Displaying publications 1521 - 1540 of 3987 in total

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  1. Occurrence of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in river water and sediment of the Mahakam River
    Hadibarata T, Kristanti RA, Mahmoud AH
    J Water Health, 2020 Feb;18(1):38-47.
    PMID: 32129185 DOI: 10.2166/wh.2019.100
    The study was performed to examine the occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including four steroid estrogens, one plasticizer, and three preservatives in the Mahakam River, Indonesia. The physicochemical analysis of river water and sediment quality parameters were determined as well as the concentration of EDCs. The range of values for pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate, ammonium, phosphate, and oil/grease in river water and sediment were higher than recommended limits prescribed by the World Health Organization's Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ). Bisphenol A (BPA) was the most widely found EDC with the highest concentration level at 652 ng/L (mean 134 ng/L) in the river water and ranged from ND (not detected) to 952 ng/L (mean 275 ng/L) in the sediment. Correlation analysis to investigate the relationship between the EDCs' concentrations in water and sediment also revealed a significant correlation (R2 = 0.93) between the EDCs' concentrations. High concentrations of EDCs are found in urban and residential areas because these compounds are commonly found in both human and animal bodies, resulting in the disposal of EDCs into canals and rivers in urban and suburban areas, as well as livestock manure and waste that is generated from intensive livestock farming around the suburban area.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*
  2. Knowledge and practice concerning some aspects of diarrhoeal disease among Orang Asli children 0-5 years, Kuala Langat District
    Yahya B, Md Naim AK
    Family Physician, 1992;4:17-19.
    A cross-sectional study was conducted in four Orang Asli settlements, in the district of Kuala Langat, to determine the knowledge and practice associated with diarrhoeal disease among the Orang asli children (0-5 years). It was seen that the social and environmental factors of the settlements were poor. Only 26% of the households had sanitary latrines and 36% had access to safer water supplies. Ninety-five percent of them had monthly income below the national poverty line. The diarrhoeal incidence was high, ie 240/1000 and the most affected were the older children in the age group of 49 - 60 months. Knowledge of diarrhoeal disease was poor. But the majority (84.2%) knew that breast feeding is the best milk for the child in order to avoid diarrhoeal disease.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Water Supply
  3. Fulltext Large-scale structure formation in ionic solution and its role in electrolysis and conductivity
    Yee CN, Ooi CHR, Tan LP, Misran M, Tang NT
    PLoS One, 2019;14(3):e0213697.
    PMID: 30913207 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213697
    That water may not be an inert medium was indicated by the presence at water's interfaces a negatively charged solute free zone of several hundred microns in thickness called the exclusion zone (EZ). Further evidence was demonstrated by Ovchinnikova's experiments (2009) showing that water can store and release substantial amount of charge. We demonstrate that the charge storage capacity of water arises from highly stable large-scale ionic structures with measurable charge imbalances and discrete levels of charge density. We also show evidence that the charge zones formation requires ionic solutes, and their formation correlate to large change in conductivity, by as much as 250%. Our experiments indicate that large-scale structuring plays a pivotal role in electrolysis and conductivity in ionic solution. We propose that water is an electrochemically active medium and present a new model of electrolysis and conductivity in ionic solution.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water/chemistry
  4. Antibacterial efficacy of chitosan- and poly(hexamethylene biguanide)-immobilized nanofiber membrane
    Ng IS, Ooi CW, Liu BL, Peng CT, Chiu CY, Chang YK
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2020 Jul 01;154:844-854.
    PMID: 32194127 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.03.127
    In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membrane was prepared by an electrospinning technique. After alkaline hydrolysis, the ion-exchange nanofiber membrane (P-COOH) was grafted with chitosan molecules to form a chitosan-modified nanofiber membrane (P-COOH-CS). Poly(hexamethylene biguanide) (PHMB) was then covalently immobilized on P-COOH and P-COOH-CS to form P-COOH-PHMB and P-COOH-CS-PHMB, respectively. The nanofiber membranes were subjected to various surface analyses as well as to the evaluations of antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. The optimal modification conditions for P-COOH-CS-PHMB were attained by water-soluble chitosan at 50 kDa of molecular weight, coupling pH at 7, and 0.05% (w/w) of PHMB. Within 10 min of treatment, the antibacterial rate was close to 100%. Under the similar conditions of antibacterial treatment, the P-COOH-CS-PHMB exhibited a better antibacterial efficacy than the P-COOH-PHMB. When the number of bacterial cells was increased by 2000 folds, both types of nanofiber membranes still maintained the antibacterial rate close to 100%. After five cycles of repeated antibacterial treatment, the antibacterial efficacy of P-COOH-PHMB was 96%, which was higher than that of P-COOH-CS-PHMB (83%). The experimental results revealed that the PHMB-modified nanofiber membranes can be suitably applied in water treatment such as water disinfection and biofouling control.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Water Purification
  5. Trace metals geochemistry for health assessment coupled with adsorption remediation method for the groundwater of Lorong Serai 4, Hulu Langat, west coast of Peninsular Malaysia
    Usman UA, Yusoff I, Raoov M, Hodgkinson J
    Environ Geochem Health, 2020 Oct;42(10):3079-3099.
    PMID: 32180058 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-020-00543-0
    The research study was carried out to evaluate trace metals (Pb, Cd, Se, Al, Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe, As, Ni, Cr, and Ag) concentrations in groundwater of Lorong Serai 4, Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia. Additionally, the research study focused on determining non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks, sources of the contaminants, and effective remediation methods. The results show that the concentration levels of Pb, Cd, Se, Al, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, and Ag are lower than their corresponding permissible limits, while Fe, Mn, and As concentrations exceed their acceptable limit. The hazard index of the groundwater in the area exceeded the acceptable limit, showing the rate of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects associated with the water. The findings also indicate that the lifetime cancer risk is high compared to the maximum limits of lifetime cancer risk from the drinking water (10-6 to 10-4). The groundwater geochemical data of the area are used in establishing the source of Fe, Mn, and As metal ions. Evaluation of Fe2+/Fe3+ and S2-/SO42- redox couples and thermodynamic modelling indicates that the groundwater of the area is in redox disequilibrium. The groundwater samples contain aqueous iron sulphate, which is supersaturated, ferrous carbonate and aluminium sulphate that are saturated. The main state of redox disequilibrium is governed by mineral precipitation and dissolution. Aqueous arsenic and manganese are possibly derived from the dissolution of pyrite (arsenopyrite) and amorphous oxide-hydroxides, respectively. The high concentration of iron in the shallow groundwater in the area is primarily the result of silicate rock weathering of ferroan igneous and metamorphic minerals with a minor contribution from the oxidation of iron sulphides. Magnetite coated with graphene oxide (Fe3O4-GO) nanoparticles (NPs) was synthesized and characterized, and the adsorption preliminary experiments were carried out; and the Fe3O4-GO NPs show enhanced removal (Fe > As > Mn) capacity over graphene oxide (GO).
    Matched MeSH terms: Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis*
  6. Microplastics in the freshwater and terrestrial environments: Prevalence, fates, impacts and sustainable solutions
    Wong JKH, Lee KK, Tang KHD, Yap PS
    Sci Total Environ, 2020 Jun 01;719:137512.
    PMID: 32229011 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137512
    The ubiquitous occurrences of microplastics in the environment have raised much concern and resulted in voluminous studies related to microplastics. Studies on microplastics pollution of the marine environment have received significantly higher attention compared to those of the freshwater and terrestrial environments. With the impetus to better understand microplastics in the freshwater and terrestrial environments, this review elucidates the findings of >100 articles related to the prevalence, fates and impacts of microplastics therein and the sustainable solutions, mostly in the past 10 years. This review shows the interconnection between terrestrial and freshwater microplastics with wastewater and sewage treatment plants as the most significant contributors of environmental microplastics via sludge and effluent discharges. Microplastics in both ecosystems comprise the primary and secondary forms with the latter resulted from weathering of the former. Besides retaining in soil and infiltrating with rainwater underground, terrestrial microplastics also enter the freshwater environment. The environmental microplastics interact with the biotic and abiotic components resulting in entrainment, settlement, biofouling, degradation, fragmentation and entry into the food chain, with subsequent transfer across the food chain. The abundance of environmental microplastics is attributed to population density and urbanization though tidal cycle, storms, floods and human activities can affect their distribution. The leaching of additives from microplastics poses major health concern and sustainable solutions target at reduction of plastics use and disposal, substitution with bioplastics and wastewater treatment innovations. Further studies on classification, detection, characterization and toxicity of microplastics are necessary to permit more effective formulation of solutions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Fresh Water; Waste Water
  7. Detection of gliclazide in aqueous samples using liquid chromatography/time-of-flight/mass spectrometry
    Fouad Fadhil Al-Qaim, Md Pauzi Abdullah, Jalifah Latip, Wan Mohd Afiq Wan Mohd Khalik, Nurfaizah Abu Tahrim, Nurul Auni Zainal Abidin, et al.
    Sains Malaysiana, 2016;45:803-810.
    The big challenge for the detection of pharmaceutical residues in water samples is the type of ionization mode in
    terms of positive or negative ionization which plays an important role to identify and quantify the analytes using liquid
    chromatography/mass spectrometry. An analytical method was applied to analysis of gliclazide (diabetic drug) in surface
    water and wastewater from sewage treatment plants and hospitals. The proposed analytical method allows simultaneous
    isolation and concentration procedure using solid phase extraction (Oasis HLB) prior to separation using high-performance
    liquid chromatography. The detection and confirmation was achieved by applying time-of-flight analyzer. The limits of
    quantification were as low as 1.4 ng/L (deionized water), 4 ng/L (surface water), 27 ng/L (hospital influent), 10 ng/L
    (hospital effluent), 6 ng/L (sewage treatment plant effluent) and 21 ng/L (sewage treatment plant influent), respectively. On
    average, good recoveries of higher than 87% were obtained for gliclazide in the studied samples. The proposed method
    successfully determined and quantified gliclazide in surface water and wastewater. The results showed that gliclazide
    is a persistent compound in sewage treatment effluents as well as in the recipient rivers. Gliclazide was detected in all
    samples and the highest concentration was 130 ng/L in influent of sewage treatment plant.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Waste Water
  8. Study on the relation between mineral compositions of rock and construction characteristics of tunnel in cold regions: a case
    Yanliang shang, Shouji du, Honghong gao, Tongyin han
    Sains Malaysiana, 2017;46:2241-2250.
    Mineral composition of rock has a very important influence on the physical and mechanical properties of tunnel surrounding rock. Take Dangjianshan tunnel in cold regions for example, the rock specimens in different parts of tunnel were taken to carry out the detection test of mineral composition. By the detail qualitative and quantitative analysis, the relationship between mineral composition and surrounding rock engineering properties was explored. First of all, the composition and content of minerals contained in in the rock specimens were detected by X ray fluorescence spectrometer and X ray powder diffraction. The detection results show that rock of tunnel contains high hardness minerals such as quartz and feldspar which were proven by initial engineering geological investigation report, in addition, it also contains several kinds of low hardness minerals including inclined chlorite and illite which may exhibit large deformation characteristic of soft rock after the tunnel excavation in case of meeting water and weathering conditions. The total content of inclined chlorite and illite accounted for a considerable component in main tunnel, inclined shaft and parallel pilot respectively and the influence on surrounding rock engineering properties cannot be ignored. Therefore, mineral composition detection must be paid attention to after tunnel excavation. Secondly, the effects of mineral composition on surrounding rock were analyzed in aspects of rock strength, weathering resistance, water softening property and excavation deformation through comparing the rock samples in different parts of tunnel. The comparative results showed that when the mineral contents is high with high hardness and poor hydrophilicity, tunnel surrounding rock plays a better performance of physical and mechanical properties, vice versa. Finally, according to the specific geological and construction parameters of the tunnel, the correlation analysis was studied about the vault settlement after tunnel excavation and the hydrophilicity mineral content in main cave. The logarithmic relationship between them was found and the correlation coefficient was 0.98. It can provide a useful reference for the settlement prediction of Dangjinshan tunnel construction.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Water Softening
  9. Distribution and behaviour of nitrogen compounds in the surface water of the Sungai Terengganu estuary, southern waters of South China sea, Malaysia
    Suhaimi Suratman, Azyyati Abdul Aziz, Norhayati Mohd Tahir, Lee HL
    Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:651-659.
    A study was carried out to determine the distribution and behaviour of nitrogen (N) compounds (nitrite, nitrate, ammonia,
    dissolved and particulate organic nitrogen) in Sungai Terengganu estuary (TRE). Surface water samples were collected
    during ebb neap and spring tides for the longitudinal survey along the salinity gradient. The results indicated that all N
    compounds behave non-conservatively with addition during both tidal cycles, except for nitrate which exhibited removal
    behaviour during spring tide. In general, higher concentration of N compounds was observed during spring tide compared
    to neap tide. It is suggested that during spring tide, stronger water turbulence resulted in resuspension of nutrients in
    bottom sediment and lead to the increase in N compounds concentrations in the surface water. The diurnal survey for the
    freshwater station showed that the concentrations of N compounds follow the ebb and flood variations, whereas for the
    coastal station the reverse trend was observed. Comparisons with a previous study under similar tidal conditions show
    there was an increase in nitrite and ammonia concentrations in TRE, which was probably due to increase in discharge
    from the rapid development activities around this area. In addition, the presence of a breakwater at the lower part of
    the estuary may also contribute to the high nutrient content in the estuary due to restricted outflow of nutrients to the
    coastal area. Overall, the results from this study highlighted the importance of monitoring the N compounds for future
    protection of the estuary.
    Matched MeSH terms: Fresh Water; Water
  10. A comparative study between tilapia (oreochromis niloticus) by-product and tilapia protein hydrolysate on angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ace) inhibition activities and functional properties
    Siti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal, Khairul Faezah Md. Yunos, Norhafizah Abdullah
    Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:309-318.
    Tilapia is a popular freshwater fish and among the important cultured fish grown worldwide. In this study, fish protein
    hydrolysate was produced from tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) by-product (TB) and tilapia muscle (TM) through enzymatic
    hydrolysis using alcalase. The TB and TM protein hydrolysates were evaluated for its characteristics in terms of angiotensin
    I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition activity, peptide size distribution, and functional properties. Hydrolysis for 1 h for
    TB and TM successfully produced low molecular weight peptides (<14.2kDa) with the highest ACE inhibitory activities.
    The findings also demonstrated that both samples have high nitrogen solubility (>80% at pH2-9) and good emulsifying,
    water and oil holding capacities. The study indicated that tilapia protein hydrolysates have the potential to be used as
    functional food products.
    Matched MeSH terms: Fresh Water; Water
  11. Oleophilicity and oil-water separation by reduced graphene oxide grafted oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres
    Mohd Shaiful Sajab, Wan Nurmawaddah Wan Abdul Rahman, Chin Hua Chia, Sarani Zakaria, Hatika Kaco, An’amt Mohamed Noor
    Sains Malaysiana, 2018;47:1891-1896.
    Absorption is one of the effective, simple and economical methods to remove oil from oily wastewater. The most widely
    used approach is to utilize lignocellulosic biomass as oil absorbent. However, the hygroscopic of cellulose have limited
    the oil-water separation capability of lignocellulosic fibers. In this study, the surface functionality of oil palm empty
    fruit bunch (EFB) fibers was slightly altered by grafting reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The modified EFB fibers show
    a distinct morphological and chemical characteristics changes as the surface of fibers has been coated with rGO. This
    was supported by FTIR analysis with the diminishing peak of hydroxyl group region of EFB fibers. While the surface
    modification on EFB fibers shows a diminution of a hydrophilic characteristic of 131.6% water absorption in comparison
    with 268.9% of untreated EFB fibers. Moreover, modified fibers demonstrated an oil-water separation increment as well,
    as it shows 89% of oil uptake and improved ~17 times of oil selectivity in oil-water emulsion than untreated EFB fibers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Waste Water
  12. Modeling and optimization by particle swarm embedded neural network for adsorption of methylene blue by jicama peroxidase immobilized on buckypaper/polyvinyl alcohol membrane
    Jun LY, Karri RR, Yon LS, Mubarak NM, Bing CH, Mohammad K, et al.
    Environ Res, 2020 04;183:109158.
    PMID: 32044575 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109158
    Jicama peroxidase (JP) immobilized functionalized Buckypaper/Polyvinyl alcohol (BP/PVA) membrane was synthesized and evaluated as a promising nanobiocomposite membrane for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from aqueous solution. The effects of independent process variables, including pH, agitation speed, initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and contact time on dye removal efficiency were investigated systematically. Both Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network coupled with Particle Swarm Optimization (ANN-PSO) approaches were used for predicting the optimum process parameters to achieve maximum MB dye removal efficiency. The best optimal topology for PSO embedded ANN architecture was found to be 4-6-1. This optimized network provided higher R2 values for randomized training, testing and validation data sets, which are 0.944, 0.931 and 0.946 respectively, thus confirming the efficacy of the ANN-PSO model. Compared to RSM, results confirmed that the hybrid ANN-PSO shows superior modeling capability for prediction of MB dye removal. The maximum MB dye removal efficiency of 99.5% was achieved at pH-5.77, 179 rpm, ratio of H2O2/MB dye of 73.2:1, within 229 min. Thus, this work demonstrated that JP-immobilized BP/PVA membrane is a promising and feasible alternative for treating industrial effluent.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water Pollutants, Chemical*
  13. Effect of diacylglycerol interfacial crystallization on the physical stability of water-in-oil emulsions
    Yang J, Qiu C, Li G, Lee WJ, Tan CP, Lai OM, et al.
    Food Chem, 2020 Oct 15;327:127014.
    PMID: 32434126 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.127014
    The influence of diacylglycerol (DAG) combined with polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) on the stability of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions containing hydrogenated palm oil (HPO) was studied. Polarized light microscope revealed that DAG promoted HPO to crystallize at the water-oil interface, providing the combination of Pickering and network stabilization effects. It was proposed that the molecular compatibility of fatty acids in DAG with HPO accounted for the promotional effect. The interfacial crystallization of DAG together with the surface activity of PGPR led to the formation of emulsions with uniform small droplets and high freeze-thaw stability. Further exploration of physical properties indicated that the combination of DAG and PGPR dramatically improved the emulsion's viscoelasticity and obtained a larger deformation yield. Water droplets in DAG-based emulsions acted as active fillers to improve the network rigidity. Therefore, DAG is a promising material to be used as emulsifier to enhance the physical stability of W/O emulsions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water/chemistry
  14. Fulltext Ecofriendly Approach for Treatment of Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Water Using Activated Carbon of Kernel Shell of Oil Palm
    Baby R, Hussein MZ
    Materials (Basel), 2020 Jun 09;13(11).
    PMID: 32526876 DOI: 10.3390/ma13112627
    Heavy metal ion contamination in water poses a significant risk to human health as well as to the environment. Millions of tons of agricultural wastes are produced from oil palm plantations which are challenging to manage. In this study, we converted palm kernel shells (PKS) from a palm oil plantation into activated carbon (AC) having a surface area of 1099 m2/g using phosphoric acid as an activator. The prepared material was characterized using BET, XRD, Raman, FESEM and FTIR analyses. The AC was applied for the treatment of heavy-metal-contaminated water, and different parameters; the pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and metal ion concentrations were varied to determine the optimal conditions for the metal ion adsorption. Different kinetic models; the zeroth, first-order and second-order, and Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were used to determine the mechanism of metal ion adsorption by the AC. Under the optimized conditions, Cr6+ and Pb2+ were removed completely, while Zn2+ and Cd2+ were more than 80% removed. This is a greener approach in which an agricultural waste, PKS is converted into a useful product, activated carbon and subsequently applied for the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated water.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water; Water Pollution
  15. Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon Schrank) improves water use efficiency and yield of hexaploid bread wheat
    Ma'arup R, Trethowan RM, Ahmed NU, Bramley H, Sharp PJ
    Plant Sci, 2020 Jun;295:110212.
    PMID: 32534607 DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110212
    Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon Schrank) is a potential source of new genetic diversity for the improvement of hexaploid bread wheat. Emmer wheat was crossed and backcrossed to bread wheat and 480 doubled haploids (DHs) were produced from BC1F1 plants with hexaploid appearance derived from 19 crossses. These DHs were screened under well-watered conditions (E1) in 2013 to identify high-yielding materials with similar phenology. One-hundred and eighty seven DH lines selected on this basis, 4 commercial bread wheat cultivars and 9 bread wheat parents were then evaluated in extensive field experiments under two contrasting moisture regimes in north-western NSW in 2014 and 2015. A significant range in the water-use-efficiency of grain production (WUEGrain) was observed among the emmer derivatives. Of these, 8 hexaploid lines developed from 8 different emmer wheat parents had significantly improved intrinsic water-use-efficiency (WUEintr) and instantaneous water-use-efficiency (WUEi) compared to their bread wheat recurrent parents. Accurate and large scale field-based phenotyping was effective in identifying emmer wheat derived lines with superior performance to their hexaploid bread wheat recurrent parents under moisture stress.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water/metabolism*
  16. Influence of different substrate moistures on wood consumption and movement patterns of Microcerotermes crassus and Coptotermes gestroi (Blattodea: Termitidae, Rhinotermitidae)
    Wong N, Lee CY
    J Econ Entomol, 2010 Apr;103(2):437-42.
    PMID: 20429460
    Moisture is an important physical factor for the survival of termites. The effects of different moisture levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%) of a sand substrate on the behavior of laboratory groups of Microcerotermes crassus Snyder and Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) (Blattodea: Termitidae: Rhinotermitidae) were evaluated. Moisture content of sand affected wood consumption and influenced termite distribution across a moisture gradient for M. crassus. Changing the moisture parameters affected the location preference of C. gestroi, but the effect on wood consumption was not significant. Nonetheless, M. crassus and C. gestroi showed a similar distribution pattern of association with particular moisture levels.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water*
  17. Fulltext Spermine mediated improvements on stomatal features, growth, grain filling and yield of rice under differing water availability
    Berahim Z, Dorairaj D, Omar MH, Saud HM, Ismail MR
    Sci Rep, 2021 05 21;11(1):10669.
    PMID: 34021188 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89812-1
    Rice which belongs to the grass family is vulnerable to water stress. As water resources get limited, the productivity of rice is affected especially in granaries located at drought prone areas. It would be even worse in granaries located in drought prone areas such as KADA that receives the lowest rainfall in Malaysia. Spermine (SPM), a polyamine compound that is found ubiquitiosly in plants is involved in adaptation of biotic and abiotic stresses. The effect of SPM on growth,grain filling and yield of rice at three main granaries namely, IADA BLS, MADA and KADA representing unlimited water, limited water and water stress conditions respectively, were tested during the main season. Additinally, the growth enhancer was also tested during off season at KADA. Spermine increased plant height, number of tillers per hill and chlorophyll content in all three granaries. Application of SPM improved yield by 38, 29 and 20% in MADA, KADA and IADA BLS, respectively. Harvest index showed 2.6, 6 and 16% increases at IADA BLS, KADA and MADA, respectively in SPM treated plants as compared to untreated. Except for KADA which showed a reduction in yield at 2.54 tha-1, SPM improved yield at MADA, 7.21 tha-1 and IADA BLS, 9.13 tha-1 as compared to the average yield at these respective granaries. In the second trial, SPM increased the yield to 7.0 and 6.4 tha-1 during main and off seasons, respectively, indicating that it was significantly higher than control and the average yield reported by KADA. The yield of SPM treatments improved by 25 and 33% with an increment of farmer's income at main and off seasons, respectively. Stomatal width was significantly higher than control at 11.89 µm. In conclusion, irrespective of the tested granaries and rice variety, spermine mediated plots displayed increment in grain yield.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water/metabolism
  18. Effects of inlet temperature and carrier concentration on spray-dried 'cempedak' (Artocarpus integer) fruit powder and its reconstitution properties
    Pui LP, Karim R, Yusof YA, Wong CW, Ghazali HM
    Acta Sci Pol Technol Aliment, 2021 4 23;20(2):135-148.
    PMID: 33884852 DOI: 10.17306/J.AFS.0801
    BACKGROUND: 'Cempedak' (Artocarpus integer) is an aromatic fruit which is similar to jackfruit. Although it is rich in vitamin A and is consumed fresh, the fruit has a short shelf life. Hence, it can be converted through a spray-drying process, to form powder, which is more stable. Powder flow properties are important when considering storage, while its reconstitution characteristics are critical for the consumer to make juice from the product.

    METHODS: The parameters of spray-dried 'cempedak' fruit powder under study include inlet air temperature (140-180°C) and maltodextrin (DE 10) concentrations (5-15% w/w). Response surface methodology involving 14 runs was used to assess the effects of inlet temperature and maltodextrin on the powder flow properties and reconstitution properties of the spray-dried 'cempedak' powder.

    RESULTS: Out of the tested responses, only bulk density, change in cake height ratio, and water solubility index had a high coefficient of determination value. Inlet air temperature was found to be the main parameter to affect the bulk density, caking and water solubility index, when compared to maltodextrin concentration. By setting minimization of caking and maximization of water solubility index as the main determinants, the optimal parameters of 160°C inlet temperature and 15% (w/w) maltodextrin DE10 were generated, with a desirability of 0.697.

    CONCLUSIONS: The powder produced under optimal conditions (160°C and 15% w/w maltodextrin) had a low bulk density (480.01 kg/m3), low caking properties (0.17 change in cake height ratio), and a high solubility index (88.69). This indicates that the powder is stable to be stored (without caking) and will have good reconstitution when added to water.

    Matched MeSH terms: Water*
  19. Tailored rigidity of W/O Pickering emulsions using diacylglycerol-based surface-active solid lipid nanoparticles
    Li G, Lee WJ, Tan CP, Lai OM, Wang Y, Qiu C
    Food Funct, 2021 Nov 29;12(23):11732-11746.
    PMID: 34698749 DOI: 10.1039/d1fo01883c
    Pickering water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions were fabricated by using medium-long chain diacylglycerol (MLCD)-based solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and the connection between the characteristics of the SLNs and the colloidal stability of the emulsions was established. Via melt-emulsification and ultrasonication, MLCD-based SLNs with particle sizes of 120-300 nm were obtained with or without other surfactants. The particle size of the SLNs was influenced by the chemical properties of the surfactants, and surfactants decreased the contact angle of SLNs at the oil-water interface. Gelation was observed in SLNs modified by sodium stearoyl lactylate and lecithin, whereas the addition of Tween 20 resulted in a homogeneous SLN solution. The adsorption of surfactants onto SLN surfaces caused the production of higher amounts of α crystals accompanied by delayed crystallization onset which contributed to the reduction of particle size, interfacial tension and oil wetting ability. The W/O emulsions with higher rigidity and physical stability can be obtained by varying surfactant types and by increasing SLN mass ratios to 60%, whereby more SLNs are adsorbed at the droplet surface as a Pickering stabilizer. This study provides useful insights for the development of diacylglycerol-based SLNs and Pickering W/O emulsions which have great potential for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
    Matched MeSH terms: Water/chemistry
  20. Impact of sublethal phenol in freshwater fish Labeo rohita on biochemical and haematological parameters
    Muthukumaravel K, Priyadharshini M, Kanagavalli V, Vasanthi N, Ahmed MS, Musthafa MS, et al.
    Environ Monit Assess, 2022 Oct 21;195(1):10.
    PMID: 36269455 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10554-2
    Phenol, an aromatic chemical commonly found in domestic and industrial effluents, upon its introduction into aquatic ecosystems adversely affects the indigenous biota, the invertebrates and the vertebrates. With the increased demand for agrochemicals, a large amount of phenol is released directly into the environment as a byproduct. Phenol and its derivatives tend to persist in the environment for longer periods which in turn poses a threat to both humans and the aquatic ecosystem. In our current study, the response of Labeo rohita to sublethal concentrations of phenol was observed and the results did show a regular decrease in biochemical constituents of the targeted organs. Exposure of Labeo rohita to sublethal concentration of phenol (22.32 mg/L) for an epoch of 7, 21 and 28 days shows a decline in lipid, protein, carbohydrate content and phosphatase activity in target organs such as the gills, muscle, intestine, liver and kidney of the fish. The present study also aims to investigate the toxic effects of phenol with special reference to the haematological parameters of Labeo rohita. At the end of the exposure period, the blood of the fish was collected by cutting the caudal peduncle with a surgical scalpel. And it was observed that the red blood corpuscle count (RBC), white blood corpuscle (WBC), haemoglobin count (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values showed a decline after exposure to phenol for 7 days, while white blood corpuscle (WBC) shows an increased count. At 21 days and 28 days, all the haematological parameters showed a significant decrease.
    Matched MeSH terms: Fresh Water/chemistry
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