Optimal planning of renewable energy-integrated electricity generation schemes with CO2 reduction target

This paper presents a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model that was developed for the optimalplanning of electricitygenerationschemes for a nation to meet a specified CO2 emission target. The model was developed and implemented in General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) for the fleet of electricitygeneration in Peninsular Malaysia. In order to reduce the CO2 emissions by 50% from current CO2 emission level, the optimizer selected a scheme which includes Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC), nuclear and biomass from landfill gas and palm oil residues. It was predicted that Malaysia has potential to generate up to nine percent of electricity from renewableenergy (RE) based on the available sources of RE in Malaysia

Genome analysis of cellulose and hemicellulose degrading micromonospora sp. Cp22

In this study, a bacterial strain CP22 with ability to produce cellulase, xylanase and mannanase was isolated from the oil palm compost. Based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the strain was affiliated to genus Micromonospora. To further investigate genes that are related to cellulose and hemicellulose degradation, the genome of strain CP22 was sequenced, annotated and analyzed. The de novo assembled genome of strain CP22 featured a size of 5,856,203 bp with G + C content of 70.84%. Detailed genome analysis on lignocellulose degradation revealed a total of 60 genes consisting of 47 glycoside hydrolase domains and 16 carbohydrate esterase domains predicted to be involved in cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic deconstruction. Particularly, 20 genes encode for cellulases (8 endoglucanases, 3 exoglucanases and 9 β-glucosidases) and 40 genes encode for hemicellulases (15 endo-1,4-β-xylanase, 3 β-xylosidase, 3 α-arabinofuranosidase, 10 acetyl xylan esterase, 6 polysaccharide deacetylase, 1 β-mannanase, 1 β-mannosidase and 1 α-galactosidase). Thirty-two genes encoding carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) from six different families (CBM2, CBM4, CBM6, CBM9, CBM13 and CBM22) were present in the genome of strain CP22. These CBMs were found in 27 cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic genes, indicating their potential role in enhancing the substrate-binding capability of the enzymes. CBM2 and CBM13 are the major CBMs present in cellulases and hemicellulases (xylanases and mannanases), respectively. Moreover, a GH10 xylanase was found to contain 3 CBMs (1 CBM9 and 2 CBM22) and these CBMs were reported to bind specifically to xylan. This genome-based analysis could facilitate the exploration of this strain for lignocellulosic biomass degradation

Ocular status of a sample of public bus drivers in the Klang Valley

Objective: To determine the distance and near visual acuity (VA), near point of accommodation (NPA) and convergence V C ) , distance and near phoria, stereopsis and colour vision of a sample of public bus drivers in the Klang Valley. Methodology: A total of 52 bus drivers from a randomly chosen public bus operating company in the Klang Valley were examined. The optometric examinations carried out were measurement of visual acuity for distance using the Snellan chart, measurement of near acuity using a reading chart, measurement of near point of accommodation and convergence using the R4F rule, measurement of distance phoria using the Maddox cross, measurement of near phoria using the Maddox wing, measurement of stereopsis using the W O and assessment of colour vision using the Zshihara plates, SPP2 plates, D1 5 panel and FM1 00 Hue test. Results: The study showed that 100% of the drivers had distance VA better than 6/12. For near VA, 57.7% of drivers could read N6 or better while 26.9% and 15.4% could only read NI0 or N12 respectively. Their mean NPA and NPC were 19.00 f 8.26 cm and 13.00 2 7.30 cm respectively. Phoria testing revealed that the bus drivers had a mean exophoria for distance of 0.33 f 0.18 prism diopters and a mean right hypophoria for distance of 0.06 f 0.22 prism diopters. For near vision, these drivers had a mean exophoria of 0.69 f 2.59prism diopters and a mean right hyperphoria of 0.04 -+ 0.20prism diopters. Stereoacuity test found that 65.4% of the bus drivers had stereopsis in the normal range, that is 30 to 60 second of arc. Colour vision tests showed that percentage of subjects that passed were high, that is 92.3% using the Zshihara plates, 61.5% using the SPPZ plates, 53.8% using D-15 and 53.8% using the FM 100-Hues tests. Drivers that failed SPP2 plates had tritan types of defects (30.8%) and mixed type of defects (7.7%). Testing colour vision with D-15 test showed that 19.2% of the bus drivers had tritan type of defects, 15.4% had non-polar arrangement type of defects whereas 7.7% were protans and 3.8% were deutans. FM 100-Hue testing revealed that 19.2% of these bus drivers had tritan type of defects, 23.1 % had non-polar arrangement type of defects whereas 3.8% were protans. Square root of the total error score (VfrES) were calculatedffom the FM 100-Hue test. The &ES of the bus drivers in this study was calculated to be 9.47 f 4.68 whereas the &ES of normals subjects in the same age range collected by Verriest et al. (1982) is 8.23 f 2.44. There was no statistically significant dzfference between-the &ES of bus drivers in this study and the ETS normal subjects in the same age range. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the visual status of the bus drivers is good but the colour vision status is not very satisfactory

Bacterial inoculant-assisted phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil: inoculant development and the inoculation effects

Heavy metal contamination is a worldwide concern and a challenge to resolve due to the toxicity poses a significant threat to all living organisms in the environment. Phytoremediation is an environmental-friendly approach to alleviate heavy metal contamination in the soil. Combining the plant and beneficial bacteria inoculant to remediate soil heavy metal is known as bacterial inoculant-assisted phytoremediation. Beneficial bacteria facilitate plant metal uptake by mobilizing the heavy metals in the soil and enhancing plant vigor. The inoculant formulations can be prepared as liquid, granules or powders. Nonetheless, the effective interaction between plant and bacteria is not promised in unsterilized soil, thus affecting the phytoremediation efficiency. The development of bacterial inoculants for phytoremediation and the effects of the inoculants in soil are overlooked in current research studies. Therefore, an ample understanding of the bacterial inoculant-assisted phytoremediation concept is pertinent to circumvent the limitations. This article discusses the relationship between beneficial bacteria inoculant and plant in different techniques of phytoremediation, recent advances in developing bacterial inoculants for phytoremediation and the fate of the inoculants in soil. The provided information in this article generates more insights on the optimization works, which ultimately leading to the possible field application

Pengaruh Komunikasi dan motivasi terhadap kinerja Karyawan Pada PT. Karyaputra Suryagemilang Makassar

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kinerja karyawan saat ini pada K PT. Karyaputa Suryagemilang Makassar. Untuk sampel dalam penelitian ini sebanyak 37 responden. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan menggunakan data primer. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menggunakan kuesioner. Populasi dari penelitian ini adalah penunjukan langsung terhadap karyawan, Kecuali Project Manager. Untuk teknik pengambilan sampel dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode survey. Sedangkan untuk metode analisis yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yakni uji validitas data, uji reliabilitas data, uji normalitas, uji multikolinearitas, uji heterokedastisitas, analisis regresi linear berganda, uji pengaruh simultan (uji F), uji pengaruh parsial (t) dan uji determinasi simultan R2. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) Komunikasi mempunyai pengaruh yang positif signifikan terhadap kinerja karyawan pada PT. Karyaputra Suryagemilang Makassar. (2) motivasi mempunyai pengaruh positif tidak signifikan terhadap kinerja karyawan pada PT.Karyaputra Suryagemilang Makassar. Kata Kunci: Komunikasi; Motivasi; Kinerja Karyawan

Development of Novel Protocol to Al3+ Stress Tolerance at Germination Stage in Indica Rice through Statistical Approaches

Rice production is decreasing by abiotic stresses like heavy metals. In such circumstances, producing food for growing human population is a challenge for plant breeders. Excess of Al3+ in soil has become threat for high yield of rice. Improvement of crop is one of potential solution for high production. The aim of this study was to develop the new method for optimization of Al3+ toxicity tolerance in indica rice at germination stag using two-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple-range test (DMRT). Seeds of two indica rice cultivars (Pokkali and Pak Basmati) were exposed in different concentrations (control, 5 mM, 15 mM, and 20 mM) of Al3+ toxicity at pH 4 ±0.2 for two weeks. Germination traits such as final germination percentage (FG%), germination energy (GE), germination speed (GS), germination index (GI), mean time of germination (MGT), germination value (GV), germination velocity (GVe), peak value of germination (GPV), and germination capacity (GC) and growth traits such as root length (RL), shoot length (SL), total dry biomass (TDB), and germination vigour index (GVI) were measured. To obtain the maximum number of significance (≤ 0.01%) parameters in each concentration of Al3+ toxicity with control, two-way ANOVA was established and comparison of mean was done using DMRT. The results showed that 5 mM, 10 mM, and 15 mM have less significant effects on the above-mentioned parameters. However, 20 mM concentration of Al3+ produced significant effects (≤ 0.01%). Therefore, 20 mM of Al3+ is considered optimized limit for indica cultivars (Pokkali and Pak Basmati)

Macular thickness as determined by optical coherence tomography in relation to degree of myopia, axial length and vitreous chamber depth in Malay subjects.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the relationship between macular thickness and spherical equivalent refraction (SER), axial length (AL) and vitreous chamber depth (VCD) in Malay subjects. METHODS: Sixty-three subjects (aged 19-24 years) with a mean SER of -1.79 ± 2.24 D, mean axial length of 24.26 ± 1.35 mm and mean vitreous chamber depth of 17.02 ± 1.33 mm were included in this clinical cross-sectional study. Stratus optical coherence tomography (Time Domain optical coherence tomography) was used to determine the thickness of the outer macular (perifovea) and inner macular (parafovea) at four different locations, that is, temporal, superior, nasal and inferior quadrants and also the fovea itself. RESULTS: Positive correlations were found between the outer macular (perifovea) thickness and SER at the temporal (R = 0.47, p \u3c 0.05), superior (R = 0.36, p \u3c 0.05) and inferior (R = 0.31, p \u3c 0.05) quadrants. Foveal thickness was also positively correlated with AL (R = 0.34, p \u3c 0.05) and VCD (R = 0.32, p \u3c 0.05). Negative correlations were found between outer macular thickness and axial length at the temporal (R = -0.46, p \u3c 0.05), superior (R = -0.27, p \u3c 0.05), nasal (R = -0.25, p \u3c 0.05) and inferior (R = -0.36, p \u3c 0.05) quadrants. Negative correlations were also found between outer macular thickness and VCD at the temporal (R = -0.51, p \u3c 0.05), superior (R = -0.32, p \u3c 0.05), nasal (R = -0.31, p \u3c 0.05) and inferior (R = -0.40, p \u3c 0.05) quadrants. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the degree of myopia and elongation of the globe are associated with thinning of most areas of the perifovea. A trend for foveal thickening in the high myopia group is also inferred, although this does not apply to the low and moderate myopia groups