Evaluation on the effectiveness of organic acids combination against Ganoderma boninense, the causal pathogen of basal stem rot in oil palm

Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease mainly caused by Ganoderma boninense has become a serious threat to the South East Asia oil palm industry. With no conclusive remedy to date, the oil palm industry is still in search of effective ways to manage this disease. The present work reports the effectiveness of organic acids combination (OAC) in managing Ganoderma infection in oil palm. In this study, the pre-formulated organic acids combination from a product to control BSR caused by Ganoderma was carried out both in the field and nursery. The trial was conducted for a duration of approximately 18 months. The field trial was carried out at Bode Estate of Kretam Plantations Sabah in Sandakan. The possibility of the OAC in preventing the infection from spreading to newly planted seedlings in the area with Ganoderma history was also assessed via nursery trial at Mile 25, estate of Kam Cheong Sdn Bhd. In the field trial, three different sets of protocols i.e.: A (0.4% v/v with 5 rounds of application), B (0.4% v/v with 3 rounds of application), and C (0.5% v/v with 3 rounds of application) of the OAC treatment were applied along with Ganoderma Selective Medium (GSM) analysis, ergosterol content analysis, in vitro antagonistic evaluation and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observation to comprehensively investigate the efficacy of the combination. Protocols A, B and C had significantly reduced the colonisation / amount of ergosterol content (8.832-9.095 μg/g of trunk tissues) in the infected palms in comparison to those Ganoderma infected but left untreated palms (48.956 μg/g of trunk tissues). However, there was no significant difference between the effectiveness among the three protocols in reduction of Ganoderma colonisation till month-12, in which protocol C proved to perform better compared to the other two protocols. There was slight ergosterol content increment in oil palm tissues treated with various protocols of the OAC at month-18, but were much lesser compared to untreated palms. Nonetheless, none of the protocols in application of OAC gave an absolute control of Ganoderma till the end of the trial, as the treated palms remained infected but with much lower ergosterol content compared to untreated palms. Application of the OAC as soil treatment for prevention of Ganoderma infection to seedlings replanted in the area with Ganoderma history in Kam Cheong Estate showed lesser disease incidences compared to those untreated ones. The infected seedlings which were treated by this product also showed lesser amount of ergosterol content which represents lesser colonisation of the pathogenic fungi. However, OAC-treated seedlings still recorded the presence of ergosterol from low to moderate in some of the tested samples. In vitro experiment of OAC and Ganoderma mycelia further elaborates the possible interaction between these organic acids with Ganoderma when in contact with either the tissues or soil. The in vitro results suggest OAC has destructive effect against the mycelia of Ganoderma with SEM evidences of massive damaging effects of the product to the mycelia of the fungi. Based on the GC-MS analysis, the OAC were identified from the products propanoic acid, acetic acid, benzoic acid, sorbic acid and besylic acid

American College of Rheumatology Provisional Criteria for Clinically Relevant Improvement in Children and Adolescents With Childhood-Onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

10.1002/acr.23834ARTHRITIS CARE & RESEARCH715579-59

Investigating Significant Issues of BIM Implementation in Industrialised Building System Design and Production Process

Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been considered a construction method to accelerate the development of the construction industry in attempt to boost the economic growth of Malaysia. With the slow uptake of IBS method in Malaysian construction industry, Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology was introduced as a IBS catalyst to improve IBS process in term of its productivity and efficacy. However, the advantages of BIM implementation are not fully acquired in IBS industry. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the issues encountered when BIM implemented in IBS design and IBS production process in Malaysia. The preliminary study adopted both literature review and semi-structured interview as research technique. Four semi-structured interview were conducted with the industry experts who have more than 5 years of experience in both IBS and BIM fields to gain insight into the issues of BIM implementation in both IBS design and production process. The likert scale of agreed level was indicated by the respondents simultaneously while investigating the issues of BIM implementation in IBS design and production process during the interview. The interview data was collected and analysed by measuring mean agreed level to issues of BIM implementation in IBS design and production process and identifying the most significant issues of BIM implementation in IBS process across responses from interview using excel tool and content analysis. The results showed that the most significant issues are encountered when BIM is implemented in IBS design process rather than in IBS production process. The most significant issue is the lack of early collaboration among IBS players in the beginning of IBS design stage in a BIM project. In addition, the lack of knowledge and understanding on IBS design and installation among the project stakeholder, especially consultants in the BIM integrated projects leads to the increase of IBS design time, and causes the late confirmation of informed decision of the IBS component design. It can further affect the productivity of IBS production process. Therefore, the issues of BIM implementation in IBS design process should be tackled early to improve the BIM implementation in IBS industry in Malaysia

SUNG-LIAO DIPLOMACY IN ELEVENTH- AND TWELFTH-CENTURY CHINA: A STUDY OF THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN POLICY

In the early eleventh-century, geopolitical considerations caused the Chinese government to initiate a system of regular embassies of exchange with the Liao. The inauguration of permanent diplomatic relations between the two Courts represented a significant departure from the Sinocentric model of a China at the center of the social and political order. This study seeks to determine whether this alteration in the pattern of traditional Sino-barbarian relations led to a permanent institutional change or whether it was treated by the Chinese merely as a temporary if necessary expedient. The investigation moves from the general and theoretical to the specific and quantitative. The first chapter surveys the major theories of Sino-barbarian relations and traditional Chinese relations with Koryo, Annam, the Hsi Hsia, and the Chin. The second chapter presents an historical survey of Sung-Liao relations, including in particular the process by which decades of war were replaced by a century of peaceful diplomatic interchange. The third chapter details the actual process of Sung-Liao diplomacy: The selection of ambassadors; the ranks of appointees; the types of missions; the gifts exchanged; the nature of travel and hospitality. The final two chapters deal with the diplomats themselves. The fourth chapter presents a number of case studies of Sung ambassadors. An attempt is made to develop profiles of ambassadorial types. The fifth chapter presents the results of a prosopographical study of the careers of 608 ambassadors to the Liao and 341 military intendants who served in Liao-sensitive circuits. The effects of elite status, educational attainment, regional origin, and experience on the subsequent careers of ambassadors are analyzed. The data suggest that the Liao threat was taken seriously. Significant numbers of men in top policy making positions could boast ambassadorial experience. But these experienced bureaucrats did not become specialists. Nor was any permanent bureau for foreign policy established as a result of the Sung-Liao diplomatic experience

SUNG-LIAO DIPLOMACY IN ELEVENTH- AND TWELFTH-CENTURY CHINA: A STUDY OF THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN POLICY

In the early eleventh-century, geopolitical considerations caused the Chinese government to initiate a system of regular embassies of exchange with the Liao. The inauguration of permanent diplomatic relations between the two Courts represented a significant departure from the Sinocentric model of a China at the center of the social and political order. This study seeks to determine whether this alteration in the pattern of traditional Sino-barbarian relations led to a permanent institutional change or whether it was treated by the Chinese merely as a temporary if necessary expedient. The investigation moves from the general and theoretical to the specific and quantitative. The first chapter surveys the major theories of Sino-barbarian relations and traditional Chinese relations with Koryo, Annam, the Hsi Hsia, and the Chin. The second chapter presents an historical survey of Sung-Liao relations, including in particular the process by which decades of war were replaced by a century of peaceful diplomatic interchange. The third chapter details the actual process of Sung-Liao diplomacy: The selection of ambassadors; the ranks of appointees; the types of missions; the gifts exchanged; the nature of travel and hospitality. The final two chapters deal with the diplomats themselves. The fourth chapter presents a number of case studies of Sung ambassadors. An attempt is made to develop profiles of ambassadorial types. The fifth chapter presents the results of a prosopographical study of the careers of 608 ambassadors to the Liao and 341 military intendants who served in Liao-sensitive circuits. The effects of elite status, educational attainment, regional origin, and experience on the subsequent careers of ambassadors are analyzed. The data suggest that the Liao threat was taken seriously. Significant numbers of men in top policy making positions could boast ambassadorial experience. But these experienced bureaucrats did not become specialists. Nor was any permanent bureau for foreign policy established as a result of the Sung-Liao diplomatic experience

ACCEPTANCE OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING-VIRTUAL REALITY (BIM–VR) IN SELANGOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The integration of Building Information Modelling and Virtual Reality (BIM-VR) technology allows users to experience BIM model and view BIM data such as cost and material type in real-time in an immersive visualisation system. However, the future applicability and practicality of BIM-VR integration has yet to be established in Malaysia's construction industry. Hence, the aim of this paper is to study the acceptance of BIM-VR amongst the Selangor design consultant and the objectives are to identify the awareness and involvement of Malaysian design consultants in BIM-VR in Selangor and to determine the challenges of BIM-VR implementation in the Selangor construction industry. This research adopted a quantitative approach by conducting questionnaire survey with architects from different companies located in Selangor. The data obtained from 33 respondents were analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) where the test conducted were frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, and Pearson correlation. The findings revealed that most respondents are aware of BIM and VR adoption in the architecture firm. However, the lack of BIM-VR implementation was due to training and software cost and a lack of exposure to BIM-VR technology among other construction players. In conclusion, the respondents are aware and willing to involve actively in this integrated technology whilst seeing the need to collectively overcome the challenges BIM-VR. Government push and support in this area will be a catalyst in BIM-VR update and hence will contribute significantly to the efficiency of design and construction process