Phytochemicals and antioxidant properties of different parts of Camellia sinensis leaves from Sabah Tea Plantation in Sabah, Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine the total phenolic (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) as well as the antioxidant activity of 50% ethanolic extracts from different parts of Camellia sinensis (shoot, young and matured leaves). Comparison was also made between black (fermented) and green (unfermented) tea. For green tea, the results showed that the shoot contained significantly higher total phenolic content, followed by the young and matured leaves (p<0.05). The same trend was also observed for antioxidant activity as assessed using FRAP (ferric reducing/antioxidant power), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl 1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay and ABTS (2,2’-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline)-6-sulphonic) radical scavenging assays. As for black tea, the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid content were observed in the shoot, followed by the young and old leaves. The same trend of antioxidant activity with green tea was also observed in black tea extracts. In addition, black tea compost showed comparable high total phenolic and flavonoid content as well as antioxidant activities as assessed using different antioxidant assays. High antioxidant activity of tea leaves grown in Sabah might be contributed by phenolic phytochemicals that presence in the extract

Future Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) development

Ecotourism is an alternative form of tourism and is usually confused with natural and cultural tourism.CBET is fast becoming a popular biodiversity conservation tool that develops and benefits the local community. Based on the context of conservation theory and practice, Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) is a form of community-based natural resource management. However, a sustainable CBET development through Community Capacity Building (CCB)programs is not something that it easily achievable. Local community’s capacity varies from one culture to another. It takes a high level of community participation, in order for it to come to a level where the community members themselves are motivated to participate and contribute to the development of the program. This fully qualitative research involved 15 respondents from the community of Kg. Selai, Bekok in Johor, Malaysia. The result show there are five factors that sustained the ecotourism development based for Orang Asli Community in Kg. Selai, namely, existing CBET development, past CBET development, local community participation in planning stage of tourism, local participation in implementation stage of tourism and participation in nature conservation

Decompression illness secondary to occupational diving : recommended management based current legistation and practice in Malaysia.

Occupational divers are exposed to hazards which contribute to the risk of developing decompression illnesses (DCI). DCI consists of Type I decompression sickness (DCS), Type II DCS and arterial gas embolism (AGE), developed from formation of bubbles in the tissues or circulation as a result of inadequate elimination of inert gas (nitrogen) after a dive. In Malaysia, DCI is one of the significant contributions to mortality and permanent residual morbidity in diving accidents. This is a case of a diver who suffered from Type II DCS with neurological complications due to an occupational diving activity. This article mentions the clinical management of the case and makes several recommendations based on current legislations and practise implemented in Malaysia in order to educate medical and health practitioners on the current management of DCI from the occupational perspective. By following these recommendations, hopefully diving accidents mainly DCI and its sequalae among occupational divers can be minimized and prevented, while divers who become injured receive the proper compensation for their disabilities

Phaeanthine and Limacine from Phaeanthus crassipetalus Becc.

Phaeanthus crassipetalus Becc.(Fam: Annonaceae) has been studied. Two major alkaloids have been isolated and characterised based on their spectral information. The alkaloids, phaeanthine (l) and limacine (II), show antibacterial properties against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria

Occupational Safety and Health (Osh) From Islamic Perspective: a Conceptual Study

This paper illustrates occupational safety and health (OSH) based on Islamic perspective in human resource management. This paper has been written based on the following objectives; a)to state the duty of employer to provide safety workplace and to concern on employee health; b)to list out the management system of OSH based on Islamic perspective as preventive measure.A purely qualitative approach of literature review was done and Islamic OSH is derived from Islamic principles which are guide by Al-Quran and sunnah. The responsibility to preserve safety and health of employee does not only relies to the employer solely but involved all workers, the government and the authority bodies as the runner for the Occupational safety and Health Act OSHA 1994, Islamic order\u27s and policy to be implemented in the organization. The Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan (OSHMP) 2020 is a tremendous incentive by the Ministry of Human Resource to cope and minimize the number of accident and injuries in Malaysia

A new constant market share competitiveness index

Constant-market-share analysis (CMSA) is one of the most widely employed descriptive tool for measuring the export competitiveness of a country relative to other countries or regions of trade for goods and services. Typically, export growth is attributed to growth in the country’s export competitiveness and also to the growth effect of the market itself. However, CMSA measurement is prone to a number of methodological short comings which stems from the CMS identities used in the analysis. Namely, the discrete approximation of continuously changing trade patterns, the interaction effects term residual from the CMS identity decomposition and the arbitrary choice of weights attached to base periods. This paper addresses some of the short comings of the classic CMSA approach. Within a geometric framework we reexamine the CMS decomposition and propose a new net-share approach that is easier to implement and interpret. For researchers and policy makers, this methodology presents a simpler but more consistent measurement for more accurate CMS measurement and interpretations of changing trade patterns

Rheological characterisation of Malaysian varieties of sweet potato doughs using large and small deformation measurements

The rheological properties of sweet potato doughs at different mixing times were studied. In the large deformation extension test, extensibility parameters including dough length at fracture, measured, and actual forces acting on dough strips were obtained for calculating the stress-strain data. For the small deformation test, both storage and loss modulus of dough were studied. The extensibility of dough from sweet potato flour increased to its peak at five minutes mixing time before decreasing illustrating an optimum mixing time. The variety of VitAto which has a higher protein content of 5.7 g/100 g has higher values of all the extensibility parameters as compared to Bukit Naga and Okinawan. In terms of flow-behavior index, all sweet potato doughs displayed n values from 1.82 to 2.11, indicating strain hardening behaviors similar to wheat flour doughs. The small deformation tests were not able to identify the optimum mixing time, although in general, illustrated that sweet potato doughs were essentially elastic or recoverable. The Pearson correlations of large and small deformation tests showed that the rheological parameters were positively correlated among themselves in the evaluation of the effect of mixing time to rheological properties of sweet potato dough

Silicon Nanowire Immunosensor for Detection of 8-Hydroxy-2^|^apos;-Deoxyguanosine Oxidative Stress Cancer Biomarker

A silicon nanowire-based immunosensor has been developed to determine the presence of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). This research demonstrates a process for the detection of 8-OHdG, which is an oxidative stress biomarker, in which elevated concentrations in urine and saliva can act as an indicator of the presence of acute leukaemia, colorectal, breast, lung and prostate cancers. The detection of elevated levels of this biomarker is critical in determining the presence of various mutagenesis and can be used to diagnose early stage cancer before initial symptoms appear. The surface functionalization process has involved the attachment of diazonium salt to the silicon nanowire surface with further stage which involves the reduction of PhNO2 to PhNH2. The antibody targeted against 8-OHdG was subsequently bound to the amine NH2 modified grafted layer of a 370 nm width nanowire. The immunosensor was evaluated through the use of current/voltage electrical probe monitoring in which a 2 μg/ml concentration of 8-OHdG was detected. A further comparison with phosphate buffered saline solution added to the sensor was observed to be negligible. The antibody-functionalised SiNW sensor has been used to detect binding of the 8-OHdG biomarker to the SiNW surface within sixty-seconds of exposure, making this a rapid cancer biomarker test

Threshold Verification Technique for Network Intrusion Detection System

Internet has played a vital role in this modern world, the possibilities and opportunities offered are limitless. Despite all the hype, Internet services are liable to intrusion attack that could tamper the confidentiality and integrity of important information. An attack started with gathering the information of the attack target, this gathering of information activity can be done as either fast or slow attack. The defensive measure network administrator can take to overcome this liability is by introducing Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) in their network. IDS have the capabilities to analyze the network traffic and recognize incoming and on-going intrusion. Unfortunately the combination of both modules in real time network traffic slowed down the detection process. In real time network, early detection of fast attack can prevent any further attack and reduce the unauthorized access on the targeted machine. The suitable set of feature selection and the correct threshold value, add an extra advantage for IDS to detect anomalies in the network. Therefore this paper discusses a new technique for selecting static threshold value from a minimum standard features in detecting fast attack from the victim perspective. In order to increase the confidence of the threshold value the result is verified using Statistical Process Control (SPC). The implementation of this approach shows that the threshold selected is suitable for identifying the fast attack in real time.Comment: 8 Pages, International Journal of Computer Science and Information Securit

Circle grid fractal plate as a turbulent generator for premixed flame: an overview

This review paper focuses to ascertain a new approach in turbulence generation on the structure of premixed flames and external combustion using a fractal grid pattern. This review paper discusses the relationship between fractal pattern and turbulence flow. Many researchers have explored the fractal pattern as a new concept of turbulence generators, but researchers rarely study fractal turbulence generators on the structure premixed flame. The turbulent flow field characteristics have been studied tand investigated in a premixed combustion application. In terms of turbulence intensity, most researchers used fractal grid that can be tailored so that they can design the characteristic needed in premixed flame. This approach makes it extremely difficult to determine the exact turbulent burning velocity on the velocity fluctuation of the flow. The decision to carry out additional research on the effect circle grid fractal plate as a turbulent generator for premixed flame should depends on the blockage ratio and fractal pattern of the grid. 1