yang
memberi kesan kepada transformasi seperti masa ko-penanaman dan juga kepekatan antibiotik yang digunakan telah
dioptimumkan. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan pengeraman kotiledon selama 48 jam pada medium ko-penanaman dapat
meningkatkan penghasilan kalus sebanyak 61% manakala penggunaan 500 mg/L antibiotik karbenisilin dalam medium
regenerasi pucuk dapat mengurangkan kontaminasi A. tumefaciens sehingga 5.2%. Selain itu, strain A. tumefaciens
C58 merupakan strain A. tumefaciens yang paling sesuai digunakan sebagai perantara dalam kajian ini. Tindak balas
berantai polimerase (PCR) telah dijalankan pada pucuk yang terhasil untuk mengesahkan integrasi fragmen PRT6 ke dalam
genom tomato. Berdasarkan analisis PCR, kesemua tujuh pucuk putatif transgenik adalah merupakan transforman positif.
Zinc (Zn) deficient soil prevails throughout the world and it has become the bottleneck in achieving production potential
and quality of crops. The negligible use of micronutrients along with irregular use of macronutrients is practised for
fodder production in Pakistan. Varying levels of zinc (0, 5, 10 and 15 kg ha-1) and nitrogen (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha-1)
were evaluated for their effect on yield, quality and zinc uptake on fodder sorghum (variety Hegari) in a field experiment
for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). Data were analysed by using Fishers’ analysis of variance (at p<0.05) and
response surface methodology (RSM). Correlation between different parameters was also studied. Application of zinc
and nitrogen improved the plant height, leaf area plant-1, green fodder yield, dry matter yield, crude protein percentage
and zinc content of plant but decreased the neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and ash percentage. Values for
different parameters recorded at second and third levels of zinc and nitrogen were remained at par with each other.
Application of 10 kg ha-1 zinc and 120 kg ha-1 nitrogen showed an average increase of 7.3 and 18.6% in green fodder
yield while 12.1 and 15.8% in dry matter yield, respectively. Similarly 6.1 and 7.5% increase in crude protein was noted
over control. Correlation between NDF and ADF was negative with rest of the studied parameters. In conclusion, Zn2
and
N2
gave the best results in term of yield and quality of fodder sorghum.
Sisa puri pitaya merah bersama biji telah digunakan dalam penyediaan mufin yang dicampurkan dengan 10%, 15% dan 20% puri dalam formulasi bater. Ujian warna, kandungan jumlah polifenol, jumlah flavonoid, ujian antioksida; pemerangkapan radikal bebas 2,2-difenil-1-pikrilhidrazil (DPPH) dan ujian penurunan ferrik (FRAP) telah dijalankan. Warna bater 3 jenis mufin tersebut berwarna merah jambu violet. Warna merah jambu (nilai a) meningkat dengan signifikan (p<0.05) selaras peningkatan peratus kandungan puri manakala kecerahan (nilai L) menurun dengan peningkatan puri. Apabila dimasak, semua warna merah jambu daripada bater hilang. Permukaan mufin adalah lebih gelap (nilai L), dengan mufin 20% puri paling signifikan (p<0.05). Isi kesemua mufin berwarna kuning dan kecerahan (nilai L) didapati berkurang secara signifikan (p<0.05) dengan pertambahan peratus puri. Jumlah polifenol sampel mufin menunjukkan mufin 10% puri pitaya ekstrak air mengandungi jumlah polifenol yang paling tinggi (29.0 mg GAE/100 g sampel). Kandungan flavonoid menunjukkan mufin 20% puri pitaya mengandungi flavonoid yang paling signifikan (p<0.05) 15.3 mg katekin/100 g sampel berbanding mufin kawalan 11.0 mg katekin. Bagi ujian antioksida DPPH, semua mufin dengan puri pitaya menunjukkan peratus pemerangkapan yang lebih baik berbanding kawalan. Ujian FRAP menunjukkan pola yang serupa dengan keputusan mufin 10% (17.4), mufin 15% (15.4) dan mufin 20% (17.5 mg trolox/100 g sampel). Warna merah jambu bater mufin hilang semasa proses memasak namun nilai antioksida masih diperolehi dalam mufin masak.
Aliran lapisan sempadan mantap dua matra bersebelahan titik genangan pada permukaan meregang dalam bendalir mikropolar dengan fluks haba permukaan boleh ubah dikaji. Halaju regangan dan halaju aliran bebas diandaikan berubah secara linear dari titik genangan. Persamaan dalam bentuk persamaan pembezaan separa dijelmakan kepada persamaan pembezaan biasa menggunakan penjelmaan keserupaan dan diselesaikan secara berangka menggunakan skim beza-terhingga yang dikenali sebagai kaedah kotak Keller. Kedua-dua aliran membantu dan aliran menentang dipertimbangkan. Lapisan sempadan terbentuk apabila halaju aliran bebas melebihi halaju regangan, sebaliknya, lapisan sempadan yang terbalik terbentuk apabila halaju aliran bebas kurang daripada halaju regangan. Keputusan berangka menunjukkan bahawa daya seretan berkurangan bagi bendalir mikropolar berbanding dengan bendalir Newtonan, dan ini seterusnya mengurangkan kadar pemindahan haba pada permukaan.
Dalam makalah ini, masalah aliran genangan dalam bendalir mikrokutub terhadap permukaan mencancang yang telap dengan fluks haba boleh ubah dipertimbangkan. Dengan menggunakan penjelmaan keserupaan, persamaan asas yang menakluk aliran bendalir dan pemindahan haba dijelmakan kepada satu set persamaan perbezaan biasa. Persamaan yang dijelmakan tertakluk kepada syarat-syarat sempadan yang berkaitan kemudiannya diselesaikan secara berangka menggunakan kaedah tembakan. Kesan parameter sedutan/semburan fw ke atas profil halaju dan suhu serta pekali geseran kulit dan nombor Nusselt setempat diperoleh dan dibincangkan. Keputusan berangka menunjukkan bahawa penyelesaian dual wujud dalam kedua-dua aliran membantu dan aliran menentang.
Pembentukan lapisan sempadan halaju dan terma yang dirangsang oleh aliran bebas bersebelahan plat tegak dengan suhu permukaan malar dikaji. Persamaan-persamaan menakluk dalam bentuk persamaan pembezaan separa diturunkan kepada persamaan-persamaan pembezaan biasa dengan penjelmaan keserupaan, sebelum diselesaikan secara berangka. Kedua-dua aliran membantu dan aliran menentang dipertimbangkan. Didapati bahawa penyelesaian adalah unik bagi aliran membantu, manakala penyelesaian dual wujud bagi aliran menentang. Kadar pemindahan haba pada permukaan didapati meningkat dengan peningkatan kedua-dua daya keapungan dan nombor Prandtl.
Penyelesaian berangka bagi masalah aliran lapisan sempadan olakan bebas mantap terhadap silinder bulat mengufuk yang dijanakan oleh pemanasan Newtonan, iaitu pemindahan haba dari permukaan berkadar langsung dengan suhu permukaan setempat, dipertimbangkan. Persamaan lapisan sempadan terjelma diselesaikan secara berangka dengan suatu skim berangka beza terhingga tersirat yang dikenali sebagai kaedah kotak Keller. Penyelesaian berangka diperoleh bagi pekali geseran kulit, pekali pemindahan haba setempat, suhu dinding serta profil halaju dan suhu. Ciri-ciri aliran dan pemindahan haba bagi suatu julat nilai nombor Prandtl yang besar dianalisis dan dibincangkan.
The investigation of the aerial parts of Haplophyllum laeviusculum (Rutaceae), a perennial herb native to Iran, afforded three alkaloids, skimmianine (1), lunamarine (2), ribalinidine (3) and and two common sterols, γ-sitosterol and campesterol. The structures of compounds were identified by using spectroscopic methods by using UV, IR, NMR, MS spectra and also by comparison with previous works. There has been no detail phytochemical investigation report on the plant carried previously. This is the first report on the identification of skimmianine (1), lunamarine (2) from genus Haplophyllum.
Air-dried leaves of both Glycosmis citrifolia and Glycosmis elongata collected from Bogor Botanical Garden, Indonesia were individually extracted with chloroform to give dark viscous extracts after solvent removal. Column chromatographic separation of the extract of G. citrifolia yielded 5(6)-glutene-3α-ol, two sets conformers, (E)-dambullin and (Z)-dambullin, and (E)-methyldambullin and (Z)-methyldambullin. Similar treatment of the extract of G. elongata gave skimmianine and arborinine. The structures of the compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic data and comparison with published reports.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential allelopathic effects of Euphorbia guyoniana (donor species) aqueous extract on germination efficiency of two weeds (Bromus tectorum and Melilotus indica) and one crop species (Triticum aestivum) under laboratory conditions. The germination efficiency, plumule and radicle length of Bromus was completely inhibited at the highest concentration of aqueous extracts of the donor species level (10%). The two recipient species exerted weak measures as affected by the highest concentration level of the donor. This inhibition was markedly obvious in B. tectorum than in M. indica indicating that B. tectorum is more sensitive to the tested donor, while the M. indica is more adapted to the aqueous extract than the B. tectorum.
Pueraria javanica Benth. is one of the most common leguminous cover crop used in oil palm plantations of Malaysia. A study was conducted to determine the allelopathic potential of this plant, using the aqueous extract, sandwich and dish-pack methods, with the seed and leaf (of P. javanica) on three bioassay weed species namely, Eleusine indica, Cyperus iria and Chromolaena odorata. The aqueous extract experiment was conducted using 0 (control), 16.7, 33.3 and 66.7 g/L of the aqueous leaf and seed extracts while the sandwich method was carried out using 10 and 50 mg of each of the donour plant parts. Meanwhile, the dish-pack method was done using four different distances (41, 58, 82 and 92 mm) away from the donour plant. All experiments were replicated five times using the complete randomized design (CRD). The leaf extract exhibited 100% reduction on the fresh weight of E. indica and C. odorata while the seed extract exhibited 100% reduction on all parameters for E. indica and on the fresh weight of C. iria at 66.7 g/L concentration. The seed and leaf at 10 and 50 mg significantly reduced the radicle length of all the bioassay species. The dish-pack experiment also showed a reduction effect on the germination percentage and seedling growth parameters of all the bioassay species. However, the reduction effect was not totally in accordance to the distance from the donor species. More studies need to be conducted to determine the type of reduction mechanism involved in the allelopathic activity especially with respect to molecular and biochemical aspects.
Allicin or diallyl thiosulfinate (C3H5SS(O)C3H5), an active compound of garlic (Allium sativum) is known for its pharmaceutical properties. In this study, the cellular destructive effects of allicin on a haemoflagellate protozoa parasite Trypanosoma evansi was investigated. Groups of male ICR mice were infected with a lethal dose of the parasite (1×105 parasites per mouse) and each group was either treated intraperitoneally with berenil (0.01 mL per mouse, a commercial anti-trypanosomal drug) on D+3 post-infection as the positive control group, treated orally with allicin (0.1 mL of 15 μg/mL allicin solution per mouse) for 30 days starting from D-7 pre-infection as the experimental group, or left untreated as the negative control group. Thin-stained blood smears were prepared from each mouse every alternate day, starting from D+3 post-infection and continued until the animal succumbed or until D+90 post-infection. Parasitaemias were determined using light microscope. Unstained blood smears were also prepared for direct observation under Phillips XL30 and Leo 1450VP scanning electron microscopes. All mice in the negative group succumbed to the infection with drastic increase of parasitaemias while all the positive control mice had minimal parasitaemias and cleared from the infection and survived for more than 100 days. On the other hand mice in the experimental group, experienced a prolonged suppressed parasitaemias which became patent later and caused death to all mice. Micrograph observations of parasites in the positive group showed that the parasites had adverse morphological changes due to berenil treatment which lead to cell destruction and death within 5 – 6 hours post-treatment. Likewise parasites in the experimental group too had undergone profound physical damages which caused cell death. This is the first report which shows that allicin actually induced cellular damage to haemoflagellate cells of T. evansi in vivo.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of element diffusion on the alloying behaviour and microstructure of a Ti-10%Mo10%Cr
alloy during sintering and furnace cooling. A theoretical calculation of the average diffusion distance for each
element was performed to predict the alloying behaviour during sintering and furnace cooling. The Ti-10%Mo-10%Cr
alloy was fabricated using a blended element powder metallurgy approach. Micrograph of the samples after sintering
showed bright-circle structures and significantly decreased equiaxed structures. The number of plate-like structures
increased with prolonged sintering time. Microstructural changes occurred because of element diffusion resulting from
the prolonged sintering time. Moreover, the diffusion distance of each element also increased with prolonged sintering
time. Although elements can sufficiently diffuse during both sintering and furnace cooling, the diffusion distance during
sintering was considerably higher than that during furnace cooling for all elements. The diffusion distances of Cr and
Mo were the highest and lowest, respectively, during sintering and furnace cooling. This study showed that alloying
behaviour mostly occurred during sintering and was controlled by the diffusion of Mo atoms.
Two-third of breast cancer patients expressed estrogen receptors (ER)s and received endocrine treatment with established anti-estrogens such as tamoxifen. But the action and acquired resistance during treatment are largely unknown. In contrary, phytochemicals are more selective and less cytotoxic to normal cells. Accordingly, we found aloe emodin, an anthraquinone to inhibit the proliferation of ER+-breast cancer cells, MCF-7 with IC50 of 80 µM, but not affecting control breast cells, MCF-10A. Tamoxifen was non-selective to both cells with IC50 of 27 and 38 μM, respectively. Thus, we aimed to investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism of aloe emodin on MCF-7 and its underlying signalling compared to tamoxifen. Cells were treated separately with aloe emodin and tamoxifen at respective IC50 for 72 h. Apoptosis was determined using Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), insulin like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-2 and B-raf gene was investigated using QuantiGene 2.0 Plex assay. Pairedstudent t-test and ANOVA test were used to compare between untreated and treated cells on the measured parameters. Each treatment was conducted in triplicate and repeated three times. Significance was set at p<0.05. The presences of early and late apoptosis in MCF-7 were seen in both treatments. All target genes were down regulated. The anti-proliferation effect of aloe emodin on MCF-7 is similar with tamoxifen which mediates inhibition of IGF-1R signalling pathway. This suggests aloe emodin as a potential anti-cancer agent to be used in combined anti-estrogen therapy to enhance its efficacy in ER+-breast cancer treatment.