A factorial experiment of three light intensities and three fertiliser levels was carried out on the potted seedlings of neobalanocarpus heimii as stock plants for subsequent rooting of cuttings. Light intensities used were 25%, 50% and 100% of the open sunlight and the fertilizer levels were 0 g, 1 g and 2 g plant-1 month-1. Results of 11 months after potting showed that the stock plants treated with 1 g and 2 g fertilizer had significantly better height and diameter increments than those without fertilizer in all light intensities tried. On the other hand, no significant effect of light intensity was obtained in height and diameter increments of the stock plants. Survival of stock plants of more than 86% was obtained in all light intensities tried with or without fertilizer application. Test on rooting of subsequent cuttings showed that light intensity of 25% and 0 g fertiliser, to stock plants gave the highest rooting percentage (73%) and the number of roots (2.0). The general trend showed that rooting decreased to below 60% when intensity of light was increased. In terms of size, cuttings with diameter between 1.2 mm and 2.3 mm is recommended as it yielded rooting of 65% to 75%. For practical application, a combination of 25% light intensity and 1 g of fertilizer plant-1 month-1 can be applied to the stock plants to maintain their healthy growth for continuous production of cutting materials for rooting.
Evaluation of magnetic properties of electrical steel is vital in improving the quality of electrical machinery since it is used as magnetic cores for transformers, motors and generators. A double yoke single sheet tester (ssT) was modeled using two identical C-cores wound with copper wires at limb side in horizontal arrangement. The magnetic properties for electrical steels, grade M4 and M19 were tested under a frequency of 50 Hz with the current ranging from 02 to 2.4A. The effects of the sample dimension and anisotropy on magnetic measurements were investigated. Evaluation on specimen dimensions indicate that the non-uniformity of sample magnetization in overhang sample can attribute to the flux leakage between the yoke legs. The stray flux is also increased with the overhang sample. However, the so-called fit-in sample which is fitted nicely between the yoke end poles can minimize the effect of stray flux. One way ANOVA and T-test were used as statistical methods and executed at the 5% significance level. It is statistically proven that the magnetic properties of both magnetic materials are influenced by their anisotropy.
Floods are known to be commonly occurring natural disasters in most part of the world. In 2014, the
east coast of Peninsular Malaysia was affected by the worst flood ever recorded in history. The worst
flood affected area were Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. The 2014 flood caused physical and
monetary losses amounting nearly millions of dollars. Among the worst hit infrastructures in 2014 flood
disaster were hospitals. This has led to the realization of hospital disaster preparedness and management
is important which needs to be closely monitored and addressed. This paper investigates the disaster
preparedness level of selected hospitals affected by flood disasters in Kelantan. Guided interviews with
the flood-affected hospital disaster committees were carried out and summarized in a summary table to
give a clear picture of the level of hospital disaster preparedness during the 2014 flood disaster. The
results show that despite the existence of disaster action plan and protocols there is no standard disaster
preparedness model being used by hospitals.
It is well established that accidental and non-accidental injuries/child abuse and neglect (CAN) are a
major public health problem globally. Not only do they affect individuals, injuries affect families, the
community, government and internationally as well. Injuries span throughout childhood and into
adulthood. Purpose of this study is to identify what are the difficulties and challenges in identifying
and reporting CAN cases at the emergency (ED) department in Malaysian hospitals. Thirty in-depth
interviews were conducted at the ED in three major hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia which
consists of specialists, medical officers, nurses and medical assistants. The study found that there is a
significant gap identified in medical professionals’ knowledge and skills related to understanding,
identifying and detecting CAN, particularly among medical officers who are in charge of diagnosis and
reports in the hospital. Those who had previous experience or encounters in dealing with CAN cases
would have higher suspicion index compared to those who haven’t. Other medical professionals such
as nurses and medical assistants although do not have the mandate to diagnose or report of CAN cases,
needed to have the basic knowledge and awareness and play more active role in their respective settings.
Vermiconversion study was conducted to compare the use of commercial livestock excreta i.e. cow dung (CD) and goat manure (GM) in the vermiconversion of spent mushroom compost (SMC) utilising red worms i.e. Lumbricus rubellus to obtain good quality compost with high nutrient content. This study was performed for 70 days after 21 days of pre-composting at different ratios of livestock excreta and SMC. The highest multiplication and growth of earthworms in number and biomass was recorded in TE with increment of +296.57 and +484.20%, respectively. Moreover, paired samples t-test indicated a significant difference (p<0.05) in earthworms’ number and biomass. The results for non-mixed substrate showed, CD (TA) bioproduct obtained, contained the highest concentration in exchangeable K (1.98%). However, GM (TD) vermicompost recorded the highest content of total N (1.66%) and available P (0.64%). In conclusion, 50% of GM is recommended in vermiculture as well as producing nutrient enriched bioproduct compared with CD with SMC as bulking agent. Furthermore, heavy metal i.e. Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn content in bioproduct produced from all treatments were lower compared to compost limits set by USA, European countries and Malaysian Recommended Site Screening Levels for Contaminated Land (SSLs).
This indoor study was aimed to analyze the production of fatty acids with their growth profile from few marine algae under the genus Chaetoceros isolated from coastal water of Pahang, Malaysia. The algae were established into culture using standard marine media (f/2 media) and the variation of fatty acid for each species was determined using GCMS. Statistical analysis of one-way ANOVA was performed to evaluate the significant and homogeneity data on the growth of each alga and total fatty acid percentage obtained. The results showed that four taxa were successfully cultivated and identified as Chaetoceros baculites, Chaetoceros anastomosans, Chaetoceros affinis var. willei and Chaetoceros affinis var. affinis. Out of four Chaetoceros, C. baculites showed the highest growth rate (0.75 cell.day-1) and division’s value (1.08) while C. anastomosans showed the highest doubling time value (8.66). Statistical analysis showed that all species have significantly different growth rate (p<0.05). Myristic acid was the main component for fatty acid storage for C. baculites, C. anastomosans and C. affinis var. willei whereas palmitic acid for C. affinis var. affinis. All species contained about 35 to 75% of total percentage fatty acids throughout the growth day. Based on total percentage, both affinis varieties had high fatty acid percentage compared with the other two species with the total percentage of more than 70%. As a conclusion, all four taxa are suitable to be used in lipid industry in Malaysia with C. affinis var. affinis is the best candidate for bio-fuel industry and C. anastomosans for pharmaceutical industry.
The study monitored the characteristics of the leachate collected from ten different landfills and presented the experimental work for the treatment of leachate by immobilized Trametes menziesii. Variation in biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) showed that the age of the leachate has a significant effect on its characteristics and composition. The BOD5/COD ratio tends to decrease as the age of leachate increases, varying from 0.71 for a relatively 'fresh' leachate to 0.62 for an older (more stabilized) one. Variations in the characteristics of the leachate suggested that these leachates are difficult to treat. The principal pollutants in the leachate samples were organic and ammonia loads. Treatment of leachate using immobilized Trametes menziesii achieved 89.14 and 2.11% removals for leachate BOD5 and COD, respectively. These findings suggested that using immobilized Trametes menziesii can remove promising percentage of BOD and COD leachate.
Introduction: Entomological surveillance is crucial to determine the abundance of dengue vector and to evaluate breeding areas of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The objective of this study is to determine the distribution and breeding preference for both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in dengue endemic areas. Materials and Methods: Ovitraps surveillance was conducted in two dengue endemic areas; AU2, Keramat and Seksyen 7, Shah Alam, Selangor. A minimum number of 100 ovitraps were deployed for 5 days in the study sites. Samples collected were brought back to the lab and all larvae recovered were identified to species level. Results: The ovitap index (OI) in both localities exceeded the transmission threshold of 10% with the OI recorded ranged from 42.3-79.8% in AU2, Keramat and 16.7-42.9% in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam. Ae. albopictus was the dominant species in AU2 Keramat with the highest ratio Ae. aegypti to Ae. albopictus recorded was 1.00:22.79. Nonetheless, in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam the difference in Ae. aegypti to Ae. albopictus ratio is not really prominent with 1.00:3.61 for ovitraps deployed outdoor and 3.40:1.00 for ovitraps set indoor. It was determined that single infestation of either Ae. aegypti or Ae. albopictus is more frequent for ovitraps deployed indoor and/or outdoor, respectively. It was also determined that mixed infestations were found in this study indicating that both species can oviposit in the same container. Conclusion: This study indicates that OI is still above transmission threshold in both study sites. While Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus remain as a dominant indoor and outdoor breeder, respectively, mixed breeding of Aedes species in a same container was also observed.
A series of poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) microcapsules filled with dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) was successfully prepared by in situ polymerization. The effect of diverse process parameters and ingredients on the morphology of the microcapsules was observed by SEM, optical microscopy (OM) and digital microscopy. Different techniques for the characterization of the chemical structure and the core content were considered such as FT-IR and 1H-NMR as well as the characterization of thermal properties by DSC. High yields of free flowing powder of spherical microcapsules were produced. The synthesized microcapsules can be incorporated into another polymeric host material. In the event the host material cracks due to excessive stress or strong impact, the microcapsules would rupture to release the DCPD, which could polymerize to repair the crack.
This study was conducted to study the morphological features of species under the genus Chaetoceros isolated from the coastal waters of Pahang, Malaysia. The species were isolated, cultivated and viewed under light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Four taxa were successfully isolated and cultivated in pure culture, namely Chaetoceros affinis var. affinis, Chaetoceros affinis var. willei, Chaetoceros anastomosans and Chaetoceros baculites. Both varieties of C. affinis were considered as distinct taxa where both strains can be distinguished based on morphological characteristics. C. affinis var. affinis has a thick cell wall compared with C. affinis var. willei. C. anastomosans has special features including a silica bar on the intersection of setae and the production of mucous. The length of the aperture opening is a new record from this study. The new record obtained for C. baculites includes the size of the aperture, the terminal setae, spinal arrangement, the thinness of the cell wall and the location of the species in tropical waters. Detailed data on each species will be added to the taxonomic information for future studies.
In this paper, we present an automated classification method of landform elements using an application of SAGA GIS software. The spatial assessment was done on the Yambaru forest area (YFA) in the northernmost part of Okinawa Island, Japan. This task is performed through the detailed elevation grid analyses from DTM of YFA with a spatial scale of 10 × 10 m2 supported by The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. The classification has ten classes; high ridges, midslope ridges, upland drainage, upper slopes, open slopes, plains, valleys, local ridges, midslope drainage and streams. Classes were defined using the ‘topographical position index’ module and selected terrain variables were integrated to vegetation data for site evaluation. Information on terrain characteristics is very important to explain geographical constraints and map variability of natural resources in maintaining sustainable forest management as well as supporting decision making processes. Taking this into account, we adapted a traditional concept of forest terrain introduced by Sai On, a council member of the Ryukyu Kingdom (former name of Okinawa Island) when evaluating the potential site for forestry use.
Conventional forest inventory practice took huge of effort, and is time- and cost- consuming. With the aid of remote sensing technology by light detection and ranging (LiDAR), those unbearable factors could be minimized. LiDAR is able to capture forest characteristic information and is well known for estimating forest structure accurately in many studies. Forest monitoring related to forest resource inventory (FRI) becomes more effective by utilizing LiDAR data and it is tremendously useful, especially to distinguish information on density, growth and distribution of trees in a selected area. In this study, LiDAR data was utilized aimed to delineate crown cover and estimate upper-storey canopy area in Yambaru Forest using object-based segmentation and classification techniques. Agreement between field survey and LiDAR data analysis showed that only 33.7% of upper-storey canopy area was successfully delineated. The low accuracy level of canopy detection in Yambaru Forest area was expected mainly due to tree structure, density and topographic condition.
Mandarin is one of the seven third-language courses offered in UiTM and has the largest number of students among the seven languages. In certain faculties at UiTM, the results of the Mandarin test were poorer. Hence, this project was conducted to improve the results of Basic Mandarin 1 in certain faculties in UiTM. The study was conducted at UiTM Selangor, comprising of Shah Alam, Puncak Perdana and Puncak Alam campuses. Based on the analysis from the Student Information Management System (SIMS) at UiTM, the score of the Basic Mandarin 1 writing test was found to be the lowest compared to the scores of the listening test, reading test and language project. In addition, the percentage of students who received Grade A in the faculties for the study was less than 15% while the number of students who received Grade C was over 30%. Therefore, the e-Kosa Kata app using Microsoft Sway was developed to help students memorize and remember vocabulary through digital devices. A questionnaire was also distributed to obtain students’ feedback on the effectiveness of the e-Kosa Kata. A total of 228 respondents from four selected faculties participated in the study. The findings showed that there was an increase in writing test scores and the percentage of students who received Grade A after using e-Kosa Kata. Additionally, the e-Kosa Kata app also benefits the environment, students, lecturers, departments and university. The app has the potential to be widely used among students as well as the general public who are interested in learning basic Mandarin
Visual functions deteriorate gradually during the normal aging process. As the number of older population increase rapidly, it is important to educate the senior citizens about the nature of age-related visual functions deterioration and their underlying mechanisms. This literature review compiles all the information concerning the changes in the visual system due to aging process, including: decrease of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, reduction of orientation discrimination sensitivity and motion direction detection, decline of binocular summation; information processing; visual field sensitivity; wavelength sensitivity; pupil size, and increased tear film evaporation and presbyopia.
The stability of tear film can be measured by tear film break-up time (TFBUT). To date, the comparison value of TFBUT between slit lamp with stopwatch, which is conventional method and anterior segment digital imaging (ASDI) is under explored. The aim of this study was to compare TFBUT value between the conventional method and the ASDI utilizing iPhone 6s® video recorder. A total of 20 normal and healthy participants with 40 eyes were involved in this study. Right and left eyes from an individual were considered separately. Three measurements of TFBUT were taken from each methods and average were calculated and recorded. Mann Whitney U test was used to analyze the data and it was found that the median of the TFBUT measurement from the conventional method (2.16 seconds) was higher than the median from the ASDI (2.00 seconds). The comparison between two methods was not significant (p > 0.05). In conclusion, this study suggested that both methods could not give different result in the assessment of TFBUT.
ix species of Eurema butterflies comprised of 261 adult individuals collected from various sampling sites in Peninsular Malaysia were identified. The morphometric measurement of the specimens was carried out by using seven characters measured from the wing and body regions. Morphometric analysis was determined through the multivariate analysis of Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) and Cluster Analysis. The results of DFA showed that two out of seven characters utilized have the lowest values of Partial’s Wilks Lambda; basal length and hindwing length. These characters therefore are significant for the discrimination of the Eurema species. The classification matrix shows that both E. hecabe and E. blanda were completely discriminated by the characters set. Moreover, there was great overlaps occurred between the species groups when plotting a conical graph except for species E. blanda that formed homogenous group. Basal length was also suggested as the species-specific character for grouping the species E. blanda. In Cluster Analysis, E. hecabe tends to be closer to E. sari with the lowest value of agglomeration. The results from dendogram generated from average linkage also showed several relationship patterns among the six species.
Temporary immersion system, Recipient for Automated Temporary Immersion® (RITA®), is one of the innovative systems that allow the production of large number of somatic embryos or plantlets via in vitro plant propagation. It has been widely used to avoid associated problems such as low multiplication rate of somatic embryos and hyperhydricity during plant propagation. Thus, an attempt was made to investigate optimal parameters such as immersion time and immersion frequency, for the multiplication of direct somatic embryogenesis from cotyledon culture of Eurycoma longifolia Jack using RITA®. Four periods of immersion time (1, 5, 10 and 15 min every 4 h) were evaluated for the efficiency in somatic embryos multiplication. In order to optimize repetitive somatic embryogenesis, three different immersion frequencies (5 min immersion every 2, 4 and 8 h) were applied. The highest number of secondary embryos (69.67 ± 9.73) was found significant when immersing the globular, primary embryos for 5 min every 4 h as compared to other immersion time tested. The secondary somatic embryos obtained in this study could be further used for the development of plantlet regeneration of E. longifolia.
A new compound namely 2-[(1′E)-3′-hydroxyl-1′-methyl-1′-propen-1′-yl]-6-methoxy-7-[(2′′-methylheptyl)oxy]-5-benzofurancarboxylic acid and three known compounds of β-sitosterol, γ-taraxasterol and stigmasterol were isolated from the n-hexane extracts of the rhizomes and fruits of Johannesteijsmannia altifrons using vacuum liquid, column and radial chromatography. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by means of 1D and 2D NMR, FT-IR, UV-VIS spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.
Safety is vital in any industry, including the offshore sector, which is classified as a major hazard industry. Health, Safety and the Environment (HSE) identified that the probability of accidents is high while working on the offshore sectors where it will exposed workers to many hazardous work activities. The appropriate measures to prevent accident in this sectors must be laid out clearly. This paper is to identify the effectiveness of safety awareness campaign and the continuity of the awareness among the workers to prevent injuries at offshore. To achieve this, we have identified the level of awareness and propose a guideline on areas of improvement. Prior of embarking to offshore, staff were exposed to safety awareness program for four weeks. After the program, we started with the pretest to all staff. They were posted offshore for 6 weeks. Within the period, the performance awareness of each staff is monitored through observation and interview. During the final week, the posttest questionnaire were administered to all staff. Two instruments were used for the quantitative data collection, which are Unsafe Act Unsafe Condition (UAUC) card; and Behavior Observation Tool (BOT) card. Questionnaire data were analyzed quantitatively. Paired-sample t-test was used for analyzing pre and post result. The results show that the mean was increased. Recent studies on the safety briefing highlighted several significant changes in terms of employee understanding toward safety. Safety awareness training has been introduced in the new safety briefing prior to offshore mobilization.
Masalah kesuburan disebabkan oleh faktor lelaki semakin meningkat dan setakat ini belum ada rawatan yang berjaya
menyelesaikan masalah ini. Gynura procumbens adalah antara herba yang dikatakan berpotensi merawat masalah ini.
Pengambilan G. procumbens sebagai diet telah didapati meningkatkan bilangan dan motiliti sperma, namun kesan G.
procumbens terhadap integriti DNA sperma masih tidak diketahui. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengenal pasti
kesan tindakan ekstrak G. procumbens terhadap integriti DNA dan kualiti sperma mencit jantan. Empat kumpulan mencit
diberikan suapan paksa ekstrak G. procumbens (100, 200 dan 300 mg/mL) dan air suling selama 28 hari berturut-turut.
Keputusan kajian menunjukkan ciri-ciri DNA nukleus sperma adalah normal dan nilai peratusan DNA utuh melebihi 92%
pada semua kumpulan. Bilangan sperma bagi kesemua mencit yang menerima rawatan G. procumbens menunjukkan
peningkatan yang signifikan (p<0.05) berbanding kawalan (8.14 ± 1.06) × 106
dan kumpulan 300 mg/mL menunjukkan
bacaan bilangan sperma tertinggi (16.54 ± 3.2) × 106
. Kumpulan kepekatan 300 mg/mL ini turut mencatatkan peratus
jumlah pergerakan progresif sperma yang paling tinggi iaitu sebanyak 49.52% berbanding 27.7% bagi kumpulan kawalan
serta menunjukkan peringkat perkembangan sel spermatogen yang lengkap dan teratur. Secara kesimpulannya, kajian
ini mendapati bahawa ekstrak G. procumbens tidak merosakkan DNA sperma serta meningkatkan beberapa parameter
kesuburan mencit jantan.