Growth, Nitrogen Uptake and Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Barley Genotypes Grown under Saline Conditions

The effect of different salinity levels of irrigation water (ECw range 1-12 dS/m) on dry matter yield, nitrogen uptake, fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency (%NUE), stomatal conductance and carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C‰) in three barley genotypes originating from different geographic areas (Arabi.Abiad, Syria; Pk-30-136, Pakistan and WI-2291, Australia) was investigated in a pot experiment. An increase in salinity resulted in a decrease in Δ13C in all the genotypes. Increasing salinity reduced leaf stomatal conductance which was less pronounced in WI-2291 comparing to other genotypes. At high salinity level, the reduction in Δ13C corresponded to a considerable decrease in the ratio (Ci/Ca) of intercellular (Ci) and atmospheric (Ca) partial pressures of CO2 in all the genotypes indicating that such a decrease was mainly due to the stomatal closure. Moreover, since the reduction in dry matter yield in all the genotypes grown at 12 dS/m did not exceed 50% in comparison with their controls, the photosynthetic apparatus of all studied genotypes seemed to be quit tolerant to salinity. At the moderate salinity level (8 dS/m), the enhancement of leaf dry matter yield in the WI2291 genotype might have been due to positive nutritional effects of the salt as indicated by a significant increase in nitrogen uptake and NUE. Thus, the lower Ci/Ca ratio could result mainly from higher rates of photosynthetic capacity rather than stomatal closure. On the other hand, relationships between dry matter yield or NUE and Δ13C seemed to be depending on plant genotype, plant organ and salinity level. Based on growth, nutritional and Δ13C data, selection of barley genotypes for saline environments was affected by salinity level. Therefore, such a selection must be achieved for each salinity level under which the plants have been grown

A Term Rewriting System for Kuratowski\u27s Closure-Complement Problem

We present a term rewriting system to solve a class of open problems that are generalisations of Kuratowski\u27s closure-complement theorem. The problems are concerned with finding the number of distinct sets that can be obtained by applying combinations of axiomatically defined set operators. While the original problem considers only closure and complement of a topological space as operators, it can be generalised by adding operators and varying axiomatisation. We model these axioms as rewrite rules and construct a rewriting system that allows us to close some so far open variants of Kuratowski\u27s problem by analysing several million inference steps on a typical personal computer

Microbiological quality of cooked meat products sold in Kelantan, Malaysia during Ramadhan month

The Ramadhan fast is a form of worship where Muslims spend the daylight hours in a complete fast. During the month of Ramadhan, a large number of people tend to purchase food from stalls or bazaars for breaking fast. It is crucial that the foods prepared and sold are handled in a clean and safe manner. Thus, this research focused on evaluating the microbiological quality of cooked meat products (beef and chicken) from food bazaars and street-vended foods in 10 districts throughout the state of Kelantan. A total of 100 samples were collected from all 10 districts in Kelantan and were tested for coliform, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus spp. Microbiological analysis of the meat samples showed unsatisfactory results where a total of 42% of the samples were found unsatisfactory for coliform. The overall prevalence for Staphylococcus spp. in beef and chicken were 19.6% and 12.9%. Escherichia coli were detected in 23.9% of beef and 12.9% of chicken. Non-compliances for Salmonella were found in 13% and 9.3% of beef and chicken samples. This study determined the presence of foodborne pathogen in cooked meat products and indicated the possibilities of cross contamination and lack of hygiene during food handling

Perancangan Sarana Bawa untuk Aktivitas One Day Hiking

Perancangan backpack untuk kegiatan one day hiking bertujuan menciptakan produk yang ergonomis, fungsional, dan sesuai dengan kebutuhan pengguna. Backpack ini dirancang dengan mempertimbangkan aspek kenyamanan, kapasitas, dan kepraktisan. Fitur utama meliputi sistem airflow pada bagian punggung, kompartemen khusus untuk air minum dan perlengkapan hiking, serta material yang ringan namun tahan terhadap cuaca. Pendekatan desain berpusat pada pengguna dilakukan melalui survei kebutuhan, analisis aktivitas, dan evaluasi ergonomis. Hasil perancangan diharapkan mendukung pengalaman hiking yang lebih efisien dan nyaman, serta meminimalkan risiko cedera akibat beban yang tidak seimbang

A survey on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among construction trades

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the common health problem among workers in a construction site. Construction workers tend to experience neck pain, lower back pain, knee pain, leg fatigue and feet discomfort due to the occupation they performed. This study aims to investigate the issue related to musculoskeletal disorders among construction workers while performing construction works. Field observation was conducted at four construction sites in Perak Tengah district in order to identify the types of trades who exposed to musculoskeletal disorders. Next, a survey form was developed by modifying the existing Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) in determining the symptoms of WMSDs. Surveys were carried out on 100 construction workers at the selected four construction sites to identify the area and causes of pain and discomfort, types of treatment received by the workers and recovery duration for pain and discomfort. Based on the survey, shoulder, wrists/hands and low back were the common area of pain or discomfort after and while performing works. The main causes of pain and discomfort were mostly from repetitive works, awkward working postures and manipulation of heavy load. Types of treatment received by workers were taking a medicine and rest, while the recovery duration for pain or discomfort was around a week. Interviews with panels of expert regarding the strategies or best practice to minimize the WMSDs among construction workers revealed that the most preferable practice is the contractor of the construction project should follow the safety and health regulation, particularly in managing WMSDs, such as implementing medical surveillance for workers. This study will help construction stakeholders, especially contractors to discover the type of occupations that are majorly impacted with WMSDs and further provide the best strategies or control measures to reduce the effect of WMSDs to their employees while performing wor

Client Related Changes Affecting Construction Schedule Performance

Majority of UAE construction works were reported experiencing changes during execution process which exerts adverse effects to project success. Among the negative impacts is the failing in achieving satisfactory schedule performance. This poor schedule performance is also common issue faced by construction works globally. This paper addressed a study on various client related factors causing changes and parameters that affecting project schedule performance. The study was conducted through quantitative method. The data was gathered through questionnaire survey amongst the practitioners from contractor and consultant organization engaged in construction project of UAE and analysed statistically using significant index value. Results obtained in this study highlighted lack of coordination, replacement of key personnel by clients and inadequate understanding of clients need as three major issues related to client which are responsible for changes in construction works. While delay in completion schedule, slower project progress and dispute between owner & contractor are as major parameters affecting schedule performance. For correlation analysis, it was found that lack of coordination between the parties has significant correlation with delay in completion schedule, and dispute between owner & contractor. Also replacement of key personnel from client has significant correlation with schedule delay that are additional works and re-work/redesign. These finding will be helpful for practitioner in prioritizing the factors of change and schedule measuring parameters for improving schedule performance

What is the best practice that can be incorporated to assist the effective use of interactive whiteboard in primary classroom in Brunei Darussalam?

A step taken towards the use of technology in education in Brunei Darussalam has been by providing primary schools with technologies that can help support teaching in the classroom. This includes providing the interactive whiteboard (IWB). At the present time, almost all primary schools in Brunei Darussalam are provided with at least one IWB with the hope that it will be integrated effectively in all subject areas. This study investigates the perceptions of primary school teachers on the use of IWB to be able to assist the effective use of the IWB in Brunei Darussalam. A total of seven government primary schools located in Brunei Muara district were involved in this study. The study is based on data collected from both quantitative and qualitative approaches, which are questionnaire, lesson observations and interviews. The questionnaire sample consists of 75 primary school teachers, which categorised respondents into regular IWB user, low IWB user and no longer using the IWB. Lesson observations were conducted with seven regular IWB users and sixteen teachers participated in the interview. Interviews were conducted with regular and low IWB users as well as teachers who no longer use the IWB. The findings showed the different issues raised by participants relating to the implementation of IWB in primary schools in Brunei Darussalam. These includes accessibility; factors that influence or cause barriers to usage; teachers’ perceived benefits of IWB; challenges teachers faced in using IWB; and IWB resources. It was also revealed that primary school teachers in Brunei Darussalam generally have a positive attitude towards the implementation of the IWB in the classroom. However, they lack the skills and knowledge in integrating use of the IWB effectively into their classroom practice and are still at the early stage of IWB implementation. Additionally, findings suggest that primary school teachers in Brunei Darussalam lack professional development and support when implementing the IWB in the classroom. Furthermore, the significance of the findings of this study was the importance of change management to successfully integrate the use of the IWB in the primary classroom

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Framework for Enhancing Cybersecurity

The detection of cyberattacks has been increasingly emphasized in recent years, focusing on both infrastructure and people. Conventional security measures such as intrusion detection, firewalls, and encryption are insufficient in protecting cyber systems against growing and changing threats. In order to address this problem, scholars have explored reinforcement learning (i.e., RL) as a potential solution for intricate cybersecurity decision-making difficulties. Nevertheless, the use of RL faces several obstacles, including dynamic attack scenarios, insufficient training data, and the challenge of replicating real-world complexities. This study presents a novel framework that uses deep reinforcement learning (i.e., DRL) to simulate harmful cyberattacks and improve cybersecurity. This study presents an agent-based framework that is capable of ongoing learning and adaptation in a dynamic network security environment. The agent determines the optimal course of action by considering the current state of the network and the rewards it receives for its decisions. The CIC-IDS-2018 database, constructed using Python 3.7 programming, was used. The conducted studies yielded outstanding results, with a detection accuracy of 98.82% achieved for the CIC-IDS-2018 database in cyberattack classification

The Concept of Time in Mulla Sadra's Philosophy

This article explains the concept of time in Mulla Sadra's Philosophy. Mulla Sadra is a philosopher who succeeded in establishing the third school of thought in Islamic philosophy. A fundamental problem in the philosophy of time is whether time is a real entity or merely a product of human perception of external reality. Does time exist because of external objects, or does it emerge alongside the presence of the possible being (al-Mumkin)? An analytical approach is used in this article to explore the structure of the concept of time developed by Mulla Sadra and the specific aspects that distinguish it from the views of previous philosophers.Mulla Sadra bases his explanation of time on the principles of Ashalat al-Wujud (the Primacy of Existence), Tasykik al-Wujud (the Gradation of Existence), and Harakat al-Jawhariyyah (the Essential Motion).For Mulla Sadra, time is included in Amr al-Wujudi, namely an element that is included in the part of being and being is a Single, gradative essence. Time is essentially Single with all physical objects so that everything that is physical is at the same time also enveloped by time